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At least 505 records · Page 28

Axial Plane Optical Microscopy

We present axial plane optical microscopy (APOM) that can, in contrast to conventional microscopy, directly image a sample’s cross-section parallel to the optical axis of an objective lens without scanning. APOM combined with conventional microscopy simultaneously provides two orthogonal images of a 3D sample. More importantly, APOM uses only a single lens near the sample to achieve selective-plane illumination microscopy, as we demonstrated by three-dimensional (3D) imaging of fluorescent pollens and brain slices. This technique allows fast, high-contrast, and convenient 3D imaging of structures that are hundreds of microns beneath the surfaces of large biological tissues.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Large-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies on Deformation of Ni Nanowires: Surface Profile, Defects and Stacking Fault Width Analysis

We report large-scale molecular dynamics simulation deformation studies of Ni nanowire (NW) of size 100 Å (x) × 1000 Å (y) × 100 Å (z) comprising of 925,965 atoms. Surface and internal defects are introduced to study their effect on the surface profile, strength, fracture behavior and deformation mechanisms. Tensile tests have been carried out at a temperature of 10 K and at a strain rate of 10{sup 8} s{sup −1}. Periodic boundary condition is applied along the loading direction (y). Peak strength of 23 GPa is observed in the perfect NW, and the strength decreases with defects. The surface profiles of the deformed NWs show intrusion and extrusion regions corresponding to slip steps with wider valleys in the defect NWs. Several intrinsic and extrinsic parallel stacking faults (SFs) are generated after yielding by slip occurring on {111} planes. The calculated SF widths are in the range of 0.85-2.57 nm in the perfect NW. The dislocations are mainly Shockley partial dislocations of type 1/6 〈112〉, and Schmid’s factor (m) obtained is 0.471. Twinning dislocation of types 1/9 〈221〉 and 1/18 〈172〉 is also observed in the SFs. The density of Shockley partial dislocations is observed to be the maximum in all the NWs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Time- and power-dependent operation of a parametric spin-wave amplifier

We present the experimental observation of the localized amplification of externally excited, propagating spin waves in a transversely in-plane magnetized Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19} magnonic waveguide by means of parallel pumping. By employing microfocussed Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy, we analyze the dependency of the amplification on the applied pumping power and on the delay between the input spin-wave packet and the pumping pulse. We show that there are two different operation regimes: At large pumping powers, the spin-wave packet needs to enter the amplifier before the pumping is switched on in order to be amplified while at low powers the spin-wave packet can arrive at any time during the pumping pulse.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Antarctic surface reflectivity calculations and measurements from the ANITA-4 and HiCal-2 experiments

We report that the balloon-borne HiCal radio-frequency (RF) transmitter, in concert with the ANITA radio-frequency receiver array, is designed to measure the Antarctic surface reflectivity in the RF wavelength regime. The amplitude of surface-reflected transmissions from HiCal, registered as triggered events by ANITA, can be compared with the direct transmissions preceding them by O(10) microseconds, to infer the surface power reflection coefficient R. The first HiCal mission (HiCal-1, Jan. 2015) yielded a sample of 100 such pairs, resulting in estimates of R at highly glancing angles (i.e., zenith angles approaching 90°), with measured reflectivity for those events which exceeded extant calculations [P. W. Gorham et al., Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 1740002 (2017)]. The HiCal-2 experiment, flying from December 2016–January 2017, provided an improvement by nearly 2 orders of magnitude in our event statistics, allowing a considerably more precise mapping of the reflectivity over a wider range of incidence angles. We find general agreement between the HiCal-2 reflectivity results and those obtained with the earlier HiCal-1 mission, as well as estimates from Solar reflections in the radio-frequency regime [D. Z. Besson et al., Radio Sci. 50, 1 (2015)]. In parallel, our calculations of expected reflectivity have matured; herein, we use a plane-wave expansion to estimate the reflectivity R from both a flat, smooth surface (and, in so doing, recover the Fresnel reflectivity equations) and also a curved surface. Lastly, multiplying our flat-smooth reflectivity by improved Earth curvature and surface roughness corrections now provides significantly better agreement between theory and the HiCal-2 measurements.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Substructure of Intermetallic Thin-Film Cu{sub 3}Sn

The crystalline structure of intermetallic Cu{sub 3}Sn synthesized by successively condensing thin layers of copper and tin on a substrate at 150°C has been studied. Cu{sub 3}Sn compound exists in a very narrow homogeneity range and has a long-period close-packed ordered D0{sub 19} superstructure. It has been found that the crystal lattice exhibits many slip traces associated with dislocation motion. The dislocation motion is due to the stressed state of the crystal, which can be characterized as uniform extension. Electron micrographs show that slip traces in the Cu{sub 3}Sn crystal are parallel to the ( 1-bar 1-bar 21) and (11 2-bar 1) planes belonging to pyramidal slip system II, which is a main slip system along with pyramidal and basal ones. Slip traces result from the motion of partial dislocations, as indicated by the amount of slip, which is equal to half the interplanar distance. Since the crystal is ordered, slip is accomplished by a pair of superpartial dislocations and a slip trace may be a superstructural or complex stacking fault.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Lathe leveler

A lathe leveler for centering a cutting tool in relation to a cylindrical work piece includes a first leveling arm having a first contact point disposed adjacent a distal end of the first leveling arm, a second leveling arm having a second contact point disposed adjacent a distal end of the second leveling arm, a leveling gage, and a leveling plate having a cutting tool receiving surface positioned parallel to a horizontal axis of the leveling gage and on a same plane as a midpoint of the first contact point and the second contact point. The leveling arms and leveling plate are dimensioned and configured such that the cutting tool receiving surface is centered in relation to the work piece when the first and second contact points are in contact with one of the inner surface and outer surface of the cylindrical work piece and the leveling gage is centered.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Unusual layer-by-layer growth of epitaxial oxide islands during Cu oxidation

Elucidating metal oxide growth mechanisms is essential for precisely designing and fabricating nanostructured oxides with broad applications in energy and electronics. However, current epitaxial oxide growth methods are based on macroscopic empirical knowledge, lacking fundamental guidance at the nanoscale. Using correlated in situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, statistically-validated quantitative analysis, and density functional theory calculations, we show epitaxial Cu 2 O nano-island growth on Cu is layer-by-layer along Cu 2 O(110) planes, regardless of substrate orientation, contradicting classical models that predict multi-layer growth parallel to substrate surfaces. Growth kinetics show cubic relationships with time, indicating individual oxide monolayers follow Frank-van der Merwe growth whereas oxide islands follow Stranski-Krastanov growth. Cu sources for island growth transition from step edges to bulk substrates during oxidation, contrasting with classical corrosion theories which assume subsurface sources predominate. Our results resolve alternative epitaxial island growth mechanisms, improving the understanding of oxidation dynamics critical for advanced manufacturing at the nanoscale.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Late-time growth rate, mixing, and anisotropy in the multimode narrowband Richtmyer–Meshkov instability: The θ-group collaboration

Turbulent Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) is investigated through a series of high resolution three-dimensional simulations of two initial conditions with eight independent codes. The simulations are initialised with a narrowband perturbation such that instability growth is due to non-linear coupling/backscatter from the energetic modes, thus generating the lowest expected growth rate from a pure RMI. By independently assessing the results from each algorithm and computing ensemble averages of multiple algorithms, the results allow a quantification of key flow properties as well as the uncertainty due to differing numerical approaches. A new analytical model predicting the initial layer growth for a multimode narrowband perturbation is presented, along with two models for the linear and non-linear regimes combined. Overall, the growth rate exponent is determined as θ=0.292±0.009, in good agreement with prior studies; however, the exponent is decaying slowly in time. Also, θ is shown to be relatively insensitive to the choice of mixing layer width measurements. The asymptotic integral molecular mixing measures Θ=0.792±0.014, Ξ=0.800±0.014, and Ψ=0.782±0.013 are lower than some experimental measurements but within the range of prior numerical studies. The flow field is shown to be persistently anisotropic for all algorithms, at the latest time having between 49% and 66% higher kinetic energy in the shock parallel direction compared to perpendicular and does not show any return to isotropy. The plane averaged volume fraction profiles at different time instants collapse reasonably well when scaled by the integral width, implying that the layer can be described by a single length scale and thus a single θ. In conclusion, quantitative data given for both ensemble averages and individual algorithms provide useful benchmark results for future research.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Radiatively cooled magnetic reconnection experiments driven by pulsed power

We present evidence for strong radiative cooling in a pulsed-power-driven magnetic reconnection experiment. Two aluminum exploding wire arrays, driven by a 20 MA peak current, 300 ns rise time pulse from the Z machine (Sandia National Laboratories), generate strongly driven plasma flows (MA≈7) with anti-parallel magnetic fields, which form a reconnection layer (SL≈120) at the mid-plane. The net cooling rate far exceeds the Alfvénic transit rate (τcool−1/τA−1≫1), leading to strong cooling of the reconnection layer. We determine the advected magnetic field and flow velocity using inductive probes positioned in the inflow to the layer, and inflow ion density and temperature from analysis of visible emission spectroscopy. A sharp decrease in x-ray emission from the reconnection layer, measured using filtered diodes and time-gated x-ray imaging, provides evidence for strong cooling of the reconnection layer after its initial formation. X-ray images also show localized hotspots, regions of strong x-ray emission, with velocities comparable to the expected outflow velocity from the reconnection layer. These hotspots are consistent with plasmoids observed in 3D radiative resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the experiment. X-ray spectroscopy further indicates that the hotspots have a temperature (170 eV) much higher than the bulk layer (≤75 eV) and inflow temperatures (about 2 eV) and that these hotspots generate the majority of the high-energy (>1 keV) emission.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Excitation of a plasmon resonance in metal cylinders by an evanescent wave

The magnetic field distribution and electric-field amplification factor are found in the gap between periodically arranged parallel metal cylinders scattering an evanescent wave. Such a wave appears if an original plane wave is incident from the dielectric substrate onto the interface at an angle of total internal reflection. A substantial restructuring of the near-field distribution, which results from a small change in the angle of incidence, is revealed. Estimations of the angular dependence of the local field, explaining the shift and broadening of the plasmon resonance at a shorter wavelength, are presented. (nanostructures)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The skeleton of the Milky Way

Recently, Goodman et al. argued that the very long, very thin infrared dark cloud “Nessie” lies directly in the Galactic midplane and runs along the Scutum–Centaurus Arm in position–position–velocity (p–p–v) space as traced by lower-density CO and higher-density NH{sub 3} gas. Nessie was presented as the first “bone” of the Milky Way, an extraordinarily long, thin, high-contrast filament that can be used to map our Galaxy’s “skeleton.” Here we present evidence for additional bones in the Milky Way, arguing that Nessie is not a curiosity but one of several filaments that could potentially trace Galactic structure. Our 10 bone candidates are all long, filamentary, mid-infrared extinction features that lie parallel to, and no more than 20 pc from, the physical Galactic mid-plane. We use CO, N{sub 2}H{sup +}, HCO{sup +}, and NH{sub 3} radial velocity data to establish the three-dimensional location of the candidates in p–p–v space. Of the 10 candidates, 6 also have a projected aspect ratio of ≥50:1; run along, or extremely close to, the Scutum–Centaurus Arm in p–p–v space; and exhibit no abrupt shifts in velocity. The evidence presented here suggests that these candidates mark the locations of significant spiral features, with the bone called filament 5 (“BC-18.88-0.09”) being a close analog to Nessie in the northern sky. As molecular spectral-line and extinction maps cover more of the sky at increasing resolution and sensitivity, it should be possible to find more bones in future studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Electroweak oblique parameters as a probe of the trilinear Higgs boson self-interaction

We calculate the two-loop contributions from a modified trilinear Higgs self-interaction, κλλSMvh3, to the electroweak oblique parameters S and T. Using the current bounds on S and T from electroweak measurements, we find the 95% C.L. constraint on the modified trilinear coupling to be -14.0≤κλ≤17.4. The largest effects on S and T arise from two insertions of the modified trilinear coupling that result in T/S≃-3/2; remarkably, this is nearly parallel to the axis of the tightest experimental constraint in the S-T plane. No contributions to S and T arise from a modified Higgs quartic coupling at two-loop order. These calculations utilized a gauge-invariant parametrization of the trilinear Higgs coupling in terms of higher-dimensional operators (H†H)n with n≥3. Interestingly, the bounds on κλ that we obtain are comparable to constraints from di-Higgs production at the LHC as well as recent bounds from single Higgs production at the LHC.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Permanent-magnet energy spectrometer for electron beams from radiotherapy accelerators

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to adapt a lightweight, permanent magnet electron energy spectrometer for the measurement of energy spectra of therapeutic electron beams. Methods: An irradiation geometry and measurement technique were developed for an approximately 0.54-T, permanent dipole magnet spectrometer to produce suitable latent images on computed radiography (CR) phosphor strips. Dual-pinhole electron collimators created a 0.318-cm diameter, approximately parallel beam incident on the spectrometer and an appropriate dose rate at the image plane (CR strip location). X-ray background in the latent image, reduced by a 7.62-cm thick lead block between the pinhole collimators, was removed using a fitting technique. Theoretical energy-dependent detector response functions (DRFs) were used in an iterative technique to transform CR strip net mean dose profiles into energy spectra on central axis at the entrance to the spectrometer. These spectra were transformed to spectra at 95-cm source to collimator distance (SCD) by correcting for the energy dependence of electron scatter. The spectrometer was calibrated by comparing peak mean positions in the net mean dose profiles, initially to peak mean energies determined from the practical range of central-axis percent depth-dose (%DD) curves, and then to peak mean energies that accounted for how the collimation modified the energy spectra (recalibration). The utility of the spectrometer was demonstrated by measuring the energy spectra for the seven electron beams (7–20 MeV) of an Elekta Infinity radiotherapy accelerator. Results: Plots of DRF illustrated their dependence on energy and position in the imaging plane. Approximately 15 iterations solved for the energy spectra at the spectrometer entrance from the measured net mean dose profiles. Transforming those spectra into ones at 95-cm SCD increased the low energy tail of the spectra, while correspondingly decreasing the peaks and shifting them to slightly lower energies. Energy calibration plots of peak mean energy versus peak mean position of the net mean dose profiles for each of the seven electron beams followed the shape predicted by the Lorentz force law for a uniform z-component of the magnetic field, validating its being modeled as uniform (0.542 ± 0.027 T). Measured Elekta energy spectra and their peak mean energies correlated with the 0.5-cm (7–13 MeV) and the 1.0-cm (13–20 MeV) R{sub 90} spacings of the %DD curves. The full-width-half-maximum of the energy spectra decreased with decreasing peak mean energy with the exception of the 9-MeV beam, which was anomalously wide. Similarly, R{sub 80–20} decreased linearly with peak mean energy with the exception of the 9 MeV beam. Both were attributed to suboptimal tuning of the high power phase shifter for the recycled radiofrequency power reentering the traveling wave accelerator. Conclusions: The apparatus and analysis techniques of the authors demonstrated that an inexpensive, lightweight, permanent magnet electron energy spectrometer can be used for measuring the electron energy distributions of therapeutic electron beams (6–20 MeV). The primary goal of future work is to develop a real-time spectrometer by incorporating a real-time imager, which has potential applications such as beam matching, ongoing beam tune maintenance, and measuring spectra for input into Monte Carlo beam calculations.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Generation of Turbulence in Colliding Reconnection Jets

The collision of magnetic reconnection jets is reported on by means of a three-dimensional numerical simulation at the kinetic scale, in the presence of a strong guide field. We demonstrate that turbulence develops due to the collision of jets, producing several current sheets in reconnection outflows, aligned with the guide field direction. The turbulence is mainly two-dimensional, with stronger gradients in the plane perpendicular to the guide field and low wave-like activity in the parallel direction. First, we provide a numerical method to isolate the central turbulent region. Second, we analyze the spatial second-order structure function and prove that turbulence is confined in this region. Lastly, we compute local magnetic and electric frequency spectra, finding a trend in the subion range that differs from typical cases for which the Taylor hypothesis is valid, as well as wave activity in the range between ion and electron cyclotron frequencies. Our findings are relevant to understand observed collisions of reconnection jets in space plasmas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Parallel Tracks as Quasi-steady States for the Magnetic Boundary Layers in Neutron-star Low-mass X-Ray Binaries

The neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are usually thought to be weakly magnetized objects accreting matter from their low-mass companions in the form of a disk. Albeit weak compared to those in young neutron-star systems, the neutron-star magnetospheres in LMXBs can play an important role in determining the correlations between spectral and temporal properties. Parallel tracks appearing in the kilohertz (kHz) quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequency versus X-ray flux plane can be used as a tool to study the magnetosphere–disk interaction in neutron-star LMXBs. For dynamically important weak fields, the formation of a non-Keplerian magnetic boundary layer at the innermost disk truncated near the surface of the neutron star is highly likely. Such a boundary region may harbor oscillatory modes of frequencies in the kHz range. We generate parallel tracks using the boundary region model of kHz QPOs. We also present the direct application of our model to the reproduction of the observed parallel tracks of individual sources such as 4U 1608–52, 4U 1636–53, and Aql X-1. We reveal how the radial width of the boundary layer must vary in the long-term flux evolution of each source to regenerate the parallel tracks. The run of the radial width looks similar for different sources and can be fitted by a generic model function describing the average steady behavior of the boundary region over the long term. The parallel tracks then correspond to the possible quasi-steady states the source can occupy around the average trend.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Dependence of Solar Wind Proton Temperature on the Polarization Properties of Alfvénic Fluctuations at Ion-kinetic Scales

In this work, we use fluctuating magnetic helicity to investigate the polarization properties of Alfvénic fluctuations at ion-kinetic scales in the solar wind as a function of β p , the ratio of proton thermal pressure to magnetic pressure, and θ vB , the angle between the proton flow and local mean magnetic field, B 0 . Using almost 15 yr of Wind observations, we separate the contributions to helicity from fluctuations with wavevectors, k, quasi-parallel and oblique to B 0 , finding that the helicity of Alfvénic fluctuations is consistent with predictions from linear Vlasov theory. This result suggests that the nonlinear turbulent fluctuations at these scales share at least some polarization properties with Alfvén waves. Furthermore, we also investigate the dependence of proton temperature in the β p –θ vB plane to probe for possible signatures of turbulent dissipation, finding that it correlates with θ vB . The proton temperature parallel to B 0 is higher in the parameter space where we measure the helicity of right-handed Alfvénic fluctuations, and the temperature perpendicular to B 0 is higher where we measure left-handed fluctuations. This finding is inconsistent with the general assumption that by sampling different θ vB in the solar wind we can analyze the dependence of the turbulence distribution on θ kB , the angle between k and B 0 . After ruling out both instrumental and expansion effects, we conclude that our results provide new evidence for the importance of local kinetic processes that depend on θ vB in determining proton temperature in the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Tensile behavior and flow stress anisotropy of accumulative roll bonded Cu-Nb nanolaminates

The flow stress, ductility, and in-plane anisotropy are evaluated for bulk accumulative roll bonded copper-niobium nanolaminates with layer thicknesses ranging from 1.8 μm to 15 nm. Uniaxial tensile tests conducted parallel to the rolling direction and transverse direction demonstrate that ductility generally decreases with decreasing layer thickness; however, at 30 nm, both high strengths (1200 MPa) and significant ductility (8%) are achieved. The yield strength increases monotonically with decreasing layer thickness, consistent with the Hall-Petch relationship, and significant in-plane flow stress anisotropy is observed. Taylor polycrystal modeling is used to demonstrate that crystallographic texture is responsible for the in-plane anisotropy and that the effects of texture dominate even at nanoscale layer thicknesses.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Magnetic structure and domain conversion of the quasi-2D frustrated antiferromagnet CuCrO{sub 2} probed by NMR

We have carried out {sup 63,65}Cu NMR spectra measurements in a magnetic field up to about 15.5 T on a single crystal of the multiferroic triangular-lattice antiferromagnet CuCrO{sub 2}. The measurements were performed for perpendicular and parallel orientations of the magnetic field with respect to the c axis of the crystal, and the detailed angle dependence of the spectra on the magnetic field direction in the ab plane was studied. The shape of the spectra can be well described in the model of spiral spin structure proposed by recent neutron diffraction experiments. When the field is rotated perpendicular to the crystal c axis, we observed, directly for the first time, a remarkable reorientation of the spin plane simultaneous with rotation of the incommensurate wavevector, by quantitatively deducing the conversion of the energetically less favorable domain to a more favorable one. At high enough fields parallel to the c axis, the data are consistent with either a field-induced commensurate spiral magnetic structure or an incommensurate spiral magnetic structure with a disorder in the c direction, suggesting that high fields may have influence on interplanar ordering.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗