Preparation of enriched Boron (¹¹B, ¹⁰B) targets using sedimentation method on polymer backing

Isotopically enriched boron targets of a typical thickness 1.8 mg/cm(2 )were fabricated on polymer (polypropylene and Mylar) backing using the sedimentation method. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a binder in this target preparation. It was observed that without including an additional PVA layer, boron spills off during ion beam exposure. Adding a PVA layer may produce defects in target, which were identified and discussed. Targets were characterized for thickness uniformity, surface defect and elemental purity using alpha-spectroscopy, optical microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Ion beam experiment shows that polypropylene-backed targets are more prone to degrade during beam exposure. No such effect was observed for the target with Mylar backing instead of having a higher thickness than polypropylene.