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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

XPS Study of Thermally Evaporated Ge-Sb-Te Amorphous Thin Films

Amorphous thin films were prepared from the bulk composition of Ge{sub 22}Sb{sub 22}Te{sub 56}(GST) alloy by thermal evaporation in good vacuum condition. The amorphous nature of as-deposited films was checked with x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to determine the binding energies of the core electrons in amorphous thin GST films. In XPS, we performed the survey scan from the binding energy (BE) range from 0-1100 eV and core level spectra of Ge 3d, Sb 3d and Te 3d.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Atomic Layer Deposited Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} as Characterized Reference Samples for Nanolayer Metrology

Plasma assisted Atomic Layer Deposition Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} samples were studied using an approach of complementary metrology using Ellipsometry, X-Ray Reflectivity, Atomic Force Microscopy, and Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence. For modeling the samples, an interfacial rough SiO{sub 2} layer has to be assumed. The excellent linearity of the ALD process was used to cross check Ellipsometry and X-Ray Reflectivity. In contrast to Ellipsometry, X-Ray Reflectivity showed a residual surface layer, identified as chlorine contaminated layer by TXRF. The samples are shown to be ideal candidates for calibration of X-ray fluorescence as the Al signal linearly depends on the film thickness or ALD cycles. Furthermore, the impact of self-absorption of thick layers for TXRF was shown by the samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

A comparative study of the electrical properties of Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts fabricated using electron beam deposition and resistive/thermal evaporation techniques

A systematic investigation to check the quality of Pd Schottky contacts deposited on ZnO has been performed on electron beam (e-beam) deposited and resistively/thermally evaporated samples using current-voltage, IV, and conventional deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. Room temperature IV measurements reveal the dominance of pure thermionic emission on the resistively evaporated contacts, while the e-beam deposited contacts show the dominance of generation recombination at low voltages, <0.30 V, and the dominance of pure thermionic emission at high voltages, greater than 0.30 V. The resistively evaporated contacts have very low reverse currents of the order of 10{sup -10} A at a reverse voltage of 1.0 V whereas the e-beam deposited contacts have reverse currents of the order of 10{sup -6} A at 1.0 V. Average ideality factors have been determined as (1.43 {+-} 0.01) and (1.66 {+-} 0.02) for the resistively evaporated contacts and e-beam deposited contacts, respectively. The IV barrier heights have been calculated as (0.721 {+-} 0.002) eV and (0.624 {+-} 0.005) eV for the resistively evaporated and e-beam deposited contacts, respectively. Conventional DLTS measurements reveal the presence of three prominent defects in both the resistive and e-beam contacts. Two extra peaks with energy levels of 0.60 and 0.81 eV below the conduction band minimum have been observed in the e-beam deposited contacts. These have been explained as contributing to the generation recombination current that dominates at low voltages and high leakage currents. Based on the reverse current at 1.0 V, the degree of rectification, the dominant current transport mechanism and the observed defects, we conclude that the resistive evaporation technique yields better quality Schottky contacts for use in solar cells and ultraviolet detectors compared to the e-beam deposition technique. The 0.60 eV has been identified as possibly related to the unoccupied level for the doubly charged oxygen vacancy, V{sub o}{sup 2+}.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Refined tip preparation by electrochemical etching and ultrahigh vacuum treatment to obtain atomically sharp tips for scanning tunneling microscope and atomic force microscope

A modification of the common electrochemical etching setup is presented. The described method reproducibly yields sharp tungsten tips for usage in the scanning tunneling microscope and tuning fork atomic force microscope. In situ treatment under ultrahigh vacuum (p {<=}10{sup -10} mbar) conditions for cleaning and fine sharpening with minimal blunting is described. The structure of the microscopic apex of these tips is atomically resolved with field ion microscopy and cross checked with field emission.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Nonlinear stability of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic interchange mode at marginal conditions in a transverse magnetic field

The stability of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interchange mode at marginal conditions is studied. A sufficiently strong constant magnetic field component transverse to the direction of mode symmetry provides the marginality conditions. A systematic perturbation analysis in the smallness parameter, |b{sub 2}/B{sub c}|{sup 1/2}, is carried out, where B{sub c} is the critical transverse magnetic field for the zero-frequency ideal mode and b{sub 2} is the deviation from B{sub c}. The calculation is carried out to third order including nonlinear terms. It is shown that the system is nonlinearly unstable in the short wavelength limit, i.e., a large enough perturbation results in instability even if b{sub 2}/B{sub c} > 0 (linearly stable). The normalized amplitude for instability is shown to scale as |b{sub 2}/B{sub c}|{sup 1/2}. A nonlinear, compressible, MHD simulation is done to check the analytic result. Good agreement is found, including the critical amplitude scaling.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Cryogenic lifetime tests on a commercial epoxy resin high voltage bushing

High-temperature superconducting (HTS) power devices operating in liquid nitrogen frequently require high-voltage bushings to carry the current leads from the superconducting windings to the room temperature grid connections. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collaborating with Waukesha Electric Systems, SuperPower, and Southern California Edison to develop and demonstrate an HTS utility power transformer. Previous dielectric high voltage tests in support of this program have been carried out in test cryostats with commercial epoxy resin bushings from Electro Composites Inc. (ECI). Though the bushings performed well in these short-term tests, their long-term operation at high voltage in liquid nitrogen needs to be verified for use on the utility grid. Long-term tests are being carried out on a sample 28-kV-class ECI bushing. The bushing has a monolithic cast, cycloaliphatic resin body and is fire- and shatter-resistant. The test cryostat is located in an interlocked cage and is energized at 25 kVac around the clock. Liquid nitrogen (LN) is automatically refilled every 9.5 hours. Partial discharge, capacitance, and leakage resistance tests are periodically performed to check for deviations from factory values. At present, over 2400 hours have been accumulated with no changes in these parameters. The tests are scheduled to run for four to six months.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Measurements of the runaway electron energy during disruptions in the tokamak TEXTOR

Calorimetric measurements of the total runaway electron energy are carried out using a reciprocating probe during induced TEXTOR disruptions. A comparison with the energy inferred from runaway energy spectra, which are measured with a scintillator probe, is used as an independent check of the results. A typical runaway current of 100 kA at TEXTOR contains 30 to 35 kJ of runaway energy. The dependencies of the runaway energy on the runaway current, the radial probe position, the toroidal magnetic field and the predisruptive plasma current are studied. The conversion efficiency of the magnetic plasma energy into runaway energy is calculated to be up to 26%.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Calibration techniques for fast-ion D{sub {alpha}} diagnostics

Fast-ion D{sub {alpha}} measurements are an application of visible charge-exchange recombination (CER) spectroscopy that provide information about the energetic ion population. Like other CER diagnostics, the standard intensity calibration is obtained with an integrating sphere during a vacuum vessel opening. An alternative approach is to create plasmas where the fast-ion population is known, then calculate the expected signals with a synthetic diagnostic code. The two methods sometimes agree well but are discrepant in other cases. Different background subtraction techniques and simultaneous measurements of visible bremsstrahlung and of beam emission provide useful checks on the calibrations and calculations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino masses

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0{nu}{beta}{beta}) is a promising test for lepton number violating physics beyond the standard model (SM) of particle physics. There is a deep connection between this decay and the phenomenon of neutrino masses. In particular, we will discuss the relation between 0{nu}{beta}{beta} and Majorana neutrino masses provided by the so-called Schechter-Valle theorem in a quantitative way. Furthermore, we will present an experimental cross check to discriminate 0{nu}{beta}{beta} from unknown nuclear background using only one isotope, i.e., within one experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Screenings and vertex operators of quantum superalgebra U{sub q}(sl-caret(N|1))

We construct the screening currents of the quantum superalgebra U{sub q}(sl-caret(N|1)) for an arbitrary level k{ne}-N+ 1. We show that these screening currents commute with the superalgebra modulo total difference. We propose bosonizations of the vertex operators by using the screening currents. We check that these vertex operators are the intertwiners among the Fock-Wakimoto representation and the typical representation for rank N Less-Than-Or-Slanted-Equal-To 4.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Manufacturing of diamond windows for synchrotron radiation

A new diamond window construction is presented and explicit manufacturing details are given. This window will increase the power dissipation by about a factor of 4 over present day state of the art windows to absorb 600 W of power. This power will be generated by in-vacuum undulators with the storage ring ALBA operating at a design current of 400 mA. Extensive finite element (FE) calculations are included to predict the windows behavior accompanied by explanations for the chosen boundary conditions. A simple linear model was used to cross-check the FE calculations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Uncertainty evaluation for the matrix 'solidified state' of fissionable elements

In case of the analysis of the radioactive liquid samples, no matter the relative physical analysis method used, two impediments act that belong to the behavior in time of the dispersion state of the liquid samples to be analyzed and of the standard used in the analysis. That is, one of them refers to the state of the sample to be analyzed when being sampled, which 'alter' during the time elapsed from sampling up to the analysis of the sample. The other impediment is the natural change of the dispersion state of the standard radioactive solutions, due to the occurrence and evolution in time of the radiocolloidal and pseudo-radiocolloidal states. These radiocolloidal states are states of aggregation and they lead to the destruction of the homogeneity of the solutions. Taking into consideration the advantages offered by the relative physical methods of analysis as against the chemical or the radiochemical ones, different ways of eliminating these impediments have been tried. We eliminated these impediments processing the liquid reference materials (the solutions calibrated in radionuclides of interest), immediately after the preparation. This processing changes the liquid physical state of the reference materials in a 'solidified state'. Through this procedure the dispersion states of the samples, practically, can no longer be essentially modified in time and also ensure the uniform distribution of the radionuclides of interest in the elemental matrix of the samples 'state solidified'. The homogeneity of the distribution of the atoms of the radionuclides from the samples 'solidified state' was checked up through the track micromapping technique of the alpha particles. Through this technique, in the chemically etched track detectors that were put in direct contact with the sample for a determined period of time, the alpha exposure time of the detectors, micromaps of alpha tracks were obtained. These micromaps are retorts through tracks of the distributions atoms of fissionable elements (Thorium e.g.), of which, heavy charged particles, in this case the alpha radiations naturally emitted, were registered in the CR-39 track detectors. The density of alpha track from the obtained track micromaps was studied through common optic microscopy. Micromaps were studied counting the tracks on equal areas, in different measurement points. For the study of the foils prepared within the paper, the studied area was of 4.9 mm2, formed of 10 fields of 0.49 mm2 area each. The estimation of the uncertainty was carried out for all the sizes that were measured within the paper, no matter if they participate, directly or indirectly, in the estimation of the uncertainty regarding the homogeneity of the Thorium atoms distribution in the 'solidified state' foils of the standard solution calibrated in Thorium, such as: i) the weighted masses, ii) the dropped volumes of solution, iii) the alpha duration of exposure of the detectors, iv) the area studied on the surface of the micromap and v) the densities of alpha tracks. The procedure suggested allowed us to considerate that the homogeneity of alpha tracks distribution, on the surface and in thickness, is within the limits of 3.1%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Oblique electron-cyclotron-emission radial and phase detector of rotating magnetic islands applied to alignment and modulation of electron-cyclotron-current-drive for neoclassical tearing mode stabilization

A two channel oblique electron cyclotron emission (ECE) radiometer was installed on the DIII-D tokamak and interfaced to four gyrotrons. Oblique ECE was used to toroidally and radially localize rotating magnetic islands and so assist their electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) stabilization. In particular, after manipulations operated by the interfacing analogue circuit, the oblique ECE signals directly modulated the current drive in synch with the island rotation and in phase with the island O-point, for a more efficient stabilization. Apart from the different toroidal location, the diagnostic view is identical to the ECCD launch direction, which greatly simplified the real-time use of the signals. In fact, a simple toroidal extrapolation was sufficient to lock the modulation to the O-point phase. This was accomplished by a specially designed phase shifter of nearly flat response over the 1-7 kHz range. Moreover, correlation analysis of two channels slightly above and below the ECCD frequency allowed checking the radial alignment to the island, based on the fact that for satisfactory alignment the two signals are out of phase.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Neutron capture cross section measurements at the beam line 04 of J-PARC/MLF

An Accurate Neutron-Nucleus Reaction measurement Instrument (ANNRI) at the beam line 04 of MLF (Material and Life Sciences Experimental Facilities) of J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) was installed to measure neutron capture cross sections related to the research and development of innovative nuclear systems, the study on nuclear astrophysics, etc. ANNRI has two gamma-ray spectrometers: one is a Ge detector array placed at 22 m from the coupled type moderator of the spallation neutron source of J-PARC/MLF and the other is a pair of NaI(Tl) detectors at 28 m. Until the 11th of March, 2011, when we had big earthquakes, we measured capture cross sections of Zr-93, Tc-99, Pd-107, I-129, Cm-244, Cm-246, etc. After checking and repairing ANNRI, we restarted measurements, and ANNRI has been open to worldwide users at present.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

{eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma} and {eta} Prime {yields}{eta}{gamma}{gamma}: A primer analysis

The electromagnetic rare decays {eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma} and {eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma} are analysed for the first time and their predicted branching ratios given. The vector meson exchange dominant contribution is treated using Vector Meson Dominance and the scalar component is estimated by means of the Linear Sigma Model. The agreement between our calculation and the measurement of the related process {eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma} is a check of the procedure. Scalar meson effects are seen to be irrelevant for {eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma}, while a significant scalar contribution due to the {sigma}(500) resonance seems to emerge in the case of {eta} Prime {yields}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}{gamma}. Future measurements coming from KLOE-2, Crystal Ball, WASA, and BES-III will elucidate if any of these processes carry an important scalar contribution or they are simply driven by the exchange of vector mesons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

An isocenter detection and verification device for use in proton therapy

We developed a new device for isocenter detection and verification for use in proton therapy. This device can be used to confirm the isocenters of a room laser, a digital radiography system, and a rotational gantry. Agreement between the isocenters of a room laser and a digital radiography system was examined visually. We used the star-shots method for detecting and verifying the rotational gantry isocenter. The gafchromic film could be irradiated with this method using a 2 mm slitted 200 MeV proton beam. The isocenters of a room laser and digital radiography system were in good agreement. The size distribution of the isocenter by the star-shots method was <2 mm, which is the value recommended by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 142. This new device can be used to evaluate comprehensive isocenter detection and verification for related equipment. Subsequent checking using this new device will decrease the uncertainty in measuring an isocenter. When using this device, the working time was significantly reduced to about 30 min, including preparation. These measurements should be useful for high accuracy daily treatments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

RF optimization and analysis of the 805-MHz cavity for the MuCool program using ACE3P

An 805 MHz pillbox cavity tested at Fermilab's MTA facility showed significant degradation in gradient when operated in a several Tesla solenoidal magnetic field. We have used the advanced ACE3P simulation codes developed at SLAC to study the cavity dark current and multipacting characteristics to gain more insight into the gradient limitations. We also checked whether there is an optimal cavity length that minimizes the dark current impact energy. Finally, we have improved on the cavity design, significantly lowering the fields outside the beam area. These and other results are presented in this paper.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Magnetic and magnetodielectric properties of erbium iron garnet ceramic

An Er{sub 3}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} ceramic has been sintered in oxygen atmosphere at 1400 Degree-Sign C for dielectric measurements. Its structural quality at room temperature has been checked by combining transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in the cubic space group Ia3d with a = 12.3488(1). The dielectric permittivity ({epsilon} Prime ) and losses (tan {delta}) measurements as a function of temperature reveal the existence of two anomalies, a broad one between 110 K and 80 K, attributed to the Er{sup 3+} spin reorientation, and a second sharper feature at about 45 K associated to the appearance of irreversibility on the magnetic susceptibility curves. In contrast to the lack of magnetic field impact on {epsilon} Prime for the former anomaly, a complex magnetic field effect has been evidenced below 45 K. The isothermal {epsilon} Prime (H) curves show the existence of positive magnetodielectric effect, reaching a maximum of 0.14% at 3 T and 10 K. Its magnitude decreases as H is further increased. Interestingly, for the lowest H values, a linear regime in the {epsilon} Prime (H) curve is observed. From this experimental study, it is concluded that the {epsilon} Prime anomaly, starting above the compensation temperature T{sub c} (75 K) and driven by the internal magnetic field, is not sensitive to an applied external magnetic field. Thus, below 45 K, it is the magnetic structure which is responsible for the coupling between spin and charge in this iron garnet.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗