Property of TS-16N solid state nuclear track detectors as an imaging medium for macroautoradiography of alpha-emitters in biological specimens

Feasibility of TS-16N solid state nuclear track detectors for an imaging medium of rapid autoradiography of alpha-emitters is described. Though a little longer etching time was required, the contrast of autoradiographic image on this detector proved to be superior to CR-39 detectors whose property for macroautoradiography was previously reported by the authors. The resolutions of these two different type detectors were almost equivalent to each other. The autoradiography taken by way of trial proved that this detector could be used to study metabolism and dosimetry of internally deposited alpha-emitters. With further study, the inherent properties of this detector such as low background or high sensitivity should extend the field of track etch imaging technique such as fast neutron radiography.     

19F- and 1H-NMR spectra of tetrafluoroethylene–propylene copolymers

High resolution 94-MHz ¹⁹F- and 100-MHz ¹H-NMR spectra were measured on a series of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE)-propylene (P) copolymers having a range of composition (TFE/P molar ratio = 37/63–55/45) and polymerized at different temperatures (?23, 25 and 65°C). The spectra were analyzed in relation to copolymer compositions. The assignment of ¹⁹F resonance in terms of tetrads proposed previously was confirmed, and the tentative assignment of ¹H resonances was proposed in terms of triads. The spectra thus interpreted revealed the sequence distribution of the copolymers. Copolymer compositions calculated from NMR spectra and elemental analysis agreed rather well with each other. Monomer reactivity ratios were calculated from the sequence distributions and compared with those obtained from the elemental analysis. It was observed that highly alternating copolymers are obtained in this system over a wide range of monomer composition at lower temperatures and that a deviation from alternancy increases slightly with rising polymerization temperature.     

The Radiation-Induced Polymerization and Copolymerization of Butadiene in Emulsion

Abstract

The polymerization of butadiene in emulsion initiated by ^{6 0}Co gamma radiation has been studied in some detail. Similar studies with styrene and styrene-butadiene comonomer mixtures were also conducted. The rates of polymerization were found to be much lower than anticipated from the reported k_p values for butadiene and for the comonomer mixtures. Styrene, on the other hand, polymerizes at normal rates. A number of possible explanations for this behavior is discussed.     

Fabrication process and optical properties of perdeuterated graded-index polymer optical fiber

We proposed a graded-index polymer optical fiber (GI-POF) enabling greater-than-gigabit data transmission in a short reach network by applying a two-step interfacial-gel polymerization process to a perdeuterated polymer material. Using this process, it is possible to fabricate a nearly optimum refractive-index profile with good reproducibility. In this paper, the preparation of a perdeuterated polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA-d8)-based GI-POF utilizing a PMMA cladding is described. This means that the low-loss PMMA-d8 material is used only for the core. Because the cladding transmits only a small fraction of the optical power, a low-loss material is not necessarily required for the cladding. It was verified that the low attenuation of the PMMA-d8 was maintained even if the cladding was composed of hydrogenated PMMA. As a result, a gigabit data transmission over 300 m was achieved by the PMMA-d8-core and PMMA-cladding GI-POF, which was impossible by the conventional PMMA-based GI-POF.     

High-bandwidth graded-index polymer optical fiber with high-temperature stability

A newly developed graded-index polymer optical fiber (GI-POF) with high-temperature and high-humidity stability was proposed. As it was found that the high numerical aperture and high glass transition temperature (T/sub g/) at the core center of the GI-POF were key issues to achieve both high-temperature and humidity stability, a partially fluorinated polymer material was adopted to obtain both characteristics in the GI-POF. The newly developed GI-POF had low-loss (140 dB/km at 650-nm wavelength), high-bandwidth (higher than 1 GHz for 100 m transmission), high-temperature and humidity stability at 70/spl deg/C, 80% relative humidity (R.H.) and low bending loss.     

Improvement of corrosion resistance of carbon steel using chemical vapor deposition from the mixture of Mo(CO)6 and Cr(CO)6 with an ArF-excimer laser

The corrosion resistance of carbon steel has been improved by the deposition from the mixture of Mo(CO)₆ and Cr(CO)₆ as well as from each carbonyl alone with an ArF-excimer laser (193 nm). The corrosion resistance attained by coating with the films from the mixture is higher than from Mo(CO)₆ alone, while lower than from Cr(CO)₆ alone. While the corrosion resistance increases with beam intensity monotonically over the range 4–25 MW cm^–2 for the deposition from Cr(CO)₆ alone, it tends to decrease slightly above 15 MW cm^–2 for the deposition from Mo(CO)₆ alone and from the mixture. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) photographs show that the films from each carbonyl and their mixture consist of small grains that are more densely packed at higher beam intensities. The comparison of the film thickness evaluated from sputtering time to remove the films with that from direct observation with SEM suggests that the density of the film increases with beam intensity. In the films deposited from the mixture, molybdenum is preferentially incorporated from the gas phase. Present name: Department of Quantum Engineering and Systems Science     

Formation of the refractive index profile in the graded indexpolymer optical fiber for gigabit data transmission

Bandwidth characteristics of the large core graded index polymer optical fiber (GI-POF) are theoretically and experimentally clarified. The refractive index profile of the GI-POF was controlled by interfacial-gel polymerization to investigate the relation between the index profile and the bandwidth characteristics. It was experimentally confirmed that the maximum bandwidth of the poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) base GI-POF is at most 3 GHz for 100 m transmission using a typical laser diode emitting at 650-nm wavelength (3 nm source spectral width) when its refractive index profile is optimized. The maximum bandwidth theoretically estimated by considering both modal and material dispersions is approximately 3 GHz which is exactly the same as the measured value, while higher than 10 GHz for 100 m was expected if only modal dispersion was taken into account. The optimum refractive index profile of the PMMA base GI-POF is theoretically and experimentally clarified by considering the profile dispersion further     

Analysis of graded-index polymer optical fiber link performance under fiber bending

Bending effects on bandwidth and loss of a graded-index polymer optical fiber (GI POF) were investigated, and those influences on the optical link performance were discussed simultaneously for the first time. The numerical apertures (NAs) of the GI POFs were deliberately varied from 0.154 to 0.292. A bending radius larger than 10 mm induced little mode coupling and little change in the bandwidth of the GI POF. A bending radius smaller than 10 mm caused degradation in the bandwidths of the higher NA GI POFs. On the other hand, in the lower NA GI POFs, even more severe bending could cause little change in their bandwidths. Thus, the lower NA GI POF seemed preferable in suppressing the bandwidth change. However, the higher NA GI POF exhibited the lower bending loss. The preferable NAs for both characteristics were completely opposite. Moreover, the bending loss under underfilled launch (UFL) could be lower than that under overfilled launch (OFL). On the other hand, the bending loss was equivalent to the bandwidth degradation in view of the link power penalty. Therefore, the bandwidth change and loss caused by the bending were the critical factors to optimize the optical link considering the link power budget. The high-NA GI POF with almost ideal refractive-index profile could provide stable high performance in overgigabit communication even under any bending conditions.     

Mode-coupling control and new index profile of GI POF for restricted-launch condition in very-short-reach networks

This paper confirms that numerical aperture (NA) is a key factor in mode coupling [the energy transfer among propagating modes in multimode fibers (MMF)] and that providing a high NA is a viable solution to reduce mode coupling in graded-index plastic optical fibers (GI POFs). Furthermore, the authors propose a new refractive-index-profile design of GI POFs when only small mode groups are launched (restricted-launch condition), which is a combined profile with the index exponents lower and higher than optimum value for the core center and periphery, respectively. The advantage of the new index profile is investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Furthermore, it is verified that the high-bandwidth performance of GI POF with the new index profile under the restricted-launch condition is maintained even when statistical fiber bendings are added to the GI POF and when misalignment is caused at the optical coupling between the light source and the GI POF.     

Accurate refractive index profiling in a graded-index plastic optical fiber exceeding gigabit transmission rates

An optimum index profile offering the highest bit rate communication was formed in a poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI-POF) by modifying the polymerization process. The interfacial-gel polymerization process we have proposed to fabricate the PMMA-based GI-POF is capable of forming a nearly optimum refractive index profile. However, the theoretically calculated bandwidth from the measured index profile was reduced compared with a GI-POF with an optimum profile. In this paper, we report how to obtain a PMMA-based GI-POF having exactly the optimum index profile. The bandwidth of this ideal GI-POF was experimentally measured and a very high value of 2.88 GHz, even for a 150-m fiber length, was confirmed. The calculated bandwidth agreed well with the experimentally measured one. These results indicate that very low modal dispersion can be expected in a GI-POF fabricated by the modified interfacial-gel polymerization process.