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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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At least 181 records · Page 10

SCF treatment of charge polarization effects in intermediate-energy electron scattering calculations with applications to N2

Converged rotational close coupling calculations of differential, integral, and momentum-transfer cross sections are obtained for seven model potentials for electron-N2 scattering at an impact energy of 30 eV. The model potentials involve a static potential calculated by the INDO/1s or INDOXI/1s method, and exchange potential calculated by the semiclassical exchange approximation from the INDO/1s or INDOXI/1s unperturbed electron density and a polarization potential. The polarization potentials used include the Buckley-Burke semiempirical one and various modifications of the INDOXI and INDO SCF (self-consistent-field) adiabatic polarization potentials. Without adjustment of parameters, good agreement is obtained with the angle dependence of the experimentally measured sum of the elastic and rotational excitation differential cross sections; however, the absolute value of the calculated cross sections is about 20-30% larger than the measured values in the best case, perhaps indicating that the model potentials are too strong or should have a nonzero imaginary part.

Onda, K.↗

Measurements of ion-molecule reactions of He/+/, H/+/, and HeH/+/ with H2 and D2

Drift tube-mass spectrometer measurements of several ion-molecule reactions believed to be prominent in the hydrogen-helium upper atmosphere of Jupiter are described. The total rate constant at 300 K of the reaction of He(+) with H2 is about 1.1 x 10 to the neg 13 cu cm/sec. The reaction proceeds mainly by dissociative charge transfer to produce H(+), with a small portion going by charge transfer to H2(+) and by atom rearrangement to HeH(+). The rate coefficient increases slowly with ion mean energy to a value of 2.8 x 10 to the neg 13 at 0.18 eV. The rate of the corresponding reaction with deuterium, He(+) + D2, has the rate coefficient of about 5 x 10 to the neg 14 at 300 K. Measurements of the three-body reaction of H' and the two-body reaction of HeH' with H2 to form H3(+) ions are described.

Johnsen, R.↗

L2 Plasma Environments

The second LaGrange point, 1.5 million miles from the Earth in the anti-solar direction, is becoming an important destination for scientific spacecraft. The quasi-stable gravity field requires little energy resources for station keeping and astronomical missions-infrared and microwave in particular-find the minimal impact from Earth albedo radiation and limited restrictions on viewing directions a tremendous advantage in their mission design. Spacecraft design for L2 missions will have to consider the plasma environments of the ambient solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetotail from energies of a few 10s of an eV through 10s of keV in addition to enhanced energetic particle populations from 10s to 1000 keV during solar energetic particle events. This presentation will provide a background on the appropriate L2 charged particle environments at L2 and describe modeling efforts at MSFC to develop environment specification tools for the L2 plasma environment.

Minow, Joseph I.↗

L2 Plasma Environments

The second LaGrange point, 1.5 million miles from the Earth in the anti-solar direction, is becoming an important destination for scientific spacecraft. The quasi-stable gravity field requires little energy resources for station keeping and astronomical missions-infrared and microwave in particular-find the minimal impact from Earth albedo radiation and limited restrictions on viewing directions a tremendous advantage in their mission design. Spacecraft design for L2 missions will have to consider the plasma environments of the ambient solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetotail from energies of a few 10s of an eV through 10 s of keV in addition to enhanced energetic particle populations from 10s to l000 keV during solar energetic particle events. This presentation will provide a background on the appropriate L2 charged particle environments at L2 and describe modeling efforts at MSFC to develop environment specification tools for the L2 plasma environment.

Minow, Joseph I.↗

Analytic cross sections for 1 1S, to 1 1S to 2 1S, 1 1S to 2 1P transitions in helium by electron impact

The 1 1s yields 1 1s elastic and 1 1s yields 2 1s and 1 1s yields 2 excitation cross sections of Helium atoms by collision with a charged particle are obtained as analytic functions of incident velocity. The first order time dependent scattering theory is used. Numerical values of electron -He cross sections are obtained for incident energies in the range 30 eV to 800 eV and compared with earlier Born approximation calculations and with available experimental data. It is found that at 100 eV and above, the present results are in good agreement with the experimental results. They are also closer to the experimental results than the corresponding Born calculations.

Sukumar, C. V.↗

Influence of Triply-Charged Ions and Ionization Cross-Sections in a Hybrid-PIC Model of a Hall Thruster Discharge

The sensitivity of xenon ionization rates to collision cross-sections is studied within the framework of a hybrid-PIC model of a Hall thruster discharge. A revised curve fit based on the Drawin form is proposed and is shown to better reproduce the measured crosssections at high electron energies, with differences in the integrated rate coefficients being on the order of 10% for electron temperatures between 20 eV and 30 eV. The revised fit is implemented into HPHall and the updated model is used to simulate NASA's HiVHAc EDU2 Hall thruster at discharge voltages of 300, 400, and 500 V. For all three operating points, the revised cross-sections result in an increase in the predicted thrust and anode efficiency, reducing the error relative to experimental performance measurements. Electron temperature and ionization reaction rates are shown to follow the trends expected based on the integrated rate coefficients. The effects of triply-charged xenon are also assessed. The predicted thruster performance is found to have little or no dependence on the presence of triply-charged ions. The fraction of ion current carried by triply-charged ions is found to be on the order of 1% and increases slightly with increasing discharge voltage. The reaction rates for the 0→III, I→III, and II→III ionization reactions are found to be of similar order of magnitude and are about one order of magnitude smaller than the rate of 0→II ionization in the discharge channel.

Hall Thrusters↗

The Earth's Exosphere and Its Response to Space Weather

Neutral-Plasma charge exchange is a fundamental physical process that occurs ubiquitously across the universe. In geospace, charge exchange occurs in the Earth’s topside ionosphere, polar wind, plasmasphere, inner magnetosphere, and magnetosheath. Past and current space missions have profiled plasma and electromagnetic characteristics in various parts of the Earth’s magnetospheric system. However, observations of the exosphere, i.e., neutrals above 500 km altitude, are still sparse and, in some regions, non-existent, which limits our understanding of the neutral contribution to the overall dynamics of the geospace environment. Cold exospheric neutrals (< 10 eV) play an important role in the Sun-Earth interaction. Variability of exospheric density provides key information of the Earth’s atmospheric loss under dynamic space environment conditions. Various neutral species and their density variations in the polar wind can alter ion outflow patterns, modifying global magnetospheric dynamics. Exospheric neutrals also provide an energy sink for the inner magnetosphere by creating Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) through charge exchange with high-energy ring current ions, which subsequently leave our geospace system unimpeded by magnetic fields. Exospheric neutrals also provide a means to observe the global interaction of the solar wind – magnetosphere, through global imaging of the system via ENAs (e.g., the TWINS and IMAGE missions) and soft X-rays (e.g., the upcoming LEXI and SMILE missions), the byproducts of neutral-plasma charge exchange. In the coming decade, we advocate that our community needs to increase our exploration of the neutral populations in the outermost reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is imperative that we improve both in-situ and remote-sensing technologies for measuring key neutral species in our exosphere. We also encourage dedicated exosphere missions and to stimulate model developments of our exosphere and its interaction with the co-located magnetospheric system and neighboring Ionosphere - Thermosphere - Mesosphere system.

Hyunju Connor↗

Preparation and Thermoelectric Properties of the Skutterudite-Related Phase Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3

A new skutterudite phase Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 was prepared. This new phase adds to a large number of already known materials with the skutterudite structure which have shown good potential for thermoelectric applications. Single phase, polycrystalline samples were prepared and characterized by x-ray analysis, electron probe microanalysis, density, sound velocity, thermal-expansion coefficient, and differential thermal analysis measurements. Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 has a cubic lattice, space group Im3 (T(sup 5, sub h)), with a = 9.298 A and decomposes at about 920 K. The Seebeck coefficient, the electrical resistivity, the Hall effect, and the thermal conductivity were measured on hot-pressed samples over a wide range of temperatures. Preliminary results show that Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 behaves as a heavily doped semiconductor with an estimated band gap of about 0.6 eV. The lattice thermal conductivity of Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 is substantially lower than that of the binary isostructural compounds CoSb3 and IrSb3. The unusually low thermal conductivity might be explained by additional hole and charge transfer phonon scattering in this material. The potential of this material for thermoelectric applications is discussed.

Caillat, T.↗

Electron- and Photon-stimulated Desorption of Alkali Atoms from Lunar Sample and a Model Mineral Surface

We report recent results on an investigation of source mechanisms for the origin of alkali atoms in the tenuous planetary atmospheres, with focus on non-thermal processes (photon stimulated desorption (PSD), electron stimulated desorption (ESD), and ion sputtering). Whereas alkaline earth oxides (MgO, CaO) are far more abundant in lunar samples than alkali oxides (Na2O, K2O), the atmosphere of the Moon contains easily measurable concentrations of Na and K, while Ca and Mg are undetected there; traces of Ca have recently been seen in the Moon's atmosphere (10-3 of Na). The experiments have included ESD, PSD and ion sputtering of alkali atoms from model mineral surface (amorphous SiO2) and from a lunar basalt sample obtained from NASA. The comparison is made between ESD and PSD efficiency of monovalent alkalis (Na, K) and divalent alkaline earths (Ba, Ca).The ultrahigh vacuum measurement scheme for ESD and PSD of Na atoms includes a highly sensitive alkali metal detector based on surface ionization, and a time-of-flight technique. For PSD measurements, a mercury arc light source (filtered and chopped) is used. We find that bombardment of the alkali covered surfaces by ultraviolet photons or by low energy electrons (E>4 eV) causes desorption of hot alkali atoms. This results are consistent with the model developed to explain our previous measurements of sodium desorption from a silica surface and from water ice: electron- or photon-induced charge transfer from the substrate to the ionic adsorbate causes formation of a neutral alkali atom in a repulsive configuration, from which desorption occurs. The two-electron charge transfer to cause desorption of divalent alkaline eath ions is a less likely process.The data support the suggestion that PSD by UV solar photons is a dominant source process for alkalis in the tenuous lunar atmosphere.

Yakshinskiy, B. V.↗

Stationary Plasma Thruster Plume Emissions

The emission spectrum from a xenon plasma produced by a Stationary Plasma Thruster provided by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) was measured. Approximately 270 individual Xe I, Xe II, and XE III transitions were identified. A total of 250 mW of radiated optical emission was estimated from measurements taken at the thruster exit plane. There was no evidence of erosion products in the emission signature. Ingestion and ionization of background gas at elevated background pressure was detected. The distribution of excited states could be described by temperatures ranging from fractions of 1 eV to 4 eV with a high degree of uncertainty due to the nonequilibrium nature of this plasma. The plasma was over 95 percent ionized at the thruster exit plane. Between 10 and 20 percent of the ions were doubly charged. Two modes of operation were identified. The intensity of plasma emission increased by a factor of two during operation in an oscillatory mode. The transfer between the two modes of operation was likely related to unidentified phenomena occurring on a time scale of minutes.

Manzella, David H.↗

Laboratory Studies of the X-ray Emission Produced by the Interaction of Solar Wind Heavy Ions with Comets

The process of X-ray emission following charge exchange between solar wind heavy ions and cometary gases is studied in the laboratory. The emission is recorded with the spare ASTRO-E 6x6 microcalorimeter array. The microcalorimeter affords a resolution of better than 10 eV in the range of X-ray energies of interest arid thus individual emission lines can be resolved. Our present measurements focus on the most abundant K-shell heavy ions found in the solar wind. In particular, we measure the K-shell emission of bare C, N, O, and Ne, and their hydrogenlike counter parts interacting with such gases as CO2, N2, and CH4. Several results are noted that had not been considered in the early cometary X-ray models.

Beiersdorfer, P.↗

Isotopic Enrichment of Boron in the Sputtering of Boron Nitride with Xenon Ions

An experimental study is described to measure the isotopic enrichment of boron. Xenon ions from 100 eV to 1.5 keV were used to sputter a boron nitride target. An ion gun was used to generate the ion beam. The ion current density at the target surface was approximately 30 microA/sq cm. Xenon ions impinged on the target surface at 50 deg angle to the surface normal. Since boron nitride is an insulator, a flood electron gun was used in our experiments to neutralize the positive charge buildup on the target surface. The sputtered secondary ions of boron were detected by a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The spectrometer entrance aperture was located perpendicular to the ion beam direction and 10 mm away from the target surface. The secondary ion flux was observed to be enriched in the heavy isotopes at lower ion energies. The proportion of heavy isotopes in the sputtered secondary ion flux was found to decrease with increasing primary ion energy from 100 to 350 eV. Beyond 350 eV, light isotopes were sputtered preferentially. The light isotope enrichment factor was observed to reach an asymptotic value of 1.27 at 1.5 keV. This trend is similar to that of the isotopic enrichment observed earlier when copper was sputtered with xenon ions in the same energy range.

Ray, P. K.↗

Plasma distribution and spacecraft charging modeling near Jupiter

To assess the role of spacecraft charging near Jupiter, the plasma distribution in Jupiter's magnetosphere was modeled using data from the plasma analyzer experiments on Pioneer 10 (published results) and on Pioneer 11 (preliminary results). In the model, electron temperatures are kT = 4 eV throughout, whereas proton temperatures range over 100 or equal to kT or equal to 400 eV. The model fluxes and concentrations vary over three orders of magnitude among several corotating regions, including, in order to increasing distance from Jupiter, a plasma void, plasma sphere, sporadic zone, ring current, current sheet, high latitude plasma and magnetosheath. Intermediate and high energy electrons and protons (to 100 MeV) are modeled as well. The models supply the information for calculating particle fluxes to a spacecraft in the Jovian environment. The particle balance equations (including effects of secondary and photoemission) then determine the spacecraft potential.

Goldstein, R.↗

Interaction of large, high power systems with operational orbit charged particle environments

Concepts are presently being advanced for space systems to be used for such activities as manufacturing, earth observations, scientific exploration, power generation and human habitation, in locations ranging from low earth orbit (300-500 km) to geosynchronous orbit and beyond. Many of these systems concepts envision large structures and high power levels, and consequently higher operating voltages than have been used in space to date. The potential impact of interactions of space systems with their operational orbit charged particle environments on the systems' performance must be accounted for in the design process. A potentially hazardous spacecraft-environment interaction is discussed, namely the interaction of large high voltage systems with low energy (less than 50 eV) plasmas which can result in loss of power, and/or arcing. The impact of this class of interactions on system operation is most severe at low orbits where the ambient plasmas are densest. Results of experimental work and predictions of simple analytical models are presented and their implications for design of space systems are discussed.

Purvis, C. K.↗

Measurements of ion-molecule reactions of He plus, H plus, HeH plus with H sub 2 and D sub 2

A drift tube mass spectrometer apparatus has been used to determine the rate coefficient, energy dependence and product ions of the reaction He(+) +H2. The total rate coefficient at 300 K is 1.1 plus or minus 0.1) 10 to minus 13th power cu cm/sec. The reaction proceeds principally by dissociative charge transfer to produce H(+), with the small remainder going by charge transfer to produce H2(+) and by atom rearrangement to produce HeH(+). The rate coefficient increases slowly with increasing ion mean energy, reaching a value of 2.8 x ten to the minus 13th power cu cm sec at 0.18 eV. The corresponding reaction with deuterium, He(+) + D2, exhibits a value (5 plus or minus 1) x 10 to the minus 14th cu cm/sec at 300K. The reaction rates for conversion of H(+) and HeH(+) to H3(+) on collisions with H2 molecules are found to agree well with results of previous investigations.

Johnsen, R.↗

Tunneling effects in the current-voltage characteristics of high-efficiency GaAs solar cells

Evidence is that tunneling via states in the forbidden gap is the dominant source of excess current in the dark current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of high-efficiency DMCVD grown Al(x)Ga(1-x)As/GaAs(x is equal to or greater than 0.85) solar cells. The dark forward and reverse I-V measurements were made on several solar cells, for the first time, at temperatures between 193 and 301 K. Low-voltage reverse-bias I-V data of a number of cells give a thermal activation energy for excess current of 0.026 + or - 0.005 eV, which corresponds to the carbon impurity in GaAs. However, other energy levels between 0.02 eV and 0.04 eV were observed in some cells which may correspond to impurity levels introduced by Cu, Si, Ge, or Cd. The forward-bias excess current is mainly due to carrier tunneling between localized levels created in the space-charge layer by impurities such as carbon, which are incorporated during the solar cell growth process. A model is suggested to explain the results.

Kachare, R.↗

Development of a Method for Local Electron Temperature and Density Measurements in the Divertor of the JET Tokamak

Plasma volume recombination in the divertor, a process in which charged particles recombine to neutral atoms, contributes to plasma detachment and hence cooling at the divertor target region. Detachment has been observed at JET and other tokamaks and is known to occur at low electron temperatures (T(sub e)<1 eV) and at high electron density (n(sub e)>10(exp 20)/m(exp 3)). The ability to measure such low temperatures is therefore of interest for modelling the divertor. In present work we report development of a new spectroscopic technique for investigation of local electron density (n(sub e)) and temperature (T,) in the outer divertor at JET.

Jupen, C.↗

Vlf hiss and related plasma observations in the polar magnetosphere.

This paper presents a study of auroral-zone vlf hiss and low-energy charged-particle observations with the Injun 5 satellite. The results of this study provide a direct verification of the association between auroral-zone vlf hiss and intense fluxes of low-energy electrons with energies on the order of 100 eV to several keV. On the dayside of the magnetosphere, these low-energy electrons are identified with the dayside polar-cusp region observed at higher latitudes with the Imp 5 satellite. At other local times, through the dawn and dusk regions and into the nightside of the magnetosphere, the vlf hiss and low-energy electron precipitation regions are believed to correspond to the extension of the dayside polar cusp into the distant plasma sheet and downstream magnetosheath on the nightside of the magnetosphere. Intense fluxes of upgoing electrons are often observed in a narrow latitudinal band near the low-energy electron precipitation bands. These upgoing electrons are believed to be associated with another type of vlf emission called a saucer, which is frequently observed with Injun 5.

Gurnett, D. A.↗