Preparation and Characterization of Tritium Targets

The Isotope Research Materials Laboratory (IRML) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) prepares tritium targets that are used to produce an intense beam of 14.5 MeV neutrons by the 31H(21H,10n)42He reaction. The intense beams of 14.5 MeV neutrons are used in programs involving cancer research, materials evaluation, and materials identification. The tritium targets required by researchers have ranged in size from 1-cm diam to 50-cm diam and have contained from 3.7 × 104 MBq to 2.2 × 108 MBq of tritium. Important parameters in the performance of tritium targets, when bombarded with deuterons, include target lifetime and neutron output. These parameters are heavily dependent on the host metal layer used to form the tritide compound and the gas-to-metal loading of the host material. Fabrication procedures used in preparing titanium tritide targets with subsequent gas-to-metal determinations are described.