Ion tracks and nanohillocks created in natural zirconia irradiated with swift heavy ions

Ishikawa, Norito; Fukuda, Shoma; Nakajima, Toru; Ogawa, Hiroaki; Fujimura, Yuki; Taguchi, Tomitsugu*

Materials, 17(3), p.547_1 - 547_21, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030547

Natural monoclinic zirconia (baddeleyite) was irradiated with 340-MeV Au ions, and the irradiation-induced nanostructures (i.e., ion tracks and nanohillocks) were observed using transmission electron microscopy. The diameter of the nanohillocks is approximately 10 nm, which is similar to the maximum molten region size calculated using the analytical thermal spike model. Ion tracks are imaged as strained regions that maintain their crystalline structure. The cross-sections of most of the ion tracks are imaged as parallelopiped or rectangular contrasts as large as 10 nm. These results strongly indicate that the molten region is recrystallized anisotropically, reflecting the lattice structure. Furthermore, low-density track cores are formed in the center of the ion tracks. The formation of low-density track cores can be attributed to the ejection of molten matter toward the surface.

Weakened oxygen adsorbing the Pt-O bond of the Pt catalyst induced by vacancy introduction into carbon support

Okazaki, Hiroyuki*; Idesaki, Akira*; Koshikawa, Hiroshi*; Matsumura, Daiju; Ikeda, Takashi*; Yamamoto, Shunya*; Yamaki, Tetsuya*

Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 127(49), p.23628 - 23633, 2023/12

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c04117

The Role of collision ionization of K-shell ions in nonequilibrium plasmas produced by the action of super strong, ultrashort PW-class laser pulses on micron-scale argon clusters with intensity up to 5 10 W/cm

Skobelev, I. Yu.*; Ryazantsev, S. N.*; Kulikov, R. K.*; Sedov, M. V.*; Filippov, E. D.*; Pikuz, S. A.*; Asai, Takafumi*; Kanasaki, Masato*; Yamauchi, Tomoya*; Jinno, Satoshi; et al.

Photonics (Internet), 10(11), p.1250_1 - 1250_11, 2023/11

https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10111250

It is challenging to clearly distinguish the impacts of the optical field and collisional ionization in the evolution of the charge state of a plasma produced when matter interacts with high-intensity laser pulses. In this work, time-dependent calculations of plasma kinetics are used to show that it is possible only when low-density gaseous targets with sufficiently small clusters are used. In the case of Ar plasma, the upper limit of the cluster radius was estimated to be m.

Design of a matching circuit for a high-intensity negative hydrogen ion source driving with 324 MHz RF power source

Shinto, Katsuhiro; Shibata, Takanori*; Wada, Motoi*

Proceedings of 20th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.392 - 395, 2023/11

https://www.pasj.jp/web_publish/pasj2023/proceedings/PDF/TUP3/TUP38.pdf

Negative hydrogen (H) ion sources which are used at high-intensity proton accelerator facilities such as J-PARC or neutral beam injection system for plasma heating in the fusion devices such as ITER produce plasmas by using RF sources driving with the frequency of 1-2 MHz. We have shown that the H beams extracted from the RF-driven H ion source with the frequency of several MHz have some fluctuations with the frequency of the fundamental and second harmonics. The reason is that the high plasma density is produced in the ion source with the low driving frequency. Therefore, we propose the driving RF frequency same as the RF sources with that of 324 MHz in the J-PARC linac, which is much higher than the ion plasma frequency, is used for producing the plasma to suppress the H beam fluctuations. As a first step, we performed a design of a matching circuit for the higher frequency driven H ion source. We present the background for decision of a new RF amplifier with much higher frequency and the design results.

Development of analytical techniques for isotopic composition determination of uranium particles in environmental sample for safeguards with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Tomita, Ryohei; Tomita, Jumpei; Suzuki, Daisuke; Yasuda, Kenichiro; Miyamoto, Yutaka

Hosha Kagaku, (48), p.1 - 15, 2023/09

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is the method to detect secondary ions produced by the sputtering of primary ions. SIMS is one of effective method to measure isotopic composition of particles containing nuclear material in environmental sample for safeguards. We are a group member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s network of analytical laboratories and have developed analytical techniques using SIMS and other mass spectrometers for nuclear safeguards. We will introduce the principle of SIMS and analytical techniques developed by our group to measure isotopic composition of uranium particles which having a particle diameter of micron order in environmental sample for safeguards.

Magnetic hysteresis induction with nanocolumnar defects in magnetic insulators

Harii, Kazuya*; Umeda, Maki; Arisawa, Hiroki*; Hioki, Tomosato*; Sato, Nana; Okayasu, Satoru; Ieda, Junichi

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 92(7), p.073701_1 - 073701_4, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.92.073701

Extreme chemistry of superheavy elements

Sato, Tetsuya; Nagame, Yuichiro*

Nihon Butsuri Gakkai-Shi, 78(2), p.64 - 72, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.11316/butsuri.78.2_64

The study of the chemistry of superheavy elements, which are located in the heavy extremes of the periodic table, has made considerable progress over the past 20 years, and new approaches based on various ideas have recently been developed. Research groups in Japan have also made significant contributions to the development of research on superheavy elements. Recently, notable results have been reported for the transactinide elements rutherfordium (element 104), dubnium (element 105), and seaborgium (element 106), and the heavy actinides with atomic numbers exceeding 100. The review will focus on the recent main results of these elements. This review outlines the main recent results and touches on future prospects.

Evaluation of RF antenna lifetime after long-term operation of J-PARC ion source

Shibata, Takanori*; Ishida, Masaki*; Nammo, Kesao*; Ikegami, Kiyoshi*; Okoshi, Kiyonori; Shinto, Katsuhiro; Oguri, Hidetomo

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.863 - 867, 2023/01

Continuous operation duration of the J-PARC Radio Frequency (RF) ion source has been extended step by step these years for the goal to supply stable beam during the entire period of J-PARC user operation (around 7 months) each year. A 3651 hours (5 months) continuous ion source operation has been achieved from Nov. 2020 to Apr. 2021. As the lifetime of the ion source is mainly limited by failure on the RF antenna coil, detailed evaluation of the antenna surface condition is required to ensure the feasibility of the further extension of the operation time. In the present study, dimension measurements and SEM/EDS analyses were applied to understand the surface discoloration of the RF antenna. The discoloration after the long-term continuous operation is due to deposition of injected cesium (for H surface production process) and of stainless used steel (Fe, Cr, Ni) from the ion source components sputtered by plasma. The results show that the enamel coating of the RF antenna has not worn out in the long-term continuous operation for several months and, hence, extension of the ion source continuous operation duration can be extended.

Reports of electro-polishing implementation for quarter-wave resonators, 2

Nii, Keisuke*; Ida, Yoshiaki*; Ueda, Hideki*; Yamaguchi, Takanori*; Kabumoto, Hiroshi; Kamiya, Junichiro; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Harada, Hiroyuki; Matsui, Yutaka; et al.

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.601 - 604, 2023/01

no abstracts in English

Effect of different interlayer counter-ions on montmorillonite swelling; Key controlling factors evaluated by molecular dynamic simulations

Yotsuji, Kenji*; Tachi, Yukio; Sakuma, Hiroshi*; Kawamura, Katsuyuki*

Genshiryoku Bakkuendo Kenkyu (CD-ROM), 29(2), p.63 - 81, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.3327/jnuce.29.2_63

The understanding of the swelling phenomenon of montmorillonite is essential to predict the physical and chemical behavior of clay-based barriers in radioactive waste disposal systems. This study investigated the key factors controlling crystalline swelling behavior of montmorillonite with different interlayer counter-ions by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. On the basis of the comparisons between MD simulated and experimental results, the water content in the interlayer in five homoionic (Na, K, Cs, Ca and Sr) montmorillonite was strongly correlated to the hydration number and the preference of an outer- or inner-sphere complex of each counter-ion. The detailed analysis for these results offer insights that the hydration number is controlled by the hydration free energy, the volume and the distribution of each interlayer counter-ion. The systematic MD simulations with virtually variable parameters clarified that the hydration free energy and the charge of interlayer counter- ions compete as influencing factors, and the control the formation rate of an outer-sphere complex of each counter-ion. The empirical relationships between these key factors will allow essential insights into predicting the swelling behavior of montmorillonite with different interlayer counter-ions.