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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Eigenpolarization theory of monolithic nonplanar ring oscillators

Diode-laser-pumped monolithic nonplanar ring oscillators (NPROs) in an applied magnetic field can operate as unidirectional traveling-wave lasers. The diode laser pumping, monolithic construction, and unidirectional oscillation lead to narrow linewidth radiation. Here, a comprehensive theory of the eigenpolarizations of a monolithic NPRO is presented. It is shown how the properties of the integral optical diode that forces unidirectional operation depend on the choice of the gain medium, the applied magnetic field, the output coupler, and the geometry of the nonplanar ring light path. Using optical equivalence theorems to gain insight into the polarization characteristics of the NPRO, a strategy for designing NPROs with low thresholds and large loss nonreciprocities is given. An analysis of the eigenpolarizations for one such NPRO is presented, alternative optimization approaches are considered, and the prospects for further reducing the linewidths of these lasers are briefly discussed.

Nilsson, Alan C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Linear instabilities in the hot-ion regime in a high-field spherical tokamak

Abstract The present operating high-field compact spherical tokamak ST40 is an important step toward an ST-based fusion reactor (Gryaznevich and Asunta 2017 Fusion Eng. Des. 123 177; McNamara 2023 Nucl. Fusion 63 054002). Temperature and density profiles and their uncertainties in recent hot ion ST40 plasmas with central ion temperatures exceeding 8.6 keV, have been inferred using an integrated analysis of several diagnostics including line-of-sight integration and volume average measurements, as well as limited profile information from a charge-exchange-recombination spectrometer. A linear gyrokinetic stability analysis has been carried out to identify the most unstable micro-instabilities in these hot ion plasmas. In one of these plasmas, it is found that linear growth rates of both ion- and electron-scale ( k θ ρ s ⩾ 0.2 where k θ is the poloidal wavenumber and ρ s is the ion gyro-radius with sound speed) modes decrease from the edge toward the core of the plasma (i.e. from ρ = 0.8 to 0.3 where ρ is the square root of the normalized magnetic flux), while the change of linear growth rates at k θ ρ s < 0.2 is non-monotonic. In particular, at ρ = 0.3 no unstable mode was found at k θ ρ s > 5 , and about an order of magnitude reduction in the maximum linear growth rate in the ion-scale wavenumber range of 0.2 ⩽ k θ ρ s < 1 is seen at ρ = 0.3 compared with the ρ = 0.8 location. It is found through parametric scans that while the ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode/trapped electron mode (TEM) and kinetic ballooning mode (KBM)/kinetic shear Alfvén (KSA) mode are more important in the plasma core, ubiquitous mode (UM) is found to be the important ion-scale instability at ρ ⩾ 0.6 . At ρ = 0.8, two instabilities are found at the electron scale, with one being the typical electrostatic electron temperature gradient (ETG) mode at ρ e scale and beyond and the other being an unidentified low-real-frequency instability (at the intermediate scale between electron and ion gyroradii) which can propagate in the ion direction and is driven by ETG. The existence of UM at the ion scale and the low-real-frequency instability and ETG mode at the electron scale at ρ = 0.8 is supported by an extensive linear gyrokinetic stability analysis of another ST40 hot ion plasma in a wider parametric range, taking into account the uncertainties in the experimental profiles.

ubiquitous mode↗
NASA NTRS1988

Global meteorological data facility for real-time field experiments support and guidance

A Global Meteorological Data Facility (GMDF) has been constructed to provide economical real-time meteorological support to atmospheric field experiments. After collection and analysis of meteorological data sets at a central station, tailored meteorological products are transmitted to experiment field sites using conventional ground link or satellite communication techniques. The GMDF supported the Global Tropospheric Experiment Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (GTE-ABLE II) based in Manaus, Brazil, during July and August 1985; an arctic airborne lidar survey mission for the Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC) experiment during January 1986; and the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) during January, February and March 1986. GMDF structure is similar to the UNIDATA concept, including meteorological data from the Zephyr Weather Transmission Service, a mode AAA GOES downlink, and dedicated processors for image manipulation, transmission and display. The GMDF improved field experiment operations in general, with the greatest benefits arising from the ability to communicate with field personnel in real time.

Shipham, Mark C.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Optical Design of the WFIRST Phase-A Wide Field Instrument

The WFIRST Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope TMA optical design provides 0.28-sq degrees FOV at 0.11” pixel scale to the Wide Field Instrument, operating between 0.48-2.0 micrometers, including a spectrograph mode (1.0-2.0 micrometers). An Integral Field Channel provides 2-D discrete spectroscopy at 0.15” & 0.3” sampling.

Pasquale, Bert A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cryogen-free modular scanning tunneling microscope operating at 4-K in high magnetic field on a compact ultra-high vacuum platform

One of the daunting challenges in modern low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is the difficulty of combining atomic resolution with cryogen-free cooling. Further functionality needs, such as ultra-high vacuum (UHV), high magnetic field (HF), and compatibility with μm-sized samples, pose additional challenges to an already ambitious build. We present the design, construction, and performance of a cryogen-free, UHV, low temperature, and high magnetic field system for modular STM operation. An internal vibration isolator reduces vibrations in this system, allowing for atomic resolution STM imaging while maintaining a low base temperature of ∼4 K and magnetic fields up to 9 T. Samples and tips can be conditioned in situ utilizing a heating stage, an ion sputtering gun, an e-beam evaporator, a tip treater, and sample exfoliation. In situ sample and tip exchange and alignment are performed in a connected UHV room temperature stage with optical access. Multisite operation without breaking vacuum is enabled by a unique quick-connect STM head design. A novel low-profile vertical transfer mechanism permits transferring the STM between room temperature and the low temperature cryostat.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗
NASA NTRS2018

Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST): Composite Structure Verification for Operational Temperatures

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission is the next large astrophysics observatory for NASA after the James Webb Space Telescope and is the top priority mission from the 2010 National Academy of Sciences' decadal survey. The WFIRST Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) includes inherited composite support structures that were originally designed and tested for room temperature operation; however, the WFIRST mission will require operation at colder temperatures to achieve sufficient sensitivity for the infrared wavelengths. We will present the results and conclusions of testing completed at the coupon and engineering model level to verify that the inherited composite structures will maintain mechanical integrity and performance over the required temperature range. The testing included: (1) characterization testing of constituent material coupons, (2) thermal cycling and static load testing of a representative aft metering structure (AMS) and forward metering structure (FMS), and (3) thermal cycling and dynamic testing of a representative secondary mirror assembly (SMA).

metering↗
DOE OSTI2016

Molecular dynamics simulations of dislocations in TlBr crystals under an electrical field

TlBr crystals have superior radiation detection properties; however, their properties degrade in the range of hours to weeks when an operating electrical field is applied. To account for this rapid degradation using the widely-accepted vacancy migration mechanism, the vacancy concentration must be orders of magnitude higher than any conventional estimates. The present work has incorporated a new analytical variable charge model in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to examine the structural changes of materials under electrical fields. Our simulations indicate that dislocations in TlBr move under electrical fields. As a result, this discovery can lead to new understanding of TlBr aging mechanisms under external fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Superconducting metamaterials - the first step toward a microwave quantum bus

Coherent manipulation of quantum states is at the core of quantum information science (QIS). Many state-of-the-art quantum systems rely on microwave fields for quantum operations. As such, the microwave electromagnetic fields serve as the ideal "quantum bus" to integrate different types of QIS systems into a hybrid quantum system. Superconducting metamaterials are artificial materials consisting of arrays of superconducting resonant microstructures with sizes much smaller than the microwave wavelengths of interest. Superconducting metamaterials are a strong candidate medium for the microwave quantum bus, because the effective impedance, field distributions, and frequency response can all be controlled by engineering the microstructures, electrical bias, and magnetic flux while maintaining extremely low loss. In this project, we investigate the fundamental unit of a superconducting metamaterial - a resonator with physical dimensions much smaller than the microwave wavelengths - using NbTiN as the working superconductor, whose high operating temperatures and magnetic fields are desirable attributes for compatibility with a wide variety of quantum systems. We first studied the properties of sputtered NbTiN thin films by correlating the film thickness with the normal state resistivity, superconducting transition temperature, and resonances of transmission line resonators made from these films. We developed a process flow and designed a coplanar waveguide platform for studying small resonators. The platform significantly shortens the turnaround times of the resonator fabrication and testing cycles. Several resonators with different designs were fabricated and tested at 4 Kelvin. Resonances were observed in some resonator testers. Potential paths for improvements and future directions are discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1983

Hipot and continuity qualification est experience

High voltage potential (Hipot) and module frame continuity tests are important parts of determining the suitability of solar modules for deployment into large arrays for electrical power production. Since field arrays operate at hundreds of volts above (or below) ground potential at some point in the field, it is necessary to assure adequate voltage isolation of the solar cell circuits.

Griffith, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS2012

HURON (HUman and Robotic Optimization Network) Multi-Agent Temporal Activity Planner/Scheduler

HURON solves the problem of how to optimize a plan and schedule for assigning multiple agents to a temporal sequence of actions (e.g., science tasks). Developed as a generic planning and scheduling tool, HURON has been used to optimize space mission surface operations. The tool has also been used to analyze lunar architectures for a variety of surface operational scenarios in order to maximize return on investment and productivity. These scenarios include numerous science activities performed by a diverse set of agents: humans, teleoperated rovers, and autonomous rovers. Once given a set of agents, activities, resources, resource constraints, temporal constraints, and de pendencies, HURON computes an optimal schedule that meets a specified goal (e.g., maximum productivity or minimum time), subject to the constraints. HURON performs planning and scheduling optimization as a graph search in state-space with forward progression. Each node in the graph contains a state instance. Starting with the initial node, a graph is automatically constructed with new successive nodes of each new state to explore. The optimization uses a set of pre-conditions and post-conditions to create the children states. The Python language was adopted to not only enable more agile development, but to also allow the domain experts to easily define their optimization models. A graphical user interface was also developed to facilitate real-time search information feedback and interaction by the operator in the search optimization process. The HURON package has many potential uses in the fields of Operations Research and Management Science where this technology applies to many commercial domains requiring optimization to reduce costs. For example, optimizing a fleet of transportation truck routes, aircraft flight scheduling, and other route-planning scenarios involving multiple agent task optimization would all benefit by using HURON.

Hua, Hook↗
DOE OSTI2016

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PAIR PRODUCTION OVER THE PULSAR POLAR CAP

Using an analytic, axisymmetric approach that includes general relativity, coupled to a condition for pair production deduced from simulations, we derive general results about the spatial distribution of pair-producing field lines over the pulsar polar cap. In particular, we show that pair production on magnetic field lines operates over only a fraction of the polar cap for an aligned rotator for general magnetic field configurations, assuming the magnetic field varies spatially on a scale that is larger than the size of the polar cap. We compare our result to force-free simulations of a pulsar with a dipole surface field and find excellent agreement. Our work has implications for first-principles simulations of pulsar magnetospheres and for explaining observations of pulsed radio and high-energy emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Low-energy effective field theory below the electroweak scale: operators and matching

The gauge-invariant operators up to dimension six in the low-energy effective field theory below the electroweak scale are classified. There are 70 Hermitian dimension-five and 3631 Hermitian dimension-six operators that conserve baryon and lepton number, as well as ΔB = ±ΔL = ±1, ΔL = ±2, and ΔL = ±4 operators. The matching onto these operators from the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) up to order 1/Λ 2 is computed at tree level. SMEFT imposes constraints on the coefficients of the low-energy effective theory, which can be checked experimentally to determine whether the electroweak gauge symmetry is broken by a single fundamental scalar doublet as in SMEFT. Furthermore our results, when combined with the one-loop anomalous dimensions of the low-energy theory and the one-loop anomalous dimensions of SMEFT, allow one to compute the low-energy implications of new physics to leading-log accuracy, and combine them consistently with high-energy LHC constraints.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

RF sheath modeling of experimentally observed plasma surface interactions with the JET ITER-Like Antenna

Waves in the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) enhance local Plasma-Surface Interactions (PSI) near the wave launchers and magnetically-connected objects via Radio-Frequency (RF) sheath rectification. ITER will use 20MW of ICRF power over long pulses, questioning the long-term impact of RF-enhanced localized erosion on the lifetime of its Beryllium (Be) wall. Recent dedicated ICRF-heated L-mode discharges documented this process on JET for different types of ICRF antennas. Using visible spectroscopy in JET ICRF-heated L-mode discharges, poloidally-localized regions of enhanced (by ~2–4x) Be I and Be II light emission were observed on two outboard limiters magnetically connected to the bottom of the active ITER-Like Antenna (ILA). The observed RF-PSI induced by the ILA was qualitatively comparable to that induced by the JET standard, type-A2 antennas, for similar strap toroidal phasing and connection geometries. The Be II line emission was found more intense when powering the bottom half of the ILA rather than its top half. Conversely, more pronounced SOL density modifications were observed with only top array operation, on field lines connected to the top half of the ILA. So far the near-field modeling of the ILA with antenna code TOPICA (Torino Polytechnic Ion Cyclotron Antenna), using curved antenna model, was partially able to reproduce qualitatively the observed phenomena. A quantitative discrepancy persisted between the observed Be source amplification and the calculated, corresponding increases in E // field at the magnetically connected locations to the ILA when changing from only top to only bottom half antenna operation. This paper revisits these current drive phased and half-ILA powered cases using for the new simulations flat model of the ILA and more realistic antenna feeding to calculate the E// field maps with TOPICA code. Further, the Self-consistent Sheaths and Waves for Ion Cyclotron Heating Slow Wave (SSWICH-SW) code, which couples slow wave evanescence with DC Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) biasing, is used to estimate the poloidal distribution of rectified RF-sheath Direct Current (DC) potential V DC in the private SOL between the ILA poloidal limiters. The approach so far was limited to correlating the observed, enhanced emission regions at the remote limiters to the antenna near-electric fields, as calculated by TOPICA. The present approach includes also a model for the rectification of these near-fields in the private SOL of the ILA. With the improved approach, when comparing only top and only bottom half antenna feeding, we obtained good qualitative correlation between all experimental measurements and the calculated local variations in the E // field and V DC potential.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Vertex algebra of extended operators in 4d N=2 superconformal field theories. Part I

Abstract We construct a class of extended operators in the cohomology of a pair of twisted Schur supercharges of 4d$$ \mathcal{N} $$ N =2 SCFTs. The extended operators are constructed from the local operators in this cohomology — the Schur operators — by a version of topological descent. They are line, surface, and domain wall world volume integrals of certain super descendants of Schur operators. Their world volumes extend in directions transverse to a spatial plane in Minkowski space-time. As operators in the cohomology of these twisted Schur supercharges, their correlators are (locally) meromorphic functions only of the positions where they intersect this plane. This implies the extended operators enlarge the vertex operator algebra of the Schur operators. We illustrate this enlarged vertex algebra by computing some extended-operator product expansions within a subalgebra of it for the free hypermultiplet SCFT.

Physics↗
NASA NTRS1987

High data rate Reed-Solomon encoding and decoding using VLSI technology

Presented as an implementation of a Reed-Solomon encode and decoder, which is 16-symbol error correcting, each symbol is 8 bits. This Reed-Solomon (RS) code is an efficient error correcting code that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will use in future space communications missions. A Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) implementation of the encoder and decoder accepts data rates up 80 Mbps. A total of seven chips are needed for the decoder (four of the seven decoding chips are customized using 3-micron Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconduction (CMOS) technology) and one chip is required for the encoder. The decoder operates with the symbol clock being the system clock for the chip set. Approximately 1.65 billion Galois Field (GF) operations per second are achieved with the decoder chip set and 640 MOPS are achieved with the encoder chip.

Miller, Warner↗
NASA NTRS1992

Three dimensional magnetic fields in extra high speed modified Lundell alternators computed by a combined vector-scalar magnetic potential finite element method

A 3D finite element (FE) approach was developed and implemented for computation of global magnetic fields in a 14.3 kVA modified Lundell alternator. The essence of the new method is the combined use of magnetic vector and scalar potential formulations in 3D FEs. This approach makes it practical, using state of the art supercomputer resources, to globally analyze magnetic fields and operating performances of rotating machines which have truly 3D magnetic flux patterns. The 3D FE-computed fields and machine inductances as well as various machine performance simulations of the 14.3 kVA machine are presented in this paper and its two companion papers.

Demerdash, N. A.↗
DOE OSTI2015

2-D energy analyzer for low energy electrons

A 2-D electron energy analyzer is designed and constructed to measure the transverse and longitudinal energy distribution of low energy (<1 eV) electrons. The analyzer operates on the principle of adiabatic invariance and motion of low energy electrons in a strong longitudinal magnetic field. The operation of the analyzer is studied in detail and a design to optimize the energy resolution, signal to noise ratio, and physical size is presented. An energy resolution better than 6 meV has been demonstrated. Such an analyzer is a powerful tool to study the process of photoemission which limits the beam quality in modern accelerators.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Superconducting plate in a transverse magnetic field: New state

A model is proposed for describing Cooper pairs near the transition (in temperature and magnetic field) point when their spacing is larger than their size. The essence of the model is as follows: the Ginzburg-Landau functional is written in operator form in terms of field operators of the Bose type so that the average value of the density operator gives the concentration of Cooper pairs, and the same Ginzburg-Landau expression is obtained for the Bose condensate. The model is applied to a superconducting plate with a thickness smaller than the size of a pair in a transverse magnetic field near its upper critical value H{sub c2}. A new state is discovered that is energetically more advantageous in a certain interval in the vicinity of the transition point as compared to the Abrikosov vortex state. The wavefunction of the system in this state is of the type of the Laughlin function used in the fractional quantum Hall effect (naturally, as applied to Cooper pairs as Bose particles in our case) and corresponds to a homogeneous incompressible fluid. The energy of this state is proportional to the first power of quantity (1 - H/H{sub c2}) in contrast to the energy of the vortex state containing the square of this quantity. The interval of the existence of the new state is the larger, the dirtier the sample.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗