Search

A Frisch-grid Ionization Chamber (FGIC) for the measurement of low activity of alpha-particle emitters has been built. The design and performance are described in this paper. According to the Shockley–Ramo theorem and the experiment, the key parameter grid inefficiency was studied in detail. The experimental and calculated values of the correction factor are shown to be in good agreement. In the measurement of the alpha-activities of a 234,238U sample, the detection efficiency was investigated based on the Monte-Carlo method. Considering this influence, the activity of alpha-particle emitters was identified.

A reliable 235U enrichment uniformity detection system based on a compact D-D neutron generator is developed to detect the 235U enrichment uniformity of different fuel elements in the same nuclear fuel rod. The high-yield compact D-D neutron generator provides 2.45 MeV D-D neutrons, decelerated by a moderator to thermal neutrons or epithermal neutrons, thereby inducing 235U fission to produce highly excited state fission fragments that undergo de-excitation via γ-ray emission. The system detects the 235U enrichment uniformity of a nuclear fuel rod by measuring γ-rays and establishing a relationship between the γ-ray count rate and 235U enrichment in nuclear fuel. The proposed system yields a confidence probability of 99.99% for a relative 235U enrichment deviation of 10% and a neutron yield of 5 × 108 n/s, and the detection accuracy increases with increasing neutron yield. Furthermore, the developed system can satisfy quality control requirements for nuclear fuel production to promote the safe development of nuclear power.

A double-column chromatography separation technique was involved for isolation of

An inelastic neutron scattering system was developed to determine the elemental composition of large metallic materials. The geometrical size of the system was optimized by using Monte Carlo simulation. An experimental setup consisted of a DT neutron generator and a HPGe detector was built based on the optimized configuration and applied to analyze titanium samples. The net peak areas of titanium versus sample mass showed a linear dependence and the mass detection limit was 64 g. The prompt gamma spectra were compared to simulation data. The results demonstrated a good agreement for the signal-to-background ratio of titanium peak between measurements and simulations.

Elemental imaging plays an important role in characterizing the chemical and physical properties of large samples. In this work, a position-sensitive technique using prompt gamma ray neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) was applied to image the internal composition of large samples with 10–20 cm thicknesses. An inelastic neutron scattering system consisting of a D-T neutron generator and a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was built and used for elemental distribution analysis of a large metal sample containing iron, titanium, and copper. The 2D elemental imaging of the three elements was performed using the designed system. The effect of inhomogeneous neutron field was also corrected using Monte Carlo simulations. The results indicate that ~4 cm spatial resolution can be achieved. The position-sensitive elemental analysis based on inelastic neutron scattering reaction is efficient for bulk metal sample analysis.

As a part of R&D work for the high intensity proton linac of China Accelerator Driven Sub-critical System project, a superconducting half-wave cavity with a frequency of 162.5 MHz and an optimal beta of 0.15 (HWR015) has been developed at Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. In this paper, the design and test results will be described in detail. We introduced a new stiffening strategy for the HWR cavity, the simulation results show that the cavity has much lower frequency sensitivity coefficient (df/dp), Lorentz force detuning coefficient (KL), and can achieve more stable mechanical properties. The performance of the HWR cavity operated in cryostat will be also reported.

This study aims to further identify the biological effects of neutron-irradiated plants and provides insights into the mutation breeding of such plants. In this study, the neutron irradiation device designed by our institute was used to analyze the relationship between the seed components in different legume crops and their neutron absorption dose rate, fission gamma absorption dose rate, and induced gamma absorption dose rate. The results show that the effect sizes of the components on the neutron absorbed dose rate are as follows: ash > fat > moisture > carbohydrate > protein. The effect sizes of the components on the absorbed dose rate of fission gamma are as follows: ash > moisture > fat > carbohydrate > protein. There is a positive correlation between fission gamma absorbed dose rate and the weight of ash, water and fat, while a negative correlation with carbohydrate and protein. However, the linear relationship between each component and the absorbed dose rate of induced gamma is not significant, this needs to be identified by further researches. Based on the results of the present study, we conclude that the neutron absorbed dose can be calculated without taking into account the fat composition of bean crop seeds (except for soybean seeds) in the process of mutation breeding induced by radiation. In special cases where the accuracy requirement of the dose rate is not high, it is possible to use protein instead of legume crop seeds for neutron absorption dose calculations.

252Cf neutron source has been widely used in biological effects of neutron radiation, neutron activation analysis and nuclear data acquisition. A seed irradiation device based on 252Cf fission neutron source was designed in this paper to study mutation breeding induced by neutron irradiation and biological effects of radiation. Based on the Monte Carlo method, neutron absorbed dose of pea seed samples in the designed irradiation region was simulated and calculated by MCNP. Results demonstrated that the relative standard deviation of the absorbed dose of pea seed samples in the three-layer partition is controlled lower than 10%, indicating the high dose uniformity in designed irradiation region. The experiment verified that the design of shield in this device meet the irradiation protection requirements.

Irradiation breeding is an important technique in the effort to solve food shortages and improve the quality of agricultural products. In this study, a field test was implemented on the M3 generation of two mutant pea plants gained from previous neutron radiation of pea seeds. The relationship between agronomic characteristics and yields of the mutants was investigated. Moreover, differences in physiological and biochemical properties and seed nutrients were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the plant height, effective pods per plant, and yield per plant of mutant Leaf-M1 were 45.0%, 43.2%, and 50.9% higher than those of the control group. Further analysis attributed the increase in yield per plant to the increased branching number. The yield per plant of mutant Leaf-M2 was 7.8% higher than that of the control group, which could be related with the increased chlorophyll content in the leaves. There was a significant difference between the two mutants in the increase of yield per plant owing to morphological variation between the two mutants. There were significant differences in SOD activity and MDA content between the two mutants and the control, indicating that the physiological regulation of the two mutants also changed. In addition, the iron element content of seeds of the two mutants were about 10.9% lower than in the seeds of the control group, a significant difference. These findings indicate that the mutants Leaf-M1 and Leaf-M2 have breeding value and material value for molecular biological studies., Comment: 13 pages,3 figures

In our previous research, a new detection method was proposed to measure Hg and Pb simultaneously by combining Prompt Gamma-ray Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and proved by the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulation code. For further experimental verification, a combined measurement experimental facility, comprising an 241Am–Be neutron source, SAINT-GOBAIN Bismuth Germanate (BGO) as the γ-ray detector, and an NaI detector with 25 μm Be window as the X-ray detector, was presented. Specifically, the characteristic X-ray fluorescence of the Hg directly induced in this experimental facility was utilized to improve the limits of detection (LOD) of Hg instead of traditional excitation sources. The simulation and experiment results indicated that LOD for Hg by the combined measurement instrument was 19.4 mg kg−1. The empirical formula of the calibration curve in this method was given based on the aforementioned calculations.

The design of a compact D–D neutron generator with a neutron yield greater than 1 × 1 0 8 n/s is presented in this paper. A duoplasmatron ion source is used to supply the deuteron beam. Deuterium ions are extracted and accelerated by a single-gap accelerating column and then bombard onto a drive-in molybdenum target where neutrons are produced through D–D fusion reactions. The target is cooled by the circulating deionized water. The extraction-accelerating electrode and the target system are enclosed inside a stainless steel vacuum vessel. The ion source is at ground potential, and the target is biased to a negative potential. The electric field distribution inside the vacuum vessel, the ion beam optic, the thermal analysis of the target and the effect of secondary electron suppression are calculated. And these calculation results are used to optimize and evaluate the designed scheme. Calculation results show that the design of the neutron generator satisfies necessary engineering requirements.

The scission point model is improved by considering the excitation-dependent liquid drop model to calculate mass distributions for neutron-induced actinide nuclei fission. Excitation energy effects influence the deformations of light and heavy fragments. The improved scission point model shows a significant advance with regard to accuracy for calculating pre-neutron-emission mass distributions of neutron-induced typical actinide fission with incident-neutron-energies up to 99.5 MeV. The theoretical frame assures that the improved scission point model is suitable for evaluating the fission fragment mass distributions, which will provide guidance for studying fission physics and designing nuclear fission engineering and nuclear transmutation systems.

The EJ309 liquid scintillator detector and the developed gamma spectrum unfolding procedure are used to study the complex gamma spectra. The EJ309 liquid scintillator detector is calibrated by using measured response functions of the standard gamma sources 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co, which are verified by Monte Carlo simulations for detector calibration accuracy. A gamma spectra unfolding procedure is developed based on the One-fold Gold algorithm, which is used for unfolding simulated complex gamma spectra, experimentally measured response function of 133Ba and 137Cs, and composed complex gamma spectra using measured response function of 133Ba and 137Cs with different relative intensities (RI). The data of unfolded gamma-ray spectra are compared with the standard data. The results show that the EJ309 liquid scintillator detector and the developed gamma spectra unfolding procedure can quantitative and qualitative analysis of complex gamma spectra with reasonable accuracy.

A high-intensity accelerator-based D-D/D-T fusion neutron source (ZF-400) with a thick adsorption target is designed with an intensity of $ 10^{13}$ n/s. A high-current microwave ion source is used to produce a large current deuteron beam, and neutrons are generated by irradiating the deuteron beam on a deuterium-adsorption target or tritium-adsorption target. According to the particle-in-cell (PIC) code, the length of the whole high-current D+ beam transport line is 500cm, the D+ beam transfer efficiency is up to 96%, and various components can match each other. On the rotating target, the D+ beam spot size is about 20.0 mm with energy of 450 keV. Based on the heat conduction theory, the thick adsorption rotating target with water-cooling can withstand the D+ ions beam with 450 kV/50 mA and ensure that the temperature is less than 200 °C. According to the multi-layer computing model, neutron energy spectra, angular distributions and yields for the thick target can be calculated with remarkable precision. The neutron energy spectra are non-mono-energetic neutrons for the ZF-400 neutron generator, the neutron angular distributions are anisotropic distributions, and they can provide neutrons with an intensity of $ 2.8\times 10^{11}$ n/s (D-D) and $ 1.4\times 10^{13}$ n/s (D-T), respectively, with the deuteron of 450 keV/50 mA.

A compact D–D neutron generator, with a peak neutron yield of D–D reactions up to 2.48 × 108 n/s is being developed at Lanzhou University in China for application in real-time neutron activation analysis. During tests, the problem of back acceleration of secondary electrons liberated from the neutron production target by deuterium ions bombardment was encountered. In this study, an electric field method and a magnetic field method for suppressing secondary electrons are designed and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that the electric field method is superior to the magnetic field method. Effective suppression of the secondary electrons can be achieved via electrostatic suppression when the bias voltage between the target and the extraction-accelerating electrode is > 204 V. Furthermore, the secondary electron emission coefficient for the mixed deuterium ion (D1+, D2+, and D3+) impacting on molybdenum is estimated. In the deuterium energy range of 80–120 keV, the estimated secondary electron emission coefficients are approximately 5–5.5 for the mixed deuterium ion glancing incidence of 45° and approximately 3.5–3.9 for the mixed deuterium ion normal incidence.

A Secondary Electrons Profile Monitor (SEPM) is developed as part of the beam dose delivery system in a clinical gantry of the Heavy Ion Medical Machine (HIMM). With the purpose of less disturbance to the beam, a thin foil with a thickness of 0 . 7 μ m and an accelerating grid with a diameter of 15 μ m are employed to produce and accelerate the secondary electrons, and two microchannel plates (MCPs) are used to multiply the electrons. Providing the real-time information of beam size, position, flatness, and symmetry in front of the scanning magnet, the beam monitor features an active area of 989 mm 2 , beam intensities between 1.0 × 1 0 3 to 1.0 × 1 0 8 particles per pulse (ppp) and a wide range of beam energies. A prototype is tested at the horizontal treatment room of the HIMM. Using different beam positions, sizes, and energies of 12C 6 + beams, test experiments show that the beam monitor maintains good consistency with a Multi-Strip Ionization Chamber (MSIC). Compared to the MSIC, the SEPM shows a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and higher sensitivity to the variation of the beam.

Novel measurements of the neutron energy spectra of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction with a thick beryllium target are performed using a fast neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometer for the neutron emission angles and , and the incident deuteron energies are 250 and 300 keV, respectively. The neutron contributions from the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction are distributed relatively independently for the ground state and the first, second, and third excited states of 10B. The branching ratios of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction for the different excited states of 10B are obtained for the neutron emission angles and , and the incident deuteron energies are 250 and 300 keV, respectively. The branching ratio of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction for the third excited state decreases with increase in the incident deuteron energy, and the branching ratios for the ground state and the second excited state increase with increase in the neutron emission angle.

An intense D-T/D-D neutron generator is currently being developed at the Lanzhou University. The Cockcroft–Walton accelerator, as a part of the neutron generator, will be used to accelerate and transport the high-current low-energy beam from the duoplasmatron ion source to the rotating target. The design of a high-current low-energy beam transport (LEBT) line and the dynamics simulations of the mixed beam were carried out using the TRACK code. The results illustrate that the designed beam line facilitates smooth transportation of a deuteron beam of 40 mA, and the number of undesired ions can be reduced effectively using two apertures.

Si@SiO2@C core double-shell nanocomposites are successfully synthesized by a facile method. The inside shell of SiO2 with a stable mechanical structure can completely limit the volume expansion of Si during charge/discharge cycles and beneficial for a dense carbon shell formation on the surface of SiO2. The outside carbon shell serves as an effective electron conductor to enhance the electronic conductivity of the nanocomposite. This mechanical constraining double-shell protection is good for the electrode to form a stable solid electrolyte film during cycling. The Si@SiO2@C nanocomposites achieve outstanding long-term cycling stability and high rate performance. High capacity of 775 mAh g−1 is obtained after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A g−1 and 617 mAh g−1 after 400 cycles at 2.0 A g−1. The full-cell coupled with LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cathode exhibits good cycling ability. This excellent electrochemical performance is much improved when compared with other Si/SiOx based anode materials. These structural features make the Si@SiO2@C as promising anode materials for high energy storage lithium-ion batteries.

The micro-channel plate based particle tracking detector described here is part of the detector system used in a series of measurements of astrophysical ( α , p) reactions, which will be studied at the Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou, China. This detector will provide on a particle-by-particle basis tracking information and arrival time of radioactive beams with intensities up to 1 0 5 particles per second. The key requirements of the experiments to the detector are that the spatial resolution is below 1 mm, the time resolution is better than 1 ns and the energy loss is less than for a parallel plate avalanche counter. The current prototype is composed of two micro-channel plate detectors with a compact electrostatic field construction and a delay-line readout. Based on the results of α -particle tests, one micro-channel detector can achieve a position resolution of 552 μ m full width at half maximum on the x axis and 735 μ m on the y axis. The tracking system can achieve 705 ps time resolution and can cope with a beam intensity of up to 5 × 1 0 6 particles per second.

The transport characteristics of a space charge-dominated multi-species deuterium beam consisting of $$ D_{1}^{ + } $$ , $$ D_{2}^{ + } $$ , and $$ D_{3}^{ + } $$ particles in an electrostatic low-energy beam line are studied. First, the envelope equations of the primary $$ D_{1}^{ + } $$ beam are derived considering the space charge effects caused by all particles. Second, the evolution of the envelope of the multi-species deuterium beam is simulated using the PIC code TRACK, with the results showing a significant effect of the unwanted beam on the transport of the primary beam. Finally, different injected beam parameters are used to study beam matching, and a new beam extraction system for the existing duoplasmatron source is designed to obtain the ideal injected beam parameters that allow a $$ D_{1}^{ + } $$ beam of up to 50 mA to pass unobstructed through the electrostatic low-energy beam transport line in the presence of an unwanted ( $$ D_{2}^{ + } $$ , $$ D_{3}^{ + } $$ ) beam of 20 mA; at the same time, distortions of the beam emittance and particle distributions are observed.

Proton radiography is used for advanced hydrotesting as a new type radiography technology due to its powerful penetration capability and high detection efficiency. A new proton radiography terminal will be developed to radiograph static samples at the Institute of Modern Physics of Chinese Academy of Science. The proton beam with the maximum energy of 2.6 GeV will be produced by Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou-Cooling Storage Ring. The proton radiography terminal consists of the matching magnetic lens and the Zumbro lens system. In this paper, the design scheme and all optic parameters of this beam terminal for 2.6 GeV proton energy are presented by simulating the beam optics using WINAGILE code. My-BOC code is used to test the particle tracking of proton radiography beam line. Geant4 and G4beamline codes are used for simulating the proton radiography system. The results show that the transmission efficiency of proton without target is 100%, and the effect of secondary particles can be neglected. To test this proton radiography system, the proton images for an aluminum plate sample with two rectangular orifices and a step brass plate sample are respectively simulated using Geant4 code. The results show that the best spatial resolution is about 36 μm, and the differences of the thickness are not >10%.

Monte Carlo transport code Geant4 has been successfully utilised to study of neutron-induced fission reaction for Th-232 in the transport neutrons generated from H-3(d,n)He-4 neutron source. The purpose of this work is to examine the applicability of Monte Carlo simulations for the computation of fission reaction process. For this, Monte Carlo simulates and calculates the characteristics of fission reaction process of Th-232(n,f), such as the fission yields distribution, kinetic energy distribution, fission neutron spectrum and decay gamma-ray spectrum. This is the first time to simulate the process of neutron-induced fission reaction using Geant4 code. Typical computational results of neutron-induced fission reaction of Th-232(n,f) reaction are presented. The computational results are compared with the previous experimental data and evaluated nuclear data to confirm the certain physical process model in Geant4 of scientific rationality.

A measuring method with associated particles has been developed and tested to monitor the D–D neutron yield at a ZF-300 intense neutron generator in Lanzhou University. The experiment has been carried out in an environment of 236 keV and 0.5 mA of deuteron beam with a thick titanium-filmed target of molybdenum substrate at 135° for proton emission. All correction factors, including anisotropy factors and the yield ratio of neutron and proton, have been calculated, and the uncertainty of calculation result has been discussed.

The secondary neutron emission differential and double-differential cross sections (DX and DDXs) of n + 9Be have been measured at the neutron energy of 21.94MeV using the multi-detector fast neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometer. The data was derived by comparing the measured TOF spectra with detailed Monte Carlo simulation, and corrected with n-p scattering cross section. Meanwhile, theoretical calculations based on the Hauser-Feshbach and exciton model have been performed to compare with experimental data. Measured differential cross sections were also compared with other measurements. It was found that the experimental results were in agreement with other measurements and theoretical calculations, while discrepancies were also present in the whole energy region and at some angles.

The potential-driving model is used to describe the driving potential distribution and to calculate the pre-neutron emission mass distributions for different incident energies in the reaction. The potential-driving model is implemented in Geant4 and used to calculate the fission-fragment yield distributions, kinetic energy distributions, fission neutron spectrum and the total nubar for the reaction. Compared with the built-in G4ParaFissionModel, the calculated results from the potential-driving model are in better agreement with the experimental data and evaluated data. Given the good agreement with the experimental data, the potential-driving model in Geant4 can describe well the neutron-induced fission of actinide nuclei, which is very important for the study of neutron transmutation physics and the design of a transmutation system.

The multi-layer computing model is developed to calculate wide-angle neutron spectra, in the range from 0° to 180° with a 5° step, produced by bombarding a thick beryllium target with deuterons. The double-differential cross-sections (DDCSs) for the 9Be(d, xn) reaction are calculated using the TALYS-1.8 code. They are in agreement with the experimental data, and are much better than the PHITS-JQMD/GEM results at 15° , 30° , 45° and 60° neutron emission angles for deuteron energy of 10.0 MeV. In the TALYS-1.8 code, neutron contributions from direct reactions (break-up, stripping and knock-out reactions) are controlled by adjustable parameters, which describe the basic characteristics of typical direct reactions and control the relative intensity and the position of the ridgy hillock at the tail of DDCSs. It is found that the typical calculated wide-angle neutron spectra for different neutron emission angles and neutron angular distributions agree quite well with the experimental data for 13.5 MeV deuterons. The multi-layer computing model can reproduce the experimental data reasonably well by optimizing the adjustable parameters in the TALYS-1.8 code. Given the good agreement with the experimental data, the multi-layer computing model could provide better predictions of wide-angle neutron energy spectra, neutron angular distributions and neutron yields for the 9Be(d, xn) reaction neutron source.

Knowledge of actinides (n,f) fission process induced by neutron is of importance in the field of nuclear power and nuclear engineering, especially for reactor applications. In this work, fission characteristics of 238U(n,f) reaction induced by D-T neutron source were simulated with Geant4 code from multiple perspectives, including the fission production yields, total nubar, kinetic energy distribution, fission neutron spectrum and cumulative γ-ray spectrum of the fission products. The simulation results agree well with the experimental nuclear reaction data (EXFOR) and evaluated nuclear data (ENDF). Mainly, this work was to examine the rationality of the parametric nuclear fission model in Geant4 and to direct our future experimental measurements for the cumulative fission yields of 238U(n,f) reaction.

The 232Th(n,{\gamma})233Th neutron capture reaction cross sections were measured at average neutron energies of 14.1 MeV and 14.8 MeV using the activation method. The neutron flux was determined using the monitor reaction 27Al(n,{\alpha})24Na. The induced gamma-ray activities were measured using a low background gamma ray spectrometer equipped with a high resolution HPGe detector. The experimentally determined cross sections were compared with the literatures data, evaluated data of ENDF/B-VII, JENDL-4.0, and CENDL-3.1. The Excitation functions of 232Th(n,{\gamma}) reaction were also calculated theoretically using the TALYS 1.6 computer code., Comment: 8 pages,1 figures and 2 tables

A fast neutron detector, consisting of a high-density polyethylene sheet, a micro-channel plate, a phosphor screen, a reflection mirror and a CCD camera, is proposed for fast neutron radiography purpose. To optimize the design of the detector, a series of simulations are performed by using Geant4 code. Simulation results indicate that the maximum conversion efficiency of the high-density polyethylene is about 0.38% when its thickness is 2 mm. To ensure the spatial resolution of the detector, the distance between high-density polyethylene and micro-channel plate should be as small as possible. The gap between MCP and PS is selected as 2 mm with a bias voltage of −4 kV to balance the luminescence efficiency and the spatial resolution of the PS. With the optimized structure, the detection efficiency of the detector is calculated to be 0.14% and the spatial resolution is possibly better than 500 μm.

A compact D-D neutron generator was developed at Lanzhou University, China. A duoplasmatron ion source was used to produce a higher-current deuteron beam. The deuteron beam could be accelerated up to 150 keV by a single accelerating gap, and bombarded on a pure molybdenum drive-in target to produce D-D fast neutron. A bias voltage between the target and the extraction-accelerating electrode was produced by a resistance to suppress the secondary electron from the target. The neutron generator has been operated for several hundred hours, and the performances were investigated. The available range of the deuteron beam current was 1.0–4.0 mA. EJ410 scintillator detector system was used to measure the fast neutron yields. D-D neutron yield could reach 2.48×108 n/s under the deuteron beam of 3 mA and 150 keV.

We developed a novel gas field ionization ion source based on printed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) thin film and measured the field ionization characteristics with various gases including argon, nitrogen and hydrogen under different pressures in the high-pressure chamber. We achieved a collector current as high as 6.8 nA (the corresponding local field was 14.9 V/nm) at 0.6 mTorr hydrogen pressure, resulting in a current density of 0.87 µA/cm2. The result show that the ratio of the threshold field in ion emission for various gases is mainly related to differences in ionization energy, and is roughly agrees with well-characterized previous work in field ion microscopy.

The tobacco leaves were treated with low-temperature plasma in Ar, N2, O2, and air atmospheres at different powers (60—130 W). The surface-elemental components, their relative contents, and the functional groups of the surface components of the tobacco leaves were determined using XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). The experimental results showed that the percentage of the elements C, N, and O had changed considerably and a large number of polar functional groups containing oxygen atoms were incorporated into the components on the tobacco surfaces. The measurements of the surface contact angle showed that the surface contact angle of the modified tobacco leaves was 0 degree, whereas it was 110 degrees before the plasma treatment. These results indicate that the wettability of the modified tobacco leaves improved dramatically. This work may be significant for future researches on the surface modification of the tobacco leaves.

Design and development of an intense 14 MeV neutron source for cancer therapy is in progress at the Institute of Nuclear Research of Lanzhou University. The neutrons from the T(d,n)4He reaction are produced by bombarding a rotating titanium tritide target with a 40 mA deuteron beam at 600 keV. The designed neutron yield is 8×1012 n/s and the maximum dose rate at a 100 cm source-to-skin distance is 25 cGy/min. The HV terminal, accelerating column and HV power supply are enclosed inside a stainless steel pressure vessel containing 6 atm SF6 gas to provide the electrical insulation.

The front-end digitization electronics for thin-Resistive Plate Chambers to be installed as part of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Phase-I upgrade project is described. The design is based on the CERN HPTDC and GOL chips. In this paper, the design of the digitization system is presented, including power, connection interfaces to front-end amplifier-shaper-discriminator board and to the low level trigger processor board. System performance tests were conducted and validated with a prototype which includes one HPTDC/GOL pair.

A wide field of view (FOV) is an important feature of a detector in the gamma ray observation of sporadic, extended, and transient sources. In this work, we discuss an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (ACT) with a refractive water convex lens as its light collector, and we test the feasibility of this new approach. We determine the optical properties of a water lens with a diameter of 0.9 m, such as focal length, spot size, and transmittance. The first detection of cosmic rays (CRs) observed in coincidence with a scintillator extensive air shower (EAS) array is presented and discussed.

A 400 kV 80 mA Cockcroft-Walton power supply driven by 2.5 kHz frequency, and 12 kW isolation transformer systems are developed for an intense DD/DT neutron generator. The design, construction, and testing of the high voltage (HV) power supply and isolation transformer systems are detailed reported. The structure of step-up transformers can make the potential distribution uniform, and auxiliary coils of the isolation transformers can improve the power transmission efficiency significantly. The testing results show that the HV power supply can reach 400 kV, and the isolation transformer systems can withstand 400 kV voltages and its power transmission efficiency is about 98.1%.

The High Performance Time to Digital Converter (HPTDC), a multi-channel ASIC designed by the CERN Microelectronics group, has been proposed for the digitization of the thin-Resistive Plate Chambers (tRPC) in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Phase-1 upgrade project. These chambers, to be staged for higher luminosity LHC operation, will increase trigger acceptance and reduce or eliminate the fake muon trigger rates in the barrel-endcap transition region, corresponding to pseudo-rapidity range 1

Carbon ion is the mostly common used particle in heavy ion radiotherapy. In this paper, the carbon ion dose in tumor treatment for human eye was calculated with FLUKA code. An 80 MeV/u carbon beam was irradiated into the human eye from two directions. The first was from the lateral-forward direction, which was a typical therapeutic condition. In this case, a maximum dose was deposited in the tumor volume. In the second a beam was irradiated into eyes from the forward direction to simulate a patient gazing directly into treatment beam during therapy, which may cause a certain medical accident. This method can be used for a treatment plan in heavy ion radiotherapy.

Positron generation by an ultra-short ultra-intense laser in an indirect manner has been studied with two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. In this generation scheme, positrons are produced with energetic electrons accelerated by an ultra-shot laser pulse propagating through an underdense plasma. The dependence of the positron beam properties on the plasma length and secondary target (converter) thickness was investigated in detail. The simulation results reveal that the positron yield is strongly correlated with the total energy of laser-accelerated electrons; both the temperature and divergence of the positron beam are sensitive to the plasma length; and the positron beam has a pulse duration comparable to the incident electron beam. In addition, it is indicated that even with the optimal converter thickness, only a small fraction (11.4%) of positrons can escape out and most of the detected positrons originate from the back edge of the converter.

A mathematical model and a computer program are developed to calculate the neutron energy spectrum, angular distribution, and integrated yield of the ${}^{9}$Be($d$,$n$) reaction on a thick beryllium target as an accelerator-based neutron source in the incident-deuteron-energy range from 0.5 to 20.0 MeV. The double-differential cross section computed by the talys code and the stopping power derived from the SRIM-2010 code are adopted in the program. Typical computational results are presented, and are compared with the previous experimental data to evaluate the computing model as well as the characteristics of the ${}^{9}$Be($d$,$n$) reaction with a thick Be target. Moreover, the developed theory and calculation methods can also provide a reasonable evaluation for calculating data of double-differential cross sections and stopping power. This model and the program can predict the above characteristics parameters of the ${}^{9}$Be($d$,$n$) reaction for a thick beryllium target as a neutron source in the incident-deuteron-energy range from 0.5 to 20.0 MeV.