WO2015030619A4

WO2015030619A4 - System and method for testing components, circuits and complex systems using synchronized and pulsed fluxes consisting of laser accelerated particles

Info

Publication number: WO2015030619A4
Application number: PCT/RO2014/000022
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mihai Ganciu-Petcu; Marius-Ioan PISO; Ovidiu-Sorin STOICAN; Bogdan-Vasile MIHALCEA; Constantin DIPLAŞU; Octav MARGHITU; Andreea-Maria JULEA; Agavni SURMEIAN; Andreea-Liliana GROZA; Răzvan-Victor-Anton DABU; Ison MORJAN
Original assignee: Institutul National De Cercetare - Dezvoltare Pentru Fizica Laserilor, Plasmei Si Radiaţiei
Priority date: 2013-08-28
Filing date: 2014-08-26
Publication date: 2015-05-28
Also published as: RO130134B1; RO130134A2; WO2015030619A1

Abstract

The patent application refers to a system and method to test components, circuits and complex equipment, used in order to determine the effect of an external particle flux and of radiation, with different energies, upon the characteristics and operating parameters and, if applicable, upon the program which controls the operation of components, circuits and complex equipment located on-board satellites, space ships or planes flying at high altitudes, that may be part of control systems for nuclear reactors or particle accelerators, intended for handling nuclear materials or waste, or used in areas exposed to nuclear accidents. We suggest a method to generate two or more pulsed fluxes of particles, that can eventually be associated with the emission of gamma or X ray radiation, characterized by specific space configurations, with an aim to use them to perform radiation hardening tests on components and complex systems (intended to operate in outer space or in very demanding environments such as nuclear plants or particle accelerators). According to the patent application, the system is made out of at least two separate laser- plasma particle accelerators (3, 4), placed in different locations with respect to the subsystem (1) under test, fixed on the holder system (2) which is able to rotate and translate, horizontally and vertically, so that the incident particle fluxes (5 and 6) can be applied under different optical angles and to different areas of the subsystem (1). Depending on their design, the laser-plasma accelerators (3 and 4) generate at least two pulsed fluxes of accelerated particles (5 and 6) that may contain identical or different types of particles, by applying incident laser pulses (9 and 10) delivered by two separate high power lasers (7 and 8). The laser beam (9) generated by the high power laser (7) is guided by a mirror (11) towards a parabolic mirror (13) that focuses the beam at the input of a laser-plasma accelerator (3). The laser beam (10) delivered by the high power laser (8), is guided by a mirror (12) towards a parabolic mirror (14), that focuses the beam at the input of another laser-plasma accelerator (4). According to the patent application, the method consists of a calibration procedure and the determination of the operating parameters of the subsystem (1) under test, i) in absence of particle fluxes (5 and 6), ii) in presence of particle fluxes (5 and 6), and iii) after applying the particle fluxes (5 and 6) to the subsystem (1).

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS

received by the International Bureau on 07 April 2015 (07.04.2015)

Claims:

1. System (S) of test for components, circuits and complex equipment, and if applicable, for software which controls operation of these, characterized by the fact that the subsystem to be tested (1) is electromagnetically shielded and mounted on a holder system (2) which rotates either clockwise or counter-clockwise and translates vertically and horizontally, composed of at least two separate laser-plasma accelerators (3 and 4), that generate fluxes (5 and 6) of accelerated particles, either of identical type or of different types. Depending on the design of the laser-plasma accelerators (3 and 4), at the input of each of the two or more laser- plasma accelerators (3 and 4) incident laser pulses are applied, generated by some high power lasers (7 and 8), such as the surface of the subsystem (1) which is exposed to at least two particle fluxes (5 and 6) is increased with respect to the case when a single laser-plasma accelerator would be used, a laser beam (9) generated by the high power laser (7) is guided by a mirror (11) towards a parabolic mirror (13), that focuses the beam (9) at the input of the laser-plasma accelerator (3), and another laser beam (10) generated by the high power laser (8) is guided by a mirror (12) towards a parabolic mirror (14), that focuses the beam (10) at the input of the accelerator (4). The system also comprises the measuring instruments (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e), used in order to achieve system calibration by determining the intensity, energy, space distribution and nature of the particles of which the fluxes (5 and 6) are made of.

2. System according to claim 1 , characterized by the fact that at least two pulsed particle fluxes (5 and 6), consisting of identical or different species of electrically charged particles, are applied to the same area of the subsystem (1).

3. System according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the output pulses for the two high power lasers (7 and 8) are triggered by a module (15) which generates the control signals (15a and 15b) that are either synchronized or lag in time.

6. System according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the holder system (2) to which the subsystem (1) is attached, rotates either clockwise or counter-clockwise, to apply , the particle fluxes (5) and (6) under different optical angles or to different areas of the subsystem (1).

7. System according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the holder system (2) to which the subsystem (1) is attached, translates horizontally and vertically, to expose different areas of the subsystem (1) to the particle fluxes (5) and (6).

8. System of test for components, circuits and complex equipment, characterized by the fact that the subsystem (1) is mounted on a holder system (2) that rotates, either clockwise or counter-clockwise, and translates horizontally and vertically. The system is composed at least two separate laser-plasma accelerators (3 and 4), where the incident pulse for each one of them is generated by a single power laser (16) and the output beam (17) of the laser (16) is splitted using a beam-splitter (18); one of the beams (19) is guided using the mirrors (20, 21 and 11) to the parabolic mirror (13) that focuses the beam at the input of the laser-plasma accelerator (3), the other remaining beam (22) crosses a compensating plate (23), before being guided by the mirrors (24, 25, 26 and 12) to the parabolic mirror (14), that focuses the beam to the input of the laser-plasma accelerator (4), therefore by shifting the ensemble composed of mirrors (24 and 25) the optical path of the incident laser pulses applied to the input of the laser-plasma accelerator (4) also changes, as a consequence, the laser-plasma accelerator (4) will implicitly generate the accelerated particle flux (6) with a specific time delay with respect to the laser-plasma accelerator (3) that generates the accelerated particle flux (5), and by the fact that the system also consists of the measuring instruments (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e), used in order to achieve calibration by determining the intensity, energy, space distribution and nature of the particles of which the fluxes (5 and 6) are made of.

9. System according to claim 8, characterized by the fact that the pulsed particle fluxes (5 and 6) are applied to the same area of the subsystem (1).

10. System according to claim 8, characterized by the fact that at least two pulsed particle fluxes (5 and 6) are applied to different areas of the subsystem (1).

11. Method of test for components, circuits and complex equipment, and if applicable, for software which controls operation of these, that uses the test subsystem described by claims 1 or 8, characterized by the fact that in order to determine the effects of an external particle flux and radiation with different energies upon the characteristics and operating parameters of the subsystem and, if applicable, upon the software which controls them, consisting of:

- system calibration procedure in order determine the intensity, energy, space distribution and nature of the particles which compose the fluxes (5 and 6), for a given intensity of the laser beams (9, 10, and 17), a given space configuration of these, and given characteristics of the accelerators (3 and 4). The system calibration procedure is achieved by means of the measuring instruments (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, and 27e), at different locations in space, which are

21 situated within the volume occupied by the subsystem (1) under test and for a given rotation angle of the holder system (2).

- measurement the operating parameters of the subsystem (1), in absence of particle fluxes (5 and 6).

- removal of the measuring instruments (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d and 27e), followed by their replacement with the subsystem (1) .

- directing particle fluxes (5 and 6) to the subsystem (1), electromagnetically shielded, maintaining the same characteristics and space arrangement for the laser beams (9, 10 and 17) and for the accelerators (3 and 4), as stated before.

- measurement the operating parameters of the subsystem (1), while the particle fluxes (5 and 6) are applied, and their comparison with the values measured in absence of the particle fluxes (5 and 6).

- measurement the operating parameters of the subsystem (1) at the end of the tests, and their comparison with the values measured in absence of the particle fluxes (5 and 6).

13. Method according to claim 1 1, characterized by the fact that at least two accelerated particle fluxes (5 and 6) are directed simultaneously to the subsystem (1).

14. Method according to claim 1 1, characterized by the fact that at least two accelerated particle fluxes (5 and 6) are applied individually and separately to the subsystem (1) and the time delay between them is settled by operator.

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