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DOE OSTI2024

Newest 3-Flavor Neutrino Oscillation Results from NOvA

NOvA is a long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiment based at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory observing the appearance of electron (anti)neutrinos and disappearance of muon (anti) neutrinos. The experiment consists of two functionally identical liquid scintillator detectors; a 14 kton Far Detector is situated 810 km from the beam source, while a smaller Near Detector is only 1 km from the source and samples initial beam composition consisting of primarily muon (anti)neutrinos. Through these observations NOvA is probing outstanding questions in neutrino physics including the neutrino mass ordering and leptonic CP violation along with the θ23 neutrino mixing angle and the larger neutrino mass splitting Δm232. This talk will present the most recent neutrino oscillation results, which include a larger dataset, new analysis techniques, and updated systematic uncertainties.

Sutton, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS1978

A Multi-Band Far-Infrared Survey with a Balloon-Borne Telescope

Nine additional radiation sources, above a 3-sigma confidence level of 1300 Jy, were identified at 100 microns by far infrared photometry of the galactic plane using a 0.4 meter aperture, liquid helium cooled, multichannel far infrared balloon-borne telescope. The instrument is described, including its electronics, pointing and suspension systems, and ground support equipment. Testing procedures and flight staging are discussed along with the reduction and analysis of the data acquired. The history of infrared astronomy is reviewed. General infrared techniques and the concerns of balloon astronomers are explored.

Jacobson, M. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Advances in cryogenic engineering. Volume 33 - Proceedings of the Cryogenic Engineering Conference, Saint Charles, IL, June 14-18, 1987

Papers are presented on superconductivity applications including magnets, electronics, rectifiers, magnet stability, coil protection, and cryogenic techniques. Also considered are insulation, heat transfer to liquid helium and nitrogen, heat and mass transfer in He II, superfluid pumps, and refrigeration for superconducting systems. Other topics include cold compressors, refrigeration and liquefaction, magnetic refrigeration, and refrigeration for space applications. Papers are also presented on cryogenic applications, commercial cryogenic plants, the properties of cryogenic fluids, and cryogenic instrumentation and data acquisition.

Fast, R. W.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Carbon Nanotubules: Building Blocks for Nanometer-Scale Engineering

The proposed work consisted of two projects: the investigation of fluid permeation and diffusion through ultrafiltration membranes composed of carbon nanotubules and the design and study of molecular transistors composed of nanotubules. The progress made on each project is summarized and also discussion about additional projects, one of which is a continuation of work supported by another grant, is included. The first project was Liquid Interactions within a Nanotubule Membrane. The second was the design of nanometer-scale hydrocarbon electronic devices. The third was the investigation of Mechanical properties of Nanotubules and Nanotubule bundles. The fourth project was to investigate the growth mechanisms of Carbon Nanotubules.

Sinnott, Susan B.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Synthesis and Characterization of the First Liquid Single Source Precursors for the Deposition of Ternary Chalcopyrite (CuInS2) Thin Film Materials

Molecular engineering of ternary single source precursors based on the [{PBu3}2Cu(SR')2In(SR')2] architecture have afforded the first liquid CIS ternary single source precursors (when R = Et, n-Pr), which are suitable for low temperature deposition (< 350 C). Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and modulated-differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) confirm their liquid phase and reduced stability. X-ray diffraction studies, energy dispersive analyzer (EDS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) support the formation of the single-phase chalcopyrite CuInS2 at low temperatures.

Banger, Kulbinder K.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Future Planetary Instrument Capabilities Made Possible by Micro- and Nanotechnology

A number of new instrument capabilities are currently in maturation for future in situ use on planetary science missions. Moving beyond the impressive in situ instrumentation already operating in planetary environments beyond Earth will enable the next step in scientific discovery. The approach for developing beyond current instrumentation requires a careful assessment of science-driven capability advancement. To this end, two examples of instrument technology development efforts that are leading to new and important analytical capabilities for in situ planetary science will be discussed: (1) an instrument prototype enabling the interface between liquid separation techniques and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and (2) an addressable excitation source enabling miniaturized electron probe microanalysis for elemental mapping of light and heavy elements.

Getty, Stephanie A.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Non-Protein Amino Acids Identified in Carbon-Rich Hayabusa Particles

Amino acid abundances in acid-hydrolyzed hot water extracts of gold foils containing five Category 3 (carbon-rich) Hayabusa particles were studied using liquid chromatography with tandem fluorescence and accurate mass detection. Initial particle analyses using field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry indicated that the particles were composed mainly of carbon. Prior to amino acid analysis, infrared and Raman microspectroscopy showed some grains possessed primitive organic carbon. Although trace terrestrial contamination, namely L-protein amino acids, was observed in all Hayabusa extracts, several terrestrially uncommon non-protein amino acids were also identified. Some Hayabusa particles contained racemic (D≈L) mixtures of the non-protein amino acids β-aminoisobutyric acid (β-AIB) and β-amino-n-butyric acid (β-ABA) at low abundances ranging from 0.09 to 0.31 nmol g −1 . Larger abundances of the non-protein amino acid β-alanine (9.2 nmol g −1 , ≈4.5 times greater than background levels) were measured in an extract of three Hayabusa particles. This β-alanine abundance was ≈6 times higher than that measured in an extract of a CM2 Murchison grain processed in parallel. The comparatively high β-alanine abundance is surprising as asteroid Itokawa is similar to amino acid-poor LL ordinary chondrites. Elevated β-alanine abundances and racemic β-AIB and β-ABA in Hayabusa grains suggested these compounds have non-biological and plausibly non-terrestrial origins. These results are the first evidence of plausibly extraterrestrial amino acids in asteroid material from a sample-return mission and demonstrate the capabilities of the analytical protocols used to study asteroid Ryugu and Bennu samples returned by the JAXA Hayabusa2 and NASA OSIRIS-REx missions, respectively.

Eric T. Parker↗

DOE OSTI2024

Dynamical defects in a two-dimensional Wigner crystal: Self-doping and kinetic magnetism

We study the quantum dynamics of interstitials and vacancies in a two-dimensional Wigner crystal (WC) using a semi-classical instanton method that is asymptotically exact at low density, i.e., in the r s → ∞ limit. Here, the dynamics of these point defects mediates magnetism with much higher energy scales than the exchange energies of the pure WC. Via exact diagonalization of the derived effective Hamiltonians in the single-defect sectors, we find the dynamical corrections to the defect energies. The resulting expression for the interstitial (vacancy) energy extrapolates to 0 at r s = r mit ≈ 70 (r s ≈ 30), suggestive of a self-doping instability to a partially melted WC for some range of r s below r mit . We thus propose a “metallic electron crystal” phase of the two-dimensional electron gas at intermediate densities between a low density insulating WC and a high density Fermi fluid.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2025

One-dimensional heterocyclic carbene–Au metal–organic frameworks bridging ultra-high vacuum models and scalable liquid-phase growth

The controlled design of molecule–metal interfaces is central to the development of functional nanomaterials for catalysis, sensing, and molecular electronics. Here we show that the adsorption of a Janus-type diimidazolium precursor on gold yields one-dimensional (1D) N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)–Au–NHC metal organic frameworks (MOFs) featuring positively charged gold nodes. Using synchrotron X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), near edge X-ray adsorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), we demonstrate that thermal activation promotes counterion removal and drives the formation of extended 1D arrays, characterized by ∼1.0 nm Au–Au spacing and adatom densities up to 0.6 atom nm −2 (∼4% of surface atoms). Importantly, we translate this ultra-high vacuum (UHV) benchmark into a scalable solution-phase protocol in ethanol, enabling 1D-MOF growth under mild, base-free, open-air conditions. The resulting films retain structural and electronic signatures of UHV-grown systems, bridging model studies and practical synthesis. This approach establishes NHC–metal frameworks as accessible, tunable platforms for catalysis and materials design.

Gold adatoms↗

NASA NTRS1993

Opto-electronic morphological processor

The opto-electronic morphological processor of the present invention is capable of receiving optical inputs and emitting optical outputs. The use of optics allows implementation of parallel input/output, thereby overcoming a major bottleneck in prior art image processing systems. The processor consists of three components, namely, detectors, morphological operators and modulators. The detectors and operators are fabricated on a silicon VLSI chip and implement the optical input and morphological operations. A layer of ferro-electric liquid crystals is integrated with a silicon chip to provide the optical modulation. The implementation of the image processing operators in electronics leads to a wide range of applications and the use of optical connections allows cascadability of these parallel opto-electronic image processing components and high speed operation. Such an opto-electronic morphological processor may be used as the pre-processing stage in an image recognition system. In one example disclosed herein, the optical input/optical output morphological processor of the invention is interfaced with a binary phase-only correlator to produce an image recognition system.

Yu, Jeffrey W.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Electrified Operando -Freezing of Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction Cells for Cryogenic Electron Microscopy

The ability to freeze and stabilize reaction intermediates in their metastable states and obtain their structural and chemical information with high spatial resolution would be very powerful to unravel the fundamentals in many important materials technologies such as catalysis and batteries. Here, we develop an electrified operando-freezing methodology for the first time to preserve these metastable states under electrochemical reaction conditions for cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) imaging and spectroscopy. Using Cu catalysts for CO 2 reduction as a model system, we observe restructuring of the Cu catalyst in a CO 2 atmosphere while the same catalyst remains intact in an air atmosphere at the nanometer scale. Furthermore, we discover the existence of single valance Cu (1+) state and C-O bonding at the electrified liquid-solid interface of the operando-frozen samples, which are key reaction intermediates that traditional ex situ measurements fail to detect. Finally, this work highlights our novel technique to study the local structure and chemistry of electrified liquid-solid interfaces, which has broad impact for many electrochemical reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2024

One-Pot Coating of Ceramic Powders by Exfoliated Boron Nitride Layers with a Dense CO 2 Medium and Ultrasound-Aided Mixing

The coating or doping of substrates by two-dimensional materials to impart superior functional properties (such as improved thermal conductivity, bacterial resistance, reduced friction) is receiving increased attention. Environmentally benign, rapid and scalable coating techniques are desirable for this purpose. Here, we report a novel process for coating alumina, silicon carbide and boron carbide substrates with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) layers. The process consists of two sequential steps. First, h-BN layers are exfoliated from bulk h-BN in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) using ultrasound-aided mixing. This step is followed by self-assembly (i.e., coating) of the exfoliated h-BN on the substrates in liquid CO 2 also aided by ultrasound. The liquid CO 2 state is achieved by simply lowering the pressure and temperature of the first step below the critical point of CO 2 (P c = 72.8 atm; T c = 31.1 °C). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) micrographs clearly reveal the exfoliation of h-BN under scCO 2 conditions as well as the h-BN assembly on various substrates under liquid CO 2 conditions. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the structural integrity of the coated h-BN layers. It was also confirmed that without a transition to the liquid CO 2 phase following exfoliation in scCO 2 , there was negligible coating of h-BN on the substrates. Researchers in the field could consider this benign process to rapidly coat or dope materials with h-BN and other 2D materials to impart improved functional properties in myriad applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2025

Influence of counterion substitution on the properties of imidazolium-based ionic liquid clusters

Due to their unique physiochemical properties that may be tailored for specific purposes, ionic liquids (ILs) have been investigated for various applications, including chemical separations, catalysis, energy storage, and space propulsion. The different cations and anions comprising ILs may be selected to optimize a range of desired properties, such as thermal stability, ionic conductivity, and volatility, leading to the designation of certain ILs as designer “green” solvents. The effect of counterions on the properties of ILs is of both fundamental scientific interest and technological importance. Herein, we report a systematic experimental and theoretical investigation of the size, charge, stability toward dissociation, and geometric/electronic structure of 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium (EMIM)-based IL clusters containing two different atomic counterions (i.e., bromide [Br − ] and iodide [I − ]). This work extends our studies of EMIM + cations with atomic chloride (Cl − ) and molecular tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 − ) anions reported previously by Baxter et al. [Chem. Mater. 34, 2612 (2022)] and Zhang et al . [J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 11, 6844 (2020)], respectively. Distributions of anionic IL clusters were generated in the gas phase using electrospray ionization and characterized by high mass resolution mass spectrometry, energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation, and negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy experiments. The experimental results reveal anion-dependent trends in the size distribution, relative abundance, ionic charge state, stability toward dissociation, and electron binding energies of the IL clusters. Complementary global optimization theory provides molecular-level insights into the bonding and electronic structure of a selected subset of clusters, including their low energy structures and electrostatic potential maps, and how these fundamental characteristics are influenced by anion substitution. Collectively, our findings demonstrate how the fundamental properties of ILs, which determine their suitability for many applications, may be tuned by substituting counterions. These observations are critical in the sub-nanometer cluster size regime where phenomena do not scale predictably to the bulk phase, and each atom counts toward determining behavior.

cluster↗

NASA NTRS1980

On the use of pressure broadening data to assess the accuracy of CO-He interaction potentials

The results of SCF-CI calculations of the intermolecular potential surface for CO and He are compared with pressure broadening data. Coupled states calculations were performed for both the electron gas and the more accurate SCF-CI potentials at collision energies from 15 to 1200/cm, and Boltzmann averages over collision energy were taken to compare with experimental results at liquid nitrogen (77 K), dry ice (195 K) and room (295 K) temperatures. The cross sections from the SCF-CI potential are shown to be in slightly better agreement with experiment than those from the electron gas potential, although both are consistent with the data to within experimental uncertainties. Closer examination of the experimental results reveals that this essential equivalence is due not to any inherent insensitivity of the pressure broadening technique, but to the uncertainties in the experimental values. It is thus concluded that more accurate experimental values are required to place meaningful constraints on the intermolecular potential.

Green, S.↗

NASA NTRS1970

Improved electron beam welding technique

Energy transferred from the source to the workpiece is maximized by relying on the mobility of the material in its liquid phase. This permits more beam energy to transfer to the weld front.

Schumaker, B. W.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Bismuth Propellant Feed System Development at NASA-MSFC

NASA-MSFC has been developing liquid metal propellant feed systems capable of delivering molten bismuth at a prescribed mass flow rate to the vaporizer of an electric thruster. The first such system was delivered to NASA-JPL as part of the Very High Isp Thruster with Anode Layer (VHITAL) program. In this system, the components pictured were placed in a vacuum chamber and heated while the control electronics were located outside the chamber. The system was successfully operated at JPL in conjunction with a propellant vaporizer, and data was obtained demonstrating a new liquid bismuth flow sensing technique developed at MSFC. The present effort is aimed at producing a feed-system for use in conjunction with a bismuth-fed Hall thruster developed by Busek Co. Developing this system is more ambitious, however, in that it is designed to self-contain all the control electronics inside the same vacuum chamber as an operating bismuth-fed thruster. Consequently, the entire system, including an on-board computer, DC-output power supplies, and a gas-pressurization electro-pneumatic regulator, must be designed to survive a vacuum environment and shielded to keep bismuth plasma from intruding on the electronics and causing a shortcircuit. In addition, the hot portions of the feed system must be thermally isolated from the electronics to avoid failure due to high heat loads. This is accomplished using a thermal protection system (TPS) consisting of multiple layers of aluminum foil. The only penetrations into the vacuum chamber are an electrically isolated (floating) 48 VDC line and a fiberoptic line. The 48 VDC provides power for operation of the power supplies and electronics co-located with the system in the vacuum chamber. The fiberoptic Ethernet connection is used to communicate user-input control commands to the on-board computer and transmit real-time data back to the external computer. The partially assembled second-generation system is shown. Before testing at Busek, a more detailed flow sensor calibration will be performed to accurately quantify the flow monitoring capabilities. This effort is funded under a Technology Innovation Program (TIP) award from NASA-MSFC's Technology Transfer office and performed under SAA8-061060.

Polzin, Kurt A.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Metal oxide-promoted calcium cuprate catalysts for diol oxidative dehydrocyclization to lactones

Here, this work investigates structure-function relationships in electronically tunable, redox-active, basic Cu-Ca mixed metal oxide catalysts for oxidative dehydrocyclization of liquid diols to lactones. Compositional screening identified Ni 2+ and Zn 2+ as effective promoters that increase the surface Cu 2+ population by ∼1.7× and Cu-normalized activity for liquid 1,4-butanediol conversion to γ-butyrolactone by ∼3–4×. In situ Raman spectroscopy, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), in situ diffuse-reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS), ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), and H 2 -temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) show that Ni 2+ or Zn 2+ incorporation promotes the formation of Ca 0.82 Cu 1.00 O 2 nanoparticles under mild calcination conditions. This cuprate phase features stronger and shorter Cu–O bonds (1.90 Å) than inactive bulk CuO (1.95 Å) and square-planar Cu 2+ O 4 sites with enhanced d z2 electrophilicity, strengthening alkoxy adsorption. Pyridine-DRIFTS confirms the purely basic nature of the catalyst surface, while methanol-DRIFTS indicates Cu 2+ surface enrichment with Ni or Zn promotion, where Cu–O(Ca)–Cu sites can exist as amorphous domains or a truncation layer on crystalline nanoparticles.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Magnetically tuned metal-insulator transition in LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 nanowire arrays

A wide family of two-dimensional (2D) systems, including stripe-phase superconductors, sliding Luttinger liquids, and anisotropic 2D materials, can be modeled by an array of coupled one-dimensional (1D) electron channels or nanowire arrays. Here we report experiments in arrays of conducting nanowires with gate and field tunable interwire coupling, that are programmed at the LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface. We find a magnetically tuned metal-to-insulator transition in which the transverse resistance of the nanowire array increases by up to four orders of magnitude, which can be further tuned with a gate voltage. To explain this behavior, we develop a minimal model of a coupled two-wire system where a Wenzel-Kramers-Brillouin-based approach is used to estimate the transverse tunneling conductance. We demonstrate the existence of distinct conductance features and highlight the crucial role played by the field dependence of the interwire potential barrier on transport properties. Since our model makes minimal assumptions, we expect our predictions to hold for a wide class of coupled 1D systems. The nanowire arrays can serve as model systems to understand the origin of exotic behavior in correlated materials via analog quantum simulation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗