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Results for “DIFFRACTION PATH”

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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

X-Ray Diffraction Apparatus

An x-ray diffraction apparatus for use in analyzing the x-ray diffraction pattern of a sample is introduced. The apparatus includes a beam source for generating a collimated x-ray beam having one or more discrete x-ray energies, a holder for holding the sample to be analyzed in the path of the beam, and a charge-coupled device having an array of pixels for detecting, in one or more selected photon energy ranges, x-ray diffraction photons produced by irradiating such a sample with said beam. The CCD is coupled to an output unit which receives input information relating to the energies of photons striking each pixel in the CCD, and constructs the diffraction pattern of photons within a selected energy range striking the CCD.

Blake, David F.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The effect of yttrium and thorium on the oxidation behavior of Ni-Cr-Al alloys

The effect of quaternary additions of 0.5% Y, 0.5 and 1.0% Th to a base alloy of Ni-10CR-5Al on the oxidation behavior and mechanism was studied during oxidation in air over the range of 1000 to 1200 C. The presence of yttrium decreased the oxidation kinetics slightly, whereas, the addition of thorium caused a slight increase. Oxide scale adherence was markedly improved by the addition of the quaternary elements. Although a number of oxides formed on yttrium containing alloys, quantitative X-ray diffraction clearly showed that the rate-controlling step was the diffusion of aluminum through short circuit paths in a thin layer of alumina that formed parabolically with time. Although the scale adherence of the yttrium containing alloy was considerably better than the base alloys, spalling did occur that was attributed to the formation of the voluminous YAG particles which grew in a mushroom-like manner, lifting the protective scale off the subrate locally. The YAG particles formed primarily at grain boundaries in the substrate in which the yttrium originally existed as YNi9.

Kumar, A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Optical efficiency of far-infrared photoconductors

The present optimization of the geometry of far-IR photoconductive detectors with diffraction-limited throughput, on the basis of experimental and theoretical results, gives attention to the internal optical path relative to measured absorption length, photoconductive gain, uniformity of illumination, cosmic ray cross section, and design compatibility with the requirements of one- and two-dimensional arrays. It is demonstrated that a rod-shaped, square cross section detector geometry, having lateral face electrodes and a beveled backface with which to trap the radiation by total internal reflection, exhibits responsivity commensurate with that of the best available detectors in integrating cavities.

Wang, J.-Q.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Auger electron intensity variations in oxygen-exposed large grain polycrystalline silver

Auger electron spectroscopic studies of the grains in oxygen-charged polycrystal-line silver show significant intensity variations as a function of crystallographic orientation. These intensity variations were observed by studies of the Auger images and line scans of the different grains (randomly selected) for each silver transition energy. The results can be attributed to the diffraction of the ejected Auger electrons and interpreted by corresponding changes in the electron mean-free path for inelastic scattering and by oxygen atom accumulation in the subsurface. The subsurface (second layer) octahedral sites increased in size because of surface relaxation and serve as a stable reservoir for the dissolved oxygen.

Lee, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

The AIRES Optical Design

AIRES (Airborne InfraRed Echelle Spectrometer) is the facility spectrometer for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy). AIRES is a long-slit (approximately 160 in) spectrometer designed to cover the 17 to 210-micron range with good sensitivity using three spectroscopic arrays. Initially, only the 30-130 micron, mid-wavelength array will be available. The instrument has a cryogenic K-mirror to perform field rotation and a slit-viewing camera (lambda < 28 microns, FOV = 160 in diameter) to image source morphology and verify telescope pointing. AIRES employs a large echelle grating to achieve a spectral resolving power (lambda/delta lambda) of approximately 1.0 x 10(exp 6)/lambda (sub mu), where lambda (sub mu) is the wavelength in microns. Hyperfine, Inc. has ruled and tested the AIRES' echelle; its wave-front error is 0.028 waves RMS (root mean square) at 10.6 microns. The instrument is housed in a liquid-helium cryostat which is constrained in diameter (approximately 1 m) and length (approximately 2 m) by the observatory. Hence, the length of the echelle (approximately 1.1 m) and the focal length of its collimator (approximately 5.2 m) severely drive the optical design and packaging. The final design uses diamond-turned aluminum optics and has up to 19 reflections inside the cryostat, depending on the optical path. This design was generated, optimized, and toleranced using Code V. The predicted performance is nearly diffraction-limited at 17 microns; the error budget is dominated by design residuals. Light loss due to slit rotation and slit curvature has been minimized. A thorough diffraction analysis with GLAD (G-Level Analysis Drawer) was used to size the mirrors and baffles; the internal light loss is shown to be a strong function of slit width.

Haas, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Piezoelectric Diffraction-Based Optical Switches

Piezoelectric diffraction-based optoelectronic devices have been invented to satisfy requirements for switching signals quickly among alternative optical paths in optical communication networks. These devices are capable of operating with switching times as short as microseconds or even nanoseconds in some cases.

Spremo, Stevan↗
NASA NTRS2013

Micro-Spec: An Ultra-Compact, High-Sensitivity Spectrometer for Far-Infrared and Sub-Millimeter Astronomy

High-performance, integrated spectrometers operating in the far-infrared and sub-millimeter promise to be powerful tools for the exploration of the epochs of reionization and initial galaxy formation. These devices, using high-efficiency superconducting transmission lines, can achieve the performance of a meter-scale grating spectrometer in an instrument implemented on a four-inch silicon wafer. Such a device, when combined with a cryogenic telescope in space, provides an enabling capability for studies of the early universe. Here, the optical design process for Micro-Spec (mu-Spec) is presented, with particular attention given to its two-dimensional diffractive region, where the light of different wavelengths is focused on the different detectors. The method is based on the stigmatization and minimization of the light path function in this bounded region, which results in an optimized geometrical configuration. A point design with an efficiency of approx. 90% has been developed for initial demonstration, and can serve as the basis for future instruments. Design variations on this implementation are also discussed, which can lead to lower efficiencies due to diffractive losses in the multimode region.

spectroscopic instrumentation↗
NASA NTRS2014

Micro-Spec: An Ultracompact, High-sensitivity Spectrometer for Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy

High-performance, integrated spectrometers operating in the far-infrared and submillimeter ranges promise to be powerful tools for the exploration of the epochs of reionization and initial galaxy formation. These devices, using high-efficiency superconducting transmission lines, can achieve the performance of a meter-scale grating spectrometer in an instrument implemented on a 4 inch silicon wafer. Such a device, when combined with a cryogenic telescope in space, provides an enabling capability for studies of the early universe. Here, the optical design process for Micro-Spec (micron-Spec) is presented, with particular attention given to its two-dimensional diffractive region, where the light of different wavelengths is focused on the different detectors. The method is based on the stigmatization and minimization of the light path function in this bounded region, which results in an optimized geometrical configuration. A point design with an efficiency of (is) approximately 90% has been developed for initial demonstration and can serve as the basis for future instruments. Design variations on this implementation are also discussed, which can lead to lower efficiencies due to diffractive losses in the multimode region.

cryogenic telescope↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph: a nulling coronagraph for use on primary objective grating telescopes

Here, we present the Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph (DLC), a variation of the Achromatic Interfero Coronagraph (AIC) that is designed for optical systems featuring large, dispersive primary objective gratings. DLC was originally designed for the Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver (DICER), a notional 20 m class infrared space telescope utilizing the enhanced one-dimensional angular resolution of large diffraction gratings to discover and characterize near-Earth exoplanets. Here we develop the theoretical foundation for DLC, and apply it to DICER as an example use case. We derive important properties of the DLC system, including focal plane transmission maps, stellar leakage, residual optical path difference tolerance, and pointing error/jitter considerations. Ultimately, we found that DLC effectively nulls an on-axis target across the entire spectrum in the focal plane, allowing for 2D/λ diffraction-limited imaging. It requires asymmetrical fine-guidance tolerances on pointing error/jitter. We work through a benchmark DICER design, explaining the need for a second disperser to reduce background from Zodiacal light, and showing that it could plausibly find and characterize ∼4 nearby, habitable exoplanets around Sun-like stars in a 7-year mission; about 30% of the habitable exoplanets within 8 pc were found in our simulation. The DLC may be useful for any application requiring extremely high-resolution, close companion spectroscopy.

AIC↗
NASA NTRS1990

Design considerations for very long baseline fringe-tracking interferometers

Phase measurements made with the Mark III interferometer at Mt. Wilson using baselines up to 32 m show excellent agreement with the standard Kolmogorov theory, and give no evidence of an atmospheric outer scale smaller than 1 km. Thus, very long baseline interferometers (100's of m) can expect rms path length fluctuations to continue to grow nearly linearly with baseline length. With a wideband fringe tracker, atmospheric dispersion will cause significant reductions in fringe visibility for large instantaneous path length errors. A solution to this problem using an active dispersion tracker is presented. In addition, the problem of diffraction of the propagated beam, and the constraints it presents on the choice of beam diameter are discussed.

Colavita, M. Mark↗
DOE OSTI2024

Predicting ptychography probe positions using single-shot phase retrieval neural network

Ptychography is a powerful imaging technique that is used in a variety of fields, including materials science, biology, and nanotechnology. However, the accuracy of the reconstructed ptychography image is highly dependent on the accuracy of the recorded probe positions which often contain errors. These errors are typically corrected jointly with phase retrieval through numerical optimization approaches. When the error accumulates along the scan path or when the error magnitude is large, these approaches may not converge with satisfactory result. We propose a fundamentally new approach for ptychography probe position prediction for data with large position errors, where a neural network is used to make single-shot phase retrieval on individual diffraction patterns, yielding the object image at each scan point. The pairwise offsets among these images are then found using a robust image registration method, and the results are combined to yield the complete scan path by constructing and solving a linear equation. We show that our method can achieve good position prediction accuracy for data with large and accumulating errors on the order of 10 2 pixels, a magnitude that often makes optimization-based algorithms fail to converge. For ptychography instruments without sophisticated position control equipment such as interferometers, our method is of significant practical potential.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2012

Correlation of Fracture Behavior With Microstructure in Friction Stir Welded, and Spin Formed AI-Li 2195 Domes

Single-piece, spin-formed domes manufactured from friction stir welded (FSW) plates of Al-Li alloy 2195 have the potential to reduce the cost of fabricating cryogenic propellant tanks. Mechanical properties in the completed domes can be related directly to the final material condition and the microstructures developed. However, these new fabrication techniques have resulted in unexpected material challenges, such as abnormal grain growth in the weld nugget and the propensity for fracture in the adjacent thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ). In this study, the microstructure and texture transformations within the TMAZ are related to fracture location in the vicinity of the weldment. The texture variations in the TMAZ are caused primarily by the varying amounts of shear deformation introduced during the FSW process. Grain morphology and microtexture characteristics are examined as a function of location in the TMAZ via electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). A strong correlation between fracture location and the presence of texture banding in the TMAZ is observed. The fracture path tends to follow a distinct region of low Taylor Factor (TF) grains.

Tayon, Wesley A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Path integral molecular dynamics: A high-fidelity approach to quantum dynamics of electrons

We investigate electron transport in the uniform electron gas using ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD). Working in the weakly coupled, non-degenerate regime, we use RPMD to probe how the onset of quantum diffraction effects at high temperature reshapes electron–electron collisions and leads to a classical-to-quantum crossover in macroscopic transport properties. Static thermodynamics obtained with RPMD are consistent with the weak-coupling equation of state, confirming correct quantum Boltzmann sampling. Real-time transport extracted from mean square displacements exhibits the expected ballistic-to-diffusive transition and a systematic reduction of the electronic self-diffusivity as quantum effects strengthen, due to quantum diffraction modifying electron–electron collisions. Direct ring-polymer scattering simulations reveal diffractive “softening” of binary deflections, providing a micro-to-macro link between collision physics and diffusion. The present study establishes RPMD as a quantitative, trajectory-based tool for electron transport across the classical–quantum crossover and furnishes benchmarks for improving Coulomb-log interpolation models. We outline extensions to multi-component plasmas and a path to incorporate Fermi–Dirac statistics within path-integral dynamics.

Electronic transport↗
NASA NTRS1990

Positronium reflection and positronium beams

Specular reflection of positronium, Ps was observed and that there is adequate intensity at higher energies to make further study worthwhile was established. The scattering appears to be restricted to the outermost surface with a mean free path of (0.75 + or - 0.15)A for Ps in LiF(100). With a greater intensity Ps beam one should see higher order diffraction beams as the result of the periodicity of the surface. Ps diffraction thus offers the possibility of being a novel and valuable probe to study the outermost surface and to study adsorbants on it. Two methods for producing Ps beams are described.

Weber, M.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Formation of distinctive nanostructured metastable polymorphs mediated by kinetic transition pathways in germanium

High-pressure β -Sn germanium may transform into diverse metastable allotropes with distinctive nanostructures and unique physical properties via multiple pathways under decompression. However, the mechanism and transition kinetics remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate the formation of metastable phases and nanostructures in germanium via controllable transition pathways of β -Sn Ge under rapid decompression at different rates. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals three distinct metastable phases with the distinctive nanostructures: an almost perfect st12 Ge crystal, nanosized bc8/r8 structures with amorphous boundaries, and amorphous Ge with nanosized clusters (0.8–2.5 nm). Fast in situ x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption measurements indicate that these nanostructured products form in certain pressure regions via distinct kinetic pathways and are strongly correlated with nucleation rates and electronic transitions mediated by compression rate, temperature, and stress. This work provides deep insight into the controllable synthesis of metastable materials with unique crystal symmetries and nanostructures for potential applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1972

Concave holographic grating for spectrographic applications: Study of the aberrations

An analysis of reflecting diffraction gratings by the application of holographic techniques is presented. The subjects discussed are: (1) holographic grating properties, (2) calculation of aberrant optical path, (3) analytical expression of stigmatic points, (4) spherical aberration and limitation of grating width, and (5) determination of construction parameters.

Pieuchard, G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Quantitative Interferometry in the Severe Acoustic Environment of Resonant Supersonic Jets

Understanding fundamental fluidic dynamic and acoustic processes in high-speed jets requires quantitative velocity, density and temperature measurements. In this paper we demonstrate a new, robust Liquid Crystal Point Diffraction Interferometer (LCPDI) that includes phase stepping and can provide accurate data even in the presence of intense acoustic fields. This novel common path interferometer (LCPDI) was developed to overcome difficulties with the Mach Zehnder interferometer in vibratory environments and is applied here to the case of a supersonic shock- containing jet. The environmentally insensitive LCPDI that is easy to align and capable of measuring optical wavefronts with high accuracy is briefly described, then integrated line of sight density data from the LCPDI for two underexpanded jets are presented.

Mercer, Carolyn R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Propeller modulation effects on a scanning beam microwave landing system

An investigation to assess the modulation effects on microwave signals transmitted through rotating propeller blades. Interruption of the antenna line-of-sight signal by the rotating propeller causes a variation of path loss, which produces essentially an amplitude modulation of the received signal. This interruption or blockage effect is generally only partial because of edge diffraction around the particular interfering propeller blade. Signals reflected from the rotating propeller will also cause Doppler frequency shifts to be present in the received signals. A scanning beam microwave landing system (MLS) known as MODILS (modular instrument landing system) was used to process the received signals for display. The effects of propeller modulation were studied by varying the following parameters: (1) spacing between propeller and receiving antenna, (2) propeller dimensions, (3) propeller speed (rpm), (4) number of propeller blades, (5) system data rate, (6) receiver response time, and (7) receiver antenna aperture.

Pope, J. M.↗