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Li, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Li, D..

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

High-Density Superconducting Cables for Advanced ACTPol

Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) is an upcoming Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) receiver upgrade, scheduled to deploy in 2016, that will allow measure- ment of the cosmic microwave background polarization and temperature to the highest precision yet with ACT. The AdvACT increase in sensitivity is partly provided by an increase in the number of transition-edge sensors (TESes) per array by up to a factor of two over the current ACTPol receiver detector arrays. The high-density AdvACT TES arrays require 70 μ m pitch superconducting flexible cables (flex) to connect the detec- tor wafer to the first-stage readout electronics. Here, we present the flex fabrication process and test results. For the flex wiring layer, we use a 400-nm-thick sputtered alu- minum film. In the center of the cable, the wiring is supported by a polyimide substrate, which smoothly transitions to a bare (uncoated with polyimide) silicon substrate at the ends of the cable for a robust wedge wire-bonding interface. Tests on the first batch of flex made for the first AdvACT array show that the flex will meet the requirements for AdvACT, with a superconducting critical current above 1 mA at 500 mK, resilience to mechanical and cryogenic stress, and a room temperature yield of 97%.

transition-edge sensors (TESes)↗
DOE OSTI2015

Propagation characteristics of atmospheric-pressure He+O{sub 2} plasmas inside a simulated endoscope channel

Cold atmospheric-pressure plasmas have potential to be used for endoscope sterilization. In this study, a long quartz tube was used as the simulated endoscope channel, and an array of electrodes was warped one by one along the tube. Plasmas were generated in the inner channel of the tube, and their propagation characteristics in He+O{sub 2} feedstock gases were studied as a function of the oxygen concentration. It is found that each of the plasmas originates at the edge of an instantaneous cathode, and then it propagates bidirectionally. Interestingly, a plasma head with bright spots is formed in the hollow instantaneous cathode and moves towards its center part, and a plasma tail expands through the electrode gap and then forms a swallow tail in the instantaneous anode. The plasmas are in good axisymmetry when [O{sub 2}] ≤ 0.3%, but not for [O{sub 2}] ≥ 1%, and even behave in a stochastic manner when [O{sub 2}] = 3%. The antibacterial agents are charged species and reactive oxygen species, so their wall fluxes represent the “plasma dosage” for the sterilization. Such fluxes mainly act on the inner wall in the hollow electrode rather than that in the electrode gap, and they get to the maximum efficiency when the oxygen concentration is around 0.3%. It is estimated that one can reduce the electrode gap and enlarge the electrode width to achieve more homogenous and efficient antibacterial effect, which have benefits for sterilization applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE OF ELECTRON-DRIVEN EVAPORATION IN TWO SOLAR FLARES

We have explored the relationship between hard X-ray (HXR) emissions and Doppler velocities caused by the chromospheric evaporation in two X1.6 class solar flares on 2014 September 10 and October 22, respectively. Both events display double ribbons and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph slit is fixed on one of their ribbons from the flare onset. The explosive evaporations are detected in these two flares. The coronal line of Fe xxi 1354.09 Å shows blueshifts, but the chromospheric line of C i 1354.29 Å shows redshifts during the impulsive phase. The chromospheric evaporation tends to appear at the front of the flare ribbon. Both Fe xxi and C i display their Doppler velocities with an “increase-peak-decrease” pattern that is well related to the “rising-maximum-decay” phase of HXR emissions. Such anti-correlation between HXR emissions and Fe xxi Doppler shifts and correlation with C i Doppler shifts indicate the electron-driven evaporation in these two flares.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A measurement of the cosmic microwave background gravitational lensing potential from 100 square degrees of SPTPOL data

We present a measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) gravitational lensing potential using data from the first two seasons of observations with SPTpol, the polarization-sensitive receiver currently installed on the South Pole Telescope. The observations used in this work cover 100 deg{sup 2} of sky with arcminute resolution at 150 GHz. Using a quadratic estimator, we make maps of the CMB lensing potential from combinations of CMB temperature and polarization maps. We combine these lensing potential maps to form a minimum-variance (MV) map. The lensing potential is measured with a signal-to-noise ratio of greater than one for angular multipoles between 100<L<250. This is the highest signal-to-noise mass map made from the CMB to date and will be powerful in cross-correlation with other tracers of large-scale structure. We calculate the power spectrum of the lensing potential for each estimator, and we report the value of the MV power spectrum between 100<L<2000 as our primary result. We constrain the ratio of the spectrum to a fiducial ΛCDM model to be A{sub MV} = 0.92 ± 0.14 (Stat.) ± 0.08 (Sys.). Restricting ourselves to polarized data only, we find A{sub POL} = 0.92 ± 0.24 (Stat.) ± 0.11 (Sys.). This measurement rejects the hypothesis of no lensing at 5.9σ using polarization data alone, and at 14σ using both temperature and polarization data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurements of sub-degree B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background from 100 square degrees of SPTPOL data

We present a measurement of the B-mode polarization power spectrum (the BB spectrum) from 100 deg{sup 2} of sky observed with SPTpol, a polarization-sensitive receiver currently installed on the South Pole Telescope. The observations used in this work were taken during 2012 and early 2013 and include data in spectral bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. We report the BB spectrum in five bins in multipole space, spanning the range 300⩽ℓ⩽2300, and for three spectral combinations: 95 GHz × 95 GHz, 95 GHz × 150 GHz, and 150 GHz × 150 GHz. We subtract small (<0.5σ in units of statistical uncertainty) biases from these spectra and account for the uncertainty in those biases. The resulting power spectra are inconsistent with zero power but consistent with predictions for the BB spectrum arising from the gravitational lensing of E-mode polarization. If we assume no other source of BB power besides lensed B modes, we determine a preference for lensed B modes of 4.9σ. After marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, namely, polarized emission from galactic dust and extragalactic sources, this significance is 4.3σ. Fitting for a single parameter, A{sub lens}, that multiplies the predicted lensed B-mode spectrum, and marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, we find A{sub lens}=1.08±0.26, indicating that our measured spectra are consistent with the signal expected from gravitational lensing. The data presented here provide the best measurement to date of the B-mode power spectrum on these angular scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

IMAGING AND SPECTRAL OBSERVATIONS OF QUASI-PERIODIC PULSATIONS IN A SOLAR FLARE

We explore the quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in a solar flare observed by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) on 2014 September 10. QPPs are identified as the regular and periodic peaks on the rapidly varying components, which are the light curves after removing the slowly varying components. The QPPs display only three peaks at the beginning on the hard X-ray emissions, but 10 peaks on the chromospheric and coronal line emissions, and more than seven peaks (each peak corresponds to a type III burst on the dynamic spectra) at the radio emissions. A uniform quasi-period of about 4 minutes is detected among them. AIA imaging observations exhibit that the 4-minute QPPs originate from the flare ribbon and tend to appear on the ribbon front. IRIS spectral observations show that each peak of the QPPs tends to a broad line width and a red Doppler velocity at C i, O iv, Si iv, and Fe xxi lines. Our findings indicate that the QPPs are produced by the non-thermal electrons that are accelerated by the induced quasi-periodic magnetic reconnections in this flare.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magneto-transport study of top- and back-gated LaAlO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} heterostructures

We report a detailed analysis of magneto-transport properties of top- and back-gated LaAlO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} heterostructures. Efficient modulation in magneto-resistance, carrier density, and mobility of the two-dimensional electron liquid present at the interface is achieved by sweeping top and back gate voltages. Analyzing those changes with respect to the carrier density tuning, we observe that the back gate strongly modifies the electron mobility while the top gate mainly varies the carrier density. The evolution of the spin-orbit interaction is also followed as a function of top and back gating.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermal and Lorentz Force Analysis of Beryllium Windows for the Rectilinear Muon Cooling Channel

Reduction of the 6-dimensional phase-space of a muon beam by several orders of magnitude is a key requirement for a Muon Collider. Recently, a 12-stage rectilinear ionization cooling channel has been proposed to achieve that goal. The channel consists of a series of low frequency (325 MHz-650 MHz) normal conducting pillbox cavities, which are enclosed with thin beryllium windows (foils) to increase shunt impedance and give a higher field on-axis for a given amount of power. These windows are subject to ohmic heating from RF currents and Lorentz force from the EM field in the cavity, both of which will produce out of the plane displacements that can detune the cavity frequency. In this study, using the TEM3P code, we report on a detailed thermal and mechanical analysis for the actual Be windows used on a 325 MHz cavity in a vacuum ionization cooling rectilinear channel for a Muon Collider.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurements of E-mode polarization and temperature-E-MODE correlation in the cosmic microwave background from 100 square degrees of SPTPOL data

We present measurements of E-mode polarization and temperature-E-mode correlation in the cosmic microwave background using data from the first season of observations with SPTpol, the polarization-sensitive receiver currently installed on the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The observations used in this work cover 100 deg{sup 2} of sky with arcminute resolution at 150 GHz. We report the E-mode angular auto-power spectrum (EE) and the temperature-E-mode angular cross-power spectrum (TE) over the multipole range 500 < ℓ ≤ 5000. These power spectra improve on previous measurements in the high-ℓ (small-scale) regime. We fit the combination of the SPTpol power spectra, data from Planck, and previous SPT measurements with a six-parameter ΛCDM cosmological model. We find that the best-fit parameters are consistent with previous results. The improvement in high-ℓ sensitivity over previous measurements leads to a significant improvement in the limit on polarized point-source power: after masking sources brighter than 50 mJy in unpolarized flux at 150 GHz, we find a 95% confidence upper limit on unclustered point-source power in the EE spectrum of D{sub ℓ}=ℓ(ℓ+1)C{sub ℓ}/2π<0.40 μK{sup 2} at ℓ=3000, indicating that future EE measurements will not be limited by power from unclustered point sources in the multipole range ℓ<3600, and possibly much higher in ℓ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Superconductivity of magnetic Sm-substituted LaCo{sub 2}B{sub 2}

In this work, superconductivity with a maximum superconducting transition onset temperature T{sub C} of 3.6 K is reported in La{sub 1-x}Sm{sub x}Co{sub 2}B{sub 2} in the concentration range 0.12 ≤ x ≤ 0.20. Substitution of magnetic Sm ions with 4f electrons for La is beneficial for superconductivity in the system. The low upper critical field of La{sub 0.8}Sm{sub 0.2}Co{sub 2}B{sub 2} suggests that the dominant magnetic-field suppressing superconducting mechanism is the orbit pair-breaking effect. A special specific-heat anomaly is observed around T{sub C}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermal and Lorentz force analysis of beryllium windows for a rectilinear muon cooling channel

Reduction of the 6-dimensional phase-space of a muon beam by several orders of magnitude is a key requirement for a Muon Collider. Recently, a 12-stage rectilinear ionization cooling channel has been proposed to achieve that goal. The channel consists of a series of low frequency (325 MHz-650 MHz) normal conducting pillbox cavities, which are enclosed with thin beryllium windows (foils) to increase shunt impedance and give a higher field on-axis for a given amount of power. These windows are subject to ohmic heating from RF currents and Lorentz force from the EM field in the cavity, both of which will produce out of the plane displacements that can detune the cavity frequency. In this study, using the TEM3P code, we report on a detailed thermal and mechanical analysis for the actual Be windows used on a 325 MHz cavity in a vacuum ionization cooling rectilinear channel for a Muon Collider.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS2015

Feedhorn-Coupled Transition-Edge Superconducting Bolometer Arrays for Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry

NIST produces large-format, dual-polarization-sensitive detector arrays for a broad range of frequencies (30-1400 GHz). Such arrays enable a host of astrophysical measurements. Detectors optimized for cosmic microwave background observations are monolithic, polarization-sensitive arrays based on feedhorn and planar Nb antenna-coupled transition-edge superconducting (TES) bolometers. Recent designs achieve multiband, polarimetric sensing within each spatial pixel. In this proceeding, we describe our multichroic, feedhorn-coupled design; demonstrate performance at 70-380 GHz; and comment on current developments for implementation of these detector arrays in the advanced Atacama Cosmology Telescope receiver

multichroic↗
DOE OSTI2015

Photon-noise limited sensitivity in titanium nitride kinetic inductance detectors

We demonstrate photon-noise limited performance at sub-millimeter wavelengths in feedhorn-coupled, microwave kinetic inductance detectors made of a TiN/Ti/TiN trilayer superconducting film, tuned to have a transition temperature of 1.4 K. Micro-machining of the silicon-on-insulator wafer backside creates a quarter-wavelength backshort optimized for efficient coupling at 250 μm. Using frequency read out and when viewing a variable temperature blackbody source, we measure device noise consistent with photon noise when the incident optical power is >0.5 pW, corresponding to noise equivalent powers >3×10{sup −17} W/√(Hz). This sensitivity makes these devices suitable for broadband photometric applications at these wavelengths.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhanced thermoelectric performance of nanostructured topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3}

To enhance thermoelectric performance by utilizing topological properties of topological insulators has attracted increasing attention. Here, we show that as grain size decreases from microns to ∼80 nm in thickness, the electron mobility μ increases steeply from 12–15 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} to ∼600 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}, owing to the contribution of increased topologically protected conducting surfaces. Simultaneously, its lattice thermal conductivity is lowered by ∼30%–50% due to enhanced phonon scattering from the increased grain boundaries. As a result, thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, of all the fine-grained samples is improved. Specifically, a maximum value of ZT = ∼0.63 is achieved for Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} at T = ∼570 K.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth-induced electron mobility enhancement at the LaAlO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} interface

We have studied the electronic properties of the 2D electron liquid present at the LaAlO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} interface in series of samples prepared at different growth temperatures. We observe that interfaces fabricated at 650 °C exhibit the highest low temperature mobility (≈10 000 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}) and the lowest sheet carrier density (≈5×10{sup 12} cm{sup −2}). These samples show metallic behavior and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in their magnetoresistance. Samples grown at higher temperatures (800–900 °C) display carrier densities in the range of ≈2−5×10{sup 13} cm{sup −2} and mobilities of ≈1000 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} at 4 K. Reducing their carrier density by field effect to 8×10{sup 12} cm{sup −2} lowers their mobilities to ≈50 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} bringing the conductance to the weak-localization regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Low Loss Superconducting Microstrip Development at Argonne National Lab

Low loss superconducting microstrip is an essential component in realizing 100 kilo-pixel multichroic cosmic microwave background detector arrays. In this paper, we have been developing a low loss microstrip by understanding and controlling the loss mechanisms. We present the fabrication of the superconducting microstrip, the loss measurements at a few GHz frequencies using half-wavelength resonators, and the loss measurements at 220 GHz frequencies with the superconducting microstrip coupled to slot antennas at one end and to TES detectors at the other end. Finally, the measured loss tangent of the microstrip made of sputtered Nb and SiOx is 1-2e-3.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2014

ACTPol: On-Sky Performance and Characterization

ACTPol is the polarization-sensitive receiver on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. ACTPol enables sensitive millimeter wavelength measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at arcminute angular scales. These measurements are designed to explore the process of cosmic structure formation, constrain or determine the sum of the neutrino masses, probe dark energy, and provide a foundation for a host of other cosmological tests. We present an overview of the first season of ACTPol observations focusing on the optimization and calibration of the first detector array as well as detailing the on-sky performance.

Cosmic Microwave Background↗