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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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At least 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Diffusion regime of electron–electron collisions in weakly ionized plasmas

We consider weakly ionized plasma where an elastic scattering of electrons on neutrals changes the individual acts and the rate of electron-electron collisions significantly. In this case, the kinetics of electron thermalization is very different from that in fully ionized plasma. Here, the colliding electrons do not move freely. They, instead, diffuse because of fast scattering on neutrals. We demonstrate how a proper account of this diffusion enables one to estimate the characteristic time of electron thermalization. We also present a rigorous derivation of the kinetic equation for electrons by using Bogolyubov’s method based on Liouville equations for multi-particle distribution functions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Double-sided electron energy analyzer for measurement of non-Maxwellian electron energy distributions

Here, a double-sided electron energy analyzer is developed for studies of magnetic reconnection. It can measure electron energy distribution functions along two directions opposite to each other at the same time. Each side is composed of a floating reference grid, an energy selector grid, and a collector plate. The voltage of the selector grid is swept from –40 to 0 V with respect to the reference grid with a frequency of 1 MHz. This fast sweeping is required to resolve sub-Alfvénic changes in plasma quantities of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment, where the typical Alfvénic time is a few microseconds. The reliability of the energy analyzer is checked in Maxwellian plasmas away from the reconnection region. In this case, the electron temperature computed from the electron energy distribution function agrees with measurements of a reference triple Langmuir probe. When it is located near the reconnection region, the temperatures of the tail electron population from both sides, facing into the electron flow and facing away from it, exceed the bulk electron temperature measured by the Langmuir probe by a factor of about 2.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2015

ELECTRON HEATING BY THE ION CYCLOTRON INSTABILITY IN COLLISIONLESS ACCRETION FLOWS. II. ELECTRON HEATING EFFICIENCY AS A FUNCTION OF FLOW CONDITIONS

In the innermost regions of low-luminosity accretion flows, including Sgr A* at the center of our Galaxy, the frequency of Coulomb collisions is so low that the plasma has two temperatures, with the ions substantially hotter than the electrons. This paradigm assumes that Coulomb collisions are the only channel for transferring the ion energy to the electrons. In this work, the second of a series, we assess the efficiency of electron heating by ion velocity-space instabilities in collisionless accretion flows. The instabilities are seeded by the pressure anisotropy induced by magnetic field amplification, coupled to the adiabatic invariance of the particle magnetic moments. Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we showed in Paper I that if the electron-to-ion temperature ratio is T {sub 0e}/T {sub 0i} ≲ 0.2, the ion cyclotron instability is the dominant mode for ion betas β{sub 0i} ∼ 5-30 (here, β{sub 0i} is the ratio of ion thermal pressure to magnetic pressure), as appropriate for the midplane of low-luminosity accretion flows. In this work, we employ analytical theory and one-dimensional PIC simulations (with the box aligned with the fastest-growing wave vector of the ion cyclotron mode) to fully characterize how the electron heating efficiency during the growth of the ion cyclotron instability depends on the electron-to-proton temperature ratio, the plasma beta, the Alfvén speed, the amplification rate of the mean field (in units of the ion Larmor frequency), and the proton-to-electron mass ratio. Our findings can be incorporated as a physically grounded subgrid model into global fluid simulations of low-luminosity accretion flows, thus helping to assess the validity of the two-temperature assumption.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Influence of the Diagonal and Off-Diagonal Electron–Phonon Interactions on the Formation of Local Polarons and Their Band Structure in Materials with Strong Electron Correlations

For systems with strong electron correlations and strong electron–phonon interaction, we analyze the electron–phonon interaction in local variables. The effects of the mutual influence of electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions that determine the structure of local Hubbard polarons are described. Using a system containing copper–oxygen layers as an example, we consider the competition between the diagonal and off-diagonal interactions of electrons with the breathing mode as the polaron band structure is formed within a corrected formulation of the polaron version of the generalized tight-binding method. The band structure of Hubbard polarons is shown to depend strongly on the temperature due to the excitation of Franck–Condon resonances. For an undoped La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} compound we have described the evolution of the band structure and the spectral function from the hole dispersion in an antiferromagnetic insulator at low temperatures with the valence band maximum at point (π/2, π/2) to the spectrum with the maximum at point (π, π) typical for the paramagnetic phase. The polaron line width at the valence band top and its temperature dependence agree qualitatively with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy for undoped cuprates.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

High and low frequency instabilities driven by a single electron beam in two-electron temperature space plasmas

In an attempt to understand the excitation mechanisms of broadband electrostatic noise, beam-generated electrostatic instabilities are investigated using kinetic theory in a four-component magnetised plasma model composed of beam electrons (magnetic field-aligned), background hot and cool electrons and ions. All species are fully magnetised and considered to be Maxwellian. The dependence of the instability growth rates and real frequencies on various plasma parameters such as beam speed, particle densities and temperatures, magnetic field strength, wave propagation angle, and temperature anisotropy of the beam are examined. In this study we have found that the electron-acoustic, electron beam-resonant and ion-acoustic instabilities are excited. Our studies have focused on three velocity regimes, namely, the low (v{sub dbz} 2 C{sub h}) regimes, where v{sub dbz} (C{sub h}) is the electron beam drift speed (thermal speed of the hot electrons). Plasma parameters from satellite measurements are used where applicable to provide realistic predictions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Local atomic order, electronic structure and electron transport properties of Cu-Zr metallic glasses

We studied atomic and electronic structures of binary Cu-Zr metallic glasses (MGs) using combined experimental and computational methods including X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power (TEP) measurements, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and ab-initio calculations. The results of MD simulations and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis indicate that atomic order of Cu-Zr MGs and can be described in terms of interpenetrating icosahedral-like clusters involving five-fold symmetry. MD configurations were used as an input for calculations of theoretical electronic density of states (DOS) functions which exhibits good agreement with the experimental X-ray absorption near-edge spectra. We found no indication of minimum of DOS at Fermi energy predicted by Mott's nearly free electron (NFE) model for glass-forming alloys. The theoretical DOS was subsequently used to test Mott's model describing the temperature variation of electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power of transition metal-based MGs. We demonstrate that the measured temperature variations of electrical resistivity and TEP remain in a contradiction with this model. On the other hand, the experimental temperature dependence of electrical resistivity can be explained by incipient localization of conduction electrons. It is shown that weak localization model works up to relatively high temperatures when localization is destroyed by phonons. Our results indicate that electron transport properties of Cu-Zr MGs are dominated by localization effects rather than by electronic structure. We suggest that NFE model fails to explain a relatively high glass-forming ability of binary Cu-Zr alloys.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Impact of electron irradiation on electron holographic potentiometry

While electron holography in the transmission electron microscope offers the possibility to measure maps of the electrostatic potential of semiconductors down to nanometer dimensions, these measurements are known to underestimate the absolute value of the potential, especially in GaN. We have varied the dose rates of electron irradiation over several orders of magnitude and observed strong variations of the holographically detected voltages. Overall, the results indicate that the electron beam generates electrical currents within the specimens primarily by the photovoltaic effect and due to secondary electron emission. These currents have to be considered for a quantitative interpretation of electron holographic measurements, as their negligence contributes to large parts in the observed discrepancy between the measured and expected potential values in GaN.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coherence of a spin-polarized electron beam emitted from a semiconductor photocathode in a transmission electron microscope

The brightness and interference fringes of a spin-polarized electron beam extracted from a semiconductor photocathode excited by laser irradiation are directly measured via its use in a transmission electron microscope. The brightness was 3.8 × 10{sup 7 }A cm{sup −2 }sr{sup −1} for a 30-keV beam energy with the polarization of 82%, which corresponds to 3.1 × 10{sup 8 }A cm{sup −2 }sr{sup −1} for a 200-keV beam energy. The resulting electron beam exhibited a long coherence length at the specimen position due to the high parallelism of (1.7 ± 0.3) × 10{sup −5 }rad, which generated interference fringes representative of a first-order correlation using an electron biprism. The beam also had a high degeneracy of electron wavepacket of 4 × 10{sup −6}. Due to the high polarization, the high degeneracy and the long coherence length, the spin-polarized electron beam can enhance the antibunching effect.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of multipole excitations in electron energy-loss spectroscopy of surface plasmon modes in silver nanowires

We have characterized the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in silver nanowires using spatially resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the scanning transmission electron microscope. Non-symmetric EELS spectra due to high-k SPR propagation along the nanowire and spectral shifts due to higher-order mode excitation are observed when the beam is positioned near the tip of the nanowire. When the beam is far from the tip region and on the side of nanowire, no spectral shifts are observed as the beam is scanned in the radial direction of the nanowire. The experimental spectra are compared with three different theoretical approaches: direct numerical calculation of the energy loss, analytical models for energy loss, and numerical simulations using an optical model. All three models reproduce the spectral shifts as the electron beam approaches the cap of the nanowire. The analytical model reveals the origin of the shifts in high-order plasmon mode excitation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electronic structure evolution of fullerene on CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3

The thickness dependence of fullerene on CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskitefilm surface has been investigated by using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS), and inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES). The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) can be observed directly with IPES and UPS. It is observed that the HOMO level in fullerene shifts to lower binding energy. The XPS results show a strong initial shift of core levels to lower binding energy in the perovskite, which indicates that electrons transfer from the perovskitefilm to fullerene molecules. Further deposition of fullerene forms C 60 solid, accompanied by the reduction of the electron transfer. As a result, the strongest electron transfer happened at 1/4 monolayer of fullerene.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Optical control of electron phase space in plasma accelerators with incoherently stacked laser pulses

It is demonstrated that synthesizing an ultrahigh-bandwidth, negatively chirped laser pulse by incoherently stacking pulses of different wavelengths makes it possible to optimize the process of electron self-injection in a dense, highly dispersive plasma (n{sub 0}∼10{sup 19} cm{sup −3}). Avoiding transformation of the driving pulse into a relativistic optical shock maintains a quasi-monoenergetic electron spectrum through electron dephasing and boosts electron energy far beyond the limits suggested by existing scaling laws. In addition, evolution of the accelerating bucket in a plasma channel is shown to produce a background-free, tunable train of femtosecond-duration, 35–100 kA, time-synchronized quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches. The combination of the negative chirp and the channel permits acceleration of electrons beyond 1 GeV in a 3 mm plasma with 1.4 J of laser pulse energy, thus offering the opportunity of high-repetition-rate operation at manageable average laser power.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Temperature and compression effects on electron heat capacity and electron-phonon coupling in aluminum and beryllium: Insights from ab initio simulations

Ultrafast laser experiments on metals usually induce a high electron temperature and a low ion temperature and, thus, an energy relaxation process. The electron heat capacity and electron-phonon coupling factor are crucial thermal quantities to describe this process. We perform ab initio theoretical studies to determine these thermal quantities and their dependence on density and electron temperature for the metals aluminum and beryllium. The heat capacity shows an approximately linear dependence on the temperature, similar to free electron gas, and the compression only slightly affects the capacity. The electron-phonon coupling factor increases with both temperature and density, and the change observed for beryllium is more obvious than that for aluminum. The connections between thermal quantities and electronic/atomic structures are discussed in detail, and the different behaviors of aluminum and beryllium are well explained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

A multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun and its electron beam analysis in self and trigger breakdown modes

In the present paper, a pseudospark discharge based multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun is reported which has been operated separately in self and trigger breakdown modes using two different gases, namely, argon and hydrogen. The beam current and beam energy have been analyzed using a concentric ring diagnostic arrangement. Two distinct electron beams are clearly seen with hollow cathode and conductive phases. The hollow cathode phase has been observed for ∼50 ns where the obtained electron beam is having low beam current density and high energy. While in conductive phase it is high current density and low energy electron beam. It is inferred that in the hollow cathode phase the beam energy is more for the self breakdown case whereas the current density is more for the trigger breakdown case. The tailor made operation of the hollow cathode phase electron beam can play an important role in microwave generation. Up to 30% variation in the electron beam energy has been achieved keeping the same gas and by varying the breakdown mode operations. Also, up to 32% variation in the beam current density has been achieved for the trigger breakdown mode at optimized trigger position by varying the gas type.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Time-dependent analysis of visible helium line-ratios for electron temperature and density diagnostic using synthetic simulations on NSTX-U

Helium line-ratios for electron temperature (T{sub e}) and density (n{sub e}) plasma diagnostic in the Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL) and edge regions of tokamaks are widely used. Due to their intensities and proximity of wavelengths, the singlet, 667.8 and 728.1 nm, and triplet, 706.5 nm, visible lines have been typically preferred. Time-dependency of the triplet line (706.5 nm) has been previously analyzed in detail by including transient effects on line-ratios during gas-puff diagnostic applications. In this work, several line-ratio combinations within each of the two spin systems are analyzed with the purpose of eliminating transient effects to extend the application of this powerful diagnostic to high temporal resolution characterization of plasmas. The analysis is done using synthetic emission modeling and diagnostic for low electron density NSTX SOL plasma conditions by several visible lines. Quasi-static equilibrium and time-dependent models are employed to evaluate transient effects of the atomic population levels that may affect the derived electron temperatures and densities as the helium gas-puff penetrates the plasma. The analysis of a wider range of spectral lines will help to extend this powerful diagnostic to experiments where the wavelength range of the measured spectra may be constrained either by limitations of the spectrometer or by other conflicting lines from different ions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large-Angle Rocking Beam Electron Diffraction of Large Unit Cell Crystals Using Direct Electron Detector

We report a large-angle rocking beam electron diffraction (LARBED) technique for electron diffraction analysis. Diffraction patterns are recorded in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) using a direct electron detector with large dynamical range and fast readout. We use a nanobeam for diffraction and perform the beam double rocking by synchronizing the detector with the STEM scan coils for the recording. Using this approach, large-angle convergent beam electron diffraction (LACBED) patterns of different reflections are obtained simultaneously. By using a nanobeam, instead of a focused beam, the LARBED technique can be applied to beam-sensitive crystals as well as crystals with large unit cells. Here, this paper describes the implementation of LARBED and evaluates the performance using silicon and gadolinium gallium garnet crystals as test samples. We demonstrate that our method provides an effective and robust way for recording LARBED patterns and paves the way for quantitative electron diffraction of large unit cell and beam-sensitive crystals.

4DSTEM↗
DOE OSTI2022

Machine learning predictions for local electronic properties of disordered correlated electron systems

We present a scalable machine learning (ML) model to predict local electronic properties such as on-site electron number and double occupation for disordered correlated electron systems. Our approach is based on the locality principle, or the nearsightedness nature, of many-electron systems, which means local electronic properties depend mainly on the immediate environment. A ML model is developed to encode this complex dependence of local quantities on the neighborhood. We demonstrate our approach using the square-lattice Anderson-Hubbard model, which is a paradigmatic system for studying the interplay between Mott transition and Anderson localization. We develop a lattice descriptor based on the group-theoretical method to represent the on-site random potentials within a finite region. The resultant feature variables are used as input to a multilayer fully connected neural network, which is trained from data sets of variational Monte Carlo (VMC) simulations on small systems. We show that the ML predictions agree reasonably well with the VMC data. Our work underscores the promising potential of ML methods for multiscale modeling of correlated electron systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗