Lattice constants and anisotropic microstrain at low temperature in ²⁴²Pu–Ga alloys

Abstract

We attempted to characterize by neutron powder diffraction the monoclinic α′ phase that is known to form at low temperatures in dilute Pu–Ga alloys. This attempt was unsuccessful, as we did not detect any transformation to the α′ phase, but instead observed a line-broadening effect in the fcc δ phase. This effect is large enough to be visible in the raw diffraction data and is highly anisotropic in crystal space. The onset temperature of the line broadening (150 K) coincides with previous observations of the δ–α′ transformation. Bulk α′ was not observed. We believe that the development of α′ nuclei creates a spatially inhomogeneous stress distribution in the δ matrix, which in turn exhibits an anisotropic response, governed by its elastic anisotropy. We have analysed this observation of anisotropic microstrains in terms of the fictive microstresses required to produce them by elastic deformation. During the course of this work, we found a pseudo-isotope effect in the room temperature lattice constants of Pu–Ga alloys. The alloys made from nominal ²⁴²Pu isotope show systematically higher lattice constants than the corresponding ²³⁹Pu alloys, and the size of the effect is proportional to the Ga concentration. We believe that this effect is associated with the higher levels of radiation damage from isotopic impurities in the ²⁴²Pu alloys.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank M. A. M. Bourke, David Embury, S. S. Hecker, J. P. Hirth, T. M. Holden, H. M. Ledbetter, L. A. Morales, S. M. Sterbenz, M. F. Stevens, and T. Ungár for their help with various aspects of this research. This research is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration and the Office of Science. The work has benefited from the use of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is funded by United States Department of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36.