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At least 1,765 records · Page 98

Foreshock Ion Motion Across Discontinuities: Formation of Foreshock Transients

In the ion foreshock, hot flow anomalies (HFAs) and foreshock bubbles (FBs) are two types of foreshock transients that have the strongest fluctuations, which can disturb the magnetosphere-ionosphere system and increase shock acceleration efficiency. They form due to interaction between the foreshock ions and solar wind discontinuities: the direction of the foreshock ion-driven current and whether it decreases or increases the magnetic field strength behind the discontinuity determine whether the transient's formation can be promoted or suppressed. Thus, to predict the HFA and FB formation and forecast their space weather effects, it is necessary to predict the foreshock ion-driven current direction. In this study, we derive analytical equations of foreshock ion velocities within discontinuities to estimate foreshock ion-driven current direction, which provides a quantitative criterion of HFA and FB formation. To validate the criterion, we use Acceleration Reconnection Turbulence & Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun to observe pristine solar wind discontinuities and calculate discontinuity parameters. We use Magnetospheric Multiscale to observe the foreshock ion motion around the discontinuities and show that the data support our model. This study is another step toward a predictive model of HFA and FB formation so that we can forecast their space weather effects at Earth using solar wind observations at lunar orbit or L1.

Terry Z. Liu↗

A Regional Classification of Time Spectral Amplitudes in Total Electron Content: Southeastern United States During Solar Cycle 24

To investigate the meso-scale structure (100 s of km) of the ionosphere at mid-latitudes, the spectral properties in calculated total electron content (TEC) at a cluster of GPS receivers in and around Florida are analyzed. The ionosphere does not respond exactly the same to periodic solar driving at different locations around the planet, due to the complex electrodynamic interactions of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Therefore, at each GPS receiver in the cluster we compare spatio-temporal variations of the spectral amplitudes for diurnal, solar rotation, and seasonal oscillations. The amplitudes for these dominant oscillations are organized with respect to magnetic latitude of the receiver. A low-latitude and high-latitude station are also included to put the mid-latitude ionospheric response into a global context. The amplitudes of diurnal, seasonal, and solar rotation signals are well ordered by magnetic latitude, superposed with meso-scale deviations between stations separated by ~100s of km. The results suggest that spatio-temporal variations of spectral amplitudes in the mid-latitude ionosphere are not dominated by a single process. This conclusion is based on our finding that at high latitude, the shape of the diurnal signal varies significantly less with solar activity compared to low- and mid-latitudes, and additionally, that the ratio of annual to semi-annual amplitudes fluctuates around 1 with time and from station-to-station only at mid-latitudes.

ionosphere↗

Maryland Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG) Educational Outreach Program for Solar Eclipse Study

Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG) is an educational outreach program that provides hands-on experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to high school and undergraduate students. It has three ultimate goals: 1. Educating the future STEM workforce. 2. Building a cost-effective, research-capable ground 3. magnetometer array across the United States. Collecting geomagnetic field data at high spatial resolution for heliophysics research. SWUG students build, test, and deploy the Simple Aurora Monitor (SAM)-III kit, purchased by Reeve Engineers. The SAM-III kit is a fluxgate magnetometer that measures geomagnetic field changes at a resolution of 1 nT/sec. Dr. Charles Smith initiated the SWUG program at the University of New Hampshire, and it has since expanded to Alaska and Maryland. This presentation introduces the Maryland SWUG activities. The MD-SWUG program was started in the Fall of 2022 with the goal of deploying magnetometers to the solar eclipse sites in 2023 and 2024. Two student-built magnetometers were deployed to the Southwest Research Institute and the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the 2023 annular solar eclipse, with plans to deploy at least four magnetometers to the 2024 total solar eclipse sites, including the University of Texas at Dallas. During a solar eclipse, reduced solar irradiance weakens ionospheric currents and reduces geomagnetic fields by up to 30 nT at the eclipse sites. A recent study suggested that solar eclipses impact geomagnetic fields not only along the eclipse path but also at their magnetic conjugate locations. The SWUG program will help us understand this electrodynamic coupling between the conjugate locations during a solar eclipse by providing better data coverage along the solar eclipse path.

Hyunju Connor↗

ICARUS: in-Situ Studies of the Solar Corona Beyond Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

The primary scientific goal of ICARUS (Investigation of Coronal AcceleRation and heating of solar wind Up to the Sun), a mother-daughter satellite mission, proposed in response to the ESA “Voyage 2050” Call, will be to determine how the magnetic field and plasma dynamics in the outer solar atmosphere give rise to the corona, the solar wind, and the entire heliosphere. Reaching this goal will be a Rosetta Stone step, with results that are broadly applicable within the fields of space plasma physics and astrophysics. Within ESA’s Cosmic Vision roadmap, these science goals address Theme 2: “How does the Solar System work?” by investigating basic processes occurring “From the Sun to the edge of the Solar System”. ICARUS will not only advance our understanding of the plasma environment around our Sun, but also of the numerous magnetically active stars with hot plasma coronae. ICARUS I will perform the first direct in situ measurements of electromagnetic fields, particle acceleration, wave activity, energy distribution, and flows directly in the regions in which the solar wind emerges from the coronal plasma. ICARUS I will have a perihelion altitude of 1 solar radius and will cross the region where the major energy deposition occurs. The polar orbit of ICARUS I will enable crossing the regions where both the fast and slow winds are generated. It will probe the local characteristics of the plasma and provide unique information about the physical processes involved in the creation of the solar wind. ICARUS II will observe this region using remote-sensing instruments, providing simultaneous, contextual information about regions crossed by ICARUS I and the solar atmosphere below as observed by solar telescopes. It will thus provide bridges for understanding the magnetic links between the heliosphere and the solar atmosphere. Such information is crucial to our understanding of the plasma physics and electrodynamics of the solar atmosphere. ICARUS II will also play a very important relay role, enabling the radio-link with ICARUS I. It will receive, collect, and store information transmitted from ICARUS I during its closest approach to the Sun. It will also perform preliminary data processing before transmitting it to Earth. Performing such unique in situ observations in the area where presumably hazardous solar energetic particles are energized, ICARUS will provide fundamental advances in our capabilities to monitor and forecast the space radiation environment. Therefore, the results from the ICARUS mission will be extremely crucial for future space explorations, especially for long-term crewed space missions.

Solar wind↗

Assessing Mechanical Properties of Spacecraft Materials under Simulated Low Earth Orbit Atomic Oxygen Conditions

During a space mission, spacecraft surface materials are exposed to various damaging environmental factors including high-energy photons, electrons, atomic oxygen (AO) neutrals and ions, micrometeoroids and orbital debris, vacuum, and large temperature fluctuations. The resulting change in spacecraft material properties can significantly impact the performance and durability of spacecraft systems. Even though all aspects of the space environment can lead to the deterioration of spacecraft components, in low Earth orbit (LEO), the threat posed by AO is especially severe in terms of structural and optical damage, particularly to exterior spacecraft components that are susceptible to oxidation. A comprehensive understanding of material AO-induced weathering is essential for mission planning in the LEO environment. The presented work aims to evaluate the alterations in mechanical properties of selected innovative spacecraft materials and surface electronic system designs, such as Kapton® CR film coated front and back-side with polyimide coating containing AO-resistant filler, Kevlar EXO, and Bendable Electrodynamic Dust Shield (BEDS) architecture, under simulated AO exposure, utilizing the photoelasticity phenomenon in which birefringence is induced in a material when it is subjected to mechanical stress. Changes in stress patterns during the deformation of AO-exposed polymers were assessed using a large-field polariscope under varied deformation types. Patterns of colors were used for qualitative evaluations of residual stress. The stress patterns of the AO-exposed polymers were compared to those of the unexposed ones. Also, these patterns were correlated with data from Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and surface morphology studies.

Yuliya Kuznetsova↗

ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) Technology Readiness Level 5 Design Overview

This paper details the mechanical and mechatronic design of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-5 In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Pilot Excavator (IPEx). IPEx is a robotic excavator designed for a technology demonstration of regolith mining in the lunar south -pole region. The novel design uses pairs of counter-acting excavation tools called bucket drums, that dig at the same time in opposing directions to reduce the reaction force needed, thereby enabling mining with a small, low-mass, robotic system. IPEx builds on the prior work of the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), which is the TRL-4 implementation of this concept. The TRL-5 IPEx subsystems that are discussed in this paper include: Regolith Delivery Subsystem (RDS), Mobility Subsystem (MS), Cameras and Dust Mitigation Subsystem (CDMS), and Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS). Each subsystem is described in detail with rationale for design selections. Dust tolerance is a key feature for IPEx and this paper details a thermal control system with an actuated radiator cover and phase change material as well as camera modules with removable electrodynamic dust shields (EDS). Additional components such as actuators, wheels, and bucket drums are discussed in detail. Due to their complexity, the avionics and software subsystems will be discussed in a separate publication.

RASSOR↗

Comparative Accuracies of Models for Drag Prediction During Geomagnetically Disturbed Periods: A First Principles Model Versus Empirical Models

We examine the accuracy of density prediction by the first principles model Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and compare it to the accuracy of three empirical models: Jacchia 71, the Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Extended 2000 (NRLMSIS), Jacchia 1971, and Jacchia-Bowman 2008. Comparisons are made for three large storms: the October 2003 storm, the March 2013 storm, and the March 2015 storm. To evaluate the accuracy of these models we use tracking data for nine space objects in low Earth orbit. Additionally, we evaluate the accuracy of the TIEGCM and NRLMSIS with data from high precision accelerometers on the Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity field and Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellites. The goal is to assess the use of a first principles model as a potential tool for forecasting satellite drag during large magnetic storms. For the storms considered, we found the TIEGCM, JB2008, and NRLMSIS models to be substantially more accurate than the Jacchia 71 model. The accuracies of the TIEGCM and JB2008 models were similar, but overall, the TIEGCM was more accurate. We found smaller differences for TIEGCM versus CHAMP than for NRLMIS for the Halloween Storm, and smaller differences than results published for JB2008 and the assimilative model HASDM. The empirical models are at present more practical for operational purposes, but the TIEGCM, developed as a research model, with a greater focus on operational use offers the potential for improved utility during stressing conditions.

R. L. Walterscheid↗

Global Magnetic Reconnection with Weakly Shocked Solar Wind During Geomagnetic Storms

The solar wind and magnetic field emanating from the sun typically reaches Earth moving at a super-Alfvénic velocity (multiple times the local Alfvén wave speed). This leads to the formation of a bow shock upstream of the planet where the plasma is slowed and heated and the interplanetary magnetic field is compressed before it interacts with Earth's magnetic field. However, a number of recent geomagnetic storm events have been associated with sustained intervals of nearly or indeed fully sub-Alfvénic flows. A weakly- or un-shocked magnetosheath changes the conditions for magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause and subsequently the storm-time evolution of the magnetosphere. We perform Multiscale Atmosphere-Geospace Environment (MAGE) simulations of three different geomagnetic storms each containing a period of nearly or fully sub-Alfvénic solar wind driving and examine the properties of global reconnection. The structure of the night-side magnetosphere and polar cusps are also examined. The dynamical evolution of the global magnetosphere during strong driving represents a key science target for the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, particularly Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) targeting magnetotail/magnetopause reconnection and Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) observing ion dispersion in the cusps.

Brandon Burkholder↗

Lattice Confinement Fusion & Fast Fission for Space

Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF) 1 • Fusion of hydrogen isotopes into helium isotopes • No tokamak magnets or laser power supplies • Nuclear fuel is confined and triggered within lattice • Nuclear reactions enhanced by electron screening • Extended Electrodynamics (EED) role • NASA published results in Physical Review C 2,3 • Locally hot but globally cold • Commercialized in 2025 to produce medical radioisotopes 4 Lattice Confinement Fusion Fast-Fission Hybrid Reactor • Fusion neutrons fission uranium, spent fuel rods or thorium • No enriched uranium, cleaner fission! • Demonstrated with US Navy and GEC • Supported by NASA STMD (NIAC) and NSF Application • LEO, Deep Space Power and High I sp Propulsion • (Terrestrial)

lattice confinement fusion↗

Strategies Toward Lunar Dust Adhesion Mitigation

Recently, the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate solicited feedback to prioritize shortfalls, which were defined as technology areas needed to enable future exploration missions. Lunar dust mitigation emerged as a critical area and is cross-cutting with many of the highest ranked shortfalls with passive dust mitigation technologies being directly ranked in the top 50. Hazards associated with lunar dust are ubiquitous across all aspects of long duration lunar surface missions, whether crewed or robotic, due to the abrasive, electrostatically charged, and chemically reactive properties of lunar dust. Compounding the issue, lunar dust moves across the lunar surface due to levitation, twilight craters, and plume-surface interactions, which can result in particle velocities exceeding 1 km/h. To address lunar dust challenges, NASA is developing active and passive adhesion mitigation technologies to address specific mission needs, including electrodynamic dust screens, piezoelectric materials, biomimetic engineered surfaces, among many others. Additionally, abrasion-resistant materials are being evaluated for applications for use near landing sites and in surface manipulation and excavation equipment. These approaches, as well as test methodologies both in the laboratory and on the lunar surface to evaluate technology efficacy, will be described.

Dust Mitigation↗

Engineering the Interface: Advanced Surface Technologies for Lunar Dust Management and Equipment Longevity

Through the Artemis program, NASA intends to develop a sustainable human foothold on the Moon, ultimately paving the way for crewed exploration of Mars. The Moon's hostile environment poses numerous obstacles, including exposure to radiation, temperature extremes, micrometeoroid threats, and particularly the persistent problem of lunar dust. Lunar dust impacts nearly every aspect of surface operations through adhesion and abrasion mechanisms, with contamination from anthropogenic activities (landing, rovers) far outweighing natural phenomena. Multiple adhesion pathways contribute to surface contamination in the lunar environment, including van der Waals forces, electrostatic forces, chemical reaction, and magnetic forces from elemental iron deposits. Sharp asperities from micrometeoroid bombardment and atmospheric absence increase interaction potential and enable mechanical interlocking. Low cohesion between dust particles exacerbates these challenges, as minimal interaction potential between dust and nearby surfaces overcomes particle cohesion, causing contamination. Lunar dust adhesion mitigation technologies can be categorized as either active, requiring external energy, or passive, relying on intrinsic material properties. Ultrasonic and electrodynamic technologies have been developed to the highest technology readiness level for active approaches. Passive strategies primarily focus on surface chemistry and topography modifications. At NASA Langley Research Center, approaches include surface migration agents to reduce surface energy, topographical modification using laser ablation patterning, and tailored surface conductivity to reduce intrinsic adhesion force. Performance has been evaluated using custom-built ultrasonic and centrifuge instruments. Plume-surface interactions from lunar landers can propel micrometer-sized particles at velocities up to 1000 m s-1.8 These particles pose risks to landers, habitats and infrastructure, leading to erosion, degradation, and reduced component lifespan. A panel recovered from Surveyor III was determined to have been severely abraded because of lunar dust displaced from the Apollo 12 lunar module that landed 160 m away. The performance of metallic surfaces has been evaluated via high velocity single particle impact using the laser-induced project impact test (LIPIT) facility at the University of Utah. Peridynamics modeling, a form of continuum mechanics that uses a nonlocal approach enabling greater simulation capabilities of crack initiation and fracture, has also been utilized to gain greater insight into material response during impact events. Lunar dust contamination challenges extend to power generation systems and moving equipment. Cables, rotation stages, and other mechanisms may experience limited range of motion and reduced lifetime due to dust infiltration. NASA Langley Research Center has evaluated traditional aerospace alloys, softgoods, wear resistant ceramics, and several polymer and polymer composite materials. Test methods have included traditional techniques like Taber abrasion testing, as well as designed test configurations developed in the DUSTE (dust, ultraviolet radiation, and space thermal environmental) chamber that reproduce mechanism functions in operational environment. Beyond laboratory experiments, several flight experiments have been conducted. Materials were exposed to the low Earth orbit environment on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) and to the lunar surface environment through the Aegis Aerospace Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) payload and the Honeybee Robotics PlanetVac payload. Determining lunar dust's impact on surface exploration and habitation requires comprehensive experimental and computational capabilities combined with lessons learned from initial lunar activities. Identifying the greatest environmental challenges and developing mitigation technologies provides the clearest path toward successfully, expeditiously, and efficaciously completing NASA's mission. This presentation will discuss ongoing efforts at NASA Langley Research Center and collaborator contributions to these critical objectives.

Surface Engineering↗

Mechanical Design and Operation of a Novel Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig (LESTR)

The Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig (LESTR) was developed to address a critical gap in mechanical property data for metal alloy wire materials under lunar-relevant conditions down to 40 K. Conventional aerospace material databases provide thermophysical properties for bulk metals over a wide temperature range, but validated mechanical and physical property data below 77 K, particularly for small-diameter wires, remain limited and are generally the exception rather than the rule. These conditions are essential for Artemis mission hardware such as shape memory alloy (SMA) rover tires. LESTR’s design requirements were to combine a high-stiffness electrodynamic load frame with closed- cycle cryogenic cooling, high-vacuum capability (10–6 torr), and noncontact optical strain measurement to enable tensile, four-point bend, and fatigue testing of wires or other materials and geometries at temperatures from 40 to 125 K. These considerable requirements were merged with the need to lower the barrier of testing for the end user as measured in terms of cost-per-test cycle, safety improvement, and reduction in upkeep costs associated with state-of-the-art solutions associated with cryomechanical material characterization. The system incorporates modular gripping and alignment fixtures; precision thermal management using cryocoolers and embedded heaters; and integrated instrumentation for displacement, load, temperature, and vacuum control. Calibration procedures establish correlations between tooling and specimen temperature, ensuring accurate thermal conditions across the design envelope unbound by cryofluid conditions in heritage immersion-based test systems. Initial validation tests using Inconel (Special Metals Corp.) wire demonstrated accurate ultimate strength and post-yield behavior. The load frame operation was also verified under representative service conditions, including thermal cycling and prolonged fatigue loading. By generating mechanical property data at ultralow temperatures, LESTR fills a critical gap in existing materials databases and provides a scalable platform for iterative alloy development and durability assessment for planetary hardware. This capability supports NASA’s long-term objectives for surface exploration by enabling design confidence for components operating in extreme cryogenic environments.

LESTR↗

Microchip and wedge ion funnels and planar ion beam analyzers using same

Electrodynamic ion funnels confine, guide, or focus ions in gases using the Dehmelt potential of oscillatory electric field. New funnel designs operating at or close to atmospheric gas pressure are described. Effective ion focusing at such pressures is enabled by fields of extreme amplitude and frequency, allowed in microscopic gaps that have much higher electrical breakdown thresholds in any gas than the macroscopic gaps of present funnels. The new microscopic-gap funnels are useful for interfacing atmospheric-pressure ionization sources to mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility separation (IMS) stages including differential IMS or FAIMS, as well as IMS and MS stages in various configurations. In particular, "wedge" funnels comprising two planar surfaces positioned at an angle and wedge funnel traps derived therefrom can compress ion beams in one dimension, producing narrow belt-shaped beams and laterally elongated cuboid packets. This beam profile reduces the ion density and thus space-charge effects, mitigating the adverse impact thereof on the resolving power, measurement accuracy, and dynamic range of MS and IMS analyzers, while a greater overlap with coplanar light or particle beams can benefit spectroscopic methods.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The Common Elements of Atomic and Hadronic Physics

Atomic physics and hadronic physics are both governed by the Yang Mills gauge theory Lagrangian; in fact, Abelian quantum electrodynamics can be regarded as the zero-color limit of quantum chromodynamics. I review a number of areas where the techniques of atomic physics can provide important insight into hadronic eigenstates in QCD. For example, the Dirac-Coulomb equation, which predicts the spectroscopy and structure of hydrogenic atoms, has an analog in hadron physics in the form of frame-independent light-front relativistic equations of motion consistent with light-front holography which give a remarkable first approximation to the spectroscopy, dynamics, and structure of light hadrons. The production of antihydrogen in flight can provide important insight into the dynamics of hadron production in QCD at the amplitude level. The renormalization scale for the running coupling is unambiguously set in QED; an analogous procedure sets the renormalization scales in QCD, leading to scheme-independent scale-fixed predictions. Conversely, many techniques which have been developed for hadron physics, such as scaling laws, evolution equations, the quark-interchange process and light-front quantization have important applicants for atomic physics and photon science, especially in the relativistic domain.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Finite-volume effects and the electromagnetic contributions to kaon and pion masses

We report on the MILC Collaboration calculation of electromagnetic effects on light pseudoscalar mesons. The simulations employ asqtad staggered dynamical quarks in QCD plus quenched photons, with lattice spacings varying from 0.12 to 0.06 fm. Finite volume corrections for the MILC realization of lattice electrodynamics have been calculated in chiral perturbation theory and applied to the lattice data. These corrections differ from those calculated by Hayakawa and Uno because our treatment of zero modes differs from theirs. Updated results for the corrections to "Dashen's theorem" are presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Design and Beam Dynamics Studies of a Multi-Ion Linac Injector for the JLEIC Ion Complex

The electron-ion collider (JLEIC) being proposed at JLab requires a new ion accelerator complex which includes a linac capable of delivering any ion beam from hydrogen to lead to the booster. We are currently developing a linac which consists of several ion sources, a normal conducting (NC) front end, up to 5 MeV/u, and a SC section for energies > 5 MeV/u. This design work is focused on the beam dynamics and electrodynamics studies performed to design efficient and cost-effective accelerating structures for both the NC and SC sections of the linac. Currently, we are considering two separate RFQs for the heavy-ion and light-ion beams including polarized beams, and different types of NC accelerating structures downstream of the RFQ. Quarter-wave and half-wave resonators can be effectively used in the SC section.

Ostroumov, P. N.↗

On the Efficiency $\eta$ and the Homogeneity of TiN Kinetic Inductance Detectors Produced through Atomic Layer Deposition

Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) belong to non-equilibrium superconducting devices. It is a new promising device due to high quantum efficiency, low theoretical noise limit, multiplex frequency domain, photon-number-resolving, and energy resolving. In the case of MKIDs, a change in the kinetic inductance is produced by the breaking of Cooper pairs, modifying the electrodynamic response of the superconductor. The production process of an MKID consists of depositing a superconducting thin film on an insulating substrate and applying standard lithographic patterning techniques to produce a resonator structure. When an MKID is produced via sputtering, film nonuniformity is observed, producing instability, low yield, frequency collisions, and low energy resolution. We exploring film uniformity in films produced with Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and through ALD archive high values in the energy resolution. The uniformity of ALD is evaluated via measurement of the critical temperature of 4 MKIDs. Two MKIDs belong to the first fabrication process and the other two to another. The results obtained are: ΔTc/max(σT1,σT2) is 0.45 for A1-B1 and 0.21 for A2-B2. The difference in the Tc for MKIDs of the same wafer is around 5.1 mK and from different wafers, the maximum difference is 66 mk with a minimum of 48 mK. However, with the high uniformity archived, we obtained a poor response of the MKIDs when a photon is absorbed. As a consequence of the low response, we examined in the literature about the process of photon absorption. In this evaluation, we were focusing on the down-conversion efficiency as a possible cause for the degraded energy resolution. In this process, one part of the initial energy of the photon is lost, transferred to the creation of quasiparticles and phonons. The phonons that do not possess enough energy to break a Cooper pair are lost from the system. This loss in energy is accounted for by the eff iciency η which has a constant value reported as 0.57 (! from simulation). Due to the efficiency had been reported always as constant. We proceed to evaluate its value through a new method. The process consists of measuring the gain of the system via the photon transfer curve and thermal calibration. The efficiency obtained with this new method is of 0.008 which has a lower value in comparison with the simulation. The methods to obtain the critical temperature, as well as the new method to evaluate the efficiency of an MKID will be shown in this work.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗