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Results for “ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSES”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Ion energies in high power impulse magnetron sputtering with and without localized ionization zones

High speed imaging of high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges has revealed that ionization is localized in moving ionization zones but localization disappears at high currents for high yield targets. This offers an opportunity to study the effect ionization zones have on ion energies. We measure that ions have generally higher energies when ionization zones are present, supporting the concept that these zones are associated with moving potential humps. We propose that the disappearance of ionization zones is caused by an increased supply of atoms from the target which cools electrons and reduces depletion of atoms to be ionized.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Particle visualization in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. I. 2D density mapping

Time-resolved characterization of an Ar-Ti high-power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge has been performed. This paper deals with two-dimensional density mapping in the discharge volume obtained by laser-induced fluorescence imaging. The time-resolved density evolution of Ti neutrals, singly ionized Ti atoms (Ti{sup +}), and Ar metastable atoms (Ar{sup met}) in the area above the sputtered cathode is mapped for the first time in this type of discharges. The energetic characteristics of the discharge species are additionally studied by Doppler-shift laser-induced fluorescence imaging. The questions related to the propagation of both the neutral and ionized discharge particles, as well as to their spatial density distributions, are discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Particle visualization in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. II. Absolute density dynamics

Time-resolved characterization of an Ar-Ti high-power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge has been performed. The present, second, paper of the study is related to the discharge characterization in terms of the absolute density of species using resonant absorption spectroscopy. The results on the time-resolved density evolution of the neutral and singly-ionized Ti ground state atoms as well as the metastable Ti and Ar atoms during the discharge on- and off-time are presented. Among the others, the questions related to the inversion of population of the Ti energy sublevels, as well as to re-normalization of the two-dimensional density maps in terms of the absolute density of species, are stressed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Intense transient electric field sensor based on the electro-optic effect of LiNbO{sub 3}

Intense transient electric field measurements are widely applied in various research areas. An optical intense E-field sensor for time-domain measurements, based on the electro-optic effect of lithium niobate, has been studied in detail. Principles and key issues in the design of the sensor are presented. The sensor is insulated, small in size (65 mm × 15 mm × 15 mm), and suitable for high-intensity (<801 kV/m) electric field measurements over a wide frequency band (10 Hz–10 MHz). The input/output characteristics of the sensor were obtained and the sensor calibrated. Finally, an application using this sensor in testing laboratory lightning impulses and in measuring transient electric fields during switch-on of a disconnector confirmed that the sensor is expected to find widespread use in transient intense electric field measurement applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

New edge magnetoplasmon interference like photovoltage oscillations and their amplitude enhancement in the presence of an antidot lattice

We present new photovoltage oscillation in a pure two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and in the presence of circular or semicircular antidot lattices. Results were interpreted as EMPs-like photovoltage oscillations. We observed and explained the photovoltage oscillation amplitude enhancement in the presence of an antidot lattice with regard to the pure 2DEG. The microwave frequency excitation range is 139 – 350 GHz. The cyclotron and magnetoplasmon resonances take place in the magnetic field range 0.4 – 0.8 T. This original experimental condition allows edge magnetoplasmons EMPs interference like observation at low magnetic field, typically B < B{sub c} where B{sub c} is the magnetic field at which the cyclotron resonance takes place. The different oscillation periods observed and their microwave frequency dependence were discussed. For 139 and 158 GHz microwave excitation frequencies, a unique EMPs-like interference period was found in the presence of antidots whereas two periods were extracted for 295 or 350 GHz. An explanation of this effect is given taking account of strong electron interaction with antidot at low magnetic field. Indeed, electrons involved in EMPs like phenomenon interact strongly with antidots when electron cyclotron orbits are larger than or comparable to the antidot diameter.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Enhanced spatial resolution of Eljen-204 plastic scintillators for use in rep-rated proton diagnostics

A pixelated scintillator has been designed, fabricated, and tested using a laser-accelerated proton source for use in proton diagnostics at rep-rated laser facilities. The work presented here demonstrates the enhanced spatial resolution of thin, organic scintillators through a novel pixelation technique. Furthermore, experimental measurements using laser-generated protons incident onto 130 μm-thick scintillators indicate a >20% reduction in the scintillator point spread function (PSF) for the detectors tested. The best performing pixelated detector reduced the ~200 μm PSF of the stock material to ~150 μm. The fabrication technique may be tailored to reduce the pixel size and achieve higher spatial resolutions.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Control of image reproducibilty in a response of a stimulated echo hologram

We consider image recording and reproduction using a reversed stimulated echo hologram, with a recording medium exposed to pulses of nonresonant electromagnetic standing waves. It is shown that the spatial intensity distribution in a stimulated echo hologram response depends on the electric field strength of nonresonant standing waves, which makes it possible to control reconstructed images. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Generation of bright isolated attosecond soft X-ray pulses driven by multicycle midinfrared lasers

High harmonic generation driven by femtosecond lasers makes it possible to capture the fastest dynamics in molecules and materials. However, to date the shortest subfemtosecond (attosecond, 10-18 s) pulses have been produced only in the extreme UV region of the spectrum below 100 eV, which limits the range of materials and molecular systems that can be explored. Here we experimentally demonstrate a remarkable convergence of physics: when midinfrared lasers are used to drive high harmonic generation, the conditions for optimal bright, soft X-ray generation naturally coincide with the generation of isolated attosecond pulses. The temporal window over which phase matching occurs shrinks rapidly with increasing driving laser wavelength, to the extent that bright isolated attosecond pulses are the norm for 2-μm driving lasers. Harnessing this realization, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of isolated soft X-ray attosecond pulses at photon energies up to 180 eV for the first time, to our knowledge, with a transform limit of 35 attoseconds (as), and a predicted linear chirp of 300 as. Most surprisingly, advanced theory shows that in contrast with as pulse generation in the extreme UV, long duration, 10-cycle, driving laser pulses are required to generate isolated soft X-ray bursts efficiently, to mitigate group velocity walk-off between the laser and the X-ray fields that otherwise limit the conversion efficiency. Furthermore, our work demonstrates a clear and straightforward approach for robustly generating bright isolated attosecond pulses of electromagnetic radiation throughout the soft X-ray region of the spectrum.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY OF EXTREMELY METAL-POOR STARS FROM SDSS/SEGUE. I. ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS

Chemical compositions are determined based on high-resolution spectroscopy for 137 candidate extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and its first stellar extension, the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). High-resolution spectra with moderate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios were obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph of the Subaru Telescope. Most of the sample (approximately 80%) are main-sequence turnoff stars, including dwarfs and subgiants. Four cool main-sequence stars, the most metal-deficient such stars known, are included in the remaining sample. Good agreement is found between effective temperatures estimated by the SEGUE stellar parameter pipeline, based on the SDSS/SEGUE medium-resolution spectra, and those estimated from the broadband (V - K){sub 0} and (g - r){sub 0} colors. Our abundance measurements reveal that 70 stars in our sample have [Fe/H] < -3, adding a significant number of EMP stars to the currently known sample. Our analyses determine the abundances of eight elements (C, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, Sr, and Ba) in addition to Fe. The fraction of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars ([C/Fe] > +0.7) among the 25 giants in our sample is as high as 36%, while only a lower limit on the fraction (9%) is estimated for turnoff stars. This paper is the first of a series of papers based on these observational results. The following papers in this series will discuss the higher-resolution and higher-S/N observations of a subset of this sample, the metallicity distribution function, binarity, and correlations between the chemical composition and kinematics of extremely metal-poor stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

High-resolution spectroscopy of extremely metal-poor stars from SDSS/Segue. II. Binary fraction

The fraction of binary systems in various stellar populations of the Galaxy and the distribution of their orbital parameters are important but not well-determined factors in studies of star formation, stellar evolution, and Galactic chemical evolution. While observational studies have been carried out for a large sample of nearby stars, including some metal-poor Population II stars, almost no constraints on the binary nature for extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H] <−3.0) stars have yet been obtained. Here we investigate the fraction of double-lined spectroscopic binaries and carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, many of which could have formed as pairs of low-mass and intermediate-mass stars, to estimate the lower limit of the fraction of binary systems having short periods. The estimate is based on a sample of very metal-poor stars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and observed at high spectral resolution in a previous study by Aoki et al. That survey reported 3 double-lined spectroscopic binaries and 11 CEMP stars, which we consider along with a sample of EMP stars from the literature compiled in the SAGA database. We have conducted measurements of the velocity components for stacked absorption features of different spectral lines for each double-lined spectroscopic binary. Our estimate indicates that the fraction of binary stars having orbital periods shorter than 1000 days is at least 10%, and possibly as high as 20% if the majority of CEMP stars are formed in such short-period binaries. This result suggests that the period distribution of EMP binary systems is biased toward short periods, unless the binary fraction of low-mass EMP stars is significantly higher than that of other nearby stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Normal and outlying populations of the Milky Way stellar halo at [Fe/H] <–2

From detailed abundance analysis of >100 Hamburg/ESO candidate extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars we find 45 with [Fe/H] < –3.0 dex. We identify a heretofore unidentified group: Ca-deficient stars with sub-solar [Ca/Fe] ratios and the lowest neutron-capture abundances; the Ca-deficient group comprises ∼10% of the sample, excluding Carbon stars. Our radial velocity distribution shows that the carbon-enhanced stars with no s-process enhancements, CEMP-no, and which do not show C{sub 2} bands are not preferentially binary systems. Ignoring Carbon stars, approximately 15% of our sample are strong (≥5σ) outliers in one or more elements between Mg and Ni; this rises to ∼19% if very strong (≥10σ) outliers for Sr and Ba are included. Examples include: HE0305–0554 with the lowest [Ba/H] known; HE1012–1540 and HE2323–0256, two (non-velocity variable) C-rich stars with very strong [Mg,Al/Fe] enhancements; and HE1226–1149, an extremely r-process rich star.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Metal-poor stars observed with the Magellan telescope. II. Discovery of four stars with [Fe/H] ≤ –3.5

We report on the discovery of seven low-metallicity stars selected from the Hamburg/ESO Survey, six of which are extremely metal-poor (EMP, [Fe/H] ≤ –3.0), with four having [Fe/H] ≤ –3.5. Chemical abundances or upper limits are derived for these stars based on high-resolution (R ∼ 35,000) Magellan/MIKE spectroscopy, and are in general agreement with those of other very and extremely metal-poor stars reported in the literature. Accurate metallicities and abundance patterns for stars in this metallicity range are of particular importance for studies of the shape of the metallicity distribution function of the Milky Way's halo system, in particular for probing the nature of its low-metallicity tail. In addition, taking into account suggested evolutionary mixing effects, we find that six of the program stars (with [Fe/H] ≤ –3.35) possess atmospheres that were likely originally enriched in carbon, relative to iron, during their main-sequence phases. These stars do not exhibit overabundances of their s-process elements, and hence may be, within the error bars, additional examples of the so-called CEMP-no class of objects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The new model of chemical evolution of r-process elements based on the hierarchical galaxy formation. I. Ba and Eu

We investigate the chemical enrichment of r-process elements in the early evolutionary stages of the Milky Way halo within the framework of hierarchical galaxy formation using a semi-analytic merger tree. In this paper, we focus on heavy r-process elements, Ba and Eu, of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars and give constraints on their astronomical sites. Our models take into account changes of the surface abundances of EMP stars by the accretion of interstellar medium (ISM). We also consider metal-enrichment of intergalactic medium by galactic winds and the resultant pre-enrichment of proto-galaxies. The trend and scatter of the observed r-process abundances are well reproduced by our hierarchical model with ∼10% of core-collapse supernovae in low-mass end (∼10 M {sub ☉}) as a dominant r-process source and the star formation efficiency of ∼10{sup –10} yr{sup –1}. For neutron star mergers as an r-process source, their coalescence timescale has to be ∼10{sup 7} yr, and the event rates ∼100 times larger than currently observed in the Galaxy. We find that the accretion of ISM is a dominant source of r-process elements for stars with [Ba/H] < –3.5. In this model, a majority of stars at [Fe/H] < –3 are formed without r-process elements, but their surfaces are polluted by the ISM accretion. The pre-enrichment affects ∼4% of proto-galaxies, and yet, is surpassed by the ISM accretion in the surface of EMP stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Abundance profiling of extremely metal-poor stars and supernova properties in the early universe

After the big bang nucleosynthesis, the first heavy element enrichment in the universe was made by a supernova (SN) explosion of a population (Pop) III star (Pop III SN). The abundance ratios of elements produced from Pop III SNe are recorded in abundance patterns of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars. The observations of the increasing number of EMP stars have made it possible to statistically constrain the explosion properties of Pop III SNe. We present Pop III SN models whose nucleosynthesis yields well reproduce, individually, the abundance patterns of 48 such metal-poor stars as [Fe/H] ≲ – 3.5. We then derive relations between the abundance ratios of EMP stars and certain explosion properties of Pop III SNe: the higher [(C + N)/Fe] and [(C + N)/Mg] ratios correspond to the smaller ejected Fe mass and the larger compact remnant mass, respectively. Using these relations, the distributions of the abundance ratios of EMP stars are converted to those of the explosion properties of Pop III SNe. Such distributions are compared with those of the explosion properties of present day SNe: the distribution of the ejected Fe mass of Pop III SNe has the same peak as that of the present day SNe but shows an extended tail down to ∼10{sup –2}-10{sup –5} M {sub ☉}, and the distribution of the mass of the compact remnant of Pop III SNe is as wide as that of the present-day, stellar-mass black holes. Our results demonstrate the importance of large samples of EMP stars obtained by ongoing and future EMP star surveys and subsequent high-dispersion spectroscopic observations in clarifying the nature of Pop III SNe in the early universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The mass spectrum of the first stars

We perform cosmological hydrodynamics simulations with non-equilibrium primordial chemistry to obtain 59 minihalos that host first stars. The obtained minihalos are used as the initial conditions of local three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the formation of the first stars. We find that two-thirds of the minihalos host multiple stars, while the other third has single stars. The mass of the stars found in our simulations are in the range of 1 M {sub ☉} ≲ M ≲ 300 M {sub ☉}, peaking at several× 10 M {sub ☉}. Most of the very massive stars of ≳ 140 M {sub ☉} are born as single stars, although not all of the single stars are very massive. We also find a few stars of ≲ 1 M {sub ☉} that are kicked by the gravitational three body interactions to the position distant from the center of mass. The frequency that a star forming minihalo contains a binary system is ∼50%. We also investigate the abundance pattern of the stellar remnants by summing up the contributions from the first stars in the simulations. Consequently, the pattern is compatible with that of the low metallicity damped Lyα systems or the extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars, if the mass spectrum obtained in our experiment is shifted to the low mass side by 0.2 dex. If we consider the case that an EMP star is born in the remnant of the individual minihalo without mixing with others, the chemical signature of the pair instability supernova is more prominent, because most of them are born as single stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The best and brightest metal-poor stars

The chemical abundances of large samples of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars can be used to investigate metal-free stellar populations, supernovae, and nucleosynthesis as well as the formation and galactic chemical evolution of the Milky Way and its progenitor halos. However, current progress on the study of EMP stars is being limited by their faint apparent magnitudes. The acquisition of high signal-to-noise spectra for faint EMP stars requires a major telescope time commitment, making the construction of large samples of EMP star abundances prohibitively expensive. We have developed a new, efficient selection that uses only public, all-sky APASS optical, 2MASS near-infrared, and WISE mid-infrared photometry to identify bright metal-poor star candidates through their lack of molecular absorption near 4.6 microns. We have used our selection to identify 11,916 metal-poor star candidates with V < 14, increasing the number of publicly available candidates by more than a factor of five in this magnitude range. Their bright apparent magnitudes have greatly eased high-resolution follow-up observations that have identified seven previously unknown stars with [Fe/H] ≲ –3.0. Our follow-up campaign has revealed that 3.8{sub −1.1}{sup +1.3}% of our candidates have [Fe/H] ≲ –3.0 and 32.5{sub −2.9}{sup +3.0}% have –3.0 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ –2.0. The bulge is the most likely location of any existing Galactic Population III stars, and an infrared-only variant of our selection is well suited to the identification of metal-poor stars in the bulge. Indeed, two of our confirmed metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] ≲ –2.7 are within about 2 kpc of the Galactic center. They are among the most metal-poor stars known in the bulge.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF METAL-POOR STARS FROM LAMOST: EARLY RESULTS

We report on early results from a pilot program searching for metal-poor stars with LAMOST and follow-up high-resolution observation acquired with the MIKE spectrograph attached to the Magellan II telescope. We performed detailed abundance analysis for eight objects with iron abundances [Fe/H] < -2.0, including five extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H] < -3.0) stars with two having [Fe/H] < -3.5. Among these objects, three are newly discovered EMP stars, one of which is confirmed for the first time with high-resolution spectral observations. Three program stars are regarded as carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, including two stars with no enhancement in their neutron-capture elements, which thus possibly belong to the class of CEMP-no stars; one of these objects also exhibits significant enhancement in nitrogen, and is thus a potential carbon and nitrogen-enhanced metal-poor star. The [X/Fe] ratios of the sample stars generally agree with those reported in the literature for other metal-poor stars in the same [Fe/H] range. We also compared the abundance patterns of individual program stars with the average abundance pattern of metal-poor stars and find only one chemically peculiar object with abundances of at least two elements (other than C and N) showing deviations larger than 0.5 dex. The distribution of [Sr/Ba] versus [Ba/H] agrees that an additional nucleosynthesis mechanism is needed aside from a single r-process. Two program stars with extremely low abundances of Sr and Ba support the prospect that both main and weak r-processes may have operated during the early phase of Galactic chemical evolution. The distribution of [C/N] shows that there are two groups of carbon-normal giants with different degrees of mixing. However, it is difficult to explain the observed behavior of the [C/N] of the nitrogen-enhanced unevolved stars based on current data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Metal-poor stars observed with the Magellan Telescope. III. New extremely and ultra metal-poor stars from SDSS/SEGUE and insights on the formation of ultra metal-poor stars

We report the discovery of one extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H] < −3) and one ultra metal-poor (UMP; [Fe/H] < −4) star selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration survey. These stars were identified as EMP candidates based on their medium-resolution (R ∼2000) spectra, and were followed up with high-resolution (R ∼ 35,000) spectroscopy with the Magellan/Clay Telescope. Their derived chemical abundances exhibit good agreement with those of stars with similar metallicities. We also provide new insights on the formation of the UMP stars, based on comparisons with a new set of theoretical models of supernovae (SNe) nucleosynthesis. The models were matched with 20 UMP stars found in the literature, together with one of the program stars (SDSS J1204+1201), with [Fe/H]=−4.34. From fitting their abundances, we find that the SNe progenitors, for stars where carbon and nitrogen are measured, had masses ranging from 20.5 M{sub ⊙} to 28 M{sub ⊙} and explosion energies from 0.3 to 0.9×10{sup 51} erg. These results are highly sensitive to the carbon and nitrogen abundance determinations, which is one of the main drivers for a future high-resolution follow-up of UMP candidates. In addition, we are able to reproduce the different CNO abundance patterns found in UMP stars with a single progenitor type by varying its mass and explosion energy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗