The proton flux influence on electrical characteristics of a dual-channel hemt based on GaAs

The results of the simulation the influence of the proton flux on the electrical characteristics of the device structure of dual-channel high electron mobility field effect transistor based on GaAs are presented. The dependences of the drain current ID and cut-off voltage on the fluence value and proton energy, as well as on the ambient temperature are shown.

Production of the isotope copper-64 by using natural nickel target with proton energy 17 MeV and beam current 10 μA at cyclotron

A calculation method is developed for production of the copper-64 isotope from the 64Ni(p, n)64Cu nuclear reaction. The 64Cu radioisotope used in nuclear medicine is produced by irradiating a natural nickel target with a proton beam produced on a cyclotron. The conditions of the production were dictated by the capabilities of the cyclotron. The energy of the protons was 17 MeV (the beam current is 10 μॅ). As a result, the activity of copper-64 isotope for various irradiation times were obtained. The depth of proton penetration into the target material was studied.

Characterization of Energetic Protons Generated in the ShenGuang-II UP Petawatt Laser Interactions with Foil Targets

The characterization of energetic protons generated in the ShenGuang-II UP petawatt laser interactions with foil targets has been systematically studied. The proton energy spectra and angular distributions are measured with a radiochromic film stack. It shows that the proton energy spectra have a Boltzmann distribution with temperature of about 2.8 MeV and cutoff energy of about 20 MeV. The divergence angles of protons vary from 10° to 60°, dependent on the proton energy. The proton source size and location are investigated via the proton point-projection mesh imaging. The proton virtual sources are found to locate tens to hundreds of microns in front of the foil target, depending on the proton energies. A Monte Carlo simulation estimates the diameter of the virtual proton source to be about 12 μm for the protons with energy of 16.8 MeV, which is much smaller than the laser focus size of about 50 μm. The spatial resolution of the 16.8 MeV proton imaging is quantified with the point spread function to be about 15 μm, which is consistent with the proton virtual source size. These results will be important for the users conducting experiments with the protons as a backlighting source on the ShenGuang-II UP petawatt laser.

Backward-ion acceleration in critical density plasmas

Laser-accelerated ions are widely attractive for many fields as a compact and low-cost accelerator. For the application to medical treatment, it is necessary to not only enhance the maximum acceleration energy but also improve beam stability and quality. In this study, we demonstrate a new ion acceleration mechanism using a uniform critical density plasma that yields very high ion energy despite the existence of a laser prepulse. The maximum proton energy in the experiment was approximately 18 MeV accelerated by the laser pulse of 3 x 1019 W/cm2 focused intensity under the conditions of the maximum prepulse contrast ratio of 10-3. Further, heavier particles such as carbon or oxygen present in the plasma were accelerated using the same acceleration field. In addition, a self-created magnetic field in the plasma significantly improved emission divergence.

Effects of Beam Conditions in Ground Irradiation Tests on Degradation of Photovoltaic Characteristics of Space Solar Cells

We investigated the effects of irradiation beam conditions on the performance degradation of silicon and triple-junction solar cells for use in space. The fluence rates of electron and proton beams were varied. Degradation did not depend on the fluence rate of protons for both cells. A higher fluence rate of electrons caused greater degradation of the Si cell, but the dependence was due to the temperature increase during irradiation. Two beam-area expansion methods, defocusing and scanning, were examined for proton irradiation of various energies (50 keV–10 MeV). In comparing the output degradation from irradiation with defocused and scanned proton beams, no significant difference in degradation was found for any proton energy. We plan to reflect these findings into ISO standard of irradiation test method of space solar cells.

Modelling and measurements of distributions in an adult human phantom undergoing proton scanning beam radiotherapy: lung- and prostate-located tumours

Proton radiotherapy has been shown to offer a significant dosimetric advantage in cancer patients, in comparison to conventional radiotherapy, with a decrease in dose to healthy tissue and organs at risk, because the bulk of the beam energy is deposited in the Bragg peak to be located within a tumour. However, it should be kept in mind that radiotherapy of cancer is still accompanied by adverse side effects, and a better understanding and improvement of radiotherapy can extend the life expectancy of patients following the treatment of malignant tumours. In this study, the dose distributions measured with thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) inside a tissue-equivalent adult human phantom exposed for lung and prostate cancer using the modern proton beam scanning radiotherapy technique were compared. Since the TLD detection efficiency depends on the ionization density of the radiation to be detected, and since this efficiency is detector specific, four different types of TLDs were used to compare their response in the mixed radiation fields. Additionally, the dose distributions from two different cancer treatment modalities were compared using the selected detectors. The measured dose values were benchmarked against Monte Carlo simulations and available literature data. The results indicate an increase in the lateral dose with an increase of the primary proton energy. However, the radiation quality factor of the mixed radiation increases by 20% in the vicinity to the target for the lower initial proton energy, due to the production of secondary charged particles of low-energy and short range. For the cases presented here the MTS-N TLD detector seems to be the most optimal tool for dose measurements within the target volume, while the MCP-N TLD detector, due to an interplay of its enhanced thermal neutron response and decreased detection efficiency to highly ionising radiation, is a better choice for the out-of-field measurements. The pairs of MTS-6 and MTS-7 TLDs used also in this study allowed for a direct measurement of the neutron dose equivalent. Before it can be concluded that they offer an alternative to the time-consuming nuclear track detectors, however, more research is needed to unambiguously confirm whether this observation was just accidental or whether it only applies to certain cases. Since there is no universal detector, which would allow the determination of the dosimetric quantities relevant for risk estimation, this work expands the knowledge necessary to improve the quality of dosimetry data and might help scientists and clinicians in choosing the right tools to measure radiation doses in mixed radiation fields.