Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Dipole Scattering”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 145 records · Page 8

Dynamic clay microstructures emerge via ion complexation waves

Clays control carbon, water and nutrient transport in the lithosphere, promote cloud formation5 and lubricate fault slip through interactions among hydrated mineral interfaces. Clay mineral properties are difficult to model because their structures are disordered, curved and dynamic. Consequently, interactions at the clay mineral-aqueous interface have been approximated using electric double layer models based on single crystals of mica and atomistic simulations. We discover that waves of complexation dipoles at dynamically curving interfaces create an emergent long-range force that drives exfoliation and restacking over time- and length-scales that are not captured in existing models. Curvature delocalizes electrostatic interactions in ways that fundamentally differ from planar surfaces, altering the ratio of ions bound to the convex and concave sides of a layer. Multiple-scattering reconstruction of low-dose energy-filtered cryo electron tomography enabled direct imaging of ion complexes and electrolyte distributions at hydrated and curved mineral interfaces with {\aa}ngstrom resolution over micron length scales. Layers exfoliate and restack abruptly and repeatedly over timescales that depend strongly on the counterion identity, demonstrating that the strong coupling between elastic, electrostatic and hydration forces in clays promote collective reorganization previously thought to be a feature only of active matter.

Whittaker, Michael L↗

Quantitative Study of Plasmonic Gold Nanostar Geometry Toward Optimal SERS Detection

Abstract Complex shapes of gold nanostars (GNS) have been the major obstacle to the comprehensive understanding of the rich plasmonic phenomena of GNS. We conducted extensive, systematic numerical study of far-field and near-field spectral responses of GNS for varying geometrical parameters (e.g., number of spikes, spike tip angle, and spike-to-core ratio) to elucidate the relationship between the optical property and the geometry of GNS. We found that symmetric configurations of GNS spikes generated both dipole and quadrupole localized surface plasmon (LSP) modes, their hybridization resulted in the final near-field intensity at the spike tips, and there existed a specific GNS geometry that optimized the hybridization and thus the E-field intensity for any given wavelength. From these results, we further identified the shapes of GNS that generated the strongest Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) enhancement factors in the visible and NIR spectral range. Hence, our results provide guiding principles in determining the optimal geometry of GNS for SERS applications with any choice of excitation wavelength.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering with squeezed light: CARS for quantum-enhanced spectroscopy and imaging

We theoretically investigate quantum-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) using squeezed light to amplify vibrational transition rates at low photon flux. Quantum sensing approaches are needed for nondestructive nanometrology such as in bioimaging where reduced photodamage is desired while retaining resolution and sensitivity. We analyze both single-mode squeezing applied to the pump field and two-mode squeezing between the pump and Stokes fields. We also show that the ordering of displacement and squeezing operations—whether displacement precedes squeezing or squeezing precedes displacement—has an impact on the resulting CARS transition amplitudes due to a difference in the photon number and the quantum-enhancement coefficients, with the latter offering a stronger enhancement in the case of two modes squeezing of the pump and Stokes under experimentally accessible conditions. Furthermore, our calculations capture these quantum enhancements through the intrinsic photon-number correlations of squeezed light, eliminating the need for interferometric detection or higher pump powers that are otherwise required to reach comparable sensitivities in classical CARS. Finally, we outline a quantum plasmonic extension of our model in which local field enhancements caused by surface plasmon excitation in metallic nanoparticles can be incorporated via mode-selective field amplification factors, offering a pathway toward combining squeezed-light quantum optics with surface-enhanced nanoscale spectroscopy and imaging.

Atomic & molecular structure↗

High- χ diblock copolymers containing poly(vinylpyridine- N -oxide) segments

Block copolymers exhibiting an enhanced segregation strength due to an underlying high Flory–Huggins interaction parameter (high χ) have attracted considerable attention because of their potential of forming microphase-separated domains with very small feature sizes (<10 nm) useful for next-generation lithography. Here, we report the synthesis, characterization, and self-assembly of poly(styrene)- block -poly(2-vinylpyridine N -oxide) (PS- b -P2VPNO) and poly(styrene)- block -poly(4-vinylpyridine N -oxide) (PS- b -P4VPNO) block copolymers. These PS- b -PVPNOs were obtained from the oxidation of their precursors, poly(styrene)- block -poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS- b -P2VP) and poly(styrene)- block -poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS- b -P4VP), respectively. The PS- b -PVPNOs exhibit an enhanced segregation as revealed by ordered cylindrical and lamellar structures in the sub-10 nm scale from copolymers with relatively low molecular weight. The morphologies and periodicities of the ordered structures were determined by small-angle X-ray scattering, while atomic-force microscopy was used to image the self-assembly in thin films. Estimates of the changes in disorder–order transition temperature and domain spacing are derived from a theory based on the effects of dipolar interactions. All the experimentally observed morphological changes resulting from the oxidation of P2VP and P4VP precursors can be qualitatively explained in terms of an increased dipole moment of vinylpyridine N -oxide segments. Therefore, our results demonstrate that PVPNO based block copolymers are versatile candidates toward nanopatterned structures with small feature sizes critical for the future microelectronics industry and beyond.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Neutron Skin Measurement of208Pb Using Parity-Violating Electron Scattering

Nuclear stability requires large nuclei to have more neutrons than protons. While the central core of the nucleus is composed of symmetric nuclear matter, the extra neutrons in heavy nuclei are pushed out to the surface of the nucleus, forming a pure outer neutron skin layer. While the proton distribution inside a nucleus has been accurately measured using electromagnetic probes, previous measurements of neutron distributions in complex nuclei have suffered a lack of systematic precision. PREX-2 and CREX use Parity-Violating electron Scattering (PVeS), as an electroweak interaction probe, to measure the neutron distributions in208Pb and48Ca, respectively. Making use of elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from unpolarized (isotopically pure) targets, PREX-2 and CREX measure the asymmetry in scattering rates between opposite beam polarization states. Since both experiments share the same exact measurement concept and apparatus, much of this dissertation applies to both PREX-2 and CREX. However, the presented asymmetry analysis and neutron skin extraction are only for PREX-2. PREX-2 measures the parity-violating asymmetry, APV, for 953 MeV electrons scattered elastically from208Pb at?5°in the lab. The final result is APV= 550.00±16.09(stat.)±8.16(syst.)ppb. From this measurement, we report the neutron skin thickness in208Pb nuclei to be, Rskin= 0.278±0.078(exp.)±0.012(model) fm. This measurement has broad implications throughout the physics community, increasing our knowledge in neutron star structure, the equation of state of nuclear matter, nuclear baryon density, nuclear electric dipole polarizability, and more. Key Words: Neutron skin, electroweak interaction, PREX-2, CREX, parity-violating asymmetry, neutron star, quartz detector, weak charge radius, symmetry energy, Hall A, Jefferson Lab

Adhikari, Devi↗

Collective excitations and low-energy ionization signatures of relativistic particles in silicon detectors

Abstract Solid-state detectors with a low energy threshold have several applications, including searches of non-relativistic halo dark-matter particles with sub-GeV masses. When searching for relativistic, beyond-the-Standard-Model particles with enhanced cross sections for small energy transfers, a small detector with a low energy threshold may have better sensitivity than a larger detector with a higher energy threshold. In this paper, we calculate the low-energy ionization spectrum from high-velocity particles scattering in a dielectric material. We consider the full material response including the excitation of bulk plasmons. We generalize the energy-loss function to relativistic kinematics, and benchmark existing tools used for halo dark-matter scattering against electron energy-loss spectroscopy data. Compared to calculations commonly used in the literature, such as the Photo-Absorption-Ionization model or the free-electron model, including collective effects shifts the recoil ionization spectrum towards higher energies, typically peaking around 4–6 electron-hole pairs. We apply our results to the three benchmark examples: millicharged particles produced in a beam, neutrinos with a magnetic dipole moment produced in a reactor, and upscattered dark-matter particles. Our results show that the proper inclusion of collective effects typically enhances a detector’s sensitivity to these particles, since detector backgrounds, such as dark counts, peak at lower energies.

Physics↗

Proton Compton Scattering from Linearly Polarized Gamma Rays

In this work, differential cross sections for Compton scattering from the proton have been measured at scattering angles of 55°, 90°, and 125° in the laboratory frame using quasimonoenergetic linearly (circularly) polarized photon beams with a weighted mean energy value of 83.4 MeV (81.3 MeV). These measurements were performed at the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source facility at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. The results are compared to previous measurements and are interpreted in the chiral effective field theory framework to extract the electromagnetic dipole polarizabilities of the proton, which gives $α^p_{E1} = 13.8 ± 1.2_{\text{stat}} ± 0.1_{\text{BSR}} ± 0. 3_{\text{theo}} , β^p_{M1} = 0.2 ∓ 1. 2_{\text{stat}} ± 0. 1_{\text{BSR}} ∓ 0. 3_{\text{theo}}$ in units of $10^{–4}$ fm$^3$ .

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Magnetic ordering in the Ising antiferromagnetic pyrochlore Nd 2 ScNbO 7

The question of structural disorder and its effects on magnetism is relevant to a number of spin liquid candidate materials. Although commonly thought of as a route to spin glass behaviour, here we describe a system in which the structural disorder results in long-range antiferromagnetic order due to local symmetry breaking. Nd 2 ScNbO 7 is shown to have a dispersionless gapped excitation observed in other neodymium pyrochlores below T N = 0.37 K through polarized and inelastic neutron scattering. However the dispersing spin waves are not observed. This excited mode is shown to occur in only 14(2)% of the neodymium ions through spectroscopy and is consistent with total scattering measurements as well as the magnitude of the dynamic moment 0.26(2) μB . The remaining magnetic species order completely into the all-in all-out Ising antiferromagnetic structure. This can be seen as a result of local symmetry breaking due disordered Sc +3 and Nb +5 ions about the A-site. From this work, it has been established that B-site disorder restores the dipole-like behaviour of the Nd +3 ions compared to the Nd 2 ScNbO 7 parent series.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Excited-State Dynamics and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Hyperpolarizable Chromophores Based on Conjugated Bis(terpyridyl)Ru(II) and Palladium and Platinum Porphyrinic Components: Impact of Heavy Metals upon Supermolecular Electro-Optic Properties

A new series of strongly coupled oscillators based upon (porphinato)Pd, (porphinato)Pt, and bis(terpyridyl)-ruthenium(II) building blocks is described. These RuPPd, RuPPt, RuPPdRu, and RuPPtRu chromophores feature bis- (terpyridyl)Ru(II) moieties connected to the (porphinato)metal unit via an ethyne linker that bridges the 4!-terpyridyl and porphyrin macrocycle meso-carbon positions. Pump–probe transient optical data demonstrate sub-picosecond excited singlet-to-triplet-state relaxation. The relaxed lowest-energy triplet (T 1 ) excited states of these chromophores feature absorption manifolds that span the 800–1200 nm spectral region, microsecond triplet-state lifetimes, and large absorptive extinction coefficients [ε(T 1 → T n ) > 4 × 10 4 M –1 cm –1 ]. Dynamic hyperpolarizability (β λ ) values were determined from hyper-Rayleigh light scattering (HRS) measurements carried out at several incident irradiation wavelengths over the 800–1500 nm spectral region. Relative to benchmark RuPZn and RuPZnRu chromophores which showed large βHRS values over the 1200–1600 nm range, RuPPd, RuPPt, RuPPdRu, and RuPPtRu displayed large βHRS values over the 850–1200 nm region. Generalized Thomas–Kuhn sum (TKS) rules and experimental hyperpolarizability values were utilized to determine excited state-to-excited state transition dipole terms from experimental electronic absorption data and thus assessed frequency-dependent β λ values, including two- and three-level contributions for both β zzz and β xzx tensor components to the RuPPd, RuPPt, RuPPdRu, and RuPPtRu hyperpolarizability spectra. Furthermore, these analyses qualitatively rationalize how the βzzz and βxzx tensor elements influence the observed irradiation wavelength-dependent hyperpolarizability magnitudes. The TKS analysis suggests that supermolecules related to RuPPd, RuPPt, RuPPdRu, and RuPPtRu will likely feature intricate dependences of experimentally determined βHRS values as a function of irradiation wavelength that derive from substantial singlet–triplet mixing, and complex interactions among multiple different β tensor components that modulate the long wavelength regime of the nonlinear optical response.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Identification of Brillouin Zones by In-Plane Lasing from Light-Cone Surface Lattice Resonances

Periodic optical structures can control the flow of light, which has facilitated applications in optical fibers, laser cavities, and biochemical sensors. The first Brillouin zone (BZ) in reciprocal space can describe all the electromagnetic fields localized inside a photonic lattice. However, photonic lattices also exhibit radiative losses from light scattering, but the radiated fields are not captured by the first BZ. In a two-dimensional lattice, the in-plane wavevectors of photonic modes are limited by the so-called light cone, which depicts free-photon dispersion relations in the surrounding medium. Here we show that projection of the light cone on extended BZs provides a geometric method to observe radiated electromagnetic fields of photonic lattice modes. We developed a coupled dipole radiation theory to reveal how lattice geometry and dipole orientation affect the angular distributions of the radiated fields. Using dye molecules as local dipole emitters to excite and probe the optical modes, we experimentally identified high-order BZ edges through directional, in-plane lasing emission.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Topology and spectral entanglement in cavity-mediated photon scattering

Here, we develop a microscopic diagrammatic theory for cavity-mediated photon scattering in a topological one-dimensional insulator described by the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model. Within the velocity-gauge formulation, we derive the photon self-energy and vertex corrections arising from virtual electron–hole excitations coupled to a quantized cavity mode, and we evaluate the resulting polariton dispersion and two-photon correlation spectra. Our analysis shows that vacuum fluctuations of the cavity field induce a momentum-resolved self-energy that mixes conduction and valence bands through virtual photon exchange, producing interband hybridization and avoided crossings in the electronic dispersion. This “cavity dressing” is symmetry-dependent, vanishing at the Brillouin-zone edge where the dipole matrix element is zero, and its strength is controlled by the spatial coherence range ζ ≈ (l c /a) 2 of virtual excitations. We further examine how the cavity modifies nonlinear optical observables, including the Kerr nonlinearity and biphoton spectral entanglement, and identify the regimes where these effects become sensitive to the underlying topological phase. The theoretical framework established here provides a unified description of light–matter coupling in topological and polaritonic systems, bridging solid-state cavity QED with the emerging field of cavity-modified quantum materials. Our results suggest that engineered photonic environments can coherently reshape the electronic landscape of topological insulators, offering new routes to control collective electronic and optical phenomena through vacuum-field fluctuations.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Measurement of nuclear interaction cross sections towards neutron-skin thickness determination

The accuracy of reaction theories used to extract properties of exotic nuclei from scattering experiments is often unknown or not quantified, but of utmost importance when, e.g., constraining the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter from observables as the neutron-skin thickness. In order to test the Glauber multiple-scattering model, the total interaction cross section of 12 C on carbon targets was measured at initial beam energies of 400, 550, 650, 800, and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The measurements were performed during the first experiment of the newly constructed R 3 B (Reaction with Relativistic Radioactive Beams) experiment after the start of FAIR Phase-0 at the GSI/FAIR facility with beam energies of 400, 550, 650, 800, and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The combination of the large-acceptance dipole magnet GLAD and a newly designed and highly efficient Time-of-Flight detector enabled a precise transmission measurement with several target thicknesses for each initial beam energy with an experimental uncertainty of ±0.4%. A comparison with the Glauber model revealed a discrepancy of around 3.1% at higher beam energies, which will serve as a crucial baseline for the model-dependent uncertainty in future fragmentation experiments.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Chemistry, Structure, and Function of Lone Pairs in Extended Solids

The lone pair has been a known feature of the electronic structure of molecules for over 100 years. Beginning with the pioneering work of Lewis and others that was later developed into useful guidelines for predicting molecular structure, lone pairs and their steric consequences are now taught at the very earliest stages of a chemistry education. In the crystalline solid state, lone pairs have perhaps had a less visible yet equally consequential role, with a significant impact on a range of properties and functionalities. Important properties associated with s 2 electron-derived lone pairs include their role in creating conditions favorable for ion transport, in the formation and correlation of local dipoles and the resulting polar behavior leading to ferroics and multiferroics, in increasing the refractive index of glass, in reducing the thermal conductivity of thermoelectric materials, and in breaking local symmetry permitting second-harmonic light generation.. In recent years, the role of the lone pair in developing the electronic structure of some topological quantum materials has also been recognized. While structural distortions due to lone pairs have traditionally been characterized through their crystallography, recent advances in scattering and spectroscopy have revealed the presence of local lone pair-driven distortions that do not correlate over long length scales. The role of these crystallographically “hidden” lone pairs, their detection, and their impact on properties have become a growing body of work in the literature. Hidden lone pairs are an effective argument for considering a role for lone pairs that goes beyond their being objects that occupy space in the coordination polyhedra of cations. This Account introduces the chemistry of lone pairs in extended crystalline solids, including a discussion of when they are stereochemically active, how they manifest in the structure, and how their chemistry can be tuned by the chemical environment around them. Eventually, all of these factors work in unison to help develop and tune properties of interest. Certain specific examples of structure–property relationships in materials that are driven by lone pair behavior are described here, including the potential impact of lone pairs on the optical and electronic properties of hybrid halide perovskite compounds that are relevant to their photovoltaic applications. Here, we highlight the role of lone pairs in the dielectric behavior of geometrically frustrated pyrochlores, the temperature-dependent optoelectronic behavior of halide perovskites, the polar phase transitions in lead-free ferroelectric perovskites, and the compositional insulator-to-metal transition in ruthenium pyrochlores. The theme underpinning this Account is that the lone pair can be considered to be a powerful design element for a broad range of material function.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optical cycling on thorium monoxide for an improved test of fundamental symmetries

Optical cycling refers to repeated excitation and spontaneous emission on an electronic transition in an atom or molecule. Optical cycling in molecules can enable a wide range of quantum control and readout techniques, but unfortunately it has only been demonstrated on a small class of alkalilike or alkaline-earth-like molecules. Thorium monoxide (ThO), a molecule used in one of the most precise permanent electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) searches (ACME†) [Andreev et al., Nature (London) 562, 355 (2018)], does not fall into this category. In this work, we demonstrate the first optical cycling on this nonconventional class over a range of experimental parameter space, including laser intensity, polarization switching rate, and interaction time. We show that both the 𝐽 = 1 and 𝐽 = 2 rotational levels of ThO molecule are capable of cycling an average of 11(2) photons with a single laser, at scattering rates of 1.9⁢(6) × 10 6 and 2.3⁢(7) × 10 6 s −1 , respectively, before population is lost to other vibronic levels. We outline a scheme to apply this demonstrated optical cycling in an ACME-style eEDM measurement, improving the detection efficiency by over fourfold compared to noncycling fluorescence detection. This would lead to over a twofold enhancement in the statistical sensitivity of the eEDM search. This optical-cycling scheme can be further extended to scatter ∼100 photons, which would enable a wider range of quantum control and sensing using ThO molecules.

Atomic & molecular processes in external fields↗

Dynamical Bond Formation in KNi 2 Se 2

Emphanisis, or the appearance out of nothing, has been used to describe the phenomena of spontaneous atom off-centering and dipole formation at elevated temperatures in lead chalcogenides. Here, we provide spectroscopic evidence of spontaneous formation of metal-metal bonds above T~50 K in the layered metal KNi 2 Se 2 . These bonds form zig-zag chains that lower the local symmetry from tetragonal to monoclinic. Energy-resolved pair distribution function measurements exclude a pure phonon origin of our observations, and instead imply the existence of extra, slowly fluctuating, Ni-Ni bonds above T=50 K. Density functional theory calculations support this lower symmetry configuration as an instability of tetragonal KNi 2 Se 2 . We thus demonstrate that the phenomena of emphansis is not limited to local electric dipole formation, but can also be driven by the formation of metal-metal bonds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Magnetic Dipole Transition in Ca 48

Here, the magnetic dipole transition strength B(M1) of 48 Ca is dominated by a single resonant state at an excitation energy of 10.23 MeV. Experiments disagree about B(M1) and this impacts our understanding of spin flips in nuclei. We performed ab initio computations based on chiral effective field theory and found that B(M1 : 0 + → 1 + ) lies in the range from 7.0 to 10.2 $µ^2_N$. This is consistent with a (γ, n) experiment but larger than results from (e, e') and (p, p') scattering. Two body currents yield no quenching of the B(M1) strength and continuum effects reduce it by about 10%. For a validation of our approach, we computed magnetic moments in 47,49 Ca and performed benchmark calculations in light nuclei.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Rapid simulations of hyperspectral near-field images of three-dimensional heterogeneous surfaces – part II

The modeling of the near-field interaction in the scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) is rapidly advancing, although an accurate yet versatile modeling framework that can be easily adapted to various complex situations is still lacking. In this work, we propose a time-efficient numerical scheme in the quasi-electrostatic limit to capture the tip-sample interaction in the near field. This method considers an extended tip geometry, which is a significant advantage compared to the previously reported method based on the point-dipole approximation. Using this formalism, we investigate, among others, nontrivial questions such as uniaxial and biaxial anisotropy in the near-field interaction, the relationship between various experimental parameters (e.g. tip radius, tapping amplitude, etc.), and the tip-dependent spatial resolution. The demonstrated method further sheds light on the understanding of the contrast mechanism in s-SNOM imaging and spectroscopy, while also representing a valuable platform for future quantitative analysis of the experimental observations.

Chen, Xinzhong (ORCID:0000000261033848)↗

Direct detection of dark baryons naturally suppressed by ℋ-parity

We identify symmetries in a broad class of vectorlike confining dark sectors that forbid the leading electromagnetic moments that would ordinarily mediate dark baryon scattering with the Standard Model. The absence of these operators implies dark baryon dark matter has much smaller cross sections for elastic scattering off nuclei, leading to suppressed direct detection signals. In the confined description, we identify an “ℋ-parity” symmetry that exists in any dark sector with dark quarks transforming under a vectorlike representation of a new confining SU(𝑁 𝑐 ) gauge theory as well as a vectorlike representation of the electroweak group SU⁡(2) 𝐿 . The parity is independent of 𝑁 𝑐 and 𝑁 𝑓 , though it is essential that the dark quarks are neutral under hypercharge. This parity forbids dark hadron electric and magnetic dipole moments, charge radius, and anapole moment, while permitting dimension-7 operators that include polarizability, electroweak loop-induced interactions, and lower-dimensional electromagnetic transition moments between different neutral dark baryon states. We work out an explicit example, 𝑁 𝑐 = 𝑁 𝑓 = 3, that is the most minimal theory with fermionic dark baryons. In this specific model, we use the nonrelativistic quark model to show the magnetic dipole moment and charge radius vanish, while the transition moments are nonzero, consistent with ℋ-parity. We discuss the implications of a suppressed direct detection signal, emphasizing that this broad class of models provide a well-motivated target for future colliders.

composite models↗