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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,081 records · Page 60
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

High critical currents in heavily doped (Gd,Y)Ba 2 Cu 3 O x superconductor tapes

REBa 2 Cu 3 O x superconductor tapes with moderate levels of dopants have been optimized for high critical current density in low magnetic fields at 77 K, but they do not exhibit exemplary performance in conditions of interest for practical applications, i.e., temperatures less than 50 K and fields of 2–30 T. Heavy doping of REBCO tapes has been avoided by researchers thus far due to deterioration in properties. Here, we report achievement of critical current densities (J c ) above 20 MA/cm 2 at 30 K, 3 T in heavily doped (25 mol. % Zr-added) (Gd,Y)Ba 2 Cu 3 O x superconductor tapes, which is more than three times higher than the J c typically obtained in moderately doped tapes. Pinning force levels above 1000 GN/m 3 have also been attained at 20 K. A composition map of lift factor in J c (ratio of J c at 30 K, 3 T to the J c at 77 K, 0 T) has been developed which reveals the optimum film composition to obtain lift factors above six, which is thrice the typical value. A highly c-axis aligned BaZrO 3 (BZO) nanocolumn defect density of nearly 7 × 10 11 cm –2 as well as 2–3nm sized particles rich in Cu and Zr have been found in the high J c films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rapid doubling of the critical current of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−δ} coated conductors for viable high-speed industrial processing

We demonstrate that 3.5-MeV oxygen irradiation can markedly enhance the in-field critical current of commercial second generation superconducting tapes with an exposure time of just 1 s per 0.8 cm{sup 2}. The speed demonstrated here is now at the level required for an industrial reel-to-reel post-processing. The irradiation is made on production line samples through the protective silver coating and does not require any modification of the growth process. From TEM imaging, we identify small clusters as the main source of increased vortex pinning.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Optimization of BaZrO{sub 3} concentration as secondary phase in superconducting YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} for high current applications

We report the superconducting state properties of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} (YBCO) on introduction of BaZrO{sub 3} (BZO) as a secondary phase. YBCO+xBZO (x= 0, 2, 4, 6, and 10 wt%) composite samples were prepared by solid state reaction method and characterized for structural, morphological and superconducting properties. X-ray diffraction confirms the increased crystallinity and images of scanning electron microscopy measurement show an increase in both grain size and grain connectivity on addition of BZO in YBCO. These effects are well pronounced in an applied magnetic field. Critical current density, J{sub C}, as well as the pinning force peaks at 4% of BZO concentration showed significant difference. A three-fold enhancement in J{sub C} and a six-fold enhancement in pinning force were observed at this optimum BZO concentration. This has been attributed to the pinning of flux lines in YBCO due to introduction of BZO as a secondary phase. These results show that this composite has potential application in high current applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Negative differential resistance in GaN homojunction tunnel diodes and low voltage loss tunnel contacts

The current-voltage characteristics and metastability in GaN p++/n++ homojunction tunnel diodes and n++/p++/i/n tunnel-contacted diodes grown via metal modulated epitaxy have been reported on. The room temperature negative differential resistance (NDR) beginning at ~1.35 V is discussed for GaN homojunction devices grown on sapphire. The NDR vanishes, and the conductivity increases as multiple I-V sweeps are performed, thus implying that charge trapping states with long trap lifetimes exist at defect sites, and these traps play a crucial role in the tunneling mechanism. Additionally, the use of extremely high n-type (N D ~ 4.6×10 20 cm –3 ) and p-type (N A ~ 7.7×10 20 cm –3 ) doping results in a near linear characteristic with minimal rectification at current densities less than 200 A/cm 2 and soft rectification above this current density. Forward-bias tunneling and NDR are still present at 77 K. The highest silicon-doped n++/p++/i/n tunnel-contacted pin diode demonstrates a turn-on voltage of 3.12 V, only 0.14 V higher than that of the pin control diode, and an improved specific on-resistance of 3.24 ×10 –4 Ω cm 2 , which is 13% lower than that of the control pin diode.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

MOOSE Reactor Module: An Open-Source Capability for Meshing Nuclear Reactor Geometries

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program has developed numerous physics solvers utilizing the open-source Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework for multiphysics reactor analysis. These solvers require input finite element meshes representing the discretized spatial domain. Typically, reactor analysts turn to licensed tools for the creation of reactor geometry meshes. Recently, open-source functionality has been added to the MOOSE framework to mesh common reactor geometries and improve MOOSE-based nuclear reactor application user workflows. The new functionality is primarily contained in the new Reactor module of MOOSE and includes support for hexagonal pins, assemblies, and cores, extended Cartesian geometry support, options for modeling static and rotating control drums within a hexagonal assembly, core periphery triangulation, and automatic tagging of pin, assembly, plane, and depletion regions for easier post processing of physics results. A set of reactor geometry mesh builder objects further streamlines the construction of hexagonal and Cartesian cores and allows mapping of materials to regions during mesh generation. The meshes produced with the MOOSE Reactor module may be used directly within MOOSE-based applications or exported as Exodus II files for use in other finite element solvers. The tools have been demonstrated and verified using a variety of NEAMS physics solvers on a range of reactor applications, including a sodium-cooled fast reactor core analysis using Griffin, a fast reactor assembly thermal deformation analysis using MOOSE Tensor Mechanics, and a heat pipe–cooled microreactor coupled analysis using Griffin, Bison, and Sockeye. MOOSE’s Reactor module provides significant advantages compared to the use of external meshing tools when analyzing Cartesian and hexagonal reactor lattices using MOOSE-based applications: immediate accessibility (open-source) to the end user, low barrier to entry for new users, speed of mesh generation, volume preservation of meshed fuel pins, and simplification of analysis workflow when used in conjunction with MOOSE-based applications.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

PWR Core Analysis for Cycle Extension and Uprates with LEU+ Accident Tolerant Fuel and 80 GWd/Tonne Burnup Limit

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently drafted a rule enabling fuel burnup increase in light water reactors up to 80 GWd/t. In conjunction with use of fuel enrichment up to 10%, and accident tolerant fuel (ATF), this is anticipated to facilitate 24-month cycles in PWRs, along with further power uprates. In this paper, PWR core analysis is performed for 20% increased PWR power output along with cycle extension up to 24 months, in combination with use of chromia-doped fuel and chromium-coated clad, considered to be the most near-term ATF concepts. In combination, these lead to challenging conditions with a core average discharge burnup of up to ~74 GWd/t, challenging even the 80 GWd/t burnup limit. Analysis is performed using the 2-step method with POLARIS (within SCALE) used for the lattice calculations and PARCS for the core calculations. Core designs are first baselined for current operating conditions (LEU, 62 GWd/t discharge burnup limit) and then derived that meet cycle constraints on power distribution and the updated lead pin discharge burnup limit while maintaining at least two batches of fuel in the core. Gadolina loadings in fuel pins of up to 8% are used, with enrichment zoning both within the core and, to a limited extent, within assemblies. Here, doped fuel with coated cladding can utilize the same core designs as the reference UOX cores, exhibiting slightly lower burnup due to higher fuel density, which also offsets the slight reactivity penalty from the doping and coating. For the analysis performed here, doped fuel enabled a core with 24-month cycle and 20% uprate to stay within the 80 GWd/t lead pin discharge burnup limit.

LEU+↗
DOE OSTI2015

Self-healing patterns in ferromagnetic-superconducting hybrids

We study magnetic flux dynamic effects in a superconducting bridge with thin soft magnetic stripes placed either on top or under the bridge. Voltage-current (VI) measurements reveal that the edges of magnetic stripes oriented transvers or along the bridge introduce channels or barriers for vortex motion, resulting in the decrease or increase of the critical current, respectively. We demonstrate a remarkable self-healing effect whereby the magnetic pinning strength for the longitudinal stripes increases with current. The self-field of the current polarizes the magnetic stripes along their width, which enhances the stray fields at their edges and creates a dynamic vortex pinning landscape to impede vortex flow. Our results highlight new strategies to engineer adaptive pinning topologies in superconducting-ferromagnetic hybrids.

Vlasko-Vlasov, V. K.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Substantial reduction of the anisotropy in the critical current densities J c of Ni-doped CaKFe 4 As 4 single crystals by chemical and irradiation-induced disorder

Here, we demonstrate that the anisotropy in the critical current densities, J c , of CaK(Fe 1–x Ni x ) 4 As 4 (x = 0, 0.015, 0.025, and 0.030) single crystals reduces with increasing chemical and irradiation-induced disorder. The magnetic field dependences of J c are analyzed by performing magnetization measurements with H applied parallel and perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis. The results show that undoped crystals display large anisotropies in Jc due to an enhancement of the vortex pinning with H applied parallel to the crystallographic ab-planes. This anisotropy reduces substantially as Ni addition increases. Moreover, we found that random disorder introduced by proton irradiation enhances mainly the vortex pinning for H parallel to the c-axis. Consequently, using adequate fluencies, the vortex pinning at low temperatures in both undoped and doped samples becomes close to isotropic. These results make the CaKFe 4 As 4 system promising for applications that require isotropic J c under magnetic fields.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evidence of Kramer extrapolation inaccuracy for predicting high field Nb 3 Sn properties

Future applications requiring high magnetic fields, such as the proposed Future Circular Collider, demand a substantially higher critical current density, J c , at fields ≥16 T than is presently available in any commercial strand, so there is a strong effort to develop new routes to higher J c Nb 3 Sn. As a consequence, evaluating the irreversibility field (H irr ) of any new conductor to ensure reliable performance at these higher magnetic fields becomes essential. To predict the irreversibility field for Nb 3 Sn wires, critical current measurements, I c , are commonly performed in the 12-15 T range and the Kramer extrapolation is used to predict higher field properties. Here, the Kramer extrapolation typically models the contribution only for sparse grain boundary pinning, yet Nb 3 Sn wires rely on a high density of grain boundaries to provide the flux pinning that enables their high critical current density. However, whole-field range VSM measurements up to 30 T recently showed for Nb 3 Sn RRP® wires that the field dependence of the pinning force curve significantly deviates from the typical grain boundary shape, leading to a 1-2 T overestimation of Hirr when extrapolated from the typical mid-field data taken only up to about 15 T. In this work we characterized a variety of both RRP® and PIT Nb 3 Sn wires by transport measurements up to 29 T at the Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (LNCMI), part of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory in Grenoble, to verify whether or not such overestimation is related to the measurement technique and whether or not it is a common feature across different designs. Indeed we also found that when measured in transport the 12-15 T Kramer extrapolation overestimates the actual H irr in both types of conductor with an inaccuracy of up to 1.6 T, confirming that high field characterization is a necessary tool to evaluate the actual high field performance of each Nb 3 Sn wire.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of a tagged source of Pb-206 nuclei

There is a particular class of unavoidable backgrounds that plague low-background experiments and rare event searches, particularly those searching for nuclear recoil event signatures: decaying daughters of the 238 U nuclear decay chain, which result from radon plate-out on detector materials. One such daughter isotope, 210 Po, undergoes α-decay and produces a recoiling 103 keV 206 Pb nucleus. In this study, to characterize this important background in the context of noble element detectors, we have implemented a triggered source for these 206 Pb recoils in a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (Xe TPC) within the Davis Xenon R&D testbed system (DAX). By adhering 210 Po to the surface of a PIN diode and electrically floating the diode on the cathode of the TPC, we tag the α signals produced in the PIN diode and trigger on the correlated nuclear recoils in the liquid xenon (LXe). Lastly, we discuss our methods for 210 Po deposition, electronic readout of the PIN diode signals at high voltage, and analysis methods for event selection.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

INVESTIGATING SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IN NEUTRON STAR INTERIORS WITH GLITCH MODELS

The high-density interior of a neutron star is expected to contain superconducting protons and superfluid neutrons. Theoretical estimates suggest that the protons will form a type II superconductor in which the stellar magnetic field is carried by flux tubes. The strong interaction between the flux tubes and the neutron rotational vortices could lead to strong ''pinning'', i.e., vortex motion could be impeded. This has important implications especially for pulsar glitch models as it would lead to a large part of the vorticity of the star being decoupled from the ''normal'' component to which the electromagnetic emission is locked. In this Letter, we explore the consequences of strong pinning in the core on the ''snowplow'' model for pulsar glitches, making use of realistic equations of state and relativistic background models for the neutron star. We find that, in general, a large fraction of the pinned vorticity in the core is not compatible with observations of giant glitches in the Vela pulsar. Thus, the conclusion is that either most of the core is in a type I superconducting state or the interaction between vortices and flux tubes is weaker than previously assumed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Stochastic Dynamics of a Ferromagnetic Vortex Revealed by Single-Spin Magnetometry

We study the dynamics of a magnetic vortex in a permalloy disk, as it is switched between bistable pinning sites in the presence of room-temperature thermal noise. We use static and time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr-effect microscopy to characterize the equilibrium and nonequilibrium motion of the vortex in response to a train of magnetic field pulses. The limitations of this approach due to inhomogeneous averaging are overcome by using a proximal nitrogen-vacancy spin in diamond to probe the final position of the vortex core following a single magnetic field pulse. Repeating this single-shot measurement, we characterize the probability of switching between two bistable pinning sites as a function of pulse time. Here, we develop a simple model of the stochastic vortex trajectory through the pinning sites’ basins of attraction to understand how the separate contributions of damping and dephasing result in the observed switching behavior.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Asymmetric crossing of the attractive and repulsive magnetic potential by Abrikosov vortices

Here, we present studies of Abrikosov vortex motion across the magnetically charged edges of long thin ferromagnetic stripes placed above or under a thin superconducting film. The magnetic charges at the stripe edges form attractive or repulsive potential wells for vortices. Using a relatively small in-plane magnetic field to polarize the stripe edges and normal-to-plane magnetic field to induce up or down polarized vortices, we tune the attractive or repulsive stripe-vortex interactions. Imaging of the vortex dynamics reveals that the repulsive magnetic potential U m + acts as a robust vortex pinning barrier, while the attractive U m - has practically no effect on the vortex motion irrespective of the position of the stripes located above or underneath the superconducting film. We analyze the observed asymmetry using equations of the overdamped vortex motion. The formal analytical solution yields an asymmetry, but the numerical modeling with and without noise terms does not confirm it. Instead, we find that the asymmetry is caused by the creation of spontaneous vortices at the maxima of U m , which depends on the edge polarity and suppress U m - . Furthermore, our experiment and time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations demonstrate that magnetic pinning dominates over vortex pinning due to corrugations of the superconducting layer deposited on top of the ferromagnetic stripes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Reversible ratchet effects in a narrow superconducting ring

We study the ratchet effect in a narrow pinning-free superconductive ring based on time-dependent GinzburgLandau (TDGL) equations. Voltage responses to external dc and ac currents at various magnetic fields are studied. Due to asymmetric barriers for flux penetration and flux exit in the ring-shaped superconductor, the critical current above which the flux-flow state is reached, as well as the critical current for the transition to the normal state, are different for the two directions of applied current. Furthermore, these effects cooperatively cause ratchet signal reversal at high magnetic fields, which has not been reported to date in a pinning-free system. The ratchet signal found here is larger than those induced by asymmetric pinning potentials. Our results also demonstrate the feasibility of using mesoscopic superconductors to employ a superconducting diode effect in versatile superconducting devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Driven responses of periodically patterned superconducting films

Here, we simulate the motion of a commensurate vortex lattice in a periodic lattice of artificial circular pinning sites having different diameters, pinning strengths, and spacings using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau formalism. Above some critical DC current density J c , the vortices depin, and the resulting steady-state motion then induces an oscillatory electric field E (t) with a defect "hopping" frequency f 0 , which depends on the applied current density and the pinning landscape characteristics. The frequency generated can be locked to an applied AC current density over some range of frequencies, which depends on the amplitude of the DC as well as the AC current densities. Both synchronous and asynchronous collective hopping behaviors are studied as a function of the supercell size of the simulated system and the (asymptotic) synchronization threshold current densities determined.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Dynamic phases of active matter systems with quenched disorder

Depinning and nonequilibrium transitions within sliding states in systems driven over quenched disorder arise across a wide spectrum of size scales ranging from atomic friction at the nanoscale, flux motion in type II superconductors at the mesoscale, colloidal motion in disordered media at the microscale, and plate tectonics at geological length scales. Here we show that active matter or self-propelled particles interacting with quenched disorder under an external drive represents a class of system that can also exhibit pinning-depinning phenomena, plastic flow phases, and nonequilibrium sliding transitions that are correlated with distinct morphologies and velocity-force curve signatures. When interactions with the substrate are strong, a homogeneous pinned liquid phase forms that depins plastically into a uniform disordered phase and then dynamically transitions first into a moving stripe coexisting with a pinned liquid and then into a moving phase-separated state at higher drives. We numerically map the resulting dynamical phase diagrams as a function of external drive, substrate interaction strength, and self-propulsion correlation length. These phases can be observed for active matter moving through random disorder. Lastly, our results indicate that intrinsically nonequilibrium systems can exhibit additional nonequilibrium transitions when subjected to an external drive.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Ultrahigh critical current densities, the vortex phase diagram, and the effect of granularity of the stoichiometric high-T c superconductor CaKFe 4 As 4

We present a comprehensive study of the critical current densities and the superconducting vortex phase diagram in the stoichiometric superconductor CaKFe 4 As 4 which has a critical temperature of ~35 K. We performed detailed magnetization measurements both of high quality single crystals for different orientations in an applied magnetic field up to 16 T and for a powder sample. We find an extremely large critical current density, J c , up to 10 8 A/cm 2 for single crystals when H∥(ab) at 5 K, which remains robust in fields up to 16 T, being the largest of any other iron-based superconductor. The critical current density is reduced by a factor 10 in single crystals when H∥c at 5 K and significantly suppressed by the presence of grain boundaries in the powder sample. We also observe the presence of the fishtail effect in the magnetic hysteresis loops of single crystals when H∥c. The flux pinning force density and the pinning parameters suggest that the large critical current could be linked to the existence of point core and surface pinning. Based on the vortex phase diagram and the large critical current densities, CaKFe 4 As 4 is now established as a potential iron-based superconductor candidate for practical applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗