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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Spectral widths and Stokes shifts in InP-based quantum dots

InP-based quantum dots (QDs) have Stokes shifts and photoluminescence (PL) line widths that are larger than in II–VI semiconductor QDs with comparable exciton energies. The mechanisms responsible for these spectral characteristics are investigated in this paper. Upon comparing different semiconductors, we find the Stokes shift decreases in the following order: InP > CdTe > CdSe. We also find that the Stokes shift decreases with core size and decreases upon deposition of a ZnSe shell. We suggest that the Stokes shift is largely due to different absorption and luminescent states in the angular momentum fine structure. The energy difference between the fine structure levels, and hence the Stokes shifts, are controlled by the electron–hole exchange interaction. Luminescence polarization results are reported and are consistent with this assignment. Spectral widths are controlled by the extent of homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening. Here, we report PL and PL excitation (PLE) spectra that facilitate assessing the roles of homogeneous and different inhomogeneous broadening mechanisms in the spectra of zinc-treated InP and InP/ZnSe/ZnS particles. There are two distinct types of inhomogeneous broadening: size inhomogeneity and core–shell interface inhomogeneity. The latter results in a distribution of core–shell band offsets and is caused by interfacial dipoles associated with In–Se or P–Zn bonding. Quantitative modeling of the spectra shows that the offset inhomogeneity is comparable to but somewhat smaller than the size inhomogeneity. The combination of these two types of inhomogeneity also explains several aspects of reversible hole trapping dynamics involving localized In 3+ /V Zn 2– impurity states in the ZnSe shells.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Control over pulsed operation modes of an erbium-doped fibre laser passively mode-locked via nonlinear polarisation rotation

We have experimentally demonstrated the possibility of controlling pulse generation modes of an erbium-doped fibre ring laser operating in the anomalous dispersion regime and passively mode-locked via nonlinear polarisation rotation. It has been shown that individual adjustment of the pump power and intracavity polarisation controllers leads to changes in pulse generation mode, without changing the cavity. We have evaluated the key spectral, temporal and energetic characteristics of the observed pulse generation modes. (control of laser radiation parameters. active media)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laser activation of single group-IV colour centres in diamond

Abstract Spin-photon interfaces based on group-IV colour centres in diamond offer a promising platform for quantum networks. A key challenge in the field is realising precise single-defect positioning and activation, which is crucial for scalable device fabrication. Here we address this problem by demonstrating a two-step fabrication method for tin vacancy (SnV − ) centres that uses site-controlled ion implantation followed by local femtosecond laser annealing with in-situ spectral monitoring. The ion implantation is performed with sub-50 nm resolution and a dosage that is controlled from hundreds of ions down to single ions per site, limited by Poissonian statistics. Using this approach, we successfully demonstrate site-selective creation and modification of single SnV − centres. Our in-situ spectral monitoring opens a window onto materials tuning at the single defect level, and provides new insight into defect structures and dynamics during the annealing process. While demonstrated for SnV − centres, this versatile approach can be readily generalised to other implanted colour centres in diamond and wide-bandgap materials.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Resolving SPARC–HSA binding kinetics with an ultrasensitive photonic sensor based on bound states in the continuum

Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is critical in cell-matrix interactions and tissue remodeling. It influences tumor progression through its affinity for human serum albumin (HSA) - the most abundant plasma protein, which also plays a crucial role in drug delivery. Strong molecular binding leads to a dissociation constant KD in the nanomolar range. Thus, determining KD requires detecting sub-nanomolar concentrations with ultrasensitive methods. This may be crucial for elucidating the nature of SPARC-HSA binding, as their interaction remains a subject of debate. Capturing these interactions accurately requires a platform capable of resolving rapid binding kinetics at extremely low analyte concentrations. In this work, we report on a microfluidics-integrated photonic nanostructure that supports bound states in the continuum (BICs) and is optimized for studying the fast kinetics of high-affinity protein-protein interactions. The unprecedented capability of detecting sub-nanomolar concentrations allows quantifying KD between SPARC and HSA beyond the state of the art. We leverage an all-dielectric photonic crystal slab (PhCS) sustaining two BIC branches arising from gapped Dirac cone dispersion. HSA is covalently immobilized on the PhCS bonded to a PDMS microfluidic chamber. SPARC dissociation is carried out using PBS buffer (pH 7.4), ensuring complete protein release through precise control of the flow rate and continuous spectral monitoring of the BICs. The measured KD=8.2±0.8 nM confirms the strong affinity of SPARC for HSA. This study highlights the potential of BIC-based sensing as a versatile tool for investigating protein interactions. These results also have implications for the optimization of drug delivery systems and cancer treatment strategies.

Albumin↗
DOE OSTI2025

Programmable low-coherence wavefronts for enhanced localization

Engineering the properties of electromagnetic wavefronts has become essential to imaging, wireless security, sensing, and wireless communication. In particular, wavefronts that exhibit low spatial coherence can enable sensing functionalities with high accuracy and low latency. The typical use of such wavefronts cannot take advantage of these possibilities, as they require the ability to dynamically reconfigure the wavefront in a controllable and repeatable fashion, over a broad spectral bandwidth. Here, we propose a new approach for generating broadband reconfigurable wavefronts which not only exhibit low spatial coherence at a particular frequency, but are also decorrelated with the wavefronts simultaneously generated at other frequencies. We demonstrate that this frequency-domain decorrelation is a key feature that, in combination with dynamic reconfigurability, enables localization measurements with an order-of-magnitude improvement in accuracy compared to the state of the art.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spectral form factors of clean and random quantum Ising chains

We compute the spectral form factor of two integrable quantum-critical many-body systems in one spatial dimension. The spectral form factor of the quantum Ising chain is periodic in time in the scaling limit described by a conformal field theory; we also compute corrections from lattice effects and deviation from criticality. Iin this work, criticality in the random Ising chain is described by rare regions associated with a strong randomness fixed point, and these control the long-time limit of the spectral form factor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum Spin Dynamics Due to Strong Kitaev Interactions in the Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnet CsCeSe 2

The extraordinary properties of the Kitaev model have motivated an intense search for new physics in materials that combine geometrical and bond frustration. In this Letter, we employ inelastic neutron scattering, spin wave theory, and exact diagonalization to study the spin dynamics in the perfect triangular-lattice antiferromagnet (TLAF) CsCeSe 2 . This material orders into a stripe phase, which is demonstrated to arise as a consequence of the off-diagonal bond-dependent terms in the spin Hamiltonian. By studying the spin dynamics at intermediate fields, we identify an interaction between the single-magnon state and the two-magnon continuum that causes decay of coherent magnon excitations, level repulsion, and transfer of spectral weight to the continuum that are controlled by the strength of the magnetic field. Our results provide a microscopic mechanism for the stabilization of the stripe phase in TLAF and show how complex many-body physics can be present in the spin dynamics in a magnet with strong Kitaev coupling even in an ordered ground state. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of the optical parametric amplification phase on laser pulse compression

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is an effective way to generate ultrashort pulses that has been used extensively for a variety of applications requiring high peak intensities. Precise control and measurement of a system’s spectral and spatial phases are required for Fourier transform–limited pulse compression and diffraction-limited focusing. Phase accumulated during optical parametric amplification (OPA) can degrade the compressibility and focusability of the pulse, reducing peak intensity. We used analytic and numerical analysis of OPA to study the influence of crystal parameters, wavefront of the pump and signal, and their relative optical alignment on the accumulated phase. Here, we show that the accumulated signal phase is largely independent of amplifier saturation and, with significant local wavefront gradients in the signal or pump beam, the quality of the compressed pulses can be degraded. We use first-order expressions for the pump- and signal-angle sensitivity to evaluate an OPCPA system consisting of a highly deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate (DKDP) amplifier designed to support bandwidth for 15 fs pulses centered at 920 nm.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Neural network-based control of an ultrafast laser

With the recent advances in machine learning (ML) and data science (DS), the control, modeling, and analysis of these complex systems continues to improve. In this work, we report on the optimization of the intensity of a femtosecond laser using feedforward neural networks (FFNN) that model the input–output relationships of the data. The input parameters of the system were optimized to achieve the required performance of the femtosecond laser. We propose a neural network-based control system to model the relationship between the spectral amplitude and phase of the input laser pulse at the amplifier input and the shape of the output pulse. Low-jitter laser parameter inputs and the resulting laser pulse duration were modeled, and the resulting correlation between the input and output data was used to optimize the laser pulse. Here, we demonstrate improved processing and laser control performance.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Imaging Strain-Localized Single-Photon Emitters in Layered GaSe below the Diffraction Limit

Nanoscale strain control of exciton funneling is an increasingly critical tool for the scalable production of single photon emitters (SPEs) in two-dimensional materials. However, conventional far-field optical microscopies remain constrained in spatial resolution by the diffraction limit and thus can provide only a limited description of nanoscale strain localization of SPEs. Here, we quantify the effects of nanoscale heterogeneous strain on the energy and brightness of GaSe SPEs on nanopillars with correlative cathodoluminescence, photoluminescence, and atomic force microscopy, supported by density functional theory simulations. We report the strain-localized SPEs have a broad range of emission wavelengths from 620 to 900 nm. We reveal substantial strain-controlled SPE wavelength tunability over a ~100 nm spectral range and 2 orders of magnitude enhancement in the SPE brightness at the pillar center due to Type-I exciton funneling. In addition, we show that radiative biexciton cascade processes contribute to observed CL photon superbunching. Also, the GaSe SPEs show excellent stability, where their properties remain unchanged after electron beam exposure. Importantly, we anticipate that this comprehensive study on the nanoscale strain control of two-dimensional SPEs will provide key insights to guide the development of truly deterministic quantum photonics.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2022

Experimental demonstration and modeling of a robotic neutron detector with spectral and directional sensitivity for treaty verification

International safeguards and arms control agreements often require labor-intensive, intrusive onsite inspections to perform verification tasks. The ability to localize a neutron source and/or characterize a neutron field may be imperative for identifying anomalies. We are interested in the role of autonomous mobile robots, which, if designed properly, may be more effective and efficient and less intrusive than their human counterparts. Toward developing such a capability, we, for this study, have constructed the N-SpecDir Bot, comprised of three boron-coated straw detectors azimuthally-distributed within a cylinder of high-density polyethylene, which is mounted on an omni-directional robotic platform. Our N-SpecDir Bot is specifically designed to provide spectral and directional sensitivity, in addition to gross counts, by utilizing the signals from the three detectors. The detection system has been extensively characterized by MCNP modeling, which has been benchmarked to experiments conducted at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. We demonstrate the spectral and directional sensitivity experimentally and in simulation, and provide a simple yet robust method for directional measurements.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2020

Transient Second-Order Nonlinear Media: Breaking the Spatial Symmetry in the Time Domain via Hot-Electron Transfer

Second-order optical effects are essential to the active control of light and the generation of new spectral components. The inversion symmetry, however, prevents achieving a bulk $χ^{(2)}$ response, limiting the portfolio of the second-order nonlinear materials. Here, we demonstrate subpicosecond conversion of a statically passive dielectric to a transient second-order nonlinear medium upon the ultrafast transfer of hot electrons. Induced by an optical switching signal, the amorphous dielectric with vanishing intrinsic $χ^{(2)}$ develops dynamically tunable second-order nonlinear responses. By taking the second-harmonic generation as an example, we show that breaking the inversion symmetry through hot-electron dynamics can be leveraged to address the critical need for all-optical control of second-order nonlinearities in nanophotonics. We report our approach can be generically adopted in a variety of material and device platforms, offering a new class of complex nonlinear media with promising potentials for all-optical information processing.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluating Limits of Machine Learning-Assisted Raman Spectroscopy in Classification of Biological Samples

Machine learning (ML)-assisted Raman spectroscopy has become a powerful analytical tool for the classification and identification of analytes; however, technical challenges impacting its detection accuracy have not been thoroughly investigated. This study explores experimental factors affecting classification performance. Among the evaluated ML models, ML algorithms show minimal impact on classification accuracy. Instead, experimental factors, including spectral similarity between tested samples and data quality, dominate detection performance. Increases in spectral noise and spectral similarity significantly reduce classification accuracy. In well-controlled samples with low experimental noise, ML-assisted Raman spectroscopy can discriminate lipid mixtures with a composition difference of 1.85 mol %. To assess the effect of biological heterogeneity, we analyzed single-cell Raman spectra from Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains carrying single, double, or triple gene mutations. Intrinsic cell-to-cell variability introduced substantial spectral differences, severely reducing the accuracy of multiclass classification of these genetically similar strains at the single-cell level. Averaging Raman spectra across multiple cells improved classification accuracy by reducing this spectral variability. We also assess the effectiveness of transfer learning across different Raman spectrometers, specifically by applying an ML model trained on one instrument to another Raman spectrometer. Transfer learning can be improved with proper instrument calibration, highlighting the importance of instrument standardization. Overall, our results demonstrate that data quality and spectral similarity are the primary bottlenecks in ML-assisted Raman spectroscopy. Careful attention to sample preparation, data acquisition, measurement conditions, and instrument calibration is critical to achieving robust and reliable classification performance.

Fungi↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electrical Switching of Nematic Plasmonic Nanocolloids for Infrared Solar Gain Control

Controlling solar gain is essential to reduce the energy consumption by residential and commercial buildings, which are responsible for ≈40% of all energy generated globally. However, the dynamic control of solar gain in the near-infrared that corresponds to ≈50% of the overall Sun's energy at the Earth's surface, separately from the visible spectral range has been a challenge, albeit commercial coatings provide passive control while retaining highly visible transmission. To address this problem, in this paper switchable silver colloids (SSCs) are demonstrated, colloidal analogs of the common silver coatings used for solar gain control. When dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal, orientations of such plasmonic silver nanoplates are controlled by ≈1 V low-voltage electric fields, allowing for sub-second switching of the near-infrared-based solar gain. Installed and retrofit products made from thin films of such nanoplate dispersions confined between glass and plastic substrates, respectively, exhibit electrically controlled infrared-based solar gain while retaining high visible-range transparency, low haze, and high color rendering index. Furthermore, this study's findings reveal a great potential of soft-matter systems in addressing energy-related problems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Production of pions, kaons, and protons as a function of the relative transverse activity classifier in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV

The production of π ± , K ± , and (p¯)p is measured in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV in different topological regions of the events. Particle transverse momentum (p T ) spectra are measured in the “toward”, “transverse”, and “away” angular regions defined with respect to the direction of the leading particle in the event. While the toward and away regions contain the fragmentation products of the near-side and away-side jets, respectively, the transverse region is dominated by particles from the Underlying Event (UE). The relative transverse activity classifier, R T = N T / < N T >, is used to group events according to their UE activity, where N T is the measured charged-particle multiplicity per event in the transverse region and < N T > is the mean value over all the analysed events. The first measurements of identified particle p T spectra as a function of R T in the three topological regions are reported. It is found that the yield of high transverse momentum particles relative to the R T -integrated measurement decreases with increasing R T in both the toward and the away regions, indicating that the softer UE dominates particle production as R T increases and validating that R T can be used to control the magnitude of the UE. Conversely, the spectral shapes in the transverse region harden significantly with increasing R T . This hardening follows a mass ordering, being more significant for heavier particles. Finally, it is observed that the pT-differential particle ratios (p+p¯)/(π + +π – ) and (K + + K – )/(π + + π – ) in the low UE limit (R T → 0) approach expectations from Monte Carlo generators such as PYTHIA 8 with Monash 2013 tune and EPOS LHC, where the jet-fragmentation models have been tuned to reproduce e + e – results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Determining Key Factors for the Open-Loop Control of Molecular Fragmentation Using Shaped Strong Fields

Pulse shaping has long been employed for tailoring femtosecond laser pulses to study and control the fragmentation of polyatomic molecules. In many cases, a physical explanation connecting the properties of the field to the observed control is difficult to ascertain. We utilized 80 bit binary spectral phase functions to parametrize and map the search space, gaining insight into which pulse parameters most impact the ion yield and fragmentation pattern for the relatively large triethylamine [N(C 2 H 5 ) 3 ] molecule. Pulse structures used to control the m/z 86 branching ratio beyond a simple intensity dependence are identified and compared to pump–probe results. All of these findings are explained in terms of control via a dissociative Rydberg state in the neutral molecule. This methodology may be used to discover new control mechanisms and shed light onto which pulse parameters most influence the interaction between strong field lasers and matter.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Rapid Generation of Tandem Mass Spectrometry Reference Libraries Using Immediate Drop-on-Demand Liquid Handling Coupled to an Open Port Sampling Interface

In metabolomics, tandem MS (MS2) fragmentation libraries are important for the identification of unknown features, but generating these libraries takes many valuable hours of instrument and operator time. Here, an immediate droplet-on-demand/open port sampling interface was used to rapidly acquire tandem MS of standards arrayed in a 96-well plate format. A workflow was developed for automated, high-throughput control of MS2 library generation. Pure standard mass spectral libraries were collected on Orbitrap and Q-TOF mass spectrometers for 192 compounds using 6 different collision energies with a throughput of 4 and 7.8 s/spectrum, respectively. Libraries were acquired using different solvent additives, precursor adducts, and ion polarities.

Cahill, John [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000298664010)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Complete Frequency-Bin Bell Basis Synthesizer

Here we report the experimental generation of all four frequency-bin Bell states in a single versatile setup via successive pumping of spontaneous parametric down-conversion with single and dual spectral lines. Our scheme utilizes intensity modulation to control the pump configuration and offers turn-key generation of any desired Bell state using only off-the-shelf telecommunication equipment. We employ Bayesian inference to reconstruct the density matrices of the generated Bell states, finding fidelities ≥97% for all cases. Additionally, we demonstrate the sensitivity of the frequency-bin Bell states to common-mode and differential-mode temporal delays traversed by the photons comprising the state—presenting the potential for either enhanced resolution or nonlocal sensing enabled by our complete Bell basis synthesizer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗