Preparation and characterisation of 239Pu and 240Pu thin films as sources for 235mU and 236U recoil ions
Abstract Recoil-ion sources of 239 Pu and 240 Pu, providing recoiling alpha-decay daughters 235 m U and 236 U, were prepared by molecular plating. Comprehensive radiographic, microscopic and spectroscopic characterisation revealed thickness-dependent morphology, homogeneity, and activity distributions. Since neither recoil ion can be readily detected, 239 Pu sources spiked with 228 Th were also prepared to provide readily detectable 224 Ra daughter ions. Geant4 simulations, validated against 224 Ra surrogate measurements, reproduce recoil escape efficiencies within ~ 3%. 239 Pu and 240 Pu recoil-ion sources with thicknesses of ~ 40–55 nm produce the highest recoil rate per unit area and highest layer quality across the 24–108 nm thickness range.
Authors
- Mikko Kivekäs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-601X)
- Jaakko Julin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4376-891X)
- Mikko Laitinen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9031-8551)
- Jessica Warbinek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2385-5584)
- A. Raggio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5365-1494)
- M. Block (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9282-8347)
- Ch. E. Düllmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1194-0423)
- Dennis Renisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8561-0016)
- Lauren E. Reed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8886-8431)
- Timo Sajavaara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2235-7441)
- I. D. Moore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0934-8727)
- C. Mokry
- J. Runke
- Jean Velten
- Clemens Zirbes
- Andrea T. Loria Basto
Institutions
- GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Helmholtz Institute Mainz (DE)
- University of Jyväskylä (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
- Published
- 2026-07-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-026-11025-5
- Primary Topic
- Radioactive contamination and transfer
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission
- Horizon 2020