In this study, we investigate etched channels of a special shape that arise during the search for superheavy nuclei in olivines from meteorites. The possibility of the appearance of tracks of this shape due to electrons penetrating olivine at a distance of several microns from the track is considered. The calculation results related to the spatio-temporal development of an electron shower during the passage of a heavy ion through olivine are presented. It has been shown that it is not possible to explain the observed effect only by the presence of δ electrons. In addition, the correspondence of a number of assumptions of some models of ion passage through matter to the obtained characteristics of δ electrons is discussed.

Solid-state track detectors made of glass have been used for detecting fission fragments since the 1960s [1–3]. These detectors are efficient for recording, they are relatively insensitive to light and background beta and gamma radiations, and they have a low own background. The passage of a multicharged ion in a glass creates a hidden image in the form of residual defects along the track of the ion with a width of ~10 nm. This hidden image can be detected by chemical etching. In an optical microscope, the etched track is observed as a well of a conical shape with a vertex coinciding with the trajectory of the particle, and with a diameter on the glass surface of the order of 5 to 10 μm. Compared to other solid-state detectors of multicharged ions (micas, plastics), glasses have a number of advantages, especially the lack of layering, which prevents the restoration of the full length of the track. We need to note the spectrometric property of glasses, namely, the proportionality of the linear size of the etched defect to the charge of the particle slowing in the detector to a stop. This property allows establishing a relationship between the particle charge and the geometric parameters of the track. In this study we used phosphate glasses as materials for detectors of charged particles. In these glasses, the main glass-forming component is phosphorus pentoxide P2O5. In particular, phosphates were successfully used in 1969 at the LNR JINR in an experiment to search for element 105 by spontaneous fission [4]. Previously we demonstrated a successful implementation of the automated processing of the detected tracks [5]. The aim of this study is to develop an offline method for an automated search for rare events of the decay of superheavy nuclei in order to record multicharged ions and determine their characteristics.

Increased mechanical properties of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are mainly due to the high density of uniformly distributed oxide inclusions. It is well known that some alloying elements, such as Ti, V, Al, … play an important role in the formation of oxides/nanoclusters and affect the density and size of these inclusions. In this paper, a wide range of ODS steels containing various alloying elements are studied. Microstructural analysis was performed by transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. Various types of inclusions were found in the steels: oxides of the Y–Ti–O or Y–Al–O types with sizes of ~2– 15 nm, as well as nanoclusters (2–5 nm) enriched in Y, O, Cr, as well as Ti, V, Al, if these elements were present in the material. It was shown that oxides contribute to the hardening of steels considerably, and clusters did comparable contribution with the contribution of oxides only in Austenitic ODS and 14Cr ODS steels.

The formation of anomalous particles (granules) with a significantly different content of microalloying interstitial elements of carbon and boron characterizes the heterogeneity of the composition of rapidly quenched particles of high temperature Ni-based superalloys and stainless steels powders manufactured by the plasma rotating electrode process (PREP) technique. A detailed multiscale experimental study of the microstructure of PREP powders and PM HIP compacts of Ni-based superalloys and stainless steels is carried out in order to reveal the features of the microstructure of anomalous granules in the as-received state and consolidated state. Direct nuclear methods of activation autoradiography on carbon, track autoradiography on boron, metallography, SEM, EDX, and OIM are used. A significant effect of carbon and boron on the dendritic segregation of carbide-forming and boride-forming alloying elements in anomalous granules is revealed. The features of the behavior of carbon and boron, which determine the formation of the microstructure of anomalous granules and their retention in PM HIP compacts, are established.

The aneutronic D3 –He (deuterium–helium-3) fuel cycle is considered as a viable alternative to D– T (deuterium–tritium) fusion since it is ecologically much safer than the latter. It is practically as safe as the aneutronic p–11B (proton–boron-11) reaction. The interest to aneutronic fuel cycles as perspective sources of thermonuclear energy is largely shown by privately-financed venture companies. The plasma-confinement techniques to be employed in planned D–3He thermonuclear reactors and their parameters are reviewed. The problem of helium-3 mining is discussed, and its terrestrial abundance is estimated. Possible applications of weakly-radioactive and aneutronic reactions and fuel cycles are considered.

The results of the calculations of coordinate resolution and hadron rejection factor for a simple е/γ detector consisting of a lead converter followed by a hodoscope are presented. For the simulation of showers, initiated in the converter by electrons and hadrons with energies upto 1 TeV GEANT4 is used. It is shown that the best coordinate resolution for electrons is achieved when the converter thickness is closed to the position tmax of the shower maximum. For example, at 200 GeV with 2 mm strip width hodoscope it is equal to σ = 89 μm provided a “truncated mean” coordinate estimation is used. The optimal thickness of the converter for hadron rejection is also close to tmax. For 200 GeV beam of electrons and protons the rejection factor of 10−4 for 0.9 electron detection efficiency can be reached using only data on charged particles multiplicities. Information on the spatial distribution of the shower particles after the converter allows to enhance further the rejection by several times.

The study considers diffraction radiation, which is excited when an electron moves near a cluster of two interacting subwavelength particles. The interaction is manifested in the fact that the radiation field from each particle is determined not only by the external field of the electron, but also by the field of the neighboring particle. Based on the obtained expressions for the radiation field, the function of cluster polarizability is determined. It characterizes the cluster response to the field of the electron as a whole. It is interesting that the obtained response function of the cluster to an external field, even in the framework of linear theory, generally depends on the external field itself.