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At least 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

DUNE Photon Detection System

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to provide a broad physics program primarily addressed to probing CP violation in the neutrino sector and identifying the neutrino mass hierarchy. The search for proton decay, the observation of supernova neutrino bursts, and the investigation of solar neutrinos represent other additional goals of DUNE experiment, which can be enhanced by the use and the high performances of the Photon Detection System (PDS). Using the technology based on liquid argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC), the experiment plans to observe neutrino interactions inside detectors located 1300 km away from the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), where the neutrinos are produced. The experiment consists of two main parts, respectively the far and near detectors. The far site will comprise four detector modules. The first module is constituted by a vertical drift single-phase LArTPC, while the second module provides a horizontal drift single-phase LArTPC. The configurations of the other modules are still under definition. Neutrino detection in LArTPCs is achieved by identifying the charge and light generated from its interactions with liquid argon. The wire planes of the instrumented anode and the PDS detect these signals, respectively. The PDS in the first two modules, detailed in the present document, uses a modified version of the so-called ARAPUCA technology, named X-ARAPUCA. This system consisting of a highly reflecting box with an entrance window made by dichroic filters and wavelength shifters, creates a trap to detect the VUV (128 nm) scintillation photons. The X-ARAPUCA of the first module is called Supercell, and it has dimensions of 488×100 mm 2 , while Megacell is the second module version, with an active area of 60×60 cm 2 . This latter configuration also represents a significant technological advancement. Since half of the modules are placed on the cathode at high voltage, they are powered and read out using innovative power-over-fiber (PoF) and signal-over-fiber (SoF) technologies. Meanwhile, the other half are installed in a membrane behind the field cage, with a total transparency of around 70%.

Neutrino detectors↗
DOE OSTI2025

Temperature-dependent characterization of large-area superconducting microwire array with single-photon sensitivity in the near-infrared

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) are a leading detector technology for time-resolved single-photon counting from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared regime. The recent advancement in single-photon sensitivity in micrometer-scale superconducting wires opens up promising opportunities to develop large area SNSPDs with applications in low background dark matter detection experiments. Here, we present the first detailed temperature-dependent study of a 4-channel 1×1 mm 2 WSi superconducting microwire single photon detector (SMSPD) array, including the internal detection efficiency, dark count rate, and importantly the coincident dark counts across pixels. The detector shows saturated internal detection efficiency for photon wavelengths ranging from 635 nm to 1650 nm, time jitter of about 160 ps for 1060 nm photons, and a low dark count rate of about 10 -2 Hz. Additionally, the coincidences of dark count rate across pixels are studied for the first time in detail, where we observed an excess of correlated dark counts, which has important implications for low background dark matter experiments. The results presented is the first step towards characterizing and developing SMSPD array systems and associated background for low background dark matter detection experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Readout electronics for low occupancy High-Pressure Gas TPCs

High-Pressure Gas Time Projection Chambers (HPgTPCs) have benefits such as low energy thresholds, magnetisability, and 4π acceptance, making them ideal for neutrino experiments such as DUNE. We present the design of an FPGA-based solution optimised for Gaseous Argon Near Detector (ND-GAr), which is part of the Phase-II more capable near detector for DUNE. These electronics reduce the cost significantly compared to using collider readout electronics, which are typically designed for much higher occupancy and therefore, for example, need much larger numbers of FPGAs and power per channel. We demonstrate the performance of our electronics with the Teststand for an Overpressurised Argon Detector (TOAD) at Fermilab in the US at a range of pressures and gas mixtures up to 4.5 barA, reading out ∼10 000 channels from a Multi-Wire Proportional Chamber (MWPC). The operation took place between April and July of 2024. We measure the noise characteristics of the system to be sufficiently low, and we identify sources of noise that can be further mitigated in the next iteration. We also note that the cooling scheme used in the test requires improvement before full-scale deployment. Despite these necessary improvements, we show that the system can fulfil the needs of a HPgTPC for a fraction of the price of collider readout electronics.

Data acquisition concepts↗
DOE OSTI2024

Uncertainty analysis of Raman spectra for measuring ortho-parahydrogen compositions

Determining ortho-parahydrogen compositions at cryogenic temperatures is an important quality control for liquid hydrogen custody exchange. High orthohydrogen compositions lead to an exothermic reaction resulting in increased boil off and increased venting losses of liquid hydrogen product by either the supplier or consumer. Traditional methods for measuring ortho-parahydrogen compositions such as hot-wire anemometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and infrared spectroscopy are typically inconvenient at best. As the number of cryogenic hydrogen systems continue to increase, there is an increased need for flexible, standardized techniques for post processing composition measurements. A Raman spectrometer implemented in the Cryo-Catalysis Hydrogen Experimental Facility (CHEF) has demonstrated incredible flexibility for composition measurements of cryogenic hydrogen flows through a wide range of temperatures and pressures with the Raman probe in-situ at cryogenic temperatures. This article analyzes the uncertainty of Raman spectroscopy data of cryogenic hydrogen equilibrated at temperatures in IONEX catalyst. Spectra from hydrogen catalyzed to the equilibrium ortho-parahydrogen composition are processed and compared to expected statistical distributions for method verification.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analysis of the thermal recovery of HTS cables after an overcurrent fault

High temperature superconducting (HTS) power transmission cables are cooled to operating temperatures typically below 80 K. A valuable feature of some HTS cables is that they can limit short-circuit fault currents, which can be more than ten times the maximum operating current of a cable. When a fault occurs the HTS wire is no longer superconducting and the heating which occurs will raise the temperature above the allowable operating point. To recover from the fault, the conductor must be cooled down before returning to service. The recovery is affected by the refrigeration system's performance which varies with load and temperature. A transient numerical model of an HTS cable is applied to investigate the thermal recovery after a fault for some HTS cable system configurations and operating conditions.

Demko, Jonathan A.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Two-level systems and growth-induced metastability in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Specific heat measurements from 2 to 300 K of hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition show a large excess specific heat at low temperature, significantly larger than the Debye specific heat calculated from the measured sound velocity. The as-prepared films have a Schottky anomaly that is associated with metastable hydrogen in the amorphous network, as well as large linear and excess cubic term commonly associated with tunneling two-level systems in amorphous solids. Annealing at 200 °C, a temperature that enables hydrogen mobility but not evaporation, irreversibly reduces the heat capacity, eliminating the Schottky anomaly and leaving a reduced linear heat capacity. A non-monotonic dependence on growth temperature and H content is observed in all effects, except for sound velocity, which suggests that the tunneling two-level systems and the Schottky anomaly are associated with atomic hydrogen and require low density regions to form, while sound velocity is associated with the silicon network and increases with increasing growth temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Characterization of edge damage induced on REBCO superconducting tape by mechanical slitting

Abstract Rare-earth barium-copper-oxide (REBCO) superconductors are high-field superconductors fabricated in a tape geometry that can be utilized in magnet applications well in excess of 20 T. Due to the multilayer architecture of the tape, delamination is one cause of mechanical failure in REBCO tapes. During a mechanical slitting step in the manufacturing process, edge cracks can be introduced into the tape. These cracks are thought to be potential initiation sites for crack propagation in the tapes when subjected to stresses in the fabrication and operation of magnet systems. We sought to understand which layers were the mechanically weakest by locating the crack initiation layer and identifying the geometrical conditions of the slitter that promoted or suppressed crack formation. The described cracking was investigated by selectively etching and characterizing each layer with scanning electron microscopy, laser confocal microscopy, and digital image analysis. Our analysis showed that the average crack lengths in the REBCO, LaMnO 3 (LMO) and Al 2 O 3 layers were 34 μ m, 28 μ m, and 15 μ m, respectively. The total number of cracks measured in 30 mm of wire length was between 3000 and 5700 depending on the layer and their crack densities were 102 cracks mm −1 for REBCO, 108 cracks mm −1 for LMO, and 183 cracks mm −1 for Al 2 O 3 . These results indicated that there are separate crack initiation mechanisms for the REBCO and the LMO layers, as detailed in the paper. With a better understanding of the crack growth behavior exhibited by REBCO tapes, the fabrication process can be improved to provide a more mechanically stable and cost-effective superconductor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Leveraging dendritic complexity for neuromorphic computing

Abstract Beyond-von Neumann computing approaches are necessary to sustain the growth of microelectronics and the increasing appetite for artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms. Neuromorphic computing is an emerging paradigm that takes inspiration from the brain to provide a path forward to improve the computational efficiency and computational density of next-generation computing architectures. In nature, we observe brains performing complex computations with a much smaller energy footprint than conventional computing approaches. Current neuromorphic systems are focused primarily on scalability, namely, increasing the number of computational units (neurons) and connections between units (synapses). However, for brain-like cognition and efficiency in next-generation computing hardware, we need increased complexity in function, as well as improved connection density for scalability. Here, we present our work that aims to incorporate dendrites for ‘compute-on-wire’ in neuromorphic architectures to increase the computational complexity (e.g. number of programmable parameters, nonlinear dynamics) as well as computational efficiency (energy/compute) of artificial neural networks (ANNs). We do this by showcasing neuromorphic dendrite elements that can be leveraged for various applications. We will present examples of neuroscience-inspired direction-selective circuits and an ANN with active dendrites leveraging shunting inhibition. We also demonstrate the benefits of using dendrites in deep neural networks. To conclude, we discuss how we can utilize emerging hardware devices in these systems and design next-generation neuromorphic architectures with dendrites.

Cardwell, Suma G. (ORCID:0000000226575545)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhanced search for neutral current Δ radiative single-photon production in MicroBooNE

We report results from an updated search for neutral current (NC) resonant Δ⁡(1232) baryon production and subsequent Δ radiative decay (NC Δ → 𝑁⁢𝛾). We consider events with and without final state protons; events with a proton can be compared with the kinematics of a Δ⁡(1232) baryon decay, while events without a visible proton represent a more generic phase space. In order to maximize sensitivity to each topology, we simultaneously make use of two different reconstruction paradigms, Pandora and Wire-Cell, which have complementary strengths, and select mostly orthogonal sets of events. Considering an overall scaling of the NC Δ → 𝑁⁢𝛾 rate as an explanation of the MiniBooNE anomaly, our data exclude this hypothesis at 94.4% CL. When we decouple the expected correlations between NC Δ → 𝑁⁢𝛾 events with and without final state protons, our data exclude an interpretation in which all excess events have associated protons at 2.0⁢𝜎, and are consistent with an interpretation in which all excess events have no associated protons at 0.63⁢𝜎.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fabrication and test of a 6-tesla-class high-temperature superconducting dipole magnet at 4.2 K

Superconducting magnets enable energy-frontier accelerators by generating strong magnetic fields to steer and focus the particles. Although high-temperature superconductors such as REBa 2 Cu 3 O x (, RE = rare earth) hold a strong potential for generating a higher magnetic field than Nb-Ti and Nb 3 Sn , the associated magnet and conductor technology for accelerator applications is still in its infancy. The U.S. Magnet Development Program is developing magnet technology in collaboration with industry. Here we report an experiment of making a dipole magnet called C3 using commercial high-temperature superconducting wires. The magnet, following a canted cos θ design, generated a dipole field of 5.99 T at 4.2 K in its clear aperture of 65 mm at 6.795 kA when a resistive voltage of 105 μ V appeared across one of the coils in the magnet. The stored energy was 53 kJ at the peak field. The magnet showed no degradation in the current-carrying capability at 4.2 K after the thermal cycle. We report on the detailed design, fabrication, and performance of the C3 magnet that can be of interest to potential users of this emerging technology. We also discuss issues and research needs to inform future magnet development. The experiment represented another step to addressing if the high-temperature superconducting accelerator magnet technology can increase the discovery capability of future particle accelerators.

Abraimov, Dmytro [National High Magnetic Field Lab↗
DOE OSTI2026

Inclusive Search for Anomalous Single-Photon Production in MicroBooNE

We present an inclusive search for anomalous production of single-photon events from neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE experiment. The search and its signal definition are motivated by the previous observation of a low-energy excess of electromagnetic shower events from the MiniBooNE experiment. We use the Wire-Cell reconstruction framework to select a sample of inclusive single-photon final-state interactions with a final efficiency and purity of 7.0% and 40.2%, respectively. We leverage simultaneous measurements of sidebands of charged current 𝜈 𝜇 interactions and neutral current interactions producing 𝜋 0 mesons to constrain signal and background predictions and reduce uncertainties. We perform a blind analysis using a dataset collected from February 2016 to July 2018, corresponding to an exposure of 6.34 × 10 20 protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. In the full signal region, we observe agreement between the data and the prediction, with a goodness-of-fit 𝑝 value of 0.11. We then isolate a subsample of these events containing no visible protons, and observe 93 ± 22⁢(stat) ±35⁢(syst) data events above prediction, corresponding to just above 2⁢𝜎 local significance, concentrated at shower energies below 600 MeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Magnets are Weber Bar Gravitational Wave Detectors

When a gravitational wave (GW) passes through a dc magnetic field, it couples to the conducting wires carrying the currents which generate the magnetic field, causing them to oscillate at the GW frequency. The oscillating currents then generate an ac component through which the GW can be detected-thus forming a resonant mass detector or a nagnetic Weber bar. We quantify this claim and demonstrate that magnets can have exceptional sensitivity to GWs over a frequency range demarcated by the mechanical and electromagnetic resonant frequencies of the system; indeed, we outline why a magnetic readout strategy can be considered an optimal Weber bar design. The concept is applicable to a broad class of magnets, but can be particularly well exploited by the powerful magnets being deployed in search of axion dark matter, for example, by DMRadio and ADMX-EFR. Explicitly, we demonstrate that the MRI magnet that is being deployed for ADMX-EFR can achieve a broadband GW strain sensitivity of ∼10^{-20}/sqrt[Hz] from a few kHz to about 10 MHz, with a peak sensitivity down to ∼10^{-22}/sqrt[Hz] at a kHz exploiting a mechanical resonance.

Domcke, Valerie↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quadrupole wiggler for a collinear wakefield accelerator

A quadrupole wiggler consisting of a row of alternating-polarity permanent magnet-excited quadrupoles is used in a collinear wakefield accelerator under development at Argonne National Laboratory. Fine translational and angular adjustment mechanisms are implemented in all quadrupoles to obtain a better than 1−μ⁢m precision in the alignment of quadrupole wiggler assemblies. The quadrupole’s magnetic and mechanical designs are described. Two wiggler prototypes were fabricated, aligned, and characterized performing pulsed wire magnetic measurements. The sensitivity of the quadrupole wiggler alignment to the ambient temperature was measured.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tuning the Intrinsic Anisotropy with Disorder in the Ca K Fe 4 As 4 Superconductor

In this paper, we report on the anisotropy of the London penetration depth of CaKFe 4 As 4 , discussing how it relates to its electronic structure and how it modifies under introduction of disorder, both chemically induced (by Ni substitution) and irradiation induced (by 3.5-MeV protons). Indeed, CaKFe 4 As 4 is particularly suitable for the study of fundamental superconducting properties due to its stoichiometric composition, exhibiting clean-limit behavior in the pristine samples and having a fairly high critical temperature, T c ≈35 K. The London penetration depth λ L is measured with a microwave-coplanar-resonator technique that allows us to deconvolve the anisotropic contributions λ L,ab and λ L,c and obtain the anisotropy parameter γλ=λ L,c /λ L,ab . The γλ(T) found for the undoped pristine sample is in good agreement with previous literature and is here compared to ab initio density-functional-theory and Eliashberg calculations. The dependence of γλ(T) on both chemical and irradiation-induced disorder is discussed to highlight which method is more suitable to decrease the direction dependence of the electromagnetic properties while maintaining a high critical temperature. Lastly, the relevance of an intrinsic anisotropy such as γλ on application-related anisotropic parameters (critical current, pinning) is discussed in light of the recent employment of CaKFe 4 As 4 in the production of wires.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum limits of superconducting-photonic links and their extension to millimeter waves

Photonic addressing of superconducting circuits has been proposed to overcome wiring complexity and heat-load challenges. However, such superconducting-photonic links suffer from an efficiency-noise trade-off that limits scalability. This trade-off arises because increasing power conversion efficiency entails reducing optical power, which makes the converted signal susceptible to shot noise. We analyze this trade-off and find that the laser-driven qubit gate infidelity scales inversely with the number of photons used. While methods such as nonlinear detection or squeezed light could mitigate this effect, we consider generating higher-frequency electrical signals, such as millimeter waves (100 GHz), using laser light. At these higher frequencies, circuits have higher operating temperatures and cooling power budgets and alleviate constraints posed by the trade-off. Therefore, we demonstrate an optically driven cryogenic millimeter-wave source with a maximum power efficiency of 8 ×10 −5 that can generate a maximum of 0.7 μ⁢W of 80 GHz power, with a 1200-thermal-photon equivalent of added noise at 4K. Using this source, we perform frequency-domain spectroscopy of superconducting NbTiN resonators at 80–90 GHz. Our results show a promising approach to lessen the efficiency-noise constraints on superconducting-photonic links, while leveraging the benefits of photonic signal delivery. Further optimization of power efficiency and noise at high frequencies could make scalable photonic control of superconducting qubits viable at temperatures exceeding 1K.

Optoelectronics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Uniform field in microwave cavities through the use of effective magnetic walls

Wire medium (WM) resonators have emerged as a promising realization for plasma haloscopes—devices designed to detect axions, a potential component of dark matter. Key factors influencing the detection probability include cavity volume, resonance quality factor, and form factor. While the form factor has been explored for resonant frequency tuning, its optimization for axion detection remains unexplored. Here, in this work, we present an approach to significantly enhancing the form factor of WM plasma haloscopes. By shifting the metal walls of the resonator by a quarter wavelength, we effectively convert an electric wall boundary condition into a magnetic wall one, allowing for an almost uniform mode. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations confirm that this modification improves the electric field profile and boosts the form factor, while also slightly enhancing the quality factor. We validate these findings through experimental results from two prototype resonators: one with a standard geometry and another with a quarter-wave air gap between the WM and the walls. Additionally, our method provides a simple way to control the field profile within WM cavities, which can be explored for further applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of surface disorder on the chiral surface states of a three-dimensional quantum Hall system

We investigate the effect of surface disorder on the chiral surface states of a three-dimensional quantum Hall system. Utilizing a transfer-matrix method, we find that the localization length of the surface state along the magnetic field decreases with the surface disorder strength in the weak disorder regime but increases anomalously in the strong disorder regime. In the strong disorder regime, the surface states mainly locate at the first inward layer to avoid the strong disorder in the outmost layer. The anomalous increase of the localization length can be explained by an effective model, which maps the strong disorder on the surface layer to the weak disorder on the first inward layer. Our work demonstrates that surface disorder can be an effective way to control the transport behavior of the surface states along the magnetic field. We also investigate the effect of surface disorder on the full distribution of conductances P(g) of the surface states in the quasi-one-dimensional (1D) regime for various surface disorder strengths. In particular, we find that P(g) is Gaussian in the quasi-1D metal regime and log-normal in the quasi-1D insulator regime. In the crossover regime, P(g) exhibits highly nontrivial forms, whose shapes coincide with the results obtained from the Dorokhov-Mello-Pereyra-Kumar equation of a weakly disordered quasi-1D wire in the absence of time-reversal symmetry. Our results suggest that P(g) is fully determined by the average conductance, independent of the details of the system, in agreement with the single-parameter scaling hypothesis.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Spin dynamics in quantum dots on liquid helium

Liquid He-4 is free from magnetic defects, making it an ideal substrate for electrons with long-lived spin states. Such states can serve as qubit states. Here, in this study, we consider the spin states of electrons electrostatically localized in quantum dots on a helium surface. Efficient gate operations in this system require spin-orbit coupling. It can be created by a nonuniform magnetic field from a current-carrying wire, can be turned on and off, and allows one to obtain large electrodipole moment and comparatively fast coupling of spins in neighboring dots. Of central importance is to understand spin decay due to the spin-orbit coupling. We establish the leading mechanism of such decay and show that the decay is sufficiently slow to enable high-fidelity single- and two-qubit gate operations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗