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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 1,297 records · Page 72

Topological spin Hall effect resulting from magnetic skyrmions

The intrinsic spin Hall effect originates from the topology of the Bloch bands in momentum space. The duality between real space and momentum space calls for a spin Hall effect induced from a real space topology in analogy to the topological Hall effect of skyrmions. Here, we theoretically demonstrate the topological spin Hall effect in which a pure transverse spin current is generated from a skyrmion spin texture.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Probing short-range magnetic order in a geometrically frustrated magnet by means of the spin Seebeck effect

The spin Seebeck effect (SSE) is a phenomenon where a spin current is generated from thermal excitations in magnetic materials. It is believed that magnetic long-range order (LRO) is not required for SSE, while short-ranged order (SRO) plays an important role. However, a definitive experimental demonstration of the connection between the SSE and SRO has been missing. Here, we show that the SSE is able to probe a specific SRO in a model geometrically frustrated magnet Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 (GGG). A field-induced SRO in GGG is detected by the SSE in the temperature range 2-5 K. The origin of the SRO is verified by comparing the SSE data directly to existing neutron scattering measurements at much lower temperatures (T < 0.9 K), where field-induced LRO exists. Our theoretical calculations of the magnetic structure further confirm the anisotropic field dependence of the SRO in GGG. Furthermore, these findings establish that the SSE can serve as an effective probe of SRO in geometrically frustrated magnets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Covariant spectator theory of np scattering: Deuteron quadrupole moment

The deuteron quadrupole moment is calculated using two CST model wave functions obtained from the 2007 high precision fits to np scattering data. Included in the calculation are a new class of isoscalar np interaction currents automatically generated by the nuclear force model used in these fits. The prediction for model WJC-1, with larger relativistic P-state components, is 2.5% smaller that the experiential result, in common with the inability of models prior to 2014 to predict this important quantity. However, model WJC-2, with very small P-state components, gives agreement to better than 1%, similar to the results obtained recently from X EFT predictions to order N 3 LO.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Probing nuclear effects with neutrino-induced charged-current neutral pion production

We study neutrino-induced charged-current (CC) $\pi^0$ production on carbon nuclei using events with fully imaged final-state proton-$\pi^0$ systems. Novel use of final-state correlations based on transverse kinematic imbalance enable the first measurements of the struck nucleon's Fermi motion, of the intranuclear momentum transfer (IMT) dynamics, and of the final-state hadronic momentum configuration in neutrino pion production. Event distributions are presented for i) the momenta of neutrino-struck neutrons below the Fermi surface, ii) the direction of missing transverse momentum characterizing the strength of IMT, and iii) proton-pion momentum imbalance with respect to the lepton scattering plane. The observed Fermi motion and IMT strength are compared to the previous MINERvA measurement of neutrino CC quasielastic-like production. The measured shapes and absolute rates of these distributions, as well as the cross-section asymmetries show tensions with predictions from current neutrino generator models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Relativistic-electron-driven magnetic reconnection in the laboratory

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process occurring in many plasma systems. Magnetic field lines break and reconfigure in to a lower energy state, converting released magnetic field energy into plasma kinetic energy. Around some of the universe’s most energetic objects, such as gamma ray burst or active galactic nuclei, where the magnetic field energy exceeds the plasma rest mass energy, the most extreme magnetic reconnection in the relativistic regime is theorized. The pre- sented experiments and three-dimensional particle-in-cell modeling recreate in the laboratory the scaled plasma conditions necessary to access the relativistic electron regime and therefore approach conditions around these distant, inaccessible objects. High-power, ultrashort laser pulses focused to high-intensity (I > 2.5 × 1018 Wcm-2) on solid targets produces relativistic temperature electrons within the focal volume. The hot electrons are largely confined to the target surface and form a ra- dial surface current that generates a huge, expanding azimuthal magnetic field. Focusing two laser pulses in close proximity on the target surface leads to oppositely directed magnetic fields being driven together. The fast electron motion due to the magnetic reconnection is inferred using an ex- perimental x-ray imaging technique. The x-ray images enable the measurement of the reconnection layer dimensions and temporal duration. The reconnection rates implied from the aspect ratio of the reconnection layer, δ/L ≈ 0.3, was found to be consistent over a range of experimental pulse durations (40 fs–20 ps) and agreed with the modeling. Further experimental evidence for magnetic reconnection is the formation of a nonthermal electron population shown by the modeling to be accelerated in the reconnection layer.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Antiferromagnetic spin Seebeck effect.

We report on the observation of the spin Seebeck effect in antiferromagnetic MnF2. A device scale on-chip heater is deposited on a bilayer of MnF2 (110) (30nm)/Pt (4 nm) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a MgF2(110) substrate. Using Pt as a spin detector layer, it is possible to measure the thermally generated spin current from MnF2 through the inverse spin Hall effect. The low temperature (2–80 K) and high magnetic field (up to 140 kOe) regime is explored. A clear spin-flop transition corresponding to the sudden rotation of antiferromagnetic spins out of the easy axis is observed in the spin Seebeck signal when large magnetic fields (>9T) are applied parallel to the easy axis of the MnF2 thin film. When the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the easy axis, the spin-flop transition is absent, as expected.

Wu, Stephen M.↗

Nontrivial Nature and Penetration Depth of Topological Surface States in SmB 6 Thin Films

The nontrivial feature and penetration depth of the topological surface states (TSS) in SmB 6 were studied via spin pumping. The experiments used SmB 6 thin films grown on the bulk magnetic insulator Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 (YIG). Upon the excitation of magnetization precession in the YIG, a spin current is generated in the SmB 6 that produces, via spin--orbit coupling, a lateral electrical voltage in the film. This spin-pumping voltage signal becomes considerably stronger as the temperature decreases from 150 to 10 K, and such an enhancement most likely originates from the spin-momentum locking of the TSS and may thereby serve as evidence for the nontrivial nature of the TSS. The voltage data also show a unique film thickness dependence that suggests a TSS depth of ~32 nm. Finally, the spin--pumping results arc supported by transport measurements and analyses using a tight binding model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Laboratory Resolved Structure of Supercritical Perpendicular Shocks

Supermagnetosonic perpendicular flows are magnetically driven by a large radius theta-pinch experiment. Fine spatial resolution and macroscopic coverage allow the full structure of the plasma-piston coupling to be resolved in laboratory experiment for the first time. Here, a moving ambipolar potential is observed to reflect unmagnetized ions to twice the piston speed. Magnetized electrons balance the radial potential via Hall currents and generate signature quadrupolar magnetic fields. Electron heating in the reflected ion foot is adiabatic.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Floquet Gauge Pumps as Sensors for Spectral Degeneracies Protected by Symmetry or Topology

We introduce the concept of a Floquet gauge pump whereby a dynamically engineered Floquet Hamiltonian is employed to reveal the inherent degeneracy of the ground state in interacting systems. We demonstrate this concept in a one-dimensional XY model with periodically driven couplings and transverse field. In the high-frequency limit, we obtain the Floquet Hamiltonian consisting of the static XY and dynamically generated Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction (DMI) terms. The dynamically generated magnetization current depends on the phases of complex coupling terms, with the XY interaction as the real and DMI as the imaginary part. As these phases are cycled, the current reveals the ground-state degeneracies that distinguish the ordered and disordered phases. In conclusion, we discuss experimental requirements needed to realize the Floquet gauge pump in a synthetic quantum spin system of interacting trapped ions.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Clustering Interval Load with Weather to Create Scenarios of Behind-the-Meter Solar Penetration

Forecasting load at the feeder level has become increasingly challenging with the penetration of behind-the-meter solar, as this self-generation is only visible to the utility as aggregated net-load. This work proposes a methodology for creation of scenarios of solar penetration at the feeder level for use by forecasters to test the robustness of their algorithm to progressively higher penetrations of solar. The algorithm draws on publicly available observations of weather condition (e.g., rainy/cloudy/fair) for use as proxies to sky clearness. These observations are used to mask and weight the interval deviations of similar native usage profiles from which average interval usage is calculated and subsequently added to interval net generation to reconstruct interval total generation. This approach improves the estimate of annual energy generation by 23%; where the net generation signal currently reflects 52% of total annual gener- ation, now 75% is captured. This methodology for creation of forecast testing scenarios is data driven and extensible to service territories which lack information on irradiance measurements and geocoordinates.

solar, load↗

Cybersecurity Value-at-Risk Framework

As more variable renewable energy sources are added to the grid, the role of hydropower as a reliable baseline and firming resource is growing more critical. However, the U.S hydropower fleet is not fully prepared to face modern issues such as cybersecurity threats. Hydropower accounts for 37% of U.S. utility-scale renewable electricity but is challenged by diverse infrastructure and legacy devices that predate modern security practices. While new cybersecurity solutions cannot simply be added to current hydropower generation and operation technologies, custom cybersecurity assessments can reveal system-specific threats and risk probabilities and identify mitigating enhancements.

cybersecurity valuation methodology↗

Design and Testing of a Prototype Eddy Current Actuated Valve for the ITER Shattered Pellet Injection System

Reliably mitigating disruptions is essential for ITER to meet its long-term operational research plan without damage to the in-vessel components. Currently, the shattered pellet injection (SPI) technique is the most effective radiator of thermal energy and has been chosen for the baseline disruption mitigation system (DMS) for ITER. The SPI process uses cryogenic temperatures to desublimate material into the barrel of a pipe gun forming a solid cylindrical pellet. Pellets for ITER will initially be hydrogen and hydrogen-neon mixtures. Once formed, pellets are dislodged and accelerated using high-pressure gas (40-60 bar) delivered by a fast-opening valve. The solenoid valves currently used for SPI experiments will not operate in an ITER environment due to the large background magnetic field. An ITER prototype fast-opening valve, called a flyer plate valve (FPV), has been designed and has undergone a wide range of testing. The FPV operates by pulsing current through a pancake coil that is closely coupled with a ``flyer plate.'' The flyer plate is an aluminum plate in which eddy currents are generated creating a repulsive force from the pancake coil. The force generated in the flyer plate rapidly lifts the valve tip off the seat and delivers a pulse of gas to the rear of the pellet, breaking it free from the barrel and accelerating the pellet downstream to its intended target. The design of the valve has been iterated on over the lifetime of this project, as the DMS for ITER shifted from massive gas injection (MGI) to SPI. The most recent design has been tested, and operational ranges have been mapped. The valve must survive 3000+ cycles in an ITER-like magnetic field. The principal functional requirement of this valve is to reliably dislodge and accelerate hydrogen (or H-Ne mixture) pellets into ITER. The valve was mated with an ITER SPI test stand and has been shown to be capable of launching pellets reliably. The valve and power supply design will be discussed in this article, along with the various testing setups used to determine the feasibility of this valve for use on ITER.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Optimizing Power Reclamation of Micro Hydro Turbines in WWTPs Aeration Basins

Abstract This study investigates the optimum operating conditions and design configurations that can optimize the power reclaimed by small hydro turbines derived by the rising water-bubble current. The rising current is generated by the compressed air introduced by the diffusers at the bottom of aeration basins of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). While optimizing the power production, the standard oxygen transfer efficiency (SOTE) is monitored since it is a significant parameter that cannot be sacrificed in the operation of WWTPs. Using one set of turbine blades, it was found out that the highest velocity is obtained in the upper half of the water column (70% - 80%). In contrast, the lowest velocities were obtained just above the air diffuser and at the water surface. Testing started with using a single turbine (ST) to determine the location of the optimum power reclaimed at each tested airflow (1.18, 1.42, 1.65, and 1.89 L/s). Then using double turbine (DT) and triple turbine (TT) to compare their performance to the ST&#x92;s maximum power increased power reclamation. The maximum percentage of increase in power reclamation for DT is 19.59%, while it is 20.24% in the case of TT. At a commonly used airflow in WWTPs (1.42 L/s), the optimum configurations of DTs and TTs were selected to investigate the effect of having the proposed setup on the SOTE. For membrane diffusers, DTs and TTs limited the dispersion of the air bubbles in the tank, therefore, reducing the SOTE (8.3% for DT and 3.7% for the TT). The ceramic and sharp-nub diffusers were also tested versus rubber membrane ones to determine the effect of using the ceramic and sharp-nub diffusers on the power reclamation and SOTE. Ceramic diffusers neither achieve higher power reclamation than the membrane nor increases the SOTE. In contrast, sharp-nub diffusers increase the SOTE for all configurations compared to membranes, but this came into account of power reclamation, where sharp-nub diffusers cause a DT and a TT to produce less power than ST does.

Energy & Fuels↗

Visualizing redox orbitals and their potentials in advanced lithium-ion battery materials using high-resolution x-ray Compton scattering

Reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions are the key processes that underlie the batteries powering smartphones, laptops, and electric cars. A redox process involves transfer of electrons between two species. For example, in a lithium-ion battery, current is generated when conduction electrons from the lithium anode are transferred to the redox orbitals of the cathode material. The ability to visualize or image the redox orbitals and how these orbitals evolve under lithiation and delithiation processes is thus of great fundamental and practical interest for understanding the workings of battery materials. In this study, we show that inelastic scattering spectroscopy using high-energy x-ray photons (Compton scattering) can yield faithful momentum space images of the redox orbitals by considering lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 or LFP) as an exemplar cathode battery material. Our analysis reveals a new link between voltage and the localization of transition metal 3d orbitals and provides insight into the puzzling mechanism of potential shift and how it is connected to the modification of the bond between the transition metal and oxygen atoms. Our study thus opens a novel spectroscopic pathway for improving the performance of battery materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

A review of projection radiography of plasma and biological objects in X-Pinch radiation

A review of studies on the X-pinch as a radiation source for X-ray projection shadow radiography (XPSR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is presented. The ultimate capabilities of the techniques and ways of their achievement are considered. XPSR has been successfully used to study high-energy-density plasma objects, in particular, exploding wires and wire arrays. Using XPSR, the internal structure and dynamics of a wire explosion and wire array implosion have been investigated for the first time, which has made it possible to develop an adequate consistent theory of the processes occurring in the wire loads of generators with currents from several units of kiloamperes to a few tens of megamperes. The use of XAS for diagnostics of wire loads has allowed one for the first time to measure the parameters of matter in the wire core and plasma corona of the load. X-ray images of various biological objects have obtained, including those with the use of the phase contrast method. This review is a logical continuation of the review ''X-Pinch'' [Plasma Phys. Rep. 41, 319, 493 (2015)], in which the X-pinch as a physical object was considered.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Dynamic generation of spin-wave currents in hybrid structures

Spin transport through the interface in a semiconductor/ferromagnetic insulator hybrid structure is studied by the nonequilibrium statistical operator method under conditions of the spin Seebeck effect. The effective parameter approach in which each examined subsystem (conduction electrons, magnons, phonons) is characterized by its specific effective temperature is considered. The effect of the resonant (electric dipole) excitation of the spin electronic subsystem of conduction electrons on spin-wave current excitation in a ferromagnetic insulator is considered. The macroscopic equations describing the spin-wave current caused by both resonant excitation of the spin system of conduction electrons and the presence of a nonuniform temperature field in the ferromagnetic insulator are derived taking into account both the resonance-diffusion propagation of magnons and their relaxation processes. It is shown that spin-wave current excitation is also of resonant nature under the given conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Analysis of Liquids Using the Submerged Plasma for Isotopic Detection and Elemental Resolution (SPIDER)

We developed a sensor called the Submerged Plasma for Isotopic Detection and Elemental Resolution (SPIDER) probe, which uses an atmospheric pressure glow discharge below the surface of liquids to excite species in the liquid. Through emission spectroscopy of molten salts, liquid metals, and heavy water, we demonstrated the SPIDER probe’s high resolution, accuracy, and versatility. We successfully identified trace concentrations of transition and rare-earth metals in molten salts and detected the isotopic shift of the H β → D β emission line. Our analysis revealed unconventional spectral alkali line shapes, indicating two competing excitation modes: film explosion and droplet vaporization. The film explosion mode, characterized by dense plasma, exhibited self-reversal and broadband continuum emission, while the droplet vaporization mode, associated with diffusive plasma, produced narrow-line emissions. Furthermore, by analyzing circuit transients alongside individual plasma events, we observed that film explosions generate higher currents, likely due to a shorter plasma length as the current preferentially flows through the thin liquid layer. Altogether, our results highlight the SPIDER probe’s efficacy and flexibility, making it well-suited for online material quantification of liquids in extreme environments.

AES↗

Hidden Markov Model: a shortest unique representative approach to detect the protein toxins, virulence factors and antibiotic resistance genes

Objective: Currently, next generation sequencing (NGS) is widely used to decode potential novel or variant pathogens both in emergent outbreaks and in routine clinical practice. However, the efficient identification of novel or diverged pathogenomic compositions remains a big challenge. It is especially true for short DNA sequence fragments from NGS, since sequence similarity searching is vulnerable to false negatives or false positives, as is mismatching or matching with unrelated proteins. Therefore, this study aimed to establish a bioinformatics approach that can generate unique motif sequences for profiling searching, resulting in high specificity and sensitivity. Results: In this study, we introduced a Shortest Unique Representative Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach to identify bacterial toxin, virulence factor (VF), and antimicrobial resistance (AR) in short sequence reads. We first construct unique representative domain sequences of toxin genes, VFs, and ARs to avoid potential false positives, and then to use HMM models to accurately identify potential toxin, VF, and AR fragments. The benchmark shows this approach can achieve relatively high specificity and sensitivity if the appropriate cutoff value is applied. Our approach can be used to recognize the protein sequences of known toxins and pathogens, identifies their common characteristics and then searches for similar sequences in other organisms.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗