High-Sensitivity Detection of Oxygen Impurities in Glow Discharge Polymers through Non-Rutherford Resonance Backscattering

Glow discharge polymers (GDP) are critical ablator materials for facilitating central ignition through implosions in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The presence of oxygen impurities within GDP targets has been identified as a factor in degrading the implosion performance. This effect may be technologically compensated for if the distribution of oxygen content within the target can be accurately assessed; however, this remains challenging. Here, we present the utilization of non-Rutherford resonant backscattering techniques for the high-sensitivity detection of oxygen impurities in GDP thin films. The non-Rutherford resonances significantly enhance the detection sensitivity for oxygen by a factor of 10 compared to conventional Rutherford backscattering methods. The oxygen impurities are found to predominantly concentrate at the surface of GDP samples, with a concentration exceeding 3 atomic percent (at.%). The depth profiling capability is extended to about 1.27 μm, which doubles that of conventional methods. Importantly, this study also addresses the challenges of radiation damage during ion beam analysis, highlighting the need for compensation factors to ensure accurate atomic concentration measurements. The findings provide valuable insights into impurity distributions in GDP materials, which can aid the precise control and optimization of experimental parameters for future ICF experiments. Additionally, these advancements offer the potential for various emerging applications, including photocatalysis, elemental analysis of lunar soil, and trace oxygen research in optoelectronic semiconductors.