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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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

The effect of substrate on thermodynamic and kinetic anisotropies in atomic thin films

Glasses have a wide range of technological applications. The recent discovery of ultrastable glasses that are obtained by depositing the vapor of a glass-forming liquid onto the surface of a cold substrate has sparked renewed interest in the effects of confinements on physicochemical properties of liquids and glasses. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study the effect of substrate on thin films of a model glass-forming liquid, the Kob-Andersen binary Lennard-Jones system, and compute profiles of several thermodynamic and kinetic properties across the film. We observe that the substrate can induce large oscillations in profiles of thermodynamic properties such as density, composition, and stress, and we establish a correlation between the oscillations in total density and the oscillations in normal stress. We also demonstrate that the kinetic properties of an atomic film can be readily tuned by changing the strength of interactions between the substrate and the liquid. Most notably, we show that a weakly attractive substrate can induce the emergence of a highly mobile region in its vicinity. In this highly mobile region, structural relaxation is several times faster than in the bulk, and the exploration of the potential energy landscape is also more efficient. In the subsurface region near a strongly attractive substrate, however, the dynamics is decelerated and the sampling of the potential energy landscape becomes less efficient than the bulk. We explain these two distinct behaviors by establishing a correlation between the oscillations in kinetic properties and the oscillations in lateral stress. Our findings offer interesting opportunities for designing better substrates for the vapor deposition process or developing alternative procedures for situations where vapor deposition is not feasible.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of nickel grid parameters on production of negative hydrogen ions

Negative hydrogen ions are produced by plasma-assisted catalytic ionization using a nickel grid. When positive ions passing through the grid are decelerated by an electric field, the extraction current density of passing positive ions is sharply reduced by neutralization and negative ionization of the ions. This phenomenon is found to depend on the specific surface area of the grid and the current density.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multiple-view spectrally resolved x-ray imaging observations of polar-direct-drive implosions on OMEGA

We present spatially, temporally, and spectrally resolved narrow- and broad-band x-ray images of polar-direct-drive (PDD) implosions on OMEGA. These self-emission images were obtained during the deceleration phase and bang time using several multiple monochromatic x-ray imaging instruments fielded along two or three quasi-orthogonal lines-of-sight, including equatorial and polar views. The instruments recorded images based on K-shell lines from a titanium tracer located in the shell as well as continuum emission. These observations constitute the first such data obtained for PDD implosions. The image data show features attributed to laser imprinting and zero-order hydrodynamics. Equatorial-view images show a “double bun” structure that is consistent with synthetic images obtained from post-processing 2D and 3D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of the experiment. Polar-view images show a pentagonal, petal pattern that correlates with the PDD laser illumination used on OMEGA, thus revealing a 3D aspect of PDD OMEGA implosions not previously observed. Differences are noted with respect to a PDD experiment performed at National Ignition Facility.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of particles attachment to multi-sized dust grains present in electrostatic sheaths of discharge plasmas

The loss of electrons and ions due to their attachment to a Gauss-distributed sizes of dust grains present in electrostatic sheaths of discharge plasmas is investigated. A uni-dimensional, unmagnetized, and stationary multi-fluid model is proposed. Forces acting on the dust grain along with its charge are self-consistently calculated, within the limits of the orbit motion limited model. The dynamic analysis of dust grains shows that the contribution of the neutral drag force in the net force acting on the dust grain is negligible, whereas the contribution of the gravity force is found considerable only for micrometer particles. The dust grains trapping is only possible when the electrostatic force is balanced by the ion drag and the gravity forces. This trapping occurs for a limited radius interval of micrometer dust grains, which is around the most probable dust grain radius. The effect of electron temperature and ion density at the sheath edge is also discussed. It is shown that the attachment of particles reduces considerably the sheath thickness and induces dust grain deceleration. The increase of the lower limit as well as the upper limit of the dust radius reduces also the sheath thickness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Linear and nonlinear effect of sheared plasma flow on resistive tearing modes

The effect of sheared plasma flow on the m/n = 2/1 tearing mode is studied numerically (m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers). It is found that in the linear phase the plasma flow with a weak or moderate shear plays a stabilizing effect on tearing mode. However, the mode is driven to be more unstable by sufficiently strong sheared flow when approaching the shear Alfvén resonance (AR). In the nonlinear phase, a moderate (strong) sheared flow leads to a smaller (larger) saturated island width. The stabilization of tearing modes by moderate shear plasma flow is enhanced for a larger plasma viscosity and a lower Alfvén velocity. It is also found that in the nonlinear phase AR accelerates the plasma rotation around the 2/1 rational surface but decelerates it at the AR location, and the radial location satisfying AR spreads inwards towards the magnetic axis.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

First multicharged ion irradiation results from the CUEBIT facility at Clemson University

A new electron beam ion trap (EBIT) based ion source and beamline were recently commissioned at Clemson University to produce decelerated beams of multi- to highly-charged ions for surface and materials physics research. This user facility is the first installation of a DREEBIT-designed superconducting trap and ion source (EBIS-SC) in the U.S. and includes custom-designed target preparation and irradiation setups. An overview of the source, beamline, and other facilities as well as results from first measurements on irradiated targets are discussed here. Results include extracted charge state distributions and first data on a series of irradiated metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device targets. For the MOS devices, we show that voltage-dependent capacitance can serve as a record of the electronic component of ion stopping power for an irradiated, encapsulated oxide target.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dynamics of neutrals and ions in an ultrafast laser produced Zn plasma

Optical time of flight dynamics of neutrals and ions in an ultrafast laser produced zinc plasma generated by irradiating a solid zinc target using 100 fs laser pulses is investigated. An acceleration of ions is observed which arises from internal Coulomb forces acting between charged species in the plasma. Some of the fast ions recombine with electrons in the plasma and generate fast neutrals. Plasma plume imaging performed at various ambient pressures indicates adiabatic expansion at lower pressures and plume front deceleration at higher pressures: at lower pressures the plume front-time (R-t) plot displays a linear expansion, shock wave model fits to the data at 5 Torr and at higher pressures the data fits better to the drag model. Furthermore, around an intermediate pressure of 10 Torr, the R-t plot fits to the shock wave model at earlier stages of plasma expansion, while it fits to the drag model at the later stages. These investigations provide relevant information on the acceleration of ions and neutrals in an expanding zinc plasma plume produced by ultrafast laser pulses.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetohydrodynamic structure of a plasmoid in fast reconnection in low-beta plasmas: Shock-shock interactions

The shock structure of a plasmoid in magnetic reconnection in low-beta plasmas is investigated by two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Using a high-accuracy code with unprecedented resolution, shocks, discontinuities, and their intersections are resolved and clarified. Contact discontinuities emanate from triple-shock intersection points, separating fluids of different origins. Shock-diamonds inside the plasmoid appear to decelerate a supersonic flow. New shock-diamonds and a slow expansion fan are found inside the Petschek outflow. A sufficient condition for the new shock-diamonds and the relevance to astrophysical jets are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Numerical investigation on target implosions driven by radiation ablation and shock compression in dynamic hohlraums

In a dynamic hohlraum driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) configuration, the target may experience two different kinds of implosions. One is driven by hohlraum radiation ablation, which is approximately symmetric at the equator and poles. The second is caused by the radiating shock produced in Z-pinch dynamic hohlraums, only taking place at the equator. To gain a symmetrical target implosion driven by radiation ablation and avoid asymmetric shock compression is a crucial issue in driving ICF using dynamic hohlraums. It is known that when the target is heated by hohlraum radiation, the ablated plasma will expand outward. The pressure in the shocked converter plasma qualitatively varies linearly with the material temperature. However, the ablation pressure in the ablated plasma varies with 3.5 power of the hohlraum radiation temperature. Therefore, as the hohlraum temperature increases, the ablation pressure will eventually exceed the shock pressure, and the expansion of the ablated plasma will obviously weaken the shock propagation and decrease its velocity after propagating into the ablator plasma. Consequently, longer time duration is provided for the symmetrical target implosion driven by radiation ablation. In this paper these processes are numerically investigated by changing drive currents or varying load parameters. The simulation results show that a critical hohlraum radiation temperature is needed to provide a high enough ablation pressure to decelerate the shock, thus providing long enough time duration for the symmetric fuel compression driven by radiation ablation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rotationally inelastic scattering of OH by molecular hydrogen: Theory and experiment

We present an experimental and theoretical investigation of rotationally inelastic transitions of OH, prepared in the X{sup 2}Π, v = 0, j = 3/2 F{sub 1}f level, in collisions with molecular hydrogen (H{sub 2} and D{sub 2}). In a crossed beam experiment, the OH radicals were state selected and velocity tuned over the collision energy range 75–155 cm{sup −1} using a Stark decelerator. Relative parity-resolved state-to-state integral cross sections were determined for collisions with normal and para converted H{sub 2}. These cross sections, as well as previous OH–H{sub 2} measurements at 595 cm{sup −1} collision energy by Schreel and ter Meulen [J. Chem. Phys. 105, 4522 (1996)], and OH–D{sub 2} measurements for collision energies 100–500 cm{sup −1} by Kirste et al. [Phys. Rev. A 82, 042717 (2010)], were compared with the results of quantum scattering calculations using recently determined ab initio potential energy surfaces [Ma et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 174309 (2014)]. Good agreement between the experimental and computed relative cross sections was found, although some structure seen in the OH(j = 3/2 F{sub 1}f → j = 5/2 F{sub 1}e) + H{sub 2}(j = 0) cross section is not understood.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Resonances in rotationally inelastic scattering of NH{sub 3} and ND{sub 3} with H{sub 2}

We present theoretical studies on the scattering resonances in rotationally inelastic collisions of NH{sub 3} and ND{sub 3} molecules with H{sub 2} molecules. We use the quantum close-coupling method to compute state-to-state integral and differential cross sections for the NH{sub 3}/ND{sub 3}–H{sub 2} system for collision energies between 5 and 70 cm{sup −1}, using a previously reported potential energy surface [Maret et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 399, 425 (2009)]. We identify the resonances as shape or Feshbach resonances. To analyze these, we use an adiabatic bender model, as well as examination at the scattering wave functions and lifetimes. The strength and width of the resonance peaks suggest that they could be observed in a crossed molecular beam experiment involving a Stark-decelerated NH{sub 3} beam.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of kinetic energy on the doping efficiency of cesium cations into superfluid helium droplets

We present an experimental investigation of the effect of kinetic energy on the ion doping efficiency of superfluid helium droplets using cesium cations from a thermionic emission source. The kinetic energy of Cs{sup +} is controlled by the bias voltage of a collection grid collinearly arranged with the droplet beam. Efficient doping from ions with kinetic energies from 20 eV up to 480 V has been observed in different sized helium droplets. The relative ion doping efficiency is determined by both the kinetic energy of the ions and the average size of the droplet beam. At a fixed source temperature, the number of doped droplets increases with increasing grid voltage, while the relative ion doping efficiency decreases. This result implies that not all ions are captured upon encountering with a sufficiently large droplet, a deviation from the near unity doping efficiency for closed shell neutral molecules. We propose that this drop in ion doping efficiency with kinetic energy is related to the limited deceleration rate inside a helium droplet. When the source temperature changes from 14 K to 17 K, the relative ion doping efficiency decreases rapidly, perhaps due to the lack of viable sized droplets. The size distribution of the Cs{sup +}-doped droplet beam can be measured by deflection and by energy filtering. The observed doped droplet size is about 5 × 10{sup 6} helium atoms when the source temperature is between 14 K and 17 K.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effective doping of low energy ions into superfluid helium droplets

We report a facile method of doping cations from an electrospray ionization (ESI) source into superfluid helium droplets. By decelerating and stopping the ion pulse of reserpine and substance P from an ESI source in the path of the droplet beam, about 10{sup 4} ion-doped droplets (one ion per droplet) can be recorded, corresponding to a pickup efficiency of nearly 1 out of 1000 ions. We attribute the success of this simple approach to the long residence time of the cations in the droplet beam. The resulting size of the doped droplets, on the order of 10{sup 5}/droplet, is measured using deflection and retardation methods. Our method does not require an ion trap in the doping region, which significantly simplifies the experimental setup and procedure for future spectroscopic and diffraction studies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of ion beam figuring system with electrostatic deflection for ultraprecise X-ray reflective optics

We developed an ion beam figuring system that utilizes electrostatic deflection. The system can produce an arbitrary shape by deterministically scanning the ion beam. The scan of the ion beam, which can be precisely controlled using only an electrical signal, enables us to avoid degradation of the mirror shape caused by imperfect acceleration or deceleration of a mechanically scanning stage. Additionally, this surface figuring method can easily be combined with X-ray metrology because the workpiece remains fixed during the figuring. We evaluated the figuring accuracy of the system by fabricating a plano-elliptical mirror for X-ray focusing. A mirror with a shape error of 1.4 nm root mean square (RMS) with a maximum removal depth of 992 nm, which corresponds to figuring accuracy of 0.14% RMS, was achieved. After the second shape corrections, an elliptical shape with a shape error of approximately 1 nm peak-to-valley, 0.48 nm RMS could be fabricated. Then, the mirror surface was smoothed by a low-energy ion beam. Consequently, a micro-roughness of 0.117 nm RMS, measured by atomic force microscopy, was achieved over an area of 1 × 1 μm{sup 2}.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Scattering of NH{sub 3} and ND{sub 3} with rare gas atoms at low collision energy

We present a theoretical study of elastic and rotationally inelastic collisions of NH{sub 3} and ND{sub 3} with rare gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) at low energy. Quantum close-coupling calculations have been performed for energies between 0.001 and 300 cm{sup −1}. We focus on collisions in which NH{sub 3} is initially in the upper state of the inversion doublet with j = 1, k = 1, which is the most relevant in an experimental context as it can be trapped electrostatically and Stark-decelerated. We discuss the presence of resonances in the elastic and inelastic cross sections, as well as the trends in the inelastic cross sections along the rare gas series and the differences between NH{sub 3} and ND{sub 3} as a colliding partner. We also demonstrate the importance of explicitly taking into account the umbrella (inversion) motion of NH{sub 3} in order to obtain accurate scattering cross sections at low collision energy. Finally, we investigate the possibility of sympathetic cooling of ammonia using cold or ultracold rare gas atoms. We show that some systems exhibit a large ratio of elastic to inelastic cross sections in the cold regime, which is promising for sympathetic cooling experiments. The close-coupling calculations are based on previously reported ab initio potential energy surfaces for NH{sub 3}–He and NH{sub 3}–Ar, as well as on new, four-dimensional, potential energy surfaces for the interaction of ammonia with Ne, Kr, and Xe, which were computed using the coupled-cluster method and large basis sets. We compare the properties of the potential energy surfaces corresponding to the interaction of ammonia with the various rare gas atoms.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermodynamic and kinetic anisotropies in octane thin films

Confinement breaks the translational symmetry of materials, making all thermodynamic and kinetic quantities functions of position. Such symmetry breaking can be used to obtain configurations that are not otherwise accessible in the bulk. Here, we use computer simulations to explore the effect of substrate-liquid interactions on thermodynamic and kinetic anisotropies induced by a solid substrate. We consider n-octane nano-films that are in contact with substrates with varying degrees of attraction, parameterized by an interaction parameter ϵ{sub S}. Complete freezing of octane nano-films is observed at low temperatures, irrespective of ϵ{sub S}, while at intermediate temperatures, a frozen monolayer emerges at solid-liquid and vapor-liquid interfaces. By carefully inspecting the profiles of translational and orientational relaxation times, we confirm that the translational and orientational degrees of freedom are decoupled at these frozen monolayers. At sufficiently high temperatures, however, free interfaces and solid-liquid interfaces close to loose (low-ϵ{sub S}) substrates undergo “pre-freezing,” characterized by mild peaks in several thermodynamic quantities. Two distinct dynamic regimes are observed at solid-liquid interfaces. The dynamics is accelerated in the vicinity of loose substrates, while sticky (high-ϵ{sub S}) substrates decelerate dynamics, sometimes by as much as two orders of magnitude. These two distinct dynamical regimes have been previously reported by Haji-Akbari and Debenedetti [J. Chem. Phys. 141, 024506 (2014)] for a model atomic glass-forming liquid. We also confirm the existence of two correlations—proposed in the above-mentioned work—in solid-liquid subsurface regions of octane thin films, i.e., a correlation between atomic density and normal stress, and between atomic translational relaxation time and lateral stress. Finally, we inspect the ability of different regions of an octane film to explore the potential energy landscape by performing inherent structure calculations, and observe no noticeable difference between the free surface and the bulk in efficiently exploring the potential energy landscape. This is unlike the films of model atomic glass formers that tend to sample their respective landscape more efficiently at free surfaces. We discuss the implications of this finding to the ability of octane—and other n-alkanes—to form ultrastable glasses.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multi-structured temporal behavior of neutral copper transitions in laser-produced plasma in the presence of variable transverse static magnetic field

We report on the effect of variable magnetic field on temporal behavior of neutral copper (Cu I) transitions in laser-produced copper plasma at atmospheric pressure using optical emission spectroscopy. In the presence of magnetic field, the intensity of copper atomic lines at 510.5, 515.3, and 521.8 nm gets enhanced due to increase in electron-impact excitation rate. The enhancement factor of the neutral lines is different due to different electron-impact excitation rates. We observed that the Cu I profile consists of two components recorded in the absence of magnetic field and at 0.1 T. At magnetic field of 0.3 T, the appearance of third slow component at delayed time, i.e., 122, 130, and 140 ns for Cu I (521.8, 515.3, and 510.5 nm) is also observed. We demonstrate that the generation of slow component is related to electron-impact excitation of Cu I atom rather than backflow particles and instabilities at atmospheric pressure. The instabilities generated during the plasma deceleration by magnetic field can be reduced in the presence of air at atmospheric pressure which will be applicable to enhance the sensitivity of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The fast component is least affected by the magnetic field due to longer magnetic diffusion time.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Shell stability and conditions analyzed using a new method of extracting shell areal density maps from spectrally resolved images of direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions

In warm target direct-drive ICF implosion experiments performed at the OMEGA laser facility, plastic microballoons doped with a titanium tracer layer in the shell and filled with deuterium gas were imploded using a low-adiabat shaped laser pulse. Continuum radiation emitted in the core is transmitted through the tracer layer and the resulting spectrum recorded with a gated multi-monochromatic x-ray imager (MMI). Titanium K-shell line absorption spectra observed in the data are due to transitions in L-shell titanium ions driven by the backlighting continuum. The MMI data consist of an array of spectrally resolved images of the implosion. These 2-D space-resolved titanium spectral features constrain the plasma conditions and areal density of the titanium doped region of the shell. The MMI data were processed to obtain narrow-band images and space resolved spectra of titanium spectral features. Shell areal density maps, ρL(x,y), extracted using a new method using both narrow-band images and space resolved spectra are confirmed to be consistent within uncertainties. We report plasma conditions in the titanium-doped region of electron temperature (T e ) = 400±28eV, electron number density (N e ) = 8.5x10 24 ±2.5x10 24 cm -3 , and average areal density <ρR> = 86±7mg/cm 2 . Fourier analysis of areal density maps reveals shell modulations caused by hydrodynamic instability growth near the fuel-shell interface in the deceleration phase. We observe significant structure in modes l = 2-9, dominated by l = 2. We extract a target breakup fraction of 7.1±1.5% from our Fourier analysis. A new method for estimating mix width is evaluated against existing literature and our target breakup fraction. We estimate a mix width of 10.5±1μm.

42 ENGINEERING↗