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Results for “BERYLLIUM ISOTOPES”

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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

A review and interpretation of recent cosmic ray beryllium isotope measurements

Beryllium-10 is of interest for cosmic ray propagation, because its radioactive decay half-life is well matched to the expected cosmic ray age. Recent beryllium isotope measurements from satellites and balloon covered an energy range from about 30 to 300 MeV/nucleon. At the lowest energies, most of the Be-10 is absent, indicating a cosmic ray lifetime of order 2 x 10 to the 7th power years and the rather low average density of 0.2 atoms/cc traversed by the cosmic rays. At higher energies, a greater propagation of Be-10 is observed, indicating a somewhat shorter lifetime. These experiments will be reviewed and then compared with a new experiment covering from 100 to 1000 MeV/nucleon. Although improved experiments will be necessary to realize the full potential of cosmic ray beryllium isotope measurements, these first results are already disclosing interesting and unexpected facts about cosmic ray acceleration and propagation.

Buffington, A.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Elastic scattering of Beryllium isotopes near the Coulomb barrier

In this contribution, results of experiments performed with the three Beryllium isotopes {sup 9,10,11}Be on a medium mass {sup 64}Zn target, at a center of mass energy of {approx_equal}1.4 the Coulomb barrier, will be discussed. Elastic scattering angular distributions have been measured for the {sup 9,10}Be reactions. In the {sup 11}Be case the quasielastic scattering angular distribution was obtained. In the halo nucleus case, the angular distribution exhibit a non-Fresnel-type pattern with a strong damping of the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak. Moreover, it is found that the total reaction cross-section for the halo nucleus induced collision is more than double the ones extracted in the collisions induced by the non-halo Beryllium isotopes. A large contribution to the total-reaction cross-section in the {sup 11}Be case could be attributed to transfer and/or break-up events.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beryllium Isotopes in Rainfall for Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Dynamics Experiment (BIRDIE) (Final Report)

The Beryllium Isotopes in Rainfall for Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Dynamics Experiment or BIRDIE was a precipitation collection campaign designed to measure cosmogenic isotopes of beryllium in rainfall and other forms of precipitation across the DOE Southern Great Plains (SGP) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site. Precipitation samples were collected over three weeks (May 21-June 10, 2022) at 11 SGP sites across a 120 km 2 domain in northern and central Oklahoma. The field campaign targeted summer-time convection rain events. We aimed to capture any spatial and/or temporal variability in the concentrations of beryllium-10 (10Be) and beryllium-7 (7Be) across the SGP ARM site during these rainfall events. The ratio of 10Be to 7Be (10/7Be) has been shown to be a powerful tracer for transport processes in the stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) system (e.g., Koch and Rind 1998). Any observed variability is analyzed to see if it could be linked to STE processes, including overshooting of deep convection clouds which penetrate the lower stratosphere. Six wet weather system events were collected within our three-week span. Five out of six of these rainfall events are classified as moderately to strongly convective. Those events are studied in more detail. The five systems also follow each other over a short time period of eleven days. In our rainfall samples we observed spatial and event variability in the concentrations of beryllium-10 and -7 which resulted in variability of 10/7 Be ratios. Each weather event appeared to exhibit a unique 10/7Be pattern across the domain that was not directly linked to storm total precipitation amount. To better understand the causes for this spatial variability, cloud characteristics in the domain were looked at to assess cloud type, cloud height and depth information. We also ran Hysplit back trajectories to identify possible air mass and moisture origins across our events. Detailed analysis is still on-going. The purpose of this technical report is to provide background on using cosmogenic isotopes as atmospheric tracers, describe the experimental design, and present the beryllium concentration and ratio data.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beryllium Isotopes in Rainfall for Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Dynamics Experiment (BIRDIE) (Field Campaign Report)

The Beryllium Isotopes in Rainfall for Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Dynamics Experiment or BIRDIE was a precipitation collection campaign designed to measure cosmogenic isotopes of beryllium in rainfall and other forms of precipitation across the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory. Precipitation samples were collected over three weeks (May 21-June 10, 2022) at 11 SGP sites across a 120-km 2 domain in northern and central Oklahoma. The field campaign targeted summertime convection rain events. We aimed to capture any spatial and/or temporal variability in the concentrations of beryllium-10 (10Be) and beryllium-7 (7Be) across the ARM SGP site during these rainfall events. The ratio of 10Be to 7Be (10/7Be) has been shown to be a powerful tracer for transport processes in the stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) system (e.g., Koch and Rind 1998). Any observed variability is analyzed to see if it could be linked to STE processes, including overshooting of deep convection clouds that penetrate the lower stratosphere. Six wet weather system events were collected within our three-week span. Five out of six of these rainfall events are classified as moderately to strongly convective. Those events are studied in more detail. The five systems also follow each other over a short period of 11 days. In our rainfall samples we observed spatial and event variability in the concentrations of beryllium-10 and -7 that resulted in variability of 10/7Be ratios. Each weather event appeared to exhibit a unique 10/7Be pattern across the domain that was not directly linked to storm total precipitation amount. To better understand the causes for this spatial variability, cloud characteristics in the domain were looked at to assess cloud type, cloud height, and depth information. We also ran Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model back trajectories to identify possible air mass and moisture origins across our events. Detailed analysis is ongoing. The purpose of this technical report is to provide background on using cosmogenic isotopes as atmospheric tracers, describe the experimental design, and present the beryllium concentration and ratio data. Lastly, we note that BIRDIE coincided with two other deep convection field campaigns in the area: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTSS) experiment (https://dcotss.org/) centered in Salina, Kansas, and the Targeted Observation by Radars and (uncrewed aerial systems) UAS of Supercells (TORUS) experiment (https://catalog.eol.ucar.edu/torus_2022) across the U.S. Central Plains. Additionally, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ( LLNL) team at DCOTSS attempted to measure 10Be/7Be ratios on aerosols collected in situ in the lower and mid-stratosphere over Kansas using high-altitude balloons. Precipitation samples were also collected on the ground in Salina, Kansas.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The BIRDIES Experiment: Measuring Beryllium Isotopes to Resolve Dynamics in the Stratosphere

Cosmogenic beryllium-10 and beryllium-7, and the ratio of the two (10Be/7Be), are powerful atmospheric tracers of stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE) processes; however, measurements are sparse for altitudes well above the tropopause. We present a novel high-altitude balloon campaign aimed to measure these isotopes in the mid-stratosphere called Beryllium Isotopes for Resolving Dynamics in the Stratosphere (BIRDIES). BIRDIES targeted gravity waves produced by tropopause-overshooting convection to study their propagation and impact on STE dynamics, including the production of turbulence in the stratosphere. Two custom-designed payloads called FiSH and GASP were flown at altitudes approaching 30 km to measure in situ turbulence and beryllium isotopes (on aerosols), respectively. These were flown on nine high-altitude balloon flights over Kansas, USA, in summer 2022. The atmospheric samples were augmented with a ground-based rainfall collection targeting isotopic signatures of deep convection overshooting. Our GASP samples yielded mostly negligible amounts of both 10Be and 7Be collected in the mid-stratosphere but led to design improvements to increase aerosol capture in low-pressure environments. Observations from FiSH and the precipitation collection were more fruitful. FiSH showed the presence of turbulent velocity, temperature, and acoustic fluctuations in the stratosphere, including length scales in the infra-sonic range and inertial subrange that indicated times of elevated turbulence. The precipitation collection, and subsequent statistical analysis, showed that large spatial datasets of 10Be/7Be can be measured in individual rainfall events with minimum terrestrial contamination. While the spatial patterns in rainfall suggested some evidence for overshooting convection, inter-event temporal variability was clearly observed and predicted with good agreement using the 3D chemical transport model GEOS-CHEM.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ab Initio Study of the Beryllium Isotopes 7 Be to 12 Be

We present a systematic ab initio study of the low-lying states in beryllium isotopes from 7 Be to 12 Be using nuclear lattice effective field theory with the N 3 ⁢LO interaction. Our calculations achieve good agreement with experimental data for energies, radii, and electromagnetic properties. We introduce a novel, model-independent method to quantify nuclear shapes, uncovering a distinct pattern in the interplay between positive and negative parity states across the isotopic chain. By combining Monte Carlo sampling of the many-body density operator with a novel nucleon-grouping algorithm, the prominent two-center cluster structures, the emergence of one-neutron halo, complex nuclear molecular dynamics such as 𝜋 orbital and 𝜎 orbital, emerge naturally.

binding energy & masses↗
DOE OSTI2010

Particle-particle random-phase approximation applied to beryllium isotopes

This paper is dedicated to the study of even-even {sup 8-14}Be isotopes, which uses the particle-particle random-phase approximation that accounts for two-body correlations in the core nucleus. A better description of energies and two-particle amplitudes is obtained in comparison with models that assume a neutron closed-shell (or subshell) core. A Woods-Saxon potential corrected by a phenomenological particle-vibration coupling term has been used for the neutron-core interaction and the D1S Gogny force for the neutron-neutron interaction. Calculated ground-state properties as well as excited-state ones are discussed and are compared to experimental data. In particular, results suggest the same 2s{sub 1/2}-1p{sub 1/2} shell inversion in {sup 13}Be as in {sup 11}Be.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1978

A measurement of cosmic-ray beryllium isotopes from 200 to 1500 MeV per nucleon

A balloon-borne superconducting magnetic spectrometer was used in the measurement of cosmic-ray isotopic abundances from lithium through oxygen in the energy range 200-1500 MeV per nucleon. Except for Be-7 all isotopic composition is essentially energy-independent. Be-10 is nearly absent, indicating a mean cosmic-ray age of 6(-3, +10) x 10 to the 6th years. Above about 500 MeV per nucleon, Be-7 drops dramatically in abundance relative to Be-9 and C. By 1500 MeV per nucleon, the relative abundance of Be-7 has become one-half of its lower-energy value. Since Be-7 is the only isotope measured which decays by electron capture, this result is interpreted as indicating that higher-energy Be-7 had an appreciable probability of not being stripped of all its electrons before entering interstellar space where electron pickup is negligible.

Buffington, A.↗
DOE OSTI2010

LITHIUM-BERYLLIUM-BORON ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS IN METEORITIC HIBONITE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORIGIN OF {sup 10}Be AND EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM IRRADIATION

NanoSIMS isotopic measurements of Li, Be, and B in individual hibonite grains extracted from the Murchison meteorite revealed that {sup 10}B excesses correlate with the {sup 9}Be/{sup 11}B ratios in {sup 26}Al-free PLAty hibonite Crystals. From these data, an initial {sup 10}Be/{sup 9}Be = (5.5 {+-} 1.6) x 10{sup -4} (2{sigma}) and {sup 10}B/{sup 11}B = 0.2508 {+-} 0.0015 can be inferred. On the other hand, chondritic boron isotopic compositions were found in {sup 26}Al-bearing Spinel-HIBonite spherules, most likely due to contamination with normal boron. No {sup 7}Li excesses due to {sup 7}Be decay were observed. When combined with previously reported data, the new data yield the best defined {sup 10}Be/{sup 9}Be = (5.3 {+-} 1.0) x 10{sup -4} (2{sigma}) and {sup 10}B/{sup 11}B = 0.2513 {+-} 0.0012 for PLACs. A comparison of this value and the best constrained {sup 10}Be/{sup 9}Be = (8.8 {+-} 0.6) x 10{sup -4} in CV Ca-Al-rich inclusions supports a heterogeneous distribution of {sup 10}Be and its protosolar irradiation origin. We consider two possible irradiation scenarios that could potentially lead to the observed Li-Be-B isotopic compositions in PLACs. Although in situ irradiation of solids with hibonite chemistry seems to provide the simplest explanation, more high quality data will be needed for quantitatively constraining the irradiation history.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Application of copper vapour lasers for controlling activity of uranium isotopes

Beryllium nanoparticles are generated upon ablation of a beryllium target in water by a copper vapour laser. The average size of single crystalline nanoparticles is 12 nm. Ablation of a beryllium target in aqueous solutions of uranyl chloride leads to a significant (up to 50 %) decrease in the gamma activity of radionuclides of the uranium-238 and uranium-235 series. Data on the recovery of the gamma activity of these nuclides to new steady-state values after laser irradiation are obtained. The possibility of application of copper vapour lasers for radioactive waste deactivation is discussed. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2011

Transfer reactions using a low-energy {sup 11}Be beam

A series of experiments have been performed to investigate neutron rich beryllium isotopes. Scattering as well as one neutron transfer reactions have been studied using a {sup 11}Be beam on deuteron targets. Bound states of {sup 10,11,12}Be have been studied and reaction cross sections have been calculated. The elastic scattering cross section has shown remarkable structure due to the halo structure of {sup 11}Be.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

New nuclear physics for big bang nucleosynthesis

We discuss nuclear reactions which could play a role in big bang nucleosynthesis. Most of these reactions involve lithium and beryllium isotopes and the rates for some of these have not previously been included in BBN calculations. Few of these reactions are well studied in the laboratory. We also discuss novel effects in these reactions, including thermal population of nuclear target states, resonant enhancement, and nonthermal neutron reaction products. We perform sensitivity studies which show that even given considerable nuclear physics uncertainties, most of these nuclear reactions have minimal leverage on the standard BBN abundance yields of {sup 6}Li and {sup 7}Li. Although a few have the potential to alter the yields significantly, we argue that this is unlikely.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

SOLAR WIND IMPLANTATION MODEL FOR {sup 10}Be IN CALCIUM-ALUMINUM INCLUSIONS

We propose a model for the incorporation of {sup 10}Be within calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs) in primitive carbonaceous meteorites. In this model, {sup 10}Be is produced by energetic particle reactions in the proto-solar atmosphere of a more active proto-Sun characterized by energetic particle fluxes higher than contemporary particle fluxes. This {sup 10}Be is incorporated into the solar wind that is then implanted into CAI precursor material. This production mechanism is operational in the contemporary solar system implanting {sup 10}Be in lunar materials. The contemporary production rate of {sup 10}Be at the surface of the Sun is {approx}0.1 {sup 10}Be cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. Scaling up the contemporary {sup 10}Be production in the proto-Sun by a factor of 10{sup 5} would increase the production rate to 10{sup 410}Be cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. Using this enhanced production value in conjunction with refractory mass inflow rates at 0.06 AU from the proto-Sun we model {sup 10}Be concentrations in CAI precursors. We calculate the content of solar-wind-implanted {sup 10}Be would have been of the order of 10{sup 1210}Be g{sup -1} in CAIs, consistent with initial{sup 10}Be content found from boron-beryllium isotopic systematics in CAIs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Mechanism Responsible for High Concentrations of Be-7 in the Near Space

In 1990 an unexpectedly high concentration of Be-7 was discovered on the LDEF satellite surface, facing in the RAM direction. The search for an explanation of this high concentration of Be-7 which is in thermal equilibrium in the upper atmosphere, led the researchers to the hypothesis of Be-7 transport by vertical turbulent fluxes from deeper layers in the Earth's atmosphere, where Be-7 is produced as a result of nuclear reactions between solar energetic protons (which penetrated there after a solar flare) and terrestrial atmosphere elements. The experiments carried out during 1995-1999 on 'Resource F1' and 'Cosmos' satellites not only confirmed the existence of high Be-7 concentrations at altitudes of about 200 km, but also permitted to establish correlation between the concentration of Be-7 in the upper atmosphere and flare activity on the Sun. More detailed analysis of the whole set of experimental data on Be-7 measurements at satellite altitudes showed, that the appearance of high Be-7 concentrations in the upper atmosphere of the Earth is a more complicated phenomenon. Two more mechanisms , explaining the observed effect can be indicated. Firstly, the observed concentrations could be associated with direct penetration of energetic Be-7 nuclei, originating in flares, into the terrestrial atmosphere. Calculations show, that in solar cosmic rays the flux of Be-7 nuclei should be maximum in comparison to the fluxes of other Beryllium isotopes. Secondly, the high concentration of Be-7 in the upper atmosphere of the Earth could be explained by solar wind penetration through the polar zones. Theoretical analysis of active processes including flares, occurring in the solar atmosphere, leads to the conclusion, that radioactive Beryllium is constantly present in the solar atmosphere, and, possibly, is the main isotope of solar Beryllium.

Panasyuk, M. I.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Synthesis of carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles via solid state reduction of iron oxide nanoparticles

The encapsulation of iron nanoparticles in protective carbon cages leads to unique hybrid core-shell nanomaterials. Recent literature reports suggest that such nanocomposites can be obtained in a relatively simple process involving the solid state carbothermal reduction of iron oxide nanoparticles. This approach is very attractive because it does not require advanced equipment and consumes less energy in comparison to widely used plasma methods. The presented more-in-depth study shows that the carbothermal approach is sensitive to temperature and the process yield strongly depends on the morphology and crystallinity of the carbon material used as a reductant. - Graphical abstract: Reduction of iron oxide nanoparticles by carbon black at 1200 deg. C yields well crystallized carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles. Highlights: > Carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of iron oxide nanoparticles. > The process has the highest selectivity at 1200 C. > Lower temperatures result in iron oxide nanoparticles wrapped in carbon matrix. > The encapsulation rate of Fe at 1200 deg. C was found to be 15%.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2010

Fusion of the {sup 9}Be+{sup 144}Sm System at Near Barrier Energies

We analyze the data for complete fusion of the {sup 9}Be+{sup 144}Sm system at near barrier energies by performing coupled channel calculations using a double-folding potential as the bare potential. We use a recently proposed new method of analysis by the introduction of dimensionless fusion functions. We observe enhancement of the fusion cross section at energies below the Coulomb barrier and suppression above the barrier.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗