A Microchemical Method for the Preparation of Sources of Actinium and Europium for β-Ray Spectroscopy

Abstract

THE preparation of adequate sources is one of the most critical problems in β-ray spectroscopy. In general, chemical means alone have not proved sufficient. Crystal formation and the tendency for a non-uniform distribution of the source material make the effective thickness of the source considerable, even in cases where the amount of material is small enough to make the average thickness negligible. In addition, it is often difficult to concentrate the activity on a sufficiently small area of the supporting foil. For these reasons, use has been made of evaporation in vacuo, of electrolysis, and of isotope separators.