Size modification of Au nanoparticles induced by slow highly charged ions Ar-40(q+) irradiation

Size modification of Au nanoparticles (NPs), deposited on the Au-thick film surface and irradiated by slow highly charged ions (SHCI) 40Arq+ (3 6 q 6 12) with fixed low dose of 4.3 1011 ions/cm2 and various energy ranging from 74.64 to 290.64 keV at room temperature (293.15 K), was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of projectile kinetic energy on the modified size of NPs was explored by an appropriate choice of the fixed process parameters such as ion flux, irradiation temperature, incident angle, irradiation time, etc. The morphological changes of NPs were interpreted by models involving collisional mixing, Ostwald ripening (OR) and inverse Ostwald ripening (IOR) of spherical NPs on a substrate. A critical kinetic energy as well as a critical potential energy of the projectile in the Au NPs size modification process were observed.

Void swelling in MA956 ODS steel irradiated with 122 MeV Ne-ions at elevated temperatures

An investigation of a commercial oxide dispersion-strengthened steel (MA9561) irradiated with high energy Ne-ions to high doses at elevated temperatures is presented. Specimens of MA956 oxide dispersion strengthened steel together with a 9% Cr ferritic/martensitic steel, e.g., Grade 92 steel were irradiated simultaneously with 20Ne-ions (with 122 MeV) to successively increasing damage levels of 1, 5 and 10 dpa at the damage peak at 440 C and 570 C, respectively. Cross-sectional microstructures of the specimens were investigated with transmission electron microscopy. MA956 oxide dispersion strengthened steel showed a higher resistance to void swelling especially to void growth at the grain boundaries than the ferritic/martensitic steel, e.g., Grade 92 steel did, and thus exhibited a prominence for an application in the situation of a high He production at high temperatures. The suppression of the growth of voids especially at the grain boundaries in MA956 is ascribed to an enhanced recombination of the point defects and a trapping of Ne atoms at the interfaces of the yttrium–aluminum oxide particles and the matrix.

Radiosensitivity of hepatoma cell lines and human normal liver cell lines exposed in vitro to carbon ions and argon ions at the HIRFL

Human hepatoma (SMMC-7721) and normal liver (L02) cells were irradiated with c-rays, 12C6+ and 36Ar18+ ion beams at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). By using the Calyculin-A induced premature chromosome condensation technique, chromatid-type breaks and isochromatid-type breaks were scored separately. Tumor cells irradiated with heavy ions produced a majority of isochromatid break, while chromatid breaks were dominant when cells were exposed to c-rays. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for irradiation-induced chromatid breaks were 3.6 for L02 and 3.5 for SMMC-7721 cell lines at the LET peak of 96 keVlm 1 12C6+ ions, and 2.9 for both of the two cell lines of 512 keVlm 1 36Ar18+ ions. It suggested that the RBE of isochromatid-type breaks was pretty high when high-LET radiations were induced. Thus we concluded that the high production of isochromatid-type breaks, induced by the densely ionizing track structure, could be regarded as a signature of high-LET radiation exposure.

Micronuclei induction in human lymphocytes induced by carbon ions exposion along the penetrate depth of ions in water

Here we used cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay to measure the biological response along the penetrate depth of ions in water in human lymphocytes exposed to 100 MeV/u incident carbon ions in vitro. Polyethylene shielding was used to change the penetration depth of ions in water. A quantitative biological response curve was generated for micronuclei induction. The results showed a marked increase with the penetrate depth of ions in water in the micronuclei formation, which was consistent with a linearenergy- transfer dependent increase in biological effectiveness. The dose–response relationship for MN information was different at different penetrate depth of ions in water, at the 6 and 11.2 mm penetrate depth of ions in water, the dose–response relationships for the micronucleus frequencies induced by carbon ions irradiation were linear; while it was power function at 17.1 mm penetrate depth.

Relativistic Distorted-Wave Collision Strengths of Ni-, Cu- and Zn-like Au Ions

Excitation energies and electron impact excitation strengths from the ground states of Ni-, Cu- and Zn-like Au ions are calculated. The collision strengths are computed by a 213-levels expansion for the Ni- like Au ion, 405-levels expansion for the Cu-like Au ion and 229-levels expansion for the Zn-like Au ion. Configuration interactions are taken into account for all levels included. The target state wavefunctions are calculated by using the Grasp92 code. The continuum orbits are computed in the distorted-wave approximation, in which the direct and exchange potentials among all the electrons are included. Excellent agreement is found when the results are compared with previous calculations and recent measurements.

Study of the interaction of highly charged ions with SiO2 surface

Highly charged ions (HCIs) AO(q+)/Pbq+ are extracted from ECR source and impacted on solid surface Of SiO2 Sputtering yield as a function of incident angle is measured by multi-channel plate (MCP). The results have been fitted by a new formula. We proposed the cooperation model to explain the formula. The results demonstrate that the potential assisted kinetic sputtering yield increases with the charge state and potential sputtering (PS) could be induced by impact of HCIs. At larger incident angles, the sputtering yield is dominated by elastic collision between HCIs and material atoms. It is found that, smaller the incident angle, larger the contribution from the potential sputtering. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flower color chimera and abnormal leaf mutants induced by C-12(6+) heavy ions in Salvia splendens Ker-Gawl.

The effect of C-12(6+) heavy ions bombardment on mutagenesis in Salvia splendens Ker-Gawl. was studied. Dose-response studies indicated that there was a peak of malformation frequency of S. splendens at 200 Gy. Abnormal leaf mutants of the bileaf, trileaf and tetraleaf conglutination were selected. Meanwhile, a bicolor flower chimera with dark red and fresh red flower was isolated in M1 generation of S. splendens. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis demonstrated that DNA variations existed among the wild-type, fresh and dark red flower shoots of the chimera. The dark red flower shoots of the chimera were conserved and cultivated at a large-scale through micropropagation. MS supplemented with 2.0 mg/L BA and 0.3 mg/L NAA was the optimal medium in which the maximum proliferation ratio (5.2-fold) and rooting rate (88%) were achieved after 6 weeks. Our findings provide an important method to improve the ornamental quality of S. splendens.

Hyperfine quenching of the 3s3p P-3(0) level in Mg-like ions

Hyperfine quenching rates of the 3s3p P-3(0) level in Mg-like ions were calculated using the GRASP2K package based on the multi-configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. Valence and core-valence correlation effects were accounted for in a systematic way. Breit interactions and QED effects were included in the subsequent relativistic CI calculations. Calculated rates were compared with other theoretical values and with experiment, and a good agreement with the latest experimental value for the Al-27(+) ion (Rosenband et al 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 220801) was found. Furthermore, we showed in detail the contributions from Breit interaction and QED effects to concerned physical properties. Finally, electronic data were presented in terms of a general scaling law in Z that, given isotopic nuclear spin and magnetic moment, allows hyperfine-induced decay rates to be estimated for any isotope along the isoelectronic sequence.

Radiative electron capture and subsequent radiative decay in collisions of U89+ ions with N-2

To evaluate the radiative electron capture for the collisions of U89+ ion with N-2, radiative recombination cross sections and the corresponding emitted photon energies are calculated from the ground state 1s(2)2s to 1s(2)2snl(j) (2 <= n <= 9, 0 <= l <= 6) using the newly developed relativistic radiative recombination program RERR06 based on the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method. The x-ray spectra for radiative electron capture in the collision have been obtained by convolving the radiative recombination cross sections and the Compton profile of N2. Good agreement is found between the calculated and experimental spectra. In addition, the transition energy levels and probabilities among the 147 levels from the captured 1s(2)2snl(j) have been calculated. From the calculated results, radiative decay cascade processes followed by the radiative electron capture have also been studied with the help of multistep model and coupled rate equations, respectively. The present results not only make us understand the details of the radiative electron captures and the radiative decay cascade spectra in the experiment but also show a more efficient way to obtain the cascade spectra. Finally, the equivalence between the multistep model and coupled rate equations has been shown under a proper condition and the latter can hopefully be extended to investigate other cascade processes.

Double ionization of helium in collision with 20-500-keV/amu Cq+ and Oq+ (q=1-3) ions

Target ionization and projectile charge changing were investigated for 20-500 keV/u Cq+, Oq++He (q=1-3) collisions. Double- to single-ionization ratios R-21 of helium associated with no projectile charge change (direct ionization), single-electron capture, and single-electron loss were measured. The cross-section ratio R-21 depends strongly on the collision velocity v, the projectile charge state q, and the outgoing reaction channel. Meanwhile, a model extended from our previous work [J. X. Shao, X. M. Chen, and B. W. Ding, Phys. Rev. A 75, 012701 (2007)] is presented to interpret the above-mentioned dependences. Good agreement is found between the model and the experimental data.

Guiding of 150 keV O6+ ions through nanocapillaries in an uncoated Al2O3 membrane: special time dependence of the transmission profile width

This paper reports that the transmission of O6+ ions with energy of 150keV through capillaries in an uncoated Al2O3 membrane was measured, and agreements with previously reported results in general angular distribution of the transmitted ions and the transmission fractions as a function of the tilt angle well fitted to Gaussian-like functions were observed. Due to using an uncoated capillary membrane, our c is larger than that using a gold-coated one with a smaller value of E-p/q, which suggests a larger equilibrium charge Q(infinity) in our experiment. The observed special width variation with time and a larger width than that using a smaller E-p/q were qualitatively explained by using mean-field classical transport theory based on a classical-trajectory Monte Carlo simulation.

Theoretical calculation of photoionization cross sections of B-like ions: N2+, O3+ and F4+

There can be found some notable discrepancies with regard to the resonance structures when R-matrix calculations from the Opacity Project and other sources are compared with recent absolute experimental measurements of Bizau et al [Astron. Astrophts. 439 387 (2005)] for B-like ions N2+, O3+ and F4+. We performed close-coupling calculations based on the R-matrix formalism for the photoionizations of ions mentioned above both for the ground states and first excited states in the near threshold regions. The present results are compared with experimental ones given by Bizau et al and earlier theoretical ones. Excellent agreement is obtained between our theoretical results and the experimental photoionization cross sections. The present calculations show a significant improvement over the previous theoretical results.

Chromosomal aberrations induced by C-12(6+) ions and Co-60 gamma-rays in mouse immature oocytes

The ovaries of Kun-Ming strain mice (3 weeks) were irradiated with different doses of C-12(6+) ion or Co-60 gamma-ray. Chromosomal aberrations were analyzed in metaphase II oocytes at 7 weeks after irradiation. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of C C-12(6+) ion was calculated with respect to Co-60 gamma-ray for the induction of chromosornal aberrations. The C-12(6+) ion and Co-60 gamma-ray dose-response relationships for chromosomal aberrations were plotted by linear quadratic models. The data showed that there was a dose-related increase in frequency of chromosomal aberrations in all the treated groups compared to controls. The RBE values for C-12(6+) ions relative to (CO)-C-60 gamma-rays were 2.49, 2.29, 1.57, 1.42 or 1.32 for the doses of 0.5, 1.0, 2.07 4.0 or 6.0 Gy, respectively. Moreover, a different distribution of the various types of aberrations has been found for C-12(6+) ion and Co-60 gamma-ray irradiations. The dose-response relationships for C-12(6+) ion and (CO)-C-60 gamma-ray exhibited positive correlations. The results from the present study may be helpful for assessing genetic damage following exposure of immature oocytes to ionizing radiation.

Void swelling in a 9Cr ferritic/martensitic steel irradiated with energetic Ne-ions at elevated temperatures

In this work the void swelling behavior of a 9Cr ferritic/martensitic steel irradiated with energetic Ne-ions is studied. Specimens of Grade 92 steel (a 9%Cr ferritic/martensitic steel) were subjected to an irradiation of Ne-20-ions (with 122 MeV) to successively increasing damage levels of 1, 5 and 10 dpa at a damage peak at 440 and 570 degrees C, respectively. And another specimen was irradiated at a temperature ramp condition (high flux condition) with the temperature increasing from 440 up to 630 degrees C during the irradiation. Cross-sectional microstructures were investigated with a transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A high concentration of cavities was observed in the peak damage region in the Grade 92 steel irradiated to 5 dpa, and higher doses. The concentration and mean size of the cavities showed a strong dependence on the dose and irradiation temperature. Enhanced growth of the cavities at the grain boundaries, especially at the grain boundary junctions, was observed. The void swelling behavior in similar 9Cr steels irradiated at different conditions are discussed by using a classic void formation theory. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

L-shell x-ray yields and production cross sections of Zr and Mo bombarded by slow highly charged Ar16+ ions

The L-shell x-ray yields of Zr and Mo bombarded by slow Ar16+ ions are measured. The energy of the Ar16+ ions ranges from about 150keV to 350keV. The L-shell x-ray production cross sections of Zr and Mo are extracted from these yields data. The explanation of these experimental results is in the framework of the adiabatic directionization and the binding energy modified BEA approximation. We consider, in the slow asymmetric collisions such as Ar and Mo/Zr, the transient united atoms (UA) are formed during the ion-surface interaction and the direct-ionization is the main mechanism for the inner-shell vacancy production. Generally, the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data.