穩(wěn)定性同位素是天然存在的目前技術(shù)手段檢測不到放射性的一類同位素。與放射性元素示蹤技術(shù)相比,穩(wěn)定性同位素技術(shù)無輻照傷害、安全、不受半衰期的影響,可適用于長時(shí)間的示蹤實(shí)驗(yàn),且其測試定量具有超高精度。自20世紀(jì)中葉特別是70年代以來穩(wěn)定同位素技術(shù)被廣泛應(yīng)用于核電工業(yè)、醫(yī)學(xué)、食品、農(nóng)業(yè)、生態(tài)、地質(zhì)等研究和生產(chǎn)領(lǐng)域。目前已發(fā)現(xiàn)的穩(wěn)定同位素共274種,得到產(chǎn)業(yè)化生產(chǎn)并已廣泛應(yīng)用的主要為氘(2H)、碳-13、氮-15、氧-18、氖-22、硼-10等少數(shù)幾種產(chǎn)品。 硼的穩(wěn)定同位素在生物、醫(yī)學(xué)、地質(zhì)等領(lǐng)域和實(shí)際生產(chǎn)中有著廣泛的應(yīng)用。在核工業(yè)中,10B可用于制造中子計(jì)數(shù)管、反應(yīng)堆的控制棒和熱中子屏蔽材料。在醫(yī)學(xué)領(lǐng)域,基于10B具有捕獲熱中子的能力,硼中子俘獲治療癌癥是一種新的放療方法。11B可應(yīng)用在半導(dǎo)體行業(yè),有11B作為摻雜劑可以使得硅離子布植緊密,從而生產(chǎn)高度集成、高密度的微型芯片。11B也可以作為鋼材的添加劑,這種鋼材用于制造反應(yīng)器,可以使反應(yīng)器的耐高溫、耐輻射性能得到大幅度提高。
Stable isotopes are naturally occurring isotopes that their radioactivity cannot be detected by current techniques. Compared with the tracer technique of radioactive element, stable isotope technique has no radiation damage, and it is not affected by half-life period, which can be applied to long time tracer experiment, and its quantitative test has high accuracy. Since the middle of the 20th century, especially since the 1970s, stable isotope technology has been widely used in the research and production fields of nuclear power industry, medicine, food, agriculture, ecology and geology. At present, 274 kinds of stable isotopes have been discovered, and a few products such as deuterium (2H), carbon-13, nitrogen-15, oxygen-18, neon-22 and boron-10 have been widely used in industrial production. The stable isotope of boron is widely used in biology, medicine, geology and other fields. In the nuclear industry, 10B can be used to produce neutron counters, reactor control rods, and thermal neutron shielding materials. In the medical field, boron neutron capture therapy method is a new radiotherapy method for cancer treatment based on the ability of B10 for capturing thermal neutrons. As a dopant, 11B can be applied in the semiconductor industry, which makes silicon ion layout closely, so that the highly integrated and high-density microchips can be produced. 11B can also be used as an additive to the steel used in the manufacture of reactors, which can greatly improve the resistance to high temperature and radiation.