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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Experimental demonstration of optical stochastic cooling

Particle accelerators and storage rings have been transformative instruments of discovery, and, for many applications, innovations in particle-beam cooling have been a principal driver of that success. Stochastic cooling (SC), one of the most important conceptual and technological advances in this area cools a beam through granular sampling and correction of its phase-space structure, thus bearing resemblance to a ‘Maxwell’s demon’. The extension of SC from the microwave regime up to optical frequencies and bandwidths has long been pursued, as it could increase the achievable cooling rates by three to four orders of magnitude and provide a powerful tool for future accelerators. First proposed nearly 30 years ago, optical stochastic cooling (OSC) replaces the conventional microwave elements of SC with optical-frequency analogues and is, in principle, compatible with any species of charged-particle beam. Here we describe a demonstration of OSC in a proof-of-principle experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Integrable Optics Test Accelerator. The experiment used 100-MeV electrons and a non-amplified configuration of OSC with a radiation wavelength of 950 nm, and achieved strong, simultaneous cooling of the beam in all degrees of freedom. This realization of SC at optical frequencies serves as a foundation for more advanced experiments with high-gain optical amplification, and advances opportunities for future operational OSC systems with potential benefit to a broad user community in the accelerator-based sciences.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS2010

Two-Phase Thermal Switching System for a Small, Extended Duration Lunar Science Platform

Issue: extended duration lunar science platforms, using solar/battery or radioisotope power, require thermal switching systems that: a) Provide efficient cooling during the 15-earth-day 390 K lunar day; b) Consume minimal power during the 15-earth-day 100 K lunar night. Objective: carry out an analytical study of thermal switching systems that can meet the thermal requirements of: a) International Lunar Network (ILN) anchor node mission - primary focus; b) Other missions such as polar crater landers. ILN Anchor Nodes: network of geophysical science platforms to better understand the interior structure/composition of the moon: a) Rationale: no data since Apollo seismic stations ceased operation in 1977; b) Anchor Nodes: small, low-power, long-life (6-yr) landers with seismographic and a few other science instruments (see next chart); c) WEB: warm electronics box houses ILN anchor node electronics/batteries. Technology Need: thermal switching system that will keep the WEB cool during the lunar day and warm during the lunar night.

Bugby, D.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Study of Advanced Photocathodes for Highly Polarized Electron Source

GaAs-based photocathodes have been widely used in the photogun to produce spin polarized electron beams. These photocathodes in the photogun are required to provide high quantum efficiency (QE), high degree of electron-spin polarization (ESP) and long lifetime to satisfy demanding requirements of today's electron accelerators. Photocathodes that demonstrate improved performance will enable the successful construction of proposed new accelerators that will enable new physics research. This thesis presents several studies of polarization photocathodes aimed to quantifying and further understanding the limitation of today's GaAs-based photocathodes, and then successfully identifies effective methods to improve their performance to meet the requirements of the state-of-the-art and future advanced electron accelerators. Up to now, the strained superlattice GaAs-based photocathodes is the only material that provide electron beam with high ESP (~90%) for electron accelerators, but its primary drawback is that the QE is low (~1%). These photocathodes have already been successfully used in electron accelerators (such as CEBAF at JLab), but the low QE is very hard to satisfy the urgent demands of some new proposed electron accelerators (such as eRHIC requires the beam current up to 50 mA). Thus, it is extremely urgent to improve greatly the QE of these polarization photocathodes. This thesis reports a high?polarization strained GaAs/GaAsP superlattice photocathode fabricated with Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) structure, which successful achieved a breakthrough in the QE (~6%) that is improved several times over the existing QE (~1.2%), while still maintaining high ESP, through stringent parameter design and repeated experimental optimization. This provides important benchmark parameter for several proposed electron accelerators and will significantly shorten the development process for producing mA order of magnitude of electron beam with high polarization. The photocathode lifetime is one of the main factors of modern DC high voltage photogun, and long lifetime provides a necessary condition for photogun to provide a sustained and stable electron beam. Although it has been realized that the lifetime of photocathodes is primarily limited by ion back?bombardment, until now, no systematic studies of the effects of ion back-bombardment on photocathodes have been performed, of which many physical mechanisms are unclear. In this thesis, the sensitivity of QE decay (or lifetime) to ion back-bombardment is studied and evaluated in detail for the first time, giving the important conclusion that the best choice for a photogun using GaAs-based photocathodes would be surface cleave plane (110). This study provides an important theory for II photogun researchers to understand the ion back-bombardment and helps to prolong the operating lifetime of photogun in future. The ESP obtained from typical bulk unstrained GaAs photocathodes is usually considerably less than the theoretical maximum value of 50% because of depolarization (or spin relaxation) mechanisms that originate within the photocathode material and at the vacuum surface interface (i.e. activation layer). This thesis provides a comprehensive review of depolarization mechanisms and presents a systematic experimental evaluation of polarization sensitivities to temperature, dopant density, activation layer and crystal orientation. One of the key findings is that the bulk unstrained GaAs photocathode can provide the highest polarization ~50%, consistent with the maximum theoretical value, when the photocathode sample had relatively low dopant concentration and was cooled to 77 K. This study helps to better understand the mechanisms of polarization loss of electrons in the GaAs photocathode, and benefits to produce electron beam with higher ESP from GaAs photocathode. A novelstrained superlattice structure, GaAsSb/AlGaAs photocathode, is also proposed and studied in this thesis, and some experiments for it have been performed. Although the experimental results are not as good as our expectation, it provides a strong research foundation for future development of high polarization photocathodes. Finally, a brief summary of the work under preparation for generation of mA record-level high-current polarized electron beam from the Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at JLab is presented.

Liu, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2022

Bond Length Alternation and Internal Dynamics in Model Aromatic Substituents of Lignin

In this report broadband microwave spectra were recorded over the 2-18 GHz frequency range for a series of four model aromatic components of lignin; namely, guaiacol (ortho-methoxy phenol, G), syringol (2,6-dimethoxy phenol, S), 4-methyl guaiacol (MG), and 4-vinyl guaiacol (VG), under jet-cooled conditions in the gas phase. Using a combination of 13 C isotopic data and electronic structure calculations, distortions of the phenyl ring by the substituents on the ring are identified. In all four molecules, the r C(1)-C(6) bond between the two substituted C-atoms lengthens, leading to clear bond alternation that reflects an increase in the phenyl ring resonance structure with double bonds at r C(1)-C(2) , r C(3)-C(4) and r C(5)-C(6) . Syringol, with its symmetric methoxy substituents, possesses a microwave spectrum with tunneling doublets in the a-type transitions associated with H-atom tunneling. These splittings were fit to determine a barrier to hindered rotation of the OH group of 1975 cm -1 , a value nearly 50% greater than that in phenol, due to the presence of the intramolecular OH…OCH 3 H-bonds at the two equivalent planar geometries. In 4-methyl guaiacol, methyl rotor splittings are observed and used to confirm and refine an earlier measurement of the three-fold barrier V 3 = 67 cm -1 . Finally, 4-vinyl guaiacol shows transitions due to two conformers differing in the relative orientations of the vinyl and OH groups.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Oxide–Metal Interactions During Hot Isostatic Pressing to Diffusion Bond Aluminum Alloy 6061 Plates

The interaction between Mg, Si, and Al 2 O 3 during hot isostatic pressing diffusion bonding of aluminum alloy 6061 (AA6061) plates was investigated through thermodynamic calculations and experimental microstructural characterization. Thermodynamic calculations as functions of temperature, pressure, and composition revealed that the interaction among Mg, Si, and Al 2 O 3 yields Mg 2 Si and either MgO + Al or MgAl 2 O 4 + Al, facilitating the reduction of Al 2 O 3 and allowing Al/Al metallic bonds to form. Total pressure variation had a negligible influence on the oxygen partial pressure, and consequently, the reaction product formation. Oxygen partial pressure variation as a function of temperature and initial amount of Al 2 O 3 determined the formation of either MgO or MgAl 2 O 4 . Experimental Hot Isostatic Pressure (HIP) bonding at 723 K and 833 K under a constant pressure of 1017 atm documented the cooling rate-dependent formation of β–Mg 2 Si precipitates. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging and selected area electron diffraction patterns verified the formation of β–Mg 2 Si and MgO at the interface but did not detect MgAl 2 O 4 . In conclusion, findings from this study clarify the role of thermochemical interactions in oxide disruption and bonding mechanisms during HIP diffusion bonding of AA6061 and provide guidance for optimizing joining processes for monolithic nuclear fuel assemblies.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Interplay of structural fluctuations and charge carrier dynamics is key for high performance of hybrid lead halide perovskites

The ability of methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI 3 ) to achieve photoelectric conversion efficiency that is on par with crystalline silicon has led to a surge of interest in perovskite photovoltaics. However, an in-depth understanding of how the ubiquitous coupling between the fast rovibrational movements of the organic cations and the phonon vibrations of the inorganic framework affects the relaxation and recombination of hot carriers remains largely elusive. Access to such knowledge is critical to guide design and increase efficiency of new classes of perovskite solar cells. In this report, we report a time-domain ab initio investigation of temperature dependent excited state dynamics in MAPbI 3 , with particular emphasis on nuclear anharmonic effects. The observed strong anharmonicity is attributed to softness of the material and unusual dynamical coupling between the organic and inorganic components. At an elevated temperature, the hydrogen bonding between MA and iodines is weakened, enhancing rotation of MA cations, which become more dynamically disordered. As a result, thermal vibrations of the inorganic Pb–I sublattice are suppressed, and the lattice anharmonicity is decreased. Thermal fluctuations of the electronic energy levels are found to follow the trend of anharmonic motions of Pb and I atoms, with holes relaxing faster to the band edges than electrons, due to higher density of the hole states. While elevated temperature accelerates intraband carrier cooling, it slows nonradiative carrier recombination. The latter result is important for performance, since solar cells and other devices heat up during operation. The reported signatures of coupled structural dynamics of the organic cations and inorganic framework unravel the interplay between anomalous structural fluctuations and charge carrier dynamics, which is of particular importance for fundamental understanding of the structure–property relationships in hybrid metal halide perovskites.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controlling compositional homogeneity and crystalline orientation in Bi 0.8 Sb 0.2 thermoelectric thin films [Control of composition and crystallinity in Bi 0.8 Sb 0.2 thermoelectric thin films].

Controlling alloy composition, crystalline quality, and crystal orientation is necessary to achieve high thermoelectric performance in Bi 1-x Sb x thin films. These microstructural attributes are demonstrated in this letter via co-sputter deposition of Bi and Sb metals on Si/SiO 2 substrates followed by ex-situ post anneals ranging from 200 – 300 °C in forming gas with rapid cooling to achieve orientation along the trigonal axis. We show with cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry that 50 – 95% of the Sb segregates at the surface upon exposure to air during transfer. This then forms a nanocrystalline Sb 2 O 3 layer upon annealing, leaving the bulk of the film primarily Bi metal which is a poor thermoelectric material. We demonstrate a SiN capping technique to eliminate Sb segregation and preserve a uniform composition throughout the thickness of the film. Given that the Bi 1-x Sb x solid solution melting point depends on the Sb content, the SiN cap allows one to carefully approach but not exceed the melting point during annealing. This leads to the strong orientation along the trigonal axis and high crystalline quality desired for thermoelectric applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Phonon softening and slowing-down of charge density wave fluctuations in BaNi 2 As 2

BaNi 2 As 2 is a nonmagnetic analog of the iron pnictide superconductors, and exhibits an incommensurate charge density wave (IC-CDW) and a sizable elastoresistance. Here, in this Letter, phonons in BaNi 2 As 2 associated with the IC-CDW and uniform in-plane lattice distortions are investigated using high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering. The in-plane transverse acoustic phonons reveal no softening at temperatures where the elastoresistance increases strongly, indicating the latter to be electronically driven. Systematic phonon measurements suggest the IC-CDW occurs in two stages upon cooling: Underdamped phonons first soften to zero energy well above the IC-CDW ordering temperature, then the resulting quasielastic IC-CDW fluctuations gradually slow down and coalesce into the static IC-CDW order. A possible origin for our observations is the IC-CDW in BaNi 2 As 2 being uniaxial, which provides an additional Ising degree of freedom favorable for disordered IC-CDW modulations, and accounts for the elastoresistance through a weak coupling to the lattice.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of a 10 kW, 2.815 GHz Klystron

Development of a Periodic Permanent Magnet (PPM) focused klystron is described. The klystron was designed to produce 10 kW CW at 2.815 GHz. The program developed an innovative PPM circuit that provided extremely uniform magnetic fields at the electron beam location while providing unprecedented access to the RF circuit for tuners and water cooling. Simulations indicated the klystron would produce more than 11 kW with an efficiency exceeding 65%. Problems with the mechanical design prevented successful testing of the initial prototype; however, a new design was successfully developed and implemented in a 6 MW klystron developed in a follow-on program. Funding is being pursued to rebuild the 10 kW RF circuit and complete the klystron development.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1974

Repair of major system elements on Skylab

In-flight maintenance, as conceived and preplanned for the Skylab mission was limited to simple scheduled and unscheduled replacement tasks and minor contingency repairs. Tools and spares were provided accordingly. However, failures during the mission dictated complicated and sophisticated repairs to major systems so that the mission could continue. These repairs included the release of a large structure that failed to deploy, the assembly and deployment of large mechanical devices, the installation and checkout of precision electronic equipment, troubleshooting and repair of precision electromechanical equipment, and tapping into and recharging a cooling system. The repairs were conducted both inside the spacecraft and during extravehicular activities. Some of the repair tasks required team effort on the part of the crewmen including close procedural coordination between internal and extravehicular crewmen. The Skylab experience indicates that crewmen can, with adequate training, make major system repairs in space using standard or special tools. Design of future spacecraft systems should acknowledge this capability and provide for more extensive in-flight repair and maintenance.

Pace, R. E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Repair of major system elements on Skylab

In-flight maintenance, as conceived and pre-planned for the Skylab Mission, was limited to simple scheduled and unscheduled replacement tasks and minor contingency repairs. Failures during the mission dictated complicated and sophisticated repairs to major systems so that the mission could continue. These repairs include the release of a large structure that failed to deploy, the assembly and deployment of large mechanical devices, the installation and checkout of precision electronic equipment, troubleshooting and repair of precision electromechanical equipment and tapping into and recharging a cooling system. The Skylab experience proves conclusively that crewmen can, with adequate training, make major system repairs in space using standard or special tools.

Pace, R. E., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2012

The harmony between nuclear reactions and nuclear reactor structures and systems

Advanced nuclear energy is one extremely viable approach for achieving the required goals. With its extraordinarily high energy density (both, per unit mass and per unit volume), it produces over seven orders of magnitude less waste than fossil fuels per unit of energy generated. Applying nano-technologies to nuclear reactors could potentially produce the extraordinary performance required. The actual nuclear reactors lack of performances, the complexity and hazard of the fuel cycle are in part due to the lack of understanding of the nature's laws related to energy distribution applied to fission products, and in part to the current technologic capabilities that make the economical optimum. In order to produce the desired increase of performances a novel multi-scale multi-physics and engineering approach have been developed, starting from the nuclear reactions involved, analyzing in detail the key features and requirements of the 'key players' in the process (neutrons, compound nucleus, fission products, transmutation products, decay radiation), the consequences of their interaction with matter. That complex interaction generates new reactions and new key-players (knock-on electrons, photons, phonons) that further interact with the matter represented by the nuclear fuel, cladding, cooling agents, structural materials and control systems. The understanding of this complexity of problems from fm-ps scale up to macro-system and mitigating all the requirements drives to that desired harmony that provides a safe energy delivery. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A unified model of the Fermi bubbles, microwave haze, and polarized radio lobes: Reverse shocks in the galactic center’s giant outflows

The Galactic center’s giant outflows are manifest in three different, nonthermal phenomena: (1) the hard-spectrum, γ-ray “Fermi bubbles” emanating from the nucleus and extending to |b|∼50{sup ∘}; (2) the hard-spectrum, total-intensity microwave (∼20–40 GHz) “haze” extending to |b|∼35{sup ∘} in the lower reaches of the Fermi bubbles; and (3) the steep-spectrum, polarized, “S-PASS” radio (∼2–20 GHz) lobes that envelop the bubbles and extend to |b|∼60{sup ∘}. We find that the nuclear outflows inflate a genuine bubble in each Galactic hemisphere that has the classical structure, working outward, of reverse shock, contact discontinuity (CD), and forward shock. Expanding into the finite pressure of the halo and given appreciable cooling and gravitational losses, the CD of each bubble is now expanding only very slowly. We find observational signatures in both hemispheres of giant, reverse shocks at heights of ∼1 kpc above the nucleus; their presence ultimately explains all three of the nonthermal phenomena mentioned above. Synchrotron emission from shock-reaccelerated cosmic-ray electrons explains the spectrum, morphology, and vertical extent of the microwave haze and the polarized radio lobes. Collisions between shock-reaccelerated hadrons and denser gas in cooling condensations that form inside the CD account for most of the bubbles’ γ-ray emissivity. Inverse Compton emission from primary electrons contributes at the 10%–30% level. Our model suggests that the bubbles are signatures of a comparatively weak but sustained nuclear outflow driven by Galactic center star formation over ≳few × 10{sup 8} yr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Thermal and Mechanical Design of a High-Voltage Power Electronics Package: Preprint

Thermal and mechanical design aspects of a power electronic package with 5-kV GaN devices are presented. Through finite element analyses, the impact of different cooling configurations and device location on the thermal performance and reliability of the package was investigated. It was found that placing the devices closer to the direct-bond-copper substrate as opposed to a centered approach in the proposed double-sided-cooling configuration resulted in improved heat dissipation. This approach also reduced the total number of attachment layers, thereby likely improving the reliability of the package. Furthermore, simulations revealed that the device location had a negligible impact on the thermomechanical behavior of the attachment layers, as they are more prone to the local coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch.

27 ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy↗
DOE OSTI2013

CAST constraints on the axion-electron coupling

In non-hadronic axion models, which have a tree-level axion-electron interaction, the Sun produces a strong axion flux by bremsstrahlung, Compton scattering, and axio- recombination, the “BCA processes.” Based on a new calculation of this flux, including for the first time axio-recombination, we derive limits on the axion-electron Yukawa coupling g ae and axion-photon interaction strength g aγ using the CAST phase-I data (vacuum phase). For m a ≲ 10 meV/c 2 we find g aγ g ae < 8.1 × 10 –23 GeV –1 at 95% CL. We stress that a next-generation axion helioscope such as the proposed IAXO could push this sensitivity into a range beyond stellar energy-loss limits and test the hypothesis that white-dwarf cooling is dominated by axion emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dielectrics for Power Electronics Applications

This presentation discusses the role of dielectric materials in power electronic packages. Two dielectric technologies - a dielectric material film-based substrate for insulation and a dielectric coolant - are discussed. The thermal performance benefits of dielectric film-based substrate in comparison with traditional direct-bond-copper substrates are studied through finite element analysis. Also, a novel cooling concept based on dielectric liquids that can contact electrically active surfaces are presented.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tunable Kondo Resonance at a Pristine Two-Dimensional Dirac Semimetal on a Kondo Insulator

The proximity of two different materials leads to an intricate coupling of quasiparticles so that an unprecedented electronic state is often realized at the interface. Here, we demonstrate a resonance-type many-body ground state in graphene, a nonmagnetic two-dimensional Dirac semimetal, when grown on SmB 6 , a Kondo insulator, via thermal decomposition of fullerene molecules. This ground state is typically observed in three-dimensional magnetic materials with correlated electrons. Above the characteristic Kondo temperature of the substrate, the electron band structure of pristine graphene remains almost intact in this work. As temperature decreases, however, the Dirac Fermions of graphene become hybridized with the Sm 4 f states. Remarkable enhancement of the hybridization and Kondo resonance is observed with further cooling and increasing charge-carrier density of graphene, evidencing the Kondo screening of the Sm 4 f local magnetic moment by the conduction electrons of graphene at the interface. These findings manifest the realization of the Kondo effect in graphene by the proximity of SmB 6 that is tuned by the temperature and charge-carrier density of graphene.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

THE EFFECT OF NONLINEAR LANDAU DAMPING ON ULTRARELATIVISTIC BEAM PLASMA INSTABILITIES

Very high energy gamma-rays from extragalactic sources produce pairs from the extragalactic background light, yielding an electron-positron pair beam. This pair beam is unstable to various plasma instabilities, especially the ''oblique'' instability, which can be the dominant cooling mechanism for the beam. However, recently, it has been claimed that nonlinear Landau damping renders it physically irrelevant by reducing the effective damping rate to a low level. Here we show with numerical calculations that the effective damping rate is 8 × 10{sup –4} the growth rate of the linear instability, which is sufficient for the ''oblique'' instability to be the dominant cooling mechanism of these pair beams. In particular, we show that previous estimates of this rate ignored the exponential cutoff in the scattering amplitude at large wave numbers and assumed that the damping of scattered waves entirely depends on collisions, ignoring collisionless processes. We find that the total wave energy eventually grows to approximate equipartition with the beam by increasingly depositing energy into long-wavelength modes. As we have not included the effect of nonlinear wave-wave interactions on these long-wavelength modes, this scenario represents the ''worst case'' scenario for the oblique instability. As it continues to drain energy from the beam at a faster rate than other processes, we conclude that the ''oblique'' instability is sufficiently strong to make it the physically dominant cooling mechanism for high-energy pair beams in the intergalactic medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗