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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2025

OpenEdge: A collaborative, open-source, multi-purpose direct simulation Monte Carlo for plasma simulation in magnetic fusion environments

OpenEdge is a collaborative, open-source, object-oriented Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) code, designed specifically for plasma simulations in magnetic fusion environments. Here, the code features include advanced structures, robust capabilities, and an effective parallelization strategy, all of which significantly enhance performance. It includes specialized modules for managing complex particle interactions, including collisions, ionization/recombination, and reflection/sputtering. Benchmarks and performance analyses have confirmed its efficiency and scalability. Versatile and adaptable, OpenEdge is applied across a broad spectrum of plasma-material interaction studies and charged particle transport in various fusion research settings.

Boundary plasma↗

DOE OSTI2023

Enhanced thermal reliability and performance of calcium chloride hexahydrate phase change material using cellulose nanofibril and graphene nanoplatelet

In recent years, thermal energy storage (TES) has gained attention for its role in enhancing renewable energy solutions and sustainable energy consumption. The usage of strontium chloride hexahydrate (SCH), graphene nanoplatelet (GNP), and cellulose nanofibril (CNF) additives were investigated to enhance the performance of calcium chloride hexahydrate (CCH) based on the melting/solidification behavior for TES applications. In this work, we develop a promising phase-change-material (PCM) formulation by introducing these additives that reduce supercooling, improve the thermal conductivity and stabilizing the energy storage capacity of CCH. Rheological characterizations demonstrated that the addition of 1 wt% of CNF into CCH produced the required improvement in viscosity and boosted solid-like rheological behavior. Structural characterizations show a physical mixing of the materials within the PCM composites. Our observations show that the amphiphilicity of CNF enables the surface attachment to GNP via hydrophobic interactions providing effective dispersion of GNP throughout the PCM composite. The addition of a nucleating agent, SCH decreased the degree of supercooling of ~20 g of CCH from >20 °C to 3 °C at a cooling rate of 5 °C/min. Thermal characterization showed the resulting PCM composite has a latent heat of melting of 186 Jg -1 , phase change temperature of 32 °C, and stable thermal properties after being subjected to 70 melt-freeze cycles. Adding CNF and GNP to pure CCH increased its thermal conductivity by 76 %. The high thermal conductivity of GNP and its effective dispersion by CNF is responsible for this enhancement. The study highlights the use of biodegradable nanocellulose for the preparation of sustainable PCM composites with improved performance. In conclusion, these PCM composites are scalable, they have potential to increase energy efficiency and revolutionalize the heating/cooling applications in buildings and other TES systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2024

A tri-level optimization model for interdependent infrastructure network resilience against compound hazard events

Resilient operation of interdependent infrastructures against compound hazard events is essential for maintaining societal well-being. To address consequence assessment challenges in this problem space, we propose a novel policy-guided tri-level optimization model applied to a proof-of-concept case study with fuel distribution and transportation networks – encompassing one realistic network; one fictitious, yet realistic network; as well as networks drawn from three synthetic distributions. Mathematically, our approach takes the form of a defender-attacker-defender (DAD) model—a multi-agent tri-level optimization, comprised of a defender, attacker, and an operator acting in sequence. Here, in this study, our notional operator may choose proxy actions to operate an interdependent system comprised of fuel terminals and gas stations (functioning as supplies) and a transportation network with traffic flow (functioning as demand) to minimize unmet demand at gas stations. A notional attacker aims to hypothetically disrupt normal operations by reducing supply at the supply terminals, and the notional defender aims to identify best proxy defense policy options which include hardening supply terminals or allowing alternative distribution methods such as trucking reserve supplies. We solve our DAD formulation at a metropolitan scale and present practical defense policy insights against hypothetical compound hazards. We demonstrate the generalizability of our framework by presenting results for a realistic network; a fictitious, yet realistic network; as well as for three networks drawn from synthetic distributions. Additionally, we demonstrate the scalability of the framework by investigating runtime performance as a function of the network size. Steps for future research are also discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Development of a coupled experimental–computational approach for engineering optimization of spout-fluidized bed particle coating systems

The design of spout-fluidized bed (SFB) coating systems for nuclear particle fuels typically relies on trial-and-error processes, comprising iterative and time-consuming coating deposition experiments and post-deposition characterization. At an engineering scale, this approach to guided SFB system design is inefficient, highlighting the need for streamlined experimental methodologies which can correlate fluidization conditions to downstream coating outcomes. In this study, we combine time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) with CFD–DEM simulations to benchmark hydrodynamic behavior in a 3D spout-fluidized bed. By exploiting easily accessible optical measurements of particle motion at the bed wall and within the spouting region, we obtain quantitative velocity fields that can be directly compared with model predictions of the occluded bed region, without resorting to complex imaging and characterization techniques such as X-ray or magnetic resonance tomography. Experimental benchmarking reveals strong agreement between CFD–DEM and PIV in the spout and annulus regions, while discrepancies near the wall highlight areas for future model development. Here, the proposed integrated experimental–numerical framework will enable a direct connection between measured variables and numerically predicted fluidization performance of dense, surrogate nuclear particle fuel feedstock such that experimental SFB component design can be rapidly evaluated, informing design decisions for nozzle geometry and operating conditions. Future work will extend this framework by correlating quantified fluidization metrics across nozzle geometries and operating conditions with the resulting coating morphology, microstructure, and uniformity. Establishing these correlations will enable predictive links between hydrodynamic performance and coating quality, providing a rational, scalable basis for optimizing SFB design prior to coating deposition.

CFD/DEM↗

DOE OSTI2024

Turnkey locking of quantum-dot lasers directly grown on Si

Ultralow-noise laser sources are crucial for a variety of applications, including microwave synthesizers, optical gyroscopes and the manipulation of quantum systems. Silicon photonics has emerged as a promising solution for high-coherence applications due to its ability to reduce the system size, weight, power consumption and cost. Semiconductor lasers based on self-injection locking have achieved fibre laser coherence, but typically require a high-quality-factor external cavity to suppress coherence collapse through frequency-selective feedback. Lasers based on external-cavity locking are a low-cost and turnkey operation option, but their coherence is generally inferior to self-injection locking lasers. In this work, we demonstrate quantum-dot lasers grown directly on Si that achieve self-injection-locking laser coherence under turnkey external-cavity locking. The high-performance quantum-dot laser offers a scalable and low-cost heteroepitaxial integration platform. Moreover, the chaos-free nature of the quantum-dot laser enables a 16 Hz Lorentzian linewidth under external-cavity locking using a low-quality-factor external cavity, and improves the frequency noise by an additional order of magnitude compared with conventional quantum-well lasers.

Dong, Bozhang↗

DOE OSTI2021

Scalable Comparative Visualization of Ensembles of Call Graphs

Optimizing the performance of large-scale parallel codes is critical for efficient utilization of computing resources. Code developers often explore various execution parameters, such as hardware configurations, system software choices, and application parameters, and are interested in detecting and understanding bottlenecks in different executions. They often collect hierarchical performance profiles represented as call graphs, which combine performance metrics with their execution contexts. The crucial task of exploring multiple call graphs together is tedious and challenging because of the many structural differences in the execution contexts and significant variability in the collected performance metrics (e.g., execution runtime). In this paper, we present Ensemble CallFlow to support the exploration of ensembles of call graphs using new types of visualizations, analysis, graph operations, and features. We introduce ensemble-Sankey , a new visual design that combines the strengths of resource-flow (Sankey) and box-plot visualization techniques. Whereas the resource-flow visualization can easily and intuitively describe the graphical nature of the call graph, the box plots overlaid on the nodes of Sankey convey the performance variability within the ensemble. Our interactive visual interface provides linked views to help explore ensembles of call graphs, e.g., by facilitating the analysis of structural differences, and identifying similar or distinct call graphs. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of our design through case studies on large-scale parallel codes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2021

MCS+: An Efficient Algorithm for Crawling the Community Structure in Multiplex Networks

In this article, we consider the problem of crawling a multiplex network to identify the community structure of a layer-of-interest. A multiplex network is one where there are multiple types of relationships between the nodes. In many multiplex networks, some layers might be easier to explore (in terms of time, money etc.). We propose MCS+, an algorithm that can use the information from the easier to explore layers to help in the exploration of a layer-of-interest that is expensive to explore. We consider the goal of exploration to be generating a sample that is representative of the communities in the complete layer-of-interest. This work has practical applications in areas such as exploration of dark (e.g., criminal) networks, online social networks, biological networks, and so on. For example, in a terrorist network, relationships such as phone records, e-mail records, and so on are easier to collect; in contrast, data on the face-to-face communications are much harder to collect, but also potentially more valuable. We perform extensive experimental evaluations on real-world networks, and we observe that MCS+ consistently outperforms the best baseline—the similarity of the sample that MCS+ generates to the real network is up to three times that of the best baseline in some networks. We also perform theoretical and experimental evaluations on the scalability of MCS+ to network properties, and find that it scales well with the budget, number of layers in the multiplex network, and the average degree in the original network.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2026

Tachyon: Intelligent Multi-Scale Modeling of Distributed Resilient Infrastructure and Workflows for Data Intensive HEP Analyses

The DOE High Energy Physics (HEP) program in Neutrino and Collider science drives data-intensive science and simulation on extreme-scale platforms. Modeling and optimizing the complex distributed components from experimental to leadership computing facilities are essential for HEP workflows to achieve required response times and resilience under various conditions. Tachyon proposes a framework for scalable modeling, simulation, and validation of key performance characteristics for the distributed infrastructure between FNAL and ALCF, along with associated HEP workflows.

Carothers, Chris [Rensselaer Poly.]↗

DOE OSTI2026

Tachyon: Intelligent Multi-Scale Modeling of Distributed Resilient Infrastructure and Workflows for Data Intensive HEP Analyses

Carothers, Chris [Rensselaer Poly.]↗

NASA NTRS1991

Development of iterative techniques for the solution of unsteady compressible viscous flows

Efficient iterative solution methods are being developed for the numerical solution of two- and three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Iterative time marching methods have several advantages over classical multi-step explicit time marching schemes, and non-iterative implicit time marching schemes. Iterative schemes have better stability characteristics than non-iterative explicit and implicit schemes. Thus, the extra work required by iterative schemes can also be designed to perform efficiently on current and future generation scalable, missively parallel machines. An obvious candidate for iteratively solving the system of coupled nonlinear algebraic equations arising in CFD applications is the Newton method. Newton's method was implemented in existing finite difference and finite volume methods. Depending on the complexity of the problem, the number of Newton iterations needed per step to solve the discretized system of equations can, however, vary dramatically from a few to several hundred. Another popular approach based on the classical conjugate gradient method, known as the GMRES (Generalized Minimum Residual) algorithm is investigated. The GMRES algorithm was used in the past by a number of researchers for solving steady viscous and inviscid flow problems with considerable success. Here, the suitability of this algorithm is investigated for solving the system of nonlinear equations that arise in unsteady Navier-Stokes solvers at each time step. Unlike the Newton method which attempts to drive the error in the solution at each and every node down to zero, the GMRES algorithm only seeks to minimize the L2 norm of the error. In the GMRES algorithm the changes in the flow properties from one time step to the next are assumed to be the sum of a set of orthogonal vectors. By choosing the number of vectors to a reasonably small value N (between 5 and 20) the work required for advancing the solution from one time step to the next may be kept to (N+1) times that of a noniterative scheme. Many of the operations required by the GMRES algorithm such as matrix-vector multiplies, matrix additions and subtractions can all be vectorized and parallelized efficiently.

Sankar, Lakshmi N.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Shared virtual memory and generalized speedup

Generalized speedup is defined as parallel speed over sequential speed. The generalized speedup and its relation with other existing performance metrics, such as traditional speedup, efficiency, scalability, etc., are carefully studied. In terms of the introduced asymptotic speed, it was shown that the difference between the generalized speedup and the traditional speedup lies in the definition of the efficiency of uniprocessor processing, which is a very important issue in shared virtual memory machines. A scientific application was implemented on a KSR-1 parallel computer. Experimental and theoretical results show that the generalized speedup is distinct from the traditional speedup and provides a more reasonable measurement. In the study of different speedups, various causes of superlinear speedup are also presented.

Sun, Xian-He↗

NASA NTRS2017

Point-Focus Concentration Compact Telescoping Array: Extreme Environments Solar Power Base Phase Final Report

Orbital ATK, in partnership with Mark ONeill LLC (MOLLC), has developed a novel solar array platform, PFC-CTA, which provides a significant advance in performance and cost reduction compared to all currently available space solar systems. PFC refers to the Point Focus Concentration of light provided by MOLLCs thin, flat Fresnel optics. These lenses focus light to a point of approximately 100 times the intensity of the ambient light, onto a solar cell of approximately 125th the size of the lens. CTA stands for Compact Telescoping Array, which is the solar array blanket structural platform originally devised by NASA and currently being advanced by Orbital ATK and partners under NASA and AFRL funding to a projected TRL 5+ by late-2018.The NASA Game Changing Development Extreme Environment Solar Power (EESP) Base Phase study has enabled Orbital ATK to refine component designs, perform component level and system performance analyses, and test prototype hardware of the key elements of PFC-CTA, and increased the TRL of PFC-specific technology elements to TRL 4. Key performance metrics currently projected are as follows: Scalability from 5 kW to 300 kW per wing (AM0); Specific Power 500 Wkg (AM0); Stowage Efficiency 100 kWm3; 5:1 margin on pointing tolerance vs. capability; 50 launched cost savings; Wide range of operability between Venus and Saturn by active andor passive thermal management.

McEachen, Michael E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Point-Focus Concentration Compact Telescoping Array: EESP Option 1 Phase Final Report for Public Release

Orbital ATK, in partnership with Mark O’Neill LLC (MOLLC) and SolAero Technologies Corp., has developed a novel solar array platform, PFC-CTA, which provides a significant advance in performance and cost reduction compared to all currently available space solar systems. “PFC” refers to the Point Focus Concentration of light provided by MOLLC’s thin, flat Fresnel optics. These lenses focus light to a point of approximately 100 times the intensity of the ambient light, onto a solar cell of approximately 1/25th the size of the lens. “CTA” stands for Compact Telescoping Array1, which is the solar array blanket structural platform originally devised by NASA and currently being advanced by Orbital ATK and partners under NASA and AFRL funding to a projected TRL 5+ by late-2018. The NASA Game Changing Development Extreme Environment Solar Power (EESP) Option 1 Phase study has enabled Orbital ATK to generate and refine component designs, perform component level and system performance analyses, and test prototype hardware of the key elements of PFC-CTA, and increased the TRL of PFC-specific technology elements to TRL ~5. Key performance metrics currently projected are as follows: Scalability from < 5 kW to >300 kW per wing (AM0); Specific Power > 250 W/kg (BoL, AM0); Stowage Efficiency > 60 kW/m3; 5:1 margin on pointing tolerance vs. capability; >50% launched cost savings; Wide range of operability between Venus and Saturn by active and/or passive thermal management.

Mceachen, Michael E.↗

DOE OSTI2020

3D full wave fast wave modeling with realistic antenna geometry and SOL plasma

This paper reports the significant advancement of our ability to model and to understand how RF waves interact with the SOL plasma, by simulating the full torus 3D SOL plasma together with the antenna and core plasma. We introduce and use a recently developed and open source code, Petra-M, which was constructed on the scalable MFEM C++ finite element library, and performed 3D full wave simulations in the HHFW regime for both NSTX-U and LAPD plasmas. A first full wave simulation for a full 3D torus including a realistic antenna geometry and SOL plasma region for NSTX-U is presented. A scan of the antenna phasing shows a strong interaction between FWs and the SOL plasma for lower antenna phasing, which is consistent with previous NSTX HHFW observations. The effect of the 3D wave field on the fast ion population from NBI beams in NSTX-U is also discussed by using the 3D field obtained from the Petra-M simulations in the full-orbit following particle SPIRAL code. On LAPD, 3D full wave simulations of a new HHFW 4-strap antenna recently installed by TAE Technologies on LAPD are performed showing a qualitative agreement with experimental data.

Bertelli, Nicola↗

DOE OSTI2026

Hydrogen Recombiner Catalyst Evaluations for Waste Storage

Radiolysis of water in nuclear waste storage generates hydrogen gas that can accumulate within sludge style waste and be rapidly released during agitation events, creating a significant flammability hazard. Engineering controls are therefore required to limit hydrogen concentrations during both quiescent storage and transient disturbances. Catalytic recombination of hydrogen in waste storage offgas is a proven mitigation strategy, maintaining hydrogen levels below flammability limits and managing sudden concentration spikes. Conventional recombiners rely on platinum and/or palladium catalysts, with development efforts focused on extending service life, increasing active surface area, and ensuring safe deployment in radioactive environments. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is evaluating a newly developed hydrogen recombiner catalyst from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories as a cost-effective and durable alternative for nuclear waste applications. Testing was conducted in SRNL’s Shielded Cells facility, which enables reduced-scale experimental modeling under radiation fields and near-use-case conditions relevant to radioactive waste storage. Catalyst performance was evaluated using a custom offgas characterization system designed for near-zero flow conditions. The experimental apparatus consisted of a gas-tight 2.7 L PTFE vessel equipped with temperature monitoring, gas flow controls, and a variable-speed mixer to simulate sludge agitation. Offgas composition was monitored using a dedicated gas chromatograph with argon carrier gas and a krypton internal standard. Measurements were obtained for an empty vessel, the vessel containing a well characterized radioactive tank waste sample, and the same configuration with the candidate catalyst installed. Results demonstrate that the new catalyst effectively reduced hydrogen concentrations in the offgas within the constraints of the experimental design. In addition to confirming catalytic activity, the testing provided valuable insights into experimental optimization and considerations for future performance evaluations. These findings support the potential scalability of the technology and highlight its applicability to broader nuclear waste management operations, offering improved safety and reduced operational costs through enhanced catalyst durability and lower replacement frequency.

Tener, Zachary P. [Savannah River National Laborat↗

DOE OSTI2023

Efficient and choreographed quality-of- service management in dense 6G verticals with high-speed mobility requirements

Future 6G networks are envisioned to support very heterogeneous and extreme applications (known as verticals). Some examples are further-enhanced mobile broadband communications, where bitrates could go above one terabit per second, or extremely reliable and low-latency communications, whose end-to-end delay must be below one hundred microseconds. To achieve that ultra-high Quality-of-Service, 6G networks are commonly provided with redundant resources and intelligent management mechanisms to ensure that all devices get the expected performance. But this approach is not feasible or scalable for all verticals. Specifically, in 6G scenarios, mobile devices are expected to have speeds greater than 500 kilometers per hour, and device density will exceed ten million devices per square kilometer. In those verticals, resources cannot be redundant as, because of such a huge number of devices, Quality-of-Service requirements are pushing the effective performance of technologies at physical level. And, on the other hand, high-speed mobility prevents intelligent mechanisms to be useful, as devices move around and evolve faster than the usual convergence time of those intelligent solutions. New technologies are needed to fill this unexplored gap. Therefore, in this paper we propose a choreographed Quality-of-Service management solution, where 6G base stations predict the evolution of verticals at real-time, and run a lightweight distributed optimization algorithm in advance, so they can manage the resource consumption and ensure all devices get the required Quality-of-Service. Prediction mechanism includes mobility models (Markov, Bayesian, etc.) and models for time-variant communication channels. Besides, a traffic prediction solution is also considered to explore the achieved Quality-of-Service in advance. The optimization algorithm calculates an efficient resource distribution according to the predicted future vertical situation, so devices achieve the expected Quality-of-Service according to the proposed traffic models. An experimental validation based on simulation tools is also provided. Results show that the proposed approach reduces up to 12% of the network resource consumption for a given Quality-of-Service.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2021

Evaluation of Global Surface Water Temperature Data Sets for use in Passive Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture

Inland open water bodies often pose a systematic error source in the passive remote sensing retrievals of soil moisture. Water temperature is a necessary variable used to compute water emissions that is required to be subtracted from satellite observation to yield actual emissions from the land portion, which in turn generates accurate soil moisture retrievals. Therefore, overestimation of soil moisture can often be corrected using concurrent water temperature data in the overall mitigation procedure. In recent years, several data sets of lake water temperature have become available, but their specifications and accuracy have rarely been investigated in the context of passive soil moisture remote sensing on a global scale. For this reason, three lake temperature products were evaluated against in-situ measurements from 2007 to 2011. The data sets include the lake surface water temperature (LSWT) from Global Observatory of Lake Responses to Environmental Change (GloboLakes), the Copernicus Global Land Operations Cryosphere and Water (C-GLOPS), as well as the lake mix-layer temperature (LMLT) from the European Centers for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA5 Land Reanalysis. GloboLakes, C-GLOPS, and ERA5 Land have overall comparable performance with Pearson correlations (R) of 0.87, 0.92 and 0.88 in comparison with in-situ measurements. LSWT products exhibit negative median biases of −0.27 K (GloboLakes) and −0.31 K (C-GLOPS), whereas the median bias of LMLT is 1.56 K. When mapped from their respective native resolutions to a common 9 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth (EASE) Grid 2.0 projection, similar relative performance was observed. LMLT and LSWT data are closer in performance over the 9 km grid cells that exhibit a small range of lake cover fractions (0.05–0.5). Despite comparable relative performance, ERA5 Land shows great advantages in spatial coverage and temporal resolution. In summary, an integrated evaluation on data accuracy, long-term availability, global coverage, temporal resolution, and regular forward processing with modest data latency led us to conclude that LMLT from the ERA5 Land Reanalysis product represents the most optimal path for use in the development of a long-term soil moisture product.

Runze Zhang↗

NASA NTRS2011

Cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC Heterodyne Receiver Module

A cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC heterodyne receiver module has demonstrated a system noise temperature of 100 K or less at 166 GHz. This module builds upon work previously described in Development of a 150-GHz MMIC Module Prototype for Large-Scale CMB Radiation (NPO-47664), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 35, No. 8 (August 2011), p. 27. In the original module, the local oscillator signal was saturating the MMIC low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) with power. In order to suppress the local oscillator signal from reaching the MMIC LNAs, the W-band (75 110 GHz) signal had to be filtered out before reaching 140 170 GHz. A bandpass filter was developed to cover 120 170 GHz, using microstrip parallel-coupled lines to achieve the desired filter bandwidth, and ensure that the unwanted W-band local oscillator signal would be sufficiently suppressed. With the new bandpass filter, the entire receiver can work over the 140 180-GHz band, with a minimum system noise temperature of 460 K at 166 GHz. The module was tested cryogenically at 20 K ambient temperature, and it was found that the receiver had a noise temperature of 100 K over an 8-GHz bandwidth. The receiver module now includes a microstrip bandpass filter, which was designed to have a 3-dB bandwidth of approximately 120-170 GHz. The filter was fabricated on a 3-mil-thick alumina substrate. The filter design was based on a W-band filter design made at JPL and used in the QUIET (Q/U Imaging ExperimenT) radiometer modules. The W-band filter was scaled for a new center frequency of 150 GHz, and the microstrip segments were changed accordingly. Also, to decrease the bandwidth of the resulting scaled design, the center gaps between the microstrip lines were increased (by four micrometers in length) compared to the gaps near the edges. The use of the 150-GHz bandpass filter has enabled the receiver module to function well at room temperature. The system noise temperature was measured to be less than 600 K (at room temperature) from 154 to 168 GHz. Additionally, the use of a W-band isolator between the receiver module and the local oscillator source also improved the noise temperature substantially. This may be because the mixer was presented with a better impedance match with the use of the isolator. Cryogenic testing indicates a system noise temperature of 100 K or less at 166 GHz. Prior tests of the MMIC amplifiers alone have resulted in a system noise temperature of 65.70 K in the same frequency range (.160 GHz) when cooled to an ambient temperature of 20 K. While other detector systems may be slightly more sensitive (such as SIS mixers), they require more cooling (to 4 K ambient) and are not as easily scalable to build a large array, due to the need for large magnets and other equipment. When cooled to 20 K, this receiver module achieves approximately 100 K system noise temperature, which is slightly higher than single-amplifier module results obtained at JPL (65.70 K when an amplifier is corrected for back-end noise contributions). If this performance can be realized in practice, and a scalable array can be produced, the impact on cosmic microwave background experiments, astronomical and Earth spectroscopy, interferometry, and radio astronomy in general will be dramatic.

Samoska, Lorene A.↗