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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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Energy Storage Grand Challenge: Energy Storage Market Report

As part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Storage Grand Challenge (ESGC), DOE intends to synthesize and disseminate best available energy storage data, information, and analysis to inform decision-making and accelerate technology adoption. The ESGC Roadmap provides options for addressing technology development, commercialization, manufacturing, valuation, and workforce challenges to position the United States for global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future. This report provides a baseline understanding of the numerous, dynamic energy storage markets that fall within the scope of the ESGC via an integrated presentation of deployment, investment, and manufacturing data from the best, publicly-available sources. This report covers the following energy storage technologies: lithium ion batteries, lead acid batteries, pumped storage hydropower, comrpessed air energy storage, redox flow batteries, hydrogen, building thermal energy storage, and select long duration energy storage technologies. Not all energy storage technologies and markets could be addressed in this report. Due to the wide array of energy technologies, market niches, and data availability issues, this market report only included a select group of technologies. For example, thermal energy storage technologies are very broadly defined and cover a wide range of potential markets, technology readiness levels, and primary energy sources. In other areas, data scarcity necessitates a greater understanding of future applications and emerging science. Future efforts will update data presented in this report and be expanded to include other energy storage technologies. This data-driven assessment of the current status of energy storage markets is essential to track progress toward the goals described in the Energy Storage Grand Challenge and inform the decision-making of a broad range of stakeholders. At the same time, gaps identified through the development of this report can point to areas where further data collection and analysis could provide an even greater level of understanding of the full range of markets and technologies. Finally, numerous complementary analyses are planned, underway, or completed that will provide a deeper understanding of the specific technologies and markets covered at a high-level in this report.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Optimizing Price-Informed Operation of a Battery Storage System in an Office Building

New prescriptive efficiency requirements amended to US model energy codes historically have been evaluated using an average, blended electricity rate, which obscures demand charges. Post 2019, new measures can be evaluated using a representative time-of-use (TOU) tariff yet more sophisticated analysis methods are needed to consider a variety of TOU tariffs and assess price-informed control. To address these needs, this study couples building prototype simulation model with varying-in-sophistication battery storage operating strategies for different electricity TOU tariffs. The analysis compares the impact of operating a battery storage system following simpler rule-of-thumb methods versus a semi-optimized priced-informed heuristic approach. The investigation demonstrates that the heuristic approach results in greater electricity cost savings and is practical to implement.

Lei, Xuechen↗

3D Nanomagnetism in Low Density Interconnected Nanowire Networks

Free-standing, interconnected metallic nanowire networks with densities as low as 40 mg/cm 3 have been achieved over centimeter-scale areas, using electrodeposition into polycarbonate membranes that have been ion-tracked at multiple angles. Networks of interconnected magnetic nanowires further provide an exciting platform to explore 3-dimensional nanomagnetism, where their structure, topology, and frustration may be used as additional degrees of freedom to tailor the materials properties. New magnetization reversal mechanisms in cobalt networks are captured by the first-order reversal curve method, which demonstrate the evolution from strong demagnetizing dipolar interactions to intersection-mediated domain wall pinning and propagation, and eventually to shape-anisotropy dominated magnetization reversal. These findings open up new possibilities for 3-dimensional integrated magnetic devices for memory, complex computation, and neuromorphics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On-the-fly closed-loop materials discovery via Bayesian active learning

Active learning—the field of machine learning (ML) dedicated to optimal experiment design—has played a part in science as far back as the 18th century when Laplace used it to guide his discovery of celestial mechanics. In this work, we focus a closed-loop, active learning-driven autonomous system on another major challenge, the discovery of advanced materials against the exceedingly complex synthesis-processes-structure-property landscape. We demonstrate an autonomous materials discovery methodology for functional inorganic compounds which allow scientists to fail smarter, learn faster, and spend less resources in their studies, while simultaneously improving trust in scientific results and machine learning tools. This robot science enables science-over-the-network, reducing the economic impact of scientists being physically separated from their labs. The real-time closed-loop, autonomous system for materials exploration and optimization (CAMEO) is implemented at the synchrotron beamline to accelerate the interconnected tasks of phase mapping and property optimization, with each cycle taking seconds to minutes. We also demonstrate an embodiment of human-machine interaction, where human-in-the-loop is called to play a contributing role within each cycle. This work has resulted in the discovery of a novel epitaxial nanocomposite phase-change memory material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ferroelectric phase-transition frustration near a tricritical composition point

Phase transition describes a mutational behavior of matter states at a critical transition temperature or external field. Despite the phase-transition orders are well sorted by classic thermodynamic theory, ambiguous situations interposed between the first- and second-order transitions were exposed one after another. Here, we report discovery of phase-transition frustration near a tricritical composition point in ferroelectric Pb(Zr 1-x Ti x )O 3 . Our multi-scale transmission electron microscopy characterization reveals a number of geometrically frustrated microstructure features such as self-assembled hierarchical domain structure, degeneracy of mesoscale domain tetragonality and decoupled polarization-strain relationship. Associated with deviation from the classic mean-field theory, dielectric critical exponent anomalies and temperature dependent birefringence data unveil that the frustrated transition order stems from intricate competition of short-range polar orders and their decoupling to long-range lattice deformation. With supports from effective Hamiltonian Monte Carlo simulations, our findings point out a potentially universal mechanism to comprehend the abnormal critical phenomena occurring in phase-transition materials.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Patterned crystal growth and heat wave generation in hydrogels

Abstract The crystallization of metastable liquid phase change materials releases stored energy as latent heat upon nucleation and may therefore provide a triggerable means of activating downstream processes that respond to changes in temperature. In this work, we describe a strategy for controlling the fast, exothermic crystallization of sodium acetate from a metastable aqueous solution into trihydrate crystals within a polyacrylamide hydrogel whose polymerization state has been patterned using photomasks. A comprehensive experimental study of crystal shapes, crystal growth front velocities and evolving thermal profiles showed that rapid growth of long needle-like crystals through unpolymerized solutions produced peak temperatures of up to 45˚C, while slower-crystallizing polymerized solutions produced polycrystalline composites and peaked at 30˚C due to lower rates of heat release relative to dissipation in these regions. This temperature difference in the propagating heat waves, which we describe using a proposed analytical model, enables the use of this strategy to selectively activate thermoresponsive processes in predefined areas.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Field-free spin-orbit torque switching assisted by in-plane unconventional spin torque in ultrathin [Pt/Co] N

Electrical manipulation of magnetization without an external magnetic field is critical for the development of advanced non-volatile magnetic-memory technology that can achieve high memory density and low energy consumption. Several recent studies have revealed efficient out-of-plane spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in a variety of materials for field-free type-z SOT switching. Here, we report on the corresponding type-x configuration, showing significant in-plane unconventional spin polarizations from sputtered ultrathin [Pt/Co] N , which are either highly textured on single crystalline MgO substrates or randomly textured on SiO 2 coated Si substrates. The unconventional spin currents generated in the low-dimensional Co films result from the strong orbital magnetic moment, which has been observed by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurement. The x-polarized spin torque efficiency reaches up to −0.083 and favors complete field-free switching of CoFeB magnetized along the in-plane charge current direction. Micromagnetic simulations additionally demonstrate its lower switching current than type-y switching, especially in narrow current pulses. Our work provides additional pathways for electrical manipulation of spintronic devices in the pursuit of high-speed, high-density, and low-energy non-volatile memory.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Long-range, non-local switching of spin textures in a frustrated antiferromagnet

Abstract Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging area of quantum technologies that leverage the coupling between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in exotic materials. Spin-orbit interactions allow spin or angular momentum to be injected via electrical stimuli to manipulate the spin texture of a material, enabling the storage of information and energy. In general, the physical process is intrinsically local: spin is carried by an electrical current, imparted into the magnetic system, and the spin texture will then rotate in the region of current flow. In this study, we show that spin information can be transported and stored “non-locally" in the material Fe x NbS 2 . We propose that collective modes can manipulate the spin texture away from the flowing current, an effect amplified by strong magnetoelastic coupling of the ordered state. This suggests a novel way to store and transport spin information in strongly spin-orbit coupled magnetic systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Reconfigurable spin current transmission and magnon–magnon coupling in hybrid ferrimagnetic insulators

Coherent spin waves possess immense potential in wave-based information computation, storage, and transmission with high fidelity and ultra-low energy consumption. However, despite their seminal importance for magnonic devices, there is a paucity of both structural prototypes and theoretical frameworks that regulate the spin current transmission and magnon hybridization mediated by coherent spin waves. Here, we demonstrate reconfigurable coherent spin current transmission, as well as magnon–magnon coupling, in a hybrid ferrimagnetic heterostructure comprising epitaxial Gd 3 Fe 5 O 12 and Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 insulators. By adjusting the compensated moment in Gd 3 Fe 5 O 12 , magnon–magnon coupling was achieved and engineered with pronounced anticrossings between two Kittel modes, accompanied by divergent dissipative coupling approaching the magnetic compensation temperature of Gd 3 Fe 5 O 12 (T M,GdIG ), which were modeled by coherent spin pumping. Remarkably, we further identified, both experimentally and theoretically, a drastic variation in the coherent spin wave-mediated spin current across T M,GdIG , which manifested as a strong dependence on the relative alignment of magnetic moments. Our findings provide significant fundamental insight into the reconfiguration of coherent spin waves and offer a new route towards constructing artificial magnonic architectures.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Symmetry-mediated quantum coherence of W 5+ spins in an oxygen-deficient double perovskite

Elucidating the factors limiting quantum coherence in real materials is essential to the development of quantum technologies. Here we report a strategic approach to determine the effect of lattice dynamics on spin coherence lifetimes using oxygen deficient double perovskites as host materials. In addition to obtaining millisecond T 1 spin-lattice lifetimes at T ~ 10 K, measurable quantum superpositions were observed up to room temperature. We determine that T 2 enhancement in Sr 2 CaWO 6-δ over previously studied Ba 2 CaWO 6-δ is caused by a dynamically-driven increase in effective site symmetry around the dominant paramagnetic site, assigned as W 5+ via electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Further, a combination of experimental and computational techniques enabled quantification of the relative strength of spin-phonon coupling of each phonon mode. This analysis demonstrates the effect of thermodynamics and site symmetry on the spin lifetimes of W 5+ paramagnetic defects, an important step in the process of reducing decoherence to produce longer-lived qubits.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Exchange bias due to coupling between coexisting antiferromagnetic and spin-glass orders

Exchange bias is a property of widespread technological utility, but its underlying mechanism remains elusive, in part because it is rooted in the interaction of coexisting order parameters in the presence of complex magnetic disorder. In this study we show that a giant exchange bias housed within a spin-glass phase arises in a disordered antiferromagnet. The magnitude and robustness of the exchange bias emerges from a convolution of two energetic landscapes, namely the highly degenerate landscape of the spin glass biased by the sublattice spin configuration of the antiferromagnet. The former provides a source of uncompensated moment, whereas the latter provides a mechanism for its pinning, which leads to the exchange bias. Tuning the relative strengths of the spin-glass and antiferromagnetic order parameters reveals a principle for tailoring the exchange bias, with potential applications to spintronic technologies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Control of chiral orbital currents in a colossal magnetoresistance material

Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) is an extraordinary enhancement of the electrical conductivity in the presence of a magnetic field. It is conventionally associated with a field-induced spin polarization that drastically reduces spin scattering and electric resistance. Ferrimagnetic Mn 3 Si 2 Te 6 is an intriguing exception to this rule: it exhibits a seven-order-of-magnitude reduction in ab plane resistivity that occurs only when a magnetic polarization is avoided 1,2 . Here, we report an exotic quantum state that is driven by ab plane chiral orbital currents (COC) flowing along edges of MnTe 6 octahedra. The c axis orbital moments of ab plane COC couple to the ferrimagnetic Mn spins to drastically increase the ab plane conductivity (CMR) when an external magnetic field is aligned along the magnetic hard c axis. Consequently, COC-driven CMR is highly susceptible to small direct currents exceeding a critical threshold, and can induce a time-dependent, bistable switching that mimics a first-order ‘melting transition’ that is a hallmark of the COC state. Further, the demonstrated current-control of COC-enabled CMR offers a new paradigm for quantum technologies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ultrafast optical control of surface and bulk magnetism in magnetic topological insulator/antiferromagnet heterostructure

Abstract Optical control of the magnetic properties in topological insulator systems is an important step in applying these materials in ultrafast optoelectronic and spintronic schemes. In this work, we report the experimental observation of photo-induced magnetization dynamics in the magnetically doped topological insulator (MTI)/antiferromagnet (AFM) heterostructure composed of Cr-(Bi,Sb) 2 Te 3 /CrSb. Through proximity coupling to the AFM layer, the MTI displays a dramatically enhanced magnetism, with robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. When subjected to intense laser irradiation, both surface and bulk magnetism of the MTI are weakened by laser-induced heating of the lattice, however, at the surface, the deleterious heat effect is compensated by the strengthening of Dirac-hole-mediated exchange coupling as demonstrated by an unconventional pump-fluence-dependent exchange-bias effect. Through theoretical analyses, the sizes of exchange coupling energies are estimated in the MTI/AFM bilayer structure. The fundamentally different mechanisms supporting the surface and bulk magnetic order in MTIs allow a novel and distinctive photo-induced transient magnetic state with antiparallel spin configuration, which broadens the understanding of the magnetization dynamics of MTIs under ultrashort and intense optical excitation.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Energy gap of topological surface states in proximity to a magnetic insulator

Abstract Topological surface-states can acquire an energy gap when time-reversal symmetry is broken by interfacing with a magnetic insulator. This gap has yet to be measured. Such topological-magnetic insulator heterostructures can host a quantized anomalous Hall effect and can allow the control of the magnetic state of the insulator in a spintronic device. In this work, we observe the energy gap of topological surface-states in proximity to a magnetic insulator using magnetooptical Landau level spectroscopy. We measure Pb 1-x Sn x Se–EuSe heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy exhibiting a record mobility and low Fermi energy. Through temperature dependent measurements and theoretical calculations, we show this gap is likely due to quantum confinement and conclude that the magnetic proximity effect is weak in this system. This weakness is disadvantageous for the realization of the quantum anomalous Hall effect, but favorable for spintronic devices which require the preservation of spin-momentum locking at the Fermi level.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A large interlaboratory electron diffraction study of monolayer graphene

Standardisation of data collection and analysis is essential to enable commercialisation of 2D materials in a wide range of technologies. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) is one of the key methods for distinguishing monolayer from bilayer and few-layer graphene by comparing the 1st and 2nd order diffraction spot intensities. Yet there are many factors that can affect the reliability of data collection and interpretation, causing the measurement of monolayer samples to deviate from the literature boundary condition of $I_{\{\bar{2}110\}}$$/$$I_{\{1\bar{1}00\}}$ < 1 for monolayer graphene (1LG). Here we present the results of a large interlaboratory SAED comparison study, where 15 international laboratories measured and analysed nominally identical samples of chemical vapour deposited graphene. Large variations were observed in the measured ratios of diffraction spot intensities, with the largest variance associated with poor quality SAED data resulting from inadequate specimen handling and storage. To inform the reliable determination of monolayer thickness from SAED patterns we provide a description of best practice for specimen handling, TEM operation, data collection and analysis. This work was undertaken within VAMAS Technical Working Area 41: Graphene and related 2D materials—Project 9, the results of which have been directly incorporated into ISO/TS 21356–2 for the characterisation of graphene sheets. We find that when this methodology is followed, 1LG can be distinguished from bilayer or thicker material with high confidence where analysis of a single SAED pattern gives $I_{\{\bar{2}110\}}$$/$$I_{\{1\bar{1}00\}}$ < 1.2, even in the absence of precise specimen tilting.

2D materials↗

Feasibility of Hybrid Electro- and Acousto-Dynamical Systems for Quantum Optical Networks

We present results on an exploratory research program that aims to study the feasibility of novel, sustained, dense, and efficient quantum information generation, storage, retrieval, relay and distribution devices and systems towards future advanced quantum networking architectures. The pathfinder program is anchored on original ideas and device conceptual designs that turn the phononic-sourced challenges into an opportunity towards optimized transduction chains over a broad range of length and energy/temperature scales. The proposal involves conceptual design and feasibility towards integration, commissioning and benchmarking of challenging transduction devices in a scaled quantum network setup.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Mechanical Loads on Spent Nuclear Fuel in the General 30 cm Package Drop Scenario

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Spent Fuel and Waste Science & Technology (SFWST) research program is guided by the high-level goal of closing prioritized knowledge gaps related to spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage and transportation, which are summarized by Saltzstein et al. (2020). One of the high-priority knowledge gaps is the identification and quantification of mechanical loads that are expected to affect SNF during normal conditions of transportation and storage to inform the range of physical SNF test programs. This report uses modeling and analysis methods to estimate the mechanical loads on spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the general 30 cm package drop scenario. The drop scenario assumes impact limiters are in place in the transportation configuration and the impact surface is perfectly rigid. The goal of this analysis is to consider the universe of potential mechanical loading conditions that can happen to SNF and present the results in a manner that is useful for materials testing, decision making, and regulatory rule making purposes. This study uses validated finite element models and methods to perform a broad parametric study of key variables that can affect the mechanical loads on SNF during a hypothetical package free drop scenario. Physical drop test data from a cask and fuel assembly drop test campaign is the basis for model validation. Additionally, the results of the parametric study are used to inform a damage model, which uses multiple nonlinear regression to estimate the relationships between input variables and output response. The parametric finite element analyses consider thousands of input variable combinations, while the damage model estimates millions of combinations. The breadth of this study provides confidence that the potential range of mechanical loads that SNF might experience during the general 30 cm package drop scenario are characterized well enough to consider this knowledge gap closed. While this report documents the overall peak values calculated in this study, the 95 th percentile values, the histograms, and the observed trends are equally important. This study covered a large range of SNF temperatures, room temperature to 300°C, and burnups, 10 GWd/MTU to 62 GWd/MTU. Each temperature and burnup combination has a different cladding yield strain, so it is more meaningful to summarize the calculated cladding strain response as its factor of safety, which is defined relative to the yield strain. The factor of safety is calculated as the yield strain divided by the peak cladding strain. A factor of safety greater than unity indicates that the cladding remains below yield, whereas a value less than unity is indicative of plastic deformation. In all cases of this study a safety factor over 1.0 was calculated, although in the most limiting case at 300°C the safety factor was only 1.01, which suggests that yielding could occur when additional loads like rod internal pressure are included. When the temperature is restricted to 200°C the limiting safety factor increases to 1.28, which has significant margin to accommodate internal pressure and potential local cladding defects that could cause a local stress concentration. An important trend in the calculated fuel rod mechanical loads is that the 2 nd highest loaded fuel rod in an assembly tends to be significantly lower than the highest loaded rod. The implication is that even if one rod in an assembly experiences a failure the loads would have to be significantly higher to cause two or more rods to fail.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗