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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC)

Plans for SEPAC, an instrument array to be used on Spacelab 1 to study vehicle charging and neutralization, beam-plasma interaction in space, beam-atmospheric interaction exciting artificial aurora and airglow, and the electromagnetic-field configuration of the magnetosphere, are presented. The hardware, consisting of electron beam accelerator, magnetoplasma arcjet, neutral-gas plume generator, power supply, diagnostic package (photometer, plasma probes, particle analyzers, and plasma-wave package), TV monitor, and control and data-management unit, is described. The individual SEPAC experiments, the typical operational sequence, and the general outline of the SEPAC follow-on mission are discussed. Some of the experiments are to be joint ventures with AEPI (INS 003) and will be monitored by low-light-level TV.

Obayashi, T.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Diamonds for beam instrumentation

Diamond is perhaps the most versatile, efficient and radiation tolerant material available for use in beam detectors with a correspondingly wide range of applications in beam instrumentation. Numerous practical applications have demonstrated and exploited the sensitivity of diamond to charged particles, photons and neutrons. In this paper, a brief description of a generic diamond detector is given and the interaction of the CVD diamond detector material with protons, electrons, photons and neutrons is presented. Latest results of the interaction of sCVD diamond with 14 MeV mono-energetic neutrons are shown.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Application of Flex-QA Arrays in HTS Magnet Testing

Flexible PCB quench antennas have been very useful in providing high-quality high-resolution data in low temperature superconducting magnet tests. Similar multi-sensor arrays have been employed recently to cover a high temperature superconductor magnet tested at FNAL. In the present work, data taking conditions and magnet features to support the analysis framework are discussed. Then observations made during complete magnet powering cycles are described and analysis of quench antenna data are presented. Based on results, improvements to instrumentation and data taking are debated. Views on the future of flexible quench antenna sensors for HTS magnet diagnostics and operational support are shared.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Methane, Ethane, and Propane Sensor for Real-time Leak Detection and Diagnostics

The Phase I effort demonstrated the technical viability of a fast, sensitive, mobile hydrocarbon monitor. The instrument will enable the oil and gas industry, researchers, and regulators to rapidly identify and chemically profile leaks from facilities. This capability will allow operators to quickly narrow down and mitigate probable leaking equipment, minimizing product loss and penalties due to regulatory non-compliance. During the initial development phase, we demonstrated operation of a prototype monitor that is capable of measuring methane, ethane, and propane at sub-part-per-billion sensitivities in 1 second, using direct absorption infrared spectroscopy. To our knowledge, this is the first instrument capable of fast propane measurements at atmospheric concentrations. In addition, the electrical requirements of the monitor have been reduced from the 1,200 W typical of a spectrometer, to <500 W, making it capable of being powered by a passenger vehicle, and easily deployed by the industry. The prototype monitor leverages recent advances in laser technology, using high-efficiency interband cascade lasers to access the 3 μm region of the mid-infrared, where the methane, ethane, and propane absorptions are strongest. Combined with established spectrometer technology, we have achieved precisions below 200 ppt for each compound. This allows the monitor to measure fast plumes from oil and gas facilities, as well as ambient background concentrations (typical ambient levels are 2 ppm, 1.5 ppb, and 0.7 ppb for methane, ethane and propane, respectively). Increases in instrument operating pressure were studied in order to allow for a smaller 125 W pump to be used, and passive cooling was explored to reduce the cooling load by almost 90% relative to active (refrigerated) cooling. In addition, the simulated infrared absorption profiles of ethane and propane were modified to minimize crosstalk between species, achieving <1% crosstalk between ethane and propane. Finally, a monitor was designed based upon the commercial compact mini-spectrometer capable of dual-laser operation. We intend to build and test this during phase II. Multiple opportunities for improvement were also identified. First, the reported ethane and propane concentrations are susceptible to external acceleration acting upon the instrument. During phase II we will address this “motion-sickness”. Second, significant software development will be needed operate the monitor at 1 second resolution in real time, and provide rapid, actionable data to a driver or passenger.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2017

Instrumentation and its Interaction with the Secondary Beam for the Fermilab Muon Campus

The Fermilab Muon Campus will host the Muon g-2 experiment - a world class experiment dedicated to the search for signals of new physics. Strict demands are placed on the beam diagnostics in order to ensure delivery of high quality beams to the storage ring with minimal losses. In this study, we briefly describe the available secondary beam diagnostics for the Fermilab Muon Campus. Then, with the aid of numerical simulations we detail their interaction with the secondary beam. Finally, we compare our results against theoretical findings.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A LYSO crystal array readout by silicon photomultipliers as compact detector for space applications

Precise measurements of GeV range gamma rays help narrow down among var- ious gamma emission models and increase sensitivity for dark matter searches. Construction of precise as well as compact instruments requires detectors with high efficiency, high stopping power, excellent energy resolution, and excellent angular resolution. Fast and bright crystal scintillators coupled with small foot- print photo-detectors are suitable candidates. We prototyped a detector array consisting of four LYSO crystals where each crystal is read out by a 2x2 SensL ArrayJ60035 silicon photomultipliers. The LYSO crystals were chosen because of their good light yield, fast decay time, demonstrated radiation hardness, and small radiation length. Here, we used the silicon photomultiplier arrays as photo- detectors because of their small size, simple readout, low voltage operation, and immunity to magnetic elds. We also studied the detector performance in the energy range of interest by exposing it to 2-16 GeV particles produced at the Test Beam Facility of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

The MINER$\nu$A Data Acquisition System and Infrastructure

MINERvA (Main INjector ExpeRiment v-A) is a new few-GeV neutrino cross-section experiment that began taking data in the FNAL NuMI (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam-line in March of 2010. MINERvA employs a fine-grained scintillator detector capable of complete kinematic characterization of neutrino interactions. This paper describes the MINERvA data acquisition system (DAQ) including the readout electronics, software, and computing architecture.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Implementation of an ultrasonic instrument for simultaneous mixture and flow analysis of binary gas systems

Precision ultrasonic measurements in binary gas systems provide continuous real-time monitoring of mixture composition and flow. Using custom micro-controller-based electronics, we have developed an ultrasonic instrument, with numerous potential applications, capable of making continuous high-precision sound velocity measurements. The instrument measures sound transit times along two opposite directions aligned parallel to - or obliquely crossing - the gas flow. The difference between the two measured times yields the gas flow rate while their average gives the sound velocity, which can be compared with a sound velocity vs. molar composition look-up table for the binary mixture at a given temperature and pressure. The look-up table may be generated from prior measurements in known mixtures of the two components, from theoretical calculations, or from a combination of the two. We describe the instrument and its performance within numerous applications in the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The instrument can be of interest in other areas where continuous in-situ binary gas analysis and flowmetry are required. (authors)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SNS Sample Activation Calculator Flux Recommendations and Validation

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) uses the Sample Activation Calculator (SAC) to calculate the activation of a sample after the sample has been exposed to the neutron beam in one of the SNS beamlines. The SAC webpage takes user inputs (choice of beamline, the mass, composition and area of the sample, irradiation time, decay time, etc.) and calculates the activation for the sample. In recent years, the SAC has been incorporated into the user proposal and sample handling process, and instrument teams and users have noticed discrepancies in the predicted activation of their samples. The Neutronics Analysis Team validated SAC by performing measurements on select beamlines and confirmed the discrepancies seen by the instrument teams and users. The conclusions were that the discrepancies were a result of a combination of faulty neutron flux spectra for the instruments, improper inputs supplied by SAC (1.12), and a mishandling of cross section data in the Sample Activation Program for Easy Use (SAPEU) (1.1.2). This report focuses on the conclusion that the SAPEU (1.1.2) beamline neutron flux spectra have errors and are a significant contributor to the activation discrepancies. The results of the analysis of the SAPEU (1.1.2) flux spectra for all beamlines will be discussed in detail. The recommendations for the implementation of improved neutron flux spectra in SAPEU (1.1.3) are also discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Suppression of Deflecting Forces in Planar-Symmetric Dielectric Wakefield Accelerating Structures with Elliptical Bunches

Wakefield based accelerators capable of accelerating gradients two orders of magnitude higher than present accelerators offer a path to compact high energy physics instruments and light sources. However, for high gradient accelerators, beam instabilities driven by commensurately high transverse wakefields limit beam quality. It has been previously theoretically shown that transverse wakefields can be reduced by elliptically shaping the transverse sizes of beams in dielectric structures with planar symmetry. We report here experimental measurements that demonstrate reduced transverse wakefields for elliptical beams in planar symmetric structures which are consistent with theoretical models. Furthermore, these results may enable the design of gigavolt-per-meter gradient wakefield based accelerators that produce and stably accelerate high quality beams.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of the properties of thin Li films and their relationship with He plasmas using ion beam analysis in the DIONISOS experiment

Plasma facing component (PFC) conditioning dramatically affects plasma performance in magnetic confinement fusion experiments. Lithium (Li) has been used in several machines to condition PFC with subsequent improvements to plasma performance. Multiple studies have investigated the interactions of Li with deuterium (D) and oxygen (O) in order to ascertain the mechanisms behind the enhanced plasma performance. Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) is a useful tool to interrogate PFC surfaces as they interact with plasmas. Dynamics of ion implantation and sputtering of surfaces (DIONISOS) is a linear plasma device, capable of generating discharges with fluxes ~10 21 m -2 s -1 and Te ~6 eV, coupled to an ion accelerator. DIONISOS is capable of analyzing samples using Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) during plasma exposures. The facility has been equipped with a Li deposition system for evaporation of thin coatings on different substrates. The evaporator enables real time ERD and RBS measurements of deposition and erosion of Li coatings on different substrates and the interaction of the Li with the vacuum and plasma. Considerations for ERD, e.g., ion species, energy, and data acquisition frequency, are presented. Furthermore, this work is the basis for further investigation of He, H, and D retention in solid and liquid Li.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectrometer for X-ray emission experiments at FERMI free-electron-laser

A portable and compact photon spectrometer to be used for photon in-photon out experiments, in particular x-ray emission spectroscopy, is presented. The instrument operates in the 25–800 eV energy range to cover the full emissions of the FEL1 and FEL2 stages of FERMI. The optical design consists of two interchangeable spherical varied-lined-spaced gratings and a CCD detector. Different input sections can be accommodated, with/without an entrance slit and with/without an additional relay mirror, that allow to mount the spectrometer in different end-stations and at variable distances from the target area both at synchrotron and at free-electron-laser beamlines. The characterization on the Gas Phase beamline at ELETTRA Synchrotron (Italy) is presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Microfocusing at the PG1 beamline at FLASH

The Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) refocusing mirror system installed at the PG1 branch of the plane-grating monochromator beamline at the soft X-ray/XUV free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) is designed to provide tight aberration-free focusing down to 4 µm × 6 µm full width at half-maximum (FWHM) on the sample. Such a focal spot size is mandatory to achieve ultimate resolution and to guarantee best performance of the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) off-axis parabolic double-monochromator Raman spectrometer permanently installed at the PG1 beamline as an experimental end-station. The vertical beam size on the sample of the Raman spectrometer, which operates without entrance slit, defines and limits the energy resolution of the instrument which has an unprecedented design value of 2 meV for photon energies below 70 eV and about 15 meV for higher energies up to 200 eV. In order to reach the designed focal spot size of 4 µm FWHM (vertically) and to hold the highest spectrometer resolution, special fully motorized in-vacuum manipulators for the KB mirror holders have been developed and the optics have been aligned employing wavefront-sensing techniques as well as ablative imprints analysis. Lastly, aberrations like astigmatism were minimized. In this article the design and layout of the KB mirror manipulators, the alignment procedure as well as microfocus optimization results are presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

High-efficiency cross-beam magnetic electron-impact source for improved miniature Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrometer performance

We describe a newly designed cross-beam magnetic electron-impact ion source (CBM-EI). We demonstrate its superiority in comparison with a conventional source (CB-EI) when used with a commercial miniature sector-field-type, non-scanning mass spectrometer featuring Mattauch-Herzog geometry (MH-MS) and a permanent sector-field magnet. This paper clearly shows the value of the CBM-EI for enhancing MH-MS sensitivity. Unlike secondary electron-multiplier type detectors, the pixelated detector (IonCCD Trade-Mark-Sign ) used in the commercial MH-MS has no gain. The MH-MS/IonCCD system is therefore challenged to compete with time-of-flight and quadrupole MS systems due to their higher ion transmissions and detector gains. Using the new CBM-EI, we demonstrate an instrument sensitivity increase of 20-fold to 100-fold relative to the CB-EI-equipped instrument. This remarkable signal increase by the simple addition of the magnet assembly arises from the magnet-induced gyromotion of the thermionic electrons, which vastly increases the effective path length of the electrons through the ionization region, and the collimated nature of the electron flux, which optimizes the ion transmission through the 100-{mu}m object slit of the MH-MS. Some or all of the realized sensitivity increase may be exchanged for an increase in resolution and/or mass range through the use of a narrower object slit, or for a reduction in ion-source pressure to limit quenching. The CBM-EI should facilitate development of a differentially pumped ion source to extend the lifetime of the filament, especially in otherwise intractable applications associated with oxidizing and corrosive samples.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Design of a lens table for a double toroidal electron spectrometer

We report here on the method we developed to build a lens table for a four-element electrostatic transfer lens operated together with a double toroidal electron energy analyzer designed by one of us, and whose original design and further improvements are described in detail in Miron et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 3728 (1997)] and Le Guen et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 73, 3885 (2002)]. Both computer simulations and laboratory instrument tuning were performed in order to build this lens table. The obtained result was tested for a broad range of electron kinetic energies and analyzer pass energies. Based on this new lens table, allowing to easily computer control the spectrometer working conditions, we could routinely achieve an electron energy resolution ranging between 0.6% and 0.8% of the analyzer pass energy, while the electron count rate was also significantly improved. The establishment of such a lens table is of high importance to relieve experimentalists from the tedious laboring of the lens optimization, which was previously necessary prior to any measurement. The described method can be adapted to any type of electron/ion energy analyzer, and will thus be interesting for all experimentalists who own, or plan to build or improve their charged particle energy analyzers.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Fermi Large Area Telescope Operations: Progress Over 4 Years

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched into orbit in June 2008, and is conducting a multi-year gamma-ray all-sky survey, using the main instrument on Fermi, the Large Area Telescope (LAT). Fermi began its science mission in August 2008, and has now been operating for almost 4 years. The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory hosts the LAT Instrument Science Operations Center (ISOC), which supports the operation of the LAT in conjunction with the Mission Operations Center (MOC) and the Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC), both at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The LAT has a continuous output data rate of about 1.5 Mbits per second, and data from the LAT are stored on Fermi and transmitted to the ground through TDRS and the MOC to the ISOC about 10 times per day. Several hundred computers at SLAC are used to process LAT data to perform event reconstruction, and gamma-ray photon data are subsequently delivered to the FSSC for public release with a few hours of being detected by the LAT. We summarize the current status of the LAT, and the evolution of the data processing and monitoring performed by the ISOC during the first 4 years of the Fermi mission, together with future plans for further changes to detected event data processing and instrument operations and monitoring.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Spin exchange optical pumping based polarized {sup 3}He filling station for the Hybrid Spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source

The Hybrid Spectrometer (HYSPEC) is a new direct geometry spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This instrument is equipped with polarization analysis capability with 60 Degree-Sign horizontal and 15 Degree-Sign vertical detector coverages. In order to provide wide angle polarization analysis for this instrument, we have designed and built a novel polarized {sup 3}He filling station based on the spin exchange optical pumping method. It is designed to supply polarized {sup 3}He gas to HYSPEC as a neutron polarization analyzer. In addition, the station can optimize the {sup 3}He pressure with respect to the scattered neutron energies. The depolarized {sup 3}He gas in the analyzer can be transferred back to the station to be repolarized. We have constructed the prototype filling station. Preliminary tests have been carried out demonstrating the feasibility of the filling station. Here, we report on the design, construction, and the preliminary results of the prototype filling station.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Synthesis and x-ray characterization of sputtered bi-alkali antimonide photocathodes

Advanced photoinjectors, which are critical to many next generation accelerators, open the door to new ways of material probing, both as injectors for free electron lasers and for ultra-fast electron diffraction. For these applications, the nonuniformity of the electric field near the cathode caused by surface roughness can be the dominant source of beam emittance. Therefore, improving the photocathode roughness while maintaining quantum efficiency is essential to the improvement of beam brightness. Here in this article, we report the demonstration of a bi-alkali antimonide photocathode with an order of magnitude improved roughness by sputter deposition from a K 2 CsSb sputter target, using in situ and operando X-ray characterizations. We found that a surface roughness of 0.5 nm for a sputtered photocathode with a final thickness of 42 nm can be achieved while still yielding a quantum efficiency of 3.3% at 530 nm wavelength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗