SHI induced nano track polymer filters and characterization

Swift heavy ion irradiation produces damage in polymers in the form of latent tracks. Latent tracks can be enlarged by etching it in a suitable etchant and thus nuclear track etch membrane can be formed for gas permeation / purification in particular for hydrogen where the molecular size is very small. By applying suitable and controlled etching conditions well defined tracks can be formed for specific applications of the membranes. After etching gas permeation method is used for characterizing the tracks. In the present work polycarbonate (PC) of various thickness were irradiated with energetic ion beam at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi. Nuclear tracks were modified by etching the PC in 6N NaOH at 60 (±1) °C from both sides for different times to produce track etch membranes. At critical etch time the etched pits from both the sides meet a rapid increase in gas permeation was observed. Permeability of hydrogen and carbon dioxide has been measured in samples etched for different times. The latent tracks produced by SHI irradiation in the track etch membranes show enhancement of free volume of the polymer. Nano filters are separation devices for the mixture of gases, different ions in the solution and isotopes and isobars separations. The polymer thin films with controlled porosity finding it self as best choice. However, the permeability and selectivity of these polymer based membrane filters are very important at the nano scale separation. The Swift Heavy Ion (SHI) induced nuclear track etched polymeric films with controlled etching have been attempted and characterized as nano scale filters.      

Enhancement of proton acceleration by hot-electron recirculation in thin foils irradiated by ultraintense laser pulses

MeV-proton production from solid targets irradiated by 100-fs laser pulses at intensities above 1x10(20) W cm(-2) has been studied as a function of initial target thickness. For foils 100 microm thick the proton beam was characterized by an energy spectrum of temperature 1.4 MeV with a cutoff at 6.5 MeV. When the target thickness was reduced to 3 microm the temperature was 3.2+/-0.3 MeV with a cutoff at 24 MeV. These observations are consistent with modeling showing an enhanced density of MeV electrons at the rear surface for the thinnest targets, which predicts an increased acceleration and higher proton energies.     

Coupled chemical reactions in dynamic nanometric confinement: Ag2O membrane formation during ion track etching

In this study, continuous swift heavy ion tracks in thin polymer foils were etched from both sides to create two conical nanopores opposing each other. Shortly before both cones merged, one of the nanopores was filled with a silver salt solution, whereas etching of the other cone continued. At the moment of track breakthrough, the etchant reacted with the silver salt solution by forming an impermeable and insulating membrane. Continued etching around the thus-created obstacle led to repetitive {etchant – silver salt solution} interactions. The coupling of the two chemical reactions, {etchant – polymer} and {etchant – silver salt solution}, within the confinement of etched tracks, with continuously changing shapes, showed a highly dynamic nature as recorded by measuring both the electrical current and the optical transmission across the foils. At low etching speeds, a central membrane that grew in radius and thickness with time until, at a critical thickness, the membrane became rather impermeable was formed. However, at high etching speeds, the emerging reaction products exhibited a sponge-like consistency, which allowed for their infinite growth. This precipitation was accompanied by a pronounced current spike formation. A simple theoretical model explains, at a minimum, the basic features.     

Electro-responsive asymmetric nanopores in polyimide with stable ion-current signal

For the preparation of a single asymmetrically shaped nanopore in a polyimide membrane, Kapton foils were irradiated with single heavy ions and subsequently etched from one side in sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The other side of the membrane was protected from etching by a stopping medium containing a reducing agent for hypochlorite ions (OCl^-). The resulting conical nanopore rectified ion current and exhibited a stable ion-current flow. Received: 23 May 2002 / Accepted: 2 September 2002 / Published online: 15 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-6159/712-179, E-mail: Z.Siwy@gsi.de     

Transmission of 3 keV Ne7+ ions through nanocapillaries etched in polymer foils: evidence for capillary guiding

We report unprecedented transmission experiments of 3 keV Ne7+ ions through capillaries of 100 nm diameter and 10 microm length produced by etching ion tracks in a polymer foil. We studied foils tilted up to +/-20 degrees for which the incident ions are forced to interact with the capillary surface. Surprisingly, the majority of Ne7+ ions were found to survive the surface scattering events in their initial charge state. The angular distributions of the transmitted particles indicate propagation of the Ne7+ ions along the capillary axis. This capillary guiding of the Ne7+ ion provides evidence that the inner walls of the capillaries become charged and electron capture from the surface is suppressed in a self-organizing process.     

关键天体反应18Ne(α, p)21Na的实验研究

在X 射线暴高温高密度的环境中,18Ne( α, p)21Na 很可能是由热CNO 循环突破到rp 过程的一个重要反应。到目前为止,人们测得的反应率还存在很大的不确定性。实验中用CRIB(CNS RadioactiveIon Beam separator) 提供的21Na 放射性束轰击8.8 mg/cm2 的聚乙烯厚靶,利用放置在θlab = 14°,0°,14° 处的3 套硅条探测器望远镜阵列对反冲轻粒子进行鉴别和测量,测得在一段能区(Ex = 5:5  9:2MeV) 内21Na(p, p)21Na 的激发函数。通过对21Na(p, p) 共振弹性散射截面进行R矩阵拟合,得到了22Mg共振能级的自旋宇称以及质子宽度等信息,从而为计算18Ne( α,, p)21Na 反应率提供了实验参数。The 18Ne(α ,p)21Na reaction is thought to be one of the key breakout reaction from the hot CNO cycle to the rp-process in X-ray bursts. Over stellartemperatures achieved in XRBs, this rate has not been sufficiently determined.The experiment was performed using CRIB (CNS Radioactive Ion Beam separator) at the Center for Nuclear Study (CNS) of the University of Tokyo. An 89 MeV 21Na radioactive ion beam was produced and bombarded an 8.8 mg/cm2 thick polyethylene target. The recoiled light particles were detected with three Micron silicon ΔE-E telescopes centered at angles of θlab = 0°; +14° and 14°with respect to the beam direction, respectively. The 21Na+p elastic-scattering excitation functions were reconstructed with a thick-target method over energies Ex = 5:5  9:2 MeV. The resonance parameters have been determined through an R-matrix analysis,which will be used to evaluate the 18Ne( α, p)21Na reaction rate.     

The statistical process of pore growth in multi pore foils

Using the electrolytical etching method the breakthrough-times (i.e. the time when the two etched cones from both sides of the detector contact) and the resulting track etching rates v_t of heavy ion tracks in 8 μm polycarbonate Makrofol KG have been measured. The samples were irradiated at the GSI, Darmstadt (Germany) with gold ions and different fluences at a specific energy of 11.6 MeV/u. All foils were etched in 6 n NaOH at room temperature. Fluctuations of breakthrough-times of single pore foils were analysed. Also the breakthrough-time of multi-pore-foils were measured. The dependence of the mean breakthrough-time on the ion fluence is dicussed. This dependence will be explained by the fluctuations of the breakthrough-time of the pores.     

Study of Proton Resonances in ~(22)Mg by Resonant Elastic Scattering of ~(21)Na+p and Its Astrophysical Implication in ~(18)Ne(α,p)~(21)Na Reaction Rate

Proton resonant states in ~(22)Mg have been investigated by the resonant elastic scattering of ~(21)Na+p.The ~(21)Na beam with a mean energy of 4.00 MeV/u was separated by the CNS radioactive ion beam separator(CRIB) and bombarded a thick(CH_2)_n target.The energy spectra of recoiled protons were measured at scattering angles of θ_(cm)～172° and 146°,respectively.A new state at 7.06 MeV has been observed clearly and another new one at 7.28 MeV is tentatively identified due to its low statistics.The proton resonant parameters were deduced from an R-matrix analysis of the differential cross section data.The astrophysical resonant reaction rate for the ~(18)Ne(α,p) ~(21)Na reaction has been estimated,and it is about five times larger than that assumed before.     

Ultralow emittance, multi-MeV proton beams from a laser virtual-cathode plasma accelerator

The laminarity of high-current multi-MeV proton beams produced by irradiating thin metallic foils with ultraintense lasers has been measured. For proton energies >10 MeV, the transverse and longitudinal emittance are, respectively, <0.004 mm mrad and <10(-4) eV s, i.e., at least 100-fold and may be as much as 10(4)-fold better than conventional accelerator beams. The fast acceleration being electrostatic from an initially cold surface, only collisions with the accelerating fast electrons appear to limit the beam laminarity. The ion beam source size is measured to be <15 microm (FWHM) for proton energies >10 MeV.     

兰州重离子加速器冷却储存环中电子冷却性能

为了在兰州重离子加速器冷却储存环(HIRFL-CSR)上开展一维离子束序化的研究,在CSR主环上,对6.39 MeV/u的58Ni19+离子束进行了冷却累积实验。测量了离子束与电子束之间不同的水平、垂直夹角以及不同电子束剖面的情况下,束流累积及束流寿命变化情况;重点研究了离子束衰减过程中动量分散随离子数的变化规律,拟合计算得到了动量分散随离子数按照幂函数衰减的指数;在给定离子数的情况下,动量分散随夹角、电子束剖面的依赖关系,为下一步在CSR上获得纵向一维有序化离子束的研究做准备。在实验中观测到在较大的夹角情况下,离子束出现纵向振荡和中心频率移动。     

Formation of biaxial texture in metal films by selective ion beam etching

The formation of in-plane texture via ion bombardment of uniaxially textured metal films was investigated. In particular, selective grain Ar ion beam etching of uniaxially textured (0 0 1) Ni was used to achieve in-plane aligned Ni grains. Unlike conventional ion beam assisted deposition, the ion beam irradiates the uniaxially textured film surface with no impinging deposition flux. The initial uniaxial texture is established via surface energy minimization with no ion irradiation. Within this sequential texturing method, in-plane grain alignment is driven by selective etching and grain overgrowth. Biaxial texture was achieved for ion beam irradiation at elevated temperature.     

利用强流ISOL束研究20Na的奇异衰变模式(英文)

北京放射性离子束装置（Beijing Radioactive Ion-beam Facility,BRIF）是基于在线同位素分离器技术的国家大科学平台。在BRIF装置上利用100 MeV的质子束轰击较厚的反应靶产生放射性核素;反应产物经离子源电离和在线分离,在线同位素分离段可引出100~300 keV的放射性核束,质量分辨率达20 000。在基金委科学仪器基础研究专项的支持下,建成了多用途的衰变实验终端,包括束流传输管道、通用靶室、带电粒子和γ探测器、集成电子学和数据获取系统等。利用100 MeV的质子束轰击MgO厚靶产生了流强高达1×105 pps的20Na放射性核束。通过高效率地同时测量β,γ和α,第一次直接观测到20Na非常稀有的β-γ-α衰变模式。Beijing Radioactive Ion-beam Facility(BRIF) has been commissioned as the national Radioactive Ion Beam(RIB) facility based on the Isotope Separator On Line(ISOL) technique since 2016. At BRIF, the radioactive nuclides are produced by the proton beam of 100 MeV bombarding a thick-target, the reaction products diffusing out of the target are ionized by an ion source and delivered to the online mass separator. In addition to the post-accelerated radioactive ion beams, BRIF can provide low-energy ISOL beams of 100 to 300 keV with a mass resolution of 20 000. A general-purpose decay station has been built including the ISOL beam transport line, a conventional reaction chamber, charge-particle and γ detectors with integrated electronics and data acquisition system. An intense 20Na ISOL beam up to 1×105 pps was produced by using the 100 MeV proton beam bombarding a MgO thick target. With high-efficiency measurements of β, γ and α simultaneously, very rare β-γ-α decay mode in 20Na has been directly observed for the first time in the present work.     

Large scale silver nanowires network fabricated by MeV hydrogen(H~+) ion beam irradiation

A random two-dimensional large scale nano-network of silver nanowires(Ag-NWs) is fabricated by MeV hydrogen(H~+) ion beam irradiation. Ag-NWs are irradiated under H~+ion beam at different ion fluences at room temperature. The Ag-NW network is fabricated by H~+ion beam-induced welding of Ag-NWs at intersecting positions. H~+ion beam induced welding is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Moreover, the structure of Ag NWs remains stable under H~+ion beam, and networks are optically transparent. Morphology also remains stable under H~+ion beam irradiation. No slicings or cuttings of Ag-NWs are observed under MeV H~+ion beam irradiation.The results exhibit that the formation of Ag-NW network proceeds through three steps: ion beam induced thermal spikes lead to the local heating of Ag-NWs, the formation of simple junctions on small scale, and the formation of a large scale network. This observation is useful for using Ag-NWs based devices in upper space where protons are abandoned in an energy range from MeV to GeV. This high-quality Ag-NW network can also be used as a transparent electrode for optoelectronics devices.     

HIRFL-CSR实验环中束流损失机制及寿命研究

分析了在储存环中回旋的离子束与残余气体分子、 内靶和冷却电子束相互作用时的损失机制及相应的束流寿命, 针对兰州重离子加速器冷却储存环实验环内靶模式, 计算了50—500 MeV/u 12C6+, 36Ar18+, 132Xe54+和 238U92+等束流在各种损失机制影响下所对应的束流寿命和总的束流寿命。 结果表明: 影响束流寿命的主要因素是与内靶分子（原子）之间的电荷交换及与冷却电子束之间的辐射复合; 对于重离子束 132Xe54+和 238U92+, 与冷却电子束之间的辐射复合是影响其储存寿命的主要因素。The loss mechanism and lifetime of ion beams in collisions with residual gas, internal target and electrons in e cooler in heavy ion cooler storage rings were studied. The partial beam lifetimes resulting from various loss mechanisms and the total beam lifetimes of 50—500 MeV/u12C6+, 36Ar18+, 132Xe54+ and 238U92+ stored in the experimental ring of the Cooler Storage Ring at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL CSR) were calculated. The calculations indicate that the charge exchange process between ion beams and the internal target, as well as the radiative recombination process with the electrons in e cooler restrict the beam lifetime considerably. For heavy ion beams such as 132Xe54+ and 238U92+, the radiative recombination is the dominant loss mechanism     

Polarization-controlled switching between diffraction orders in transverse-periodically aligned nematic liquid crystals

Transverse-periodic-oriented nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are a special type of optical axis grating that are capable of very high efficiency diffraction (theoretically, 100%) in thin layers of materials with thickness comparable to the radiation wavelength. In particular, they fully diffract linearly polarized input beam into circularly polarized +1st and -1st diffraction orders. We experimentally demonstrate switching between diffraction orders of such gratings when the polarization of the incident beam changes from right-circular to left-circular and vice versa with the aid of an electrically controlled LC phase retarder. Such a setup in which the diffraction efficiency and direction are controlled externally, without application of an electric field to the transverse-periodic grating, provides additional control opportunities and does not compromise the quality of the grating. The grating used in the experiment was 1.5 microm thick and had a period of 4 microm. The contrast ratio of switching between the +1st and -1st orders was as high as 267:1 for a He-Ne laser beam with a switching time of 6.6 ms.     

Surface roughness and power spectral density study of SHI irradiated ultra-thin gold films

Quantitative roughness and microstructural analysis of as-deposited and swift heavy ion (SHI) (107 MeV Ag and 58 MeV Ni) irradiated 10 and 20 nm thick Au films were performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Power spectral density (PSD) analysis was done from the AFM images. The energies chosen for the two different ions eliminated the velocity effect of SHI in materials modification. The rms roughness estimated from the AFM data did not show either monotonic increase or decrease with ion fluences. Instead, it increased at low fluences and decreased at high fluences for 20 nm thick film. In 10 nm film, the roughness first increased with ion fluence, then decreased and again increased at higher fluences. Though the 10 and 20 nm films exhibited very different patterns of rms roughness variation with ion fluence, the pattern of variation in both cases was identical for Ni and Ag beams. The PSD analysis for both 10 and 20 nm films (pristine and irradiated) showed similar variation of low frequency roughness with ion fluence as that of the rms roughness. In the high frequency regime, PSD analysis suggests that surface morphology of the irradiated samples is governed by the combined effect of evaporation-recondensation and diffusion dominated processes.     

射频离子源离子束成分光谱测量

为HL-2A 装置中性束注入器研制了引出束功率为1MW 的射频离子源。在测试平台上,实验离子源已经成功引出了束能量和束电流分别为35keV 和12.4A、束质子比为79%、脉宽为100ms 的氢离子束,达到了设计束功率要求的44%。在射频离子源实验平台上,利用多普勒频移光谱方法测量了离子源引出束流成分比例,对比了束流成分和射频离子源引出束流之间的关系。实验数据分析表明,在10A 引出束流的情况下,离子流成分 H⁺ ₁、H⁺ ₂ 和H⁺ ₃ 分别为75%、18%和7%。并且当引出束流从3.3A 升至10.4A 时,H⁺ ₁ 从37%升至78%,而H⁺ ₃ 则从19%降至9%。     

Oxygen (O6+) ion beam irradiation effects on etching parameter in lexan polymeric track detector

The polymer Lexan was irradiated to 80MeV O⁶⁺ ion beam using the 15UD pelletron at Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi. The ion fluence ranging from 10¹¹ to 3 × 10¹² ions/cm² has been used to study the dose effects of irradiation on Lexan. By using the etching technique, it is observed that the bulk etch rate of the sample increases with increasing the ion influence, while the activation energy associated with it show a decreasing trend which can be explained on the basis of polymer degradation.      

Design of the IMP microbeam irradiation system for 100 MeV/u heavy ions

A state-of-the-art high energy heavy ion microbeam irradiation system is constructed at the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This microbeam system operates in both full current intensity mode and single ion mode. It delivers a predefined number of ions to pre-selected targets for research in biology and material science. The characteristic of this microbeam system is high energy and vertical irradiation. A quadrupole focusing system, in combination with a series of slits, has been designed to optimize the spatial resolution. A symmetrically achromatic system leads the beam downwards and serves simulta-neously as an energy analyzer. A high gradient quadrupole triplet finally focuses a C6+ ion beam to 1 μm in the vacuum chamber within the energy range from 10 MeV/u to 100 MeV/u. In this paper, the IMP microbeam system is described in detail. A systematic investigation of the ion beam optics of this microbeam system is presented together with the associated aberrations. Comparison is made between the IMP microbeam system and the other existing systems to further discuss the performance of this microbeam. Then the optimized initial beam parameters are given for high resolution and high hitting efficiency. At last, the experiment platform is briefly introduced.     

A rutherford scattering study of the diffusion of heavy metal impurities in silicon to ion-damaged surface layers

Rutherford backscattering of 1.75 and 2 MeV ⁴He⁺ ions has been utilized to study the high temperature gettering of Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Au from silicon by ion-damaged surface layers. In a typical experiment a metal film was evaporated onto one side of a silicon wafer (125 microm thick) which had received ion implantation damage (10¹⁶/cm² Si⁺ ions at 100 keV) on the opposite side; the wafer was then annealed at 900°C, usually for 30 min. The results of such experiments show that the metals studied may be divided into two classes, those which are gettered slowly - Fe, Co, and Au, and those gettered rapidly - Cu and Ni. Fe, Co, and Au were found at levels of 1×10¹³?1×10¹⁴/cm² in the damaged layer, whereas Cu and Ni appeared at levels of 6×10¹⁴ to 5 ×10¹⁶cm². The gettered level of Au, one of the “slow” group, was increased ten-fold by an equal increase in the anneal time to 300 min. The gettered Cu and Au exhibited double peaks in the scattered ion spectra, corresponding to metal concentrated at the most heavily damaged region (end of range for Si implant) and also at the outer surface, with a separation of ~ 1300 Å. A simple model is proposed to explain the slow and fast gettering, based on published interstitial diffusivities and solubilities of the five elements studied.Rutherford scattering has proven to be well suited for the quantitative identification of low levels of impurities on Si surfaces and for impurities gettered at damaged layers close to the surface.