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Eric Benton Department of Physics Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA. The Use of Accelerator Beams for Calibration and Characterization of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors. Uses of Accelerators for SSNTD Research. Calibration/Determination of NTD sensitivity
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Eric Benton Department of Physics Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA The Use of Accelerator Beams for Calibration and Characterization of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors
Uses of Accelerators for SSNTD Research • Calibration/Determination of NTD sensitivity • Space Radiation Photoreaction and Dosimetry (calibration, intercomparison of detectors from different labs, assessment of shielding materials) • Cosmic Ray (Astrophysics) Research • Nuclear and Particle Physics • Neutron Dosimetry • Air Crew Dosimetry • etc.
Accelerators useful for SSNTD Research Accelerator must produce particles that will result in tracks in CR-39 PNTD • Tracks formed by primary particles (LET¥H2O ³5 keV/mm) • £12 MeV Protons • £200 MeV a-particles • ions of Z³6 of all energies • Tracks formed by secondaries produced in nuclear interactions between primaries and heavy target nuclei • high energy protons • neutrons • Range of particle in NTD must be sufficient to leave visible track after etching...low energy limitation.
Useful to (arbitrarily) group Accelerators by Beam Energy Primary Particles form Tracks • Very High Energy Heavy Ion Accelerators • High Energy Heavy Ion Accelerators • Medium Energy Heavy Ion Accelerators • Low Energy Heavy Ion/Proton Accelerators Secondary Particles Produce Tracks • Medium to High Energy Proton Accelerators • Spallation Neutron Sources
Very High Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities • These facilities can accelerate heavy ions (Z>1) for use in SSNTD studies, but rarely do. • Difficult to get beam time for SSNTD experiments on these accelerators.
High Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities • Exemplified by the BEVALAC at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (closed in 1992) • Probably the most useful for SSNTD work • Particles: 1 £ Z £ 92 • Energies: 100s MeV to 1-2 GeV • LET¥H2O: £ 0.1 to ³ 1000 keV/mm • Current (SSNTD Friendly) Facilities include: • NIRS HIMAC in Chiba, Japan • GSI SIS in Darmstadt, Germany • JINR Phasotron/Nuclotron in Dubna, Russia
Medium Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities • Useful for SSNTD work • Particles: 1 £ Z £ 92 • Energies: 10’s MeV to 100 MeV • LET¥H2O: £ 0.1 to ³ 1000 keV/mm • Lower Energy ®Shorter Range ®Changing LET • Current Facilities include: • GANIL in Caens, France • NSCL at Michigan State University, USA
Medium Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities* *not exhaustive list
Low Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities • Limited usefulness in SSNTD work • Particles: 1 £ Z £ 92 • Energies: 1 to 10 MeV • LET¥H2O: ³ 500 keV/mm • Low Energy ® Very Short Range ®Changing LET • Low Energy ® Very Short Range ®over etch tracks • Current Facilities include: • GSI Unilac in Darmstadt, Germany • BNL Tandem Van de Graaff in New York, USA
Low Energy Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities* *not exhaustive list
Some Fine Print While accelerator might be capable of accelerating protons through U, often restricted to “menu” of beams. Advertised Beams Available at NIRS HIMAC
Bragg Curves measured by HIMAC inline Ion Chamber/Binary Filter
Measured Track Distribution in NIRS HIMAC Multi-ion Detector
Typical Response Function for CR-39 PNTD* *Batch 24 USF-4 from American Technical Plastics, Inc.
Converting LET200CR-39 to LET¥H20 Ratio of LET¥H20 to LET200CR-39 as a function of energy for several Z from 1 to 54 Obviously Ratio is not a constant (or unique).
ICCHIBAN Project(InterComparison of Cosmic-rays with Heavy Ion Beams At NIRS) Objectives of the ICCHIBAN Project • Determine the response of space radiation dosimeters to heavy ions of charge and energy similar to that found in the galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) spectrum. • Compare response and sensitivity of various space radiation monitoring instruments. Aid in reconciling differences in measurements made by various radiation instruments during space flight. • Establish and characterize a heavy ion “reference standard” against which space radiation instruments can be calibrated.
ICCHIBAN-4: Blind No. 4 CR-39 PNTD Delivered Dose: 0.39mGy, Delivered Dose Eq.: 7.20mSv
ICCHIBAN-4: Blind No. 4 Combined TLD/OSLD + CR-39 PNTD Delivered Dose: 12.15 mGy, Delivered Dose Eq.: 19.32 mSv
Proton and Carbon Beam Radiotherapy Accelerators • ~30 Proton Cancer Treatment Centers operating worldwide • ~10 more Proton Centers to become operation over next five years • 4-5 Carbon Cancer Treatment Accelerators operating worldwide • 2-3 Carbon Cancer Treatment Accelerators over next five years
Neutrons and High Energy Protons CR-39 PNTD exposed to 230 MeV Protons (LET¥H2O = 0.4 keV/mm at the Loma Linda University Medical Center Proton Therapy Facility All tracks are result of proton- and neutron-induced target fragment secondaries.
Measurement of Secondary Neutrons from Loma Linda Proton Beam using CR-39 PNTD
Integral LET Fluence Spectrum measured in CR-39 PNTD in TE Phantom outside the Loma Linda Treatment Field
Comparison of MCNPX and CR-39 PNTD Results for Secondary Neutrons from Loma Linda Proton Beam (all values Gy/Gyprotons) top value - MCNPX total physical dose relative to prescribed dose bottom value - CR-39 physical dose (LETH2O 5 keV/m) relative to prescribed dose
Concluding Remarks • SSNTDs and Accelerators make up a “two-way street” • Accelerators are useful in calibrating and investigating SSNTDs • SSNTDs useful in characterizing Accelerator beams • Together, both can be used for other science (e.g. nuclear physics measurements, ICCHIBAN) • High Energy Heavy Ion Accelerators are often the most useful: • Limited number of facilities • New opportunities due to growth of Carbon Radiotherapy • Beam time (often at no cost) is available through a proposal submission/review process.
Acknowledgements • Nakahiro Yasuda, Yukio Uchihori, and Hisashi Kitamura of the National Institute for Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan • Jack Miller of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • Dieter Schardt of Gessellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) • Michael Moyers of Loma Linda University Medical Center