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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 595 records · Page 33
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Kinetically Controlled Formation of Semi-crystalline Conjugated Polymer Nanostructures

Conjugated polymer (CP) materials that are considered as an attractive choice for various electronic and optoelectronic applications possess highly heterogeneous complex structures that can span several orders of magnitude in length scale. This is due to the intricate coupling effects of weak secondary interactions and entropic forces that determine molecular organization in bulk polymer materials. Understanding the influence of molecular interactions on the emergence and evolution of nano- and microscale structures is of paramount importance to the guided design and development of condensed CP materials. Such understanding is even more critical for the rational design of hierarchical systems away from equilibrium, where weak molecular interactions can guide the system along competing kinetic pathways toward local energy minima and metastable architectures. In this work, we studied a promising concept for accessing various kinetically stabilized semi-crystalline CP nanostructures that are formed in the process of controlled chain-growth Kumada catalyst-transfer polymerization initiated by a small-molecule catalytic species which can exist in equilibrium between free and aggregated states. Specifically, we chose a small-molecule perylenedicarboximide (PDCI) polymerization catalytic initiator which has a strong tendency toward reversible supramolecular assembly–disassembly that can be controlled by temperature. Addition of a thiophene monomer to a solution of the PDCI initiator starts the chain-growth polymerization process, which produces distinct nanoscale semi-crystalline polythiophene structures formed under predominant kinetic control. Furthermore, we demonstrated that, depending on the reaction temperature (which affects the fine balance between the position of PDCI assembly–disassembly equilibrium, rate of polymerization, and solvent–solute interactions for the growing polythiophene chains), a range of kinetically trapped hierarchically organized semi-crystalline CP systems with substantially varying optoelectronic properties could be obtained. In addition to spectroscopic and electron microscopic studies, in order to better reveal the structural aspects of the generated polymer nanoscale systems, we carried out a series of X-ray diffraction and neutron scattering experiments which indicated complex hierarchical organization in these kinetically stabilized CP assembled materials. We expect that this in situ polymerization-based approach can lead to a general way to expand access to various semi-crystalline CP nanostructured materials with broadly tunable electronic and optical properties.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Disorder induced interface states and their influence on the Al/Ge nanowires Schottky devices

It has been demonstrated that the presence of oxide monolayers in semiconductor surfaces alters the electronic potential at surfaces and, consequently, can drastically affect the electronic transport features of a practical device such as a field effect transistor. In this work experimental and theoretical approaches to characterize Al/germanium nanowire Schottky devices by using samples covered with a thin oxide layer (2 nm width) were explored. It was also demonstrated that the oxide layer on Ge causes a weak dependence of the metal work function on Schottky barrier heights indicating the presence of Fermi level pinning. From theoretical calculations the pinning factor S was estimated to range between 0.52 and 0.89, indicating a weak Fermi level pinning which is induced by the presence of charge localization at all nanowires' surface coming from interface states.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interplay between electron-phonon interaction and Hubbard repulsion: Bipolaron formation

In the weak coupling limit, the 2D Hubbard model extended by on-site (local) and inter-site (long range) electron-phonon (EP) interaction has been investigated within Lanczos method of exact diagonalization (ED). On-site (S0) bipolaron formation has been favored by on-site EP interaction induced effective attraction between electrons. But, inter-site phonon mediated interaction between electrons helps to form both S0 and neighboring site (S1) bipolaron. It is further observed that both types of bipolaron formation are suppressed by on-site Hubbard repulsion.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Spin orientation driven static and dynamic magnetic process in amorphous FeCoBSi thin films

The spin orientation dependence of magnetic hysteresis and microwave ferromagnetic resonance data are investigated in FeCoBSi amorphous thin films. Demagnetization effect allows the weak interface-rooted out-of-plane anisotropy to build up local spin orientation domains under the dominant in-plane anisotropy. As a result, two phase magnetization reversal and double-peak ferromagnetic resonance traces with varying damping behavior are observed. Due to the distribution of in-plane and out-of-plane spin orientations, the ferromagnetic resonance bandwidth has been extensively expanded with the full width at half maximum increased from 1.2 GHz to 3.5 GHz.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

The effect of three-dimensional fields on bounce averaged particle drifts in a tokamak

The impact of applied 3D magnetic fields on the bounce-averaged precessional drifts in a tokamak plasma are calculated. Local 3D MHD equilibrium theory is used to construct solutions to the equilibrium equations in the vicinity of a magnetic surface for a large aspect ratio circular tokamak perturbed by applied 3D fields. Due to modulations of the local shear caused by near-resonant Pfirsch-Schlüter currents, relatively weak applied 3D fields can have a large effect on trapped particle precessional drifts.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Protected helical transport in magnetically doped quantum wires: Beyond the one-dimensional paradigm

One-dimensional (1D) quantum wires, which are functionalized by magnetic ad-atoms, can host ballistic helical transport. Helicity protects transport from an undesirable influence of material imperfections and makes the magnetically doped wire very promising elements for nanoelectronics and spintronics. However, fabricating purely 1D conductors is experimentally very challenging and not always feasible. In this paper, we show that the protected helical transport can exist even inquasi-1D wires. We model the quasi-1D magnetically doped wire as two coupled dense 1D Kondo chains. Each chain consists of itinerant electrons interacting with localized quantum magnetic moments - Kondo impurities. We have analyzed the regimes of weak-, intermediate- and strong inter-chain coupling and found conditions necessary for the origin of the aforementioned protected transport. Our results give a push for experimental realizations of the helical states in magnetically doped wires.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Chiral Spin Order in Kondo-Heisenberg systems

We demonstrate that Kondo-Heisenberg systems, consisting of itinerant electrons and localized magnetic moments (Kondo impurities), can be used as a principally new platform to realize scalar chiral spin order. The underlying physics is governed by a competition of the Ruderman-Kittel- Kosuya-Yosida (RKKY) indirect exchange interaction between the local moments with the direct Heisenberg one. When the direct exchange is weak and RKKY dominates the isotropic system is in the disordered phase. A moderately large direct exchange leads to an Ising-type phase transition to the phase with chiral spin order. Our nding paves the way towards pioneering experimental realizations of the chiral spin liquid in low dimensional systems with spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Truncated Nonlinear Interferometry for Quantum-Enhanced Atomic Force Microscopy

Nonlinear interferometers that replace beam splitters in Mach-Zehnder interferometers with nonlinear amplifiers for quantum-enhanced phase measurements have drawn increasing interest in recent years, but practical quantum sensors based on nonlinear interferometry remain an outstanding challenge. Here, we demonstrate the first practical application of nonlinear interferometry by measuring the displacement of an atomic force microscope microcantilever with quantum noise reduction of up to 3 dB below the standard quantum limit, corresponding to a quantum-enhanced measurement of beam displacement of 1.7 fm/√Hz. Further, we minimize photon backaction noise while taking advantage of quantum noise reduction by transducing the cantilever displacement signal with a weak squeezed state while using dual homodyne detection with a higher power local oscillator. This approach may enable quantum-enhanced broadband, high-speed scanning probe microscopy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

The ATTO-Campina site: A new observatory for tropical convection and gas-aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in the Amazon

We present results from ATTO-Campina, a new permanent observational site in central Amazon, about 4 km from the ATTO towers. Operational since 2020, ATTO-Campina characterizes atmospheric, cloud and rainfall properties through remote sensing. The goal is to provide continuous, complementary measurements to the ATTO towers, addressing the rainforest’s complex gas-aerosol-cloud-precipitation dynamics. Using a 3.5-year dataset, we classified convective clouds into three types: shallow cumulus (ShCu), congestus (Con) or (Deep) clouds. The shallow-to-deep transition takes about three hours, starting with ShCu formation at 11:00 local time. The accumulated rainfall peak follows at about 16:00. Only weak downdrafts are present in the upper troposphere where previous studies indicate new particle formation (NPF) occurrence. Strong downdrafts are mostly limited to heights below 5 km. Con and Deep convective days have higher concentrations of ultrafine aerosol and lower concentrations of accumulation-mode particles compared to ShCu. Convective clouds also significantly modify gas mixing ratios. Deep convective clouds are associated with high near-surface O3, consistent with downward transport from the midtroposphere. Our results showcase the added detail achieved by integrating data from the ATTO towers and ATTO-Campina sites. Together, these sites support better understanding of interconnected gas-aerosol-cloud-precipitation processes in the Amazon and their evolution under climate change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Identifying local structural states in atomic imaging by computer vision

Abstract The availability of atomically resolved imaging modalities enables an unprecedented view into the local structural states of materials, which manifest themselves by deviations from the fundamental assumptions of periodicity and symmetry. Consequently, approaches that aim to extract these local structural states from atomic imaging data with minimal assumptions regarding the average crystallographic configuration of a material are indispensable to advances in structural and chemical investigations of materials. Here, we present an approach to identify and classify local structural states that is rooted in computer vision. This approach introduces a definition of a structural state that is composed of both local and nonlocal information extracted from atomically resolved images, and is wholly untethered from the familiar concepts of symmetry and periodicity. Instead, this approach relies on computer vision techniques such as feature detection, and concepts such as scale invariance. We present the fundamental aspects of local structural state extraction and classification by application to simulated scanning transmission electron microscopy images, and analyze the robustness of this approach in the presence of common instrumental factors such as noise, limited spatial resolution, and weak contrast. Finally, we apply this computer vision-based approach for the unsupervised detection and classification of local structural states in an experimental electron micrograph of a complex oxides interface, and a scanning tunneling micrograph of a defect-engineered multilayer graphene surface.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1987

The emission of narrow-band Jovian kilometric radiation

A model based on the nonlinear coupling of electrostatic plasma waves is proposed to explain the emission of the narrow-band Jovian kilometric radiation (nKOM) observed by the Voyager spacecraft. It is shown that upper-hybrid branch electrostatic waves propagating through the inhomogeneities in the outer periphery of the Io plasma torus can attain the proper geometry for localized upconversion interactions leading to pump depletion. Plasma waves propagating into a weak density gradient and reflected at the critical layer interact with the incident waves leading to the electromagnetic emission, which is beamed at large angles with respect to the background magnetic field. In general, both L-O and R-X mode waves can be generated. The observed power and net polarization (L-O) are consistent with pump depletion of electrostatic waves at a level of about 10 mV/m. A possible excitation mechanism for the electrostatic waves is also discussed.

Fung, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (LHR) for Measurements of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheric Column

This passive laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) instrument simultaneously measures multiple trace gases in the atmospheric column including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and resolves their concentrations at different altitudes. This instrument has been designed to operate in tandem with the passive aerosol sensor currently used in AERONET (an established network of more than 450 ground aerosol monitoring instruments worldwide). Because aerosols induce a radiative effect that influences terrestrial carbon exchange, simultaneous detection of aerosols with these key carbon cycle gases offers a uniquely comprehensive measurement approach. Laser heterodyne radiometry is a technique for detecting weak signals that was adapted from radio receiver technology. In a radio receiver, a weak input signal from a radio antenna is mixed with a stronger local oscillator signal. The mixed signal (beat note, or intermediate frequency) has a frequency equal to the difference between the input signal and the local oscillator. The intermediate frequency is amplified and sent to a detector that extracts the audio from the signal. In the LHR instrument described here, sunlight that has undergone absorption by the trace gas is mixed with laser light at a frequency matched to a trace gas absorption feature in the infrared (IR). Mixing results in a beat signal in the RF (radio frequency) region that can be related to the atmospheric concentration. For a one-second integration, the estimated column sensitivities are 0.1 ppmv for CO2, and <1 ppbv for CH4. In addition to producing a standalone ground measurement product, this instrument could be used to calibrate/validate four Earth observing missions: ASCENDS (Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons), OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory), OCO-3, and GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observational SATellite). The only network that currently measures CO2 and CH4 in the atmospheric column is TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network), and only two of its 16 operational sites are in the United States. TCCON data is used for validation of GOSAT data, and will be used for OCO-2 validation. While these Fourier-transform spectrometers (FTS) can measure the largest range of trace gases, the network is severely limited due to the high cost and extreme size of these instruments (these occupy small buildings and require personnel for operation). The LHR/AERONET instrument offers a significantly smaller (carry-on luggage size) autonomous instrument that can be incorporated into AERONET s much larger (450 instruments) global network.

Steel, Emily↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sub-City-Scale Air Quality Forecasts Combining Models, Satellites, and Surface Measures

Poor air quality is a global major concern, especially in cities with their higher emissions and large numbers of exposed people. Air quality monitoring has traditionally relied on ground-based measurements from a few accurate but expensive regulatory-grade monitors, leading to limited spatial data coverage. More recently, these have been supplemented with other data sources, including satellite observations of pollutants, atmospheric chemistry model simulations, and low-cost monitors allowing for denser spatial data collection at the expense of lower accuracy compared to regulatory-grade monitors. Each of these air quality data sources have their own benefits and drawbacks, and so there is an opportunity to combine these data together while respecting their relative strengths and weaknesses in order to generate a more comprehensive and detailed picture of local air quality. I will present our current work towards such a combination, with a focus on producing higher spatial resolution estimates and near-term forecasts of Nitrogen Dioxide in urban areas in the United States. Our method combines data from the GEOS Composition Forecasting (GEOS-CF) model system, TROPOMI tropospheric NO2 satellite data products, and ground measurements from the EPA regulatory monitoring network using a combination of simple intuitive relationships and machine learning techniques. I will show the performance of this proposed method in several urban areas in the United States, comparing it with baseline approaches using single data sources separately. Overall, we find that combining these disparate datasets together leads to more accurate air quality forecasts in the target areas than is possible using each data source separately.

Air quality↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Statistical Evaluation of WRF-LES Trace Gas Dispersion Using Project Prairie Grass Measurements

In recent years, new measurement systems have been deployed to monitor and quantify methane emissions from the natural gas sector. Large-eddy simulation (LES) has complemented measurement campaigns by serving as a controlled environment in which to study plume dynamics and sampling strategies. However, with few comparisons with controlled-release experiments, the accuracy of LES for modeling natural gas emissions is poorly characterized. In this paper, we evaluate LES from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model against Project Prairie Grass campaign measurements and surface layer similarity theory. Using WRF-LES, we simulate continuous emissions from 30 near-surface trace gas sources in two stability regimes: strong convection and weak convection. We examine the impact of grid resolutions ranging from 6.25 to 52 m in the horizontal dimension on model results. We evaluate performance in a statistical framework, calculating fractional bias and conducting Welch’s t tests. WRF-LES accurately simulates observed surface concentrations at 100 m and beyond under strong convection; simulated concentrations pass t tests in this region irrespective of grid resolution. However, in weakly convective conditions with strong winds, WRF-LES substantially overpredicts concentrations—the magnitude of fractional bias often exceeds 30%, and all but one t test fails. The good performance of WRF-LES under strong convection correlates with agreement with local free convection theory and a minimal amount of parameterized turbulent kinetic energy. The poor performance under weak convection corresponds to misalignment with Monin–Obukhov similarity theory and a significant amount of parameterized turbulent kinetic energy.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quasiparticle characteristics of the weakly ferromagnetic Hund metal MnSi

Hund metals are multiorbital systems with 3d or 4d electrons exhibiting both an itinerant character and local moments, and they feature Kondo-like screenings of local orbital and spin moments, with suppressed coherence temperatures driven by Hund's coupling J H . They often exhibit magnetic order at low temperature, but how the interaction between the Kondo-like screening and long-range magnetic order is manifested in the quasiparticle spectrum remains an open question. Here, we present the spectroscopic signature of such an interaction in a Hund metal candidate MnSi exhibiting weak ferromagnetism. Our photoemission measurements reveal renormalized quasiparticle bands near the Fermi level with strong momentum dependence: The ferromagnetism manifests through possibly exchange-split bands (Q1) below T C , while the spin/orbital screenings lead to the gradual development of quasiparticles (Q2) upon cooling. Our results demonstrate how the characteristic spin/orbital coherence in a Hund metal could coexist and compete with the magnetic order to form a weak itinerant ferromagnet, via quasiparticle bands that are well separated in momentum space and exhibit distinct temperature dependence. Here, our results imply that the competition between the spin/orbital screening and the magnetic order in a Hund metal bears interesting similarities to the Kondo lattice systems

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Dynamical transition between weak and strong coupling in Brillouin laser pulse amplification

Short laser pulse amplification via stimulated Brillouin backscattering in plasma is considered. Previous work distinguishes between the weakly and strongly coupled regime and treats them separately. It is shown here that such a separation is not generally applicable because strong and weak coupling interaction regimes are entwined with each other. An initially weakly coupled amplification scenario may dynamically transform into strong coupling. This happens when the local seed amplitude grows and thus triggers the strongly driven plasma response. On the other hand, when in a strong coupling scenario, the pump pulse gets depleted, and its amplitude might drop below the strong coupling threshold. This may cause significant changes in the final seed pulse shape. Furthermore, experimentally used pump pulses are typically Gaussian-shaped. The intensity threshold for strong coupling may only be exceeded around the maximum and not in the wings of the pulse. Also here, a description valid in both strong and weak coupling regimes is required. We propose such a unified treatment which allows us, in particular, to study the dynamic transition between weak and strong coupling. Consequences for the pulse forms of the amplified seed are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Anomalous spin polarization from turbulent color fields

Here we study the important, yet widely overlooked, role of gluons for spin transport with a connection to local parity violation in quark gluon plasmas. We employ the formalism of quantum kinetic theory to quarks in weakly coupled quantum chromodynamics to derive the source terms for quark spin polarization. These source terms involve parity-odd correlators of dynamically generated color fields in near-equilibrium quark gluon plasmas and give rise to locally fluctuating axial charge currents. Our results provide a possible explanation for the spin alignment of vector mesons measured in high-energy nuclear collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Shocks in the outer helisphere: Voyager 2 observations from 18.9 AU to 30.2 AU (1986-1989)

A search for shocks observed by Voyager 2 from 1986.0 to day 233, 1989, in the region between 18.9 AU and 30.2 AU revealed only five candidate fast forward shocks and no reverse shocks. No shock was observed during 1987 (near solar minimum). Only one candidate shock was observed during 1986, when the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) was still close to the equator. This, the weakest of the shocks, was associated with a weak corotating merged interaction region (CMIR). Only two shocks were observed during 1988, when solar activity and the inclination of the HCS were increasing. One of these shocks was associated with a CMIR, the other with a local merged interaction region (MIR) (a transient MIR localized in space). The shocks observed between 18.9 AU and 28.2 AU from 1986 through 1988 were relatively weak, the estimated magnetoacoustic Mach number being less than or equal to 1.5 for each of the three shocks. Since the shocks observed between 20 AU and 29 AU during the 3-year period centered around solar minimum were weak and few in number, shocks were not important in determining the structure, dynamics, and thermodynamics of the equatorial solar wind. The strongest shock in this study was observed during 1989 at the front of a global merged interaction region (GMIR) (a MIR that extends around the Sun and is presumably formed by the coalescence of several transient ejecta and other interaction regions). A weak shock was also observed inside this GMIR.

Burlaga, L. F.↗