In situ TEM investigation of electron irradiation and aging-induced high-density nanoprecipitates in an Mg-10Gd-3Y-1Zn-0.5Zr alloy

In-situ electron irradiation and aging are applied to introduce high-density precipitates in an Mg-10Gd-3Y-1Zn-0.5Zr(GWZ1031K,wt.%)alloy to improve the hardness.The results show that the hardness of the Mg alloy after irradiation for 10 h and aging for 9 h at 250℃ is 1.64 GPa,which is approximately 64% higher than that of the samples before being treated.It is mainly attributed to γ'precipitates on the basal plane after irradiation and the high-density nanoscale β'precipitates on the prismatic plane after aging,which should be closely related to the irradiation-induced homogenous clusters.The latter plays a key role in precipitation hardening.This result paves a way to improve the mechanical properties of metallic materials by tailoring the precipitation through irradiation and aging.

Protective and Regenerative Efficacy of a Plant Oil-Based Day and Night Cream: Investigated by a Novel Approach to Reveal the Impact of Blue Light Irradiation on Epidermal Barrier Integrity and Lipid Matrix

In recent years, the harmful effects of blue light (400 - 500 nm) as a component of visible light (400 - 700 nm) have increasingly gained attention of science, industry, and consumers. To date, only a few in vivo test methods for measuring the effects of blue light on the skin have been described. A direct measurement method that can detect the immediate effects of blue light on the epidermal permeability barrier (EPB) is still lacking. In this study, we present a new methodological approach that can be used to investigate both the protective and regenerative effects of cosmetic products on the EPB after blue light irradiation. In a study with 14 female volunteers, it was investigated whether the regular application of an O/W emulsion (day cream) can strengthen and protect the epidermal barrier against damaging blue light radiation of 60 J/cm2 (protective study design) and also whether a disruption of the epidermal barrier caused by blue light radiation is restored faster and better by the regular application of another O/W emulsion (night cream) than in product-untreated skin (regenerative study design). The two O/W emulsions are different in plant oil, active ingredient composition and texture. The seven-day treatment with the day cream initially led to a significant increase in the normalized lipid lamellae length in the intercellular space, whereas the irradiation with blue light after 24 hours led to a significant decrease in the lipid lamellae length in the untreated test area, but not in the area previously treated with the product. Regarding the regenerative study design, a two-day treatment with the night cream was able to restore a blue-light-induced decrease in lipid lamellae length in the intercellular space. In summary, with the study designs presented here, the protective and regenerative effect of two cosmetic products could be demonstrated for the first time on the integrity of the EPB after blue light irradiation and the data showed that the Lipbarvis® method is suitable for investigating the damaging effects of blue light on the EPB in vivo.

Effects of Strain Channel on Electron Irradiation Tolerance of InP-based HEMT Structures

The introduction of strain In_(x)Ga_(1-x)As channel with high In content increases the confinement of the two-dimensional electron gas(2DEG)and further improves the high-frequency performance of InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMTs.The effect of In_(x)Ga_(1-x)As channel with different In contents on electron irradiation tolerance of InP-based HEMT structures in terms of 2DEG mobility and density has been investigated.The experiment results show that,after the same high electron irradiation dose,the 2DEG mobility and density in InP-based HEMT structures with strain In_(x)Ga_(1-x)As(x>0.53)channel decrease more dramatically than that without strain In_(0.53)Ga_(0.47)As channel.Moreover,the degradation of 2DEG mobility and density becomes more severe as the increase of In content and strain in the In_(x)Ga_(1-x)As channel.The research results can provide some suggestions for the design of radiation-resistant InP-based HEMTs.

Deformation defects and electron irradiation effect in nanostructured Al-Mg alloy processed by severe plastic deformation

In order to explore the exact nature of deformation defects previously observed in nanostructured Al-Mg alloys subjected to severe plastic deformation, a more thorough examination of the radiation effect on the formation of the planar defects in the high pressure torsion （HPT） alloys was conducted using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. The results show that high density defects in the HRTEM images disappear completely when these images are exposed under the electron beam for some duration of time. At the same time, lattice defects are never observed within no-defect areas even when the beam-exposure increases to the degree that holes appear in the areas. Therefore, it is confirmed that the planar defects observed in the HPT alloys mainly result from the significant plastic deformation and are not due to the radiation effect during HRTEM observation.

Effect of electron beam irradiation on multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） were irradiated with focused electron beams in a transmission electron microscope at room temperature. The results showed that carbon nanotubes had no obvious structural damages but only shell bending under 100 keV electron beam irradiation. However, when the electron energy increased to 200 keV, the nanotubes were damaged and amorphization, pits and gaps were detected. Furthermore, generating of carbon onions and welding between two MWCNTs occurred under 200 keV electron irradiation. It was easy to destroy the MWCNTs as the electron beams exceeded the displacement threshold energy that was calculated to be 83-110 keV. Conversely, the energy of electron beams below the threshold energy was not able to damage the tubes. The damage mechanism is sputtering and atom displacement.

Research on degradation of 2, 4 dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol in water by electron beam irradiation

Electron beam was successfully used for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in water. The effects of radiation doses on substrate degradation and dechlorination of solutions with concentrations of 50 mg/L for both chlorophenols were investigated. The effects of initial concentration, pH and absence of oxygen on the degradation were also investigated. The concentrations of 2,4-DCP and PCP remaining in solution after irradiation were measured by high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). The results showed that an increased radiation dose led to increased degradation of the chlorophenols and increased Cl- yields. In all cases, the rate of degradation was found to be higher than the corresponding inorganic chloride yield from the parent compound. Deoxygenation was also found to increase the rate of degradation of the chlorophenols in water while degradation under alkaline condition was lower than at low to neutral pH.

Synthesis of a Ag/Ag Cl/PLA membrane under electron beam irradiation for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and chloramphenicol

Polylactic acid(PLA)has been extensively applied in the fields of biology and renewable biodegradable materials because of its superior biodegradability.PLA has excellent potential as a renewable biodegradable adsorbent in wastewater treatment.However,its poor photocatalytic properties have hindered its practical application.In this study,polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVPP)or glutaraldehyde(GA)was utilized as an adhesive agent to prepare Ag/AgCl/PLA photocatalysts with highly efficient visible light photocatalysis on a PLA fabric by utilizing the electron beam irradiation method.The photocatalytic activities of the Ag/AgCl/PLA samples were examined under visible light irradiation to analyze the degradation of methylene blue(MB)and chloramphenicol(CPL).Our experimental results demonstrate that the nanomaterial Ag/AgCl was uniformly distributed on the PLA fiber surface;this can be attributed to the effects of the crosslinking PVPP or GA.Under electron beam irradiation,adding crosslinking PVPP(or GA)is beneficial to the loading of Ag/AgCl onto the PLA.For the composite Ag/AgCl/PLA,the degradation rate for MB was as high as 97% after 150 min of visible light irradiation.The addition of 4 mg/ml of Ag/AgCl solution resulted in the greatest photocatalytic activity for CPL,and we advanced the possible degradation pathways of CPL with the best sample.Additionally,the as-prepared composite Ag/Ag Cl/PLA exhibited favorable antibacterial activity against E.coli and S.aureus,with a bacterial removal rate of >77%.

Photocarrier radiometry for noncontact evaluation of space monocrystalline silicon solar cell under low-energy electron irradiation

A space monocrystalline silicon（c-Si） solar cell under low-energy（〈 1 MeV） electron irradiation was investigated using noncontact photocarrier radiometry（PCR）. Monte Carlo simulation（MCS） was employed to characterize the effect of different energy electron irradiation on the c-Si solar cell. The carrier transport parameters（carrier lifetime, diffusion coefficient, and surface recombination velocities） were obtained by best fitting the experimental results with a theoretical one-dimensional two-layer PCR model. The results showed that the increase of the irradiation electron energy caused a large reduction of the carrier lifetime and diffusion length. Furthermore, the rear surface recombination velocity of the Si：p base of the solar cell at the irradiation electron energy of 1 Me V was dramatically enhanced due to 1 MeV electron passing through the whole cell. Short-circuit current（I sc） degradation evaluated by PCR was in good agreement with that obtained by electrical measurement.

Charging dynamics of a polymer due to electron irradiation:A simultaneous scattering-transport model and preliminary results

We present a novel numerical model and simulate preliminarily the charging process of a polymer subjected to electron irradiation of several 10 keV. The model includes the simultaneous processes of electron scattering and ambipolar transport and the influence of a self-consistent electric field on the scattering distribution of electrons. The dynamic spatial distribution of charges is obtained and validated by existing experimental data. Our simulations show that excess negative charges are concentrated near the edge of the electron range. However, the formed region of high charge density may extend to the surface and bottom of a kapton sample, due to the effects of the electric field on electron scattering and charge transport, respectively. Charge trapping is then demonstrated to significantly influence the charge motion. The charge distribution can be extended to the bottom as the trap density decreases. Charge accumulation is therefore balanced by the appearance and increase of leakage current. Accordingly, our model and numerical simulation provide a comprehensive insight into the charging dynamics of a polymer irradiated by electrons in the complex space environment.

Identifying defect energy levels using DLTS under different electron irradiation conditions

Electron beams of 0.5, 1.5, 2.0, and 5.0 MeV were used to irradiate n-Si diodes to fluences of5.5×10^(13), 1.7×10^(14), and 3.3×1014 e cm^(-2). The forward voltage drop, minority carrier lifetime, and deep level transient spectroscopy(DLTS) characteristics of silicon p–n junction diodes before and after irradiation were compared. At the fluence of 3.3×10^(14) e cm^(-2), the forward voltage drop increased from 1.25 V at 0.5 MeV to 7.96μs at 5.0 MeV, while the minority carrier lifetime decreased significantly from 7.09 ls at 0.5 MeV to 0.06μs at 5.0 MeV. Six types of changes in the energy levels in DLTS spectra were analyzed and discussed.

Characteristics of charge and discharge of PMMA samples due to electron irradiation

In this study, using a comprehensive numerical simulation of charge and discharge processes, we investigate the formation and evolution of negative charge and discharge characteristics of a grounded PMMA film irradiated by a non- focused electron beam. Electron scattering and transport processes in the sample are simulated with the Monte Carlo and the finite-different time-domain （FDTD） methods, respectively. The properties of charge and discharge processes are presented by the evolution of internal currents, charge quantity, surface potential, and discharge time. Internal charge accumulation in the sample may reach saturation by primary electron （PE） irradiation providing the charge duration is enough. Internal free electrons will run off to the ground in the form of leakage current due to charge diffusion and drift during the discharge process after irradiation, while trapped electrons remain. The negative surface potential determined by the charging quantity decreases to its saturation in the charge process, and then increases in the discharge process. A larger thickness of the PMMA film will result in greater charge amount and surface potential in charge saturation and in final discharge state, while the electron mobility of the material has little effects on the final discharge state. Moreover, discharge time is less for smaller thickness or larger electron mobility. The presented results can be helpful for estimating and weakening the charging of insulating samples especially under the intermittent electron beam irradiation in related surface analysis or measurement.

Effect of Different Doses of Electron Beam Irradiation on the Structure of PAN Precursor Fibers and Resultant Stabilized Fibers

Different doses of electron beam was imposed on the polyacrylonitrile（PAN） precursor fibers before the fibers were stabilized. The effect of electron beam irradiation on the chemical structure, crystallite size of PAN precursor fibers and density, oxygen content, transverse section morphology of the stabilized fibers in the stabilization process were characterized by the use of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）, float- sink procedure, elemental analysis and scanning electron microscope（SEM）, respectively. The results showed that the extent of cyclization was increased and the crystallite size was decreased. We found that electron beam irradiation could accelerate the cyelization reaction and stabilization reaction in the stabilization process through density test and elemental analysis. We also found that the effect of 200 kGy electron beam irradiated fibers with the stabilization time of 75 min was better than that of the original stabilized fibers with 90 min. These results demonstrate that electron beam irradiation can shorten the stabilization time.

Electron beam irradiation on novel coronavirus(COVID-19):A Monte-Carlo simulation

The novel coronavirus pneumonia triggered by COVID-19 is now raging the whole world.As a rapid and reliable killing COVID-19 method in industry,electron beam irradiation can interact with virus molecules and destroy their activity.With the unexpected appearance and quickly spreading of the virus,it is urgently necessary to figure out the mechanism of electron beam irradiation on COVID-19.In this study,we establish a virus structure and molecule model based on the detected gene sequence of Wuhan patient,and calculate irradiated electron interaction with virus atoms via a Monte Carlo simulation that track each elastic and inelastic collision of all electrons.The characteristics of irradiation damage on COVID-19,atoms’ionizations and electron energy losses are calculated and analyzed with regions.We simulate the different situations of incident electron energy for evaluating the influence of incident energy on virus damage.It is found that under the major protecting of an envelope protein layer,the inner RNA suffers the minimal damage.The damage for a^100-nm-diameter virus molecule is not always enhanced by irradiation energy monotonicity,for COVID-19,the irradiation electron energy of the strongest energy loss damage is 2 keV.

Decomposition mechanism of chloramphenicol under electron beam irradiation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of electron beam to decompose chloramphenicol （CAP） in aqueous solutions. At the absorbed dose of 15 kGy, the decomposition rate of CAP was 95.24%. The degradation of CAP under electron beam irradiation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Redox reactions of CAP aqueous solutions with hydroxyl radicals （.OH）, hydrated electrons （eaq） and hydrated atoms （·H） were studied. The increase of the additives would result in the decrease of the degradation efficiency. The concentration of Cl- and NO3- in aqueous solution increased after electron beam irradiation. On the basis of the experimental results, a photocatalytic mechanism was discussed. The rate constant for reactions of .OH and CAP was 9.36×10^7 L/（mol.s） and for reaction of eaq and CAP was 7.33×10^7 L/（mol.s）..OH was supposed to play the key role in the radiation system of aqueous solution. Other free radicals like eaq and .H could also initiate the degradation.

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.

Analysis of the decrease of two-dimensional electron gas concentration in GaN-based HEMT caused by proton irradiation

Gallium nitride(Ga N)-based high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs)that work in aerospace are exposed to particles radiation,which can cause the degradation in electrical performance.We investigate the effect of proton irradiation on the concentration of two-dimensional electron gas(2 DEG)in Ga N-based HEMTs.Coupled Schr¨odinger’s and Poisson’s equations are solved to calculate the band structure and the concentration of 2 DEG by the self-consistency method,in which the vacancies caused by proton irradiation are taken into account.Proton irradiation simulation for Ga N-based HEMT is carried out using the stopping and range of ions in matter(SRIM)simulation software,after which a theoretical model is established to analyze how proton irradiation affects the concentration of 2 DEG.Irradiated by protons with high fluence and low energy,a large number of Ga vacancies appear inside the device.The results indicate that the ionized Ga vacancies in the Ga N cap layer and the Al Ga N layer will affect the Fermi level,while the Ga vacancies in the Ga N layer will trap the two-dimensional electrons in the potential well.Proton irradiation significantly reduced the concentration of 2 DEG by the combined effect of these two mechanisms.

Dose inter-comparison studies for ^(60)Co gamma-ray and electron beam irradiation in the year 2002

Dose inter-comparison studies for Co γ-ray and 10 MeV electron beam irradiation were carried out 60 from July to October in 2002. The purpose of the studies was to check the reliability of the alanine-PE film dosime- ters made by CIAE, which will be used as transfer standard dosimetry system mainly for electron beam irradiation. The expanded uncertainty of CIAE alanine/EPR dosimetry system was 4.1% for doses not higher than 10 kGy and 5.4% for those above 10 kGy (k=2). CIAE alanine-PE film dosimeters were sent to JAERI, RISO (National Labora- tory in Denmark) and INCT respectively, which were irradiated by Co gamma-rays or electron beams in each labo- 60 ratory. The irradiated dosimeters were then sent back to CIAE for electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis. The agreements were obtained to be ±1.9% for gamma-ray dose measurement and ±4.3% for electron beam dose measurement, which were all within the combined uncertainty of the reference and CIAE alanine/EPR dosimetry system. Furthermore, the overall mean ratio was found to be 0.995 with 1.8% in the coefficient of variation (CV). The preliminary inter-comparison studies indicated that CIAE film alanine/EPR dosimetry system had the potential to be used as a transfer dosimetry system for high dose measurement.

Difference in electron-and gamma-irradiation effects on output characteristic of color CMOS digital image sensors

Changes of the average brightness and non-uniformity of dark output images,and quality of pictures captured under natural lighting for the color CMOS digital image sensorsirradiated at different electron doses have been studied in comparison to those from theγ-irradiated sensors. For the electron-irradiated sensors, the non-uniformity increases obviouslyand a small bright region on the dark image appears at the dose of 0.4 kGy. The average brightnessincreases at 0.4 kGy, increases sharply at 0.5 kGy. The picture is very blurry only at 0.6 kGy,showing the sensor undergoes severe performance degradation. Electron radiation damage is much moresevere than γ radiation damage for the CMOS image sensors. A possible explanation is presented inthis paper.