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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Dynamics of the water-plasma interface in various discharge modes of atmospheric-pressure plasmas

This paper presents an experimental study of the dynamics of the water-plasma interface during the interaction high-voltage (HV) atmospheric pressure discharge with the water surface. Under the influence of the voltage applied to the pin type electrode, discharges are formed at the air layer between the sharp-tip HV electrode and deionized water. Three discharge regimes were identified from synchronized electrical waveforms and imaging: (i) a weak linear regime at 3–10.6 kV, (ii) a branching streamer regime at the maximum applied voltage of 12.6 kV, and (iii) a continuous arc-like regime occurring during the transition to lower voltage and higher current (e.g., U ≈ 3.2 kV, I ≈ 4.07 mA). High-speed shadowgraph images showed a symmetric interfacial cavity whose depth increased nonlinearly with voltage from h 0 ≈ 0.1 mm at 3 kV to h 0 ≈ 2.7 mm at 10.6 kV, reaching a maximum depth of h 0 ≈ 5.9 mm at 12.6 kV, while the cavity disappeared in the continuous-channel regime and was replaced by outward-propagating wave-like motion. The deformation of the water surface during the discharge-water interaction is governed by the balance between electric field forces, surface tension, gravitational forces, and electrohydrodynamic forces, whose relative contributions vary with the applied voltage. This effect was explained by quantitatively estimating the magnitudes of the acting forces and establishing the force balance. Optical emission spectroscopy in the continuous-channel regime indicated air plasma signatures and yielded a gas temperature of approximately 400 K, while prolonged operation (≈ 20 min) increased the water temperature to ~ 70 °C, reduced the water-layer thickness from 6 mm to 3 mm, and decreased pH from 7 to 4. These regime-resolved, quantitative results clarify how the dominant interfacial forcing shifts with discharge mode and provide a mechanistic basis for controlling plasma-water interactions in atmospheric-pressure applications.

atmospheric pressure plasma↗
NASA NTRS2004

Optical Metrology for the Segmented Optics on the Constellation-X Spectroscopy X-Ray Telescope

We present the metrology requirements and metrology implementation necessary to prove out the reflector technology for the Constellation X(C-X) spectroscopy X-ray telescope (SXT). This segmented, 1.6m diameter highly nested Wolter-1 telescope presents many metrology and alignment challenges. In particular, these mirrors have a stringent imaging error budget as compared to their intrinsic stiffness; This is required for Constellation-X to have sufficient effective area with the weight requirement. This has implications for the metrology that can be used. A variety of contract and noncontact optical profiling and interferometric methods are combined to test the formed glass substrates before replication and the replicated reflector segments.The reflectors are tested both stand-alone and in-situ in an alignment tower.Some of these methods have not been used on prior X-ray telescopes and some are feasible only because of the segmented approach used on the SXT. Methods discussed include high precision coordinate measurement machines using very low force or optical probe axial interferometric profiling azimuthal circularity profiling and use of advanced null optics such as conical computer generated hologram (CGHs).

Content, David↗
DOE OSTI2025

Seedless nonresonant gas-flow velocimetry with single-shot coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate neutral gas-flow velocimetry by exploiting the optical dipole forces exerted by precisely tailored high-intensity laser fields on polarizable particles, in the form of single-shot coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering (CRBS). This enables mapping of the velocity distribution function of the particles in a single laser shot of approximately 200 ns duration, allowing us to perform spectroscopic measurements in the time, rather than the frequency, domain. Importantly, CRBS results in a coherent signal beam, which renders the technique ideal for measurements in optically noisy environments. By correlating the time shift of the resulting spectrum to the Doppler shift caused by the bulk motion of particles, we perform neutral gas-flow velocimetry without the need to seed the flow, nondestructively, for a variety of gases, atomic or molecular. We demonstrate gas-flow velocimetry at flow velocities as low as 1 m ⁢s −1 , with similar velocity resolution, while temperature and gas density can also be estimated from the same single-shot spectra. To prove the effectiveness of the measurement technique, we benchmark it against Pitot tube measurements, which show excellent agreement.

Gerakis, Alexandros [Luxembourg Institute of Scien↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optical properties of hydrothermally synthesized Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene quantum dots and their application in biosensor

The remarkable properties of Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene quantum dots (MQDs) highlight their potential in diverse fields, including domains such as biocompatible nanoprobe, ion sensing, energy applications etc. Given their relevance in emerging technologies, a systematic study of their optical properties is crucial. MXene nanosheets were utilized in Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) based biosensors for the detection of organophosphate (OP) pesticides, this suggests there is significant potential for further development of electrochemical biosensor by incorporating MQDs in this field. The synthesis of MQDs has been achieved through various methods, either individually or in combination of methods, including hydrothermal, acoustic microfluidic, electrochemical, ball milling etc. Furthermore, we synthesized Ti 3 C 2 T X MQDs using hydrothermal method and characterized using atomic force microscopy, optical spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Chemical reactivity under collective vibrational strong coupling

Recent experiments of chemical reactions in optical cavities have shown great promise to alter and steer chemical reactions, but still remain poorly understood theoretically. In particular, the origin of resonant effects between the cavity and certain vibrational modes in the collective limit is still subject to active research. In this paper, we study the unimolecular dissociation reactions of many molecules, collectively interacting with an infrared cavity mode, through their vibrational dipole moment. We find that the reaction rate can slow down by increasing the number of aligned molecules, if the cavity mode is resonant with a vibrational mode of the molecules. We also discover a simple scaling relation that scales with the collective Rabi splitting, to estimate the onset of reaction rate modification by collective vibrational strong coupling and numerically demonstrate these effects for up to 10 4 molecules.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ponderomotive effects of ultralight dark matter

I exhibit a new class of quadratic effects of ultralight dark matter. Axions, dark photons, and dilatons can exert rapidly oscillating forces, torques, and mass shifts on Standard Model particles. These effects average to zero at first order, but shift particle properties at second order, in analogy to the ponderomotive force in optics. Remarkably, these effects scale with the square of the amplitude of the dark matter field, even when the field’s direct physical effects depend only on its derivatives. I calculate the resulting observables in electron ge – 2 experiments using classical mechanics, recovering results previously derived using field theory. When considered properly, these particular experiments do not beat astrophysical bounds, but other precision experiments may have interesting sensitivity.

Zhou, Kevin↗
DOE OSTI2022

In situ infrared nanospectroscopy of the local processes at the Li/polymer electrolyte interface

Solid-state batteries possess the potential to significantly impact energy storage industries by enabling diverse benefits, such as increased safety and energy density. However, challenges persist with physicochemical properties and processes at electrode/electrolyte interfaces. Thus, there is great need to characterize such interfaces in situ, and unveil scientific understanding that catalyzes engineering solutions. To address this, we conduct multiscale in situ microscopies (optical, atomic force, and infrared near-field) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies (near-field nanospectroscopy and attenuated total reflection) of intact and electrochemically operational graphene/solid polymer electrolyte interfaces. We find nanoscale structural and chemical heterogeneities intrinsic to the solid polymer electrolyte initiate a cascade of additional interfacial nanoscale heterogeneities during Li plating and stripping; including Li-ion conductivity, electrolyte decomposition, and interphase formation. Moreover, our methodology to nondestructively characterize buried interfaces and interphases in their native environment with nanoscale resolution is readily adaptable to a number of other electrochemical systems and battery chemistries.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the origin of ground-state vacuum-field catalysis: Equilibrium consideration

Recent experiments suggest that vibrational strong coupling (VSC) may significantly modify ground-state chemical reactions and their rates even without external pumping. The intrinsic mechanism of this “vacuum-field catalysis” remains largely unclear. Generally, modifications of thermal reactions in the ground electronic states can be caused by equilibrium or non-equilibrium effects. The former are associated with modifications of the reactant equilibrium distribution as expressed by the transition state theory of chemical reaction rates, while the latter stem from the dynamics of reaching and leaving transition state configurations. In this work, we examine how VSC can affect chemical reactions rates in a cavity environment according to transition state theory. Our approach is to examine the effect of coupling to cavity mode(s) on the potential of mean force (PMF) associated with the reaction coordinate. Within the context of classical nuclei and classical photons and also assuming no charge overlap between molecules, we find that while the PMF can be affected by the cavity environment, this effect is negligible for the usual micron-length cavities used to examine VSC situations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Promise of Graph Sparsification and Decomposition for Noise Reduction in QAOA: Analysis for Trapped-Ion Compilations

We develop new approximate compilation schemes that significantly reduce the expense of compiling the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) for solving the Max-Cut problem. Our main focus is on compilation with trapped-ion simulators using Pauli-X operations and all-to-all Ising Hamiltonian HIsing evolution generated by Molmer-Sorensen or optical dipole force interactions, though some of our results also apply to standard gate-based compilations. Our results are based on principles of graph sparsification and decomposition; the former reduces the number of edges in a graph while maintaining its cut structure, while the latter breaks a weighted graph into a small number of unweighted graphs. Though these techniques have been used as heuristics in various hybrid quantum algorithms, there have been no guarantees on their performance, to the best of our knowledge. This work provides the first provable guarantees using sparsification and decomposition to improve quantum noise resilience and reduce quantum circuit complexity. For quantum hardware that uses edge-by-edge QAOA compilations, sparsification leads to a direct reduction in circuit complexity. For trapped-ion quantum simulators implementing all-to-all HIsing pulses, we show that for a (1−ϵ) factor loss in the Max-Cut approximation (ϵ>0), our compilations improve the (worst-case) number of HIsing pulses from O(n2) to O(nlog(n/ϵ)) and the (worst-case) number of Pauli-X bit flips from O(n2) to O(nlog(n/ϵ)ϵ2) for n-node graphs. This is an asymptotic improvement for any constant ϵ>0. We demonstrate that significant improvements to the approximation ratio are obtained using decomposition in simulated trapped-ion experiments with dephasing noise. We further present a generic argument showing that sparsification results in an exponentially improved circuit fidelity lower bound in digital computing schemes based on one- and two-qubit gates, which are relevant to a wide variety of hardwares such as superconducting qubits and certain neutral atom or trapped ion setups, and more sophisticated noise models. We anticipate these approximate compilation techniques will be useful tools in a variety of future quantum computing experiments.

Moondra, Jai [Georgia Institute of Technology]↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Effect of Adsorbed Volatile Organic Compounds on an Ultrathin Water Film Measurement

Using surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi), we have recently shown for the first time the existence of a monolayer water film between droplets during dropwise condensation. This study examines the effect of adsorbed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the ultrathin film measurement using SPRi. Further, the work presents the proper surface-treatment process that enables measurements of the ultrathin water layer during high-speed imaging of dropwise condensation at 3000 frame per second. In this study, two methods were applied for cleaning the surface (gold-coated glass)—(1) standard cleaning procedure (SCP) using acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and deionized water and (2) SCP followed by air plasma cleaning. This work discusses the effect of the cleaning procedures on surface roughness, contact angle, and surface chemistry using atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy, and an X-ray photoelectron spectroscope meter. The results showed that SCP before the SPRi is a proper surface-treatment method. The effect of adsorbed VOCs during dropwise condensation on a surface treated with SCP was measured to be 0.0025 (reflectivity unit), which was 70% smaller than the reflectance associated with a monolayer water film. The results of this work confirm a monolayer water film observation during the dropwise condensation, which has been reported before.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1990

STS-41 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-41 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem activities on this thirty-sixth flight of the Space Shuttle and the eleventh flight of the Orbiter vehicle, Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the Discovery vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an External Tank (ET) (designated as ET-39/LWT-32), three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2011, 2031, and 2107), and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's), designated as BI-040. The primary objective of the STS-41 mission was to successfully deploy the Ulysses/inertial upper stage (IUS)/payload assist module (PAM-S) spacecraft. The secondary objectives were to perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) Spectrometer, Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Space Life Sciences Training Program Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX), Voice Command System (VCS), Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE), Radiation Monitoring Experiment - 3 (RME-3), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Air Force Maui Optical Calibration Test (AMOS), and Intelsat Solar Array Coupon (ISAC) payloads. The sequence of events for this mission is shown in tabular form. Summarized are the significant problems that occurred in the Orbiter subsystems during the mission. The official problem tracking list is presented. In addition, each Orbiter problem is cited in the subsystem discussion.

Camp, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

STS-31 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-31 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem activities on this thirty-fifth flight of the Space Shuttle and the tenth flight of the Orbiter Vehicle Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the Discovery vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an External Tank (ET) (designated as ET-34/LWT-27), three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2011, 2031, and 2107), and two Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) (designated as BI-037). The primary objective of the mission was to place the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into a 330 nmi. circular orbit having an inclination of 28.45 degrees. The secondary objectives were to perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), IMAX Crew Compartment Camera, and Ion Arc payloads. In addition, 12 development test objectives (DTO's) and 10 detailed supplementary objectives (DSO's) were assigned to the flight. The sequence of events for this mission is shown. The significant problems that occurred in the Space Shuttle Orbiter subsystems during the mission are summarized, and the official problem tracking list is presented. In addition, each of the Space Shuttle Orbiter problems is cited in the subsystem discussion.

Camp, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

STS-37 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-37 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem activities during this thirty-ninth flight of the Space Shuttle and the eighth flight of the Orbiter Vehicle Atlantis (OV-104). In addition to the Atlantis vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of the following: an External Tank (ET) (designated as ET-37/LWT-30); three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2019, 2031, and 2107 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively); and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) designated as BI-042. The primary objective of this flight was to successfully deploy the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) payload. The secondary objectives were to successfully perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) Block 2 version, Radiation Monitoring Experiment-3 (RME-3), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-2 (SAREX-2), Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA), and the Crew and Equipment Transfer Aids (CETA) payloads.

Fricke, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

STS-44 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-44 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report is a summary of the vehicle subsystem operations during the forty-fourth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and the tenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Atlantis (OV-104). In addition to the Atlantis vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of the following: an External Tank (ET) designated as ET-53 (LWT-46); three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2015, 2030, and 2029 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively); and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) designated as BI-047. The lightweight redesigned Solid Rocket Motors (RSRM's) installed in each one of the SRB's were designated as 360L019A for the left SRB and 360W019B for the right SRB. The primary objective of the STS-44 mission was to successfully deploy the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite/inertial upper stage (IUS) into a 195 nmi. earth orbit at an inclination of 28.45 deg. Secondary objectives of this flight were to perform all operations necessary to support the requirements of the following: Terra Scout, Military Man in Space (M88-1), Air Force Maui Optical System Calibration Test (AMOS), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM), Radiation Monitoring Equipment-3 (RME-3), Visual Function Tester-1 (VFT-1), and the Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM) secondary payloads/experiments.

Fricke, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spectrographic observation at wavelengths near 630 nm of the interaction between the atmosphere and the Space Shuttle exhaust

The interaction between the Space Shuttle exhaust and the ambient atmosphere was studied using spectra in the wavelength region near 630 nm, obtained from the Air Force Maui Optical Station were the temporal, spatial, and spectral distribution of the emission in this region was recorded. The results show that, when the Space Shuttle exhaust gases interact with the atmosphere in the ram direction, an intense long-lasting emission is generated at 630 nm due to O(1D - 3P). A substantial amount of O(1D) is swept back onto the orbiter. Two processes responsible for the formation of O(1D) are proposed.

Broadfoot, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-65 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-65 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the sixty-third flight of the Space Shuttle Program and the seventeenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Columbia (OV-102). In addition to the Orbits the flight vehicle consisted of an ET that was designated ET-64; three SSME's that were designated as serial numbers 2019, 2030, and 2017 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's that were designated Bl-066. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360P039A for the left SRB, and 360W039 for the right SRB. The primary objective of this flight was to complete the operation of the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2). The secondary objectives of this flight were to complete the operations of the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), and the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II payloads. Additional secondary objectives were to meet the requirements of the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) and the Military Application Ship Tracks (MAST) payloads, which were manifested as payloads of opportunity.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-62 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSHE) systems performance during the sixty-first flight of the Space Shuttle Program and sixteenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Columbia (OV-102). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-62; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2031, 2109, and 2029 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-064. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L036A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 36OWO36B (welterweight) for the right SRB. This STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objectives of the STS-62 mission were to perform the operations of the United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) payload. The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE), the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A), the Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE), the Advanced Protein Crystal Growth (APCG), the Physiological Systems Experiments (PSE), the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), the Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), the Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), and the Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B).

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1995

STS-63 Space Shuttle report

The STS-63 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities and provides detailed data on the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) systems performance during this sixty-seventh flight of the Space Shuttle Program, the forty-second since the return to flight, and twentieth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the OV-103 Orbiter vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET that was designated ET-68; three SSME's that were designated 2035, 2109, and 2029 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's that were designated BI-070. The RSRM's that were an integral part of the SRB's were designated 360Q042A for the left SRB and 360L042B for the right SRB. The STS-63 mission was planned as an 8-day duration mission with two contingency days available for weather avoidance or Orbiter contingency operations. The primary objectives of the STS-63 mission were to perform the Mir rendezvous operations, accomplish the Spacehab-3 experiments, and deploy and retrieve the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-204 (SPARTAN-204) payload. The secondary objectives were to perform the Cryogenic Systems Experiment (CSE)/Shuttle Glo-2 Experiment (GLO-2) Payload (CGP)/Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS-2) (CGP/ODERACS-2) payload objectives, the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), and the Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Tests (AMOS). The objectives of the Mir rendezvous/flyby were to verify flight techniques, communication and navigation-aid sensor interfaces, and engineering analyses associated with Shuttle/Mir proximity operations in preparation for the STS-71 docking mission.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗