Study of the material photon and electron background and the liquid argon detector veto efficiency of the CDEX-10 experiment

The China Dark Matter Experiment (CDEX) is located at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) and aims to directly detect the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) flux with high sensitivity in the low mass region. Here we present a study of the predicted photon and electron backgrounds including the background contribution of the structure materials of the germanium detector, the passive shielding materials, and the intrinsic radioactivity of the liquid argon that serves as an anti-Compton active shielding detector. A detailed geometry is modeled and the background contribution has been simulated based on the measured radioactivities of all possible components within the GEANT4 program. Then the photon and electron background level in the energy region of interest (<10^-2 events·kg^-1·day^-1·keV^-1 (cpkkd)) is predicted based on Monte Carlo simulations. The simulated result is consistent with the design goal of the CDEX-10 experiment, 0.1cpkkd, which shows that the active and passive shield design of CDEX-10 is effective and feasible.     

Characterization of large area photomultiplier ETL 9357FLB for liquid argon detector

The China Dark Matter Experiment (CDEX) Collaboration will carry out a direct search for weakly interacting massive particles with germanium detectors. Liquid argon will be utilized as an anti-Compton and cooling material for the germanium detectors. A low-background and large-area photomultiplier tube (PMT) immersed in liquid argon will be used to read out the light signal from the argon. In this paper we have carried out a careful evaluation on the performance of the PMT operating at both room and cryogenic temperatures. Based on the single photoelectron response model, the absolute gain and resolution of the PMT were measured. This has laid a foundation for PMT selection, calibration and signal analysis in the forthcoming CDEX experiments.     

FPT-CNDO/INDO化学屏蔽常数计算方法及其在Mo和Co化合物中的应用

Semi -empirical molecular orbital methods within the framework of the finite perturbation theory , the FPT-CNDO/INDO methods , which consist of the FPT-CNDO/2 and FPT-INDO methods, are set up for the study of chemical shielding in transition metal compounds, and a corresponding computational program is developed on VAX 11/785 computer to establish a theoretical study of the transition metal chemical shielding by quantum chemistry methods. Application of the methods has been carried out in the calculation of 95Mo chemical shielding constants of mononuclear precursors [MoOnS4-n]2-(n=0-4). With the standard CNDO/INDO parameters a linear regression was obtained between the calculated results and the corresponding experimental data:δcal=(0.8345 δexp-43.83)ppm, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. Investigation on the calculated electronic configuration confirms that in [MoOnS4_n]2- (n=0-4)95Mo chemical shifts are dominated by the d-orbital paramagnetic contribution arising from the d-d transition. Appl     

Performance study of aluminum shielded room for ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging based on SQUID:Simulations and experiments

The aluminum shielded room has been an important part of ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging(ULF MRI)based on the superconducting quantum interference device(SQUID). The shielded room is effective to attenuate the external radio-frequency field and keep the extremely sensitive detector, SQUID, working properly. A high-performance shielded room can increase the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) and improve image quality. In this study, a circular coil with a diameter of 50 cm and a square coil with a side length of 2.0 m was used to simulate the magnetic fields from the nearby electric apparatuses and the distant environmental noise sources. The shielding effectivenesses(SE) of the shielded room with different thicknesses of aluminum sheets were calculated and simulated. A room using 6-mm-thick aluminum plates with a dimension of 1.5 m×1.5 m×2.0 m was then constructed. The SE was experimentally measured by using three-axis SQUID magnetometers, with tranisent magnetic field induced in the aluminum plates by the strong pre-polarization pulses. The results of the measured SE agreed with that from the simulation. In addition, the introduction of a 0.5-mm gap caused the obvious reduction of SE indicating the importance of door design. The nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) signals of water at 5.9 kHz were measured in free space and in a shielded room, and the SNR was improved from 3 to 15. The simulation and experimental results will help us design an aluminum shielded room which satisfies the requirements for future ULF human brain imaging. Finally, the cancellation technique of the transient eddy current was tried, the simulation of the cancellation technique will lead us to finding an appropriate way to suppress the eddy current fields.     

Observation of selective surface element substitution in FeTe_(0.5)Se_(0.5) superconductor thin film exposed to ambient air by synchrotron radiation spectroscopy

A systematic investigation of oxidation on a superconductive Fe Te_(0.5)Se_(0.5)thin film,which was grown on Nb-doped SrTiO_3(001) by pulsed laser deposition,has been carried out.The sample was exposed to ambient air for one month for oxidation.Macroscopically,the exposed specimen lost its superconductivity due to oxidation.The specimen was subjected to in situ synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy(PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy(XAS) measurements following cycles of annealing and argon ion etching treatments to unravel what happened in the electronic structure and composition after exposure to air.By the spectroscopic measurements,we found that the as-grown FeTe_(0.5)Se_(0.5)superconductive thin film experienced an element selective substitution reaction.The oxidation preferentially proceeds through pumping out the Te and forming Fe–O bonds by O substitution of Te.In addition,our results certify that in situ vacuum annealing and low-energy argon ion etching methods combined with spectroscopy are suitable for depth element and valence analysis of layered structure superconductor materials.     

Color Enhancement by Diffusion of Beryllium in Dark Blue Sapphire

Diffusion of beryllium was performed on dark blue sapphire from China and Australia. The samples were heated with beryllium as a dopant in a furnace at 1 600 ℃ for 42 h in air. After beryllium diffusion, samples were analyzed by UV-Vis, FTIR, and WD-XRF spectroscopy. After heat-treatment with Be as a catalyst, the irons of the ferrous state were changed to the ferric state. Therefore, reaction of Fe2+/Ti4+ IVCT was decreased. The absorption peaks at 3 309 cm-1 attributed to OH radical were disappeared completely due to carry out heat treatment. Consequently, the intensity of absorption band was decreased in the visible region. Especially, decreased absorption band in the vicinity of 570 nm was responsible for the lighter blue color. Therefore, we confirmed that the dark blue sapphires from China and Australia were changed to vivid blue.     

Thermal analysis and cooling structure design of the primary collimator in CSNS/RCS

The rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) is a high intensity proton ring with beam power of 100 kW. In order to control the residual activation to meet the requirements of hands-on maintenance, a two-stage collimation system has been designed for the RCS. The collimation system consists of one primary collimator made of thin metal to scatter the beam and four secondary collimators as absorbers. Thermal analysis is an important aspect in evaluating the reliability of the collimation system. The calculation of the temperature distribution and thermal stress of the primary collimator with different materials is carried out by using ANSYS code. In order to control the temperature rise and thermal stress of the primary collimator to a reasonable level, an air cooling structure is intended to be used. The mechanical design of the cooling structure is presented, and the cooling efficiency with different chin numbers and wind velocity is also analyzed. Finally, the fatigue lifetime of the collimator under thermal shocks is estimated.     

Developing cold-resistant high-adhesive electronic substrate for WIMPs detectors at CDEX

Herein we report a prototypical electronic substrate specifically designed to serve the weakly interacting massive particles(WIMPs)detectors at the China Dark Matter Experiment(CDEX).Because the bulky high-purity germanium(HPGe)detectors operate under liquid-nitrogen temperatures and ultralow radiation backgrounds,the desired electronic substrates must maintain high adhesivity across different layers in such cold environment and be free from any radioactive nuclides.To conquer these challenges,for the first time,we employed polytetrafluoroethylene((C2F4)n)foil as the base substrate,in conjunction with ion implantation and deposition techniques using an independently developed device at Beijing Normal University for surface modification prior to electroplating.The remarkable peeling strengths of 0.88±0.06 N/mm for as-prepared sample and 0.75±0.05 N/mm for that after 2.5-days of soaking inside the liquid nitrogen were observed,while the regular standards commonly require 0.4 N/mm^0.6 N/mm for electronic substrates.     

Forewords Special Topic Issue on Nanophotonics

This Special Topic Issue has grown out of research that has been highlighted at the Nanophotonics Conference series held in China for the past three years. The fourteen papers appearing in this issue are a small sampling of the total scope of the Conference. Broadly speaking, the subjects covered by the contributing authors include quantum properties using semiconductor materials, nanocharacterization especially with applications to medical fields, photonic crystals and fibers, and plasmonics.     

Effect of chemical ordering annealing on superelasticity of Ni–Mn–Ga–Fe ferromagnetic shape memory alloy microwires

Ni_(50)Mn_(25)Ga_(20)Fe_5 ferromagnetic shape memory alloy microwires with diameters of ～ 30–50 μm and grain sizes of ～ 2–5 μm were prepared by melt-extraction technique. A step-wise chemical ordering annealing was carried out to improve the superelasticity strain and recovery ratio which were hampered by the internal stress, compositional inhomogeneity,and high-density defects in the as-extracted Ni_(50)Mn_(25)Ga_(20)Fe_5 microwires. The annealed microwires exhibited enhanced atomic ordering degree, narrow thermal hysteresis, and high saturation magnetization under a low magnetic field. As a result, the annealed microwire showed decreased superelastic critical stress, improved reversibility, and a high superelastic strain(1.9%) with a large recovery ratio(96%). This kind of filamentous material with superior superelastic effects may be promising materials for minor-devices.     

Structural Phase Transformations of ZnS Nanocrystalline Under High Pressure

In-situ energy dispersive x-ray diffraction on ZnS nanocrystalline was carried out under high pressure by using a diamond anvil cell. Phase transition of wurtzite of 10nm ZnS to rocksalt occurred at 16.0GPa, which was higher than that of the bulk materials. The structures of ZnS nanocrystalline at different pressures were built by using materials studio and the bulk modulus, and the pressure derivative of ZnS nanocrystalline were derived by fitting the equation of Birch-Murnaghan. The resulting modulus was higher than that of the corresponding bulk material, which indicates that the nanomaterial has higher hardness than its bulk materials.     

Noise Shielding Using Acoustic Metamaterials

We exploit theoretically a class of rectangular cylindrical devices for noise shielding by using acoustic metamateriais. The function of noise shielding is justified by both the far-field and near-field full-wave simulations based on the finite element method. The enlargement of equivalent acoustic scattering cross sections is revealed to be the physical mechanism for this function. This work makes it possible to design a window with both noise shielding and air flow.     

Photometric Calibration of the Barium Cloud Image in a Space Active Experiment： Determining the Release Efficiency

The barium release experiment is an effective method to explore the near-earth environment and to study all kinds of space physics processes. The first space barium release experiment in China was successfully carried out by a sounding rocket on April 5, 2013. This work is devoted to calculating the release efficiency of the barium release by analyzing the optical image observed during the experiment. First, we present a method to calibrate the images grey value of barium cloud with the reference stars to obtain the radiant fluxes at different moments. Then the release efficiency is obtained by a curve fitting with the theoretical evolution model of barium cloud. The calculated result is basically consistent with the test value on ground.     

Probe chiral magnetic effect with signed balance function

In this paper a pair of observables are proposed as alternative ways,by examining the fluctuation of net momentum-ordering of charged pairs,to study the charge separation induced by the Chiral Magnetic Effect(CME)in relativistic heavy ion collisions.They are,the out-of-plane to in-plane ratio of fluctuation of the difference between signed balance functions measured in pair’s rest frame,and the ratio of it to similar measurement made in the laboratory frame.Both observables have been studied with simulations including flow-related backgrounds,and for the first time,backgrounds that are related to resonance's global spin alignment.The two observables have similar positive responses to signal,and opposite,limited responses to identifiable backgrounds arising from resonance flow and spin alignment.Both observables have also been tested with two realistic models,namely,a multi-phase transport(AMPT)model and the anomalous-viscous fluid dynamics(AVFD)model.These two observables,when cross examined,will provide useful insights in the study of CME-induced charge separation.     

Evaluation of the acoustic nonlinearity parameter of materials with Rayleigh waves excited directly

An experimental technique for the determination of the relative acoustic nonnnearity parameter of materials with Rayleigh waves excited directly is presented. Rayleigh surface waves were directly generated in materials by the specific piezoelectric transducer fixed at the specimen＇s edge, and were measured with a laser interferometer system. After the Rayleigh wave signals were processed with FFT method, the relative acoustic nonlinearity parameter of materials was then determined from the absolute magnitudes of the fundamental and second harmonics of Rayleigh surface waves. This procedure was used to determine the acoustic non- linearity parameters of aluminum alloys 2024 and 6061. It is shown that the results comply well with those available in the literature; this method can thus be used to evaluate the acous- tic nonlinearity parameter of materials effectively. This technique can provide a practical way in the nondestructive characterization of degradation of materials and structures in the early fatigue life.     

Microwire formation based on dielectrophoresis of electroless gold plated polystyrene microspheres

Microspheres coated with a perfectly conductive surface have many advantages in the applications of biosensors and micro-electromechanical systems.Polystyrene microspheres with the diameter of 10 μm were coated with a 50 nmthick gold layer using an electroless gold plating approach.Dielectrophoresis(DEP) for bare microspheres and shelled microspheres was theoretically analysed and the real part of the Clausius-Mossotti factor was calculated for the two kinds of microspheres.The experiments on the dielectrophoretic characterisation of the uncoated polystyrene microspheres and gold coated polystyrene microspheres(GCPMs) were carried out.Experimental results showed that the gold coated polystyrene microspheres were only acted by a positive dielectrophoretic force when the frequency was below 40M Hz,while the uncoated polystyrene microspheres were governed by a negative dielectrophoretic force in this frequency range.The gold coated polystyrene microspheres were exploited to form the microwire automatically according to their stable dielectrophoretic and electric characterisations.     

CDEX-1 1 kg point-contact germanium detector for low mass dark matter searches

The CDEX collaboration has been established for direct detection of light dark matter particles, using ultra-low energy threshold point-contact p-type germanium detectors, in China JinPing underground Laboratory (CJPL). The first 1 kg point-contact germanium detector with a sub-keV energy threshold has been tested in a passive shielding system located in CJPL. The outputs from both the point-contact P⁺ electrode and the outside N⁺ electrode make it possible to scan the lower energy range of less than 1 keV and at the same time to detect the higher energy range up to 3 MeV. The outputs from both P⁺ and N⁺ electrode may also provide a more powerful method for signal discrimination for dark matter experiment. Some key parameters, including energy resolution, dead time, decay times of internal X-rays, and system stability, have been tested and measured. The results show that the 1 kg point-contact germanium detector, together with its shielding system and electronics, can run smoothly with good performances. This detector system will be deployed for dark matter search experiments.     

Anomalous temperature dependent photoluminescence properties of CdS_xSe_(1-x) quantum dots

CdSxSe1-x quantum dots were fabricated by a simple spin-coating heat volatilization method on InP wafer.Temperature dependent photoluminescence of CdSxSe1-x quantum dots was carried out in a range of 10-300 K.The integrated photoluminescence intensity revealed an anomalous behavior with increasing temperature in the range of 180-200 K.The band gap energy showed a redshift of 61.34 meV when the temperature increased from 10 to 300 K.The component ratio of S to Se in the CdSxSe1-x quantum dots was valued by both the X-ray diffraction data and photoluminescence peak energy at room temperature according to Vegard Law.Moreover,the parameters of the Varshni relation for CdS0.9Se0.1 materials were also obtained using photoluminescence peak energy as a function of temperature and the best-fit curve:α=(3.5 ± 0.1)10-4 eV/K,and β=210 ± 10 K (close to the Debye temperature θD of the material).     

Application of aluminum foil for “strain sensing” at fatigue damage evaluation of carbon fiber composite

Surface layer of a loaded solid is an individual structural level of deformation that was shown numerously within concept of physical mesomechanics.This gives rise to advance in its deformation development under loading as well as allows using this phenomenon to sense the strain induced structure changes.It is of specific importance for composite materials since they are highly heterogeneous while estimating their mechanical state is a topical applied problem.Fatigue tests of carbon fiber composite specimens were carried out for cyclic deformation estimation with the use of strain sensors made of thin(80μm)aluminum foil glued to the specimen’s surface.The surface images were captured by DSLR camera mounted onto an optical microscope.Strain relief to form during cyclic loading was numerically estimated using different parameters:dispersion,mean square error,universal image quality index,fractal dimension and energy of Fourier spectrum.The results are discussed in view of deformation mismatch in thin foil and bulk specimen and are offered to be applied for the development of Structural Health Monitoring(SHM)approach.