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At least 343 records · Page 19

Intrinsic rotation drive by collisionless trapped electron mode turbulence

For this work, both the parallel residual stress and parallel turbulent acceleration driven by electrostatic collisionless trapped electron mode (CTEM) turbulence are calculated analytically using gyrokinetic theory. Quasilinear results show that the parallel residual stress contributes an outward flux of co-current rotation for normal magnetic shear and turbulence intensity profile increasing outward. This may induce intrinsic counter-current rotation or flattening of the co-current rotation profile. The parallel turbulent acceleration driven by CTEM turbulence vanishes, due to the absence of a phase shift between density fluctuation and ion pressure fluctuation. This is different from the case of ion temperature gradient turbulence, for which the turbulent acceleration can provide co-current drive for normal magnetic shear and turbulence intensity profile increasing outward. Its order of magnitude is predicted to be the same as that of the divergence of the residual stress [L. Wang and P. H. Diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 265006 (2013)]. A possible connection of these theoretical results to experimental observations of electron cyclotron heating effects on toroidal rotation is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Forest regeneration within Earth system models: current process representations and ways forward

Earth system models must predict forest responses to global change in order to simulate future global climate, hydrology, and ecosystem dynamics. These models are increasingly adopting vegetation demographic approaches that explicitly represent tree growth, mortality, and recruitment, enabling advances in the projection of forest vulnerability and resilience, as well as evaluation with field data. To date, simulation of regeneration processes has received far less attention than simulation of processes that affect growth and mortality, in spite of their critical role maintaining forest structure, facilitating turnover in forest composition over space and time, enabling recovery from disturbance, and regulating climate-driven range shifts. Here, our critical review of regeneration process representations within current Earth system vegetation demographic models reveals the need to improve parameter values and algorithms for reproductive allocation, dispersal, seed survival and germination, environmental filtering in the seedling layer, and tree regeneration strategies adapted to wind, fire, and anthropogenic disturbance regimes. These improvements require synthesis of existing data, specific field data-collection protocols, and novel model algorithms compatible with global-scale simulations. Vegetation demographic models offer the opportunity to more fully integrate ecological understanding into Earth system prediction; regeneration processes need to be a critical part of the effort.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Effect of Doppler-shifted photons on subnanosecond breakdown in high-voltage pulse discharge

The experiments in high-voltage open discharge in helium [1, 2] showed a controlled current growth rate of 500 A/(cm{sup 2}ns) for an applied voltage of 20 kV and gas pressure of 6 Torr. A kinetic model of the subnanosecond breakdown is developed to analyze the mechanism of current growth, which takes into account the kinetics of electrons, ions, fast atoms and photons with a Doppler shift (DS). DS photons appear in discharge due to collisions of heavy particles. Using particle in cell simulations, we show a critical role of DS photons in the electron emission from the cathode during the breakdown. Our experimental and calculation results show a decrease of the breakdown time with increasing gas pressure from 3 Torr to 16 Torr.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Impact of bootstrap current and Landau-fluid closure on ELM crashes and transport

Results presented here are from 6-field Landau-Fluid simulations using shifted circular cross-section tokamak equilibria on BOUT++ framework. Linear benchmark results imply that the collisional and collisionless Landau resonance closures make a little difference on linear growth rate spectra which are quite close to the results with the flux limited Spitzer-Härm parallel flux. Both linear and nonlinear simulations show that the plasma current profile plays dual roles on the peeling-ballooning modes that it can drive the low-n peeling modes and stabilize the high-n ballooning modes. For fixed total pressure and current, as the pedestal current decreases due to the bootstrap current which becomes smaller when the density (collisionality) increases, the operational point is shifted downwards vertically in the J ped – α diagram, resulting in threshold changes of different modes. In conclusion, the bootstrap current can slightly increase radial turbulence spreading range and enhance the energy and particle transports by increasing the perturbed amplitude and broadening cross-phase frequency distribution.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Comparative study of 0° X-cut and Y + 36°-cut lithium niobate high-voltage sensing

A comparison study between Y + 36° and 0° X-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO{sub 3}) was performed to evaluate the influence of crystal cut on the acoustic propagation to realize a piezoelectric high-voltage sensor. The acoustic time-of-flight for each crystal cut was measured when applying direct current (DC), alternating current (AC), and pulsed voltages. Results show that the voltage-induced shift in the acoustic wave propagation time scaled quadratically with voltage for DC and AC voltages applied to X-cut crystals. For the Y + 36° crystal, the voltage-induced shift scales linearly with DC voltages and quadratically with AC voltages. When applying 5 μs voltage pulses to both crystals, the voltage-induced shift scaled linearly with voltage. For the Y + 36° cut, the voltage-induced shift from applying DC voltages ranged from 10 to 54 ps and 35 to 778 ps for AC voltages at 640 V over the frequency range of 100 Hz–100 kHz. Using the same conditions as the Y + 36° cut, the 0° X-cut crystal sensed a shift of 10–273 ps for DC voltages and 189–813 ps for AC voltage application. For 5 μs voltage pulses, the 0° X-cut crystal sensed a voltage induced shift of 0.250–2 ns and the Y + 36°-cut crystal sensed a time shift of 0.115–1.6 ns. This suggests a frequency sensitive response to voltage where the influence of the crystal cut was not a significant contributor under DC, AC, or pulsed voltage conditions. The measured DC data were compared to a 1-D impedance matrix model where the predicted incremental length changed as a function of voltage. When the voltage source error was eliminated through physical modeling from the uncertainty budget, the combined uncertainty of the sensor (within a 95% confidence interval) decreased to 0.0033% using a Y + 36°-cut crystal and 0.0032% using an X-cut crystal for all the voltage conditions used in this experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Vibrational Spectra of HNIW and its Isotopologues: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study

Incorporating isotopically labelled materials in degradation experiments could help unravel the mechanism(s) of decomposition through use of the kinetic isotope effect. Characterizing synthesized isotopologues however requires an understanding of what observable signals are affected by the isotopic substitution. As vibrational spectroscopy can distinguish between isotopologues, it is an ideal characterization technique to evaluate isotopic variants. To this end, the vibrational spectra of HNIW and its deuterated ( 2 H), 13 C, 15 N (all), 15 N (nitro), and 18 O isotopologues have been computationally predicted in the gas phase using density functional theory. These results are compared to experimentally measured FTIR/ATR and Raman spectra of both unsubstituted HNIW and 15 N-labeled HNIW in which the six nitro groups were synthetically tagged with 15 N atoms ( 15 N nitro -HNIW). The experimental isotopic frequency shift for the -NO 2 asymmetric stretching frequencies agrees with that theoretically calculated (~35.7 cm-1 vs. 36.5cm-1, respectively). Furthermore, analysis of the theoretically predicted frequency shifts for all isotopologues suggest the -NO 2 bending modes are lower in frequency than previously reported. This assignment is supported by the experimentally measured isotopic shift of ~10.1 cm -1 for these features (consistent with the predicted shift of ~13.1 cm -1 ). This work expands our current understanding of the vibrational modes in HNIW as well as provides a method for future work on similar systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

e + e - angularity distributions at NNLL' accuracy

We present predictions for the e + e – event shape angularities at NNLL' resummed and O (α 2 s ) matched accuracy and compare them to LEP data at center-of-mass energies Q = 91.2 GeV and Q = 197 GeV. We perform the resummation within the framework of Soft-Collinear Effective Theory, and make use of recent results for the two-loop angularity soft function. We determine the remaining NNLL' and O (α 2 s ) ingredients from a fit to the EVENT2 generator, and implement a shape function with a renormalon-free gap parameter to model non-perturbative effects. Using values of the strong coupling α s (m Z ) and the universal non-perturbative shift parameter Ω 1 that are consistent with those obtained in previous fits to the thrust and C -parameter distributions, we find excellent agreement between our predictions and the LEP data for all angularities with a ϵ [–1, 0.5]. This provides a robust test of the predictions of QCD, factorization, and the universal scaling of the non-perturbative shift across different angularities. Promisingly, our results indicate that current degeneracies in the {α s (m Z ), Ω 1 } parameter space could be alleviated upon fitting these parameters to experimental data for the angularity distributions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase synergized with lignin-degrading enzymes for efficient lignin degradation

Even though the discovery of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) has fundamentally shifted our understanding of biomass degradation, most of the current studies focused on their roles in carbohydrate oxidation. However, no study demonstrated if LPMO could directly participate to the process of lignin degradation in lignin-degrading microbes. This study showed that LPMO could synergize with lignin-degrading enzymes for efficient lignin degradation in white-rot fungi. The transcriptomics analysis of fungi Irpex lacteus and Dichomitus squalens during their lignocellulosic biomass degradation processes surprisingly highlighted that LPMOs co-regulated with lignin-degrading enzymes, indicating their more versatile roles in the redox network. Biochemical analysis further confirmed that the purified LPMO from I. lacteus CD2 could use diverse electron donors to produce H 2 O 2 , drive Fenton reaction, and synergize with manganese peroxidase for lignin oxidation. The results thus indicated that LPMO might uniquely leverage the redox network toward dynamic and efficient degradation of different cell wall components.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Ionic Control over Ferroelectricity in 2D Layered van der Waals Capacitors

The van der Waals layered material CuInP 2 S 6 features interesting functional behavior, including the existence of four uniaxial polarization states, polarization reversal against the electric field through Cu ion migration, a negative-capacitance regime, and reversible extraction of Cu ions. At the heart of these characteristics lies the high mobility of Cu ions, which also determines the spontaneous polarization. Therefore, Cu migration across the lattice results in unusual ferroelectric behavior. Here, we demonstrate how the interplay of polar and ionic properties provides a path to ionically controlled ferroelectric behavior, achieved by applying selected DC voltage pulses and subsequently probing ferroelectric switching during fast triangular voltage sweeps. Using current measurements and theoretical calculations, we observe that increasing DC pulse duration results in higher ionic currents, the buildup of an internal electric field that shifts polarization loops, and an increase in total switchable polarization by ~50% due to the existence of a high polarization phase which is stabilized by the internal electric field. Apart from tuning ferroelectric behavior by selected square pulses, hysteretic polarization switching can even be entirely deactivated and reactivated, resulting in three-state systems where polarization switching is either inhibited or can be performed in two different directions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Correlation between measured voltage and observed wavelength in commercial AlGaInP laser diode

Temperature of a commercial AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well laser diode (LD) is measured using two methods: peak wavelength shift and the diode voltage drop caused by working current. Time evolutions of temperature obtained by the two methods during the LD self-heating are measured and compared. No significant difference between the thus obtained temperature evolutions is obtained. Correlation between the LD voltage drop and the laser radiation frequency is established using a simple four-level semiconductor laser scheme and the LD gap energy is estimated. The LD gap energy decreases from 1.66 eV to 1.56 eV for temperature increase of 21 K, at close to room temperature. It is found that LD's frequency decrease is caused by the gap energy decrease.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

High temperature and low pressure chemical vapor deposition of silicon nitride on AlGaN: Band offsets and passivation studies

In this work, we employed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the band offsets and interface Fermi level at the heterojunction formed by stoichiometric silicon nitride deposited on Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (of varying Al composition “x”) via low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Silicon nitride is found to form a type II staggered band alignment with AlGaN for all Al compositions (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) and present an electron barrier into AlGaN even at higher Al compositions, where E{sub g}(AlGaN) > E{sub g}(Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}). Further, no band bending is observed in AlGaN for x ≤ 0.6 and a reduced band bending (by ∼1 eV in comparison to that at free surface) is observed for x > 0.6. The Fermi level in silicon nitride is found to be at 3 eV with respect to its valence band, which is likely due to silicon (≡Si{sup 0/−1}) dangling bonds. The presence of band bending for x > 0.6 is seen as a likely consequence of Fermi level alignment at Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}/AlGaN hetero-interface and not due to interface states. Photoelectron spectroscopy results are corroborated by current-voltage-temperature and capacitance-voltage measurements. A shift in the interface Fermi level (before band bending at equilibrium) from the conduction band in Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}/n-GaN to the valence band in Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}/p-GaN is observed, which strongly indicates a reduction in mid-gap interface states. Hence, stoichiometric silicon nitride is found to be a feasible passivation and dielectric insulation material for AlGaN at any composition.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A plasma photonic crystal bandgap device

A fully tunable plasma photonic crystal is used to control the propagation of free space electromagnetic waves in the S to X bands of the microwave spectrum. An array of discharge plasma tubes forms a simple square crystal structure with the individual plasma dielectric constant tuned through variation in the plasma density. We show, through simulations and experiments, that transverse electric mode bandgaps exist, arising from the positive and negative dielectric constant regimes of the plasma, and that the respective bandgap frequencies can be shifted through changing the dielectric constant by varying discharge current density.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Electro-optic modulation of a laser at microwave frequencies for interferometric purposes

A multi-point microwave interferometer (MPMI) concept was previously proposed by the authors for spatially-resolved, non-invasive tracking of a shock, reaction, or detonation front in energetic media [P. Specht et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 1793, 160010 (2017).]. The advantage of the MPMI concept over current microwave interferometry techniques is its detection of Doppler shifted microwave signals through electro-optic (EO) modulation of a laser. Since EO modulation preserves spatial variations in the Doppler shift, collecting the EO modulated laser light into a fiber array for recording with an optical heterodyne interferometer yields spatially-resolved velocity information. This work demonstrates the underlying physical principle of the MPMI diagnostic: the monitoring of a microwave signal with nanosecond temporal resolution using an optical heterodyne interferometer. For this purpose, the MPMI concept was simplified to a single-point construction using two tunable 1550 nm lasers and a 35.2 GHz microwave source. A (110) ZnTe crystal imparted the microwave frequency onto a laser, which was combined with a reference laser for determination of the microwave frequency in an optical heterodyne interferometer. A single, characteristic frequency associated with the microwave source was identified in all experiments, providing a means to monitor a microwave signal on nanosecond time scales. Lastly, areas for improving the frequency resolution of this technique are discussed, focusing on increasing the phase-modulated signal strength.

Specht, Paul E. (ORCID:000000027007000X)↗

Teleportation-based quantum information processing with Majorana zero modes

In this work, we present a measurement-based scheme for performing braiding operations on Majorana zero modes in mesoscopic superconductor islands and for detecting their non-Abelian statistics without moving or hybridizing them. In our scheme for “braiding without braiding”, the topological qubit encoded in any pair of well-separated Majorana zero modes is read out from the transmission phase shift in electron teleportation through the island in the Coulomb-blockade regime. Finally, we propose experimental setups to measure the teleportation phase shift via conductance in an electron interferometer or persistent current in a closed loop.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Modeling high-efficiency extreme ultraviolet etched multilayer phase-shift masks

Achieving high-throughput extreme ultraviolet (EUV) patterning remains a major challenge due to low source power; phase-shift masks can help solve this challenge for dense features near the resolution limit by creating brighter images than traditional absorber masks when illuminated with the same source power. We explore applications of etched multilayer phase-shift masks for EUV lithography, both in the current-generation 0.33 NA and next-generation 0.55 NA systems. We derive analytic formulas for the thin-mask throughput gains, which are 2.42× for lines and spaces and 5.86× for contacts compared with an absorber mask with dipole and quadrupole illumination, respectively. Using rigorous finite-difference time-domain simulations, we quantify variations in these gains by pitch and orientation, finding 87% to 113% of the thin-mask value for lines and spaces and a 91% to 99% for contacts. We introduce an edge placement error metric, which accounts for CD errors, relative feature motion, and telecentricity errors, and use this metric both to optimize mask designs for individual features and to explore which features can be printed on the same mask. Furthermore, we find that although partial coherence shrinks the process window, at an achievable sigma of 0.2 we obtain a depth of focus of 340 nm and an exposure latitude of 39.2%, suggesting that partial coherence will not limit the feasibility of this technology. Finally, we show that many problems such as sensitivity to etch uniformity can be greatly mitigated using a central obscuration in the imaging pupil.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Historical Material Analysis of DC745U Pressure Pads

As part of the Enhance Surveillance mission, it is the goal to provide suitable lifetime assessment of stockpile materials. This report is an accumulation of historical publication on the DC745U material and their findings. It is the intention that the B61 LEP program uses this collection of data to further develop their understanding and potential areas of study. DC745U is a commercially available silicone elastomer consisting of dimethyl, methyl-phenyl, and methyl-vinyl siloxane repeat units. Originally, this material was manufactured by Dow Corning as Silastic® DC745U at their manufacturing facility in Kendallville, IN. Recently, Dow Corning shifted this material to the Xiameter® brand product line. Currently, DC745U is available through Xiameter® or Dow Corning's distributor R. D. Abbott Company. DC745U is cured using 0.5 wt% vinyl-specific peroxide curing agent known as Luperox 101 or Varox DBPH-50. This silicone elastomer is used in numerous parts, including two major components (outer pressure pads and aft cap support) in the W80 and as pressure pads on the B61. DC745U is a proprietary formulation, thus Dow Corning provides limited information on its composition and properties. Based on past experience with Dow Corning, DC745U is at risk of formulation changes without notification to the costumer. A formulation change for DC745U may have a significant impact because the network structure is a key variable in determining material properties. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of historical DC745U studies and identify gaps that need to be addressed in future work. Some of the previous studies include the following: 1. Spectroscopic characterization of raw gum stock. 2. Spectroscopic, thermal, and mechanical studies on cured DC745U. 3. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and solvent swelling studies on DC745U with different crosslink densities. 4. NMR, solvent swelling, thermal, and mechanical studies on thermally aged DC745U. 5. NMR, solvent swelling, thermal, and mechanical studies on radiolytically aged DC745U. Each area is reviewed and further work is suggested to improve our understanding of DC745U for systems engineering, surveillance, aging assessments, and lifetime assessment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Capacity Payments in Restructured Markets under Low and High Penetration Levels of Renewable Energy

There is considerable debate about the degree to which restructured markets perform successfully in their use of capacity markets. In providing appropriate incentives for new and existing generation to meet reliability requirements, a variety of capacity market designs have developed across RTOs and ISOs in the United States and internationally. Growing levels of variable renewable energy (VRE) resources arguably create new challenges for capacity market designs, because VREs suppress energy prices while providing relatively little capacity, with these effects increase with VRE penetration. The purpose of this report is threefold. First, we provide a brief outline of the purpose and design of various capacity markets under consideration using variable resource requirement (VRR) demand curves. Second, we discuss some of the main challenges raised in existing literature and a set of interviews that we conducted with market participants, regulators, and observers, including where there substantive differences in opinion. Third, we consider some of the challenges that may be specific to higher penetration levels of VRE. While the well known 'merit order' effect from VRE can be expected to suppress wholesale energy prices and revenue, this may be partly mitigated by increased capacity payments and the greater importance of AS payments for flexible capacity. The potential for greater reliance on capacity markets for generator revenues may amplify any inefficiency and costs associated with capacity price volatility and other suboptimal market design choices. Regulatory intervention to ensure adequate capacity payments and ancillary service revenue may become more prevalent under current market designs as the timescale for market signals shifts increasingly from near term (e.g., day-ahead in wholesale electricity markets) to longer term (annual intervals in capacity markets). Our review and discussion with market participants suggest substantive challenges may remain in implementing capacity markets that provide both adequate operational and investment incentives, particularly under high-VRE scenarios with greater need for flexible capacity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Uranium Mining and Milling

The starting point for material accountancy under INFCIRC/153-type comprehensive safeguards agreements (paragraph 34(c)) with an Additional Protocol envisions a shifting toward earlier in the nuclear fuel cycle than current practice. The design of effective and efficient safeguards requires a more detailed process-level understanding of front-end activities, to include conducting a survey of uranium mining, concentration, and purification processes in commercial use to catalog technological options for producing uranium ore concentrate, also known as yellow cake. Based on this survey, a process flow diagram (PFD) illustrating front-end process options will be created to illustrate pre-34(c) material flows and support the identification of material control points.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗