Pulsed electron beam generation and bacterial sterilization using secondary electron emission gun

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25420245
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Power engineering/Power conversion/Electric machinery
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: WATANABE Masato 東京工業大学, 総合理工学研究科(研究院), 助教 (20251663)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): HOTTA Eiki 東京工業大学, 大学院総合理工学研究科, 教授 (70114890)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 電子ビーム / イオン衝撃 / 滅菌 / プラズマ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, a low-energy secondary emission electron gun using wire ion plasma source was developed. The characteristics of secondary electron beam were investigated in order to achieve main objective, which is to realize the sterilization using pulsed electron beams. The electron dose per unit time was also observed by film-type dosimeter, and it was confirmed to increase at the higher repetition rate.
The sterilization experiments were conducted using bacteria called Bacilus Pumilus which is the biological indicator of radiation sterilization. It is found that the inactivation effect is intensified by increasing the repetition rate of the electron beam irradiation.
Furthermore, morphological damage to the bacteria is observed by Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope. It is observed that the damage are caused by radial effects that it is attributed to electron beam irradiation.

Free Research Field

プラズマ工学