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Structural Analysis of a Completely Amorphous 238Pu-Doped Zircon by Neutron Diffraction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Jeffrey A. Fortner ,
Yaspal Badyal ,
David C. L. Price ,
John M. Hanchar  and
William J. Weber
Jeffrey A. Fortner
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, [email protected]
Yaspal Badyal
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439
David C. L. Price
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439
John M. Hanchar
Affiliation:
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439
William J. Weber
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352
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Abstract

The structure of a completely amorphous zircon was determined by time-of-flight neutron diffraction at Argonne's Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS). The sample of metamict zircon (ZrSiO4), initially doped to 8.85 weight percent 238pu, had been completely amorphized by alpha-recoil damage since its synthesis in 1981 at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The measured diffraction structure factor, S(Q), indicated a completely amorphous sample, with no signs of residual zircon microcrystallinity. The pair distribution function obtained indicated that the structure was that of an oxide glass, retaining the Si–O, Zr–O, and O–O bond lengths of crystalline zircon.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 540: Symposium N / Microstructural Processes in Irradiated Materials , 1998 , 349
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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