Development of a multi-layer diffusion couple to study fission product transport in β-SiC

A multi-layer diffusion couple was designed to study fission product diffusion behavior while avoiding the pitfalls of direct ion implantation. Thin films of highly anisotropic pyrolytic carbon (PyC) were deposited onto CVD β-SiC substrates. The PyC films were subsequently implanted with 400 keV silver, cesium, strontium, europium, or iodine at 22 °C to a dose of 1016 cm−2, such that the implanted species resided wholly within the PyC layer. The samples were then coated with 50 nm of SiC via plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) to retain the implanted species during post-deposition annealing treatments. The design allows for high spatial resolution tracking of the implanted specie using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Annealing at 1100 °C for 10 h resulted in retention of 100% of implanted cesium, strontium, europium and iodine, and 70% of silver. This diffusion couple design provides the opportunity to determine diffusion coefficients of FPs in PyC and SiC and the role of the PyC/SiC interface in FP transport.