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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Integrated sample-handling and mounting system for fixed-target serial synchrotron crystallography

Serial synchrotron crystallography (SSX) is enabling the efficient use of small crystals for structure–function studies of biomolecules and for drug discovery. An integrated SSX system has been developed comprising ultralow background-scatter sample holders suitable for room and cryogenic temperature crystallographic data collection, a sample-loading station and a humid `gloveless' glovebox. The sample holders incorporate thin-film supports with a variety of designs optimized for different crystal-loading challenges. These holders facilitate the dispersion of crystals and the removal of excess liquid, can be cooled at extremely high rates, generate little background scatter, allow data collection over >90° of oscillation without obstruction or the risk of generating saturating Bragg peaks, are compatible with existing infrastructure for high-throughput cryocrystallography and are reusable. The sample-loading station allows sample preparation and loading onto the support film, the application of time-varying suction for optimal removal of excess liquid, crystal repositioning and cryoprotection, and the application of sealing films for room-temperature data collection, all in a controlled-humidity environment. The humid glovebox allows microscope observation of the sample-loading station and crystallization trays while maintaining near-saturating humidities that further minimize the risks of sample dehydration and damage, and maximize working times. This integrated system addresses common problems in obtaining properly dispersed, properly hydrated and isomorphous microcrystals for fixed-orientation and oscillation data collection. Its ease of use, flexibility and optimized performance make it attractive not just for SSX but also for single-crystal and few-crystal data collection. Fundamental concepts that are important in achieving desired crystal distributions on a sample holder via time-varying suction-induced liquid flows are also discussed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scalable fabrication of an array-type fixed-target device for automated room temperature X-ray protein crystallography

X-ray crystallography is one of the leading tools to analyze the 3-D structure, and therefore, function of proteins and other biological macromolecules. Traditional methods of mounting individual crystals for X-ray diffraction analysis can be tedious and result in damage to fragile protein crystals. Furthermore, the advent of multi-crystal and serial crystallography methods explicitly require the mounting of larger numbers of crystals. To address this need, we have developed a device that facilitates the straightforward mounting of protein crystals for diffraction analysis, and that can be easily manufactured at scale. Inspired by grid-style devices that have been reported in the literature, we have developed an X-ray compatible microfluidic device that can be used to trap protein crystals in an array configuration, while also providing excellent optical transparency, a low X-ray background, and compatibility with the robotic sample handling and environmental controls used at synchrotron macromolecular crystallography beamlines. At the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), these capabilities allow for fully remote-access data collection at controlled humidity conditions. Furthermore, we have demonstrated continuous manufacturing of these devices via roll-to-roll fabrication to enable cost-effective and efficient large-scale production.

chemical engineering↗
DOE OSTI2020

Search for dark matter decaying to two displaced muons produced in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV with the CMS detector, and for dark photons produced in electron-positron fixed-target collisions at 500 MeV with the PADME detector

Two novel searches for dark matter using particle accelerators are presented. The first is a search for inelastically-coupled dark matter with the CMS detector at CERN, relying on 137 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy between 2016 and 2018. The search strategy exploits the striking signature expected of inelastic dark matter: a pair of displaced, soft, and narrow muons collimated with missing transverse momentum and recoiled off an initial-state radiation jet. This is the first search for inelastic dark matter at a hadron collider. The second experiment is PADME, a small-scale detector to search for dark photons located in Frascati, Italy. PADME seeks to detect the production of dark photons in positron-electron collisions with a stationary diamond target and a 500 MeV positron beam. The missing-mass technique employed in the experiment relies on constraining all four-momenta in the system except for the dark photon and lookin g for a bump in the resulting invariant mass distribution corresponding to the dark photon's mass. The projected sensitivity for both experiments is compared in the context of highlighting the need for a comprehensive experimental search program for dark matter. Both analyses expect first public results by the end of 2020.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pion-Production Target for Mu2e-II: Design and Prototype

The higher beam intensity available for Mu2e-II will require a substantially different target design. This paper discusses our recent advances in conceptual R&D for a Mu2e-II target station. The design is based on energy deposition and radiation damage simulations as well as thermal and mechanical analyses to estimate the survivability of the system. We considered rotated targets, fixed granular targets and a novel conveyor target with tungsten or carbon spherical elements that are circulated through the beam path. The motion of the spheres can be generated either mechanically or both mechanically and by a He-gas flow. The simulations identified the conveyor target as the preferred approach, and that approach has been developed into a prototype. We describe this first prototype for the Mu2e-II target and report on its mechanical tests performed at Fermilab that indicate the feasibility of the design, discuss its challenges as well as suggest directions for further improvement.

Neuffer, David↗
DOE OSTI2026

Weak-charge form-factor determination at the electron-ion collider

Determining the weak charge form factor, 𝐹 𝑊 ⁡(𝑄 2 ), of nuclei over a continuous range of momentum transfers, 0 ≲ 𝑄 2 ≲ 0.1 GeV 2 , is essential for mapping out the distribution of neutrons in nuclei. The neutron density distribution has significant implications for a broad range of areas, including studies of nuclear structure, neutron stars, and physics beyond the Standard Model. Currently, our knowledge of 𝐹 𝑊 ⁡(𝑄 2 ) comes primarily from fixed target experiments that measure the parity-violating asymmetry in coherent elastic electron-ion scattering. Fixed target experiments, such as CREX and PREX-1,2, have provided high-precision weak charge form factor extractions for the 48 Ca and 208 Pb nuclei, respectively. However, a major limitation of fixed target experiments is that they each provide data only at a single value of 𝑄 2 . With the proposed electron-ion collider (EIC) on the horizon, we explore its potential to impact the determination of the weak charge form factor. While it cannot compete with the precision of fixed target experiments, it can provide data over a wide and continuous range of 𝑄 2 values, and for a wide variety of nuclei. We show that with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of ℒ ∼ 500/𝐴 fb −1 , where 𝐴 is the nucleus atomic weight, the EIC can significantly impact constraints by lifting degeneracies in theoretical models of the neutron density distribution. Ensuring EIC detector coverage at low 𝑄 2 and large negative pseudorapidities will be essential for such 𝐹 𝑊 ⁡(𝑄 2 ) measurements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Flow and interferometry results from Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV

In this study, the beam energy scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was extended to energies below $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 GeV in 2015 by successful implementation of the fixed-target mode of operation in the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC) experiment. In this mode, ions circulate in one ring of the collider and interact with a stationary target at the entrance of the STAR Time Projection Chamber. The first results for Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV are presented, demonstrating good performance of all the relevant detector subsystems in fixed-target mode. Results presented here include directed and elliptic flow of identified hadrons, and radii from pion femtoscopy. The latter, together with recent HADES results, reveal a long-sought peak structure that may be caused by the system evolving through a first-order phase transition from quark-gluon plasma to the hadronic phase. Directed and elliptic flow for pions are presented for the first time at this beam energy. Pion and proton elliptic flow show behavior which hints at constituent quark scaling, and demonstrate that a definitive conclusion will be achievable using the full statistics of the on-going second phase of BES (BES-II). In particular, BES-II to date has recorded fixed-target data sets with two orders of magnitude more events at each of nine energies between $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 3.0 and 7.7 GeV.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Light Dark Matter Analysis Using NO$\nu$A Near Detector

Dark matter (DM) is believed to account for 85$\%$ of the matter content of the Universe. The leading dark matter candidate is the WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles). Light dark matter (LDM) refers to WIMP candidates with a mass of less than 1 GeV. The concept of LDM has been developed in order to explain the 511 keV $\gamma$-rays from the galactic bulge, as observed by the INTEGRAL satellite. There are a lot of candidates for light DM, and these candidates span a wide range of potential masses and couplings to the visible sector. Probing the vast parameter space of light-dark matter requires a correspondingly broad experimental program that can include neutrino fixed target experiments. NOvA is a high luminosity long-baseline fixed-target accelerator neutrino experiment at Fermilab that can provide a potentially interesting probe in searching for signatures of DM scattering with electrons in its near detectors. We aim to search for the MeV-scale dark matter particles that might be generated within the NuMI beam and produce detectable electron scattering signals in NOvA Near Detector. In this talk, we present our analysis of the single electron events using a simulated sample and show the sensitivity of the NOvA experiment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗