Abstract:
β-ray induced X-ray spectroscopy (BIXS) is a nondestructive measurement method for tritium in materials. It calculates the content and distribution of tritium in the surface layer (βray range) and bulk by detecting the characteristic Xray and bremsstrahlung Xray spectra induced by tritium in the material and working gas (argon). It is generally believed that the intensity of Ar(Kα) is directly proportional to the tritium content in the surface layer. However, this conclusion is based on the premise that the tritium is uniformly distributed in the surface layer without considering the nonuniform distribution. The influence of the depth profile of tritium on the Ar(Kα) intensity in BIXS spectrum was evaluated in detail. The results show that the contribution of tritium to Ar(Kα) intensity in 1/10 of the maximum range of βrays is about 50% under the condition of uniform distribution. The intensity of Ar(Kα) is several times different from that of uniform distribution under nonuniform distribution. Therefore, in the actual measurement, the results should be modified according to the specific distribution of tritium in the material surface.