Uranium Oxide as a Highly Reflective Coating from 100-400 eV
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, N-283 ESC, Provo, UT 84602 (United States)
We present the measured reflectances (Beamline 6.3.2, ALS at LBNL) of naturally oxidized uranium and naturally oxidized nickel thin films from 100-460 eV (2.7 to 11.6 nm) at 5 and 15 degrees grazing incidence. These show that uranium, as UO2, can fulfill its promise as the highest known single surface reflector for this portion of the soft x-ray region, being nearly twice as reflective as nickel in the 124-250 eV (5-10 nm) region. This is due to its large index of refraction coupled with low absorption. Nickel is commonly used in soft x-ray applications in astronomy and synchrotrons. (Its reflectance at 10 deg. exceeds that of Au and Ir for most of this range.) We prepared uranium and nickel thin films via DC-magnetron sputtering of a depleted U target and resistive heating evaporation respectively. Ambient oxidation quickly brought the U sample to UO2 (total thickness about 30 nm). The nickel sample (50 nm) also acquired a thin native oxide coating (<2nm). Though the density of U in UO2 is only half of the metal, its reflectance is high and it is relatively stable against further changes.
- OSTI ID:
- 20653072
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 705, Issue 1; Conference: 8. international conference on synchrotron radiation instrumentation, San Francisco, CA (United States), 25-29 Aug 2003; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1757916; (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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