PIXE micro-PIXE and RBS analysis of thermal aged rubber material : on the additive behaviour versus aging time

BIA

Determination of radiation hardness of silicon diodes

In this paper, we describe an experiment aimed to measure the physical observables, which can be used for the assessment of the radiation hardness of commercially available silicon photo diodes commonly used as nuclear detectors in particle accelerator laboratories. The experiment adopted the methodology developed during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project (CRP No. F11016) “Utilization of Ion Accelerators for Studying and Modelling Ion Induced Radiation Defects in Semiconductors and Insulators”. This methodology is based on the selective irradiation of micrometer-sized regions with different fluences of MeV ions using an ion microbeam and on the measurement of the charge collection efficiency (CCE) degradation by Ion Beam Induced Charge (IBIC) microscopy performed in full depletion condition, using different probing ions. The IBIC results are analyzed through a theoretical approach based on the Shockley-Read-Hall model for the free carrier recombination in the presence of ion-induced deep traps. This interpretative model allows the evaluation of the material radiation hardness in terms of recombination parameters for both electrons and holes. The device under study in this experiment was a commercial p-i-n photodiode, which was initially characterized by i) standard electronic characterization techniques to determine its doping and ii) the Angle-Resolved IBIC to evaluate its effective entrance window. Nine regions of (100 × 100) µm2 were irradiated with 11.25 MeV He ions up to a maximum fluence of 3·1012 ions/cm2. The CCE degradation was measured by the IBIC technique using 11.25 MeV He and 1.4 MeV He as probing ions. The model presented here proved to be effective for fitting the experimental data. The fitting parameters correspond to the recombination coefficients, which are the key parameters for the characterization of the effects of radiation damage in semiconductors.</p

Practical applications of quantum sensing: a simple method to enhance sensitivity of Nitrogen-Vacancy-based temperature sensors

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond allow measurement of environment properties such as temperature, magnetic and electric fields at nanoscale level, of utmost relevance for several research fields, ranging from nanotechnologies to bio-sensing. The working principle is based on the measurement of the resonance frequency shift of a single nitrogen-vacancy center (or an ensemble of them), usually detected by by monitoring the center photoluminescence emission intensity. Albeit several schemes have already been proposed, the search for the simplest and most effective one is of key relevance for real applications. Here we present a new continuous-wave lock-in based technique able to reach unprecedented sensitivity in temperature measurement at micro/nanoscale volumes (4.8 mK/Hz$^{1/2}$ in $\mu$m$^3$). Furthermore, the present method has the advantage of being insensitive to the enviromental magnetic noise, that in general introduces a bias in the temperature measurement

Radiation hardness of single crystal CVD diamond detector tested with MeV energy ions

The spectroscopic properties of a commercial high purity single crystal diamond detector (1 mm(2) area, 500 mu m thickness) have been studied using focused ion beams (H, He and C ions) in the MeV energy range. A measured relative energy resolution of 1.3% (FWHM =25 key) for the detection of 2 MeV protons demonstrated a good spectroscopic performance of the CVD diamond device, which makes it useful for the detection of light ions or atoms. To test the radiation hardness of the diamond detector, it was selectively irradiated with a 6.5 MeV focused carbon beam up to a fluence of 10(11) ions/cm(2). Reliable measurement of the ion fluence was accomplished by means of the microprobe single ion technique IBIC (ion beam induced charge). After irradiations that produced selectively damaged regions in the diamond detector, low current mode IBIC microscopy has been performed to measure the degradation of the charge collection efficiency (CCE). In order to get a better understanding of the detector performance after irradiation, different ions with the end of a range smaller, equal and larger than the extend of the damaged layer were used as IBIC probes. The same experimental procedure of irradiation and IBIC microscopy has been performed on a detector grade silicon PIN diode in order to directly compare the radiation hardness of diamond and silicon. The presented results show that the single crystal CVD diamond is less radiation hard for the spectroscopy of short range heavy ions compared to the high resistivity silicon, which is contrary to the results obtained for diamond detectors exposed to the high energy particles. © 2013, Elsevier Ltd

IBIC microscopy of Helsinki n- & p-type FZ Si diodes selectively irradiated w focused He microbeam

Object of the research Study of the radiation hardness of semiconductors Method Use of focused MeV Ion beams to induce the damage and to probe the damage.Samples under study 2° RCM: …. the activity has been focused on the Fz silicon diodes from UniHe, and the study of the other materials and devices distributed among the participants has been postponed to the second phase, following the validation of the theoretical model

A Monte Carlo software for the 1-dimensional simulation of IBIC experiments

The ion beam induced charge (IBIC) microscopy is a valuable tool for the analysis of the electronic properties of semiconductors. In this work, a recently developed Monte Carlo approach for the simulation of IBIC experiments is presented along with a self-standing software equipped with graphical user interface. The method is based on the probabilistic interpretation of the excess charge carrier continuity equations and it offers to the end-user the full control not only of the physical properties ruling the induced charge formation mechanism (i.e., mobility, lifetime, electrostatics, device’s geometry), but also of the relevant experimental conditions (ionization profiles, beam dispersion, electronic noise) affecting the measurement of the IBIC pulses. Moreover, the software implements a novel model for the quantitative evaluation of the radiation damage effects on the charge collection efficiency degradation of ion-beam-irradiated devices. The reliability of the model implementation is then validated against a benchmark IBIC experiment. © 2014, Elsevier B.V

Investigation of elemental changes in brain tissues following excitotoxic injury

Recently the ANSTO heavy ion microprobe has been used for elemental mapping of thin brain tissue sections. The fact that a very small portion of the proton energy is used for X-ray excitation combined with small variations of the major element concentrations makes μ-PIXE imaging and GeoPIXE analysis a challenging task. Excitotoxic brain injury underlies the pathology of stroke and various neurodegenerative disorders. Large fluxes in Ca+2 cytosolic concentrations are a key feature of the initiation of this pathophysiological process. In order to understand if these modifications are associated with changes in the elemental composition, several brain sections have been mapped with μ-PIXE. Increases in Ca+2 cytosolic concentrations were indicative of the pathophysiological process continuing 1 week after an initiating neural insult. We were able to measure significant variations in K and Ca concentration distribution across investigated brain tissue. These variations correlate very well with physiological changes visible in the brain tissue. Moreover, the obtained μ-PIXE results clearly demonstrate that the elemental composition changes significantly correlate with brain drauma. © 2013, Elsevier B.V

Vacancy-related defects in n-type Si implanted with a rarefied microbeam of accelerated heavy ions in the MeV range

Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) has been used to study vacancy-related defects formed in bulk n-type Czochralski-grown silicon after implantation of accelerated heavy ions: 6.5 MeV O, 10.5 MeV Si, 10.5 MeV Ge, and 11 MeV Er in the single ion regime with fluences from 109 cm−2 to 1010 cm−2 and a direct comparison made with defects formed in the same material irradiated with 0.7 MeV fast neutron fluences up to 1012 cm−2. A scanning ion microprobe was used as the ion implantation tool of n-Cz:Si samples prepared as Schottky diodes, while the ion beam induced current (IBIC) technique was utilized for direct ion counting. The single acceptor state of the divacancy V2(−/0) is the most prominent defect state observed in DLTS spectra of n-CZ:Si samples implanted by selected ions and the sample irradiated by neutrons. The complete suppression of the DLTS signal related to the double acceptor state of divacancy, V2(=/−) has been observed in all samples irradiated by ions and neutrons. Moreover, the DLTS peak associated with formation of the vacancy-oxygen complex VO in the neutron irradiated sample was also completely suppressed in DLTS spectra of samples implanted with the raster scanned ion microbeam. The reason for such behaviour is twofold, (i) the local depletion of the carrier concentration in the highly disordered regions, and (ii) the effect of the microprobe-assisted single ion implantation. The activation energy for electron emission for states assigned to the V2(−/0) defect formed in samples implanted by single ions follows the Meyer–Neldel rule. An increase of the activation energy is strongly correlated with increasing ion mass. © 2016, Elsevier B.V