Britholite, ideally Ca4−xREE6+x(SiO4)6O2 (REE=rare earth elements), has the hexagonal structure of apatite, a candidate waste form for actinides. Two synthetic britholites: Ca3.05Ce2.38Fe0.25Gd5.37Si4.88O26 (N56 andCa3.78La0.95Ce1.45Zr0.78Fe0.14Nd2.15Eu0.50Si6.02O26 (N88) (P63; Z=1) were irradiated with 1.0 MeV Kr2+ and 1.5 MeV Xe+ over the temperature range of 50–973 K. The process of ion irradiation-induced amorphization, including the effects of the target mass and the ion mass, and the recrystallization of amorphous domains due to ionizing irradiation were investigated. The link provided leads to the abstract only.The full article may be purchased from Elsevier.

Citation: Utsunomiya, S.,Yudintsev, S., Wang, L.M., Ewing, R.C. "Ion-Beam and Electron-Beam Irradiation of Synthetic Britholite." Journal of Nuclear Materials. 322(2-3) November 2003: 180-188.

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