Understanding the influence of exposure of biological systems to THz radiation is becoming increasingly important. There is some evidence to suggest that THz radiation can influence important activities within mammalian cells. This study evaluated the influence of the high peak power, low average power THz radiation produced by the ALICE (Daresbury Laboratory, UK) synchrotron source on human epithelial and embryonic stem cells. The cells were maintained under standard tissue culture conditions, during which the THz radiation was delivered directly into the incubator for various exposure times. The influence of the THz radiation on cell morphology, attachment, proliferation and differentiation was evaluated. The study demonstrated that there was no difference in any of these parameters between irradiated and control cell cultures. It is suggested that under these conditions the cells are capable of compensating for any effects caused by exposure to THz radiation with the peak powers levels employed in these studies.
Planar explosive emission diodes operating at moderate pulse energy densities of a few joules per square centimeter conform normally with the Child–Langmuir law in its basic unipolar form. Several recent publications [D. A. Shiffler et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., 30, 1232, (2002)] suggest, however, that the bipolar flow develops in the diode at comparatively low electron current densities of ∼10 A/cm2 and pulse durations of ∼50 ns. Understanding the nature of a charged particle flow (unipolar or bipolar) in explosive emission diodes is of paramount importance for interpretation of the experimental results. We have therefore investigated the operation of a diode having velvet cathodes at voltages in the 40–170 kV range, electron current densities of 4–16 A/cm2, beam power densities of 0.3–2.2 MW/cm2, and pulse energy densities of 0.5–3.3 J/cm2. Within these latitudes of operating parameters, unipolar flow was always observed and bipolar flow was achieved only when specific measures for generation of anode plasma were introduced. Prolonged operation of the CsI coated cathodes may lead to a deposition of thin CsI films on the anode and, potentially, other elements of the high voltage structure. In interpreting the plasma images, care must therefore be taken to distinguish between the light coming from the anode plasma and the luminescence from CsI films.
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