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Results for “PLASMA SWITCHES”

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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Dust cluster explosion

A model for the dust cluster explosion where micron/sub-micron sized particles are accelerated at the expense of plasma thermal energy, in the afterglow phase of a complex plasma discharge is proposed. The model is tested by molecular dynamics simulations of dust particles in a confining potential. The nature of the explosion (caused by switching off the discharge) and the concomitant dust acceleration is found to depend critically on the pressure of the background neutral gas. At low gas pressure, the explosion is due to unshielded Coulomb repulsion between dust particles and yields maximum acceleration, while in the high pressure regime it is due to shielded Yukawa repulsion and yields much feebler acceleration. These results are in agreement with experimental findings. Our simulations also confirm a recently proposed electrostatic (ES) isothermal scaling relation, P{sub E}{proportional_to}V{sub d}{sup -2} (where P{sub E} is the ES pressure of the dust particles and V{sub d} is the confining volume).

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS OBSCURATION FROM WINDS: FROM DUSTY INFRARED-DRIVEN TO WARM AND X-RAY PHOTOIONIZED

We present calculations of active galactic nucleus winds at {approx}parsec scales along with the associated obscuration. We take into account the pressure of infrared radiation on dust grains and the interaction of X-rays from a central black hole with hot and cold plasma. Infrared radiation (IR) is incorporated in radiation-hydrodynamic simulations adopting the flux-limited diffusion approximation. We find that in the range of X-ray luminosities L = 0.05-0.6 L{sub Edd}, the Compton-thick part of the flow (aka torus) has an opening angle of approximately 72 Degree-Sign -75 Degree-Sign regardless of the luminosity. At L {approx}> 0.1, the outflowing dusty wind provides the obscuration with IR pressure playing a major role. The global flow consists of two phases: the cold flow at inclinations {theta} {approx}> 70 Degree-Sign and a hot, ionized wind of lower density at lower inclinations. The dynamical pressure of the hot wind is important in shaping the denser IR-supported flow. At luminosities {<=}0.1 L{sub Edd} episodes of outflow are followed by extended periods when the wind switches to slow accretion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation on properties of ultrafast switching in a bulk gallium arsenide avalanche semiconductor switch

Properties of ultrafast switching in a bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) avalanche semiconductor switch based on semi-insulating wafer, triggered by an optical pulse, were analyzed using physics-based numerical simulations. It has been demonstrated that when a voltage with amplitude of 5.2 kV is applied, after an exciting optical pulse with energy of 1 μJ arrival, the structure with thickness of 650 μm reaches a high conductivity state within 110 ps. Carriers are created due to photons absorption, and electrons and holes drift to anode and cathode terminals, respectively. Static ionizing domains appear both at anode and cathode terminals, and create impact-generated carriers which contribute to the formation of electron-hole plasma along entire channel. When the electric field in plasma region increases above the critical value (∼4 kV/cm) at which the electrons drift velocity peaks, a domain comes into being. An increase in carrier concentration due to avalanche multiplication in the domains reduces the domain width and results in the formation of an additional domain as soon as the field outside the domains increases above ∼4 kV/cm. The formation and evolution of multiple powerfully avalanching domains observed in the simulations are the physical reasons of ultrafast switching. The switch exhibits delayed breakdown with the characteristics affected by biased electric field, current density, and optical pulse energy. The dependence of threshold energy of the exciting optical pulse on the biased electric field is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design and characterization of a 32-channel heterodyne radiometer for electron cyclotron emission measurements on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

A 32-channel heterodyne radiometer has been developed for the measurement of electron cyclotron emission (ECE) on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST). This system collects X-mode ECE radiation spanning a frequency range of 104–168 GHz, where the frequency coverage corresponds to a full radial coverage for the case with a toroidal magnetic field of 2.3 T. The frequency range is equally spaced every 2 GHz from 105.1 to 167.1 GHz with an RF bandwidth of ∼500 MHz and the video bandwidth can be switched among 50, 100, 200, and 400 kHz. Design objectives and characterization of the system are presented in this paper. Preliminary results for plasma operation are also presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

An Interaction Library for the FcεRI Signaling Network

Antigen receptors play a central role in adaptive immune responses. Although the molecular networks associated with these receptors have been extensively studied, we currently lack a systems-level understanding of how combinations of non-covalent interactions and post-translational modifications are regulated during signaling to impact cellular decision-making. To fill this knowledge gap, it will be necessary to formalize and piece together information about individual molecular mechanisms to form large-scale computational models of signaling networks. To this end, we have developed an interaction library for signaling by the high-affinity IgE receptor, FcεRI. The library consists of executable rules for protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions. This library extends earlier models for FcεRI signaling and introduces new interactions that have not previously been considered in a model. Thus, this interaction library is a toolkit with which existing models can be expanded and from which new models can be built. As an example, we present models of branching pathways from the adaptor protein Lat, which influence production of the phospholipid PIP 3 at the plasma membrane and the soluble second messenger IP 3 . We find that inclusion of a positive feedback loop gives rise to a bistable switch, which may ensure robust responses to stimulation above a threshold level. In addition, the library is visualized to facilitate understanding of network circuitry and identification of network motifs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental characterization of a coaxial plasma accelerator for a colliding plasma experiment

We report experimental results of a single coaxial plasma accelerator in preparation for a colliding plasma experiment. The utilized device consisted of a coaxial pair of electrodes, accelerating the plasma due to J×B forces. A pulse forming network, composed of three capacitors connected in parallel, with a total capacitance of 27 μF was set up. A thyratron allowed to switch the maximum applied voltage of 9 kV. Under these conditions, the pulsed currents reached peak values of about 103 kA. The measurements were performed in a small vacuum chamber with a neutral-gas prefill at gas pressures between 10 Pa and 14 000 Pa. A gas mixture of ArH{sub 2} with 2.8% H{sub 2} served as the discharge medium. H{sub 2} was chosen in order to observe the broadening of the H{sub β} emission line and thus estimate the electron density. The electron density for a single plasma accelerator reached peak values on the order of 10{sup 16} cm{sup −3}. Electrical parameters, inter alia inductance and resistance, were determined for the LCR circuit during the plasma acceleration as well as in a short circuit case. Depending on the applied voltage, the inductance and resistance reached values ranging from 194 nH to 216 nH and 13 mΩ to 23 mΩ, respectively. Furthermore, the plasma velocity was measured using a fast CCD camera. Plasma velocities of 2 km/s up to 17 km/s were observed, the magnitude being highly correlated with gas pressure and applied voltage.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Laboratory studies of the dynamic of resonance cones formation in magnetized plasmas

The paper is devoted to experimental studies of formation of resonance cones in magnetized plasmas by pulsed RF source in the lower-hybrid (whistler) and the upper-hybrid frequency ranges. It is shown that in both frequency ranges, resonance cones exhibit similar dynamics after switching-on the RF source: at first, wide maxima of radiation are formed in non-resonance directions, which then become narrower, with their direction approaching the resonance one. While the resonance cones are being formed, one observes a fine structure in the form of secondary radiation maxima. It is shown that the characteristic formation time of stationary resonance cones is determined by the minimal value of the group velocity of the quasi-electrostatic waves excited by the antenna. In the low-temperature plasma, this value is limited in the lower-hybrid frequency range by the spatial spectrum of the emitting antenna and in the upper-hybrid range, by the effects of spatial plasma dispersion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Increased efficiency of ion acceleration by using femtosecond laser pulses at higher harmonic frequency

The influence of laser frequency on laser-driven ion acceleration is investigated by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When ultrashort intense laser pulse at higher harmonic frequency irradiates a thin solid foil, the target may become re lativistically transparent for significantly lower laser pulse intensity compared with irradiation at fundamental laser frequency. The relativistically induced transparency results in an enhanced heating of hot electrons as well as increased maximum energies of accelerated ions and their numbers. Our simulation results have shown the increase in maximum proton energy and increase in the number of high-energy protons by a factor of 2 after the interaction of an ultrashort laser pulse of maximum intensity 7 × 10{sup 21 }W/cm{sup 2} with a fully ionized plastic foil of realistic density and of optimal thickness between 100 nm and 200 nm when switching from the fundamental frequency to the third harmonics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Low voltage drop, cross-field, gas switch and method of operation

A gas switch includes an anode and a cathode spaced apart from the anode, wherein the cathode includes a conduction surface. The gas switch also includes a plurality of magnets arranged to generate a magnetic field that defines an annular path over a portion of the conduction surface at a radial distance from a switch axis, and a control grid positioned between the anode and the cathode. In operation, the control grid is arranged to establish a conducting plasma between the anode and the cathode, wherein, in the presence of the conducting plasma, a voltage drop between the anode and the cathode is less than 150 volts, and wherein the conducting plasma forms a cathode spot that circles the annular path.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Maximization of ICRF power by SOL density tailoring with local gas injection

We report that experiments have been performed under the coordination of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) on several tokamaks, including ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), JET and DIII-D, to characterize the increased Ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) antenna loading achieved by optimizing the position of gas injection relative to the RF antennas. On DIII-D, AUG and JET (with the ITER-Like Wall) a 50% increase in the antenna loading was observed when injecting deuterium in ELMy H-mode plasmas using mid-plane inlets close to the powered antennas instead of divertor injection and, with smaller improvement when using gas inlets located at the top of the machine. The gas injection rate required for such improvements (similar to 0.7 x 10(22) el s(-1) in AUG, similar to 1.0 x 10(22) el s(-1) in JET) is compatible with the use of this technique to optimize ICRF heating during the development of plasma scenarios and no degradation of confinement was observed when using the mid-plane or top inlets compared with divertor valves. An increase in the scrape-off layer (SOL) density was measured when switching gas injection from divertor to outer mid-plane or top. On JET and DIII-D, the measured SOL density increase when using main chamber puffing is consistent with the antenna coupling resistance increase provided that the distance between the measurement lines of sight and the injection location is taken into account. Optimized gas injection was also found to be beneficial for reducing tungsten (W) sputtering at the AUG antenna limiters, and also to reduce slightly the W and nickel (Ni) content in JET plasmas. Modeling the specific effects of divertor/top/mid-plane injection on the outer mid-plane density was carried out using both the EDGE2D-EIRENE and EMC3-EIRENE plasma boundary code packages; simulations indeed indicate that outer mid-plane gas injection maximizes the density in the mid-plane close to the injection point with qualitative agreement with the AUG SOL density measurements for EMC3-EIRENE. Field line tracing for ITER in the 15 MA Q(DT) = 10 reference scenario indicates that the planned gas injection system could be used to tailor the density in front the antennas. Lastly, benchmarking of EMC3-EIRENE against AUG and JET data is planned as a first step towards the ITER SOL modelling required to quantify the effect of gas injection on the SOL density in front of the antennas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Non-Equilibrium Synthesis of Semiconductor Alloys for Energy Applications

This project explores the synthesis under equilibrium/non-equilibrium conditions of semiconductor alloys critical to SSL to impose top-down influence on the formation of atomic-scale microstructures. A plasma-enhanced MOCVD (PE-MOCVD) technique is employed, in which plasma generated within the low-pressure reactor environment introduces additional energy that is delivered to the gas-phase reactants and growth surface, allowing relatively low substrate temperatures to be maintained, rapidly switching the crystal-growth environment into a non-equilibrium state. The project coordinates on-going work at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that addresses order/disorder Al x In 1-x P (AlInP) confinement structures, which are predicted to surpass the power-conversion efficiency of current materials used for red/amber LEDs as components of so-called color-mixed LEDs, which integrate multiple LEDs in a single device for improved color rendering. Ordering, phase separation, and strain relaxation are central to this technology. During growth, each spontaneous process could be suppressed or enhanced on demand by application of plasma as an additional handle. This technique could have broader applications to other energy technologies, such as photovoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Phase-selective vanadium dioxide (VO{sub 2}) nanostructured thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Thin films of monoclinic nanostructured vanadium dioxide are notoriously difficult to produce in a selective manner. To date, post-annealing, after pulsed laser deposition (PLD), has been used to revert the crystal phase or to remove impurities, and non-glass substrates have been employed, thus reducing the efficacy of the transparency switching. Here, we overcome these limitations in PLD by optimizing a laser-ablation and deposition process through optical imaging of the laser-induced plasma. We report high quality monoclinic rutile-type vanadium dioxide (VO{sub 2}) (M1) nanoparticles without post-annealing, and on a glass substrate. Our samples demonstrate a reversible metal-to-insulator transition at ∼43 °C, without any doping, paving the way to switchable transparency in optical materials at room temperature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Microplasma generating array

A microplasma generator includes first and second conductive resonators disposed on a first surface of a dielectric substrate. The first and second conductive resonators are arranged in line with one another with a gap defined between a first end of each resonator. A ground plane is disposed on a second surface of the dielectric substrate and a second end of each of the first and second resonators is coupled to the ground plane. A power input connector is coupled to the first resonator at a first predetermined distance from the second end chosen as a function of the impedance of the first conductive resonator. A microplasma generating array includes a number of resonators in a dielectric material substrate with one end of each resonator coupled to ground. A micro-plasma is generated at the non-grounded end of each resonator. The substrate includes a ground electrode and the microplasmas are generated between the non-grounded end of the resonator and the ground electrode. The coupling of each resonator to ground may be made through controlled switches in order to turn each resonator off or on and therefore control where and when a microplasma will be created in the array.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

First Generation Final Focusing Solenoid For NDCX-I

This report describes the prototype final focus solenoid (FFS-1G), or 1st generation FFS. In order to limit eddy currents, the solenoid winding consists of Litz wire wound on a non-conductive G-10 tube. For the same reason, the winding pack was inserted into an electrically insulating, but thermally conducting Polypropylene (Cool- Poly© D1202) housing and potted with highly viscous epoxy (to be able to wick the single strands of the Litz wire). The magnet is forced-air cooled through cooling channels. The magnet was designed for water cooling, but he cooling jacket cracked, and therefore cooling (beyond natural conduction and radiation) was exclusively by forced air. Though the design operating point was 8 Tesla, for the majority of running on NDCX-1 it operated up to about 5 Tesla. This was due mostly from limitations of voltage holding at the leads, where discharges at higher pulsed current damaged the leads. Generation 1 was replaced by the 2nd generation solenoid (FFS-2G) about a year later, which has operated reliably up to 8 Tesla, with a better lead design and utilizes water cooling. At this point, FFS-1G was used for plasma source R&D by LBNL and PPPL. The maximum field for those experiments was reduced to 3 Tesla due to continued difficulty with the leads and because higher field was not essential for those experiments. The pulser for the final focusing solenoid is a SCR-switched capacitor bank which produces a half-sine current waveform. The pulse width is ~800us and a charge voltage of 3kV drives ~20kA through the magnet producing ~8T field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Numerical simulation of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet with coaxial shielding gas

A two-dimensional ( r, z ) numerical simulation of the discharge characteristics of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), with coaxial shielding gas, was performed. The helium working gas flowed in a central capillary tube, engulfing a needle electrode powered by 13.7 MHz radio frequency sinusoidal voltage. The N 2 shielding gas flowed in the annular space of a coaxial tube. These gases emerged, in laminar flow, in a 78%N 2 -21%O 2 -1%Ar dry air ambient. The characteristics of the APPJ with shielding gas were compared to those of the APPJ without shielding gas. The nitrogen shielding gas hindered the diffusion of oxygen and argon from the ambient air into the helium jet. With the shielding gas present, more nitrogen penetrated into the helium core, causing a shorter plasma ‘plume’. The flow rates of the working and shielding gas, critically affected the gas temperature, and in turn the discharge characteristics. For a He flow of 2 standard liters per minute (slm), switching on the nitrogen shielding gas flow (at 4.5 slm) reduced the on-axis O 2 and Ar mole fractions from 3.9 × 10 - 4 to 6.8 × 10 - 5 and from 1.9 × 10 - 5 to 3.3 × 10 - 6 , respectively, at an axial distance of 3 mm downstream of the nozzle. The radial profiles of the mole fractions of the ambient gases were monotonically and strongly decreasing towards the system axis, for short axial distances from the nozzle (~1 mm), but became progressively flatter at longer distances from the nozzle (3 mm and 5 mm). Simulation predictions captured the salient features of experimental data of ambient species mole fractions in the plasma jet, and the 706 nm optical emission intensity profiles of the He 3 3 S excited state.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2017

Drebrin-mediated microtubule–actomyosin coupling steers cerebellar granule neuron nucleokinesis and migration pathway selection

Neuronal migration from a germinal zone to a final laminar position is essential for the morphogenesis of neuronal circuits. While it is hypothesized that microtubule–actomyosin crosstalk is required for a neuron’s ‘two-stroke’ nucleokinesis cycle, the molecular mechanisms controlling such crosstalk are not defined. By using the drebrin microtubule–actin crosslinking protein as an entry point into the cerebellar granule neuron system in combination with super-resolution microscopy, we investigate how these cytoskeletal systems interface during migration. Lattice light-sheet and structured illumination microscopy reveal a proximal leading process nanoscale architecture wherein f-actin and drebrin intervene between microtubules and the plasma membrane. Functional perturbations of drebrin demonstrate that proximal leading process microtubule–actomyosin coupling steers the direction of centrosome and somal migration, as well as the switch from tangential to radial migration. Finally, the Siah2 E3 ubiquitin ligase antagonizes drebrin function, suggesting a model for control of the microtubule–actomyosin interfaces during neuronal differentiation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Structural insights into the aPKC regulatory switch mechanism of the human cell polarity protein lethal giant larvae 2

Metazoan cell polarity is controlled by a set of highly conserved proteins. Lethal giant larvae (Lgl) functions in apical-basal polarity through phosphorylation-dependent interactions with several other proteins as well as the plasma membrane. Phosphorylation of Lgl by atypical protein kinase C (aPKC), a component of the partitioning-defective (Par) complex in epithelial cells, excludes Lgl from the apical membrane, a crucial step in the establishment of epithelial cell polarity. We present the crystal structures of human Lgl2 in both its unphosphorylated and aPKC-phosphorylated states. Lgl2 adopts a double β-propeller structure that is unchanged by aPKC phosphorylation of an unstructured loop in its second β-propeller, ruling out models of phosphorylation-dependent conformational change. Here, we demonstrate that phosphorylation controls the direct binding of purified Lgl2 to negative phospholipids in vitro. We also show that a coil–helix transition of this region that is promoted by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP 2 ) is also phosphorylation-dependent, implying a highly effective phosphorylative switch for membrane association.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

NSTX-U advances in real-time deterministic PCIe-based internode communication

Distributing control mechanisms across modern commercial off the shelf (COTS) GNU/Linux systems often introduces difficult to mitigate non-deterministic behavior. Existing methods to address this problem involve non-real-time technologies such as Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over Infiniband or custom Ethernet solutions, such as RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) or userspace Ethernet drivers, that trade determinism for ease of use or lower cost. The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) is pursuing a new design that allows direct communication between heterogeneous systems with scalable, microsecond latency with 1 μs of jitter on that latency, outside of the constant transmission delay at the physical layer. The future design of the NSTX-U Real-time Communication System will utilize direct PCIe-to-PCIe communication with kernel support tuned for low overhead, allowing two (or more, through a switch) real-time (RT) systems to communicate and share resources as one larger entity. As a result, this greatly increases the processing capability of the primary Plasma Control System (PCS), turning previously insurmountable computational challenges into a more manageable divide and conquer parallel task.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗