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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 1,189 records · Page 66
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Electrodeposition of Actinides on a Semiconductor Detector for Concentration Monitoring

Pyroprocessing is a promising technology for separation and recycle of actinides from spent nuclear fuel. It is being actively researched in the United States as well as the Republic of Korea for possible implementation into a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The features of the chemical technology behind pyro-processing, unfortunately, present difficulties for real time accounting of actinides. Development of optimal process monitoring technology and safeguards approaches are, thus, a high priority for completing the development of the overall process technology. Real time monitoring of actinide concentrations in the molten salt electro-refiners is particularly important to achieve because of the potential for multiple significant quantities of plutonium in the molten salt. To address this need, development of a semiconductor detector for real-time monitoring of actinides in molten chloride salt (LiCl-KCl) is being conducted. Towards this end, a novel alpha spectroscopy detection system is being developed using wide band-gap semiconductor material, such as GaN or SiC, with a Boron-Doped-Diamond (BDD) contact. The objective is to deposit a thin layer of actinides onto the BDD layer, which will be used to measure the alpha particle spectrum that will distinguish individual actinides and their concentration. In the first stage, the actinide electrodeposition onto a surrogate material for the detector has been undertaken. While this project is in its very early states, a couple of observations have been made. One is that the electrodeposition is a slow, diffusion-controlled process. Therefore the deposit should be as thin (≅1 m) as the alpha spectroscopy permits (the resolution gets inferior with lesser number of atoms). Also, applied potentials should not be too negative; otherwise the deposit does not adhere well to the surface. The application of this method to measuring actinides in molten salt appears to be feasible, and a considerable amount of further investigation is planned. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Round-Robin Verification and Final Development of the IEC 62788-1-5 Encapsulation Size Change Test; NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Polymeric encapsulation materials may a change size when processed at typical module lamination temperatures. The relief of residual strain, trapped during the manufacture of encapsulation sheet, can affect module performance and reliability. For example, displaced cells and interconnects threaten: cell fracture; broken interconnects (open circuits and ground faults); delamination at interfaces; and void formation. A standardized test for the characterization of change in linear dimensions of encapsulation sheet has been developed and verified. The IEC 62788-1-5 standard quantifies the maximum change in linear dimensions that may occur to allow for process control of size change. Developments incorporated into the Committee Draft (CD) of the standard as well as the assessment of the repeatability and reproducibility of the test method are described here. No pass/fail criteria are given in the standard, rather a repeatable protocol to quantify the change in dimension is provided to aid those working with encapsulation. The round-robin experiment described here identified that the repeatability and reproducibility of measurements is on the order of 1%. Recent refinements to the test procedure to improve repeatability and reproducibility include: the use of a convection oven to improve the thermal equilibration time constant and its uniformity; well-defined measurement locations reduce the effects of sampling size -and location- relative to the specimen edges; a standardized sand substrate may be readily obtained to reduce friction that would otherwise complicate the results; specimen sampling is defined, so that material is examined at known sites across the width and length of rolls; and encapsulation should be examined at the manufacturer’s recommended processing temperature, except when a cross-linking reaction may limit the size change. EVA, for example, should be examined 100 °C, between its melt transition (occurring up to 80 °C) and the onset of cross-linking (often at 100 °C).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

FastProNGS: fast preprocessing of next-generation sequencing reads

Background Next-generation sequencing technology is developing rapidly and the vast amount of data that is generated needs to be preprocessed for downstream analyses. Yet, until now, software that can efficiently make all the quality assessments and filtration of raw data is still lacking. Results We developed FastProNGS to integrate the quality control process with automatic adapter removal. Parallel processing was implemented to speed up the process by allocating multiple threads. Compared with similar up-to-date preprocessing tools, FastProNGS is by far the fastest. Read information before and after filtration can be output in plain-text, JSON, or HTML formats with user-friendly visualization. Conclusions FastProNGS is a rapid, standardized, and user-friendly tool for preprocessing next-generation sequencing data within minutes. It is an all-in-one software that is convenient for bulk data analysis. It is additionally very flexible and can implement different functions using different user-set parameter combinations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Comparison of the dose distribution obtained from dosimetric systems with intensity modulated radiotherapy planning system in the treatment of prostate cancer

The aim of this study is to compare Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) plan of prostate cancer patients with different dose verification systems in dosimetric aspects and to compare these systems with each other in terms of reliability, applicability and application time. Dosimetric control processes of IMRT plan of three prostate cancer patients were carried out using thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD), ion chamber (IC) and 2D Array detector systems. The difference between the dose values obtained from the dosimetric systems and treatment planning system (TPS) were found to be about % 5. For the measured (TLD) and calculated (TPS) doses %3 percentage differences were obtained for the points close to center while percentage differences increased at the field edges. It was found that TLD and IC measurements will increase the precision and reliability of the results of 2D Array.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
NASA NTRS2005

NASA Tech Briefs, May 2005

Topics covered include: Fastener Starter; Multifunctional Deployment Hinges Rigidified by Ultraviolet; Temperature-Controlled Clamping and Releasing Mechanism; Long-Range Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights; High-Efficiency Microwave Power Amplifier; Improvements of ModalMax High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Audio Device; Alumina or Semiconductor Ribbon Waveguides at 30 to 1,000 GHz; HEMT Frequency Doubler with Output at 300 GHz; Single-Chip FPGA Azimuth Pre-Filter for SAR; Autonomous Navigation by a Mobile Robot; Software Would Largely Automate Design of Kalman Filter; Predicting Flows of Rarefied Gases; Centralized Planning for Multiple Exploratory Robots; Electronic Router; Piezo-Operated Shutter Mechanism Moves 1.5 cm; Two SMA-Actuated Miniature Mechanisms; Vortobots; Ultrasonic/Sonic Jackhammer; Removing Pathogens Using Nano-Ceramic-Fiber Filters; Satellite-Derived Management Zones; Digital Equivalent Data System for XRF Labeling of Objects; Identifying Objects via Encased X-Ray-Fluorescent Materials - the Bar Code Inside; Vacuum Attachment for XRF Scanner; Simultaneous Conoscopic Holography and Raman Spectroscopy; Adding GaAs Monolayers to InAs Quantum-Dot Lasers on (001) InP; Vibrating Optical Fibers to Make Laser Speckle Disappear; Adaptive Filtering Using Recurrent Neural Networks; and Applying Standard Interfaces to a Process-Control Language.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2024

In situ x-ray imaging to understand subsurface behavior during continuous wave laser drilling

A limited understanding regarding the underlying dynamics and mechanisms of material removal during continuous wave laser drilling has presented significant challenges in achieving precision and process control. Here, to address this, we employed high-fidelity, in situ synchrotron x-ray imaging to reveal previously unknown material behaviors during continuous wave laser drilling with power modulation. Our findings highlight that high-aspect ratio drill holes are achieved when the laser modulation frequency falls within the range of 8–12 kHz, provided that the laser average power and modulation amplitude levels meet the specified limits. Under these conditions, we identified a material removal mechanism driven by incremental accumulation of recoil pressure that gradually pushes material upward from deep within the substrate to the surface. This mechanism manifested as a low-frequency fluctuation in the vapor depression depth, resulting in periodic instances of material ejection. Furthermore, our study underscores that rapid expansion of the melt pool and the widening of the drill hole opening can impede effective material removal by redirecting energy from material ejection to increasing the melt pool size. This investigation contributes essential insights into the subsurface dynamics involved in the drilling of high-aspect ratio holes, furthering our fundamental understanding of this intricate process.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Phase transformation and growth mechanism of RF sputtered ferroelectric lead scandium tantalate (PbSc 0.5 Ta 0.5 O 3 ) films

Lead scandium tantalate (PbSc 0.5 Ta 0.5 O 3 , PST), an order/disorder ferroelectric, is a potential candidate for electrocaloric cooling and pyroelectric infrared (IR) detector. In this work, we report the phase transformation kinetics from two series of samples containing pure amorphous and mixture of amorphous and pyrochlore to desired perovskite phase using postdeposition rapid thermal processing (RTP) as well as growth mechanism of RF sputtered PST thin films using excess lead target on platinized silicon (Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si) substrates. We find that small changes in the temperature ramp have a large effect on the degree of perovskite conversion (ferroelectric phase), orientation (crystallographic texture), and long-range order parameter (< S 111 >). Through isothermal annealing, we obtained optimal perovskite phase at ≥700°C temperature. The phase transformation is characterized by spontaneous formation of center-type in-plane radial rosette-like structures revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The PST perovskite crystallites were found to coexist with pyrochlore in RTP annealed films. The volume fractions for perovskite and pyrochlore phase were obtained from the analysis of “rosettes” and respective X-ray diffraction intensities which helped to determine various parameters associated with phase kinetics (n, k, and activation energy, Ea) and accompanying growth. The effective activation energies of perovskite transition and growth were found to be 332 ± 11 kJ/mol (345 ± 11 kJ/mol) and 114 ± 10 kJ/mol (122 ± 10 kJ/mol), respectively, for pure amorphous only (and mixed amorphous and pyrochlore) phase following nucleation-growth controlled Avrami's equation. A linear growth rate (n~1) for the perovskite phase indicates predominant interface-controlled process and diffusion-limited phenomena thus inhibiting rosette size owing to reactant depletion and soft impingement at the grain boundary. However, the growth behavior is isotropic in two-dimension parallel to the plane of the substrates for both sample series. Furthermore, lead loss was severe for in-situ growth and RTP combined with conventional furnace annealing than those of RTP only films, which were closer to stoichiometric albeit with excess lead and marginal oxygen vacancies (V o ).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Functional metal–organic frameworks as effective sensors of gases and volatile compounds

Developing efficient sensor materials with superior performance for selective, fast and sensitive detection of gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is essential for human health and environmental protection, through monitoring indoor and outdoor air pollutions, managing industrial processes, controlling food quality and assisting early diagnosis of diseases. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a unique type of crystalline and porous solid material constructed from metal nodes (metal ions or clusters) and functional organic ligands. They have been investigated extensively for possible use as high performance sensors for the detection of many different gases and VOCs in recent years, due to their large surface area, tunable pore size, functionalizable sites and intriguing properties, such as electrical conductivity, magnetism, ferroelectricity, luminescence and chromism. The high porosity of MOFs allows them to interact strongly with various analytes, including gases and VOCs, thus resulting in easily measurable responses to different physicochemical parameters. Although much of the recent work on MOF-based luminescent sensors have been summarized in several excellent reviews (up to 2018), a comprehensive overview of these materials for sensing gases and VOCs based on chemiresistive, magnetic, ferroelectric, and colorimertic mechanisms is missing. In this review, we highlight the most recent progress in developing MOF sensing and switching materials with an emphasis on sensing mechanisms based on electricity, magnetism, ferroelectricity and chromism. We provide a comprehensive analysis on the MOF–analyte interactions in these processes, which play a key role in the sensing performance of the MOF-based sensors and switches. We discuss in detail possible applications of MOF-based sensing and switching materials in detecting oxygen, water vapor, toxic industrial gases (such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon oxides and carbon disulfide) and VOCs (such as aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, aldehydes, chlorinated hydrocarbons and N,N'-dimethylformamide). Altogether, this review serves as a timely source of information and provides insight for the future development of advanced MOF materials as next-generation gas and VOC sensors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2011

Topics covered include: 1) SNE Industrial Fieldbus Interface; 2) Composite Thermal Switch; 3) XMOS XC-2 Development Board for Mechanical Control and Data Collection; 4) Receiver Gain Modulation Circuit; 5) NEXUS Scalable and Distributed Next-Generation Avionics Bus for Space Missions; 6) Digital Interface Board to Control Phase and Amplitude of Four Channels; 7) CoNNeCT Baseband Processor Module; 8) Cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC Heterodyne Receiver Module; 9) Ka-Band, Multi-Gigabit-Per-Second Transceiver; 10) All-Solid-State 2.45-to-2.78-THz Source; 11) Onboard Interferometric SAR Processor for the Ka-Band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn); 12) Space Environments Testbed; 13) High-Performance 3D Articulated Robot Display; 14) Athena; 15) In Situ Surface Characterization; 16) Ndarts; 17) Cryo-Etched Black Silicon for Use as Optical Black; 18) Advanced CO2 Removal and Reduction System; 19) Correcting Thermal Deformations in an Active Composite Reflector; 20) Umbilical Deployment Device; 21) Space Mirror Alignment System; 22) Thermionic Power Cell To Harness Heat Energies for Geothermal Applications; 23) Graph Theory Roots of Spatial Operators for Kinematics and Dynamics; 24) Spacesuit Soft Upper Torso Sizing Systems; 25) Radiation Protection Using Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Derivatives; 26) PMA-PhyloChip DNA Microarray to Elucidate Viable Microbial Community Structure; 27) Lidar Luminance Quantizer; 28) Distributed Capacitive Sensor for Sample Mass Measurement; 29) Base Flow Model Validation; 30) Minimum Landing Error Powered-Descent Guidance for Planetary Missions; 31) Framework for Integrating Science Data Processing Algorithms Into Process Control Systems; 32) Time Synchronization and Distribution Mechanisms for Space Networks; 33) Local Estimators for Spacecraft Formation Flying; 34) Software-Defined Radio for Space-to-Space Communications; 35) Reflective Occultation Mask for Evaluation of Occulter Designs for Planet Finding; and 36) Molecular Adsorber Coating

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2013

Low Cost Electrochromic Film on Plastic for Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Over 4 Quads of energy are lost through windows annually. Passive coatings reduce wasted energy, but energy lost through windows would remain over 2 Quads with complete replacement of Low-E glass. Active control of transmitted light and solar heating with electrochromic (EC) windows can transform the efficiency of energy use within buildings, thereby reducing energy footprints and corresponding greenhouse emissions. High production, integration, and distribution cost limits adoption of current EC products. ITN aimed to utilize its proven heritage of efficiently transitioning technologies from rigid to flexible substrates employing roll-to-roll manufacturing to capture the emerging EC window market opportunity. The project focused on three main efforts (1) Transition Small Scale Prototypes To Limited 0.5 Meter Wide, Web Coater Production, (2) Satisfy Market Driven EC Performance Metrics on Plastic Substrates, and (3) Product Development and Commercialization. The overall goal was to substantially reduce investor risk to motivate private investment in a production facility to further transition and scale this promising technology. A 0.5 meter roll-to-roll web coater was designed, constructed, and commissioned at ITN to support EC development effort. With this tool, we were able to establish the feasibility of roll-to-roll production of EC devices. Individually layers were continuously produced at lengths up to 3 meters with good uniformity, both down web and cross web. Solid state devices were produced, and device performance was being enhanced through hardware modifications underway at the close of the project. When deployed in composite device structures, we were able to verify that individual layers were able to achieve a transmission range of 3-70% transmission average over the visible portion of the spectrum. Initial development of intelligent process controls led to verification of a 2-state controller employed during deposition of the electrochromic layer. The project also successfully increased device performance in line with market needs. Improved device materials provided increased transmission range to a 5-65% transmission over the visible spectrum and faster switching times for both small area batch parts and large area composite materials. We were able to demonstrate durable cycling over 10,000-20,000 cycles in a variety of architectures including suspended films in an IGU and films laminated to glass tested in open air representative of retrofit applications. Robust packaging techniques were identified and samples proved durable even in 40C and 100% relative humidity outside the IGU environment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Understanding the Spatiotemporal Variability of Tropical Orographic Rainfall Using Convective Plume Buoyancy

Abstract Mechanical forcing by orography affects precipitating convection across many tropical regions, but controls on the intensity and horizontal extent of the orographic precipitation peak and rain shadow remain poorly understood. A recent theory explains this control of precipitation as arising from modulation of lower-tropospheric temperature and moisture by orographic mechanical forcing, setting the distribution of convective rainfall by controlling parcel buoyancy. Using satellite and reanalysis data, we evaluate this theory by investigating spatiotemporal precipitation variations in six mountainous tropical regions spanning South and Southeast Asia, and the Maritime Continent. We show that a strong relationship holds in these regions between daily precipitation and a measure of convective plume buoyancy. This measure depends on boundary layer thermodynamic properties and lower-free-tropospheric moisture and temperature. Consistent with the theory, temporal variations in lower-free-tropospheric temperature are primarily modulated by orographic mechanical lifting through changes in cross-slope wind speed. However, winds directed along background horizontal moisture gradients also influence lower-tropospheric moisture variations in some regions. The buoyancy measure is also shown to explain many aspects of the spatial patterns of precipitation. Finally, we present a linear model with two horizontal dimensions that combines mountain wave dynamics with a linearized closure exploiting the relationship between precipitation and plume buoyancy. In some regions, this model skillfully captures the spatial structure and intensity of rainfall; it underestimates rainfall in regions where time-mean ascent in large-scale convergence zones shapes lower-tropospheric humidity. Overall, these results provide new understanding of fundamental processes controlling subseasonal and spatial variations in tropical orographic precipitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Identifying dominant environmental predictors of freshwater wetland methane fluxes across diurnal to seasonal time scales

While wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH 4 ) to the atmosphere, they represent a large source of uncertainty in the global CH 4 budget due to the complex biogeochemical controls on CH 4 dynamics. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first multi-site synthesis of how predictors of CH 4 fluxes (FCH4) in freshwater wetlands vary across wetland types at diel, multiday (synoptic), and seasonal time scales. In this work we used several statistical approaches (correlation analysis, generalized additive modeling, mutual information, and random forests) in a wavelet-based multi-resolution framework to assess the importance of environmental predictors, nonlinearities and lags on FCH4 across 23 eddy covariance sites. Seasonally, soil and air temperature were dominant predictors of FCH4 at sites with smaller seasonal variation in water table depth (WTD). In contrast, WTD was the dominant predictor for wetlands with smaller variations in temperature (e.g., seasonal tropical/subtropical wetlands). Changes in seasonal FCH4 lagged fluctuations in WTD by ~17 ± 11 days, and lagged air and soil temperature by median values of 8 ± 16 and 5 ± 15 days, respectively. Temperature and WTD were also dominant predictors at the multiday scale. Atmospheric pressure (PA) was another important multiday scale predictor for peat-dominated sites, with drops in PA coinciding with synchronous releases of CH 4 . At the diel scale, synchronous relationships with latent heat flux and vapor pressure deficit suggest that physical processes controlling evaporation and boundary layer mixing exert similar controls on CH 4 volatilization, and suggest the influence of pressurized ventilation in aerenchymatous vegetation. In addition, 1- to 4-h lagged relationships with ecosystem photosynthesis indicate recent carbon substrates, such as root exudates, may also control FCH4. By addressing issues of scale, asynchrony, and nonlinearity, this work improves understanding of the predictors and timing of wetland FCH4 that can inform future studies and models, and help constrain wetland CH 4 emissions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evolution of Droplet Size Distributions During the Transition of an Ultraclean Stratocumulus Cloud System to Open Cell Structure: An LES Investigation Using Lagrangian Microphysics

Here, a state-of-the-art Lagrangian microphysics scheme is used in a large-eddy simulation to investigate the stratocumulus transition from closed to open cell structure. Processes controlling precipitation development, which is a key to the transition, are analyzed by leveraging unique benefits of Lagrangian microphysics, particularly the ability to track computational drops in the flow. Sufficient time is needed for coalescence growth of cloud drops to drizzle within the updraft-downdraft cycle of large eddies. This favors broad drop size distributions (DSDs) and drizzle growth in downdrafts, where drops are typically much older than in updrafts. During the closed cell stage, mean cloud drop radius is too small, and the DSDs are too narrow, so that the timescale for coalescence is much longer than the large eddy turnover time and drizzle growth is limited. The closed-to-open cell transition occurs when these timescales become comparable and the precipitation flux increases sharply.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1978

Thermal metamorphism of primitive meteorites. VII - Mineralogy-petrology of heated Murchison /C2/ and alteration of C30 and other chondrites

Alterations caused by week-long heating of Murchison in a low-pressure environment at 400-1400 C are of two types: thermodynamically favored kinetically controlled or thermodynamically controlled rapid processes. Kinetically controlled changes pertinent to chondritic evolution and which vary progressively with temperature in heated Murchison include: chondrule blurring; matrix coarsening; increasing mean Fa and Fs contents of ferromagnesian silicates; equilibration of olivine; increasing Mg/Si, Ca/Si, Al/Si, and Cr/Si and decreasing Fe/Si, Ni/Si, and S/Si in matrix; Cr loss from kamacite; and homogenization and Ni-zoning in taenite at high temperatures. Low-temperature thermodynamically controlled changes include: transformation of high-Ni troilite to low-Ni and formation of Ni- and Co-rich metal from pentlandite. High-temperature changes include formation of Cr-rich magnetite and formation of a Ni-rich sulfide similar to that found in highly altered chondrites. Trends resulting from processes of both kinds in Murchison are consistent with characteristics of a postulated C30 metamorphic suite, while those changes caused by reactions of the second kind are similar to those in heavily shock-heated ordinary chondrites and the heavily metamorphosed C5-6 chondrite, Mulga West. Either the simulations support the metamorphic origin of the C30 suite and other thermally induced changes or the natural alterations support the utility of laboratory simulations in studying meteoritic evolution.

Matza, S. D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Fabrication Methods for Adaptive Deformable Mirrors

Previously, it was difficult to fabricate deformable mirrors made by piezoelectric actuators. This is because numerous actuators need to be precisely assembled to control the surface shape of the mirror. Two approaches have been developed. Both approaches begin by depositing a stack of piezoelectric films and electrodes over a silicon wafer substrate. In the first approach, the silicon wafer is removed initially by plasmabased reactive ion etching (RIE), and non-plasma dry etching with xenon difluoride (XeF2). In the second approach, the actuator film stack is immersed in a liquid such as deionized water. The adhesion between the actuator film stack and the substrate is relatively weak. Simply by seeping liquid between the film and the substrate, the actuator film stack is gently released from the substrate. The deformable mirror contains multiple piezoelectric membrane layers as well as multiple electrode layers (some are patterned and some are unpatterned). At the piezolectric layer, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), or its co-polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene P(VDF-TrFE) is used. The surface of the mirror is coated with a reflective coating. The actuator film stack is fabricated on silicon, or silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate, by repeatedly spin-coating the PVDF or P(VDFTrFE) solution and patterned metal (electrode) deposition. In the first approach, the actuator film stack is prepared on SOI substrate. Then, the thick silicon (typically 500-micron thick and called handle silicon) of the SOI wafer is etched by a deep reactive ion etching process tool (SF6-based plasma etching). This deep RIE stops at the middle SiO2 layer. The middle SiO2 layer is etched by either HF-based wet etching or dry plasma etch. The thin silicon layer (generally called a device layer) of SOI is removed by XeF2 dry etch. This XeF2 etch is very gentle and extremely selective, so the released mirror membrane is not damaged. It is possible to replace SOI with silicon substrate, but this will require tighter DRIE process control as well as generally longer and less efficient XeF2 etch. In the second approach, the actuator film stack is first constructed on a silicon wafer. It helps to use a polyimide intermediate layer such as Kapton because the adhesion between the polyimide and silicon is generally weak. A mirror mount ring is attached by using adhesive. Then, the assembly is partially submerged in liquid water. The water tends to seep between the actuator film stack and silicon substrate. As a result, the actuator membrane can be gently released from the silicon substrate. The actuator membrane is very flat because it is fixed to the mirror mount prior to the release. Deformable mirrors require extremely good surface optical quality. In the technology described here, the deformable mirror is fabricated on pristine substrates such as prime-grade silicon wafers. The deformable mirror is released by selectively removing the substrate. Therefore, the released deformable mirror surface replicates the optical quality of the underlying pristine substrate.

Toda, Risaku↗
DOE OSTI2026

Mechanical characterization of fine-grain dispersion-strengthened tungsten as a plasma facing material

Field-Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST) was used to produce fine-grained, dispersion-strengthened tungsten (W) materials. Investigated materials 4138, 4353, and 4355 composed of 3 wt% ZrC sintered at 1800 °C, 5 wt% ZrC sintered at 1800 °C, and 3 wt% ZrC sintered at 2000 °C, respectively. They were compared against ITER-grade W. A series of mechanical and thermal property testing and microstructure studies were conducted to study them as a potential plasma facing material (PFM) for fusion reactors. Hardness testing showed that manufacturing conditions substantially altered hardness. Material 4355 had an average HV10 value of 497.2 ± 16.8, slightly higher than ITER-grade at 378.5 ± 40.3. However, material 4353 was substantially higher with an HV10 value of 738.9 ± 31.7 over the investigated temperature range. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis showed that FAST produced substantially smaller grains than the hot-rolled ITER-grade W material, offering notable control over grain size. Materials 4353 and 4355 had grain sizes of 0.44 ± 0.20 µm and 3.67 ± 0.89 µm, respectively, whereas ITER-grade 27.14 ± 19.76 µm at room temperature. The fine grain structures showed no net coarsening after 1 hr. anneals up to 1800 °C, several hundred degrees above the 1100 – 1500 °C recrystallization range reported for conventional W. Inverse application of the Zener pinning relationship to the measured grain sizes indicates that these two FAST sintering conditions produce markedly different effective dispersoid populations, with effective particle diameters of approximately 90 nm at a peak sintering temperature of 1800 °C and approximately 460 nm at 2000 °C, respectively. This result demonstrates that the FAST thermal condition itself, and not the nominal ZrC content alone, governs the pinning effectiveness of the dispersion. Thermal diffusivity measurements support this finding independently. Materials of identical composition sintered at different temperatures differ by approximately 19% in measured thermal diffusivity with statistically indistinguishable density, while materials of different composition and sintering temperature converge to within approximately 2%. At a representative divertor heat flux of 10 MW/m², the lower thermal conductivity of the fine-grained materials corresponds to approximately 28 to 33 °C per millimeter of armor thickness relative to ITER-grade W, traded against a substantially larger margin to recrystallization-driven degradation. While high temperature tensile testing revealed likely contamination that motivates refinement of the manufacturing process, FAST-produced, fine-grained, dispersion-strengthened W offers process-controlled microstructural stability well above the operating temperatures of conventional W and supports its continued development as a PFM for economically viable commercial fusion power.

Parker, Gabe [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000190394100)↗
DOE OSTI2019

On the role of climate modes in modulating the air–sea CO 2 fluxes in eastern boundary upwelling systems

Abstract. The air–sea CO 2 fluxes in eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUSs) vary strongly in time and space, with some of the highest flux densities globally. The processes controlling this variability have not yet been investigated consistently across all four major EBUSs, i.e., the California (CalCS), Humboldt (HumCS), Canary (CanCS), and Benguela (BenCS) Current systems. In this study, we diagnose the climatic modes of the air–sea CO 2 flux variability in these regions between 1920 and 2015, using simulation results from the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM-LENS), a global coupled climate model ensemble that is forced by historical and RCP8.5 radiative forcing. Differences between simulations can be attributed entirely to internal (unforced) climate variability, whose contribution can be diagnosed by subtracting the ensemble mean from each simulation. We find that in the CalCS and CanCS, the resulting anomalous CO 2 fluxes are strongly affected by large-scale extratropical modes of variability, i.e., the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), respectively. The CalCS has anomalous uptake of CO 2 during the positive phase of the NPGO, while the CanCS has anomalous outgassing of CO 2 during the positive phase of the NAO. In contrast, the HumCS is mainly affected by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with anomalous uptake of CO 2 during an El Niño event. Variations in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and sea surface temperature (SST) are the major contributors to these anomalous CO 2 fluxes and are generally driven by changes to large-scale gyre circulation, upwelling, the mixed layer depth, and biological processes. A better understanding of the sensitivity of EBUS CO 2 fluxes to modes of climate variability is key in improving our ability to predict the future evolution of the atmospheric CO 2 source and sink characteristics of the four EBUSs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Surface-Directed Fabrication of Integrated Membrane-Electrode Interfaces

In the past five years, we have established a research program to investigate the integration of electrode/catalyst support, gas diffusion pathways, and ionomer into a single network based on a bottom-up, surface-directed approach. Here, the porous electrode surface provides the common foundation for both catalyst deposition and ionomer growth to develop a highly controlled process. Our efforts have focused on (1) the preparation of surface-initiated ionomer that can be grown from electrodes of essentially any geometry and is chemisorbed to the active electrode surface, and (2) the integration of this ionomer with both planar and 3-D electrodes that are atomically modified by Pt catalysts. Figure 1 shows a schematic of a single pore of such an integrated cathode where a catalytic Pt atomic layer is supported along the pores of a nanoporous gold electrode. The catalyst layer is electronically accessible from the metal cathode and in contact with proton-conducting ionomer to yield extremely high utilization efficiencies of the catalyst (approaching 100%) with the ultralow loadings expected from atomic overlayers. We have introduced a new class of ionomer film that is grown from the catalyst/electrode interface to develop proton conducting pathways throughout the 3-D electrode and to the adsorbed catalyst particles. This ionomer is a comb polymer designed to contain sulfonate-lined channels for rapid proton conduction as well as hydrophobic domains (fluorocarbon or hydrocarbon) to promote O 2 solubility and transfer. This interfacial ionomer is designed to interface with a bulk membrane (such as Nafion) and an anode that could be engineered in a similar way. A key conclusion thus far is that ionomer and Pt catalyst can be integrated at a single interface (both 2-D and 3-D) to provide a high level of control over the construction of electrodes. To expand our efforts to date, we seek to utilize the materials chemistry we have developed to investigate how the depth-dependent structure of an ionomer film affects its performance in transferring protons and oxygen to accelerate the rate of the oxygen reduction reaction. By correlating structure and composition to performance and identifying barriers that limit efficiency, we seek to design ultra high performance ionomer films that are customized for the oxygen reduction reaction.

08 HYDROGEN↗