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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 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

A reliable, compact, and repetitive-rate high power microwave generation system

A compact high power microwave (HPM) generation system is described in this paper. The main parts of the HPM system are a Marx generator with a pulse forming line and a magnetron with diffraction output. The total weight and length of the system are 250 kg and 120 cm, respectively. The output microwave power of the HPM system at 550 kV of applied voltage and 0.33 T of magnetic field reaches 1 GW at 2.32 GHz of central frequency with 38 ns of pulse duration, 23% of power conversion efficiency, and Gaussian radiation pattern. In the bursts operation, both time and amplitude jitters are less than 4 ns and lower than 1.5 dB, respectively.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultra-compact and wide-spectrum-range thermo-optic switch based on silicon coupled photonic crystal microcavities

We design, fabricate, and experimentally demonstrate a compact thermo-optic gate switch comprising a 3.78 μm-long coupled L0-type photonic crystal microcavities on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. A nanohole is inserted in the center of each individual L0 photonic crystal microcavity. Coupling between identical microcavities gives rise to bonding and anti-bonding states of the coupled photonic molecules. The coupled photonic crystal microcavities are numerically simulated and experimentally verified with a 6 nm-wide flat-bottom resonance in its transmission spectrum, which enables wider operational spectrum range than microring resonators. An integrated micro-heater is in direct contact with the silicon core to efficiently drive the device. The thermo-optic switch is measured with an optical extinction ratio of 20 dB, an on-off switching power of 18.2 mW, a thermo-optic tuning efficiency of 0.63 nm/mW, a rise time of 14.8 μs, and a fall time of 18.5 μs. The measured on-chip loss on the transmission band is as low as 1 dB.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Curved noncommutative tori as Leibniz quantum compact metric spaces

We prove that curved noncommutative tori are Leibniz quantum compact metric spaces and that they form a continuous family over the group of invertible matrices with entries in the image of the quantum tori for the conjugation by modular conjugation operator in the regular representation, when this group is endowed with a natural length function.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Compact turnkey focussing neutron guide system for inelastic scattering investigations

We demonstrate the performance of a compact neutron guide module which boosts the intensity in inelastic neutron scattering experiments by approximately a factor of 40. The module consists of two housings containing truly curved elliptic focussing guide elements, positioned before and after the sample. The advantage of the module lies in the ease with which it may be reproducibly mounted on a spectrometer within a few hours, on the same timescale as conventional sample environments. It is particularly well suited for samples with a volume of a few mm{sup 3}, thus enabling the investigation of materials which to date would have been considered prohibitively small or samples exposed to extreme environments, where there are space constraints. We benchmark the excellent performance of the module by measurements of the structural and magnetic excitations in single crystals of model systems. In particular, we report the phonon dispersion in the simple element lead. We also determine the magnon dispersion in the spinel ZnCr{sub 2}Se{sub 4} (V = 12.5 mm{sup 3}), where strong magnetic diffuse scattering at low temperatures evolves into distinct helical order.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-mass twins & resolution of the reconfinement, masquerade and hyperon puzzles of compact star interiors

We aim at contributing to the resolution of three of the fundamental puzzles related to the still unsolved problem of the structure of the dense core of compact stars (CS): (i) the hyperon puzzle: how to reconcile pulsar masses of 2 M{sub ⊙} with the hyperon softening of the equation of state (EoS); (ii) the masquerade problem: modern EoS for cold, high density hadronic and quark matter are almost identical; and (iii) the reconfinement puzzle: what to do when after a deconfinement transition the hadronic EoS becomes favorable again? We show that taking into account the compositeness of baryons (by excluded volume and/or quark Pauli blocking) on the hadronic side and confining and stiffening effects on the quark matter side results in an early phase transition to quark matter with sufficient stiffening at high densities which removes all three present-day puzzles of CS interiors. Moreover, in this new class of EoS for hybrid CS falls the interesting case of a strong first order phase transition which results in the observable high mass twin star phenomenon, an astrophysical observation of a critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Design and performance of a compact scanning transmission X-ray microscope at the Photon Factory

We present a new compact instrument designed for scanning transmission X-ray microscopy. It has piezo-driven linear stages, making it small and light. Optical components from the virtual source point to the detector are located on a single optical table, resulting in a portable instrument that can be operated at a general-purpose spectroscopy beamline without requiring any major reconstruction. Careful consideration has been given to solving the vibration problem common to high-resolution microscopy, so as not to affect the spatial resolution determined by the Fresnel zone plate. Results on bacteriogenic iron oxides, single particle aerosols, and rare-earth permanent magnets are presented as examples of its performance under diverse applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Modeling of the L-shell copper X-pinch plasma produced by the compact generator of Ecole polytechnique using pattern recognition

Principal component analysis is applied and compared with the line ratios of special Ne-like transitions for investigating the electron beam effects on the L-shell Cu synthetic spectra. The database for the principal component extraction is created over a non Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (non-LTE) collisional radiative L-shell Copper model. The extracted principal components are used as a database for Artificial Neural Network in order to estimate the plasma electron temperature, density, and beam fractions from a representative time-integrated spatially resolved L-shell Cu X-pinch plasma spectrum. The spectrum is produced by the explosion of 25-μm Cu wires on a compact LC (40 kV, 200 kA, and 200 ns) generator. The modeled plasma electron temperatures are about T{sub e} ∼ 150 eV and N{sub e} = 5 × 10{sup 19} cm{sup −3} in the presence of the fraction of the beams with f ∼ 0.05 and a centered energy of ∼10 keV.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of a compact generator for gigawatt, nanosecond high-voltage pulses

A compact generator producing 2.2-ns 1.5 GW high-voltage pulses was developed. The generator employed a 27.6 Ω, 0.9 ns pulse-forming-line (PFL), which was charged by an iron core transformer with a turn ratio of 2:33.5 and a coefficient of 0.94. A 1.2 μF, 20 kV capacitor and a hydrogen thyratron were used in the primary circuit. When the thyratron closed at 14.5 kV, 3.4% of the energy stored in the capacitor was delivered to the PFL in 850 ns, producing a peak voltage of up to ∼500 kV. In addition, the principle of triple resonance transformation was employed by adding a 50 pF tuning capacitor and a 1.15 mH inductor between the transformer and the PFL, which led to a significant reduction of the duration and peak value of the transformer voltage without reducing that in the PFL. Meanwhile, an adjustable self-break oil switch was applied. By using transmission lines with impedance overmatched to that of the PFL, the generator delivered a 512 kV pulse across an electron beam diode, generating radiation with a dose of 20 mR/pulse at 20 cm ahead of the diode. The generator provides an excellent ultra-short radiation pulse source for the studies on radiation physics.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

A compact source for bunches of singly charged atomic ions

We have built, operated, and characterized a compact ion source for low-energy bunches of singly charged atomic ions in a vacuum beam line. It is based on atomic evaporation from an electrically heated oven and ionization by electron impact from a heated filament inside a grid-based ionization volume. An adjacent electrode arrangement is used for ion extraction and focusing by applying positive high-voltage pulses to the grid. The method is particularly suited for experimental environments which require low electromagnetic noise. It has proven simple yet reliable and has been used to produce μs-bunches of up to 10{sup 6} Mg{sup +} ions at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. We present the concept, setup and characterizing measurements. The instrument has been operated in the framework of the SpecTrap experiment at the HITRAP facility at GSI/FAIR to provide Mg{sup +} ions for sympathetic cooling of highly charged ions by laser-cooled {sup 24}Mg{sup +}.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Magnetic and magneto elastic properties of cobalt ferrite ceramic compacted through cold isostatic pressing

Nano crystalline CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} powder was prepared by combustion synthesis method. As synthesized powder was calcined at an appropriate condition to remove the impurities and to promote phase formation. Phase pure CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} powder was pressed into cylindrical rod at an applied pressure of 200 MPa using a cold isostatic pressing. Sintering of the green compact at 1350°c for 12 hrs resulted in sintered cylindrical rod with ~85% of the theoretical density. Single phase cubic spinel structure was observed in the powder x-ray diffraction pattern of the sintered pellet. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of the as sintered pellet revealed the microstructure to be composed of ferrite grains of average size ~4 µm. Saturation magnetization of 72 emu/g and coercivity of 355 Oe were observed for cobalt ferrite sample. The magnetostriction was measured on a circular disc (12 mm diameter and 12 mm length) with the strain gauge (350 Ω) mounted on the flat surface of the circular disc. Magnetostriciton of 180 ppm and strain derivative of 1 × 10{sup −9} m/A were observed for the sintered CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} sample.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Construction and experimental validation of a simple, compact, resealable, and reliable Vycor{sup ®} superleak assembly for use at low temperatures

A new method of constructing a superleak assembly for use in experiments involving {sup 4}He or {sup 3}He-{sup 4}He mixtures at very low temperatures is described. Superleaks are made of a porous medium with very small pores and channels. Superleaks are often incorporated in thermomechanical pumps, superfluid magnetic pumps, dilution refrigerators, and superfluid helium transfer systems. We used several cylindrical pieces of Vycor, a permeable glass with average pore diameter of 40 Å and porosity of 28%, as a candidate to be used in our superleak assembly. Our design is simple and compact. Our superleak assembly can be disassembled and easily reassembled for reuse. We successfully tested and validated this device at temperatures between 1.4 K and 2.7 K. We experienced no superfluid leaks into the surrounding vacuum. We also report that thermal cycling caused no performance degradation. It is our goal to share the design and construction techniques of this new superleak assembly.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Vacuum system of the compact Energy Recovery Linac

The compact Energy Recovery Linac (cERL), a test accelerator to establish important technologies demanded for future ERL-based light sources, was constructed in late 2013 at KEK. The accelerator was successfully commissioned in early 2014, and demonstrated beam circulation with energy recovery. In the cERL vacuum system, low-impedance vacuum components are required to circulate high-intensity, low-emittance and short-bunch electron beams. We therefore developed ultra-high-vacuum (UHV)-compatible flanges that can connect beam tubes seamlessly, and employed retractable beam monitors, namely, a movable Faraday cup and screen monitors. In most parts of the accelerator, pressures below 1×10{sup −7} Pa are required to mitigate beam-gas interactions. Particularly, near the photocathode electron gun and the superconducting (SC) cavities, pressures below 1×10{sup −8} Pa are required. The beam tubes in the sections adjoining the SC cavities were coated with non-evaporable getter (NEG) materials, to reduce gas condensation on the cryo-surfaces. During the accelerator commissioning, stray magnetic fields from the permanent magnets of some cold cathode gauges (CCGs) were identified as a source of the disturbance to the beam orbit. Magnetic shielding was specially designed as a remedy for this issue.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Soft x-ray spectromicroscopy using compact scanning transmission x-ray microscope at the photon factory

We report the stability and recent performances of a new type of scanning transmission X-ray microscopy. The optics and compact design of the microscope realized mobility and robust performance. Detailed consideration to the vibration control will be described. The insertion device upgraded to elliptical polarization undulator enabled linear dichroism and circular dichroism experiments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Generation of topologically diverse acoustic vortex beams using a compact metamaterial aperture

Here, we present a class of metamaterial-based acoustic vortex generators which are both geometrically simple and broadly tunable. The aperture overcomes the significant limitations of both active phasing systems and existing passive coded apertures. The metamaterial approach generates topologically diverse acoustic vortex waves motivated by recent advances in leaky wave antennas by wrapping the antenna back upon itself to produce an acoustic vortex wave antenna. We demonstrate both experimentally and analytically that this single analog structure is capable of creating multiple orthogonal orbital angular momentum modes using only a single transducer. The metamaterial design makes the aperture compact, with a diameter nearly equal to the excitation wavelength and can thus be easily integrated into high-density systems. Applications range from acoustic communications for high bit-rate multiplexing to biomedical devices such as microfluidic mixers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ultrathin triple-band polarization-insensitive wide-angle compact metamaterial absorber

In this study, the design, realization, and characterization of an ultrathin triple-band polarization-insensitive wide-angle metamaterial absorber are reported. The metamaterial absorber comprises a periodic array of modified six-fold symmetric snowflake-shaped resonators with strip spiral line load, which is printed on a dielectric substrate backed by a metal ground plane. It is shown that the absorber exhibits three distinct near-unity absorption peaks, which are distributed across C, X, Ku bands, respectively. Owing to the six-fold symmetry, the absorber is insensitive to the polarization of the incident radiation. In addition, the absorber shows excellent absorption performance over wide oblique incident angles for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations. Simulated surface current and field distributions at the three absorption peaks are demonstrated to understand the absorption mechanism. Particularly, the absorption modes come from the fundamental and high-order dipole resonances. Furthermore, the experimental verification of the designed absorber is conducted, and the measured results are in reasonable agreement with the simulated ones. The proposed ultrathin (∼0.018λ{sub 0}, λ{sub 0} corresponding to the lowest peak absorption frequency) compact (0.168λ{sub 0}×0.168λ{sub 0} corresponding to the area of a unit cell) absorber enables potential applications such as stealth technology, electromagnetic interference and spectrum identification.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Compact setup for the production of {sup 87}Rb |F = 2, m{sub F} = + 2〉 Bose-Einstein condensates in a hybrid trap

We present a compact experimental apparatus for Bose-Einstein condensation of {sup 87}Rb in the |F = 2, m{sub F} = + 2〉 state. A pre-cooled atomic beam of {sup 87}Rb is obtained by using an unbalanced magneto-optical trap, allowing controlled transfer of trapped atoms from the first vacuum chamber to the science chamber. Here, atoms are transferred to a hybrid trap, as produced by overlapping a magnetic quadrupole trap with a far-detuned optical trap with crossed beam configuration, where forced radiofrequency evaporation is realized. The final evaporation leading to Bose-Einstein condensation is then performed by exponentially lowering the optical trap depth. Control and stabilization systems of the optical trap beams are discussed in detail. The setup reliably produces a pure condensate in the |F = 2, m{sub F} = + 2〉 state in 50 s, which includes 33 s loading of the science magneto-optical trap and 17 s forced evaporation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Compact electret energy harvester with high power output

Compact electret energy harvesters, based on a design recently introduced, are presented. Using electret surface potentials in the 400 V regime and a seismic mass of 10 g, it was possible to generate output power up to 0.6 mW at 36 Hz for an input acceleration of 1 g. Following the presentation of an analytical model allowing for the calculation of the power generated in a load resistance at the resonance frequency of the harvesters, experimental results are shown and compared to theoretical predictions. Finally, the performance of the electret harvesters is assessed using a figure of merit.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

A compact neutron scatter camera for field deployment

Here, we describe a very compact (0.9 m high, 0.4 m diameter, 40 kg) battery operable neutron scatter camera designed for field deployment. Unlike most other systems, the configuration of the sixteen liquid-scintillator detection cells are arranged to provide omnidirectional (4π) imaging with sensitivity comparable to a conventional two-plane system. Although designed primarily to operate as a neutron scatter camera for localizing energetic neutron sources, it also functions as a Compton camera for localizing gamma sources. In addition to describing the radionuclide source localization capabilities of this system, we demonstrate how it provides neutron spectra that can distinguish plutonium metal from plutonium oxide sources, in addition to the easier task of distinguishing AmBe from fission sources.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗