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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 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Positive temperature coefficient of coercivity in Sm{sub 1−x}Dy{sub x}(Co{sub 0.695}Fe{sub 0.2}Cu{sub 0.08}Zr{sub 0.025}){sub 7.2} magnets with spin-reorientation-transition cell boundary phases

Positive temperature coefficients of coercivity are first obtained in the series of Sm{sub 1−x}Dy{sub x} (Co{sub 0.695}Fe{sub 0.2}Cu{sub 0.08}Zr{sub 0.025}){sub 7.2} magnets. The temperature range with a positive temperature coefficient of coercivity is gradually moving to higher temperature with the increase of x. Thermal magnetic analysis shows a spin reorientation transition of cell boundary phase in these magnets. It is interesting to find the abnormal coercivity is controlled by the spin-reorientation-transition cell boundary phases, and the spin reorientation temperature of cell boundary phase is consisted with the start point of the temperature range with abnormal behavior. The different temperature coefficients are discussed in terms of a nucleation model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Theoretical study of a screened Hartree–Fock exchange potential using position-dependent atomic dielectric constants

Dielectric-dependent screened Hartree–Fock (HF) exchange potential and Slater-formula have been reported, where the ratio of the HF exchange term mixed into potentials is inversely proportional to the dielectric constant of the target semiconductor. This study introduces a position-dependent dielectric constant method in which the dielectric constant is partitioned between the atoms in a semiconductor. These partitioned values differ depending on the electrostatic environment surrounding the atoms and lead to position-dependent atomic dielectric constants. These atomic dielectric constants provide atomic orbital-based matrix elements for the screened exchange potentials. Energy band structures of several semiconductors and insulators are also presented to validate this approach.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Bent paths of a positive streamer and a cathode-directed spark leader in diffuse discharges preionized by runaway electrons

Diffuse discharges preionized by runaway electrons can produce large-area homogeneous discharges at elevated pressures, which is an intriguing phenomenon in the physics of pulsed discharges. In this paper, runaway-electron-preionized diffuse discharge (REP DD) was obtained in a wide pressure range (0.05–0.25 MPa), and under certain conditions a positive streamer and a cathode-directed spark leader could be observed to propagate at some angles to the applied (background) electric field lines. For a 16-mm gap at an air pressure of 0.08–0.1 MPa, the percentage of pulses in which such propagation is observed is about 5%–50% of their total number, and in the other pulses such bent paths could not be observed because there is even no streamer or cathode-directed spark leader in diffuse discharges. In our opinion, such propagation of the positive streamer and the cathode-directed spark leader at some angle to the background electric field lines owes to different increase rates of the electron density in different regions of the discharge volume under REP DD conditions. Therefore, during the formation of a REP DD, the increase of the electron density is inhomogeneous and nonsimultaneous, resulting in an electron density gradient at the ionization wave front.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Distinctive uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and positive magnetoresistance in (110)-oriented Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} films

Magnetite (Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}) films were synthesized on (110)-oriented MgO, MgAl{sub 2}O{sub 4}, and SrTiO{sub 3} substrates for comparative studies of the substrates' effects on magnetic and magnetoresistance properties of the films. For the [-110] direction, the hysteresis loops of the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} film on MgAl{sub 2}O{sub 4} exhibited a good squareness with the largest coercivity of ∼1090 Oe, and the ratio of remanent magnetization to saturation magnetization was ∼0.995. For the [001] direction, positive magnetoresistance in weak magnetic fields was most distinct for the (110) SrTiO{sub 3} substrate with the largest lattice mismatch. Positive magnetoresistance in the (110) Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} films was presumably affected by imperfect atomic arrangements at anti-phase boundaries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetized retarding field energy analyzer measuring the particle flux and ion energy distribution of both positive and negative ions

This paper presents the development of a magnetized retarding field energy analyzer (MRFEA) used for positive and negative ion analysis. The two-stage analyzer combines a magnetic electron barrier and an electrostatic ion energy barrier allowing both positive and negative ions to be analyzed without the influence of electrons (co-extracted or created downstream). An optimal design of the MRFEA for ion-ion beams has been achieved by a comparative study of three different MRFEA configurations, and from this, scaling laws of an optimal magnetic field strength and topology have been deduced. The optimal design consists of a uniform magnetic field barrier created in a rectangular channel and an electrostatic barrier consisting of a single grid and a collector placed behind the magnetic field. The magnetic barrier alone provides an electron suppression ratio inside the analyzer of up to 6000, while keeping the ion energy resolution below 5 eV. The effective ion transparency combining the magnetic and electrostatic sections of the MRFEA is measured as a function of the ion energy. It is found that the ion transparency of the magnetic barrier increases almost linearly with increasing ion energy in the low-energy range (below 200 eV) and saturates at high ion energies. The ion transparency of the electrostatic section is almost constant and close to the optical transparency of the entrance grid. We show here that the MRFEA can provide both accurate ion flux and ion energy distribution measurements in various experimental setups with ion beams or plasmas run at low pressure and with ion energies above 10 eV.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental study on thermal characteristics of positive leader discharges using Mach-Zehnder interferometry

Leader discharge is one of the main phases in long air gap breakdown, which is characterized by high temperature and high conductivity. It is of great importance to determine thermal characteristics of leader discharges. In this paper, a long-optical-path Mach-Zehnder interferometer was set up to measure the thermal parameters (thermal diameter, gas density, and gas temperature) of positive leader discharges in atmospheric air. IEC standard positive switching impulse voltages were applied to a near-one-meter point-plane air gap. Filamentary channels with high gas temperature and low density corresponding to leader discharges were observed as significant distortions in the interference fringe images. Typical diameters of the entire heated channel range from 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm with an average expansion velocity of 6.7 m/s. In contrast, typical diameters of the intensely heated region with a sharp gas density reduction range from 0.4 mm to 1.1 mm, about one third of the entire heated channel. The radial distribution of the gas density is calculated from the fringe displacements by performing an Abel inverse transform. The typical calculated gas density reduction in the center of a propagating leader channel is 80% to 90%, corresponding to a gas temperature of 1500 K to 3000 K based on the ideal gas law. Leaders tend to terminate if the central temperature is below 1500 K.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental measurement of spatially resolved electron density in a filament of a pulsed positive streamer discharge in water

By combining a high-speed frame camera with a monochromator, the spatially resolved optical emission spectrum of hydrogen α line in a single filament of a pulsed positive streamer discharge in water has been experimentally measured. The spatially resolved electron densities in a single filament of a pulsed positive streamer discharge in water with a conductivity of 200 μS/cm were investigated. During the experiment, the average energy per pulse of discharge was 90.6 ± 13.6 mJ. The results show that the electron density in the streamer filament is 10{sup 17–18}/cm{sup 3}, and present a decreasing tendency along the axial direction of the streamer filament with increasing distance from the tip of the anode.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Scattered radiation risk to the lens of the eyes for staff involved in using mobile C-arm fluoroscopy unit: Which position is riskiest?

Cataractogenesis is something to be concerned by radiologist and radiographer who work extensively in fluoroscopy. The increasing use of fluoroscopy or interventional fluoroscopy has to come with safety awareness on scattered radiation risk for staff performing the procedure. This study is looking into the radiation risk to the lens of the eyes for staff involved in fluoroscopy using the mobile C-arm fluoroscopy unit. The Toshiba SXT-1000A and Alderson Rando phantom were used in this study. Based on the results, it is found clearly that over couch (OC) procedure is riskier than under couch (UC) procedure. The cathode bound area is clearly riskier than anode bound area especially for UC procedure. More doses (at least +1,568 % of safest position) are received by the lens of the eyes for staff standing at the cathode bound area especially the position opposite to the x-ray tube.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Position-sensitive change in the transition metal L-edge fine structures

Studying the structure and composition of solid-state materials on the atomic scale has become nearly routine in transmission electron microscopy with the development of novel electron optics and electron sources. In particular, with spatial resolutions better than 0.1 nm and energy resolution smaller than 100 meV, the stoichiometry, bonding, and coordination can now be examined on similar scales. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) have played a crucial role in identifying charge ordering, valence, and as spin state transitions in transition metal perovskite oxides. In this letter, we investigate the effects of ever-decreasing electron-probe sizes on the measured near-edge fine-structure of the transition metal core-loss edge using EELS. We find that for certain transition metal perovskites, the position of the electron probe with respect to the atomic column is crucial in determining the correct valence state. Several reasons for the observed position-sensitive EELS fine-structure are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tunable positive and negative refraction of infrared radiation in graphene-dielectric multilayers

Graphene-dielectric multilayers consisting of alternating layers of atom-thick graphene and nanometer-scale dielectric films exhibit characteristics of hyperbolic metamaterials, in which one positive and one negative permittivity are defined for orthogonal directions. Negative permittivity for electric field polarized in the direction parallel to the conductive graphene sheets gives rise to a negative angle of refraction and low-loss transmission for the side-incidence perspective proposed in this work. The Poynting vector tracing demonstrates the switching between positive and negative refraction in the mid-infrared region by tuning the chemical potential of graphene. This adjustable dual-mode metamaterial holds promise for infrared imaging applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the role of spatial position of bridged oxygen atoms as surface passivants on the ground-state gap and photo-absorption spectrum of silicon nano-crystals

Silicon nano-crystals (NCs) are potential candidates for enhancing and tuning optical properties of silicon for optoelectronic and photo-voltaic applications. Due to the high surface-to-volume ratio, however, optical properties of NC result from the interplay of quantum confinement and surface effects. In this work, we show that both the spatial position of surface terminants and their relative positions have strong effects on NC properties as well. This is accomplished by investigating the ground-state HOMO-LUMO band-gap, the photo-absorption spectra, and the localization and overlap of HOMO and LUMO orbital densities for prototype ∼1.2 nm Si{sub 32–x}H{sub 42–2x}O{sub x} hydrogenated silicon NC with bridged oxygen atoms as surface terminations. It is demonstrated that the surface passivation geometry significantly alters the localization center and thus the overlap of frontier molecular orbitals, which correspondingly modifies the electronic and optical properties of NC.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impulse position control algorithms for nonlinear systems

The article is devoted to the formalization and description of impulse-sliding regime in nonlinear dynamical systems that arise in the application of impulse position controls of a special kind. The concept of trajectory impulse-sliding regime formalized as some limiting network element Euler polygons generated by a discrete approximation of the impulse position control This paper differs from the previously published papers in that it uses a definition of solutions of systems with impulse controls, it based on the closure of the set of smooth solutions in the space of functions of bounded variation. The need for the study of such regimes is the fact that they often arise when parry disturbances acting on technical or economic control system.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurement of InAsSb bandgap energy and InAs/InAsSb band edge positions using spectroscopic ellipsometry and photoluminescence spectroscopy

The structural and optical properties of lattice-matched InAs{sub 0.911}Sb{sub 0.089} bulk layers and strain-balanced InAs/InAs{sub 1−x}Sb{sub x} (x ∼ 0.1–0.4) superlattices grown on (100)-oriented GaSb substrates by molecular beam epitaxy are examined using X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and temperature dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photoluminescence and ellipsometry measurements determine the ground state bandgap energy and the X-ray diffraction measurements determine the layer thickness and mole fraction of the structures studied. Detailed modeling of the X-ray diffraction data is employed to quantify unintentional incorporation of approximately 1% Sb into the InAs layers of the superlattices. A Kronig-Penney model of the superlattice miniband structure is used to analyze the valence band offset between InAs and InAsSb, and hence the InAsSb band edge positions at each mole fraction. The resulting composition dependence of the bandgap energy and band edge positions of InAsSb are described using the bandgap bowing model; the respective low and room temperature bowing parameters for bulk InAsSb are 938 and 750 meV for the bandgap, 558 and 383 meV for the conduction band, and −380 and −367 meV for the valence band.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

A thermalization energy analysis of the threshold voltage shift in amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin film transistors under positive gate bias stress

Thin film transistors (TFTs) employing an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) channel layer exhibit a positive shift in the threshold voltage under the application of positive gate bias stress (PBS). The time and temperature dependence of the threshold voltage shift was measured and analysed using the thermalization energy concept. The peak energy barrier to defect conversion is extracted to be 0.75 eV and the attempt-to-escape frequency is extracted to be 10{sup 7} s{sup −1}. These values are in remarkable agreement with measurements in a-IGZO TFTs under negative gate bias illumination stress (NBIS) reported recently (Flewitt and Powell, J. Appl. Phys. 115, 134501 (2014)). This suggests that the same physical process is responsible for both PBS and NBIS, and supports the oxygen vacancy defect migration model that the authors have previously proposed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Virtual anode effect in the propagation of positive streamers

Experiments made in a parallel-plate arrangement, where one of the plates is the ground plane and the other a positively charged dielectric sheet, show that at low air pressure the dielectric injects streamers onto the surrounding air. The similarities and differences between the streamers thus produced and those emitted from electrodes are discussed. The streamers here obtained were found to have diameters and speeds that are clearly dependent on pressure. Often the streamers were seen to decelerate markedly to the point of coming to a complete stop and on occasions even returning back to the dielectric they came from. The deceleration and the reflection of the streamers are attributed to a virtual anode created by the electrostatic image of the head's charge behind the ground plane. Field calculations performed corroborate this hypothesis. Through the use of an equation of motion of the positive head, it is then possible to obtain an estimate of the magnitude of its charge. The charge thus obtained was found to be in the 2.5–26 nC range.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Singularity and Bohm criterion in hot positive ion species in the electronegative ion sources

The structure of the discharge for a magnetized electronegative ion source with two species of positive ions is investigated. The thermal motion of hot positive ions and the singularities involved with it are taken into account. By analytical solution of the neutral region, the location of the singular point and also the values of the plasma parameter such as electric potential and ion density at the singular point are obtained. A generalized Bohm criterion is recovered and discussed. In addition, for the non-neutral solution, the numerical method is used. In contrast with cold ion plasma, qualitative changes are observed. The parameter space region within which oscillations in the density and potential can be observed has been scanned and discussed. The space charge behavior in the vicinity of edge of the ion sources has also been discussed in detail.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ion extraction from positively biased laser-ablation plasma

Ions were extracted through a grounded grid from a positively biased laser-ablation plasma and the behaviors were investigated. Since the plasma was positively biased against the grounded wall, we could extract the ions without insulated gap. We confirmed formation of a virtual anode when we increased the distance between the grid and the ion collector. Results also indicated that when the ion flux from the ablation plasma exceeded a critical value, the current was strongly suppressed to the space charge limited level due to the formation of virtual anode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Performance characteristics according to the radial position of gas distributor holes in a low-power cylindrical Hall thruster

The effect of radial position of gas holes in the distributor on the performance of cylindrical Hall thruster was investigated. A series of gas distributors with different radial positions (R{sub g}) of holes were designed in the experiment. The results show that the larger R{sub g} leads to the higher ion current and electron current; meanwhile, the beam angle in plume is narrowed. Nevertheless, the peak energy in ion energy distribution function increases, together with the narrowing of ion energy distribution function. As a result, the overall performance is enhanced. It is suggested that the growing of R{sub g} could lead to the movement of the main ionization region towards anode, which could promote ion velocity and the clearer separation of acceleration region from ionization region. This work can provide some optimal design ideas to improve the performance of the thruster.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗