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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 OSTI2020

Citric acid-assisted accumulation of Ni and other metals by Odontarrhena muralis: Implications for phytoextraction and metal foliar distribution assessed by μ-SXRF

Odontarrhena muralis is one of the most promissing plant species for Ni phytomining, and soil amendments can further increase its Ni phytoextraction ability. Here we investigated whether Ni phytomining/phytoremediation using this Ni hyperaccumulator can benefit from applying citric acid to a serpentine soil that is naturally enriched in Ni (>1000 mg kg -1 ). Synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-SXRF) was used to image Ni and other metal distributions in whole fresh leaves of O. muralis. Leaf Ni accumulation in plants grown on citric acid-amended soil increased up to 55% while Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations were 4-, 14-, 6-, 7- and 1.3-fold higher than the control treatment. O. muralis presented high bioconcentration factors (leaf to soil concentration ratio) to Ni and Zn whereas Cr was seemingly excluded from uptake. The μ-SXRF images showed a uniform distribution of Ni, preferential localization of Co in the leaf tip, and clear concentration of Mn in the base of trichomes. The citric acid treatments strongly increased the Co fluoerescence intensity in the leaf tip and altered the spatial distribution of Mn across the leaf, but there was no difference in Ni fluorescence counts between the trichome-base region and the bulk leaf. Our data from a serpentine soil suggests that citrate treatment enhances Ni uptake, but Co is excreted from leaves even in low leaf concentrations, which can make Co phytoming using O. muralis unfeasible in natural serpentine soils.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

X-ray topography characterization of gallium nitride substrates for power device development

Gallium nitride substrates grown by the hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method using a patterned growth process have been characterized by synchrotron monochromatic beam X-ray topography in the grazing incidence geometry. Images reveal a starkly heterogeneous distribution of dislocations with areas as large as 0 3 mm 2 containing threading dislocation densities below 10 3 cm -2 in between a grid of strain centers with higher threading dislocation densities (> 10 4 cm -2 ). Basal plane dislocation densities in these areas are as low as 104 cm -2 . By comparing the recorded images of dislocations with ray tracing simulations of expected dislocations in GaN, the Burgers vectors of the dislocations have been determined. The distribution of threading screw/mixed dislocations (TSDs/TMDs), threading edge dislocations (TEDs) and basal plane dislocations (BPDs) is discussed with implications for fabrication of power devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Reaction inhomogeneity coupling with metal rearrangement triggers electrochemical degradation in lithium-rich layered cathode

High-energy density lithium-rich layered oxides are among the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage. Unfortunately, these materials suffer from severe electrochemical degradation that includes capacity loss and voltage decay during long-term cycling. Present research efforts are primarily focused on understanding voltage decay phenomena while origins for capacity degradation have been largely ignored. Here, we thoroughly investigate causes for electrochemical performance decline with an emphasis on capacity loss in the lithium-rich layered oxides, as well as reaction pathways and kinetics. Advanced synchrotron-based X-ray two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging techniques are combined with spectroscopic and scattering techniques to spatially visualize the reactivity at multiple length-scales on lithium- and manganese-rich layered oxides. These methods provide direct evidence for inhomogeneous manganese reactivity and ionic nickel rearrangement. Coupling deactivated manganese with nickel migration provides sluggish reaction kinetics and induces serious structural instability in the material. Our findings provide new insights and further understanding of electrochemical degradation, which serve to facilitate cathode material design improvements.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ptychography at all wavelengths

Ptychography is a computational imaging technique that operates across multiple wavelength regimes, from electron (picometres) to X-ray (~0.1 nm), extreme ultraviolet (~10 nm) and visible light (micrometres). By reconstructing both amplitude and phase from diffraction patterns, ptychography enables high-resolution, quantitative imaging without conventional limitations imposed by lens-based optics. Ptychography has enabled advances across a range of scales: achieving deep-sub-angstrom resolution with electron microscopy, becoming an indispensable tool at X-ray synchrotron facilities worldwide and overcoming the trade-offs between resolution and field-of-view in optical imaging. This Primer provides a unified treatment of ptychography across these wavelength regimes. First, we discuss theoretical foundations, reconstruction algorithms, experimental considerations and wavelength-specific challenges. We then give examples of raw and processed data from various configurations and wavelengths. Next, we highlight key applications of ptychography in life sciences, materials science and industry. We also discuss data standards, open-source software implementations and best practices for ensuring reproducibility across different wavelength regimes. Finally, we consider limitations and future opportunities for ptychography. Together with accompanying datasets and code implementations, this Primer aims to serve newcomers and experienced practitioners in the field, facilitating broader adoption of ptychography across different disciplines.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Looking in the axion mirror: An all-sky analysis of stimulated decay

Axion dark matter (DM) produces echo images of bright radio sources via stimulated decay. These images appear as a faint radio line centered at half the axion mass, with the line width set by the DM velocity dispersion. Due to the kinematics of the decay, the echo can be emitted in the direction nearly opposite to the incoming source of stimulating radiation, meaning that axions effectively behave as imperfect monochromatic mirrors. We present an all-sky analysis of axion DM-induced echo images using extragalactic radio point sources, Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs), and Galactic synchrotron radiation (GSR) as sources of stimulating radiation. The aggregate signal strength is not significantly affected by unknown properties of individual sources of stimulating radiation, which we sample from an empirical distribution to generate an ensemble of realizations for the all-sky signal template. We perform forecasts for CHIME, HERA, CHORD, HIRAX, and BURSTT, finding that they can run as competitive axion experiments simultaneously with other objectives, requiring no new hardware.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Discorpy : algorithms and software for camera calibration and correction

Camera or lens-based detector calibration is essential for spatial accuracy in applications like dimensional tomography, optical metrology, and computer vision. Many methods and software exist yet there is still a lack of approaches that achieve both high accuracy and robustness while being easy to use and capable of handling a wide range of distortions. Radial lens distortion is common in high-resolution X-ray detector optics used in parallel-beam tomography at synchrotrons. Achieving sub-pixel accuracy requires calibrating with an optical target image. Although methods for characterizing radial distortion are well established, acquired images often also include perspective distortion and optical center offset. Here, we present our approaches to individually characterize and correct both types of distortion using a single calibration image, implemented in the Discorpy software.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data processing methods and data acquisition for samples larger than the field of view in parallel-beam tomography

Parallel-beam tomography systems at synchrotron facilities have limited field of view (FOV) determined by the available beam size and detector system coverage. Scanning the full size of samples bigger than the FOV requires various data acquisition schemes such as grid scan, 360-degree scan with offset center-of-rotation (COR), helical scan, or combinations of these schemes. Though straightforward to implement, these scanning techniques have not often been used due to the lack of software and methods to process such types of data in an easy and automated fashion. The ease of use and automation is critical at synchrotron facilities where using visual inspection in data processing steps such as image stitching, COR determination, or helical data conversion is impractical due to the large size of datasets. Here, we provide methods and their implementations in a Python package, named Algotom, for not only processing such data types but also with the highest quality possible. The efficiency and ease of use of these tools can help to extend applications of parallel-beam tomography systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

High Optical-to-X-Ray Polarization Ratio Reveals Compton Scattering in BL Lacertae’s Jet

Blazars, supermassive black hole systems with highly relativistic jets aligned with the line of sight, are the most powerful long-lived emitters of electromagnetic emission in the Universe. We report here on a radio-to-gamma-ray multiwavelength campaign on the blazar BL Lacertae with unprecedented polarimetric coverage from radio to X-ray wavelengths. The observations caught an extraordinary event on 2023 November 10–18, when the degree of linear polarization of optical synchrotron radiation reached a record value of 47.5%. In stark contrast, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer found that the X-ray (Compton scattering or hadron-induced) emission was polarized at less than 7.4% (3 σ confidence level). We argue here that this observational result rules out a hadronic origin of the high-energy emission and strongly favors a leptonic (Compton scattering) origin, thereby breaking the degeneracy between hadronic and leptonic emission models for BL Lacertae and demonstrating the power of multiwavelength polarimetry to address this question. Furthermore, the multiwavelength flux and polarization variability, featuring an extremely prominent rise and decay of the optical polarization degree, is interpreted for the first time by the relaxation of a magnetic “spring” embedded in the newly injected plasma. This suggests that the plasma jet can maintain a predominant toroidal magnetic field component parsecs away from the central engine.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The discovery of a radio galaxy of at least 5 Mpc

Context. Giant radio galaxies (GRGs, or colloquially ‘giants’) are the Universe’s largest structures generated by individual galaxies. They comprise synchrotron-radiating active galactic nucleus ejecta and attain cosmological (megaparsec-scale) lengths. However, the main mechanisms that drive their exceptional growth remain poorly understood. Aims. To deduce the main mechanisms that drive a phenomenon, it is usually instructive to study extreme examples. If there exist host galaxy characteristics that are an important cause for GRG growth, then the hosts of the largest GRGs are likely to possess them. Similarly, if there exist particular large-scale environments that are highly conducive to GRG growth, then the largest GRGs are likely to reside in them. For these reasons, we aim to perform a case study of the largest GRG available. Methods. We reprocessed the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey DR2 by subtracting compact sources and performing multi-scale CLEAN de-convolutions at 60" and 90" resolution. The resulting images constitute the most sensitive survey yet for radio galaxy lobes, whose diffuse nature and steep synchrotron spectra have allowed them to evade previous detection attempts at higher resolution and shorter wavelengths. We visually searched these images for GRGs. Results. We have discovered Alcyoneus, a low-excitation radio galaxy with a projected proper length l p = 4.99 ± 0.04 Mpc. Both its jets and lobes are detected at very high significance, and the SDSS-based identification of the host, at spectroscopic redshift z spec = 0.24674 ± 6 × 10 -5 , is unambiguous. The total luminosity density at ν = 144 MHz is L ν = 8 ± 1 × 10 25 W Hz -1 , which is below average, though near median (percentile 45 ± 3%) for GRGs. The host is an elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass M* = 2.4 ± 0.4 × 10 11 M ⊙ and a super-massive black hole mass M• = 4 ± 2 × 10 8 M ⊙ , both of which tend towards the lower end of their respective GRG distributions (percentiles 25 ± 9% and 23 ± 11%). The host resides in a filament of the Cosmic Web. Through a new Bayesian model for radio galaxy lobes in three dimensions, we estimate the pressures in the megaparsec-cubed-scale northern and southern lobes to be P min,1 = 4.8 ± 0.3 × 10 -16 Pa and P min,2 = 4.9 ± 0.6 × 10 -16 Pa, respectively. The corresponding magnetic field strengths are B min,1 = 46 ± 1 pT and B min,2 = 46 ± 3 pT. Conclusions. We have discovered what is in projection the largest known structure made by a single galaxy – a GRG with a projected proper length l p = 4.99 ± 0.04 Mpc. The true proper length is at least l min = 5.04 ± 0.05 Mpc. Beyond geometry, Alcyoneus and its host are suspiciously ordinary: the total low-frequency luminosity density, stellar mass, and super-massive black hole mass are all lower than, though similar to, those of the medial GRG. Thus, very massive galaxies or central black holes are not necessary to grow large giants, and, if the observed state is representative of the source over its lifetime, neither is high radio power. A low-density environment remains a possible explanation. The source resides in a filament of the Cosmic Web, with which it might have significant thermodynamic interaction. The pressures in the lobes are the lowest hitherto found, and Alcyoneus therefore represents the most promising radio galaxy yet to probe the warm–hot inter-galactic medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Adaptively coupled phase retrieval in multi-peak Bragg coherent diffraction imaging

Recent advances in Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) experimental techniques permit routine measurement of multiple Bragg peaks from a single crystalline grain. The resulting images contain the full lattice distortion vector field which can be differentiated to provide lattice strain and rotation. With the advent of fourth-generation synchrotron light sources, such multi-peak datasets are produced at high rates, facilitating the need for rapid phase retrieval of the multiple peaks and subsequent image analysis. Here we describe and demonstrate a new implementation of a coupled phase retrieval technique for multi-peak BCDI which simultaneously treats each Bragg peak of the dataset and produces a three-dimensional image of the crystal's morphology and lattice distortion field. In addition, this method uses the redundant information contained in the various Bragg diffraction patterns to detect and suppress spurious signal appearing on the detector in a subset of the measurements. Compared with manual data editing, adaptive coupling produces a more consistent phase profile in reciprocal space and sharper surfaces in direct space, with no significant difference in computational cost. These improvements reduce the need for manual preprocessing and enable robust high-throughput analysis of multi-peak BCDI data, supporting near-real-time strain microscopy at modern synchrotron facilities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

BioCARS: Synchrotron facility for probing structural dynamics of biological macromolecules

A major goal in biomedical science is to move beyond static images of proteins and other biological macromolecules to the internal dynamics underlying their function. This level of study is necessary to understand how these molecules work and to engineer new functions and modulators of function. Stemming from a visionary commitment to this problem by Keith Moffat decades ago, a community of structural biologists has now enabled a set of x-ray scattering technologies for observing intramolecular dynamics in biological macromolecules at atomic resolution and over the broad range of timescales over which motions are functionally relevant. Many of these techniques are provided by BioCARS, a cutting-edge synchrotron radiation facility built under Moffat leadership and located at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. BioCARS enables experimental studies of molecular dynamics with time resolutions spanning from 100 ps to seconds and provides both time-resolved x-ray crystallography and small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering. Structural changes can be initiated by several methods—UV/Vis pumping with tunable picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses, substrate diffusion, and global perturbations, such as electric field and temperature jumps. Studies of dynamics typically involve subtle perturbations to molecular structures, requiring specialized computational techniques for data processing and interpretation. In this review, we present the challenges in experimental macromolecular dynamics and describe the current state of experimental capabilities at this facility. As Moffat imagined years ago, BioCARS is now positioned to catalyze the scientific community to make fundamental advances in understanding proteins and other complex biological macromolecules.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Retrieving Tarnished Daguerreotype Content Using X-ray Fluorescence Imaging—Recent Observations on the Effect of Chemical and Electrochemical Cleaning Methods

We report a study on the effect of chemical and electrochemical cleaning of tarnished daguerreotypes observed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy with a micro-focussed X-ray beam from a synchrotron source. It has been found that, while both techniques result in some success depending on the condition of the plate and the experimental parameters (chemical concentration, voltage, current, etc.) the effect varies, and cleaning is often incomplete. The XRF images using Hg Lα,β at an excitation energy just above the L3 edge threshold produce fine images, regardless of the treatment. This finding confirms previous observations that if the bulk of the image particles remains intact, the surface tarnish has little effect on the quality of the original daguerreotype image retrievable from XRF.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Synchrotron-based Characterization Techniques for Radiation Detection Materials and Devices: An Overview

High-performance room-temperature radiation detectors (high energy resolution for spectrometers, high spatial resolution for imaging devices, and low defect-density for high flux applications) are needed for photon energies (>20 keV) that are not well suited for silicon detectors. Applications for such radiation detectors include nonproliferation, synchrotron, medical, astrophysics, and homeland security. Material- and device- characterization to understand and solve the limiting factors of radiation detection materials and devices is a core element of a radiation detector development R&D program. This presentation will give an overview on the two main synchrotron-based characterization techniques that have been employed by the authors in the last ~20 years: (1) White Beam X-ray Diffraction Topography and (2) Micron-scale detector mapping. A perfect (one domain) crystal (radiation detection material) is a requirement to achieve a highperformance radiation detector. White Beam X-ray Diffraction Topography (WBXDT) allows the rapid screening of the crystallinity of the detector material. With WBXDT we can quickly screen CZT and other crystals to make sure they have only one domain, and to see the presence of extended defects and strain fields.

Camarda, Giuseppe S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

AI-enabled high-resolution scanning coherent diffraction imaging

Ptychographic imaging is a powerful means of imaging beyond the resolution limits of typical x-ray optics. Capturing recovered images from raw ptychographic data, however, requires the solution of an inverse problem, namely, phase retrieval. Phase retrieval algorithms are computationally expensive, which precludes real-time imaging. In this work, we propose PtychoNN, an approach to solve the ptychography data inversion problem based on a deep convolutional neural network. We demonstrate how the proposed method can be used to predict real-space structure and phase at each scan point solely from the corresponding far-field diffraction data. Our results demonstrate the practical application of machine learning to recover high fidelity amplitude and phase contrast images of a real sample hundreds of times faster than current ptychography reconstruction packages. Furthermore, by overcoming the constraints of iterative model-based methods, we can significantly relax sampling constraints on data acquisition while still producing an excellent image of the sample. Besides drastically accelerating acquisition and analysis, this capability has profound implications for the imaging of dose sensitive, dynamic, and extremely voluminous samples.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Poisson’s ratio of eTPU molded bead foams in compression via in situ synchrotron X-ray microtomography

In situ synchrotron X-ray microtomography was used to characterize the bulk deformation behavior by computing the Poisson's ratio of expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (eTPU) molded bead foams used in footwear midsole during compression. Quantitative data on morphological characteristics were obtained using an iterative image processing workflow. Image correlation on the 4D datasets using DVC was performed to calculate the volumetric and axial strain to estimate the Poisson ratio. Strain maps from DVC showed the influence of variability in ligament thickness distribution on the global mechanical behavior exhibited which dominated the response seen in these bead foams. Lastly, our results showed a strong correlation between Poisson ratio and distribution of ligament thickness in foams.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Energy Coherent X-Ray Dffraction Microscopy of Polycrystal Grains: First Steps Towards a Multi-Scale Approach

Here, we present proof-of-concept imaging measurements of a polycrystalline material that integrate the elements of conventional high-energy x-ray diffraction microscopy with coherent diffraction-imaging techniques, and that can enable in situ strain-sensitive imaging of lattice structure in ensembles of deeply embedded crystals over five decades of length scale upon full realization. We demonstrate that the combination of these two characterization methods enables a more complete picture of the crystal-lattice strain than either method is capable of providing individually. Such complementary imaging capabilities are critical to addressing questions in a variety of research areas such as materials science and engineering, chemistry, and solid-state physics. Towards this eventual goal, the following key aspects are demonstrated: (1) high-energy Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (HE BCDI) of submicron-scale crystallites at 52 keV at current third-generation synchrotron light sources, (2) HE BCDI performed in conjunction with far-field high-energy diffraction microscopy (FF HEDM) on the grains of a polycrystalline sample in a smoothly integrated manner, and (3) the orientation information of an ensemble of grains obtained via FF HEDM used to perform complementary HE BCDI on multiple Bragg reflections of a single targeted grain. The imaged structures are seen to be 477 ± 50 nm or smaller in size, with an estimated strain resolution of 2.5 x 10 -4 . These steps lay the foundation for integration of HE BCDI, which typically provides a spatial resolution tens of nanometers, into a broad suite of well-established HEDM methods, extending HEDM beyond the few-micrometer resolution bound and into the nanoscale, and positioning the approach to take full advantage of the orders-of-magnitude improvement of x-ray coherence expected at fourth-generation light sources presently being built and commissioned worldwide.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advanced Mixed-Mode Pixel Array Detector for X-rays Above 20 keV (Final Report)

The objective of the work reported upon was to perform research and development and test advanced prototype imaging x-ray detectors needed to meet pressing scientific research needs at U.S. x-ray synchrotron user facilities. The high x-ray brightness of the Nation’s x-ray synchrotron sources in the DOE National Laboratories holds promise to advance science and technology in a broad range of fundamental and applied disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biomedical areas and engineering. At present, progress in many areas is being limited not by the x-ray source but by the lack of imaging x-ray detectors capable of meeting experimental needs. Specifically, there is pressing need for imaging detectors with high dynamic range, low noise, high frame rates and the ability to capture x-ray images with x-rays of energy > 20 keV. This Final Technical Report summarizes progress made at Cornell University on novel integrating x-ray detectors that address these characteristics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Magnetic Field Structure near The Event Horizon

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations at 230 GHz have now imaged polarized emission around the supermassive black hole in M87 on event-horizon scales. This polarized synchrotron radiation probes the structure of magnetic fields and the plasma properties near the black hole. Here we compare the resolved polarization structure observed by the EHT, along with simultaneous unresolved observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, to expectations from theoretical models. The low fractional linear polarization in the resolved image suggests that the polarization is scrambled on scales smaller than the EHT beam, which we attribute to Faraday rotation internal to the emission region. We estimate the average density n_e of order 10^4-7 cm-3, magnetic field strength B of order 1-30 G, and electron temperature Te of order (1-12) x 10^10 K of the radiating plasma in a simple one-zone emission model. We show that the net azimuthal linear polarization pattern may result from organized, poloidal magnetic fields in the emission region. In a quantitative comparison with a large library of simulated polarimetric images from general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations, we identify a subset of physical models that can explain critical features of the polarimetric EHT observations while producing a relativistic jet of sufficient power. The consistent GRMHD models are all of magnetically arrested accretion disks, where near-horizon magnetic fields are dynamically important. We use the models to infer a mass accretion rate onto the black hole in M87 of (3-20) x 10^-4 Msun yr-1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗