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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

How microscopic epistasis and clonal interference shape the fitness trajectory in a spin glass model of microbial long-term evolution

The adaptive dynamics of evolving microbial populations takes place on a complex fitness landscape generated by epistatic interactions. The population generically consists of multiple competing strains, a phenomenon known as clonal interference. Microscopic epistasis and clonal interference are central aspects of evolution in microbes, but their combined effects on the functional form of the population’s mean fitness are poorly understood. Here, we develop a computational method that resolves the full microscopic complexity of a simulated evolving population subject to a standard serial dilution protocol. Through extensive numerical experimentation, we find that stronger microscopic epistasis gives rise to fitness trajectories with slower growth independent of the number of competing strains, which we quantify with power-law fits and understand mechanistically via a random walk model that neglects dynamical correlations between genes. We show that increasing the level of clonal interference leads to fitness trajectories with faster growth (in functional form) without microscopic epistasis, but leaves the rate of growth invariant when epistasis is sufficiently strong, indicating that the role of clonal interference depends intimately on the underlying fitness landscape. The simulation package for this work may be found at https://github.com/nmboffi/spin_glass_evodyn .

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

How microscopic epistasis and clonal interference shape the fitness trajectory in a spin glass model of microbial long-term evolution

The adaptive dynamics of evolving microbial populations takes place on a complex fitness landscape generated by epistatic interactions. The population generically consists of multiple competing strains, a phenomenon known as clonal interference. Microscopic epistasis and clonal interference are central aspects of evolution in microbes, but their combined effects on the functional form of the population’s mean fitness are poorly understood. Here, we develop a computational method that resolves the full microscopic complexity of a simulated evolving population subject to a standard serial dilution protocol. Through extensive numerical experimentation, we find that stronger microscopic epistasis gives rise to fitness trajectories with slower growth independent of the number of competing strains, which we quantify with power-law fits and understand mechanistically via a random walk model that neglects dynamical correlations between genes. We show that increasing the level of clonal interference leads to fitness trajectories with faster growth (in functional form) without microscopic epistasis, but leaves the rate of growth invariant when epistasis is sufficiently strong, indicating that the role of clonal interference depends intimately on the underlying fitness landscape. The simulation package for this work may be found at https://github.com/nmboffi/spin_glass_evodyn .

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Light Vector Meson Photoproduction off of 1H at Jefferson Lab and p-w Interference in the Leptonic Decay Channel

Although the phenomena of r – w interference has been studied at great length in pionic decay channel over the past 50 years, a study of the interference in a purely electromagnetic production and decay channel has never been performed on an elementary proton target until now. The only published photo-production data of the r - w leptonic decay channel was obtained in the early seventies on C and Be. An investigation of the r - w interference on a Hydrogen was recently completed at Jefferson Lab with the CLAS detector. The di-lepton spectra was fit with two inter- fering relativistic Breit-Wigner functions, and the interference phase was extracted. Preliminary results will be compared to the previous experimental studies in nuclei.

Djalali, Chaden↗
DOE OSTI2016

A LASER INTERFERENCE-BASED SURFACE TREATMENT OF AL AND CARBON FIBER POLYMER COMPOSITES FOR ENHANCED BONDING

Due to its increased use in the automotive and aerospace industries, joining of Carbon Fiber-reinforced Polymer matrix Composites (CFPC) to metals demands enhanced surface preparation and control of surface morphology prior to joining. In this study, surfaces of both composite and aluminum were prepared for joining using a new laser based technique, in which the laser interference power profile was created by splitting the beam and guiding those beams to the sample surface by overlapping each other with defined angles to each other. Results were presented for the overlap shear testing of single-lap joints made with Al 5182 and CFPC specimens whose surfaces prepared by (a) surface abrasion and solvent cleaning; and (b) laser-interference structured surfaces by rastering with a 4 mm laser beam at approximately 3.5 W power. CFPC specimens of T700S carbon fiber, Prepreg T70 epoxy, 4 or 5 ply thick, 0/90o plaques were used. Adhesive DP810 was used to bond Al and CFPC. The bondline was 0.25mm and the bond length was consistent among all joints produced. First, the effect of the laser speed on the joint performance was evaluated by laser-interference structure Al and CFPC surfaces with a beam angle of 3o and laser beam speeds of 3, 5, and 10 mm/s. For this sensitivity study, 3 joint specimens were used per each joint type. Based on the results for minimum, maximum, and mean values for the shear lap strength and maximum load for all the 9 joint types, two joint types were selected for further evaluations. Six additional joint specimens were prepared for these two joint types in order to obtain better statistics and the shear test data was presented for the range, mean, and standard deviation. The results for the single-lap shear tests obtained for six joint specimens, indicate that the shear lap strength, maximum load, and displacement at maximum load for those joints made with laser-interference structured surfaces were increased by approximately 14.8%, 16%, and 100%, respectively over those measured for the baseline joints.

Sabau, Adrian S↗
DOE OSTI2025

Time-reversed Young’s experiment: Deterministic, diffractionless second-order interference effect

The classic Young’s double-slit experiment exhibits first-order interference, producing alternating bright and dark fringes shaped by the diffraction effect of the slits. In contrast, here we demonstrate that its time-reversed configuration generates an ideal, deterministic second-order ‘ghost’ interference pattern free from diffraction and first-order effects with the use of only a position-fixed detector. The pattern’s size is governed by the dimensions of the ‘effectively extended light source’ formed by point emitter(s). Beyond highlighting the nonreciprocal physics between the two configurations, this system unlocks a range of novel phenomena inaccessible in traditional double-slit experiments. These include fully programmable, digitized interference fringe formations and the ability to align the pattern plane with the source plane on the same side of the setup. Remarkably, our proposed experiment achieves these outcomes without relying on nonclassical correlations or quantum entanglement. Here, by restoring time-reversal symmetry and eliminating diffraction, our theoretical analysis reveals that this approach offers exciting potential for advancing optical imaging and sensing technologies with improved transverse and longitudinal phase-shift sensitivity and resolution limit beyond current limitations.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Neutron activation analysis using gamma-gamma coincidence to eliminate spectral interferences

The use of neutron activation analysis (NAA) sometimes has limitations with the identification of specific gamma ray peaks due to spectral interferences. The implementation of gamma-gamma coincidence techniques using the XIA Pixie-16 system has demonstrated the ability reduce many of these challenges. In this work, experiments were performed on two different NIST reference materials using gamma-gamma coincidence techniques to identify long-lived radionuclides that are often difficult to evaluate due to various spectral interferences. The experiments have shown that utilizing gamma-gamma coincidence with the XIA Pixie-16 system for 177m Lu, 124 Sb, 160 Tb, 175 Yb, and 153 Sm can eliminate spectral interferences and high backgrounds due to Compton scattering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Theoretical realization of three-dimensional nanolattice structure fabrication based on high-order waveguide-mode interference and sample rotation

A theoretical method of using high-order waveguide-mode interference combined with sample rotation is proposed to fabricate different kinds of three-dimensional nanolattice structures. The lithography sample is assisted by an asymmetric metal-cladding dielectric waveguide structure. High-order waveguide modes can be excited in the photoresist layer by both transverse magnetic and transverse electric polarized light. By utilizing multiple exposures of high-order waveguide-mode interference combined with sample-rotation, various three-dimensional nanolattice structures can be obtained. The resulting optical field distributions are simulated using the finite element method in this study, and sample rotation is expressed by coordinate matrix transformation. As examples, the three-dimensional optical field distributions resulting from fifth-order waveguide-mode interference were simulated with 90° and 60° sample rotations and multiple exposures. The results show that a quasi-cuboid structure with a simple tetragonal arrangement and a quasi-hexagonal structure with a hexagonal close-packed lattice can be obtained. Moreover, the numerical simulation results revealed that the shapes, sizes, arrangements, and periods of the structures can be controlled by the rotation method, photoresist thickness, waveguide modes used for exposure, and so on.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Coupled field induced conversion between destructive and constructive quantum interference

We study the control of quantum interference in a four-level atom driven by three coherent fields forming a closed loop. The spontaneous emission spectrum shows two sets of peaks which are dramatically influenced by the fields. Due to destructive quantum interference, a dark line can be observed in the emission spectrum, and the condition of the dark line is given. We found that the conversion between destructive and constructive quantum interference can be achieved through controlling the Rabi frequency of the external fields.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Surface and subsurface characterization of laser-interference structured Ti6Al4V

Ti6Al4V specimens were exposed to high-energy laser pulses of 1.24 J/cm 2 fluences per pulse using a two-beam optical configuration to attain laser-interference. In addition to the formation of periodic surface textures by laser-interference, scanning electron microscope (SEM) images demonstrated several microstructural changes on the surface processed. Moreover, the surface and subsurface of Ti6Al4V specimens were characterized for the as-received and laser-interference processed conditions using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The XPS data showed that this laser technique is effective at removal of surface contaminants for Ti6Al4V. The XPS analysis also revealed the formation of an oxy-nitride layer on the laser treated material. Finally, the microstructure analysis indicates that grain refinement, dendrite and twin structures were found near the surface due to laser processing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Quantum-ring spin interference device tuned by quantum point contacts

We introduce a spin-interference device that comprises a quantum ring (QR) with three embedded quantum point contacts (QPCs) and study theoretically its spin transport properties in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Two of the QPCs conform the lead-to-ring junctions while a third one is placed symmetrically in the upper arm of the QR. Using an appropriate scattering model for the QPCs and the S-matrix scattering approach, we analyze the role of the QPCs on the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) and Aharonov-Casher (AC) conductance oscillations of the QR-device. Exact formulas are obtained for the spin-resolved conductances of the QR-device as a function of the confinement of the QPCs and the AB/AC phases. Conditions for the appearance of resonances and anti-resonances in the spin-conductance are derived and discussed. We predict very distinctive variations of the QR-conductance oscillations not seen in previous QR proposals. In particular, we find that the interference pattern in the QR can be manipulated to a large extend by varying electrically the lead-to-ring topological parameters. The latter can be used to modulate the AB and AC phases by applying gate voltage only. We have shown also that the conductance oscillations exhibits a crossover to well-defined resonances as the lateral QPC confinement strength is increased, mapping the eigenenergies of the QR. In addition, unique features of the conductance arise by varying the aperture of the upper-arm QPC and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Our results may be of relevance for promising spin-orbitronics devices based on quantum interference mechanisms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Phase control of light propagation via Fano interference in asymmetric double quantum wells

We investigate the light propagation and dynamical control of a weak pulsed probe field in asymmetric double quantum wells via Fano interference, which is caused by tunneling from the excited subbands to the same continuum. Our results show that the system can produce anomalous and normal dispersion regions with negligible absorption by choosing appropriate coupling strength of the tunneling and the Fano interference. Interesting enough, the dispersion can be switched between normal and anomalous by adjusting the relative phase between the pulsed probe and coherent control fields owing to the existence of the perfectly Fano interference. Thus, the relative phase can be regarded as a switch to manipulate light propagation with subluminal or superluminal. The temporal and spatial dynamics of the pulsed probe field with hyperbolic secant envelope are analyzed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental evidence for an optical interference model for vibrational sum frequency generation on multilayer organic thin film systems. I. Electric dipole approximation

In the field of vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (VSFG) applied to organic thin film systems, a significant challenge to data analysis is in the accurate description of optical interference effects. Herein, we provide experimental evidence that a model recently developed in our lab provides an accurate description of this phenomenon. We studied the organic small molecule N,N′-dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide vapor deposited as a thickness gradient on silicon wafer substrates with two oxide thicknesses and two surface preps. VSFG data were obtained using the ssp and the sps polarization combinations in the imide carbonyl stretching region as a function of organic thickness. In this first of two reports, the data are modeled and interpreted within the ubiquitous electric dipole approximation for VSFG. The intrinsic sample responses are parameterized during the fitting routines while optical interference effects are simply calculated from the model using known refractive indices, thin film thicknesses, and beam angles. The results indicate that the thin film model provides a good description of optical interferences, indicating that interfacial terms are significant. Inconsistencies between the fitting results within the bounds of the electric dipole response motivate deliberation for additional effects to be considered in the second report.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Absorption and emission of silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiC: Eliminating Fabry-Pérot interference

Silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiC are studied by spectrophotometry and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Absorptivities are found to be affected by residual Fabry-Pérot interference arising from measurements of reflection and transmission at locations of different film thickness. Multiple computational and experimental methods to avoid these errors in thin film measurements, in general, are discussed. Corrected absorptivity depends on the quantity of Si embedded in the SiC but is independent of the Si crystallinity, indicating a relaxation of the k-conservation criterion for optical transitions in the nanocrystals. Tauc gaps of 1.8–2.0 and 2.12 eV are determined for Si nanoclusters and SiC, respectively. PL spectra exhibit a red-shift of ∼100 nm per nm nominal Si nanocluster diameter, which is in agreement with quantum confinement but revealed to be an artifact entirely due to Fabry-Pérot interference. Several simple experimental methods to diagnose or avoid interference in PL measurements are developed that are applicable to all thin films. Corrected PL is rather weak and invariant with passivation, indicating that non-paramagnetic defects are responsible for rapid non-radiative recombination. They are also responsible for the broad, sub-gap PL of the SiC, and can wholly account for the form of the PL of samples with Si nanoclusters. The PL intensity of samples with Si nanoclusters, however, can only be explained with an increased density of luminescent defects in the SiC due to Si nanoclusters, efficient tunneling of photogenerated carriers from Si nanoclusters to SiC defects, or with emission from a-Si nanoclusters. Films prepared on Si exhibit much weaker PL than the same films prepared on quartz substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impurity-limited resistance and phase interference of localized impurities under quasi-one dimensional nano-structures

The impurity-limited resistance and the effect of the phase interference among localized multiple impurities in the quasi-one dimensional (quasi-1D) nanowire structures are systematically investigated under the framework of the scattering theory. We derive theoretical expressions of the impurity-limited resistance in the nanowire under the linear response regime from the Landauer formula and from the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) with the relaxation time approximation. We show that the formula from the BTE exactly coincides with that from the Landauer approach with the weak-scattering limit when the energy spectrum of the in-coming electrons from the reservoirs is narrow and, thus, point out a possibility that the distinction of the impurity-limited resistances derived from the Landauer formula and that of the BTE could be made clear. The derived formulas are applied to the quasi-1D nanowires doped with multiple localized impurities with short-range scattering potential and the validity of various approximations on the resistance are discussed. It is shown that impurity scattering becomes so strong under the nanowire structures that the weak-scattering limit breaks down in most cases. Thus, both phase interference and phase randomization simultaneously play a crucial role in determining the impurity-limited resistance even under the fully coherent framework. When the impurity separation along the wire axis direction is small, the constructive phase interference dominates and the resistance is much greater than the average resistance. As the separation becomes larger, however, it approaches the series resistance of the single-impurity resistance due to the phase randomization. Furthermore, under the uniform configuration of impurities, the space-average resistance of multiple impurities at room temperature is very close to the series resistance of the single-impurity resistance, and thus, each impurity could be regarded as an independent scattering center. The physical origin of this “self-averaging” under the fully coherent environments is attributed to the broadness of the energy spectrum of the in-coming electrons from the reservoirs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electric field controlled spin interference in a system with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

There have been intense research efforts over the last years focused on understanding the Rashba spin-orbit coupling effect from the perspective of possible spintronics applications. An important component of this line of research is aimed at control and manipulation of electron’s spin degrees of freedom in semiconductor quantum dot devices. A promising way to achieve this goal is to make use of the tunable Rashba effect that relies on the spin-orbit interaction in a two-dimensional electron system embedded in a host semiconducting material that lacks inversion-symmetry. This way, the Rashba spin-orbit coupling effect may potentially lead to fabrication of a new generation of spintronic devices where control of spin, thus magnetic properties, is achieved via an electric field and not a magnetic field. In this work we investigate theoretically the electron’s spin interference and accumulation process in a Rashba spin-orbit coupled system consisting of a pair of two-dimensional semiconductor quantum dots connected to each other via two conducting semi-circular channels. The strength of the confinement energy on the quantum dots is tuned by gate potentials that allow “leakage” of electrons from one dot to another. While going through the conducting channels, the electrons are spin-orbit coupled to a microscopically generated electric field applied perpendicular to the two-dimensional system. We show that interference of spin wave functions of electrons travelling through the two channels gives rise to interference/conductance patterns that lead to the observation of the geometric Berry’s phase. Achieving a predictable and measurable observation of Berry’s phase allows one to control the spin dynamics of the electrons. It is demonstrated that this system allows use of a microscopically generated electric field to control Berry’s phase, thus, enables one to tune the spin-dependent interference pattern and spintronic properties with no need for injection of spin-polarized electrons.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Note: Experimental observation of nano-channel pattern in light sheet laser interference nanolithography system

We experimentally observed nano-channel-like pattern in a light-sheet based interference nanolithography system. The optical system created nano-channel-like patterned illumination. Coherent counter-propagating light sheets are made to interfere at and near geometrical focus along the propagation z-axis. This results in the formation of nano-channel-like pattern (of size ≈ 300 nm and inter-channel periodicity of ≈337.5 nm) inside the sample due to constructive and destructive interference. In addition, the technique has the ability to generate large area patterning using larger light-sheets. Exciting applications are in the broad field of nanotechnology (nano-electronics and nano-fluidics).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

On-chip interference of single photons from an embedded quantum dot and an external laser

In this work, we demonstrate the on-chip two-photon interference between single photons emitted by a single self-assembled InGaAs quantum dot and an external laser. The quantum dot is embedded within one arm of an air-clad directional coupler which acts as a beam-splitter for incoming light. Photons originating from an attenuated external laser are coupled to the second arm of the beam-splitter and then combined with the quantum dot photons, giving rise to two-photon quantum interference between dissimilar sources. We verify the occurrence of on-chip Hong-Ou-Mandel interference by cross-correlating the optical signal from the separate output ports of the directional coupler. This experimental approach allows us to use a classical light source (laser) to assess in a single step the overall device performance in the quantum regime and probe quantum dot photon indistinguishability on application realistic time scales.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Investigating the origin of the far-field reflection interference fringe (RIF) of microdroplets

We show that the reflection interference fringe (RIF) is formed on a screen far away from the microdroplets placed on a prism-based substrate, which have low contact angles and thin droplet heights, caused by the dual convex–concave profile of the droplet, not a pure convex profile. The geometric formulation shows that the interference fringes are caused by the optical path difference when the reflected rays from the upper convex profile at the droplet–air interface interfere with reflection from the lower concave profile at oblique angles lower than the critical angle. Analytic solutions are obtained for the droplet height and the contact angle out of the fringe number and the fringe radius in RIF from the geometric formulation. Furthermore, the ray tracing simulation is conducted using the custom-designed code. The geometric formulation and the ray tracing show excellent agreement with the experimental observation in the relation between the droplet height and the fringe number and the relation between the contact angle and the fringe radius. This study is remarkable as the droplet's dual profile cannot be easily observed with the existing techniques. However, the RIF technique can effectively verify the existence of a dual profile of the microdroplets in a simple setup. In this work, the RIF technique is successfully developed as a new optical diagnostic technique to determine the microdroplet features, such as the dual profile, the height, the contact angle, the inflection point, and the precursor film thickness, by simply measuring the RIF patterns on the far-field screen.

42 ENGINEERING↗