• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.99-110
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• 2020

With hope and concern, the first Korean proton therapy facility was introduced to the National Cancer Center (NCC) in 2007. It added a new chapter to the history of Korean radiation therapy. There have been challenging clinical trials using proton beam therapy, which has seen many impressive results in cancer treatment. Compared to the rapidly increasing number of proton therapy facilities in the world, only one more proton therapy center has been added since 2007 in Korea. The Samsung Medical Center installed a proton therapy facility in 2015. Most radiation oncology practitioners would agree that the physical properties of the proton beam provide a clear advantage in radiation treatment. But the expensive cost of proton therapy facilities is still one of the main reasons that hospitals are reluctant to introduce them in Korea. I herein introduce the history of proton therapy and the cutting edge technology used in proton therapy. In addition, I will cover the role of a medical physicist in proton therapy and the future prospects of proton therapy, based on personal experience in participating in proton therapy programs from the beginning at the NCC.

• 대한방사선방어학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.368-369
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• 2011

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.801-809
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to assess the additional neutron effective dose during passive scattering proton therapy. Monte Carlo code (Monte Carlo N-Particle 6) simulation was conducted based on a precise modeling of the National Cancer Center's proton therapy facility. A three-dimensional neutron effective dose profile of the interior of the treatment room was acquired via a computer simulation of the 217.8-MeV proton beam. Measurements were taken with a $^3He$ neutron detector to support the simulation results, which were lower than the simulation results by 16% on average. The secondary photon dose was about 0.8% of the neutron dose. The dominant neutron source was deduced based on flux calculation. The secondary neutron effective dose per proton absorbed dose ranged from $4.942{\pm}0.031mSv/Gy$ at the end of the field to $0.324{\pm}0.006mSv/Gy$ at 150 cm in axial distance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.1042-1043
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3692-3699
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• 2023

The Rare isotope Accelerator complex for ON-line experiments in Korea houses several accelerator complexes. Among them, the µSR facility will be initially equipped with a 600 MeV and 100 kW proton beam to generate surface muons, and will be upgraded to 400 kW with the same energy. Accelerated proton beams lose approximately 20% of the power at the target, and the remaining power is concentrated in the beam direction. Therefore, to ensure safe operation of the facility, concentrated protons must be distributed and absorbed at the beam dump. Additionally, effective dose levels must be lower than the legal standard, and the beam dumps used at 100 kW should be reused at 400 kW to minimize the generation of radioactive waste. In this study, we introduce a tailored method for designing beam dumps based on the characteristics of the µSR facility. To optimize the geometry, the absorbed power and effective dose were calculated using the MCNP6 code. The temperature and stress were determined using the ANSYS Mechanical code. Thus, the beam dump design consists of six structures when operated at 100 kW, and a 400 kW beam dump consisting of 24 structures was developed by reusing the 100 kW beam dump.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.747-752
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• 2007

The Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) has designed and developed a proton linear accelerator facility operating at 100 MeV - 20 mA. The radiological effects of such a nuclear facility on the environment are important in terms of radiation safety. This study estimated the production rates of radionuclides in the soil around the accelerator facility using MCNPX. The groundwater migration of the radioisotopes was also calculated using the Concentration Model. Several spallation reactions have occurred due to leaked neutrons, leading to the release of various radionuclides into the soil. The total activity of the induced radionuclides is approximately $2.98{\times}10^{-4}Bq/cm^3$ at the point of saturation. $^{45}Ca$ had the highest production rate with a specific activity of $1.78{\times}10^{-4}Bq/cm^3$ over the course of one year. $^3H$ and $^{22}Na$ are usually considered the most important radioisotopes at nuclear facilities. However, only a small amount of tritium was produced around this facility, as the energy of most neutrons is below the threshold of the predominant reactions for producing tritium: $^{16}O(n,\;X)^3H$ and $^{28}Si(n,X)^3H$ (approximately 20 MeV). The dose level of drinking water from $^{22}Na$ was $1.48{\times}10^{-5}$ pCi/ml/yr, which was less than the annual intake limit in the regulations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2909-2917
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• 2021

Following the launch of Rare Isotope Science Project in December 2011, a heavy ion accelerator complex in South Korea, named RAON, has since been designed. It includes a muon facility for muon spin rotation, relaxation, and resonance. The facility will be provided with 600 MeV and 100 kW (one-fourth of the maximum power) proton beam. In this study, the graphite target in RAON was designed to have a rotating disk shape and was cooled by radiative heat transfer. This cool-down process has the following advantages: a low-temperature gradient in the target and the absence of a liquid coolant cooling system. Monte Carlo simulations and ANSYS calculations were performed to optimize the target system in a thermally stable condition when the 100 kW proton beam collided with the target. A comparison between the simulation and experimental data was also included in the design process to obtain reliable results. The final design of the target system will be completed within 2020, and its manufacturing is in progress. The manufactured target system will be installed at the RAON in the Sindong area near Daejeon-city in 2021 to carry out verification experiments.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.38-41
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• 2019

Proton beam writing is a direct writing lithography technique for semiconductor fabrication process. The advantage of this technique is that the proton beam does not scatter as they travel through the matter and therefore maintain a straight path as they penetrate into the resist. The experiment has been carried out at Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility. The focused proton beam with the fluence of $100nC/mm^2$ was exposed on the PMMA coated silicon sample to make a pattern on a photo resist. The results show the potential of proton beam writing as an effective way to produce semiconductor fabrication process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.180-182
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• 2002

A Proton Therapy Center was established this year in National Cancer Center, Korea. We chose IBA of Belgium as the vendor of the equipment package. A 230 MeV fixed-energy cyclotron will deliver proton beams into two gantry rooms, one horizontal beam room, and one experimental station. The building for the equipment is currently under design with a special emphasis on radiation shielding. Installation of equipments is expected to begin in September next year starting with the first gantry, and the acceptance test will be performed about a year later. To generate therapeutic radiation fields the wobbling method will be a main treatment mode for the first gantry. A pencil beam scanning system on the other hand will be equipped for the second gantry relying on the availability at the time of installation. The beam scanning with intensity modulation adapted will be a most advanced form in radiation therapy known as IMPT. Some details on the project progress, scope of the system, and design of building are described.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.584-592
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• 1996

Coupling optical modulator which on the $LiTaO_3$ substrate is fabricated by using proton exchange method and self-aligned method. Proton exchange of proton diffusion method was applied to pattern a waveguide on $LiTaO_3$ substrate. The annealing at >$400^{\circ}C$ was carded out to control waveguide width and depth. The depths of the two annealed optical waveguides, which were measured by using .alpha.-step, were 1.435 K.angs. and 1.380 K.angs. Using .alpha.-step facility, we examined that the width of waveguides is increased from 5.mu.m to 6.45 .mu.m and 6.3.mu.m due to the annealing effects. The process of proton exchange was done at 150.deg. C for 120 min, >$200^{\circ}C$ for 60 min and annealing process was done at >$400^{\circ}C$ for 90 min, >$400^{\circ}C$ for 60 min. The high speed coupling optical modulator has very good figures of merits; the measured high frequency power were achieved.