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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Positron annihilation study for enhanced nitrogen-vacancy center formation in diamond by electron irradiation at 77 K

A compact ensemble of high density nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond is essential to sense various external fields with a high precision at the nanoscale. Here, defects in type IIa and type Ib diamonds induced by 28 MeV electron irradiation at 77 K were studied by combining the positron annihilation spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. It is shown that the electron irradiation at 77 K can significantly enhance the NV center formation by directly converting 24% vacancies into the NV centers, indicating that it is an efficient way to produce the high density NV centers in the type Ib diamond.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Positron emission tracking of individual particles in particle-laden rimming flow

The motion of a single tracer particle in particle-laden rimming flows is investigated experimentally by means of Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT). Semi-dilute suspensions, with a volume fraction of 8% of heavy particles are considered. The trajectory of the tracer particle is monitored for several thousand cylinder revolutions and related to the optically recorded drift of the large-scale granular segregation bands developing in the cylinder. Results of the data analysis provide first insights into the relation between behaviour of individual particles and the spatiotemporal dynamics displayed by the macroscopic particle-segregation patterns.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Phase-mixing of Langmuir oscillations in cold electron-positron-ion plasmas

Space-time evolution of Langmuir oscillations in a cold homogeneous electron-positron-ion plasma has been analyzed by employing a straightforward perturbation expansion method, showing phase-mixing and, thus, wave-breaking of excited oscillations at arbitrary amplitudes. Within an assumption of infinitely massive ions, an approximate phase-mixing time is found to scale as ω{sub pe}t{sub mix}∼[(6/δ{sup 2})((2−α){sup 5/2}/(1−α))]{sup 1/3}, where “δ” and “α” (= n{sub 0i}/n{sub 0e}) are the amplitude of perturbation and the ratio of equilibrium ion density to equilibrium electron density, respectively, and ω{sub pe}∼√(4πn{sub 0e}e{sup 2}/m) is the electron plasma frequency. The results presented on phase-mixing of Langmuir modes in multispecies plasmas are expected to be relevant to laboratory and astrophysical environments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Annealing behaviors of vacancy-type defects near interfaces between metal contacts and GaN probed using a monoenergetic positron beam

Vacancy-type defects near interfaces between metal contacts and GaN grown on Si substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition have been studied using a monoenergetic positron beam. Measurements of Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation for Ti-deposited GaN showed that optically active vacancy-type defects were introduced below the Ti/GaN interface after annealing at 800 °C. Charge transition of those defects due to electron capture was observed and was found to correlate with a yellow band in the photoluminescence spectrum. The major defect species was identified as vacancy clusters such as three to five Ga-vacancies coupled with multiple nitrogen-vacancies. The annealing behaviors of vacancy-type defects in Ti-, Ni-, and Pt-deposited GaN were also examined.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Iterative reconstruction using a Monte Carlo based system transfer matrix for dedicated breast positron emission tomography

To maximize sensitivity, it is desirable that ring Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems dedicated for imaging the breast have a small bore. Unfortunately, due to parallax error this causes substantial degradation in spatial resolution for objects near the periphery of the breast. In this work, a framework for computing and incorporating an accurate system matrix into iterative reconstruction is presented in an effort to reduce spatial resolution degradation towards the periphery of the breast. The GATE Monte Carlo Simulation software was utilized to accurately model the system matrix for a breast PET system. A strategy for increasing the count statistics in the system matrix computation and for reducing the system element storage space was used by calculating only a subset of matrix elements and then estimating the rest of the elements by using the geometric symmetry of the cylindrical scanner. To implement this strategy, polar voxel basis functions were used to represent the object, resulting in a block-circulant system matrix. Simulation studies using a breast PET scanner model with ring geometry demonstrated improved contrast at 45% reduced noise level and 1.5 to 3 times resolution performance improvement when compared to MLEM reconstruction using a simple line-integral model. The GATE based system matrix reconstruction technique promises to improve resolution and noise performance and reduce image distortion at FOV periphery compared to line-integral based system matrix reconstruction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Kinetic transverse dispersion relation for relativistic magnetized electron-positron plasmas with Maxwell-Jüttner velocity distribution functions

We use a kinetic treatment to study the linear transverse dispersion relation for a magnetized isotropic relativistic electron-positron plasma with finite relativistic temperature. The explicit linear dispersion relation for electromagnetic waves propagating along a constant background magnetic field is presented, including an analytical continuation to the whole complex frequency plane for the case of Maxwell-Jüttner velocity distribution functions. This dispersion relation is studied numerically for various temperatures. For left-handed solutions, the system presents two branches, the electromagnetic ordinary mode and the Alfvén mode. In the low frequency regime, the Alfvén branch has two dispersive zones, the normal zone (where ∂ω/∂k > 0) and an anomalous zone (where ∂ω/∂k < 0). We find that in the anomalous zone of the Alfvén branch, the electromagnetic waves are damped, and there is a maximum wave number for which the Alfvén branch is suppressed. We also study the dependence of the Alfvén velocity and effective plasma frequency with the temperature. We complemented the analytical and numerical approaches with relativistic full particle simulations, which consistently agree with the analytical results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Head on collision of multi-solitons in an electron-positron-ion plasma having superthermal electrons

The head-on collision and overtaking collision of four solitons in a plasma comprising superthermal electrons, cold ions, and Boltzmann distributed positrons are investigated using the extended Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo (PLK) together with Hirota's method. PLK method yields two separate Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equations where solitons obtained from any KdV equation move along a direction opposite to that of solitons obtained from the other KdV equation, While Hirota's method gives multi-soliton solution for each KdV equation all of which move along the same direction where the fastest moving soliton eventually overtakes the other ones. We have considered here two soliton solutions obtained from Hirota's method. Phase shifts acquired by each soliton due to both head-on collision and overtaking collision are calculated analytically.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preclinical assessment of dopaminergic system in rats by MicroPET using three positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals

Different diseases associated with dysfunction of dopaminergic system such as Parkinson, Alzheimer, and Schizophrenia are being widely studied with positron emission tomography (PET) which is a noninvasive method useful to assess the stage of these illnesses. In our facility we have recently implemented the production of [{sup 11}C]-DTBZ, [{sup 11}C]-RAC, and [{sup 18}F]-FDOPA, which are among the most common PET radiopharmaceuticals used in neurology applications to get information about the dopamine pathways. In this study two healthy rats were imaged with each of those radiotracers in order to confirm selective striatum uptake as a proof of principle before to release them for human use.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Quantum positron acoustic waves

Nonlinear quantum positron-acoustic (QPA) waves are investigated for the first time, within the theoretical framework of the quantum hydrodynamic model. In the small but finite amplitude limit, both deformed Korteweg-de Vries and generalized Korteweg-de Vries equations governing, respectively, the dynamics of QPA solitary waves and double-layers are derived. Moreover, a full finite amplitude analysis is undertaken, and a numerical integration of the obtained highly nonlinear equations is carried out. The results complement our previously published results on this problem.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Formation of buffer-gas-trap based positron beams

Presented here are experimental measurements, analytic expressions, and simulation results for pulsed, magnetically guided positron beams formed using a Penning-Malmberg style buffer gas trap. In the relevant limit, particle motion can be separated into motion along the magnetic field and gyro-motion in the plane perpendicular to the field. Analytic expressions are developed which describe the evolution of the beam energy distributions, both parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field, as the beam propagates through regions of varying magnetic field. Simulations of the beam formation process are presented, with the parameters chosen to accurately replicate experimental conditions. The initial conditions and ejection parameters are varied systematically in both experiment and simulation, allowing the relevant processes involved in beam formation to be explored. These studies provide new insights into the underlying physics, including significant adiabatic cooling, due to the time-dependent beam-formation potential. Methods to improve the beam energy and temporal resolution are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhanced damage buildup in C{sup +}-implanted GaN film studied by a monoenergetic positron beam

Wurtzite GaN films grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy were implanted with 280 keV C{sup +} ions to a dose of 6 × 10{sup 16 }cm{sup −2}. Vacancy-type defects in C{sup +}-implanted GaN were probed using a slow positron beam. The increase of Doppler broadening S parameter to a high value of 1.08–1.09 after implantation indicates introduction of very large vacancy clusters. Post-implantation annealing at temperatures up to 800 °C makes these vacancy clusters to agglomerate into microvoids. The vacancy clusters or microvoids show high thermal stability, and they are only partially removed after annealing up to 1000 °C. The other measurements such as X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering and Photoluminescence all indicate severe damage and even disordered structure induced by C{sup +}-implantation. The disordered lattice shows a partial recovery after annealing above 800 °C. Amorphous regions are observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy measurement, which directly confirms that amorphization is induced by C{sup +}-implantation. The disordered GaN lattice is possibly due to special feature of carbon impurities, which enhance the damage buildup during implantation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Oscillating two-stream instability in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma

Oscillating two-stream instability (OTSI) in a magnetized electron-ion plasma has been thoroughly studied, e.g., in ionospheric heating experiments [C. S. Liu and V. K. Tripathi, Interaction of Electromagnetic Waves With Electron Beams and Plasmas (World Scientific, 1994); V. K. Tripathi and P. V. Siva Rama Prasad, J. Plasma Phys. 41, 13 (1989); K. Ramachandran and V. K. Tripathi, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 25, 423 (1997)]. In this paper, OTSI is investigated in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma. The dispersion relation of the process is established. The pump field threshold, along with the maximum growth rate of the instability is assessed using the Arecibo and HAARP parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Resonances in positron-hydrogen scattering in dense quantum plasmas

We have investigated the S-wave resonance states in positron-hydrogen system embedded in dense quantum plasmas using Hylleraas-type wave functions within the framework of the stabilization method. The effect of quantum plasmas has been incorporated using the exponential-cosine-screened Coulomb (modified Yukawa-type) potential. Resonance parameters (both position and width) below the Ps n = 2 threshold are reported as functions of plasma screening parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of a prototype Open-close positron emission tomography system

We developed a prototype positron emission tomography (PET) system based on a new concept called Open-close PET, which has two modes: open and close-modes. In the open-mode, the detector ring is separated into two halved rings and subject is imaged with the open space and projection image is formed. In the close-mode, the detector ring is closed to be a regular circular ring, and the subject can be imaged without an open space, and so reconstructed images can be made without artifacts. The block detector of the Open-close PET system consists of two scintillator blocks that use two types of gadolinium orthosilicate (GSO) scintillators with different decay times, angled optical fiber-based image guides, and a flat panel photomultiplier tube. The GSO pixel size was 1.6 × 2.4 × 7 mm and 8 mm for fast (35 ns) and slow (60 ns) GSOs, respectively. These GSOs were arranged into an 11 × 15 matrix and optically coupled in the depth direction to form a depth-of-interaction detector. The angled optical fiber-based image guides were used to arrange the two scintillator blocks at 22.5° so that they can be arranged in a hexadecagonal shape with eight block detectors to simplify the reconstruction algorithm. The detector ring was divided into two halves to realize the open-mode and set on a mechanical stand with which the distance between the two parts can be manually changed. The spatial resolution in the close-mode was 2.4-mm FWHM, and the sensitivity was 1.7% at the center of the field-of-view. In both the close- and open-modes, we made sagittal (y-z plane) projection images between the two halved detector rings. We obtained reconstructed and projection images of {sup 18}F-NaF rat studies and proton-irradiated phantom images. These results indicate that our developed Open-close PET is useful for some applications such as proton therapy as well as other applications such as molecular imaging.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Propagation of localized structures in relativistic magnetized electron-positron plasmas using particle-in-cell simulations

We use a particle-in-cell simulation to study the propagation of localized structures in a magnetized electron-positron plasma with relativistic finite temperature. We use as initial condition for the simulation an envelope soliton solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, derived from the relativistic two fluid equations in the strongly magnetized limit. This envelope soliton turns out not to be a stable solution for the simulation and splits in two localized structures propagating in opposite directions. However, these two localized structures exhibit a soliton-like behavior, as they keep their profile after they collide with each other due to the periodic boundary conditions. We also observe the formation of localized structures in the evolution of a spatially uniform circularly polarized Alfvén wave. In both cases, the localized structures propagate with an amplitude independent velocity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Stability of dust ion acoustic solitary waves in a collisionless unmagnetized nonthermal plasma in presence of isothermal positrons

A three-dimensional KP (Kadomtsev Petviashvili) equation is derived here describing the propagation of weakly nonlinear and weakly dispersive dust ion acoustic wave in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma consisting of warm adiabatic ions, static negatively charged dust grains, nonthermal electrons, and isothermal positrons. When the coefficient of the nonlinear term of the KP-equation vanishes an appropriate modified KP (MKP) equation describing the propagation of dust ion acoustic wave is derived. Again when the coefficient of the nonlinear term of this MKP equation vanishes, a further modified KP equation is derived. Finally, the stability of the solitary wave solutions of the KP and the different modified KP equations are investigated by the small-k perturbation expansion method of Rowlands and Infeld [J. Plasma Phys. 3, 567 (1969); 8, 105 (1972); 10, 293 (1973); 33, 171 (1985); 41, 139 (1989); Sov. Phys. - JETP 38, 494 (1974)] at the lowest order of k, where k is the wave number of a long-wavelength plane-wave perturbation. The solitary wave solutions of the different evolution equations are found to be stable at this order.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Linear and nonlinear dust ion acoustic solitary waves in a quantum dusty electron-positron-ion plasma

The behavior of linear and nonlinear dust ion acoustic (DIA) solitary waves in an unmagnetized quantum dusty plasma, including inertialess electrons and positrons, ions, and mobile negative dust grains, are studied. Reductive perturbation and Sagdeev pseudopotential methods are employed for small and large amplitude DIA solitary waves, respectively. A minimum value of the Mach number obtained for the existence of solitary waves using the analytical expression of the Sagdeev potential. It is observed that the variation on the values of the plasma parameters such as different values of Mach number M, ion to electron Fermi temperature ratio σ, and quantum diffraction parameter H can lead to the creation of compressive solitary waves.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Perspectives on relativistic electron–positron pair plasma experiments of astrophysical relevance using high-power lasers

The study of relativistic electron–positron pair plasmas is both of fundamental physics interest and important to understand the processes that shape the magnetic field dynamics, particle acceleration, and radiation emission in high-energy astrophysical environments. Although it is highly desirable to study relativistic pair plasmas in the laboratory, their generation and control constitutes a critical challenge. Significant experimental and theoretical progress has been made over recent years to explore the use of intense lasers to produce dense relativistic pair plasma in the laboratory and study the basic collective plasma processes associated with these systems. Important challenges remain in terms of improving the number of pairs, system size, and control over the charge neutrality required to establish laboratory platforms that can expand our understanding of relativistic pair plasma and help validate underlying models in conditions relevant to high-energy astrophysical phenomena. Furthermore, we highlight recent progress in this field, discuss the main challenges, and the exciting prospects for studying relativistic pair plasmas and astrophysics relevant instabilities in the laboratory in the near future.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗