Abstract
Thin films of uranium-containing materials are used as energy-releasing elements in nuclear-pumped lasers. They serve as a source of fission products which ionize and excite the gaseous medium. In this pumping method, a uranium layer is sputtered by its own fission products. This is one of the factors that limit the service life of energy-releasing elements. The products of sputtering can enter the gas and affect the optical and kinetic properties of laser media. In the present work, calculations are performed of the electrodynamic cross-sections for photoabsorption of optical radiation by nanoparticles of metallic uranium and its oxides. The main space-time relaxation parameters are determined. The effect of sputtered uranium-containing nanoparticles on the absorption of optical radiation in a laser element is evaluated.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I. A. Baranov, Yu. V. Martynenko, S. O. Tsepelevich, and Yu. N. Yavlinskii, “Inelastic sputtering of solids by ions,” Usp. Fiz. Nauk, 156, No. 3, 477–511 (1988).
G. V. Vlokh, A. A. Siyanskii, G. É. Filippov, et al., “Film energy releasing elements for nuclear pumped lasers,” in: 2nd International Conference on the Physics of Nuclear Excited Plasma and Problems of Nuclear Pumped Lasers, Arzamas (1995), Vol. 2, pp. 47–54.
N. Matsunami, M. Sakata, A. Iwase, et al., “Sputtering of nanocrystalline gold by high-energy heavy ions,” J. Nucl. Mater., 302, No. 2–3, 206–210 (2002).
M. Rogers, “Mass transport and grain growth induced by fission fragments in thin films of uranium dioxide,” ibid., 16, 298–305 (1965).
M. Rogers and J. Adam, “Ejection of atoms from uranium by fission products,” ibid., 6, 182–1889 (1962).
G. V. Vlokh, A. M. Korochkin, N. G. Krylov, et al., “Effect of preliminary heat treatment of uranium layers on the efficiency of their sputtering by fission fragments,” in: Departmental Conference on the Physics of Nuclear Excited Plasma and Problems of Nuclear Pumped Lasers, Obninsk (1993), Vol. 3, pp. 91–94.
K. Uda, Y. Matsushita, and S. Takasu, “Annealing behavior of evaporated Mo films — direct observations by SEM,” J. Appl. Phys., 51, No. 2, 1039–1042 (1980).
Sputtering by Bombardment with Particles, edited by R. Berish and K. Vittmak, [Russian translation], Mir, Moscow (1998), No. 3.
B. M. Smirnov, Physics of Weakly Ionized Gas. In Problems with Solutions, Nauka, Moscow (1985).
V. Ya. Rudyak and S. L. Krasnolutskii, “Kinetic description of the diffusion of nanoparticles in a rarified gas,” Dokl. Ross. Akad. Nauk. Ser. Fiz., 381, No. 5, 623–625 (2001).
K. Boren and D. Hufman, Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles [Russian translation], Mir, Moscow (1986).
A. Faldt and P. Nilsson, “Optical properties of uranium in the range 0.6–25 eV,” J. Phys. F: Metal Phys., 10, 2573–2580 (1980).
J. Schoenes, “Optical properties and electronic structure of UO2,” J. Appl. Phys., 49, No. 3, 1463–1465 (1978).
S. Lunt, Determining the Indices of Refraction of Reactively Sputtered Uranium Dioxide Thin Films from 46 to 584 Å, Brigham Young University, US (2002).
T. Griffiths, H. Hubbard, G. Allen, and P. Tempest, “A new method for the determination of x in UO2+x : optical absorption spectroscopy measurements,” J. Nucl. Matter, 151, No. 3, 313–317 (1988).
L. L. Kazakov, N. S. Kosulin, and V. N. Chervatyuk, “Results of lifetime tests of energy releasing elements for nuclear pumped lasers,” in: Departmental Conference on the Physics of Nuclear Excited Plasma and Problems of Nuclear Pumped Lasers, Obninsk (1993), Vol. 3, pp. 41–45.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
__________
Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 103, No. 2, pp. 98–102, August, 2007.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meshakin, V.I., Budnik, A.P. Absorption of optical radiation by nanoclusters of sputtered metallic uranium and its oxides. At Energy 103, 605–610 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-007-0096-x
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-007-0096-x