Stokes scintillations for vector beams in turbulence

We introduce the Stokes scintillation indices and the corresponding overall Stokes scintillations for quantitatively studying the fluctuations of both the intensity and polarization of an optical vector beam transmitting through the atmospheric turbulence.With the aid of the multiple-phase-screen method,we examine the Stokes fluctuations of a radially polarized beam in Kolmogorov turbulence numerically.The results show that the overall scintillation for the intensity distribution is always larger than the overall scintillation for the polarization-dependent Stokes parameters,which indicates that the polarization state of a vector beam is stabler than its intensity distribution in the turbulence.We interpret the results with the depolarization effect of the vector beam in turbulence.The findings in this work may be useful in free-space optical communications utilizing vector beams.

Scintillations of optical vortex in randomly inhomogeneous medium

The comparative numerical and analytical analysis of scintillation indices of the vortex Laguerre–Gaussian beam and the nonvortex doughnut hole and Gaussian beams propagating in the randomly inhomogeneous atmosphere has been performed. It has been found that the dependence of the scintillation index at the axis of the optical vortex on the turbulence intensity at the path has the form of a unit step. It has been shown that the behavior of scintillations in the cross sections of vortex and nonvortex beams differs widely. Despite the scintillation index of vortex beams has been calculated only for the simplest LG10 mode, the obtained results are quite general, because they demonstrate the main properties inherent in scintillations of vortex beams of any type.

Development of a scintillating-fiber-based beam monitor for the coherent muon-to-electron transition experiment

The coherent muon-to-electron transition(COMET)experiment is a leading experiment for the coherent conversion of μ^(-)N→e^(-)N using a high-intensity pulsed muon beamline,produced using innovative slow-extraction techniques.Therefore,it is critical to measure the muon beam characteristics.We set up a muon beam monitor(MBM),where scintillating fibers woven in a cross shape were coupled to silicon photomultipliers to measure the spatial profile and timing structure of the extracted muon beam for the COMET.The MBM detector was tested successfully with a proton beamline at the China Spallation Neutron Source and took data with good performance in the commissioning run.The development of the MBM,including its mechanical structure,electronic readout,and beam measurement results,are discussed.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE SCINTILLATIONS OF LASER BEAM IN ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE

Combining the modulation actions of the large-scale turbulent eddies leading to beam wander as a whole and the small-scale turbulent eddies leading to beam breathing, and the nonstationary nature of the atmospheric turbulence, we discuss the problem of the distribution of intensity scintillations of laser beam.

Aperture-averaging effects for weak to strong scintillations in turbulent atmosphere

Under the approximations of (1) the received irradiance fluctuations of an optical wave caused by small scale turbulent eddies are multiplicatively modulated by the fluctuations caused by large scale turbulent eddies; (2) the scintillations caused by small- and large-scale eddies, respectively, are statistically independent; (3) the Rytov method for optical scintillation collected by the finite-diameter receiving aperture is valid for light wave propagation under weak to saturation fluctuation regime, we develop the applicable aperture-averaging analytic formulas in the week-to-strong-fluctuation for the scintillations of plane and spherical waves, which include the outer- and inner-scale rules of turbulence.

Performance of compact plastic scintillator strips with wavelength shifting fibers using a photomultiplier tube or silicon photomultiplier readout

This study presents the design and performance results for compact plastic scintillator strips using a wavelength shifting fiber(WLS-fiber)readout with dimensions of 0.1 m×0.02 m×2 m.This approach was evaluated as a candidate for a cosmic-ray muon detector for the Taishan Antineutrino Observatory(JUNO-TAO).The strips coupled with 3-inch photomultiplier tubes(PMTs)were measured and compared between the single-end and double-end readout options.Additionally,a strip using the double-end option coupling with a silicon photomultiplier(SiPM)was further evaluated and compared with the results obtained using PMTs.The performance of the strips was determined by a detailed survey along their length with a cosmicray muon after detailed characterization of the 3-inch PMTs and SiPMs.The proposed design employing a compact plastic scintillator strip with WLS-fiber coupling to a SiPM provides a good choice for cosmic-ray muon veto detectors,particularly when detector dimensions must be limited.

Conceptual design of a Cs2LiLaBr6 scintillator‑based neutron total cross section spectrometer on the back‑n beam line at CSNS

To reduce the experimental uncertainty in the 235 U resonance energy region and improve the detection efficiency for neutron total cross section measurements compared with those obtained with the neutron total cross section spectrometer(NTOX), a dedicated lithium-containing scintillation detector has been developed on the Back-n beam line at the China Spallation Neutron Source. The Fast Scintillator-based Neutron Total Cross Section(FAST) spectrometer has been designed based on a Cs2Li La Br6(CLLB) scintillator considering the γ-ray flash and neutron environment on the Back-n beam line. The response of the CLLB scintillator to neutrons and γ-rays was evaluated with different 6Li/7 Li abundance ratios using Geant4. The neutron-γdiscrimination performance of the CLLB has been simulated considering different scintillation parameters, physical designs,and light readout modes. A cubic 6Li-enriched( > 90%) CLLB scintillator, which has a thickness of 4-9 mm and side length of no less than 50 mm to cover the Φ 50 mm neutron beam at the spectrometer position, has been proposed coupling to a side readout SiPM array to construct the FAST spectrometer. The developed simulation techniques for neutron-γ discrimination performance could provide technical support for other neutron-induced reaction measurements on the Back-n beam line.

Design optimization of plastic scintillators with wavelength-shifting fibers and silicon photomultiplier readouts in the top veto tracker of the JUNO-TAO experiment

Plastic scintillators(PSs)embedded with wavelength-shifting fibers are widely used in high-energy particle physics,such as in muon taggers,as well as in medical physics and other applications.In this study,a simulation package was built to evaluate the effects of the diameter and layout of optical fibers on the light yield with different configurations.The optimal optical configuration was designed based on simulations and validated using two PS prototypes under certain experimental condi-tions.A top veto tracker(TVT)for the JUNO-TAO experiment,comprising four layers of 160 strips of PS,was designed and evaluated.The threshold was evaluated when the muon tagging efficiency of a PS strip was>99%.The efficiency of three layer out of four layer of TVT is>99%,even with a tagging efficiency of a single strip as low as 97%,using a threshold of 10 photoelectrons and assuming a 40%silicon PM photon detection efficiency.

Suppression of Plasma Bubbles over South America under Weak Geomagnetic Perturbations

During a long-term Equatorial Plasma Bubbles(EPBs)occurrence between October 2020 and March 2021,a significant EPB suppression event was identified on November 22 and the observations from multi-instrument have been utilized to investigate this event.Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk(GOLD)satellite observed prominent EPBs between 23:40 UT and 23:55 UT during the long-term occurrence days.However,no dark stripes representing EPBs were observed on November 22,and the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly(EIA)structure remained intact.The Total Electron Content(TEC)maps show that these EPBs appeared in the region between 35°W and 65°W longitudes and the magnitudes of the TEC loss in EPBs regions were about 20 TECU.Except for 22 November,the S4 index was consistently greater than 0.6 throughout November,indicating significant ionospheric scintillation.The Rate Of TEC Index(ROTI)maps revealed that the spatial extent and intensity of EPBs increased after their suppression,and the EPBs were locally generated.The swarm electron density measurements indicated that the variation amplitudes of EPBs at 510 km altitude were approximately 3 to 5 times larger than that at 460 km altitude.The impact region of EPBs at 510 km was between 15°S and 20°N latitudes,while at 460 km,it was between 0°and 17°N latitudes.During the period of EPB suppression,the average h’f at three ionosonde stations decreased by about 50 km,and the vertical drift velocity(V z)approached~0 m/s while it was more than 20 m/s during the long-term occurrence.

Advances in nuclear detection and readout techniques

“A Craftsman Must Sharpen His Tools to Do His Job,”said Confucius.Nuclear detection and readout techniques are the foundation of particle physics,nuclear physics,and particle astrophysics to reveal the nature of the universe.Also,they are being increasingly used in other disciplines like nuclear power generation,life sciences,environmental sciences,medical sciences,etc.The article reviews the short history,recent development,and trend of nuclear detection and readout techniques,covering Semiconductor Detector,Gaseous Detector,Scintillation Detector,Cherenkov Detector,Transition Radiation Detector,and Readout Techniques.By explaining the principle and using examples,we hope to help the interested reader underst and this research field and bring exciting information to the community.

Data-driven simultaneous vertex and energy reconstruction for large liquid scintillator detectors

High-precision vertex and energy reconstruction are crucial for large liquid scintillator detectors such as that at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory(JUNO),especially for the determination of neutrino mass ordering by analyzing the energy spectrum of reactor neutrinos.This paper presents a data-driven method to obtain a more realistic and accurate expected PMT response of positron events in JUNO and develops a simultaneous vertex and energy reconstruction method that combines the charge and time information of PMTs.For the JUNO detector,the impact of the vertex inaccuracy on the energy resolution is approximately 0.6%.

Relationships between ionospheric parameters derived from ionosonde observations and characteristics of post-sunset GHz scintillation during high solar activities(2012−2013)at Sanya(18.3°N,109.6°E),China

In this study,we present characteristics of post-sunset GHz scintillation occurrence and their correlations with ionospheric parameters derived from ionosonde observations in high solar activity years(2012−2013)of solar cycle 24 at Sanya(18.3°N,109.6°E;dip lat.:12.8°N),China.The analyzed data include the F_(2)-layer’s critical frequency(foF_(2)),peak height(h_(m)F_(2)),and minimum virtual height(h’F),as well as the scale height around the F_(2)-layer peak(H_(m)),and virtual height(h’F_(5))and true height(hF_(5))measured at 5 MHz.We have investigated relationships between the equinoctial asymmetry of these scintillations and these ionospheric parameters.In addition,we calculate the growth rates of Rayleigh−Taylor instability on the basis of the ionosonde measurements and theoretical models,respectively.We find that the equinoctial asymmetry of scintillation onset time is associated with the scale length of the vertical electron density gradient(L),which has been shown to affect the growth of Rayleigh−Taylor instability at the bottom of the F-layer.The seasonal variations of foF_(2),H_(m)and scale length of vertical electron density gradient appear to cause the seasonal variations of scintillation occurrence;the equinoctial asymmetry of scintillation occurrence rate over low latitudes appears to be related to background electron density and vertical drifts in the F-layer around time of sunset.Further study is required to explain the observed correlational weakness in low latitudes between scintillation strength,represented by the daily maximum S4,and daily maximum values of foF_(2),h_(m)F_(2),h’F,H_(m),and also the drifts.

Discrimination of pp solar neutrinos and^(14)C double pile-up events in a large-scale LS detector

As a unique probe,the precision measurement of pp solar neutrinos is important for studying the sun’s energy mechanism as it enables monitoring the thermodynamic equilibrium and studying neutrino oscillations in the vacuum-dominated region.For a large-scale liquid scintillator detector,a bottleneck for pp solar neutrino detection is the pile-up events of intrinsic14C decay.This paper presents a few approaches to discriminating between pp solar neutrinos and ^(14)C pile-up events by considering the differences in their time and spatial distributions.In this study,a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation is conducted.Multivariate analysis and deep learning technology are adopted to investigate the capability of ^(14)C pile-up reduction.The BDTG (boosted decision trees with gradient boosting) model and VGG network demonstrate good performance in discriminating pp solar neutrinos and ^(14)C double pile-up events.Under the ^(14)C concentration assumption of 5×10-18g/g,the signal significance can achieve 10.3 and 15.6 using the statistics of only one day.In this case,the signal efficiency for discrimination using the BDTG model while rejecting 99.18% ^(14)C double pile-up events is 51.1%,and that for the case where the VGG network is used while rejecting 99.81%of the ^(14)C double pile-up events is 42.7%.

Performance optimization of scintillator neutron detectors for EMD in CSNS

Chinese Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS) has successfully produced its first neutron beam in 28th August 2017. It has been running steadily from March, 2018. According to the construction plan, the engineering materials diffractometer(EMD) will be installed between 2019–2023. This instrument requires the neutron detectors with the cover area near3 m2in two 90° neutron diffraction angle positions, the neutron detecting efficiency is better than 40%@1A, and the spatial resolution is better than 4 mm×200 mm in horizontal and vertical directions respectively. We have developed a onedimensional position-sensitive neutron detector based on the oblique6Li F/Zn S(Ag) scintillators, wavelength shifting fibers,and Si PMs(silicon photomultipliers) readout. The inhomogeneity of the neutron detection efficiency between each pixel and each detector module, which caused by the inconsistency of the wave-length shifting fibers in collecting scintillation photons, needs to be mitigated before the installation. A performance optimization experiment of the detector modules was carried out on the BL20(beam line 20) of CSNS. Using water sample, the neutron beam with Φ5 mm exit hole was dispersed related evenly into the forward space. According to the neutron counts of each pixel of the detector module, the readout electronics threshold of each pixel is adjusted. Compared with the unadjusted detector module, the inhomogeneity of the detection efficiency for the adjusted one has been improved from 69% to 90%. The test result of the diffraction peak of the standard sample Si showed that the adjusted detector module works well.

Determination of Plutonium Isotopes in Radioactive Waste Contaminated with Uranium and Thorium

Nucleco is the Sogin Group’s Italian leading company in the sector of radiological services,radioactive waste management,decontamination and reclamation of industrial sites and nuclear power plants.Nucleco is 60%owned by Sogin and 40%by ENEA-National Agency for New Technologies.The waste characterization carried out by Nucleco SpA includes a large variety of radionuclides belonging to the gamma,beta and alpha emitter families.The determination of Uranium and Plutonium isotopes plays a key role in the waste characterization.Nucleco SpA has distinguished itself in characterizations of radioactive waste in complex and nuclear plant matrices.These matrices have large amounts of alpha emitters,in particular isotopes of Uranium,Thorium and Plutonium.A significant presence of U238 results in such a large amount of Th234(and daughters)that interferes with the determination of Pu241.Hence,there is the need of finding a pre-treatment,extraction and subsequent purification technique that would allow Th234 to be detached and thus Pu241 to be determined in complex high-activity matrices.The above elements are extracted using chromatography columns.An isotope of the element to be analyzed,with known activity,is added at the beginning of the process to determine the extraction yield.Before being eluted into the column,the sample undergoes a series of treatments in order to be purified of any interferents.The method developed by Nucleco involves the oxidation of Pu at valence+6 and the subsequent precipitation,in fluorides form,of the elements with valence+4 and+3(i.e.Th234).Pu241 is then measured by LSC(Liquid Scintillation Counting),while the other isotopes are measured by alpha spectrometry after electrodeposition on a metal plate.

几种掺杂离子对钨酸铅晶体闪烁性能的提高

When lead tungstate scintillating crystals are used as dense and fast radiat ors for γ ray detectors in high radiation environment in future high energy a c celerators such as LHC,the main problems are (1) radiation hardness is not yet s atisfactory,(2) light yield is low. When some impurities are removed from the raw materials,the origin of radiation damage is not related to the purity of the raw material but to structural defect s produced during the growth process.These defects result from the leakage of le ad ( V c(Pb)) and oxygen ( V o) and introduce local charge unbalance that ea sily traps electrons or holes and act as temporary color centers under irradiati on. So doping different ions to compensate charge and suppress the existing defe cts is necessary.

闪烁晶体——辐射探测用单晶

Phosphor converts excitation energy into light,resulting in lumminescence.The luminescence caused by radiation is called scintillation.Since the discovery of the scintillation in NaI∶Tl crystal in 1948,a series of materials with profound scintillating characteristics have been developed and have found wide applications for radiation detection in different fields such as nuclear physics,high energy physics,medical diagnostic imaging,geophysics exploration,clandestine explosive finding and many industrial measuring systems. Inorganic scintillating crystals have superior characteristics over their organic counterparts and some kinds of ceramics,glasses and powders that do have their scintillation effects.We will confine ourselves mainly to inorganic scintillating crystals in this presentation..

Characteristics of ionospheric scintillation climatology over Indian low-latitude region during the 24th solar maximum period

The amplitude and phase of L-band satellite signals are fluctuated randomly due to small scale electron density irregularity structures in the ionosphere which result in fleeting variations, known as 'ionospheric scintillations'. The Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) is a profound remote sensing tool to monitor, model and forecast the ionospheric weather conditions. In this paper, the GNSS amplitude scintillation data has been analyzed during the year 2013 at Bengaluru(12.9°N, 77.59°E) and Lucknow(26.8467°N, 80.9462°E) stations to reinforce climatology of ionospheric scintillation over Indian low-latitude region. The probability of scintillation occurrence and their variations over equatorial and Equatorial Ionization Anomaly(EIA) regions in India are analyzed during various geomagnetic quiet and disturbed days, months and seasons. The annual occurrence of amplitude scintillations are mapped with the function of local time. It is observed from the experimental results that the probability of scintillations occurrences is higher over EIA region than over the equatorial region. The probability of scintillations is higher during March equinox and December solstice, and lowest during June solstice.Distribution of scintillations is intense during post-sunset period. The maximum percentage of scintillation occurrences at the two stations are recorded in November. Moreover, the highest percentage of scintillation occurrences took place on storm day(March 17, 2013) at the two stations. This work would be helpful for understanding the features of GNSS amplitude scintillations over Southern and Northern Indian regions. Moreover, these kinds of investigations are helpful for developing new algorithms to nowcast and forecast ionospheric scintillations over Indian Sub-continent.

Sources of IR Radiation in the Earth’s Atmosphere in Connection with the PeTa Effect

The PeTa (Perelman-Tatartchenko) effect is the radiation of the energy of a first-order phase transition during the transition from a less condensed phase to a more condensed one. The effect was independently discovered by M. Perelman and the author of this paper. Six papers on the PeTa effect have been published in this journal over the past nine years. They are devoted to the development of PeTa models to explain the following phenomena: IR radiation from cold surfaces, cavitation luminescence/sonoluminescence (CL/SL), laser-induced bubble luminescence (LIBL), and vapor bubble luminescence (VBL) in underwater geysers. This paper describes the sources of PeTa radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere. These sources of infrared radiation have been investigated by numerous research groups, but their interpretation either does not exist at all, or it is erroneous. The following phenomena are specifically considered: PeTa radiation during the formation of clouds and fog;a pulse laser based on the PeTa radiation;condensation explosions as sources of PaTa radiation;measurement of the concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere using PeTa radiation;atmospheric scintillation of infrared radiation in the atmosphere due to the PeTa effect;PeTa radiation as a source of comfort for the igloo;the influence of PeTa radiation on living organisms;PeTa radiation due to characteristics of tropical storms;PeTa radiation as a possible precursor to earthquakes. The problem of global warming, which worries everyone, as it turns out, is also associated with the PeTa effect.

Unfolding analysis of LaBr3:Ce gamma spectrum with a detector response matrix constructing algorithm based on energy resolution calibration

With respect to the gamma spectrum, the energy resolution improves with increase in energy. The counts of full energy peak change with energy, and this approximately complies with the Gaussian distribution. This study mainly examines a method to deconvolve the LaBr_3:Ce gamma spectrum with a detector response matrix constructing algorithm based on energy resolution calibration.In the algorithm, the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of full energy peak was calculated by the cubic spline interpolation algorithm and calibrated by a square root of a quadratic function that changes with the energy. Additionally, the detector response matrix was constructed to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. Furthermore, an improved SNIP algorithm was proposed to eliminate the background. In the experiment, several independent peaks of ^(152)Eu,^(137)Cs, and ^(60)Co sources were detected by a LaBr_3:Ce scintillator that were selected to calibrate the energy resolution. The Boosted Gold algorithm was applied to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. The results showed that the peak position difference between the experiment and the deconvolution was within ± 2 channels and the relative error of peak area was approximately within 0.96–6.74%. Finally, a ^(133) Ba spectrum was deconvolved to verify the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm in unfolding the overlapped peaks.