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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Non-Geiger mode single photon detector with multiple amplification and gain control mechanisms

A new type of single photon detector, Multiple Amplification Gain with Internal Control (MAGIC), is proposed and analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations based on a physical model of the device. The MAGIC detector has two coupled amplification mechanisms, avalanche multiplication and bipolar gain, and the net gain is regulated by a built-in feedback mechanism. Compared to conventional Geiger mode single photon avalanche detectors (SPADs), the MAGIC detector produces a much greater single photon detection efficiency of nearly 100%, low bit-error-ratio for single photon signals, and a large dynamic range. All these properties are highly desirable for applications that require single photon sensitivity and are absent for conventional Geiger-mode SPADs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design Considerations for High-Q Bandpass Microwave Oscillator Sensors Based Upon Resonant Amplification

A series of microwave resonant oscillator sensors were designed and characterized using bandpass planar and volumetric electrical resonators having loaded quality factor (Q) values in the range of 2 to 20. The use of these resonators in positive feedback circuits yielded sensor Q-factors of up to 2 x 107, demonstrating Q-factor amplifications on the order of 106. It is shown that the Q-factor amplification can be increased in a positive feedback system through the selection of feedback loop group delay, allowing use of resonators with lower Qstat values. A low-frequency electromagnetic interference sensing application is demonstrated for two resonant oscillator configurations, showing considerable frequency sensitivity to 45 kHz emitters.

split ring resonator, regenerative feedback, senso↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ultrafast pulse amplification in mode-locked vertical external-cavity surface-emitting lasers

A fully microscopic many-body Maxwell–semiconductor Bloch model is used to investigate the influence of the non-equilibrium carrier dynamics on the short-pulse amplification in mode-locked semiconductor microlaser systems. The numerical solution of the coupled equations allows for a self-consistent investigation of the light–matter coupling dynamics, the carrier kinetics in the saturable absorber and the multiple-quantum-well gain medium, as well as the modification of the light field through the pulse-induced optical polarization. The influence of the pulse-induced non-equilibrium modifications of the carrier distributions in the gain medium and the saturable absorber on the single-pulse amplification in the laser cavity is identified. It is shown that for the same structure, quantum wells, and gain bandwidth the non-equilibrium carrier dynamics lead to two preferred operation regimes: one with pulses in the (sub-)100 fs-regime and one with multi-picosecond pulses. The recovery time of the saturable absorber determines in which regime the device operates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Relativistic Eulerian Vlasov simulations of the amplification of seed pulses by Brillouin backscattering in plasmas

We apply an Eulerian Vlasov code to study the amplification by Brillouin scattering of a short seed laser pulse by a long pump laser pulse in an underdense plasma. The stimulated Brillouin backscattering interaction is the coupling of the pump and seed electromagnetic waves propagating in opposite directions, and the ion plasma wave. The code solves the one-dimensional relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell set of equations. Large amplitude ion waves are generated. In the simulations we present, the density plateau of the plasma is n{sub e}=0.3 n{sub c} (n{sub c} is the critical density), which excludes spurious stimulated Raman scattering amplification (which can occur only if n{sub e}<n{sub c}/4). We also varied the duration and/or amplitude of the short input seed pulse to study how these influence its subsequent behaviour. An initially broad pulse grows more rapidly than an initially narrow pulse. Furthermore, for an initially broader seed pulse, towards the end of the simulation, it is seen to become narrower and to gradually detach from the trailing signal. On the contrary, initially very narrow seed pulses are seen to broaden. The absence of noise in the Vlasov simulations allows to simulate long plasma amplifier lengths, and to follow the evolution of the system with a fully kinetic description and with an accurate representation of the phase-space structures of distribution function.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Self similar solution of superradiant amplification of ultrashort laser pulses in plasma

Based on the self-similar method, superradiant amplification of ultrashort laser pulses by the counterpropagating pump in a plasma is investigated. Here, we present a governing system of partial differential equations for the signal pulse and the motion of the electrons. These equations are transformed to ordinary differential equations by the self-similar method and numerically solved. It is found that the increase of the signal intensity is proportional to the square of the propagation distance and the signal frequency has a red shift. Also, depending on the pulse width, the signal breaks up into a train of short pulses or its duration decreases with the inverse square root of the distance. Moreover, we identified two distinct categories of the electrons by the phase space analysis. In the beginning, one of them is trapped in the ponderomotive potential well and oscillates while the other is untrapped. Over time, electrons of the second kind also join to the trapped electrons. In the potential well, the electrons are bunched to form an electron density grating which reflects the pump pulse into the signal pulse. It is shown that the backscattered intensity is enhanced with the increase of the electron bunching parameter which leads to the enhanced efficiency of superradiant amplification.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mechanisms of amplification of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in gyrotron traveling wave tube with helically corrugated waveguide

A time-domain self consistent theory of a gyrotron traveling wave tube with a helically corrugated operating waveguide has been developed. Based on this model, the process of short pulse amplification was studied in regimes of grazing and intersection of the dispersion curves of the electromagnetic wave and the electron beam. In the first case, the possibility of amplification without pulse form distortion was demonstrated for the pulse spectrum width of the order of the gain bandwidth. In the second case, when the electrons' axial velocity was smaller than the wave's group velocity, it was shown that the slippage of the incident signal with respect to the electron beam provides feeding of the signal by “fresh” electrons without initial modulation. As a result, the amplitude of the output pulse can exceed the amplitude of its saturated value for the case of the grazing regime, and, for optimal parameters, the peak output power can be even larger than the kinetic power of the electron beam.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Giant amplification in degenerate band edge slow-wave structures interacting with an electron beam

We propose a new amplification regime based on a synchronous operation of four degenerate electromagnetic (EM) modes in a slow-wave structure and the electron beam, referred to as super synchronization. These four EM modes arise in a Fabry-Pérot cavity when degenerate band edge (DBE) condition is satisfied. The modes interact constructively with the electron beam resulting in superior amplification. In particular, much larger gains are achieved for smaller beam currents compared to conventional structures based on synchronization with only a single EM mode. We demonstrate giant gain scaling with respect to the length of the slow-wave structure compared to conventional Pierce type single mode traveling wave tube amplifiers. We construct a coupled transmission line model for a loaded waveguide slow-wave structure exhibiting a DBE, and investigate the phenomenon of giant gain via super synchronization using the Pierce model generalized to multimode interaction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Numerical modeling of laser-driven experiments aiming to demonstrate magnetic field amplification via turbulent dynamo

The universe is permeated by magnetic fields, with strengths ranging from a femtogauss in the voids between the filaments of galaxy clusters to several teragauss in black holes and neutron stars. The standard model behind cosmological magnetic fields is the nonlinear amplification of seed fields via turbulent dynamo to the values observed. We have conceived experiments that aim to demonstrate and study the turbulent dynamo mechanism in the laboratory. Here, we describe the design of these experiments through simulation campaigns using FLASH, a highly capable radiation magnetohydrodynamics code that we have developed, and large-scale three-dimensional simulations on the Mira supercomputer at the Argonne National Laboratory. The simulation results indicate that the experimental platform may be capable of reaching a turbulent plasma state and determining the dynamo amplification. As a result, we validate and compare our numerical results with a small subset of experimental data using synthetic diagnostics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Kinetic simulations of laser parametric amplification in magnetized plasmas

Laser pulse compression using magnetized resonance near the upper-hybrid frequency is promising for achieving higher output intensity in regimes previously thought impossible using unmagnetized plasmas. Using one dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we verify that, by partially replacing plasma with an external transverse magnetic field of megagauss scale, the output pulse can be intensified by a factor of a few, due to the increased allowable amplification time despite a decreased growth rate. Further improvement is impeded by the generation of an electromagnetic wakefield, to which the amplified pulse loses more energy than it does in the unmagnetized case. This limitation can however be circumvented by the use of a stronger pump. In contrast to unmagnetized compression, the magnetized amplification remains efficient when the pump intensity is well above the wavebreaking threshold, until a higher phase-mixing threshold is exceeded. Here, this surprising resilience to wavebreaking in magnetized plasma is of great benefit for magnetized compression.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Axial magnetic flux amplification in Hall-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of externally magnetized z-pinches

It is shown that externally magnetized gas-puff z-pinches under compression can exhibit robust axial flux amplification under suitable axial boundary conditions. This effect relies upon the Hall term in the generalized Ohm's law to generate azimuthal currents in the presence of a driving axial electric field. Under dynamic compression, the total current tends to flow in a mostly force-free boundary layer, separating the predominately azimuthal field outside the layer and the predominately axial field inside the layer. The effect only appears to occur if the axial boundaries allow for outflow or absorption of electromagnetic energy. The effect is mitigated by imposing either periodic or conducting axial boundary conditions. A semi-analytic equilibrium analysis agrees with steady-state solutions of the time-dependent electron-magnetohydrodynamic equations and provides an estimate of the scaling of the boundary layer as well as suggesting a scenario for the formation of the boundary layer. When operative, the effect can significantly impede plasma compression due to the increase in axial flux that diffuses into the pre-compressed plasma or through the presence of conductors that inhibit movement of the generated axial flux. Several facilities have noted unusual implosion behavior in z-pinch experiments with applied axial fields that does not appear to be explainable within the standard magnetohydrodynamic model. In conclusion, it is suggested that these experiments can be explained by the axial flux amplification and concentration effect

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sign reversal in magnetic field amplification by relativistic laser-driven microtube implosions

In this work, we demonstrate and explain the surprising phenomenon of sign reversal in magnetic field amplification by the laser-driven implosion of a structured target. Relativistically intense laser pulses incident on the outer surface of a microtube target consisting of a thin opaque shell surrounding a μm-scale cylindrical void drive an initial ion implosion and later explosion capable of generating and subsequently amplifying strong magnetic fields. While the magnetic field generation is enhanced and spatially smoothed by the application of a kilotesla-level seed field, the sign of the generated field does not always follow the sign of the seed field. One unexpected consequence of the amplification process is a reversal in the sign of the amplified magnetic field when, for example, the target outer cross section is changed from square to circular. Using 2D particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that sign reversal is linked to the stability of the surface magnetic field of opposite sign from the seed, which arises at the target inner surface during laser irradiation. The stability of the surface magnetic field and, consequently, the sign of the final amplified field depend sensitively on the target, laser, and seed magnetic field conditions, which could be leveraged to make laser-driven microtube implosions an attractive platform for the study of magnetic fields in high energy density plasma in regimes where sign reversal either is or is not desired.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Supersonically expanded sodium metal-dilute halogen gas interactions. The importance of reaction populated and energy storing reservoir states and population inversion created amplification in Na2

The reactions of Cl, Br, and I with Nan=2,3 produced in a supersonic expansion form Na2* and Na* excited states extending across the visible and ultraviolet regions. Emission in the region extending from 410 to 600 nm indicates selectively formed excited state Na2 emission features. Experimental evidence suggests that this emission is associated with Na3 + X reactions. Broadband (0.5 cm−1) laser measurements demonstrate gain (population inversion) for select features at∼524–528(1%), ∼492(0.3%), and ∼458.7–461(0.8%) nm. Single mode (0.007 cm−1) measurements extending from 528.03 to 527.63 nm demonstrate amplification involving five to six individual rovibronic levels with a maximum gain close to 3% recorded at 527.9 nm. The observed gain is associated with select transitions from levels of the Na2 11Πu state populated, via identified curve crossings, through collision induced transfer from long-lived Na2 21Σg+ and 11Πg reservoir states. Collision induced population buildup in the lowest vibrational levels of these reservoir states and collision induced transfer to the Na2 11Πu state create a population inversion in transitions to the X 1Σg+ state of Na2. The observed amplification is aided by rapid vibrational and rotational relaxation in both the Na2 ground and excited reservoir states producing amplifiers in the visible region like the HF amplifier in the infrared. This study suggests the importance of reaction populated and energy storing long-lived reservoir states in small sodium molecule combustion processes and indicates the potential for providing new short wavelength visible and ultraviolet amplifiers for future laser-based chemical propulsion concepts.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modelling of the laser amplification process with allowance for the effect of the temperature distribution in an Yb : YAG gain element on the thermophysical and lasing characteristics of the medium

A time-dependent three-dimensional model for the laser amplification process has been constructed with allowance for the effect of the temperature distribution on the thermophysical and lasing characteristics of gain media. We have performed numerical modelling of the laser amplification process in the gain elements of a two-stage subjoule-level cryogenic laser amplifier operating at a pulse repetition rate of up to 1 kHz. It has been shown that taking into account the temperature distribution is of critical importance in calculation of cryogenically cooled laser amplifiers pumped with high-power diodes. We have found optimal diode pump parameters at which the maximum achievable pulse energy at the amplifier output can reach 300 and 570 mJ at pulse repetition rates of 1000 and 500 Hz, respectively. (extreme light fields and their interaction with matter)

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Developed turbulence and nonlinear amplification of magnetic fields in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas

The visible matter in the universe is turbulent and magnetized. Turbulence in galaxy clusters is produced by mergers and by jets of the central galaxies and believed responsible for the amplification of magnetic fields. We report on experiments looking at the collision of two laser-produced plasma clouds, mimicking, in the laboratory, a cluster merger event. By measuring the spectrum of the density fluctuations, we infer developed, Kolmogorov-like turbulence. From spectral line broadening, we estimate a level of turbulence consistent with turbulent heating balancing radiative cooling, as it likely does in galaxy clusters. We show that the magnetic field is amplified by turbulent motions, reaching a nonlinear regime that is a precursor to turbulent dynamo. Thus, our experiment provides a promising platform for understanding the structure of turbulence and the amplification of magnetic fields in the universe.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Arrestin-3 scaffolding of the JNK3 cascade suggests a mechanism for signal amplification

Significance Scaffold proteins are key regulators of signal transduction that bind multiple proteins of a signaling pathway. This simple tethering model explains how the scaffold colocalizes the components for signal propagation, but it is unclear whether scaffolds ensure signal amplification. Here, we use arrestin-3 and the ASK1-MKK4/7-JNK3 kinase cascade as a model system to explore whether scaffolding amplifies signaling. Our studies suggest a model of scaffold-dependent signal amplification that may be conceptually applicable to other scaffold-dependent signaling pathways.

Perry, Nicole A.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic field amplification and evolution in turbulent collisionless magnetohydrodynamics: An application to the intracluster medium

The amplification of magnetic fields (MFs) in the intracluster medium (ICM) is attributed to turbulent dynamo (TD) action, which is generally derived in the collisional-MHD framework. However, this assumption is poorly justified a priori, since in the ICM the ion mean free path between collisions is of the order of the dynamical scales, thus requiring a collisionless MHD description. The present study uses an anisotropic plasma pressure that brings the plasma within a parametric space where collisionless instabilities take place. In this model, a relaxation term of the pressure anisotropy simulates the feedback of the mirror and firehose instabilities, in consistency with empirical studies. Our three-dimensional numerical simulations of forced transonic turbulence, aiming the modeling of the turbulent ICM, were performed for different initial values of the MF intensity and different relaxation rates of the pressure anisotropy. We found that in the high-β plasma regime corresponding to the ICM conditions, a fast anisotropy relaxation rate gives results that are similar to the collisional-MHD model, as far as the statistical properties of the turbulence are concerned. Also, the TD amplification of seed MFs was found to be similar to the collisional-MHD model. The simulations that do not employ the anisotropy relaxation deviate significantly from the collisional-MHD results and show more power at the small-scale fluctuations of both density and velocity as a result of the action of the instabilities. For these simulations, the large-scale fluctuations in the MF are mostly suppressed and the TD fails in amplifying seed MFs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

RESONANT AMPLIFICATION OF TURBULENCE BY THE BLAST WAVES

We discuss the idea of whether spherical blast waves can amplify by a nonlocal resonant hydrodynamic mechanism inhomogeneities formed by turbulence or phase segregation in the interstellar medium. We consider the problem of a blast-wave-turbulence interaction in the Linear Interaction Approximation. Mathematically, this is an eigenvalue problem for finding the structure and amplitude of eigenfunctions describing the response of the shock-wave flow to forced oscillations by external perturbations in the ambient interstellar medium. Linear analysis shows that the blast wave can amplify density and vorticity perturbations for a wide range of length scales with amplification coefficients of up to 20, with increasing amplification the larger the length. There also exist resonant harmonics for which the gain becomes formally infinite in the linear approximation. Their orbital wavenumbers are within the range of macro- (l ∼ 1), meso- (l ∼ 20), and microscopic (l > 200) scales. Since the resonance width is narrow (typically, Δl < 1), resonance should select and amplify discrete isolated harmonics. We speculate on a possible explanation of an observed regular filamentary structure of regularly shaped round supernova remnants such as SNR 1572, 1006, or 0509-67.5. Resonant mesoscales found (l ≈ 18) are surprisingly close to the observed scales (l ≈ 15) of ripples in the shell's surface of SNR 0509-67.5.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ultra-Long Distance BOTDA Sensor System Employing Hybrid Amplification and Advanced Noise Reduction Techniques

Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) sensor system play a pivotal role in distributed sensing, which enables precise measurements of strain and temperature across extensive fiber lengths. Nonetheless, challenges emerge as distances grow due to signal attenuation and noise interference resulting in measurement errors. This research offers a comprehensive strategy to extend the sensing range of BOTDA systems beyond 10’s of kilometers while maintaining high spatial resolutions. Such enhanced sensing is realized through the integration of distributed Raman amplification, inline amplification using erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA), and advanced noise reduction techniques. Leveraging inherent redundancy in measured data as a function of frequency and fiber distance, the non-local means (NLM) filter removes noise while preserving essential physical information. This approach proves particularly advantageous in BOTDA systems, where accurate measurement of Brillouin scattering signals is paramount for long-range sensing, while concurrently safeguarding high spatial resolutions. In summary, this research has shown a holistic exploration of extending BOTDA's distance sensing capabilities up to 150 km with spatial resolutions of 8 meters.

Bhatta, Hari↗