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At least 1,081 records · Page 60
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

R and DE Robotic Sensor Intern Team: Sensor Suite Software and User Interface

The sensor tree developed for the H-Canyon tunnel inspection project produces a large quantity of camera and Lidar data. A postprocessing pipeline was created to facilitate the analysis of these data. The pipeline follows the following routine: 1) Registration - Salient local features in subsequent scans are identified and used to align the scans with one another. This allows production of a single cohesive map of the tunnel. 2) Sensor Fusion - RGB camera data is 'painted' onto the depth data created by the Lidar. 3) Segmentation - Individual surfaces from within the scene are segmented out separately for individual analysis. 4) Degradation Analysis - Automatic mapping of local deviation from the plane in position or surface normal is performed, as is detection of exposed rebar using Lidar return intensity. 5) Obstacle Detection - Lidar data is also used in real time to detect obstacles in the environment. This could give feedback to the operator to successfully drive in the tunnel. 6) Graphic User Interface - a custom GUI was created to facilitate customer use of the system. The system provides real-time feedback from both the cameras and Lidar. During alignment, local features are used to recognize points within the walls that are especially unique and noticeable (salient) based on their deviation from the expected surface of the wall. These are used as landmarks to register the clouds, which also informs precise localization of the base at each scan point. After registration, clouds are 'painted' with RGB data from the spherical cameras, as shown below. The painted clouds provide a 3D, colorized model of the environment which improves the realism of the experience for the user. Painting also labels high-resolution color imagery from the 3D cameras with depth values. Following sensor fusion, individual walls and cylindrical duct surfaces are segmented from the scene for individual analysis using a Random Sample Consensus algorithm. This algorithm allows segmentation of planar walls and cylindrical ducts. Once individual walls are identified, each point within the wall can be compared to its neighbors and the wall overall in order to detect local areas with damaged concrete. Automatic rebar detection is also performed using the contrast in Lidar return intensity between iron and concrete. The Lidar point-cloud data is also used for obstacle detection. As the Lidar spins, various algorithms are run to analyze the current 'slice' and obstacles in the environment are determined and registered on a cost-map. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed to allow the user to easily command the crawler to set the rotational speed of the Lidar, perform a scan, and register and save the 3D generated cloud after a scan is done. For the good of the crawler, a critical aspect of the GUI design is to allow the user to cancel a scan any time after it is commanded and before it is saved.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

XRD and EBSD analysis of anisotropic microstructure development in cold rolled F138 stainless steel

The microstructural characteristics of deformation-processed materials highly influence their mechanical properties. For a complete characterization of a microstructure both local and global information must be gathered, which requires the combination of different analysis techniques. X-ray and Electron Backscatter Diffraction were used in the present paper to characterize the deformation induced in a cold rolled F138 austenitic stainless steel sample. The results obtained using laboratory and synchrotron X-ray sources were compared and combined with EBSD quantitative results, allowing the global and local characterization and orientation dependence of the deformation microstructure. A particular behavior was observed in the XRD data corresponding to the planes with < 220 >∥ ND, likely due to a smaller amount of defects accumulated in the crystals with that particular orientation. EBSD was used to separate the scans data into partitions and to calculate misorientation variables and parameters, showing that this behavior can be attributed to a combination of larger grain sizes, lower local boundary misorientations and dislocation densities for crystals having < 220 >∥ ND. Several conclusions, of general validity for the evaluation of microstructure anisotropy, can be extracted from the results. - Highlights: •Combined XRD and EBSD for studying microstructure gave a superb insight on anisotropic accumulation of defects. •W-H and CMWP methods were applied for checking consistency of results. •XRD showed that a smaller accumulation of defects occurred in crystals with < 220 >∥ ND. •High brilliance X-ray beam allowed to study the anisotropy of defect accumulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Higher-order finite-difference formulation of periodic Orbital-free Density Functional Theory

We present a real-space formulation and higher-order finite-difference implementation of periodic Orbital-free Density Functional Theory (OF-DFT). Specifically, utilizing a local reformulation of the electrostatic and kernel terms, we develop a generalized framework for performing OF-DFT simulations with different variants of the electronic kinetic energy. In particular, we propose a self-consistent field (SCF) type fixed-point method for calculations involving linear-response kinetic energy functionals. In this framework, evaluation of both the electronic ground-state and forces on the nuclei are amenable to computations that scale linearly with the number of atoms. We develop a parallel implementation of this formulation using the finite-difference discretization. We demonstrate that higher-order finite-differences can achieve relatively large convergence rates with respect to mesh-size in both the energies and forces. Additionally, we establish that the fixed-point iteration converges rapidly, and that it can be further accelerated using extrapolation techniques like Anderson's mixing. We validate the accuracy of the results by comparing the energies and forces with plane-wave methods for selected examples, including the vacancy formation energy in Aluminum. Overall, the suitability of the proposed formulation for scalable high performance computing makes it an attractive choice for large-scale OF-DFT calculations consisting of thousands of atoms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Excitations of Intercalated Metal Monolayers in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

We combine Raman scattering spectroscopy and lattice dynamics calculations to reveal the fundamental excitations of the intercalated metal monolayers in the Fe x TaS 2 (x = 1/4, 1/3) family of materials. Both in- and out-of-plane modes are identified, each of which has trends that depend upon the metal–metal distance, the size of the van der Waals gap, and the metal-to-chalcogenide slab mass ratio. We test these trends against the response of similar systems, including Cr-intercalated NbS 2 and RbFe(SO 4 ) 2 , and demonstrate that the metal monolayer excitations are both coherent and tunable. Here, we discuss the consequences of intercalated metal monolayer excitations for material properties and developing applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Localized phase contrast imaging at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator

In its basic form, phase contrast imaging (PCI) provides line-integrated measurements of electron density fluctuations in plasmas. As turbulent fluctuations in magnetically confined plasmas have wave vectors almost perpendicular to the background magnetic field, the signals scattered by fluctuations from different parts of the PCI line-of-sight (LoS) are spatially separated in focal planes of the plasma. This allows localized PCI measurements by placing a mask in such a plane, to only permit signals from specific parts of the LoS to reach the PCI detectors. The present paper describes modeling and design of localization masks for the PCI system at the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator as well as the first results obtained using the masks in the recent long-pulse W7-X experimental campaign. During this project, we have extended the theory describing the mask response within the Fraunhofer diffraction model. As a novel development, we show from first principles that the mask response is determined by the fraction of power of the scattered beam spots that passes the mask. These insights have been used to select the W7-X mask design, consisting of a circular cutout, allowing the unscattered beam spot to pass the mask, with wedges covering a fixed angular range outside the central cutout. In the recent W7-X experimental campaign, the masks have verified the location of the main turbulence features observed by the PCI system and provided new information about the location of short-wavelength magnetohydrodynamic modes.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2015

FAR-INFRARED DUST TEMPERATURES AND COLUMN DENSITIES OF THE MALT90 MOLECULAR CLUMP SAMPLE

We present dust column densities and dust temperatures for ∼3000 young, high-mass molecular clumps from the Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz survey, derived from adjusting single-temperature dust emission models to the far-infrared intensity maps measured between 160 and 870 μm from the Herschel/Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-Gal) and APEX/APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL) surveys. We discuss the methodology employed in analyzing the data, calculating physical parameters, and estimating their uncertainties. The population average dust temperature of the clumps are 16.8 ± 0.2 K for the clumps that do not exhibit mid-infrared signatures of star formation (quiescent clumps), 18.6 ± 0.2 K for the clumps that display mid-infrared signatures of ongoing star formation but have not yet developed an H ii region (protostellar clumps), and 23.7 ± 0.2 and 28.1 ± 0.3 K for clumps associated with H ii and photo-dissociation regions, respectively. These four groups exhibit large overlaps in their temperature distributions, with dispersions ranging between 4 and 6 K. The median of the peak column densities of the protostellar clump population is 0.20 ± 0.02 g cm{sup −2}, which is about 50% higher compared to the median of the peak column densities associated with clumps in the other evolutionary stages. We compare the dust temperatures and column densities measured toward the center of the clumps with the mean values of each clump. We find that in the quiescent clumps, the dust temperature increases toward the outer regions and that these clumps are associated with the shallowest column density profiles. In contrast, molecular clumps in the protostellar or H ii region phase have dust temperature gradients more consistent with internal heating and are associated with steeper column density profiles compared with the quiescent clumps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collisionless losses of fast ions in the Divertor Tokamak Test due to toroidal field ripple

In this paper we analyze fast ion motion in the Divertor Tokamak Test device. DTT is planned to be heated through a mix of 45 MW heating power, including 15 MW negative-ion-based Neutral Beam heating (NNBI) which is currently being developed by Consorzio RFX in Padova, Italy. An issue for DTT is that a Toroidal Field (TF) ripple with a maximum value of about 0.42% (with respect to the on-axis magnetic field $B_0$) is expected on the low-field side (LFS), and this ripple interacts with fast ions through rather well-known phenomena of ripple-precession resonances, in addition to prompt losses of ions which do not complete a full orbit in the poloidal plane. We will show that, with the planned geometry of NNBI, prompt losses are negligible, and ripple-precession losses amount to a maximum 0.15%. The calculations are performed with the guiding center code ORBIT using two different equilibria, and a beam with energy 400 keV and injection angle $\alpha_{inj} = 40^{\circ}$ (measured w.r.t. the first wall), which corresponds to a pitch of injected particles $\lambda = v_{\parallel}/v \approx \sin{\alpha_{inj}} = 0.65$. Main resonances are of the form $\omega_b - n N \omega_d = 0$, $\omega_b$ and $\omega_d$ being the bounce and precession frequency, respectively, $N=18$ the ripple periodicity and $3 \le n \le 6$ are the toroidal wavenumbers of the resonances. Although collisionless interaction with the TF ripple does not pose a serious threat to the NNBI project, an open question remains whether the presence of these resonances will interact with fast particles accelerated by \alfven eigenmodes, and if stochastization of the resonances is possible in DTT, as it was observed in the past in TORE SUPRA.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fast leaf-fitting with generalized underdose/overdose constraints for real-time MLC tracking

Purpose: Real-time multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking is a promising approach to the management of intrafractional tumor motion during thoracic and abdominal radiotherapy. MLC tracking is typically performed in two steps: transforming a planned MLC aperture in response to patient motion and refitting the leaves to the newly generated aperture. One of the challenges of this approach is the inability to faithfully reproduce the desired motion-adapted aperture. This work presents an optimization-based framework with which to solve this leaf-fitting problem in real-time. Methods: This optimization framework is designed to facilitate the determination of leaf positions in real-time while accounting for the trade-off between coverage of the PTV and avoidance of organs at risk (OARs). Derived within this framework, an algorithm is presented that can account for general linear transformations of the planned MLC aperture, particularly 3D translations and in-plane rotations. This algorithm, together with algorithms presented in Sawant et al. [“Management of three-dimensional intrafraction motion through real-time DMLC tracking,” Med. Phys. 35, 2050–2061 (2008)] and Ruan and Keall [Presented at the 2011 IEEE Power Engineering and Automation Conference (PEAM) (2011) (unpublished)], was applied to apertures derived from eight lung intensity modulated radiotherapy plans subjected to six-degree-of-freedom motion traces acquired from lung cancer patients using the kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring system developed at the University of Sydney. A quality-of-fit metric was defined, and each algorithm was evaluated in terms of quality-of-fit and computation time. Results: This algorithm is shown to perform leaf-fittings of apertures, each with 80 leaf pairs, in 0.226 ms on average as compared to 0.082 and 64.2 ms for the algorithms of Sawant et al., Ruan, and Keall, respectively. The algorithm shows approximately 12% improvement in quality-of-fit over the Sawant et al. approach, while performing comparably to Ruan and Keall. Conclusions: This work improves upon the quality of the Sawant et al. approach, but does so without sacrificing run-time performance. In addition, using this framework allows for complex leaf-fitting strategies that can be used to account for PTV/OAR trade-off during real-time MLC tracking.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2023

SPT-SLIM: Line Intensity Mapping with the South Pole Telescope

Line-intensity mapping (LIM) at millimeter wavelengths is a powerful emerging probe of the large-scale structure of the Universe, but achieving meaningful constraints on cosmological parameters with LIM requires focal planes with orders of magnitudes more detectors than existing instruments. SPT-SLIM is an upcoming experiment to demonstrate LIM observations of CO at 0.5 < z < 2.0 using on-chip spectrometers with kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), a new technology that enables scaling to the much larger arrays of detectors needed to probe cosmology. I will describe the overall experimental design and specific goals of SPT-SLIM. In addition, I will highlight results of the detector and readout electronics development for SPT-SLIM and the status of the camera integration and commissioning in the lab.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Turbulence in Three-Dimensional Simulations of Magnetopause Reconnection: TURBULENCE DURING 3-D RECONNECTION

We present detailed analysis of the turbulence observed in three-dimensional particle-in- cell simulations of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause. The parameters are representative of anelectron diffusion region encounter of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The turbulence is found to develop around both the magnetic X line and separatrices, is electromagnetic in nature, is characterized by a wave vector k given by kρ e ~(m e T e /m i T i ) 0.25 with ρ e the electron Larmor radius, and appears to have the ion pressure gradient as its source of free energy. Taken together, these results suggest the instability is a variant of the lower hybrid drift instability. The turbulence produces electric field fluctuations in the out-of-plane direction (the direction of the reconnection electric field) with an amplitude of around ±10 mV/m, which is much greater than the reconnection electric field of around 0.1 mV/m. Such large values of the out-of-plane electric field have been identified in the MMS data. The turbulence in the simulations controls the scale lengths of the density profile and current layers in asymmetric reconnection,driving them closer to $ \sqrt{} $ρ e ρ i than the ρ e or d e scalings seen in 2-D reconnection simulations, and produces significant anomalous resistivity and viscosit y in the electron diffusion region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Decoding the flow evolution in Au+Au reactions at 1.23 A GeV using hadron flow correlations and dileptons

We investigate the development of the directed, v 1 , and elliptic flow, v 2 , in heavy ion collisions in mid-central Au+Au reactions at E lab = 1.23A GeV. We demonstrate that the elliptic flow of hot and dense matter is initially positive (v 2 >0) due to the early pressure gradient. This positive v 2 transfers its momentum to the spectators, which leads to the creation of the directed flow v 1 . In turn, the spectator shadowing of the in-plane expansion leads to a preferred decoupling of hadrons in the out-of-plane direction and results in a negative v 2 for the observable final state hadrons. We propose a measurement of v 1 −v 2 flow correlations and of the elliptic flow of dileptons as methods to pin down this evolution pattern. The elliptic flow of the dileptons allows then to determine the early-state EoS more precisely, because it avoids the strong modifications of the momentum distribution due to shadowing seen in the protons. This opens the unique opportunity for the HADES and CBM collaborations to measure the Equation-of-State directly at 2-3 times nuclear saturation density.

Reichert, Tom↗
DOE OSTI2024

An antiferromagnetic diode effect in even-layered MnBi 2 Te 4

In a p–n junction, the separation of positive and negative charges leads to diode transport, in which charge flows in only one direction. Non-centrosymmetric polar conductors are intrinsic diodes that could be of use in the development of nonlinear applications. Such systems have recently been extended to non-centrosymmetric superconductors, and the superconducting diode effect has been observed. Here, in this paper, we report an antiferromagnetic diode effect in a centrosymmetric crystal without directional charge separation. We observed large second-harmonic transport in a nonlinear electronic device enabled by the compensated antiferromagnetic state of even-layered MnBi 2 Te 4 . We show that this antiferromagnetic diode effect can be used to create in-plane field-effect transistors and microwave-energy-harvesting devices. We also show that electrical sum-frequency generation can be used as a tool to detect nonlinear responses in quantum materials.

electronic properties and materials↗
DOE OSTI2025

Epitaxial integration of superconducting nitrides with cubic GaN

Epitaxial combination of transition metal nitrides and group III-nitrides holds significant potential for novel device architectures, given their wide array of properties and similar lattice constants. However, the mixture of hexagonal and cubic crystals limits structural quality and has stymied development. This work will discuss the molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of metastable cubic GaN on 3C-SiC templates and its integration with cubic ZrN and NbN superconductors in single and multilayer heterostructures. The fully cubic nature of GaN and the epitaxial nature of all layers are confirmed via in situ and ex situ techniques. The electrical transport properties of transition metal nitrides on cubic GaN (001) are compared to those grown directly on 3C-SiC (001) and c-plane hexagonal GaN templates. The determination of a similar growth window for cubic wide-bandgap and superconducting metal nitrides creates a platform for new epitaxial device architectures and potential applications in metamaterials, quantum information science, and condensed matter physics.

Condensed matter physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Magnetic correlations and pairing tendencies of the hybrid stacking nickelate superlattice La 7 Ni 5 O 17 (La 3 ⁢Ni 2 ⁢O 7 /La 4 Ni 3 ⁢O 10 ) under pressure

Motivated by the recent rapid progress in high-𝑇 𝑐 nickelate superconductors, we comprehensively study the physical properties of the alternating bilayer trilayer stacking nickelate La 7 ⁢Ni 5 ⁢O 17 . The high-symmetry phase of this material, without the tilting of oxygen octahedra, is not stable at ambient conditions but becomes stable under high pressure, where a small hole pocket 𝛾 0 , composed of the 𝑑 3⁢𝑧 2 −𝑟 2 states in the trilayer sublattice, appears. Here, this pocket was identified in our previous work for trilayer La 4 ⁢Ni 3 ⁢O 10 as important to develop superconductivity. Moreover, using random-phase approximation calculations, we find a leading 𝑠 ± pairing state for the high-symmetry phase under pressure with similar pairing strength as that obtained previously for the bilayer La 3⁢ Ni 2 ⁢O 7 compound, suggesting a similar or higher superconducting transition temperature 𝑇 𝑐 , at the random-phase approximation level. In addition, we find that the dominant magnetic fluctuations in the system driving this pairing state have antiferromagnetic structure both in-plane and between the planes of the top and bottom trilayer and bilayer sublattices, while the middle trilayer is magnetically decoupled.

Zhang, Yang [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (Un↗
DOE OSTI2017

Study of Advanced Photocathodes for Highly Polarized Electron Source

GaAs-based photocathodes have been widely used in the photogun to produce spin polarized electron beams. These photocathodes in the photogun are required to provide high quantum efficiency (QE), high degree of electron-spin polarization (ESP) and long lifetime to satisfy demanding requirements of today's electron accelerators. Photocathodes that demonstrate improved performance will enable the successful construction of proposed new accelerators that will enable new physics research. This thesis presents several studies of polarization photocathodes aimed to quantifying and further understanding the limitation of today's GaAs-based photocathodes, and then successfully identifies effective methods to improve their performance to meet the requirements of the state-of-the-art and future advanced electron accelerators. Up to now, the strained superlattice GaAs-based photocathodes is the only material that provide electron beam with high ESP (~90%) for electron accelerators, but its primary drawback is that the QE is low (~1%). These photocathodes have already been successfully used in electron accelerators (such as CEBAF at JLab), but the low QE is very hard to satisfy the urgent demands of some new proposed electron accelerators (such as eRHIC requires the beam current up to 50 mA). Thus, it is extremely urgent to improve greatly the QE of these polarization photocathodes. This thesis reports a high?polarization strained GaAs/GaAsP superlattice photocathode fabricated with Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) structure, which successful achieved a breakthrough in the QE (~6%) that is improved several times over the existing QE (~1.2%), while still maintaining high ESP, through stringent parameter design and repeated experimental optimization. This provides important benchmark parameter for several proposed electron accelerators and will significantly shorten the development process for producing mA order of magnitude of electron beam with high polarization. The photocathode lifetime is one of the main factors of modern DC high voltage photogun, and long lifetime provides a necessary condition for photogun to provide a sustained and stable electron beam. Although it has been realized that the lifetime of photocathodes is primarily limited by ion back?bombardment, until now, no systematic studies of the effects of ion back-bombardment on photocathodes have been performed, of which many physical mechanisms are unclear. In this thesis, the sensitivity of QE decay (or lifetime) to ion back-bombardment is studied and evaluated in detail for the first time, giving the important conclusion that the best choice for a photogun using GaAs-based photocathodes would be surface cleave plane (110). This study provides an important theory for II photogun researchers to understand the ion back-bombardment and helps to prolong the operating lifetime of photogun in future. The ESP obtained from typical bulk unstrained GaAs photocathodes is usually considerably less than the theoretical maximum value of 50% because of depolarization (or spin relaxation) mechanisms that originate within the photocathode material and at the vacuum surface interface (i.e. activation layer). This thesis provides a comprehensive review of depolarization mechanisms and presents a systematic experimental evaluation of polarization sensitivities to temperature, dopant density, activation layer and crystal orientation. One of the key findings is that the bulk unstrained GaAs photocathode can provide the highest polarization ~50%, consistent with the maximum theoretical value, when the photocathode sample had relatively low dopant concentration and was cooled to 77 K. This study helps to better understand the mechanisms of polarization loss of electrons in the GaAs photocathode, and benefits to produce electron beam with higher ESP from GaAs photocathode. A novelstrained superlattice structure, GaAsSb/AlGaAs photocathode, is also proposed and studied in this thesis, and some experiments for it have been performed. Although the experimental results are not as good as our expectation, it provides a strong research foundation for future development of high polarization photocathodes. Finally, a brief summary of the work under preparation for generation of mA record-level high-current polarized electron beam from the Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at JLab is presented.

Liu, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2021

Burst characteristics of advanced accident-tolerant FeCrAl cladding under temperature transient testing

Here assessment of burst characteristics of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) claddings is essential to evaluate the safety margins of nuclear reactors, and better understanding can enable accelerated licensing for reactor concepts that include the new materials. Therefore, this study investigated the burst behavior of an ATF candidate of C26M, which is an iron–chromium–aluminum alloy (FeCrAl) under transient testing like the simulated loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions, except the water-quenching phase, in light-water reactors (LWRs). The effect of LOCA specimen length was assessed in terms of post-burst tube parameters. No critical length effect was determined on the burst pressure, burst location, and burst size measurements. Burst temperature showed larger variation likely due to its measurement approach used in this study. The post-test diametral strain was identified as the critical parameter to reduce the specimen length as compared to tube burst length or width. Postmortem optical metrology and digital image correlation were employed to determine the local strain-state during the simulated LOCA, which showed the loading path was close to equibiaxial conditions in regions away from the burst location, rather than internally pressurized conditions (or “plane-strain” tension). Pst-test microstructural characterizations of the FeCrAl revealed that ductile damage was present at the edge of the outer radial surface while the rest of the material was ruptured via cleavage at LOCA burst temperatures. Furthermore, internal grain boundary cracks were observed at locations away from the tube burst region. This behavior was considered to occur during the cooling down period of the simulated LOCA test. Overall, this study aimed to provide essential data for fuel performance code development by considering micromechanics of the deformation and failure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Discovery of charge order above room-temperature in the prototypical kagome superconductor La(Ru1−xFex)3Si2

Abstract The kagome lattice is an intriguing and rich platform for discovering, tuning and understanding the diverse phases of quantum matter, crucial for advancing modern and future electronics. Despite considerable efforts, accessing correlated phases at room temperature has been challenging. Using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, we discovered charge order above room temperature in La(Ru 1−x Fe x ) 3 Si 2 (x= 0, 0.01, 0.05), where charge order related to out-of-plane Ru atom displacements appears belowT CO,I ≃ 400 K. The secondary charge ordered phase emerges belowT CO,II ≃ 80–170 K. Furthermore, first principles calculations reveal both the kagome flat band and the van Hove point near the Fermi energy in LaRu 3 Si 2 , driven by Ru-dz 2 orbitals. Our results identify LaRu 3 Si 2 as the kagome superconductor with the highest known charge ordering temperature, offering a promising avenue for researching room temperature quantum phases and developing related technologies.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-resolution fully vectorial scanning Kerr magnetometer

We report on the development of a high-resolution scanning magnetometer, which fully exploits the vectorial nature of the magneto-optical Kerr effect. The three-dimensional nature of magnetization is at the basis of many micromagnetic phenomena and from these data, we can fully characterize magnetization processes of nanostructures in static and dynamic regimes. Our scanning Kerr magnetometer uses a high numerical aperture microscope objective where the incident light beam can be deterministically deviated from the objective symmetry axis, therefore, both in-plane (via the longitudinal Kerr effect) and out-of-plane (via the polar Kerr effect) components of the magnetization vector may be detected. These components are then separated by exploiting the symmetries of the polar and longitudinal Kerr effects. From four consecutive measurements, we are able to directly obtain the three orthogonal components of the magnetization vector with a resolution of 600 nm. Performance of the apparatus is demonstrated by a measurement of 3D magnetization vector maps showing out-of-plane domains and in-plane domain walls in an yttrium-iron-garnet film and on a study of magnetization reversal in a 4-μm-wide magnetic disk.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗