Alanine response to proton beams in the 1.6-6.1 MeV energy range

Alanine response to low-energy protons was studied with alanine dosemeters of 2 mm thickness, irradiated with proton beams of energy in the 1.6-6.1 MeV range. The detector's range-averaged relative effectiveness to 60Co radiation ranged from 0.61 to 0.65. For fluence values up to 5 x 10(10) protons x cm(-2), the alanine response was linear.     

Development of a quasi-monoenergetic neutron field using the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction in the energy range from 250 to 390 MeV at RCNP

A quasi-monoenergetic neutron field using the (7)Li(p,n)(7)Be reaction has been developed at the ring cyclotron facility at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. Neutrons were generated from a 10-mm-thick Li target injected by 250, 350 and 392 MeV protons and neutrons produced at 0 degrees were extracted into the time-of-flight (TOF) room of 100-m length through the concrete collimator of 10 x 12 cm aperture and 150 cm thickness. The neutron energy spectra were measured by a 12.7-cm diam x 12.7-cm long NE213 organic liquid scintillator using the TOF method. The peak neutron fluence was 1.94 x 10(10), 1.07 x 10(10) and 1.50 x 10(10) n sr(-1) per muC of 250, 350 and 392 MeV protons, respectively. The neutron spectra generated from various thick (stopping length) targets of carbon, aluminium, iron and lead, bombarded by 250 and 350 MeV protons, were also measured with the TOF method. Although these measurements were performed to obtain thick target neutron yields, they are also used as a continuous energy neutron field. These neutron fields are very useful for characterising neutron detectors, measuring neutron cross sections, testing irradiation effects for various materials and performing neutron shielding experiments.     

Investigations for InAs/GaAs multilayered quantum-dot structure treated by high energy proton irradiation

This paper focuses on the high energy proton irradiation effect of InAs/GaAs multilayers quantum-dot (QD) wafer and photodetector. With high energy proton path simulation, the releases of proton energy and trap distribution in QD multilayers are predicted well. Treated by 1 and 3 MeV protons, all protons almost penetrate the multilayers of QD structures and stop deeply in GaAs substrate. InAs QD multilayer structures/Infrared photodetector have been irradiated by protons with different energies (1 and 3 MeV) and doses (1 × 10⁹∼ 1 × 10¹³ protons/cm²). The photoluminescence (PL) and photoresponsivity (PR) spectrum of samples were measured and discussed with as grown and post irradiation.     

Measurements of the response functions of a large size NE213 organic liquid scintillator for neutrons up to 800 MeV

The response functions of 25.4 cm (length) x 25.4 cm (diameter) NE213 organic liquid scintillator have been measured for neutrons in the energy range from 20 to 800 MeV at the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) and at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) of Osaka University. At HIMAC, white (continuous) energy spectrum neutrons were produced by the 400 MeV per nucleon carbon ion bombardment on a thick graphite target, whose energy spectrum has already been measured by Kurosawa et al., [Nucl. Sci. Eng. 132, 30 (1999)] and the response functions of the time-of-flight-gated monoenergetic neutrons in a wide energy range from 20 to 800 MeV were simultaneously measured. At RCNP, the quasi-monoenergetic neutrons were produced via 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction by 250 MeV proton beam bombardment on a thin 7Li target, and the TOF-gated 245 MeV peak neutrons were measured. The absolute peak neutron yield was obtained by the measurement of 478 keV gamma rays from the 7Be nuclei produced in a Li target. The measured results show that the response functions for monoenergetic neutrons < 250 MeV have a recoil proton plateau and an edge around the maximum light output, which increases with increasing incident neutron energy, on the other hand > 250 MeV, the plateau and the edge become unclear because the proton range becomes longer than the detector size and the escaping protons increase. It can be found that the efficiency of the 24.5 cm (diameter) x 25.4 cm (length) NE213 for the 250 MeV neutrons is -10 times larger than the 12.7 cm (length) x 12.7 cm (diameter) NE213, which is widely used as a neutron spectrometer.     

Synthesis of nanoscale copper nitride thin film and modification of the surface under high electronic excitation

Nanoscale (approximately 90 nm) Copper nitride (Cu3N) films are deposited on borosilicate glass and Si substrates by RF sputtering technique in the reactive environment of nitrogen gas. These films are irradiated with 200 MeV Au15+ ions from Pelletron accelerator in order to modify the surface by high electronic energy deposition of heavy ions. Due to irradiation (i) at incident ion fluence of 1 x 10(12) ions/cm2 enhancement of grains, (ii) at 5 x 10912) ions/cm2 mass transport on the films surface, (iii) at 2 x 10(13) ions/cm2 line-like features on Cu3N/glass and nanometallic structures on Cu3N/Si surface are observed. The surface morphology is examined by atomic force microscope (AFM). All results are explained on the basis of a thermal spike model of ion-solid interaction.     

Luminescence kinetics in proton-irradiated quartz glasses

It is experimentally demonstrated that the intensity of the radiation-induced luminescence (RIL) of KU-1 and KI quartz glasses at 450 nm increases more than ten times upon the proton irradiation (proton energy, 8 MeV; dose rate, 5×10³ Gy/s; dose, up to 1.2×10⁷ Gy) to a dose of 10⁶ Gy. At a dose exceeding 10⁶ Gy, the spectral efficiency of the ionizing radiation energy conversion reached ∼10⁻⁶ nm⁻¹ in the maximum of the RIL band at 450 nm for all types of glasses. After preliminary low-rate γ-irradiation (below 0.5 Gy/s), the RIL intensity in the beginning of the proton irradiation and its variation with the proton dose depend on the concentration of impurities in the quartz glass. The RIL intensity buildup depends on the formation of positively and negatively charged microscopic regions in glasses.     

W values of protons in liquid water

The W values of protons in liquid water were calculated for energies from 0.1 keV to 10 MeV using the continuous slowing down approximation as well as three models for the calculation of the differential ionisation cross-sections of water for protons published in recent years. The W values determined by means of the three models differ only marginally from each other and lie between 25 and 26 eV at proton energies >5 MeV. This high-energy W value is approximately 3 eV lower than that in water vapour.     

Straggling effects in a proton recoil neutron spectrometer

The influence of proton straggling on the efficiency and resolution of a combined proton recoil and time-of-flight neutron spectrometer, TANSY, is studied. The spectrometer is designed for 14 MeV neutron diagnostics at JET (Joint European Torus). Energy and angular distributions for 14 MeV protons slowing down in polyethylene foils with various thicknesses are presented. The results indicate that for a foil thickness of 1.24 mg cm⁻² about 10% of the protons lose more than twice the average energy loss. Furthermore, the angular straggling leads to a coincidence loss of 4.6 ± 0.4%.     

Effects of proton irradiation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Amosic-3 silicon carbide minicomposites

One dimensional Amosic-3 silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites (SiC_f/SiC minicomposites) prepared by chemical vapor infiltration were irradiated with 2.8 MeV proton ions. The ion fluences were 1.0 × 10¹⁷ and 1.5 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻² at room temperature and 300 °C, respectively. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated before and after proton irradiation. Raman spectra showed no evident change in Amosic-3 fibers regardless of irradiation temperature, which is confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy observation. Pyrolytic carbon interphase showed slightly expansion after 300 °C irradiation, however, no microstructure changes were observed in SiC matrix. Moreover, it can be deduced that no irradiation induced changes in mechanical properties were observed after present proton irradiation.     

Hydrogen and its radiation effects in quartz crystals

This paper presents near infrared absorption measurements (in the region of 3100-3700 cm(-1)) on quartz crystals to characterize the aluminum- and alkali-related hydroxyl defects in a variety of natural and cultured quartz crystals. Quartz samples were irradiated with an electron beam of 1.75 MeV and a dose of 2 Mrad at 77 K before and after irradiation at 300 K. The alkalis in quartz move under irradiation field only if the sample temperature is about or above 200 K, but the protons move at all temperatures down to 10 K. Therefore, irradiation at 300 K allows movement of both, protons and alkali ions, thus breaking away the aluminum-alkali centers into a mixture of Al-OH (-) and Al-hole centers. The natural quartz crystals have been measured with nearly similar Al and widely varying H-levels. For a similar radiation dose at 300 K, contrary to expectation, a lesser number of Al-OH(-) centers were produced in crystal with higher H-level than the sample with low-H quartz. At the present stage of work, we expect that this may be due to jamming in the kinetics of large number of protons in high-H crystals for steric reasons, which prevents them from reaching Al-sites after irradiation.     

Radiation hardness of the electrical properties of carbon nanotube network field effect transistors under high-energy proton irradiation

The effect of high-energy proton irradiation on the physical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was investigated. The focus of the study was on the electrical properties of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) network devices exposed to proton beams. Field-effect transistors (FETs) of network type were fabricated using SWNTs and were then irradiated by high-energy proton beams of 10-35?MeV with a fluence of 4 × 10(10)-4 × 10(12)?cm(-2) that are comparable to the aerospace radiation environment. The electrical properties of both metallic and semiconducting CNT network FET devices underwent no significant change after the high-energy proton irradiation, indicating that the CNT network devices are very tolerant in proton beams. Raman spectra confirm the proton-radiation hardness of CNT network FET devices. The radiation hardness of CNT network FET devices promises therefore the potential usefulness of CNT-based electronics for future space application.     

Specific features of proton interaction with transistor structures having a 2D AlGaN/GaN channel

It has been shown that the interaction of 1 MeV protons at doses of (0.5–2) × 10¹⁴ cm^–2 with transistor structures having a 2D AlGaN/GaN channel (AlGaN/GaN HEMTs) is accompanied not only by the generation of point defects, but also by the formation of local regions with a disordered nanomaterial. The degree of disorder of the nanomaterial was evaluated by multifractal analysis methods. An increase in the degree of disorder of the nanomaterial, manifested the most clearly at a proton dose of 2 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2, leads to several-fold changes in the mobility and electron density in the 2D channel of HEMT structures. In this case, the transistors show a decrease in the source–drain current and an order-of-magnitude increase in the gate leakage current. In HEMT structures having an enhanced disorder of the nanomaterial prior to exposure to protons, proton irradiation results in suppression of the 2D conductivity in the channel and failure of the transistors, even at a dose of 1 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2.     

Multilayer holographic recording using a two-color-absorption photopolymer

We developed a sensitive two-color-absorption photopolymer in which holograms are recorded by simultaneous irradiation with a 660 nm interference light and a 410 nm gate light. Doped with bis(silyl)pentathiophene as a two-color-photosensitive dye and 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone as a radical photopolymerization initiator; its matrix contains low-refractive index binding polymers and high-refractive index monomers. The sensitivity and diffraction efficiency of 25 mum thick layers are from 1.2 x 10(-9) to 3.7 x 10(-9) cm2/mJ and from 1% to 4%. We made a three-photopolymer-layer waveguide structure, where each photopolymer layer and high-refractive index adhesive layer serves as a core layer and is sandwiched between two low-refractive index glass substrates that serve as clad layers. Gate light propagated through the adhesive layers, reference and object beams intersected the photopolymer layers, and different diffraction patterns could be written in each layer.     

Microdosimetric distribution of protons,Ep = 19-65 MeV,measured with a low pressure proportional counter

Microdosimetric measurements of 19, 32, 43, 55, and 65 MeV protons were carried out with the A-150-walled low pressure proportional counter (LPPC). The spectra are deconvoluted into three components, which are energy loss by directly incident protons, secondary electrons, and scattered protons and heavy charged particle (including protons) produced by proton nuclear reactions with the TE wall. Dose-mean lineal energies of protons are large as usual, because larger lineal energies by proton reaction events are affected.     

掺铈多组分硅酸盐玻璃电子辐照着色研究

采用吸收光谱、电子顺磁共振谱和光致发光谱对掺Ce多组分硅酸盐玻璃K509在10 MeV电子辐照下的色心动力学进行了研究。结果表明, 电子辐照引起K509玻璃可见光透过率降低的色心类型为非桥氧空穴色心HC1和HC2。在剂量率一定的情况下, 色心浓度随总剂量的增大呈指数函数增大; 在总剂量一定的情况下, 色心浓度随剂量率增大呈指数函数减小。Ce³⁺荧光强度的变化表明辐照过程中Ce³⁺浓度与辐照总剂量负相关, 与辐照剂量率正相关, 验证了掺Ce玻璃耐辐照机理: Ce³⁺吸收辐照产生的空穴从而抑制空穴色心HC1和HC2的形成, 且不引入额外的可见光波段吸收。通过对Ce³⁺宽带荧光峰进行高斯拟合, 得到了K509中Ce³⁺能级结构图。     

Thermal, structural, optical, and dielectric properties of (100 - x)Li2B4O7 - x(BaO-Bi2O3-Nb2O5) glasses and glass-nanocrystal composites

Transparent glasses in the system (100 - x)Li2B4O7 - x(BaO-Bi2O3-Nb2O5) (x = 10, 20, and 30) were fabricated via the conventional melt-quenching technique. The amorphous and glassy characteristics of the as-quenched samples were established by the differential thermal analyses (DTA) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) studies. Glass-nanocrystal composites (GNCs) i.e., the glasses embedded with BaBi2Nb2O9 (BBN) nanocrystals (10-50 nm) were produced by heat-treating the as-quenched glasses at temperatures higher than 500 degrees C. Perovskite BBN phase formation through an intermediate fluorite-like phase in the glass matrix was confirmed via XRD and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies. The optical transmission properties of these GNCs were found to have a strong compositional (BBN content) dependence. The refractive index (n = 1.90) and optical polarizability (alphao = 15.3 x 10(-24) cm3) of the GNC (x = 30) were larger than those of as-quenched glasses. The temperature dependent dielectric constant (epsilonr) and loss factor (D) for the glasses and GNCs were determined in the 100-40 MHz frequency range. The epsilonr was found to increase with increase in heat-treatment temperatures, while the loss of the glass-nanocomposites was less than that of as-quenched glasses. The sample heat-treated at 620 degrees C/1 h (x = 30) exhibited relaxor behavior associated with a dielectric anomaly in the 150-250 degrees C temperature range. The frequency dependence of the dielectric maximum temperature was found to obey the Vogel-Fulcher relation (Ea = 0.32 eV and Tf = 201 K).     

Possibility of increasing proton rejection by detecting primary cosmic radiation electrons using an ionization-neutron calorimeter

Measurements were made of the neutron yields from a lead absorber 60 cm thick in electromagnetic cascades initiated by 200–600 MeV electrons. A comparison between the neutron yields obtained for electrons and the results of similar measurements for protons and pions suggests that the rejection factor of the proton background is increased ∼10² times when an ionization-neutron calorimeter is used to measure primary cosmic radiation electrons at energies above 100 GeV. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 24, 66–73 (September 26, 1998)     

Spatial distributions of residuals produced inside a spallation target

The spallation target model of an accelerator driven system (ADS), consisting of six 5 cm thick and 16 cm in diameter Pb segments, was constructed. Three sets of 17 Bi samples (1/2 inch in diameter and 1 mm thick) were placed in 3 Pb disc-shaped holders inside the target at 5, 10 and 15 cm from its front. After irradiation with 660 MeV proton beam gamma-spectra of radioisotopes produced in Bi were collected several times for each sample with the use of HPGe detectors in order to identify the radioisotopes and to determine their absolute activities. Their spatial distributions were then compared with respective values obtained in the calculations made with the use of FLUKA and/or MCNPX code. A fair agreement with the experiment has been observed.     

Continuous measurement of radiation damage of standard CMOS imagers

In this work we have irradiated a standard CMOS VGA imager with a 24 MeV proton beam at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, up to a nominal fluence of 10¹⁴ protons/cm². The device under test was fabricated with a 130 nm technology without radiation hardening. During the damaging the detector was fully operational to monitor the progressive damaging of the sensor and the associated on-pixel electronics in terms of detection efficiency, charge collection and noise. We found that the detector is still working at 10¹³ protons/cm², with a moderate increase of the noise (20%).     

Preparation of laser-accelerated proton beams for radiobiological applications

This paper presents the concept of transport and filtering of laser-accelerated proton pulses used for the first cell irradiation experiments performed with the Dresden 150 TW laser DRACO. Based on a simple non-focusing magnetic dipole equipped with two apertures the concept makes use of an energy dependent angular asymmetry of the proton spectra. For micron thin target foils protons of interest with energies above 7 MeV are observed to be significantly offset from target normal where low energy emission is dominantly centered. As the effect can be controlled via the target rotation with respect to the incoming light, it can be used to optimize the transport efficiency for high energy protons while simultaneously suppressing background radiation.