Interface characterization by dual neutron activation

A new method of characterizing sharp interfaces is presented. The method utilizes the structural modification of the interface caused by thermal-neutron-induced recoil. Dual neutron activations, coupled with chemical etching, are used to correlate the initial and the modified material distributions across the interface. The nuclear and the radiochemical aspects of the method are tested for samples of polycrystalline gold sputtered on amorphous silicon dioxide.