Depleted Uranium and Th-232 Decay Chain Daughter Isotope Identification with 4H-SiC Alpha Spectroscopy

摘要

The ability to resolve multiple isotopes in a mixed nuclide source created using electrodeposition in a molten salt has been shown for a 4H-SiC detector. Due to the limited thickness of the charge depleted region within the detector volume, high energy isotopes above approximately 6.4 MeV initial emission energy are not discernible. Additionally, the detector FWHM of 1% limits the capability to discern closely grouped isotopes such as identifying the lower specific activity Bi-212 from Rn-220. The identification of Th-230 in the electrodeposited source as an indicator of the material history suggests that 4H-SiC is capable of alpha spectroscopy enabled nuclear forensics. Supporting this conclusion is the ability to detect the deviation from natural uranium composition in the uranium source, specifically the deviation from equilibrium U-234 activity.