Nano-focused Bremstrahlung Isochromat Spectroscopy (nBIS) Determination of the Unoccupied Electronic Structure of Pu

Résumé du livre

While chemically toxic and highly radioactive, Pu may be the most scientifically interesting element in the periodic table. It's properties include the following: six different phases, close to each other in energy and sensitive to variations of temperature, pressure and chemistry; the face-centered-cubic phase (delta) is the least dense; Pu expands when it solidifies from the melt; and it is clearly the nexus of the actinide binary phase diagrams of the actinides. In a sense, it is the boundary between the light (ostensibly delocalized 5f electrons) and heavy (ostensibly localized or correlated 5f electrons) actinide elements, but this is an over-simplification. The localized atomic 5f states are naturally correlated, but important regimes of correlated electron states are conceivable as extended states on the delocalized side of the possible Mott transition between conductive and insulating behavior. The proximity to this crossover may be the driving force behind all these exotic properties. Pu remains of immense scientific and technological importance and the advancement to a firm, scientific understanding of the electronic structure of Pu and its compounds, mixtures, alloys and solutions is a crucial issue. Moreover, while there are a number of ongoing experimental efforts directed at determining the occupied (valence band, below the Fermi Energy) electronic structure of Pu, there is essential no experimental data on the unoccupied (conduction band, above the Fermi Energy) electronic structure of Pu. Our objective is to determine the conduction band (unoccupied) electronic structure of Pu and other actinides (and possibly rare earths as well), in a phase specific fashion and emphasizing bulk contributions. This is world-class science directed at issue that is central to LLNL and DOE: Pu structure property relationships.