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At least 1,297 records · Page 72
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DOE OSTI2014

Precision spectral manipulation: A demonstration using a coherent optical memory

The ability to coherently spectrally manipulate quantum information has the potential to improve qubit rates across quantum channels and find applications in optical quantum computing. Here we present experiments that use a multi-element solenoid combined with the three-level gradient echo memory scheme to perform precision spectral manipulation of optical pulses. If applied in a quantum information network, these operations would enable frequency-based multiplexing of qubits.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Precise and direct method for the measurement of the torsion spring constant of the atomic force microscopy cantilevers

A direct method for the evaluation of the torsional spring constants of the atomic force microscope cantilevers is presented in this paper. The method uses a nanoindenter to apply forces at the long axis of the cantilever and in the certain distance from it. The torque vs torsion relation is then evaluated by the comparison of the results of the indentations experiments at different positions on the cantilever. Next, this relation is used for the precise determination of the torsional spring constant of the cantilever. The statistical analysis shows that the standard deviation of the calibration measurements is equal to approximately 1%. Furthermore, a simple method for calibration of the photodetector’s lateral response is proposed. The overall procedure of the lateral calibration constant determination has the accuracy approximately equal to 10%.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

High-precision laser spectroscopy of the CO A{sup 1}Π - X{sup 1}Σ{sup +} (2,0), (3,0), and (4,0) bands

High-precision two-photon Doppler-free frequency measurements have been performed on the CO A{sup 1}Π - X{sup 1}Σ{sup +} fourth-positive system (2,0), (3,0), and (4,0) bands. Absolute frequencies of forty-three transitions, for rotational quantum numbers up to J = 5, have been determined at an accuracy of 1.6 × 10{sup −3} cm{sup −1}, using advanced techniques of two-color 2 + 1’ resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization, Sagnac interferometry, frequency-chirp analysis on the laser pulses, and correction for AC-Stark shifts. The accurate transition frequencies of the CO A{sup 1}Π - X{sup 1}Σ{sup +} system are of relevance for comparison with astronomical data in the search for possible drifts of fundamental constants in the early universe. The present accuracies in laboratory wavelengths of Δλ/λ = 2 × 10{sup −8} may be considered exact for the purpose of such comparisons.

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

Hysteresis-free high-temperature precise bimorph actuators produced by direct bonding of lithium niobate wafers

The current paper presents a piezoelectric bimorph actuator produced by direct bonding of lithium niobate wafers with the mirrored Y and Z axes. Direct bonding technology allowed to fabricate bidomain plate with precise positioning of ideally flat domain boundary. By optimizing the cutting angle (128° Y-cut), the piezoelectric constant became as large as 27.3 pC/N. Investigation of voltage dependence of bending displacement confirmed that bimorph actuator has excellent linearity and hysteresis-free. Decrease of the applied voltage down to mV range showed the perfect linearity up to the sub-nm deflection amplitude. The frequency and temperature dependences of electromechanical transmission coefficient in wide temperature range (from 300 to 900 K) were investigated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: Multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tip localization of an atomic force microscope in transmission microscopy with nanoscale precision

Since the atomic force microscope (AFM) has evolved into a general purpose platform for mechanical experiments at the nanoscale, the need for a simple and generally applicable localization of the AFM cantilever in the reference frame of an optical microscope has grown. Molecular manipulations like in single molecule cut and paste or force spectroscopy as well as tip mediated nanolithography are prominent examples for the broad variety of applications implemented to date. In contrast to the different kinds of superresolution microscopy where fluorescence is used to localize the emitter, we, here, employ the absorbance of the tip to localize its position in transmission microscopy. We show that in a low aperture illumination, the tip causes a significant reduction of the intensity in the image plane of the microscope objective when it is closer than a few hundred nm. By independently varying the z-position of the sample slide, we could verify that this diffraction limited image of the tip is not caused by a near field effect but is rather caused by the absorbance of the transmitted light in the low apex needle-like tip. We localized the centroid position of this tip image with a precision of better than 6 nm and used it in a feedback loop to position the tip into nano-apertures of 110 nm radius. Single-molecule force spectroscopy traces on the unfolding of individual green fluorescent proteins within the nano-apertures showed that their center positions were repeatedly approached with very high fidelity leaving the specific handle chemistry on the tip’s surface unimpaired.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Precise energy eigenvalues of hydrogen-like ion moving in quantum plasmas

The analytic form of the electrostatic potential felt by a slowly moving test charge in quantum plasma is developed. It has been shown that the electrostatic potential is composed of two parts: the Debye-Huckel screening term and the near-field wake potential. The latter depends on the velocity of the test charge as well as on the number density of the plasma electrons. Rayleigh-Ritz variational calculation has been done to estimate precise energy eigenvalues of hydrogen-like carbon ion under such plasma environment. A detailed analysis shows that the energy levels gradually move to the continuum with increasing plasma electron density while the level crossing phenomenon has been observed with the variation of ion velocity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Note: Compact and light displacement sensor for a precision measurement system in large motion

We developed a compact and light displacement sensor applicable to systems that require wide range motions of its sensing device. The proposed sensor utilized the optical pickup unit of the optical disk drive, which has been used applied to atomic force microscopy (AFM) because of its compactness and lightness as well as its high performance. We modified the structure of optical pickup unit and made the compact sensor driver attachable to a probe head of AFM to make large rotation. The feasibilities of the developed sensor for a general probe-moving measurement device and for probe-rotating AFM were verified. Moreover, a simple and precise measurement of alignment between centers of rotator and probe tip in probe-rotation AFM was experimentally demonstrated using the developed sensor.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

High precision quantum-chemical treatment of adsorption: Benchmarking physisorption of molecular hydrogen on graphane

A multilevel hierarchical ab initio protocol for calculating adsorption on non-conducting surfaces is presented. It employs fully periodic treatment, which reaches local Møller-Plesset perturbation theory of second order (MP2) with correction for the basis set incompleteness via the local F12 technique. Post-MP2 corrections are calculated using finite clusters. That includes the coupled cluster treatment in the local and canonical frameworks (up to perturbative quadruples) and correlated core (with MP2). Using this protocol, the potential surface of hydrogen molecules adsorbed on graphane was computed. According to the calculations, hydrogen molecules are adsorbed on graphane in a perpendicular to the surface orientation with the minimum of the potential surface of around −3.6 kJ/mol located at the distance of 3.85 Å between the bond center of the hydrogen molecule and the mid-plane of graphane. The adsorption sites along the path from the downward-pointing carbon to the ring center of the graphane are energetically virtually equally preferable, which can enable nearly free translations of hydrogen molecules along these paths. Consequently, the hydrogen molecules on graphane most likely form a non-commensurate monolayer. The analysis of the remaining errors reveals a very high accuracy of the computed potential surface with an error bar of a few tenths of a kJ/mol. The obtained results are a high-precision benchmark for further theoretical and experimental studies of hydrogen molecules interacting with graphane.

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

Peculiarities of high-overtone transition probabilities in carbon monoxide revealed by high-precision calculation

In the recent work devoted to the calculation of the rovibrational line list of the CO molecule [G. Li et al., Astrophys. J., Suppl. Ser. 216, 15 (2015)], rigorous validation of the calculated parameters including intensities was carried out. In particular, the Normal Intensity Distribution Law (NIDL) [E. S. Medvedev, J. Chem. Phys. 137, 174307 (2012)] was employed for the validation purposes, and it was found that, in the original CO line list calculated for large changes of the vibrational quantum number up to Δn = 41, intensities with Δn > 11 were unphysical. Therefore, very high overtone transitions were removed from the published list in Li et al. Here, we show how this type of validation is carried out and prove that the quadruple precision is indispensably required to predict the reliable intensities using the conventional 32-bit computers. Based on these calculations, the NIDL is shown to hold up for the 0 → n transitions till the dissociation limit around n = 83, covering 45 orders of magnitude in the intensity. The low-intensity 0 → n transition predicted in the work of Medvedev [Determination of a new molecular constant for diatomic systems. Normal intensity distribution law for overtone spectra of diatomic and polyatomic molecules and anomalies in overtone absorption spectra of diatomic molecules, Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, 1984] at n = 5 is confirmed, and two additional “abnormal” intensities are found at n = 14 and 23. Criteria for the appearance of such “anomalies” are formulated. The results could be useful to revise the high-overtone molecular transition probabilities provided in spectroscopic databases.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Prospects of photonic nanojets for precise exposure on microobjects

We report on the new optical tool for precise manipulation of various microobjects. This tool is referred to as a “photonic nanojet” (PJ) and corresponds to specific spatially localized and high-intensity area formed near micron-sized transparent spherical dielectric particles illuminated by a visible laser radiation The descriptive analysis of the morphological shapes of photonic nanojets is presented. The PJ shape characterization is based on the numerical calculations of the near-field distribution according to the Mie theory and accounts for jet dimensions and shape complexity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Precise measurement of cosmic ray fluxes with the AMS-02 experiment

The AMS-02 detector is a large acceptance magnetic spectrometer operating onboard the International Space Station since May 2011. The main goals of the detector are the search for antimatter and dark matter in space, as well as the measurement of cosmic ray composition and flux. In this document we present precise measurements of cosmic ray positrons, electrons and protons, collected during the first 30 months of operations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

A method to precisely identify the afterpulses when using the S9717 avalanche photodiode

The detection ratio of an avalanche photodiode (APD) biased in Geiger-mode increases versus the excess voltage; the afterpulsing rate increases too. The last one can be reduced by inserting an artificial dead time and accepting a lower measuring top rate. So, in order to tune a single-photon detector system, it is necessary to exactly identify afterpulses and measure their rate; the experimental results are presented. When using the S9717 APD in Geiger-mode, the cathode to ground voltage waveform reveals the existence of a particular sequence of pulses: a usual one followed, within 1μs, by a least one appearing to have been generated for negative excess voltage values. All these characteristics are the signature of the afterpulsing generation. Based on this observation, we were able to precisely measure the afterpulsing rate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Frequency-comb-assisted precision laser spectroscopy of CHF{sub 3} around 8.6 μm

We report a high-precision spectroscopic study of room-temperature trifluoromethane around 8.6 μm, using a CW quantum cascade laser phase-locked to a mid-infrared optical frequency comb. This latter is generated by a nonlinear down-conversion process starting from a dual-branch Er:fiber laser and is stabilized against a GPS-disciplined rubidium clock. By tuning the comb repetition frequency, several transitions falling in the υ{sub 5} vibrational band are recorded with a frequency resolution of 20 kHz. Due to the very dense spectra, a special multiple-line fitting code, involving a Voigt profile, is developed for data analysis. The combination of the adopted experimental approach and survey procedure leads to fractional accuracy levels in the determination of line center frequencies, down to 2 × 10{sup −10}. Line intensity factors, pressure broadening, and shifting parameters are also provided.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of a precision reverse offset printing system

In printed electronics technology, the overlay accuracy of printed patterns is a very important issue when applying printing technology to the production of electric devices. In order to achieve accurate positioning of the printed patterns, this study proposes a novel precision reverse offset printing system. Furthermore, the study evaluates the effects of synchronization and printing force on position errors of the printed patterns, and presents methods of controlling synchronization and printing force so as to eliminate positional errors caused by the above-mentioned reasons. Finally, the printing position repeatability of 0.40 μm and 0.32 μm (x and y direction, respectively) at a sigma level is obtained over the dimension of 100 mm under repeated printing tests with identical printing conditions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

A modified time-of-flight method for precise determination of high speed ratios in molecular beams

Time-of-flight (TOF) is a standard experimental technique for determining, among others, the speed ratio S (velocity spread) of a molecular beam. The speed ratio is a measure for the monochromaticity of the beam and an accurate determination of S is crucial for various applications, for example, for characterising chromatic aberrations in focussing experiments related to helium microscopy or for precise measurements of surface phonons and surface structures in molecular beam scattering experiments. For both of these applications, it is desirable to have as high a speed ratio as possible. Molecular beam TOF measurements are typically performed by chopping the beam using a rotating chopper with one or more slit openings. The TOF spectra are evaluated using a standard deconvolution method. However, for higher speed ratios, this method is very sensitive to errors related to the determination of the slit width and the beam diameter. The exact sensitivity depends on the beam diameter, the number of slits, the chopper radius, and the chopper rotation frequency. We present a modified method suitable for the evaluation of TOF measurements of high speed ratio beams. The modified method is based on a systematic variation of the chopper convolution parameters so that a set of independent measurements that can be fitted with an appropriate function are obtained. We show that with this modified method, it is possible to reduce the error by typically one order of magnitude compared to the standard method.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Injection molding of high precision optics for LED applications made of liquid silicone rubber

Light Emitting Diodes (LED) conquer the growing global market of lighting technologies. Due to their advantages, they are increasingly used in consumer products, in lighting applications in the home and in the mobility sector as well as in industrial applications. Particularly, with regard to the increasing use of high-power LED (HP-LED) the materials in the surrounding area of the light emitting semiconductor chip are of utmost importance. While the materials behind the semiconductor chip are optimized for maximum heat dissipation, the materials currently used for the encapsulation of the semiconductor chip (primary optics) and the secondary optics encounter their limits due to the high temperatures. In addition certain amounts of blue UV radiation degrade the currently used materials such as epoxy resins or polyurethanes for primary optics. In the context of an ongoing joint research project with various partners from the industry, an innovative manufacturing method for high precision optics for LED applications made of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) is analyzed at the Institut of Plastics Processing (IKV), Aachen. The aim of this project is to utilize the material-specific advantages of high transparent LSR, especially the excellent high temperature resistance and the great freedom in design. Therefore, a high integrated injection molding process is developed. For the production of combined LED primary and secondary optics a LED board is placed in an injection mold and overmolded with LSR. Due to the integrated process and the reduction of subcomponents like the secondary optics the economics of the production process can be improved significantly. Furthermore combined LED optics offer an improved effectiveness, because there are no losses of the light power at the transition of the primary and secondary optics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗