Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Fundamental Frequency”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20

A pathway to synthesizing single-crystal Fe and FeCr films

Nuclear reactor environments provide a unique scientific and engineering challenge wherein materials must tolerate prolonged exposure to concurrent irradiation, elevated temperatures, and corrosive media. However, uncontrolled variability in material composition and structure often prohibits truly single-variable experiments that can reveal basic aspects of environmental damage. Here, Magnetron sputtering is used to provide a more controlled model system for these fundamental studies, yielding reproducible single-crystal Fe and FeCr thin films containing 8 and 18 at.% Cr. Electron microscopy is used to determine the systematic correlations between growth conditions and the resulting film microstructure and surface morphology. It is found that the substrate temperature and applied radio frequency (RF) bias can be tuned to obtain consistent homogeneous and single crystal films with a minimal amount of Ar impurities from the RF bias process. Epitaxial, single-crystal Fe films are obtained on MgO substrates at 500 °C with 10 Watt (W) RF bias deposition. However, when Cr is alloyed with Fe, higher substrate temperatures (600 °C) and applied RF biases (15 W) are required to achieve a similar epitaxial single-crystal FeCr film. Accelerated molecular dynamics simulations reveal that Cr impedes surface transport, explaining the need for higher temperature and bias during the growth of the Cr-bearing films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On the Low Risk of SSR in Type III Wind Turbines Operating in Grid-Forming Control: Preprint

We have shown in a previous work that the risk of sub-synchronous resonance (SSR) between a wind power plant with Type III wind turbines and series-compensated transmission lines is low when the wind turbines in the plant are operated in grid-forming mode, instead of the standard grid-following mode. The fundamental mechanism behind the improved damping characteristics is explained in this paper by modeling the positive and negative sequence impedances of Type III wind turbines for GFM operation mode. It is discovered that the GFM control naturally acts against the negative resistance of Type III wind turbines that results from an interaction between the proportional gain of the rotor-side converter current controller and negative slip. The developed sequence impedance models and improved damping behavior are verified using PSCAD simulations of a 2.5-MW Type III GFM wind turbine. The modeling predictions are also supported by experimentally measuring the sequence impedance response of a 2.5-MW Type III wind turbine during operation in GFL and GFM modes.

grid-following turbine↗

Consistency between reflection momentum-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy measurements of the long-wavelength density response of Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + x

The density fluctuation spectrum captures many fundamental properties of strange metals. Using momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (M-EELS), we recently showed that the density response of the strange metal Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+x (Bi-2212) at large momentum, q, exhibits a constant-in-frequency continuum reminiscent of the marginal Fermi liquid (MFL) hypothesis of the late 1980s. However, reconciling this observation with infrared (IR) optics experiments, which show a well-defined plasmon excitation at q ~ 0, has been challenging. Here we report M-EELS measurements of Bi-2212 using 4× improved momentum resolution, allowing us to reach the optical limit. For momenta q < 0.04 r.l.u., the M-EELS data show a plasmon feature that is quantitatively consistent with IR optics. For q > 0.04 r.l.u., the spectra become incoherent with an MFL-like, constant-in-frequency form. Here we speculate that, at finite frequency, ω, and nonzero q, some attribute of this Planckian metal randomizes the probe electron, causing it to lose information about its own momentum.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Image Rotation in Plasmas

Because of the speed of light compared to material motion, the dragging of light is difficult to observe under laboratory conditions. Furthermore we report on the first observation of image rotation, i. e. a dragging by the medium of the wave’s transverse structure, of Alfv´en waves in plasmas. Exploiting the naturally slow group velocity of these waves, significant wave rotation is achieved for modest angular frequency. Control over the rotation of the wave’s structure is demonstrated through the plasma rotation imposed by biased electrodes. Remarkably, experimental results are well reproduced by light dragging theory derived for isotropic media, even if magnetized plasmas are anisotropic. In addition to offering new insights into the fundamental issue of angular momentum coupling between waves and media, these findings also open possibilities for new remote rotation sensing tools.

Alfvén waves↗

Role of Tropical Cyclones in Determining ENSO Characteristics

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can effectively modulate global tropical cyclone (TC) activity, but the role TCs may play in determining ENSO characteristics remains unclear. Here we investigate the impact of TC winds on ENSO using a suite of Earth system model experiments where we insert TC winds, extracted from a TC-permitting high-resolution simulation, into a low-resolution model configuration with nearly no intrinsic TCs. The presence of TC winds in the model increases ENSO power and shifts ENSO frequency closer to what we observe. TCs lead to an increase of strong to extreme El Niño events seen in observations and not simulated in the low-resolution model without intrinsic TCs, mainly through enhanced zonal advection feedback and thermocline feedback. Our results indicate that TCs play a fundamental role in producing the ENSO characteristics we experience today in the climate system and point to a two-way climatological interaction between TCs and ENSO.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Inviscid damping of an elliptical vortex subject to an external strain flow

Inviscid spatial Landau damping is studied experimentally for the case of oscillatory motion of a two-dimensional vortex about its elliptical equilibrium in the presence of an applied strain flow. Here, the experiments are performed using electron plasmas in a Penning–Malmberg trap. They exploit the isomorphism between the two-dimensional Euler equations for an ideal fluid and the drift-Poisson equations for the plasma, where plasma density is the analog of vorticity. Perturbed elliptical vortex states are created using E x B strain flows, which are generated by applying voltages to electrodes surrounding the plasma. Measurements of spatial Landau damping (also called critical-layer damping) are in agreement with previous studies in the absence of an applied strain, where the damping is due to a resonance between the local fluid motion and the vortex oscillations. Interestingly, the damping rate does not change significantly over a wide range of applied strain rates. This can be accurately predicted from the initial vorticity profile, even though the resonant frequency is reduced substantially due to the applied strain. For higher amplitude perturbations, nonlinear trapping oscillations also exhibit behavior similar to the strain-free case. In principle, higher-order effects of the applied strain, such as separatrix crossing of peripheral vorticity and interactions with harmonics of the fundamental resonance, are expected to change the damping rate. However, this occurs only for conditions that are not realized in the experiments described here. Vortex-in-cell simulations are used to investigate the possible roles of these effects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Generation of selective single-mode guided waves by d 36 type piezoelectric wafer

In general, mixed modes and dispersion of guided wave occur at any excitation frequency, while single modes are needed for effective nondestructive evaluation of structures. In this work, we present an approach to generate a selective single-mode guided wave in plate-like structures by exploiting the unique directionality of the d 36 type piezoelectric wafer and the symmetry of fundamental guided wave modes. Specifically, we devise a unified fundamental shear horizontal (SH 0 ) wave/fundamental antisymmetric mode (A 0 ) wave directional transducer pair by attaching the d 36 type piezoelectric wafers back to back on the opposite sides of the plate to provide selective, directional single-mode guided waves for actuation and sensing. Originally, the d 36 -type piezoelectric wafer, poled and cut from the lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate crystal, produces a mixture of the in-plane SH 0 (symmetric) mode and out-of-plane A 0 (asymmetric) and S 0 (symmetric) modes. By applying the in-phase or out-of-phase applied electrical field to the coupled d 36 -type piezoelectric wafer pair, our devised approach generates selective single modes, SH 0 or A 0 , respectively, to propagate in the structure. We describe the theoretical development of our approach and conduct both numerical simulations and laboratory experiments for validations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Computation of high-frequency magnetoelastic waves in layered materials

Here, the direct calculation of magnetoelastic wave dispersion in layered media is presented using an efficient, accurate computational technique. The governing, coupled equations for elasticity and magnetism, the Navier and Landau-Lifshitz equations, respectively, are linearized to form a quadratic eigenvalue problem that determines a complex web of wave-number–frequency dispersion branches and their corresponding mode profiles. Numerical discretization of the eigenvalue problem via a spectral collocation method (SCM) is employed to determine the complete dispersion maps for both a single, finite-thickness magnetic layer and a finite magnetic-nonmagnetic double-layer. The SCM, previously used to study elastic waves in nonmagnetic media, is fast, accurate, and adaptable to a variety of sample configurations and geometries. Emphasis is placed on the extremely high-frequency regimes being accessed in ultrafast magnetism experiments. The dispersion maps and modes provide insight into how energy propagates through the coupled system, including how energy can be transferred between elastic- and magnetic-dominated waves as well as between different layers. The numerical computations for a single layer are further understood by a simplified analytical calculation in the high-frequency, exchange-dominated regime where the resonance condition required for energy exchange (an anticrossing) between quasi-elastic and quasi-magnetic dispersion branches is determined. Nonresonant interactions are shown to be well approximated by the dispersion of uncoupled elastic and magnetic waves. The methods and results provide fundamental theoretical tools to model and understand current and future magnetic devices powering spintronic innovation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Single-molecule infrared spectroscopy with scanning tunneling microscopy

Probing vibrations at the single-molecule level is essential for achieving bond-specific chemical control in realistic heterogeneous environments. Here, we introduce a new measurement scheme that integrates frequency-tunable infrared excitation with scanning tunneling microscopy to characterize vibration-mediated nuclear motions of single molecules. We first validated the technique by monitoring the infrared-induced rotation of the ethynyl radical and then applied it to mapping pyrrolidine’s conformational dynamics. The resulting broadband spectra captured fundamental vibrational modes together with rich overtone and combination bands inaccessible by conventional methods, which we confirmed with isotopic substitutions. Density functional theory calculations showed that delocalized modes coupled with pyrrolidine ring puckering drive the structural transition, revealing altered selection rules compared with traditional infrared spectroscopy. Here, this new experimental platform enables molecular vibrations and transformations to be probed with atomic precision.

Liang, Kangkai [University of California, San Dieg↗

A Novel and Practical Method to Quantify the Quality of Mobility: The Mobility Energy Productivity Metric: Preprint

Recent technology innovations are enabling fundamental improvements in mobility systems, including options for new travel modes, methods, and opportunities to connect people with goods, services, and employment. A desire to quantify and compare both existing and emerging transportation options motivated development of the mobility energy productivity (MEP) metric described herein. The MEP metric fundamentally measures the potential of a city's transportation system to connect a person to a variety of services and activities that define a high-quality of life, relative to the convenience, cost and energy needed to provide these connections. Fundamentally derived from accessibility theory, the MEP advances practice by using readily available travel time data (either from web-based application programming interfaces (APIs) or outputs from an urban transportation model) combined with established parameters that reflect the energy intensity and cost of various travel modes, and relative frequency of activity engagement. The construction of the MEP metric allows for aggregation and disaggregation to the appropriate spatial, modal, and trip purpose resolution, as analysis needs dictate. The MEP could be used to compare alternative futures related to technology, infrastructure investment, or policy, providing a much-needed tool for planners, researchers, and analysts.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Energy Frontier Research Centers: Center for the Computational Design of Functional Layered Materials (CCDM) August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2018; Center for Complex Materials from First Principles (CCM) August 1, 2018 - July 31, 2021 (Final Report)

The mission of the DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers CCDM (2014-2018) and CCM (2018-2021) was to theoretically develop, computationally apply, and experimentally validate electronic structure methods for all materials, with a focus on the complex materials, especially layered and two-dimensional materials, strongly-correlated materials, and liquid water. This was achieved by over 200 published journal articles authored by about 17 senior investigators from physics and chemistry and from theory, computation, and experiment, plus their collaborators. In particular, the Centers confirmed the predictive power of the SCAN (strongly constrained and appropriately normed) density functional, which was constructed to satisfy 17 known exact constraints and several appropriate norms. Without being fitted to real bonded systems, and at a modest computational cost, SCAN correctly predicted covalent, ionic, metallic, hydrogen, and van der Waals bonds in many challenging materials. SCAN gave an improved description of defects in semiconductors, surface properties of metals, seven phases of ice, liquid water, liquid and supercooled silicon, subtle structural distortions in ferroelectrics, formation energies and structural predictions for solids, and critical pressures for structural phase transitions. Perhaps most remarkably, SCAN correctly described some strongly-correlated materials that were previously believed to be beyond the reach of density-functional approximations. SCAN is the only density functional that correctly predicts the band gap closing under chemical doping of the cuprate high-temperature superconducting materials. SCAN also predicts a landscape of competing stripe and magnetic phases in the cuprates. For some materials with some codes, SCAN has convergence problems that are greatly reduced by the CCM-developed r 2 SCAN, without loss of accuracy or rigor. SCAN and r 2 SCAN still make some self-interaction error, which is greatly reduced by the CCDM/ CCM-developed local orbital scaling correction (LOSC). These Centers further proved that the fundamental energy gaps of a solid from an orbital energy difference and from total energy differences are the same for a large class of generalized Kohn-Sham (GKS) functionals, including SCAN and standard hybrid functionals, and that symmetry breaking arises when a dynamic density fluctuation drops to zero frequency. The Centers identified new mechanisms for catalysis in layered materials with ions intercalated between the layers, investigated charge density waves both in model systems and in real layered materials, studied changes of band gap with the number of layers, and explored topological ultrathin films, bent nanoribbons, and defects.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Fundamental 235 Uranium Nuclear Resonance Spectroscopy (End of Year Report)

Uranium-235 is ubiquitous in the nuclear industry however, detailed characterization by magnetic resonance spectroscopy has remained largely elusive to-date. Conventional nuclear magnetic resonance techniques are ill-suited for characterizing 235 U due to the small gyromagnetic ratio and extremely large quadrupole moment of this spin$^{7}$ /2 isotope. Thus, we have designed and built a high-frequency nuclear quadrupole resonance spectrometer for measuring the quadrupole resonance of this important isotope. A successful nuclear quadrupole resonance measurement of 235 U would be a significant accomplishment and could yield valuable physical parameters such as chemical shifts, local electric field gradients, and through-bond and through-space internuclear couplings, all of which are directly related to local structure. These terms can be used to understand structural details of poorly characterized uranium materials and can improve computational models of uranium for which accurate reference data is lacking

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

The estimation of Poisson’s ratio by time-averaging and Cornu’s method for isotropic beams

Prior research suggests that direct static (e.g., uniaxial testing) and dynamic (e.g., ultrasonic wave propagation analysis) measurements differ in the estimation of Poisson’s ratio because anisotropies and heterogeneities in the sample material affect the two types of tests differently. Even assuming isotropic and homogeneous material properties, prior research further suggests that discrepancies between static/dynamic test results will exist because the error of the diagnostic techniques for the measurand are inherently different. Finally, thermodynamic effects are not present in static tests but can significantly affect dynamic test results. Given the potential for all these variables to produce discrepancies, it would be helpful to have the measurement of Poisson’s ratio obtainable from the same theory and experimental measurements by either static or dynamic testing methods. Our finite element calculations show that by combining time-averaged scanning digital holography with Cornu’s method, it is theoretically possible to estimate the effective Poisson’s ratio from the anticlastic contours at the antinode of the first out-of-plane bending mode shape. This is true regardless of frequency and therefore applicable for both static and dynamic measurements. Our results show that the estimate of Poisson’s ratio by Cornu’s method using data from simulations of mode shapes approaches the true value of Poisson’s ratio. Additionally, our research suggests that beam geometry and boundary conditions are fundamental factors limiting the convergence of the estimate of Poisson’s ratio to the true value of Poisson’s ratio regardless of performing a static or dynamic test.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Nature of Standing Plasma Waves Following Fast Breakdown in Thunderstorms

Narrow bipolar events (NBEs) are produced by large-scale systems of streamer corona discharges that occur inside thunderstorms and radiate intensely at very-high frequencies. Here we examine 14 high-power NBEs recorded in Florida which are followed by a lasting oscillatory signal. We isolate the dominant frequencies of the oscillations using empirical mode decomposition methods, and cross-reference this information with the radiator size inferred from broadband interferometry. We conclude that the oscillations are evidence of a standing electromagnetic wave in the plasma cavity created by the preceding streamer system, that is, the cavity's fundamental mode with wavelength equal to twice the radiator length. Contrasting the dispersive and attenuation properties of these waves across several different events allows us to conclude that the cavity is filled with ions resulting in an average conductivity of 0.01–0.1 mS/m, which are left behind after the streamers decay via electron attachment to oxygen molecules.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Integrated optical frequency division for microwave and mmWave generation

Abstract The generation of ultra-low-noise microwave and mmWave in miniaturized, chip-based platforms can transform communication, radar and sensing systems 1–3 . Optical frequency division that leverages optical references and optical frequency combs has emerged as a powerful technique to generate microwaves with superior spectral purity than any other approaches 4–7 . Here we demonstrate a miniaturized optical frequency division system that can potentially transfer the approach to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible integrated photonic platform. Phase stability is provided by a large mode volume, planar-waveguide-based optical reference coil cavity 8,9 and is divided down from optical to mmWave frequency by using soliton microcombs generated in a waveguide-coupled microresonator 10–12 . Besides achieving record-low phase noise for integrated photonic mmWave oscillators, these devices can be heterogeneously integrated with semiconductor lasers, amplifiers and photodiodes, holding the potential of large-volume, low-cost manufacturing for fundamental and mass-market applications 13 .

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Experimental Evidence of Free Carrier Generation in 2D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Despite the significant potential of 2D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (2DHOIPs) for high-efficiency optoelectronics application-comparable to their 3D counterparts, the fundamental carrier photogeneration remains unclear. In contrast to conventional ultrafast optical property characterization, we use ultrafast photocurrent spectroscopy to investigate the early-time electrical properties of type-I and type-II 2DHOIPs by manipulating the quantum confinement and the dielectric quantum matching effect. We discovered that the high frequency dielectric quantum matching effect plays a major role in 2DHOIPs, demonstrated by their high carrier mobility (µ), near-unity photogeneration quantum yield (Φ), below-room temperature exciton binding energy (E b ), and approaching 3D space factor (DSF). Our work shows that the optoelectronic performances of 2DHOIPs are comparable to their counterparts of 3DHOIPs.

2D perovskite↗

Phonon- and defect-limited electron and hole mobility of diamond and cubic boron nitride: A critical comparison

Diamond and cBN are two of the most promising ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors for applications in high-power high-frequency electronic devices. Despite extensive studies on carrier transport in these materials, there are large discrepancies in their reported carrier mobilities. In this work, we investigate the phonon- and dopant-limited electron and hole mobilities of cBN and diamond with atomistic first-principles calculations in order to understand their fundamental upper bounds to carrier transport. Our results show that although the phonon-limited electron mobilities are comparable between cBN and diamond, the hole mobility is significantly lower in cBN due to its heavier hole effective mass. Moreover, although lattice scattering dominates the mobility at low doping, neutral impurity scattering becomes the dominant scattering mechanism at higher dopant concentrations due to the high dopant ionization energies. Our analysis provides critical insights and reveals the intrinsic upper limits to the carrier mobilities of diamond and cBN as a function of doping and temperature for applications in high-power electronic devices.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Design of a 1.3 GHz RF-Dipole Crabbing Cavity for International Linear Collider

The International Liner Collider (ILC) requires crabbing systems to increase the luminosity of the colliding electron and positron bunches. There are several frequency options for the crabbing cavity. We have designed a 1.3 GHz compact 1-cell and 2-cell rf-dipole crabbing cavity to compensate for luminosity degradation due to large crossing angle. This paper presents the 1-cell and 2-cell cavities designed to meet the current specifications including the fundamental power coupler and higher order mode couplers.

De Silva, S.U.↗