Collection efficiency of a monitor parallel plate ionization chamber for pencil beam scanning proton therapy

The collection efficiency of monitor parallel plate ionization chambers is the main uncertainty in the beam control of pencil beam scanning systems.Existing calculation methods for collection efficiency in photon or passive scattering proton systems have not considered the characteristics of non-uniform charge density in pencil beam scanning systems.In this study,Boag’s theory was applied to a proton pencil beam scanning system.The transverse distribution of charge density in the ionization chamber was considered to be a Gaussian function and an analytical solution was derived to calculate collection efficiency in the beam spot area.This calculation method is called the integral method and it was used to investigate the effects of beam parameters on collection efficiency.It was determined that collection efficiency is positively correlated with applied voltage,beam size,and beam energy,but negatively correlated with beam current intensity.Additionally,it was confirmed that collection efficiency is improved when the air filling the monitor parallel plate ionization chamber is replaced with nitrogen.

Equalization of Ti 6Al 4V alloy welded joint by scanning electron beam welding

The equalization of Ti 6Al 4V alloy welded joint with base metal on corrosion resistance, strength and ductility was studied. The solidification microstructure is transformed from 650 μm columnar grains to 100 μm equiaxed grains by scanning electron beam welding. The anodic polarization curve of 150 μm equiaxed grains coincides with that of base metal. Equal corrosion resistance between weld metal and base metal was obtained. Uniform microstructure and solute distribution are the basis of equalization. Corrosion rate of weld with 150 μm equiaxed grains is the lowest, 2.45 times lower than that of 650 μm columnar grains. Weld strength is 98% as much as that of base metal, yield strength ratio is 99.5%, which is 3.6% higher than that of base metal.

Control on Electron Beam Scanning Track

In order to use electron beam as a movable welding heat source and whose energy distribution along its moving trace can be controlled, a method of electron beam scanning track and scanning mode control was put forward. Based on it, the electron beam scanning track and scanning mode can be edited at will according to actual requirements, and the energy input of each point of the scanning track can be controlled. In addition, the scanning frequency and points control, real time adjusting of the scanning track etc. were explained. This method can be used in electron beam brazing, surface modification, surface heat treatment etc.

Uniformity Control of Scanned Beam in 300 MeV Proton and Heavy Ion Accelerator Complex at SESRI

In recent years,heavy ion accelerator technology has been rapidly developing worldwide and widely applied in the fields of space radiation simulation and particle therapy.Usually,a very high uniformity in the irradiation area is required for the extracted ion beams,which is crucial because it directly affects the experimental precision and therapeutic effect.Specifically,ultra-large-area and high-uniformity scanning are crucial requirements for spacecraft radiation effects assessment and serve as core specification for beamline terminal design.In the 300 MeV proton and heavy ion accelerator complex at the Space Environment Simulation and Research Infrastructure(SESRI),proton and heavy ion beams will be accelerated and ultimately delivered to three irradiation terminals.In order to achieve the required large irradiation area of 320 mm×320 mm,horizontal and vertical scanning magnets are used in the extraction beam line.However,considering the various requirements for beam species and energies,the tracking accuracy of power supplies(PSs),the eddy current effect of scanning magnets,and the fluctuation of ion bunch structure will reduce the irradiation uniformity.To mitigate these effects,a beam uniformity optimization method based on the measured beam distribution was proposed and applied in the accelerator complex at SESRI.In the experiment,the uniformity is successfully optimized from 75%to over 90%after five iterations of adjustment to the PS waveforms.In this paper,the method and experimental results were introduced.

Compensation of body shake errors in terahertz beam scanning single frequency holography for standoff personnel screening

In the terahertz（THz） band, the inherent shake of the human body may strongly impair the image quality of a beam scanning single frequency holography system for personnel screening. To realize accurate shake compensation in imaging processing, it is quite necessary to develop a high-precision measure system. However, in many cases, different parts of a human body may shake to different extents, resulting in greatly increasing the difficulty in conducting a reasonable measurement of body shake errors for image reconstruction. In this paper, a body shake error compensation algorithm based on the raw data is proposed. To analyze the effect of the body shake on the raw data, a model of echoed signal is rebuilt with considering both the beam scanning mode and the body shake. According to the rebuilt signal model, we derive the body shake error estimated method to compensate for the phase error. Simulation on the reconstruction of point targets with shake errors and proof-of-principle experiments on the human body in the 0.2-THz band are both performed to confirm the effectiveness of the body shake compensation algorithm proposed.

The scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) films of a few-nanometer thickness grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope(STM)was used to characterize the GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) films of a few nanometers thickness grown by the molecular beam epitaxy(MBE)on the GaSb buffer layer of 100 nm with the GaSb(100)substrates.The thickness of the GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) layers of the samples are 5 and 10 nm,respectively.For comparison,the GaSb buffer was also characterized and its STM image displays terraces whose surfaces are basically atomically flat and their roughness is generally less than 1 monolayer(ML).The surface of 5 nm GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) film reserves the same terraced morphology as the buffer layer.In contrast,the morphology of the 10 nm GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) film changes to the mound-like island structures with a height of a few MLs.The result implies the growth mode transition from the two-dimensional mode as displayed by the 5 nm film to the Stranski-Krastinov mode as displayed by the 10 nm film.The statistical analysis with the scanning tunneling spectroscopy(STS)measurements indicates that both the incorporation and the inhomogeneity of Bi atoms increase with the thickness of the GaSb_(1-x)Bi_(x) layer.

Reformatted method for two-dimensional detector arrays measurement data in proton pencil beam scanning

The spatial resolution of a commercial two-dimensional(2D)ionization chamber(IC)array is limited by the size of the individual detector and the center-to-center distance between sensors.For dose distributions with areas of steep dose gradients,inter-detector dose values are derived by the interpolation of nearby detector readings in the conventional mathematical interpolation of 2D IC array measurements.This may introduce significant errors,particularly in proton spot scanning radiotherapy.In this study,by combining logfile-based reconstructed dose values and detector measurements with the Laplacian pyramid image blending method,a novel method is proposed to obtain a reformatted dose distribution that provides an improved estimation of the delivered dose distribution with high spatial resolution.Meanwhile,the similarity between the measured original data and the downsampled logfilebased reconstructed dose is regarded as the confidence of the reformatted dose distribution.Furthermore,we quantify the performance benefits of this new approach by directly comparing the reformatted dose distributions with 2D IC array detector mathematically interpolated measurements and original low-resolution measurements.The result shows that this new method is better than the mathematical interpolation and achieves gamma pass rates similar to those of the original low-resolution measurements.The reformatted dose distributions generally yield a confidence exceeding 95%.

THE GROWTH OF MONOCRYSTALLINE SILICON THIN FILM ON INSULATOR (SOI) BY SCANNING ELECTRON BEAM

An experiment for preparation of SOI films by using the scanning electron beam to modify the polycrystalline silicon on SiO2 is presented. This method takes on the epitaxial lateral growth of liquid phase with the crystallon to form monocrystalline silicon films. The effects of the beam power density, scanning velocity, temperature of the substrates and the construction of samples on the quality of the monocrystalline silicon films were discussed. A good experimental result has been obtained, the monocrystalline silicon zone is nearly 200×25μm2.

Investigation on gradient material fabrication with electron beam melting based on scanning track control

A new electron beam control system was developed in a general vacuum electron beam machine by assembling with industrial control computer, programmable logic control （PLC）, deflection coil, data acquisition card, power amplifier, etc. In this control system, scanning track and energy distribution of electron beam could be edited off-line, real-time adjusted and controlled on-line. Ti-Mo gradient material （GM） with high temperature resistant was fabricated using the technology of electron beam melting. The melting processes include three steps, such as preheating, melting, and homogenizing. The results show that the GM prepared by melting technology has fine appearance, and it has good integrated interface with the Ti alloy. Mo and Ti elements are gradually distributed in the inter.face of the gradient material. The microstructure close to the Ti alloy base metal is α ＋ β basket-waver grain, and the microstructure close to the GM is a single phase of β solid solution.

Robustness Evaluation of a Novel Proton Beam Geometry for Head and Neck Patients Treated with Pencil Beam Scanning Therapy

Background: To evaluate the robustness of head and neck treatment using proton pencil beam scanning (PBS) technique with respect to range uncertainty (RU) and setup errors (SE), and to establish a robust PBS planning strategy for future treatment. Methods and Materials: Ten consecutive patients were planned with a novel proton field geometry (combination of two posterior oblique fields and one anterior field with gradient dose match) using single-field uniform dose (SFUD) planning technique and the proton plans were dosimetrically compared to two coplanar arc VMAT plans. Robustness of the plans, with respect to range uncertainties (RU = ± 3% for proton) and setup errors (SE = 2.25 mm for proton and VMAT), in terms of deviations to target coverage (CTV D98%) and OAR doses (max/mean), were evaluated and compared for each patient under worst case scenarios. Results: Dosimetrically, PBS plans provided better sparing to larynx (p = 0.005), oral cavity (p < 0.001) and contralateral parotid (p = 0.004) when compared to VMAT. CTV D98% variations were higher from SE than from RU for proton plans (-1.1% ± 1.3 % vs -0.4% ± 0.7% for nodal CTV and -1.4% ± 1.2 vs -0.4% ± 0.5% % for boost CTV). Overall, the magnitudes of variation of CTV D98% to combined SE and RU were found to be similar to the impact of the SE on the VMAT plans (-1.6% ± 1.9% vs -1.7% ± 1.4% for nodal CTV and -1.9% ± 1.6% vs -1.3% ± 1.5% for boost CTV). Compared to VMAT, a larger range of relative dose deviations were found for OARs in proton plans, but safe doses were maintained for cord (41.8 ± 3.6 Gy for PBS and 41.7 ± 3.9 Gy for VMAT) and brainstem (35.2 ± 8.4 Gy for PBS and 36.2 ± 5.1 Gy for VMAT) in worst case scenarios. Conclusions: Compared to VMAT, proton plans containing three SFUD fields with superior-inferior gradient dose matching had improved sparing to larynx, contralateral parotid and oral cavity, while providing similar robustness of target coverage. Evaluation of OAR dose robustness showed higher sensitivities to uncertainties for proton plans, but safe dose levels were maintained for cord and brainstem.

Phase matched scanning optical parametric chirped pulse amplification based on pump beam deflection

Combined with the optical beam deflection,a novel approach of phase matched broadband scanning optical parametric chirped pulse amplification(OPCPA)was proposed.For this scheme,there was no superfluous operations to the chirped signal pulse which propagated in a changeless direction straightforward,but the pump beam were deflected in space with time by passing through a KTN crystal,which was applied with varied driving voltage.The theories of phase matching of each chirped signal frequency based on pump beam deflection was analyzed detailedly.And the type-I amplification of chirped signal with 800 nm central wavelength and 20 nm bandwidth pumped by 532 nm in BBO crystal was simulated as a case in point.The simulation results showed that the spectral distribution of chirped signal pulse was almost the same as the initial form,i.e.,there was nearly no narrowing on the amplified spectrum by using of the scanning OPCPA based on pump beam deflection.In addition,the simulations demonstrated that it was worth minimizing the voltage deviation applied to KTN crystal as much as possible for the sake of better waveform,larger bandwidth and higher conversion efficiency of amplified signal pulse in the proposed scanning OPCPA.

Evaluation of Single Field Uniform Dose (SFUD) Proton Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) Planning Strategy for Lung Mobile Tumor Using a Digital Phantom

Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate four different Proton SFUD PBS initial planning strategies for lung mobile tumor. Methods and Materials: A virtual lung patient’s four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) was generated in this study. To avoid the uncertainties from target delineation and imaging artifacts, a sphere with diameter of 3 cm representing a rigid mobile target (GTV) was inserted into the right side of the lung. The target motion is set in superior-inferior (SI) direction from ?5 mm to 5 mm. Four SFUD planning strategies were used based on: 1) Maximum-In-tensity-Projection Image (MIP-CT);2) CT_average with ITV overridden to muscle density (CTavg_muscle);3) CT_average with ITV overridden to tumor density (CTavg_tumor);4) CT_average without any override density (CTavg_only). Dose distributions were recalculated on each individual phase and accumulated together to assess the “actual” treatment. To estimate the impact of proton range uncertainties, +/?3.5% CT calibration curve was applied to the 4DCT phase images. Results: Comparing initial plan to the dose accumulation: MIP-CT based GTV D98 degraded 2.42 Gy (60.10 Gy vs 57.68 Gy). Heart D1 increased 6.19 Gy (1.88 Gy vs 8.07 Gy);CTavg_tumor based GTV D98 degraded 0.34 Gy (60.07 Gy vs 59.73 Gy). Heart D1 increased 2.24 Gy (3.74 Gy vs 5.98 Gy);CTavg_muscle based initial GTV D98 degraded 0.31 Gy (60.4 Gy vs 60.19 Gy). Heart D1 increased 3.44 Gy (4.38 Gy vs 7.82 Gy);CTavg_only based Initial GTV D98 degraded 6.63 Gy (60.11 Gy vs 53.48 Gy). Heart D1 increased 0.30 Gy (2.69 Gy vs 2.96 Gy);in the presence of ±3.5% range uncertainties, CTavg_tumor based plan’s accumulated GTV D98 degraded to 57.99 Gy (+3.5%) 59.38 Gy (?3.5%), and CTavg_muscle based plan’s accumulated GTV D98 degraded to 59.37 Gy (+3.5%) 59.37 Gy (?3.5%). Conclusion: This study shows that CTavg_Tumor and CTavg_Muscle based planning strategies provide the most robust GTV coverage. However, clinicians need to be aware that the actual dose to OARs at distal end of target may increase. The study also indicates that the current SFUD PBS planning strategy might not be sufficient to compensate the CT calibration uncertainty.

Achieving Directionality and Transmit Diversity via Integrating Beam Pattern Scanning (BPS) Antenna Arrays and OFDM

In this paper, we introduce a novel merger of antenna arrays with scanning beam patterns, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Controlled time varying phase shifts are applied to the antenna array elements mounted at the base station with beam patterns directed toward the desired user. This creates a small beam pattern movement called Beam Pattern Scanning (BPS). In rich scattering environments BPS creates a time varying environment leading to time diversity exploitable at the receiver enhances its probability-of-error performance. Here, we apply OFDM signals to BPS antenna arrays, and we achieve: (1) directionality, which supports Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA);and (2) a time diversity gain, which leads to high performance. We discuss the structure of the base station antenna array and the OFDM receiver that exploits time diversity. We also introduce the merger of BPS and multi-carrier OFDM (MC-OFDM) systems. In MC-OFDM each bit is transmitted over all sub-carriers after serial to parallel conversion. BPS/ MC-OFDM receiver exploits both time diversity inherent in BPS, and frequency diversity inherent in MC-OFDM transmission technique. Simulation results show high Probability-of-error performance is achie- vable via BPS/OFDM and BPS/MC-OFDM schemes comparing to the traditional OFDM and MC-OFDM, respectively. Simulations also reveal that MC-OFDM system as well as its merger with BPS is capable of mitigating large Peak-to-Average Ratio (PAPR) problem in traditional OFDM system. In addition, performance simulations with coded OFDM (COFDM) and coded MC-OFDM (MC-COFDM) and their merger with BPS are studied.

Metamaterial beam scanning leaky-wave antenna based on quarter mode substrate integrated waveguide structure

In this paper, we first propose a metamaterial structure by etching the same two interdigital fingers on the upper ground of quarter mode substrate integrated waveguide（QMSIW）. The simulated results show that the proposed QMSIWbased metamaterial has a continuous phase constant changing from negative to positive values within its passband. A periodic leaky-wave antenna（LWA）, which consists of 11 QMSIW-based metamaterial unit cells, is designed, fabricated,and measured. The measured results show that the fabricated antenna achieves a continuous beam scanning property from backward-43° to forward ＋32° over an operating frequencyrange of 8.9 GHz–11.8 GHz with return loss better than 10 d B.The measured antenna gain keeps consistent with the variation of less than 2 d B over the operating frequency range with a maximum gain of 12 d B. Besides, the measured and simulated results are in good agreement with each other, indicating the significance and effectiveness of this method.

Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study of Pyrite CuSe2 Films on SrTiO3

We perform molecular beam epitaxy growth and scanning tunneling microscopy study of copper diselenide （CuSe2 ） films on SrTiO3 （001）. Using a Se-rich condition, the single-phase pyrite CuSe2 grows in the Stranski-Krastanov （layer-plus-island） mode with a preferential orientation of （111）. Our careful inspection of both the as-grown and post-annealed CuSe2 films at various temperatures invariably shows a Cu-terminated surface, which, depending on the annealing temperature, reconstructs into two distinct structures 2 ×√3 and √x ×√3-R30°. The Cu termi- nation is supported by the depressed density of states near the Fermi level, measured by in-situ low temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Our study helps understand the preparation and surface chemistry of transition metal pyrite dichalcogenides thin films.

2-D localization system utilizing M-sequence encoded laser beam scanning

In this paper, as the active position measurement system, a novel method for a two-dimensional localization system using M-sequence signal is proposed. The feature of this system is to realize a position measurement only by scanning the encoded laser beams from fixing points to a measurement field, and by observing it. First, both the system configuration and encoding method were practically considered, and an order and an initial value of M-sequence signal were selected for encoding. This method is based on discrete angle measurement therefore the resolution has its own limitation. To overcome this limitation, analogue phase shift detecting method was introduced. System design was performed and applied to position measurement experiments. The experimental results show that the measurement error of the analogue method is 1/3 of that of the discrete method.

ENLARGING SAR PATCH-MAPPING AREA BY ANTENNA BEAM SCAN

The approach for enlargement of SAR patch mapping area by antenna beam scan is investigated, which serves for moderate fine-resolution mapping of medium-sized terrain patches. The scanning angular velocity and the scanning angular scope are determined respectively. The angular velocity of the scanning antenna is controlled to scan over just one azimuth 3 dB beam width in the time interval during which the radar platform moves over one synthetic aperture length determined from the desired cross-range resolution, radar wavelength, nominal slant range, and squint angle. The scanning angular scope is mainly determined by the azimuth width of the terrain patch, nominal slant range, squint angle, platform velocity, and azimuth beam width. Finally, the related experimental results of an airborne SAR are presented. The linear range-Doppler algorithm is employed in image formation after motion compensation is conducted to remove the effect of transnational motion of the radar platform relative to the map center.

GPU-accelerated scanning path optimization in particle cancer therapy

When using the beam scanning method for particle beam therapy, the target volume is divided into many iso-energy slices and is irradiated slice by slice. Each slice may comprise thousands of discrete scanning beam positions. An optimized scanning path can decrease the transit dose and may bypass important organs. The minimization of the scanning path length can be considered as a variation of the traveling salesman problem; the simulated annealing algorithm is adopted to solve this problem. The initial scanning path is assumed as a simple zigzag path;subsequently, random searches for accepted new paths are performed through cost evaluation and criteria-based judging. To reduce the optimization time of a given slice,random searches are parallelized by employing thousands of threads. The simultaneous optimization of multiple slices is realized by using many thread blocks of generalpurpose computing on graphics processing units hardware.Running on a computer with an Intel i7-4790 CPU and NVIDIA K2200 GPU, our new method required only 1.3 s to obtain optimized scanning paths with a total of 40 slices in typically studied cases. The procedure and optimization results of this new method are presented in this work.

TEMPLATE MATCHING ALGORITHM OF RADAR BEAM SCAN TYPE RECOGNITION

Phased array radar has been applied broadly because of its sound performance.But signal of phased array radar is of a wide variety of types.Therefore,recognition of phased array radar is the most puzzling aspect of the whole emitter identification domain.To solve the problem,the article proposes the method that identifies phased array radar by pulse amplitude information,and studies the phased array radar,models transmit signal of them,and receiving signal by radar countermeasure reconnaissance receiver.From constructing template of pulse train's amplitude vector of mechanical scanning radar,computing distance of samples and standard template,finding threshold of the template matching arithmetic,the article puts forward the template matching algorithm of radar beam scan type recognition to identify phased array radar automatically.

New clinical application of digital intraoral scanning technology in occlusal reconstruction:A case report

BACKGROUND Digital intraoral scanning,although developing rapidly,is rarely used in occlusal reconstruction.To compensate for the technical drawbacks of current occlusal reconstruction techniques,such as time consumption and high technical requirements,digital intraoral scanning can be used in clinics.This report aims to provide a way of selecting the most suitable maxillo-mandibular relationship(MMR)during recovery.CASE SUMMARY A 68-year-old man with severely worn posterior teeth underwent occlusal reconstruction with fixed prosthesis using digital intraoral scanning.A series of digital models in different stages of treatment were obtained,subsequently compared,and selected using digital intraoral scanning together with traditional measurements,such as cone beam computed tomography,joint imaging,and clinical examination.Using digital intraoral scanning,the MMR in different stages of treatment was accurately recorded,which provided feasibility for deciding the best occlusal reconstruction treatment,made the treatment process easier,and improved patient satisfaction.CONCLUSION This case report highlights the clarity,recordability,repeatability,and selectivity of digital intraoral scanning to replicate and transfer the MMR during occlusal reconstruction,expanding new perspectives for its design,fabrication,and postoperative evaluation.