Soft X-ray scanning transmission spectromicroscopy of actinide materials

NUCL 132

D. K. Shuh, dkshuh@lbl.gov1, Tolek Tyliszczak1, Peter S. Nico, psnico@lbl.gov1, and Rainer Daehn, rainer.daehn@psi.ch2. (1) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, (2) Laboratory for Waste Management, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
The soft x-ray scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) end station at the Advanced Light Source Molecular Environmental Science (ALS-MES) Beamline 11.0.2 has been utilized to investigate actinide materials, actinide particulates, organic ligands, and actinide complexes. The ALS-MES STXM utilizes near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) to collect spectroscopic information and to record images, both with a spatial resolution of 30 nm. NEXAFS at the actinide 4d edges is utilized to determine oxidation states. An important characteristic is the ability to interrogate light element constituents of actinide materials by NEXAFS at the K-edges of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and other light elements. Recent results from investigations of plutonium complexation and the determination of the electronic structure in fundamental solid state materials will be presented. These studies highlight the capabilities and potential future opportunities for fundamental and analytical soft x-ray spectromicroscopy investigations of actinides, as well as the limitations.