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At least 109 records · Page 6

Ionic‐Liquid Free and Flexible Transistors Made of 2D Material Inks

The development of thin-film transistors (TFTs) using 2D materials is crucial for enabling scalable, low-cost, and flexible electronics. Currently, 2D TFTs with the highest performance have been achieved by using ionic-liquid gating (ILG), a technique suited for proof-of-concept studies. However, ILG suffers from slow switching speeds, temperature sensitivity, poor long-term stability, and integration challenges, making it unsuitable for practical use. Moreover, typical fabrication methods for 2D TFTs involve harsh conditions such as strong acids or high temperatures (>300 °C), limiting integration with flexible substrates. This work provides the first demonstration of an ILG-free, all-2D-material TFT fabricated onto a flexible substrate. Water-based graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) inks are printed to deposit the electrodes and dielectric layers, respectively. The MoS 2 channel is produced via supramolecular interfacial self-assembly, yielding uniform, monolayer-rich films transferable to rigid and flexible substrates. The resulting TFTs operate below 3 V, exhibit negligible leakage current, and achieve field-effect mobilities up to 0.46 cm 2 V −1 s −1 (rising to 2.47 cm 2 V −1 s −1 with silver electrodes) measured under ambient conditions, while maintaining excellent mechanical flexibility. This work establishes a low-cost and scalable solution-processable platform for flexible electronics based on 2D materials that match requirements for practical applications.

2D materials↗

Design, characterization and shape recovery behavior of 3D/4D printed shape memory polymers (SMPs)

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) represent a paradigm shift in material science, uniquely capable of undergoing reversible shape transformations triggered by external stimuli, positioning them as pivotal in developing next-generation biomedical devices, aerospace components, and adaptive structures. Extensive research has been done on SMPs with a major focus on high-temperature programming methods, which can limit energy efficiency and applicability with temperature-sensitive materials. Additionally, while various SMP blends have demonstrated great potential, limited work has been done on the suitability for 3D printing these materials, particularly under high-strain and ambient temperature programming conditions. In this study, a three-component optimized SMP composition was evaluated by 3D printing via the Material Extrusion (MEX) technique and investigating its ambient temperature-programming behavior at high strains. The SMP formulation studied was a tailored blend of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polycaprolactone (PCL), and an octadecane diol-based copolymer (OBC) that exhibits robust shape memory behavior, high strain tolerance, and efficient force generation. Rigorous thermal, mechanical, and shape recovery analyses, along with optimized printing parameters and consistent shape recovery rates of up to 90%, were achieved under dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), even under ambient programming conditions. This work demonstrates the SMP composition’s potential for adaptive, self-deployable systems with 4D printing characteristics ideal for bio-inspired structures and artificial muscle fibers.

Sudan, Kavish [University of Louisville, KY]↗

Visible emission spectra of thermographic phosphors under x-ray excitation

Thermographic phosphors have been employed for temperature sensing in challenging environments, such as on surfaces or within solid samples exposed to dynamic heating, because of the high temporal and spatial resolution that can be achieved using this approach. Typically, UV light sources are employed to induce temperature-sensitive spectral responses from the phosphors. However, it would be beneficial to explore x-rays as an alternate excitation source to facilitate simultaneous x-ray imaging of material deformation and temperature of heated samples and to reduce UV absorption within solid samples being investigated. Here, the phosphors BaMgAl 10 O 17 :Eu (BAM), Y 2 SiO 5 :Ce, YAG:Dy, La 2 O 2 S:Eu, ZnGa 2 O 4 :Mn, Mg 3 F 2 GeO 4 :Mn, Gd 2 O 2 S:Tb, and ZnO were excited using incident synchrotron x-ray radiation. These materials were chosen to include conventional thermographic phosphors as well as x-ray scintillators (with crossover between these two categories). X-ray-induced thermographic behavior was explored through the measurement of visible spectral response with varying temperature. The incident x-rays were observed to excite the same electronic energy level transitions in these phosphors as UV excitation. Similar shifts in the spectral response of BAM, Y 2 SiO 5 :Ce, YAG:Dy, La 2 O 2 S:Eu, ZnGa 2 O 4 :Mn, Mg 3 F 2 GeO 4 :Mn, and Gd 2 O 2 S:Tb were observed when compared to their response to UV excitation found in literature. Some phosphors were observed to thermally quench in the temperature ranges tested here, while the response from others did not rise above background noise levels. This may be attributed to the increased probability of non-radiative energy release from these phosphors due to the high energy of the incident x-rays. These results indicate that x-rays can serve as a viable excitation source for phosphor thermometry.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Evaluation of simulated soil carbon dynamics in Arctic-Boreal ecosystems

Given the magnitude of soil carbon stocks in northern ecosystems, and the vulnerability of these stocks to climate warming, land surface models must accurately represent soil carbon dynamics in these regions. We evaluate soil carbon stocks and turnover rates, and the relationship between soil carbon loss with soil temperature and moisture, from an ensemble of eleven global land surface models. We focus on the region of NASA's Arctic-Boreal vulnerability experiment (ABoVE) in North America to inform data collection and model development efforts. Models exhibit an order of magnitude difference in estimates of current total soil carbon stocks, generally under- or overestimating the size of current soil carbon stocks by greater than 50 PgC. We find that a model's soil carbon stock at steady-state in 1901 is the prime driver of its soil carbon stock a hundred years later—overwhelming the effect of environmental forcing factors like climate. The greatest divergence between modeled and observed soil carbon stocks is in regions dominated by peat and permafrost soils, suggesting that models are failing to capture the frozen soil carbon dynamics of permafrost regions. Using a set of functional benchmarks to test the simulated relationship of soil respiration to both soil temperature and moisture, we find that although models capture the observed shape of the soil moisture response of respiration, almost half of the models examined show temperature sensitivities, or Q10 values, that are half of observed. Significantly, models that perform better against observational constraints of respiration or carbon stock size do not necessarily perform well in terms of their functional response to key climatic factors like changing temperature. This suggests that models may be arriving at the right result, but for the wrong reason. The results of this work can help to bridge the gap between data and models by both pointing to the need to constrain initial carbon pool sizes, as well as highlighting the importance of incorporating functional benchmarks into ongoing, mechanistic modeling activities such as those included in ABoVE.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

FET Junction Temperature Monitoring Using Novel On-Chip Solution

A novel junction temperature monitoring sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for application in MOS-gate power devices. The sensor is created using the polycide gate electrode layer of the devices to create a temperature-sensitive resistor without any additional fabrication steps. The resistor is located on the field oxide with one end grounded at the device reference terminal to isolate it from the device current and voltage transients. It allows in-situ monitoring of the device junction temperature during active circuit operation. The technology has been implemented to monitor the junction temperature of Silicon Carbide Junction Barrier Schottky Field Effect Transistors (SiC JBSFETs) with the bi-directional FET (BiDFET).

Bidirectional switches, SiC bidirectional FET, BiD↗

Unprecedented non-hysteretic superelasticity of [001]-oriented NiCoFeGa single crystals

Superelasticity associated with the martensitic transformation has found a broad range of engineering applications. However, the intrinsic hysteresis and temperature sensitivity of the first-order phase transformation significantly hinder the usage of smart metallic components in many critical areas. In this paper, we report a large superelasticity up to 15.2% strain in [001]-oriented NiCoFeGa single crystals, exhibiting non-hysteretic mechanical responses, a small temperature dependence and high-energy-storage capability and cyclic stability over a wide temperature and composition range. In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements show that the superelasticity is correlated with a stress-induced continuous variation of lattice parameter accompanied by structural fluctuation. Neutron diffraction and electron microscopy observations reveal an unprecedented microstructure consisting of atomic-level entanglement of ordered and disordered crystal structures, which can be manipulated to tune the superelasticity. The discovery of the large elasticity related to the entangled structure paves the way for exploiting elastic strain engineering and development of related functional materials. NiCoFeGa single crystals exhibit large non-hysteretic superelasticity over broad temperature and composition ranges. It is attributed to the continuous phase transition with applied stress, which is related to the fluctuation of entangled ordered and disordered crystal structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermal stability of antiferroelectric-like Al:HfO 2 thin films with TiN or Pt electrodes

HfO 2 -based antiferroelectric-like thin films are increasingly being considered for commercial devices. However, even with initial promise, the temperature sensitivity of electrical properties such as loss tangent and leakage current remains unreported. 50 nm thick, 4 at. % Al-doped HfO 2 thin films were synthesized via atomic layer deposition with both top and bottom electrodes being TiN or Pt. A study of their capacitance vs temperature showed that the Pt/Al:HfO 2 /Pt had a relative dielectric permittivity of 23.30 ± 0.06 at room temperature with a temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of 78 ± 86 ppm/°C, while the TiN/Al:HfO 2 /TiN had a relative dielectric permittivity of 32.28 ± 0.14 at room temperature with a TCC of 322 ± 41 ppm/°C. The capacitance of both devices varied less than 6% over 1 to 1000 kHz from –125 to 125 °C. Both capacitors maintained loss tangents under 0.03 and leakage current densities of 10 –9 –10 –7 A/cm 2 between –125 and 125 °C. The TiN/Al:HfO 2 /TiN capacitor maintained an energy storage density (ESD) of 18.17 ± 0.79 J/cm 3 at an efficiency of 51.79% ± 2.75% over the –125 to 125 °C range. The Pt/Al:HfO 2 /Pt capacitor also maintained a stable ESD of 9.83 ± 0.26 J/cm 3 with an efficiency of 62.87% ± 3.00% over the same temperature range. Finally, such low losses in both capacitors along with their thermal stability make antiferroelectric-like, Al-doped HfO 2 thin films a promising material for temperature-stable microelectronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The trailing edge is everywhere: tree rings reveal the transient risk of extinction hidden inside climate envelope forecasts

Given the importance of climate in shaping species’ geographic distributions, climate change poses an existential threat to biodiversity. Climate envelope modeling, the predominant approach used to quantify this threat, presumes that individuals in populations respond to climate variability and change according to species-level responses inferred from spatial occurrence data—such that individuals at the cool edge of a species’ distribution should benefit from warming (the “leading edge”), whereas individuals at the warm edge should suffer (the “trailing edge”). Using 1,558 tree-ring time series of an aridland pine (Pinus edulis) collected at 977 locations across the species’ distribution, we found that trees everywhere grow less in warmer-than-average and drier-than-average years. Ubiquitous negative temperature sensitivity indicates that individuals across the entire distribution should suffer with warming—the entire distribution is a trailing edge. Species-level responses to spatial climate variation are opposite in sign to individual-scale responses to time-varying climate for approximately half the species’ distribution with respect to temperature and the majority of the species’ distribution with respect to precipitation. These findings, added to evidence from the literature for scale-dependent climate responses in hundreds of species, suggest that correlative, equilibrium-based range forecasts may fail to accurately represent how individuals in populations will be impacted by changing climate. A scale-dependent view of the impact of climate change on biodiversity highlights the transient risk of extinction hidden inside climate envelope forecasts and the importance of evolution in rescuing species from extinction whenever local climate variability and change exceeds individual-scale climate tolerances.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Tree rings reveal the transient risk of extinction hidden inside climate envelope forecasts

Given the importance of climate in shaping species’ geographic distributions, climate change poses an existential threat to biodiversity. Climate envelope modeling, the predominant approach used to quantify this threat, presumes that individuals in populations respond to climate variability and change according to species-level responses inferred from spatial occurrence data—such that individuals at the cool edge of a species’ distribution should benefit from warming (the “leading edge”), whereas individuals at the warm edge should suffer (the “trailing edge”). Using 1,558 tree-ring time series of an aridland pine (Pinus edulis) collected at 977 locations across the species’ distribution, we found that trees everywhere grow less in warmer-than-average and drier-than-average years. Ubiquitous negative temperature sensitivity indicates that individuals across the entire distribution should suffer with warming—the entire distribution is a trailing edge. Species-level responses to spatial climate variation are opposite in sign to individual-scale responses to time-varying climate for approximately half the species’ distribution with respect to temperature and the majority of the species’ distribution with respect to precipitation. These findings, added to evidence from the literature for scale-dependent climate responses in hundreds of species, suggest that correlative, equilibrium-based range forecasts may fail to accurately represent how individuals in populations will be impacted by changing climate. A scale-dependent view of the impact of climate change on biodiversity highlights the transient risk of extinction hidden inside climate envelope forecasts and the importance of evolution in rescuing species from extinction whenever local climate variability and change exceeds individual-scale climate tolerances.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Gold L-shell emission spectroscopy as a temperature diagnostic in laser-driven experiments

Measurements of plasma conditions within gold hohlraums are challenging but provide important information about hohlraum energy transport. To date, there are no reliable passive diagnostic approaches that produce information about the hohlraum plasma conditions. Gold L-shell emission spectroscopy is a promising method to measure the electron temperature in multi-keV gold hohlraum plasmas. In this study, we compare time-resolved measurements of gold L-shell spectra against a more conventional electron temperature-sensitive diagnostic, K-shell emission from zinc, a mid-Z dopant. The Au L-shell and Zn K-shell spectra are taken simultaneously. The analysis of both sets of data exhibits good agreement with a singular rad-hydro model, suggesting a similar evolution in the mean electron temperature of the hohlraum plasma. These findings support the use of L-shell spectroscopy of gold as a method to study gold plasma conditions.

Emission spectroscopy↗

Intensified Positive Arctic–Methane Feedback under IPCC Climate Scenarios in the 21st Century

The positive Arctic–methane (CH 4 ) feedback forms when more CH 4 is released from the Arctic tundra to warm the climate, further stimulating the Arctic to emit CH 4 . This study utilized the CLM-Microbe model to project CH 4 emissions across five distinct Arctic tundra ecosystems on the Alaska North Slope, considering three Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios using climate data from three climate models from 2016 to 2100. Employing a hyper-resolution of 5 m × 5 m within 40,000 m 2 domains accounted for the Arctic tundra’s high spatial heterogeneity; three sites were near $Utqia\dot{g}vik$ (US-Beo, US-Bes, and US-Brw), with one each in Atqasuk (US-Atq) and Ivotuk (US-Ivo). Simulated CH 4 emissions substantially increased by a factor of 5.3 to 7.5 under the SSP5–8.5 scenario compared to the SSP1–2.6 and SSP2–4.5 scenarios. The projected CH 4 emissions exhibited a stronger response to rising temperature under the SSP5–8.5 scenario than under the SSP1–2.6 and SSP2–4.5 scenarios, primarily due to strong temperature dependence and the enhanced precipitation-induced expansion of anoxic conditions that promoted methanogenesis. The CH 4 transport via ebullition and plant-mediated transport is projected to increase under all three SSP scenarios, and ebullition dominated CH 4 transport by 2100 across five sites. Projected CH 4 emissions varied in temperature sensitivity, with a Q 10 range of 2.7 to 60.9 under SSP1–2.6, 3.8 to 17.6 under SSP2–4.5, and 5.7 to 17.2 under SSP5–8.5. Compared with the other three sites, US-Atq and US-Ivo were estimated to have greater increases in CH 4 emissions due to warmer temperatures and higher precipitation. The fact that warmer sites and warmer climate scenarios had higher CH 4 emissions suggests an intensified positive Arctic–CH 4 feedback in the 21st century. Microbial physiology and substrate availability dominated the enhanced CH 4 production. The simulated intensified positive feedback underscores the urgent need for a more mechanistic understanding of CH 4 dynamics and the development of strategies to mitigate CH 4 across the Arctic.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The forest, the cicadas and the holey fluxes: Periodical cicada impacts on soil respiration depends on tree mycorrhizal type

Abstract The emergence of billions of periodical cicadas affects plant and animal communities profoundly, yet little is known about cicada impacts on soil carbon fluxes. We investigated the effects of Brood X cicadas (Magicicada septendecim, M. cassinii and M. septendeculain) on soil CO 2 fluxes (R S ) in three Indiana forests. We hypothesizedR S would be sensitive to emergence hole density, with the greatest effects occurring in soils with the lowest ambient fluxes. In support of our hypothesis,R S increased with increasing hole density and greater effects were observed near AM‐associating trees (which expressed lower ambient fluxes) than near EcM‐associating trees. Additionally,R S from emergence holes increased the temperature sensitivity (Q 10 ) ofR S by 13%, elevating the Q 10 of ecosystem respiration. Brood X cicadas increased annualR S by ca. 2.5%, translating to an additional 717 Gg of CO 2 across forested areas. As such, periodical cicadas can have substantial effects on soil processes and biogeochemistry.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

Pot1 promotes telomere DNA replication via the Stn1-Ten1 complex in fission yeast

Abstract Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect the chromosome-ends from eliciting DNA repair while ensuring their complete duplication. Pot1 is a subunit of telomere capping complex that binds to the G-rich overhang and inhibits the activation of DNA damage checkpoints. In this study, we explore new functions of fission yeast Pot1 by using a pot1-1 temperature sensitive mutant. We show that pot1 inactivation impairs telomere DNA replication resulting in the accumulation of ssDNA leading to the complete loss of telomeric DNA. Recruitment of Stn1 to telomeres, an auxiliary factor of DNA lagging strand synthesis, is reduced in pot1-1 mutants and overexpression of Stn1 rescues loss of telomeres and cell viability at restrictive temperature. We propose that Pot1 plays a crucial function in telomere DNA replication by recruiting Stn1-Ten1 and Polα-primase complex to telomeres via Tpz1, thus promoting lagging-strand DNA synthesis at stalled replication forks.

Carvalho Borges, Pâmela C. (ORCID:0000000244919874↗

Differential multi-probe thermal transport measurements of multi-walled carbon nanotubes grown by chemical vapor deposition

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are quasi-one dimensional nanostructures that display both high thermal conductivity for potential thermal management applications and intriguing low-dimensional phonon transport phenomena. In comparison to the advances made in the theoretical calculation of the lattice thermal conductivity of CNTs, thermal transport measurements of CNTs have been limited by either the poor temperature sensitivity of Raman thermometry technique or the presence of contact thermal resistance errors in sensitive two-probe resistance thermometry measurements. Here we report advances in a multi-probe measurement of the intrinsic thermal conductivity of individual multi-walled CNT samples that are transferred from the growth substrate onto the measurement device. The sample-thermometer thermal interface resistance is directly measured by this multi-probe method and used to model the temperature distribution along the contacted sample segment. The detailed temperature profile helps to eliminate the contact thermal resistance error in the obtained thermal conductivity of the suspended sample segment. A differential electro-thermal bridge measurement method is established to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio and reduce the measurement uncertainty by over 40%. The obtained thermal resistances of multiple suspended segments of the same MWCNT samples increase nearly linearly with increasing length, revealing diffusive phonon transport as a result of phonon-defect scattering in these MWCNT samples. The measured thermal conductivity increases with temperature and reaches up to 390 ± 20 W m –1 K –1 at room temperature for a 9-walled MWCNT. In conclusion, theoretical analysis of the measurement results suggests submicron phonon mean free paths due to extrinsic phonon scattering by extended defects such as grain boundaries. The obtained thermal conductivity is decreased by a factor of 3 upon electron beam damage and surface contamination of the CNT sample.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Peatland hydrology across scale: a probabilistic framework for confronting variability, heterogeneity, and uncertainty (Final Report)

Our project aimed to guide the representations of peatland hydrology and water-carbon feedbacks within Earth System Models, by improving process understanding and developing parsimonious models that elucidate the effects of hydroclimatic variability and spatial heterogeneity. Our research questions centered on the three key drivers of peatland hydrology: (1) seasonal and interannual hydroclimatic fluctuations, (2) spatial heterogeneity of peatland microtopography, and (3) hydrological connectivity across landscape units within a peatland watershed. Our analyses and model testing used existing long-term datasets within the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), with new data collected whenever necessary. To date, we have demonstrated the strong influence of water table elevations on the temperature sensitivity of CH 4 emissions, using a newly developed eddy covariance dataset spanning eleven years at MEF. Specifically, higher water tables dampen the increase in CH 4 emissions in the spring as well as their decrease in the fall, resulting in hysteresis. These results imply that any hydroclimatological changes in peatlands that shift seasonal water availability from winter to summer will increase annual CH 4 emissions, even if soil temperature remains unchanged. To further investigate water table elevation change within the peatland microtopography, we installed automated water table gauges across four bog-forest transects (the “lagg”) in two peatland watersheds at MEF, which are hotspots of intense biogeochemical activity. These measurements will give us new information about the extent of lagg expansion and contraction during snowmelt and high intensity rainfall events, as well as the directionality of water and nutrient flow into the bog from the surrounding forests. Finally, we investigated the hydrological connectivity across the peatland watershed complex during early spring – a critical period where water table is elevated from snowmelt – using extended hydrological records from MEF (e.g., snow and frost depths, water table elevations, streamflow). The importance of thermal and wintertime processes within the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) was determined through sensitivity analyses. Results from data analyses show that (i) streamflow has decreased over decades likely due to increased evapotranspiration rates (despite no detectable trends in precipitation), (ii) spring streamflow generation is controlled by a sequence of fill-and-spill pathways from the snowpack to the stream through peatland water stores, and (iii) frost depth is a key explanatory variable for the timing and magnitude of streamflow. These results suggest that frost plays an important role in connecting surface water storage in peatlands to stream outlets, and that the hydrological connectivity across the peatland watershed complex can mediate the sensitivity of hydrological responses to climate variations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Temperature Effects in Flexible Adsorption Processes for Amorphous Microporous Polymers

A collection of atomistic molecular simulations is reported that illustrate the impact of adsorption temperature on species uptake and adsorbate-induced structural rearrangement for amorphous polymers of intrinsic microporosity. Temperature-sensitive structural rearrangement is evaluated by contrasting two methods: standard grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations using a rigid framework approximation and a combined Monte Carlo/molecular dynamics approach that fully incorporates framework flexibility. We report single-component gas phase adsorption isotherms for CH 4 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , and CO 2 across a temperature range of 250–400 K for models of an archetypal polymer of intrinsic microporosity, PIM-1. A quadratic model is presented that captures two main mechanisms of temperature-dependent adsorption-induced deformation of PIM-1 up to a relative swelling of 1.15: thermal expansion and an increased propensity to swell as a function of species uptake. Two case studies are reported that highlight the critical role of operating temperature in industrial storage and separation applications. The first study focuses on methane storage and delivery applications using a pressure–temperature swing adsorption application (PTSA). We demonstrate that larger working capacities are accompanied by increased volumetric strain between adsorption–desorption steps. The second case study considers PIM-1 as an adsorbent to separate an exemplar ternary syngas mixture at operating temperatures ranging 300–550 K. Here, a temperature threshold of ~400 K is identified, beyond which adsorption-induced PIM-1 swelling is negligible and the solubility selectivity-loading curve transitions to exhibiting a nearly linear relationship.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Development of an accelerator-based neutron source to prototype Mo-99 production, part I: A liquid LBE windowless target

In this article, Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)’s decay product, technetium-99 (Tc-99 m), is one of the most critical isotopes for medical diagnostics. To provide U.S. domestic supply of Mo-99 without using high-enriched uranium (HEU), a subcritical uranium target assembly (UTA) is irradiated by an accelerator-based neutron source to create Mo-99 through fission. This study discusses the development of the accelerator-based neutron source. The high-energy electrons from the accelerator irradiate a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) target to produce neutrons. Part I of this work focuses on numerical and experimental analysis towards the development of a liquid LBE windowless target. Unlike the existing windowless targets in literature, the current design creates a vertical free surface for a beam to irradiate. First, a hydrodynamic analysis of the LBE windowless target is performed. Simplified analytical calculations are assisted by 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to design the target, with the focus on eliminating recirculation zones and avoiding cavitation. With the optimized geometry, the experimental study is performed to investigate the flow hydrodynamics using liquid LBE. The experiments (1) compare pressure drop in the system to correlation predictions; (2) visualize the free surface liquid LBE flow from the beam view; (3) validate the LBE flow profile using temperature sensitive paint from the side view; and (4) validate the liquid LBE film thickness using gamma densitometer measurements. Second, the power handling capability of the designed windowless target is investigated. The divider plate in the current design is susceptible to overheating due to the thin LBE film in front. As LBE erosion and corrosion is likely to occur at an LBE velocity of 2.0 m/s and temperature above 500 °C, a power limit of 10 kW of beam power was established to prevent this corrosion from occurring, which is calculated by a Nusselt number correlation. The divider plate surface temperature at 10 kW agrees well with the 3D CFD simulation results. Part I demonstrates the fundamental physics in liquid LBE windowless target design and associated testing. A companion paper, Part II will demonstrate how to couple this windowless target into the Mo-99 production system, including an accelerator system operating under an ultra-high vacuum and the UTA cooled by water at room temperature.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

One-dimensional air temperature measurements by air resonance enhanced multiphoton Ionization thermometry (ART)

In this work, a detailed calibration study is performed to establish non-intrusive one-dimensional (1D) rovibrational temperature measurements in unseeded air, based on air resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization thermometry (ART). ART is generated by REMPI (resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization) of molecular oxygen and subsequent avalanche ionization of molecular nitrogen in a single laser pulse. ART signal, the fluorescence from the first negative band of molecular nitrogen, is directly proportional to the 2-photon transition of molecular oxygen C 3 Π (v = 2) ← X 3 Σ (v’=0), which is used to determine temperature. Experimentally, hyperfine structures of the O 2 rotational branches with high temperature sensitivity are selectively excited through a frequency-doubled dye laser. Electron-avalanche ionization of N 2 results in the fluorescence emissions from the first negative bands of N 2 + near 390, 425, and 430nm, which are captured as a 1D line by a gated intensified camera. Post processing of the N 2 + fluorescence yields a 1D thermometry line that is representative of the air temperature. It is demonstrated that the technique provides ART fluorescence of ∼5cm in length in the unseeded air, presenting an attractive thermometry solution for high-speed wind tunnels and other ground test facilities.

42 ENGINEERING↗