Simulation on the response of new phosphate glass RPC for <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-rays and e<Superscript>+</Superscript>/e<Superscript>−</Superscript> particles using GEANT3

The influence of phosphate glass electrode in the configuration of resistive plate chamber has been studied using GEANT3.21 Monte Carlo code. Bakelite electrodes were replaced by phosphate glass electrodes, as these glass materials have low bulk resistivity, are portable and easy to handle. These types of RPCs in their compact form of all materials are suitable for high rate background environment. We find that these new types of RPCs give little higher response to γ-rays and e⁺/e⁻ particles, both for single-and double gap RPCs. The results of simulation are discussed.      

Plastic scintillator-based hodoscope for the characterization of large-area resistive plate chambers

A scintillator-based hodoscope is fully operational at Nuclear Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (NPD-BARC). It was used for characterizing the resistive plate chambers (RPCs) assembled for the RE4 upgrade for the compact muon solenoid (CMS) experiment, installed during the long shut-down (LS1) using cosmic muons. It has now been employed for R & D related to gas mixtures and glass RPCs for the India-based neutrino observatory (INO) and muon tomography studies. The hodoscope is equipped with gas flow lines, LV, HV and VME-based DAQ with multihit TDCs. CERN-based software was adapted, implemented and along with the cosmic trigger, was used to evaluate the functional parameters for the RPCs, such as efficiency, cluster size etc.     

Study of neutron response for two hybrid RPC setups using the GEANT4 MC simulation approach

The present article describes a detailed neutron simulation study in the energy range 10~(-10) MeV to 1.0 GeV for two different RPC configurations.The simulation studies were taken by using the GEANT4 MC code.Aluminum was utilized on the GND and readout strips for the (a) Bakelite-based and (b) glass-based RPCs.For the former type of RPC setup the neutron sensitivity for the isotropic source was S_n=2.702×10~(-2) at E_n=1.0 GeV, while for the latter type of RPC, the neutron sensitivity for the same source was evaluated as S_n=4.049×10~(-2) at E_n=1.0 geV.These results were further compared with the previous RPC configuration in which copper was used for ground and pickup pads.Additionally A1 was employed at (GND+strips) of the phosphate glass RPC setup and compared with the copper-based phosphate glass RPC.Good agreement with sensitivity values was obtained with the current and previous simulation results.     

A Monte Carlo simulation approach to glass-resistive plate chamber response to e+/e-

Resistive plate chambers (RPCs) have been chosen as a part of the muon trigger detectors in the CMS experiment. They are used both in the endcaps and in the barrel regions, and they have to work in an extreme radiation background. Test of glass-RPC detectors have been performed in order to investigate their performance in such situations. In the present work, the simulation response of glass-RPCs exposed to positrons/electrons is evaluated. As expected a lower sensitivity of glass-RPC with respect to the bakelite-RPC has been observed since the glass density is higher and therefore a lower fraction of electrons can reach the gas gap. The obtained results were applied to CMS/RPC endcap and barrel regions, and their respective sensitivities to those particles are reported together with hit rates.     

Measurement of optical constants of thin polymer films using spectrally resolved white light interferometry

Using the spectrally resolved white light interferometry we present our experimental results on the measurement of the optical constants of thin polymer films coated on a transparent substrate. As an extension to our previous work (J. Opt. Soc. Am. B12, 1559 (1995)) on thick glass plates, we have shown here that this technique can be effectively applied to very thin polymer films also. We have improved the accuracy of our results by using the Sellmeier dispersion formula for fitting the data. From the width and position of the zero-order fringe and the frequency of modulations in the white light spectrum, the refractive indexn(λ) and thicknesst of the thin polymer films are calculated. To study the accuracies involved in the technique, PVA, PMMA and PS films of varied thicknesses are coated on glass plates and the measured values are compared with ellipsometer studies.     

Solid-state NMR study of bioactive binary borosilicate glasses

A series of binary borosilicate glasses prepared by the sol-gel method are shown to be bioactive. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and trimethylborate (TMB) in acidic medium are used to prepare xB₂O₃·(1−x)SiO₂ glass systems for x=0.045-0.167. The formation of a layer of apatite-like mineral on the glass surface becomes apparent after soaking in simulated body fluid for 48 h. We have measured the ¹¹B-¹¹B homonuclear second moments of the borosilicate glasses and inferred that no macroscopic phase separation occurred in our glasses. The ¹¹B chemical shift data also show that the formation of clustered boroxol rings is negligible in our glass system. Although the bioactivity of our borosilicate glasses is less than that of CaO-SiO₂ sol-gel glasses, these simple binary systems could be taken as reference glass systems for the search of new bioactive borosilicate glasses.     

High energy heavy ion interactions studied with SSNTDs

We have continued our studies of heavy ion projectile fragmentation using nuclear track detectors. Based on automatic track measurement it was possible to perform experiments with high statistical significance. Beams of different ions from the Berkeley BEVALAC, the Dubna Synchrophasotron, the Brookhaven AGS and the GSI Darmstadt SIS have been used. With CR-39 and BP-1 glass detectors we have studied the process of electromagnetic dissociation, we investigated multifragmentation and continued the search for quark nuclear complexes. This paper gives an overview of these experiments. Details of the experimental technique are discussed.     

1/f noise and slow relaxations in glasses

Recently we have shown that slow relaxations in the electron glass system can be understood in terms of the spectrum of a matrix describing the relaxation of the system close to a metastable state. The model focused on the electron glass system, but its generality was demonstrated on various other examples. Here, we study the noise spectrum in the same framework. We obtain a remarkable relation between the spectrum of relaxation rates λ described by the distribution function P (λ) ～ 1/λ and the 1/f noise in the fluctuating occupancies of the localized electronic sites. This noise can be observed using local capacitance measurements. We confirm our analytic results using numerics, and also show how the Onsager symmetry is fulfilled in the system.     

Test of BESⅢ RPC in the avalanche mode

The installation of the BESⅢ RPC system has been completed.Cosmic ray test results show that they perform very well in streamer mode and meet the BESⅢ requirements.We have tested several RPCs in the avalanche mode with the addition of extra SF6 in the gas mixture.We find an efficiency plateau that reaches～95%.and a time resolution of 1.8 ns.This demonstrates that the BESⅢ-type RPC can work in the avalanche mode as well.     

Research on micro-optical lenses fabrication technology

We present a detail investigation on the development of a series of gradient index (GRIN) optical glass microlens and polymer microlens and microlens arrays in our laboratory in recent years. The special glass material GRIN lenses have been fabricated mainly by using ion-exchange technology, which are applied to construct micro-optic devices and other applications. On one hand, we demonstrated the light propagation and imaging properties of GRIN lenses and the results analyzed. On the other hand, we have explored a drop-on-demand ink-jet printing method to produce microlens array using nano-scale polymer droplets involved with a uniform ultraviolet light and heat solidifying process. The experimental setup for manufacturing polymer microlens array and the performance of refractive microlens elements are also given in this paper.     

Replicative fabrication of diffractive structure from self-assembled particles onto a glass substrate using corona-charging treatment

We have succeeded in the first fabrication of a diffractive structure replicated onto a glass substrate using a template of self-assembled polystyrene particles via corona-charging treatment. A hexagonal close-packed structure of selfassembled particles was used as the template in the structural replication. As a result, a sixfold symmetric diffraction pattern was generated from the glass substrate, on/in which the diffractive structure was replicatively fabricated. The dependence of the diffraction efficiency on processing time of corona-charging treatment was examined. It was found that the diffraction efficiency increased with treatment time up to 2 h. The observed first-order diffraction efficiency was 2.4 × 10⁻³%. In contrast, the diffraction efficiency decreased after 2 h treatment under our current experimental conditions. This trend of diffraction efficiency was discussed on the basis of structural changes of the polystyrene template.     

Performing chemical reactions in virtual capillary of surface tension-confined microfluidic devices

In this paper we report a new method of fabrication of surface tensionconfined microfluidic devices on glass. We have also successfully carried out some well-known chemical reactions in these fluidic channels to demonstrate the usefulness of these wall-less microchannels. The confined flow path of liquid was achieved on the basis of extreme differences in hydrophobic and hydrophilic characters of the surface. The flow paths were fabricated by making parallel lines using permanent marker pen ink or other polymer on glass surfaces. Two mirror image patterned glass plates were then sandwiched one on top of the other, separated by a thin gap-created using a spacer. The aqueous liquid moves between the surfaces by capillary forces, confined to the hydrophilic areas without wetting the hydrophobic lines, achieving liquid confinement without physical side-walls. We have shown that the microfluidic devices designed in such a way can be very useful due to their simplicity and low fabrication cost. More importantly, we have also demonstrated that the minimum requirement of such a working device is a hydrophilic line surrounded by hydrophobic environment, two walls of which are constituted of air and the rest is made of a hydrophobic surface.     

多气隙电阻板室蒙特卡洛模拟与实验的比较

介绍了一个在电阻板室雪崩增长与信号发展的模型,模拟了多气隙电阻板室的电荷谱和时间分布谱,并与试验做了比较.     

Kinetic Arrest Originating in Competition Between Attractive Interaction and Packing Force

We discuss the situation where attractive and repulsive portions of the interparticle potential both contribute significantly to glass formation. We introduce the square-well potential as prototypical model for this situation, and reject the Baxter model as a useful model for comparison to experiment on glasses, based on our treatment within mode coupling theory. We present explicit results for various well widths, and show that, for narrow wells, there is a useful analytical formula that would be suitable for experimentalists working in the field of colloidal science. We raise the question as to whether, in a more exact treatment, the sticky-sphere limit might have an infinite glass transition temperature or a high but finite one.     

Reverse buoyancy in a vibrated granular bed: Computer simulations

We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of an intruder in a vibrated granular bed including interstitial fluid effects to account for the phenomenon of reverse buoyancy. We show that our model is able to reproduce the overall behaviour observed by previous experimental works and is the first finite-elements simulation to show the sinking of intruders lighter than the granular bed. To further advance our comprehension of this phenomenon, we studied the motion of the intruders in a single vibration cycle with respect to the bottom of the granular column, finding a substantial qualitative difference for heavy and light intruders and we compare these results with experiments using fine-sized glass beads. We show that, though heavy intruders seem unaffected by the force due to the fluid, the effect on light intruders is remarkable.      

Deconstructing the glass transition through critical experiments on colloids

The glass transition is the most enduring grand-challenge problem in contemporary condensed matter physics. Here, we review the contribution of colloid experiments to our understanding of this problem. First, we briefly outline the success of colloidal systems in yielding microscopic insights into a wide range of condensed matter phenomena. In the context of the glass transition, we demonstrate their utility in revealing the nature of spatial and temporal dynamical heterogeneity. We then discuss the evidence from colloid experiments in favor of various theories of glass formation that has accumulated over the last two decades. In the next section, we expound on the recent paradigm shift in colloid experiments from an exploratory approach to a critical one aimed at distinguishing between predictions of competing frameworks. We demonstrate how this critical approach is aided by the discovery of novel dynamical crossovers within the range accessible to colloid experiments. We also highlight the impact of alternate routes to glass formation such as random pinning, trajectory space phase transitions and replica coupling on current and future research on the glass transition. We conclude our review by listing some key open challenges in glass physics such as the comparison of growing static length scales and the preparation of ultrastable glasses that can be addressed using colloid experiments.     

Experimental study on the effect of high humidity environments on the response of long-term exposed nuclear track detectors

In Spain, a recent modification in the regulations of protection against ionizing radiation obligates to determine radon levels in particular workplaces like spas, mines and caves. Most of these workplaces may present extreme measurement conditions like high aerosol content, temperature, and humidity that can affect the radon detector response. In our laboratory we use to determine mean radon activity concentration in air with the nuclear track detector Makrofol DE covered with an aluminized Mylar foil and placed within the FzK FN diffusion chamber with a glass fibre filter. We have compared detector response using different filter configurations in common laboratory ambient conditions. The configuration with a better response (polyethylene filter) and our reference configuration took part in a study of the effect of different temperature and humidity on our detector response carried out in the INTE radon chamber. Results obtained did not show a significant difference between detector responses with both filters. However, when we exposed them for long periods to real environmental conditions at underground sites we could observe Mylar deterioration. To look in detail into a possible effect of long-term high-humidity exposures we exposed nine sets of detectors with three different polyethylene bags, first five sets under controlled conditions in the INTE radon chamber and then four sets in long-term exposures at high humidity environments. We have seen that the Mylar foil can be damaged depending on the duration of exposure. In a radon chamber exposure time is normally limited to a few days for practical and financial reasons; therefore, results do not show if humidity affects the glass fibre filter and detectors response. To analyse it we exposed detectors in a real humid environment up to a month where we already observed Mylar deterioration due to humidity but the possible impact on track density is hidden by the scattering of the results found, so a clear conclusion cannot be stated.     

Intensely emitting CdTe nanocrystals retained initial photoluminescence efficiency in sol–gel derived Si<Subscript>1-x</Subscript>Zr<Subscript>x</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> glass

Emitting CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) were embedded in pure glass matrices (Si_1-xZr_xO₂, x≤0.15) using a controlled sol–gel method, where the pre-hydrolyzed condition, the molar ratio of Zr/Si, the gelation time, the pH, and the amount of alcohol were judiciously optimized considering the surface condition of the NCs and the mechanism of the glass formation. As a result, the prepared glass phosphor exhibited high photoluminescence efficiencies (40% for green and 60% for red when Zr/Si was 5–10%) by retaining their initial values as in CdTe colloidal solution. To our knowledge, these values are the highest among those ever obtained for any solid matrices containing NCs. Because of the existence of Zr, the prepared glasses exhibit much better resistance against the ambient atmosphere, heat-treatment, and boiling water compared with pure silica glass (x=0) or the glass prepared from our other methods using a silane coupling agent. Thus, the obtained glass is promising for applications such as optical devices. PACS 78.67.Bf; 78.55.Qr; 78.55.Et