ABSTRACT
In highly permeable sedimentary rock formations, U extraction by in-situ leaching techniques (ISR - In-Situ Recovery) is generally considered to have a limited environmental impact at ground level. Significantly, this method of extraction produces neither mill tailings nor waste rocks. Underground, however, the outcome for 238U daughter elements in aquifers is not well known because of their trace concentrations in the host rocks. Thus, understanding the in-situ mobility of these elements remains a challenge. Two samples collected before and after six months of ISR experiments (Dulaan Uul, Mongolia) were studied with the help of a digital autoradiography technique (DA) of alpha particles, bulk alpha spectrometry, and complementary petrographic observation methods. These techniques demonstrate that before and after leaching, the radioactivity is concentrated in altered and microporous Fe-Ti oxides. Most of the daughter elements of U remain trapped in the rock after the leaching process. DA confirms that the alpha activity of the Fe-Ti oxides remains high after uranium leaching, and the initial secular equilibrium of the 238U series for 230Th to 210Po daughter elements (including 226Ra) of the fresh rocks is maintained after leaching. While these findings should be confirmed by more systematic studies, they already identify potential mechanisms explaining why the U-daughter concentrations in leaching water are low.
Subject(s)
Autoradiography , Mongolia , UraniumABSTRACT
Ultra-thin Silicon Nanowires (SiNWs) were produced by means of an industrial inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) based process. Two families of SiNWs have been identified, namely long SiNWs (up to 2-3 micron in length) and shorter ones (~100 nm). SiNWs were found to consist of a Si core (with diameter as thin as 2 nm) and a silica shell, of which the thickness varies from 5 to 20 nm. By combining advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, we demonstrate that the growth of the long SiNWs occurred via the Oxide Assisted Growth (OAG) mechanism, while the Vapor Liquid Solid (VLS) mechanism is responsible for the growth of shorter ones. Energy filtered TEM analyses revealed, in some cases, the existence of chapelet-like Si nanocrystals embedded in an otherwise silica nanowire. Such nanostructures are believed to result from the exposure of some OAG SiNWs to high temperatures prevailing inside the reactor. Finally, the intense photoluminescence (PL) of these ICP-grown SiNWs in the 620-950 nm spectral range is a clear indication of the occurrence of quantum confinement. Such a PL emission is in accordance with the TEM results which revealed that the size of nanostructures are indeed below the exciton Bohr radius of silicon.
ABSTRACT
The mechanism driving Germanium islands nucleation and self-assembly is an important effect for opto-electronic applications, still not fully understood. We demonstrate that the new transmission electron microscopy phase imaging method provides insights on the distribution of strain and composition fields in and around the islands on rather large areas. The method consists of retrieving the phase from a focus series of plane view images. The phase image is representative of morphology, composition and strain. The results show that whatever the islands size and shape is, a maximum compressive strain is obtained at the apex of the islands compensated by a maximum tensile strain in the substrate close to the islands perimeter. The maximum compressive strain is associated to a larger Ge concentration. The distribution of tensile strain varies with the shape of the islands: for square base pyramidal "hut" islands, a maximum tensile strain is obtained at the four corners of the pyramid base and for "dome" islands, the tensile strain is less pronounced and affects almost the whole island perimeter. These results are consistent with the higher strain relaxation level of "dome" islands in comparison to those of "hut" islands.
