Dosimetric measurements and Monte Carlo simulation for achieving uniform surface dose in pulsed electron beam irradiation facility

A prototype pulsed electron beam irradiation facility for radiation processing of food and medical products is being commissioned at our centre in Indore, India. Analysis of surface dose and uniformity for a pulsed beam facility is of crucial importance because it is influenced by various operating parameters such as beam current, pulse repetition rate (PRR), scanning current profile and frequency, scanning width and product conveying speed. A large number of experiments are required to determine the harmonized setting of these operating parameters for achieving uniform dose. Since there is no readily available tool to set these parameters, use of Monte Carlo methods and computational tools can prove to be the most viable and time saving technique to support the assessment of the dose distribution. In the present study, Monte Carlo code, MCNP, is used to simulate the transport of 10 MeV electron beam through various mediums coming into the beam path and generate an equivalent dose profile in a polystyrene phantom for stationary state. These results have been verified with experimentally measured dose profile, showing that results are in good agreement within 4%. The Monte Carlo simulation further has been used to optimize the overlapping between the successive pulses of a scan to achieve ±5% dose uniformity along the scanning direction. A mathematical model, which uses the stationary state data, is developed to include the effect of conveyor speed. The algorithm of the model is discussed and the results are compared with the experimentally measured values, which show that the agreement is better than 15%. Finally, harmonized setting for operating parameters of the accelerator are derived to deliver uniform surface dose in the range of 1–13 kGy/pass.     

Dosimetric evaluation of an indigenously developed 10 MeV industrial electron beam irradiator

The high dose rate electron beams are increasingly being used for radiation processing of various products worldwide. A comprehensive dosimetric evaluation of an in-house developed 10 MeV industrial electron beam irradiator was carried out in static as well as in dynamic mode of irradiations. Radiochromic B3 film and graphite calorimeter were used for dosimetric measurements. The dose rate from the electron beam was also calculated using the empirical relation prescribed in the ASTM report E2232-02. The measured electron beam profile indicates the dose rate variation within 8% in the irradiated product boxes. The most probable energy determined from the depth dose distribution in PMMA, Al and water was found in agreement with the intended energy of the electron beam. Measured dose rate using radiochromic film and graphite calorimeter were found in good agreement with each other and also found comparable with the theoretically estimated dose rates. Experimentally measured dose rates were considered for the trial irradiation of medical and industrial products. Dosimetric data obtained through this study confirms the suitability of the irradiator for routine radiation processing of various products.     

Thermal and optical properties of electron beam irradiated cellulose triacetate

Samples from Cellulose triacetate (CTA) sheets were irradiated with electron beam in the dose range 10–200 kGy. Non-isothermal studies were carried out using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to obtain the activation energy of thermal decomposition for CTA polymer. The CTA samples decompose in one main break down stage. The results indicate that the irradiation by electron beam in the dose range 80–200 kGy increases the thermal stability of the polymer samples. Also, the variation of melting temperatures with the electron dose has been determined using differential thermal analysis (DTA). The CTA polymer is characterized by the appearance of one endothermic peak due to melting. It is found that the irradiation in the dose range 10–80 kGy causes defects generation that splits the crystals depressing the melting temperature, while at higher doses (80–200 kGy), the thickness of crystalline structure (lamellae) is increased, thus the melting temperature increases. In addition, the transmission of these samples in the wavelength range 200–2500 nm, as well as any color changes, were studied. The color intensity ΔE* was greatly increased on increasing the electron beam dose, and accompanied by a significant increase in the blue color component.      

The positive charging effect of dielectric films irradiated by a focused electron beam

Space charge and surface potential profiles are investigated with numerical simulation for dielectric films of SiO₂ positively charged by a focused electron beam. By combining the Monte Carlo method and the finite difference method, the simulation is preformed with a newly developed comprehensive two-dimensional model including electron scattering, charge transport and trapping. Results show that the space charge is distributed positively, like a semi-ellipsoid, within a high-density region of electrons and holes, but negatively outside the region due to electron diffusion along the radial and beam incident directions. Simultaneously, peak positions of the positive and negative space charge densities shift outwards or downwards with electron beam irradiation. The surface potential, along the radial direction, has a nearly flat-top around the center, abruptly decreases to negative values outside the high-density region and finally increases to zero gradually. Influences of electron beam and film parameters on the surface potential profile in the equilibrium state are also shown and analyzed. Furthermore, the variation of secondary electron signal of a large-scale integration sample positively charged in scanning electron microscopic observation is simulated and validated by experiment.     

Design and development of the 6–18 MeV electron beam system for medical and other applications

A system for the electron and photon therapy has been designed and developed at SAMEER, IITB, Mumbai. All the components of the system such as the 270° beam bending electromagnet, trim coils, magnet chamber, electron scattering foil, slits, applicators, etc., were designed and fabricated indigenously. The electrons of 6, 8, 9, 12, 15 and 18?MeV energies were provided by a linear accelerator, indigenously designed and made at SAMEER, IITB campus, Mumbai. The electron beam from the LINAC enters the magnet chamber horizontally, and after deflection and focusing in the 270° bending magnet, comes out of the exit port, and travels a straight path vertically down. After passing through the beryllium and tantalum scattering foils, the electron beam gets scattered and turns into a solid cone shape such that the diameter increases with the travel distance. The simulation results indicate that at the exit port of the 270° beam bending magnet, the electron beam has a divergence angle of ≤ 3?mrad and diameter ～2–3?mm, and remains constant over 6–18?MeV. Normally, 6–18?MeV electrons are used for the electron therapy of skin and malignant cancer near the skin surface. On a plane at a distance of 100?cm from the scattering foils, the size of the electron beam could be varied from 10?cm?×?10?cm to 25?cm?×?25?cm using suitable applicators and slits. Different types of applicators were therefore designed and fabricated to provide required beam profile and dose of electrons to a patient. The 6?MeV cyclic electron accelerator called Race-Track Microtron of S. P. Pune University, Pune, was extensively used for studying the performances of the scattering foils, electron beam uniformity and radiation dose measurement. Different types of thermoluminescent dosimetry dosimeters were developed to measure dose in the range of 1–10kGy.     

电子束与烟气相互作用机制模拟分析

 电子束在烟气中穿透深度和剂量分布将直接影响废气中硫、氮氧化物的脱除效率。通过理论计算和蒙特卡罗模拟计算得到不同能量电子穿过各种厚度加速器箔窗后能量损失情况；对不同入射能量电子束在烟气中透射深度和轨迹分布进行了模拟计算。结果表明：电子束反应最佳能量为700 keV；利用产生1 m长线状束流的电子加速器进行双面照射，烟道反应室横截面最佳尺寸为1.0 m×3.5 m。     

Time-resolved measurement technique for pulsed electron beam envelope basing on framing and streaking principle

The time-resolved electron beam envelope parameters, including cross sectional distribution and beam centroid position, are very important for the study of beam transmission characteristics in a magnetic field and for verifying the rationality of the magnetic field parameters employed. One kind of high time-resolved beam envelope measurement system has recently been developed, constituted of a high-speed framing camera and a streak camera.It can obtain three panoramic images of the beam and time continuous information along the given beam profile simultaneously. Recently obtained data has proved that several fast vibrations of the beam envelope along the diameter direction occur during the front and the tail parts of the electron beam. The vibration period is several nanoseconds. The effect of magnetic field on the electron beam is also observed and verified. Beam debugging experiments have proved that the existing beam transmission design is reasonable and viable. This beam envelope measurement system will establish a good foundation for beam physics research.     

Gamma and neutron dose measurements with solid state nuclear track detectors

An attempt has been made to explore the possibility of using solid state nuclear track detectors for the estimation of gamma and neutron doses based on the use of changes in activation energy of degradation of these detectors, due to irradiation (gamma-neutron), as a means of dosimetry. Thermogravimetry (TG) has been applied as a tool for these studies carried out on Lexan and CR-39 track detectors. A linear relationship observed between the decrease in activation energy and the dose (gamma-neutron) received by the detectors suggests the possibility of the use of these detectors as gamma and neutron dosimeters.      

Irradiated rare‐earth‐doped powellite single crystal probed by confocal Raman mapping and transmission electron microscopy

The irradiation‐induced damages and structure modifications of rare earths doped powellite single crystal have been precisely studied using optical and electron microscopy techniques, including optical interferometry, confocal micro‐Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The surface of powellite crystal pops out anisotropically after exposing under Ar ion beam, with a saturation swelling value of 2.0% along a‐axis and 1.3% along the c‐axis of powellite at high dose. Raman mapping on focused ion‐beam sections (5 × 3 µm²) perpendicular to the irradiated surface reveals that irradiation damage induces orientation‐dependent compressive stresses in powellite. However, no significant anisotropic effect has been found on the irradiation‐induced structural disorder in powellite. At low dose (0.012 dpa), the main irradiation‐induced defects created in powellite crystal are small defect clusters. By comparison, the dominant kinds of defects in high‐dose (5.0 dpa) sample are dislocations loops and networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DG型电子加速器自校正扫描系统的研制

为了提高DG型电子加速器束流扫描均匀度、解决束流中心偏移、提升束流引出效率,开发了一种既可实现X,Y两相互垂直方向均匀扫描又可以实现束流中心自动对中调节的扫描系统。介绍了扫描磁铁及其电源参数的选取依据,阐述了将扫描磁铁和束流校正线圈进行整体式设计的扫描系统扫描电流成形方式及自动对中电路信号调制过程,包括为提高加速器运行安全性而设计的连锁保护信号。产业化现场使用事实已证明,该系统设计完全达到了设计要求,具有优良的扫描均匀度和长时间工作稳定可靠性。     

电子束辐照烟气脱硫脱氮反应器中的剂量分布的模拟计算

采用Monte-Carlo程序EGSnrcMP对能量为0.8MeV的电子束辐照烟气脱硫脱硝反应器中的剂量分布进行了模拟计算,将计算的结果运用MATLAB数学分析软件进行了数据处理,对能量为0.5MeV的电子束辐照烟气脱硫脱硝反应器中的剂量分布进行了模拟计算,并与文献中实验测量值进行了比较。结果表明:采用EGSnrcMP程序计算所得到的剂量与实验结果吻合。     

Temperature evolution during scanning electron beam processing of silicon

Temperature profile evolutions produced by a scanning electron beam in crystalline silicon have been numerically calculated using a two-dimensional finite-element scheme. The temperature dependence of the different silicon properties as well as the electron penetration effects have been taken into account. Numerical calculations carried out at different conditions have been compared with experimental melting-threshold measurements using an electron beam with a Gaussian power density distribution. The good agreement between numerical calculations and experimental results proves the validity of the two-dimensional approach.     

A technology for the calculation and manufacture of devices for shaping a proton beam in radiotherapy

A therapeutic proton beam for an actual irradiation procedure is shaped using customized collimator leaves made out of Cerrobend, while to make the proton-beam depth-dose distribution conformal to the target volume, so-called boluses (compensators) with sophisticated shapes are calculated and then fabricated to compensate for the heterogeneities of a patient??s tissues and organs in the beam path. This article describes the main stages of testing a technology for manufacturing bolus from industrial wax which was developed at the Medico-Technical Complex (MTC) at the Dzelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (DLNP JINR), by comparing the spatial dose distributions obtained under a computer simulation of proton irradiation and the actually measured ones under the experiment.     

Uncertainty and routine use of Aerial l-alanine – Electron spin resonance dosimetry system

Aerial l-alanine pellet dosimeter is characterized by MiniScope MS300 electron spin resonance spectrometer measurements using Aer'EDE Version 2.0.4. software for dose calculation. The measurement traceability is achieved by Aerial dosimetry laboratory where dosimeters for calibration curve were irradiated by electron beam accelerator. Dose determinations in Aerial are traceable to National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The software used for construction of calibration curve gives also the standard deviation of the residuals of measurements for calibration that is used for dose uncertainty calculation. In aim to determine whether this value can actually be taken as absorbed dose uncertainty during usage of this dosimetry system, alanine dosimeters were irradiated with doses between 5 and 32 kGy by ⁶⁰Co laboratory source for internal calibration. The dose rate at the places for irradiation was (20 ± 0.5) mGy s⁻¹ determined by Fricke dosimeter. Measurement of each irradiated dosimeter was repeated ten times in ten days. The results of measurements were analyzed to identify the sources of uncertainty, as well as their quantification in evaluation of total measurement uncertainty. In addition to statistical effects, the very low dose rate that was used for the irradiation of alanine dosimeters affects the measurements of absorbed dose, particularly for higher absorbed doses where the measured dose can be up to 3% lower than the real.     

EBIC investigations of GaN layers prepared by epitaxial lateral overgrowth

GaN films prepared by lateral overgrowth are investigated by scanning electron microscopy in the electron beam induced current (EBIC) mode. A comparison of experimental and simulated dependences of induced current on beam energy has allowed us to determine not only the diffusion length, but also the donor concentration in different areas of a film. It has been found that the donor distribution is inhomogeneous and this inhomogeneity increases under fast neutron irradiation. This is indicative of the significant influence of structural defects on the rate of radiation defect accumulation. An anomalously slow signal decay outside the Schottky barrier has been found, which can be determined by charged defects formed at the merger boundary.     

电子束辐照对GaN基LED发光性能的影响

研究了不同能量的电子束辐照对GaN基发光二极管(Light emitting diode,LED)发光性能的影响。利用实验室提供的电子束模拟空间电子辐射,对GaN基LED外延片进行1.5,3.0,4.5 MeV电子束辐照实验,并应用光致发光(Photoluminescence,PL)谱测试发光性能。结果表明:在1.5 MeV电子束辐照下,采用10 kGy剂量辐照时,LED的发光强度增加约25%;而在100 kGy剂量辐照时,LED的发光强度降低约16%。3 MeV的电子束辐照可使原来色纯度不高的LED的色纯度变好,而更高能量的辐照将会引起器件失效。     

弧形调强放射治疗对剂量计算方法的要求

在弧形调强放射治疗的治疗计划设计中, 由于包含有很多照射方向, 调强最优化的射束元矩阵计算需要很大的计算量和存储量, 为提高计算效率常使用简化剂量计算模型计算射束元矩阵, 因此有必要研究简化模型对治疗计划质量产生影响。 对一个模拟例子和一个临床实例, 使用没考虑散射效应的原射线剂量计算模型计算射束元矩阵, 由此进行最优化计算。 在得到最优化强度分布后, 通过比较原射线剂量计算模型和微分卷积剂量计算模型得到的剂量分布, 研究了不同射束数目条件下, 使用简化剂量计算模型计算射束元剂量矩阵对最终的剂量分布质量的影响。 结果表明, 在射线束很多的情况下(对应弧形调强照射）, 用简化的剂量计算模型, 即不考虑散射来计算射束元剂量矩阵, 会导致靶区剂量分布的质量大大低于预期的剂量分布质量, 因此, 弧形调强放射治疗的最优化计算中, 有效考虑散射的影响是必要的。 In the treatment planning for arc intensity modulated radiation therapy, because many irradiation directions are involved, the computing time and storage space needed for calculating beamlet dose matrices in optimization is quite heavy. In order to improve the computation efficiency, the simplified dose calculation is often used for the calculation of the dose matrices. Thus, it is deserved to study how this simplification could influence the quality of the treatment plan. In this paper, a simulation and a clinical case are adopted. Using the primary dose calculation model without taking into account the scattering effect to generate the dose matrices of beamlets, the optimization for beam intensity profile are firstly carried out. Then, based on the obtained intensity profile, the dose distributions are recalculated by using the primary dose calculation model and the differential convolution superposition dose calculation model which is more accurate but more time consuming. By comparing dose distributions obtained by this two models, the influence of using simplified model for dose matrix calculation on beam profile optimization is studied. The results demonstrate that when the beam number is large(corresponding to the arc modulated radiation), using the simplified model for the calculation of dose matrix of beamlets will reduce the quality of dose distribution greatly comparing with the expected dose distribution quality. Thus it is very necessary to correctly take into account the scattering effect in beam profile optimization for the arc intensity modulated radiation therapy.     

Characterization of superconducting YBaCuO-films by low temperature scanning electron microscopy

Low-temperature scanning electron microscopy has been performed for imaging the spatial distribution of the critical current densityj _c(x,y) and of the critical temperatureT _c(x,y) in polycrystalline superconducting YBaCuO films. Strongly inhomogeneous behavior has been observed, and the spatial resolution limit has been found to be 1–2 m. The local temperature increment in the specimen film caused by the electron beam scanning has been demonstrated experimentally as the underlying mechanism of the imaging principle, and the beam-induced thermal perturbation of the high-T _c film/substrate configuration is discussed in detail. The radiation hardness of the sample films against the electron beam irradiation in our imaging experiments has been evaluated. No radiation damage could be detected up to the maximum applied dose of well above 10²⁰ electrons/cm² for a typical beam energy of 26 keV.     

Electron beam irradiation induced changes in the dielectric and electro-optical properties of a room temperature nematic display material 4-(trans-4′-n-hexylcyclohexyl) isothiocyanatobenzoate (6CHBT)

Dielectric and electro-optical studies of a pure and electron beam irradiated liquid crystalline compound 4-(trans-4′-n-hexylcyclohexyl) isothiocyanatobenzoate have been carried out. Dielectric anisotropy, relaxation frequency, activation energy and distribution parameter of an observed non-collective mode corresponding to the molecular rotation about the short axes have been determined as a function of temperature and irradiation dose whereas threshold and switching voltages, splay elastic constant are determined as a function of irradiation dose. The relaxation frequencies initially decrease up to an irradiation dose of 40 kGy but thereafter increase due to irradiation. The activation energies are increased up to irradiation dose of 40 kGy but around 60 kGy dose of irradiation, we found decrease in the activation energy. Electro-optical measurements show the lowering of the threshold voltage with sufficient improvement in the steepness of the transmission voltage curves due to irradiation. The observed changes in the dielectric and electro-optical properties are related with the cis–trans isomerization due to electron beam irradiation.     

Radiation effects of electrons and protons on the ceramic oxide superconductor YBaCuO

The irradiation of the high T_c superconducting material YBaCuO has been carried out by using 200 keV proton, and 400 keV and 8 MeV electron beams. The temperature of zero resistance increases from 86.7 to 89.8 K with proton implantation while 8 MeV electron irradiation reduces the zero resistance temperature by 3 K with an irradiation dose of 2.25×10¹⁴e^-/cm². However, wich an irradiation dose of 1.35×10¹⁵e^-/cm² the 8 MeV electron beam can make the superconductor become insulating. The in situ examination of a high resolution transmission electron microscope has proved that the amorphous region in the system has ordered arrangement whereas the crystalline region turns disordered under 400 keV electron irradiation with very high doses up to 10²⁶ e^-/cm². The experiments demostrate that proton and electron irradiations exhibit quite different effects both in its structure and property.