A neutron is an uncharged particle with the same spin as an electron and with mass slightly greater than a proton mass. In free space it decays into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino and has a half-life of about 12–13 minutes, which is so large compared with lifetimes of interactions with nuclei that the particle disappears predominantly by such interactions.
Neutron beams may be produced in a variety of ways. A modern method is to extract a high-intensity beam from a nuclear reactor. A simpler but expensive device is one that employs a mixture of radium and beryllium. The reaction of the alpha (α) particles emitted by the radium with beryllium nuclei produces a copious output of neutrons. The neutron is a major nuclear constituent and is responsible for nuclear binding. A free neutron interacts with nuclei in a variety of ways, depending on its velocity and the nature of the target. Ordinary interactions include scattering (elastic and inelastic), absorption, and capture by nuclei to produce new elements. Unlike the electron, a neutron loses energy significantly through elastic collisions, because its mass is comparable to masses of atoms of low atomic number. (According to the laws of mechanics, in elastic collision, on the average, an object loses half its energy to another object of equal mass.)
The average fraction of energy transferred from a neutron per collision, symbolized by (Δ E/E)av, is twice the atomic mass number (A) of the struck atom divided by the square of the mass number plus one; i.e.,
Thus, only 18, 25, 42, 90, and 114 collisions are required to thermalize (reduce the energy of motion to that of the surrounding atoms) a fast neutron in hydrogen, deuterium, helium, beryllium, and carbon, respectively.
Pure absorption does not result in a new element, even though it is sometimes accompanied by emission of gamma rays. In certain cases of capture, radioactivity follows, often with production of beta (β) particles. In another class of interaction, a heavy charged particle is ejected (such as an α-particle or proton); the resultant nucleus is often but not always radioactive. As an example, the reaction of neutrons on boron to produce alpha particles provides the basis for alpha-particle welding. The principle of such welding, invented by the Soviet chemist V.I. Goldansky, is to deposit a thin layer of a boron (or lithium) compound in the interface between diverse materials, which is thereafter irradiated with neutrons. The high-energy α-particles produced from the nuclear reaction weld the materials together.
Extraordinary interactions of the neutron are represented by diffraction, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion. Diffraction, exhibited by low-energy neutrons (approximately equal to or less than 0.05 eV), demonstrates their wave nature and is consistent with de Broglie’s hypothesis of the wave character of matter. Neutron diffraction complements X-ray technique in locating the positions of atoms in molecules and crystals, especially atoms of low atomic number such as hydrogen. Fission is the breakup of a heavy nucleus (either spontaneously or under the impact, for example, of a neutron) into two smaller ones with liberation of energy and neutrons. Spontaneous-fission rates and cross sections of fission induced by agencies other than the neutron are so small that in most applications only neutron-induced fission is important. Also, the neutron-induced-fission cross section depends on the particular isotope (species of an element with the same atomic number and similar chemical behaviour but different atomic mass) involved and the neutron energy. The fission process itself generates fast neutrons, which, when suitably slowed down by elastic scattering (a process called moderation), are again ready to induce more fission. The ratio of neutrons produced to neutrons absorbed is called the reproduction factor. When that factor exceeds unity, a chain reaction may be started, which is the basis of nuclear-power reactors and other fission devices. The chain is terminated by a combination of adventitious absorption, leakage, and other reactions that do not regenerate a neutron. At the power level at which a reactor operates, the loss rate always balances the generation rate through fission. The Hungarian-born American physicist Eugene P. Wigner, in the course of consideration of the possible effects of fast neutrons, suggested in 1942 that the process of energy transfer by collision from neutron to atom might result in important physical and chemical changes. The phenomenon, known as the Wigner effect and sometimes as a “knock on” process, was actually discovered in 1943 by the American chemists Milton Burton and T.J. Neubert and found to have profound influences on graphite and other materials.
Secondary effects of radiation
Purely physical effects
With respect to radiation effects the terms primary and secondary are used in a relative sense; the usage depends on the situation under study. Thus, ionization and excitation may be considered as primary with respect to some physical and chemical effects. For other chemical effects, production of free radicals (molecular fragments) may be considered as primary even though that process requires a much longer time for its accomplishment. Still longer times are involved in biologic processes, in which the end product of an earlier chemical reaction may be considered as primary.
Generally, an atomic solid (a material consisting of only one atomic species) exhibits little or no permanent chemical change upon irradiation. Important among the atomic solids are such materials as metals and graphite. Production of molecular carbon (C2) or bigger clusters upon irradiation of carbon and graphite may, in a certain marginal sense, be considered a chemical change. Ionization of a condensed atomic medium followed by recombination regenerates the same atom, but its locale may be affected. For a molecular medium the situation is quite different. Excited electronic states are often dissociative for a molecule and yield chemically reactive radicals. Positive ions, similarly produced, can experience a variety of reactions even before neutralization occurs. Such an ion may fragment all by itself, or it may react with a neutral molecule in what is called an ion–molecule reaction. In either case new chemical species are created. These transformed ions and radicals, as well as the electrons, parent ions, and excited states, are capable of reacting with themselves and with molecules of the medium, as well as with a solute (a dissolved substance) that may be present in homogeneous distribution. The end products of the reactions can be, on the one hand, new stable compounds or, on the other, regenerated molecules of the original species, as in the case of water irradiation.
A variety of purely physical effects have been observed in different substances under irradiation. They may be broadly classified as: (1) structural change in the crystal, sometimes accompanied by change in the structural dimensions, (2) change in static mechanical properties, such as elasticity and hardness, (3) change in dynamic mechanical properties, such as internal friction and strain, and (4) changes in transport properties, such as heat conductivity and electrical resistivity. Such changes are considered below in Tertiary effects of radiation on materials.
Molecular activation
A molecule is considered activated when it absorbs energy by interaction with radiation. In this energy-rich state it may undergo a variety of unusual chemical reactions that are normally not available to it in thermal equilibrium. Of special importance is electronic activation—i.e., production of an electronically excited state of the molecule (see ). This state can be reached (1) by direct excitation by photon absorption, (2) by impact of charged particles, either directly or indirectly through charge neutralization, or by excitation transfer from excited positive ions, and (3) by charge transfer in collision with (relatively) slow incident positive ions. Among the variety of ensuing processes is light emission, or luminescence.
Luminescence
The language of luminescence is clouded by history. Originally, fast luminescence was called fluorescence and slow (i.e., delayed or protracted) luminescence was called phosphorescence. Present scientific practice is to define the terms on the basis of so-called quantum-mechanical selection rules: fluorescence is an allowed transition (e.g., singlet–singlet) and occurs in a typical time of about 10-9 second; phosphorescence is a forbidden transition (e.g., triplet–singlet) and may require 10-6 second or longer.
In the gas phase (gaseous state), an excited molecule either luminesces, undergoes a process called internal conversion, or undergoes dissociation. Luminescence is the rule for anthracene, whereas for water it is dissociation into hydrogen (H) and hydroxide (OH). As a rule, luminescence processes occur by default—that is to say, only if dissociation is energetically impossible or involves a complicated energy-transfer process or if internal conversion to a nonluminescing state is inefficient.
Fluorescence usually takes place from the lowest electronically excited state (see ); if higher states are excited they either dissociate or energetically cascade to the lowest excited state by one of several possible internal transition mechanisms before emission occurs. (A notable exception to this rule is afforded by azulene.)
A similar situation exists for triplet excited molecules. The rate of emission, however, is even slower, for in this case it is forbidden by selection rules. If the triplet excitation energy is insufficient for molecular-bond breakage (dissociation), the molecule may remain in a metastable state (one of apparent, not real, stability) for a long time until it either phosphoresces, undergoes internal conversion, or combines with other triplets. Such a combination produces a highly excited state, which has enough energy for dissociation. Some of the latter excited states are formed as singlets capable of light emission. This discussion relates to the more common, general features. There are also special cases, not discussed, that do not follow the general pattern.
Ionization phenomena
Ionization (see ) is that extreme form of excitation in which an electron is ejected, leaving behind a positive molecular ion. The minimum energy required for this process is called the ionization potential (IP). The actual energetics are described by the Franck–Condon principle, which simply recognizes that, during the extremely short time of an electronic transition, the nuclear configuration of a molecule experiences no significant change. As a consequence of this principle, in an optical process the ion is almost invariably formed in some kind of excited state by input of energy greater than the IP. Also, because of Franck–Condon restrictions, excitation of an inner electron may result in initial production of nonionized, superexcited molecules (suggested by R.L. Platzman, an American physicist) with energy exceeding the ionization potential. A superexcited molecule is short-lived and usually converts rapidly (in a time as short as 10-14 second) either to neutral products or to an ion plus a free electron with marked excess energy. The ion itself may fragment to give other species with excess kinetic or internal vibrational and rotational energy.
Excitation states
All the various kinds of excitation that occur in the gas phase may also take place in the condensed states of matter (liquid, glass, or solid), but their relative contributions may be affected. In addition, special activated states are produced for which there is no analogue in the gaseous state. They owe their existence to the collective behaviour of atoms and molecules in close proximity. The more important of them are the exciton state, the polaron state, the charge-transfer (or charge-separated) state, and the plasmon state.
The exciton state is a cooperative state of molecules in which the excitation energy belongs simultaneously to all.
In a polaron state an electron belongs to the association of molecules, but its motion is relatively slow so that it carries with it its own polarization field, which is described as “a cloud of virtual phonons.” A solvated electron (an electron associated with a particular molecule or group of molecules) is an example of this.
The charge-transfer state is an excited state. In a certain sense, electronic excitation involves motion of an electron from a lower orbit to a higher one. Quantum mechanics notes that the electron does not revolve around an atomic nucleus in a precise classical orbit but rather that it occupies an orbital in which it is to be found with maximum probability in the location of the classical orbit. When a molecule in a condensed system is excited, the resulting electronic orbital may overlay one or more adjacent molecules, and, in that sense, the electron belongs to the group because its excitation level does not correspond to the electronic properties of a single, isolated molecule.
The plasmon state is a highly delocalized state formed collectively through Coulombian (electrostatic) interaction of weakly bound electrons. Energy losses, approximating 10–20 eV in most materials, resulting from formation of plasmon states are seen in the impact of electrons of a few tens of kilovolts energy on thin films. Both metals and nonmetals, including plastics, show plasma energy losses. The lost energy may reappear in the form of ultraviolet or visible radiation (Ferrell radiation, 1960); no chemical effect is known to have occurred from such losses.
