Open AccessUnique Properties of Thermally Tailored Copper: Magnetically Active Regions and Anomalous X-ray Fluorescence Emissions
Author(s) -
Christopher Nagel,
D. R. Herschbach
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the journal of physical chemistry c
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 289
eISSN - 1932-7455
pISSN - 1932-7447
DOI - 10.1021/jp908299q
Subject(s) - copper , ingot , impurity , attenuation , fluorescence , x ray fluorescence , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , thermal , metallurgy , chemistry , environmental chemistry , meteorology , optics , physics , organic chemistry , alloy
When high-purity copper (>/=99.98%(wt)) is melted, held in its liquid state for a few hours with iterative thermal cycling, then allowed to resolidify, the ingot surface is found to have many small regions that are magnetically active. X-ray fluorescence analysis of these regions exhibit remarkably intense lines from "sensitized elements" (SE), including in part or fully the contiguous series V, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Co. The XRF emissions from SE are far more intense than expected from known impurity levels. Comparison with blanks and standards show that the thermal "tailoring" also introduces strongly enhanced SE emissions in samples taken from the interior of the copper ingots. For some magnetic regions, the location as well as the SE emissions, although persistent, vary irregularly with time. Also, for some regions extraordinarily intense "sensitized iron" (SFe) emissions occur, accompanied by drastic attenuation of Cu emissions.
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