Feasibility of Organo-Beryllium Target Mandrels Using Organo-Germanium PECVD as a Surrogate

Inertial Confinement Fusion capsules incorporating beryllium are becoming attractive for use in implosion experiments designed for modest energy gain. This paper explores the feasibility of chemical vapor deposition of organo-beryllium precursors to form coating materials of interest as ablators and fuel containers. Experiments were performed in a surrogate chemical system utilizing tetramethylgermane as the organometallic precursor. Coatings with up to 60 mole percent germanium were obtained. These coatings compare favorably with those previously reported in the literature and provide increasing confidence that a similar deposition process with an organo-beryllium precursor would be successful