Category: Instrumentation

Advancing microreactor materials technology: Next stop, the Moon!

~ Matheus A. Tunes ~ Leave a comment

Miniaturizing nuclear reactors offers a robust solution for generating reliable and efficient electricity, crucial for supporting human missions beyond Earth. Such miniturization is not at all an easy task. I have been pursuing research in this area since 2015, when we designed a ~ 3x3 metre-sized small nuclear reactor core for biological shielding optimization studies. … Continue reading Advancing microreactor materials technology: Next stop, the Moon!

Using the Plasma FIB as a revolutionary tool for studying radiation effects in solids: cover page award!

~ Matheus A. Tunes ~ 4 Comments

Our recent work entitled "Rethinking radiation effects in materials science using the plasma-focused ion beam" published in the September issue of the historically prestigious Journal of Materials Science (Springer) has been awarded the cover page of the November 2022 issue (volume 57, number 41). A very nice editorial has been written by Professor C. Barry … Continue reading Using the Plasma FIB as a revolutionary tool for studying radiation effects in solids: cover page award!

Detecting Li within electron microscopes is a deep challenge…

~ Matheus A. Tunes ~ Leave a comment

Low-energy characteristic X-rays (physicists like the term 'soft X-rays' =]...) are problematic to detect and quantify using existing Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy techniques. For example, within Mg-Li alloys, proper detection of Li remains a significant challenge. Very interesting work on instrumentation of EDX coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has now addressed to this … Continue reading Detecting Li within electron microscopes is a deep challenge…