The Debye Temperature of a Single Crystal Thorium–Uranium Dioxide Alloy

Abstract

The effective Debye temperature () of the surface of a single crystal of U0.71Th0.79O2 alloy prepared by hydrothermal synthesis is obtained from temperature‐dependent X‐ray photoemission in the temperature range of 300–623 K. The effective average Debye temperature is determined to be 217 ± 24 K. X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy confirms the crystal's composition as U0.71Th0.79O2. Photoemission spectroscopy reveals both thorium and uranium 4f states, which includes uranium and thorium in 4+ oxidation states. The Debye temperature of the single crystal U0.71Th0.79O2 alloy, as measured via photoemission, is lower than urania or thoria literature values, indicating either higher defect scattering or the presence of added vibrational modes within the alloyed sample.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Nov 13, 2018
Source ID
10.1002/pssr.201800436

Entities

People

  • Christina Dugan
  • Christopher V. Young
  • Eric Hunt
  • James C. Petrosky
  • James Mann&
  • John W. Mcclory
  • Mitchell Schneider
  • Rodney Carmona

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center
  • Wright State University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • Quantum Chemistry