Epitaxial UN and \(\alpha\)-U\(_2\)N\(_3\) Thin Films

Single crystal epitaxial thin films of UN and U\(_2\)N\(_3\) have been grown for the first time by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. These films provide ideal samples for fundamental research into the potential accident tolerant fuel, UN, and U\(_2\)N\(_3\), its intermediate oxidation product. Films...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2018-03
Main Authors: Bright, E Lawrence, Rennie, S, Cattelan, M, Fox, N A, Goddard, D T, Springell, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Defects
Diffraction
Lattice parameters
Magnetron sputtering
Oxidation
Photoelectrons
Single crystals
Thin films
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
X-ray diffraction
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Summary:Single crystal epitaxial thin films of UN and U\(_2\)N\(_3\) have been grown for the first time by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. These films provide ideal samples for fundamental research into the potential accident tolerant fuel, UN, and U\(_2\)N\(_3\), its intermediate oxidation product. Films were characterised using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), with XRD analysis showing both thin films to be [001] oriented and composed of a single domain. The specular lattice parameters of the UN and U\(_2\)N\(_3\) films were found to be 4.895\,\AA{} and 10.72\,\AA{}, respectively, with the UN film having a miscut of 2.6\,\(^\circ\). XPS showed significant differences in the N-1s peak between the two films, with area analysis showing both films to be stoichiometric.
ISSN:2331-8422