Porous fission fragment tracks in fluorapatite

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.82.144109· OSTI ID:21421452

Weixing, Li; Ewing, Rodney C ^[1]; Lumin, Wang ^[1]; Kai, Sun ^[1]; Lang, Maik ^[2]; Trautmann, Christina ^[3]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2104 (United States)
2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1005 (United States)
3. GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany)

Fission tracks caused by the spontaneous fission of {sup 238}U in minerals, as revealed by chemical etching, are extensively used to determine the age and thermal history of Earth's crust. Details of the structure and annealing of tracks at the atomic scale have remained elusive, as the original track is destroyed during chemical etching. By combining transmission electron microscopy with in situ heating, we demonstrate that fission tracks in fluorapatite are actually porous tubes, instead of having an amorphous core, as generally assumed. Direct observation shows thermally induced track fragmentation in fluoapatite, in clear contrast to the amorphous tracks in zircon, which gradually ''fade'' without fragmentation. Rayleigh instability and the thermal emission of vacancies control the annealing of porous fission tracks in fluorapatite.

• OSTI ID: 21421452
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 14 Vol. 82; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANNEALING
APATITES
DECAY
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EMISSION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FISSION
FISSION FRAGMENTS
FISSION TRACKS
FLUORESCENCE
HEAT TREATMENTS
HEATING
HEAVY NUCLEI
INSTABILITY
ISOTOPES
LUMINESCENCE
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
MINERALS
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEAR FRAGMENTS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
PARTICLE TRACKS
PHOSPHATE MINERALS
PHOTON EMISSION
POROUS MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
SILICATE MINERALS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZIRCON