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Lin, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Lin, L..

Magnetic structure and magnetoelectric coupling in the antiferromagnet Co 5⁢ (Te⁢O 3 ) 4 ⁢Cl 2

The van der Waals (vdW) layered multiferroics, which host simultaneous ferroelectric and magnetic orders, have attracted attention not only for their potentials to be utilized in nanoelectric devices and spintronics, but also offer alternative opportunities for emergent physical phenomena. To date, the vdW layered multiferroic materials are still very rare. In this work, we have investigated the magnetic structure and magnetoelectric (ME) effects in Co 5 ⁢(Te⁢O 3 ) 4 ⁢Cl 2 , a promising multiferroic compound with antiferromagnetic (AFM) Néel point T N ~18 K. The neutron-powder diffraction reveals the noncoplanar AFM state with preferred Néel vector along the c axis, while a spin reorientation occurring between 8 and 15 K is identified, which results from the distinct temperature dependence of the nonequivalent Co site's moment in Co 5 ⁢(Te⁢O 3 ) 4 ⁢Cl 2 . Moreover, it is found that Co 5 ⁢(Te⁢O 3 ) 4 ⁢Cl 2 is one of the best vdW multiferroics studied so far in terms of the multiferroic performance. The measured linear ME coefficient exhibits the emergent oscillation dependence of the angle between magnetic field and electric field, and the maximal value is as big as 45 ps/m. Finally, it is suggested that Co 5 ⁢(Te⁢O 3 ) 4 ⁢Cl 2 is an appreciated platform for exploring the emergent multiferroicity in vdW layered compounds.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of micro-fin tube geometry parameters on evaporator material savings

A Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) analysis is presented that explores the influence of the micro-fin tube geometry on the required material volume. The analysis was done using a local flow boiling model, which can quantify the effect of fin parameters and the tube diameter. The PEC was done while requiring that the compared surfaces satisfy the same heat duty and pressure drop. The following tube parameters and ranges were explored: tube diameter (3 mm ≤ D o ≤ 6 mm), fin base thickness (0.12 mm ≤ t bf ≤ 0.29 mm), helix angle (6° ≤ α ≤ 30°), fin apex angle (11° ≤ β ≤ 22°), total number of fins (43 ≤ n f ≤ 70), and the fin height (0.11 mm ≤ e ≤ 0.3 mm). The tube that provided the smallest material requirements within the examined parameter ranges had: D o = 3 mm, t bf = 0.12 mm, α = 6°, β = 11°, n f = 43, and e = 0.3 mm. In general, small D o and t bf and large n f and e provided the best performance and work to minimize the required material volume to provide a given heat duty and pressure drop. The helix and the fin-tip apex angles were found to have very little influence on the performance for the examined range of parameters and angles associated with the lowest production cost should be chosen.

Evaporation↗

Application of Margin-Based Methods to Assess System Health

Health management of complex systems such as nuclear power plants is an essential task to guarantee system reliability. This task can be greatly enhanced by constantly monitoring asset status and performances and process such data (through anomaly detection, diagnostic, and prognostic computational algorithms) to identify asset degradation trends and faulty states. While such information and data are typically available for many of the assets, they are not propagated from the asset to the system level in order to identify the most critical assets and prioritize maintenance and surveillance activities. The main reason is driven by the fact that current reliability modeling techniques are inadequate to process such information/data. This is due to the nature of these techniques which are based on the concept of failure rate/probability that do not serve an operational context where quantitative asset health information is available. Simply stated, current reliability techniques serve a run-to-failure operational setting and not a predictive maintenance one where the goal is to perform maintenance and surveillance activities only when they are needed based on asset health. The risk informed asset management (RIAM) project is focusing on the development of a different kind of reliability modeling techniques designed to adequately serve a predictive operational setting. Such reliability techniques move aways from a failure rate/probability to a margin-based mindset where margin is here used as a metric to quantify asset health based only on current and past operational experience of the asset under consideration. In addition, margin-based reliability techniques are able to propagate asset health information from the component to system level and provide importance measure to each asset. This report summarizes a recent activity performed in collaboration with plant modernization pathway designed to integrate monitoring data into margin-based reliability models. Such activity focuses on a specific system of an existing nuclear power plant where large amount of historic monitoring data is used to monitor asset and system health.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Magnetic structure and multiferroicity of Sc-substituted hexagonal YbFeO 3

The hexagonal rare-earth ferrite RFeO 3 family represents a unique class of multiferroics exhibiting weak ferromagnetism, and a strong coupling between magnetism and structural trimerization is predicted. However, the hexagonal structure for RFeO 3 remains metastable in conventional conditions. We have succeeded in stabilizing the hexagonal structure of polycrystalline YbFeO 3 by partial Sc substitution of Yb. Using bulk magnetometry and neutron diffraction, we find that Yb 0.42 Sc 0.58 FeO 3 orders into a canted antiferromagnetic state with the Néel temperature T N ~ 165K, below which the Fe 3+ moments form the triangular configuration in the ab plane and their in-plane projections are parallel to the [100] axis, consistent with magnetic space group P6 3 c'm'. It is determined that the spin canting is aligned along the c axis, giving rise to the weak ferromagnetism. Furthermore, the Fe 3+ moments reorient toward a new direction below reorientation temperature T R ~ 40K, satisfying magnetic subgroup P6 3 , while the Yb 3+ moments order independently and ferrimagnetically along the c axis at the characteristic temperature T Yb ~ 15K. Interestingly, reproducible modulation of electric polarization induced by magnetic field at low temperature is achieved, suggesting that the delicate structural distortion associated with two-up/one-down buckling of the Yb/Sc planes and tilting of the FeO 5 bipyramids may mediate the coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic orders under magnetic field. Furthermore, the present work represents substantial progress to search for high-temperature multiferroics in hexagonal ferrites and related materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Broadband X-ray burst spectroscopy of the fast-radio-burst-emitting Galactic magnetar

Magnetars are young, magnetically powered neutron stars that possess the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely intense millisecond-long radio pulses of primarily extragalactic origin, and a leading attribution for their genesis focuses on magnetars. A hallmark signature of magnetars is their emission of bright, hard X-ray bursts of sub-second duration. On 27 April 2020, the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 emitted hundreds of X-ray bursts within a few hours. One of these temporally coincided with an FRB, the first known detection of an FRB from the Milky Way. Here, we present spectral and temporal analyses of 24 X-ray bursts emitted 13 hours prior to the FRB and seen simultaneously with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and with the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) mission in their combined energy range of 0.2 keV to 30 MeV. These broadband spectra permit direct comparison with the spectrum of the FRB-associated X-ray burst (FRB-X). We demonstrate that all 24 NICER and GBM bursts are very similar temporally to the FRB-X, but strikingly different spectrally. The singularity of the FRB-X burst is perhaps indicative of an uncommon locale for its origin. We suggest that this event originated in quasi-polar open or closed magnetic field lines that extend to high altitudes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

eXTP: Enhanced X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry Mission

eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) - a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of approx. 0.9 m(exp. 2) and 0.6 m(exp. 2) at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering less than 180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of approx. 3.4 m(exp. 2), between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) - a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm(exp. 2) at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP international consortium includes major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has significantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP. The planned launch date of the mission is earlier than 2025.

X-ray astronomy↗

SGR J1550-5418 Bursts Detected with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor during Its Most Prolific Activity

We have performed detailed temporal and time-integrated spectral analysis of 286 bursts from SGR J1550-5418 detected with the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) in 2009 January, resulting in the largest uniform sample of temporal and spectral properties of SGR J1550-5418 bursts. We have used the combination of broadband and high time-resolution data provided with GBM to perform statistical studies for the source properties.We determine the durations, emission times, duty cycles, and rise times for all bursts, and find that they are typical of SGR bursts. We explore various models in our spectral analysis, and conclude that the spectra of SGR J15505418 bursts in the 8-200 keV band are equally well described by optically thin thermal bremsstrahlung (OTTB), a power law (PL) with an exponential cutoff (Comptonized model), and two blackbody (BB) functions (BB+BB). In the spectral fits with the Comptonized model, we find a mean PL index of -0.92, close to the OTTB index of -1. We show that there is an anti-correlation between the Comptonized E(sub peak) and the burst fluence and average flux. For the BB+BBfits, we find that the fluences and emission areas of the two BB functions are correlated. The low-temperature BB has an emission area comparable to the neutron star surface area, independent of the temperature, while the high temperature BB has a much smaller area and shows an anti-correlation between emission area and temperature.We compare the properties of these bursts with bursts observed from other SGR sources during extreme activations, and discuss the implications of our results in the context of magnetar burst models.

bursts↗

Planetary Geochemistry Techniques: Probing In-Situ with Neutron and Gamma Rays (PING) Instrument

The Probing In situ with Neutrons and Gamma rays (PING) instrument is a promising planetary science application of the active neutron-gamma ray technology so successfully used in oil field well logging and mineral exploration on Earth. The objective of our technology development program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (NASA/GSFC) Astrochemistry Laboratory is to extend the application of neutron interrogation techniques to landed in situ planetary composition measurements by using a 14 MeV Pulsed Neutron Generator (PNG) combined with neutron and gamma ray detectors, to probe the surface and subsurface of planetary bodies without the need to drill. We are thus working to bring the PING instrument to the point where it can be flown on a variety of surface lander or rover missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids, comets and the satellites of the outer planets.

Parsons, A.↗