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Rapid Development of Instrument Thermal Models: Perspectives and Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory

The Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL), part of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Integrated Design Center (IDC), is a concurrent and collaborative environment which allows for rapid development of science instrumentation concepts within the span of less than two weeks. Science goals set by a Principal Investigator from government, industry or academia are translated into engineering requirements, from which a team of engineers spanning multiple disciplines use an established study process and a suite of analysis tools to work towards an instrument point design. As part of this process, a staff thermal engineer is tasked with designing a thermal control system which meets all incoming thermal requirements, while iterating real-time with other subsystems to ensure compatibility and functionality as a completed system. Thermal engineers on spaceflight projects typically have weeks or months to develop thermal models. However, the severe time limitation in this conceptual study setting makes thermal design particularly difficult, as rapid thermal modeling solely over the span of a few days is required to develop the instrument thermal design and understand the performance over its intended mission, especially if the instrument concept contains multiple thermal challenges such as dynamic environments or high heat dissipating components. In this paper, the authors provide a condensed guide for the most efficient ways to develop thermal models and conduct thermal analysis within the span of one-to-two weeks, as informed by decades of design experience and best practices in the IDL. The authors also focus on quick methods for determining worst-case thermal environments, deciding which modeling details are essential at this early phase, and quantifying the engineering resources necessary for thermal control. This paper concludes with specific thermal design tips for different instrument types across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Kan Yang↗
DOE OSTI2015

Special issue on aluminium plasmonics

Plasmonics is a rapidly growing field that takes advantage of the intense and confined electromagnetic fields that appear near metallic nanostructures illuminated at frequencies near their surface plasmon resonances. As plasmonics continues to develop, it faces the need to find new materials supporting well-defined surface plasmon resonances in different frequency ranges. In the visible and near-infrared ranges the noble metals, most typically gold and silver, exhibit relatively low losses. This is why they are quite ubiquitous in plasmonics literature. However it is somewhat ironic to see that a non-noble metal, aluminium, the metal upon which surface plasmons where first evidenced in the 1950s, is now reappearing after fifty years of near oblivion as one of the 'hottest' materials for plasmonics. Several reasons explain the return of aluminium to the centre stage. First, aluminium exhibits good plasmonic properties in the ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet—a spectral range where gold and silver no longer behave as metals. Second, aluminium is cheap and widely available (Al is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust), criteria of paramount importance when discussing industry-related applications. It is furthermore compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In conclusion, this is why an ever-increasing number of papers report new advances on aluminium plasmonics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development, construction and tests of the Mu2e electromagnetic calorimeter mechanical structures

The “muon-to-electron conversion” (Mu2e) experiment at Fermilab will search for the charged lepton flavour violating neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The observation of this process would be the unambiguous evidence of the existence of physics beyond the standard model. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw-tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and an external veto for cosmic rays. In particular, the calorimeter provides excellent electron identification, a fast calorimetric online trigger, and complementary information to aid pattern recognition and track reconstruction. The detector has been designed as a state-of-the-art crystal calorimeter and employs 1348 pure Cesium Iodide (CsI) crystals readout by UV-extended silicon photosensors and fast front-end and digitization electronics. A design consisting of two identical annular matrices (named “disks”) positioned at the relative distance of 70 cm downstream the aluminum target along the muon beamline satisfies the Mu2e physics requirements. The hostile Mu2e operational conditions, in terms of radiation levels (total expected ionizing dose of 12 krad and a neutron fluence of 5 × 10$^{10}$ n/cm$^{2}$ @ 1 MeV$_{eq}$ (Si)/y), magnetic field intensity (1 T) and vacuum level (10$^{-4}$ Torr) have posed tight constraints on scintillating materials, sensors, electronics and on the design of the detector mechanical structures and material choice. The support structure of each 674 crystal matrix is composed of an aluminum hollow ring and parts made of open-cell vacuum-compatible carbon fiber. The photosensors and front-end electronics for the readout of each crystal are inserted in a machined copper holder and make a unique mechanical unit. The resulting 674 mechanical units are supported by a machined plate of vacuum-compatible plastic material. The plate also integrates the cooling system made of a network of copper lines flowing a low temperature radiation-hard fluid and placed in thermal contact with the copper holders to constitute a low resistance thermal bridge. The data acquisition electronics are hosted in aluminum custom crates positioned on the external lateral surface of the disks. The crates also integrate the electronics cooling system as lines running in parallel to the front-end system. In this paper we report on the calorimeter mechanical structure design, the mechanical and thermal simulations that have determined the design technological choices, and the status of component production, quality assurance tests and plans for assembly at Fermilab.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quasicontinuum γ decay of Zr 91 , 92 : Benchmarking indirect ( n , γ ) cross section measurements for the s process

Here, nuclear level densities (NLDs) and γ-ray strength functions (γSFs) have been extracted from particle-γ coincidences of the 92 Zr(p,p´γ) 92 Zr and 92 Zr (p,dγ) 91 Zr reactions using the Oslo method. The new 91,92 Zr γSF data, combined with photonuclear cross sections, cover the whole energy range from Eγ ≈ 1.5 MeV up to the giant dipole resonance at Eγ ≈ 17 MeV. The wide-range γSF data display structures at Eγ ≈ 9.5 MeV, compatible with a superposition of the spin-flip M1 resonance and a pygmy E1 resonance. Furthermore, the γSF shows a minimum at Eγ ≈ 2–3 MeV and an increase at lower γ-ray energies. The experimentally constrained NLDs and γSFs are shown to reproduce known (n,γ) and Maxwellian-averaged cross sections for 91,92 Zr using the TALYS reaction code, thus serving as a benchmark for this indirect method of estimating (n,γ) cross sections for Zr isotopes.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Implementation of an impurity diagnostic suite on the Pegasus-III experiment

A suite of diagnostics used to assess impurity content and dynamics has been updated, upgraded, and installed on the Pegasus-III Experiment. Typical plasma parameters during local helicity injection start-up are τ shot ~10 ms, n e ~ 1 × 10 19 m –3 , and T e ~ 50 eV. The deployed diagnostics are compatible with this modest temperature and density regime and provide species identification, source localization, and estimation of radiation losses. Impurity species are determined by recording time-evolving, single line-of-sight spectra at 1.25 kfps using a SPRED (Survey, Poor Resolution, Extended Domain) vacuum ultraviolet spectrometer. SPRED is equipped with 450 g/mm grating, giving a spectral resolution of 0.33 nm and a spectral range from ~10 to 110 nm, useful to identify light impurity species in this temperature and density range. An absolutely calibrated spectrometer that collects light from the plasma at R tan = 15.9 cm and Δt ≥ 2 ms is used as a visible survey spectrometer and for continuum measurements. The radiated power from the plasma is estimated with a photodiode-based diagnostic. Two 16-channel absolute extreme ultraviolet diode arrays are placed behind pinhole apertures, resulting in 32 lines of sight at Z = 0, with a spatial resolution of 2–3 cm and a time response of 60 kHz. A photometrically calibrated collinear D α /near infrared filtered photodiode-based system measures the D α emission and around 1040 nm. All these instruments have been designed to suppress electromagnetic interference from megawatt-class switching power supplies.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Rationalizing the suitability of rhodamines as chromophores in dye-sensitized solar cells: A systematic molecular design study

Here, rhodamines are chromophores that are employed in many dye applications. Their strong optical absorption in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum renders them attractive dye candidates for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). However, they have not yet been systematically tested in DSCs as single- or co-sensitizers. Recent advances in concerted experimental and computational workflows involving molecular design protocols can afford a better understanding of the molecular origins of the optoelectronic properties in these sensitizers. Herein, we examine the suitability of rhodamines R560 (1), R575 (2), R590 (3), R610 (4), R620 (5), R640 (6), and R3B (7) as chromophores in co-sensitized DSCs. Our study follows a stepwise approach. Initially, structural and optical properties of the dyes are investigated by experimental and computational methods to reveal structure-property relationships and other useful features for DSC applications. Subsequently, 1-7 are investigated at the dye···TiO 2 interface, both by calculations of dye-adsorption onto the surface of a modeled (TiO 2 ) 9 cluster, and by experimental studies of dye-adsorption on TiO 2 . For that purpose, a selection of rhodamine dyes are paired together (1 and 5) and (1 and 7) for co-sensitization, among which 5 is also co-adsorbed with a fluorescein dye in order to explore chemical compatibility factors. The best dye candidates are identified from the findings of these adsorption studies in terms of dye aggregation, anchoring modes, and panchromatic response. Despite their promising dye…TiO 2 adsorption and optical prospects, our results show that rhodamines lack a suitable intramolecular charge transfer pathway for dye-to-TiO 2 electron injection to occur, thus precluding their photovoltaic function as DSC dyes. Our results are then assessed against ostensibly disparate reports of rhodamines performing successfully in DSC devices; this comparison necessitated the internal reproduction of previously reported co-sensitization experiments on 2 with the industrial standard reference dye, N3. We achieve reconciliation between our results and those in the literature by reasoning that while rhodamines cannot deliver photovoltaic function in DSCs in their own right, they can either act to facilitate or deplete the photovoltaic output of a DSC indirectly by affecting the TiO 2 adsorption prospects of a photovoltaic-active dye with which a rhodamine is co-sensitized.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2015

Initial Operation of the Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator

The Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator (NTREES) facility is designed to perform realistic non-nuclear testing of nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) fuel elements and fuel materials. Although the NTREES facility cannot mimic the neutron and gamma environment of an operating NTR, it can simulate the thermal hydraulic environment within an NTR fuel element to provide critical information on material performance and compatibility. The NTREES facility has recently been upgraded such that the power capabilities of the facility have been increased significantly. At its present 1.2 MW power level, more prototypical fuel element temperatures nay now be reached. The new 1.2 MW induction heater consists of three physical units consisting of a transformer, rectifier, and inverter. This multiunit arrangement facilitated increasing the flexibility of the induction heater by more easily allowing variable frequency operation. Frequency ranges between 20 and 60 kHz can accommodated in the new induction heater allowing more representative power distributions to be generated within the test elements. The water cooling system was also upgraded to so as to be capable of removing 100% of the heat generated during testing In this new higher power configuration, NTREES will be capable of testing fuel elements and fuel materials at near-prototypic power densities. As checkout testing progressed and as higher power levels were achieved, several design deficiencies were discovered and fixed. Most of these design deficiencies were related to stray RF energy causing various components to encounter unexpected heating. Copper shielding around these components largely eliminated these problems. Other problems encountered involved unexpected movement in the coil due to electromagnetic forces and electrical arcing between the coil and a dummy test article. The coil movement and arcing which were encountered during the checkout testing effectively destroyed the induction coil in use at the time and resulted in NTREES being out of commission for a couple of months while a new stronger coil was procured. The new coil includes several additional pieces of support structure to prevent coil movement in the future. In addition, new insulating test article support components have been fabricated to prevent unexpected arcing to the test articles. Additional activities are also now underway to address ways in which the radial temperature profiles across test articles may be controlled such that they are more prototypical of what they would encounter in an operating nuclear engine. The causes of the temperature distribution problem are twofold. First, the fuel element test article is isolated in NTREES as opposed to being in the midst of many other mostly identical fuel elements in a nuclear engine. As a result, the fuel element heat flux boundary conditions in NTREES are far from adiabatic as would normally be the case in a reactor. Second, induction heating skews the power distribution such that power is preferentially deposited near the outside of the fuel element. Nuclear heating, conversely, deposits its power much more uniformly throughout the fuel element. Current studies are now looking at various schemes to adjust the amount of thermal radiation emitted from the fuel element surface so as to essentially vary the thermal boundary conditions on the test article. It is hoped that by properly adjusting the thermal boundary conditions on the fuel element test article, it may be possible to substantially correct for the inappropriate radial power distributions resulting from the induction heating so as to yield a more nearly correct temperature distribution throughout the fuel element.

Emrich, William J., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Intergalactic magnetic fields and gamma-ray observations of extreme TeV blazars

The intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) in cosmic voids can be indirectly probed through its effect on electromagnetic cascades initiated by a source of teraelectronvolt (TeV) gamma-rays, such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs). AGNs that are sufficiently luminous at TeV energies, 'extreme TeV blazars', can produce detectable levels of secondary radiation from inverse Compton scattering of the electrons in the cascade, provided that the IGMF is not too large. We review recent work in the literature that utilizes this idea to derive constraints on the IGMF for three TeV-detected blazars, 1ES 0229+200, 1ES 1218+304, and RGB J0710+591, and we also investigate four other hard-spectrum TeV blazars in the same framework. Through a recently developed, detailed, three-dimensional particle-tracking Monte Carlo code, incorporating all major effects of QED and cosmological expansion, we research the effects of major uncertainties, such as the spectral properties of the source, uncertainty in the ultraviolet and far-infrared extragalactic background light, undersampled very high energy (energy ≥100 GeV) coverage, past history of gamma-ray emission, source versus observer geometry, and the jet AGN Doppler factor. The implications of these effects on the recently reported lower limits of the IGMF are thoroughly examined to conclude that the presently available data are compatible with a zero-IGMF hypothesis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SUPERMODEL ANALYSIS OF THE HARD X-RAY EXCESS IN THE COMA CLUSTER

The Supermodel (SM) provides an accurate description of the thermal contribution by the hot intracluster plasma which is crucial for the analysis of the hard excess. In this paper, the thermal emissivity in the Coma cluster is derived starting from the intracluster gas temperature and density profiles obtained by the SM analysis of X-ray observables: the XMM-Newton temperature profile and the ROSAT brightness distribution. The SM analysis of the BeppoSAX/Phoswich Detector System (PDS) hard X-ray (HXR) spectrum confirms our previous results, namely, an excess at the confidence level (c.l.) of {approx}4.8{sigma} and a nonthermal (NT) flux of (1.30 {+-} 0.40) x 10{sup -11} erg cm{sup -2} erg cm{sup -1} in the energy range 20-80 keV. A recent joint XMM-Newton/Suzaku analysis reports an upper limit of {approx}6 x 10{sup -12} erg cm{sup -2} erg cm{sup -1} in the energy range 20-80 keV for the NT flux with an average gas temperature of 8.45 {+-} 0.06 keV and an excess of NT radiation at a c.l. above 4{sigma}, without including systematic effects, for an average XMM-Newton temperature of 8.2 keV in the Suzaku/HXD-PIN FOV, in agreement with our earlier PDS analysis. Here we present a further evidence of the compatibility between the Suzaku and BeppoSAX spectra, obtained by our SM analysis of the PDS data, when the smaller size of the HXD-PIN FOV and the two different average temperatures derived by XMM-Newton and by the joint XMM-Newton/Suzaku analysis are taken into account. The consistency of the PDS and HXD-PIN spectra reaffirms the presence of an NT component in the HXR spectrum of the Coma cluster. The SM analysis of the PDS data reports an excess at c.l. above 4{sigma} also for the higher average temperature of 8.45 keV thanks to the PDS FOV being considerably greater than the HXD-PIN FOV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of Optical Fiber-Based Sensors for Nuclear Microreactor Structural Health Monitoring

This report provides an experimental assessment of two different optical fiber–based acoustic sensors that are being investigated for application in nuclear microreactors to enhance structural health monitoring capabilities. Optical fibers are resilient in high-temperature and high-radiation environments, have a small sensor footprint, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and are capable of spatially distributed sensing. The two sensors investigated here are (1) Fabry–Pérot Cavities (FPCs) between two copper-coated fibers, embedded in nickel capillary tubes and (2) type-I fiber Bragg grating (FBG) arrays contained within metal capillary tubes. These sensors can be interrogated using low-coherence interferometry or swept wavelength interferometry, respectively, to measure the resonant frequencies of the components or systems to which these sensors are bonded. The FPC developed herein has been subjected to temperatures up to nearly 800°C while tack-welded to a tubular test specimen. Even at the highest temperatures, the measured resonant frequencies compared well with those obtained using an accelerometer that was bonded to an unheated portion of the specimen. The FBG array was tested in multiple bonding configurations to a tubular test specimen, all at room temperature, with the understanding that high temperature (i.e., type II) FBGs could be used to obtain similar data at high temperatures; the FBG array data were validated with noncontact laser vibrometry, which is being used at Los Alamos National Laboratory to relate acoustic signatures to component stresses and/or structural defects. The goal of this work is to identify the most promising techniques that are also compatible with operation in a microreactor environment.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2019

Radio Follow-up of a Candidate γ-Ray Transient in the Sky Localization Area of GW170608

After the identification of a candidate γ-ray transient in the error region of the binary black hole (BBH) merger GW150914 by the Fermi satellite, the question of whether BBH mergers can be associated with electromagnetic counterparts remains highly debated. Here, we present radio follow-up observations of GW170608, a BBH merger that occurred during the second observing run (O2) of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Our radio follow-up focused on a specific field contained in the GW170608 sky localization area, where a candidate high-energy transient was detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We make use of data collected at 1.4 GHz with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), as well as with the VLA Lowband Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (VLITE). Our analysis is sensitive to potential radio afterglows with luminosity densities L(1.4GHz) ≳ 6 x 10^(28) erg/sHz. In the most optimistic theoretical models, ≈20% of BBH events occurring in massive hosts could be associated with outflows as radio luminous as this. Although we find no evidence for the presence of a radio counterpart associated with the LAT candidate in the GW170608 error region, our analysis demonstrates the feasibility of future radio follow-up observations of well-localized BBHs. Comparing our radio upper limits with theoretical expectations for the radio afterglows potentially associated with jets launched in BBH mergers, we find that for jets of energy ≈10^(49) erg seen on-axis, only jet angles θ(jet)≳40° are compatible with the observations.

Kyle Artkop↗
DOE OSTI2011

Ambipolar charge transport in microcrystalline silicon thin-film transistors

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ({mu}c-Si:H) is a promising candidate for thin-film transistors (TFTs) in large-area electronics due to high electron and hole charge carrier mobilities. We report on ambipolar TFTs based on {mu}c-Si:H prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at temperatures compatible with flexible substrates. Electrons and holes are directly injected into the {mu}c-Si:H channel via chromium drain and source contacts. The TFTs exhibit electron and hole charge carrier mobilities of 30-50 cm{sup 2}/V s and 10-15 cm{sup 2}/V s, respectively. In this work, the electrical characteristics of the ambipolar {mu}c-Si:H TFTs are described by a simple analytical model that takes the ambipolar charge transport into account. The analytical expressions are used to model the transfer curves, the potential and the net surface charge along the channel of the TFTs. The electrical model provides insights into the electronic transport of ambipolar {mu}c-Si:H TFTs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Evolution of the pygmy dipole resonance in Sn isotopes

Nuclear level density and {gamma}-ray strength functions of {sup 121,122}Sn below the neutron separation energy are extracted with the Oslo method using the ({sup 3}He,{sup 3}He{sup '{gamma}}) and ({sup 3}He,{alpha}{gamma}) reactions. The level densities of {sup 121,122}Sn display steplike structures, interpreted as signatures of neutron pair breaking. An enhancement in both strength functions, compared to standard models for radiative strength, is observed in our measurements for E{sub {gamma}} > or approx. 5.2 MeV. This enhancement is compatible with pygmy resonances centered at {approx_equal}8.4(1) and {approx_equal}8.6(2) MeV, respectively, and with integrated strengths corresponding to {approx_equal}1.8{sub -5}{sup +1}% of the classical Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn sum rule. Similar resonances were also seen in {sup 116-119}Sn. Experimental neutron-capture cross reactions are well reproduced by our pygmy resonance predictions, while standard strength models are less successful. The evolution as a function of neutron number of the pygmy resonance in {sup 116-122}Sn is described as a clear increase of centroid energy from 8.0(1) to 8.6(2) MeV, but with no observable difference in integrated strengths.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Intrinsic nonlocality of spin- and polarization-resolved probabilities in strong-field quantum electrodynamics

Spin and polarization are central to precision tests of fundamental physics and for interpreting radiation from astrophysical sources and ultraintense laser-matter experiments. Here, focusing on the fundamental process of nonlinear Compton scattering, we demonstrate that a key assumption underlying current strong-field quantum electrodynamics models, i.e., that emission can be treated as an instantaneous random event sampled from a local differential rate, is inconsistent once emission angles, electron spin, and/or photon polarization are resolved. Namely, even in strictly constant and uniform fields , the resulting fully differential distribution is sign indefinite, yielding negative inferred probabilities. The physical reason is that the photon emission probability builds up over a finite length of the electron trajectory, the formation region, during which the electron direction changes by roughly the same small angle that defines the radiation cone. Therefore, we put forward a new method where we integrate over this formation region analytically to obtain a physically consistent electron spin and photon polarization model. We show that the implementation of our model is compatible with existing Monte Carlo and particle-in-cell workflows. Simulations of a GeV-class electron-laser collision accessible at current petawatt facilities and of emission in a pulsarlike magnetic field are shown to reveal spin and polarization patterns that differ even qualitatively from state-of-the-art local models. In particular, our new model predicts substantial angle-dependent circular photon polarization where the well-known collinear-emission approach yields none, and a pronounced helicity bias in the recoiling electrons absent from current predictions. These findings have direct implications for upcoming strong-field QED experiments and for interpreting polarized radiation from extreme astrophysical environments.

astrophysical electromagnetic fields↗
DOE OSTI2010

THE STELLAR KINEMATIC CENTER AND THE TRUE GALACTIC NUCLEUS OF NGC 253

We present the first sub-arcsecond resolution two-dimensional stellar kinematics and X-ray observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy NGC 253 which define the position and nature of the galactic nucleus. These observations comprise some of the best probes of the central 300 pc of NGC 253, the nearest massive galaxy undergoing a powerful starburst, and will allow us to gain more insight into the nature of the centers of starburst galaxies. We get an estimate of the stellar kinematic center location corresponding to an area of r {approx} 1.''2 centered {approx}0.''7 southwest (SW) from the radio core, and historically presumed nucleus, TH2. Newly processed Chandra data reveal a central point-like hard X-ray source (X-1) lying {approx}0.''4 SW from the kinematic center. Very accurate alignment between radio, infrared, and X-ray sources in the nuclear region shows that TH2, the IR photometric center, and X-1 are not associated with each other. As the kinematic center is consistent with the positions of TH2 and X-1, and both could be a manifestation of nuclear activity, we consider the two as possible galactic nucleus candidates. Although TH2 is the strongest compact radio source in the nuclear region, it does not have any infrared, optical, or X-ray counterparts. If the kinematic center is associated with this source, by analogy we suggest that the nucleus of NGC 253 resembles our Galactic center Sgr A*. On the other hand, X-1 is a heavily absorbed object (N{sub H} = 7.5 x 10{sup 23} cm{sup -2}) only detected at energies >2 keV (L{sub 2-10{sub keV}} {approx} 10{sup 40} erg s{sup -1}). If X-1 is instead associated with the kinematic center, the nucleus of NGC 253 is compatible with an obscured low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) or a spatially resolved super star cluster (SSC) brightening up in X-rays most probably due to young supernovae or supernova remnants, a situation also observed in the nuclear starburst of M82. If no SSC is associated with the kinematic center, we conclude that NGC 253 is a galaxy in which a strong starburst and a weak AGN (either TH2 or X-1) coexist. Results from few other high-resolution studies of nearby starburst galaxies (e.g., M82, NGC 5253, NGC 4945) indicate that the AGN in these systems, if present, is always in the low-luminosity regime. This may indicate that the onset of nuclear activity in galaxies is closely related with the occurrence of star formation, and that we are witnessing the emergence or disappearance of an AGN.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

FAR-INFRARED LUMINOUS SUPERNOVA REMNANT Kes 17

We present the results of infrared (IR; 2.5-160 {mu}m) observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) Kes 17 based on the data obtained with the AKARI and Spitzer satellites. We first detect bright continuum emission of its western shell in the mid- and far-IR wavebands together with its near-IR molecular line emission. We also detect hidden mid-IR emission of its southern shell after subtraction of the background emission in this region. The far-IR luminosity of the western shell is {approx}8100 L{sub sun}, which makes Kes 17 one of the few SNRs of significant far-IR emission. The fittings of the spectral energy distribution indicate the existence of two dust components: {approx}79 K (hot) and {approx}27 K (cold) corresponding to the dust masses of {approx}6.2 x 10{sup -4} M{sub sun} and {approx}6.7 M{sub sun}, respectively. We suggest that the hot component represents the dust emission of the material swept up by the SNR to its western and southern boundaries, compatible with the distribution of radio continuum emission overlapping the mid-IR emission in the western and southern shells. The existence of hot ({approx}2000 K), shocked dense molecular gas revealed by the near-IR molecular line emission in the western shell, on the other hand, suggests that the cold dust component represents the dust emission related to the interaction between the SNR and nearby molecular gas. The excitation conditions of the molecular gas appear to be consistent with those from shocked, clumpy admixture gas of different temperatures. We discuss three possibilities for the origin of the bright far-IR emission of the cold dust in the western shell: the emission of dust in the inter-clump medium of shocked molecular clouds, the emission of dust in evaporating flows of molecular clouds engulfed by hot gas, and the emission of dust of nearby molecular clouds illuminated by radiative shocks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

A Versatile Multilayer Polarimeter for the Soft X-Ray Region

As modern undulators can generate light with arbitrary polarization states, experiments exploiting this feature in the range of soft x-rays have become increasingly widespread. For the success of these experiments characterising the polarization at the sample position is vital. Therefore a versatile, multi-purpose, UHV compatible, multilayer polarimeter has been designed and developed for measuring the Stokes vector of a soft x-ray beam. This high-precision, ultra high vacuum compatible instrument is supported by a Hexapod to simplify its alignment. Furthermore, the instrument has its own independent control system and has been designed for portability so that it can be moved with relative ease between different synchrotron facilities. The polarization analysis requires the rotation of a phase retarder and a polarization analyser, both about a common axis of the photon beam. The polarimeter employs reflection / transmission multilayers as phase retarders / analysers. Several sets of multilayers are installed inside the UHV chamber so that they may be exchanged in-situ without breaking the vacuum. The polarimeter doubles-up as a reflectometer / ellipsometer that enable determination of the polarization properties of optical elements including multilayers with very small surface roughness and several hundred bi-layers. The design details of the polarimeter and the results of first experiments to characterise the polarization of a beamline will be presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2011

GAS AND DUST IN A SUBMILLIMETER GALAXY AT z = 4.24 FROM THE HERSCHEL ATLAS

We report ground-based follow-up observations of the exceptional source, ID 141, one of the brightest sources detected so far in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey cosmological survey. ID 141 was observed using the IRAM 30 m telescope and Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI), the Submillimeter Array, and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment submillimeter telescope to measure the dust continuum and emission lines of the main isotope of carbon monoxide and carbon ([C I] and [C II]). The detection of strong CO emission lines with the PdBI confirms that ID 141 is at high redshift (z = 4.243 {+-} 0.001). The strength of the continuum and emission lines suggests that ID 141 is gravitationally lensed. The width ({Delta}V{sub FWHM} {approx} 800 km s{sup -1}) and asymmetric profiles of the CO and carbon lines indicate orbital motion in a disk or a merger. The properties derived for ID 141 are compatible with an ultraluminous (L{sub FIR} {approx} (8.5 {+-} 0.3) x 10{sup 13} {mu}{sup -1}{sub L} L{sub sun}, where {mu}{sub L} is the amplification factor), dense (n {approx} 10{sup 4} cm{sup -3}), and warm (T{sub kin} {approx} 40 K) starburst galaxy, with an estimated star formation rate of (0.7-1.7) x 10{sup 4} {mu}{sup -1}{sub L} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. The carbon emission lines indicate a dense (n {approx} 10{sup 4} cm{sup -3}) photon-dominated region, illuminated by a far-UV radiation field a few thousand times more intense than that in our Galaxy. In conclusion, the physical properties of the high-z galaxy ID 141 are remarkably similar to those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗