On the location and motion of rare gas atoms in metals

Abstract

Using potentials of about 40 kV, rare gas ions were accelerated into metal films and foils. In spite of the fact that as much as 2 at % argon was loaded into the metal lattice, little or no X-ray effect due to lattice distortion was observed. This result suggests that rare gas atoms coming to rest in a metal lattice capture vacancies. When rare gas loaded metal foils are heated in a vacuum system connected to a mass spectrometer, the evolution of the gas can be measured. The evolution of argon from foils of silver, gold, aluminum, and lead and krypton from uranium has been studied with interesting variations from metal to metal. Exploratory experiments with other rare gases indicate similar results. The combination of the ion bombardment and mass spectrometer techniques appears very promising for the study of the behaviour of rare gases in crystals.