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At least 865 records · Page 48

Model predictions of latitude-dependent ozone depletion due to supersonic transport operations

Results are presented from a two-dimensional model of the stratosphere that simulates the seasonal movement of ozone by both wind and eddy transport, and contains all the chemistry known to be important. The calculated reductions in ozone due to NO2 injection from a fleet of supersonic transports are compared with the zonally averaged results of a three-dimensional model for a similar episode of injection. The agreement is good in the northern hemisphere, but is not as good in the southern hemisphere. Both sets of calculations show a strong corridor effect in that the predicted ozone depletions are largest to the north of the flight corridor for aircraft operating in the northern hemisphere.

Borucki, W. J.↗

Kilovoltage Imaging Doses in the Radiotherapy of Pediatric Cancer Patients

Purpose: To investigate doses induced by kilovoltage cone-beam computed tomography (kVCBCT) to pediatric cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, as well as strategies for dose reduction. Methods and Materials: An EGS4 Monte Carlo code was used to calculate three-dimensional dose deposition due to kVCBCT on 4 pediatric cancer patients. Absorbed doses to various organs were analyzed for both half-fan and full-fan modes. Clinical conditions, such as distance from organ at risk (OAR) to CBCT field border, kV peak energy, and testicular shielding, were studied. Results: The mean doses induced by one CBCT scan operated at 125 kV in half-fan mode to testes, liver, kidneys, femoral heads, spinal cord, brain, eyes, lens, and optical nerves were 2.9, 4.7, 7.7, 10.5, 8.8, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, and 7.2 cGy, respectively. Increasing the distances from OARs to CBCT field border greatly reduced the doses to OARs, ranging from 33% reduction for spinal cord to 2300% reduction for testes. As photon beam energy increased from 60 to 125 kV, the dose increase due to kVCBCT ranged from 170% for lens to 460% for brain and spinal cord. A testicular shielding made of 1-cm cerrobend could reduce CBCT doses down to 31%, 51%, 68%, and 82%, respectively, for 60, 80, 100, and 125 kV when the testes lay within the CBCT field. Conclusions: Generally speaking, kVCBCT deposits much larger doses to critical structures in children than in adults, usually by a factor of 2 to 3. Increasing the distances from OARs to CBCT field border greatly reduces doses to OARs. Depending on OARs, kVCBCT-induced doses increase linearly or exponentially with photon beam energy. Testicular shielding works more efficiently at lower kV energies. On the basis of our study, it is essential to choose an appropriate scanning protocol when kVCBCT is applied to pediatric cancer patients routinely.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Remote Epitaxy of III-V Solar Cells via Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

The promise of remote epitaxy, in which epitaxial registry of a film can still be maintained through two-dimensional layers, has emerged from an advanced understanding of the interactions between two dimensional materials and bulk semiconductors. A promising application of this technology is to facilitate substrate reuse in epitaxial III-V systems, which could significantly reduce material cost and improve commercial viability of this high-efficiency photovoltaic technology. In this process the weak van der Waal bonds between the 2D layer and the III-V substrate make separation of epitaxially-grown layers simple and leaves a smooth substrate that can be reused for cost reduction. Here we present a study of growth parameters of GaAs on AlGaAs through a low dimensional carbon interlayer via hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). We Investigate the effect of various GaAs nucleation conditions such as V/III ratio, temperature and growth rate on film roughness, crystallinity, and degree of epitaxial alignment. We demonstrate growth of single crystal GaAs layer on top of the low dimensional carbon that follow the crystal orientation of the substrate. Surface roughness measured via AFM found that lower V/III ratios result in smoother III-V films grown on the low dimensional carbon, with a lowest RMS of ~60 nm obtained at a V/III ratio of 5. Growth temperatures are optimized at 650 C, as temperatures below 550 C show non-crystalline growth and higher temperature samples display very rough surfaces. Additionally, we investigate HVPE growth on various forms of low-dimensional carbon including transferred graphene, CVD-grown graphene, and MOCVD-growth amorphous carbon and find the latter to be most well suited for III-V growth as this method results in cleaner interface and potential for direct, large-area coverage. We also identify techniques to mitigate surface degradation in carbon layers as a function of both exposure time and growth environment by analyzing surface changes via x-ray reflectivity. We show growth of heteroepitaxial III-V solar cells on carbon interlayers and preliminary cell results, which are currently limited to 4% efficiency under one sun.

AlGaAs↗

A diabatic circulation two-dimensional model with photochemistry - Simulations of ozone and long-lived tracers with surface sources

Numerous studies have been concerned with the possibility of a reduction of the stratospheric ozone layer. Such a reduction could lead to an enhanced penetration of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to the ground, and, as a result, to damage in the case of several biological processes. It is pointed out that the distributions of many trace gases, such as ozone, are governed in part by transport processes. The present investigation presents a two-dimensional photochemistry-transport model using the residual circulation. The global distribution of both ozone and components with ground sources computed in this model is in good agreement with the observations even though slow diffusion is adopted. The agreement is particularly good in the Northern Hemisphere. The results provide additional support for the idea that tracer transport in the stratosphere is mainly of advective nature.

Stordal, F.↗

Acoustic Reduction Of Separation Of Flow

Report discusses experiments in use of acoustic excitation to reduce separation of two-dimensional laminar flow about airfoils at low angles of attack. Purpose of investigation to gain better understanding of effect of excitation, scaling of parameters of excitation, and ranges of frequencies in which excitation reduces separation effectively.

Zaman, K. B. M. Q.↗

Structural changes caused by radiation-induced reduction and radiolysis: the effect of X-ray absorbed dose in a fungal multicopper oxidase

Radiation-induced reduction, radiolysis of copper sites and the effect of pH value together with the concomitant geometrical distortions of the active centres were analysed in several fungal (C. gallica) laccase structures collected at cryotemperature. This study emphasizes the importance of careful interpretation when the crystallographic structure of a metalloprotein is described. X-ray radiation induces two main effects at metal centres contained in protein crystals: radiation-induced reduction and radiolysis and a resulting decrease in metal occupancy. In blue multicopper oxidases (BMCOs), the geometry of the active centres and the metal-to-ligand distances change depending on the oxidation states of the Cu atoms, suggesting that these alterations are catalytically relevant to the binding, activation and reduction of O{sub 2}. In this work, the X-ray-determined three-dimensional structure of laccase from the basidiomycete Coriolopsis gallica (Cg L), a high catalytic potential BMCO, is described. By combining spectroscopic techniques (UV–Vis, EPR and XAS) and X-ray crystallography, structural changes at and around the active copper centres were related to pH and absorbed X-ray dose (energy deposited per unit mass). Depletion of two of the four active Cu atoms as well as low occupancies of the remaining Cu atoms, together with different conformations of the metal centres, were observed at both acidic pH and high absorbed dose, correlating with more reduced states of the active coppers. These observations provide additional evidence to support the role of flexibility of copper sites during O{sub 2} reduction. This study supports previous observations indicating that interpretations regarding redox state and metal coordination need to take radiation effects explicitly into account.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Noise reduction for transonic blade-vortex interactions

Several ideas for noise reduction of transonic blade-vortex interactions (BVI) are being introduced and tested using numerical simulation. The model used is the two-dimensional high frequency transonic small disturbance equation with regions of distributed vorticity (VTRAN2 code). The far-field noise signals are obtained by using the Kirchhoff method which extends the numerical two-dimensional near-field aerodynamic results to the linear acoustic three-dimensional far-field. The BVI noise mechanisms are explained and the effects of vortex type and strength, and angle of attack are studied. Particularly, airfoil shape modifications which lead to noise reduction are investigated here. The results presented are expected to be helpful for better understanding of the nature of the BVI noise and better blade design.

Xue, Y.↗

Complexity reduction of collisional-radiative kinetics for atomic plasma

Thermal non-equilibrium processes in partially ionized plasmas can be most accurately modeled by collisional-radiative kinetics. This level of detail is required for an accurate prediction of the plasma. However, the resultant system of equations can be prohibitively large, making multi-dimensional and unsteady simulations of non-equilibrium radiating plasma particularly challenging. In this paper, we present a scheme for model reduction of the collisional-radiative kinetics, by combining energy levels into groups and deriving the corresponding macroscopic rates for all transitions. Although level-grouping is a standard approach to this type of problem, we provide here a mechanism for achieving higher-order accuracy by accounting for the level distribution within a group. The accuracy and benefits of the scheme are demonstrated for the generic case of atomic hydrogen by comparison with the complete solution of the master rate equations and other methods.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Two-plasmon decay mitigation in direct-drive inertial-confinement-fusion experiments using multilayer targets

Multilayer direct-drive inertial-confinement-fusion (ICF) targets are shown to significantly reduce two-plasmon-decay (TPD) driven hot-electron production while maintaining high hydrodynamic efficiency. Implosion experiments on the OMEGA Laser used targets with silicon layered between an inner beryllium and outer silicon-doped plastic ablator. A factor of five reduction in hot-electron generation (> 50 keV) was observed in the multilayer targets relative to pure CH targets. Three-dimensional simulations of the TPD driven hot-electron production using a laser-plasma interaction code (LPSE) that includes nonlinear and kinetic effects show excellent agreement with the measurements. As a result, the simulations suggest that the reduction in hot-electron production observed in the multilayer targets is primarily due to increased electron-ion collisional damping.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Long life nickel electrodes for a nickel-hydrogen cell. III - Results of an accelerated test and failure analyses

Nineteen different designs of nickel electrodes were tested in Ni/H2 boiler plate cells in an accelerated low earth orbit cycle regime to the end of their life. The failure analyses of these cells showed that the major performance changes due to the cycling was a severe reduction of their high rate discharge capability rather than an absolute capacity reduction. Many physical changes of the nickel electrodes were observed after the cycling test. These changes include dimensional expansion, sinter rupture, loose black powdering of the active material, morphology changes, active material migration, increase of pore volume, change of pore distribution, and increase of surface area. All of these were caused by active material expansion with cycling. Among these changes, the morphology change which involves migration of active material away from the current collecting nickel sinter appears to be that most responsible for the reduction of the rate capability.

Lim, H. S.↗

Fabrication and single-electron-transfer operation of a triple-dot single-electron transistor

A triple-dot single-electron transistor was fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer using pattern-dependent oxidation. A specially designed one-dimensional silicon wire having small constrictions at both ends was converted to a triple-dot single-electron transistor by means of pattern-dependent oxidation. The fabrication of the center dot involved quantum size effects and stress-induced band gap reduction, whereas that of the two side dots involved thickness modulation because of the complex edge structure of two-dimensional silicon. Single-electron turnstile operation was confirmed at 8 K when a 100-mV, 1-MHz square wave was applied. Monte Carlo simulations indicated that such a device with inhomogeneous tunnel and gate capacitances can exhibit single-electron transfer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline Fe–Zr alloys upon annealing treatment

Nanocrystalline Fe–Zr alloys exhibit an extraordinary thermal stability at elevated temperatures, which enables their potential applications in various fields. However, there remain concerns regarding the controlling stabilization mechanisms responsible for their thermal stability. In this work, two nanocrystalline Fe–Zr alloys containing 1 at.% Zr and 5 at.% Zr were annealed at various temperatures (T{sub ann}) up to 900 °C. Microstructural evolution of the alloys upon annealing was investigated by means of an X-ray diffractometer equipped with a 2-dimensional detector and transmission electron microscopy. Below 600 °C, microstructures of the two alloys consist of single nanocrystalline ferrite whose grain size is rather stable upon annealing treatments. Above 600 °C, accompanying the precipitation of Fe{sub 3}Zr phase, an apparent grain coarsening of ferrite is observed, whereas the thermal stability of the alloys is still considerably higher than that of nanocrystalline pure Fe. Based on the experimental results, it was claimed that stabilization of the nanocrystalline Fe–Zr alloys should not be totally ascribed to the thermodynamic stabilization mechanism due to the reduction in grain boundary energy as suggested in earlier investigations [K.A. Darling et al., Scr. Mater. 59 (2008) 530 and K.A. Darling et al., Mater. Sci. Eng. A527 (2010) 3572]; when T{sub ann} is higher than 600 °C, along with the precipitation of Fe{sub 3}Zr, the effect of thermodynamic stabilization is weakened, the kinetic effect arising from Zener pinning of Fe{sub 3}Zr precipitates turns to be an important mechanism contributing to the stabilization of the nanoscale grain size. - Highlights: • We show clear evidence of precipitation of Fe{sub 3}Zr phase above 600 °C. • Stabilization of nanostructure is not solely controlled by thermodynamic mechanism. • Above 600 °C, Zener pinning plays an important role in stabilizing nanostructure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Compressed sparse tensor based quadrature for vibrational quantum mechanics integrals

A new method for fast evaluation of high dimensional integrals arising in quantum mechanics is proposed. Here, the method is based on sparse approximation of a high dimensional function followed by a low-rank compression. In the first step, we interpret the high dimensional integrand as a tensor in a suitable tensor product space and determine its entries by a compressed sensing based algorithm using only a few function evaluations. Secondly, we implement a rank reduction strategy to compress this tensor in a suitable low-rank tensor format using standard tensor compression tools. This allows representing a high dimensional integrand function as a small sum of products of low dimensional functions. Finally, a low dimensional Gauss–Hermite quadrature rule is used to integrate this low-rank representation, thus alleviating the curse of dimensionality. Finally, numerical tests on synthetic functions, as well as on energy correction integrals for water and formaldehyde molecules demonstrate the efficiency of this method using very few function evaluations as compared to other integration strategies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

On the multistream approach of relativistic Weibel instability. I. Linear analysis and specific illustrations

A one-dimensional multistream formalism is extended for the study of temperature anisotropy driven Weibel-type instabilities in collisionless and relativistic plasma. The formulation is based on a Hamiltonian reduction technique using the invariance of generalized canonical momentum in transverse direction. The Vlasov-Maxwell model is expressed in terms of an ensemble of one-dimensional Vlasov-type equations, coupled together with the Maxwell equations in a self-consistent way. Although the model is fundamentally nonlinear, this first of three companion papers focuses on the linear aspect. Dispersion relations of the Weibel instability are derived in the linear regime for different kinds of polarization of the electromagnetic potential vector. The model allows new unexpected insights on the instability: enhanced growth rates for the Weibel instability are predicted when a dissymmetric distribution is considered in p{sub ⊥}. In the case of a circular polarization, a simplification of the linear analysis can be obtained by the introduction of the “multiring” approach allowing to extend the analytical model of Yoon and Davidson [Phys. Rev. A 35, 2718 (1987)]. Applications of this model are left to the other two papers of the series where specific problems are addressed pertaining to the nonlinear and relativistic dynamics of magnetically trapped particles met in the saturation regime of the Weibel instability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Closure of Internal Porosity in Continuous Casting Bloom During Heavy Reduction Process

To investigate the closure behavior of internal porosity (also referred to as internal void) in continuous casting bloom during heavy reduction (HR) and thus provide theoretical guidance for minimizing this kind of internal defect more effectively with HR, a three-dimensional (3D) mechanical model was developed based on the predicted temperature field by a 2D heat transfer model. With this 3D mechanical model, closure behaviors of internal porosity in continuous casting bloom during HR at and after the strand solidification end under different process conditions were numerically studied. It was found that the void axis length decreased significantly along the bloom thickness direction and increased slightly along the casting and bloom width directions after HR, and the influence of the initial void size on the void closure was not obvious. With a decrease of temperature difference between the bloom surface and center, HR efficiency for minimizing internal void decreased, while the required reduction force significantly increased. Compared with blooms with a uniform temperature distribution of 1100 °C, the void closure index after HR implemented at the strand solidification end was increased by ~ 25 pct. Compared with a conventional flat roll, the application of a convex roll during HR could contribute to minimizing the internal porosity more effectively and significantly enhance the reduction capacity of the withdrawal and straightening units. The void closure index of η{sub s} and η{sub v} (where η{sub s} and η{sub v} were defined based on the variation of the void aspect ratio and the void volume, respectively) was closely related to the equivalent strain (ε{sub eq}) and the hydrostatic integration parameter (Q), respectively, and two mathematical equations were derived to quantitatively describe the relationship of η{sub s} − ε{sub eq} and η{sub v} − Q.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Low-Dimensional Contact Layers for Enhanced Perovskite Photodiodes

Controlling defects and energy-band alignments are of paramount importance to the development of high-performance perovskite-based photodiodes. Yet, concurrent improvements in interfacial contacts and defect reduction simply by tailoring bottom contacts have not been investigated. An effective strategy is reported that can simultaneously improve energy-band alignments and structural defects by introducing low-dimensional contact (LDC) layers at the bottom interface. It is found that LDC-based perovskites considerably suppress undesirable structural defects induced by microstrains, resulting in reduced nonradiative recombination centers and improved carrier lifetimes. Additionally, the resulting LDC-based interface structures help block minority carrier injection from the electrodes by forming built-in electric fields. As a consequence, LDC-based perovskite photodiodes showed improved light detection capabilities. Finally, the result opens an avenue to yield highly efficient photodiodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Accuracy of the explicit energy-conserving particle-in-cell method for under-resolved simulations of capacitively coupled plasma discharges

The traditional explicit electrostatic momentum-conserving particle-in-cell algorithm requires strict resolution of the electron Debye length to deliver numerical stability and accuracy. The explicit electrostatic energy-conserving particle-in-cell algorithm alleviates this constraint with minimal modification to the traditional algorithm, retaining its simplicity, ease of parallelization, and acceleration on modern supercomputing architectures. In this article, we apply the algorithm to model a one-dimensional radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma discharge relevant to industrial applications. The energy-conserving approach closely matches the results from the momentum-conserving algorithm and retains accuracy even for cell sizes up to 8 times the electron Debye length. For even larger cells, the algorithm loses accuracy due to poor resolution of steep gradients within the radio frequency sheath. Accuracy can be recovered by adopting a non-uniform grid, which resolves the sheath and allows for cell sizes up to 32 times the electron Debye length in the quasi-neutral bulk of the discharge. The effect is an up to 8 times reduction in the number of required simulation cells, an improvement that can compound in higher-dimensional simulations. We therefore consider the explicit energy-conserving algorithm as a promising approach to significantly reduce the computational cost of full-scale device simulations and a pathway to delivering kinetic simulation capabilities of use to industry.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Transfer learning nonlinear plasma dynamic transitions in low dimensional embeddings via deep neural networks

Deep learning algorithms provide a new paradigm to study high-dimensional dynamical behaviors, such as those in fusion plasma systems. Development of novel, data-driven model reduction methods, coupled with detection of abnormal modes with plasma physics, opens a unique opportunity to identify plasma instabilities through automated construction of parsimonious models that can be tuned to balance accuracy and cost. Our fusion transfer learning (FTL) model demonstrates success in rapidly reconstructing nonlinear kink mode structures by learning from a limited amount of nonlinear simulation data. The knowledge transfer process leverages a pre-trained neural encoder–decoder network, initially trained on linear simulations, to effectively capture nonlinear dynamics. The low-dimensional embeddings extract the coherent structures of interest, while preserving the inherent dynamics of the complex system. Experimental results highlight FTL’s capacity to capture transitional behaviors and dynamical features in plasma dynamics—a task often challenging for conventional methods. The model developed in this study is generalizable and can be extended broadly through transfer learning to address various magnetohydrodynamics modes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗