[NewCandle] superbad neon

[Nick Reiter]

Oh, one last oddity to share before I focus on the ho
ho ho for a while...

re: the curious .88keV "neon" X-ray line seen by EDS
in KCl crystals from the hydrolysis buckets...

When I described this to Sam Faile, he replied that
some years ago, an odd anecdote came his way in the
1980s from a colleague involved in HeNe laser tube
design, that might be germane.

Apparently, when test laser tubes were disected for
analysis, occasionally the diamond saw blades used
would hit a hard pocket of "something" that would
smash the diamonds.  Nobody every explained what the
"something" was, however one intrepid colleague of
said colleague did some off-hours analysis, and
claimed that what the saw blade was hitting was
literally a neon silicate - just inside the resonator
tube wall surface, neon was bonding with the quartz as
it de-vitrified, forming a super material of
incredible hardness.

Tales from the Brewster Window apparently.

nr



The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits.
The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates. 
Adorned in the masters' loving art, She lies;
She rests at last beneath the starry skies.