METHOD OF DETERMINING CONTENT AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF BISMUTH Russian patent published in 1994 - IPC

FIELD: non-destructive inspection of structural materials. SUBSTANCE: method involves the steps of: irradiating a specimen to be tested by deuterium neuclei beam accelerated up to 12-30 MeV, synthesizing polonium alpha active neuclei in reaction ²0983

Bi+ 21D _→²1084P_o+n with a half-life period of 133 days, deriving information on a bismuth content and spatial distribution in specimens from a density and distribution of alpha particle tracks in detectors. Polonium neuclei can be synthesized under the action of deutron beam only from bismuth neuclei present in the specimens. Thus, an effect-background ratio is determined both by their formation cross-section and integral deutron beam onto the specimen and background number of alpha-particle tracks in the detector and can exceed a value of 10⁶. EFFECT: enhanced efficiency and reliability.