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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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Atom-at-a-Time Radioactive Molecule Identification: Looking toward Studies of Superheavy Elements
The chemical behavior of superheavy elements (SHEs, Z > 103) remains poorly understood. Their chemical properties are expected to deviate from established trends, challenging the predictive power of the periodic table. To investigate these elements experimentally, they must first be synthesized through nuclear reactions and then quickly subjected to chemical studies before they decay. Given the low production rates of these reactions and the need for measurements on an atom-at-a-time basis, innovative techniques are needed. Here, to address these challenges, a novel gas-phase chemistry method has been developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, utilizing the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator and FIONA. This technique enables the production, identification, and study of molecular species formed by SHEs. As a proof of concept, we present measurements on the formation and identification of 151,152 HoO + molecules, demonstrating the capability to study the production of radioactive molecules under controlled conditions and directly identify them via their mass-to-charge ratio. These measurements validate the effectiveness of this technique for low-statistics SHE studies, highlighting the potential of this approach to ignite the next generation of experimental SHE chemistry research, offering a path to re-evaluate SHE placement on the periodic table.
Efficient Thick-Film Polymer Solar Cells with Enhanced Fill Factors via Increased Fullerene Loading
Developing effective methods to make efficient bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells at roll-to-roll relevant active layer thickness is of significant importance. We investigate the effect of fullerene content in polymer:fullerene blends on the fill factor (FF) and on the performance of thick-film solar cells for four different donor polymers PTB7-Th, PDPP-TPT, BDT-FBT-2T, and poly[5,5'-bis(2-butyloctyl)-(2,2'-bithiophene)-4,4'-dicarboxylate-alt-5,5'-2,2'-bithiophene] (PDCBT). At a few hundreds of nanometers thickness, increased FFs are observed in all cases and improved overall device performances are obtained except for PDCBT upon increasing fullerene content in blend films. This fullerene content effect was studied in more detail by electrical and morphological characterization. The results suggest enhanced electron mobility and suppressed bimolecular recombination upon increasing fullerene content in thick polymer:fullerene blend films, which are the result of larger fullerene aggregates and improved interconnectivity of the fullerene phases that provide continuous percolating pathways for electron transport in thick films. These findings are important because an effective and straightforward method that enables fabricating efficient thick-film polymer solar cells is desirable for large-scale manufacturing via roll-to-roll processing and for multijunction devices.
Optimization of 3-Pyrimidin-4-yl-oxazolidin-2-ones as Allosteric and Mutant Specific Inhibitors of IDH1
High throughput screening and subsequent hit validation identified 4-isopropyl-3-(2-((1-phenylethyl)amino)pyrimidin-4-yl)oxazolidin-2-one as a potent inhibitor of IDH1 R132H . Synthesis of the four separate stereoisomers identified the (S,S)-diastereomer (IDH125, 1f) as the most potent isomer. This also showed reasonable cellular activity and excellent selectivity vs IDH1wt. Initial structure–activity relationship exploration identified the key tolerances and potential for optimization. X-ray crystallography identified a functionally relevant allosteric binding site amenable to inhibitors, which can penetrate the blood–brain barrier, and aided rational optimization. Potency improvement and modulation of the physicochemical properties identified (S,S)-oxazolidinone IDH889 (5x) with good exposure and 2-HG inhibitory activity in a mutant IDH1 xenograft mouse model.
Low-temperature synthesis of superconducting iron selenide using a triphenylphosphine flux
A low-temperature synthesis of iron selenide using molten triphenylphosphine demonstrates the use of an organic flux in solid-state synthesis.
Manipulating molecules with strong coupling: harvesting triplet excitons in organic exciton microcavities
Exciton-polaritons are quasiparticles with mixed photon and exciton character with the potential to modify chemical properties of materials. Here, they are used to provide dark, high-spin triplet-pair states a new pathway to emit light.
Atomic mass dependent electrostatic diagnostics of colliding laser plasma plumes
The behaviours of colliding laser plasma plumes (C{sub p}) compared with single plasma plumes (S{sub p}) are investigated for 14 different atomic mass targets. A Faraday cup, situated at the end of a drift tube (L = 0.99 m), is employed to record the time-of-flight (TOF) current traces for all elements and both plume configurations, for a fixed laser intensity of I{sub p} = 4.2 × 10{sup 10} W cm{sup −2} (F = 0.25 kJ cm{sup −2}). The ratio of the peak current from the C{sub p} relative to twice that from the S{sub p} is designated as the peak current ratio while the ratio of the integrated charge yield from the C{sub p} relative to twice that from the S{sub p} is designated as the charge yield ratio. Variation of the position of the Faraday cup within the drift tube (L = 0.33, 0.55, and 0.99 m) in conjunction with a lower laser fluence (F = 0.14 kJ cm{sup −2}) facilitated direct comparison of the changing TOF traces from both plasma configurations for the five lightest elements studied (C, Al, Si, Ti, and Mn). The results are discussed in the frame of laser plasma hydrodynamic modelling to approximate the critical recombination distance L{sub CR}. The dynamics of colliding laser plasma plumes and the atomic mass dependence trends observed are presented and discussed.
Photon strength and the low-energy enhancement
Several measurements in medium mass nuclei have reported a low-energy enhancement in the photon strength function. Although, much effort has been invested in unraveling the mysteries of this effect, its physical origin is still not conclusively understood. Here, a completely model-independent experimental approach to investigate the existence of this enhancement is presented. The experiment was designed to study statistical feeding from the quasi-continuum (below the neutron separation energy) to individual low-lying discrete levels in {sup 95}Mo produced in the (d, p) reaction. A key aspect to successfully study gamma decay from the region of high-level density is the detection and extraction of correlated particle-gamma-gamma events which was accomplished using an array of Clover HPGe detectors and large area annular silicon detectors. The entrance channel excitation energy into the residual nucleus produced in the reaction was inferred from the detected proton energies in the silicon detectors. Gating on gamma-transitions originating from low-lying discrete levels specifies the state fed by statistical gamma-rays. Any particle-gamma-gamma event in combination with specific energy sum requirements ensures a clean and unambiguous determination of the initial and final state of the observed gamma rays. With these requirements the statistical feeding to individual discrete levels is extracted on an event-by-event basis. The results are presented and compared to {sup 95}Mo photon strength function data measured at the University of Oslo.
Ion flux enhancements and oscillations in spatially confined laser produced aluminum plasmas
Ion signals from laser produced plasmas (LPPs) generated inside aluminum rectangular cavities at a fixed depth d = 2 mm and varying width, x = 1.0, 1.6, and 2.75 mm were obtained by spatially varying the position of a negatively biased Langmuir probe. Damped oscillatory features superimposed on Maxwellian distributed ion signals were observed. Depending on the distance of the probe from the target surface, three to twelve fold enhancements in peak ion density were observed via confinement of the LPP, generated within rectangular cavities of varying width which constrained the plasma plume to near one dimensional expansion in the vertical plane. The effects of lateral spatial confinement on the expansion velocity of the LPP plume front, the temperature, density and expansion velocity of ions, enhancement of ion flux, and ion energy distribution were recorded. The periodic behavior of ion signals was analyzed and found to be related to the electron plasma frequency and electron-ion collision frequency. The effects of confinement and enhancement of various ion parameters and expansion velocities of the LPP ion plume are explained on the basis of shock wave theory.
A Decade of GRETINA Science
High-resolution γ-ray detector arrays have driven many scientific advances and discoveries in nuclear physics. Today, they provide a powerful and essential tool for a broad class of measurements in the study of nuclear structure and reactions, nuclear astrophysics, and applied nuclear science. In this article, we present an overview of the scientific program that has been enabled by the γ-ray tracking array GRETINA [Pas13]. This program is being carried out at both stable and radioactive ion beam facilities, employs a wide range of beam energies and reactions (from the Coulomb barrier to more than 30% the speed of light), and reflects the varied application of a γ-ray tracking array.
Xenon bubble chambers for direct dark matter detection
The search for dark matter is one of today's most exciting fields. As bigger detectors are being built to increase their sensitivity, background reduction is an ever more challenging issue. To this end, a new type of dark matter detector is proposed, a xenon bubble chamber, which would combine the strengths of liquid xenon TPCs, namely event by event energy resolution, with those of a bubble chamber, namely insensitivity to electronic recoils. In addition, it would be the first time ever that a dark matter detector is active on all three detection channels, ionization and scintillation characteristic of xenon detectors, and heat through bubble formation in superheated fluids. Preliminary simulations show that, depending on threshold, a discrimination of 99.99% to 99.9999+% can be achieved, which is on par or better than many current experiments. Furthermore, a prototype is being built at the University at Albany, SUNY. The prototype is currently undergoing seals, thermal, and compression testing.
3D modeling of electric fields in the LUX detector
This work details the development of a three-dimensional (3D) electric field model for the LUX detector. The detector took data to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) during two periods. After the first period completed, a time-varying non-uniform negative charge developed in the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) panels that define the radial boundary of the detector's active volume. This caused electric field variations in the detector in time, depth and azimuth, generating an electrostatic radially-inward force on electrons on their way upward to the liquid surface. To map this behavior, 3D electric field maps of the detector's active volume were generated on a monthly basis. This was done by fitting a model built in COMSOL Multiphysics to the uniformly distributed calibration data that were collected on a regular basis. The modeled average PTFE charge density increased over the course of the exposure from -3.6 to -5.5 μC/m 2 . Here, from our studies, we deduce that the electric field magnitude varied locally while the mean value of the field of ~200 V/cm remained constant throughout the exposure. As a result of this work the varying electric fields and their impact on event reconstruction and discrimination were successfully modeled.
Position reconstruction in LUX
The (x, y) position reconstruction method used in the analysis of the complete exposure of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is presented. The algorithm is based on a statistical test that makes use of an iterative method to recover the photomultiplier tube (PMT) light response directly from the calibration data. The light response functions make use of a two dimensional functional form to account for the photons reflected on the inner walls of the detector. To increase the resolution for small pulses, a photon counting technique was employed to describe the response of the PMTs. The reconstruction was assessed with calibration data including 83m Kr (releasing a total energy of 41.5 keV) and 3 H (β - with Q = 18.6 keV) decays, and a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) neutron beam (2.45 MeV). Within the detector's fiducial volume, the reconstruction has achieved an (x, y) position uncertainty of σ = 0.82 cm and σ = 0.17 cm for events of only 200 and 4,000 detected electroluminescence photons respectively. Such signals are associated with electron recoils of energies ~0.25 keV and ~10 keV, respectively. Lastly, the reconstructed position of the smallest events with a single electron emitted from the liquid surface (22 detected photons) has a horizontal (x, y) uncertainty of 2.13 cm.
The DAQ system of the 12,000 channel CMS high granularity calorimeter prototype
The CMS experiment at the CERN LHC will be upgraded to accommodate the 5-fold increase in the instantaneous luminosity expected at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Concomitant with this increase will be an increase in the number of interactions in each bunch crossing and a significant increase in the total ionising dose and fluence. One part of this upgrade is the replacement of the current endcap calorimeters with a high granularity sampling calorimeter equipped with silicon sensors, designed to manage the high collision rates. As part of the development of this calorimeter, a series of beam tests have been conducted with different sampling configurations using prototype segmented silicon detectors. In the most recent of these tests, conducted in late 2018 at the CERN SPS, the performance of a prototype calorimeter equipped with ≈12,000 channels of silicon sensors was studied with beams of high-energy electrons, pions and muons. This paper describes the custom-built scalable data acquisition system that was built with readily available FPGA mezzanines and low-cost Raspberry Pi computers.