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At least 1,369 records · Page 76

Enhancing Monte Carlo Workflows for Nuclear Reactor Analysis with Metamodel-Driven Modeling

Monte Carlo codes are essential components of many reactor physics simulation workflows as high-fidelity continuous-energy neutron transport solvers. Among Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, MCNP is particularly notable due to its diverse simulation capabilities, large user base, and long validation history. Despite being a powerful simulation tool, MCNP provides limited capabilities to allow automated execution, model transformation, or support for user-defined logic and abstractions that limit its compatibility with modern workflows. Here, to better integrate MCNP into a modern scientific workflow, we have developed an intuitive yet full-featured MCNP Application Program Interface (API) in Python, named MCNPy, which provides a specialized set of classes for MCNP input development. Moreover, to guarantee that our reading, writing, and modeling capabilities remain self-consistent (and to render the huge scope of the MCNP API manageable), we have adopted a strategy of model-driven software development in which a generalized model of the MCNP input format has been created. From this generalized model, or “metamodel,” problem-specific implementations such as an engine for input validation or a codebase for programmatic operations may be automatically generated. Since MCNPy primarily acts as a Python front-end to the underlying Java API that directly interfaces with the metamodel, it is intrinsically linked to the metamodel and thus remains maintainable. With MCNPy, users can programmatically read, write, and modify any syntactically valid MCNP input file regardless of its origin. These capabilities allow users to automate complicated tasks like design optimization and model translation for nuclear systems. As examples, this work demonstrates the use of MCNPy to find the critical radius of a plutonium sphere and to translate a 9000+ line MCNP input file into a corresponding OpenMC model.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Radiation Damage Analysis of FNSF Components Using McCad and MCNP

The Fusion Energy System Studies Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FESS-FNSF) concept represents a transitional step between ITER and a commercial fusion power plant. The FNSF is a conceptualized D-T fueled tokamak with 518 MW of fusion power that has been extensively used to explore and optimize design features. The energetic 14.1-MeV neutrons can produce significant localized heating and activations, and can cause damage to plasma-facing components, which can determine maintenance/outage scheduling needs and also impact the lifetime of the device as a whole. This study illustrates a neutronics analysis that was conducted on a 22.5-degree symmetric sector of the FNSF with the goal of understanding the neutron heating and radiation damage that can be characterized by quantifying the displacements per atom (dpa). Concurrently, this study also focused on the development of analysis capabilities by converting a three-dimensional computer-aided design model of the FNSF into MCNP6.2 input using the McCad code. Accordingly, some confirmatory results on tritium production and the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) are provided to support model validation. The results produced by MCNP6.2 simulations showed that the highest heating and damage occurred in the outboard region, which concentrated approximately 290 MW of the total nuclear heating, in contrast to 97 MW within the inboard region. These results are consistent with previous studies that employed earlier versions of the FNSF concept and different modeling approaches. Furthermore, this study also provides additional details on neutron wall loading, as well as total heating from neutrons and gammas, results which show the total heating of the device (16 sectors) is approximately 477.83 ± 0.80% MW, indicating a neutron energy multiplication factor of 1.15. Additionally, the capability to calculate hydrogen and helium production, as well as dpa, is illustrated. Finally, the neutronics effects of using alternative materials to tungsten carbide were evaluated for the vacuum vessel, low-temperature shield, and structural ring components, which showed that compounds like YH 2 , Mg(BH 4 ) 2 , and ZrH 2 could reduce the total heating on the magnet and also reduce the TBR.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

IDENTIFYING IONIZED REGIONS IN NOISY REDSHIFTED 21 cm DATA SETS

One of the most promising approaches for studying reionization is to use the redshifted 21 cm line. Early generations of redshifted 21 cm surveys will not, however, have the sensitivity to make detailed maps of the reionization process, and will instead focus on statistical measurements. Here, we show that it may nonetheless be possible to directly identify ionized regions in upcoming data sets by applying suitable filters to the noisy data. The locations of prominent minima in the filtered data correspond well with the positions of ionized regions. In particular, we corrupt semi-numeric simulations of the redshifted 21 cm signal during reionization with thermal noise at the level expected for a 500 antenna tile version of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and mimic the degrading effects of foreground cleaning. Using a matched filter technique, we find that the MWA should be able to directly identify ionized regions despite the large thermal noise. In a plausible fiducial model in which {approx}20% of the volume of the universe is neutral at z {approx} 7, we find that a 500-tile MWA may directly identify as many as {approx}150 ionized regions in a 6 MHz portion of its survey volume and roughly determine the size of each of these regions. This may, in turn, allow interesting multi-wavelength follow-up observations, comparing galaxy properties inside and outside of ionized regions. We discuss how the optimal configuration of radio antenna tiles for detecting ionized regions with a matched filter technique differs from the optimal design for measuring power spectra. These considerations have potentially important implications for the design of future redshifted 21 cm surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Helium segregation on surfaces of plasma-exposed tungsten

Here we report a hierarchical multi-scale modeling study of implanted helium segregation on surfaces of tungsten, considered as a plasma facing component in nuclear fusion reactors. We employ a hierarchy of atomic-scale simulations based on a reliable interatomic interaction potential, including molecular-statics simulations to understand the origin of helium surface segregation, targeted molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of near-surface cluster reactions, and large-scale MD simulations of implanted helium evolution in plasma-exposed tungsten. We find that small, mobile He-n (1 <= n <= 7) clusters in the near-surface region are attracted to the surface due to an elastic interaction force that provides the thermodynamic driving force for surface segregation. Elastic interaction force induces drift fluxes of these mobile Hen clusters, which increase substantially as the migrating clusters approach the surface, facilitating helium segregation on the surface. Moreover, the clusters' drift toward the surface enables cluster reactions, most importantly trap mutation, in the near-surface region at rates much higher than in the bulk material. Moreover, these near-surface cluster dynamics have significant effects on the surface morphology, near-surface defect structures, and the amount of helium retained in the material upon plasma exposure. We integrate the findings of such atomic-scale simulations into a properly parameterized and validated spatially dependent, continuum-scale reaction-diffusion cluster dynamics model, capable of predicting implanted helium evolution, surface segregation, and its near-surface effects in tungsten. This cluster-dynamics model sets the stage for development of fully atomistically informed coarse-grained models for computationally efficient simulation predictions of helium surface segregation, as well as helium retention and surface morphological evolution, toward optimal design of plasma facing components.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Design and fabrication of a high-density multilayer metal-insulator-metal capacitor based on selective etching

This paper presents a novel and cost-effective method for fabricating high-density multilayer metal-insulator-metal (MIM) integrated capacitors. To eliminate the usage of numerous photolithography steps when parallel stacking multiple capacitors layers, a unique process has been developed based on depositing the MIM layers onto a substrate with two protruding pillars, polishing down the pillars to expose the multilayer cross sections and then selectively etching the metal layers on each pillar to form the alternating capacitor plate electrodes. For demonstration purpose, only capacitors with two dielectric layers were fabricated, and the measurement results were verified by a compact analytical model together with finite element simulations. With 200 nm thick silicon nitride/oxide dielectric layers, a capacitance density of 0.6 fF mu m(-2) was achieved, which can be easily increased by scaling down the layer thicknesses and/or stacking more layers. A low equivalent series resistance (ESR) of 300-700 m Omega was measured, and the self-resonance frequency was above measurement limits (> 100 MHz). Further design optimization shows that the ESR can be reduced to below 80 m Omega, while the operation frequency extended to above 2.6 GHz.

Tseng, VFG↗

Piezoelectric transducer design for a miniaturized injectable acoustic transmitter

Acoustic telemetry has been an important tool in the last 20 years for studying fish survival and migration behaviors during and after dam passage. This technology uses implantable acoustic transmitters as tags to three-dimensionally track the movement of fish. However, the relatively large weights and sizes of commercially available transmitters limit the populations of fish that could be studied. The surgical implantation procedures required may also injure fish and also incur a significant amount of labor. Therefore, a smaller, lighter, and injectable tag was needed, and similar or better acoustic performance and service life over that provided by existing commercial tags was desired. To develop such a small transmitter, a number of technical challenges, including design optimization of the piezoelectric transducer, needed to be overcome. The goal of our efforts to optimize the transducer focused on improving the average source level in the 180° range in which the transmitter was facing the receiving hydrophone, so as to increase the transmitter’s detection probability. This paper reports the techniques that were explored and developed to achieve this goal. We found that a novel off-center tube transducer improved the average source level of the front half of the transducer by 1.5 dB. An acoustic reflector attached to the back of the transducer also improved the source level by 3 dB when the transducer was pointed toward the receiving hydrophone, although the source level on the sides of the transducer was reduced. We found that too small a gap between the transducer and the component placed behind it resulted in distortion of the beam pattern. To overcome that issue, we connected a tuning inductor in series with the transducer to help optimize the source level. Furthermore, the findings and techniques developed in this work contributed to the successful development and implementation of a new injectable transmitter.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Shoulder fillet effects in strength distributions of microelectromechanical system components

The failure forces and fracture strengths of polysilicon microelectromechanical system (MEMS) components in the form of stepped tensile bars with shoulder fillets were measured using a sequential failure chain methodology. Approximately 150 specimens for each of four fillet geometries with different stress concentration factors were tested. The resulting failure force and strength distributions of the four geometries were related by a common sidewall flaw population existing within different effective stressed lengths. The failure forces, strengths, and flaw population were well described by a weakest-link based analytical framework. Finite element analysis was used to verify body-force based expressions for the stress concentration factors and to provide insight into the variation of specimen effective length with fillet geometry. Monte Carlo simulations of flaw size and location, based on the strength measurements, were also used to provide insight into fillet shape and size effects. The successful description of the shoulder fillet specimen strengths provides further empirical support for application of the strength and flaw framework in MEMS fabrication and design optimization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Isodrastic magnetic fields for suppressing transitions in guiding-centre motion

In a magnetic field, transitions between classes of guiding-centre motion can lead to cross-field diffusion and escape. We say a magnetic field is isodrastic if guiding centres make no transitions between classes of motion. This is an important ideal for enhancing confinement. First, we present a weak formulation, based on the longitudinal adiabatic invariant, generalising omnigenity. To demonstrate that isodrasticity is strictly more general than omnigenity, we construct weakly isodrastic mirror fields that are not omnigenous. Then we present a strong formulation that is exact for guiding-centre motion. We develop a first-order treatment of the strong version via a Melnikov function and show that it recovers the weak version. The theory provides quantification of deviations from isodrasticity that can be used as objective functions in optimal design. The theory is illustrated with some simple examples.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Performance of low-loss demountable joints between CORC ® cable-in-conduit-conductors at magnetic fields up to 8 T developed for fusion magnets

Abstract High-temperature superconductors (HTS) are promising candidates for use in the high-field magnets needed in particle accelerators and fusion reactors. HTS conductor on round core (CORC ® ) cables and wires wound from ReBa 2 Cu 3 O 7- x (REBCO) coated tapes are being developed for use in high-field magnet applications including fusion magnets operating at currents beyond 80 kA, requiring them to be bundled into cable-in-conduit conductor (CICC) configurations. The use of HTS cables enable demountable superconducting fusion magnets that would allow easier access to the fusion machine for maintenance and parts replacement. Such demountable magnets require practical, low-resistance joints, capable of injecting current uniformly into the many REBCO tapes that make up different cable designs. Optimization steps on CORC ® cables have resulted in high-current terminations and joints with a joint resistance measured between a pair of 30-tape CORC ® cables of 51 nΩ at 76 K and 1.9 nΩ at 4 K. Demountable joints between CICCs consisting of six CORC ® cables arranged in flat and round configurations were also tested and compared to joints between low-temperature superconducting (LTS) CICCs consisting of NbTi Rutherford cables. Samples were paired into two configurations (LTS-to-LTS and HTS-to-HTS) with a demountable joint between them that were each tested in series with currents up to 10 000 A in an applied background magnetic field of up to 8 T. The total loop resistance of the HTS-to-HTS sample, including their terminations and joint, was about 4 nΩ at 4 K in self-field with the resistance of the copper pressed joint being less than 1 nΩ. At 8 T, the total loop resistance increased to 6.9 nΩ with the pressed joint contributing 1.4 nΩ. These initial tests prove the feasibility of producing remountable (dry) joints with low resistance between superconducting magnet windings in future compact fusion machines.

Physics↗

Robust forecasts on fundamental physics from the foreground-obscured, gravitationally-lensed CMB polarization

Recent results from the BICEP, Keck Array and Planck Collaborations demonstrate that Galactic foregrounds are an unavoidable obstacle in the search for evidence of inflationary gravitational waves in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization. Beyond the foregrounds, the effect of lensing by intervening large-scale structure further obscures all but the strongest inflationary signals permitted by current data. With a plethora of ongoing and upcoming experiments aiming to measure these signatures, careful and self-consistent consideration of experiments' foreground- and lensing-removal capabilities is critical in obtaining credible forecasts of their performance. We investigate the capabilities of instruments such as Advanced ACTPol, BICEP3 and Keck Array, CLASS, EBEX10K, PIPER, Simons Array, SPT-3G and SPIDER, and projects as COrE+, LiteBIRD-ext, PIXIE and Stage IV, to clean contamination due to polarized synchrotron and dust from raw multi-frequency data, and remove lensing from the resulting co-added CMB maps (either using iterative CMB-only techniques or through cross-correlation with external data). Incorporating these effects, we present forecasts for the constraining power of these experiments in terms of inflationary physics, the neutrino sector, and dark energy parameters. Made publicly available through an online interface, this tool enables the next generation of CMB experiments to foreground-proof their designs, optimize their frequency coverage to maximize scientific output, and determine where cross-experimental collaboration would be most beneficial. We find that analyzing data from ground, balloon and space instruments in complementary combinations can significantly improve component separation performance, delensing, and cosmological constraints over individual datasets. In particular, we find that a combination of post-2020 ground- and space-based experiments could achieve constraints such as σ(r)∼1.3×10{sup −4}, σ(n{sub t})∼0.03, σ( n{sub s} )∼1.8×10{sup −3}, σ(α{sub s})∼1.7×10{sup −3}, σ( M{sub ν} )∼31 meV, σ( w )∼0.09, σ( w{sub 0} )∼ 0.25, 0σ( w{sub a} )∼ 0.5, σ( N{sub eff} )∼0.024 and σ( Ω{sub k} )∼1.5×10{sup −3}, after component separation and iterative delensing.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Efficient calculation of self magnetic field, self-force, and self-inductance for electromagnetic coils with rectangular cross-section

Abstract For designing high-field electromagnets, the Lorentz force on coils needs to be computed in order to design suitable support structures, and the inductance should be computed to evaluate the stored energy and dynamics. Also, the magnetic field and its variation inside the conductor is of interest for computing stress and strain, and due to superconducting quench limits. For these force, inductance, energy, and internal field calculations, the coils cannot be naively approximated as infinitesimally thin filaments due to divergences when the source and evaluation points coincide, so more computationally demanding calculations are usually required, resolving the finite cross-section of the conductors. Here, we present a new alternative method that enables the internal magnetic field vector, self-force, and self-inductance to be computed rapidly and accurately within a 1D filament model. The method is applicable to coils for which the curve center-line can have general noncircular shape, as long as the conductor width is small compared to the radius of curvature. This paper extends a previous calculation for circular-cross-section conductors (Hurwitz et al 2024 IEEE Trans. Magn. ) to consider the case of rectangular cross-section. The reduced model is derived by rigorous analysis of the singularity, regularizing the filament integrals such that they match the true high-dimensional integrals at high coil aspect ratio. The new filament model exactly recovers analytic results for a circular coil, and is shown to accurately reproduce full finite-cross-section calculations for a non-planar coil of a stellarator magnetic fusion device. Due to the efficiency of the model here, it is well suited for use inside design optimization.

Landreman, Matt (ORCID:000000027233577X)↗

Selection of the silicon sensor thickness for the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS Outer Tracker

During the operation of the CMS experiment at the High-Luminosity LHC the silicon sensors of the Phase-2 Outer Tracker will be exposed to radiation levels that could potentially deteriorate their performance. Previous studies had determined that planar float zone silicon with n-doped strips on a p-doped substrate was preferred over p-doped strips on an n-doped substrate. The last step in evaluating the optimal design for the mass production of about 200 m$^{2}$ of silicon sensors was to compare sensors of baseline thickness (about 300 μm) to thinned sensors (about 240 μm), which promised several benefits at high radiation levels because of the higher electric fields at the same bias voltage. This study provides a direct comparison of these two thicknesses in terms of sensor characteristics as well as charge collection and hit efficiency for fluences up to 1.5 × 10$^{15}$ n$_{eq}$/cm$^{2}$. The measurement results demonstrate that sensors with about 300 μm thickness will ensure excellent tracking performance even at the highest considered fluence levels expected for the Phase-2 Outer Tracker.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Calibration strategy of the PROSPECT-II detector with external and intrinsic sources

This paper presents an energy calibration scheme for an upgraded reactor antineutrino detector for the Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT). The PROSPECT collaboration is preparing an upgraded detector, PROSPECT-II (P-II), to advance capabilities for the investigation of fundamental neutrino physics, fission processes and associated reactor neutrino flux, and nuclear security applications. P-II will expand the statistical power of the original PROSPECT (P-I) dataset by at least an order of magnitude. The new design builds upon previous P-I design and focuses on improving the detector robustness and long-term stability to enable multi-year operation at one or more sites. The new design optimizes the fiducial volume by elimination of dead space previously occupied by internal calibration channels, which in turn necessitates the external deployment. In this paper, we describe a calibration strategy for P-II. Here, the expected performance of externally deployed calibration sources is evaluated using P-I data and a well-benchmarked simulation package by varying detector segmentation configurations in the analysis. The proposed external calibration scheme delivers a compatible energy scale model and achieves comparable performance with the inclusion of an additional AmBe neutron source, in comparison to the previous internal arrangement. Most importantly, the estimated uncertainty contribution from the external energy scale calibration model meets the precision requirements of the P-II experiment.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Outlook towards deployable continual learning for particle accelerators

Particle accelerators are high power complex machines. To ensure uninterrupted operation of these machines, thousands of pieces of equipment need to be synchronized, which requires addressing many challenges including design, optimization and control, anomaly detection and machine protection. With recent advancements, machine learning (ML) holds promise to assist in more advance prognostics, optimization, and control. While ML based solutions have been developed for several applications in particle accelerators, only few have reached deployment and even fewer to long term usage, due to particle accelerator data distribution drifts caused by changes in both measurable and non-measurable parameters. In this paper, we identify some of the key areas within particle accelerators where continual learning can allow maintenance of ML model performance with distribution drifts. Particularly, we first discuss existing applications of ML in particle accelerators, and their limitations due to distribution drift. Next, we review existing continual learning techniques and investigate their potential applications to address data distribution drifts in accelerators. By identifying the opportunities and challenges in applying continual learning, this paper seeks to open up the new field and inspire more research efforts towards deployable continual learning for particle accelerators.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Source size measurement options for low-emittance light sources

Radiation-based techniques for measuring electron source sizes are widely used as emittance diagnostics at existing synchrotron sources. Three of these techniques, namely, pinhole imaging, double-slit interferometry, and a K-edge filter-based beam position and size monitor system (ps-BPM), are evaluated for measuring source sizes at low-emittance storage rings. Each technique is reviewed with a detailed system description, design optimization, and practical considerations targeted for small source sizes. Pinhole imaging has the simplest setup and gives the beam profile in both transverse dimensions but with limited resolution. Double-slit interferometry has the highest resolution but with a limited detectable size range. The ps-BPM system shows reasonable resolution for monitoring small source sizes and divergence and can give real-time information of the source position and angle. New facilities may consider an integrated system that combines some or all of these techniques.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Efficient Excitation of High-Frequency Exchange-Dominated Spin Waves in Periodic Ferromagnetic Structures

Spin waves are of great interest as an emerging solution for computing beyond the limitations of scaled transistor technology. In such applications, the frequency of the spin waves is important as it affects the overall frequency performance of the resulting devices. In conventional ferromagnetic thin films, the magnetization dynamics in ferromagnetic resonance and spin waves are limited by the saturation magnetization of the ferromagnetic (FM) material and the external bias field. High-frequency applications would require high external magnetic fields which limit the practicality in a realistic device. One solution is to couple microwave excitations to perpendicular standing spin waves (PSSWs) which can enable higher oscillation frequencies. However, efficient coupling to these modes remains a challenge since it requires an excitation that is nonuniform across the FM material thickness and current methods have proven to be inefficient, resulting in weak excitations. Here, we show that by creating periodic undulations in a 100-nm-thick Co 40 Fe 40 B 20 layer, high-frequency PSSWs (>20 GHz) can be efficiently excited using micrometer-sized transducers at bias fields below 100 Oe which absorb nearly 10% of the input rf power. We suggest efficient excitation of such spin waves at low fields may enable high-frequency spintronic applications using exchange-dominated magnetic oscillations using very low external magnetic fields and, with design optimizations, can bring about alternative possibilities in the field.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Spatial noise correlations in a Si/SiGe two-qubit device from Bell state coherences

Here, we study spatial noise correlations in a Si/SiGe two-qubit device with integrated micromagnets. Our method relies on the concept of decoherence-free subspaces, whereby we measure the coherence time for two different Bell states, designed to be sensitive only to either correlated or anticorrelated noise, respectively. From these measurements we find weak correlations in low-frequency noise acting on the two qubits, while no correlations could be detected in high-frequency noise. We expect nuclear spin noise to have an uncorrelated nature. A theoretical model and numerical simulations give further insight into the additive effect of multiple independent (anti)correlated noise sources with an asymmetric effect on the two qubits as can result from charge noise. Such a scenario in combination with nuclear spins is plausible given the data and the known decoherence mechanisms. This work is highly relevant for the design of optimized quantum error correction codes for spin qubits in quantum dot arrays, as well as for optimizing the design of future quantum dot arrays.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Topological superconductivity in Landau levels

The intense search for topological superconductivity is inspired by the prospect that it hosts Majorana quasiparticles. We explore in this work the optimal design for producing topological superconductivity by combining a quantum Hall state with an ordinary superconductor. To this end, we consider a microscopic model for a topologically trivial two-dimensional p-wave superconductor exposed to a magnetic field, and find that the interplay of superconductivity and Landau level physics yields a rich phase diagram of states as a function of μ/t and Δ/t, where μ, t and Δ are the chemical potential, hopping strength, and the amplitude of the superconducting gap. In addition to quantum Hall states and topologically trivial p-wave superconductor, the phase diagram also accommodates regions of topological superconductivity. Most importantly, we find that application of a non-uniform, periodic magnetic field produced by a square or a hexagonal lattice of h/e fluxoids greatly facilitates regions of topological superconductivity in the limit of Δ/t → 0. In contrast, a uniform magnetic field, a hexagonal Abrikosov lattice of h/2e fluxoids, or a one dimensional lattice of stripes produces topological superconductivity only for sufficiently large Δ/t.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗