SYNTHESIS AND STUDY OF BINARY COMPOUNDS OF ACTINIDES AND LANTHANIDES - XXII - INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS OF CURIUM AND SILICON

Two microspecimens of alloys prepared from curium-244 and silicon by h igh-tempersature deposition of the vapor of metallic curium on the pla ne silicon support were studied. Four intermetallic compounds were fou nd: orthorhombic CmSi, hexagonal Cm2Si3, and tetragonal CmSi2 and CmSi 1.88 Under alpha-radiation of Cm-244 the crystal lattices of these com pounds became amorphous in 4-8 days, The compounds with a simple cubic crystal lattice (a = 9.497 Angstrom in the initial state) belonging p robably to SiO2 were also registered,During a half-year exposure this crystal lattice is expanded by 0.8%.