Open new horizons
The scientific programme of the meeting included biological and medical use of track membranes, as well as tests of the electronic component base for radiation resistance on accelerators.
The event brought together more than 60 leading experts in medicine, biotechnology, membrane separation, radiation materials science, space research and instrumentation. Among the participants were the representatives of over 20 organizations, including long-term partners of FLNR, as well as of the organizations interested in developing joint projects. Excursions to a specialized DC‑140 cyclotron and to the laboratory building of FLNR (Nanocentre) were organized for the participants. During excursions and on the sidelines of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to communicate in an informal setting, to share impressions and ideas, as well as to establish business contacts.
Yu. Ts. Oganessian addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, emphasizing that the meeting was being held at a historic moment, when JINR had celebrated its seventieth anniversary and FLNR was preparing to celebrate this anniversary a year later. There are many achievements in the history of FLNR, among which applied research represents a special page that began 50 years ago. Yuri Tsolakovich told our weekly about the history and features of these investigations and his impressions of the meeting.
"There is such a department in FLNR with its status that has been living for 50 years. It was born on the initiative of G. N. Flerov that believed that a person engaged in basic research is closest to ensuring that the results of this investigation find use in other industries and would be useful to society. I must say that this approach was not immediately adopted at JINR because many believed that scientists should be engaged, first of all, in fundamental research and other institutions should implement their results. Maybe it is so - when everything is already established, but when the first steps are taken and not always successful, it is always better for the author himself to look for other ways. He knows what can be sacrificed and what needs to be preserved. Another parameter is interwoven here - how useful this product will be to society, how much it is in demand by it. It will evaluate all efforts so that production is improved and expanded, it is economically profitable for both the producer and the consumer. This is essentially its new quality: at the lowest cost to get the maximum effect. I would say that it is even more difficult than implementing scientific research because unlike a person of science, carried away by an idea or a desire to create something, it is necessary to be laid on the market all the time - will the product find demand? This is the most difficult thing - when the producer himself is engaged in implementation because in a sense he steps on the throat of his own song. But when people work in this mode for a long time, they are drawn into the matter and everything comes to a reasonable balance. Then, specialists of a new profile appear that enter the mode, engaged only in implementation. It has its own life, it is different from the life of a laboratory but it was the rightest that both of them are under the same roof. They communicate, conduct discussions. Some know what scientists can and cannot and scientists feel how much they can be in demand. It is not so much edification that works here as a personal example. And in this regard, Flerov himself was a vivid example for everyone. Ultimately, his initiative still found a way out. I consider it a very important achievement of JINR that people of science, especially experimental physicists, are focused on using their capabilities for such matters.
One notable example is track membranes. Georgy Nikolaevich asked me, "How many ions do you need to obtain one atom of a superheavy element?” “No less than a thousand trillion.” "But I can do so that each ion will make a hole and while you get your one atom, I can do a thousand trillion tracks in 20 minutes." And if you work like this not for minutes, but for many days, you will get new material that can close the problems of the whole industry. For example, electronics, other technologies where ultra‑clean conditions are required, medicine, and the like. 50 years have passed since that time and during this period, track membranes have received registration in FLNR and found many applications. They were born as tracks from the interaction of particles with polymers. Analysis of these tracks gave us the opportunity to register very rare events of radioactive decay of nuclei. Unlike other detectors that may or may not operate, tracks in material can occur for millions of years. They were successfully used in the search for superheavy elements in meteorites that were 100 million years old. A similar track can be obtained in the Laboratory if an atom from the middle of the Periodic Table is accelerated to a speed of about 1/100 of the speed of light, "to shoot through" a polymer film with it, then to melt the damaged channel. This is the track. The result is a through "tunnel", the diameter of which can be 10 or 100 times less than its length. And then, it will become a unique "sieve" which living and non-living objects can pass through - bacteria, viruses, aerosols.
Still, the Centre for Applied Physics (CAP) of FLNR is an unusual department of JINR, here, employees do in strict sequence only what is needed and simply cannot afford to do what is not needed. This rigor should be in life, not in words and for this, the principles of work should be more stringent. All this regulates, as they say today, the market. Here any slip is very sensitive and people are more self‑organised.
Another area - small accelerators that are involved in our nuclear reactions can be perfectly used in the field of radiation materials science, in particular, to estimate the radiation resistance of materials, composites and more complex objects, including to study the effects of space radiation on electronic equipment satellites. Currently, the reliability of complex electronic systems in long-term space flights is estimated in Laboratory conditions, on beams of accelerated ions that simulate the dose load of cosmic rays on a specific module. In short, everything that flies into space should be tested on Earth. This is done all over the world, but each in its own way. Our Institute has a unique fleet of accelerator facilities of various calibers: from small accelerators with ion energy up to one MeV/nucleon, there are up to 5 MeV/nucleon, even up to 50 MeV/nucleon; a booster of the NICA Complex with an energy of 500 MeV/nucleon has already been launched. In addition to the standard procedure for estimating the reliability of a product, there is an opportunity for a more thorough investigation of the effect of primary cosmic radiation on the operation of intelligent electronic devices in long exposures in outer space, as well as options for their protection."
Head of CAP P. Yu. Apel presented a retrospective of the development of the technology of track membranes in FLNR in his report, spoke about the improvement of the technique of irradiation with accelerated heavy ions, the development of new generations of technological equipment, a thorough investigation of the processes on which ion‑track technology is based. He especially highlighted the role of G. N. Flerov and FLNR Directorate in the establishment of applied research in the laboratory.
For our weekly, he said, "The meeting was about two aspects. The first includes everything related to track membranes, the second - to testing the electronic component base using FLNR accelerators. When we organized the meeting, we feared that these two topics were weakly united with each other. It turned out that both are interesting to all the participants gathered. First of all, because interesting things are done, many have learned something new, others have begun to understand better what they already knew. It turned out that the exchange of views is very useful.
On the subject of track membranes, we selected participants from different fields, such as from the world of medicine, biological research, technical fields dealing with nanostructures, composite materials so as to reflect different areas of usage of track membranes. At the same time, some of these areas are already widely used by our products and there are areas where the first experiments are carried out. We were very interested in both the first and second cases. In the first - to make sure that everything is going as it should, in the second - by exchanging views to find out where to go next. The meeting was attended by specialists without reports who we cooperate with. I think they heard a lot of useful things for themselves, too. These are colleagues from the fields of medicine, biology, developers of various analytical techniques, including sensory that is currently in great demand everywhere.
If at one time, FLNR Directorate, headed by Georgy Nikolaevich, had not invested so much effort in applied research, nothing would have worked. The Laboratory Directorate was looking for support at a very high level. I especially emphasize that Yuri Tsolakovich made a report at a meeting of the USSR State Planning Commission and Georgy Nikolaevich - at a meeting of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The Presidium of the Academy issued a special decision on track membranes, we were supported by the State Committee for Atomic Energy in the 1980s. Thanks to this support, the technology was developed and later, began its life. Over the years, when economic conditions have changed a lot in a bad way, then in the best, the department existed with different success, but survived and did, I think, a lot of useful things. Some products on track membranes have already disappeared, the market is a dynamic business but they played a huge role in their time. For example, for microelectronics in the 1980s, FLNR made tens of thousands of square meters of membranes. In the 1990s, there was a very interesting cooperation with the United States, the Americans made products on our membranes. And the funds earned by the Centre for Applied Physics went to the benefit of the Laboratory and the entire Institute.
In the 2000s, quite major sales of products to China began. N. S. Dmitriev works hard to ensure that this cooperation continues and if possible, intensifies. I would also like the use to develop in our country, especially, related to biology and medicine that today has many obstacles. Regarding products that have been living for a long time and I hope, will live on the market, these are plasma filters. Today, we will most likely become the main manufacturer of this product. When the construction of the new DC‑140 accelerator is completed, we will launch a completely new production and under the target requirements of customers, we will produce membranes for plasma filters in a wide range."
"In order to develop new products, the Nanocentre was built," Deputy Head of the CAP for Innovation N. S. Dmitriev adds, “that is equipped with advanced equipment - both analytical and others. Thus, we have reached a new level - not only to produce products and to sell but also to develop, patent, license and implement ourselves. This new stage has been implemented for the past seven years."
The results of the meeting were summed up by Head of the Space Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences M. N. Khailov and Yu. Ts. Oganessian that highly appreciated the prospects for using the FLNR Accelerator Complex for applied research. In the final discussion, Yuri Tsolakovich emphasized that this issue is extremely important and despite the successes achieved, one should think about the fundamental development of the methodology for ensuring and monitoring the resistance of spacecraft to the effects of ionizing radiation from outer space. It is advisable to unite the efforts of researchers and scientists from Roscosmos, the Russian Academy of Sciences and JINR to form proposals for a scientific research programme at the FLNR Accelerator Complex that will become the foundation for the long‑term development of the space programme of the Russian Federation.
"At this meeting, specialists of different profiles met, it was possible to see different approaches and ways for meeting the problem," Yu. Ts. Oganessian added. “So far, we are talking only about electronics in space but the time of man will come. In the meantime, there are enough problems on Earth: remember the coronavirus that claimed many lives, epidemics of swine and bird flu among animals. We very seriously deal with viruses today because it is clear that they will not disappear and a person should be prepared for new challenges. It seems to me that such a meeting should be held every year. I learned a lot for myself, and many of the participants said that it was very interesting, informative. I would like to emphasize the high level of invited reports and the good preparation of the meeting. Key people met who said key things - it's always very important.”
Some participants sent feedback to the meeting organizers.
E. G. Zavialova (Moscow State University):
"The decision of the Organizing Committee of the meeting to focus on the biotechnological and medical use of track membranes on the first day was absolutely justified. The range of reports was quite wide - from biotechnological applications of track membranes in the production of vaccines to wound coverings. It can be expected that one of the main tasks in the future will be to expand the range of medical devices and analytical materials based on the unique properties of track membranes."
S. A. Bedin (Skoltech):
"The meeting helped to take a broader view of our investigation related to track membranes. It was useful to see where fundamental developments find use in medical tasks and sensory. At the same time, it became obvious that the synthesis of new functional materials based on track membranes can breathe new life into this area and open up new horizons in their usage - especially given the imminent launch of the accelerator complex that will allow the implementation of new experimental ideas."
D. Yu. Butylsky (Kuban State University):
"Participation in the meeting left an unforgettable impression: the majority of the areas of using track membranes developed here was striking. I was impressed by the unique equipment and new accelerators developed and constructed by the employees of the CAP that of course, speaks of the highest level of their academic experience and unique engineering and physical competencies. I would like to highlight the union of the open scientific atmosphere of the event and a rare opportunity to look "behind the scenes" of grandiose research implemented in FLNR."
M. N. Khailov:
"I thank JINR for the opportunity to participate in the meeting. I am highlighting the high level of its organization both in terms of logistics for the participants and during the meeting events. Thanks to my participation in the meeting, I was able to significantly expand my understanding of the current state of affairs both in specialized issues related to testing the electronic component of the space application base for resistance to space conditions, and in related areas of the national economy, where JINR technologies are widely used. I look forward to carrying out further fruitful cooperation with JINR, including regular exchanges of views on the current state and prospects of joint work in the interests of space research."
V. B. Steshenko (JSC "Russian Space Systems"):
"The meeting turned out to be very useful - we learnt about new opportunities in terms of testing electronic components and modules. I was pleased with the interdisciplinarity - many issues from seemingly far from space areas aroused interest - especially in terms of materials science research. Thank you for the opportunity to participate, we look forward to further fruitful cooperation."
A. B. Bychkov (NPP "Detector"):
"The meeting was held at the highest level, with the full involvement of all invitees within two days. For me, it was certainly informative to listen to the reports of colleagues on the manufacture and use of track membranes, reports on applied research of the electronic component base (ECB) and on the development of FLNR. I received useful information on the prospects for the development of the Russian and foreign space industry, its narrower component - ECB tests. For our part, we managed to further confirm our vision for the development of this area and its relevance for years to come, as well as to set goals for ourselves and convey our problems and their possible solutions together with JINR from the rostrum. I consider the meeting a new and important platform for exchanging experience and synchronizing the scientific community, commercial organizations and state‑owned companies to understand current trends and opportunities, as well as adjusting the strategy of their work. I would be happy to participate in future meetings."
P. A. Chubunov (STC‑1 of JSC RNII CP):
"FLNR has been actively involved in testing all space electronics in our country for more than 15 years. The U‑400 and U‑400M cyclotrons are today the only place where it is possible to simulate the effects of cosmic particles in the entire spectrum of linear energy transfer values. Therefore, despite the temporary decrease in the need for testing, it is necessary to ensure technical readiness for the implementation of all space projects in the country."
Olga TARANTINA,
Photos by Elena PUZYNINA and Oleg ORELOVICH