Latent ion tracks were finally observed in diamond

Amekura, Hiroshi*; Chettah, A.*; Narumi, Kazumasa*; Chiba, Atsuya*; Hirano, Yoshimi*; Yamada, Keisuke*; Yamamoto, Shunya*; Leino, A. A.*; Djurabekova, F.*; Nordlund, K.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.1786_1 - 1786_10, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45934-4

Injecting high-energy heavy ions in the electronic stopping regime into solids can create cylindrical damage zones called latent ion tracks. Although these tracks form in many materials, none have ever been observed in diamond, even when irradiated with high-energy GeV uranium ions. Here we report the first observation of ion track formation in diamond irradiated with 2-9 MeV C fullerene ions. Depending on the ion energy, the mean track length (diameter) changed from 17 (3.2) nm to 52 (7.1) nm. High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HR-STEM) indicated the amorphization in the tracks, in which -bonding signal from graphite was detected by the electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).

Development of high temperature LBE corrosion test loop "OLLOCHI"

Saito, Shigeru; Wan, T.*; Okubo, Nariaki; Kita, Satoshi*; Obayashi, Hironari; Sasa, Toshinobu

JAEA-Technology 2021-034, 94 Pages, 2022/03

JAEA-Technology-2021-034.pdf:5.91MB

Lead-bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) is a major candidate for a spallation target material and core coolant of an accelerator driven system (ADS) which has been developed in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to transmute high-level radioactive wastes. A proton irradiation facility to build a material irradiation database for future ADS development is under considering in the J-PARC. To realize both the ADS and the above-mentioned facility, there are many issues on operational safety of LBE to be solved. Especially, corrosion data for the major materials such as T91 (Modified 9Cr-1Mo steel) and SS316L at the temperature range between 400 and 550 C under the conditions of flowing LBE with a controlled oxygen are not sufficient to design the ADS and the facility. JAEA developed a new large-scale corrosion test loop named "OLLOCHI (Oxygen-controlled LBE LOop for Corrosion tests in HIgh-temperature)" aiming to perform the compatibility tests between the LBE and the steels, as well as to develop the LBE operation technology. OLLOCHI has a function to automatically control the oxygen concentration in LBE. The maximum temperature at the regions of high-temperature and low-temperature of the OLLOCHI are 550 C and 450 C respectively to cover the ADS designed condition. As a result of 2,000 hours operation, it was demonstrated that the OLLOCHI showed the designed performance. In this report, outline of the OLLOCHI, details of the components, results of characteristic tests, and the future experimental plan are described.

PSTEP: Project for solar-terrestrial environment prediction

Kusano, Kanya*; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi*; Ishii, Mamoru*; Miyoshi, Yoshizumi*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Akiyoshi, Hideharu*; Asai, Ayumi*; Ebihara, Yusuke*; Fujiwara, Hitoshi*; Goto, Tadanori*; et al.

Earth, Planets and Space (Internet), 73(1), p.159_1 - 159_29, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01486-1

The PSTEP is a nationwide research collaboration in Japan and was conducted from April 2015 to March 2020, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. It has made a significant progress in space weather research and operational forecasts, publishing over 500 refereed journal papers and organizing four international symposiums, various workshops and seminars, and summer school for graduate students at Rikubetsu in 2017. This paper is a summary report of the PSTEP and describes the major research achievements it produced.

Ion tracks in silicon formed by much lower energy deposition than the track formation threshold

Amekura, Hiroshi*; Toulemonde, M.*; Narumi, Kazumasa*; Li, R.*; Chiba, Atsuya*; Hirano, Yoshimi*; Yamada, Keisuke*; Yamamoto, Shunya*; Ishikawa, Norito; Okubo, Nariaki; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 11(1), p.185_1 - 185_11, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80360-8

We report the track formation of 10 nm in diameter in silicon irradiated with 6 MeV C, i.e., much lower energy than the previously reported energy threshold.

Matrix-material dependence on the elongation of embedded gold nanoparticles induced by 4 MeV C and 200 MeV Xe ion irradiation

Li, R.*; Narumi, Kazumasa*; Chiba, Atsuya*; Hirano, Yu*; Tsuya, Daiju*; Yamamoto, Shunya*; Saito, Yuichi*; Okubo, Nariaki; Ishikawa, Norito; Pang, C.*; et al.

Nanotechnology, 31(26), p.265606_1 - 265606_9, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ab7e70

We report the elongation of embedded Au nanoparticles (NPs) in three different matrices under irradiations of 4 MeV C ions and 200 MeV Xe ions. Large elongation of Au NPs was observed for crystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) under both 4 MeV C and 200 MeV Xe irradiation. The ITO layer preserved the crystallinity even after large elongation was induced. This is the first report of the elongation of metal NPs in a crystalline matrix.

Revising the 4 symmetry in CeCuGe; Soft X-ray absorption and hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy

Aratani, Hidekazu*; Nakatani, Yasuhiro*; Fujiwara, Hidenori*; Kawada, Moeki*; Kanai, Yuina*; Yamagami, Kohei*; Fujioka, Shuhei*; Hamamoto, Satoru*; Kuga, Kentaro*; Kiss, Takayuki*; et al.

Physical Review B, 98(12), p.121113_1 - 121113_6, 2018/09

AA2018-0352.pdf:1.16MB

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.121113

Design of LBE spallation target for ADS Target Test Facility (TEF-T) in J-PARC

Saito, Shigeru; Obayashi, Hironari; Wan, T.; Okubo, Nariaki; Sugawara, Takanori; Endo, Shinya; Sasa, Toshinobu

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Applications of Accelerators (AccApp '17) (Internet), p.448 - 457, 2018/05

JAEA proposes transmutation of minor actinides by accelerator-driven systems (ADS). To obtain the data for ADS design, JAEA plans to construct the ADS Target Test Facility (TEF-T) within the framework of the J-PARC project. In TEF-T, a 250 kW proton-beam-driven LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) spallation target will be installed to prepare an irradiation database for candidate ADS structural materials. Design activities of the LBE target and target trolley have been progressed. Conceptual design of hot-cells for LBE target loop maintenance and PIE (Post Irradiation Examination) of irradiated samples have been finished. Two LBE loops were manufactured. One is a loop for TEF-T target mock-up and the other is that for collection of material corrosion characteristics in flowing LBE. Oxygen potential control systems for LBE flow have been also developed. Remote handling tests for the target exchange are underway. In this paper, current activities and studies to realize TEF-T will be presented.

Recovery of rare metals using nucleic acid bases and extractants immobilized by grafted polymer chains

Saito, Kyoichi*; Asai, Shiho

Bunseki Kagaku, 66(11), p.771 - 782, 2017/11

https://doi.org/10.2116/bunsekikagaku.66.771

Recovery and purification of rare metals, which are essential ingredients for highly functional materials, generally comes with operational difficulty. In this study, we have developed polymer adsorbents specially designed for highly-efficient adsorption of rare metal ions and exhibited their practical adsorption performances. Radiation-induced graft polymerization, one of the effective modification techniques for polymers, was employed for preparing the proposed adsorbents. Among such adsorbents, a 6-nylon fiber with nucleic-acid base, adenine, on the surface of the fiber demonstrated specific adsorption of ruthenium and palladium ions. In addition, a 6-nylon fiber with an extractant HDEHP (bis (2-ethylhexyl) phophoric acid) that has high affinity for lanthanides, achieved higher separation speed than a commercially available HDEHP-impregnated resin.

Status of LBE corrosion test loop "OLLOCHI" and experiments at JAEA

Saito, Shigeru; Okubo, Nariaki; Obayashi, Hironari; Sasa, Toshinobu

NEA/CSNI/R(2017)2 (Internet), p.195 - 200, 2017/06

https://www.oecd-nea.org/science/docs/2017/nsc-r2017-2.pdf

An ADS (Accelerator Driven System) for waste transmutation investigated in JAEA employs LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) as spallation target material and core coolant. To realize future ADS and an ADS target experimental facility (TEF-T) planned for construction in J-PARC, there are many technical issues on LBE. In particular, corrosion data of relevant materials like T91 (Mod. 9Cr-1Mo) and SS316L steels at 400-550C under oxygen concentration controlled and flowing condition are indispensable. JAEA has designed and built new LBE corrosion test loop named OLLOCHI (Oxygen-controlled LBE LOop Corrosion tests in HIgh-temperature), to obtain the corrosion data at the higher temperature. The piping of high temperature sections was made by T91 and 2.25Cr-1Mo steel. The maximum temperature of these parts is 550C. At low temperature sections, piping and components were made by SS316L and the maximum temperature is limited to 450C. The status for the OLLOCHI as of March 2016 is that the some modification and the conditioning operation without LBE have already finished. The oxygen sensors and the oxygen control system will be installed soon. After that, the conditioning operation with LBE and oxygen control test will be started. And more, additional flow meters will be installed in each test section until next March. In parallel with these tests, thermal hydraulic analysis of the two test sections will be performed to identify the flow pattern in the specimen holders.

Removal of radioactive substances using inorganic compounds entangled by polymer chain grafted onto fiber

Saito, Kyoichi*; Kojima, Takashi*; Asai, Shiho

Bunseki Kagaku, 66(4), p.233 - 242, 2017/04

https://doi.org/10.2116/bunsekikagaku.66.233

Insoluble cobalt ferrocyanide and sodium titanate specifically capture cesium and strontium ions, respectively, in water contaminated with radionuclides which is found in Fukushima Daiichi NPP. The inorganic compounds used in this study were formed as precipitates in the polymer chain grafted onto a commercially available 6-nylon fiber using radiation-induced graft polymerization. An impregnation structure with the precipitates entangled by the grafted polymer chain through an electrostatic interaction via multipoints was indicated. The resultant insoluble cobalt ferrocyanide- or sodium titanate-impregnated fiber exhibited a higher adsorption rate and adsorption capacity per gram of the inorganic compound for cesium or strontium ions in seawater than conventional granular adsorbents.