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At least 541 records · Page 30

Finite aperture waveguide laser resonators

A general theory of finite aperture waveguide laser resonators is developed which represents the external reflectors by matrices which couple linearly polarized waveguide modes having the same azimuthal symmetry. The theory allows the determination of resonator efficiency, resonator frequencies, and laser near and far field patterns. Computations of the coupling loss for the fundamental waveguide mode as a function of mirror curvature, separation, and aperture are in agreement with recent infinite aperture calculations in the limit of large apertures and indicate three low-loss configurations: large radius of curvature mirrors close to the guide; large radius of curvature mirrors centered at the guide entrance; and generally smaller curvature mirrors separated by half their curvature from the guide entrance. Design guidelines for construction of high efficiency CO2, CO and He-Ne waveguide laser resonators are summarized in tabular form.

Degnan, J. J.↗

A More Accurate and Efficient Technique Developed for Using Computational Methods to Obtain Helical Traveling-Wave Tube Interaction Impedance

The phenomenal growth of commercial communications has created a great demand for traveling-wave tube (TWT) amplifiers. Although the helix slow-wave circuit remains the mainstay of the TWT industry because of its exceptionally wide bandwidth, until recently it has been impossible to accurately analyze a helical TWT using its exact dimensions because of the complexity of its geometrical structure. For the first time, an accurate three-dimensional helical model was developed that allows accurate prediction of TWT cold-test characteristics including operating frequency, interaction impedance, and attenuation. This computational model, which was developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center, allows TWT designers to obtain a more accurate value of interaction impedance than is possible using experimental methods. Obtaining helical slow-wave circuit interaction impedance is an important part of the design process for a TWT because it is related to the gain and efficiency of the tube. This impedance cannot be measured directly; thus, conventional methods involve perturbing a helical circuit with a cylindrical dielectric rod placed on the central axis of the circuit and obtaining the difference in resonant frequency between the perturbed and unperturbed circuits. A mathematical relationship has been derived between this frequency difference and the interaction impedance (ref. 1). However, because of the complex configuration of the helical circuit, deriving this relationship involves several approximations. In addition, this experimental procedure is time-consuming and expensive, but until recently it was widely accepted as the most accurate means of determining interaction impedance. The advent of an accurate three-dimensional helical circuit model (ref. 2) made it possible for Lewis researchers to fully investigate standard approximations made in deriving the relationship between measured perturbation data and interaction impedance. The most prominent approximations made in the analysis were addressed and fully investigated for their accuracy by using the three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation code MAFIA (Solution of Maxwell's Equations by the Finite Integration Algorithm) (refs. 3 and 4). We found that several approximations introduced significant error (ref. 5).

Kory, Carol L.↗

A comparison of NASTRAN (Cosmic) and experimental results for the vibration of thick open cylindrical cantilevered shells

The natural frequencies and associated mode shapes for three thick open cantilevered cylindrical shells were determined both numerically and experimentally. The shells ranged in size from moderately to very thick with length to thickness ratios of 16, 8 and 5.6, the independent dimension being the shell thickness. The shell geometry is characterized by a circumferential angle of the 142 degrees and a ratio of length to inner radii arc length near 1.0. The finite element analysis was performed using NASTRAN's (COSMIC) triangular plate bending element CTRIA2, which includes membrane effects. The experimental results were obtained through holographic interferometry which enables one to determine the resonant frequencies as well as mode shapes from photographs of time-averaged holograms.

Mindle, W. L.↗

Laser heating of ferroelectric cubes for tunable electromagnetic properties in metamaterials

In this experimental study, we demonstrate the feasibility of a thermally tunable, resonant dielectric microwave metasurface based on sub-wavelength Mie resonances of ferroelectric dielectric cubes (Calcium titanate, CaTiO 3 ) in which the temperature of the meta-atoms can be locally and dynamically controlled by heating with an optical laser beam over a large range of temperatures and, consequently, values of the dielectric constant of the cube and corresponding resonance frequency of the meta-atoms. Further, this avoids any interference of otherwise necessary heating elements or power supply wires with the propagation of the microwave signal and can be made spatially addressable. The concept scales at least to the THz domain. This contactless approach opens up an alternative avenue to tunability and active control of metamaterials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Residual stress analysis of aluminum nitride piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using Raman spectroscopy

In this study, the Raman biaxial stress coefficients K II and strain-free phonon frequencies ω 0 have been determined for the E 2 (low), E 2 (high), and A 1 (LO) phonon modes of aluminum nitride, AlN, using both experimental and theoretical approaches. The E 2 (high) mode of AlN is recommended for the residual stress analysis of AlN due to its high sensitivity and the largest signal-to-noise ratio among the studied modes. The E 2 (high) Raman biaxial stress coefficient of ₋3.8 cm₋1/GPa and strain-free phonon frequency of 656.68 cm ₋1 were then applied to perform both macroscopic and microscopic stress mappings. For macroscopic stress evaluation, the spatial variation of residual stress was measured across an AlN-on-Si wafer prepared by sputter deposition. A cross-wafer variation in residual stress of ~150 MPa was observed regardless of the average stress state of the film. Microscopic stress evaluation was performed on AlN piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) with submicrometer spatial resolution. These measurements were used to assess the effect of device fabrication on residual stress distribution in an individual pMUT and the effect of residual stress on the resonance frequency. At ~20 μm directly outside the outer edge of the pMUT electrode, a large lateral spatial variation in residual stress of ~100 MPa was measured, highlighting the impact of metallization structures on residual stress in the AlN film.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Acoustic measurement of the surface tension of levitated drops

The measurement of the frequency of the fundamental mode of shape oscillation of acoustically levitated drops has been carried out to determine the surface tension of the drop material. Sound fields of about 20 kHz in frequency allow the suspension of drops a few millimeters in size, as well as the necessary drive for oscillations. The surface tension of water, hexadecane, silicone oil, and aqueous solutions of glycerin levitated in air has been measured, and the results have been compared with those obtained with standard ring tensiometry. The two sets of data are in good agreement, the largest discrepancy being about 10 percent. Uncertainties in the effects of the nonspherical static shape of drops levitated in the earth's gravitational field and the rotation state of the sample are the major contributors to the experimental error. A decrease of the resonance frequency of the fundamental mode indicates a soft nonlinearity as the oscillation amplitude increases.

Trinh, E. H.↗

Reducing the Effect of Transducer Mount Induced Noise on Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel Testing Data with a New Transducer Mount Design

Flight vehicle aeroacoustic environments induced during transonic and supersonic flight are usually predicted by subscale wind tunnel testing utilizing high frequency miniature pressure transducers. In order to minimize noise induced by the measurement itself, transducer flush mounting with the model surface is very important. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has accomplished flushness in recent testing campaigns via use of a transducer holder that can be machined and sanded. A single hole in the holder allows the flow medium to interact with the transducer diaphragm. Noise is induced by the resulting cavity however, and is a challenge to remove in post-processing. A new holder design has been developed that minimizes the effects of this transducer mount induced noise (XMIN) by reducing the resonance amplitude or increasing its resonance frequency beyond the range of interest. This paper describes a test conducted at the NASA/George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Trisonic Wind Tunnel intended to verify the effectiveness of this design. The results from this test show that this new transducer holder design does significantly reduce the influence of XMIN on measured fluctuating pressure levels without degrading a transducer's ability to accurately measure the noise external to the model.

Herron, Andrew J.↗

Tuning a Tetrahertz Wire Laser

Tunable terahertz lasers are desirable in applications in sensing and spectroscopy because many biochemical species have strong spectral fingerprints at terahertz frequencies. Conventionally, the frequency of a laser is tuned in a similar manner to a stringed musical instrument, in which pitch is varied by changing the length of the string (the longitudinal component of the wave vector) and/ or its tension (the refractive index). However, such methods are difficult to implement in terahertz semiconductor lasers because of their poor outcoupling efficiencies. Here, we demonstrate a novel tuning mechanism based on a unique 'wire laser' device for which the transverse dimension w is much much less than lambda. Placing a movable object close to the wire laser manipulates a large fraction of the waveguided mode propagating outside the cavity, thereby tuning its resonant frequency. Continuous single-mode redshift and blueshift tuning is demonstrated for the same device by using either a dielectric or metallic movable object. In combination, this enables a frequency tuning of approximately equal to 137 GHz (3.6%) from a single laser device at approximately equal to 3.8 THz.

Qin, Qi↗

Effect of RF Filtering on the Performance of Uncoded PCM/PM Telemetry Channels

A method for calculating the increase in received telemetry signal power required to compensate for the use of a radio frequency interference (RFI) filter in front of the DSN receiving system low-noise amplifier is described. The telemetry system for which the degradation is calculated is an uncoded PCM/PM system in which the NRZ data directly modulates the carrier at a modulation level which leaves a discrete carrier. A phase-locked loop in the RF receiver tracks the discrete carrier and coherently demodulates the PCM data. The RFI filter may be a series of Butterworth, Tchebychev, or Bessel low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, or band-reject filters, each with arbitrary bandwidth, number of poles, and, for band-pass or band-reject filters, resonant frequency. The only restriction is that the RFI filter must have only simple poles. Numerical results are presented for the RFI filters the DSN plans to place in front of the S-band FET, S-band maser, and X-band maser low noise amplifiers. The main conclusion is that the filters will produce negligible degradation at data rates below 4 Mbps.

Koerner, M. A.↗

Indirect measurement of the thermal-acoustic efficiency spectrum of a long turbulent burner

A new method is described for deducing the thermal-acoustic efficiency spectrum (defined as the fraction of combustion heat release converted to acoustic energy at a given frequency) of a long turbulent burner from the sound spectrum measured in the far field. The method, which is based on a one-dimensional model of the unsteady flow in the burner, is applied to a tubular diffusion-flame hydrogen burner whose length is large compared to its diameter. The results for thermal powers ranging from 4.5 to 22.3 kW show that the thermal-acoustic efficiency is relatively insensitive to the burner power level, decreasing from a value of around 0.0001 at 150 Hz with a slope of about 20 dB per decade. Evidence is presented indicating that acoustic agitation of the flame below 500 Hz, especially in the neighborhood of the resonant frequencies of the burner, is a significant acoustic source.

Mahan, J. R.↗

On the nature of two-photon transitions for a collection of molecules in a Fabry–Perot cavity

Here, we investigate the effect of a cavity on nonlinear two-photon transitions of a molecular system and we analyze how such an effect depends on the cavity quality factor, the field enhancement, and the possibility of dephasing. We find that the molecular response to strong light fields in a cavity with a variable quality factor can be understood as arising from a balance between (i) the ability of the cavity to enhance the field of an external probe and promote multiphoton transitions more easily and (ii) the fact that the strict selection rules on multiphoton transitions in a cavity support only one resonant frequency within the excitation range. Although our simulations use a classical level description of the radiation field (i.e., we solve Maxwell–Bloch or Maxwell–Liouville equations within the Ehrenfest approximation for the field–molecule interaction), based on experience with this level of approximation in the past studies of plasmonic and polaritonic systems, we believe that our results are valid over a wide range of external probing.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Spin-mediated shear oscillators in a van der Waals antiferromagnet

Understanding how microscopic spin configuration gives rise to exotic properties at the macroscopic length scale has long been pursued in magnetic materials. One seminal example is the Einstein-de Haas effect in ferromagnets, in which angular momentum of spins can be converted into mechanical rotation of an entire object. However, for antiferromagnets without net magnetic moment, how spin ordering couples to macroscopic movement remains elusive. Here we observed a seesaw-like rotation of reciprocal lattice peaks of an antiferromagnetic nanolayer film, whose gigahertz structural resonance exhibits more than an order-of-magnitude amplification after cooling below the Neel temperature. Using a suite of ultrafast diffraction and microscopy techniques, we directly visualize this spin-driven rotation in reciprocal space at the nanoscale. This motion corresponds to interlayer shear in real space, in which individual micro-patches of the film behave as coherent oscillators that are phase-locked and shear along the same in-plane axis. Using time-resolved optical polarimetry, we further show that the enhanced mechanical response strongly correlates with ultrafast demagnetization, which releases elastic energy stored in local strain gradients to drive the oscillators. Finally, our work not only offers the first microscopic view of spin-mediated mechanical motion of an antiferromagnet but it also identifies a new route towards realizing high-frequency resonators up to the millimetre band, so the capability of controlling magnetic states on the ultrafast timescale can be readily transferred to engineering the mechanical properties of nanodevices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Polarimetric Imaging using Two Photoelastic Modulators

A method of polarimetric imaging, now undergoing development, involves the use of two photoelastic modulators in series, driven at equal amplitude but at different frequencies. The net effect on a beam of light is to cause (1) the direction of its polarization to rotate at the average of two excitation frequencies and (2) the amplitude of its polarization to be modulated at the beat frequency (the difference between the two excitation frequencies). The resulting modulated optical light beam is made to pass through a polarizing filter and is detected at the beat frequency, which can be chosen to equal the frame rate of an electronic camera or the rate of sampling the outputs of photodetectors in an array. The method was conceived to satisfy a need to perform highly accurate polarimetric imaging, without cross-talk between polarization channels, at frame rates of the order of tens of hertz. The use of electro-optical modulators is necessitated by a need to obtain accuracy greater than that attainable by use of static polarizing filters over separate fixed detectors. For imaging, photoelastic modulators are preferable to such other electrio-optical modulators as Kerr cells and Pockels cells in that photoelastic modulators operate at lower voltages, have greater angular acceptances, and are easier to use. Prior to the conception of the present method, polarimetric imaging at frame rates of tens of hertz using photoelastic modulators was not possible because the resonance frequencies of photoelastic modulators usually lie in the range from about 20 to about 100 kHz.

Wang, Yu↗

On the Use of Experimental Methods to Improve Confidence in Educed Impedance

Results from impedance eduction methods developed by NASA Langley Research Center are used throughout the acoustic liner community. In spite of recent enhancements, occasional anomalies persist with these methods, generally at frequencies where the liner produces minimal attenuation. This investigation demonstrates an experimental approach to educe impedance with increased confidence over a desired frequency range, by combining results from successive tests with different cavity depths. A series of tests is conducted with three wire-mesh facesheets, for which the results should be weakly dependent on source sound pressure level and mean grazing flow speed. First, a raylometer is used to measure the DC flow resistance of each facesheet. These facesheets are then mounted onto a frame and a normal incidence tube is used to determine their respective acoustic impedance spectra. A comparison of the acoustic resistance component with the DC flow resistance for each facesheet is used to validate the measurement process. Next, each facesheet is successively mounted onto three frames with different cavity depths, and a grazing flow impedance tube is used to educe their respective acoustic impedance spectra with and without mean flow. The no-flow results are compared with those measured in the normal incidence tube to validate the impedance eduction method. Since the anti-resonance frequency varies with cavity depth, each sample provides robust results over a different frequency range. Hence, a combination of results can be used to determine the facesheet acoustic resistance. When combined with the acoustic reactance, observed to be weakly dependent on the source sound pressure level and grazing flow Mach number, the acoustic impedance can be educed with increased confidence. Representative results of these tests are discussed, and the complete database is available in electronic format upon request.

Jones, Michael G.↗

Evolution of the cyclotron mass with doping in La 2–x Sr x CuO 4

The recent observation of cyclotron resonance in optimally doped La 2–x Sr x CuO 4 using time-domain THz spectroscopy in high magnetic field has given new possibilities for the study of cuprate superconductors. One can measure the cyclotron mass in the more disordered cuprates possessing short scattering times, therefore expanding the study to materials and dopings in which quantum oscillations have not been observed. In this paper we present the measurement of the carrier mass of the hole-doped cuprate La 2–x Sr x CuO 4 across a range of dopings spanning from the slightly underdoped (p=0.13) to highly overdoped (p=0.26), near the termination of the superconducting dome. These results reveal a systematic increase of m c with doping, up to values greater than 13 times the bare electron mass. This is in contrast with the masses extracted from the heat capacity, which show a peak near the pseudogap critical point p* and/or Lifshitz transition. The cyclotron frequency is linear in field up to 31 T for all dopings, giving no evidence for field-induced Fermi surface reconstructions. The cyclotron mass is found to be positive for all dopings, but with a magnitude systematically below the heat-capacity mass for under and optimally doped samples, while exceeding it for overdoped samples. Among other aspects, these results are surprising as photoemission reveals a Lifshitz transition in the middle of our doping range and the sign of the cyclotron mass determined from a finite-frequency resonance is, in conventional theories, a topological quantity only sensitive to whether or not the Fermi surface is closed around holes or electrons. We see no sign of a divergence of the mass near p* nor near the Lifshitz transition, showing that any singularity, if it exists, is not strong enough to affect the cyclotron mass.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A Methodology to Evaluate the Grid Reliability Impact of Oscillations Induced by Large Loads

The rapid growth of hyperscale AI data centers is bringing renewed attention to the reliability risk that sustained forced oscillations pose to bulk power systems, with cyclic computational workloads emerging as a new forcing source. Unlike the broadband, stochastic disturbances from traditional industrial loads such as arc furnaces, AI training and inference facilities can inject large active power swings concentrated at specific frequencies over extended durations - characteristics that existing grid planning practices do not account for. While the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has recognized this gap and called for system-level studies of large load interconnections, no standardized methodology exists to screen, simulate, and quantify these risks at the planning stage. This report presents the Risk Assessment Tool for Large Load-induced Events (RATLLE), a Python-based, publicly available script suite developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to evaluate bulk power system reliability risks from data center-induced oscillations. RATLLE implements a three-module workflow: a screening module that identifies vulnerable interconnection locations and excitable system modes; a simulation module that models cyclic data center load behavior using a commercial positive sequence simulation platform; and an analysis module that computes risk metrics and generates interactive visualization dashboards. The risk metrics, formulated around simulation observables, map oscillation impacts to a three-stage severity scale spanning latent equipment fatigue through imminent cascading failure. The methodology is demonstrated on two Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system models: a publicly available 240-bus reduced representation and a detailed 2031 Heavy Winter planning case. Case studies illustrate that even modest 50 MW forced oscillations at resonant frequencies can produce wide-area power swings, N-1 security constraint violations, and cascading generator trips through protection actions - outcomes that would not occur under normal operating conditions without oscillations present. The results underscore the need for standardized oscillation impact assessment in large load interconnection studies and provide a reproducible, extensible framework for utilities to adopt or customize within their existing planning workflows.

Biswas, Shuchismita↗

Pressure-induced cation and vacancy disorder-order transition and near-zero τ f in deficient hexagonal perovskite Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 dielectrics

Pressure applications can enable the tuning of atomic/defect ordering and provide access to new functional materials. Here, in this study, we report that pressure-induced structural transformation featuring disorder-order transition of both cations and vacancies in the 8-layer deficient hexagonal perovskite tantalate dielectrics Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 , which transformed the structure from twin to shift and remarkably lowered the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency τ f down to near zero (∼0.56 ppm/°C) from 38 ppm/°C for the twinned precursor. The atomic scale STEM-HAADF and EDS results confirm the ordering of Zn in the Ta host at the nanometer scale in the shifted material featuring well-ordered Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 slabs intergrown with Ba 3 ZnTa 2 O 9 and Ba 5 Ta 4 O 15 monolayers and anti-phase grain boundaries as planar defects. The pressure-induced twin-shift structural transformation of Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 features the rare constant concentration of the hexagonal stacked layers, which is allowed by the vacancy ordering at the central layers of face-shared octahedral (FSO) trimers avoiding the FSO B-B repulsion, and remarkably the faster cationic ordering kinetics compared with the 2:1 ordered complex perovskites. Although the inclusion of numerous planar defects and the oxidizable atomic defects led to significant p-type conduction and inhomogeneous electrical microstructures, resulting in an extraordinarily high extrinsic dielectric loss for the high-pressure shifted Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 pellet, the intrinsically near-zero τ f could make the shifted Ba 8 ZnTa 6 O 24 perovskite an ideal microwave dielectric resonator candidate if the defects could be eliminated.

high pressure↗

MULTI-TECHNIQUE CHARACTERIZATION OF SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS FOR PARTICLE ACCELERATOR APPLICATIONS

We investigated the performance limitations of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities and materials using multiple experimental techniques. In particular, this study focuses on understanding the surface properties of nitrogen-doped Nb cavities and super?conducting thin films with higher Tc such as Nb3Sn. The main goal of this work is to use different techniques to better understand each aspect of the complex loss mechanism in superconductors to further improve the already highly efficient SRF cavities. Nitrogen doping applied to a Nb SRF cavity significantly improves the quality factor Q0 compared to a conventional Nb cavity, at an expense of reduced maximum accelerating gradient. The early quench mechanism was analyzed by using temperature maps before and during the quenching. The temperature maps revealed insignificant heating before the quench, and we concluded that nitrogen doping reduces critical magnetic fields in local regions, leading to premature quenching. To understand the origin of the increasing Q0 with the rf field, the density of states (DOS) of cold spots from nitrogen-doped and standard cavities were measured and analyzed using scanning tunneling microscopy. The results suggested that nitrogen doping reduces the spatial inhomogeneity of superconducting properties and shrinks the metallic suboxide layers, which tunes the DOS in such a way as to produce the field-induced reduction in the surface resistance. To characterize SRF thin films, an experimental setup for measuring a coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator was developed and tested. A surface impedance measurement of the Nb film showed good agreement with the BCS calculation. The preliminary results from measurements of Nb3Sn and NbTiN films are also presented here. The nonlinear Meissner effect was investigated in Nb3Sn film CPW resonators by mea?suring the resonant frequency as a function of a parallel magnetic field. Contrary to a conventional quadratic dependence of the penetration depth ?(B) on the applied magnetic field B, as expected in s-wave superconductors, nearly a linear increase of ?(B) with B was observed. It was concluded that this behavior of ?(B) is due to weakly linked grain bound?aries on the polycrystalline Nb3Sn films, which can mimic the NLME expected in a clean d-wave superconductor.

Makita, Junki↗