The formation of ionisation clusters by alpha particles in 'nanometric' volumes of nitrogen: experiment and calculation

Probability distributions of the size of ion clusters created in 'nanometric' cylindrical volumes of nitrogen by single 4.6 MeV alpha particles were measured and compared with those calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. The diameter of the sensitive volume had a mass per area of between 0.015 and 1.3 micrograms.cm-2 which, for a material at unit density, corresponds to a diameter of between 0.15 nm and 13 nm. These nanometre sizes were simulated experimentally in a device called Jet Counter. The measured or calculated cluster size probabilities confirmed that the formation of ionisation clusters along a 'nanometre' track can be characterised by Poisson's distribution only for very small targets. The present ionisation cluster probabilities produced in 'nanometric' volumes, 2 to 10 nm in diameter, are the first ever determined experimentally and confirmed by Monte Carlo simulation.     

A windowless ionization chamber for soft X-ray dosimetry

A new simplified model of a free air ionization chamber called a windowless air ionization chamber (WIC), for kerma in air measurements from the soft X-ray sources, has been designed and tested. The design is based on Monte Carlo calculations. The assembled WIC for testing has the electrodes in the form of half cylinders (internal diameter 36 mm; internal length 85 mm). The volume of the collecting sector of this chamber is around 1 cm³. An entrance aperture has 6 mm diameter. The results of MC calculations and tests for X-ray qualities: ranging 0.3-0.7 mm Al HVL are given.     

Formation of ion clusters by low-energy electrons in nanometric targets: experiment and Monte Carlo simulation

The first experimental data on the distribution of ionisation cluster size produced by low energy electrons in a target cylinder of nitrogen, 3.5 nm in diameter at unit density, which is equivalent to approximately 2 nm in liquid water are presented. In the experiment, nanometric targets were simulated in the so-called Jet Counter. It consists of a pulse-operated valve which injects an expanding jet of nitrogen into an interaction chamber where a cylindrical sensitive volume is created. This sensitive volume was irradiated by electrons at 300 eV, 500 eV and 1 keV, emitted by an electron gun. The distribution of ionisation cluster size was measured using the single-ion-counting method and compared with the results of Monte Carlo simulation.     

Experimental equivalent cluster-size distributions in nanometric volumes of liquid water

Ionisation cluster-size distributions in nanometric volumes of liquid water were determined for alpha particles at 4.6 and 5.4 MeV by measuring cluster-size frequencies in small gaseous volumes of nitrogen or propane at low gas pressure as well as by applying a suitable scaling procedure. This scaling procedure was based on the mean free ionisation lengths of alpha particles in water and in the gases measured. For validation, the measurements of cluster sizes in gaseous volumes and the cluster-size formation in volumes of liquid water of equivalent size were simulated by Monte Carlo methods. The experimental water-equivalent cluster-size distributions in nitrogen and propane are compared with those in liquid water and show that cluster-size formation by alpha particles in nitrogen or propane can directly be related to those in liquid water.     

Clusters of ionisation in nanometre targets for propane-experiments with a Jet Counter

Further evidence on the reliability of the device called the Jet Counter (JC) for studying the formation of ionisation clusters at the nanometre level are presented. The new experimental data on the distributions of ionisation cluster size originating from a 2-10 nm size target in propane irradiated by 3.8 MeV alpha particles are described. The JC consists of a pulse-operated valve that injects an expanding jet of propane into an interaction chamber, where a sensitive volume in the form of a cylinder is created. The sensitive volume was irradiated by 3.8 MeV alpha particles. The resulting distribution of ion clusters, ranging from 2 to 10 nm in unit density gas, has been measured. A method of determining the efficiency of registration of single propane ions using an ion detector is described. A method of deconvolution of the measured to true cluster size distributions is also given. Finally, the measured cluster size distributions are compared with modelled distributions based on Monte Carlo calculations. The results for propane together with previous ones for nitrogen indicate the JC to be an efficient tool for the investigation of radiation quality at the nanometre level.     

New descriptors of radiation quality based on nanodosimetry, a first approach

After a short overview on the latest developments in nanodosimetry, measured frequency distributions of ionisation cluster size caused by 4.6 MeV alpha-particles or low-energy electrons in 'nanometric' volumes of nitrogen are compared with cluster-size distributions for liquid water cylinders that are equal in size to segments of DNA of 10 base-pairs length. Such frequency distributions are, to a greater part, governed by the same basic physical interaction data as those to be expected, if charged particles interact with DNA segments. Quantities derived from ionisation cluster-size distributions should, therefore, behave as a function of radiation quality similarly to the yields of single or double strand breaks in the DNA. To test this assumption, extensive Monte Carlo simulations were performed for electrons in the energy range between 12.5 eV and 100 keV for protons at energies between 0.7 MeV and 250 MeV and for alpha-particles in the energy range between 2 MeV and 100 MeV. The results are then compared with the yields of single- or double-strand breaks in the DNA, taken from the literature.     

Ionization cluster size distribution for alpha particles: experiment, modelling

The paper presents data for measured ionization cluster size distributions by alpha particles in tissue equivalent media and comparison with the simulated data for liquid water. The experiments were carried out with a beam of 4.6 MeV alpha particles performed in a setup called the JET Counter. The theoretically derived cluster size distributions for alphas particles were obtained using the K-means algorithm. The simulation was carried out by Monte Carlo track structure calculations using cross sections for liquid water. The first moments of cluster size distributions, derived from K-means algorithm as a function of diameter of cluster centroid, were compared with the corresponding moments derived from the experiments for nitrogen and propane targets. It was found that the ratio of the first moments for water to gas targets correlates well with the corresponding ratio of the mean free paths for primary ionization by alpha particles in the two media. It is shown that the cluster size distributions for alpha particles in water, obtained from K-means algorithm, are in agreement with the corresponding distributions measured experimentally in nitrogen or propane gas targets of nanometer sizes.