Energy spectrum of 50-250 MeV/nucleon iron nuclei inside the MIR space craft

Stacks of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors were mounted inside the MIR spacecraft during the EUROMIR95 space mission for a period of 6 months. This long exposure time resulted in a large number of tracks of HZE-particles in the detector foils. All trajectories of stopping iron nuclei could be reconstructed by optimizing the etching conditions so that an automatic track measurement using image analysis techniques was possible. We found 185 stopping iron nuclei and used the énergy-range relation to calculate their energies at the stack surface. The measured spectrum of iron nuclei inside the MIR station is compared to results of model predictions considering the effect of the solar modulation for the mission period, the geomagnetic shielding effect for the MIR orbit and the shielding by material of the spacecraft walls and its instrumentation.     

Energy spectra of HZE-particles inside the International Space Station

To measure the energy spectra of low energy ions inside the International Space Station (ISS) we will expose three stacks of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors aligned to the three coordinate axes of the space station. The energies of cosmic ray nuclei at the stack surfaces can be determined by reconstructing the trajectories of ions stopping inside the detector material and by measuring their ranges. To measure only HZE (high charge Z and energy E) ions with charges of Z6 stopping in our experiment a special batch of CR-39 detectors with low sensitivity will be used. This detector material has been already tested by an exposure to carbon ions at the GSI accelerator in Darmstadt, Germany.     

RHIC能区的纵向流分布特征和核阻止特性的研究

首先利用相对论纵向非均匀集体流模型讨论RHIC能区的净质子分布特征,并分别与AGS,SPS的实验结果比较,发现,RHIC能区所产生的粒子系统具有很强的非均匀分布特征,表现为很强的核透明性,并分析了非均匀集体流模型与实验中的核阻止特性的紧密联系,接着分别研究了RHIC能区所产生质子、反质子和净质子的分布,这些研究可以帮助我们深入了解最新的RHIC能区的粒子分布和核阻止特征.     

Cosmic ray radiation effects caused by proton-induced fragmentation

In space, radiation effects in which a large amount of energy is transferred by a single particle are observed. These effects can be caused by either the direct ionization of a cosmic ray heavy ion or alternatively by the ionization of short range target fragments which are produced inside the material by interactions of cosmic ray particles. Protons of the lower radiation belt contribute significantly to target fragmentation; especially in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). To allow predictions of possible radiation hazards the characteristics of these interactions at energies below 100 MeV must be understood in detail. We have performed an experiment to measure the proton induced fragmentation cross sections for carbon target nuclei at about 70 MeV/nucleon and to determine some characteristics of the kinematics of the target fragments. For this purpose experimental setups with CR-39 track detectors were used. In this paper we describe the experimental technique and present some preliminary results.     

Estimation of chemical abundance of primary cosmic-ray nuclei over Alice Springs using balloon-borne passive detectors

Summary A stack consisting of CR-39 (HCB 0.5%), nuclear emulsions and X-ray films was exposed to primary cosmic rays by a balloon lauched from Alice Springs in 1983 and was flown for 32 hours at an atmospheric depth 9.8 g cm⁻² air. The recovered plastic plates were etched in 7.5 N NaOH solution at 80°C for 96 hours. The major and minor axes of the elliptic etch pits were analysed. About 1112 elliptic etch pits were scanned. The measured integral flux of very heavy (VH) and Fe nuclei above 3.5 GeV/n are in approximate aggreement with the earlier survey of Dokeet al., but yield a flatter energy spectrum when compared to the recent high-energy extrapolated spectrum of Zatsepinet al. The charges of the detected heavy nuclei were also confirmed from delta-ray counting of heavily ionized tracks in nuclear emulsions. The energy of the incident heavy nuclei has been measured from the distribution of opening angles of alpha fragments initiated by heavy nuclei in nuclear emulsions.     

Monte Carlo simulation of radiation damage produced in iron and vanadium by primary knock on atom ‘PKA’

Atomic scale simulation of radiation damage of pure iron and vanadium has been studied using the JA-IPU code based on Monte Carlo simulation. In response to gamma, neutron and any charged particle irradiation, energetic atoms knocked off their lattice position also generate atomic cascades inside the material besides the projectiles. The atomic cascade initiated by the primary knock on atoms (PKAs) of energy in the range 0–50?keV have been simulated in case of iron and vanadium metals. More realistic energy segregation has been achieved by incorporating electronic energy loss (EEL) along with nuclear stopping in the code. It is revealed that the effect of EEL is definite and different at low PKA energy as compared with high energy. The flip over energy is ～8?keV in iron and ～20?keV in the case of vanadium. This difference is found to be more in the case of the displacements than in the case of the defects. Cascade efficiency of vanadium calculated from the JA-IPU code has also been compared with the molecular dynamic simulation and found to be nearly the same.     

Effective medium representation and complex modes in 3D periodic metamaterials made of cubic resonators with large permittivity at mid-infrared frequencies

We review some of the techniques that lead to the effective medium representation of a three-dimensional (3D) periodic metamaterial. We consider a 3D lattice of lead telluride cubic resonators at mid-infrared (MIR) frequencies. Each cubic resonator is modeled with both an electric and a magnetic dipole, through a method called the dual dipole approximation. The electric and magnetic polarizabilities of a cubic resonator are computed via full-wave simulations by mapping the resonator's scattered field under electric/magnetic excitation only to the field radiated by an equivalent electric/magnetic dipole. We then analyze the allowed modes in the lattice, with transverse polarization and complex wavenumber, highlighting the attenuation that each mode experiences after one free space wavelength. We observe the presence of two modes with low attenuation constant, dominant in different frequency ranges, able to propagate inside the lattice: this allows the treatment of the metamaterial as a homogeneous material with effective parameters, evaluated by using various techniques. We then show that the metamaterial under analysis allows for the generation of artificial magnetism (i.e., relative effective permeability different than unity, including negative permeability with low losses) at MIR frequencies.     

14 MeV neutron detection characteristics using Intercast detector

Neutron detection with a stack of two detector foils of CR-39 (intercast) was studied. A comparison between the experimental results (exposure to 14.8 MeV neutrons) and the results of a computer simulation was performed. Emphasis was given to the detection of particles—products of the break-up reaction of the ¹²C nucleus—and to heavier recoil nuclei. The detectors were chemically etched and analysed with an automatic counting system. All detector surfaces were analysed, and the coincidence tracks produced by the same particles on detector surfaces in contact were determined. These tracks facilitate characterization of the type and energy of the recoil nuclei. Further separation was made on the basis of the distribution of size and darkness of the tracks.     

超热电子能量分布的实验和模拟研究

 采用LiF探测器堆测量了飞秒激光-薄膜靶相互作用中超热电子产生的剂量。根据电子在LiF中的质量碰撞阻止本领,理论上计算出了超热电子的能量分布;在相同实验条件下,数值模拟结果与实验测量结果较好地一致,证明了实验测量的可靠性。理论分析显示,共振吸收是激光-薄膜靶相互作用中电子加速的主要机制。     

GRIF-1 experiment on board the SPEKTR/MIR orbital complex: Study of solar X-ray,gamma-ray,and neutron flares and correlation of magnetosphere-charged particle fluxes with solar activity

The SPEKTR module of the MIR orbital station was launched in May 1995. The multipurpose experiment was based on the GRIF-1 research complex consisting of an oriented X-ray spectrometer, a spectrometer of gamma-quanta and neutrons, a spectrometer of electrons and protons with a large geometrical factor, and a spectrometer of electrons, protons, and nuclei with a small geometrical factor. The solar geophysical aspects of the experiment included the measurements of spectral and temporal parameters of solar hard electromagnetic (0.01–50 MeV) and neutron (>20 MзB) radiation, the study of spectral, temporal, and spatial characteristics of energetic electrons (0.04–1.5 MeV), protons, and nuclei (1–200 MeV/nucleon) in the circumterrestrial space, as well as the correlations of these parameters with solar activity phenomena.     

Energy loss of charged particles in matter

A new method of determining the differential energy loss of charged excited nuclei in matter is described. The method is based on the velocity dependence of the Doppler shift of the gamma quanta emitted by moving nuclei. No theoretical assumptions concerning the velocity dependence of atomic or nuclear collisions are necessary. The method and mathematical analysis, described in detail, are applied to the energy loss of Li ions emitting gamma quanta of 477 keV in the kinetic energy range between 100 and 800 keV. It is found that the energy loss of Li ions is linearly proportional to the velocity within 2% for several substances ofZ=1 to 74. The small limits of error, which can be obtained, allow an application of this method to questions as e.g. theZ-dependence of the stopping power on the nuclear charge of the stopping material, chemical binding effects, the time dependence of the adjustment of the equilibrium charge of the projectile after nuclear reactions, or the determination of nuclear angular correlations.     

Bulk femtosecond laser marking of natural diamonds

Point-by-point multi-shot femtosecond laser writing of micro-scale linear damage tracks and symbolic logo information was performed inside single-crystal natural diamonds in transversal writing geometry at variable basic operational parameters (numerical aperture of focusing optics, depth of focusing inside samples and peak laser pulse powers). The filamentary character of femtosecond laser writing of buried damage tracks in this material at the supercritical peak laser powers was revealed.     

Fully confined events indicative of proton decay in the Kolar Gold Fields detector

Three events have been recorded in the Kolar Gold Field experiment with tracks fully confined to the detector volume. It is shown that their characteristics are in conformity with the decay of bound nucleons and that the background due to neutrino interactions is extremely small. Based on these as well as the events reported earlier, we tentatively suggest a mean lifetime of about 7 × 10³⁰ yr for nucleons bound in iron nuclei.     

On the use of averaging stopping power of recoiled nuclei for determining maximum neutron energy of 241Am–Be by superheated drop detectors

The average stopping power of the recoiled nuclei generated by neutron elastic interactions with the Freon-12 drops in a superheated drop detector has been used to determine the maximum neutron energy of the ²⁴¹Am–Be source. In an elastic interaction of neutrons with the Freon-12 liquid, the nuclei of ¹²C, ¹⁹F and ³⁵Cl with different values of stopping power are scattered. The stopping power of these scattered nuclei corresponding to the energy transferred to them through the head-on collision was extracted from the SRIM code. The stopping power values were weighted by considering the neutron–nucleus elastic scattering cross section and the number of each nucleus in the Freon-12 molecule and the average stopping power was calculated from known neutron energy.The maximum energy of the ²⁴¹Am–Be neutron source was estimated as 10.9 ± 3.0 MeV. The consistency between the determined energy and the other reported values confirms the validity of using the average stopping power in the superheated drop detectors. The average stopping power was also used to determine the threshold neutron energy as a function of external applied pressure at different temperatures. Knowing the threshold neutron energy as function of applied pressure, can be used in pressure scanning method for neutron spectrometry by superheated drop detectors.     

Computer simulation of the processes in a CR-39 neutron detector

The application of CR-39 as a fast neutron dosimeter, based on counting elastic recoil nuclei tracks of H, C and O nuclei in a geometrically matched pair of detectors, was studied. A computer simulation of the processes during the exposure of a detector pair to neutrons is presented. The energy and spatial distribution of the recoil nuclei was calculated with the MCNP 4B program package. On the basis of this distribution, a Monte-Carlo procedure for the generation of latent tracks in the CR-39 detectors was run. Additionally, a procedure for calculation of the chemical track etching for revealing the visible track parameters was performed to obtain the detector response.     

Study of fossil tracks due to VH and VVH groups of cosmic ray nuclei in olivine crystals from Luna-16 and Luna-24

The olivine crystals from lunar regolith samples taken by the Soviet unmanned spacecrafts Luna-16 and Luna-24 were investigated. Eleven 0.5 –1.0 mm size olivine crystals were mounted in epoxy, polished and then etched in modified WO₄ solution. The Fe-group track densities up to 10⁸ tracks.cm⁻² (Fe-group) were measured under optical microscope. The tracks of length greater than 30 microns due to Z ≥ 36 cosmic ray nuclei are counted for VVH tracks density for all the crystals. The VVH / VH track densities ratio for these lunar olivine crystals varies from 1.25×10⁻⁴ to 2×10⁻³. It corresponds to the averaged depth of these crystals in lunar soil of 2–8 cm during galactic cosmic ray exposure. Lunar crystals are well suited for VVH track studies due to a very high track density. Two crystals were annealed at 430°C for 32 hrs. This procedure eliminates iron group tracks completely and leaves etchable tracks of nuclei with Z 50 even in the olivine crystals with Fe-group tracks up to 1–2×10⁸ tracks cm⁻². We were able to measure two tracks with the length 195 and 210μm which were produced by Th---U group of Galactic cosmic ray nuclei.     

Chemische Zusammensetzung der kosmischen Strahlung niederenergetischer Teilchen vonZ=12 bisZ=28, gemessen in Plastikdetektoren

Results of a balloon flight experiment flown from Fort Churchill, Canada, at 1.8 g/cm² for about 10 hours in 1968 are presented. The study was made using Lexan polycarbonate plastic sheets as a particle detector. The analysis of the flux and the charge composition is based on the measurement of 313 stopping particles from Mg to Ni with energies between 150 and 400 MeV/Nucl. The identification of the tracks of the particles is achieved using the restricted energy loss criterion. The flux is corrected for scanning and detector efficiency corresponding to their charge. We are able to measure the charge of a particle with an accuracy of ±0.3 charge units in the region of the iron peak. This accuracy depends on the detailed study of the cone length versus residual range. The evenZ to oddZ ratio for chargesZ≧20 is 3. We have measured the ratios of Mn/Fe=0.34, Cr/Fe=0.42 and Ca+Sc+Ti/Fe=1.05. From these measured charge ratios a thickness of (3±1) g/cm² interstellar matter can be deduced.     

LET spectra measurements on LDEF: variations with shielding and location

LET spectra measurements made with passive plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs) were found to depend on detector orientation, shielding and experiment location. LET spectra were measured at several locations on LDEF as part of the P0006 LETSME experiment (Benton and Parnell, 1984), the P0004 Seeds in Space experiment (Parks and Alston, 1984), the A0015 Free Flyer Biostacks and the M0004 Fiber Optics Data Link experiment (Taylor, 1984). Locations included the east, west and Earth sides of the LDEF satellite. The LET spectra measured with PNTDs deviated significantly from calculations, especially for high LET particles (LET_∞·H₂O ≥ 100 keV/μm). At high LETs, short-range inelastic secondary particles produced by trapped proton interactions with the nuclei of the detector were found to be the principal contributor to LET spectra. At lower LETs, the spectra appeared to be due to short-range, inelastic and stopping primary protons, with primary GCR particles making a smaller contribution.

The dependence of LET spectra on detector orientation and shielding was studied using the four orthogonal stacks in the P0006 experiment. Both measurements of total track density and LET spectra showed a greater number of particles arriving from the direction of space than from Earth. Measurements of LET spectra in CR-39 PNTD on the east (leading) and west (trailing) sides of LDEF showed a higher rate of production at the west side. This was caused by a larger flux of trapped protons on the west side as predicted by the east/west trapped proton anisotropy in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA).

Track density measured in CR-39 PNTDs increased as a function of shielding depth in the detector stack. A similar measurement made in a thick stack of CR-39 interspersed with layers of Al and exposed to 154 MeV protons at a ground-based accelerator showed a similar result, indicating that a significant fraction of the particle events counted were from secondaries and that the total cross-section for production of proton-induced secondaries increased as the energy of primary protons attenuated. Little change was seen in either total differential or integral LET spectra as a function of shielding depth, indicating that the increase in cross section with decreasing proton energy affected mostly the shorter range secondary components. Similarity in the slopes of LET spectra from ground-based proton exposures and the A0015 LET spectra showed that modeling of a monoenergetic proton beam transported through a 1-D geometry was a useful first step in modeling the production of secondary particles by trapped protons in the SAA.     

The impact Of impurity ion in deuterium-tritium fuel on the energy deposition pattern Of The Proton Ignitor Beam

The ignition stage of deuterium-tritium fuel in inertial confinement fusion is a challenging task affected by many undesirable processes especially material mixing processes in the hot-spot region. In this research, an alternative proposal of the enhanced energy deposition in the proton fast ignition has been suggested. It consists of two primary assumptions of the beam-plasma system. In the first place, we have adopted the proton beam generated by TNSA or RPA mechanisms, each described by a Maxwellian or Gaussian energy distributions. Next, a realistic, non-uniform fuel plasma was adopted. Then, the cumulative stopping power of a proton beam of 10 kJ energy, penetrating the low content metal-contaminated deuterium-tritium fuel has been examined. It has been shown that in the case of the very low impurity fractions, irregular spatial fluctuations in the cumulative stopping power relative to pure fuel plasma emerges. However, at the higher concentrations, a systematic pattern becomes visible such that the contribution of the deep layers in the stopping power reduces. We observe the enhanced energy deposition close to the corona/dense core interface. It has been shown that the corona/dense core energy deposition ratio differs by up to 2.5% between pure and contaminated DT plasma. In the contaminated fuel plasma, energy deposition in the TNSA regime will effectively heat the plasma corona. While in the RPA counterpart, at a similar level of contamination, most of the incident beam energy remains inside the core fuel region.     

Detection, dosimetry and microdosimetry using high energy C beams

Samples of polyallyldiglycolcarbonate (PADC) track etch detectors (TED) were exposed to high energy ¹²C nuclei at the particle beam of the Dubna synchrophasotron. The energy of ¹²C nuclei varied between 0.1 and 1.5 GeV per amu.

At the low studied energies the linear energy transfer (LET) of these nuclei is higher than the detector threshold value. Then, the primary particle tracks are directly etched in the detector surface. The detection efficiency approaches to 100% at perpendicular incidence. Their LET has been established by means of standard authomatized procedure recently developed. The LET values found here are in good agreement with theoretical ones.

At 1.5 GeV per amu (LET 8.4 KeV μm⁻¹) the secondary particle tracks were evaluated in all the exposed detectors. The energy deposited by these particles was compared to the energy deposited through primary ionization losses. It was found out that its contribution to the total dose is relatively lower than for protons of comparable energies. In some of these samples even the tracks of the primary nuclei were observed. It follows that the detection threshold of the developed LET spectrometer should be below 10 keV μm⁻¹.