Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten
DS 21: Optical Analysis of Thin Films
DS 21.10: Talk
Friday, March 13, 2026, 12:15–12:30, REC/C213
Long-term studies of the defect types in tritiated graphene using Raman microscopy — •Genrich Zeller1, Magnus Schlösser1, and Helmut H. Telle2 — 1KIT-IAP, Karlsruhe, Germany — 2UAM, Madrid, Spain
Tritium loading of graphene and graphene-like materials is of interest, e.g., in astroparticle physics, where such materials are proposed as sources and targets for neutrino experiments like KATRIN or PTOLEMY, or in hydrogen-isotope separation membranes for nuclear fusion. Although hydrogenation of graphene is well established, the radioactive nature of tritium introduces additional experimental challenges and open questions.
Only in recent years has tritiation of graphene been demonstrated using self-radiolysis of tritium. In that initial proof-of-principle study, we found that tritium exposure not only led to the adsorption of atomic tritium but also to the creation of vacancy defects. A key component of the analysis of tritiated graphene is high-resolution Raman spectroscopy, which allows us to measure defect densities and to determine the nature of the defects. In this work, we follow up on our initial studies, and we observe the evolution of defect types during three years of storage under ambient conditions. We find that graphene adsorption sites become strongly depleted, evidenced by the recovery of the characteristic 2D band and an overall decrease in defect density as tracked by the D/G band ratio. The magnitude of this depletion substantially exceeds the annual reduction expected from tritium β-decay alone, indicating additional removal pathways besides radioactive decay.
Keywords: Neutrino mass experiments; Tritium; Graphene; Raman microscopy; KATRIN