Difference between revisions of "LB Thesis Theory Section"
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==General PAA Method== | ==General PAA Method== | ||
| + | Photon activation analysis is a method used to analyze the isotopic composition of a sample by exploiting the characteristic decays of certain radioactive isotopes. The sample is activated using a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) which accelerates electrons that eventually hit an aluminum radiator that produces Bremsstrahlung radiation when the electrons slow down within the radiator. These Bremsstrahlung photons are then able to knock out nucleons from within the target nuclei in the sample of interest. After the nucleons have been removed from the nucleus, the nucleus becomes unstable and starts to undergo gamma decay. Nuclear gamma decay lines are characteristic to each isotope which can be used as a compositional fingerprint, but one must prove that energy lines of interest are indeed the assumed isotope. | ||
==Neutron Knockout of Selenium== | ==Neutron Knockout of Selenium== | ||
Revision as of 17:34, 11 January 2018
PAA Theory
General PAA Method
Photon activation analysis is a method used to analyze the isotopic composition of a sample by exploiting the characteristic decays of certain radioactive isotopes. The sample is activated using a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) which accelerates electrons that eventually hit an aluminum radiator that produces Bremsstrahlung radiation when the electrons slow down within the radiator. These Bremsstrahlung photons are then able to knock out nucleons from within the target nuclei in the sample of interest. After the nucleons have been removed from the nucleus, the nucleus becomes unstable and starts to undergo gamma decay. Nuclear gamma decay lines are characteristic to each isotope which can be used as a compositional fingerprint, but one must prove that energy lines of interest are indeed the assumed isotope.