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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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36 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Calibration of a stack of NaI scintillators at the Berkeley Bevalac

An analysis of the carbon and argon data reveals that essentially all of the charge-changing fragmentation reactions within the stack can be identified and removed by imposing the simple criteria relating the observed energy deposition profiles to the expected Bragg curve depositions. It is noted that these criteria are even capable of identifying approximately one-third of the expected neutron-stripping interactions, which in these cases have anomalous deposition profiles. The contribution of mass error from uncertainty in delta E has an upper limit of 0.25 percent for Mn; this produces an associated mass error for the experiment of about 0.14 amu. It is believed that this uncertainty will change little with changing gamma. Residual errors in the mapping produce even smaller mass errors for lighter isotopes, whereas photoelectron fluctuations and delta-ray effects are approximately the same independent of the charge and energy deposition.

Schindler, S. M.↗
DOE OSTI2025

PMT calibration for the JSNS^2-II far detector with an embedded LED system

The JSNS^2-II (the second phase of JSNS^2, J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) is an experiment aimed at searching for sterile neutrinos. Here, this experiment has entered its second phase, employing two liquid scintillator detectors located at near and far positions from the neutrino source. Recently, the far detector of the experiment has been completed and is currently in the calibration phase. The following properties of all functioning Photo-Multiplier-Tubes (PMTs) to detect the neutrino events in the far detector have been calibrated: PMT gain, its dependence of supplied High Voltage (HV), Peak-to-Valley (PV), and signal timing. This paper presents a detailed description of the calibration process utilizing the LED system. The LED system of the far detector uses two Ultra-Violet (UV) LEDs, which are effective in calibrating all of the PMTs at once. The UV light is converted into the visible light wavelengths inside liquid scintillator via the wavelength shifters, providing pseudo-isotropic light. To achieve a good energy resolution for physics events, a relative gain adjustment of up to 10% is required for all functioning PMTs. This will be achieved using the HV curves measured and the results of the LED calibration. The Peak-to-Valley (PV) ratio values, which distinguish the single photo-electron signal from the pedestal, are similar to those from the production company. Additionally, the precision of the PMT signal timing is measured to be 2.1 ns. This meets the event reconstruction requirement of 10 ns.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1983

Use of relativistic rise in ionization chambers for measurement of high energy heavy nuclei

A balloon-borne instrument has been constructed to measure the energy spectra of cosmic-ray heavy nuclei in the range of about 0.3 to about 100 GeV/amu. It makes use of the relativistic rise portion of the Bethe-Bloch curve in ionization chambers for energy determination in the 10- to 100-GeV/amu interval. The instrument consists of six layers of dual-gap ionization chambers for energy determination above 10 GeV/amu. Charge is determined with a NE114 scintillator and a Pilot 425 plastic Cerenkov counter. A CO2 gas Cerenkov detector (1 atm; threshold of 30 GeV/amu) calibrates the ion chambers in the relativistic rise region. The main emphasis of the instrument is the determination of the change of the ratio of Iron (26) to the Iron secondaries (21-25) in the energy range of 10 to 100 GeV/amu. Preliminary data from a balloon flight in the fall of 1982 from Palestine, TX is presented.

Barthelmy, S. D.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Observations of Cygnus X-3 above 50 keV

Cygnus X-3 was observed in the energy range 50-400 keV using a balloon-borne, actively collimated, NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The observation was made from phase 0.45-0.91 of the 4.8 hour period. The photon number spectrum was well represented by a power law with index -2.2. The flux increased throughout the observation, consistent with a highly asymmetric light curve with a peak near phase 0.9.

Meegan, C. A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Visualization of Thermal and Strain Dynamics in X-ray Optics by Time-Resolved Rocking Curve Imaging

The absorption of intense X-ray pulses from free-electron lasers by X-ray crystal optics triggers rapid thermal and mechanical responses, including lattice compression, expan- sion, and strain-wave propagation, which dynamically modify diffraction conditions and wavefront properties. These effects pose significant challenges for next-generation high- repetition-rate X-ray sources, particularly for crystal monochromators used in XFEL beam- lines and self-seeding. Here, we demonstrate time-resolved rocking curve imaging (TrRCI) of X-ray Bragg optics with high spatial resolution (6.4 μm) and sub-1-μrad angular resolu- tion, enabling direct visualization of lattice dynamics from nanoseconds to microseconds. By combining a high-flux beamline at SPring-8, a scintillator-coupled sCMOS detector, and a synchronized femtosecond laser system, we capture lattice dynamics induced by tran- sient laser heating with a strain sensitivity on the order of 10−6 . Our results reveal transient lattice deformation and the propagation of laser-induced strain waves over millimeter-scale distances. This approach provides experimental benchmarks for understanding heat-load effects in high-repetition-rate X-ray optics.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Discovery of the Millisecond Pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a Fermi Source with the Nancay Radio Telescope

We report the discovery of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a search of a Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) source with no known associations, with the Nancay Radio Telescope. The new pulsar, confirmed with the Green Bank Telescope, has a spin period of 2.38 ms, is relatively nearby (d approx. < 2 kpc) and is in a 1.48-d orbit around a low-mass companion, probably an He-type white dwarf. Using an ephemeris based on Arecibo, Nancay and Westerbork timing measurements, pulsed gamma-ray emission was detected in the data recorded by the Fermi LAT. The gamma-ray light curve and spectral properties are typical of other gamma-ray millisecond pulsars seen with Fermi. X-ray observations of the pulsar with Suzaku and the Swift X-ray Telescope yielded no detection. At 1.4 GHz, we observe strong flux density variations because of interstellar diffractive scintillation; however, a sharp peak can be observed at this frequency during bright scintillation states. At 327 MHz, the pulsar is detected with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio and its flux density is far more steady. However, at that frequency the Arecibo instrumentation cannot yet fully resolve the pulse profile. Despite that, our pulse time-of-arrival measurements have a post-fit residual rms of 2 micro s. This and the expected stability of this system have made PSR J2043+1711 one of the first new Fermi-selected millisecond pulsars to be added to pulsar gravitational wave timing arrays. It has also allowed a significant measurement of relativistic delays in the times of arrival of the pulses due to the curvature of space-time near the companion, but not yet with enough precision to derive useful masses for the pulsar and the companion. Nevertheless, a mass for the pulsar between 1.7 and 2.0 solar Mass can be derived if a standard millisecond pulsar formation model is assumed. In this paper, we also present a comprehensive summary of pulsar searches in Fermi LAT sources with the Nancay Radio Telescope to date.

general aEuro" pulsars↗
NASA NTRS1975

Measurements on the development of cascades in a tungsten-scintillator ionization spectrometer

The response of a tungsten-scintillator ionization spectrometer to accelerated particle beams has been investigated. Results obtained from exposure of the approx. 1000 g/sq cm apparatus to 5, 10, and 15 GeV/c electrons and pions as well as to 2.1 GeV/nucleon C-12 and O-16 ions are presented. These results include cascade-development curves, fractions of the primary energy measured by the spectrometer, and resolutions of the apparatus for measuring the primary energies. For 15 GeV/c electrons, an average of about 82% of the incident energy is measured by the apparatus with resolution (normal standard deviation) of about 6%. For 15 GeV/c pions, an average of about 65% of the incident energy is measured with resolution of about 18%. The energy resolution improves with increasing energy and with increasing depth of the spectrometer.

Cheshire, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Observations of celestial X-ray sources above 20 keV with the high-energy scintillation spectrometer on board OSO 8

High-energy X-ray spectra of the Crab Nebula, Cyg- XR-1, and Cen A were determined from observations with the scintillation spectrometer on board the OSO-8 satellite, launched in June, 1975. Each of these sources was observed over two periods of 8 days or more, enabling a search for day-to-day and year to year variations in the spectral and temporal characteristics of the X-ray emission. No variation in the light curve of the Crab pulsar was found from observations which span a 15-day period in March 1976, with demonstrable phase stability. Transitions associated with the binary phase of Cyg XR-1 and a large change in the emission from Con A are reported.

Crannell, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Observations of celestial X-ray sources above 20 keV with the high-energy scintillation spectrometer on board OSO-8

High-energy X-ray spectra of the Crab Nebula, Cyg XR-1, and Cen A were determined from observations with the scintillation spectrometer onboard the OSO-8 satellite, launched in June 1975. Each of these sources was observed over two periods of 8 days or more, allowing a search for day-to-day and year-to-year variations in the spectral and temporal characteristics of the X-ray emission. No variation in the light curve of the Crab pulsar was found from observations which span a 15-day period in March 1976, with demonstrable phase stability. Transitions associated with the binary phase of Cyg XR-1 and a large change in the emission from Cen A are reported.

Crannell, C. J.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deuterated Xylene-Based Neutron Spectrometry

Deuterated scintillators, such as deuterated xylene (C8D10) have been theorized to offer better pulse shape discrimination (PSD) and neutron spectrometry performance than traditional protiated scintillators due to the anisotropy of neutron scattering on deuterium. However, the light output responses of said deuterated scintillators to monoenergetic has not been characterized in its entirety at both high and low energies. Several time-of-flight experiments were conducted at the Idaho national Laboratory to characterize a pair of EJ-301D deuterated xylene detectors. The low energy detector response to quasi-monoenergetic neutrons was measured using a Cf-252 source, and the high energy detector response was measured using a D-T source and angles of 20, 45, and 60 deg, corresponding to theoretical neutron energies of 13.2, 10.4, and 8.2 MeV. During post-processing, the neutron and gamma bands were clearly able to be separated, even at low light outputs, solidifying the superior PSD capability of deuterated xylene. An exponential of fit of LO=0.63E-2.22*(1-exp(-0.25E)), which has good agreement with previously measured data, was found as the light output response from deuteron recoils. Additionally, measurements of AmBe, D-T, and D-D sources were unfolded using the light output response curve, which resulted in favorable agreement with theoretical values. Further testing of the response matrix by unfolding more sources (such as PuBe) needs to be done, but the unfolding accuracy for currently available sources suggests that deuterated xylene can be used to measure and unfold both fission, monoenergetic, and continuous spectra.

scintillator↗
NASA NTRS1978

Gain degradation and amplitude scintillation due to tropospheric turbulence

It is shown that a simple physical model is adequate for the prediction of the long term statistics of both the reduced signal levels and increased peak-to-peak fluctuations. The model is based on conventional atmospheric turbulence theory and incorporates both amplitude and angle of arrival fluctuations. This model predicts the average variance of signals observed under clear air conditions at low elevation angles on earth-space paths at 2, 7.3, 20 and 30 GHz. Design curves based on this model for gain degradation, realizable gain, amplitude fluctuation as a function of antenna aperture size, frequency, and either terrestrial path length or earth-space path elevation angle are presented.

Theobold, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Some new results on the statistics of radio wave scintillation. I - Empirical evidence for Gaussian statistics

This paper presents an analysis of ionospheric scintillation data which shows that the underlying statistical structure of the signal can be accurately modeled by the additive complex Gaussian perturbation predicted by the Born approximation in conjunction with an application of the central limit theorem. By making use of this fact, it is possible to estimate the in-phase, phase quadrature, and cophased scattered power by curve fitting to measured intensity histograms. By using this procedure, it is found that typically more than 80% of the scattered power is in phase quadrature with the undeviated signal component. Thus, the signal is modeled by a Gaussian, but highly non-Rician process. From simultaneous UHF and VHF data, only a weak dependence of this statistical structure on changes in the Fresnel radius is deduced. The signal variance is found to have a nonquadratic wavelength dependence. It is hypothesized that this latter effect is a subtle manifestation of locally homogeneous irregularity structures, a mathematical model proposed by Kolmogorov (1941) in his early studies of incompressible fluid turbulence.

Rino, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Development of Biocompatibility Procedures for Assessment of Plant Growth in Ground Test Hardware for the EMCS

The European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) is an European Space Agency-developed facility designed to support plant research in microgravity on the IS NASA is responsible for providing US specific hardware to use within the EMCS. In preparation for flight, research will be developed and tested at Ames Research Center in the EMCS ground test hardware, the Experiment Reference Module (ERM) In order to determine the acceptability of the ERM for such purposes, biocompatibility tests will be performed to determine that the hardware functions as intended and successfully supports the' growth of plants. In this report, we describe the development of procedures and the collection of baseline data against which to compare ERM function, e.g. biocompatibility testing. A simple and robust system was developed to grow whole Arabidopsis thaliana plants within the confined volumes characteristic of spaceflight hardware. Our system for growing plants eliminated the necessity of a water/nutrient delivery system and allowed for quantifiable assessment of individual plants, as well as entire population dynamics. To insure uniform germination, seeds were started in small straw segments and transplanted into modified scintillation vials. Seedlings were selected prior to transplantation to decrease genetic variability. Plants were grown for a total of 24 days in standard laboratory plant growth chambers under controlled conditions. Sequential digital still images were taken on a daily basis. Analysis of these images allowed for the quantification of even minute environmental effect, on growth dynamics whole plants. The data collected provide reliable growth curves against which to compare plants grown in the ERM.

Bowman, R. N.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Detection and quantification of trace technetium in the presence of molybdenum using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Technetium (Tc) is a very important element that is encountered in many aspects, from its presence in radioactive waste and its potential environmental impact to its use as a medical radioisotope. Its detection and quantification in liquid samples is traditionally cumbersome, involving detailed sample preparation and analysis by mass spectrometry or scintillation. This article demonstrates the first comprehensive emission spectral analysis of Tc from a liquid sample by immobilization in a polymer and analysis by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). A survey of LIBS spectra was completed to identify the strongest analytical lines for quantification of trace Tc in the presence of Mo. The quantification of Tc in a Mo-containing matrix was selected because Tc radioisotopes are the daughter products of Mo isotope decay. The first reported calibration curves by LIBS are provided with limits of detection and quantification down to 0.710 µg mL −1 and 1.39 µg mL −1 , respectively. Ultimately, this study demonstrated the feasibility of trace Tc quantification using LIBS and will serve as a reference for future research related to monitoring this radioactive species.

Andrews, Hunter B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory ↗
NASA NTRS1973

Hodoscope Measurements of the Spectrum of Cosmic Electrons Between 10 Gev and 100 Gev

In an attempt to reduce divergences among independent measurements of the electron spectrum above 10 GeV, electrons were detected with the aid of a large hodoscope which incorporates 8 trays of Geiger tubes and 10 scintillation counters into a calorimeter containing 33 radiation lengths of lead. This instrument was thoroughly calibrated up to 9 GeV with an electron synchrotron and was flown twice at a depth of 5 g/sq cm for a total of 30 hours at ceiling. Electron showers at 10 GeV are completely contained within the calorimeter where their ionization is sampled twelve times, and where hodoscope trays provide information on the geometrical distribution of shower particles. Electrons appeared in a histogram of number of events vs. a X2 measure of goodness of fit to electron shower curves as a clearly resolved peak standing well above the nuclear background. The initial ionization and the lateral spread of shower particles are consistent with those of calibration electrons. In contrast, the behavior of the nuclear continuum associated with minimum ionizing incident particles is different from that of calibration electrons but similar to that of nuclear events associated with incident helium nuclei. The differential electron spectrum from 10 to 100 GeV was obtained.

Meegan, C. A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Dose Calibration of the ISS-RAD Fast Neutron Detector

The ISS-RAD instrument has been fabricated by Southwest Research Institute and delivered to NASA for flight to the ISS in late 2015 or early 2016. ISS-RAD is essentially two instruments that share a common interface to ISS. The two instruments are the Charged Particle Detector (CPD), which is very similar to the MSL-RAD detector on Mars, and the Fast Neutron Detector (FND), which is a boron-loaded plastic scintillator with readout optimized for the 0.5 to 10 MeV energy range. As the FND is completely new, it has been necessary to develop methodology to allow it to be used to measure the neutron dose and dose equivalent. This talk will focus on the methods developed and their implementation using calibration data obtained in quasi-monoenergetic (QMN) neutron fields at the PTB facility in Braunschweig, Germany. The QMN data allow us to determine an approximate response function, from which we estimate dose and dose equivalent contributions per detected neutron as a function of the pulse height. We refer to these as the "pSv per count" curves for dose equivalent and the "pGy per count" curves for dose. The FND is required to provide a dose equivalent measurement with an accuracy of 10% of the known value in a calibrated AmBe field. Four variants of the analysis method were developed, corresponding to two different approximations of the pSv per count curve, and two different implementations, one for real-time analysis onboard ISS and one for ground analysis. We will show that the preferred method, when applied in either real-time or ground analysis, yields good accuracy for the AmBe field. We find that the real-time algorithm is more susceptible to chance-coincidence background than is the algorithm used in ground analysis, so that the best estimates will come from the latter.

Zeitlin, C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Results of a five-year program of multifrequency monitoring of low-frequency variable radio sources

We present the results of a detailed multifrequency monitoring program of low-frequency variable radio sources. This consists of light curves at 318, 430, 606, 880, and 1400 MHz over a 5 year period. The observations were carried out with the Arecibo 305 m radiotelescope and the Green Bank 91 m radio telescope. The spectral characteristics of the variations confirm the general picture that at least two mechanisms are responsible. The first is clearly intrinsic evolution of synchrotron-emitting components as it is manifested by variations that appear first and most strongly at high frequencies, subsequently drifting to lower frequencies with diminished amplitude. The more common type of low-frequency variability, however, dominates at frequencies below approximately 800 MHz, while the variations near 1 GHz are often quite weak. This spectral property is strong evidence that these variations are interstellar refractive scintillation.

Mitchell, K. J.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Characterization of lateral amorphous selenium photodetectors for low-photon and VUV detection at cryogenic temperatures

The performance of amorphous selenium (a-Se) as a cryogenic photodetector material is evaluated through a series of experiments using laterally structured devices operated in a custom optical test stand. These studies investigate the response of a-Se detectors to low-photon fluxes at high electric fields near avalanche conditions, the linearity of the photoconductive response over a wide dynamic range and the direct detection of narrowband 130 nm vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) illumination. At 87 K, matched-filter analysis shows reliable single-shot detection with efficiencies ≥80% and area under the curve (AUC) ≥ 0.85 using as few as ∼ 6800 incident 401 nm photons, corresponding to ∼ 3400 photons within field-active regions after accounting for geometric constraints. Measurements are performed at cryogenic temperatures using calibrated photon fluxes derived from a silicon photomultiplier reference and a characterized optical filter stack. Additional experiments using a tellurium-doped a-Se (a-SeTe) device explore the material's behavior under identical test conditions and demonstrate that avalanche is achievable in a-SeTe at cryogenic temperatures. The results demonstrate reproducible low-noise operation, VUV sensitivity and field-dependent gain behavior in a lateral a-Se architecture, representing the first reported observation of avalanche multiplication in laterally structured a-Se and a-SeTe devices at cryogenic temperatures. These findings support the potential integration of laterally structured a-Se devices into next-generation pixelated liquid-argon time projection chambers (TPCs) requiring scalable, high-field-compatible photon detection systems.

Amorphous selenium↗