Monte Carlo calculations of keV electron and positron slowing down in solids. II

An improved Monte-Carlo simulation technique has been used to investigate positron and electron slowing down in solid matter. Elastic scattering is based on exact cross sections of effective crystalline potentials and inelastic processes are described by Gryzinski's semiempirical expression for each core and valence electron excitation. Calculations with normal and oblique angles of incidence have been made for positrons and electrons impinging on semi-infinite aluminium, copper, tungsten, and gold. Interesting differences have been found between positron and electron penetration and backscattering features.     

北京慢正电子强束流运行性能测试

慢正电子强束流采用高能脉冲电子束流轰击金属钽靶, 以产生正负电子对的方式提供正电子, 作为慢正电子束流方法学研究和薄膜材料缺陷研究的束流基础. 本文是在该装置实现运行后, 对慢正电子束流的强度、能散、形貌等运行性能的测试工作的介绍, 以及慢正电子湮没多普勒测量系统的调试和标准样品的测量结果.     

LEPTA project: Formation and injection of positron beam

The project of the Low-Energy Particle Toroidal Accumulator (LEPTA) has been developed and is put into operation at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna). The LEPTA facility is a small positron storage ring equipped with an electron cooling system. The project positron energy is 2?C4 keV. The main purpose of the facility is to generate an intense flux of positronium atoms (the bound state of the electron and positron). The LEPTA storage ring was commissioned in September 2004. The positron injector was designed in 2005?C2010, and the beam transport channel was constructed in 2011. The experiments on electron and positron injection from the injector into the accumulator were started in August 2011. The results are reported here.     

High accuracy comparison of the electron and positron magnetic moments

A comparison of the electron and positron anomalous magnetic moments has been performed using the resonance depolarization method for the VEPP-2M storage ring beams. It has been shown, that the difference between anomalous magnetic moments of electron and positron doesn't exceed 1.0 × 10^?5 with 95% confidence level in agreement with CPT-theorem prediction on equality of the particle and antiparticle magnetic moments. The achieved accuracy is two orders better than that available up to now.     

Position annihilation in transition metals

The positron annihilation rate in a ferromagnetic electron system which is described by a generalized Anderson model has been studied. Because of the spin polarization ofs-type electrons, the difference in the annihilation rate between the majority and the minority spins changes its sign at the momentum corresponding to the virtuald-level. The enhancement factor due to the effective Coulomb interaction between the electrons and a positron has been calculated using the dielectric constant for a ferromagnetic electron gas derived by Kim and Schwatz.     

BEPCⅡ Positron Source

BEPCⅡ— an upgrade project of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) is a factory type of e^＋e^－ collider. The fundamental requirements for its injector linac are the beam energy of 1.89GeV for on-energy injection and a 40mA positron beam current at the linac end with a low beam emittance of 1.6μm and a low energy spread of ±0.5% so as to guarantee a higher injection rate (≥50mA/min) to the storage ring. Since the positron flux is proportional to the primary electron beam power on the target, we will increase the electron gun current from 4A to 10A by using a new electron gun system and increase the primary electron energy from 120MeV to 240MeV. The positron source itself is an extremely important system for producing more positrons, including a positron converter target chamber, a 12kA flux modulator, the 7m focusing module with DC power supplies and the support. The new positron production linac from the electron gun to the positron source has been installed into the tunnel. In what follows, we will emphasize the positron source design, manufacture and tests.     

Positron Characteristics in Cadmium and Zinc Chalcogenides

Electron energy levels and positron states have been calculated for cadmium and zinc chalcogenide compounds within the pseudo-potential approach and the independent particle model.Furthermore,the present contribution deals with the electron and positron chemical potentials allowing the calculation of the positron affinity to different materials of interest and hetero-structures formed by these materials.Besides,we here determine the positron diffusion constant by means of the positron deformation potential.An attempt has been made to scale positron affinity and diffusion constant with the lattice constant and the band gap energy,respectively.Such scaling is found to be not possible.The information gathered by the present study is of prime importance for a better understanding of positron trapping at interfaces and precipitates and should be useful in slow positron beam experiments.     

Properties of positron annihilation in metals

Positron annihilation in bulk metals has been studied by examining the angular distribution of the annihilation photons in polycrystalline samples of magnesium, aluminum, copper, zinc, indium, tin, lead, and bismuth. It has been shown that conduction electrons as well as core electrons take part in this process. The conduction electron densities and Fermi energies have been determined. It is found that the electron density in the vicinity of a positron is significantly higher than the density of the free electron gas. We believe that this is due to the formation of Wheeler complexes and we estimate its charge. We have analyzed various means of measuring the conduction electron density and conclude that the positron method gives the most reliable information. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 929–934 (June 1999)     

Study of the surface contamination of copper with the improved positron annihilation-induced Auger electron spectrometer at NEPOMUC

The high intensity positron source NEPOMUC at the FRM-II in Munich enables measurement times for positron annihilation-induced Auger electron spectroscopy (PAES) of only 2.4 h/spectrum, in contrast to usual lab beams with measurement times up to several days. The high electron background due to surrounding experiments in the experimental hall of the FRM-II has been eliminated and hence background free experiments have become possible. Due to this, the signal to noise ratio has been enhanced to 4.5:1, compared to 1:3 with EAES. In addition, a long-term measurement has been performed in order to observe the contamination of a polycrystalline copper foil at 150 °C.     

The Fermi surface of [Formula: see text

The heavy-fermion compound [Formula: see text] has been studied using the fully relativistic spin-polarized mean muffin-tin orbital method within the local density approximation. Two separate calculations, one where the f electron is treated as a valence electron and the other where it is treated as part of the core, have been performed and the Fermi surface is obtained. The angular-dependent de Haas - van Alphen (dHvA) frequencies are calculated in both cases and they are compared with the experimental dHvA frequencies. We also calculated the electron momentum densities and compared them with the electron - positron momentum densities measured from the two-dimensional angular correlation of electron - positron annihilation radiation. The spin polarization of the Fermi surface is analysed and we present a new interpretation of the experimental data of Harrison et al.     

Positron impact ionisation of He ion

Triple differential cross-sections (TDCS) of a hydrogenic (He⁺) ion has been studied by positron impact using coplaner geometry for both symmetric and asymmetric kinematics in the intermediate and medium high incident energy region. TDCS has also been studied of He⁺ ion by electron impact for symmetric kinematics taking account of the electron exchange effect. The final state wavefunction is chosen as the correlated 3-body Coulomb wavefunction satisfying the exact asymptotic boundary condition. The long range Coulomb interaction in the initial channel between the ionic target and the projectile has also been taken into account properly. For positron impact, the collision is found to be almost recoilless at lower incident energies, in contrast to the strong recoil peak noted in the case of electron impact ionisation. For electron impact, the exchange effect is found to be significantly high for equal energy sharing in the final channel. Received 10 July 1999 and Received in final form 7 December 1999     

Evolution of vacancy defects and dislocations in surface layers of iron as a result of pulsed electron beam treatment

Using a micro-beam of ions (PIXE, RBS), a slow positron beam, measurements of positron lifetime, TEM and SEM techniques, formation of vacancy defects and dislocations has been found in a near-surface iron layer as a result of pulsed electron beam treatment. It has been shown that as a result of the HCEB treatment regions of a low local electron density are formed, which seem to be “embryos” for craters. In spite of the crater formation and high dislocation density (exceeding 10¹⁰ cm⁻²) in a near-surface layer, we found a decrease in wear resistance to dry friction and an increase in microhardness.     

Positron Energy Levels in Cd-Based Semiconductors

Using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave FP-LAPW method within local density ap-proximation LDA, we have studied positron diffusion and surface emission in Cd-based semiconductors. This requires the calculation of electron and positron band structures. In the absence of experimental and theoretical data for CdX (X=S,Se,Te) we have treated the Si, which has been studied by several authors, as a test case. Predictive results on positron effective masses, deformation potentials, positron work functions, diffusion constants and positron mobilities are presented for CdX (X=S, Se, Te). Our calculated data for Si are compared with experimental and recent theoretical results.     

Dependence of electron and positron backscattering coefficients on Al film thickness

The backscattering coefficient of 1-4 keV electron and positron beams normally incident impinging on Al thin film targets is stochastically modeled within a Monte Carlo frame work. The aim of the present paper is to study the behavior of the backscattering coefficient as a function of the Al film thickness. To the authors’ knowledge, no theoretical or experimental work on the dependence of the positron backscattering coefficient on film thickness targets has been reported so far. It is found that the backscattering coefficient for both electron and positron beams presents different behaviors when the Al film thickness belongs to the nano-scale. Beyond this scale, the behavior becomes qualitatively similar.     

Nonlinear ion‐acoustic cnoidal wave in electron‐positron‐ion plasma with nonextensive electrons

Effects of plasma nonextensivity on the nonlinear cnoidal ion‐acoustic wave in unmagnetized electron‐positron‐ion plasma have been investigated theoretically. Plasma positrons are taken to be Maxwellian, while the nonextensivity distribution function was used to describe the plasma electrons. The known reductive perturbation method was employed to extract the KdV equation from the basic equations of the model. Sagdeev potential, as well as the cnoidal wave solution of the KdV equation, has been discussed in detail. We have shown that the ion‐acoustic periodic (cnoidal) wave is formed only for values of the strength of nonextensivity (q). The q allowable range is shifted by changing the positron concentration (p) and the temperature ratio of electron to positron (σ). For all of the acceptable values of q, the cnoidal ion‐acoustic wave is compressive. Results show that ion‐acoustic wave is strongly influenced by the electron nonextensivity, the positron concentration, and the temperature ratio of electron to positron. In this work, we have investigated the effects of q, p, and σ on the characteristics of the ion‐acoustic periodic (cnoidal) wave, such as the amplitude, wavelength, and frequency.     

Stretching of slow positron pulses generated with an electron linac

A facility for generating a high intensity slow positron beam using an electron linear accelerator has been constructed. A conversion efficiency of 6×10^–7 slow positrons per incident electron has been obtained for 75 MeV electrons. Storage and stretching of pulsed slow positrons have been successfully carried out with a Penning trap.     

Inner-shell electron capture by impact of positron on the multi-electron atomic targets

The first-order Coulomb-Born approximation has been applied to the study of positronium formation through K-shell electron capture in the collision of positron with multi-electron atomic targets. The single-zeta Roothaan-Hartree-Fock wave functions are used to describe the electron initial bound states. The differential and total cross sections are computed for the impact of positron on helium, carbon, neon, sodium and argon atoms, with the formation of positronium in its ground state. For helium atoms, the calculated total cross sections are compared with the available experimental data and other theoretical calculations. The comparison shows a good agreement between the present calculations and the measurements.     

Low energy positron scattering from atoms in and on solids observed with low energy positron diffraction and reemission microscopy

The present status of low energy positron diffraction (LEPD) and positron reemission microscopy (PRM) is reviewed in the context of unanswered questions regarding the elastic scattering of positrons in the 1–300 eV energy range from atoms in solids and at solid surfaces. Recent LEPD studies yield an agreement between theoretical and experimental diffraction intensities for semiconductors that has never been equalled in electron diffraction studies. This situation is discussed in terms of the repulsive interaction between the positron and the embedded atomic potential and the lack of exchange with the nonspherically distributed valence electrons. The scattering of re-emitted positrons in PRM from atoms chemisorbed or physisorbed on the re-emitting surface has not yet received the same theoretical attention as scattering from embedded atoms in LEPD. Possible ways in which positron scattering from overlying atomic structures manifests itself in PRM as well as positron re-emission holography are discussed, both from the practical viewpoint of observing these structures and in the context of fundamental questions regarding the positron re-emission process itself.     

北京正负电子对撞机中的束束作用偏转效应

 利用静电分离器对正负电子束团在垂直方向上的相对轨道偏差进行了扫描,并用数字示波器对束流轨道的变化进行监视,在北京正负电子对撞机(BEPC)上完成了垂直方向上的束束作用偏转效应的观察与测量。实验过程和实验结果可为北京正负电子对撞机改进工程(BEPCⅡ)的对撞调节提供参考依据。把束团之间相对位置偏差的测量转换为对束流偏转角度的测量是可行的,也是有效克服束流位置探测器分辨率不足的一种方法。     

Simulation study of indirect positron generation by an ultra-short laser

Positron generation by an ultra-short ultra-intense laser in an indirect manner has been studied with two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. In this generation scheme, positrons are produced with energetic electrons accelerated by an ultra-shot laser pulse propagating through an underdense plasma. The dependence of the positron beam properties on the plasma length and secondary target (converter) thickness was investigated in detail. The simulation results reveal that the positron yield is strongly correlated with the total energy of laser-accelerated electrons; both the temperature and divergence of the positron beam are sensitive to the plasma length; and the positron beam has a pulse duration comparable to the incident electron beam. In addition, it is indicated that even with the optimal converter thickness, only a small fraction (11.4%) of positrons can escape out and most of the detected positrons originate from the back edge of the converter.