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Mapping of cathodoluminescence emission spectra and concurrent secondary electron current of gated 1L-WS2 at cryogenic temperature.
Topological crystalline insulator tin telluride (SnTe) provides a rich playground to examine interactions of correlated electronic states, such as ferroelectricity, topological surface states, and superconductivity. The study of SnTe nanowires may lead to even richer physics owing to the one-dimensional (1D) confinement effect and an increased contribution from the topological surface states. Thus, for transport measurements, SnTe nanowires must be synthesized with reduced diameters and high crystalline quality to ensure 1D confinement and phase coherence of the topological surface electrons. Here, we report a facile growth method to produce narrow SnTe nanowires with a high yield using alloy nanoparticles as growth catalysts. The average diameter of the SnTe nanowires grown using alloy nanoparticles is 85 nm, nearly a factor of three reduction compared to the average diameter of 240 nm when using gold nanoparticles as growth catalysts. Transport measurements reveal the effect of the nanowire diameter on the residual resistance ratio and magnetoresistance. Particularly, the ferroelectric transition temperature for SnTe evolves systematically with the nanowire diameter. In situ cryogenic cooling of narrow SnTe nanowires in a transmission electron microscope directly reveals the cubic to rhombohedral structural transition, which is associated with the ferroelectric transition. Thus, these narrow SnTe nanowires represent a model system to study electronic states arising from 1D confinement, such as 1D topological superconductivity and potential multiband superconductivity.
Surface passivation of crystalline Si (c-Si) to reduce recombination rate is crucial to obtain high-efficiency c-Si solar cells. A fast passivation technique that can be performed at room temperature is needed when studying the degradation behaviors using various characterization methods to not destroy the degraded states. In this contribution, we explore Nafion via dip coating on n-type Cz wafers. We show that both the Nafion concentration and the conditions of surface and edge affect the passivation quality, and we achieve excellent passivation quality of iVoc of 716 mV, with a saturation current density (J0) of 7 fA/cm2. Additionally, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) shows Nafion can be used under cryogenic temperature and reveals the reduction of Si dangling bond after Nafion treatment.
Ninety percent of the EIC hadron ring vacuum chamber consists of cold-bore sections running through and interconnecting 4.55 K RHIC superconducting (SC) magnets. The EIC operating specification requires shorter bunches and 3x higher intensity beams which are not appropriate for the present RHIC stainless steel cold-bore beam tube. The intensity and emittance of the hadron beams will degrade due to interactions with residual gas or vacuum instabilities arising from the expected resistive-wall (RW) heating, electron clouds, and beam-induced desorption mechanisms. Without strategies to limit RW heating, major cryogenic system modifications are needed to prevent SC magnet quenches. The SC magnet cold-bore beam tubes will be equipped with a high RRR copper-clad stainless steel screen to significantly reduce RW heating and so the effect on the SC magnet cryogenic heat load and temperature. A thin amorphous carbon film applied to the beam-facing copper surface will suppress electron cloud formation. This paper discusses the vacuum requirements imposed by the EIC hadron beams and the plans to achieve the necessary vacuum and thermal stability that ensure acceptable beam quality and lifetime.
Fermilab is advancing the development of a compact, high-power electron beam accelerator using superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology as a non-radioactive alternative to traditional radiological sources. The current design targets continuous-wave (CW) operation at \SI{1.6}{MeV} and \SI{20}{kW}. To ensure suitability for industrial environments, the system is being designed for cryogen-free operation, driving the adoption of a novel Nb$_3$Sn-coated 1.5-cell SRF cavity operating at \SI{650}{MHz}. This contribution reports on the fabrication, surface preparation, and Nb$_3$Sn coating process of the cavity, as well as first results from vertical test stand (VTS) measurements performed in a liquid helium bath. These initial tests mark a key milestone toward demonstrating the viability of conduction-cooled Nb$_3$Sn SRF cavities for industrial-scale deployment.
The proposed polarized 3 He ++ acceleration in RHIC and the future Electron-Ion Collider will require about 2×10 11 ions in the source pulse. A new technique had been proposed for production of high intensity polarized 3 He ++ ion beams. It is based on ionization and accumulation of the 3 He gas (polarized by metastability-exchange optical pumping and in the 5T high magnetic field) in the existing Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS). A novel 3 He cryogenic purification and storage technique was developed to provide the required gas purity. An original gas refill and polarized 3 He gas injection to the EBIS long drift tubes, (which serves as the storage cell) were developed to ensure polarization preservation. An infrared laser system for optical pumping and polarization measurements in the high 3–5 T field has been developed. The 3 He polarization 80–85% (and sufficiently long ~30 min relaxation time) was obtained in the “open” cell configuration with refilling valve tube inlet and isolation valve closed. The development of the spin-rotator and 3 He 4 He absolute nuclear polarimeter at 6 MeV 3 He ++ beam energy is also presented here in this work.
Excitonic coupling, electronic coupling, and cooperative interactions in self-assembled lead halide perovskite nanocrystals were reported to give rise to a red-shifted collective emission peak with accelerated dynamics. Here we report that similar spectroscopic features could appear as a result of the nanocrystal reactivity within the self-assembled superlattices. This is demonstrated by studying CsPbBr 3 nanocrystal superlattices over time with room-temperature and cryogenic micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. It is shown that a gradual contraction of the superlattices and subsequent coalescence of the nanocrystals occurs over several days of keeping such structures under vacuum. As a result, a narrow, low-energy emission peak is observed at 4 K with a concomitant shortening of the photoluminescence lifetime due to the energy transfer between nanocrystals. When exposed to air, self-assembled CsPbBr 3 nanocrystals develop bulk-like CsPbBr 3 particles on top of the superlattices. At 4 K, these particles produce a distribution of narrow, low-energy emission peaks with short lifetimes and excitation fluence-dependent, oscillatory decays. Overall, the aging of CsPbBr 3 nanocrystal assemblies dramatically alters their emission properties and that should not be overlooked when studying collective optoelectronic phenomena nor confused with superfluorescence effects.
The Electron Ion Collider (EIC) physics program utilizes a 2.0 T superconducting magnet at the heart of its ePIC detector system. This approximately 3.5 m long and 2.84 m diameter warm bore magnet has a 20 tons cold mass which is conduction-cooled using liquid helium at 4.5 K. A closed loop active thermosiphon system is chosen to facilitate the cooling and to maintain a minimum of 2 K temperature margin on the peak operating temperature (4.7 K) of the superconductor. Here, this paper presents the cryogenic design of the cooling system and the thermal analysis of the solenoid. A Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to quantify the performance of the two–phase closed thermosiphon system and predict the temperature gradient on the cold mass.
The microwave SQUID multiplexer (μmux) has enabled higher bandwidth or higher channel counts across a wide range of experiments in particle physics, astronomy, and spectroscopy. The large multiplexing factor coupled with recent commercial availability of microwave components and warm electronics readout systems make it an attractive candidate for systems requiring large cryogenic detector counts. Since the multiplexer is considered for both bolometric and calorimetric applications across several orders of magnitude of signal frequencies, understanding the bandwidth of the device and its interaction with readout electronics is key to appropriately designing and engineering systems. Here we discuss several important factors contributing to the bandwidth properties of μmux systems, including the intrinsic device bandwidth, interactions with warm electronics readout systems, and aliasing. Further, we present simulations and measurements of μmux devices coupled with SLAC Microresonator RF (SMuRF) tone-tracking electronics and discuss several implications for future experimental design.
Flavin-based electron bifurcation (FBEB) is an enzymatic mechanism that generates extremely high-energy electrons to drive unfavorable chemical reactions. It is utilized by the NADHdependent ferredoxin:NADP + -oxidoreductase (Nfn) enzyme in hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus to bifurcate electrons from NADPH into the coupled low-potential (endergonic) and highpotential (exergonic) pathways. This process enables P. furiosus to live in harsh and uninviting environments. Despite its biological importance, the mechanisms used by Nfn to facilitate exceptional directional control over short-lived, high-energy electrons and to prevent undesired transfer, particularly along the low-potential pathway, are still not well understood. To elucidate how the protein environment contributes to electronic control in the lowpotential pathway, new techniques must be utilized to probe these unstable intermediates. In this study, we have adapted lowtemperature photoexcitation combined with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to accumulate the short-lived intermediate and place it in the context of the other cofactors involved in the low-potential pathway of Nfn. We observed coincident growth of both the radical intermediate and its nearby [4Fe-4S] cluster over 4.5 h of illumination with NADPH at cryogenic temperatures. The photogenerated paramagnetic species were stable in LN 2 storage indefinitely and recombined when warmed to higher temperatures. The results provide insights into the electron transfer steps and cofactor interactions along the low potential pathway, facilitating a more robust mechanistic understanding of the high-energy events of electron bifurcation. Furthermore, through comparison of cryogenic and room temperature experiments, a potential gating step involving the movement of key residues important for the reversibility of electron flow along this pathway is suggested.
Steep density gradients generally lead to improved plasma performance in the neoclassically optimized stellarator W7-X. This is evident in the global energy confinement time as well as in the ion temperature and can be explained by a strong reduction of the ion temperature gradient turbulence. Such conditions can experimentally be realized by several methods: injection of cryogenic hydrogen pellets, appropriate combination of neutral beam and electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and, in some cases, with low power of ECRH after preconditioning of the first wall. The duration of the improved phases is determined by the ability to sustain the steep density gradient, by technical limitations of the involved systems and, eventually, by the plasma stability. This paper gives an overview of relevant experimental results and presents example discharges where the improved confinement conditions could be extended to multiple seconds: up to 4 s using neutral beam injection and from 14 to 40 s with steady state pellet injection. In these plasmas the turbulent thermal diffusivity is reduced by a factor of 3 to 4 in a broad radial range, which allows high ion temperatures of up to 3 keV at the densities of about 1.5 • 10 20 m −3 .
The earliest developed LiCoO 2 layered oxide cathode material sparked the development of other layered cathode materials, dominating the positive electrode materials for lithium ion batteries. Within the practical operating conditions of today, the current generation layered oxide materials do not meet the future energy storage demands of 350 Wh kg -1 at cell level. Li-rich layered oxide (LRLO) materials have the potential to meet the high energy demands. Unlike the classical layered oxides, LRLO materials exhibit capacities that go beyond conventional topotactic mechanistic theoretical values. Despite its high capacities, this material has several challenges (voltage fading, structural instability, sluggish kinetics, cathode electrolyte interphase instability, etc.) that must be overcome in order to reach commercialization. In the past five years, our research group has made great progress on developing advanced characterization techniques coupled with atomic scale modeling to properly characterize the dynamic phenomena that govern the performance limitations of LRLO materials. Furthermore, our efforts have guided the material synthesis and surface modification to improve capacity retention. By carefully controlling the oxygen activities through the creation of uniform oxygen vacancies, we were able to avoid structural decomposition in LRLO. Our materials deliver a discharge capacity as high as 306 mAh g -1 with an initial coulombic efficiency of 90.6%. Furthermore, they do not exhibit obvious capacity decay with a reversible capacity over 300 mAh g -1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C-rate. Our approach demonstrates the critical needs for advanced diagnosis and characterization. It is through the in-depth understanding of these high voltage cathode materials at atomistic and molecular level and their dynamic changes during the operation of batteries; we can successfully formulate strategies to further optimize this class of cathode materials, especially for the voltage instabilities. The diagnostic tools developed here can also be leveraged to study anode materials such as Li metal anode. The challenge of probing Li metal is the low dose tolerance (high beam sensitivity) of Li metal. We will have to apply cryogenic method (low-temperature) and low-dose electron microscopy and specialized camera to enable the characterization of the lithium metal.
BaZrO 3 is reportedly one of few perovskites that retains an ideal cubic structure down to zero Kelvin even though its ground state as predicted by first-principles calculations has remained contentious. Here, we combine electron diffraction with total neutron scattering measured on ceramic samples at cryogenic temperatures to demonstrate that below 80 K, this compound undergoes a structural change associated with the onset of correlated out-of-phase rotations of [ZrO 6 ] octahedra. Here, the change is manifested in the appearance of weak but relatively sharp superlattice reflections at ½hkl (h, k, l = odd), which are readily detectable by electron diffraction. Atomistic structural refinements from the total neutron scattering data confirmed that these reflections are associated with octahedral tilting. The observed rotations are consistent with the a 0 a 0 c - type and feature a coherence length of about 3 nm. The average structure of BaZrO 3 , as seen by Bragg diffraction, remains cubic. According to the electron diffraction data, Nb-doped BaZrO 3 undergoes a similar structural transition but in this case, the tilting couldn't be recovered from the neutron scattering, suggesting that the distortions are smaller compared to those in the pure compound.
Major outstanding questions in high-energy physics such as the nature of dark matter and the existence of interactions beyond the standard model require new measurement techniques which are extremely sensitive to minute electromagnetic fields. An array of entangled spin qubits is a promising system for building novel detectors due to its combination of sensitivity and controllability. CMOS-based electron spin qubits, which have demonstrated the operational requirements for fault-tolerant quantum computing [1], offer a particular opportunity due to their compatibility with classical electronics, which allows the leveraging of decades of development of low-noise cryogenic detectors for physics. In this work, we combine a SiMOS double-quantum dot device architecture with a state-of-the-art cryoelectronic readout circuit [2-3] aimed to demonstrate improved charge readout using a single-electron transistor (SET). We identify the design characteristics for an SET that facilitate the use of on-chip classical electronics as a low-power, high-bandwidth first amplification stage and explore opportunities for sensor-readout co-design to minimize noise. This is the first of a series of steps to demonstrate high-fidelity readout of a large array of spin qubit with enough sensitivity to probe processes of interest for the investigation of beyond-standard-model physics.
The injection of high-speed cryogenic pellets made of frozen hydrogen-isotopes, represents to date the most effective method to fuel magnetically confined thermonuclear fusion plasmas. Additionally, the injection of very large pellets composed of cryogenic solid of some suitable impurity (typically a noble-gas such as H 2 , Ne, or H 2 /Ne, D 2 /Ne mixtures), shattered in relatively small fragments just before entering the plasma, seems to be the most promising method to reduce the damage risks for the plasma-facing components in case of a plasma disruption. This technology, known as "Shattered Pellet Injection" (SPI), allows to spread out the plasma energy and mitigate possible damage to the in-vessel components, as well as to densify the plasma to suppress the formation of runaway electrons, and/or dissipate their energy. Several techniques to produce and launch cryogenic pellets have been investigated in the past decades. "Pipe gun" injectors are reliable and relatively simple devices are still commonly used today. They make use of single- or two-stage pneumatic light-gas guns to accelerate the pellet at high speeds. In these injectors, the cryogenic pellets are formed “ in situ ” (i.e., inside the launching barrel), by de-sublimating them directly from the gas phase, i.e., at temperatures and pressures below those of the triple point. The simplest case is pure deuterium pellets ($\mathcal{T}$ < 18.7 K, $\mathcal{P}$ < 171.3 hPa). The production of good quality solid deuterium, capable of withstanding the mechanical stress during the acceleration of the pellets, is a key issue. To this end the phase transition of deuterium from gas to solid (and vice versa) is modeled with extensive molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations. Furthermore, the solid growth from the gas phase is simulated in an ample range of temperatures and pressures, to find the best compromise between growth velocity and mechanical properties of the resulting solid system.
Low-temperature scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) are critical for the study of quantum materials and quantum information science. Due to the rising costs of helium, cryogen-free cryostats have become increasingly desirable. However, they typically suffer from comparatively worse vibrations than cryogen-based systems, necessitating the understanding and mitigation of vibrations for SPM applications. Here, in this work, we demonstrate the construction of two cryogen-free dilution refrigerator SPMs with minimal modifications to the factory default and we systematically characterize their vibrational performance. We measure the absolute vibrations at the microscope stage with geophones and use both microwave impedance microscopy and a scanning single-electron transistor to independently measure tip-sample vibrations. Additionally, we implement customized filtering and thermal anchoring schemes and characterize the cooling power at the scanning stage and the tip electron temperature. This work serves as a reference to researchers interested in cryogen-free SPMs, as such characterization is not standardized in the literature or available from manufacturers.
Analyzing hydrogen distribution in nuclear structural materials at sub-nanometer scale spatial resolution has been challenging by electron microscopy. Furthermore, methods such as thermal desorption spectroscopy only provides a bulk estimate of hydrogen concentration with no nanoscale spatial resolution. In the last decade, cryogenic transfer atom probe tomography (APT) has been emerging as an invaluable characterization technique for analyzing the nanoscale distribution of hydrogen isotopes in materials.
Bismuth antimonide (Bi 1−x Sb x ) has emerged as a highly promising material for quantum applications due to its complex band structure. In this study, spherical Bi 1−x Sb x quantum dots (QDs), with a diameter of around 8 ± 2 nm, were successfully synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquids. The energy bandgap was determined at 2.02 ± 0.27 eV, which is significantly higher than the bulk value (∼0.025 eV). The strong confinement nature of the dots was confirmed by the Raman peak shifts. The chemical composition of the Bi 1−x Sb x QDs was measured to be around 77 ± 2 at. % of Bi and 23 ± 2 at. % of Sb. The colloid containing the Bi 1−x Sb x QDs was classified as highly stable, displaying a zeta potential of −38 ± 18 mV. Finally, the Bi 1−x Sb x QDs exhibited an electron spin resonance (ESR) signal at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature (4.2 K); consequently, revealing the presence of paramagnetic states.