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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Detectors and beam monitors based on wide bandgap semiconductors at cryogenic temperatures

Wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as single-crystal diamond and sapphire, can be used to measure the flux of passing particles through a particle-induced conductivity effect. We recently demonstrated a diamond-based, electrodeless electron beam halo monitor. This monitor utilized a thin diamond blade placed within an open, high-quality microwave resonator. The blade partially intercepted the beam and changes in the RF properties of the resonator were used to infer beam parameters. To enhance the sensitivity of our semiconductor sensors, we propose two new techniques: (1) biasing the semiconductor sensor to support avalanche multiplication of free carriers, and (2) operating at cryogenic temperatures to reduce intrinsic semiconductor losses and increase the mobility of induced carriers. These techniques are applicable not only to particle beam diagnostics but also to the detection of various types of ionizing radiation.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Large microwave inductance of granular boron-doped diamond superconducting films

Boron-doped diamond granular thin films are known to exhibit superconductivity with an optimal critical temperature of T c =7.2 K. Here, we report the measured in-plane complex surface impedance of boron-doped diamond films in the microwave frequency range using a resonant technique. Experimentally measured inductance values are in good agreement with estimates obtained from the normal state sheet resistance of the material. Additionally, the magnetic penetration depth temperature dependence is consistent with that of a fully gapped s-wave superconductor. Boron-doped diamond films should find application where high kinetic inductance is needed, such as microwave kinetic inductance detectors and quantum impedance devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Laser Characterization of Optically Smooth BREAD parts

The Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection is a dish antenna experiment probing the axion and dark photon parameter space in the [1 μeV, 1 eV] mass range, or [.02, 200] THz frequency range. In the pilot design for the InfraBREAD model, the dish antenna includes an optically smooth coaxial parabolic reflector to focus incoming photons in the near Infrared spectrum, created by the spontaneous photoconversion of axions and dark photons, onto a Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector at the focus point of the reflector. As the pilot begins as a dark photon detector, sensitivity estimates hypothesize that it could cover unprobed parameter space in the search for the dark photon. Because of this, it is of critical importance that the reflector and SNSPD be placed at the correct points in the dish antenna, as previous work has shown that in addition to the focal spot of the photons being smeared to an area larger than the SNSPD, detection efficiency is s ensitive to shifts on the millimeter scale. In order to constrain this barrier to efficiency, the reflector had its focal spot, roughness, and length of surface waves measured by lasers in an optical bench setup. Results show the focal point diverging slightly from its theorized position in the antenna, while uncertainty in the height at which the detector should be placed was constrained to 10s of microns, the uncertainty in radial position could not be constrained to smaller than the detector given the methods used. Results for the roughness and surface wavelength show that the reflector was uniformly machined in a diamond-turning process used to fabricate optically smooth parts, as well as support a roughly 90% detection efficiency, reinforcing the sensitivity estimates presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Search for dark matter decaying to two displaced muons produced in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV with the CMS detector, and for dark photons produced in electron-positron fixed-target collisions at 500 MeV with the PADME detector

Two novel searches for dark matter using particle accelerators are presented. The first is a search for inelastically-coupled dark matter with the CMS detector at CERN, relying on 137 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy between 2016 and 2018. The search strategy exploits the striking signature expected of inelastic dark matter: a pair of displaced, soft, and narrow muons collimated with missing transverse momentum and recoiled off an initial-state radiation jet. This is the first search for inelastic dark matter at a hadron collider. The second experiment is PADME, a small-scale detector to search for dark photons located in Frascati, Italy. PADME seeks to detect the production of dark photons in positron-electron collisions with a stationary diamond target and a 500 MeV positron beam. The missing-mass technique employed in the experiment relies on constraining all four-momenta in the system except for the dark photon and lookin g for a bump in the resulting invariant mass distribution corresponding to the dark photon's mass. The projected sensitivity for both experiments is compared in the context of highlighting the need for a comprehensive experimental search program for dark matter. Both analyses expect first public results by the end of 2020.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hyperspectral radiance mapping and chromatic correction for temperature measurement in laser-heated diamond anvil cells

In laser-heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) experiments, the effective heated region typically decreases in size with increasing pressure, leading to steeper thermal gradients. Under these conditions, chromatic aberration in the optical path from sample to detector can significantly create bias in spectro-radiometric temperature measurement. We present a radiance-mapping approach using a hyperspectral camera that records 25 spectral channels spanning 605–875 nm at each pixel in a single exposure, providing spatially and spectrally resolved radiance in each frame. This enables chromatic effects to be recorded and corrected in data processing. We developed a procedure for hyperspectral mapping, involving per-camera calibration, crosstalk removal, measured spectral throughput functions, and optional sub-pixel co-registration to minimize chromatic distortion. The calibrated radiance maps are then used to derive temperature maps of the laser-heated hotspots. For smaller heating spots, the radiance mapping approach reveals chromatic shifts that conventional spectro-radiometric methods cannot quantify. Ambient-pressure heating experiments confirm accurate temperature retrieval. At high pressure, application of the hyperspectral system to a platinum-heating experiment at 12 GPa demonstrates stable temperature reconstruction under steep thermal gradients. Beyond mitigating chromatic aberrations, the ability to diagnose optical artifacts separately from emissivity variations during controlled test experiments or in situ suggests a path toward more rigorous spectral emissivity analysis and improved modeling of thermal transport in laser-heated DAC experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Use of diamond sensors for a high-flux, high-rate X-ray pass-through diagnostic

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) deliver pulses of coherent X-rays on the femtosecond time scale, with potentially high repetition rates. While XFELs provide high peak intensities, both the intensity and the centroid of the beam fluctuate strongly on a pulse-to-pulse basis, motivating high-rate beam diagnostics that operate over a large dynamic range. The fast drift velocity, low X-ray absorption and high radiation tolerance properties of chemical vapour deposition diamonds make these crystals a promising candidate material for developing a fast (multi-GHz) pass-through diagnostic for the next generation of XFELs. A new approach to the design of a diamond sensor signal path is presented, along with associated characterization studies performed in the XPP endstation of the LINAC Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at SLAC. Qualitative charge collection profiles (collected charge versus time) are presented and compared with those from a commercially available detector. Quantitative results on the charge collection efficiency and signal collection times are presented over a range of approximately four orders of magnitude in the generated electron–hole plasma density.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photoproduction of the Λ(1520) hyperon with a 9 GeV photon beam at GlueX

The GlueX experiment is located at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) in Newport News, VA, USA. It features a hermetic 4π detector with excellent tracking and calorimetry capabilities. Its 9 GeV linearly polarized photon beam is produced from the 12 GeV electron beam, delivered by JLab’s Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), via bremsstrahlung on a thin diamond and is incident on a LH2 target. GlueX recently finished its first data taking period and published first results. The main goal of GlueX is to measure gluonic excitations of mesons. These so-called hybrid or exotic mesons are predicted by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) but haven’t been experimentally confirmed yet. They can have quantum numbers not accessible by ordinary quark-antiquark pairs which helps in identifying them using partial wave analysis techniques. The search for exotic mesons requires a very good understanding of photoproduction processes in a wide range of final states, one of them being pK + K - which contains many meson and baryon reactions. The Λ(1520) is a prominent hyperon resonance in this final state and is the subject of this presentation. This talk will give an introduction to the GlueX experiment and show preliminary results for the photoproduction of the Λ(1520) hyperon. The measurement of important observables like the photon beam asymmetry and spin-density matrix elements will be discussed and an outlook to possible measurements of further hyperon states in the pK + K - final state will be given.

Pauli, Peter↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterizing novel Indium Phosphide pad detectors with focused X-ray beams and laboratory tests

Future tracking systems in High Energy Physics experiments will require large instrumented areas with low radiation length. Crystalline silicon sensors have been used in tracking systems for decades, but are difficult to manufacture and costly to produce for large areas. We are exploring alternative sensor materials that are amenable to fast fabrication techniques used for thin film devices. Indium Phosphide pad sensors were fabricated at Argonne National Lab using commercially available InP:Fe 2-inch mono-crystal substrates. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characterizations were performed to study the basic operating characteristics of a group of sensors. Micro-focused X-ray beams at Canadian Light Source and Diamond Light Source were used to study the response to ionizing radiation, and characterize the uniformity of the response for several devices. Electrical test results showed a high degree of performance uniformity between the 48 tested devices. X-ray test beam results showed good performance uniformity within tested devices after accounting for spatially-local defects and edge fields. As a result, this motivates further studies into thin film devices for future tracking detectors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Study of nanodiamond photocathodes for MPGD-based detectors of single photons

The proposed new Electron–Ion Collider poses a technical and intellectual challenge for the detector design to accommodate the long-term diverse physics goals envisaged by the program. This requires a 4π detector system capable of reconstructing the energy and momentum of final state particles with high precision. The Electron-Ion Collider also requires identification of particles of different masses over a wide momentum range. A diverse spectrum of Particle IDentification detectors has been proposed. Of the four types of detectors for hadron identification, three are based on Ring Imaging Cherenkov Counter technologies, and one is realized by the Time of Flight method. The quest for a novel photocathode, sensitive in the far vacuum ultraviolet wavelength range and more robust than cesium iodide, motivated an R&D programme to explore nano-diamond (ND) based photocathodes, started by a collaboration between INFN and CNR Bari and INFN Trieste. Systematic measurements of the photoemission in different Ar:CH 4 and Ar:CO 2 gas mixtures with various types of ND powders and Hydrogenated ND (H-ND) powders are reported. A first study of the response of THGEMs coated with different photocathode materials is presented. Additionally, the progress of this R&D programme and the results obtained so far by these exploratory studies are described.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Direct Alpha Spectrometry of Nuclear Fallout

Advanced instruments and methods are under development to allow direct alpha spectrometry of nuclear fallout debris near the point of collection, to support nuclear forensics (NF). New approaches are needed to support NF in order to accelerate the process for data generation and reduce the overall timeline for decision making. Fallout debris at short time periods following detonation can be difficult to work with for alpha spectrometry, due to the presence of intense beta radiation originating from significant quantities of high-activity fission products. Intense beta radiation can challenge traditional silicon-based high-resolution alpha spectrometers. Addressing this, single-crystal (sc) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) produced diamond semiconductors have been studied for use for alpha spectrometry for assaying nuclear fallout debris. Tests have been performed using scCVD sensors to assay a variety of actinide-bearing samples. Sample preparation, when done, has been limited to pulverization using a mechanical ball mill. To reduce measurement times, multi-chip arrays of scCVD diamond semiconductor have been developed in form factors suitable for field deployment in support of NF objectives. These arrays have been tested using high-beta-activity sol gel surrogate nuclear explosive debris (SNED) containing varying concentrations of uranium and plutonium. Results from the use of scCVD detectors with sol gel SNED will be presented.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development of Single Photon Sources in GaN

The recent discovery of bright, room-temperature, single photon emitters in GaN leads to an appealing alternative to diamond best single photon emitters given the widespread use and technological maturity of III-nitrides for optoelectronics (e.g. blue LEDs, lasers) and high-speed, high-power electronics. This discovery opens the door to on-chip and on-demand single photon sources integrated with detectors and electronics. Currently, little is known about the underlying defect structure nor is there a sense of how such an emitter might be controllably created. A detailed understanding of the origin of the SPEs in GaN and a path to deterministically introduce them is required. In this project, we develop new experimental capabilities to then investigate single photon emission from GaN nanowires and both GAN and AlN wafers. We ion implant our wafers with the ion implanted with our focused ion beam nanoimplantation capabilities at Sandia, to go beyond typical broad beam implantation and create single photon emitting defects with nanometer precision. We've created light emitting sources using Li + and He + , but single photon emission has yet to be demonstrated. In parallel, we calculate the energy levels of defects and transition metal substitutions in GaN to gain a better understanding of the sources of single photon emission in GaN and AlN. The combined experimental and theoretical capabilities developed throughout this project will enable further investigation into the origins of single photon emission from defects in GaN, AlN, and other wide bandgap semiconductors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

ML based control systems for nuclear physics experiments

The Experimental Physics Software and Computing Infrastructure (EPSCI) group at Jefferson Lab is leading the use of machine learning (ML) to enhance control systems in nuclear physics experiments. Collaborating closely with domain experts and data scientists, we have developed an ML-based control system that uses a Gaussian process to dynamically adjust the high voltage of the GlueX Central Drift Chamber. This results in stable detector performance by adapting to environmental changes, thereby reducing the offline calibration effort. Furthermore, we are developing ML-driven systems for optimizing the polarization of photon beams and polarized cryotargets. These systems will maintain the optimal microwave frequency in cryogenic targets and make real-time adjustments to diamond radiators for polarized photon sources, tasks traditionally handled by human operators. By automating these functions, we aim to optimize the polarization, reduce downtime, and minimize human error. This talk will highlight the development of reliable ML-based control systems and the policies to ensure they are both effective and trustworthy.

Jeske, Torri↗
DOE OSTI2025

Position-Dependent Neutron Time-of-Flight Deviation at VULCAN Diffractometer

In neutron diffraction, it is critical to precisely measure the lattice spacing, as it is an indicator of a material’s physical characteristics, such as lattice strain, thermal expansion, and phase structures. In time-of-flight (TOF) measurements, the lattice spacing is determined by the recorded TOF from a well-calibrated instrument. However, changes in neutron time-of-flight are sensitive to many factors, such as the alignment of instrument optics, temperature, sample positions, sample dimensions, internal strains, and chemical or physical heterogeneities at the grain level. At VULCAN (SNS, ORNL), which is a high-flux engineering neutron diffractometer, we used a 1-mm-diameter diamond powder sample to scan for changes in TOF by measuring d-spacing values at different sample positions under several configurations. The 2D map of the TOF deviation or d-spacing deviation, in terms of lattice shift/lattice strain, is reported. The change in TOF is dependent on the scanned location in the beam as well as on detector locations. The results are informative for experimental planning, data interpretation, and future instrument design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Improved modeling of detector response effects in phonon-based crystal detectors used for dark matter searches

Various dark matter search experiments employ phonon-based crystal detectors operated at cryogenic temperatures. Some of these detectors, including certain silicon detectors used by the SuperCDMS Collaboration, are able to achieve single-charge sensitivity when a voltage bias is applied across the detector. The total amount of phonon energy measured by such a detector is proportional to the number of electron-hole pairs created by the interaction. However, crystal impurities and surface effects can cause propagating charges to either become trapped inside the crystal or create additional unpaired charges, producing non-quantized measured energy as a result. A new analytical model for describing these detector response effects in phonon-based crystal detectors is presented. This model improves upon previous versions by demonstrating how the detector response, and thus the measured energy spectrum, is expected to differ depending on the source of events. Finally, we use this model to extract detector response parameters for SuperCDMS HVeV detectors, and illustrate how this robust modelling can help statistically discriminate between sources of events in order to improve the sensitivity of dark matter search experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

POWTEX visits POWGEN

The high-intensity time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffractometer POWTEX for powder and texture analysis is currently being built prior to operation in the eastern guide hall of the research reactor FRM II at Garching close to Munich, Germany. Because of the world-wide 3 He crisis in 2009, the authors promptly initiated the development of 3 He-free detector alternatives that are tailor-made for the requirements of large-area diffractometers. Herein is reported the 2017 enterprise to operate one mounting unit of the final POWTEX detector on the neutron powder diffractometer POWGEN at the Spallation Neutron Source located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. As a result, presented here are the first angular- and wavelength-dependent data from the POWTEX detector, unfortunately damaged by a 50 g shock but still operating, as well as the efforts made both to characterize the transport damage and to successfully recalibrate the voxel positions in order to yield nonetheless reliable measurements. Also described is the current data reduction process using the PowderReduceP2D algorithm implemented in Mantid [Arnold et al. (2014). Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A , 764 , 156–166]. The final part of the data treatment chain, namely a novel multi-dimensional refinement using a modified version of the GSAS-II software suite [Toby & Von Dreele (2013). J. Appl. Cryst. 46 , 544–549], is compared with a standard data treatment of the same event data conventionally reduced as TOF diffraction patterns and refined with the unmodified version of GSAS-II . This involves both determining the instrumental resolution parameters using POWGEN's powdered diamond standard sample and the refinement of a friendly-user sample, BaZn(NCN) 2 . Although each structural parameter on its own looks similar upon comparing the conventional (1D) and multi-dimensional (2D) treatments, also in terms of precision, a closer view shows small but possibly significant differences. For example, the somewhat suspicious proximity of the a and b lattice parameters of BaZn(NCN) 2 crystallizing in Pbca as resulting from the 1D refinement (0.008 Å) is five times less pronounced in the 2D refinement (0.038 Å). Similar features are found when comparing bond lengths and bond angles, e.g. the two N—C—N units are less differently bent in the 1D results (173 and 175°) than in the 2D results (167 and 173°). The results are of importance not only for POWTEX but also for other neutron TOF diffractometers with large-area detectors, like POWGEN at the SNS or the future DREAM beamline at the European Spallation Source.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Initial evaluation of a multimodal diamond sensor for simultaneous temperature and radiation measurements

Several experimental disciplines require simultaneous neutron flux and temperature monitoring. This paper provides the groundwork on a diamond sensor concept that could be used in harsh environments where the limits of current technologies are exceeded. Here, we present initial results on the functionality of a multimodal diamond sensor, which can simultaneously sense the presence of alpha particles at a few counts per second at temperatures up to 494 K. Such a sensor may also have applications where both charged particles or neutron detection and temperature measurement are simultaneously desired.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗