Gafchromic® film dosimetry for low energy X radiation

Recent developments have produced low energy X ray systems capable of providing a radiation dose to adequate volumes suitable for sterile inset programmes. To support the adoption of these new systems, the performance of the Gafchromic^® HD-810 dosimetry system previously used for gamma irradiation needed to be better understood at the lower photon energies. For low energy photons, the optical density of the irradiated Gafchromic HD-810 film dosimeters significantly depends on the material surrounding them. For example, if paper, Mylar^® or PVC is used to house the dosimeter during irradiation, the optical density can vary by as much as a factor of three or more for the same dose. This paper is an attempt to elucidate the performance of the Gafchromic HD-810 film dosimeters for such low energy X radiation (∼150 keV). Our data show that this behaviour can be explained by the fact that these materials have significantly different photon mass attenuation coefficient. This conclusion was reinforced with mathematical simulation using Monte Carlo modelling. We also show that with the different structure of another Gafchromic film dosimeter (MD-V2-55) this effect is virtually non-existent. An understanding of the behaviour of thin film dosimeters like Gafchromic HD-810 under radiation is crucial for reliable dosimetry. We hope that this work can also provide guidance in the use of other thin film dosimeters at similar low photon energies.     

Intercomparison of Gafchromic™ films,TL detectors and TL foils for the measurements of skin dose in interventional radiology

Several passive solid state dosemeters, such as Gafchromic™ films and thermoluminescence (TL) detectors, are used to estimate and monitor patient skin doses in interventional radiology. To determine the suitability of XR-TypeR Gafchromic™ films and of detectors based on TL materials: pellets, chips and foils to measure skin dose, an intercomparison exercise has been organized within European Dosimetry Radiation Group – Working Group 12 “European Medical ALARA Network” (EURADOS WG12). To test response detectors were exposed to X-ray beams of energies and qualities applied clinically. A blind test was also performed to investigate the accuracy of the dose estimate by detectors exposed to unknown doses. We found the response of films to be strongly dependent on beam quality and filtration (increasing by up to 80% with respect to reference beam quality). The response of TL detectors was found to be less dependent on beam quality (less than 25% variation), with TL foils showing less than 10% variation with respect to reference beam quality. To accurately estimate patient skin doses in interventional radiology it is important to choose the quality of the calibration beam to be as close as possible to the quality of beams actually applied in clinical work.     

Combined ion and atom trap for low-temperature ion–atom physics

We report an experimental apparatus and technique which simultaneously traps ions and cold atoms with spatial overlap. Such an apparatus is motivated by the study of ion–atom processes at temperatures ranging from hot to ultra cold. This area is a largely unexplored domain of physics with cold trapped atoms. In this article we discuss the general design considerations for combining these two traps and present our experimental setup. The ion trap and atom trap are characterized independently of each other. The simultaneous operation of both is then described and experimental signatures of the effect of the ions and cold atoms on each other are presented. In conclusion, the use of such an instrument for several problems in physics and chemistry is briefly discussed.     

Microstructure and photoluminescence of Er-doped SiOx films synthesized by ion beam assisted deposition

Er-doped SiO_x films were synthesized at 500℃ by ion beam assisted deposition technique and annealed at 800 and 1100℃ for 2h in the air atmosphere. The analysis by using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy showed that the ratio of Si to O decreased from 3 in the as-deposited films to about 1 in the annealed films. The investigation by using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction indicated that annealing induces a microstructure change from amorphous to crystalline. The grain sizes in the films were about 10 and 40nm when annealed at 800 and 1100℃, respectively. The films annealed at temperatures of 800 and 1100℃ exhibited a sharp photoluminescence (PL) at 1.533μm from the Er centres when pumped by 980nm laser. The influence of microstructure and grain size on the PL from Er-doped SiO_x films has been studied and discussed.     

Laser ion source for ITEP–TWAC project

Laser ion source (LIS) is the only type of source capable of generating 10–30 mA beams of highly charged ions for the ITEP–TeraWatt (TWAC) accelerator/accumulator facility [B.Yu. Sharkov et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 415 20 (1998).]. The assembling stage of the new LIS based on 100 J/1 Hz master oscillator–power amplifier CO₂-laser system [Yu. Satov, et al., J. Russ. Laser Res. 25(3) 205 (2004).] is in progress at ITEP now. In the first phase, the ion beam parameters (charge state distribution, current, pulse length and emittance) will be specified for different elements and target irradiation conditions. According to the planning, the new LIS and the new high-current injector [D. Kashinsky, et al., Proceedings of the Heavy Ion Fusion Conference, Moskow (2002).] will be used to deliver the beams of highly charged ions for the ITEP–TWAC accelerator/accumulator facility.     

Polymer–ion–clay interaction based model for ion conduction in intercalation-type polymer nanocomposite

A series of polymer nanocomposite films based on intercalation of (PAN)₈LiCF₃SO₃ into the nanometric clay channels of an organomodified clay has been prepared using the standard solution-casting technique. The role of organoclay concentration on polymer–ion interaction, ion–ion interaction, and ion–clay interaction in clay-based nanocomposite films has been analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Substantial ion dissociation is observed even at a very low clay loading (1–2 wt.%) in the nanocomposites. FTIR results suggest the presence of both uncoordinated CF₃SO₃ ⁻ (free-anions) and ion pairs in the nanocomposite evidenced by changes in CF₃SO₃ ⁻ symmetry from C3ν to Cs and marked asymmetry in the profile of degenerate δ_d(CF₃ ⁻) mode. The experimental results suggest a direct correlation of clay-assisted ion dissociation process with variation in conductivity (σ _dc) and glass transition temperature (T _g) as a function of clay concentration. A model has been proposed to explain the observed correlation on the basis of polymer–ion–clay interaction. The proposed scheme of ion transport mechanism appears to be consistent with the experimental observation.     

Influence of 120 MeV Si9+ ion irradiation on ZnTe semiconductor thin films

ABSTRACT

ZnTe (Zinc Telluride) is a potential semiconducting material for many optoelectronic devices like solar cells and back contact material for CdTe-based solar cells. In the present study, ZnTe thin films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique and then irradiated with 120?MeV Si⁹⁺ ions at different fluences. These films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Visible spectroscopy techniques. XRD study confirms increased crystallinity and grain growth for post-irradiated ZnTe thin films for fluences, up to 1?×?10¹¹ ions cm^?2. However, the grain size and crystallinity decreased for higher fluence-exposed samples. SEM images confirm the observed structural properties. Modification of the surface morphology of the film due to the ion irradiation with different fluences is studied. Optical band gap of film is decreased from 2.31?eV (pristine) to 2.17?eV after irradiation of Si⁹⁺ ions.     

Scheme for teleportation of unknown states of trapped ion

A scheme is presented for teleporting an unknown state in a trapped ion system. The scheme only requires a single laser beam. It allows the trap to be in any state with a few phonons, e.g. a thermal motion. Furthermore, it works in the regime, where the Rabi frequency of the laser is on the order of the trap frequency. Thus, the teleportation speed is greatly increased, which is important for decreasing the decoherence effect. This idea can also be used to teleport an unknown ionic entangled state.     

Li–N dual-doped ZnO thin films prepared by an ion beam enhanced deposition method

Li–N dual-doped ZnO films [ZnO:(Li,N)] with Li doping concentrations of 3 at.%–5 at.% were grown on a glass substrate using an ion beam enhanced deposition(IBED) method. An optimal p-type ZnO:(Li,N) film with the resistivity of 11.4 Ω·cm was obtained by doping 4 at.% of Li and 5 sccm flow ratio of N2. The ZnO:(Li,N) films exhibited a wurtzite structure and good transmittance in the visible region. The p-type conductive mechanism of ZnO:(Li,N) films are attributed to the Li substitute Zn site(LiZn) acceptor. N doping in ZnO can forms the Lii–NOcomplex, which depresses the compensation of Li occupy interstitial site(Lii) donors for LiZnacceptor and helps to achieve p-type ZnO:(Li,N) films. Room temperature photoluminescence measurements indicate that the UV peak(381 nm) is due to the shallow acceptors LiZnin the p-type ZnO:(Li,N) films. The band gap of the ZnO:(Li,N) films has a red-shift after p-type doping.     

Study for infrared spectroscopic ellipsometric properties of diamond films

Spectroscopic ellipsometric measurements in infrared region (2.5 - 12.5 μm) are carried out to characterize the structure and quality of diamond films grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) and hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD), respectively. It is found that the establishment of appropriate models has the strongest influence on the fit of ellipsometric spectra. The best fit is achieved for MPCVD film with a 77.5-nm middle layer of SiO2, and for HFCVD film with an 879-nm rough surface layer included by Bruggeman effective medium approtimation (EMA). Finally the refractive index and the extinction coefficient are calculated for both films, the results show that the film grown by MPCVD is optically much better than that grown by HFCVD at infrared wavelengths.     

Dielectronic recombination rate coefficient for Cu-like Au^50＋ ion

The rate coefficients α^{DR} of dielectronic recombination (DR) for Cu-like Au^{50+} ion collided with the incident free electron are calculated based on the quasi-relativistic multi-configuration Hartree－Fock theory. The results clearly show that the α^{DR} of all recombination channels exhibits resonance characters with electron temperature. At lower temperatures, the recombination for electrons caused by 4s excitation is dominant through outer electron radiative transitions among the intermediate doubly excited autoionizing levels, in which the most components come from 3d^{10}5pns states, whereas with increasing electron temperature, DR caused by 3d excitation turns out to be dominant, and the contribution from the 3d^94s4fnf state to the total rate coefficient of electron 3d is the largest with α^{DR}=1.15×10^{- 11} cm^3·s^{-1} at an electron temperature of T_e=0.35 keV. Under this condition, there exists a strong competition between the two types of recombination channels.     

The rapid prototyping of textured amorphous surfaces for the graphoepitaxial deposition of CdTe films using focused ion beam lithography

Cadmium telluride films deposited on amorphous substrates exhibit a grain structure characterized by [111]-oriented grains, but where the in-plane grain orientation is randomized due to the absence of epitaxy. Here, we explore the viability of promoting an in-plane grain alignment through graphoepitaxy. Fifteen different substrate surface textures were fabricated using focused ion beam lithography. This approach allows for the side-by-side deposition of surface textures where both the areal extent and depth of the surface features are varied in a systematic manner. CdTe films deposited overtop these textures show grain structures with dramatic variations, revealing that particular length scales have the most pronounced effect on the grain structure.     

Effect of nitrogen partial pressure on Al–Ti–N films deposited by arc ion plating

AlTiN films with different nitrogen partial pressures were deposited using arc ion plating (AIP) technique. In this study, we systematically investigated the effect of the nitrogen partial pressure on composition, deposition efficiency, microstructure, macroparticles (MPs), hardness and adhesion strength of the AlTiN films. The results showed that with increasing the nitrogen partial pressure, the deposition rate exhibited a maximum at 1.2 Pa. Results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that AlTiN films were comprised of Ti–N and Al–N bonds. XRD results showed that the films exhibited a (1 1 1) preferred growth, and AlTi₃N and TiAl_x phases were observed in the film deposited at 1.7 Pa. Analysis of MPs statistics showed MPs decreased with the increase in the nitrogen partial pressure. In addition, the film deposited at 1.2 Pa possessed the maximum hardness of 38 GPa and the better adhesion strength.     

The luminescence enhancement of Eu^3＋ ion and SnO2 nanocrystal co-doped sol-gel SiO2 films

SnO₂ nanocrystal and rare-earth Eu～（3+） ion co-doped SiO₂ thin films are prepared by sol-gel and spin coating methods.The formation of tetragonal rutile structure SnO₂ nanocrystals with a uniform distribution is confirmed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is used to investigate the densities of the hydroxyl groups,and it is found that the emission intensity from the 5 D 0 7 F 2 transitions of the Eu～（3+） ions is enhanced by two orders of magnitude due to energy transfer from the oxygen-vacancy-related defects of the SnO₂ nanocrystals to nearby Eu～（3+） ions.The influences of the amounts of Sn and the post-annealing temperatures are systematically evaluated to further understand the mechanism of energy transfer.The luminescence intensity ratio of Eu～（3+） ions from electric dipole transition and magnetic dipole transition indicate the different probable locations of Eu～（3+） ions in the sol-gel thin film,which are further discussed based on temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements.     

Write-once medium with BiO_x thin films for blue laser recording

BiO_x films are prepared by reactive direct current(DC)magnetron sputtering from a metallic bismuth target in Ar O_2 with different O_2/Ar ratios.It is found that the optical property of BiO_x films is sensitive to O_2/Ar ratios and the films deposited at O_2/Ar ratio of 0.5 have the best reflectivity contrast under the same conditions.The structure and optical characteristics of the films are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),and spectrophotometer.As revealed by investigations, the phase transition is mainly responsible for the change of optical properties.The static test results indicate that the BiO_x films have good writing sensitivity for blue laser beams.A high reflectivity contrast of about 52% at a writing power of 11 mW and writing pulse width of 800 ns is obtained.In addition,the films demonstrate good stability after being read for 10000 times.     

Effect of irradiating ion fluence on optical properties of ZnO1−x:Nx thin films

Swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation is an effective technique to modify the optical properties of the materials. In the present investigation, the effect of 100?MeV?Ag⁷⁺ SHI irradiation fluence on the optical properties of ZnO_1?x:N_x thin films was studied. The post irradiation spectroscopic characterizations such as UV–VIS reflectance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy analysis were carried out. The studies imply that when the SHI passes through the solid, the higher electronic stopping power of ions can weaken oxygen bonds in ZnO, resulting in the formation of donor defects such as oxygen vacancies and zinc interstitials. The formation of donor defects has been acknowledged through the increase in bandgap with irradiating ion fluence. The blue shift observed from the Raman spectra for the 3?×?10¹³ ions/cm² fluence-irradiated films implies the existence of compressive stress in the films. The PL analysis acknowledges the formation of donor defects upon irradiation. Furthermore, it conveys that the presence of N atoms in ZnO lattice leads to the formation of a less number of defects as compared with undoped ZnO while irradiation.     

Aspartame tablets—gamma dose response and usability for routine radiation processing dosimetry using spectrophotometry

Aspartame tablets were studied for gamma dose response, using spectrophotometric read-out method. The optimum concentration for ferrous ions was $2\times {10}^{-4}\mathrm{mol}{\mathrm{dm}}^{-3}$ and xylenol orange with $2.5\times {10}^{-1}\mathrm{mol}{\mathrm{dm}}^{-3}$ of sulphuric acid for the optimum acidity in FX solution. Wavelength of maximum absorbance is 548 nm. Post-irradiation stability is appreciable i.e. for not less than one month. Dose response is non-linear with third order polynomial fit, in the dose range of 1000–10000 Gy. This system of aspartame was further used for carrying out relative percentage dose profile measurement in Gamma Cell-220. Results obtained were inter-compared with that of a glutamine dosimeter, which showed that maximum difference between the values of aspartame and glutamine systems is within $\pm 10\%$.     

Effect of reactive gas pressure on the plasma parameters during triode ion plating of Cr−C films

Mechanical properties and the average chemical composition of Cr?C hard coatings deposited by means of triode ion plating strongly depends on the partial pressure of the reactive gas (C₂H₂) during the deposition. The partial pressure of the acetylene has to be higher (\(p_{C_2 H_2 } = 1.5 \times 10^{ - 3} mbar\)) and much tighly controlled than the partial pressure of N₂ during the deposition of CrN. The shape of energy spectra measured by PPM 421 are similar in both cases, with the energy peak at about 50 eV. This energy corresponds to theU _pl and to the potential measured on the crucible. The intensity of ions originating from the C₂H₂ is much lower than the intensity of nitrogen ions. Only the¹²C⁺, CH _x ^Emphasis>+ group and C ₂ ⁺ ions were definitely detected.     

Synthesis of α-In 2 Te 3 thin films from In/Te bilayer by Si ion irradiation

In this work, In/Te bilayer thin films were prepared using sequential thermal evaporation method and subsequently irradiated using swift heavy ions (SHIs) of 100 MeV silicon (Si) with different fluences (1×10¹³ to 5×10¹³/cm²). The inter-diffusion of In and Te layers was highly controlled by SHI irradiation and the In₂Te₃ formation capability was compared with that of the conventional annealing method. The structural as well as optical properties of a post-sintered SHI-irradiated In/Te bilayer were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and UV–visible spectroscopy, respectively. We found that irradiated samples showed single-phase In₂Te₃ under post-annealed conditions at 150 °C unlike that prepared using the conventional thermal annealing method, which showed mixed phases under similar conditions. This confirms the effective inter-diffusion in bilayer films by SHI irradiation toward the formation of single-phase In₂Te₃. The estimated optical band gap energy was found to be 1.1±0.5 eV and strongly corroborated the XRD results. In addition, the estimated refractive index (n) value of the SHI-irradiated sample (～3.3) was higher than that of the sample obtained through the conventional annealing method (～2.8). This proves that SHI offers a highly compact nature even at low temperatures. This work has a wide scope for achieving single-phase alloyed films through bilayer mixing by SHI irradiation.     

M?ssbauer spectroscopic study of iron�Cnickel nitrides thin films prepared by ion beam assisted deposition

An overview is given of the present status of parity violation tests in neutron decay and nuclear beta decay. Prospects for improved and new measurements are discussed as well.