Comparison of secondary ion emission yields for poly-tyrosine between cluster and heavy ion impacts

Emission yields of secondary ions necessary for the identification of poly-tyrosine were compared for incident ion impacts of energetic cluster ions (0.8 MeV , 2.4 MeV , and 4.0 MeV ) and swift heavy monoatomic molybdenum ions (4.0 MeV Mo⁺ and 14 MeV Mo⁴⁺) with similar mass to that of the cluster by time-of-flight secondary ion mass analysis combined with secondary ion electric current measurements. The comparison revealed that (1) secondary ion emission yields per impact increase with increasing incident energy within the energy range examined, (2) the 4.0 MeV impact provides higher emission yields than the impact of the monoatomic Mo ion with the same incident energy (4.0 MeV Mo⁺), and (3) the 2.4 MeV impact exhibits comparable emission yields to that for the Mo ion impact with higher incident energy (14 MeV Mo⁴⁺). Energetic cluster ion impacts effectively produce the characteristic secondary ions for poly-tyrosine, which is advantageous for highly sensitive amino acid detection in proteins using time-of-flight secondary ion mass analysis.     

Computer simulation of the interaction of carbon atoms with self-interstitial clusters in α-iron

Static and dynamic properties of clusters of self-interstitial atoms and their complexes with carbon (C) atoms in α-iron are studied by molecular dynamics method using a pairwise interatomic potential for iron-carbon interaction and a many-body potential for iron. The effect of C atoms on the configuration, stability and migration of , and 〈1 0 0〉 interstitial clusters is investigated. In the framework of the simple model of interstitial solute used here, C atoms enhance the relative stability of 〈1 0 0〉 over clusters, but not enough to explain their common occurrence under irradiation. Clusters of seven interstitials or smaller are able to co-migrate with C atoms with a reduced mobility compared with pure iron. Bigger clusters have dislocation structure and are immobilised: C migrates along the core of their periphery as in the core of a straight edge dislocation. C dissociates from all clusters at high enough temperature.     

Preparation of Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Ar targets by ion implantation into thin carbon foils

The preparation of isotopically pure targets of ²⁰Ne, ²⁴Mg, ²⁸Si, ³²S, and ³⁶Ar by the implantation of 25-70 keV ions into carbon foils is described.     

Crystallographic measurement of the β to α phase transformation and δ-hydride precipitation in a laser-welded Zircaloy-2 tube by electron backscattering diffraction

Crystallographic measurement of the β to α phase transformation and δ-hydride precipitation in a laser-welded Zircaloy-2 ferrule tube were carried out using an electron backscattering diffraction pattern (EBSP). A basket-weave structure with sub-micron lath width caused by quenching from the β to α phase was observed in the heat-affected and fusion zones, and mainly showed a grain boundary misorientation angle of 60° with an <1 1  0> rotation axis. This result is consistent with the Burgers orientation relationship of {1 1 0}_β//(0 0 0 1)_α and <1 1 1>_β//<1 1  0>_α for the β to α phase transformation. The texture of the quenched α′ phase was strongly inherited from the original α phase, having a radial (0 0 0 1) basal pole and axial {1 1  0} textures, even in the fusion zone. The primary hydride habit plane in the welded Zircaloy-2 was (0 0 0 1)_α//{1 1 1}_δ, matching previously obtained results for recrystallized cladding tubes. In addition to the primary habit plane, secondary habit planes were observed for the other low-index planes {1 0  0} and {1 0  1} in the fusion zone. The heterogeneous accumulation of hydrides in the transition zone between heat-affected and unaffected zones was mainly due to the residual stress distribution in the narrow region.     

Estimation of equilibrium surface precipitation constants for trivalent metal sorption onto hydrous ferric oxide and calcite

Equilibrium constants for modeling surface precipitation of trivalent metal cations (M³⁺) onto hydrous ferric oxide and calcite were estimated from linear correlations of standard state Gibbs free energies of formation, () of the surface precipitates. The surface precipitation reactions were derived from Farley et. al. [K.J. Farley, D.A. Dzombak, F.M.M. Morel, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 106 (1985) 226] surface precipitation model, which are based on surface complexation model coupled with solid solution representation for surface precipitation on the solid surface. The values were correlated through the following linear free energy relations and where ‘ss’ stands for the end-member solid component of surface precipitate, is in kJ/mol, r_M³⁺ is the Shannon-Prewitt radius of M³⁺ in a given coordination state (nm), and is the non-solvation contribution to the Gibbs free energy of formation of the aqueous M³⁺ ion. Results indicate that the above surface precipitation correlations are useful tools where experimental data are not available.     

Measurement of radiation-enhanced diffusion of La in single crystal thin film CeO2

The diffusion of La, a trivalent cation dopant, actinide surrogate, and high-yield fission product, in CeO₂, a UO₂ nuclear fuel surrogate, during 1.8 MeV Kr⁺ ion bombardment over a temperature range from 673 K to 1206 K has been measured with secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The diffusivity under these irradiation conditions has been analyzed with a model based on a combination of sink-limited and recombination-limited kinetics. This analysis yielded a cation vacancy migration energy of  ∼ 0.4 eV below ∼800 K, were recombination-limited kinetics dominated the behavior. The thermal diffusivity of La in the same system was measured over a range of 873-1073 K and was characterized by an activation enthalpy of . The measurement of both the migration enthalpy and total activation enthalpy separately allows the vacancy formation enthalpy on the cation sublattice to be determined;  ∼ 1 eV. The mixing parameter under energetic heavy-ion bombardment at room temperature was measured as well and found to be ∼4 × 10⁻⁵ nm⁵/eV.     

Temperature dependence of damage formation in Ag ion irradiated 4H-SiC

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in channelling mode was used to study the defect formation in silver (Ag) ion irradiated silicon carbide (SiC). The 4H-SiC samples were irradiated with 360 keV Ag ions at different temperatures (15, 295, 375, 475, 625 and 875 K) over a wide range of fluences (1×10¹¹ to , depending on the irradiation temperature). The results can be divided into two groups: (i) for irradiation temperatures between 15 and 475 K amorphisation of the implanted layers is reached for ion fluences between 7×10¹³ and . The over-all cross-section of defect production at very low ion fluences which comprises the formation of point defects and of amorphous clusters, is almost identical for all data sets measured in this temperature range. Differences in the damage evolution which occur at higher ion fluences, suggest that the relative contribution of amorphous clusters within single ion impacts in crystalline material decreases with rising temperature. (ii) For irradiations performed at 625 and 875 K no amorphisation is found for ion fluences as high as . With increasing ion fluence the defect concentration exhibits a distinctive plateau due to the balance between formation and recombination of point defects before increasing up to a saturation level well below amorphisation. For this final stage our results indicate a mixture of point defect clusters and extended defects most probably dislocations. A comparison with data from the literature suggests that the damage evolution for implantation at 625 and 875 K is strongly influenced by the mobility of vacancies starting at around 600 K.     

Radiation-induced decomposition of anion exchange resins

Radiation-induced degradation of the strongly basic anion exchange resin Amberlite™ IRA400 in , Cl⁻ and OH⁻ forms has been studied. The research focused on the formation of molecular hydrogen in the gamma-radiolysis of water slurries of these quaternary ammonium resins with varying water content. Extended studies with various electron scavengers (, N₂O and O₂) prove an important role of in the formation of H₂ from these resins. An excess production of H₂ in these systems at about 85% water weight fraction was found to be due to trimethylamine, dimethylamine and other compounds that leach from the resin to the aqueous phase. Irradiations with 5 MeV ⁴He ions were performed to simulate the effects of α-particles.     

Monitoring the embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels by using the Seebeck coefficient

The degree of embrittlement of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) limits the lifetime of nuclear power plants. Therefore, neutron irradiation-induced embrittlement of RPV steels demands accurate monitoring. Current federal legislation requires a surveillance program in which specimens are placed inside the RPV for several years before their fracture toughness is determined by destructive Charpy impact testing. Measuring the changes in the thermoelectric properties of the material due to irradiation, is an alternative and non-destructive method for the diagnostics of material embrittlement. In this paper, the measurement of the Seebeck coefficient () of several Charpy specimens, made from two different grades of 22 NiMoCr 37 low-alloy steels, irradiated by neutrons with energies greater than 1 MeV, and fluencies ranging from 0 up to 4.5 × 10¹⁹ neutrons per cm², are presented. Within this range, it was observed that increased by ≈500 nV/°C and a linear dependency was noted between and the temperature shift ΔT_41 J of the Charpy energy vs. temperature curve, which is a measure for the embrittlement. We conclude that the change of the Seebeck coefficient has the potential for non-destructive monitoring of the neutron embrittlement of RPV steels if very precise measurements of the Seebeck coefficient are possible.     

Effects of the radiative recombination on the intensity and polarization of the Ly-α emission of hydrogen-like ions

The intensity ratio of the to photon emission is analyzed for hydrogen-like Fe²⁵⁺ ions if their excitation arises in a plasma not only from the electron impact but also due to the radiative recombination (RR) of initially bare Fe²⁶⁺ ions. Under such conditions, the intensity ratio and the (degree of) linear polarization of the Ly-α₁ line are explored for collisions with an electron beam over a wide range of kinetic energies up to 50 keV. Apart from the direct population of the 2p_1/2,3/2 levels via the RR of bare ions, the contributions from radiative cascades and higher multipoles are taken into account by applying a fully relativistic theory for the motion of the electrons and the electron-photon coupling. Our calculations show an overall small effect of the RR upon the degree of the Ly-α₁ polarization as well as the intensity ratio under usual plasma conditions. However, the effects from the RR of initially bare ions may become significant at electron beam energies , for plasma conditions far away from ionization equilibrium with a relatively large proportion of bare Fe ions, as it may be realized in electron-beam ion trap experiments.     

The interaction of antihydrogen with simple atoms and molecules

In this paper, we describe calculations that we have carried out of cross sections for rearrangement processes in very low-energy helium + antihydrogen scattering that result in or or . A significantly more accurate method from that used previously [E.A.G. Armour, S. Jonsell, Y. Liu, A.C. Todd, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 247 (2006) 127] is used to calculate the entrance channel wave function. Results are presented for the first two processes. Mention is made of the use of the method in calculations of low-energy e⁺H₂ scattering.     

Ion implantation in 4H-SiC

Silicon carbide offers unique applications as a wide bandgap semiconductor. This paper reviews various aspects of ion implantation in 4H-SiC studied with a view to optimise ion implantation in silicon carbide. Al, P and Si ions with keV energies were used. Channelling effects were studied in both a-axis and c-axis crystals as a function of tilts along major orthogonal planes and off the major orthogonal planes. Major axes such as [0 0 0 1] and the and minor axis like the showed long channelling tails and optimum tilts for minimising channelling are recommended. TEM analyses of the samples showed the formation of (0 0 0 1) prismatic loops and the loops as well,in both a and c-cut crystals. We also note the presence of voids only in P implanted samples implanted with amorphising doses. The competing process between damage accumulation and dynamic annealing was studied by determining the critical temperature for the transition between crystalline and amorphous SiC and an activation energy of 1.3 eV is extracted.     

Morphology and interface structure of α-Fe2O3 islands grown on sapphire by ion-implantation and annealing

The morphology and interface structure of α-Fe₂O₃ islands grown on α-Al₂O₃ single crystals (sapphire) by Fe-ion-implantation and annealing in an oxidizing atmosphere have been studied using transmission electron microscopy. The α-Fe₂O₃ islands have the orientation relationship of and with sapphire. The typical outline of α-Fe₂O₃ islands consists of two (0 0 0 1) and six planes. The interfaces between α-Fe₂O₃ islands and sapphire are semicoherent, that is coherent regions separated by misfit dislocations at the interfaces. When imaged along the direction, the projected Burgers vector is determined to be . When imaged along the direction, the projected Burgers vector is determined to be . These misfit dislocations form a network structure at the interface to accommodate the mismatch between the lattices of the α-Fe₂O₃ and the α-Al₂O₃.     

H2 inhibition of radiation induced dissolution of spent nuclear fuel

In order to elucidate the effect of noble metal clusters in spent nuclear fuel on the kinetics of radiation induced spent fuel dissolution we have used Pd particle doped UO₂ pellets. The catalytic effect of Pd particles on the kinetics of radiation induced dissolution of UO₂ during γ-irradiation in containing solutions purged with N₂ and H₂ was studied in this work. Four pellets with Pd concentrations of 0%, 0.1%, 1% and 3% were produced to mimic spent nuclear fuel. The pellets were placed in 10 mM aqueous solutions and γ-irradiated, and the dissolution of was measured spectrophotometrically as a function of time. Under N₂ atmosphere, 3% Pd prevent the dissolution of uranium by reduction with the radiolytically produced H₂, while the other pellets show a rate of dissolution of around 1.6 × 10⁻⁹ mol m⁻² s⁻¹. Under H₂ atmosphere already 0.1% Pd effectively prevents the dissolution of uranium, while the rate of dissolution for the pellet without Pd is 1.4 × 10⁻⁹ mol m⁻² s⁻¹. It is also shown in experiments without radiation in aqueous solutions containing H₂O₂ and O₂ that ?-particles catalyze the oxidation of the UO₂ matrix by these molecular oxidants, and that the kinetics of the catalyzed reactions is close to diffusion controlled.     

First-principles study on electronic structures and absorption spectra for BaWO4 crystal containing barium vacancy

The electronic structures, dielectric function and absorption spectra for the perfect BaWO₄ (BWO) crystal and the BWO crystal containing barium vacancy () have been studied using density functional theory code CASTEP with the lattice structure optimized. The results indicate that the optical properties of the BWO crystal exhibit anisotropy and its optical symmetry coincide with lattice structure geometry of the BWO crystal. For the BWO crystal containing , there exhibit four absorption bands peaking at 0.71 eV (1751 nm), 1.85 eV (672 nm), 3.43 eV (362 nm) and 3.85 eV (322 nm), respectively. The origins of the 370 nm absorption band should be related to the .