Effect Of Ion Beam Irradiation Research Articles

Demonstration of an integrated-heating load frame for quantitatively assessing microscale tensile properties of copper and Zircaloy-2

Small-scale mechanical testing (SSMT) is of great interest in the nuclear materials community as it permits the use of surrogate irradiation techniques, such as ion beam irradiation when investigating the impact of irradiation damage on mechanical properties. The design of a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) micro-tensile stage is demonstrated to enable micron-sized specimen testing up to failure under ambient and reactor-relevant temperatures. Copper and Zircaloy-2 microscale specimens, having gauge lengths of 200 μm, gauge widths of 48 μm, and specimen-dependent constant gauge thicknesses of 10 μm to 26 μm, are fabricated using micro-wire electrical discharge machining and focused ion beam milling. From each gauge section, microstructure data is captured prior to testing using electron backscatter diffraction analysis, and an optimized digital image correlation speckle pattern is deposited on the specimen surface. The speckle pattern is tracked during deformation and post-processed to obtain strain-field evolution maps throughout deformation. Strain maps provide a means to account for and explain microstructure-dependent features observed in the captured stress-strain curves. The combination of using micro-wire electrical discharge machining, focused ion beam cleaning, and ion beam induced platinum deposition for micron-sized specimen preparation as well as utilizing microfabrication techniques to fabricate an integrated heating microtensile load frame reported herein serve as a demonstration of SSMT approaches that can be adopted to tackle challenging problems in nuclear materials research, including but not limited to the effects of ion beam irradiation on mechanical performance and providing experimental data to support small-scale modeling efforts of embrittling precipitates or radiation-induced segregation.

SRIM Simulation of Ion Beam Irradiation Effects on Oxide Thin Films

In recent studies, multifunctional oxide thin films have been given attention because of their special properties, such as ferroelectricity, gas sensitivity, and magnetism. Ion beam irradiation arose as a well-developed technique for tuning such properties. This study investigates the ion beam irradiation effects of He, Ni, and Kr ions on BiFeO3, SnO2, and ZnO thin films, respectively. The study utilized the 2013 version of Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) software to identify ion trajectory distribution and oxygen target vacancy differences on the Transport of Ions in Matter (TRIM) calculation types at various ion energies. A greater distribution of ion trajectories and higher peaks of oxygen target vacancies in oxide thin films were generated from monolayer TRIM than full cascade TRIM for all ion–thin-film pairs. The monolayer TRIM is preferable for ion beam irradiation of oxide thin films with its greater oxygen target vacancies and ion trajectory distribution for better analysis of ferroelectric coercive fields, adsorbed oxygen ions interaction with gas molecules, and the emergence of green emission for photoluminescence. The use of SRIM allows an alternative yet more flexible way of analyzing beam irradiation effects on oxide films considered in this work without resorting to costly or sophisticated experimental setups, which are a usual approach considered in most of the work under this topic. As such, the results presented here provide an initial or complementary basis should irradiation effect experiments require analysis of ion trajectories and oxygen vacancies.

Multi-omics analyses of the effect of carbon ion beam irradiation on cannabis fructus (Cannabis sativa L.) composition

Cannabis fructus (Cannabis sativa L.) belongs to the mulberry family, which is one of the earliest cultivated crops by humans and has industrial, agricultural, and medicinal values. In this study, the effect of carbon ion beam irradiation on the physiological and biochemical pathways of cannabis fructus was analyzed by multi-omics. Compared to the unirradiated cannabis fructus stem, 2,891 differentially-expressed genes, 1,145 differentially-expressed proteins, and 954 altered ubiquitination modification sites were identified in cannabis fructus irradiated by carbon ion beam irradiation (60 Gy dosage). Correlation analyses between proteomic, transcriptomic, and ubiquitin modification groups were carried out, and we found that the carbon fixation pathway, fatty acid synthesis pathway, JA synthesis, and glutathione metabolism pathway were enriched in relevant protein levels, and activates the MAPK signaling pathway regulated by gene expression. Further analysis found that the content of some proteins (LOX, AOC, and MDR) was correlated with their respective transcriptional levels, and the content of some proteins (APX, G-6-PD, GST, GAPHD, FBA, AOS, PR1, and ChiB) was correlated with their ubiquitination levels. In addition, M2 generation cannabis fructus seeds exhibited a larger volume, higher thousand-grain weight, and increased linolenic acid content compared to the control group, which was consistent with the trends of our multi-omics analyses. In summary, we demonstrated that 60 Gy carbon ion beam irradiation can enhance the carbon fixation pathway in cannabis fructus and enhance linolenic acid synthesis. Taken together, our multi-omics analysis of the response of cannabis fructus to carbon ion beam irradiation provides a theoretical foundation for readily producing cannabis fructus varieties with advantageous traits in the future.

Effect of low-energy ion-beam irradiation on the structure and electron transport of monolayer MoS2

The presence of vacancies in two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as monolayer MoS2 (1L-MoS2), significantly affects their structural and electronic properties. In this study, 1L-MoS2 was irradiated with an Ar+ ion beam to introduce vacancies in a controlled manner. A complementary study that combines multiple evaluations was performed to verify the role of vacancies in the structural and electronic properties of MoS2. Raman spectroscopy and conductivity measurements reveal that the S vacancies, introduced into the MoS2 lattice prior to Mo vacancies at the lower dose region, cause electron-doping. The E’ lattice vibration mode was more sensitive to vacancies than the A’1 mode. According to photoluminescence studies, irradiating Ar+ at a lower dose of less than 3.8 × 1013 cm−2 does not change the band gap and only introduces mid-gap states, which is consistent with the smaller and larger influences of vacancies in carrier scattering and doping, respectively, in the electrical conductivity.

Effects of He ion and electron beam irradiation on a CdTe solar cell dosimeter in a substrate configuration

In this work, the effects of He ion and electron beam irradiation on substrate-type CdTe solar cells that are suitable for the detection of alpha and beta radiation are investigated. He ion irradiation revealed that the induced current proportionally increased with the increase of He ion current and that it is possible to detect alpha radiation using a substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter. Next, the electron irradiation effects were investigated. The induced current proportional to the electron flux was also observed, and the sensitivity depended on the electron energy. In addition, the degradation of a substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter by electron beam irradiation was investigated. No significant degradation in short-circuit current was observed at the electron irradiation of 3 × 1016 cm−2 at 200 keV and 1 × 1016 cm−2 at 400 keV. This result suggests that the substrate-type CdTe solar cell dosimeter is sufficiently resistant to electron irradiation.

The effects of high energy deuteron ion beam irradiation on the tensile behavior of HT-9

Ion beam implantations are widely performed to understand the effects of irradiation-induced displacement damage on nuclear structural materials. However, the volume of material that can be investigated is often limited by the maximum energies of accelerator facilitates, leading to a limitation in the thickness of samples whose mechanical properties can be evaluated. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron offers a wide range of ions and energies, allowing for material ion implantations at larger scales than typical. Four HT-9 SS-J-geometry tensile specimens were polished and then irradiated with deuterons at the 88-Inch Cyclotron to doses of approximately 0.2 dpa prior to small scale tensile testing. The results from this study show irradiation hardening characterized by the tensile test results and black dot irradiation defects. Additionally, a comprehensive look at low temperature irradiations of high-Cr F/M steels is presented and our results show agreement with the available data.

Li3+ ion beam irradiation persuaded enhancement in the thermodynamic parameters of a hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline material

Effect of ion beam irradiation has been investigated in the thermodynamic parameters of a hydrogen-bonded liquid-crystalline material by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermodynamic data suggest that the phase transition temperatures are decreased for a low fluence of irradiation and thereafter increase with the increase in irradiation fluence. The average transition enthalpies and entropies are increased for a low fluence of irradiation and are decreased for higher fluences of irradiation.

H2 production from the radiolysis of aqueous suspensions of ZnO nanoparticles by 5.5 MeV He2+ ions

The effects of ion beam irradiation on aqueous suspensions of metal oxides has received relatively little attention compared to γ-ray irradiation despite being a highly prevalent process in spent nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing. This is partly due to the difficulties associated with homogeneously irradiating condensed-phase matter using α-particles. Here, we report experimental yields of H2 from the 5.5 MeV He2+ ion irradiation of aqueous suspensions of ZnO nanoparticles. The obtained results are compared to our previously measured results for the γ-radiolysis of the same system. The amount of H2 increases linearly with adsorbed dose for all studied concentrations. The measured yields are of the same order of magnitude as those observed for pure water, but decrease with increasing water content. Overall, the yields follow a similar trend to those observed for γ-ray radiolysis.

Effect of Annealing and Ion Beam Irradiation on AC Electrical Properties for Gold Sputtered PM-355

Deposition of different gold thickness on PM-355 cleaned by ethanol forming thin films using magnetron sputtering. Gold layer with thickness 300, 400, 500, 700, 1000, 1300, and 1500 nm were deposited to prepare Au / PM-355 thin films. Then, ac electrical properties response of thin films for a wide frequency range 20Hz - 5MHz were measured at roomtemperature. Meanwhile, the measurements of ac conductivity, dielectric constant, and dielectric loss factor were plotted at different frequencies to determine the optimum thickness. Hence, the comparison was done between optimum Au thickness thin films cleaned by two organic solvents and ethanol before annealing at different frequencies. Also, study the effect of annealing and ion beam that extracted radially from conical anode and disc cathode ion source on optimum Au thickness thin film electrical properties. It is found that the annealing increases both dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and ac conductivity of optimum Au thin film at different frequencies. Despite, the nitrogen ion beam effected on these thin films by decreasing the dielectric constant and ac conductivity for all thin films except the chloroform one. Finally, study the comparison between the annealing and followed by ion irradiation thin films. It is noticed the decrease in ac electrical conductivity and dielectric constant at different frequencies.

Physico-chemical properties of irradiated poly (vinyl alcohol)–Ethylene glycol blend films by γ-rays and ion beam

Poly (vinyl alcohol) is blended with ethylene glycol by casting method to form PVA-EG blend films. These films were irradiated by both N2 ion beam extracted from dc ion source at different ion fluences and γ-rays with various irradiation doses. The effects of ion beam and γ-rays irradiation on the thermal, micro-hardness, and gel fraction properties of PVA-EG blend films were investigated. The gel fraction % and micro-hardness increase with increasing the γ-rays doses up to 150 kGy and then decreased, where they increased at all fluences of ion beam irradiation. The improvement in the gel fraction percentage and micro-hardness suggest that PVA-EG blend films exhibited a crosslink density. The thermal behavior was examined by thermogravimetric analysis and it shows different thermal patterns depending on the type and dose of radiation. The thermal stability parameters of γ-rays- and ion beam-irradiated PVA-EG samples were evaluated using the Ti, Ts, T0.5, Tf temperatures, and activation energy (Ea) values. The thermal stability parameters were dependent on both the type and extent of irradiation dose and fluence. Finally, there is a good agreement between the obtained results from different measurement techniques.

Advancement of High–k ZrO2 for Potential Applications: A Review

Versatile zirconium oxide as a ceramic has propelled a rapid development of science and technology for diverse applications. Among the class of ceramics it holds a distinctive position due to its excellent physical, chemical and mechanical properties owing to its phase transformation. Zirconia is high k- dielectric, mechanical resistance and high radiation tolerance material. Although, this material replace SiO2 due to its higher dielecotric constant so it can be employed to various memory device applications. It has essential implications in nuclear reactors, inert matrix fuel, nuclear waste systems, container for radioactive materials and designing of new materials owing to its high radiation tolerance property. Dentists proclaim zirconium oxide “ceramic steel” where it has attracted prosthetic dentistry because of its strength and esthetics are admired. Addition of few percentages of stabilizers such as Y2O3, MgO and Ni etc. make it useful for specific applications. Zirconium oxide ceramic is indispensably used as an electrode and electrolyte in energy efficient solid state electrochemical devices (fuel cells) that generates electricity with good efficiency from natural gas and fuel cell plants and provides auxiliary power in vehicles. One of its important phase transformation mechanism is being focused and extensively reviewed due to the effect of temperature variation and ion beam irradiation effect.The objective of current review is to present the knowledge of extensive properties, synthesis techniques and its various implicationsand guidelines for optical, medical, fuel cells, biological and electrical and memory devices and nuclear applications. The advantages of zirconia with respect to other oxide materials are also reviewed.

Structural and electrochemical properties of carbon ion beam irradiated 12-tungstophosphoric acid

In recent years polyoxometalates (POMs) have attracted significant research interest due to versatile properties. These properties are determined by the size, structure and elemental composition of POMs and hence play an important role in their application. In the present study, the ion beam irradiation (10 keV C+ ions, 5 × 1014–2.5 × 1015 ions/cm2) has been utilized for modification of physicochemical properties of 120 nm-thick layer of 12-tungstophosphoric acid (WPA). Scanning electron microscopy analysis of irradiated films showed change of morphology i.e. an increase of WPA grain size with irradiation and coalescence of grains at the highest fluence. This was accompanied by structural changes. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared analysis revealed that vibration bands of Keggin anion became less pronounced as fluence increased, while Raman spectra appeared as strongly modified. The effect of irradiation with 1.25 × 1015 ions/cm2 on the structure of WPA was similar to the effect of thermal treatment at 600 °C. Irradiation of WPA led to decrease of the band gap (from 4.07 to 3.92 eV), which was correlated to transformation Keggin anions into a network of WO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra. This is in line with increased number of W=Od bonds observed by UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Beside transformation to bronzes a reduction of WPA was observed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (shift to lower binding energy) and Raman methods, whereas the Raman spectra of irradiated samples were similar to heteropoly blue. The electrochemical properties of irradiated WPA were also assessed. Cyclic voltammetry measurements showed that at up to 1.25 × 1015 ions/cm2 lithiation capacity of WPA increases and activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) improves. The highest fluence caused interconnection of WO6 octahedra, closing of lithiation pathways and decrease in the number of active sites for HER. Our results provide a novel insight into the effects of ion beam irradiation on WPA and demonstrate high potential for tuning of physicochemical properties of POMs that are relevant in wide range of applications.

Effects of Carbon Ion Beam Irradiation on Phenotypic Variations and Biochemical Parameters in Early Generations of Soybean Plants

Understanding the characteristics of carbon ion beam irradiation-induced mutation is essential to its potential application in plant breeding. A carbon ion beam-mutagenized soybean population was generated from the newly released soybean variety Dongsheng 28, with irradiation dosages of 100 Gy, 120 Gy and 140 Gy. Many phenotypic variations and novel mutants with heritable tendencies including plant height mutants, sterile mutants, early mature mutants, rolled leaves and short petioles mutants, yield-related mutants and lodging-resistant mutants were identified. Diverse variations in seed size, seed protein and oil concentration were found. Increasing irradiation dosage from 100 Gy to 140 Gy increased leaf chlorophyll concentration in M1 generation, but this effect was significantly reduced in M2 generation. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration all showed wider variation in M1 and M2 generation, the only exception being that the MDA concentration was similar to the control in the M2 generation. Overall, we suggest that treating soybean seeds with carbon ion beam irradiation at a dosage of 120 Gy (80 Mev/u) could be effective in soybean mutation breeding.

Changes of Expression and Function of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Esophageal Cancer Induced by Heavy Ion Beam Radiation

Due to the characteristics of dietary structure, esophageal cancer is a malignant tumor of human digestive system with high incidence, while esophageal cancer is a heterogeneous malignant tumor with high mortality and can not be treated early. Although there are many diagnostic methods at present, the side effects are great and have a great impact on the body. Its development is mainly affected by factors such as immune dysfunction, antioxidant system damage and apoptosis. In recent years, clinical studies have shown that the study of lymph tissue infiltration, proliferation and differentiation has an important contribution to cancer. Heavy ion beam radiation is an important targeted therapy and has broad prospects. This paper mainly studied the expression and functional changes of hepatoma cells and lymphocytes induced by heavy ion radiation. Firstly, the concept, characteristics and characteristics of heavy ion beam radiation were introduced. Then, the tumor infiltrating lymphocytes of esophageal cancer were studied. Then, the expression and functional changes of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes of esophageal cancer induced by heavy ion radiation were observed. Finally, the experimental results show that heavy ion beam radiation has a strong ability to inhibit the proliferation of tumor infiltrating cells. The inhibitory effect of heavy ion beam irradiation on the proliferation of tumor infiltrating cells was positively correlated with dose time (P < 0.05). The invasion rate of cancerous cells was different between the two groups in different environments. Under the irradiation of heavy ion beam radiation, the invasion and metastasis rate of cancer cells in the experimental group was maintained at 0.1%. At the same time, the metastasis rate of the control group was the highest at 0.95% without the interference of heavy ion beam radiation.

Influence of temperature and frequency on electrical properties of gold/PM-355 thin films treated by annealing and nitrogen ion beam

In this manuscript, the influence of temperature and frequency on dielectric and alternative current conductivity, σac, properties of gold deposited on PM-355 thin films was studied. The effects of annealing and nitrogen ion beam irradiation on the dielectric and ac electrical conductivity properties of the formed thin films were determined. After cleaning of the formed thin films by two organic solvents as ethanol and chloroform, the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constants such as dielectric constant, e', and dielectric loss, e'', were measured at different temperatures and frequencies using LCR meter. Experimental results showed that e', e'' and σac were strongly depend on the temperature and frequency. It was found that the thin film which is cleaned by ethanol gave lower e' value than cleaned by chloroform and the thin film treated by annealing gave e' value between them, while the thin film irradiated by nitrogen ion beam gave the highest e' value. Also, the ac conductivity of thin film irradiated by nitrogen ion beam gave the highest value than treated by annealing and cleaned by chloroform.

Black rice mutant strain selection results of M3 generation mutation breeding

Local rice is germplasm which has great potential to be developed in meeting food needs in Indonesia. Black rice is known to have great health benefits but in general has a weakness in low yields. Therefore, research is needed to overcome this weakness. This study aims to determine the effect of heavy ion beam irradiation on production yields per hectare of the black rice mutant lines of the M3 generation. The experiment was carried out for 6 months using 50 strains of black rice mutants obtained from the M2 generation plus 1 negative control and 1 positive control. Based on the results of the coefficient analysis on the observed characters, there are potential and effective characters to be developed in the next M4 generation of black rice, namely the number of grains per panicle, panicle density, panicle length, percentage of filled grains per panicle and 100 grains weight.

Radiation damage of thin films of YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors

The effect of ion-beam irradiation of YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors has been studied by Raman spectroscopy. The ion beams 4He, 16O and 127I have been used eat energies 4, 25 and 200 MeV, respectively, in an attempt to investigate the radi- ation damage with respect to the mass of the bombarding ions, further, different doses of irradiation have been tried for each ion beam in order to investigate at which critical dose the phase transition from crystalline to amorphous and the loss of superconductivity occur.

γ-Rays and ion beam irradiation effects on the optical and structural properties of poly (vinyl alcohol)-ethylene glycol composite

Poly (vinyl alcohol)-ethylene glycol (PVA-EG) composites were geared up using casting method. The PVA-EG composite films have been irradiated at various γ-rays irradiation doses and nitrogen ion beam. The optical and structural properties of the irradiated PVA-EG composites have been investigated using UV–Vis, FTIR and XRD analytical techniques. UV–Vis study illustrates the change in the optical band gap energy of the investigated samples. XRD investigations show several changes in the structure, crystal structure, intensity and position of the characteristic peaks for PVA-EG composite samples. The optical and structural properties were greatly dependent on the type of irradiation, extent of irradiation and exposure time.

Effect of interfacial modifications on magnetic, morphological and transport properties of CoFe/n-Si thin film structures using ion irradiation

Interfacial structures of ferromagnetic (FM) metal combined with semiconductor (SC) are key step for realizing spintronic devices where spin degree of freedom can also be utilized in addition to the charge of electron. Tailoring of such interfaces (of FM/SC) is known to tune the magnetic, optical, structural and transport properties. Swift heavy ion irradiation (SHI) can be used as a potential tool to tailor the interfaces. In our present work, effect of ion beam irradiation (100 meV Ni+7 ions) on the CoFe/n-Si interfacial structures had been studied. Thin films of CoFe was deposited by electron beam evaporation technique using CoFe metallic alloy on Si substrate. The realized interfacial structure was characterized from structural, morphological and magnetic point of view. The surface exhibits grainy structure with very fine domain (∼50 nm) on the irradiation. Electronic transport study across the interface shows an increase in current on irradiation with significant magnetic field sensitivity and a magnetoresistance of ∼7% has been observed. The observed results of increased magnetization and enhanced magnetic field sensitivity has been understood in the realm of irradiation induced interfacial intermixing across the interfaces. The chemical phases formed and nature of the interface as a result of irradiation was probed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study which confirms the formation of various silicide phases along with the metallic phase. The results were also compared with our earlier studies [15–16] on CoFe/n-Si system and found that fluence of 1 × 1011 ions/cm2 seems significant to result in interesting magnetic and transport properties without much damage to interface.

3.2.4 High Energy Heavy Ion Beam Irradiation Effects on Polymers and Their Application —Fabrication of Functional Polymer Membranes—

3.2.4 High Energy Heavy Ion Beam Irradiation Effects on Polymers and Their Application —Fabrication of Functional Polymer Membranes—