TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fernandez, A.
AU  - Hufschmidt, D.
AU  - Colaux, J. L.
AU  - Valiente-Dobon, J. J.
AU  - Godinho, V.
AU  - Jimenez de Haro, M. C.
AU  - Feria, D.
AU  - Gadea, A.
AU  - Lucas, S.
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020//
TI  - Low gas consumption fabrication of He-3 solid targets for nuclear reactions
T2  - Mater. Des.
JO  - Materials & Design
SP  - 108337
EP  - 10pp
VL  - 186
PB  - Elsevier Sci Ltd
KW  - He-3 solid targets
KW  - Quasistatic magnetron sputtering
KW  - Low gas consumption
KW  - Nuclear reactions
KW  - Inverse kinematics
KW  - Target stability
AB  - Nanoporous solids that stabilize trapped gas nanobubbles open new possibilities to fabricate solid targets for nuclear reactions. A methodology is described based on the magnetron sputtering (MS) technique operated under quasistatic flux conditions to produce such nanocomposites films with He-3 contents of up to 16 at.% in an amorphous-silicon matrix. In addition to the characteristic low pressure (3-6 Pa) needed for the gas discharge, the method ensures almost complete reduction of the process gas flow during film fabrication. The method could produce similar materials to those obtained under classical dynamic flux conditions for MS. The drastic reduction (>99.5%) of the gas consumption is fundamental for the fabrication of targets with scarce and expensive gases. Si:He-3 and W:He-3 targets are presented together with their microstructural (scanning and transmission electron microscopy, SEM and TEM respectively) and compositional (Ion Beam Analysis, IBA) characterization. The He-3 content achieved was over 1 x 10(18) at/cm(2) for film thicknesses between 1.5 and 3 μm for both Si and W matrices. First experiments to probe the stability of the targets for nuclear reaction studies in inverse kinematics configurations are presented.
SN  - 0264-1275
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2019.108337
DO  - 10.1016/j.matdes.2019.108337
LA  - English
N1  - WOS:000505221700053
ID  - Fernandez_etal2020
ER  -