Quantum Beam Sci., Volume 5, Issue 2 (June 2021) – 12 articles

Cerium dioxide (CeO₂) exhibits complex behavior when irradiated with swift heavy ions. Modifications to this material originate from the production of atomic-scale defects, which accumulate and induce changes to the microstructure, chemistry, and material properties. As such, characterizing its radiation response requires a wide range of complementary characterization techniques to elucidate the defect formation and stability over multiple length scales, such as X-ray and neutron scattering, optical spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. In this article, recent experimental efforts are reviewed in order to holistically assess the current understanding and knowledge gaps regarding the underlying physical mechanisms that dictate the response of CeO₂ and related materials to irradiation with swift heavy ions. The recent application of novel experimental techniques has provided additional insight into the structural and chemical behavior of irradiation-induced defects, from the local, atomic-scale arrangement to the long-range structure. However, future work must carefully account for the influence of experimental conditions, with respect to both sample properties (e.g., grain size and impurity content) and ion-beam parameters (e.g., ion mass and energy), to facilitate a more direct comparison of experimental results. Full article

Raising the critical current density J_c in magnetic fields is crucial to applications such as rotation machines, generators for wind turbines and magnet use in medical imaging machines. The increase in J_c has been achieved by introducing structural defects including precipitates and vacancies. Recently, a low-energy ion irradiation has been revisited as a practically feasible approach to create nanoscale defects, resulting in an increase in J_c in magnetic fields. In this paper, we report the effect of proton irradiation with 1.5 MeV on superconducting properties of iron–chalcogenide FeSe_0.5Te_0.5 films through the transport and magnetization measurements. The 1.5 MeV proton irradiation with 1 × 10¹⁶ p/cm² yields the highest J_c increase, approximately 30% at 5–10 K and below 1 T without any reduction in T_c. These results indicate that 1.5 MeV proton irradiations could be a practical tool to enhance the performance of iron-based superconducting tapes under magnetic fields. Full article

The automotive industries employ laser beam welding because it realizes a high energy density without generating irradiation marks on the opposite side of the irradiated surface. Typical measurement techniques such as strain gauges and tube X-rays cannot assess the localized strain at a joint weld. Herein high-energy synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction was used to study the internal strain distribution of laser lap joint PNC-FMS steels (2- and 5-mm thick) under loading at a high temperature. As the tensile load increased, the local tensile and compressive strains increased near the interface. These changes agreed well with the finite element analysis results. However, it is essential to complementarily utilize internal defect observations by X-ray transmission imaging because the results depend on the defects generated by laser processing. Full article

The critical current density J_c, which is a maximum value of zero-resistivity current density, is required to exhibit not only larger value but also lower anisotropy in a magnetic field B for applications of high-T_c superconductors. Heavy-ion irradiation introduces nanometer-scale irradiation tracks, i.e., columnar defects (CDs) into high-T_c superconducting materials, which can modify both the absolute value and the anisotropy of J_c in a controlled manner: the unique structures of CDs, which significantly affect the J_c properties, are engineered by adjusting the irradiation conditions such as the irradiation energy and the incident direction. This paper reviews the modifications of the J_c anisotropy in high-T_c superconductors using CDs installed by heavy-ion irradiations. The direction-dispersion of CDs, which is tuned by the combination of the plural irradiation directions, can provide a variety of the magnetic field angular variations of J_c in high-T_c superconductors: CDs crossing at ±θ_i relative to the c-axis of YBa₂Cu₃O_y films induce a broad peak of J_c centered at B || c for θ_i < ±45°, whereas the crossing angle of θ_i ≥ ±45° cause not a J_c peak centered at B || c but two peaks of J_c at the irradiation angles. The anisotropy of J_c can also modified by tuning the continuity of CDs: short segmented CDs formed by heavy-ion irradiation with relatively low energy are more effective to improve J_c in a wide magnetic field angular region. The modifications of the J_c anisotropy are discussed on the basis of both structures of CDs and flux line structures depending on the magnetic field directions. Full article

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. Full article

The core facility of the Wakasa Wan Energy Research Center (WERC) consists of three ion accelerators: a synchrotron, a tandem accelerator and an ion-implanter. Research on the irradiation effects using these accelerators has been performed on space electronics such as solar cells, radiation detectors, image sensors and LSI circuits. In this report, the accelerator facility and ion-irradiation apparatuses at WERC are introduced, focusing on the research on irradiation effects on space electronics. Then, some recent results are summarized. Full article

A Monte Carlo method was used to simulate the two-dimensional images of ion-irradiation-induced change in lattice structures and magnetic states in oxides. Under the assumption that the lattice structures and the magnetic states are modified only inside the narrow one-dimensional region along the ion beam path (the ion track), and that such modifications are affected by ion track overlapping, the exposure of oxide targets to spatially random ion impacts was simulated by the Monte Carlo method. Through the Monte Carlo method, the evolutions of the two-dimensional images for the amorphization of TiO₂, the lattice structure transformation of ZrO₂, and the transition of magnetic states of CeO₂ were simulated as a function of ion fluence. The total fractions of the modified areas were calculated from the two-dimensional images. They agree well with the experimental results and those estimated by using the Poisson distribution functions. Full article

The US code of Federal Regulations mandates regular inspection of centrifugally cast austenitic stainless steel pipe, commonly used in primary cooling loops in light-water nuclear power plants. These pipes typically have a wall thickness of ~8 cm. Unfortunately, inspection using conventional ultrasonic techniques is not reliable as the microstructure strongly attenuates ultrasonic waves. Work is ongoing to simulate the behavior of acoustic waves in this microstructure and ultimately develop an acoustic inspection method for reactor inspections. In order to account for elastic anisotropy in the material, the texture in the steel was measured as a function of radial distance though the pipe wall. Experiments were conducted on two 10 × 12.7 × 80 mm radial sections of a cast pipe using neutron diffraction scans of 2 mm slices using the HIPPO time-of-flight neutron diffractometer at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE, Los Alamos, NM, USA). Strong textures dominated by a small number of austenite grains with their (100) direction aligned in the radial direction of the pipe were observed. ODF analysis indicated that up to 70% of the probed volume was occupied by just three single-grain orientations, consistent with grain sizes of almost 1 cm. Texture and phase fraction of both ferrite and austenite phases were measured along the length of the samples. These results will inform the development of a more robust diagnostic tool for regular inspection of this material. Full article

In contrast to conventional angle dispersive neutron diffractometers with a single-tube detector or a small-size linear position-sensitive detector, the WOMBAT diffractometer of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is equipped with a large-area curved position-sensitive detector, spanning 120° for the scattering angle 2θ and 15° for the azimuth η, respectively. Here, WOMBAT was employed in establishing a texture measurement environment for complex textured samples, through measuring neutron diffractograms at two selected wavelengths on a typical reference sample of martensite–austenite multilayered steel sheet. All neutron patterns were simultaneously Rietveld analyzed using the software, Materials Analysis Using Diffraction (MAUD). The shorter wavelength (λ₁ = 1.54 Å, k₁ = 4.08 Å⁻¹) enabled collecting the martensite reflections α-110, α-200, α-211, α-220, α-310, and α-222, as well as the austenite peaks γ-111, γ-200, γ-220, γ-311, γ-222, and γ-331 simultaneously, by pre-setting the detector range to 2Θ = 30~150°. The longer wavelength (λ₂ = 2.41 Å, k₂ = 2.61 Å⁻¹) enabled separating the overlapping strong martensite α-110 and austenite γ-111 Laue–Bragg interferences more reliably. Moreover, the detector panel division along the vertical direction has a good stereographic coverage in the azimuthal angle η,. Such a combination of multiple-wavelength neutron diffraction combined with simultaneous Rietveld texture analysis was confirmed as being very valuable for realizing high precision measurements for complex textured samples at an orientation distribution graticule of 5°, and in a much shorter beam time than the conventional angle dispersive method. Full article

Since molecular cluster ion beams are expected to have various chemical effects, they are promising candidates for improving the secondary ion yield of Tof-SIMS. However, in order to clarify the effect and its mechanism, it is necessary to generate molecular cluster ion beams with various chemical properties and systematically examine it. In this study, we have established a method to stably form various molecular cluster ion beams from relatively small amounts of liquid materials for a long time by the bubbling method. Furthermore, we applied the cluster ion beams of water, methanol, methane, and benzene to the primary beam of SIMS and compared the molecular ion yields of aspartic acid. The effect of enhancing the yields of [M+H]⁺ ion of aspartic acid was found to be the largest for the water cluster and small for the methane and benzene clusters. These results indicate that the chemical effect contributes to the desorption/ionization process of organic molecules by the molecular cluster ion beam. Full article

To understand the degradation behavior of light water reactor (LWR) fuel-cladding tubes under neutron irradiation, a detailed mechanism of hydrogen pickup related to the point defect formation (i.e., a-component and c-component dislocation loops) and to the dissolution of precipitates must be elucidated. In this study, 3.2 MeV Ni³⁺ ion irradiation was conducted on Zircaloy-2 samples at room temperature. Thermal desorption spectroscopy is used to evaluate the deuterium desorption with and without Ni³⁺ ion irradiation. A conventional transmission electron microscope and a spherical aberration-corrected high-resolution analytical electron microscope are used to observe the microstructure. The experimental results indicate that radiation-induced dislocation loops and hydrides form in Zircaloy-2 and act as major trapping sites at lower (400–600 °C) and higher (700–900 °C)-temperature regions, respectively. These results show that the detailed microstructural changes related to the hydrogen pickup at the defect sinks formed by irradiation are necessary for the degradation of LWR fuel-cladding tubes during operation. Full article

The Neutron Radiography Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has two beamlines extending radially outward from the east and north faces of the reactor core. The control rod withdrawal procedure has recently been altered, potentially changing power distribution of the reactor and thus the properties of the neutron beams, calling for characterization of the neutron beams. The characterization of the East Radiography Station involved experiments used to measure the following characteristics: Neutron flux, neutron beam uniformity, cadmium ratio, image quality, and the neutron energy spectrum. The ERS is a Category-I neutron radiography facility signifying it has the highest possible rank a radiography station can achieve. The thermal equivalent neutron flux was measured using gold foil activation and determined to be 9.61 × 10⁶ ± 2.47 × 10⁵ n/cm²-s with a relatively uniform profile across the image plane. The cadmium ratio measurement was performed using bare and cadmium-covered gold foils and measured to be 2.05 ± 2.9%, indicating large epithermal and fast neutron content in the beam. The neutron energy spectrum was measured using foil activation coupled with unfolding algorithms provided by the software package Unfolding with MAXED and GRAVEL (UMG). The Monte-Carlo N-Particle (MCNP6) transport code was used to assist with the unfolding process. UMG, MCNP6, and measured foil activities were used to determine a neutron energy spectrum which was implemented into the MCNP6 model of the east neutron beam to contribute to future studies. Full article