Open AccessA New Solid Solution Approach for the Study of Self-Irradiating Damage in non-Radioactive Materials
Author(s) -
Tzvi Templeman,
Michael Shandalov,
Michael Schmidt,
Amir Tal,
Gabby Sarusi,
Eyal Yahel,
I. Kelson,
Yuval Golan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-03150-9
Subject(s) - radiochemistry , computer science , nuclear engineering , materials science , chemistry , engineering
A new method to produce a model system for the study of radiation damage in non-radioactive materials is presented. The method is based on homogenously dissolving minute amounts of 228 Th ions in thin films in a controllable manner using a small volume chemical bath deposition technique. This approach is demonstrated for PbS films. The properties of the PbS ( 228 Th) solid solution film activity were investigated by monitoring the accompanying radioactive processes. Electrical resistivity studies were performed and decay-event damage accumulation was measured, followed by isochronal annealing which presented two annealing stages and another two sub-stages. This is the first report on self-irradiating damage studies in IV-VI semiconductors and the resulting films present a novel method for the analysis of dilute defect systems in semiconductor thin films.