田端 誠

Around 1980, Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, also known as the KEK laboratory, began developing silica aerogels as a Cherenkov radiator. In 1996, the high energy physics group at Chiba University, Japan, began aerogel research and development in collaborating with KEK. The design of state-of-the-art Cherenkov detectors is enabled by improving aerogel transparency. Simultaneously, ultrahigh- and ultralow-refractive-index aerogels were developed to bridge the gap in the available indices for identifying low- and high-momentum particles, respectively. These are and will be employed in ongoing and future particle physics experiments all over the world. We report the latest results from the aerogel development and applications to threshold-type and ring-imaging Cherenkov detectors.

The Tanpopo experiment was the first Japanese astrobiology mission on board the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility on the International Space Station (ISS). The experiments were designed to address two important astrobiological topics, panspermia and the chemical evolution process toward the generation of life. These experiments also tested low-density aerogel and monitored the microdebris environment around low Earth orbit. The following six subthemes were identified to address these goals: (1) Capture of microbes in space: Estimation of the upper limit of microbe density in low Earth orbit; (2) Exposure of microbes in space: Estimation of the survival time course of microbes in the space environment; (3) Capture of cosmic dust on the ISS and analysis of organics: Detection of the possible presence of organic compounds in cosmic dust; (4) Alteration of organic compounds in space environments: Evaluation of decomposition time courses of organic compounds in space; (5) Space verification of the Tanpopo hyper-low-density aerogel: Durability and particle-capturing capability of aerogel; (6) Monitoring of the number of space debris: Time-dependent change in space debris environment. Subthemes 1 and 2 address the panspermia hypothesis, whereas 3 and 4 address the chemical evolution. The last two subthemes contribute to space technology development. Some of the results have been published previously or are included in this issue. This article summarizes the current status of the Tanpopo experiments.

This study presents the development of large-area (18 cm x 18 cm x 2 cm), high refractive index (n similar to 1.05) hydrophobic silica aerogel tiles for use as Cherenkov radiators. These transparent aerogel tiles will be installed in a Cherenkov detector for the next-generation accelerator-based particle physics experiment Belle II, to be performed at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Japan. Cracking has been eliminated from the prototype aerogel tiles by improving the supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) extraction procedure when drying the wet gel tiles. Finally, a method of mass-producing aerogel tiles for the actual detector was established. It was confirmed that the experimentally manufactured aerogel tiles meet the required optical and hydrophobic characteristics and have a uniform tile density. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The fabrication of an ultralow-density hydrophobic silica aerogel for the intact capture cosmic dust during the Tanpopo mission is described. The Tanpopo experiment performed on the International Space Station orbiting the Earth includes the collection of terrestrial and interplanetary dust samples on a silica aerogel capture medium exposed to space for later ground-based biological and chemical analyses. The key to the mission's success is the development of high-performance capture media, and the major challenge is to satisfy the mechanical requirements as a spacecraft payload while maximizing the performance for intact capture. To this end, an ultralow-density (0.01 g cm(-3)) soft aerogel was employed in combination with a relatively robust 0.03 g cm(-3) aerogel. A procedure was also established for the mass production of double-layer aerogel tiles formed with a 0.01 g cm(-3) surface layer and a 0.03 g cm(-3) open-topped, box-shaped base layer, and 60 aerogel tiles were manufactured. The fabricated aerogel tiles have been demonstrated to be suitable as flight hardware with respect to both scientific and safety requirements. [GRAPHICS] .

This paper presents recent progress in the development and mass production of large-area hydrophobic silica aerogels for use as radiators in the aerogel-based ring-imaging Cherenkov (A-RICH) counter, which will be installed in the forward end cap of the Belle II detector. The proximity-focusing A-RICH system is especially designed to identify charged kaons and pions. The refractive index of the installed aerogel Cherenkov radiators is approximately 1.05, and we aim for a separation capability exceeding 4a at momenta up to 4 GeV/c. Large-area aerogel Liles (over 18 x 18 x 2 cm(3)) were first fabricated in Lest productions by pin drying in addition to conventional methods. We proposed to fill the large end-cap region (area 3.5 m2) with 124 water-jet-trimmed fan-shaped dual-layer-focusing aerogel combinations of different refractive indices (1.045 and 1.055). Guided by the test production results, we decided to manufacture aerogels by the conventional method and are currently proceeding with mass production. In an electron beam Lest undertaken at the DESY, we confirmed that the Klif separation capability of a prototype A-RICH counter exceeded 4c at 4 GeWc. (C) 2014 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.

This paper proposes a new X-ray radiographic technique for measuring density uniformity of silica aerogels used as radiator in proximity-focusing ring-imaging Cherenkov detectors. To obtain high performance in a large-area detector, a key characteristic of radiator is the density (i.e. refractive index) uniformity of an individual aerogel monolith. At a refractive index of n = 1.05, our requirement for the refractive index uniformity in the transverse plane direction of an aerogel tile is vertical bar delta(n-1)/(n-1)vertical bar < 4% in a focusing dual layer radiator (with different refractive indices) scheme. We applied the radiographic technique to evaluate the density uniformity of our original aerogels from a trial production and that of Panasonic products (SP-50) as a reference, and to confirm they have sufficient density uniformity within +/- 1% along the transverse plane direction. The measurement results show that the proposed technique can quantitatively estimate the density uniformity of aerogels. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We present optical and X-ray radiographical characterization of silica aerogels with refractive index from 1.05 to 1.07 for a Cherenkov radiator. A novel pin-drying method enables us to produce highly transparent hydrophobic aerogels with high refractive index by shrinking wet-gels. In order to investigate the uniformity in the density (i.e., refractive index) of an individual aerogel monolith, we use the laser Fraunhofer method, an X-ray absorption technique, and Cherenkov imaging by a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector in a beam test. We observed an increase in density at the edge of the aerogel tiles, produced by pin-drying.

We present herein a characterization of a standard method used at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) to produce hydrophobic silica aerogels and expand this method to obtain a wide range of refractive index (n=1.006-1.14). We describe in detail the entire production process and explain the methods used to measure the characteristic parameters of aerogels, namely the refractive index, transmittance, and density. We use a small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique to relate the transparency to the fine structure of aerogels. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this paper, we present recent progress in the development of hydrophobic silica aerogel as a Cherenkov radiator. In addition to the conventional method, the recently developed pin-drying method for producing high-refractive-index aerogels with high transparency was studied in detail. Optical qualities and large tile handling for crack-free aerogels were investigated. Sufficient photons were detected from high-performance aerogels in a beam test. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B. V. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of the organizing committee for TIPP 11.

Hydrophobic silica aerogels with ultra-low densities have been designed and developed as cosmic dust capture media for the Tanpopo mission which is proposed to be carried out on the International Space Station. Glass particles as a simulated cosmic dust with 30 _m in diameter and 2.4 g/cm³ in density were successfully captured by the novel aerogel at a velocity of 6 km/s. Background levels of contaminated DNA in the ultra-low density aerogel were lower than the detection limit of a polymerase chain reaction assay. These results show that the manufactured aerogel has good performance as a cosmic dust collector and sufficient quality in respect of DNA contamination. The aerogel is feasible for the biological analyses of captured cosmic dust particles in the astrobiological studies.

We have succeeded in developing hydrophobic silica aerogels over a wide range of densities (i.e. refractive indices). A pinhole drying method was invented to make possible producing highly transparent aerogels with entirely new region of refractive indices of 1.06-1.26. Obtained aerogels are more transparent than conventional ones, and the refractive index is well controlled in the pinhole drying process. A test beam experiment was carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the pinhole-dried aerogels as a Cherenkov radiator. A clear Cherenkov ring was successfully observed by a ring imaging Cherenkov counter. We also developed monolithic and hydrophobic aerogels with a density of 0.01 g/cm(3) (a low refractive index of 1.0026) as a space dust capturer for the first time. Consequently, aerogels with any refractive indices between 1.0026 and 1.26 can be produced freely. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New production methods of silica aerogel with high and low refractive indices have been developed. A very slow shrinkage of alcogel at room temperature has made possible producing aerogel with high refractive indices of up to 1.265 without cracks. Even higher refractive indices than 1.08, the transmission length of the aerogel obtained from this technique has been measured to be about 10 to 20 mm at 400 nm wave length. A mold made of alcogel which endures shrinkage in the supercritical drying process has provided aerogel with the extremely low density of 0.009g/cm(3), which corresponds to the refractive index of 1.002. We have succeeded producing aerogel with a wide range of densities.