Cu_2ZnSnS_4 thin films prepared by sulfurization of ion beam sputtered precursor and their electrical and optical properties

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were successfully prepared by sulfurization of ion bean sputtered precursors on soda-lime glass substrate. The single phase of stannite-type structure CZTS films were obtained as revealed in EDS and XRD analysis when the ratios of the constituents of CZTS thin films are close to stoichiometric by optimizing the conditions of precursor preparation and sulfurization. A low sheet resistivity as about 0.156 Ω·cm and a high absorption coefficient as 1×104 cm-1 were achieved in this method by Hall effect measurements and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The optical band-gap energy of the CZTS sample is about 1.51 eV, which is very close to the optimum value for a solar-cell absorber.

Flower color mutants induced by carbon ion beam irradiation of geranium (Pelargonium × hortorum, Bailey)

In an attempt to elucidate the biological effects and underlying mutations involving flower color in ornamental plants following carbon ion beam radiation,shoots of geranium were exposed at dosages of 0,10,15,30,and40 Gy,and one flower color mutant was obtained.The morphological characteristics,physiological aspects,and DNA polymorphisms between wild-type and flower color mutants were analyzed.The colors of petal,peduncle,pistil,and stamen of the mutant displayed significant differences compared to those of the wild-type.Compared to the original plants,the total anthocyanin content in the petals of the mutant significantly decreased,resulting in a light pink petal phenotype.DNA polymorphisms detected by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis showed that the ratio of different bands between the wild-type and mutant reached up to 13.2%.The present study demonstrates that carbon ion beam irradiation is effective in inducing genomic variations,resulting in flower color geranium mutants within a relatively short period of time.Meanwhile,the developed flower-color mutants may be potentially used in future mutational research studies involving ornamental plants.

Purification and Properties of a New L-Sorbose Dehydrogenase Accelerative Protein from Bacillus megaterium Bred by Ion-Beam Implantation

Bacillus megaterium BM302 bred by ion-beam implantation produces L-sorbose dehydrogenase accelerative protein （SAP） to accelerate the activity of L-sorbose dehydrogenase （SDH） of Gluconobacter oxydans in the 2-keto-L-gulonic acid （2KLG） fermentation from L-sorbose by the mixed culture of B. megaterium BM302 and G. oxydans. The SAP purified by three chromatographic steps gave 35-fold purification with a yield of 13% and a specific activity of 5.21 units/mg protein. The molecular weight of the purified SAP was about 58 kDa. The SDH accelerative activity of SAP at pH 7 and 50℃ was the highest. Additionally, it retained 60% activity at a pH range of 6.5 ～ 10 and was stable at 20℃ ～ 60℃. After 0.32-unit SAP was added to the single cultured G. oxydans strains, the SDH activity was apparently accelerated and the 2KLG yield of GO29, GO112, GO and GI13 was enhanced 2.1, 3.3, 3.5 and 2.9 folds respectively over that of the strains without the addition of SAP.

Storage Stability in Reversion Mutation of a Rice Line Devoid of LOX-1, 2 Acquired by Ion Beam Irradiation

The effect of absence of lipoxygenase isoenzyme （LOX） on storage stability was investigated. Rice mutant 1297 without lipoxygenase isoenzyme-1 （LOX-1） or lipoxygenase isoenzyme-2 （LOX-2） generated by ion beam irradiation from Wanjian2090 and reversion mutant RM1297 with LOX-1 and LOX-2 were subjected to an accelerated-aging experiment. Shanyou63 （with LOX-1 and LOX-2 ） served as control. Results showed that the germination and dehydrogenase activity decreased while the electrical conductivity and free fatty acid content increased in all varieties with accelerated aging. In 1297 that lacked LOX-1 and 2, there were slight changes in germination, dehydrogenase activity, membrane permeability and free fatty acid content during the thirty-day accelerated-aging experiment. But in varieties with LOX-1 and LOX-2, significant changes were observed, suggesting that LOX-1, 2 might be a definite factor which influenced seed lifespan. This study also indicates that ion beam irradiation may be used as mutagen to generate mutant and reversion mutants for biological study and could become a new direction in ion beam application.

Genetic Transformation of Watermelon with Pumpkin DNA by Low Energy Ion Beam-mediated Introduction

The No.601 watermelon (citrullus lanatus) seeds were treated with 25 keV N+ implantation at the dosage of 7.8 ×1016 ions/cm2. After treatment, watermelon seeds were incubated with 380μg/μl pumpkin (Cucubita, maxima Duch) DNA solution at 35 ℃ for 5 hours. By two-generations of selection and resistance screening at seedling stage, one transformed material was selected out, whose rind color is similar to that of the donor pumpkin and whose size of seeds is between that of the donor and the receptor. Using AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) technique, two polymorphic DNA fragments were amplified. This primarily testified that the donor DNA fragments/gene were introduced into the receptor cell and integrated into the genomic DNA of the receptor.

A Mutant of Bacillus Subtilis with High-Producing Surfactin by Ion Beam Implantation

In order to generate a mutant of Bacillus subtilis with enhanced surface activity through low energy nitrogen ion beam implantation, the effects of energy and dose of ions implanted were studied. The morphological changes in the bacteria were observed by scanning electron microscope （SEM）. The optimum condition of ions implantation, 20 keV of energy and 2.6 × 10^15N^＋/cm^2 in dose, was determined. A mutant, B.s-E-8 was obtained, whose surface activity of 50-fold and 100-fold diluted cell-free Landy medium was as 5.6-fold and 17.4-fold as the wild strain. The microbial growth and biosurfactant production of both the mutant and the wild strain were compared. After purified by ultrafiltration and SOURCE 15PHE, the biosurfactant was determined to be a complex of surfactin family through analysis of electrospray ionization mass spectrum （ESI/MS） and there was an interesting finding that after the ion beam implantation the intensities of the components were different from the wild type strain.

The Technique of Genetic Transformation Mediated by keV Ion Beam

The application of keV ion beam in life science started in China several decades ago. In 1986, researchers initially studied the mutagenic effect of ion beam, and successfully applied it to plant breeding. Nowadays, ion beam implantation technique has been extensively applied to many biological fields. This paper mainly introduces one of its important applications: genetic transformation mediated by keV ion beam.

Impact of Low-Energy Ion Beam Implantation on the Expression of Ty1-copia-like Retrotransposons in Wheat(Triticum aestivum)

Retrotransposon-like elements are major constituents of most eukaryotic genomes. For example, they account for roughly 90% of the wheat （Triticum aestivum） genome, Previous study on a wheat strain treated by low-energy N^＋ ions indicated the variations in AFLP （Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism ） markers, One such variation was caused by the re-activation of Tyl-copia-like retrotransposons, implying that the mutagenic effects of lowenergy ions might work through elevated activation of retrotransposons, In this paper an expression profile of Tyl-copia-like retrotransposons in wheat treated by low-energy N^＋ ions is reported, The reverse transcriptase （RT） domains of these retrotransposons were amplified by reverse-transcriptional polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） and sequentially cloned, 42 and 65 clones were obtained from the treated （CL） and control materials （CK）, respectively, Sequence analysis of each clone was performed by software. Phylogeny and classification were calculated responding to the sequences of the RT domains. All the results show that there is much difference in the RT domain between the control sample and the treated sample, Especially, the RT domains from the treated group encode significantly more functional ORF （open reading frames） than those from the control sample, This observation suggests that the treated sample has higher activation of retrotransposons, possibly as a consequence of low-energy ion beam irradiation, It also suggests that retrotransposons in the two groups impact the host gene expression in two different ways and carry out different functions in wheat cells.

Production of radioactive ~9C ion beam and its optimization

To explore the medical use of a radioactive 9C-ion beam in tumor treatment, which is a double radiation source coming from the external beam itself and the delayed particles emitted internally, some physical experiments are performed at the Secondary Beam Line (SBL) of Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator, Chiba (HIMAC) in Japan be- fore radiobiological research for exhibiting therapeutic value of the 9C beam. Intention of the experiments is for pro- ducing a radioactive 9C-ion beam with higher production rate and purity by means of optimizing the beam line pa- rameters. Finally, a produced 9C beam with the production rate of 9.07×10-6 and purity of 82.88% at full momentum acceptance has been obtained under the optimal conditions of 40 mm-thick beryllium target and 10 mm-thick alumi- num degrader. Both momentum distribution and contaminations for the produced 9C beam under the optimal condi- tions are measured. In order to execute further biological experiments of the 9C beam project, a uniform irradiation field is made with the wobbling magnets and its homogeneity is up to 93.8% inside central area of 20mm in diameter.

Effect of ion-beam assisted deposition on the film stresses of TiO_2 and SiO_2 and stress control

Based on Hartmann-Shack sensor technique, an online thin film stress measuring system was introduced to measure the film stresses of TiO2 and SiO2, and comparison was made between the film stresses prepared respectively by the conventional process and the ion-beam assisted deposition. The effect of ion-beam assisted deposition on the film stresses of TiO2 and SiO2 was investigated in details, and the stress control methodologies using on-line adjustment and film doping were put forward. The results show that the film stress value of TiO2 prepared by ion-beam assisted deposition is 40 MPa lower than that prepared by conventional process, and the stress of TiO2 film changes gradually from tensile stress into compressive stress with increasing ion energy; while the film stress of SiO2 is a tensile stress under ion-beam assisted deposition because of the ion-beam sputtering effect, and the film refractive index decreases with increasing ion energy. A dynamic film stress control can be achieved through in-situ adjustment of the processing parameters based on the online film stress measuring technique, and the intrinsic stress of film can be effectively changed through film doping.

Mimicking a Superhydrophobic Insect Wing by Argon and Oxygen Ion Beam Treatment on Polytetrafluoroethylene Film

Biological tiny structures have been observed on many kinds of surfaces such as lotus leaves and insect wings,which enhance the hydrophobicity of the natural surfaces and play a role of self-cleaning.We presented the fabrication technology of a superhydrophobic surface using high energy ion beam.Artificial insect wings that mimic the morphology and the superhydrophobocity of cicada's wings were successfully fabricated using argon and oxygen ion beam treatment on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)film.The wing structures were supported by carbon/epoxy fibers as artificial flexible veins that were bonded through an autoclave process.The morphology of the fabricated surface bears a strong resemblance to the wing surface of a cicada,with contact angles greater than 160°,which could be sustained for more than two months.

Gate/Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation for calculation of dose distribution of 400 MeV/u carbon ion beam and fragments in water

The applications of carbon ion beam in tumor therapy have attracted more attention in recent years.Monte Carlo simulation is an important approach to obtain accurate radiotherapy parameters. In this work, a400 Me V/u carbon ion beam incident on water phantom was simulated with Gate/Geant4 tools. In methods, the authors set up a carbon ion beam source according to the experiment parameters of Haettner, defined the geometries and materials, set up the physics processes, and designed the means of information collection. In results,the authors obtained the longitudinal dose distribution, the lateral dose distribution, and the relative uncertainty of dose. The dose contributions of all kinds of fragments were calculated detailedly and compared with the Francis results. This work is helpful for people's understanding of the dose distributions produced by carbon ion beam and fragments in water. The simulation method is also significative for radiotherapy treatment planning of carbon ion beam, and it is easy to extend. For obtaining a special result, we may change the particle energy, particle type,target material, target geometry, physics process, detector,etc.

Accumulation of 2-Keto-L-Gulonate at 33℃ by a Thermotolerant Gluconobacter Oxydans Mutant Obtained by Ion Beam Implantation

To obtain thermotolerant mutants of G. oxydans, which can enhance the transformation rate of L-sorbose to 2-Keto-L-gulonate （2-KLG） at 33℃ in a two-step process of vitamin C manufacture, ion beam was used as a mutation source. Gluconobacter oxydans GO and Bacillus megaterium B0 were used in this study. The original strain Gluconobacter oxydans GO was mutated by the heavy ion implantation facility at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Several mutants including Gluconobacter oxydans GI13 were isolated and cocultured with Bacillus megaterium B0 at 33℃ in shaking flasks. The average transformation rate of the new mixed strain GI13-B0 in per gram-molecule reached 94.4% after seven passages in shaking flasks, which was increased by 7% when compared with the original mixed strain G0-B0 （Gluconobacter oxydans GO and Bacillus megaterium B0）. Moreover, the transformation rate of I13B0 was stable at 94% at temperatures ranging from 25℃ to 33℃, which would be of much value in reducing energy consumption in the manufacture of L-ascorbic acid, especially in the season of summer. To clarify some mechanism of the mutation, the specific activities of L-sorbose dehydrogenase in both GO and GI13 were estimated.

Study on the Variation of the Distant Crossing Rice by Ion Beam Implantation

In this paper, the following contents including the original receptor EI213 and other two control materials, RAPD polymorphism, photosynthetic efficiency, and the number of vascular bundles of the first internodes below the peduncle have been studied for the eight F7 transgenic lines obtained from ion beam implantation. The results showed that there was a significant variation in genomes of maize-rice line, compared with the receptor EI213, after the total exogenous maize DNA was introduced into EI213. The number of the vascular bundles of maize-rice progeny’s lines was obviously much larger than those of the original receptor EI213 and other two controls GER-3 and MH63, and along with the photosynthetic efficiency of maize-rice progeny’s lines being gone up. Moreover, the parenchyma cells around the vascular bundles of the transgenic lines became much larger in number and in size than those around the controls. All these indicated that the maize-rice progeny’s lines are really different from and superio

Bioeffects of Low Energy Ion Beam Implantation:DNA Damage,Mutation and Gene Transter

Low-energy ion beam implantation （10 - 200 keV） has been proved to have a wide range of biological effects and is broadly used in the breeding of crops and micro-organisms.To understand its mechanisms better and facilitate its applications, the developments in the bioeffects of low energy ion beam implantation in the past twenty years are summarized in this paper.

CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF Cu-Nb AND Ni-Nb AMORPHOUS FILMS PREPARED BY ION BEAM ASSISTED DEPOSITION

The Cu25 Nb75 and Ni45Nb55 amorphous films with about 500nm thickness were prepared by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). Potentiodynamic polarization measurement was adopted to investigate the corrosion resistance of samples and the tests were carried out respectively in 1mol/L H2SO4 and NaOH aquatic solution. The corrosion performance of the amorphous films was compared with that of multilayered and pure Nb films. Experimental results indicated that the corrosion resistance of amorphous films was better than that of the corresponding multilayers and pure Nb films for both Ni-Nb system with negative heat of formation and Cu-Nb system with positive heat of formation.

Preliminary Studies on Base Substitutions and Repair of DNA Mismatch Damage Stimulated by Low Energy N^+ Ion Beam Implantation in Escherichia coli

Ever since the low energy N+ ion beam has been accepted that the mutation effects of ionizing radiation are attributed mainly to direct or indirect damage to DNA. Evidences based on naked DNA irradiation in support of a mutation spectrum appears to be consistent, but direct proof of such results in vivo are limited. Using mutS, dam and/or dcm defective Eschericha coli imitator strains, an preliminary experimental system on induction of in vivo mutation spectra of low energy N+ ion beam has been established in this study. It was observed that the mutation rates of rifampicin resistance induced by N+ implantation were quite high, ranging from 9.2 x 10~8 to 4.9× 10~5 at the dosage of 5.2×1014 ions/cm2. Strains all had more than 90-fold higher mutation rate than its spontaneous mutation rate determined by this method. It reveals that base substitutions involve in induction of mutation of low energy nitrogen ion beam implantation. The mutation rates of mutator strains were nearly 500-fold (GM2929), 400-fold (GM5864) and 6-fold larger than that of AB1157. The GM2929 and GM5864 both lose the ability of repair DNA mismatch damage by virtue of both dam and dcm pathways defective (GM2929) or failing to assemble the repair complex (GM5864) respectively. It may explain the both strains had a similar higher mutation rate than GM124 did. It indicated that DNA cytosine methylase might play an important role in mismatch repair of DNA damage induced by N+ implantation. The further related research were also discussed.

Enhancement of L(+)-Lactic Acid Production of Immobilized Rhizoous Orvzae Imolanted by Ion Beams

Immobilized Rhizopus oryzae culturing may be a solution to the inhibited production of L（＋）-lactic acid in submerged fermentation, which is caused by aggregated mycelia floc. In the present study, a R. oryzae mutant （RL6041） with a 90% conversion rate of glucose into L-lactic acid was obtained by N＋ implantation under the optimized conditions of a beam energy of 15 keV and a dose of 2.6 ×10^15 ions/cm^2. Using polyurethane foam as the immobilization matrix, the optimal L-lactic acid production conditions were determined as 4 mm polyurethane foam, 150 r/min, 50 g/L ～ 80 g/L of initial glucose, 38℃ and pH 6.0. 15-cycle repeated productions of L-lactic acid by immobilized RL6041 were performed under the optimized culturing conditions and over 80% of the glucose was converted into L-lactic acid in 30 hours on average. The results show that immobilized RL6041 is a promising candidate for continuous L-lactic acid production.

Enhanced adhesion of Cu-W thin films by ion beam assisting bombardment implanting

Cu-W thin film with high W content was deposited by dual-target DC-magnetron co-sputtering technology.Effects of the substrates surface treating technique on the adhesive strength of Cu-W thin films were studied.It is found that the technique of ion beam assisting bombardment implanting of W particles can remarkably improve the adhesive property of Cu-W thin films. Indentation and scratching test show that,the critical load is doubled over than the sample only sputter-cleaned by ion beam.The enhancing mechanism of ion beam assisting bombardment implanting of Cu-W thin films was analyzed.With the help of mid-energy Ar+ion beam,W atoms can diffuse into the Fe-substrate surface layer;Fe atoms in the substrate surface layer and W atoms interlace with one another;and microcosmic mechanical meshing and diffusing combination on atom-scale among the Fe and W atoms through the film/substrate interface can be formed.The wettability and thermal expansion properties of the W atoms diffusion zone containing plentiful W atoms are close to those of pure W or W-based Cu-W film.

Effect of Anode Magnetic Shield on Magnetic Field and Ion Beam in Cylindrical Hall Thruster

Numerical simulation of the effect of the anode magnetic shielding on the magnetic field and ion beam in a cylindrical Hall thruster is presented. The results show that after the anode is shielded by the magnetic shield, the magnetic field lines near the anode surface are obviously convex curved, the ratio of the magnetic mirror is enhanced, the width of the positive magnetic field gradient becomes larger than that without the anode magnetic shielding, the radial magnetic field component is enhanced, and the discharge plasma turbulence is reduced as a result of keeping the original saddle field profile and the important role the other two saddle field profiles play in restricting electrons. The results of the particle in cell （PIC） numerical simulation show that both the ion number and the energy of the ion beam increase after the anode is shielded by the magnetic shield. In other words, the specific impulse of the cylindrical Hall thruster is enhanced.