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At least 37 records · Page 2

Ultralow-temperature cryogenic transmission electron microscopy using a new helium flow cryostat stage

Advances in cryogenic electron microscopy have opened new avenues for probing quantum phenomena in correlated materials. This study reports the installation and performance of a new side-entry condenZero cryogenic cooling system for JEOL (Scanning) Transmission Electron Microscopes (S/TEM), utilizing compressed liquid helium (LHe) and designed for imaging and spectroscopy at ultra-low temperatures. The system includes an external dewar mounted on a vibration-damping stage and a pressurized, low-noise helium transfer line with a remotely controllable needle valve, ensuring stable and efficient LHe flow with minimal thermal and mechanical noise. Performance evaluation demonstrates a stable base temperature of 4.37 K measured using a Cernox bare chip sensor on the holder with temperature fluctuations within ±0.004 K. Complementary in-situ electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) via aluminum bulk plasmon analysis was used to measure the local specimen temperature and validate cryogenic operation during experiments. The integration of cryogenic cooling with other microscopy techniques, including electron diffraction and Lorentz TEM, was demonstrated by resolving charge density wave (CDW) transitions in NbSe2 using electron diffraction, and imaging nanometric magnetic skyrmions in MnSi via Lorentz TEM. In conclusion, this platform provides reliable cryogenic operation below 7 K, establishing a low-drift route for direct visualization of electronic and magnetic phase transformations in quantum materials.

Charge density wave↗

Tunable Permanent Magnet Quadrupole Operating at Cryogenic Temperatures for Accelerators

The project objective is to develop a compact and tunable quadrupole using Electron Energy Corporation (EEC)’s PM materials for cryogenic accelerator applications. To achieve this objective, EEC and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) will collaborate to develop a cost-effective quadrupole and optimize the conventional manufacturing process. Based on previous experience, EEC designed an innovative field adjustment capability using tuning magnets which is able to achieve all the requirements for SLAC’s cold copper collider (C3 ) application. These novel ideas enable us to develop a compact and tunable quadrupole magnet superior to the current designs. Our approach is to leverage EEC's over 50 years of experience in magnet manufacturing and SLAC’s beamline test capabilities.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Thermal Conductivity of Electroplated Copper Onto Bulk Niobium at Cryogenic Temperatures

Superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities made of high-purity bulk niobium are widely used in modern particle accelerators. The development of metallic outer coatings with high thermal conductivity would have a beneficial impact in terms of improved thermal stability, reduced material cost and for the development of conduction-cooled, cryogen-free SRF cavities. Several high-purity, fine-grain Nb samples have been coated with 2-4 mm thick copper by electroplating. Measurements of the thermal conductivity of the bimetallic Nb/Cu samples in the range 2 ? 7 K showed values of the order of 1 kW/(m K) at 4.3 K. Very good adhesion between copper and niobium was achieved by depositing a thin Cu layer by cold spray on the niobium, prior to electroplating the bulk Cu layer.

Dhakal, P.↗

Thermal Conductivity of Electroplated Copper Onto Bulk Niobium at Cryogenic Temperatures

Superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities made of high-purity bulk niobium are widely used in modern particle accelerators. The development of metallic outer coatings with high thermal conductivity would have a beneficial impact in terms of improved thermal stability, reduced material cost and for the development of conduction-cooled, cryogen-free SRF cavities. Several high-purity, fine-grain Nb samples have been coated with 2-4 mm thick copper by electroplating. Measurements of the thermal conductivity of the bimetallic Nb/Cu samples in the range 2 ? 7 K showed values of the order of 1 kW/(m K) at 4.3 K. Very good adhesion between copper and niobium was achieved by depositing a thin Cu layer by cold spray on the niobium, prior to electroplating the bulk Cu layer.

Dhakal, P.↗

Unraveling the discontinuous plastic flow of a Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mo multiprincipal-element alloy at deep cryogenic temperatures

We report an analysis of the discontinuous plastic flow of a multiprincipal-element alloy, Co 17.5 Cr 12.5 Fe 55 Ni 10 Mo 5 (atomic percent, at. %), in the temperature range of 0.5–4.2 K showing serrated deformation curves. Using the analytical techniques, we studied the statistics of the stress drops associated with the unstable plastic flow. The analysis showed that the complexity and heterogeneity of a discontinuous plastic flow were reduced when the temperature was lowered. This behavior was associated with the effects of dynamic recovery and adiabatic heating on the dislocation-density evolution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Irradiation-Induced Grain Growth of gamma-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 at Cryogenic Temperatures

This work reports the first observations of grain growth under irradiation of Fe oxides, specifically maghemite gamma-Fe2O3 and magnetite Fe3O4. The Fe oxide thin films were grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition and irradiated in-situ in a Transmission Electron Microscope at - 223°C using 1 MeV Kr2+ ions up to 8.75 x 10^19 ions/m^2 to study grain growth kinetics under irradiation. Grain growth at such low temperatures appears to follow kinetics that can be accounted for by the thermal spike model developed for metals in the literature. The corresponding activation energies were calculated and compared with other oxides. The results demonstrate that gamma-Fe2O3, despite its larger initial grain size, exhibits surprisingly fast grain growth in comparison with Fe3O4, likely due to the presence of iron vacancies in the crystal structure that facilitate faster atomic diffusion under irradiation.

Kretov, Dmitrii↗

Sympathetic cooling of positrons to cryogenic temperatures for antihydrogen production

The positron, the antiparticle of the electron, predicted by Dirac in 1931 and discovered by Anderson in 1933, plays a key role in many scientific and everyday endeavours. Notably, the positron is a constituent of antihydrogen, the only long-lived neutral antimatter bound state that can currently be synthesized at low energy, presenting a prominent system for testing fundamental symmetries with high precision. Here, we report on the use of laser cooled Be + ions to sympathetically cool a large and dense plasma of positrons to directly measured temperatures below 7 K in a Penning trap for antihydrogen synthesis. This will likely herald a significant increase in the amount of antihydrogen available for experimentation, thus facilitating further improvements in studies of fundamental symmetries.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Loss channels affecting lithium niobate phononic crystal resonators at cryogenic temperature

Here, we investigate the performance of microwave-frequency phononic crystal resonators fabricated on thin-film lithium niobate for integration with superconducting quantum circuits. For different design geometries at millikelvin temperatures, we achieve mechanical internal quality factors Qi above 10 5 –10 6 at high microwave drive power, corresponding to 5×10 6 phonons inside the resonator. By sweeping the defect size of resonators with identical mirror cell designs, we are able to indirectly observe signatures of the complete phononic bandgap via the resonators' internal quality factors. Examination of quality factors' temperature dependence shows how superconducting and two-level system (TLS) loss channels impact device performance. Finally, we observe an anomalous low-temperature frequency shift consistent with resonant TLS decay and find that the material choice can help to mitigate these losses.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Spontaneous Polarization in an Ultrathin Improper-Ferroelectric/Dielectric Bilayer in a Capacitor Structure at Cryogenic Temperatures

To determine the effect of depolarization and the critical thickness in improper-ferroelectric hexagonal-ferrite thin films, we investigate the polarization switching of a ferroelectric/dielectric bilayer in capacitor structures at 20 K. Experimentally, we show that the spontaneous polarization persists throughout the studied thickness range (3 to 80 unit cell), even with a thick (10-nm) dielectric layer, suggesting no practical thickness limit for applications. By fitting the effect of depolarization using the phenomenological theory, we show that the spontaneous polarization remains finite when the thickness of the ferroelectric layer approaches zero, providing a hint for the absence of critical thickness. We also find that the interfacial effects limit the multidomain formation and govern the polarization switching mechanisms.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Characterization of Noise in CMOS Ring Oscillators at Cryogenic Temperatures

Allan deviation provides a means to characterize the time-dependence of noise in oscillators and potentially identify the source characteristics. Measurements on a 130 nm, 7-stage ring oscillator show that the Allan deviation declines from 300 K to 150 K as expected, but surprisingly increases from 150 K to 11 K. At low temperatures, the measured Allan deviation can be well fit using a few random telegraph noise (RTN) sources over the range of a few kilohertz to a few gigahertz. Further, the RTN characteristics evolve to reveal an enhanced role in low-frequency noise at lower temperatures.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗