https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202532701011
Multilayered targets for superheavy element production
1 PSI Center for Nuclear Engineering and Sciences, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
2 Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
3 PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
4 PSI Center for Life Sciences, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
* Corresponding author: noemi.cerboni@psi.ch
Published online: 26 June 2025
The production of superheavy elements requires targets capable of withstanding prolonged, high-intensity heavy ion-beam bombardment. Current methods, such as molecular plating, produce actinoid films with insufficient stability under these conditions. To address this, a thermally superior solid solution between actinoids and Pd has been synthesized using the coupled reduction process and successfully tested. To further improve said technique, we aimed at confining Tb (i.e., a surrogate for late actinoid elements) within a thin Pd layer with a thickness of a typical target layer suitable for superheavy element synthesis. The thin Pd film was initially deposited onto a support composed of a Ni backing foil and a TiN layer intended to block the diffusion of Tb and Pd into the underlying Ni during coupled reduction. The thermal stability of the obtained multilayered samples and the diffusion behavior of Tb were studied by cross-sectional analysis via scanning electron microscopy coupled with focused ion beam milling and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2025
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
