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At least 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

A rack-mounted precision waveguide-below-cutoff attenuator with an absolute electronic readout

A coaxial precision waveguide-below-cutoff attenuator is described which uses an absolute (unambiguous) electronic digital readout of displacement in inches in addition to the usual gear driven mechanical counter-dial readout in decibels. The attenuator is rack-mountable and has the input and output RF connectors in a fixed position. The attenuation rate for 55, 50, and 30 MHz operation is given along with a discussion of sources of errors. In addition, information is included to aid the user in making adjustments on the attenuator should it be damaged or disassembled for any reason.

Cook, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

X-33 Integrated Test facility, Extended Range Simulation

In support of the X-33 Single Stage To Orbit program, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center was selected to provide continuous communications coverage of the X-33 vehicle from launch, through landing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana and Michaels Army Air Field, Utah. An extensive real-time range simulation capability is being developed to ensure successful communications with the autonomous X-33 vehicle. This paper will provide an overview of the various levels of simulation being developed to support the X-33 extended range subsystems. These subsystems include the Flight Termination System, L-Band command uplink subsystem and the S-Band telemetry downlink subsystem. In addition, the radar model developed provides continuous azimuth, elevation and range information based on the flight trajectory. The Dynamic Ground Station Analysis model developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, calculate the received signal strength at each ground station. This model takes into consideration Radio Frequency (RF) link parameters such as frequency, antenna gain, space loss, plasma effects and the vehicle's position and attitude at any point in time during the flight path. All three RF links are then attenuated based on this calculated level and the RF signals are sent into telemetry receivers to emulate remote sites, or the power incident on the vehicle from uplinked signals. The best source received telemetry data is then passed back to the Launch and Mission Control Monitoring System (LMCMS) resident in the Operations Control Center. The LMCMS also provides the range simulation system the uplink command combined with differential GPS corrections. Later stages will require the progressive integration of actual range hardware with this simulation effort, leading to communication between telemetry, uplink and FTS antennas at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, with vehicle antennas mounted on the Walter C. Williams Research Aircraft Integration Facility (RAIF). Decommutated Pulse Code Modulated (PCM) data is displayed on one of the four monitors that comprise the Range Safety Officer's (RSO) station. Also displayed are instantaneous impact prediction models, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data for notification of other traffic in the area. Aside from initiating the flight termination command and validating communication links, the RSO station with the range simulation will be used to provide both range control and range safety officers training. The training is necessary to perform their respective functions with greater levels of confidence prior to first flight.

Sharma, Ashley↗
DOE OSTI2023

Verification and validation of the open-source plasma fluid code: Zapdos

Zapdos is an open-source finite element plasma fluid solver based on the MOOSE multiphysics framework. This paper outlines Zapdos verification, benchmarking, and validation efforts for 1D and 2D RF capacitively coupled plasma discharge models for mid-range pressures (0.1 - 1 Torr). The verification process involved using the method of manufactured solutions to assess Zapdos spatial and temporal error convergence. L2 errors ranged from 10 -2 to 10 -4 , while the convergence’s slope were in agreement with the predicted slopes for the tested variable and time integration orders. The benchmarking process involved comparisons to previously results from the validated finite element code, LSODI. These works included 1D and 2D simulations for a range of plasma parameters (densities, temperatures, voltage, etc.). For the 1D cases, Zapdos and LSODI results were in very good agreement. In the 2D cases, variable behaviors matched, with slight discrepancies in peak values. The validation process involved comparisons to experimental works including electron density measurements by microwave interferometry and metastable density measurements by planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging. Results shown reasonable agreement at higher pressure, with results starting to diverge at low pressures. Furthermore, probable causes for this diverges are the limitation of the fluid assumption for plasmas at low pressure, or the need for more robust boundary conditions. Overall, Zapdos shown reasonable results for the verification, benchmarking, and validation efforts, and Zapdos can be downloaded at https://github.com/shannon-lab/zapdos.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Ultra-Short Electron Bunch and X-Ray Temporal Diagnostics with an X-Band Transverse Deflector

The measurement of ultra-short electron bunches on the femtosecond time scale constitutes a very challenging problem. In X-ray free-electron laser facilities such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), generation of sub-ten femtosecond X-ray pulses is possible, and some efforts have been put into both ultra-short electron and X-ray beam diagnostics. Here we propose a single-shot method using a transverse rf deflector (X-band) after the undulator to reconstruct both the electron bunch and X-ray temporal profiles. Simulation studies show that about 1 fs (rms) time resolution may be achievable in the LCLS and is applicable to a wide range of FEL wavelengths and pulse lengths. The jitter, resolution and other related issues will be discussed. The successful operation of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), with its capability of generating free-electron laser (FEL) X-ray pulses from a few femtoseconds (fs) up to a few hundred fs, opens up vast opportunities for studying atoms and molecules on this unprecedented ultrashort time scale. However, tremendous challenges remain in the measurement and control of these ultrashort pulses with femtosecond precision, for both the electron beam (e-beam) and the X-ray pulses. For ultrashort e-beam bunch length measurements, a standard method has been established at LCLS using an S-band radio-frequency (rf) deflector, which works like a streak camera for electrons and is capable of resolving bunch lengths as short as {approx} 10 fs rms. However, the e-beam with low charges of 20 pC at LCLS, which is expected to be less than 10 fs in duration, is too short to be measured using this transverse deflector. The measurement of the electron bunch length is helpful in estimating the FEL X-ray pulse duration. However, for a realistic beam, such as that with a Gaussian shape or even a spiky profile, the FEL amplification varies along the bunch due to peak current or emittance variation. This will cause differences between the temporal shape or duration of the electron bunch and the X-ray pulse. Initial experiments at LCLS have revealed that characterization of the X-ray pulse duration on a shot-by-shot basis is critical for the interpretation of the data. However, a reliable x-ray pulse temporal diagnostic tool is not available so far at the LCLS. We propose a novel method in this paper to characterize the FEL X-ray pulse duration and shape. A transverse rf deflector is used in conjunction with an e-beam energy spectrometer, located after the FEL undulator. By measuring the difference in the e-beam longitudinal phase space between FEL-on and FEL-off, we can obtain the time-resolved energy loss and energy spread induced from the FEL radiation, allowing the FEL X-ray temporal shape to be reconstructed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1998

Stability and Phase Noise Tests of Two Cryo-Cooled Sapphire Oscillators

A cryocooled Compensated Sapphire Oscillator (CSO), developed for the Cassini Ka-band Radio Science experiment, and operating in the 8K - 10K temperature range was previously demonstrated to show ultra-high stability of sigma(sub y) = 2.5 x 10 (exp -15) for measuring times 200 seconds less than or equal to tau less than or equal to 600 seconds using a hydrogen maser as reference. We present here test results for a second unit which allows CSO short-term stability and phase noise to be measured for the first time. Also included are design details of a new RF receiver and an intercomparison with the first CSO unit. Cryogenic oscillators operating below about 10K offer the highest possible short term stability of any frequency sources. However, their use has so far been restricted to research environments due to the limited operating periods associated with liquid helium consumption. The cryocooled CSO is being built in support of the Cassini Ka-band Radio Science experiment and is designed to operate continuously for periods of a year or more. Performance targets are a stability of 3-4 x 10 (exp -15) (1 second less than or equal to tau less than or equal to 100 seconds) and phase noise of -73dB/Hz @ 1Hz measured at 34 GHz. Installation in 5 stations of NASA's deep space network (DSN) is planned in the years 2000 - 2002. In the previous tests, actual stability of the CSO for measuring times tau less than or equal to 200 seconds could not be directly measured, being masked by short-term fluctuations of the H-maser reference. Excellent short-term performance, however, could be inferred by the success of an application of the CSO as local oscillator (L.O.) to the JPL LITS passive atomic standard, where medium-term stability showed no degradation due to L.O. instabilities at a level of (sigma)y = 3 x 10 (exp -14)/square root of tau. A second CSO has now been constructed, and all cryogenic aspects have been verified, including a resonator turn-over temperature of 7.907 K, and Q of 7.4 x 10 (exp 8). These values compare to a turn-over of 8.821 K and Q of 1.0 x 10 (exp 9) for the first resonator. Operation of this second unit provides a capability to directly verify for the first time the short-term (1 second less than or equal to tau less than or equal to 200 seconds) stability and the phase noise of the CSO units. The RF receiver used in earlier tests was sufficient to meet Cassini requirements for tau greater than or equal to 10 seconds but had short-term stability limited to 2-4 x 10 (exp -14) at tau = 1 second, a value 10 times too high to meet our requirements. A new low-noise receiver has been designed to provide approximately equal to 10-15 performance at 1 second, and one receiver is now operational, demonstrating again short-term CSO performance with H maser-limited stability. Short-term performance was degraded in the old receiver due to insufficient tuning bandwidth in a 100MHZ quartz VCO that was frequency-locked to the cryogenic sapphire resonator. The new receivers are designed for sufficient bandwidth, loop gain and low noise to achieve the required performance.

Dick, G. John↗
DOE OSTI2012

Improvement of microwave feeding on a large bore ECRIS with permanent magnets by using coaxial semi-dipole antenna

We are constructing a tandem type electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source (ECRIS). The first stage of this ECRIS has a large-bore with cylindrically comb-shaped permanent magnets. 2.45GHz and 11-13GHz microwaves can be supplied individually and simultaneously to the plasma chamber. For 2.45GHz, a coaxial semi-dipole antenna is used to feed the microwaves. In previous experiments, there were two problems encountered when running the 2.45GHz microwaves. High incident power was necessary to keep ECR discharge at low operating pressure because of high reflected microwave power. The surface of a support insulator between the inner and the outer electrodes of coaxial semi-dipole antenna was easily metalized by sputtering of the metal wall inside the chamber. The purpose of this study was to solve these problems. Performing several simulation experiments supports the hypothesis that the position of the support insulator is significant for microwave power efficiency. The end result was the ability to sustain ECR discharges at extremely low incident microwave power, several tens of watts, by optimized matching of the position and shape of the insulator.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Langmuir probe diagnostics of plasma in high current electron cyclotron resonance proton ion source

A high current Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) proton ion source has been developed for low energy high intensity proton accelerator at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Langmuir probe diagnostics of the plasma generated in this proton ion source is performed using Langmuir probe. The diagnostics of plasma in the ion source is important as it determines beam parameters of the ion source, i.e., beam current, emittance, and available species. The plasma parameter measurement in the ion source is performed in continuously working and pulsed mode using hydrogen as plasma generation gas. The measurement is performed in the ECR zone for operating pressure and microwave power range of 10{sup −4}–10{sup −3} mbar and 400–1000 W. An automated Langmuir probe diagnostics unit with data acquisition system is developed to measure these parameters. The diagnostics studies indicate that the plasma density and plasma electron temperature measured are in the range 5.6 × 10{sup 10} cm{sup −3} to 3.8 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −3} and 4–14 eV, respectively. Using this plasma, ion beam current of tens of mA is extracted. The variations of plasma parameters with microwave power, gas pressure, and radial location of the probe have been studied.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Note: Production of a mercury beam with an electron cyclotron resonance ion source

An electron cyclotron resonance ion source has been utilized to produce mercury beams with intensities of 4.5 eμA of {sup 202}Hg{sup 29+} and 3.0 eμA of {sup 202}Hg{sup 31+} from natural abundance mercury metal. The production technique relies on the evaporation of liquid mercury into the source plasma vacuum region and utilizes elemental mercury instead of a volatile organic compound as the neutral feed material.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Metallic beam development for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beam

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) will accelerate a primary ion beam to energies beyond 200 MeV/u using a superconducting RF linac and will reach a maximum beam power of 400 kW on the fragmentation target. The beam intensity needed from the ECR ion source is expected to be between 0.4 and 0.5 emA for most medium mass to heavy mass elements. Adding to the challenge of reaching the required intensity, an expanded list of primary beams of interest has been established based on the production rate and the number of isotope beams that could be produced with FRIB. We report here on the development done for some of the beam in the list including mercury (natural), molybdenum ({sup 98}Mo), and selenium ({sup 82}Ser)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Observation of radio frequency ring-shaped hollow cathode discharge plasma with MgO and Al electrodes for plasma processing

Various high-density plasma sources have been proposed for plasma processing. Especially, the hollow cathode discharge is one of the powerful ones. In this work, radio-frequency (RF) driven ring-shaped hollow cathode discharges with high secondary-electron emission have been investigated, using an aluminum (Al) cathode, coated or not with magnesium oxide (MgO). The thickness of MgO thin film is approximately 200 nm. The RF discharge voltage for the coated cathode is almost the same as that for the uncoated one, in a wide range of Ar gas pressure, from 5.3 to 53.2 Pa. The results reveal that the plasma density has a peak at an Ar gas pressure of 10.6 Pa for both cathodes. The plasma density for the coated cathode is about 1.5–3 times higher than that for the uncoated one, at various gas pressures. To the contrary, the electron temperature for the coated cathode is lower than temperature obtained with the uncoated cathode, at various gas pressures. Radial profiles of electron saturation current, which is proportional to plasma flux, are also examined for a wide range of gas pressure. Radial profiles of electron temperature at various axial positions are almost uniform for both cathodes so that the diffusion process due to density gradient is dominant for plasma transport. The secondary electrons emitted from the coated cathode contribute to the improvement of the plasma flux radial profile obtained using the uncoated cathode.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

LLRF Control of High Loaded-Q Cavities for the LCLS-II

The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is planning an upgrade (LCLS-II) to the Linear Coherent Light Source with a 4 GeV CW Superconducting Radio Frequency (SCRF) linac. The nature of the machine places stringent requirements in the Low-Level RF (LLRF) system, expected to control the cavity fields within 0.01 degrees in phase and 0.01% in amplitude, which is equivalent to a longitudinal motion of the cavity structure in the nanometer range. This stability has been achieved in the past but never for hundreds of superconducting cavities in Continuous-Wave (CW) operation. The difficulty resides in providing the ability to reject disturbances from the cryomodule, which is incompletely known as it depends on the cryomodule structure itself (currently under development at JLab and Fermilab) and the harsh accelerator environment. Previous experience in the field and an extrapolation to the cavity design parameters (relatively high Q_{L}c≈ 4×10⁷ , implying a half-bandwidth of around 16 Hz) suggest the use of strong RF feedback to reject the projected noise disturbances, which in turn demands careful engineering of the entire system.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Beam formation in the alternative JLEIC ion complex

The proposed alternative design approach for the JLab-EIC (JLEIC) ion complex uses a more compact linac and pre-booster, and consolidates the electron storage ring (ering) as a large booster for the ions. Following a parameter study showing the feasibility of this design approach, we have adapted the e-ring lattice by adding RF sections to accelerate ion beams. In this study, we focus on the transverse beam formation for protons and lead ions from the ion source to collision point including the linac, pre-booster, e-ring and collider ring. Effects such as stripping injection, space charge, intra-beam scattering and beam cooling determine the total charge accumulated in each ring and the final luminosity of the collider.

Mustapha, Brahim↗
DOE OSTI2019

LCLS-II Cryomodules Production Experience and Lessons Learned at Fermilab

LCLS-II is a planned upgrade project for the linear co-herent light source (LCLS) at SLAC. The LCLS-II Linac will consist of thirty-five 1.3 GHz and two 3.9 GHz super-conducting RF continuous wave (CW) cryomodules that Fermilab and Jefferson Lab are currently producing in collaboration with SLAC. The LCLS-II 1.3 GHz cryomodule design is based on the European XFEL pulsed-mode cryomodule design with modifications needed for CW opera-tion. Two prototype cryomodules had been assembled and tested. After prototype cryomodule tests, both laboratories have increased their cryomodule production rate to meet the challenging LCLS-II project installation schedule requirements of approximately one cryomodule per month per laboratory. To date, Fermilab has completed the assembly and testing of eighteen 1.3GHz cryomodules. Fermilab has successfully shipped nine cryomodules to SLAC and will continue to ship approximately every two weeks. The first 3.9 GHz cryomodule assembly is scheduled to start in June 2019. Production readiness verifications are currently in process. This paper presents LCLS-II 1.3GHz cryomodule assembly and production experience, emphasizing the challenges, mitigations, and lessons learned.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The feasibility of electron beam slip stacking in EIC Rapid Cycling Synchrotron

Announced in 2020, the Electron Ion Collider will be constructed at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) by modifying the existing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) facility. Among the alterations include the installation of an electron storage ring (ESR) and a Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) in the existing RHIC tunnel. The RCS will accelerate polarized electrons from 400MeV to 5GeV,10GeV and 18 GeV and transfer it to the ESR. The LINAC source produces 7nC per shot meanwhile the RCS requires 28nC per bunch of charge. Currently, it is planned to inject 4 bunches into adjacent RF buckets and then merge them into a single RF bucket using fields from several RF cavities. However, this requires a kicker with an exceptionally fast rise and fall time to inject into adjacent RF bucket without disturbing the existing circulating bunch and this requires harmonic RF kickers. Our study focuses on determining the feasibility of an alternate particle injection method that will utilize slip stacking, a method that accommodates the circulation of multiple beams with different momentum in the same azimuthal space of the beampipe, thus permitting the accumulation of charge from several shots into a single RF bucket. We find the momentum aperture required for slip stacking using current RCS beam parameters exceeds the RCS’s momentum deviation limit,dp/p = 1.5%. We determine the appropriate dimensions the beam must have to enable slip stacking and conduct a literature review of slip stacking schemes in other facilities. The literature review tentatively indicates that slip stacking has not been attempted on electron beams at a major accelerator facility.. The slip stacking approach has the potential to save the cost of the harmonic RF kicker and bunch merging cavities.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ion Manipulation from Liquid Xe to Vacuum: Ba-Tagging for a nEXO Upgrade and Future 0 νββ Experiments

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0𝜈𝛽𝛽) provides a way to probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The upcoming nEXO experiment will search for 0𝜈𝛽𝛽 decay in 136 Xe with a projected half-life sensitivity exceeding 10 28 years at the 90% confidence level using a liquid xenon (LXe) Time Projection Chamber (TPC) filled with 5 tonnes of Xe enriched to ∼90% in the 𝛽𝛽-decaying isotope 136 Xe. In parallel, a potential future upgrade to nEXO is being investigated with the aim to further suppress radioactive backgrounds and to confirm 𝛽𝛽-decay events. This technique, known as Ba-tagging, comprises extracting and identifying the 𝛽𝛽-decay daughter 136 Ba ion. One tagging approach being pursued involves extracting a small volume of LXe in the vicinity of a potential 𝛽𝛽-decay using a capillary tube and facilitating a liquid-to-gas phase transition by heating the capillary exit. The Ba ion is then separated from the accompanying Xe gas using a radio-frequency (RF) carpet and RF funnel, conclusively identifying the ion as 136 Ba via laser-fluorescence spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Simultaneously, an accelerator-driven Ba ion source is being developed to validate and optimize this technique. The motivation for the project, the development of the different aspects, along with the current status and results, are discussed here.

a-tagging↗
NASA NTRS2018

Preliminary Assessment of Detection Efficiency for the Geostationary Lightning Mapper Using Intercomparisons with Ground-Based Systems

As part of the calibration/validation (cal/val) effort for the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on GOES-16, we need to assess instrument performance (detection efficiency and accuracy). One major effort is to calculate the detection efficiency of GLM by comparing to multiple ground-based systems. These comparisons will be done pair-wise between GLM and each other source. A complication in this process is that the ground-based systems sense different properties of the lightning signal than does GLM (e.g., RF vs. optical). Also, each system has a different time and space resolution and accuracy. Preliminary results indicate that GLM is performing at or above its specification.

GL↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Improvements to the Simulated CubeSpark Satellite Constellation and Their Effects on Lightning Geolocation Accuracy from Orbit

The CubeSpark mission concept is being developed as a constellation of up to six satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) for high resolution 3D lightning mapping using optical and radio frequency (RF) sensors. Individual lightning VHF signals are simulated from Earth’s atmosphere through the ionosphere to each satellite, using their arrival times to reconstruct source locations. Here we present recent updates to these simulations based on improved ionospheric modeling, with a focus on the expected three-dimensional resolution. These studies include testing from the equator up to high latitudes, with varying vertical total electron content (vTEC), and using between one and six orbiting stations. In addition to the more robust ionosphere model, the constellation formation has also been updated to reduce its resulting errors and increase the effective range of VHF geolocation from space. The goals of CubeSpark include mapping thundercloud charge structure as well as lightning channel lengths relevant to climatology, meteorology, and more. These applications require location uncertainty less than 1-2 km in each dimension. This improved algorithm shows sufficient resolution up to high latitudes, including significantly larger areas having 3D resolution less than 1 km. Analysis of the distributions of biases in simulated arrival times has also revealed the unexpected relationship between the shape of those distributions and the resulting uncertainties. This work helps to refine our understanding of the sources of error in lightning geolocation and reinforces the potential for post-processing improvements in this and other similar systems.

Lightning↗
NASA NTRS1991

Atomic oxygen beam source for erosion simulation

A device for the production of low energy (3 to 10 eV) neutral atomic beams for surface modification studies is described that reproduces the flux of atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit. The beam is produced by the acceleration of plasma ions onto a negatively biased plate of high-Z metal; the ions are neutralized and reflected by the surface, retaining some fraction of their incident kinetic energy, forming a beam of atoms. The plasma is generated by a coaxial RF exciter which produces a magnetically-confined (4 kG) plasma column. At the end of the column, ions fall through the sheath to the plate, whose bias relative to the plasma can be varied to adjust the beam energy. The source provides a neutral flux approximately equal to 5 x 10(exp 16)/sq cm at a distance of 9 cm and a fluence approximately equal to 10(exp 20)/sq cm in five hours. The composition and energy of inert gas beams was diagnosed using a mass spectometer/energy analyzer. The energy spectra of the beams demonstrate energies in the range 5 to 15 eV, and qualitatively show expected dependences upon incident and reflecting atom species and potential drop. Samples of carbon film, carbon-based paint, Kapton, mylar, and teflon exposed to atomic O beams show erosion quite similar to that observed in orbit on the space shuttle.

Cuthbertson, J. W.↗