Comparison on characteristics of radiophotoluminescent glass dosemeters and thermoluminescent dosemeters

The radiophotoluminescent glass dosemeter (RPLGD) system is applicable for measurement of radiation dose of X rays and gamma rays by using radiophotoluminescent glass (silver-activated phosphate glass). When the radiophotoluminescent glass is exposed to ionizing radiation, stable luminescent centres are created. During pulsed ultraviolet laser excitation (337.1 nm) in the reader, the centres emit a radiation induced orange fluorescent light (600-700 nm). This phenomenon is called radiophotoluminescence. This study compared the RPLGD system with lithium fluoride (LiF) thermoluminescence dosimetry system and the results of the study revealed that the RPLGD had not only good basic characteristics for reproducibility of readout value, dose linearity, energy dependence and fading, but also infinite repeatable measurements and could be one of the most important radiation dose measurement instruments.     

Study and presentation of a fast neutron and photon dosemeter for area and criticality monitoring using radiophotoluminescent glass

This paper describes the results of a study performed on a mixed field neutron/gamma (n/gamma) area dosemeter incorporating radiophotoluminescent (RPL) glass detectors. RPL glass is known to be virtually insensitive to neutrons. The aim of the study was therefore to determine the neutron response of a dosemeter designed to combine n/gamma conversion with RPL detection capability. Monte Carlo calculations as well as measurements using monoenergetic beams and isotopic neutron sources showed this response to be constant, to within 30% in terms of H*(10), and independent of neutron energy from 250 keV to 10 MeV. For area monitoring, tests carried out in nuclear facilities (around PuO2 glove box and shipping casks containing PWR, MOX spent fuels or vitrified fission product) demonstrated that dosemeter response was accurate to within 15%, where the gamma component of the mixed n,gamma field remained below 1 MeV. When exposed in the Silene reactor simulating a criticality accident (10(17) fissions-liquid 235U--e.g. 1 Gy neutron and 1 Gy photon), the dosemeter exhibited good correlation with reference values and other measurement technologies (again to within 30%), for both neutron and gamma absorbed dose.     

Multichannel Raman gas analyzer: the data acquisition and control system. Measurement improvement with blue laser light

In this paper, the data acquisition and control system of a multichannel Raman effect-based gas analysis device is presented, together with the improvements achieved in measurement of gas concentration sensitivities as a result of the operation of the system with a new blue laser-light source. The multichannel Raman gas sensor (MRGS) is based on the linear Raman scattering effect and uses photo multiplier tubes (PMTs) in the photon-counting mode of operation. An embedded microcontroller-based data acquisition and control (MDAC) system collects, digitizes, processes, and stores in real time the data from six photon-counting modules and the accompanying sensors, along with an overall system control through appropriate actuators. Recent advances in the development of solid-state laser sources have enabled the use of a new, state-of-the-art, blue laser for the excitation of the Raman effect. Using this blue laser source, improvements in the sensitivities in measurements of concentration for all tested gases (SO/sub 2/, CO/sub 2/, CO, NO/sub 2/, C/sub 6/H/sub 6/, and N/sub 2/) have been substantiated, compared with the green laser source previously used and reported in a related article.     

Development and analysis of a photon-counting three-dimensional imaging laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system

In this paper, a photon-counting three-dimensional imaging laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system that uses a Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (GAPD) of relatively short dead time (45 ns) is described. A passively Q-switched microchip laser is used as a laser source and a compact peripheral component interconnect system, which includes a time-to-digital converter (TDC), is set up for fast signal processing. The combination of a GAPD with short dead time and a TDC with a multistop function enables the system to operate in a single-hit or a multihit mode during the acquisition of time-of-flight data. The software for the three-dimensional visualization and an algorithm for the removal of noise are developed. For the photon-counting LADAR system, we establish a theoretical model of target-detection and false-alarm probabilities in both the single-hit and multihit modes with a Poisson statistic; this model provides the prediction of the performance of the system and a technique for the acquisition of a noise image with a GAPD. Both the noise image and the three-dimensional image of a scene acquired by the photon-counting LADAR system during the day are presented.     

Development of thermal neutron-sensitive glass dosemeter containing lithium

New radiophotoluminescence (RPL) phosphate glass containing (6)Li was successfully made from the powder of NaPO(3), Al(PO(3))(3), LiOH, HPO(3) and AgCl. The ternary diagram of NaPO(3)-Al(PO(3))(3)-LiPO(3) has clarified the region where satisfactory RPL characteristics of the glass are kept up. The synthesised phosphate glass indicated good RPL characteristics on the condition that the content of LiPO(3) was below 10 wt%. Gamma-ray irradiation experiments showed that the newly synthesised phosphate glass had satisfactory linearity and wide dynamic range in dose measurement and low variation in sensitivity. It was confirmed from thermal neutron irradiation experiments that a pair of the newly synthesised phosphate glass containing enriched (6)Li and (7)Li, or (n)Li and enriched (7)Li could be effectively used for the evaluation of thermal neutron dosimetry.     

An integrated active-quenching circuit for single-photon avalanchediodes

We introduce the first integrated active quenching circuit (I-AQC) that drives an avalanche photodiode (APD) above its breakdown voltage, in order to detect single photons. Based on the I-AQC, we developed a compact and versatile photon-counting module suitable for applications in which very weak optical signals have to be detected, as for instance, photon correlation spectroscopy, luminescence measurements, and laser ranging. The prototype photon-counting module features quenching pulses up to 60 V amplitude, minimum dead time of less than 36 ns, corresponding to a saturated counting rate exceeding 25 Mcounts/s, user-controllable hold-off time, for reducing the afterpulsing effect, and nanosecond gating capability. The power dissipation is 60 mW in stand-by conditions, and the module size is less than 1 cm×2 cm     

The atmospheric nightglow in the 300–400 nm wavelength Results by the balloon-borne experiment “BABY”

The balloon-borne experiment, named BAckground BYpass (BABY) belongs to a wider program that has as its final goal the detection and study of high-energy cosmic rays from space (satellite, Space Station). An information of fundamental importance for this class of projects concerns the nighttime background light. The instrument designed to detect fluorescence photons is basically composed of two collimated photomultipliers: a single photon-counting PMT and a charge integration PMT. We briefly report the details of the design, operation and performance of the detector, which was designed and completely built at the IFCAI–CNR Institute in Palermo. Preliminary analysis and results of the nocturnal background in the range of 300–400 nm are presented for the whole duration of the flight during the 1998 Mediterranean balloon flight campaign. A substantial part of the flight was at night over the sea.     

Laser ranging and mapping with a photon-counting detector

We propose a new technique for remote sensing: photon-counting laser mapping. MicroChannel plate detectors with a crossed delay-line (MCP/CDL) readout combine high position accuracy and subnanosecond photon timing, at event rates of 10(6) detected photons per second and more. A mapping system would combine an MCP/CDL detector with a fast-pulse, high-repetition-rate laser illuminator. The system would map solid targets with exceptional in-range and cross-range resolution. The resulting images would be intrinsically three dimensional, without resorting to multiple viewing angles, so that objects of identical albedo could be discriminated. For a detector time resolution and pulse width of the order of 10(-10) s, the in-range resolution would be a few centimeters, permitting the discrimination of surfaces by their textures. Images could be taken at night, at illumination levels up to full moonlight, from ground, airborne, or space platforms. We discuss signal to noise as a function of laser flux and background level and present simulated images.     

Single photon response of photomultiplier tubes

Beta or gamma rays, when directly incident on the window of an optically shielded photomultiplier tube, yield a typical single photon spectrum. The single photons are possibly generated in the glass window of the photomultiplier tube through excitation of atoms in glass by electrons. The coincidence resolving time has also been measured with a ⁶⁰Co gamma source and a pair of optically shielded photomultiplier tubes detecting single photons.     

Microanalysis of tool steel and glass with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

A laser microscope system for the microanalytical characterization of complex materials is described. The universal measuring principle of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in combination with echelle optics permits a fast simultaneous multielement analysis with a possible spatial resolution below 10 pm. The developed system features completely UV-transparent optics for the laser-microscope coupling and the emission beam path and enables parallel signal detection within the wavelength range of 200-800 nm with a spectral resolution of a few picometers. Investigations of glass defects and tool steels were performed. The characterization of a glass defect in a tumbler by a micro-LIBS line scan, with use of a 266-nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser for excitation, is possible by simple comparison of plasma spectra of the defect and the surrounding area. Variations in the main elemental composition as well as impurities by trace elements are detected at the same time. Through measurement of the calibration samples with the known concentration of the corresponding element, a correlation between the intensity of spectral lines and the element concentration was also achieved. The change of elemental composition at the transient stellite solder of tool steels has been determined by an area scan. The two-dimensional pictures show abrupt changes of the element distribution along the solder edge and allow fundamental researches of dynamic modifications (e.g., diffusion) in steel.     

Simple three-dimensional laser angle sensor for three-dimensional small-angle measurement

A simple three-dimensional (3D) laser angle sensor for 3D measurement of small angles based on the diffraction theorem and on ray optics analysis is presented. The possibility of using position-sensitive detectors and a reflective diffraction grating to develop a 3D angle sensor was investigated and a prototype 3D laser angle sensor was designed and built. The system is composed of a laser diode, two position-sensitive detectors, and a reflective diffraction grating. The diffraction grating, mounted upon the rotational center of a 3D rotational stage, divides an incident laser beam into several diffracted rays, and two position-sensitive detectors are set up for detecting the positions of +/-1st-order diffracted rays. According to the optical path relationship between the three angular motions and the output coordinates of the two position-sensitive detectors, the 3D angles can be obtained through kinematic analysis. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed 3D laser angular sensor. Use of this system as an instrument for high-resolution measurement of small-angle rotation is proposed.     

Single photon detection of degenerate photon pairs at 1.55 μm from a periodically poled lithium niobate parametric downconverter

Abstract

The performance of a communication system that uses 1.55 μm correlated photon pairs is analysed experimentally in terms of achievable coincidence rates, optimal pump rates, and the performance of custom-built photon-counting detectors at 1.55 μm. The testbed considered in this study uses standard telecom fibre, twin photons, and photon-counting detectors. Degenerate cw time-frequency entangled photon pairs are produced via quasiphase-matched spontaneous parametric downconversion in bulk periodically poled lithium niobate. The photon pairs are efficiently collected into a single-mode fibre and are sent to a pair of custom-built InGaAs photon-counting avalanche photodiodes that are passively quenched, gated in Geiger mode, and thermoelectrically cooled to temperatures as low as - 60°C. Reliable photoncounting operation with a quantum efficiency of 20% at a dark count probability of 0.04% per gate (20 ns) and negligible afterpulses is reported.     

Developing instruments for measurement of plutonium activity in the environmental samples in the case of radiation accident

According to the Russian norms, the permissible specific activity of 239Pu in the air and water are the lowest. Still the problem of low (compared to permissible) Pu activity measurement for environmental samples arises, for instance, in the case of radiation accident during transportation or storage of excess weapons-grade plutonium transferred to the civil sphere of utilisation. The base method of Pu activity measurement is alpha spectrometry by using silicon detector. A new model of alpha spectrometer, based on silicon surface-barrier detector with background level less than 1-3 pulses per day has been developed. A simple unfolding method for the determination of Pu activity of samples with various thickness based on alpha spectrum measurement has been also developed. L-X photon detection is also used for reducing the measurement threshold of Pu activity determination. A method based on detecting L-X photons of Pu, excited by X rays and beta particles, is applied for further reducing the threshold.     

Capacity of the low-photon-rate direct-detection optical pulse-position-modulation channel in the presence of noise photons

We derive expressions for the capacity of the pulse-position-modulated (PPM) direct-detection photon-counting channel in the presence of noise photons in addition to the signal-dependent shot noise that is normally considered in studying photon counting at low photon rates. We note that even a small mean number of noise photons per PPM count bin significantly decreases the capacity of the channel. These results are useful for comparisons of performance that are obtained by use of real coding and synchronization algorithms with photon-counting PPM schemes that are currently being considered for deep-space optical communications.     

Effect of surface roughness and subsurface damage on grazing-incidence x-ray scattering and specular reflectance

Grazing-incidence specular reflectance and near-specular scattering were measured at Al-K(alpha) (1.486-keV, 8.34-?) radiation on uncoated dielectric substrates whose surface topography had been measured with a scanning probe microscope and a mechanical profiler. Grazing-incidence specular reflectance was also measured on selected substrates at the Cu-K(alpha) (8.047-keV, 1.54-?) wavelength. Substrates included superpolished and conventionally polished fused silica; SiO(2) wafers; superpolished and precision-ground Zerodur; conventionally polished, float-polished, and precision-ground BK-7 glass; and superpolished and precision-ground silicon carbide. Roughnesses derived from x-ray specular reflectance and scattering measurements were in good agreement with topographic roughness values measured with a scanning probe microscope (atomic force microscope) and a mechanical profiler that included similar ranges of surface spatial wavelengths. The specular reflectance was also found to be sensitive to the density of polished surface layers and subsurface damage down to the penetration depth of the x rays. Density gradients and subsurface damage were found in the superpolished fused-silica and precision-ground Zerodur samples. These results suggest that one can nondestructively evaluate subsurface damage in transparent materials using grazing-incidence x-ray specular reflectance in the 1.5-8-keV range.     

Three-dimensional positioning of optically trapped nanoparticles

We firstly demonstrate the three-dimensional (3D) measurement of a nanometer-sized sphere held in optical tweezers in water using an in-line digital holographic microscope with a green light emitting diode. Suppressing the movement with optical tweezers enabled us to detect the three-dimensional position of a polystyrene sphere with a diameter of 200 nm. The positioning resolutions of the microscope were 3.2 nm in the transverse direction and 3.4 nm in the axial direction, from the standard deviation of measurements of the 200 nm sphere fixed on glass. Changes in the Brownian motion in response to a change in the trapping laser power were measured. We also demonstrated that this holographic measurement is an effective method for determining the threshold power of the optical trapping.     

High-throughput flow cytometric DNA fragment sizing

The rate of detection and sizing of individual fluorescently labeled DNA fragments in conventional single-molecule flow cytometry (SMFC) is limited by optical saturation, photon-counting statistics, and fragment overlap to approximately 100 fragments/s. We have increased the detection rate for DNA fragment sizing in SMFC to approximately 2000 fragments/s by parallel imaging of the fluorescence from individual DNA molecules, stained with a fluorescent intercalating dye, as they passed through a planar sheet of excitation laser light, resulting in order of magnitude improvements in the measurement speed and the sample throughput compared to conventional SMFC. Fluorescence bursts were measured from a fM solution of DNA fragments ranging in size from 7 to 154 kilobase pairs. A data acquisition time of only a few seconds was sufficient to determine the DNA fragment size distribution. A linear relationship between the number of detected photons per burst and the DNA fragment size was confirmed. Application of this parallel fluorescence imaging method will lead to improvements in the speed, throughput, and sensitivity of other types of flow-based analyses involving the study of single molecules, chromosomes, cells, etc.     

Microlenses and Microlens Arrays Formed on a Glass Plate by Use of a CO(2) Laser

Microlenses and microlens arrays were formed directly on a surface of a glass plate by use of a CO(2) laser. When the surface of a glass plate is heated locally to a working point of the glass material by use of a focused CO(2) laser beam, it tends to become a hyperboloid owing to surface tension, which results in a microlens. A profile of the microlens was measured with an ultrahigh accurate three-dimensional profilometer (Model UA3P, Matsusita Electric Industrial Company Ltd.) that utilizes a specially designed atomic force microscope. An intensity profile and a spot diameter at the focus of the microlens were measured with a microscope and a CCD system utilizing a He-Ne laser as a light source. The focused spot FWHM diameter of 1.35 mum was obtained, and the modulation transfer function was derived from the spot profile. Microlens arrays were also fabricated and characterized.     

Polyaniline/CuCl nanocomposites prepared by UV rays irradiation

In present paper, polynailine (PANI)/CuCl nanocomposites were prepared by UV rays irradiation method. In this method, photons in the UV rays and Cu²⁺ ions replaced conventional oxidant such as ammonium persulfate (APS) to promote polymerization of aniline monomer. The PANI/CuCl nanocomposites were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), and electron diffraction (ED). The results indicated that aniline could polymerize to PANI by UV rays irradiation. Meanwhile, the results of HRTEM and ED confirmed that the CuCl dispersed into PANI was single crystal with cubic crystal structure. A potential formation mechanism of PANI/CuCl nanocomposites was investigated and suggested.     

Fast imaging of hard x rays with a laboratory microscope

An improved x-ray microscope with a fully electronic CCD detector system has been constructed that allows improved laboratory-based microstructural investigations of materials with hard x rays. It uses the Kirkpatrick-Baez multilayer mirror design to form an image that has a demonstrated resolution of 4 mum at 8 keV (Cu K(alpha) radiation). This microscope performs well with standard sealed-tube laboratory x-ray sources, producing digital images with 20-s exposure times for a 5-mum Au grid (a thickness of two absorption lengths).