TRACE DETERMINATION OF CARBON, SODIUM, MAGNESIUM AND ALUMINUM IN METALS AND CERAMIC MATERIALS BY LOW-ENERGY DEUTERON ACTIVATION-ANALYSIS

A sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of carbon, sodiu m, magnesium and aluminum based on (d,n) and (d,p) reactions is develo ped. The technique is non-destructive and is feasible only at low ener gies(< 3 MeV). Metals (NIST copper, tungsten) and ceramic pellets (zin c oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, silicon nitride) were analyzed using this technique. With 2 MeV deuterons and for a current of 1.5 m u A, the experimentally determined detection limits are the lowest in tungsten matrix; they are 0.05 mu g/g for Na, 0.3 mu g/g for Mg and 0. 1 mu g/g for Al. The corresponding values in tantalum oxide are 0.3 mu g/g for Na, 2.5 mu g/g for Mg and 1.8 mu g/g for Al. The detection li mit for C in this ceramic is 2 mu g/g. Highly sensitive determination of Na is possible at low energies using this technique.