Neutron irradiation influence on high-power thyristor device under fusion environment

Because of their economy and applicability,high-power thyristor devices are widely used in the power supply systems for large fusion devices.When high-dose neutrons produced by deuterium–tritium(D–T)fusion reactions are irradiated on a thyristor device for a long time,the electrical characteristics of the device change,which may eventually cause irreversible damage.In this study,with the thyristor switch of the commutation circuit in the quench protection system(QPS)of a fusion device as the study object,the relationship between the internal physical structure and external electrical parameters of the irradiated thyristor is established.Subsequently,a series of targeted thyristor physical simulations and neutron irradiation experiments are conducted to verify the accuracy of the theoretical analysis.In addition,the effect of irradiated thyristor electrical characteristic changes on the entire QPS is studied by accurate simulation,providing valuable guidelines for the maintenance and renovation of the QPS.

Comparison of neutron irradiation effects on the electrical performances of SiGe HBT and SiBJT

The change of electrical performances of silicon-germanium (SiGe)heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and Si bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was studied as afunction of reactor fast neutron radiation fluence. Alter neutron irradiation, the collector currentI_c and the current gain beta decrease, and the base current I_b increases generally for SiGe HBT.The higher the neutron irradiation fluence is, the larger I_b increases. For conventional Si BJT,I_c and I_b increase as well as beta decreases much larger than SiGe HBT at the same fluence. It isshown that SiGe HBT has a larger anti-radiation threshold and better anti-radiation performance thanSi BJT. The mechanism of performance changes induced by irradiation was preliminarily discussed.

Neutron irradiation-induced effects on the reliability performance of electrochemical metallization memory devices

In this work,electrochemical metallization memory(ECM)devices with an Ag/AgInSbTe(AIST)/amorphous carbon(a-C)/Pt structure were irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons.The switching reliability performance before and after neutron irradiation was compared and analyzed in detail.The results show that the irradiated memory cells functioned properly,and the initial resistance,the resistance at the low-resistance state(LRS),the RESET voltage and the data retention performance showed little degradation even when the total neutron fluence was as high as 2.5×1011 n/cm2.Other switching characteristics such as the forming voltage,the resistance at the high-resistance state(HRS),and the SET voltage were also studied,all of which merely showed a slight parameter drift.Irradiation-induced Ag ions doping of the a-C layer is proposed to explain the damaging effects of neutron irradiation.The excellent hard characteristics of these Ag/AIST/a-C/Pt-based ECM devices suggest potential beneficial applications in the aerospace and nuclear industries.

Determination of Neutron Irradiation-Induced Phosphorus Segregation on Grain Boundaries in a P-doped 2.25Cr1Mo Steel

Irradiation-induced impurity segregation to grain boundaries is one of the important radiation effects on materials. For this reason, phosphorus segregation to prior austenite grain boundaries in a P-doped 2.25Cr1Mo steel subjected to neutron irradiation is examined using field emission gun scanning transmission electron microscopy (FEGSTEM) with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). The steel samples are irradiated around 270 and 400℃, respectively. The irradiation dose rate and dose are -1.05×10-8 dpa/s and -0.042 dpa respectively for 270℃ irradiation, and 1.7×10-8 dpa/s and 0.13 dpa respectively for 400℃ irradiation. The FEGSTEM results indicate that there is no apparent phosphorus segregation during 270℃ irradiation but there is some during 400℃ irradiation.

Neutron irradiation effects on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

A1GaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors （HEMTs） were exposed to 1 MeV neutron irradiation at a neutron ftuence of 1 × 10^15 cm-2. The dc characteristics of the devices, such as the drain saturation current and the maximum transconductance, decreased after neutron irradiation. The gate leakage currents increased obviously after neutron irradiation. However, the rf characteristics, such as the cut-off frequency and the maximum frequency, were hardly affected by neutron irradiation. The A1GaN/GaN heterojunctions have been employed for the better understanding of the degradation mechanism. It is shown in the Hall measurements and capacitance voltage tests that the mobility and concentration of two-dimensional electron gas （2DEG） decreased after neutron irradiation. Tbere was no evidence of the full-width at half-maximum of X-ray diffraction （XRD） rocking curve changing after irradiation, so the dislocation was not influenced by neutron irradiation. It is concluded that the point defects induced in A1GaN and GaN by neutron irradiation are the dominant mechanisms responsible for performance degradations of A1GaN/GaN HEMT devices.

The effects of fast neutron irradiation on oxygen in Czochralski silicon

The effects of fast neutron irradiation on oxygen atoms in Czochralski silicon （CZ-Si） are investigated systemically by using Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectrometer and positron annihilation technique （PAT）. Through isochronal annealing, it is found that the trend of variation in interstitial oxygen concentration （[Oi]） in fast neutrons irradiated CZ-Si fluctuates largely with temperature increasing, especially between 500 and 700℃. After the CZ-Si is annealed at 600℃, the V4 appearing as three-dimensional vacancy clusters causes the formation of the molecule-like oxygen clusters, and more importantly these dimers with small binding energies （0.1-1.0eV） can diffuse into the Si lattices more easily than single oxygen atoms, thereby leading to the strong oxygen agglomerations. When the CZ-Si is annealed at temperature increasing up to 700℃, three-dimensional vacancy clusters disappear and the oxygen agglomerations decompose into single oxygen atoms （O） at interstitial sites. Results from FTIR spectrometer and PAT provide an insight into the nature of the [Oi] at temperatures between 500 and 700℃. It turns out that the large fluctuation of [Oi] after short-time annealing from 500 to 700℃ results from the transformation of fast neutron irradiation defects.

Analysis of multiple cell upset sensitivity in bulk CMOS SRAM after neutron irradiation

In our previous studies, we have proved that neutron irradiation can decrease the single event latch-up （SEL） sensitivity of CMOS SRAM. And one of the key contributions to the multiple cell upset （MCU） is the parasitic bipolar amplification, it bring us to study the impact of neutron irradiation on the SRAM＇s MCU sensitivity. After the neutron experiment, we test the devices＇ function and electrical parameters. Then, we use the heavy ion fluence to examine the changes on the devices＇ MCU sensitivity pre- and post-neutron-irradiation. Unfortunately, neutron irradiation makes the MCU phenomenon worse. Finally, we use the electric static discharge （ESD） testing technology to deduce the experimental results and find that the changes on the WPM region take the lead rather than the changes on the parasitic bipolar amplification for the 90 nm process.

An optical study of the D-D neutron irradiation-induced defects in Co-and Cu-doped ZnO wafers

Room-temperature photoluminescence and optical transmittance spectroscopy of Co-doped（1×1014,5×1016,and 1×1017cm-2） and Cu-doped（5×1016cm-2） ZnO wafers irradiated by D-D neutrons（fluence of 2.9×1010 cm-2） have been investigated.After irradiation,the Co or Cu metal and oxide clusters in doped ZnO wafers are dissolved,and the wu¨rtzite structure of ZnO substrate for each sample remains unchanged and keeps in high c-axis preferential orientation.The degree of irradiation-induced crystal disorder reflected from the absorption band tail parameter（E0） is far greater for doped ZnO than the undoped one.Under the same doping concentration,the Cu-doped ZnO wafer has much higher irradiation-induced disorder than the Co-doped one.Photoluminescence measurements indicate that the introduction rate of both the zinc vacancy and the zinc interstitial is much higher for the doped ZnO wafer with a high doping level than the undoped one.In addition,both crystal lattice distortion and defect complexes are suggested to be formed in doped ZnO wafers.Consequently,the Co-or Cu-doped ZnO wafer（especially with a high doping level） exhibits very low radiation hardness compared with the undoped one,and the Cu-doped ZnO wafer is much less radiation-hard than the Co-doped one.

A Cluster Dynamics Model for Accumulation of Helium in Tungsten under Helium Ions and Neutron Irradiation

A cluster dynamics model based on rate theory has been developed to describe the accumulation and diffusion processes of helium in tungsten under helium implantation alone or synergistic irradiationwith neutron,by involving different types of objects,adopting up-to-date parameters and complex reaction processes as well as considering the diffusion process along with depth.The calculated results under different conditions are in good agreement with experiments much well.The model describes the behavior of helium in tungsten within 2D space of defect type/size and depth on different ions incident conditions(energies and fluences)and material conditions(system temperature and existent sinks),by including the synergistic effect of helium-neutron irradiations and the influence of inherent sinks(dislocation lines and grain boundaries).The model,coded as IRadMat,would be universally applicable to the evolution of defects for ions/neutron irradiated on plasma-facing materials.

Neutron irradiation effects on mechanical properties of ITER specification tungsten

In this contribution,we present the results of recent neutron irradiation campaign performed in the material test reactor BR2(Belgium)on pure tungsten.We have applied various irradiation conditions and sample geometry to assess the effect of neu-tron irradiation on hardness,bending,tensile and fracture mechanical properties.The investigated material is a commercially pure tungsten plate fabricated according to the international thermonuclear experimental reactor(ITER)specification for the application in the divertor plasma-facing components.The neutron irradiation covers a large span of temperatures and damage doses,ranging from 600 to 1200°C and 0.1-1 dpa.The obtained mechanical properties were analyzed to deduce the shift of the ductile to brittle transition temperature(DBTT)applying bending,tensile and fracture toughness-testing procedures.Then,a correlation of the fracture toughness with the change of the hardness was established.The obtained results are compared with the already published results on another ITER specification grade produced in the form of a rod.The presented and discussed results show that the performance of the compared grades in terms of the irradiation-induced embrittlement is similar,and that the irradiation in the high-temperature region(600-800°C)causes a considerable DBTT shift already at 0.2-0.5 dpa.

Low temperature testing and neutron irradiation of a swept charge device on board the HXMT satellite

We present the low temperature testing of an SCD detector, investigating its performance such as readout noise, energy resolution at 5.9 keV and dark current. The SCD’s performance is closely related to temperature, and the temperature range of 80℃ to 50℃ is the best choice, where the FWHM at 5.9 keV is about 130 eV. The influence of the neutron irradiation from an electrostatic accelerator with fluence up to 1 × 109 cm-2 has been examined. We find the SCD is not vulnerable to neutron irradiation. The detailed operations of the SCD and the test results of low temperature are reported, and the results of neutron irradiation are discussed.

Synergistic effects of neutron and gamma ray irradiation of a commercial CHMOS microcontroller

This paper presents the experimental results of a combined irradiation environment of neutron and gamma rays on 80C196KC20, which is a 16-bit high performance member of the MCS96 microcontroller family. The electrical and functional tests were made in three irradiation environments： neutron, gamma rays, combined irradiation of neutron and gamma rays. The experimental results show that the neutron irradiation can affect the total ionizing dose behaviour. Compared with the single radiation environment, the microcontroller exhibits considerably more severe degradation in neutron and gamma ray synergistic irradiation. This phenomenon may cause a significant hardness assurance problem.

Thermal conductivity of boron carbide under fast neutron irradiation

Due to the complex products and irradiation-induced defects, it is hard to understand and even predict the thermal conductivity variation of materials under fast neutron irradiation, such as the abrupt degradation of thermal conductivity of boron carbide (B_(4)C) at the very beginning of the irradiation process. In this work, the contributions of various irradiation-induced defects in B_(4)C primarily consisting of the substitutional defects, Frenkel defect pairs, and helium bubbles were re-evaluated separately and quantitatively in terms of the phonon scattering theory. A theoretical model with an overall consideration of the contributions of all these irradiation-induced defects was proposed without any adjustable parameters, and validated to predict the thermal conductivity variation under irradiation based on the experimental data of the unirradiated, irradiated, and annealed B_(4)C samples. The predicted thermal conductivities by this model show a good agreement with the experimental data after irradiation. The calculation results and theoretical analysis in light of the experimental data demonstrate that the substitutional defects of boron atoms by lithium atoms, and the Frenkel defect pairs due to the collisions with the fast neutrons, rather than the helium bubbles with strain fields surrounding them, play determining roles in the abrupt degradation of thermal conductivity with burnup.

Accelerated oxygen precipitation in fast neutron irradiated Czochralski silicon

Annealing effect of the oxygen precipitation and the induced defects have been investigated on the fast neutron irradiated Czochralski silicon （CZ-Si） by infrared absorption spectrum and the optical microscopy. It is found that the fast neutron irradiation greatly accelerates the oxygen precipitation that leads to a sharp decrease of the interstitial oxygen with the annealing time. At room temperature （RT）, the 1107cm^-1 infrared absorption band of interstitial oxygen becomes weak and broadens to low energy side. At low temperature, the infrared absorption peaks appear at 1078cm^-1, 1096cm^-1, and 1182cm^-1, related to different shapes of the oxygen precipitates. The bulk microdefects, including stacking faults, dislocations and dislocation loops, were observed by the optical microscopy. New or large stacking faults grow up when the silicon self-interstitial atoms are created and aggregate with oxygen precipitation.

Impact of neutron-induced displacement damage on the single event latchup sensitivity of bulk CMOS SRAM

Since the displacement damage induced by the neutron irradiation prior has negligible impact on the performance of the bulk CMOS SRAM, we use the neutron irradiation to degrade the minority carrier lifetime in the regions responsible for latchup. With the experimental results, we discuss the impact of the neutron-induced displacement damage on the SEL sensitivity and qualitative analyze the effectiveness of this suppression approach with TCAD simulation.

Characteristics of Positron Trapping at Defects in Neutron－irradiated Silicon Grown in Argon Atmosphere

The positron lifetime spectroscopy and Doppler-broadening measurements indicate that there alwaysare some V-type defects in FZ Si during annealing from room temperature to 1150℃ . In NTD (neutrontransmutation doped) Si irradiated by 6×10￣(16) neutrons/ cm￣2 the main defect is V-type, the V_2 defectshave only an intensity of 7.3% and anncal out at the temperature lower than 200℃ . In NTD Si irradiatedby 1.2×10￣(18) neutrons/cm￣2 the intensities due to V- and V_2type defects are 59% and 35%. The formerdisappears at 55℃ . the latter increases above 200℃ , decreases greatly above 550℃ , and disappears at650℃ . In addition, V_4 appears at 125～200℃, V_4 and / or V_5 defects at 400～600℃ in high-dose irradiated NTD Si. It seems that radiation doses have a bigger influence on the formation and annealing behaviorof secondary V_2type defects. Above 700℃ a lot of dislocations and / or monovacancy-type defects are formed.

Boron neutron capture therapy for malignant melanoma： first clinical case report in China

A phase Ⅰ/Ⅱ clinical trial for treating malignant melanoma by boron neutron capture therapy（BNCT） was designed to evaluate whether the world＇s first in-hospital neutron irradiator（IHNI） was qualified for BNCT. In this clinical trial planning to enroll 30 patients, the first case was treated on August 19, 2014. We present the protocol of this clinical trial, the treating procedure, and the clinical outcome of this first case. Only grade 2 acute radiation injury was observed during the first four weeks after BNCT and the injury healed after treatment. No late radiation injury was found during the 24-month follow-up. Based on positron emission tomography-computed tomography（PET/CT） scan, pathological analysis and gross examination, the patient showed a complete response to BNCT,indicating that BNCT is a potent therapy against malignant melanoma and IHNI has the potential to enable the delivery of BNCT in hospitals.

Radiation dose effects on the morphological development of M_(1) generation pea(Pisum sativum)

We irradiated pea seeds with neutrons from a ^(252)Cf source and studied the radiation dose effects on various morphological development parameters during the growth of M_(1) generation peas.We found that in the dose range of 0.51-9.27 Gy,with the increase in neutron-absorbed dose,the morphological development parameters of M_(1) generation peas at the initial seedling stage showed an obvious trend with three fluctuations.With the development of pea,this trend gradually weakened.Further analysis and verification showed that the main trend in the M_(1) generation of pea seeds was an inhibitory effect induced by neutron irradiation and there was a good linear correlation between the inhibitory effect and neutron absorption dose We successfully demonstrated the background removal of mutant plants and defined morphological developmen parameters for peas that match the overall development of plants.Our results will positively impact neutron mutation breeding and automatic agriculture.

A neutron radiation-hardened superluminescent diode

We present a novel superluminescent diode （SLD） with high optical performances for hardened neutron irradiation. The degradation of the light output from the SLDs is caused by a reduction of the minority carrier lifetime resulting from displacement damage after high-energy neutron irradiation. The SLDs with a higher pre- irradiation light output will be less sensitive to radiation. We have selected an InGaAsP/InP multi-quantum well （MQW） as the active region structure for its performance, its high optical gain and minute active region. Graded- index separate-confinement-heterostructure （GRIN-SCH） has been applied for the waveguide structure. A specific absorbing region and anti-reflective coatings have been designed and optimized. Moreover, the radiation test results indicate that the SLD with an InGaAsP/InP MQW structure has better neutron hardening ability than the SLD with DH structures after a 6×10^13-1×10^14 n/cm^2 1 MeV neutron irradiation.

Microstructure,hardening and deuterium retention in CVD tungsten irradiated with neutrons at temperatures of defect recovery stagesⅡandⅢ

Samples of ultra-high-purity tungsten prepared using chemical vapour deposition(CVD)technique were irradiated with neutrons at temperatures T_(irr)=373-483 K(stage Ⅱ of defect recovery)and T_(irr)=573-673 K(stage Ⅲ)up to 0.15 displacements per atom(dpa)in the Belgian reactor(BR2).The study of the microstructure of neutron-damaged samples using transmission electron microscopy(TEM)revealed visible defects with a predominance of dislocation loops.With an increase in the neutron irradiation temperature,the spatial distribution of the loops acquired pronounced inhomogeneity,and their average size moderately increased.Cavities and voids were not observed.Irradiation-induced hardening was found and a linear correlation was obtained between Vickers microhardness and nanohardness for undamaged and neutron-irradiated CVD-W samples.Irradiation of tungsten with neutrons led to a significant increase in the retention of deuterium,which accumulated mainly in vacancy-type traps.Furthermore,the influence of the columnar grain structure in low-dose neutron-irradiated tungsten seemed to be non-trivial upon deuterium retention.