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Kim, Kyungjin

Publications and source records attributed to Kim, Kyungjin.

Core-Pedestal Plasma Configurations in Advanced Tokamaks

Here, several configurations for the core and pedestal plasma are examined for a predefined tokamak design by implementing multiple heating/current drive (H/CD) sources to achieve an optimum configuration of high fusion power in a noninductive operation while maintaining an ideally magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stable core plasma using the IPS-FASTRAN framework. IPS-FASTRAN is a component-based lightweight coupled simulation framework that is used to simulate magnetically confined plasma by integrating a set of high-fidelity codes to construct the plasma equilibrium (EFIT, TOQ, and CHEASE), calculate the turbulent heat and particle transport fluxes (TGLF), model various H/CD systems (TORIC, TORAY, GENRAY, and NUBEAM), model the pedestal pressure and width (EPED), and estimate the ideal MHD stability (DCON). The TGLF core transport model and EPED pedestal model are used to self-consistently predict plasma profiles consistent with ideal MHD stability and H/CD (and bootstrap) current sources. In order to evaluate the achievable and sustainable plasma beta, varying configurations are produced ranging from the no-wall stability to with-wall stability regimes, simultaneously subject to the self-consistent TGLF, EPED, and H/CD source profile predictions that optimize configuration performance. The pedestal density, plasma current, and total injected power are scanned to explore their impact on the target plasma configuration, fusion power, and confinement quality. A set of fully noninductive scenarios are achieved by employing ion-cyclotron, neutral beam injection, helicon, and lower-hybrid H/CDs to provide a broad profile for the total current drive in the core region for a predefined tokamak design. These noninductive scenarios are characterized by high fusion gain (Q ~ 4) and power (P fus ~ 600 MW), optimum confinement quality (H 98 ~ 1.1), and high bootstrap current fraction (f BS ~ 0.7) for Greenwald fraction below unity. The broad current profile configurations identified are stable to low-n kink modes either because the normalized pressure β N is below the no-wall limit or a wall is present.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Skin-like low-noise elastomeric organic photodiodes

Stretchable optoelectronics made of elastomeric semiconductors could enable the integration of intelligent systems with soft materials, such as those of the biological world. Organic semiconductors and photodiodes have been engineered to be elastomeric; however, for photodetector applications, it remains a challenge to identify an elastomeric bulk heterojunction (e-BHJ) photoactive layer that combines a low Young’s modulus and a high strain at break that yields organic photodiodes with low electronic noise values and high photodetector performance. Here, a blend of an elastomer, a donor-like polymer, and an acceptor-like molecule yields a skin-like e-BHJ with a Young’s modulus of a few megapascals, comparable to values of human tissues, and a high strain at break of 189%. Elastomeric organic photodiodes based on e-BHJ photoactive layers maintain low electronic noise current values in the tens of femtoamperes range and noise equivalent power values in the tens of picowatts range under at least 60% strain.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Effects of particle inclusions on cracking in ultrathin barrier films

Here, the effects of particle inclusions with different mechanical properties on the development of cracks in ultra-thin barrier films have been studied. Two types of particles, alumina and poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) with large differences in their elastic modulus were used, representing both hard and soft inclusions. Particles were seeded onto polyethylene naphthalate substrates and subsequently coated with atomic layer deposited Al 2 O 3 as a barrier film. Ca corrosion tests used to determine the performance of the barrier films revealed that soft polymer particle inclusions severely affect the development of cracking in barrier films as compared to stiff ceramic particles. Tensile tests also confirmed that the barrier films with polymer particle inclusions have the lowest value of critical onset strain. Parametric simulations, conducted by varying the elastic modulus of the particle inclusions over a wide range, resulted in a larger strain energy release rate near particle inclusions which promotes crack formation and negatively impacts the performance of barrier films with softer particle inclusions. Thus, the combination of high residual stresses in the barrier films with the presence of soft particle inclusions is found the most detrimental for the development of high-performance ultrathin barrier films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗