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At least 1,729 records · Page 96

The role of annealing and grain boundary controls on the mechanical properties of limestones and marbles

Chemical and mechanical processes are coupled in many geological and geochemical environments. Reactive processes anneal defects and restructure grain boundaries, modifying their elastic properties, levels of internal friction, wave propagation rates and fracture behaviors. The nature of these changes is, however, contingent on the initial state of the rock. Here, in this study, impulse excitation was used to measure changes in mechanical properties as a function of dry and steam heating time at 300 °C for three carbonate rocks: Carrara marble, Carthage marble (Burlington Limestone), and Texas Cream limestone (Edwards limestone), with initial porosities of about 1 %, 3 %, and 27 %, respectively. Frequency-dependent phenomena along with mineral recrystallization were observed. This was coupled with small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering analysis to determine the relationship between changes in bulk mechanical and microstructural properties. An observed decrease in both the Young's and shear moduli in the experimental limestones as a function of heating time reflects and quantifies a reduction in the stiffness of the rock due to annealing. The internal friction of the samples first increases then decreases with reaction time, reflecting defect annealing, but this was balanced against grain boundary dissolution apparently driven by condensation of steam in the confined grain-boundary environment. This suggests an increase in the boiling point under confinement leading to dissolution, increased porosity and widening of the grain boundaries. In addition, comparison of small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering results suggests that it is inappropriate to assume that pores are empty for quantitative analysis of typical small-angle scattering samples.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Nondestructive inspection using continuous ultrasonic wave generation

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for analyzing structures by applying a continuous ultrasonic excitation and measuring steady state response of the structures using laser Doppler vibrometery, or other techniques. In one example, a method comprises applying a continuous signal having one or more periodic tones to the structure, generating measurements of wave response to the signal at each of a plurality of inspection points of the structure, and, for each of the periodic tones, estimating wavenumbers for a number of the inspection points of the structure based on the wave response measurements and the frequency of the periodic tones. The estimated wavenumbers can be used to determine properties of the structure, including defects, damage, or variation in thickness.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Coexistence of Weyl physics and planar defects in the semimetals TaP and TaAs

We report a structural study of the Weyl semimetals TaAs and TaP, utilizing diffraction and imaging techniques, where we show that they contain a high density of defects, leading to nonstoichiometric single crystals of both semimetals. Despite the observed defects and nonstoichiometry on samples grown using techniques already reported in the literature, de Haas–van Alphen measurements on TaP reveal quantum oscillations and a high carrier mobility, an indication that the crystals are of quality comparable to those reported elsewhere. Electronic structure calculations on TaAs reveal that the position of the Weyl points relative to the Fermi level shift with the introduction of vacancies and stacking faults. In the case of vacancies the Fermi surface becomes considerably altered, while the effect of stacking faults on the electronic structure is to allow the Weyl pockets to remain close to the Fermi surface. The observation of quantum oscillations in a nonstoichiometric crystal and the persistence of Weyl fermion pockets near the Fermi surface in a crystal with stacking faults point to the robustness of these quantum phenomena in these materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Setting the Bar for the Replacement of the Probability of Collision Metric

To date, satellite conjunction assessment (CA) risk analysis has largely embraced the probability of collision (Pc) as the omnibus metric to evaluate collision likelihood, and its use in such assessments has mostly been straightforward: at the point at which a conjunction mitigation decision is required, the calculated Pc is compared to a threshold; and if the calculated Pc exceeds that threshold, then a mitigation action is warranted. With only minor variation, this approach is employed by major CA risk assessment centers (e.g., NASA, EUSST, CNES, JAXA) and is advanced as the preferred method in the published CA best practices handbooks. Despite this near unanimity of operational practice, there is a major strain of secondary literature critical of the Pc and willing to propose alternatives. Alfano (2005) pointed out the ability of the Pc to underrepresent the risk in certain situations and counselled a maximum Pc construct. Carpenter (2017, 2019) reiterated this criticism and proposed using instead a confidence interval on the miss distance. Balch et al. (2019) identified what they argued was a defect in the entire Bayesian Pc construct and believed that the use of a more conservative methodology based on covariance ellipsoid overlap was necessary. Delande (2022) introduced the framework of collision “plausibility” to the risk assessment process and sketched out how this might be used operationally. Elkantassi (2022) published a full development of the miss distance confidence interval approach and applied it to several worked examples. While these different approaches to collision risk assessment do differ in their details, they all converge on two central points: first, the Pc’s failure to give an adequate expression of the risk in dilution region situations is a fatal flaw; and second, a conjunction should be presumed risky and in need of mitigation until the evidence of the situation can establish otherwise. These criticisms, if correct, would counsel a number of modifications to current CA operational practice; as such, they force a re-examination of fundamental aspects of the CA problem, including the following: 1. Is the CA risk assessment a probability problem, a statistics problem, or something else? 2. If it is a statistics problem, does it lend itself naturally to a hypothesis test construction? 3. If it can be construed as a hypothesis test, what form should the null hypothesis take, to wit: what constraints exist on the choice of the null hypothesis, what selections are in best alignment with all of the attendant parameters of the problem, and what is implied philosophically by different choices? 4. What are the implications of using the different proposed risk assessment parameters for CA? This question should be answered both in determining how frequently the dilution region situation cited by the critics of the Pc actually appears in an operationally significant manner and the missed detection and false alarm rates of all of the proposed risk assessment metrics, compared both to the Pc and to each other. This paper explores and offers preliminary answers to the above questions, presenting a researched treatment of the philosophical nature of the CA problem and the null hypothesis choice that achieves the greatest consistency with all of the different aspects of operational CA conduct. It then profiles all of the different proposed risk assessment metrics enumerated in the earlier paragraph against an extremely large database of conjunction events at both the 550km and 700km altitudes. The combination of the philosophical exploration of the CA problem and the results of the profiling activity articulates what a risk assessment metric will need to demonstrate, in terms of both innate construction and performance, in order to be a true competitor to the Pc.

conjunction assessment↗

Trap-assisted Auger-Meitner recombination in GaN p-i-n diodes

Most properties of semiconductor devices are dominated by shallow impurities. However, deep defects often play an important role, for instance, in recombination processes or high field transport. While a variety of techniques are available to assess the density and energy levels of impurities, other properties, such as the recombination mechanisms of the defects, escape observation. We report on the direct measurement of hot electrons generated by trap-assisted Auger-Meitner recombination (TAAR) in GaN p-i-n diodes. By performing electron emission spectroscopy (EES) on diodes with surfaces activated to negative electron affinity by cesium, we observe the expected overflow electrons of p-i-n diodes under low current injection. However, when operating the devices at higher current densities, as low as ∼25 A/c⁢m 2 , we measure the emission of high-energy electrons. At variance with the observed hot electrons in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using EES, the hot electrons generated in p-i-n diodes at our tested currents cannot be from eeh Auger-Meitner recombination due to the diodes' significantly lower carrier densities compared to those in LEDs. During our measurements, we observe the emission of accumulated electrons with energies ∼0.42 eV, ∼0.99 eV, ∼1.43 eV, and ∼2.32 eV above the conduction-band minimum (CBM) at various bias conditions, suggesting the existence of conduction-band features in GaN at these energies where electrons can be long-lived, such as satellite-valley minima and inflection points. We also measure incompletely relaxed hot electrons approaching energies 1.97 ± 0.13 eV and 2.94 ± 0.13 eV above the CBM, as the diodes are biased to high currents, suggesting at least some of the TAAR partaking defects have an energy level ≳1.97 eV and ≳2.94 eV away from either the conduction or valence band edges. Additionally, at our highest operating currents, we measure hot electrons with energies 3.28 ± 0.13 eV above the CBM, providing direct evidence of TAAR processes involving shallow impurities. This unexpected observation of TAAR in GaN p-i-n diodes spotlights the importance of further studies of defects in GaN and the necessity to incorporate the multi-phonon emission, radiative, and TAAR capture steps of defect-assisted recombination cycles into device modeling. Furthermore, this experiment demonstrates the applicability of the simplest semiconductor structures, p-i-n diodes, as a test bed to study the rich recombination physics of semiconductor materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Spin Emitters beyond the Point Dipole Approximation in Nanomagnonic Cavities

Control over transition rates between spin states of emitters is crucial in a wide variety of fields ranging from quantum information science to the nanochemistry of free radicals. We present an approach to drive both electric and magnetic dipole-forbidden transitions of a spin emitter by placing it in a nanomagnonic cavity, requiring a description of both the spin emitter beyond the point dipole approximation and the vacuum magnetic fields of the nanomagnonic cavity with a large spatial gradient over the volume of the spin emitter. We specifically study the silicon vacancy (SiV – ) defect in diamond, whose Zeemansplit ground states comprise a logical qubit for solid-state quantum information processing, coupled to a magnetic nanoparticle serving as a model nanomagnonic cavity capable of concentrating microwave magnetic fields into deeply subwavelength volumes. Through first-principles modeling of the SiV – spin orbitals, we calculate the spin transition densities of magnetic dipole-allowed and -forbidden transitions and calculate their coupling rates to various multipolar modes of the nanomagnonic cavity. We envision using such a framework for manipulation of quantum spin states.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Effect of irradiation with MeV protons and electrons on the conductivity compensation and photoluminescence of moderately doped p-4H-SiC (CVD)

The compensation of moderately doped p-4H-SiC samples grown by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method under irradiation with 0.9-MeV electrons and 15-MeV protons is studied. The experimentally measured carrier removal rates are 1.2–1.6 cm{sup –1} for electrons and 240–260 cm{sup –1} for protons. The dependence of the concentration of uncompensated acceptors and donors, measured in the study, demonstrates a linear decrease with increasing irradiation dose to the point of complete compensation. This run of the dependence shows that compensation of the samples is due to the transition of carriers to deep centers formed by primary radiation-induced defects. It is demonstrated that, in contrast to n-SiC (CVD), primary defects in the carbon sublattice of moderately doped p-SiC (CVD) only cannot account for the compensation process. In p-SiC, either primary defects in the silicon sublattice, or defects in both sublattices are responsible for conductivity compensation. Also, photoluminescence spectra are examined in relation to the irradiation dose.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Radiation Effects of Protons and Electrons in Silicon Diffused-Junction Detectors

Diffused n-on-p silicon particle detectors were irradiated with 1-Mev electrons, and with 31-Mev and 8.2-Mev protons. The detector capacitance was observed to increase with electron irradiation and to decrease with proton irradiation. A physical interpretation is given in terms of defect energy levels known to be introduced in silicon by irradiation. Defect ionization states are taken to be characteristic of the space-charge region, rather than of bulk silicon. The relation to other studies of damage in semiconductor particle detectors is pointed out, considering differences in the types of detector and irradiation used. The significance of these results is discussed for detector applications where the damage threshold is exceeded.

Scott, R. E.↗

A radio optical reference frame. I - Precise radio source positions determined by Mark III VLBI - Observations from 1979 to 1988 and a tie to the FK5

Observations from 600 Mark III VLBI experiments from 1979 to 1988, resulting in 237,681 acceptable pairs of group delay and phase delay rate observations, have been used to derive positions of 182 extragalactic radio sources with typical formal standard errors less than 1 mas. The sources are distributed fairly evenly above delta = -30 deg, and 70 sources have delta greater than 0 deg. Analysis with different troposphere models, as well as internal and external comparisons, indicates that a coordinate frame defined by this set of radio sources should be reliable at the 1 mas level. The right ascension zero point of this reference frame has been aligned with the FK5 by using the optical positions of 28 extragalactic radio sources whose positions are on the FK5 system. Because of known defects in the knowledge of astronomical constants, daily nutation offsets in longitude and obliquity were determined relative to an arbitrary reference day in the set of experiments.

Ma, C.↗

Scaling Analysis of Vortex Shedding Frequency between In line Plates

The Global Threat Reduction initiative (GTRI) was established by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in 2004. One of the highlights of the program is to convert research and test reactors at home and abroad from Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuels. By switching directly from HEU to LEU, an LEU reactor produces fewer neutrons than an HEU reactor and in some cases; a direct switch from HEU to LEU results in the reactor being unable to achieve criticality. Under certain circumstances, criticality is achieved and the original neutron fluxes are restored with LEU fuel by adding more fuel elements to the core. Not all reactors, exemplified by the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Lab (INL), have the luxury of simply adding more fuel to the core. In such cases, entirely new designs must be created and tested. The ATR utilizes plate type fuel. During the design and testing of the ATR fuel, vortex shedding was identified as potential source for experiment and fuel failure. For fuel conversion, elements must be tested in pile prior to the qualification of the new fuel design. For some test elements, the primary test plate is followed by a secondary handling plate. It is known that objects downstream influence the vortex shedding. While vortex shedding is an important and well-studied phenomenon, not only in the context of nuclear engineering, but in fields as diverse as aeronautical engineering and biology, there is a significant gap in the understanding of vortex shedding in regards to two bluff bodies in line direct line with one another. The study provides a scaling analysis of the frequency of vortex shedding for plates in line. The scaling analysis is then compared to numerical simulation of two in line plates. The study provided a scaling analysis and suggested parameter for determining the expected trends in the Strouhal number for a plate with some object downstream. The analysis made the consideration of differing length scales as the cause for a reduction in vortex shedding frequency as well as looked at the potential impact of boundary layer growth on vortex shedding for a flat plate. The comparison between the expected scaling and numerical data was less than ideal, but there are several potential causes. One of the biggest issues with the comparison is the uncertainty associated with the defect velocity. The frequency was well established in several cases, but the velocity was not always well established resulting in a larger uncertainty. In the cases where the velocity was near zero (i.e. b/d = 0.5), the uncertainty dominated since the corrected Strouhal number is divided by the defect velocity. The Reynolds numbers were not incredibly large, ranging from 350-1600. The low Reynolds numbers potentially undermine the principle assumption made in the scaling analysis, i.e. Reynolds number is negligibly small. Additionally, the exact definition of the 'reduced velocity' was never explicitly defined, merely inferred from the assumption that the x length scale and y length scale were in fact different. Another potential problem is the defect velocities in the lower Reynolds number cases were not much smaller than the free stream velocity. Further work needs to be done at higher Reynolds numbers and with more data points to ensure the assumptions made are valid as well as confirm the accuracy of the scaled relationship. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗

Molecular-Dynamics Analysis of the Mechanical Behavior of Plasma-Facing Tungsten

We report a systematic computational analysis of the mechanical behavior of plasma-facing component (PFC) tungsten focusing on the impact of void and helium (He) bubble defects on the mechanical response beyond the elastic regime. Specifically, we explore the effects of porosity and He atomic fraction on the mechanical properties and structural response of PFC tungsten, at varying temperature and bubble size. We find that the Young modulus of defective tungsten undergoes substantial softening that follows an exponential scaling relation as a function of matrix porosity and He atomic content. Beyond the elastic regime, our high strain rate simulations reveal that the presence of nanoscale spherical defects (empty voids and He bubbles) reduces the yield strength of tungsten in a monotonically decreasing fashion, obeying an exponential scaling relation as a function of tungsten matrix porosity and He concentration. Our detailed analysis of the structural response of PFC tungsten near the yield point reveals that yielding is initiated by emission of dislocation loops from bubble/matrix interfaces, mainly 1/2<111> shear loops, followed by gliding and growth of these loops and reactions to form <100> dislocations. Furthermore, dislocation gliding on the <111>{211} twin systems nucleates 1/6<111> twin regions in the tungsten matrix. These dynamical processes reduce the stress in the matrix substantially. Subsequent dislocation interactions and depletion of the twin phases via nucleation and propagation of detwinning partials lead the tungsten matrix to a next deformation stage characterized by stress increase during applied straining. Furthermore, our structural analysis reveals that the depletion of twin boundaries (areal defects) is strongly impacted by the density of He bubbles at higher porosities. After the initial stress relief upon yielding, increase in the dislocation density in conjunction with decrease in the areal defect density facilitates the initiation of dislocation-driven deformation mechanisms in the PFC crystal.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Comparative first-principles studies of prototypical ferroelectric materials by LDA, GGA, and SCAN meta-GGA

Originating from a broken spatial inversion symmetry, ferroelectricity is a functionality of materials with an electric dipole that can be switched by external electric fields. Spontaneous polarization is a crucial ferroelectric property, and its amplitude is determined by the strength of polar structural distortions. Density functional theory (DFT) is one of the most widely used theoretical methods to study ferroelectric properties, yet it is limited by the levels of approximations in electron exchange-correlation. On the one hand, the local density approximation (LDA) is considered to be more accurate for the conventional perovskite ferroelectrics such as BaTiO 3 and PbTiO 3 than the generalized gradient approximation (GGA),which suffers from the so-called super-tetragonality error. On the other hand, GGA is more suitable for hydrogen-bonded ferroelectrics than LDA, which largely overestimates the strength of hydrogen bonding in general. We demonstrate here that the recently developed general-purpose strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA functional significantly improves over the traditional LDA/GGA for structural, electric, and energetic properties of diversely bonded ferroelectric materials with a comparable computational effort and thus enhances largely the predictive power of DFT in studies of ferroelectric materials. We also address the observed system-dependent performances of LDA and GGA for ferroelectrics from a chemical bonding point of view.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Combining of different data pools for calculating a reliable POD for real defects

Real defects are essential for the evaluation of the reliability of non destructive testing (NDT) methods, especially in relation to the integrity of components. But in most of the cases the amount of available real defects is not sufficient to evaluate the system. Model-assisted and transfer functions are one way to handle that challenge. This study is focused on a combination of different data pools to create a sufficient amount of data for the reliability estimation. A widespread approach for calculating the Probability of Detection (POD) was used on a radiographic testing (RT) method. The highest contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of each indication is usually selected as the signal in the 'â vs. a' (signal-response) approach for RT. By combining real and artificial defects (flat bottom holes, side drill holes, flat bottom squares, notches, etc) in RT the highest signals are close to each other, but the process of creating and evaluating real defects is much more complex. The solution is seen in the combination of real and artificial data using a weighted least square approach. The weights for real or artificial data were based on the importance, the value and the different detection behavior of the different data. For comparison, the alternative combination through the Bayesian Updating was also applied. As verification, a data pool with a large amount of real data was available. In an advanced approach for evaluating the digital RT data, the size of the indication (perpendicular to the X-ray beam) was introduced as additional information. The signal now consists of the CNR and the area of the indication. The detectability is changing depending on the area of the indication, a fact that was ignored in the previous POD calculations for RT. This points out that a weighted least square approach to pool the data might no longer be adequate. The Bayesian Updating of the estimated parameters of the relationship between the signal field (the area of the indication) and the geometry of the defects is seen as the appropriate model to combine the different defect types in a useful and meaningful way. This work was carried out together with the Finnish company for spent nuclear fuel and waste management - Posiva Oy. The digital RT is one of the NDT methods that might be used for the inspection of the weld of the copper canister to be used for the spent nuclear fuel in the Scandinavian concept of final disposal.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Digital memcomputing: From logic to dynamics to topology

Digital memcomputing machines (DMMs) are a class of computational machines designed to solve combinatorial optimization problems. A practical realization of DMMs can be accomplished via electrical circuits of highly non-linear, point-dissipative dynamical systems engineered so that periodic orbits and chaos can be avoided. A given logic problem is first mapped into this type of dynamical system whose point attractors represent the solutions of the original problem. A DMM then finds the solution via a succession of elementary instantons whose role is to eliminate solitonic configurations of logical inconsistency (“logical defects”) from the circuit. By employing a supersymmetric theory of dynamics, a DMM can be described by a cohomological field theory that allows for computation of certain topological matrix elements on instantons that have the mathematical meaning of intersection numbers on instantons. We discuss the “dynamical” meaning of these matrix elements, and argue that the number of elementary instantons needed to reach the solution cannot exceed the number of state variables of DMMs, which in turn can only grow at most polynomially with the size of the problem. These results shed further light on the relation between logic, dynamics and topology in digital memcomputing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Li 2 OHCl crystalline electrolyte for stable metallic lithium anodes

In a classic example of stability from instability, we show that Li 2 OHCl solid electrolyte forms a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) with metallic lithium anode. The Li 2 OHCl solid electrolyte can be readily achieved through simple mixing of air-stable LiOH and LiCl precursors with a mild processing temperature under 400 °C. Additionally, we show that continuous, dense Li 2 OHCl membranes can be fabricated at temperatures less than 400 °C, standing in great contrast to current processing temperatures of over 1600 °C for most oxide-based solid electrolytes. The ionic conductivity and Arrhenius activation energy were explored for the LiOH-LiCl system of crystalline solid electrolytes where Li 2 OHCl with increased crystal defects was found to have the highest ionic conductivity and reasonable Arrhenius activation energy. The Li 2 OHCl solid electrolyte displays stability against metallic lithium, even in extreme conditions past the melting point of lithium metal. Furthermore, to understand this excellent stability, we show that SEI formation is critical in stabilizing the interface between metallic lithium and the Li 2 OHCl solid electrolyte.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Three-dimensional neutron far-field tomography of a bulk skyrmion lattice

Abstract Magnetic skyrmions are localized non-collinear spin textures, characterized by an integer topological charge. Commonly observed in thin systems as two-dimensional sheets, in three dimensions skyrmions form tubes that are thought to nucleate and annihilate along their depth on points of vanishing magnetization. However, a lack of techniques that can probe the bulk of the material has made it difficult to perform experimental visualizations of skyrmion lattices and their stabilization through defects. Here we present three-dimensional visualizations of a bulk Co 8 Zn 8 Mn 4 skyrmion lattice through a tomographic algorithm applied to multiprojection small-angle neutron scattering measurements. Reconstructions of the sample show a disordered skyrmion lattice exhibiting three-dimensional topological transitions through emergent (anti)monopole branching and segmentation defect pathways. Our technique provides insights into skyrmion stabilization and topological transition pathways in a bulk skyrmion lattice, guiding the future development and manipulation of skyrmion materials for spintronic applications.

Physics↗

Transient Studies of Nonequilibrium Transport in Two-Dimensional Semiconductors

The overarching objective of research under DOE support has been to investigate emergent carrier phenomena in different two-dimensional (2D) systems, under conditions where they are driven far from equilibrium. The description of nonequilibrium transport has long represented one of the most enduring challenges in condensed-matter physics, in large part due to the need to invoke the role of complex many-body phenomena (electron-phonon and electron-electron coupling) in this regime. In this project, we have explored aspects of this problem in a variety of different two-dimensional systems. These include the modulation-doped two-dimensional electrons gas, or 2DEG, in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures; the electron and hole systems in graphene and its related hetero-structures, and; the strongly-confined electron layers in transition-metal dichalcogenide (MoS 2 and WS 2 ) and trichalcogenide (TiS 3 ) materials. Significant understanding has been achieved in a number of different areas, as we elaborate upon in subsequent sections of this proposal: Nanoscale spectroscopy of defect-related barriers in MoS2 Negative differential conductance due to inter-valley scattering in WS 2 under high fields Incipient localization due to scattering from frozen-phonon disorder in quantum point contacts High-field transient transport in graphene/hexagonal BN heterostructures Universal voltage scaling of quantum corrections in graphene under nonequilibrium A defining feature of much of this research has been an approach to problem solving in which novel experimental techniques (such as transient electrical pulsing and scanning-probe microscopy) are combined with the development (in collaboration with colleagues from condensed-matter theory) of sophisticated models, a strategy that we propose to continue in our future research. In recent years, we have developed an increasing capacity for handling atomically-thin materials, and their van der Waals systems, a capacity that is reflected in the balance of topics listed above.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗