Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “direct detection”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 901 records · Page 50
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

In-field strain and temperature measurements in a (RE)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7–x coil via Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers

(RE)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (REBCO) conductors have overcome technical challenges related to manufacturing quality, length homogeneity, scale-up of piece-length, and joints. There is one remaining technical challenge, however, which is common to all high temperature superconductors and lies in effective detection of failure to prevent material degradation. An innovative technique based on optical fibers interrogated by Rayleigh backscattering has been shown to have advantages over voltage taps at detecting incipient faults. Prior work has experimentally demonstrated the technique in several implementation scenarios, including direct integration of optical fibers into superconducting conductors and cables to create a class of ‘SMART’ conductors and cables that are able to monitor their own health. In this paper, the magnet monitoring technique based on Rayleigh backscattering interrogated optical fibers has been experimentally studied in a model coil subject to external magnetic field, where different fiber integration methods are used to increase selectivity of the fiber sensor to temperature. Results show that the spectral shift displays different features during strain and thermal transients. The implications of the results in terms of potential and limitations of each sensor as well as strain-temperature decoupling are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

High sensitivity measurement of femtogram-level 238 Pu by thermal ionization mass spectrometry with correction of background 238 U

Low-concentration plutonium isotopic measurements provide a valuable fingerprint to identify possible material origins in the context of environmental contamination monitoring, environmental tracing, nuclear safeguards, nuclear forensics, and treaty monitoring. Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) has long been recognized as one of the most sensitive techniques for plutonium isotopic measurement, but has not generally been utilized for 238 Pu determination, especially at low concentrations, due to an isobaric interference from 238 U, prevalent as background. Here, this work demonstrates a new analytical technique for correction of background 238 U from the 238 Pu counts collected during a TIMS analysis. The technique takes advantage of the higher ionization temperature of U relative to Pu and uses a 235 U tracer added after plutonium purification chemistry for 238 U semi-quantitative determination. This technique has been successfully applied to the determination of 238 Pu concentration and the 238 Pu/ 239 Pu ratio in sample types including single-isotope standards, isotopic certified reference materials, matrix-containing environmental reference materials, and simulated nuclear detonation debris. The results have been directly compared on a sample-by-sample basis to alpha spectrometry results. The detection limit by this new technique is 0.23 fg 238 Pu, which was previously unachievable by mass spectrometry and is possible in around 1 h of analysis time post-chemistry compared to weeks of required counting time by alpha spectrometry (at the same atom amount). We also present original, high precision data for Pu isotope concentrations in IAEA-384, Fangataufa Sediment, including 242 Pu results for the first time. The new technique allows measurement of a key isotope, 238 Pu, that was previously not measured in small environmental or nuclear forensics collections.

238Pu↗
DOE OSTI2022

The population of hot subdwarf stars studied with Gaia: IV. Catalogues of hot subluminous stars based on Gaia EDR3

In light of substantial new discoveries of hot subdwarfs by ongoing spectroscopic surveys and the availability of the Gaia mission Early Data Release 3 (EDR3), we compiled new releases of two catalogues of hot subluminous stars: The data release 3 (DR3) catalogue of the known hot subdwarf stars contains 6616 unique sources and provides multi-band photometry, and astrometry from Gaia EDR3 as well as classifications based on spectroscopy and colours. This is an increase of 742 objects over the DR2 catalogue. This new catalogue provides atmospheric parameters for 3087 stars and radial velocities for 2791 stars from the literature. In addition, we have updated the Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) catalogue of hot subluminous stars using the improved accuracy of the Gaia EDR3 data set together with updated quality and selection criteria to produce the Gaia EDR3 catalogue of 61 585 hot subluminous stars, representing an increase of 21 785 objects. Furthermore, the improvements in Gaia EDR3 astrometry and photometry compared to Gaia DR2 have enabled us to define more sophisticated selection functions. In particular, we improved hot subluminous star detection in the crowded regions of the Galactic plane as well as in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds by including sources with close apparent neighbours but with flux levels that dominate the neighbourhood.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Detecting driving potentials at the buried SiO 2 nanolayers in solar cells by chemical-selective nonlinear x-ray spectroscopy

We present an approach to selectively examine an asymmetric potential in the buried layer of solar cell devices by means of nonlinear x-ray spectroscopy. Detecting second harmonic generation signals while resonant to the SiO 2 core level, we directly observe existence of the band bending effect in the SiO 2 nanolayer, buried in the heterostructures of Al/LiF/SiO 2 /Si, TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si, and Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 /Si. Furthermore, the results demonstrate high sensitivity of the method to the asymmetric potential that determines performance of functional materials for photovoltaics or other optoelectronic devices.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

The motional Stark effect diagnostic for ITER

An overview of the plans for the motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic installation on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is presented. The MSE diagnostic uniquely provides spatially localized magnetic field measurements inside the plasma. These are used to constrain equilibrium reconstructions to determine q(r), the safety factor as a function of minor radius. Meeting the system requirements to deliver q-profiles and related quantities with the specified radial resolution of 20 points over the minor radius, 10 ms time resolution, and better than 10% accuracy is challenging. MSE systems observe the D/H-α emission near 656.3 nm from neutral beams. As the beam atoms traverse the magnetic field, B⃗, at high velocity, v⃗, they experience a Lorentz electric field, v⃗×B⃗, which causes the spectral emission to be split and polarized due to the Stark effect. Traditional MSE-LP (line polarization) measurements determine the direction of the magnetic field in the observation volume using polarimetric analysis of the detected light. The harsh conditions of ITER are expected to deposit thin films of contaminants on the first mirror, which would alter the polarization state of reflected light significantly. On ITER, the combination of high magnetic field strength and high energy beams makes the Stark spectrum resolution suitable for the determination of the magnetic field magnitude from the line shift, so this approach has been selected. Every aspect of the measurement system must be planned for the burning plasma environment and carefully analyzed ahead of time. Current status and plans for the system are presented.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Determination of the mean energy of fast electron losses and anisotropies through thick-target emission on WEST

Abstract A new method to obtain the mean energy of fast electron losses in fusion plasmas using a versatile multi-energy hard x-ray (HXR) detector is presented. The method is based on measuring the thick-target emission of tungsten in the divertor region produced by fast electron losses interacting with the target and modeling the tungsten spectra by a Monte Carlo code which simulates the interaction between a beam of electrons and a solid target. The mean energy of the fast electron losses is determined through the comparison between the experimental and synthetic emission. The results show that fast electron losses during lower hybrid current drive discharges at WEST have a mean energy of 90–140 keV and represent only 2% of the total heat flux at the target. Additionally, anisotropic HXR emission has been detected for the first time at the WEST core and edge plasma, with opposite directions. It is due to the forward-peak emission of two distinctive populations of fast electrons: co-current fast electrons in the core and counter-current fast electron losses at the inner strike point. In view of future experiments like ITER where electron cyclotron current drive will generate a fast electron population, this technique could serve as a real-time monitor of fast electron losses and eventually feed an actuator on the current drive generation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

The DES view of the Eridanus supervoid and the CMB cold spot

ABSTRACT The Cold Spot is a puzzling large-scale feature in the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature maps and its origin has been subject to active debate. As an important foreground structure at low redshift, the Eridanus supervoid was recently detected, but it was subsequently determined that, assuming the standard ΛCDM model, only about 10–20 per cent of the observed temperature depression can be accounted for via its Integrated Sachs–Wolfe imprint. However, R ≳ 100 h−1Mpc supervoids elsewhere in the sky have shown ISW imprints AISW ≈ 5.2 ± 1.6 times stronger than expected from ΛCDM (AISW = 1), which warrants further inspection. Using the Year-3 redMaGiC catalogue of luminous red galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey, here we confirm the detection of the Eridanus supervoid as a significant underdensity in the Cold Spot’s direction at z < 0.2. We also show, with S/N ≳ 5 significance, that the Eridanus supervoid appears as the most prominent large-scale underdensity in the dark matter mass maps that we reconstructed from DES Year-3 gravitational lensing data. While we report no significant anomalies, an interesting aspect is that the amplitude of the lensing signal from the Eridanus supervoid at the Cold Spot centre is about 30 per cent lower than expected from similar peaks found in N-body simulations based on the standard ΛCDM model with parameters Ωm = 0.279 and σ8 = 0.82. Overall, our results confirm the causal relation between these individually rare structures in the cosmic web and in the CMB, motivating more detailed future surveys in the Cold Spot region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Moiré photonics and optoelectronics

Moiré superlattices, the artificial quantum materials, have provided a wide range of possibilities for the exploration of completely new physics and device architectures. In this Review, we focus on the recent progress on emerging moiré photonics and optoelectronics, including but not limited to moiré excitons, trions, and polaritons; resonantly hybridized excitons; reconstructed collective excitations; strong mid- and far-infrared photoresponses; terahertz single-photon detection; and symmetry-breaking optoelectronics. We also discuss the future opportunities and research directions in this field, such as developing advanced techniques to probe the emergent photonics and optoelectronics in an individual moiré supercell; exploring new ferroelectric, magnetic, and multiferroic moiré systems; and using external degrees of freedom to engineer moiré properties for exciting physics and potential technological innovations.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2019

Report on Task USA A 0931 (A.252) Implementation of Fast, Front-End Electronics for Improved Low-Dead Time Neutron Counting

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Department of Safeguards is working on the elaboration and implementation of advanced Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) methods, generally known as neutron noise analysis, for the verification of critical and sub-critical cores containing substantial quantities of direct use nuclear material. These verification methods rely on interpreting time properties of the neutron multiplication process, which are to be extracted from measured neutron pulse trains. The interpretations are highly dependent on the quality of the measured data, which is directly related to the capability of an employed neutron detector to resolve very close detection events originating from neutron bursts produced in a highly multiplying medium. Therefore, the application of detectors with minimum dead-time, pile-up, and other distortion effects is required. This report describes the work under Task USA A 0931 (A.252 Implementation of fast, front-end electronics for improved low-dead time neutron counting).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Computed Tomography Scanning and Geophysical Measurements of the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Collab SURF Core

The computed tomography (CT) facilities and the Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia were used to characterize core from 8 wells from the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Collab project located in the Sanford Underground Research Facility’s (SURF) 4850 level. The work in this report falls in Experiment 1 in a three-phase experiment, with the primary purpose to increase understanding of hydraulic fracturing. The primary impetus of this work is a collaboration between U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the EGS Collab. The resultant datasets are presented in this report and can be accessed from NETL's Energy Data eXchange (EDX) online system using the following link: https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/surf-collab-core. All equipment and techniques used were non-destructive, enabling future examinations and analyses to be performed on these cores. None of the equipment used was suitable for direct visualization of the pore space in the core, although fractures and discontinuities were detectable with the methods tested. Low resolution CT imagery with the NETL medical CT scanner was performed on the entire core. Qualitative analysis of the medical CT images, coupled with X-ray fluorescence (XRF), P-wave, and magnetic susceptibility measurements from the MSCL were useful in identifying zones of interest for more detailed analysis as well as fractured zones. The ability to quickly identify key areas for more detailed study with higher resolution will save time and resources in future studies. The combination of methods used provides a multi-scale analysis of the core; the resulting macro and micro descriptions are relevant to many subsurface energy related examinations traditionally performed at NETL.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Investigating Nanoscale Electron Transfer Processes at the Cell-Mineral Interface in Cobalt-Doped Ferrihydrite Using Geobacter sulfurreducens: A Multi-Technique Approach

Cobalt is an essential element for life and plays a crucial role in supporting the drive to clean energy, due to its importance in rechargeable batteries. Co is often associated with Fe in the environment, but the fate of Co in Fe-rich biogeochemically-active environments is poorly understood. To address this, synchrotron-based scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) was used investigate the behaviour of cobalt at the nanoscale in Co-Fe(III)-oxyhydroxides undergoing microbial reduction. SXM can assess spatial changes in metal speciation and organic compounds helping to elucidate the electron transfer processes occurring at the cell-mineral interface and inform on the fate of cobalt in redox horizons. G. sulfurreducens was used to reduce synthetic Co-ferrihydrite as an analogue of natural cobalt-iron-oxides. Magnetite [Fe(II)/Fe(III) 3 O 4 ] production was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), SXM and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) data, where best fits of the latter suggested Co-bearing magnetite. Macro-scale XAS techniques suggested Co(III) reduction occurred and complementary SXM at the nanoscale, coupled with imaging, found localised biogenic Co(III) reduction at the cell-mineral interface via direct contact with outer membrane cytochromes. No discernible localised changes in Fe speciation were detected in the reordered cobalt-iron-oxides that were formed and at the end point of the experiment only 11% Co and 1.5% Fe had been solubilised. The solid phase retention, alongside the highly localised and preferential cobalt bioreduction observed at the nanoscale is consistent with retention of Co in redox zones. This work improves our fundamental molecular-scale understanding of the fate of Co in complex environmental systems and supports the development of biogenic Co-doped magnetite for industrial applications from drug delivery systems to magnetic recording media.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Review of Intense Electromagnetic Fields in Heavy-Ion Collisions: Theoretical Predictions and Experimental Results

In heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies, the incident nuclei travel at nearly the speed of light. These collisions deposit kinetic energy into the overlap region and create a high-temperature environment where hadrons “melt” into deconfined quarks and gluons. The spectator nucleons, which do not undergo scatterings, generate an ultraintense electromagnetic field—on the order of 10 18 G at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and 10 19 G at the Large Hadron Collider. These powerful electromagnetic fields have a substantial impact on the produced particles, not only complicating the study of particle interactions but also inducing novel physical phenomena. To explore the nature of these fields and their interactions with deconfined quarks, we provide a detailed overview, encompassing theoretical estimations of their generation and evolution, as well as experimental efforts to detect them. We also provide physical interpretations of the discovered results and discuss potential directions for future investigations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Alignments between Galaxies and the Cosmic Web at z ~ 1–2 in the IllustrisTNG Simulations

Galaxy formation theories predict that galaxy shapes and angular momenta have nonrandom alignments with the cosmic web. This leads to so-called intrinsic alignment between pairs of galaxies, which is important to quantify as a nuisance parameter for weak lensing. We study galaxy–cosmic web alignment in the IllustrisTNG suite of hydrodynamical simulations at redshifts 1 and 2, finding that alignment trends are consistent with previous studies. However, we find that the magnitude of the spin alignment signal is ~2.4× weaker than seen in previous studies of the Horizon-AGN simulation, suggesting that this signal may have a significant dependence on subgrid physics. Based on IllustrisTNG, we then construct mock observational spectroscopic surveys that can probe shape–cosmic web alignment at z ~ 1–2, modeled on the low-z galaxy redshift and IGM tomography surveys on the upcoming Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph Galaxy Evolution (PFS GE) survey. However, even over box sizes of L = 205 h -1 Mpc, we find that global anisotropies induce a sample variance in the 2D projected alignment signal that depend on the projected direction; this induces significant errors in the observed alignment. We predict a 5.3σ detection of IllustrisTNG's shape alignment signal at z ~ 1 from Subaru PFS GE, although a detection would be challenging at z ~ 2. However, a rough rescaling of the relative alignment signal strengths between the TNG and Horizon-AGN simulations suggests that PFS GE should be able to more easily constrain the latter's stronger signal.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Apparatus, system and method for highlighting activity-induced change in multi-pass synthetic aperture radar imagery

Described herein are various technologies relating to constructing a differenced change product (DCP) image. A plurality of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of a scene are generated based upon radar signals directed towards and reflected off of the scene, and a plurality of coherence change detection (CCD) images of the scene are generated based upon the SAR images. The CCD images are registered with one another, and their pixel values re-scaled according to a monotonic mapping function. The DCP image is generated based upon a computed pixel-wise difference between a pair of the re-scaled CCD images. The DCP image identifies locations in the scene where human activity-induced change is likely to have occurred between a pair of SAR passes of the scene.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Novel Methods to Produce an Argon-37 Standard

This poster describes details of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project to produce and measure argon-37 for nuclear explosion detection.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Widefield three-dimensional microscopy with a quantum entanglement light source

Devices, systems and methods for widefield three-dimensional (3D) microscopy with a quantum entanglement light source are described. An example method includes generating a first set of photons and a second set of photons, wherein each of the photons in the first set is quantum entangled with a corresponding photon in the second set, directing the second set of photons toward a sample and simultaneously directing the first set of photons toward a first two-dimensional (2D) detector, detecting, from the sample, a plurality of photons at a second 2D detector, analyzing detections from the first and second 2D detectors to determine coincidence information, and determining one or more characteristics associated with at least a three-dimensional (3D) section of the sample based on collective detections at the first and the second 2D detectors.

Bond, Tiziana C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Practical Implementation of GPU-based Computing at the Grid Edge for Resilience Scenarios

This paper presents a practical implementation of GPU-accelerated computing at the grid edge to enhance power system resilience through next-generation smart meters. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems rely predominantly on centralized processing architectures, which limit real-time response capabilities during grid disturbances. This work proposes the integration of GPU-enabled computational platforms directly within smart meter to enable local execution support for power system analytics, fault detection algorithms, and optimization routines. The proposed framework uses the Julia programming language to leverage highperformance parallel computing capabilities while maintaining code portability and development efficiency. We use two experimental scenarios to benchmark the computational feasibility of this approach: sparse linear system solutions representative of power flow analyses, and multi-stage production cost simulations incorporating unit commitment and economic dispatch operations. Results demonstrate that computationally intensive power system algorithms, such as those supporting resilience scenario calculations, can be effectively executed at the distribution edge using commercially available embedded GPU hardware. Keywords—GPU acceleration, edge computing, smart meters, grid resilience, AMI, resilience.

De Souza, Reubun [School of Electrical Engineering↗