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At least 1,441 records · Page 80

Coloration and oxygen vacancies in wide band gap oxide semiconductors: Absorption at metallic nanoparticles induced by vacancy clustering—A case study on indium oxide

In this paper, we show by optical and electron microscopy based investigations that vacancies in oxides may cluster and form metallic nanoparticles that induce coloration by extinction of visible light. Optical extinction in this case is caused by generation of localized surface plasmon resonances at metallic particles embedded in the dielectric matrix. Based on Mie's approach, we are able to fit the absorption due to indium nanoparticles in In{sub 2}O{sub 3} to our absorption measurements. The experimentally found particle distribution is in excellent agreement with the one obtained from fitting by Mie theory. Indium particles are formed by precipitation of oxygen vacancies. From basic thermodynamic consideration and assuming theoretically calculated activation energies for vacancy formation and migration, we find that the majority of oxygen vacancies form just below the melting point. Since they are ionized at this temperature they are Coulomb repulsive. Upon cooling, a high supersaturation of oxygen vacancies forms in the crystal that precipitates once the Fermi level crosses the transition energy level from the charged to the neutral charge state. From our considerations we find that the ionization energy of the oxygen vacancy must be higher than 200 meV.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Influence of electron beam irradiation on mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene/polyamide blend

The effects of electron beam irradiation on the mechanical and thermal properties of polypropylene (PP) and polyamide6 (PA6) blends-with talc 20 wt% as filler, SEBS-g-MAH as compatibilizer, and triallyl isocyanurate as crosslinking agent-were investigated. Although the tensile and flexural moduli and strengths of the PP/PA6 blends with talc, SEBS-g-MAH, and TAIC could be increased by the application of electron beam irradiation, the impact strength was decreased. Ddifferential scanning calorimetryer measurements showed that the melting temperatures of all PP/PA6 blends were decreased with increases in the electron beam irradiationdose. From dynamic mechanical analyzer results, a storage modulus curve in the plateau region was observed only in the PP/PA6 blends with talc, SEBS-g-MAH, and TAIC; the storage modulus increased with increasing electron beam irradiation dose, indicating that the three-dimensional network developed gradually in the more amorphous PA6. As a result, the most significant improvement observed in heat distortion tests under high load (1.8 MPa) occurred at 200 kGy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mechanistic origins of methyl-driven Overhauser DNP

The Overhauser effect in the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) of non-conducting solids has drawn much attention due to the potential for efficient high-field DNP as well as a general interest in the underlying principles that enable the Overhauser effect in small molecules. We recently reported the observation of 1 H and 2 H Overhauser effects in H 3 C- or D 3 C-functionalized Blatter radical analogs, which we presumed to be caused by methyl rotation. In this work, we look at the mechanism for methyl-driven Overhauser DNP in greater detail, considering methyl librations and tunneling in addition to classical rotation. Here, we predict the temperature dependence of these mechanisms using density functional theory and spin dynamics simulations. Comparisons with results from ultralow-temperature magic angle spinning-DNP experiments revealed that cross-relaxation at temperatures above 60 K originates from both libration and rotation, while librations dominate at lower temperatures. Due to the zero-point vibrational nature of these motions, they are not quenched by very low temperatures, and methyl-driven Overhauser DNP is expected to increase in efficiency down to 0 K, predominantly due to increases in nuclear relaxation times.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Suppressing the sample variance of DESI-like galaxy clustering with fast simulations

Ongoing and upcoming galaxy redshift surveys, such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey, will observe vast regions of sky and a wide range of redshifts. In order to model the observations and address various systematic uncertainties, N-body simulations are routinely adopted, however, the number of large simulations with sufficiently high mass resolution is usually limited by available computing time. Therefore, achieving a simulation volume with the effective statistical errors significantly smaller than those of the observations becomes prohibitively expensive. In this study, we apply the Convergence Acceleration by Regression and Pooling (CARPool) method to mitigate the sample variance of the DESI-like galaxy clustering in the AbacusSummit simulations, with the assistance of the quasi-N-body simulations FastPM. Based on the halo occupation distribution (HOD) models, we construct different FastPM galaxy catalogs, including the luminous red galaxies (LRGs), emission line galaxies (ELGs), and quasars, with their number densities and two-point clustering statistics well matched to those of AbacusSummit. We also employ the same initial conditions between AbacusSummit and FastPM to achieve high cross-correlation, as it is useful in effectively suppressing the variance. Our method of reducing noise in clustering is equivalent to performing a simulation with volume larger by a factor of 5 and 4 for LRGs and ELGs, respectively. We also mitigate the standard deviation of the LRG bispectrum with the triangular configurations k 2 = 2k 1 = 0.2 h Mpc -1 by a factor of 1.6. With smaller sample variance on galaxy clustering, we are able to constrain the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) scale parameters to higher precision. The CARPool method will be beneficial to better constrain the theoretical systematics of BAO, redshift space distortions (RSD) and primordial non-Gaussianity (NG).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Elastic and resonance structures of the nucleon from the hadronic tensor in lattice QCD: Implications for neutrino-nucleon scattering and hadron physics

We compute the Euclidean hadronic tensor from charge density operators and extract elastic and resonance structures by employing exponential fits to the four-point function correlator, as well as a Bayesian reconstruction inverse algorithm to obtain the corresponding spectral density for qualitative comparison. We present the determination of the nucleon’s Sachs electric form factor using the hadronic tensor formalism and verify that it is consistent with that from the conventional three-point function calculation. Beyond the elastic peak, we observe a structure located approximately 0.5–0.7 GeV above the nucleon mass in the Bayesian reconstruction. This structure is interpreted as a mixture of the Roper resonance [𝑁⁡(1440)], and states with both positive and negative parities in this mass region, as well as multihadron states. Assuming the observed structure is dominated by 𝐽 𝑃 = 1/2 ± states, we extract the transition electric form factor 𝐺$^*_𝐸$⁡(𝑄 2 ) and the corresponding longitudinal helicity amplitude 𝑆 1/2 ⁡(𝑄 2 ), and compare them with those determined from the CLAS experimental data of nucleon-to-Roper transition. Although fitting to the four-point correlation function or using the inverse algorithm does not resolve individual resonances, it nevertheless enables the determination of total inclusive lepton–nucleon scattering cross sections in appropriate energy bins. This lattice QCD calculation presents the first major step toward studying the inclusive 𝑁 → 𝑋 contributions within the hadronic tensor formalism.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Optimizing the Costs of Solid Sorbent-Based CO 2 Capture Process Through Heat Integration

The focus of this project was the ADAsorb™ CO 2 Capture Process, a temperature-swing adsorption process that incorporates a three-stage fluidized bed as the adsorber and a single-stage fluidized bed as the regenerator. ADAsorb™ system was designed, fabricated, and tested under DOE award DEFE0004343. Two amine-based sorbents were evaluated in conjunction with the ADAsorb™ process: “BN”, an ion-exchange resin; and “OJ”, a metal organic framework (MOF) sorbent. Two cross heat exchanger designs were evaluated for use between the adsorber and regenerator: moving bed and fluidized bed. The fluidized bed approach was rejected fairly early in the project because the additional electrical load to power blowers or fans to overcome the pressure drop required for fluidization was estimated to be nominally three times the electrical power that could be generated from the steam saved through the use of the cross heat exchanger. The Energy Research Center at Lehigh University built and utilized a process model of the ADAsorb™ capture process and integrated this model into an existing model of a supercritical PC power plant. The Lehigh models verified that, for the ADAsorb™ system, the largest contributor to parasitic power was lost electrical generation, which was primarily electric power which the host plant could not generate due to the extraction of low pressure (LP) steam for sorbent heating, followed by power for the CO 2 compressor and the blower or fan power required to fluidize the adsorber and regenerator. Sorbent characteristics such as the impacts of moisture uptake, optimized adsorption and regeneration temperature, and sensitivity to changes in pressure were also included in the modeling study. Results indicate that sorbents which adsorb more than 1-2% moisture by weight are unlikely to be cost competitive unless they have an extremely high CO 2 working capacity that well exceeds 15% by weight. Modeling also revealed that reductions in adsorber pressure drop could negatively affect the CO 2 adsorption characteristics for sorbents with certain isobar adsorption characteristics like sorbent BN. Thus, reductions in pressure drop do not provide the efficiency benefits expected. A techno-economic assessment conducted during the project revealed that without heat integration, the a metal organic framework (MOF) sorbent used in conjunction with the ADAsorb™ process provided the opportunity for improved performance over the benchmark MEA process. While the addition of a cross heat exchanger and heat integration was found to significantly improve net unit heat rate, the additional equipment costs required to realize these improvements almost always outweighed the improvement in performance. The exception to this was for a supported amine sorbent and the addition of a moving bed cross heat exchanger alone or in conjunction with waste heat from the compressor used for supplemental regenerator heating. Perhaps one of the most important points to be drawn from the work conducted during this project is the significant influence of sorbent characteristics alone on the projected COE and LCOE associated with the ADAsorb™ process, and the implications associated with future improvements to solid sorbent CO 2 capture. The results from this project suggest that solid sorbent CO 2 capture will continue to see performance gains and lower system costs as further sorbent improvements are realized.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Radiation Effects on Network on Chips (NoC) Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project

This project was motivated by State-of-the-Art (SOTA) technology that incorporates Network on Chips (NOC) for efficient data communication across the various computer kernels. For example, on the AMD Versal Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), an NoC has been incorporated for fast data communication from the programmable logic and other computer kernels (processing system, adaptable intelligence engines, etc.). The radiation effects on the legacy technology of this FPGA, such as the programmable logic, are well understood, and established methods exist to measure cross-sections when new families/generations are released; however, newly incorporated technologies, such as the NoC, are not fully understood and could introduce new failure points into the mission space.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

An extreme luminous X-ray source catalog based on Chandra ACIS observations

Using Chandra archive data we conduct a thorough survey of luminous X-ray sources. We directly analyze about 9400 ACIS Observations and cross-correlate the X-ray sources with 77,000 galaxies within 250 Mpc. The final catalog includes 119 unique luminous X-ray source candidates with L{sub X}>3×10{sup 40} erg s{sup −1} from 93 galaxies or 41 HLX candidates with L{sub X}>1×10{sup 41} erg s{sup −1} from 35 galaxies. We derive a moderate contamination rate due to foreground or background sources. We also cross-correlate the catalog with FIRST, perform variability and periodicity tests, and analyze one HLX candidate in particular. Our catalog could be a starting point to perform follow-up observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Angular Correlation Function Estimators Accounting for Contamination from Probabilistic Distance Measurements

With the advent of surveys containing millions to billions of galaxies, it is imperative to develop analysis techniques that utilize the available statistical power. In galaxy clustering, even small sample contamination arising from distance uncertainties can lead to large artifacts, which the standard estimator for two-point correlation functions does not account for. We first introduce a formalism, termed decontamination, that corrects for sample contamination by utilizing the observed cross-correlations in the contaminated samples; this corrects any correlation function estimator for contamination. Using this formalism, we present a new estimator that uses the standard estimator to measure correlation functions in the contaminated samples but then corrects for contamination. We also introduce a weighted estimator that assigns each galaxy a weight in each redshift bin based on its probability of being in that bin. We demonstrate that these estimators effectively recover the true correlation functions and their covariance matrices. Our estimators can correct for sample contamination caused by misclassification between object types as well as photometric redshifts; they should be particularly helpful for studies of galaxy evolution and baryonic acoustic oscillations, where forward modeling the clustering signal using the contaminated redshift distribution is undesirable.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Rendezvous targeting

Revisions to be included in 'Space Shuttle Guidance, Navigation and Control Design Equations' are reported. Technical changes include: (1) a plane change maneuver was incorporated in the program's logic; (2) in the search for an apsidal crossing, program checks were included to update through intervals of pi in the case of near circular orbits or close proximity to an apsidal point; (3) following an astronaut overwrite of a Lambert maneuver, the state vector was updated to establish a new target vector for use in the powered flight routine; and (4) following the computation of each maneuver, the position vector of the primary vehicle was offset - to help compensate for the effects of the finite maneuver - prior to the update of the state vector to the next maneuver point. Input and output variables, detailed flow diagrams a functional flow diagram, and a description of equations are presented.

Tempelman, W. H.↗

A computer program for fitting smooth surfaces to an aircraft configuration and other three dimensional geometries

A computer program that uses a three-dimensional geometric technique for fitting a smooth surface to the component parts of an aircraft configuration is presented. The resulting surface equations are useful in performing various kinds of calculations in which a three-dimensional mathematical description is necessary. Programs options may be used to compute information for three-view and orthographic projections of the configuration as well as cross-section plots at any orientation through the configuration. The aircraft geometry input section of the program may be easily replaced with a surface point description in a different form so that the program could be of use for any three-dimensional surface equations.

Craidon, C. B.↗

Comparison of finite source and plane wave scattering from corrugated surfaces

The choice of a plane wave to represent incident radiation in the analysis of scatter from corrugated surfaces was examined. The physical optics solution obtained for the scattered fields due to an incident plane wave was compared with the solution obtained when the incident radiation is produced by a source of finite size and finite distance from the surface. The two solutions are equivalent if the observer is in the far field of the scatterer and the distance from observer to scatterer is large compared to the radius of curvature at the scatter points, condition not easily satisfied with extended scatterers such as rough surfaces. In general, the two solutions have essential differences such as in the location of the scatter points and the dependence of the scattered fields on the surface properties. The implication of these differences to the definition of a meaningful radar cross section was examined.

Levine, D. M.↗

Relationships between the curvatures of tooth surfaces in three-dimensional gear systems

A three-dimensional gear system between crossing and intersecting axes is considered under the assumption that the first derivative of the transmission ratio is zero in the vicinity of the point of contact. The following are obtained; (1) an equation that relates the normal curvatures of the tooth surfaces in the section that passes through the vector of relative velocity; (2) a relation between the principal curvatures and principal directions of the two tooth surfaces; and (3) new formulas for determining the reduced curvatures of the surfaces.

Litvin, F. L.↗

Noninvasive measures of bone bending rigidity in the monkey /M. nemestrina/

The in vivo bending rigidity and bone mineral content of monkey ulnae and tibiae were measured. Bending rigidity in the anteroposterior plane was measured by an impedance probe technique. Forced vibrations of the bones were induced with an electromechanical shaker, and force and velocity at the driving point were determined. The responses over the range of 100-250 Hz were utilized to compute the bending rigidity. Bone mineral content in the cross section was determined by a photon absorption technique. Seventeen male monkeys (Macaca nemestrina) weighing 6-14 kg were evaluated. Bending rigidity was correlated with the mineral content of the cross section, with a correlation coefficient of 0.899. Two monkeys were evaluated during prolonged hypodynamic restraint. Restraint produced regional losses of bone most obviously in the proximal tibia. The local bone mineral content declines 17 to 24% and the average bending rigidity declines 12 to 22%. Changes in bones leading to a reduction in mineral content and stiffness are discussed.

Young, D. R.↗

Registration of Heat Capacity Mapping Mission day and night images

Neither iterative registration, using drainage intersection maps for control, nor cross correlation techniques were satisfactory in registering day and night HCMM imagery. A procedure was developed which registers the image pairs by selecting control points and mapping the night thermal image to the daytime thermal and reflectance images using an affine transformation on a 1300 by 1100 pixel image. The resulting image registration is accurate to better than two pixels (RMS) and does not exhibit the significant misregistration that was noted in the temperature-difference and thermal-inertia products supplied by NASA. The affine transformation was determined using simple matrix arithmetic, a step that can be performed rapidly on a minicomputer.

Watson, K.↗

Flight test results for the Digital Integrated Automatic Landing Systems (DIALS): A modern control full-state feedback design

The Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) is discussed. The DIALS is a modern control theory design performing all the maneuver modes associated with current autoland systems: localizer capture and track, glideslope capture and track, decrab, and flare. The DIALS is an integrated full-state feedback system which was designed using direct-digital methods. The DIALS uses standard aircraft sensors and the digital Microwave Landing System (MLS) signals as measurements. It consists of separately designed longitudinal and lateral channels although some cross-coupling variables are fed between channels for improved state estimates and trajectory commands. The DIALS was implemented within the 16-bit fixed-point flight computers of the ATOPS research aircraft, a small twin jet commercial transport outfitted with a second research cockpit and a fly-by-wire system. The DIALS became the first modern control theory design to be successfully flight tested on a commercial-type aircraft. Flight tests were conducted in late 1981 using a wide coverage MLS on Runway 22 at Wallops Flight Center. All the modes were exercised including the capture and track of steep glidescopes up to 5 degrees.

Hueschen, R. M.↗

The application of periodic orbits to TOPEX mission design

This report develops analytic techniques for the application of periodic earth orbits to the design of the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX) mission. The TOPEX orbit design space is described in terms of altitude and inclination. Periodic orbits that lie within that space are determined. Specific inclinations are determined that place a ground track grid node over a point on the earth at which a radar altimeter verification site is located. The number of orbit revolutions between the two ground tracks that cross at this grid node are also calculated. Then, periodic orbits that place a ground track directly over two different verification sites are calculated and displayed in the TOPEX orbit design space. The results are used to decide on a specific orbit altitude and inclination set that satisfies TOPEX requirements.

Farless, D. L.↗

NASA's engineering research centers and interdisciplinary education

A new program of interactive education between NASA and the academic community aims to improve research and education, provide long-term, stable funding, and support cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. The mission of NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology (OAET) is discussed and it is pointed out that the OAET conducts about 10 percent of its total R&D program at U.S. universities. Other NASA university-based programs are listed including the Office of Commercial Programs Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) and the National Space Grant program. The importance of university space engineering centers and the selection of the nine current centers are discussed. A detailed composite description is provided of the University Space Engineering Research Centers. Other specialized centers are described such as the Center for Space Construction, the Mars Mission Research Center, and the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration. Approaches to educational outreach are discussed.

Johnston, Gordon I.↗