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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Long-term measurements of changes in the aerosol scattering coefficient hygroscopic growth at the U.S. Department of Energy Southern Great Plains site provide information on the seasonal as well as size and chemical dependence of aerosol hygroscopic growth. Annual average sub 10 um fRH values (the ratio of aerosol scattering at 85%/40% RH) were 1.75 and 1.87 for the gamma and kappa fit algorithms, respectively. The study found higher growth rates in the winter and spring seasons that correlated with high aerosol nitrate mass fraction. FRH, exhibited strong, but differing correlations with the scattering Ångström exponent and backscatter fraction, two optical size-dependent parameters. The aerosol organic fraction had a strong influence, with fRH decreasing with increases in the organic mass fraction and absorption Ångström exponent and increasing with the aerosol single scatter albedo. Uncertainty analysis if the fit algorithms revealed high uncertainty at low scattering coefficients and slight increases in uncertainty at high RH and fit parameters values.
We study stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in shock ignition by comparing fluid and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Under typical parameters for the OMEGA experiments [Theobald et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 102706 (2012)], a series of 1D fluid simulations with laser intensities ranging between 2 × 10{sup 15} and 2 × 10{sup 16 }W/cm{sup 2} finds that SBS is the dominant instability, which increases significantly with the incident intensity. Strong pump depletion caused by SBS and SRS limits the transmitted intensity at the 0.17n{sub c} to be less than 3.5 × 10{sup 15 }W/cm{sup 2}. The PIC simulations show similar physics but with higher saturation levels for SBS and SRS convective modes and stronger pump depletion due to higher seed levels for the electromagnetic fields in PIC codes. Plasma flow profiles are found to be important in proper modeling of SBS and limiting its reflectivity in both the fluid and PIC simulations.
We examine the consequences of the effective field theory (EFT) of dark matter–nucleon scattering for current and proposed direct detection experiments. Exclusion limits on EFT coupling constants computed using the optimum interval method are presented for SuperCDMS Soudan, CDMS II, and LUX, and the necessity of combining results from multiple experiments in order to determine dark matter parameters is discussed. We demonstrate that spectral differences between the standard dark matter model and a general EFT interaction can produce a bias when calculating exclusion limits and when developing signal models for likelihood and machine learning techniques. We also discuss the implications of the EFT for the next-generation (G2) direct detection experiments and point out regions of complementarity in the EFT parameter space.
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An optical Thomson scattering diagnostic has been designed for the National Ignition Facility to characterize under-dense plasmas. We report on the design of the system and the expected performance for different target configurations. The diagnostic is designed to spatially and temporally resolve the Thomson scattered light from laser driven targets. The diagnostic will collect scattered light from a 50 × 50 × 200 μm volume. The optical design allows operation with different probe laser wavelengths. A deep-UV probe beam (λ{sub 0} = 210 nm) will be used to Thomson scatter from electron plasma densities of ∼5 × 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3} while a 3ω probe will be used for plasma densities of ∼1 × 10{sup 19} cm{sup −3}. The diagnostic package contains two spectrometers: the first to resolve Thomson scattering from ion acoustic wave fluctuations and the second to resolve scattering from electron plasma wave fluctuations. Expected signal levels relative to background will be presented for typical target configurations (hohlraums and a planar foil).
Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • An automated workflow to optimize force-field parameters. • Used the workflow to optimize force-field parameter for a system containing nanodiamond and tRNA. • The mechanism relies on molecular dynamics simulation and neutron scattering experimental data. • The workflow can be generalized to any other experimental and simulation techniques. - Abstract: Large-scale simulations and data analysis are often required to explain neutron scattering experiments to establish a connection between the fundamental physics at the nanoscale and data probed by neutrons. However, to perform simulations at experimental conditions it is critical to use correct force-field (FF) parameters which are unfortunately not available for most complex experimental systems. In this work, we have developed a workflow optimization technique to provide optimized FF parameters by comparing molecular dynamics (MD) to neutron scattering data. We describe the workflow in detail by using an example system consisting of tRNA and hydrophilic nanodiamonds in a deuterated water (D{sub 2}O) environment. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) data show a faster motion of the tRNA in the presence of nanodiamond than without the ND. To compare the QENS and MD results quantitatively, a proper choice of FF parameters is necessary. We use an efficient workflow to optimize the FF parameters between the hydrophilic nanodiamond and water by comparing to the QENS data. Our results show that we can obtain accurate FF parameters by using this technique. The workflow can be generalized to other types of neutron data for FF optimization, such as vibrational spectroscopy and spin echo.
The dynamics of carbon condensation in detonating high explosives remains controversial. Detonation model validation requires data for processes occurring at nanometer length scales on time scales ranging from nanoseconds to microseconds. A new detonation endstation has been commissioned to acquire and provide time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) from detonating explosives. Hexanitrostilbene (HNS) was selected as the first to investigate due to its ease of initiation using exploding foils and flyers, vacuum compatibility, high thermal stability, and stoichiometric carbon abundance that produces high carbon condensate yields. The SAXS data during detonation, collected with 300 ns time resolution, provide unprecedented signal fidelity over a broad q-range. This fidelity permits the first analysis of both the Guinier and Porod/power-law regions of the scattering profile during detonation, which contains information about the size and morphology of the resultant carbon condensate nanoparticles. To bolster confidence in these data, the scattering angle and intensity were additionally cross-referenced with a separate, highly calibrated SAXS beamline. The data show that HNS produces carbon particles with a radius of gyration of 2.7 nm in less than 400 ns after the detonation front has passed, and this size and morphology are constant over the next several microseconds. These data directly contradict previous pioneering work on RDX/TNT mixtures and TATB, where observations indicate significant particle growth (50% or more) continues over several microseconds. The power-law slope is about −3, which is consistent with a complex disordered, irregular, or folded sp{sup 2} sub-arrangement within a relatively monodisperse structure possessing radius of gyration of 2.7 nm after the detonation of HNS.
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Reducing lattice thermal conductivity ( κ l ) of a thermoelectric material is one of the most popular strategies to improve its thermoelectric performance. Particularly, many efforts have been focused on decreasing grain size to effectively scatter low‐frequency phonons by boundary scattering. In addition to the boundary scattering, we have recently demonstrated that dense arrays of dislocations formed in grain boundaries can further reduce the κ l by dislocation scattering at room temperature and above. In order to closely examine the effect of the dislocation scattering, the κ l of polycrystalline Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 samples with and without dislocations were measured at low temperature ( T < 200 K). Because other phonon scattering mechanisms like Umklapp and point‐defect scatterings are not dominant at low temperature, we clearly show the presence of the dislocation scattering in the sample with the dislocations by successfully describing its low temperature experimental κ l with a theoretical model.
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Here, we present x-ray resonant magnetic dichroism and x-ray resonant magnetic scattering measurements of the temperature dependence of magnetism in Pr-doped La-Ca-Mn-O films grown on (110) NdGaO{sub 3} substrates. We observed thermal hysteresis of the ferromagnetism in one film that also showed large thermal hysteresis of ∼18 K in transport measurements. While in a second film of a different nominal chemistry, which showed very small thermal hysteresis ∼3 K in transport measurements, no thermal hysteresis of the ferromagnetism was observed. These macroscopic properties are correlated with evolution of surface magnetization across metal insulator transition for these films as observed by soft x-ray resonant magnetic scattering measurements.
Atomic clusters can serve as ideal model systems for exploring ultrafast (∼100 fs) laser-driven ionization dynamics of dense matter on the nanometer scale. Resonant absorption of optical laser pulses enables heating to temperatures on the order of 1 keV at near solid density conditions. To date, direct probing of transient states of such nano-plasmas was limited to coherent x-ray imaging. Here we present the first measurement of spectrally resolved incoherent x-ray scattering from clusters, enabling measurements of transient temperature, densities, and ionization. Single shot x-ray Thomson scattering signals were recorded at 120 Hz using a crystal spectrometer in combination with a single-photon counting and energy-dispersive pnCCD. A precise pump laser collimation scheme enabled recording near background-free scattering spectra from Ar clusters with an unprecedented dynamic range of more than 3 orders of magnitude. Such measurements are important for understanding collective effects in laser-matter interactions on femtosecond time scales, opening new routes for the development of schemes for their ultrafast control.
Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) Green's function, multiple-scattering theory is an ecient sitecentered, electronic-structure technique for addressing an assembly of N scatterers. Wave-functions are expanded in a spherical-wave basis on each scattering center and indexed up to a maximum orbital and azimuthal number L max = (l,m) max , while scattering matrices, which determine spectral properties, are truncated at L tr = (l,m) tr where phase shifts δl>l tr are negligible. Historically, L max is set equal to L tr , which is correct for large enough L max but not computationally expedient; a better procedure retains higher-order (free-electron and single-site) contributions for L max > L tr with δl>l tr set to zero [Zhang and Butler, Phys. Rev. B 46, 7433]. We present a numerically ecient and accurate augmented-KKR Green's function formalism that solves the KKR equations by exact matrix inversion [R 3 process with rank N(l tr + 1) 2 ] and includes higher-L contributions via linear algebra [R 2 process with rank N(l max +1) 2 ]. Augmented-KKR approach yields properly normalized wave-functions, numerically cheaper basis-set convergence, and a total charge density and electron count that agrees with Lloyd's formula. We apply our formalism to fcc Cu, bcc Fe and L1 0 CoPt, and present the numerical results for accuracy and for the convergence of the total energies, Fermi energies, and magnetic moments versus L max for a given L tr .