Tutorial on Neutron Physics in Dosimetry

Almost since the time of the discovery of the neutron more than 70 years ago, efforts have been made to understand the effects of neutron radiation on tissue and, eventually, to use neutrons for cancer treatment. In contrast to charged particle or photon radiations which directly lead to release of electrons, neutrons interact with the nucleus and induce emission of several different types of charged particles such as protons, alpha particles or heavier ions. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the neutron-nucleus interaction is necessary for dose calculations and treatment planning with the needed accuracy. We will discuss the concepts of dose and kerma, neutron-nucleus interactions and have a brief look at nuclear data needs and experimental facilities and set-ups where such data are measured.Comment: Invited talk at the 11th Neutron and Ion Dosimetry Symposium NEUDOS-11, October 11-16, 2009, Cape Town, South Africa. 14 pages, 8 figures; submitted to Radiation Measurement

Two-Photon Absorption in a Conformationally Twisted D-π-A Oligomer : A Synergic Photosensitizing Approach for Multiphoton Lithography

International audienceA comparative study of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of a novel triphenylamine–pyrimidine alternated oligomer and its corresponding V-shaped quadrupolar monomer is presented. Both chromophores strikingly exhibit the same spectral shape when considering their respective one- and two-photon absorption spectra. This effect was attributed to a weak interchromophore coupling within the oligomer which exhibits a highly distorted geometry resulting in a strong reduction of the effective conjugation length. The recursive implementation of nine monomers into a three-dimensional architecture leads however to a cooperative enhancement of the two-photon absorption (2PA) cross-section with a δMAX of 5093 GM at 800 nm. This very high 2PA ability has been oriented to improve the two-photon induced polymerization efficiency of a bicomponent photoinitiator system implying a hexaarylbiimidazole used as a H-abstractor and an aliphatic amine used as a H-donor. The photosensitizing mechanism is investigated and we clearly show that the intrinsic photoinitiation efficiency of the oligomer is increased by a factor 3 as compared to its corresponding monomer. We therefore demonstrate that such a two-photon sensitizing strategy leads to a synergy effect combining a higher photoinitiation reactivity and a very large two-photon absorption cross-section

Design and Development of a DC/DC converter for High-Voltage Pulsed Electrical Stimulation

openThis thesis focuses on the design, simulation, and assembly of a compact, portable, and optionally wearable voltage conversion device for electrical stimulation applications. The device is engineered to be small and battery-powered, potentially taking the form of a smartwatch. It is capable of generating a monophasic waveform with high voltage pulses, adjustable from 50 V to 15 kV, and is operated through two on-board touchscreens and a user-friendly interface. The thesis includes comprehensive documentation of the device's manufacturing process and testing procedures. The device is intended to enhance the application of various electro-stimulation therapies by providing a versatile, portable solution for clinical and experimental use.This thesis focuses on the design, simulation, and assembly of a compact, portable, and optionally wearable voltage conversion device for electrical stimulation applications. The device is engineered to be small and battery-powered, potentially taking the form of a smartwatch. It is capable of generating a monophasic waveform with high voltage pulses, adjustable from 50 V to 15 kV, and is operated through two on-board touchscreens and a user-friendly interface. The thesis includes comprehensive documentation of the device's manufacturing process and testing procedures. The device is intended to enhance the application of various electro-stimulation therapies by providing a versatile, portable solution for clinical and experimental use

New Trends on Optical Fiber Tweezers

In the last few decades, optical trapping has played an unique role concerning contactless trapping and manipulation of biological specimens. More recently, optical fiber tweezers (OFTs) are emerging as a desirable alternative to bulk optical systems. In this paper, an overview of the state of the art of OFTs is presented, focusing on the main fabrication methods, their features and main achievements. In addition, new OFTs fabricated by guided wave photo polymerization are reported. Their theoretical and experimental characterization is given and results demonstrating its application in the manipulation of yeast cells and the organelles of plant cells are presented

Surface improvement of organic photoresists using a near-field-dependent etching method

Surface flattening techniques are extremely important for the development of future electrical and/or optical devices because carrier-scattering losses due to surface roughness severely limit the performance of nanoscale devices. To address the problem, we have developed a near-field etching technique that provides selective etching of surface protrusions, resulting in an atomically flat surface. To achieve finer control, we examine the importance of the wavelength of the near-field etching laser. Using light sources at wavelengths of 325 and 405 nm, which are beyond the absorption edge of the photoresist (310 nm), we compare the resulting cross-sectional etching volumes. The volumes were larger when 325 nm light was employed, i.e., closer to the absorption edge. Although 405 nm light did not cause structural change in the photoresist, a higher reduction of the surface roughness was observed as compared to the 325 nm light. These results indicate that even wavelengths above 325 nm can cause surface roughness improvements without notably changing the structure of the photoresist

NDEC: A NEA platform for nuclear data testing, verification and benchmarking

The selection, testing, verification and benchmarking of evaluated nuclear data consists, in practice, in putting an evaluated file through a number of checking steps where different computational codes verify that the file and the data it contains complies with different requirements. These requirements range from format compliance to good performance in application cases, while at the same time physical constraints and the agreement with experimental data are verified. At NEA, the NDEC (Nuclear Data Evaluation Cycle) platform aims at providing, in a user friendly interface, a thorough diagnose of the quality of a submitted evaluated nuclear data file. Such diagnose is based on the results of different computational codes and routines which carry out the mentioned verifications, tests and checks. NDEC also searches synergies with other existing NEA tools and databases, such as JANIS, DICE or NDaST, including them into its working scheme. Hence, this paper presents NDEC, its current development status and its usage in the JEFF nuclear data project

An electrochromic ionic liquid: design, characterisation and performance in a solid state platform

This work describes the synthesis and characteristics of a novel electrochromic ionic liquid (IL) based on a phosphonium core tethered to a viologen moiety. When integrated into a solid-state electrochromic platform, the viologen modified IL behaved as both the electrolyte and the electrochromic material. Platform fabrication was achieved through in situ photo-polymerisation and encapsulation of this novel IL within a hybrid sol-gel. Important parameters of the platform performance, including its coloration efficiency, switching kinetics and optical properties were characterised using UV/Vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry in tandem. The electrochromic platform exhibits a coloration efficiency of 10.72 cm2C-1, and a varied optical output as a function of the incident current. Despite the rather viscous nature of the material, the platform exhibited approximately two orders of magnitude faster switching kinetics (221 seconds to reach 95 % absorbance) when compared to previously reported electrochromic ILs (18,000 seconds)