Growth and characterization of uranium–zirconium alloy thin films for nuclear industry applications

Polycrystalline and epitaxial U–Zr thin films have been grown on glass and single-crystal sapphire substrates using ultra-high vacuum magnetron sputtering at high temperatures (T = 800 °C). Mixed α- and γ-U phases were detected for polycrystalline U–Zr alloy thin films with the prevailing crystal structure controlled by composition. Epitaxial U–Zr thin film samples were determined to form bi-layered structures of single-crystal γ-U and α-U phases or γ-U, δ UZr2 and α-U phases depending on the concentration of the alloying element.