Development of a non-destructive depth-selective quantification method for sub-percent carbon contents in steel using negative muon lifetime analysis

Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Kubo, Kenya*; Inagaki, Makoto*; Yoshida, Go*; Chiu, I.-H. ; Kudo, Takuto*; Asari, Shunsuke*; Sentoku, Sawako*; Takeshita, Soshi*; Shimomura, Koichiro*; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 14, p.1797_1 - 1797_8, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52255-5

The amount of C in steel, which is critical in determining its properties, is strongly influenced by steel production technology. We propose a novel method of quantifying the bulk C content in steel non-destructively using muons. This revolutionary method may be used not only in the quality control of steel in production, but also in analyzing precious steel archaeological artifacts. A negatively charged muon forms an atomic system owing to its negative charge, and is finally absorbed into the nucleus or decays to an electron. The lifetimes of muons differ significantly, depending on whether they are trapped by Fe or C atoms, and identifying the elemental content at the muon stoppage position is possible via muon lifetime measurements. The relationship between the muon capture probabilities of C/Fe and the elemental content of C exhibits a good linearity, and the C content in the steel may be quantitatively determined via muon lifetime measurements. Furthermore, by controlling the incident energies of the muons, they may be stopped in each layer of a stacked sample consisting of three types of steel plates with thicknesses of 0.5 mm, and we successfully determined the C contents in the range 0.20 - 1.03 wt% depth-selectively, without sample destruction.

Development and application of a He neutron spin filter at J-PARC

Okudaira, Takuya; Oku, Takayuki; Ino, Takashi*; Hayashida, Hirotoshi*; Kira, Hiroshi*; Sakai, Kenji; Hiroi, Kosuke; Takahashi, Shingo*; Aizawa, Kazuya; Endo, Hitoshi*; et al.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 977, p.164301_1 - 164301_8, 2020/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2020.164301

Measurement of the angular distribution of -rays after neutron capture by La for a T-violation search

Okudaira, Takuya; Shimizu, Hirohiko*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Hirota, Katsuya*; Haddock, C. C.*; Ito, Ikuya*; Yamamoto, Tomoki*; Endo, Shunsuke*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Sato, Takumi*; et al.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 219, p.09001_1 - 09001_6, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201921909001

Parity violating effects enhanced by up to 10 times have been observed in several neutron induced compound nuclei. There is a theoretical prediction that time reversal (T) violating effects can also be enhanced in these nuclei implying that T-violation can be searched for by making very sensitive measurements. However, the enhancement factor has not yet been measured in all nuclei. The angular distribution of the (n,) reaction was measured with La by using a germanium detector assembly at J-PARC, and the enhancement factor was obtained. From the result, the measurement time to achieve the most sensitive T-violation search was estimated as 1.4 days, and a 40% polarized La target and a 70% polarized He spin filter whose thickness is 70 atmcm are needed. Therefore high quality He spin filter is developed in JAEA. The measurement result of the (n,) reaction at J-PARC and the development status of the He spin filter will be presented.

Decadal change of particulate flux in the Japan Sea/East Sea

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Oku, Shunsuke*; Minami, Hideki*; Minakawa, Masayuki*; Noriki, Shinichiro*

no journal, , 

The Japan Sea is regarded as a miniature of the ocean because of its bowl-like topography and unique seawater circulation. Recent studies have suggested that biogeochemical processes in the Japan Sea correspond with the global climate change. In this study, we assessed decadal changes in particulate flux and elemental composition of sinking particle in the Japan Sea by comparing results of a sediment trap experiment in September 1984 with those in 1999-2001. Total mass flux did not show remarkable temporal change, however, biogenic opal/carbonate ratios observed recently were lower than those from the previous observation. In addition, relative content of scavenging elements such as manganese and cobalt also showed a decrease between the 15 years. These results may indicate decadal changes in ecological characteristics at the surface and transport processes of particulate materials in the deep water.

Particulate flux of Ba in the Japan Sea; Lateral transport of excess Ba

Oku, Shunsuke*; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Minakawa, Masayuki*; Minami, Hideki*; Noriki, Shinichiro*

no journal, , 

Autochthonous Ba (Ba-xs) in seawater is enriched in particulate materials by marine biota and settles down to the seabed. Therefore, Ba-xs is known as a proxy of export production in the surface ocean. However, it is necessary to discuss the effect of lateral transport of Ba-xs for the accurate estimation of the export flux. In this study, the authors investigated the effect of lateral transport of Mn-xs from a sediment trap experiment in the Japan Sea. Particulate fluxes of Ba-xs showed a positive relationship between flux of autochthonous Mn (Mn-xs). The flux of Mn-xs was higher in winter and it might be caused by the lateral transport of particulate materials from the shelf regions. The results indicated that Ba-xs is transported laterally and the effect was on a par with the sinking of biogenic particles.

Measurement of the -ray angular distribution in Xe(n,)Xe* reactions

Okudaira, Takuya*; Abe, Ryota*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Ito, Yuki*; Endo, Shunsuke; Oku, Takayuki; Kameda, Kento*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kimura, Atsushi; Sakai, Kenji; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Evaluation of resonance parameters of compound nuclear states in the n+Xe reaction

Kameda, Kento*; Abe, Ryota*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Ito, Yuki*; Endo, Shunsuke; Oku, Takayuki; Okudaira, Takuya*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kimura, Atsushi; Sakai, Kenji; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Measurement of angular dependent term of La(n,) reaction for polarized neutrons

Abe, Ryota*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Ito, Yuki*; Endo, Shunsuke; Oku, Takayuki; Okudaira, Takuya*; Kameda, Kento*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kimura, Atsushi; Sakai, Kenji; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Development of polarimeter for circular polarization measurement of gamma-rays emitted from neutron capture reactions

Endo, Shunsuke; Abe, Ryota*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Ito, Yuki*; Oku, Takayuki; Okudaira, Takuya*; Omer, M.; Kameda, Kento*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kimura, Atsushi; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

The Angular dependence of the cross section of In(n,) reaction toward a search for time-reversal violation using an indium target

Takada, Shusuke*; Abe, Ryota*; Ishizaki, Kohei*; Ito, Yuki*; Endo, Shunsuke; Oku, Takayuki; Okudaira, Takuya*; Kameda, Kento*; Kitaguchi, Masaaki*; Kimura, Atsushi; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English