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At least 829 records · Page 46

Numerical simulation study of impurity B transport during real-time B powder injection in EAST

To understand the beneficial effects of impurity boron (B) on the plasma, the transport of B species in both atomic and ionic states in the edge plasma and the ensuing evolution of the background plasma are simulated during real-time B powder injection by using two-dimensional fluid code SOLPS-ITER. The initial background plasma profiles for the simulation are reconstructed based on an EAST upper-single null discharge (shot No. 70601). With the injection rate of B atoms, 4.0 × 10 21 atoms/s, the simulation shows that effective charge number is less than 1.1 at the inner boundary R - R sep = -5.2 cm (background plasma density, 5.1 × 10 19 m -3 ) at the outer mid-plane indicating that the B impurity does not have much influence on the energy confinement. The present work finds that the impurity B exhibits very specific features in the edge plasma, mostly present in the narrow region just outside the separatrix. The particular distribution pattern can reduce the heat flux greatly, leading to the divertor detachment. The divertor detachment can be achieved easily under an injection rate of B powder in a reasonable range. This study suggests that the impurity B has a promising potential application in future tokamaks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Initial design concepts for solid boron injection in ITER

As part of ITER’s consideration to change its first wall material from beryllium to tungsten, the ITER Organization has proposed studying the feasibility of real-time solid boron injection (SBI) into the plasma to coat the walls and divertor to supplement glow discharge boronization (GDB). Boron deposits getter oxygen and reduce sputtering of tungsten from plasma facing components (PFCs). Particularly in areas with significant plasma wall interactions, boron coatings are expected to be short-lived under high performance plasma conditions. The proposed SBI system aims to maintain boron layers in these areas to avoid excessive radiation from tungsten in the plasma as a risk mitigation to ensure ITER will be able to reach and sustain Q = 10 conditions. The system will be used sparingly, as redeposition of boron can lead to significant tritium retention, which must be minimized in ITER to comply with nuclear safety concerns. SBI is proposed to limit and precisely control the amount of boron injected in real-time during plasma operation. Here, some of the design requirements and initial concepts for an SBI system in ITER are presented based on previous results carried out with SBI systems on a number of tokamaks and stellarators around the world. Previous results using SBI systems installed by PPPL have injected boron particles from 5 µm–2 mm diameter at calibrated rates of 2–200 mg/s in real-time during plasma operation on AUG, DIII-D, EAST, KSTAR, LHD, TFTR, WEST, and W7-X, leading to improved wall conditions with reduced plasma impurity concentrations and radiated power and improved plasma performance. The boron is ionized in the plasma edge and then deposited on plasma-wetted surfaces. On AUG, EAST and WEST reduced tungsten sputtering sources were observed following several discharges with SBI. Extrapolation of these SBI results are presented to estimate the amount of boron needed for wall conditioning in ITER. Real-time SBI control requirements and plasma operation scenarios for ITER are also described.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Physical mechanisms for the transition from type-III to large ELMs induced by impurity injection on EAST

Transition from type-III to large-amplitude ELMs induced by neon injection has been observed in the EAST tokamak at overlapping q 95 space between large and small ELMs. With neon injection, pedestal density gradient shows a remarkable increase accompanied by some decrease of pedestal electron temperature, and consequently the pressure gradient increases moderately and edge bootstrap current has minimal change. Further experiment demonstrates that the occurrence of large ELMs after neon injection is highly correlated with the change in edge density. Linear peeling-ballooning stability analysis indicates that the large ELM case is more unstable than the type-III ELM case during the ELM transition. A scan of pedestal density gradient in linear stability analysis shows that the direct destabilizing effect of steep pedestal density gradient on peeling-ballooning instabilities via two-fluid effects could also facilitate the transition to large ELMs. In conclusion, these results could provide more insight into the role of pedestal density gradient on pedestal stability and ELM behavior.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Using hole injection layers for decreased metastability and higher performance in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 devices

In this work, modifications to the buffer structure in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) solar cells are examined in terms of power conversion efficiency and metastability. Varying amounts of thin hole-injecting layers are introduced at different locations in the CIGS/Zn(O,S) device structure. It is found that such layers simultaneously increase performance and decrease metastability. The most effective variant produces devices without metastability and with higher efficiency than the CdS-only controls. The most effective location for hole injection is found to be between the Zn(O,S) buffer and the transparent conductor. At this location, passivation of the CIGS surface is not a function of the hole injection layer, and thus a variety of materials with appropriate band-edge energies should achieve the same purpose.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Linker Length-Dependent Electron-Injection Dynamics of Trimesitylporphyrins on SnO 2 Films

Electron-injection dynamics of dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells depend on the length of the linker connecting the molecular photosensitizer to the metal oxide electron acceptor. However, systematic studies of the effect of chromophore–oxide distance are scarce. In this work, we present the synthesis, characterization, spectroscopy, and computational modeling of electron-injection dynamics from free-base trimesitylporphyrins with varying linker lengths into tin(IV) oxide (SnO 2 ). In each system, the porphyrin core and metal oxide film remain the same while only the linker binding the porphyrin to the carboxylate anchor group is varied. A length range spanning 8.5–17.2 Å is studied by employing phenylene, biphenylene, terphenylene, and benzanilide groups as the linker. We find a clear correlation between linker length and injection rates, providing insights that will be exploited in the optimization of dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Harmonic and Subharmonic RF Injection Locking of THz Metasurface Quantum-Cascade VECSEL

Harmonic and subharmonic RF injection locking is demonstrated in a terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (QC-VECSEL). By tuning the RF injection frequency around integer multiples and submultiples of the cavity round-trip frequency, different harmonic and subharmonic orders can be excited in the same device. Modulation-dependent behavior of the device has been studied with recorded lasing spectral broadening and locking bandwidths in each case. In particular, harmonic injection locking results in the observation of harmonic spectra with bandwidths over 200 GHz. A semiclassical Maxwell-density matrix formalism has been applied to interpret QC-VECSEL dynamics, which aligns well with experimental observations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

On the Relationship Between Fault Permeability Increases, Induced Stress Perturbation, and the Growth of Aseismic Slip During Fluid Injection

Fluid injections into the deep subsurface can, at times, generate earthquakes, but often, they only produce aseismic deformations. Here we analyze the influence of fault hydromechanical properties on the growth of injection-induced aseismic slip. Using hydromechanical modeling, we show how permeability enhancement in addition to the background stress and frictional weakening has an important effect on the pressure diffusion and slip growth during injection. We find that the more pronounced the fault permeability enhancement, the stronger is the growth of the aseismic slip zone. The effect of enhanced permeability is more pronounced when the fault is initially close to failure. Our results show that aseismic slip grows beyond the pressurized zone when the fault permeability increases, while slip remains behind the pressurized zone when permeability does not vary from its initial preslip value. Furthermore, fault permeability increases should be considered as complementary mechanism to current models of fluid-induced aseismic slip.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Impact of Anthropogenic Emission Injection Height Uncertainty on Global Sulfur Dioxide and Aerosol Distribution

Anthropogenic sulfur compounds play an important role in acid deposition, aerosol particle formation, and subsequent radiative forcing and human fine particulate exposure. There are substantial uncertainties in processes influencing sulfate and precursor distributions, however, that have not yet been resolved through comparisons with observations. We find here an underappreciated factor that has a large impact on model results: uncertain emission height. Global aerosol-climate model simulations indicate that the assumed effective anthropogenic emission height is very important to SO 2 near-surface concentrations and vertical profile. The global range of near-surface SO 2 concentration over land (ocean) due to uncertainty in industrial (international shipping) emission injection height is 81% (76%), relative to the average concentration. This sensitivity is much larger than the uncertainty of SO 2 emission rates. Black carbon and primary organic matter concentration and profiles are also sensitive to emission heights (53% over land and 28% over oceans). The impact of emission height uncertainty is larger in winter for land-based emissions, but larger in summer over the Northern Hemisphere ocean for shipping emissions. The variation in aerosol optical depth related to shipping emission injection heights is 11% over oceans, revealing the potential importance of injection height on aerosol forcing and climatic effects. The large impact on SO 2 concentrations can confound attempts to use surface, aircraft, and satellite observations to constrain the importance of other processes that govern sulfur compound distributions in the atmosphere. In conclusion, the influence of emission height on vertical SO 2 column also will impact the accuracy of satellite retrievals.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Progress toward fully noninductive discharge operation in DIII-D using off-axis neutral beam injection

The initial experiments on off-axis neutral beam injection into high noninductive current fraction (f{sub NI}), high normalized pressure (β{sub N}) discharges in DIII-D [J. L. Luxon, Fusion Sci. Technol. 48, 828 (2005)] have demonstrated changes in the plasma profiles that increase the limits to plasma pressure from ideal low-n instabilities. The current profile is broadened and the minimum value of the safety factor (q{sub min}) can be maintained above 2 where the profile of the thermal component of the plasma pressure is found to be broader. The off-axis neutral beam injection results in a broadening of the fast-ion pressure profile. Confinement of the thermal component of the plasma is consistent with the IPB98(y,2) scaling, but global confinement with q{sub min}>2 is below the ITER-89P scaling, apparently as a result of enhanced transport of fast ions. A 0-D model is used to examine the parameter space for f{sub NI}=1 operation and project the requirements for high performance steady-state discharges. Fully noninductive solutions are found with 4<β{sub N}<5 and bootstrap current fraction near 0.5 for a weak shear safety factor profile. A 1-D model is used to show that a f{sub NI}=1 discharge at the top of this range of β{sub N} that is predicted stable to n=1, 2, and 3 ideal MHD instabilities is accessible through further broadening of the current and pressure profiles with off-axis neutral beam injection and electron cyclotron current drive.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Investigation of hole injection enhancement by MoO{sub 3} buffer layer in organic light emitting diodes

An MoO{sub 3} buffer layer prepared by thermal evaporation as hole injection layer was investigated in organic light emitting diodes. The MoO{sub 3} film inserted between the anode and hole transport layer decreased the operating voltage and enhanced power efficiency. Introduction of 1 nm MoO{sub 3} film, which was found to be the optimum layer thickness, resulted in 45% increase in efficiency compared with traditional ITO anode. Results from atomic force microscopy and photoemission spectroscopy showed that smooth surface morphology and suitable energy level alignment of ITO/MoO{sub 3} interface facilitated hole injection and transport. The hole injection and transport mechanism at the ITO/MoO{sub 3} interface in thin and thick buffer layers were analyzed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A wide variety of injection molding technologies is now applicable to small series and mass production

Micro plastic parts open new fields for application, e. g., to electronics, sensor technologies, optics, and medical engineering. Before micro parts can go to mass production, there is a strong need of having the possibility for testing different designs and materials including material combinations. Hence, flexible individual technical and technological solutions for processing are necessary. To manufacture high quality micro parts, a micro injection moulding machine named formicaPlast based on a two-step plunger injection technology was developed. Resulting from its design, the residence time and the accuracy problems for managing small shot volumes with reproducible high accuracy are uncompromisingly solved. Due to their simple geometry possessing smooth transitions and non adherent inner surfaces, the plunger units allow to process 'all' thermoplastics from polyolefines to high performance polymers, optical clear polymers, thermally sensitive bioresorbables, highly filled systems (the so-called powder injection molding PIM), and liquid silicon rubber (LSR, here with a special kit). The applied platform strategy in the 1K and 2K version allows integrating automation for assembling, handling and packaging. A perpendicular arrangement allows encapsulation of inserts, also partially, and integration of this machine into process chains. Considering a wide variety of different parts consisting of different materials, the high potential of the technology is demonstrated. Based on challenging industrial parts from electronic applications (2K micro MID and bump mat, where both are highly structured parts), the technological solutions are presented in more detail.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Domain wall displacement by remote spin-current injection

We demonstrate numerically the ability to displace a magnetic domain wall (DW) by remote spin current injection. We consider a long and narrow magnetic nanostripe with a single DW. The spin-polarized current is injected perpendicularly to the film plane through a small nanocontact which is located at certain distance from the DW initial position. We show that the DW motion can be initiated not only by conventional spin-transfer torque but also by indirect spin-torque, created by remote spin-current injection and then transferred to the DW by the exchange-spring mechanism. An analytical description of this effect is proposed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Fast electron spin resonance controlled manipulation of spin injection into quantum dots

In our spin-injection light-emitting diodes, electrons are spin-polarized in a semimagnetic ZnMnSe spin aligner and then injected into InGaAs quantum dots. The resulting electron spin state can be read out by measuring the circular polarization state of the emitted light. Here, we resonantly excite the Mn 3d electron spin system with microwave pulses and perform time-resolved measurements of the spin dynamics. We find that we are able to control the spin polarization of the injected electrons on a microsecond timescale. This electron spin resonance induced spin control could be one of the ingredients required to utilize the quantum dot electrons or the Mn spins as qubits.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electrical spin injection into InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells: A comparison between MgO tunnel barriers grown by sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy methods

An efficient electrical spin injection into an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well light emitting diode is demonstrated thanks to a CoFeB/MgO spin injector. The textured MgO tunnel barrier is fabricated by two different techniques: sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy. The maximal spin injection efficiency is comparable for both methods. Additionally, the effect of annealing is also investigated for the two types of samples. Both samples show the same trend: an increase of the electroluminescence circular polarization (P{sub c}) with the increase of annealing temperature, followed by a saturation of P{sub c} beyond 350 °C annealing. Since the increase of P{sub c} starts well below the crystallization temperature of the full CoFeB bulk layer, this trend could be mainly due to an improvement of chemical structure at the top CoFeB/MgO interface. This study reveals that the control of CoFeB/MgO interface is essential for an optimal spin injection into semiconductor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Rare-earth neutral metal injection into an electron beam ion trap plasma

We have designed and implemented a neutral metal vapor injector on the SuperEBIT high-energy electron beam ion trap at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A horizontally directed vapor of a europium metal is created using a thermal evaporation technique. The metal vapor is then spatially collimated prior to injection into the trap. The source's form and quantity constraints are significantly reduced making plasmas out of metal with vapor pressures ≤10{sup −7} Torr at ≥1000 °C more obtainable. A long pulsed or constant feed metal vapor injection method adds new flexibility by varying the timing of injection and rate of material being introduced into the trap.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Efficient room temperature spin-Hall injection across an oxide barrier

Spin Hall injection is demonstrated at room temperature using Pt metal and AlO{sub x} barriers. A substantial spin accumulation, comparable to that of a magnetic spin injection, is transferred into a mesoscopic Cu wire from an adjacent Pt wire across an AlO{sub x} barrier. The Pt spin Hall angle is 0.030 ± 0.007 when assuming a Pt spin diffusion length λ{sub pt} > 6 nm and 0.09 ± 0.02 when assuming λ{sub pt} = 2 nm. Nearly (66 ± 6)% of the spin accumulation on the Pt surface is transferred into the Cu across the AlO{sub x}, enabling an efficient spin Hall injection scheme.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of the helicity injection rate and the Lundquist number on spheromak sustainment

The dynamics of the magnetic relaxation process during the sustainment of spheromak configurations at different helicity injection rates is studied. The three-dimensional activity is recovered using time-dependent resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A cylindrical flux conserver with concentric electrodes is used to model configurations driven by a magnetized coaxial gun. Magnetic helicity is injected by tangential boundary flows. Different regimes of sustainment are identified and characterized in terms of the safety factor profile. The spatial and temporal behavior of fluctuations is described. The dynamo action is shown to be in close agreement with existing experimental data. These results are relevant to the design and operation of helicity injected devices, as well as to basic understanding of the plasma relaxation mechanism in quasi-steady state.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Microparticle injection effects on microwave transmission through an overly dense plasma layer

Microparticles injected into a plasma have been shown to deplete the free electron population as electrons are collected through the process of microparticles charging to the plasma floating potential. However, these charged microparticles can also act to scatter electromagnetic signals. These experiments investigate microwave penetration through a previously impenetrable overly dense plasma layer as microparticles are injected and the physical phenomena associated with the competing processes that occur due to electron depletion and microwave scattering. The timescales for when each of these competing processes dominates is analyzed in detail. It was found that while both processes play a significant and dominant role at different times, ultimately, transmission through this impenetrable plasma layer can be significantly increased with microparticle injection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗