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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
A useful way to produce a percolation system is to dope material with radiogenic atoms and wait. Increasing dose leads to local amorphization of the matrix and to percolating of the amorphized regions. I will discuss some results in zircon (with U and Th doping) which is a most stable phase and abundant as geological material. The main surprise is that the macroscopic behaviour is dominated by the interfacial properties rather than their volume contributions of the amorphized phase. Some consequences for the thermodynamic stability of zircon and its suitability for the encapsulation of high level nuclear waste will be discussed.
Host: Eddy Timmermans