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A nuclear reactor is disclosed including a reactor core and a reflector assembly surrounding the reactor core. The reflector assembly includes a stationary reflector component including a graphite support structure comprising a plurality of channels defined therein and a plurality of beryllium-oxide pins positioned in the channels.
Laser damage of optical components can be a limiting factor in scaling the energetics of high-peak and average power laser systems. Specifically for optical coatings, damage under nanosecond pulsed irradiation is initiated by pre-existing defects in the coating layers, including those that cause discontinuities in the structure, like craze lines. Crazing or cracking in a multilayer dielectric optical coating is induced when the overall coating stress is sufficiently tensile, and is an occasionally observed issue when employing more porous deposition techniques like electron-beam evaporation. Here, in this study, electron-beam high-reflectors were fabricated utilizing process parameters that are known to induce crazing based on prior processing history to systematically evaluate the impact of crazing on reflector damage performance for 1064 and 355 nm lasers. The crazing that was observed was apparently nucleated at nodular defects. When the cross-section of these nodules was investigated, it was observed that there were cracks into the fused silica substrate of approximately 5 µm in depth. The craze lines were irradiated with 1064 and 355 nm light at fluences slightly above the onset of damage initiation fluence of the coating. The 1064 nm irradiated sub-apertures exhibit laser damage but with no spatial correlation with the craze line, whereas the 355 nm irradiated area exhibited many damage sites along the craze line. Finite-difference time-domain electric-field simulations were conducted, and ∼2× field amplification in hafnia was observed for the 355 nm wavelength case. The laser damage can be attributed to a slight electric-field intensification coincidental with an area where UV damage-prone precursors are known to occur. The 355 nm laser damage in uncoated fused silica substrates has been previously correlated to initiate through localized UV absorption at the broken silica bonds in the tips of fractures.
We report spectrally selective visible wavelength reflectors using hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) as a high index contrast material. Beyond 610nm and through the near infrared spectrum, a-SiC:H exhibits very low loss and exhibits an wavelength averaged index of refraction of n = 3.1. Here we design, fabricate, and characterize such visible reflectors using a hexagonal array of a-SiC:H nanopillars as wavelength-selective mirrors with a stop-band of approximately 40 nm full-width at half maximum. The fabricated high contrast grating exhibits reflectivity R >94% at a resonance wavelength of 642nm with a single layer of a-SiC:H nanopillars. The resonance wavelength is tunable by adjusting the geometrical parameters of the a-SiC:H nanopillar array, and we observe a stop-band spectral center shift from 635 nm up to 642 nm. High contrast gratings formed from a-SiC:H nanopillars are a promising platform for various visible wavelength nanophotonics applications.
This work sought to begin research and development on a horn antenna which can be used to transfer the energy of microwave photons produced by axions in a strong magnetic field to a coaxial cable for measurement. 3D prototypes of pyramidal horn antennas and a parabolic reflector were printed and then coated with conductive spray paint. The S 11 parameter was measured and simulated for both 3D printed horn antenna and the conical horn antenna both with and without the reflector present to determine how much of the radiated power was reflected back. Ultimately, for both the conical and pyramidal antennas, less than one percent of the energy emitted by the antennas was reflected back. When the pyramidal antenna was tilted by about 45 degrees, however, around 30-40 percent of the microwaves emitted by the antennas was reflected back.
Ultra-low absorption, high damage threshold coatings are critical for the advancement of the high power CW laser technologies, and in most cases, are a limiting factor for the output power. Since high power CW laser systems enable extremely high power irradiances, when the light is incident on an HR mirror, part of the energy is absorbed and converted into heat, which can have many detrimental side effects. The worst-case scenarios are optical distortion and laser-induced damage. These optics must operate reliably with irradiances of 100's kW/cm 2 to MW/cm 2 . The highest pulsed laser damage threshold high reflectors are consistently fabricated with hafnia material. However, hafnia is not the material of choice for high power CW laser systems because of very high absorption and scatter properties, factors of >100x higher than tantala-silica, due to its poly crystalline nature. This study focuses on CW laser use applications, where the coatings’ laser damage resistance is largely limited by the inherent absorption of the coating materials. The goal is to study the feasibility of utilizing a “composite” hafnium-silica and a “doped” hafnia-silica target materials to prohibit crystallization. The results from the study were extremely successful. Hafnia high reflectors coatings generated from this study exhibited one micron absorption values of approximately 1 ppm, which are the lowest reported values to date.
Three 7 in. diameter highly enriched uranium (HEU; 93.17 wt % 235 U) metal cylinders were assembled on the vertical assembly machine of the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) with thin stainless steel reflectors (0.5, 1, and 2 in. thick) on the top and bottom. These experiments were performed during January 13–25, 1965, and used seven operational days at ORCEF. Before these experiments, unreflected and unmoderated 7 in. diameter HEU metal cylinders had been assembled to delayed criticality at ORCEF, and the results were benchmarked in HEU-MET-FAST-051. In addition to the critical experiments, the prompt neutron decay constant was measured via the Rossi-α technique, and those results are also presented in this report. To achieve near-delayed-critical systems, 5 × 5 × 0.03125 in. rectangular uranium metal parts were used on top of 7 in. diameter cylinders inside the top reflector. The delayed critical configuration from the three experiments described herein are acceptable for use as criticality safety benchmark experiments for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Program (ICSBEP), coordinated by the Nuclear Energy Agency, once the uncertainty analysis is completed. Based on previous ICSBEP benchmarks with this enriched uranium metal at ORCEF, the uncertainty in $k_{eff}$ is expected to be as low as ±0.0002. The prompt neutron time decay data could be the basis of an International Reactor Physics Evaluation Program benchmark.
Lane detection plays a critical role in autonomous vehicles for safe and reliable navigation. Lane detection is traditionally accomplished using a camera sensor and computer vision processing. The downside of this traditional technique is that it can be computationally intensive when high quality images at a fast frame rate are used and has reliability issues from occlusion such as, glare, shadows, active road construction, and more. This study addresses these issues by exploring alternative methods for lane detection in specific scenarios caused from road construction-induced lane shift and sun glare. Specifically, a U-Net, a convolutional network used for image segmentation, camera-based lane detection method is compared with a radar-based approach using a new type of sensor previously unused in the autonomous vehicle space: radar retro-reflectors. This evaluation is performed using ground truth data, obtained by measuring the lane positions and transforming them into pixel coordinates. The performance of each method is assessed using the statistical R2 score, indicating the correlation between the detected lane lines and the ground truth. The results show that the U-Net camera-based method exhibits limitations in accurately detecting and aligning the lane lines, particularly in challenging scenarios. However, the radar-based lane detection method demonstrates a strong correlation with the ground truth which implies that the use of this sensor may improve current reliability issues from conventional camera lane detection approach. Furthermore, the study highlights the limitations of the U-Net model for camera lane detection, especially in scenarios with sun glare. This study shows that infrastructure-based radar retro-reflectors can improve autonomous vehicle lane detection reliability. The integration of different sensor modalities and the development of advanced computer vision algorithms are crucial for improving the accuracy, reliability, and energy efficiency of lane detection systems. Addressing these challenges contributes to the advancement of autonomous vehicles and the realization of safer and more efficient transportation systems.
A shortened horn-reflector antenna overcomes the mechanical disadvantages and complexity of the conventional horn-reflector antenna. The shortened antenna offers broadband performance, economic construction, very low antenna temperature, and excellent pattern performance.
Evaluation of large reflector antennas including effects of primary reflector astigmatism and its measurement through diffraction
Segmented subreflector surface of Cassegrainian antenna is distorted and shaped by mechanical means to compensate for loss of figure in main reflector. Number of segments necessary is determined by gravity distortion pattern of main reflector at zenith and at horizon.
The mechanical advantages of a singly curved conical reflector are demonstrated by the experimental test of a furlable 1.83 m conical-Gregorian antenna at 16.33 GHz. The measured gain of 47.5 dB corresponds to a net efficiency of over 57%. A ray-optics analysis of conical-reflector antennas is presented, and data useful in the design of conical antennas are given. The conical-Gregorian antenna, in which a subreflector is used in conjunction with a conventional horn feed, is considered in detail. A physical-optics analysis of the conical-Gregorian antenna is used to investigate diffraction and other effects, and to analytically confirm the high performance of the antenna.
A description is given of a device for determining a true gravitational vertical. The apparatus is composed of a vertically disposed laser with a gravitationally sensitive lower regeneration reflector. The reflector enables an output beam to be developed only when the optical axis of the laser is disposed normal to the gravitationally sensitive reflective surface. In an alternative embodiment, the devices is combined with a servo system to provide a gravitationally stabilized horizontal platform.
The international program of lunar telemetry, which has been in operation for three and one-half years, is intended to supply basic information for study of the lunar motion and the internal physics of the moon and the earth, particularly with reference to movement of the pole and displacements of plates. Laser echoes were obtained on Jan. 23, 1973 from the French reflector placed on the moon by Luna 21. Two series of firings, made with a 3-J laser radiated by the 2.7-m telescope of the McDonald Observatory (Texas) made it possible to identify significant echoes of an intensity comparable to those obtained with the reflector set down by Apollo 15. The path time measurements are compatible with normal coordinates.
Design equations are developed to compute the reflector surfaces required to produce uniform illumination on the main reflector of a cassegrain system when the feed pattern is specified. The final equations are somewhat simple and straightforward to solve (using a computer) compared to the ones which exist already in the literature. Step by step procedure for solving the design equations is discussed in detail.
The reaction concept is employed to formulate an integral equation for radiation and scattering from plates, corner reflectors, and dielectric-coated conducting cylinders. The surface-current density on the conducting surface is expanded with subsectional bases. The dielectric layer is modeled with polarization currents radiating in free space. Maxwell's equation and the boundary conditions are employed to express the polarization-current distribution in terms of the surface-current density on the conducting surface. By enforcing reaction tests with an array of electric test sources, the moment method is employed to reduce the integral equation to a matrix equation. Inversion of the matrix equation yields the current distribution, and the scattered field is then obtained by integrating the current distribution. The theory, computer program and numerical results are presented for radiation and scattering from plates, corner reflectors, and dielectric-coated conducting cylinders.
The dynamic behavior of Nd:YAG lasers is theoretically analyzed. In experiments, an array of twenty GaAlAs diodes was used as the pumping light source for a Nd:YAG laser. An index-matching glass half-cylinder was used instead of the conventional hollow metal reflector. The refractive index of the half-cylinder was 1.8, which matched the refractive index of the Nd:YAG rod. A maximum CW output power of 27 mW at a current density of 207 A/sq cm was achieved using this glass half-cylinder, while 6.7 mW were obtained when a hollow metal reflector was used.
In a horn-reflector antenna system for producing a spherical aperture phase front, a corrugated conical horn illuminates a section of a hyperbolic reflector to produce a spherical aperture phase front. This front produces a far field beam with low sidelobes and high beam efficiency. The system is insensitive to frequency and polarization changes, and is also insensitive to orientation about the axis of the conical horn for beam scanning.
Reflector-antenna calculations using idealised truncated feed patterns can lead to incorrect values of total secondary radiated power. It is demonstrated that this discrepancy is due to the presence of higher-order spherical modes incident on the reflector. When a proper spherical-wave expansion of the incident field is used, in conjunction with the physical-optics technique, to determine the scattered field, the total power of the scattered field will equal the power radiated by the feed.