Radiobiology at ultra-high dose rates employing laser-driven ions

The potential that laser based particle accelerators offer to solve sizing and cost issues arising with conventional proton therapy has generated great interest in the understanding and development of laser ion acceleration, and in investigating the radiobiological effects induced by laser accelerated ions. Laser-driven ions are produced in bursts of ultra-short duration resulting in ultra-high dose rates, and an investigation at Queen's University Belfast was carried out to investigate this virtually unexplored regime of cell rdaiobiology. This employed the TARANIS terawatt laser producing protons in the MeV range for proton irradiation, with dose rates exceeding 10 Gys on a single exposure. A clonogenic assay was implemented to analyse the biological effect of proton irradiation on V79 cells, which, when compared to data obtained with the same cell line irradiated with conventionally accelerated protons, was found to show no significant difference. A Relative Biological effectiveness of 1.4±0.2 at 10 % Survival Fraction was estimated from a comparison with a 225 kVp X-ray source. © 2013 SPIE.

DNA damage by low-energy ions

Ion-beam irradiation provides a promising treatment for some types of cancer. This promise is due mainly to the selective deposition of energy into a relatively small volume (the Bragg peak), thus reducing damage to healthy tissue. Recent observations that electrons with energies below the ionization potential of DNA can cause covalent damage to the bases and backbone have led to investigations into the ability of low-energy (

Fluorescent switches with high selectivity towards sodium ions:Correlation of ion-induced conformation switching with fluorescence function

Diazacoronand 2 undergoes drastic conformational switching upon binding sodium ions as demonstrated by solution- and solid-state studies, which permit the design of efficient fluorescent PET (photoinduced electron transfer) switches 3a,b.

Positron scattering and annihilation in hydrogenlike ions

Diagrammatic many-body theory is used to calculate the scattering phase shifts, normalized annihilation rates Zeff, and annihilation ? spectra for positron collisions with the hydrogenlike ions He+, Li2+, B4+, and F8+. Short-range electron-positron correlations and longer-range positron-ion correlations are accounted for by evaluating nonlocal corrections to the annihilation vertex and the exact positron self-energy. The numerical calculation of the many-body theory diagrams is performed using B-spline basis sets. To elucidate the role of the positron-ion repulsion, the annihilation rate is also estimated analytically in the Coulomb-Born approximation. It is found that the energy dependence and magnitude of Zeff are governed by the Gamow factor that characterizes the suppression of the positron wave function near the ion. For all of the H-like ions, the correlation enhancement of the annihilation rate is found to be predominantly due to corrections to the annihilation vertex, while the corrections to the positron wave function play only a minor role. Results of the calculations for s-, p-, and d-wave incident positrons of energies up to the positronium-formation threshold are presented. Where comparison is possible, our values are in excellent agreement with the results obtained using other, e.g., variational, methods. The annihilation-vertex enhancement factors obtained in the present calculations are found to scale approximately as 1+(1.6+0.46l)/Zi, where Zi is the net charge of the ion and l is the positron orbital angular momentum. Our results for positron annihilation in H-like ions provide insights into the problem of positron annihilation with core electrons in atoms and condensed matter systems, which have similar binding energies.

Acceleration of ions up to 20MeV/nucleon in the ultrashort, high-intensity regime

The measurements reported here provide scaling laws for the ion acceleration process in the regime of ultrashort (50 fs), ultrahigh contrast (10) and ultrahigh intensity (> 10W/cm ), never investigated previously. The scaling of the accelerated ion energies was studied by varying a number of parameters such as target thickness (down to 10nm), target material (C and Al) and laser light polar- ization (circular and linear) at 35° and normal laser incidence. A twofold increase in proton energy and an order of magnitude enhancement in ion flux have been observed over the investigated thickness range at 35° angle of incidence. Further- more, at normal laser incidence, measured peak proton energies of about 20 MeV are observed almost independently of the target thickness over a wide range (50nm- 10 µm). 1. © 2012 by Società Italiana di Fisica.

Laser-driven acceleration of ions:State of the art, perspectives and applications

The acceleration of ions with high-power lasers has been a very active field of research during the past 10 years. This paper summarizes the main results obtained in the field, detailing the mechanisms of the acceleration process and the main observed beam characteristics. Perspectives for future development of the field and current and future applications are also discussed. © 2012 by Società Italiana di Fisica.

Charge steering of laser plasma accelerated fast ions in a liquid spray - Creation of MeV negative ion and neutral atom beams

The scenario of electron capture and loss has been recently proposed for the formation of negative ion and neutral atom beams with up to MeV kinetic energy [S. Ter-Avetisyan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 051501 (2011)]. Validation of these processes and of their generic nature is here provided in experiments where the ion source and the interaction medium have been spatially separated. Fast positive ions accelerated from a laser plasma source are sent through a cold spray where their charge is changed. Such formed neutral atom or negative ion has nearly the same momentum as the original positive ion. Experiments are released for protons, carbon, and oxygen ions and corresponding beams of negative ions and neutral atoms have been obtained. The electron capture and loss phenomenon is confirmed to be the origin of the negative ion and neutral atom beams. The equilibrium ratios of different charge components and cross sections have been measured. Our method is general and allows the creation of beams of neutral atoms and negative ions for different species which inherit the characteristics of the positive ion source.

Irradiation of water ice by C+ ions in the cosmic environment

We present a first principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) study of the interaction of low energy, positively charged, carbon (C+) projectiles with amorphous solid water clusters at 30 K. Reactions involving the carbon ion at an initial energy of 11 eV and 1.7 eV with 30-molecule clusters have been investigated. Simulations indicate that the neutral isoformyl radical, COH, and carbon monoxide, CO, are the dominant products of these reactions. All these reactions are accompanied by the transfer of a proton from the reacting water molecule to the ice, where it forms a hydronium ion. We find that COH is formed either via a direct, "knock-out", mechanism following the impact of the C+ projectile upon a water molecule or by creation of a COH_2^+ intermediate. The direct mechanism is more prominent at higher energies. CO is generally produced following the dissociation of COH. More frequent production of the formyl radical, HCO, is observed here than in gas phase calculations. A less commonly occurring product is the dihydroxymethyl, CH(OH)_2, radical. Although a minor result, its existence gives an indication of the increasing chemical complexity which is possible in such heterogeneous environments.

Electron scattering by atoms and ions using the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian:An R-matrix approach

The R-matrix method describing the scattering of low-energy electrons by complex atoms and ions is extended to include terms of the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian. An application is made to the astrophysically important 1s 2s S-1s 2s2p P transition in Fe XXIII, where in the most accurate calculations carried out all terms of the 1s 2s, 1s2s2p and 1s2p configurations are included in the expansion describing the collision. This gives up to 28 coupled channels for each total angular momentum and parity which are solved on a CRAY-1. The collision strengths are increased by more than a factor of two from their non-relativistic values at all energies considered.

Electron-impact excitation of the astrophysically important singly ionized Fe-peak ions Sc and Ti

In this work we report on the evaluation of electron-impact collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the lowly-ionized Fe-peak elements Sc II and Ti II using the parallel R-matrix package RMATRX II.

Electron-Impact Excitation of Fe-peak Ions for Astrophysical Applications

This paper discusses one of the major outstanding problems in atomic collision physics, namely the accurate theoretical treatment of electron scattering from open d-shell systems, and explores how this issue has been addressed over recent years with the development of the new parallel R-matrix suite of codes. It focuses on one code in particular - the new parallel R-matrix package PRMAT, which has recently been extended to account for relativistic fine-structure effects. This program facilitates the determination of accurate electron-impact excitation rates for complex open 3d-shell systems including the astrophysically important Fe-peak ions such as Ni II, Fe II and Fe III. Results are presented for collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the optically forbidden fine-structure transitions of Ni II. To our knowledge this is the most extensive calculation completed to date for this ion.

Irradiation of oxygen and water ices at by 4 keV singly and doubly charged ions; sputtering and molecular synthesis

The icy surfaces of dust grains in the Interstellar Medium and those of comets, satellites and Kuiper Belt Objects are continuously exposed tophoton and charged particle irradiation. These energetic particles maysputter and induce chemical changes in the ices and the underlyingsurfaces.In the present work 258 nm thick O2 and H2O ices were deposited at 10 K with the thickness measured by a laser interferometer method. Asimple model fit to the reflected laser intensity as measured by aphotodiode detector enabled the refractive index of the ices to bedetermined. The ices were then irradiated with various singly and doublycharged ions such as He+, 13C+, N+, O+ , Ar+, 13C2+, N2+ and O2+ at 4keV. The decrease in ice thickness as a function of ion dose wasmonitored by a laser interferometer and the model used to determine thesputtering yield as shown in Figure 1.In the case of O2 ice thesputtering yields increased with increasing ion mass in good agreementwith a model calculation [Fama, J, Shi, R.A Baragiola, Surface Sci.,602, 156 (2007)]. In the case of O2 ice, O2+ has a significant lowersputtering yield when compared to O+. The sputtering yields for O2 icewere found to be at least 9 times larger compared to those for H2O ice.For H2O ice the sputter yields for C, N and O ions were found todecrease with increasing mass. Doubly charged C, N and O ions which werefound to have the same sputtering yield as the singly charged ionswithin the experimental errors. A preliminary TPD study was carried outusing a QMS to detect the desorbed species from water ice afterirradiation by 6 × 10^15 ions of 13C+ and 13C2+. The formation of13CO and 13CO2 was observed with the yield of 13CO almost of a factor of100 larger than of 13CO2. This is in contrast to our earlier work whereonly CO¬2 was observed.