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

Damping constant estimation in magnetoresistive readers

The damping constant is a key design parameter in magnetic reader design. Its value can be derived from bulk or sheet film ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) line width. However, dynamics of nanodevices is usually defined by presence of non-uniform modes. It triggers new damping mechanisms and produces stronger damping than expected from traditional FMR. This work proposes a device-level technique for damping evaluation, based on time-domain analysis of thermally excited stochastic oscillations. The signal is collected using a high bandwidth oscilloscope, by direct probing of a biased reader. Recorded waveforms may contain different noise signals, but free layer FMR is usually a dominating one. The autocorrelation function is a reflection of the damped oscillation curve, averaging out stochastic contributions. The damped oscillator formula is fitted to autocorrelation data, producing resonance frequency and damping constant values. Restricting lag range allows for mitigation of the impact of other phenomena (e.g., reader instability) on the damping constant. For a micromagnetically modeled reader, the technique proves to be much more accurate than the stochastic FMR line width approach. Application to actual reader waveforms yields a damping constant of ∼0.03.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Atomic-scale electrochemistry on the surface of a manganite

The doped manganese oxides (manganites) have been widely studied for their colossal magnetoresistive effects, for potential applications in oxide spintronics, electroforming in resistive switching devices, and are materials of choice as cathodes in modern solid oxide fuel cells. However, little experimental knowledge of the dynamics of the surfaces of perovskite manganites at the atomic scale exists. Here, through in-situ scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), we demonstrate atomic resolution on samples of La 0.625 Ca 0.375 MnO 3 grown on (001) SrTiO 3 by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Furthermore, by applying triangular DC waveforms of increasing amplitude to the STM tip, and measuring the tunnelling current, we demonstrate the ability to both perform and monitor surface electrochemical processes at the atomic level, including, for the first time in a manganite, formation of single and multiple oxygen vacancies, disruption of the overlying manganite layers, and removal and deposition of individual atomic units or clusters. Our work paves the way for better understanding of surface oxygen reactions in these systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of driving voltages in dual capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma: A study by nonlinear global model

On the basis of nonlinear global model, a dual frequency capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma driven by 13.56 MHz and 27.12 MHz has been studied to investigate the influences of driving voltages on the generation of dc self-bias and plasma heating. Fluid equations for the ions inside the plasma sheath have been considered to determine the voltage-charge relations of the plasma sheath. Geometrically symmetric as well as asymmetric cases with finite geometrical asymmetry of 1.2 (ratio of electrodes area) have been considered to make the study more reasonable to experiment. The electrical asymmetry effect (EAE) and finite geometrical asymmetry is found to work differently in controlling the dc self-bias. The amount of EAE has been primarily controlled by the phase angle between the two consecutive harmonics waveforms. The incorporation of the finite geometrical asymmetry in the calculations shift the dc self-bias towards negative polarity direction while increasing the amount of EAE is found to increase the dc self-bias in either direction. For phase angle between the two waveforms ϕ = 0 and ϕ = π/2, the amount of EAE increases significantly with increasing the low frequency voltage, whereas no such increase in the amount of EAE is found with increasing high frequency voltage. In contrast to the geometrically symmetric case, where the variation of the dc self-bias with driving voltages for phase angle ϕ = 0 and π/2 are just opposite in polarity, the variation for the geometrically asymmetric case is different for ϕ = 0 and π/2. In asymmetric case, for ϕ = 0, the dc self-bias increases towards the negative direction with increasing both the low and high frequency voltages, but for the ϕ = π/2, the dc-self bias is increased towards positive direction with increasing low frequency voltage while dc self-bias increases towards negative direction with increasing high frequency voltage.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Numerical study of a confocal ultrasonic setup for creation of cavitation

Acoustic cavitation is used for various therapeutic applications such as local enhancement of drug delivery, histotripsy or hyperthermia. One of the utmost important parameter for cavitation creation is the rarefaction pressure. The typical magnitude of the rarefaction pressure required to initiate cavitation from gas dissolved in tissue is beyond the range of the megapascal. Because nonlinear effects need to be taken into account, a numerical simulator based on the Westervelt equation was used to study the pressure waveform and the acoustic field generated by a setup for creation of cavitation consisting of two high intensity focused ultrasound transducers mounted confocally. At constant acoustic power, simulations with only one and both transducers from the confocal setup showed that the distortion of the pressure waveform due to the combined effects of nonlinearity and diffraction is less pronounced when both confocal transducers are used. Consequently, the confocal setup generates a greater peak negative pressure at focus which is more favorable for cavitation initiation. Comparison between the confocal setup and a single transducer with the same total emitting surface puts in evidence the role of the spatial separation of the two beams. Furthermore, it has been previously shown that the location of the peak negative pressure created by a single transducer shifts from focus towards the transducers in the presence of nonlinear effects. The simulator was used to study a configuration where the acoustical axes of transducers intersect on the peak negative pressure instead of the geometrical focus. For a representative confocal setup, namely moderate nonlinear effects, a 2% increase of the peak negative pressure and 8% decrease of the peak positive pressure resulted from this configuration. These differences tend to increase by increasing nonlinear effects. Although the optimal position of the transducers varies with the nonlinear regimen, the intersection point remains the location of the peak negative pressure in any case. Thus, unlike the location of the peak negative pressure for a single transducer can shift by a few millimeters, the focal point of a confocal device is independent of the power. This point is particularly important for therapeutic applications, frequently requiring high spatial accuracy. An experiment conducted shows that cavitation creation can be achieved easier with confocal ultrasound.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thickness, humidity, and polarization dependent ferroelectric switching and conductivity in Mg doped lithium niobate

Mg doped lithium niobate (Mg:LN) exhibits several advantages over undoped LN such as resistance to photorefraction, lower coercive fields, and p-type conductivity that is particularly pronounced at domain walls and opens up a range of applications, e.g., in domain wall electronics. Engineering of precise domain patterns necessitates well founded knowledge of switching kinetics, which can differ significantly from that of undoped LN. In this work, the role of humidity and sample composition in polarization reversal has been investigated under application of the same voltage waveform. Control over domain sizes has been achieved by varying the sample thickness and initial polarization as well as atmospheric conditions. In addition, local introduction of proton exchanged phases allows for inhibition of domain nucleation or destabilization, which can be utilized to modify domain patterns. Polarization dependent current flow, attributed to charged domain walls and band bending, demonstrates the rectifying ability of Mg:LN in combination with suitable metal electrodes that allow for further tailoring of conductivity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Analytically solvable chaotic oscillator based on a first-order filter

A chaotic hybrid dynamical system is introduced and its analytic solution is derived. The system is described as an unstable first order filter subject to occasional switching of a set point according to a feedback rule. The system qualitatively differs from other recently studied solvable chaotic hybrid systems in that the timing of the switching is regulated by an external clock. The chaotic analytic solution is an optimal waveform for communications in noise when a resistor-capacitor-integrate-and-dump filter is used as a receiver. As such, these results provide evidence in support of a recent conjecture that the optimal communication waveform for any stable infinite-impulse response filter is chaotic.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Transducer selection and application in magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

As an acoustic receiver, transducer plays a vital role in signal acquisition and image reconstruction for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI). In order to optimize signal acquisition, the expressions of acoustic pressure detection and waveform collection are theoretically studied based on the radiation theory of acoustic dipole and the reception pattern of transducer. Pressure distributions are simulated for a cylindrical phantom model using a planar piston transducer with different radii and bandwidths. The proposed theory is also verified by the experimental measurements of acoustic waveform detection for an aluminum foil cylinder. It is proved that acoustic pressure with sharp and clear boundary peaks can be detected by the large-radius transducer with wide bandwidth, reflecting the differential of the induced Lorentz force accurately, which is helpful for precise conductivity reconstruction. To detect acoustic pressure with acceptable pressure amplitude, peak pressure ratio, amplitude ratio, and improved signal to noise ratio, the scanning radius of 5–10 times the radius of the object should be selected to improve the accuracy of image reconstruction. This study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for transducer selection and application in MAT-MI to obtain reconstructed images with improved resolution and definition.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Experimental investigation on the energy deposition and morphology of the electrical explosion of copper wire in vacuum

This paper presents the experimental results of the electrical explosion of copper wires in vacuum using negative nanosecond-pulsed current with magnitude of 1–2 kA. The 20 μm-diameter copper wires with different lengths are exploded with three different current rates. A laser probe is applied to construct the shadowgraphy and interferometry diagnostics to investigate the distribution and morphology of the exploding product. The interference phase shift is reconstructed from the interferogram, by which the atomic density distribution is calculated. Experimental results show that there exist two voltage breakdown modes depending on the amount of the specific energy deposition. For the strong-shunting mode, shunting breakdown occurs, leading to the short-circuit-like current waveform. For the weak-shunting mode with less specific energy deposition, the plasma generated during the voltage breakdown is not enough to form a conductive plasma channel, resulting in overdamped declining current waveform. The influence of the wire length and current rate on the characteristics of the exploding wires is also analyzed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

A new approach to vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy using near infrared pulse shaping

In this work, we have developed a multipurpose vibrational sum frequency generation (vSFG) spectrometer that is uniquely capable of probing a broad range of chemical species, each requiring different experimental conditions, without optical realignment. Here, we take advantage of arbitrary near infrared (NIR) waveform generation using a 4 f -pulse shaper equipped with a 2D spatial light modulator (SLM) to tailor upconversion pulses to meet sample dependent experimental requirements. This report details the experimental layout, details of the SLM calibration and implementation, and the intrinsic benefits/limitations of this new approach to vSFG spectroscopy. We have demonstrated the competency of this spectrometer by achieving an ~3-fold increase in spectral resolution compared to conventional spectrometers by probing the model dimethyl sulfoxide/air interface. We also show the ability to suppress nonresonant background contributions from electrode interfaces using time delayed asymmetric waveforms that are generated by the NIR pulse shaper. Lastly, it is expected that this advancement in instrumentation will broaden the types of samples researchers can readily study using nonlinear surface specific spectroscopies.

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

Determining velocity of detonation using high-resolution time domain reflectometry

Two methods are presented to make measurements of the length of a coaxial cable with submillimeter and submicrosecond accuracy. If the cable is destroyed by the passage of a strong shock, for instance, from the detonation of an explosive, a measure of the phase velocity of the detonation (VOD) can be obtained with high accuracy (≈0.25%). The first method introduces a series of short Gaussian electrical pulses (<300 ps) into the cable that reflect off the cable end and are compared to the time of the original outgoing pulse by using a fast digitizer (100 gigasamples per second). By curve fitting a Gaussian form to the outgoing and reflected pulses, a measurement of the cable length can be made with subsample accuracy. So, as long as the pulses do not overlap, a large number may be present in the cable at any time allowing pulse repetition rates of 40–135 MHz depending on the cable length. Averaging allows accurate VOD measurements to be made that are comparable with the best traditional techniques. The second method replaces the pulser with a wide-spectrum (0.1–10 GHz) amplified random noise source. A similar setup and digitizer are used before autocorrelating short (80–160 ns) subsamples of the total waveform to measure the reflected delay time. That is, a smaller amplitude version of the original waveform appears time shifted by twice the transit time in the cable and this time is estimated via autocorrelation. The advantage of this method is that a new subsample needs only to be selected from a time increment in which new spectral information is present for a new measure of the length to be made. In this manner, many more length estimates can be averaged to establish the VOD than with the Gaussian approach. As a result, a detailed description of the implementation of both methods is presented together with an example of the type of data collected and limitations found.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

High-speed feedback control of an oscillating magnetic helicity injector using a graphics processing unit

A real-time control system has been developed to control the amplitude, phase, and offset of bulk plasma parameters inside an oscillating magnetic helicity injector. Control software running entirely on an Nvidia Tesla P40 graphical processing unit is able to receive digitizer inputs and send response patterns to a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controller with a minimum control loop period of 12.8μs. With an input digitization rate of 10 MS/s, a three-parameter proportional integral differential controller is shown to be sufficient to inform the PWM controller to drive the desired oscillating plasma waveform with a frequency of 16.6 kHz that is located near the resonance of a coupled RLC circuit. In particular, the temporal phase of the injector waveform is held within 10 degrees of the target value. Control is demonstrated over the toroidal modal structure of the imposed magnetic perturbations of the helicity injection system, allowing a new class of discharges to be studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

A method for infrared sensing based on oscillating zero power microelectromechanical photoswitches

This paper presents an interesting new method for measuring infrared (IR) radiation using a micromechanical photoswitch (MP). By leveraging the event-driven narrowband IR detection capability of an MP, electrostatic pull-in, and a novel integrated thermomechanical feedback mechanism, we show for the first time a zero-standby power IR sensor that can not only detect above-threshold IR power levels (>600 nW), but also generates an oscillating electromechanical pulse waveform whose frequency is a function of the incident IR power level. The device design, the theoretical model for the proposed idea, and the experimental demonstration of the mechanism are shown. The unique capability of zero-standby power IR detection and frequency-tunable AC waveform generation from a constant input signal (IR radiation) without the need for additional electronics promises to enable new functionalities for such remote wake-up sensors beyond simply detection, with potential uses in microrobotics and low-power computing.

Rajaram, Vageeswar (ORCID:0000000199546844)↗
DOE OSTI2015

LOCALIZATION OF SHORT DURATION GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENTS WITH THE EARLY ADVANCED LIGO AND VIRGO DETECTORS

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo advanced ground-based gravitational-wave detectors will begin collecting science data in 2015. With first detections expected to follow, it is important to quantify how well generic gravitational-wave transients can be localized on the sky. This is crucial for correctly identifying electromagnetic counterparts as well as understanding gravitational-wave physics and source populations. We present a study of sky localization capabilities for two search and parameter estimation algorithms: coherent WaveBurst, a constrained likelihood algorithm operating in close to real-time, and LALInferenceBurst, a Markov chain Monte Carlo parameter estimation algorithm developed to recover generic transient signals with latency of a few hours. Furthermore, we focus on the first few years of the advanced detector era, when we expect to only have two (2015) and later three (2016) operational detectors, all below design sensitivity. These detector configurations can produce significantly different sky localizations, which we quantify in detail. We observe a clear improvement in localization of the average detected signal when progressing from two-detector to three-detector networks, as expected. Although localization depends on the waveform morphology, approximately 50% of detected signals would be imaged after observing 100-200 deg{sup 2} in 2015 and 60-110 deg{sup 2} in 2016, although knowledge of the waveform can reduce this to as little as 22 deg{sup 2}. This is the first comprehensive study on sky localization capabilities for generic transients of the early network of advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, including the early LIGO-only two-detector configuration.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

IS THE BLAZHKO EFFECT THE BEATING OF A NEAR-RESONANT DOUBLE-MODE PULSATION?

In this paper it is shown that the Blazhko effect may result from a near-resonant type of multi-mode pulsation, where two (or sometimes more) periodic oscillations with slightly different frequencies gradually slip in phase, producing a beat frequency type of modulation. Typically one of these oscillations is strongly non-sinusoidal. Two oscillations are sufficient for the standard Blazhko effect; additional oscillations are needed to explain multi-frequency modulation. Previous work on this hypothesis by Arthur N. Cox and others is extended in this paper by developing a simple (non-hydrocode) model that can accurately reproduce several important features found in Kepler data for RR Lyr, including the pulsation waveform; the upper and lower Blazhko envelope functions; and the motion, disappearance, and reappearance of the bump feature. The non-sinusoidal oscillation is probably generated by the fundamental mode and the other oscillations are probably generated by nonradial modes. This model provides an explanation for the strong asymmetry observed in the side peak spectra of most RR Lyrae stars. The motion and disappearance of the bump feature are shown to be illusions, just artifacts of combining the oscillations. V445 Lyr is presented as an example with dual modulation. The mysterious double-maxima waveform observed for this star is explained, providing additional strong evidence that this beating-modes hypothesis is correct. Problems with other recent explanations of the Blazhko effect are discussed in some detail.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Gravitational wave tests of quantum modifications to black hole structure—with post-GW150914 update

Here a preliminary discussion is given of the prospects that gravitational-wave observations of binary inspiral of black holes (BHs) could reveal or constrain quantum modifications to BH dynamics, such as are required to preserve postulates of quantum mechanics. Different proposals for such modifications are characterized by different scales, and the size of these scales relative to those probed by observation of inspiral signals is important in determining the feasibility of finding experimental signatures. Certain scenarios with strong quantum modifications in a region extending well outside the horizon are expected to modify classical evolution, and distort the near-peak gravitational wave signal, suggesting a search for departures from waveforms predicted by general relativity. The near agreement of the GW150914 signal with such waveforms is discussed, and indicates constraints on some such scenarios. Important strategies for more precise future tests are (1) to develop more precise predictions from scenarios proposing quantum modifications, and (2) searching for observed deviations from numerical relativity predictions via analysis of gravity wave data, particularly focussing on the signal region corresponding to plunge and merger.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fluctuation statistics in the scrape-off layer of Alcator C-Mod

We study long time series of the ion saturation current and floating potential, sampled by Langmuir probes dwelled in the outboard mid-plane scrape-off layer and embedded in the lower divertor baffle of Alcator C-Mod. A series of ohmically heated L-mode plasma discharges is investigated with line-averaged plasma density ranging from ${{\bar{n}}_{\text{e}}}/{{n}_{\text{G}}}=0.15$ to 0.42, where $n_ G$ is the Greenwald density. All ion saturation current time series that are sampled in the far scrape-off layer are characterized by large-amplitude burst events. Coefficients of skewness and excess kurtosis of the time series obey a quadratic relationship and their histograms coincide partially upon proper normalization. Histograms of the ion saturation current time series are found to agree well with a prediction of a stochastic model for the particle density fluctuations in scrape-off layer plasmas. The distribution of the waiting times between successive large-amplitude burst events and of the burst amplitudes are approximately described by exponential distributions. The average waiting time and burst amplitude are found to vary weakly with the line-averaged plasma density. Conditional averaging reveals that the radial blob velocity, estimated from floating potential measurements, increases with the normalized burst amplitude in the outboard mid-plane scrape-off layer. For low density discharges, the conditionally averaged waveform of the floating potential associated with large amplitude bursts at the divertor probes has a dipolar shape. In detached divertor conditions the average waveform is random, indicating electrical disconnection of blobs from the sheaths at the divertor targets.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Sequence modeling of higher-order wave modes of quasi-circular, spinning, non-precessing binary black hole mergers

Higher-order gravitational wave modes from quasi-circular, spinning, non-precessing binary-black-hole (BBH) mergers encode rich information about the nonlinear dynamics of strong-field gravity. We present a transformer-based sequence-completion surrogate that, given an early-inspiral segment, forecasts the subsequent late inspiral, merger, and ringdown. The intended applications are (i) patching or completing expensive or interrupted numerical-relativity (NR) simulations and (ii) providing late-time cross-checks and rapid hybridization studies. The training set is built from the NRHybSur3dq8 surrogate, which provides spherical-harmonic modes up to $\ell$ ≤ 4 (excluding (4, 0) and (4,±1), and including (5, 5)) for mass ratios q ≤ 8, dimensionless spin components s$^{z}_{1,2}$ ϵ[–0.8, 0.8], and inclination angles θ ϵ [0, π]. Waveforms are supplied on the interval t ϵ [–5000M, –100 M) and the model autoregressively generates the plus and cross polarizations (h + , h x ) on t ϵ [–100 M, 130M]. Training on the Delta supercomputer with 16 NVIDIA A100 GPUs required ~15 h on more than 14 million hybrid waveforms. Evaluation on a held-out test set of 840,000 samples yields mean and median overlaps of 0.996 and 0.997, respectively, with respect to the surrogate ground truth.

black-hole merger↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pulsed photoemission induced plasma breakdown

Abstract This article characterises the effects of cathode photoemission leading to electrical discharges in an argon gas. We perform breakdown experiments under pulsed laser illumination of a flat cathode and observe Townsend to glow discharge transitions. The breakdown process is recorded by high-speed imaging, and time-dependent voltage and current across the electrode gap are measured for different reduced electric fields and laser intensities. We employ a 0D transient discharge model to interpret the experimental measurements. The fitted values of transferred photoelectron charge are compared with calculations from a quantum model of photoemission. The breakdown voltage is found to be lower with photoemission than without. When the applied voltage is insufficient for ion-induced secondary electron emission to sustain the plasma, laser driven photoemission can still create a breakdown where a sheath (i.e. a region near the electrode surfaces consisting of positive ions and neutrals) is formed. This photoemission induced plasma persists and decays on a much longer time scale ( ∼ 10 s μ s) than the laser pulse length ( 30 ps). The effects of different applied voltages and laser energies on the breakdown voltage and current waveforms are investigated. The discharge model can accurately predict the measured breakdown voltage curves, despite the existence of discrepancy in quantitatively describing the transient discharge current and voltage waveforms.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗