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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
NASA NTRS2003

Near-Relativistic Solar Electrons and Type III Radio Bursts

Recently it has been found that the inferred injection times of greater than 25 keV electrons are up to 30 minutes later than the start times of the associated type III radio bursts at the Sun. Thus it has been suggested that the electrons that produce type III bursts do not belong to the same population as those observed above 25 keV. This paper examines the characteristics and circumstances of 79 solar electron beam events measured on the ACE spacecraft. Particular attention is paid to the very low frequency emissions of the associated radio bursts and the ambient conditions at the arrival times of the electrons at the spacecraft. It is found that the inferred greater than 25 keV electron injection delays are correlated with the times required for the associated radio bursts to drift to the lowest frequencies. This suggests that the electrons responsible for the radio emission and those observed above 25 keV are part of a single population, and that the electrons both above and below 25 keV are delayed in the interplanetary medium. Further evidence for a single population is the general correspondence between electron and local radio intensities and temporal profiles. It is found that the delays increase with the ambient solar wind density consistent with the propagation times of the electrons being determined by the characteristics of the interplanetary medium. However it is known that particle arrival times at 1 AU are a linear function of inverse particle speed. Conventionally such a relationship is taken to indicate scatter-free propagation when inferred path lengths lie close to 1.2 AU, as they do for the electron events studied here. These conflicting interpretations require further investigation.

Cane, H. V.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The propagation of Jovian electrons to earth

An analysis of the Jovian electron flux increases observed by the earth-orbiting satellite Imp 8 throughout five 13 month Jovian synodic years during the period from launch of the satellite in 1973 to 1979 is presented. The analysis defines the characteristics of Jovian propagation to earth. Corotating interaction regions (CIR) that form at the leading edges of fast solar wind streams continue to modulate the propagation of MeV electrons from Jupiter to the orbit of the earth to produce approximately 27 day recurrent variations in the Jovian electron density. The new and significant result of this study is that these time-intensity profiles are more accurately described not by assumption that Jupiter is a constant source of electrons, but rather by assuming that electron emission is initiated with each passage of CIR by Jupiter with the emission continuing for only several days.

Chenette, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Science of Opportunity: Heliophysics on the FASTSAT Mission and STP-S26

The FASTSAT spacecraft, which was launched on November 19, 2010 on the DoD STP-S26 mission, carries three instruments developed in joint collaboration by NASA GSFC and the US Naval Academy: PISA, TTl, and MINI_ME.I,1 As part of a rapid-development, low-cost instrument design and fabrication program, these instruments were a perfect match for FASTSAT, which was designed and built in less than one year. These instruments, while independently developed, provide a collaborative view of important processes in the upper atmosphere relating to solar and energetic particle input, atmospheric response, and ion outflow. PISA measures in-situ irregularities in electron number density, TIl provides limb measurements of the atomic oxygen temperature profile with altitude, and MINI-ME provides a unique look at ion populations by a remote sen sing technique involving neutral atom imaging. Together with other instruments and payloads on STP-S26 such as the NSF RAX mission, FalconSat-5, and NanoSail-D (launched as a tertiary payload from FASTSAT), these instruments provide a valuable "constellation of opportunity" for following the now of energy and charged and neutral particles through the upper atmosphere. Together, and for a small fraction of the price of a major mission, these spacecraft will measure the energetic electrons impacting the upper atmosphere, the ions leaving it, and the large-scale plasma and neutral response to these energy inputs. The result will be a new model for maximizing scientific return from multiple small, distributed payloads as secondary payloads on a larger launch vehicle.

Rowland, Douglas E.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Shock-tube measurements of rotational relaxation in hydrogen.

Density profiles in hydrogen shock waves have been measured with an electron beam densitometer for Mach numbers from 1.2 to 3.0. The translational and rotational relaxation processes were found to be uncoupled in the shock wave allowing for a simple determination of the relatively large (from approximately 270 to approximately 30) number of collisions required for equilibration of the rotational degrees of freedom over the temperature range from 410-1240 K. An intermediate relaxation point and subsequent increase in the number of collisions required above 600 K was attributed to the participation of additional excited rotational quantum levels in the equilibration process.

Boitnott, C. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

EUV spectra from Skylab /1175-1940 A/ - Mass motions in the transition zone in regions of solar activity

The profiles of spectral lines in the 1100-2000-A range emitted by transition-zone ions in regions of solar activity are discussed. The data were recorded by the NRL spectrograph on Skylab. At the spatial resolution of the Skylab spectrograph (2 x 60 arcsec), it is shown that the line profiles result from the superposed emission of a number of physically distinct regions at different electron densities and with different mass motions. Although high densities are found for some surgelike phenomena at transition-zone temperatures, the densities can also be comparable to normal active-region densities. Line profiles, as well as spectral line intensities, must be considered if meaningful theoretical models of dynamic activity in the transition zone are to be constructed.

Doschek, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Radio science at Jupiter: past investigations, current results, and future prospects

The latest mission to Jupiter, Juno, includes the most advanced radio science instrumentation to date. With Juno’s unique polar orbit and dual frequency radio links, it is able to probe the planet’s deep interior structure and zonal wind profile with measurements of the gravitational field and probe the electron densities in the Io plasma torus, a doughnut-shaped ring around Jupiter charged with particles emitted by the volcanic activity on Io. Upcoming missions, such as the planned NASA’s Europa Clipper multiple flyby mission in 2022, potential follow-on Europa Lander, and the ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission in 2022, may make further strides in the study of the planet and its moons utilizing radio science.

Oudrhiri, Kamal↗
NASA NTRS1987

Plasmasphere and magnetosphere structure from ISEE-1 and DE-1

The density structure of the plasmapause region was investigated using the two satellites, ISEE-1 and DE-1 to obtain complementary radial and latitudinal profiles. Data from the plasma wave receivers were to be used to obtain total electron density, and from the ion mass spectrometers to determine thermal plasma morphology.

Olsen, R. C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantum Enhanced Tracker (Final Report)

A new concept of charged particle detector, called Quantum Enhanced Tracker (QET) is proposed and intended for optical imaging of charged particle tracks. We present a quantum-based detection method for reconstructing the spatial profile of an electron beam by passing it through a dilute vapor of rubidium atoms. The perturbation of the atomic spin’s quantum state by the electron beam’s magnetic field is detected via nonlinear magneto-optical polarization rotation. Consequently, the electron beam’s position, size and current density can be measured, and its transverse profile reconstructed by analyzing the polarization rotation of a transverse probe laser. This method was experimentally studied using e-beams with currents ranging from 1 to 200 μA and energies between 10 to 20 keV. The results show that this approach is sensitive to the e-beam current and independent of e-beam energy. This technique provides a potentially 3-D capable approach for non-invasive characterization and monitoring of charged particles used in accelerators and nuclear physics research.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

High resolution measurements of core density collapse dynamics in LHD

The core density collapse (CDC) is an abrupt instability that degrades the performance of super dense core stellarator plasmas on the Large Helical Device (LHD). In LHD, CDCs have proved to be an operational limit in so-called outward-shifted configurations. New measurements with high time resolution Thomson scattering characterize dynamics of the instability in the core. The density profile is observed to collapse inwards, narrowing the density peak till the core itself collapses. A hot, radially localized feature is also observed in the electron temperature profile during the collapse and disappears within a few hundred microseconds of CDC onset.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

MBE growth and donor doping of coherent ultrawide bandgap AlGaN alloy layers on single-crystal AlN substrates

Single-crystal Aluminum Nitride (AlN) crystals enable the epitaxial growth of ultrawide bandgap Al(Ga)N alloys with drastically lower extended defect densities. Here, we report the plasma-MBE growth conditions for high Al-composition AlGaN alloys on single-crystal AlN substrates. An AlGaN growth guideline map is developed, leading to pseudomorphic Al x Ga 1–x N epitaxial layers with x ~0.6–1.0 Al contents at a growth rate of ~0.3 μm/h. These epitaxial layers exhibit atomic steps, indicating step flow epitaxial growth, and room-temperature band edge emission from ~4.5 to 5.9 eV. Growth conditions are identified in which the background impurity concentrations of O, C, Si, and H in the MBE layers are found to be very near or below detection limits. An interesting Si segregation and gettering behavior is observed at the epitaxial AlGaN/AlN heterojunction with significant implications for the formation and transport of 2D electron or hole gases. Well-controlled intentional Si doping ranging from ~2 × 10 17 to 3 × 10 19 atoms/cm 3 is obtained, with sharp dopant density transition profiles. In Si-doped Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N epilayers, a room-temperature free electron concentration of ~3 × 10 19 /cm 3 , an electron mobility of ~27 cm 2 /V s, and an n-type resistivity of ~7.5 m Ω cm are obtained. Here, the implications of these findings on electronic and photonic devices on single-crystal AlN substrates are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Resolving ECRH deposition broadening due to edge turbulence in DIII-D

Microwave heat pulse propagation experiments have demonstrated a correlation between millimeter-scale turbulence and deposition profile broadening of electron cyclotron (EC) waves on the DIII-D tokamak. In a set of discharges in DIII-D, a variation in edge density fluctuations on the mm-scale is associated with 40%–150% broader deposition profiles, expressed in terms of normalized minor radius, as compared with equilibrium ray tracing. The 1D power profile is determined from transport analysis of the electron temperature response to EC power modulation using perturbative analysis with a square wave power modulation at 20–70 Hz, producing a series of Fourier harmonics that are fit collectively to resolve transport. Fitting an integrated heat flux expressed in the Fourier basis of the modulation to diffusive, convective, and coupled transport terms in a linear model can resolve the broadened EC deposition width from the power perturbation to resolve a broadening in each case. The best fit degree of beam broadening observed scales approximately linearly with the Doppler backscattering measured fluctuation level in the steep gradient region. Quantifying the effect of edge fluctuation broadening on EC current drive power needs of future devices will require 3D full-wave codes that can be validated on the current generation of machines. These DIII-D experiments provide a quantitative measure of fluctuation effects and a dataset to benchmark full-wave simulations that can model and eventually predict nonlinear effects neglected by 1D equilibrium beam and ray tracing.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Reconciling Work Functions and Adsorption Enthalpies for Implicit Solvent Models: A Pt (111)/Water Interface Case Study

Implicit solvent models are a computationally efficient method of representing solid/liquid interfaces prevalent in electrocatalysis, energy storage, and materials science. However, electronic structure changes induced at the metallic surface by the dielectric continuum are not fully understood. To address this, we perform DFT calculations for the Pt(111)/water interface, in order to compare Poisson–Boltzmann continuum solvation methods with ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of explicit solvent. We show that the implicit solvent cavity can be parametrized in terms of the electric dipole moment change at the equilibrated explicit Pt/water interface to obtain the potential of zero charge (PZC). We also compare the accuracy of aqueous enthalpies of adsorption of phenol on Pt(111) using geometry and charge density based dielectric cavitation methods. The ability to parametrize the cavity according to individual atoms, as afforded in the geometry based approach, is key to obtaining accurate enthalpy changes of adsorption under aqueous conditions. Additionally, we show that the electronic structure changes induced by explicit solvent and our proposed implicit solvent parametrization scheme yield comparable density difference profiles and d-band projected density of states. We therefore demonstrate the capability of implicit solvent approaches to capture both the energetics of adsorption processes and the main electronic effects of aqueous solvent on the metallic surface. Therefore, this work provides a scheme for computationally efficient simulations of interfacial processes for applications in areas such as heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1992

Interplanetary fast shock diagnosis with the radio receiver on Ulysses

The radio receiver on Ulysses records the quasi-thermal noise which allows a determination of the density and temperature of the cold (core) electrons of the solar wind. Seven interplanetary fast forward or reverse shocks are identified from the density and temperature profiles, together with the magnetic field profile from the Magnetometer experiment. Upstream of the three strongest shocks, bursts of nonthermal waves are observed at the electron plasma frequency f(peu). The more perpendicular the shock, the longer the time interval during which these upstream bursts are observed. For one of the strongest shocks we also observe two kinds of upstream electromagnetic radiation: radiation at 2 f(peu), and radiation at the downstream electron plasma frequency, which propagates into the less dense upstream regions.

Hoang, S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Identity of the JET M-mode and the ASDEX Upgrade I-phase phenomena

An H-mode plasma state free of edge-localized mode (ELM), close to the L-H transition with clear density and temperature pedestal has been observed both at the Joint European Torus (JET) and at the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamaks usually identified by a low frequency (LFO, 1–2 kHz), m = 1, n = 0 oscillation of the magnetics and the modulation of pedestal profiles. The regime at JET is referred to as M-mode while at AUG as intermediate phase or I-phase. This contribution aims at a comparative analysis of these phenomena in terms of the density and temperature pedestal properties, the magnetic oscillations and symmetries. Lithium beam emission spectroscopy (Li-BES) and reflectometer measurements at JET and AUG show that the M-mode and the I-phase modulates the plasma edge density. A high frequency oscillation of the magnetics and the density at the pedestal is also associated with both the M-mode and the I-phase, and its power is modulated with the LFO frequency. The power modulation happens simultaneously in every Mirnov coil signal where it can be detected. The bursts of the magnetic signals and the density at the pedestal region are followed by the flattening of the density profile, and by a radially outward propagating density pulse in the scrape-off layer (SOL). The analysis of the helium line ratio spectroscopy (He-BES) signals at AUG revealed that the electron temperature is modulated in phase with the density, thus the I-phase modulates the pressure profile gradient. Overall, this analysis gave opportunity to compare Li-BES and He-BES density profiles at different locations suggesting a toroidal and poloidal symmetry of the density modulation. The presented results indicate that the regimes, the AUG I-phase and the JET M-mode, exhibit similar characteristics, which leads to the conclusion that the regimes are likely the same.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2012

Understanding Measured Water Rotational Temperatures and Column Densities in the Very Innermost Coma of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 B

Direct sublimation of a comet nucleus surface is usually considered to be the main source of gas in the coma of a comet. However, evidence from a number of comets including the recent spectacular images of Comet 103P/Hartley 2 by the EPOXI mission indicates that the nucleus alone may not be responsible for all, or possibly at times even most, of the total amount of gas seen in the coma. Indeed, the sublimation of icy grains, which have been injected into the coma, appears to constitute an important source. We use the fully-kinetic Direct Simulation Monte Carlo model of Tenishev et al. to reproduce the measurements of column density and rotational temperature of water in Comet 73P-B/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 obtained with a very high spatial resolution of approx. 30 km using IRCS/Subaru in May 2006. For gas released solely from the cometary nucleus at a heliocentric distance of 1 AU, modeled rotational temperatures start at 110 K close to the surface and decrease to only several tens of degrees by 10-20 nucleus radii. However, the measured decay of both rotational temperature and column density with distance from the nucleus is much slower than predicted by this simple model. The addition of a substantial (distributed) source of gas from icy grains in the model slows the decay in rotational temperature and provides a more gradual drop in column density profiles. Together with a contribution of rotational heating of water molecules by electrons, the combined effects allow a much better match to the IRCS/Subaru observations. From the spatial distributions of water abundance and temperature measured in 73P/SW3-B, we have identified and quantified multiple mechanisms of release. The application of this tool to other comets may permit such studies over a range of heliocentric and geocentric distances.

comet↗
NASA NTRS1973

Raman Scattering from Atmospheric Nitrogen in the Stratosphere

The Mark II laser radar system at Kingston, Jamaica, has been used to make observations on the Raman shifted line from atmospheric nitrogen at 828.5 nm. The size of the system makes it possible to detect signals from heights of up to 40 kilometres. The effects of aerosol scattering observed using a single wavelength are almost eliminated, and a profile of nitrogen density may be obtained. Assuming a constant mixing ratio, this may be interpreted as a profile of atmospheric density whose accuracy is comparable to that obtained from routine meteorological soundings. In order to obtain an accurate profile several interfering effects have had to be examined and, where necessary, eliminated. These include: 1) Fluorescence in optical components 2) Leakage of signal at 694.3 nm. 3) Overload effects and non-linearities in the receiving and counting electronics. Most of these effects have been carefully examined and comparisons are being made between the observed atmospheric density profiles and local meteorological radio-sonde measurements. Good agreement has been obtained over the region of overlap (15 - 30 KID), discrepancies being of the same order as the experimental accuracy (1-10%), depending on height and length of period of observation.

Garvey, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laser-driven flash x-ray radiography of a shocked metallic foil

Characterizing hydrodynamic instability evolution in millimeter-scale, high-Z foils is crucial for understanding complex phenomena in high-energy-density physics. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept, laser-driven flash x-ray radiography platform tailored for two-dimensional linear density mapping in shocked high-Z foils. Using chromium (Cr) foils with internal shockwaves (∼100 μm width), our platform achieves a spatial resolution of 59.8 ± 1.4 μm by employing a broadband x-ray source extending into the hundreds of keV range. The setup combines a compound parabolic concentrator cone with a tantalum wire target, a magnetic field to deflect residual transmitted electrons, and a copper casing to shield the sides and rear of the image plate pack. By varying the delay of the short-pulse beam driving the flash x-ray source, we resolve shockwave dynamics, specifically the velocity, position, width, and density profile, within the Cr foil. Reported experimental results are consistent with the corresponding hydrodynamics and radiation transport simulations, which accurately reproduce the measured electron and x-ray source terms. These developments enable the conversion of shockwave radiographs into two-dimensional density maps, enhancing interpretability for hydrodynamic instability evolution applications and validating the simulation approach.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗