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DOE OSTI2024

Ultrasonic microphone and ultrasonic acoustic radio

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to an ultrasonic microphone and an ultrasonic acoustic radio. In one aspect a system includes a transmitter and a receiver. The receiver comprises a membrane. The membrane comprises a single layer or multiple layers of a two-dimensional material. The receiver is operable to receive sound waves in a frequency range, with the frequency range being the ultrasonic frequency range.

Zhou, Qin↗

DOE OSTI2021

Commissioning the H i Observing Mode of the Beam Former for the Cryogenically Cooled Focal L-band Array for the GBT (FLAG)

We present the results of commissioning observations for a new digital beam-forming back end for the Focal plane L-band Array for the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (FLAG), a cryogenically cooled Phased Array Feed (PAF) with the lowest measured T {sub sys}/η of any PAF outfitted on a radio telescope to date. We describe the custom software used to apply beam-forming weights to the raw element covariances to create research-quality spectral-line images for the new fine-channel mode, study the stability of the beam weights over time, characterize FLAG’s sensitivity over a frequency range of 150 MHz, and compare the measured noise properties and observed distribution of neutral hydrogen emission from several extragalactic and Galactic sources with data obtained with the current single-pixel L-band receiver. These commissioning runs establish FLAG as the preeminent PAF receiver currently available for spectral-line observations on the world’s major radio telescopes.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2022

Radiation-Hardened GaN-Based Wireless Communications Architectures for Terrestrial Nuclear Reactor Sensing and Instrumentation

Wireless technologies have become increasingly common in applications, ranging from close proximity inductive communication links in medical devices to short-range Bluetooth and WiFi communications and longer-range cellular communications. Nonetheless, these technologies are unsuitable for use in or around nuclear reactors due to the extreme radiation and temperatures inherent in these environments and their associated significant degradative effects on electronics hardware. However, recent work in wide bandgap– based electronics has shown promise for gallium nitride (GaN) as an emerging technology for the realization of practical wireless communications systems for use in harsh environments. This report presents initial progress on the development of wireless communications architectures designed specifically for nuclear reactor application, based on inherently radiation-hardened (rad-hard) GaN technology. Prior work on rad-hard analog communications topologies is reviewed, and several digital modulation and encoding schemes that utilize GaN-based electronics devices are newly proposed for application in reactor environments. Continuous-time and discrete-time system simulations were performed, and results are presented for the preliminary transmitter and receiver designs, respectively. In addition, an overview of a software-defined radio testbed, designed for communications protocol development, is provided. Future work will focus on implementing candidate radiation-resistant wireless architectures using a research AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) integrated circuit process, which is available at the Ohio State University, and irradiation studies will be carried out to assess the true potential of this technology for reactor application.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Electronic demodulation of optically phase demodulated signals

Device, methods and systems for the electronic demodulation of optically phase demodulated signals are described. An example optical local oscillator generator configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) tone at a desired RF frequency includes a first input configured to receive a broadband optical pulse train, a second input coupled to a delay line interferometer to receive a first control voltage for controlling a delay value of the interferometer and to produce an output optical pulse train, a dispersive element, coupled to the delay line interferometer, to map the output optical pulse train to a time-domain modulated optical pulse train, an optical-to-electrical converter, coupled to the dispersive element, to convert the time-domain modulated optical pulse train to an analog electrical signal, and an RF filter, coupled to the optical-to-electrical converter, to filter the analog electrical signal to generate the RF tone at the desired RF frequency.

Perlmutter, David Simon↗

DOE OSTI2024

Production of Medically Desirable Radioisotopes in the EIRENE Molten Salt Reactor

Radioisotopes play a vital role in nuclear medicine, enabling the performance of diagnostic procedures such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), in addition to innovative targeted therapies for selectively delivering cytotoxic radiation doses to tumor cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue [1]. Beta emitting radionuclides such as 90Y and 131I find wide use in radio-immunotherapy, with the radiopharmaceuticals 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin®) and 131I-tositumomab (Bexxar®) having received FDA approval for treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma through targeting the CD20 surface receptor, which is commonly expressed in many B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma subtypes [2, 3]. 90Y has also been successfully applied for treatment of brain tumors [4, 5] and liver cancer [6]. The favorable chelation chemistry of 90Y enables its use with a variety of ligands for the development of radiopharmaceuticals suitable for targeting different carcinoma types [1].

42 - ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

A High Gain Lens-Coupled On-Chip Antenna Module for Miniature-Sized Millimeter-Wave Wireless Transceivers

This paper presents high gain and compact Transmit/Receive (TX/RX) integrated antennas in a standard BiCMOS 130nm technology for millimeter-scale millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications, including high data rate radios and high resolution radars. The proposed TX/RX antenna module utilizes an integrated dipole antenna for the receiver and a slot antenna for the transmitter, placed orthogonally. The achieved gain and radiation efficiency are 5.7dBi and 41.3% for the slot antenna, respectively, and 6dBi and 39% for the dipole antenna. The link budget is improved by 16dB by optimization on the geometry aswell as application of a high resistivity hemispheric silicon dielectric lens.

Engineering↗

DOE OSTI2022

E-Beam Irradiation Beamline at Jefferson Lab for Wastewater Treatment

Electron beam (e-beam) irradiation is an advanced method for removing the emerging organic contaminants in wastewater, such as 1,4-dioxane, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl sub?stances (PFAS), which have the potential to be regulated in the near future but are difficult to degrade by conventional treatment methods. This dissertation was based on a collabo?rating study between Jefferson Lab (Jlab) and Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) to evaluate the impacts of e-beam irradiation on the degradation of 1,4-dioxane and PFAS. It presents the detailed design of an e-beam irradiation beamline, the beamline simulation using general particle tracer (GPT), the installation, and the successful commissioning. The beamline is an extended section to the Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at Jlab, which is a continuous wave (CW), superconducting radio frequency (SRF) linear accelerator with an energy up to 10 MeV. To let the sample volume receive a significant and uniform dose distribution, the sample target was designed by investigating the dose distribution simulated with a Monte-Carlo code, FLUKA. The optimized beam energy was 8 MeV and the beam current for irradiation was ? 100 nA. With the use of a solenoid and a raster, the electron beam was expanded to the optimized size, 1? ? 15 mm, at the sample target. This dis?sertation also presents the irradiation experiments for 64 1,4-dioxane samples and 48 PFAS samples in different water matrices, including real wastewater, which were prepared and an?alyzed by HRSD. The absorbed doses of samples were obtained by designing a new method that combines the FLUKA simulation and dose mapping experiments. The irradiation re?sults showed that around 95% of 1,4-dioxane was removed at a low dose of ? 2 kGy, and PFAS was possibly removed at a lower dose compared to similar research. This work is a first implementation of SRF technology for wastewater irradiation. It pro?vides a valuable new research platform for wastewater remediation. This will be in support of future industrial applications of advanced SRF technologies and better understanding of the effect of e-beam irradiation on wastewater or water treatment.

Li, Xi↗

DOE OSTI2021

Radio frequency passband signal generation using photonics

Devices, methods and systems for generating wideband, high-fidelity arbitrary radio frequency (RF) passband signals are described. A voltage tunable optical filter for arbitrary RF passband signal generation includes a first input configured to receive a broadband optical pulse train, a second input configured to receive a first control voltage representative of an amplitude signal, an electrooptic modulator to receive the broadband optical pulse train and the first control voltage, to modulate the broadband optical pulse train in accordance with the amplitude signal, and to produce two complementary optical outputs that form two arms of an interferometer, an optical delay component to impart an optical path difference into one of the complementary outputs of the electrooptic modulator, and a combiner or a splitter to receive two complementary optical outputs of the electrooptic modulator after impartation of the optical path difference and to produce an output interference pattern of fringes.

Gowda, Apurva Shantharaj↗

DOE OSTI2023

Radio frequency passband signal generation using photonics

Gowda, Apurva Shantharaj↗

DOE OSTI2022

Methods and systems for microwave assisted production of graphitic materials

Systems and methods for plasma based synthesis of graphitic materials. The system includes a plasma forming zone configured to generate a plasma from radio-frequency radiation, an interface element configured to transmit the plasma from the plasma forming zone to a reaction zone, and the reaction zone configured to receive the plasma. The reaction zone is further configured to receive feedstock material comprising a carbon containing species, and convert the feedstock material to a product comprising the graphitic materials in presence of the plasma.

Zeller, Kurt W.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Online Monitoring of Medium Voltage Cable Systems with Spread Spectrum Time Domain and Frequency Domain Reflectometry

In-service failures of wave energy convertor (WEC) cable systems can have a significant cost and power availability impact. Close parallel research 2019 data showed > 1B£ and 9 Terra-Watt-Hours associated with global off-shore wind (OSW) cable failures (Strang-Moran 2020). OSW is a closely related technology but currently is significantly cheaper than WEC technology. For wave energy to compete, the problem of reliable cable transmission must be mitigated. This project develops isolation technology to allow online high frequency reflectometry testing of medium voltage cables (1 to 10 kV and higher) without arcing or damage to the test instrument. Online spread spectrum time domain reflectometry (SSTDR) testing has been established for low voltage cable systems in the aircraft and rail industry and the ability to detect and locate cable flaws of interest is well understood. Extending reflectometry testing to medium voltage systems could enable detection of cable damage before failures occur thereby allowing repair and replacement of damaged cable segments to be scheduled and managed. The seedling project succeeded to pass and receive high frequency SSTDR signals onto a cable up to 1 kV using a parallel trace isolation circuit board that can be connected onto the test cable. The approach used a novel circuit design for which an invention disclosure has been filed. A proposed sapling project would extend the technology toward the higher operating voltages used by WEC systems, thereby enabling online SSTDR cable monitoring. The goal of the seedling project was to extend the capability of the ARENA cable/motor test bed to address medium voltages and to develop a high pass filter isolation architecture to protect the reflectometry instrument from the low frequency (DC – 60 Hz) line voltage while allowing the high frequency diagnostic signal to pass to and from the test instrument to the live line. Initial efforts focused on passive LCR filter circuits to reduce 60 Hz levels below 10 volts from a 10 kV line while allowing the MHz high frequency chirps to pass onto the cables and for mV signals to be detected. We discovered that the parasitic loss behavior of real high voltage components precluded this approach from working. An alternate approach was adapted for the electric field to couple between two parallel traces on a printed circuit board much like a radio-frequency coupler. The challenge here was and is to have the parallel traces close enough to each other to effectively pass the high frequency chirp onto the live line and receive any reflected signal from any encountered impedance change along the cable. This reflected signal will be in the mV range. The traces however must be far enough apart to not allow arcing on the board. A design with 3 mm spacing was determined to allow the high frequency signal to pass onto the live line and receive the mV signal back into the instrument while reducing the 60 Hz voltage amplitude by >80 dB (more than a factor of 10,000) without allowing arcing from across the parallel traces. This was confirmed by simulation and test.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2023

AugerPrime surface detector electronics

Operating since 2004, the Pierre Auger Observatory has led to major advances in our understanding of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. The latest findings have revealed new insights that led to the upgrade of the Observatory, with the primary goal of obtaining information on the primary mass of the most energetic cosmic rays on a shower-by-shower basis. In the framework of the upgrade, called AugerPrime, the 1660 water-Cherenkov detectors of the surface array are equipped with plastic scintillators and radio antennas, allowing us to enhance the composition sensitivity. To accommodate new detectors and to increase experimental capabilities, the electronics is also upgraded. This includes better timing with up-to-date GPS receivers, higher sampling frequency, increased dynamic range, and more powerful local processing of the data. In this paper, the design characteristics of the new electronics and the enhanced dynamic range will be described. The manufacturing and test processes will be outlined and the test results will be discussed. The calibration of the SD detector and various performance parameters obtained from the analysis of the first commissioning data will also be presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2026

SPT-3G D1: A Measurement of Secondary Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Power

We report new measurements of millimeter-wave temperature power spectra in the angular multipole range $1700 \le \ell \le 11,000$ (wavelengths $13^\prime \gtrsim λ\gtrsim 2^\prime$). We use two years of data in three observing bands centered near 95, 150, and 220 GHz from the SPT-3G receiver on the South Pole Telescope that cover a 1646 deg$^2$ region of the Southern sky. Using the measured power spectra, we present constraints on the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects, radio galaxies, and cosmic infrared background (CIB). We find that inferred SZ powers are dependent on the detailed modeling of the thermal SZ-CIB correlation, and to a lesser extent on the assumed angular dependence of the SZ spectra. We report constraints for simulation-based model templates as well as fits where the angular dependencies of the SZ and CIB power spectra are allowed to vary. In the latter case at $\ell=3000$, we find thermal SZ power at 143 GHz of $D_{3000}^{\rm tSZ} = 4.91\pm0.37\, μ{\rm K}^2$ and kinematic SZ power of $D_{3000}^{\rm kSZ} =1.75\pm0.86\, μ{\rm K}^2$. We use the measured kinematic SZ power to estimate the duration of reionization, noting that the reionization inferences are sensitive to the model choices and assumed level of homogeneous kinematic SZ power from the late-time universe. We find a 95% limit on the duration from an ionization fraction of 25% to 75% of $Δ^{50} z_{\rm re} <\,3.8$ based on a semi-analytic model, or a limit on the duration from an ionization fraction of 5% to 95% of $Δ^{90} z_{\rm re} <\,6.1$ based on the AMBER simulations.

Chaubal, P. [Melbourne U.]↗

DOE OSTI2023

Neutron stars as photon double-lenses: Constraining resonant conversion into ALPs

Axion-photon conversion is a prime mechanism to detect axion-like particles that share a coupling to the photon. We point out that in the vicinity of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields, magnetars, the effective photon mass receives comparable but opposite contributions from free electrons and the radiation field. This leads to an energy-dependent resonance condition for conversion that can be met for arbitrary light axions and leveraged when using systems with detected radio component. Using the magnetar SGR J1745-2900 as an exemplary source, we demonstrate that sensitivity to |g aγ | ~ 10 -12 GeV -1 or better can be gained for m a ≲ 10 -6 eV, with the potential to improve current constraints on the axion-photon coupling by more than one order of magnitude over a broad mass range. With growing insights into the physical conditions of magnetospheres of magnetars, the method hosts the potential to become a serious competitor to future experiments such as ALPS-II and IAXO in the search for axion-like particles.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of vapor diffusion Nb$^{3}$Sn coating at Fermilab: Minimizing impurities using TOF-SIMS

Nb₃Sn demonstrates steady advancements nowadays offering reduced power cost in superconducting radio-frequency cavities due to its high critical temperature, quality factor, and achieved accelerating gradient. However, theoretical estimates of its radio-frequency parameters have not been achieved due to several potentially limiting mechanisms: tin spots, patchy regions, defects, thermal impedance, and impurities. While some of these limitations have been intensively studied, impurity analysis in Nb$_3$Sn coatings have received less attention. We report an investigation of impurities in several vapor-diffused Nb₃Sn coated samples using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and show allowable impurity levels in view of superconducting cavity performance. Challenges and lessons learned in maintaining clean Nb$_3$Sn coatings are also discussed.

Tagdulang, Nikki [Fermilab]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Challenges of Vapor Diffusion $Nb_3Sn$ Coating at Fermilab: Minimizing Impurities Using TOF-SIMS

Nb$_3$Sn demonstrates steady advancements nowadays offering reduced power cost in superconducting radio-frequency cavities due to its high critical temperature, quality factor, and achieved accelerating gradient. However, theoretical estimates of its radio-frequency parameters have not been achieved due to several potentially limiting mechanisms: tin spots, patchy regions, defects, thermal impedance, and impurities. While some of these limitations have been intensively studied, impurity analysis in Nb$_3$Sn coatings have received less attention. We report an investigation of impurities in several vapor-diffused Nb$_3$Snn coated samples using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and show allowable impurity levels in view of superconducting cavity performance. Challenges and lessons learned in maintaining clean Nb$_3$Sn coatings are also discussed.

Tagdulang, N. [Fermilab]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Statistical Analysis of Trans‐Ionospheric Pulse Pairs and Inferences on Their Characteristics

Trans-ionospheric pulse pairs (TIPPs), first observed in 1993, are signatures of in-cloud lightning discharges observed by satellite-based broadband very high frequency (VHF) receivers. It has been definitively shown that TIPPs are the space-based signatures of compact intracloud discharges (CIDs), and that the associated pair of pulses that comprise a TIPP result from the direct VHF pulse from the discharge, followed by a pulse reflected from the Earth's surface. However, the ratio of the peak amplitudes of these two pulses can vary widely, with the second pulse often having considerably higher peak amplitude than the first. This observation has not been satisfactorily explained. Using data collected from geostationary orbit by the Radio Frequency Sensor (RFS) and matched to locations reported by the Global Lightning Dataset (GLD360), we assemble the largest database to date of 76,348 TIPPs with associated location, altitude, and amplitude ratio of the two pulses in the TIPP. We show that the amplitude ratio of TIPPs is strongly correlated to the altitude of the associated discharges and the geometry of the source location with respect to the Earth's surface and the receiver. These observations strongly suggest that the difference in amplitude of the two pulses is driven by a nondipole radiated beam pattern that is dependent on the polarity of the CID, velocity of the current wavefront, and viewing angle.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Transmission of Images With Ultrasonic Elastic Shear Waves on a Metallic Pipe Using Amplitude Shift Keying Protocol

Transmission of information using ultrasonic elastic waves on existing metallic pipes provides an alternative communication option across physical barriers in a highly partitioned industrial complex, such as a nuclear facility. This work investigates the feasibility of the transmission of digital images over metallic pipes. Ultrasonic communication systems for transmission of images on a nuclear-grade stainless steel pipe were assembled for bench-scale demonstration. Information carriers in this system are refracted shear waves transmitted and received with piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) operating at 2-MHz nominal frequency. The refraction and propagation of ultrasonic shear waves were modeled with COMSOL software. An amplitude shift keying (ASK) communication protocol for image transmission was developed and implemented in the GNURadio software-defined radio (SDR) environment. Digital information was converted to analog ultrasonic signals using Red Pitaya electronic boards. The performance of the ASK protocol is evaluated at the output of every block in the GNURadio program by monitoring the transmission of select characters. Using the ASK communication protocol, the transmission of the 32-KB image was demonstrated at 2-Kbps bitrate across 6-ft-long stainless steel pipe. Finally, preliminary evaluation of ultrasonic communication on the piping of a nuclear facility, such as signal transmission on bent pipes, was performed with COMSOL computer simulations.

42 ENGINEERING↗