Method for determining the tritium concentration using the effects of dissociation of molecular beams of hydrogen isotopes on thin carbon films

Abstract

Physical foundations of a new method for mass-spectrometric determination of tritium concentration in hydrogen-containing media, which is based on the effect of dissociation of molecular ions of hydrogen isotopes passing through thin carbon films, are formulated. The effects accompanying the interaction of particles with a solid (angular scattering, change in the charge state, energy losses in protons, deuterons, and tritons) are analyzed. The corresponding theoretical and experimental data indicate that the proposed technology can be implemented in practice for a comparatively low particle energy of ∼10 keV/nucleus.