Improved electrodeposited actinide layers

Electrodeposition is a relatively simple and high-yielding method for producing actinide layers for nuclear targets. A new design of the cell has been used to deposit U, Pu, Np and Am onto metallic backings from isopropanol and onto carbon-coated polyimide films from isobutanol. The current density was 1–3 mA/cm2. Deposition yields, determined by low geometry alpha-particle counting, were about 65% for Pu and about 90% for other elements. The same technique was used to investigate thickness homogeneity of 239Pu deposits, and it was observed that targets with mean thickness up to about 100 μg/cm2 were thicker in the centre than at the edge, but for targets above 100 μg/cm2, this profile was reversed. Modifications to the electrode shape were made in an attempt to improve the thickness uniformity.