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ASIC for SDD-Based X-ray Spectrometers
We present an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for high-resolution x-ray spectrometers (XRS). The ASIC reads out signals from pixelated silicon drift detectors (SDDs). The pixel does not have an integrated field effect transistor (FET); rather, readout is accomplished by wire-bonding the anodes to the inputs of the ASIC. The ASIC dissipates 32 mW, and offers 16 channels of low-noise charge amplification, high-order shaping with baseline stabilization, discrimination, a novel pile-up rejector, and peak detection with an analog memory. The readout is sparse and based on custom low-power tristatable low-voltage differential signaling (LPT-LVDS). A unit of 64 SDD pixels, read out by four ASICs, covers an area of 12.8 cm{sup 2} and dissipates with the sensor biased about 15 mW/cm{sup 2}. As a tile-based system, the 64-pixel units cover a large detection area. Our preliminary measurements at -44 C show a FWHM of 145 eV at the 5.9 keV peak of a {sup 55}Fe source, and less than 80 eV on a test-pulse line at 200 eV.
ASIC for High Rate 3D Position Sensitive Detectors
We report on the development of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for 3D position sensitive detectors (3D PSD). The ASIC is designed to operate with pixelated wide bandgap sensors like Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT), Mercuric Iodide (Hgl2) and Thallium Bromide (TIBr). It measures the amplitudes and timings associated with an ionizing event on 128 anodes, the anode grid, and the cathode. Each channel provides low-noise charge amplification, high-order shaping with peaking time adjustable from 250 ns to 12 {micro}s, gain adjustable to 20 mV/fC or 120 mV/fC (for a dynamic range of 3.2 MeV and 530 keV in CZT), amplitude discrimination with 5-bit trimming, and positive and negative peak and timing detections. The readout can be full or sparse, based on a flag and single- or multi-cycle token passing. All channels, triggered channels only, or triggered with neighbors can be read out thus increasing the rate capability of the system to more than 10 kcps. The ASIC dissipates 330 mW which corresponds to about 2.5 mW per channel.
Presentation of FP7 matter project: general overview
The 2010-2012 implementation plan of the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII), prepared in the frame of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), establishes a very tight time schedule for the start of construction of the European Gen IV prototypes; namely the construction of the LFR ETPP (European Technology Pilot Plant) MYRRHA will start in 2014 and that of the SFR Prototype ASTRID will start in 2017. The GEN IV reactors pose new challenges to the designers and scientists in terms of higher operating temperature, higher fuel burn-up, and in some cases more corrosive environment with respect to the present technologies and which impacts the materials performance. In this frame, the MATTER (Materials Testing and Rules) Project starts well targeted R and D activities to perform careful materials studies in GEN IV operational conditions and to find out criteria for the correct use of these materials in relevant reactor applications. Aim of the MATTER Project (that involved 27 partners and will end in 2015) is to complement the materials researches, in the frame of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) guidelines, with the implementation of pre-normative rules. The MATTER Project is divided in 3 technical Domains (called DM): DM1 - Development of test and evaluation guidelines for structural materials: to develop/establish best practice guidelines for testing and evaluation procedures, which are aimed to screen and characterize nuclear materials for innovative nuclear systems. DM2 - Pre-normative R and D for Codes and Standards: Pre-normative activities are performed, comprehensive of experiments, to revise and update the design rules (with an EU level consensus) in order to answer to some short term needs of the two projects ASTRID and MYRRHA with respect to the design and the construction of structural components. DM3 - Joint Program Scheme, implementation and Priorities: to optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of the EERA Joint Program on nuclear materials for innovative reactors and to support specific research activities related to fundamental understanding of ODS steels fabrication. ODS steels are considered candidate materials, in the medium-long term, for high fuel burn-up cladding application. After a brief presentation of DM1 and DM3, this paper mainly focuses on description of Pre-normative R and D activities for Codes and Standards (DM2). (authors)
Proton- and x-ray beams generated by ultra-fast CO(2) lasers for medical applications
Recent progress in using picosecond CO{sub 2} lasers for Thomson scattering and ion-acceleration experiments underlines their potentials for enabling secondary radiation- and particle-sources. These experiments capitalize on certain advantages of long-wavelength CO{sub 2} lasers, such as higher number of photons per energy unit, and favorable scaling of the electrons ponderomotive energy and critical plasma density. The high-flux x-ray bursts produced by Thomson scattering of the CO{sub 2} laser off a counter-propagating electron beam enabled high-contrast, time-resolved imaging of biological objects in the picosecond time frame. In different experiments, the laser, focused on a hydrogen jet, generated monoenergetic proton beams via the radiation-pressure mechanism. The strong power-scaling of this regime promises realization of proton beams suitable for laser-driven proton cancer therapy after upgrading the CO{sub 2} laser to sub-PW peak power. This planned improvement includes optimizing the 10-{mu}m ultra-short pulse generation, assuring higher amplification in the CO{sub 2} gas under combined isotopic- and power-broadening effects, and shortening the postamplification pulse to a few laser cycles (150-200 fs) via chirping and compression. These developments will move us closer to practical applications of ultra-fast CO{sub 2} lasers in medicine and other areas.
Cascaded analysis of signal and noise propagation through a heterogeneous breast model
Purpose: The detectability of lesions in radiographic images can be impaired by patterns caused by the surrounding anatomic structures. The presence of such patterns is often referred to as anatomic noise. Others have previously extended signal and noise propagation theory to include variable background structure as an additional noise term and used in simulations for analysis by human and ideal observers. Here, the analytic forms of the signal and noise transfer are derived to obtain an exact expression for any input random distribution and the ''power law'' filter used to generate the texture of the tissue distribution. Methods: A cascaded analysis of propagation through a heterogeneous model is derived for x-ray projection through simulated heterogeneous backgrounds. This is achieved by considering transmission through the breast as a correlated amplification point process. The analytic forms of the cascaded analysis were compared to monoenergetic Monte Carlo simulations of x-ray propagation through power law structured backgrounds. Results: As expected, it was found that although the quantum noise power component scales linearly with the x-ray signal, the anatomic noise will scale with the square of the x-ray signal. There was a good agreement between results obtained using analytic expressions for the noise power and those from Monte Carlo simulations for different background textures, random input functions, and x-ray fluence. Conclusions: Analytic equations for the signal and noise properties of heterogeneous backgrounds were derived. These may be used in direct analysis or as a tool to validate simulations in evaluating detectability.
Mutual transformation of light waves by reflection holograms in photorefractive crystals of the 4-bar 3m symmetry
The mutual transformation of light waves in the case of their simultaneous diffraction from a bulk reflection phase hologram, which was formed in a cubic photorefractive crystal of the 4-bar 3m symmetry class, has been studied. The indicator surfaces of the polarization-optimized values of the relative intensity of the object wave, which make it possible to determine the amplification of this wave for any crystal cut, are constructed. The linear polarization azimuths at which the energy exchange between the light waves reaches a maximum are found numerically for crystals of different cuts.
On the mechanism of the deflagration-to-detonation transition in a hydrogen-oxygen mixture
The flame acceleration and the physical mechanism underlying the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) have been studied experimentally, theoretically, and using a two-dimensional gasdynamic model for a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture by taking into account the chain chemical reaction kinetics for eight components. A flame accelerating in a tube is shown to generate shock waves that are formed directly at the flame front just before DDT occurred, producing a layer of compressed gas adjacent to the flame front. A mixture with a density higher than that of the initial gas enters the flame front, is heated, and enters into reaction. As a result, a high-amplitude pressure peak is formed at the flame front. An increase in pressure and density at the leading edge of the flame front accelerates the chemical reaction, causing amplification of the compression wave and an exponentially rapid growth of the pressure peak, which 'drags' the flame behind. A high-amplitude compression wave produces a strong shock immediately ahead of the reaction zone, generating a detonation wave. The theory and numerical simulations of the flame acceleration and the new physical mechanism of DDT are in complete agreement with the experimentally observed flame acceleration, shock formation, and DDT in a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture.
Momentum spread in a relativistic electron beam in an undulator
The motion of the relativistic electron beam in the spatially periodic magnetic field of an undulator has been considered taking into account the effect of the incoherent field of the spontaneous undulator radiation on the motion of the electrons. An expression for the rms momentum of the electrons has been obtained. It has been shown that the momentum spread in the ultrarelativistic electron beam increases in the spontaneous incoherent emission mode. Conditions for the self-amplification of the spontaneous undulator radiation in ultrashort-wavelength free-electron lasers have been discussed.
Resonant excitation of intense acoustic waves in crystals
The resonant excitation of an intense elastic wave through nonspecular reflection of a special pump wave in a crystal is described. The choice of the plane and angle of incidence is dictated by the requirement that the excited reflected wave be close to the bulk eigenmode with its energy flow along a free boundary. The resonance parameters have been found for a medium with an arbitrary anisotropy. General relations are concretized for monoclinic, rhombic, and hexagonal systems. A criterion is formulated for an optimal selection of crystals in which the resonant reflection is close to the conversion one, when almost all of the energy from the incident beam of the pump wave falls into the near-surface narrow high-intensity reflected beam. Estimates and illustrations are given for such crystals as an example. The intensity of the reflected beam increases with its narrowing, but its diffraction divergence also increases with this narrowing. Nevertheless, the intensity of the beam can be increased by a factor of 5-10 at sufficiently high frequencies while keeping its divergence at an acceptable level. Amplification by two orders of magnitude can be achieved by compressing the beam in two dimensions through its double reflection.
Coherent scattering of monochromatic RF radiation by ionization electrons of an extensive air shower
The possibility of detecting extensive air showers by recording and analyzing the radio pulse produced by the reradiation of a wave moving toward the cascade disk is considered. The coherent amplification of the scattered radiation in the direction of motion of the shower is shown to be due to a relativistic effect. An example of a real facility and its peculiarities are discussed.
On the determination of the electromagnetic field upon scattering by a small inhomogeneous spherical object
An efficient and fairly simple method of solving the problem of the incidence of a plane electromagnetic wave on an inhomogeneous object with specified spherically symmetric distributions of its electric permittivity and magnetic permeability is presented. The fields inside the object and the integrated scattering and absorption cross sections are found by assuming the object to be small compared to the vacuum wavelength. Since no constraints are imposed on the scales of the fields inside the object, the method is suitable for investigating complex cases, including those associated with the local amplification and absorption of the electromagnetic field in inhomogeneous resonant media.
Possible acceleration of cosmic rays in a rotating system: Uehling-Uhlenbeck model
We illustrate the possible acceleration of cosmic rays passing through a kind of amplification channel (via diffusion modes of propagating plane-wave fronts) induced by a rotating system. Our analysis is mainly based on the quantum discrete kinetic model (considering a discrete Uehling-Uhlenbeck collision term), which has been used to study the propagation of plane (e.g., acoustic) waves in a system of rotating gases.
Manipulating transmission and reflection properties of a photonic crystal doped with quantum dot nanostructures
The transmission and reflection properties of incident light in a defect dielectric structure is studied theoretically. The defect structure consists of donor and acceptor quantum dot nanostructures embedded in a photonic crystal. It is shown that the transmission and reflection properties of incident light can be controlled by adjusting the corresponding parameters of the system. The role of dipole–dipole interaction is considered as a new parameter in our calculations. It is noted that the features of transmission and reflection curves can be adjusted in the presence of dipole–dipole interaction. It is found that the absorption of weak probe light can be converted to the probe amplification in the presence of dipole–dipole interaction. Moreover, the group velocity of transmitted and reflected probe light is discussed in detail in the absence and presence of dipole–dipole interaction. Our proposed model can be used as a new all-optical devices based on photonic materials doped with nanoparticles.
Neutrinoless double beta-decay and neutrino nonstandard interactions
The possible amplification of leptons and quarks in exotic scalar interactions in the nuclear medium violates lepton number conservation. This effect results in various neutrino masses that are measured experimentally, on the one hand, in 0νββ-decay and, on the other, in β-decay of tritium and in cosmology.
Peculiarities of formation and development of initial stages of an impulse breakdown in argon
The experimental results on the formation and development of initial stages of an impulse breakdown in atmospheric-pressure argon at townsend and streamer breakdown mechanisms for different initial conditions are presented. A streamer channel is shown to be initiated by bright luminescence formed at the point of critical avalanche amplification at different distances from the cathode depending on overvoltage. Prebreakdown currents are experimentally measured for the townsend and streamer breakdown mechanisms and peculiarities of spark channel formation for these mechanisms are studied.
Reflection of electromagnetic radiation from plasma with an anisotropic electron velocity distribution
The reflection of a test electromagnetic pulse from the plasma formed as a result of tunnel ionization of atoms in the field of a circularly polarized high-power radiation pulse is analyzed using the kinetic approach to describe electron motion. It is shown that the reflected pulse is significantly amplified due to the development of Weibel instability. The amplification efficiency is determined by the maximum value of the instability growth rate, which depends on the degree of anisotropy of the photoelectron distribution function.
Noise characteristics of a plasma relativistic microwave amplifier
Reasons for the occurrence of microwave noise at the output of a plasma relativistic amplifier have been analyzed. It is found that, in the absence of an input signal, the emission spectrum of the plasma relativistic microwave amplifier is similar to that of an electron beam in vacuum. It is concluded that microwave noise at the output of the amplifier appears as a result of amplification of the intrinsic noise of the electron beam. The emission characteristics of a relativistic electron beam formed in a magnetically insulated diode with an explosive emission cathode in vacuum have been studied experimentally for the first time. An important point is that, in this case, there is no virtual cathode in the drift space.