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At least 145 records · Page 8

X-ray emitting T Tauri stars in the L1551 cloud

Low mass pre-main sequence stars in the nearby Lynds 1551 star forming cloud are studied with the ROSAT and ASCA X-ray satellites. An 8 ksec ROSAT image reveals 38 sources including 7 well-known T Tauri stars, 2 likely new weak-lined T Tauri stars, 5 potential new weak-lined T Tauri stars, one is a young B9 star, and the remaining sources are unrelated to the cloud or poorly identified. A 40 ksec ASCA image of the cloud detects seven of the ROSAT sources. Spectral fitting of the brighter X-ray emitting stars suggests the emission is produced in either a multi-temperature plasma, with temperatures near 0.2 and 1 keV, or a single-temperature plasma with low metal abundances. XZ Tau, a young classical T Tauri star, is much stronger in ASCA than ROSAT observations showing a harder (1.5-2.0 kev) component. Timing analysis reveals all but one of the T Tauri stars are variable on timescales ranging from one hour to a year. A powerful flare, emitting 3 x 10(exp 34) ergs within a 40 minute rise and fall, was observed by ASCA on the weak-lined T Tauri star V826 Tau. The event was preceded and followed by constant quiescent X-ray emission. The extreme classical T Tauri star XZ Tau was also caught during both high and low states, varying by a factor of 15 between the ASCA and ROSAT observations. Neither of the luminous infrared embedded protostars L1551-IRS 5 or L1551NE were detected by ROSAT or ASCA.

Koyama, Katsuji↗

Spectroscopic measurement of increases in hydrogen molecular rotational temperature with plasma-facing surface temperature and due to collisional-radiative processes in tokamaks

Abstract Spatially resolved rotational temperature of ground state hydrogen molecules desorbed from plasma-facing surface was measured in QUEST, LTX-β, and DIII-D tokamaks, and the increases of the rotational temperature with the surface temperature and due to collisional-radiative processes in the plasmas were evaluated. The increase due to collisional-radiative processes was calculated by solving rate equations considering electron and proton collisional excitation and deexcitation and spontaneous emission. The calculation results suggest a high sensitivity for the rotational temperature to electron and proton densities, but a negligible sensitivity to the electron, proton, and surface temperatures. In the three tokamaks with different plasma parameters and plasma-facing surface materials, the spatial profile of the rotational temperature was estimated using Fulcher-α emission lines (600–608 nm). In QUEST, the spatial profile of the rotational temperature was estimated from spatially resolved spectra. In the other tokamaks, the rotational temperature was evaluated assuming a single point emission with a location determined from the Fulcher-α emission profile as measured with a filtered camera. In metal-walled devices QUEST and LTX-β, the rotational temperature increased with the surface temperature, and the calculated collisional-radiative increase is consistent with measured increase assuming that the rotational temperature at the surface is approximately 500–600 K higher than the surface temperature. In DIII-D with carbon walls, a larger collisional-radiative increase than the other tokamaks was observed because of the higher density leading to a large difference from the calculated increase compared to the other smaller tokamaks. Measurement of the Fulcher-α emission profile with higher spatial resolution in DIII-D may reduce the difference and reveal the effect of the surface temperature on the rotational temperature. These results show the increases in the rotational temperature with the surface temperature and due to the collisional-radiative processes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Temperature effects in plasma-based positron acceleration schemes using electron filaments

Preserving the quality of a positron beam in a plasma-based accelerator, where a wakefield suitable for positron transport and acceleration is generated by means of an electron filament, is challenging. This is due to the nature of the wakefields, characterized by focusing fields that vary nonlinearly in the transverse direction, and by accelerating fields that are non-uniform. These fields also change slice-by-slice along the beam. Maintaining a high beam quality is pivotal for application of positron beams in a plasma-based collider. In this paper, we show that an initial background plasma temperature can help mitigate the positron beam quality degradation in plasma-based accelerators that rely on electron filaments. We show that temperature effects broaden the electron filament and smooth radially both the non-linear transverse and the non-uniform longitudinal wakefields. Using warm plasmas opens up new possibilities to improve beam quality in several plasma-based positron acceleration concepts.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Nitridation of atomically smooth (111) diamond surfaces using a low temperature Penning plasma discharge

Diamond is a material with a wide band gap that can host a variety of isolated paramagnetic defects, called “color centers”1. These color centers have attractive optical and magnetic properties suitable for quantum applications including quantum computing, nanophotonics and quantum sensing. The most common one is the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) color center. For quantum sensing, it is desirable to reduce the distance between the NV center and the analyte by using shallow color centers in order to increase sensitivity. In this context, the diamond surface termination is especially critical. The appropriate surface termination is required to stabilize the color centers and mitigate surface magnetic noise. The nitrogen termination of diamond has been postulated as highly desirable for the NV color center. The goal of this project is to take advantage of an electron beam-generated ExB low temperature plasma developed by the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) to nitridate the surface of (100) diamond single crystals with minimal surface damage. In this reactor, the use of a magnetized plasma enables gentle processing of materials sensitive to ion damage. This is in strong contrast to radiofrequency plasma processing reactors which are known to etch and sputter the surface. XPS measurements indicate the incorporation of nitrogen and oxygen atoms at the surface in similar amounts. XAS measurements confirm the nitridation and indicate that the nitrogen termination is different from the nitrogen termination obtained using radiofrequency plasma treatment4. The combination of these results indicates the formation of amid species at the (100) diamond surface that are promising for the stabilization of NV centers for quantum sensing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Non-equilibrium low-temperature plasma-assisted combustion of iso-octane: Perturbing pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics

Here, in this study, a plasma-coupled flow reactor facility is used to examine the effects of non-equilibrium low-temperature plasmas on perturbing the pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics of iso-octane. Experiments were performed in highly dilute reactive mixtures of nitrogen, at near isothermal conditions for temperatures ranging from 523 K to 1203 K. Experiments cumulatively demonstrated enhanced chemical reactivity with the plasma for temperatures below 900 K, and a lowering of the hot-ignition temperature. Detailed kinetic insight was derived from a 0D plasma-coupled kinetic model, utilizing a constructed mechanism that combined both plasma-specific chemistry and the neutral combustion chemistry. For pyrolysis conditions, the model displayed relatively good agreement with fuel consumption and the formation of most intermediates compared to the experimental data, demonstrating the model is able to accurately predict primary radical formation from the plasma directly interacting with the fuel. Enhanced reactivity was attributed to collisional quenching of excited-states of N 2 with fuel, which led to efficient fuel fragmentation and enhancement of the H-radical flux. For oxidation conditions, the model displayed satisfactory agreement with the experiments. Model predictions were able to accurately predict fuel consumption and most intermediate speciation data for T > 800 K, but most discrepancies were towards T < 800 K in particular with oxygenated intermediates. In the presence of oxygen, plasma effects were predominantly spent on efficient enhancement of O- and H-radical fluxes, leading to further fuel fragmentation and initiation of both the OH- and HO 2 -radical pools. Subsequent reactivity of iso-octane was then dictated by the response of the temperature-dependent neutral chemistry. At low-temperatures (T = 643 K), enhanced fuel radicals and O 2 -additon chemistry lead to the formation of oxygenated species, while at intermediate temperatures (T = 843 K) net decrease in OH-radical reactivity led to an increase in hydrocarbon speciation. Near the self-ignition threshold (T = 1163 K), radicals generated by high-temperature branching reactions dominate the oxidation process and effectively ignition. This study ultimately demonstrated that the enhancement of radicals afforded by the plasma causes a deviation in known understanding of iso-octane kinetics in some regards and warrants future studies to reconcile these discrepancies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Quantum Cohesion Oscillation of Electron Ground State in Low Temperature Laser Plasma

The development of radically new technological and economically efficient methods for obtaining chemical products and for producing new materials with specific properties requires the study of physical and chemical processes proceeding at temperature of 10(exp 3) to 10(exp 4) K, temperature range of low temperature plasma. In our paper, by means of Wigner matrix of quantum statistical theory, a formula is derived for the energy of quantum coherent oscillation of electron ground state in laser plasma at low temperature. The collective behavior would be important in ion and ion-molecule reactions.

Zhao, Qingxun↗

Kinetic effects of self-organization in low-temperature magnetized plasmas (Final Report for DE-SC0019045: 9/1/2018-8/31/2019)

The research goal of this Early Career Research Program project is to advance the science of low temperature magnetized plasmas using first-principles kinetic, e.g., solving the Boltzmann equation, models. A better understanding of the plasma transport properties, such as electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity must be obtained to better control and design magnetized plasma sources. A key physical phenomenon in low-temperature magnetized plasmas is the self-organization of plasma flows, e.g., coherent plasma structures and transition between different discharge modes. Understanding the physics of coherent plasma structures has been identified as one of the four important frontier topics in a recent workshop by the Office of Fusion Energy Science. These self-emerging plasma patterns results from the nonlinear coupling between plasma constituents (ions, electrons, and neutral atoms), electromagnetic fields, and materials. The physics of low-temperature magnetized plasmas is particularly complex because (i) the collisionless instabilities affect collisional phenomena (ionization, transport, etc.) and vice versa and (ii) the presence of materials (sheath, electron injection, etc.) influences the bulk plasma properties in low-temperature plasma (LTP) devices. Computational models of these plasma flows remain challenging because the plasma density can vary several orders of magnitudes, a wide range of temporal and spatial scales must be resolved, the phenomena are inherently three-dimensional, and various physical processes, such as wall interaction, instabilities, inelastic collisions, etc., must be simultaneously and self-consistently taken into account. Understanding the fundamental transport mechanisms in cross-field configurations enables additional controllability of plasma properties and electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs).

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Establishing an isoelectronic line ratio temperature diagnostic for soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy

For diagnosing temperatures of high-energy-density plasmas, relying on the ratio of a pair of isoelectronic spectral lines provides the alternative of ‘‘matched charge-state transits in different elements’’ to the more conventional, ‘‘unmatched charge-state transits in the same-element’’ spectral-line-ratio technique. In contrast to a novel previous establishment of isoelectronic emission-line ratio determination of plasma temperature, this report determines plasma temperature from the ratio of isoelectronic absorption spectral line pairs. Here, the feasibility of this technique is assessed from experimentally acquired transmission spectra, spanning the 7– 15 Å range, through a 0.4 μm MgO-NaF foil, tamped with CH, x-ray-radiation heated by a z-pinch dynamic hohlraum (ZPDH), and backlit by the brief X-ray burst upon imploding-wire stagnation on the Z pulsed-power facility at Sandia National Laboratories. As expected from the slight difference between interstage and isoelectronic absorption processes, a quantitative comparison between the value of isoelectronic-absorption-derived temperature and the value of inter-stage-absorption-derived temperature is shown to yield a well correlated, slight difference in inferred values of plasma temperature associated with local thermodynamic equilibrium.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Ten-moment fluid model for low-temperature magnetized plasmas

In this paper, a one-dimensional 10-moment multi-fluid plasma model is developed and applied to low-temperature magnetized plasmas. The 10-moment model solves for six anisotropic pressure terms, in addition to density and three components of fluid momentum, which allows the model to capture finite kinetic effects. The results are benchmarked against a 5-moment model, which assumes that the gas constituents follow a Maxwellian velocity distribution function (VDF), and a particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision model that allows for arbitrary non-Maxwellian VDFs. The models are compared in a one-dimensional, low-temperature, partially magnetized plasma test case. The 10-moment results accurately reproduce the anisotropic temperature profile in low-temperature magnetized plasmas, where shear gradients exist due to the E×B drift. We discuss the mechanisms by which the anisotropic pressure can be generated in low-temperature magnetized plasmas. In addition, the importance of a self-consistent heat flux closure to the 10-moment model is studied, showing consistency with other models only when the assumptions of the underlying model are met. The 10-moment model allows for study of electron inertia effects and non-Maxwellian VDFs without the need for kinetic methods that are more computationally expensive.

Kuldinow, Derek Amur (ORCID:0000000319730196)↗

Plasma decay in hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon- and H 2 O-containing mixtures excited by high-voltage nanosecond discharge at elevated gas temperatures

Plasma decay after a high-voltage nanosecond discharge was experimentally and numerically studied in pure hydrocarbons (C 2 H 6 and C 3 H 8 ), and H 2 O:N 2 and C 3 H 8 :O 2 mixtures for pressures in the range 2–4 Torr and gas temperatures from 300 to 600 K. In a stoichiometric C 3 H 8 :O 2 mixture, plasma decay was also studied in a repetitively pulsed discharge for varing numbers of discharge pulses (varying degrees of fuel oxidation). The rate of plasma decay was determined from the temporal evolution of electron density measured using the microwave interferometer. It was observed that gas heating to 600 K leads to a decrease in the rate of plasma decay in all cases. The effect of heating on plasma decay was most profound in the H 2 O:N 2 mixture (after a single discharge pulse) and in the C 3 H 8 :O 2 mixture for high degrees of fuel oxidation. A kinetic scheme was developed to numerically simulate the plasma decay in hydrocarbons and combustible mixtures. Numerical analysis showed that, under the conditions studied, plasma decay was controlled by dissociative electron recombination with simple molecular and cluster ions. Gas heating led to a decrease in the rate of the electron-ion recombination and the rate of conversion of molecular ions to cluster ions. As a result, the gas temperature increase caused a decrease in the fraction of cluster ions for which the recombination coefficients are an order of magnitude higher than the recombination coefficients for molecular ions. The influence of gas heating on the decrease of the amount of cluster ions was more important when the ion composition was dominated by hydrated H 3 O + (H 2 O) k ions. The rates of the formation of these ions are extremely sensitive to any variations in gas temperature. A result, in agreement with our observations, gas heating led to an anomalous decrease in the rates of plasma decay in the H 2 O:N 2 mixture, as well as in the C 3 H 8 :O 2 mixture when H 2 O molecules were produced due to fuel oxidation.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Real-time monitoring of trace noble gases using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy—An investigation of the impact of bulk gas on plasma properties and sensitivity

The impact of Ar and He bulk gases on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) real-time monitoring of trace Xe and Kr was assessed. LIBS is being developed as a monitoring tool for measuring noble gas transport in molten salt systems, in which traditional sensors may face challenges associated with radiation, corrosive materials, and/or mixed phases. The plasma temperature and electron densities of LIBS plasmas were measured in both static and various flowing Ar and He streams (0–5 L min −1 ). The use of an Ar bulk gas resulted in higher plasma temperature, greater electron densities by an order of magnitude, and extended plasma lifetime compared with when He bulk gas was used. Gas flow rate was found to have little impact on plasma temperature; however, its effect on electron density was significant, indicating the need to consider flow rate–specific models. Matrix effects on emission peaks were reported for both bulk gases. Due to these matrix effects, multivariate models were developed for Xe and Kr ranging from 0 to 700 ppm in both bulk gases. Although the predictive behavior was similar (root mean square error of prediction ranging from 11.1 to 20.6 ppm), the limits of detection were superior in He (Xe: 22.9 ppm, Kr: 30.4 ppm). Furthermore, these models were employed in demonstrative real-time tests (>1 h), which showed strong predictive precision (relative standard deviation <5 %) regardless of the bulk gas. Ultimately, this study provides a guide for the considerations required when developing gaseous LIBS models for real-time monitoring.

Gas flow effects↗

Generalized Comptonization models and application to the recent high-energy observations

The theory of spectral formation in thermal X-ray sources, where the effects of Comptonization and Klein-Nishina corrections are important, is presented. Analytical expressions are obtained for the produced spectrum as a function of such input parameters as the plasma temperature, the optical depth of the plasma cloud and the injected soft photon spectrum. The analytical theory developed here takes into account the dependence of the scattering opacity on the photon energy. It is shown that the plasma temperature as well as the asymptotic rate of photon escape from the plasma cloud determine the shape of the upscattered hard tail in the emergent spectra, even in the case of very small optical depths. The escape distributions of photons are given for any optical depth of the plasma cloud and their asymptotic dependence for very small and large optical depths are examined. It is shown that this new generalized approach can fit spectra for a large variety of hard X-ray sources and determine the plasma temperature in the region of main energy release in Cyg X-1 and the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151.

Titarchuk, Lev↗

A simple method for monitoring surface temperatures in plasma treatments

A method consisting of applying temperature markers on the specimen is described for measuring the highest temperature reached by very thin films in situ during deposition. In the first test setup, lowering the input power to 500 W only effected the 177-C marker, while increasing the input power to 1.25 kW effected the 274-C marker. In tests conducted in a dc plasma with markers placed on the uncooled cathode in Ar plasma, the maximum temperatures indicated by the thermocouple matched a change in color of the markers, and no effect of earlier sublimation or decomposition was noted.

Manory, R. R.↗

The structure of high-temperature flare plasma. II Comparison with observations

In Emslie, (1985) scaling law's which relate peak loop temperature to injected nonthermal electron flux in electron-heated models of the flare corona are derived. These predicted relationships are compared with recent coordinated observations in hard X-rays and soft X-rays. Satisfactory agreement is found for large events, while for smaller events the plasma electron temperature determined by soft X-ray spectral fitting is too high. A possible resolution of this apparent discrepancy through careful examination of the method used to determine the temperature of the soft X-ray emitting plasma is discussed. It is concluded that temperatures determined by spectral fitting over a series of lines are not necessarily representative of the true temperature of the plasma, since the fitting technique is plagued by the same difficulties as a more straightforward technique involving a single spectral line or portion of continuum (Craig and Brown, 1976). The differences between actual and derived temperatures are sufficiently large to remove the above discrepancy between observations and modeling of electron-heated coronae.

Emslie, A. G.↗