RESUMEN
High-energy resolution core-level spectroscopies, including a group of different techniques to obtain element-specific information of the electronic structure around an absorption site, have become powerful tools for studying the chemical state, local geometric structure, and the nature of chemical bonding. High-resolution x-ray absorption and x-ray emission spectroscopies are well-established experimental techniques but have always been limited by the number of emitted photons and the limited acceptance of solid angles, as well as requiring high energy stability and repeatability for the whole experimental setup. A full-cylindrical x-ray spectrometer based on flexible HAPG (highly annealed pyrolitic graphite) mosaic crystals is an effective solution for the above issues. However, large-area HAPG remains expensive and is often not easy to access. Here, we present an alternative approach by using segmented single crystals (Si and Ge) with different orientations instead of the HAPG as a dispersive element. The proposed method drastically improved the energy resolution up to 0.2-2 eV in the range of 2-10 keV. High-pressure x-ray emission and resonant x-ray emission spectra are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument. The new design is particularly suitable for high-resolution spectroscopy applications at fourth-generation synchrotron radiation sources or free-electron lasers.
RESUMEN
Irradiation structural damage (e.g., radiation tracks, amorphous layers, and vesicles) is widely observed in lunar soil grains. Previous experiments have revealed that irradiation damage is caused by the injection of solar wind and solar flare energetic particles. In this study, cordierite and gabbro were selected as analogs of shallow and deep excavated lunar crust materials for proton irradiation experiments. The fluence was 1.44 ± 0.03 × 1018 H+/cm2, which is equivalent to 102 years of average solar wind proton implantation on the Moon. Before and after irradiation, structural damage in samples is detected by slow positron annihilation technology (PAT), Doppler broadening (DB) measurement, focused ion beam (FIB), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The DB results showed the structural damage peaks of irradiated gabbro and cordierite were located at 40 and 45 nm. Hydrogen diffused to a deeper region and it reached beyond depths of 150 and 136 nm for gabbro and cordierite, respectively. Hydrogen atoms occupied the original vacancy defects and formed vacancy sites-hydrogen atom complexes, which affected the annihilation of positrons with electrons in the vacancy defects. All of the DB results were validated by TEM. This study proves that the positron annihilation technique has an excellent performance in the detection of defects in the whole structure of the sample. In combination with TEM and other detection methods, this technology could be used for the detection of structural damage in extraterrestrial samples.
RESUMEN
In this work, we studied the evolution of vacancy-like defects and the formation of brittle precipitates in a reduced-activation V-Cr-Mn medium-entropy alloy. The evolution of local electronic circumstances around Cr and Mn enrichments, the vacancy defects, and the CrMn3 precipitates were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and positron annihilation spectroscopy. The microstructure measurements showed that the Mn and Cr enrichments in the as-cast sample significantly evolved with temperature, i.e., from 400 °C, the Cr/Mn-segregated regions gradually dissolved into the matrix and then disappeared, and from 900 °C to 1000 °C, they existed as CrMn3 precipitates. The crystallite size of the phase corresponding to CrMn3 precipitates was about 29.4 nm at 900 °C and 43.7 nm at 1000 °C. The positron annihilation lifetime results demonstrated that the vacancies mediated the migration of Cr and Mn, and Cr and Mn segregation finally led to the formation of CrMn3 precipitates. The coincidence Doppler broadening results showed that the characteristic peak moved to the low-momentum direction, due to an increase in the size of the vacancy defects at the interface and the formation of CrMn3 precipitates.
RESUMEN
The microstructural evolution of dilute Al-Ag alloys in its early aging stage and at low temperatures ranging from 15 K to 300 K was studied by the combined use of Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and positron annihilation Coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB) techniques. It is shown that at low temperatures below 200 K, an Ag-vacancy complex is formed in the quenched alloy, and above 200 K, it decomposes into Ag clusters and monovacancies. Experimental and calculation results indicate that Ag clusters in Al-Ag alloys can act as shallow trapping sites, and the positron trapping rate is considerably enhanced by a decreasing measurement temperature.
RESUMEN
We have performed the first-principles method to study the structural stability and helium diffusion behavior of Fe-Cr alloys. The calculated bulk modulus of 284.935 GPa in the non-magnetic (NM) state is in good agreement with others. We have obtained solid evidence that the alloy structures meet the mechanical stability criteria and lattice dynamics conditions in the anti-ferromagnetism (AFM) and non-magnetic (NM) states. Compared with bulk γ-Fe, a slightly larger Young's modulus indicates that the doping of Cr helps to enhance the stiffness of the material and the ability to resist the reversible deformation of shear stress, but the ductility decreased slightly. Our results revealed that the addition of interstitial He atom promotes the expansion and deformation of the lattice, and further enlarges the cell volume. The presence of Cr in the alloy structures promotes the migration of a single helium atom between octahedral interstitials, and at the same time, inhibits the diffusion of helium atoms between tetrahedral interstitials to a large extent, which seem to be trapped in tetrahedral interstitials and cannot escape. The electronic properties show that the alloy materials exhibit obvious metallicity, and the doping of Cr generates an impurity state at lower energy, which is mainly formed by the s, p of Fe and s, p shell electrons of Cr. The charge density difference graphs corroborate that there is bonding interactions between Fe and Cr atoms. Bader charge analysis shows that a stronger polar covalent bond is formed between Fe and Cr in the non-magnetic (NM) state than in the anti-ferromagnetism (AFM) state. Our results provide useful information for understanding the initial growth of helium bubbles in experiments.
RESUMEN
The behavior of helium in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels was investigated systematically with positron annihilation Doppler broadening measurement and thermal desorption spectroscopy. Specimens were irradiated with helium ions with different energies to various fluences at different temperatures. A threshold fluence was observed above which the rate of formation and growth of helium bubbles dramatically increased. Irradiation at higher temperature could suppress the formation and growth of HenVm clusters with low binding energies and enhance that of helium bubbles and HenVm clusters with high binding energies. Different changes of S parameters were observed in various depth after the irradiation temperature was increased from 523 K to 723 K. Irradiation of 18 keV-He⺠enhanced the growth of HenVm clusters and helium bubbles compared with 100 keV-He⺠irradiation. A possible mechanism is discussed.
