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Charge exchange collisions in ground state and ionic hydrogen incident on cesium vapor, measuring beam components after passage through target
Thermal control coating samples were subjected to cesium ion beam and vapor exposures. Degradation of solar absorptance and infrared emittance were measured. Solar cells and samples selected from surfaces on the ATS-F spacecraft likely to experience ion or vapor impingement were bombarded by 10-volt cesium ions. Other samples were subjected to high levels of cesium vapor. Aluminum and white paint were backsputtered by 550-volt cesium ions onto selected samples. For direct bombardment, the threshold for ion-induced property changes was above five-thousand trillion ions/sq cm. With material sputtered from a 450-sq cm target onto samples 36 cm distant, the threshold for noticeable effects was above 5 times 10 to the 17-th power ions/sq cm.
Condensation analysis on turbine blade erosion model for cesium and potassium vapor space power systems
Gas analyzer to determine effects of gas impurities on cesium diodes
An experimental apparatus and measurement techniques are described for measuring the thermionic emission from cesium-activated materials having adequate high-temperature properties such as creep strength and corrosion resistance, which might ultimately reduce the cost of thermionic converters. The electron emission characteristics are measured for nickel, Inconel 600, and Hastelloy X probes with a 412 K cesium reservoir. It is found that the nickel alloys exhibit a peak electron emission 1.4 to 2.1 times greater than pure nickel. Both the Inconel and the Hastelloy samples have work functions of 1.64 eV at peak emission. The minimum cesiated work functions are estimated to be 1.37 eV for Inconel at a probe temperature of 750 K and 1.4 eV for Hastelloy at a probe temperature of 665 K. The bare work functions for both alloys is estimated to be about the same as for pure nickel, 4.8 eV.
The cesiated electron emission was measured for three candidate electrodes for use as collectors in thermionic converters. Nickel, Inconel 600 and Hastelloy were tested with a 412 K cesium reservoir. Peak emission from the alloys was found to be comparable to that from pure nickel. Both the Inconel and the Hastelloy samples had work functions of 1.64 eV at peak emission. The minimum work functions were estimated to be 1.37 eV at a probe temperature of 750 K for Inconel and 1.40 eV for Hastelloy at 665 K. The bare work function for both alloys is estimated to be approximately the same as for pure nickel, 4.8 eV.
This work focused on understanding the effects of arbitrary transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates on the susceptibilities of coherently driven three-level systems. The approximation of a single relaxation rate often made in previous work is strongly invalidated by the variation in the spontaneous emission lifetime between various atomic level pairs in systems such as cesium. It is of great importance to the problem of nonlinear infrared generation to determine the dependence of both real and imaginary susceptibility on relaxation rates. The imaginary susceptibility on the pump transition determines the absorption of pump photons and the imaginary susceptibility on the laser transition determines the spectral dependence of the gain. This is of particular importance for pure Raman emission (i.e., absorption at linecenter of the gain transition) as it determines the tunability characteristics we are aiming to predict. The real susceptibility is important when cavities are used at the signal field as this will determine the loaded resonance of the Raman oscillator. Researchers show that in some cases which result from having different relaxation rates mode splitting may result, allowing more than one frequency to have the same Raman wavelength, possibly resulting in a temporal instability.
Molecular association in Na, K and Cs vapors, noting existence of dimer and tetramer molecules
Charge exchange collisions for 1.5-25 kev He ion beam passed through Cs vapor target of various densities, noting cross sections and composition of products
It is well known that the presence of a real atomic level which is nearly resonant with the pump field can greatly enhance the Raman emission cross section. In order to accurately calculate the Raman gain in systems where resonance enhancement plays a dominant role, expressions for the pump and signal susceptibilities must be derived. These expressions should be valid for arbitrary field strengths in order to allow for pump and signal saturation. In addition, the theory should allow for arbitrary longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates. This latter point is extremely vital for three level atomic systems such as the alkali earth metals since they do not have population reservoirs and can have widely varying spontaneous lifetimes on the three pertinent transitions. Moreover, the dephasing rates are strong functions of electron states and are therefore also different for the three coupled pairs of levels. These considerations are not as important when molecular systems are concerned since the large reservoir of rotational states serve to produce essentially equal longitudinal recovery rates for the population of the three levels. The three level system with three arbitrary longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates was solved. There is no need for setting either pair of rates equal and the expressions are valid for arbitrarily strong fields.
The third phase of research will focus on the propagation and energy extraction of the pump and SERS beams in a variety of configurations including oscillator structures. In order to address these questions a numerical code capable of allowing for saturation and full transverse beam evolution is required. The method proposed is based on a discretized propagation energy extraction model which uses a Kirchoff integral propagator coupled to the three level Raman model already developed. The model will have the resolution required by diffraction limits and will use the previous density matrix results in the adiabatic following limit. Owing to its large computational requirements, such a code must be implemented on a vector array processor. One code on the Cyber is being tested by using previously understood two-level laser models as guidelines for interpreting the results. Two tests were implemented: the evolution of modes in a passive resonator and the evolution of a stable state of the adiabatically eliminated laser equations. These results show mode shapes and diffraction losses for the first case and relaxation oscillations for the second one. Finally, in order to clarify the computing methodology used to exploit the speed of the Cyber's computational speed, the time it takes to perform both of the computations previously mentioned to run on the Cyber and VAX 730 must be measured. Also included is a short description of the current laser model (CAVITY.FOR) and a flow chart of the test computations.
Work function characteristics of metals immersed in cesium vapor - surface interaction
Cesium vapors were charged into black phosphorous (BP) flakes at varied times and at a temperature gradient of 150 °C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements of these samples suggest a reduction in the strength of van der Waal interactions between BP layers leading to the loss of coherence of out-of-plane peaks. At the same time, the three main Raman modes of BP (A g 1 , B 2 g , and A g 2 ) steadily redshifted as exposure times were increased, with modes B 2 g and A g 2 shifting faster than A g 1 . After initial rapid downshifts of active BP phonon modes, this intercalation strategy showed its limits following prolonged exposure times. Saturation of BP flakes by Cs vapors ensued and the kinetics was fitted with an exponential decay function. Furthermore, the thermoelectric power (TEP) of cesiated BP exhibited an inversion in sign from positive to negative around 400 K, lending credence to the transformation of as-prepared BP which is a p-type semiconductor to an n-type equivalent due to Cs atom intercalation driven shifting of the Fermi level toward the conduction band of BP and the donation of electrons from Cs. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to delve deeper into understanding Cs intercalation on the structural evolution of BP.
The investigation of the Thermoelectronic Laser Energy Converter (TELEC) concept at the Lewis Research Center (LeRC) began with a feasibility study of a 1 megawatt sized TELEC system. The TELEC was to use either cesium vapor or hydrogen as the plasma medium. The cesium vapor TELEC appears to be the more practical device studied with an overall calculated conversion efficiency of greater than 48%. Following this study, a small TELEC cell was fabricated which demonstrated the conversion of a small amount of laser power to electrical power. The cell developed a short circuit current of 0.7 amperes and an open circuit voltage, as extrapolated from volt-ampere curves, of about 1.5 volts. Work is now in progress to construct and test a cesium vapor TELEC capable of absorbing 20% of an incident 10 kW, 10.6 micrometer beam, and converting 35% of this power to electrical power.
The investigation of the Thermoelectronic Laser Energy Converter (TELEC) concept began with a feasibility study of a 1 megawatt sized TELEC system. The TELEC was to use either cesium vapor or hydrogen as the plasma medium. The cesium vapor TELEC appears to be the more practical device studied with an overall calculated conversion efficiency of greater than 48%. Following this study, a small TELEC cell was fabricated which demonstrated the conversion of a small amount of laser power to electrical power. The cell developed a short circuit current of 0.7 amperes and an open circuit voltage, as extrapolated from volt-ampere curves, of about 1.5 volts.
The generation of electrons ions by interacting an intense laser beam with cesium vapor is considered. Theoretical calculation shows that the conversion efficiency is as high as 40 percent if the entire photon energy is utilized in ionizing the cesium vapor that is generated initially by the incoming laser beam. An output voltage is expected to be generated across two electrodes, one of which is the liquid cesium, by keeping the other electrode at a different work function. Evaluation of the laser plasmadynamic (LPD) converter was performed using pulsed ruby and Nd-glass lasers. Although the results obtained to date indicate an efficiency smaller than that of theoretical predictions, an unoptimized LPD converter did demonstrate the capability of converting laser energy at large power levels. The limitations in the performance may by due to converter geometry, the types of lasers used, and other limitations inherent to the cesium plasma.
It is shown that it is possible to controllably and continuously elevate the electron temperature in the plasmatron thermionic energy converter from the emitter temperature to the maintenance electron temperature for the diode arc mode. This ability and the apparent validity of an elementary analytical model of the plasma should make possible the optimization and evaluation of operation under strong ionization conditions for which the plasma resistance should be acceptably low. Measurement of the vacuum space charge arising from the emission from a surface in cesium vapor indicates the presence of a substantial negative ion emission current. Apparatus has been constructed for identifying and directly measuring the flux of positive, negative and neutral species emitted from an electrode surface in a cesium vapor diode. The primary purpose of the investigation is to determine the influence of negative ion emission on the effective work function of thermionic converter electrodes. Initial data indicate the presence of H(-), Cs(-) and possibly C(-) and CH(-).
A space power system concept was evaluated which uses concentrated solar energy to heat a working fluid to temperatures as high as 4000 K. The high temperature working fluid could be used for efficient electric power production in advanced thermal or magnetohydrodynamic conversion cycles. Energy absorber configurations utilizing particles or cesium vapor absorber material were investigaed. Results of detailed radiant heat transfer calculations indicated approximately 86 percent of the incident solar energy could be absorbed within a 12-cm-dia flowing stream of gas borne carbon particles. Calculated total energy absorption in the cesium vapor seeded absorber configuration ranged from 34 percent to 64 percent of the incident solar energy. Solar flux concentration ratios of between approximately 3000 and 10,000 will be required to sustain absorber temperatures in the range from 3000 K to 4000 K.