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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 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Nature of transonic sub-Alfvénic turbulence and density fluctuations in the near-Sun solar wind

Context. Recent Parker Solar Probe (PSP) measurements have revealed that solar wind (SW) turbulence transits from a subsonic to a transonic regime near the Sun, while remaining sub-Alfvénic. These observations call for a revision of the existing SW models, where turbulence is considered to be both subsonic and sub-Alfvénic. Aims. In this work, we introduce a new magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of transonic sub-Alfvénic turbulence (TsAT). Methods. We used 3D MHD simulations initialized with parameters measured by PSP to investigate the properties of the new near-Sun SW transonic turbulent regime. We then derived a reduced set of MHD equations in the transonic sub-Alfvénic limit to interpret our numerical results. Results. Our TsAT model shows that turbulence is effectively nearly incompressible (NI) and has a 2D + slab (quasi-2D) geometry not only in the subsonic limit, but also in the transonic regime, as long as it remains sub-Alfvénic, a condition essentially enforced everywhere in the heliosphere by the strong local magnetic field. These predictions are consistent with 3D MHD simulations, showing that transonic turbulence is dominated by low-frequency quasi-2D incompressible structures, while compressible fluctuations are a minor component corresponding to low-frequency slow modes and high-frequency fast modes. Conclusions. Our new TsAT model extends existing NI theories of turbulence, and is potentially relevant for the theoretical and numerical modeling of space and astrophysical plasmas, including the near-Sun SW, the solar corona, and the interstellar medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Enhanced nonlinear interaction of powerful electromagnetic waves with ionospheric plasma near the second electron gyroharmonic

Plasma experiments in which a powerful electromagnetic pump wave is transmitted into the ionosphere from the ground give access to a rich range of phenomena, including gyroharmonic effects when the pump frequency is near an harmonic of the ionospheric electron gyrofrequency. For pump frequencies close to the second gyroharmonic, experiments show a strong enhancement, as observed in radar scatter from pump-induced geomagnetic field-aligned density striations and optical emissions. This is in contrast to the case at the third harmonic and higher at which most of the effects are instead suppressed. We show theoretically that electrostatic oscillations can be localized in density inhomogeneities associated with small scale striations. The localized field is a mixture of the electron Bernstein and upper hybrid modes when the pump frequency is near the second gyroharmonic. The coupling of the modes is enabled by a symmetry feature of the linear electron Bernstein and upper hybrid dispersion properties that occur only near the second gyroharmonic. Electron acceleration inside the density inhomogeneities by localized azimuthal electrostatic oscillations is more efficient near the second gyroharmonic than at higher frequencies, consistent with the observed enhancements.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Infrared near-field imaging and spectroscopy based on thermal or synchrotron radiation

We demonstrate the coupling of a scattering near-field scanning optical microscope combined with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The set-up operates using either the near-field thermal emission from the sample itself, which is proportional to the electromagnetic local density of states, or with an external infrared synchrotron source, which is broadband and highly brilliant. We perform imaging and spectroscopy measurements with sub-wavelength spatial resolution in the mid-infrared range on surfaces made of silicon carbide and gold and demonstrate the capabilities of the two configurations for super-resolved near-field mid-infrared hyperspectral imaging and that the simple use of a properly chosen bandpass filter on the detector allows one to image the spatial distribution of materials with sub-wavelength resolution by studying the contrast in the near-field images.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modification of near-wall coherent structures by inertial particles

Direct numerical simulations are combined with two-way coupled Lagrangian point particles to study the effect of Reynolds number on particle-turbulence interaction. Turbulent planar Couette flow is simulated at a constant dispersed phase mass loading of ϕ{sub m} = 0.25 for particle Stokes numbers of St{sub K} = [O(1), O(10), O(100)] (based on the Stokes time scale of the particle and the Kolmogorov time scale of the flow) and bulk Reynolds numbers of Re{sub b} = [8100, 24000, 72000] (based on the plate velocity difference and separation distance). Statistics of swirling strength |λ{sub ci}| are used to evaluate the impact of particles on near-wall motions which are responsible for turbulent, wall-normal momentum transport. Instantaneously, the number of high-strength swirling motions near the wall decreases significantly in the presence of particles, and this trend is enhanced with increasing Re{sub b}. Conditional averages are computed using linear stochastic estimation, providing the average structures responsible for ejection events near the wall. These conditional eddies are weakened substantially by the presence of the dispersed phase, and this effect is again enhanced with increasing Re{sub b}. We propose a mechanism where particles, by interfering with the hairpin regeneration process near the wall, can influence turbulent fluxes in a way that increases with Re{sub b} despite only having direct interaction with scales on the same order as their small physical size. At the same time, turbulent momentum flux concentrated at higher wavenumbers with increasing Re{sub b} allows small particles to be effective agents for altering turbulent transport.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Predictions of the near edge transport shortfall in DIII-D L-mode plasmas using the trapped gyro-Landau-fluid model

Previous studies of DIII-D L-mode plasmas have shown that a transport shortfall exists in that our current models of turbulent transport can significantly underestimate the energy transport in the near edge region. In this paper, the Trapped Gyro-Landau-Fluid (TGLF) drift wave transport model is used to simulate the near edge transport in a DIII-D L-mode experiment designed to explore the impact of varying the safety factor on the shortfall. We find that the shortfall systematically increases with increasing safety factor and is more pronounced for the electrons than for the ions. Within the shortfall dataset, a single high current case has been found where no transport shortfall is predicted. Reduced neutral beam injection power has been identified as the key parameter separating this discharge from other discharges exhibiting a shortfall. Further analysis shows that the energy transport in the L-mode near edge region is not stiff according to TGLF. Unlike the H-mode core region, the predicted temperature profiles are relatively more responsive to changes in auxiliary heating power. In testing the fidelity of TGLF for the near edge region, we find that a recalibration of the collision model is warranted. A recalibration improves agreement between TGLF and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations performed using the GYRO code with electron-ion collisions. The recalibration only slightly impacts the predicted shortfall.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Theoretical study on phase coexistence in ferroelectric solid solutions near the tricritical point

Phase coexistence in ferroelectric solid solutions near the tricritical point has been theoretically analyzed by using the Landau-Devonshire theory. Results revealed that different phases having similar potential wells could coexist in a narrow composition range near the tricritical point in the classical Pb(Zr{sub 1−x}Ti{sub x})O{sub 3} system. The potential barrier between potential wells increases with the decrease of temperature. Coexisting phases or different domains of the same phase can produce adaptive strains to maintain atomic coherency at the interfaces or domain walls. Such compatibility strains have influence on the energy potential as well as the stability of relative phases, leading to the appearance of energetically unfavorable monoclinic phases. Those competing and coexisting phases also construct an easy phase transition path with small energy barrier in between, so that very small stimuli can produce large response in compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary, especially near the tricritical point.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermal management in MoS{sub 2} based integrated device using near-field radiation

Recently, wafer-scale growth of monolayer MoS{sub 2} films with spatial homogeneity is realized on SiO{sub 2} substrate. Together with the latest reported high mobility, MoS{sub 2} based integrated electronic devices are expected to be fabricated in the near future. Owing to the low lattice thermal conductivity in monolayer MoS{sub 2}, and the increased transistor density accompanied with the increased power density, heat dissipation will become a crucial issue for these integrated devices. In this letter, using the formalism of fluctuation electrodynamics, we explored the near-field radiative heat transfer from a monolayer MoS{sub 2} to graphene. We demonstrate that in resonance, the maximum heat transfer via near-field radiation between MoS{sub 2} and graphene can be ten times higher than the in-plane lattice thermal conduction for MoS{sub 2} sheet. Therefore, an efficient thermal management strategy for MoS{sub 2} integrated device is proposed: Graphene sheet is brought into close proximity, 10–20 nm from MoS{sub 2} device; heat energy transfer from MoS{sub 2} to graphene via near-field radiation; this amount of heat energy then be conducted to contact due to ultra-high lattice thermal conductivity of graphene. Our work sheds light for developing cooling strategy for nano devices constructing with low thermal conductivity materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Continuous development of current sheets near and away from magnetic nulls

The presented computations compare the strength of current sheets which develop near and away from the magnetic nulls. To ensure the spontaneous generation of current sheets, the computations are performed congruently with Parker's magnetostatic theorem. The simulations evince current sheets near two dimensional and three dimensional magnetic nulls as well as away from them. An important finding of this work is in the demonstration of comparative scaling of peak current density with numerical resolution, for these different types of current sheets. The results document current sheets near two dimensional magnetic nulls to have larger strength while exhibiting a stronger scaling than the current sheets close to three dimensional magnetic nulls or away from any magnetic null. The comparative scaling points to a scenario where the magnetic topology near a developing current sheet is important for energetics of the subsequent reconnection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Silicon based near infrared photodetector using self-assembled organic crystalline nano-pillars

We propose a silicon (Si) based near-infrared photodetector using self-assembled organic crystalline nano-pillars, which were formed on an n-type Si substrate and were covered with an Au thin-film. These structures act as antennas for near-infrared light, resulting in an enhancement of the light absorption on the Au film. Because the Schottky junction is formed between the Au/n-type Si, the electron excited by the absorbed light can be detected as photocurrent. The optical measurement revealed that the nano-pillar structures enhanced the responsivity for the near-infrared light by 89 (14.5 mA/W) and 16 (0.433 mA/W) times compared with those of the photodetector without nano-pillars at the wavelengths of 1.2 and 1.3 μm, respectively. Moreover, no polarization dependency of the responsivity was observed, and the acceptable incident angle ranged from 0° to 30°. These broad responses were likely to be due to the organic nano-pillar structures' having variation in their orientation, which is advantageous for near-infrared detector uses.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Near-field thermal radiation between homogeneous dual uniaxial electromagnetic metamaterials

Recently, near-field thermal radiation has attracted much attention in several fields since it can exceed the Planck blackbody limit through the coupling of evanescent waves. In this work, near-field radiative heat transfer between two semi-infinite dual uniaxial electromagnetic metamaterials with two different material property sets is theoretically analyzed. The near-field radiative heat transfer is calculated using fluctuational electrodynamics incorporated with anisotropic wave optics. The underlying mechanisms, namely, magnetic hyperbolic mode, magnetic surface polariton, electrical hyperbolic mode, and electrical surface polariton, between two homogeneous dual uniaxial electromagnetic metamaterials are investigated by examining the transmission coefficient and the spectral heat flux. The effect of vacuum gap distance is also studied, which shows that the enhancement at smaller vacuum gap is mainly due to hyperbolic mode and surface plasmon polariton modes. In addition, the results show that the contribution of s-polarized waves is significant and should not be excluded due to the strong magnetic response regardless of vacuum gap distances. The fundamental understanding and insights obtained here will facilitate the finding and application of novel materials for near-field thermal radiation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Near-field radiative heat transfer between doped-Si parallel plates separated by a spacing down to 200 nm

Heat transfer between two objects separated by a nanoscale vacuum gap holds great promise especially in energy harvesting applications such as near-field thermophotovoltaic systems. However, experimental validation of nanoscale radiative heat transfer has been largely limited to tip-plate configurations due to challenges of maintaining small gap spacing over a relatively large area. Here in this paper, we report measurements of heat transfer near room temperature between two 1 cm by 1 cm doped-Si parallel plates, separated by a vacuum gap from about 200 nm to 780 nm. The measured strong near-field radiative transfer is in quantitative agreement with the theoretical prediction based on fluctuational electrodynamics. The largest measured radiative heat flux is 11 times as high as the blackbody limit for the same hot and cold surface temperatures. Our experiments have produced the highest radiative heat transfer rate observed to date across submicron distances between objects near room temperature.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Phonon-induced near-field resonances in multiferroic BiFeO 3 thin films at infrared and THz wavelengths

Multiferroic BiFeO$_3$ (BFO) shows several phonon modes at infrared (IR) to THz energies, which are expected to carry information on any sample property coupled to crystal lattice vibrations. While macroscopic IR studies of BFO are often limited by single-crystal size, scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) allows for IR thin film spectroscopy of nanoscopic probing volumes with negligible direct substrate contribution to the optical signal. In fact, polaritons such as phonon polaritons of BFO introduce a resonant tip–sample coupling in s-SNOM, leading to both stronger signals and enhanced sensitivity to local material properties. Here in this paper, we explore the near-field response of BFO thin films at three consecutive resonances (centered around 5 THz, 13 THz, and 16 THz), by combining s-SNOM with a free-electron laser. We study the dependence of these near-field resonances on both the wavelength and tip–sample distance. Enabled by the broad spectral range of the measurement, we probe phonon modes connected to the predominant motion of either the bismuth or oxygen ions. Therefore, we propose s-SNOM at multiple near-field resonances as a versatile and very sensitive tool for the simultaneous investigation of various sample properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electric fields near undulating dielectric membranes

Dielectric interfaces are crucial to the behavior of charged membranes, from graphene to synthetic and biological lipid bilayers. Understanding electrolyte behavior near these interfaces remains a challenge, especially in the case of rough dielectric surfaces. A lack of analytical solutions consigns this problem to numerical treatments. Here, we report an analytic method for determining electrostatic potentials near curved dielectric membranes in a two-dimensional periodic “slab” geometry using a periodic summation of Green’s functions. This method is amenable to simulating arbitrary groups of charges near surfaces with two-dimensional deformations. We concentrate on one-dimensional undulations. We show that increasing membrane undulation increases the asymmetry of interfacial charge distributions due to preferential ionic repulsion from troughs. In the limit of thick membranes, we recover results mimicking those for electrolytes near a single interface. Our work demonstrates that rough surfaces generate charge patterns in electrolytes of charged molecules or mixed-valence ions.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2025

Thermodynamic properties of “near-perfect” gas

When applied thermodynamics requires simple representations of thermodynamic quantities, one often finds quantities such as pressure and the thermal energy density expressed as a monomial linear product of density and temperature power laws. This is a simple generalization of the product of density and temperature used for the perfect gas that admits a broader range of thermodynamic behavior into analytic fluid calculations or provides an analytic form that is readily fit to tabulated equation-of-state data for an arbitrary material. This paper reviews the thermodynamic properties of this generalized perfect-gas model, treating it as a class of “near-perfect-gas” models that are defined and unified here, for the first time, through a shared Helmholtz free energy. This generalization from perfect to near-perfect-gas models preserves some perfect-gas properties (e.g., constant adiabatic exponents) but not others (e.g., constant specific heats) and is constrained by thermodynamic consistency. It is important to be aware of the properties of this class of near-perfect-gas models when using them as surrogates for real nonperfect materials that may have properties that cannot be captured by near-perfect-gas models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

All-fibre single-mode small-signal amplifier operating near 0.976 μm

We have developed and demonstrated a polarisation-maintaining single-mode ytterbium-doped fibre for light amplification at a wavelength near 0.976 μm in an all-fibre configuration. A distinctive feature of the proposed fibre design is low losses due to fusion splices with standard single-mode fibre having a core diameter of 10 μm, which has made it possible to produce an all-fibre small-signal amplifier with a gain threshold near 3 W and a differential pump-to-signal conversion efficiency of 9.8 % in the saturation regime. The proposed amplifier has been shown to be well-suited for small-signal amplification. In particular, at an input signal power near 1 mW and a gain of 20 dB, the ratio of the amplified signal to the integrated luminescence intensity near 0.976 μm exceeds 20 dB. A 40-dB gain has been demonstrated for an ultrasmall signal of ∼10-μW power. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Near-zero photon bioimaging by fusing deep learning and ultralow-light microscopy

Enhancing the reliability and reproducibility of optical microscopy by reducing specimen irradiance continues to be an important biotechnology target. As irradiance levels are reduced, however, the particle nature of light is heightened, giving rise to Poisson noise, or photon sparsity that restricts only a few (0.5%) image pixels to comprise a photon. Photon sparsity can be addressed by collecting approximately 200 photons per pixel; this, however, requires long acquisitions and, as such, suboptimal imaging rates. Here, we introduce near-zero photon bioimaging, a method that operates at kHz rates and 10,000-fold lower irradiance than standard microscopy. To achieve this level of performance, we uniquely combined a judiciously designed epifluorescence microscope enabling ultralow background levels and AI that learns to reconstruct biological images from as low as 0.01 photons per pixel. We demonstrate that near-zero photon bioimaging captures the structure of multicellular and subcellular features with high fidelity, including features represented by nearly zero photons. Beyond optical microscopy, the near-zero photon bioimaging paradigm can be applied in remote sensing, covert applications, and biomedical imaging that utilize damaging or quantum light.

AI↗
DOE OSTI2010

RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF HD 80606 NEAR PLANETARY PERIASTRON

This paper reports Very Large Array observations at 325 and 1425 MHz ({lambda}90 cm and {lambda}20 cm) during and near the periastron passage of HD 80606b on HJD 2454424.86 (2007 November 20). We obtain flux density limits (3{sigma}) of 1.7 mJy and 48 {mu}Jy at 325 and 1425 MHz, respectively, equivalent to planetary luminosity limits of 2.3 x 10{sup 24} erg s{sup -1} and 2.7 x 10{sup 23} erg s{sup -1}. Unfortunately, these are several orders of magnitude above the nominal Jovian value (at 40 MHz) of 2 x 10{sup 18} erg s{sup -1}. The motivation for these observations was that the planetary magnetospheric emission is driven by a stellar wind-planetary magnetosphere interaction so that the planetary luminosity would be elevated near periastron. We estimate that, near periastron, HD 80606b might be as much as 3000 times more luminous than Jupiter. Recent transit observations of HD 80606b provide reasonably stringent constraints on the planetary mass and radius, and, because of the planet's highly eccentric orbit, its rotation period is likely to be 'pseudo-synchronized' to its orbital period, allowing a robust estimate of the former. Consequently, we are able to make relatively robust estimates of the emission frequency of the planetary magnetospheric emission and find it to be around 60-90 MHz. While this is too low for our reported observations, we compare HD 80606b to other high-eccentricity systems and assess the detection possibilities for both near-term and more distant future systems. Of the known high-eccentricity planets, only HD 80606b is likely to be detectable, as the others (HD 20782B and HD 4113) are both lower mass and longer rotational periods, which imply weaker magnetic field strengths. We find that both the forthcoming 'EVLA low band' system, which will operate as low as 65 MHz, and the Low Frequency Array may be able to improve upon our planetary luminosity limits for HD 80606b, and do so at a more optimum frequency. If the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-lo) and a future lunar radio array are able to approach their thermal noise limits, they should be able to detect an HD 80606b-like planet, unless the amount by which the planet's luminosity increases is substantially less than the factor of 3000 that we estimate; for the SKA-lo, which is to be located in the southern hemisphere, future planetary surveys will have to find southern hemisphere equivalents of HD 80606b.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

A NEW GAS CELL FOR HIGH-PRECISION DOPPLER MEASUREMENTS IN THE NEAR-INFRARED

High-resolution spectroscopy in the near-infrared could become the leading method for discovering extra-solar planets around very low mass stars and brown dwarfs. In order to help to achieve an accuracy of {approx}m s{sup -1}, we are developing a gas cell which consists of a mixture of gases whose absorption spectral lines span all over the near-infrared region. We present the most promising mixture, made of acetylene, nitrous oxide, ammonia, chloromethanes, and hydrocarbons. The mixture is contained in a small size 13 cm long gas cell and covers most of the H and K bands. It also shows small absorptions in the J band, but they are few and not sharp enough for near-infrared wavelength calibration. We describe the working method and experiments, and compare our results with the state of the art for near-infrared gas cells.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗