Scanning tunneling microscopy has been performed on an electro-polished gallium-stabilized delta-phase plutonium sample under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The images obtained were used to measure surface roughness as ion sputtering and annealing was applied to the plutonium sample. It was demonstrated that sputter/anneal cycles progressively increased the surface roughness of the plutonium. Additionally, Auger and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements revealed an initially unstable and dynamically changing surface that became increasingly stable as sputter/anneal cycles were applied. The stabilized surface region contained within the sputter crater was observed to be unchanged for up to 17 months after the final sputter anneal cycle.

扫描隧道显微镜是在超高真空条件下对电抛光的镓稳定的δ相p样品进行的。当离子溅射并将退火应用于to样品时，将获得的图像用于测量表面粗糙度。已证明溅射/退火循环逐渐增加了the的表面粗糙度。另外，俄歇和扫描隧穿光谱学测量揭示了最初不稳定且动态变化的表面，该表面随着施加溅射/退火循环而变得越来越稳定。在最后的溅射退火周期后的长达17个月内，观察到溅射坑内包含的稳定表面区域未发生变化。