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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Parametric Study of the Vacuum Permeator for the Tritium Extraction eXperiment

Tritium breeding is a critical component of any self-sustaining future fusion reactor. The liquid metal eutectic, PbLi, is of particular interest as a tritium breeder material due to its favorable thermophysical and neutronic properties. One of the several remaining challenges facing PbLi breeder blankets is the need to design and validate a highly efficient tritium extraction system. The vacuum permeator is a promising extraction concept that utilizes tritium permeation through a highly permeable metal membrane. The Tritium Extraction eXperiment (TEX) is a forced-convection PbLi loop constructed to investigate tritium extraction from PbLi with vacuum permeators. Accurate thermal-hydraulic and tritium transport models are required to establish appropriate test matrices, predict experiment outcomes, and analyze data. However, the hydrogen transport properties of PbLi and permeator materials have large uncertainties. A database is collected, and a parametric analysis is conducted on the effect of hydrogen transport material properties: diffusivity of H in PbLi and permeator, solubility of H in PbLi and permeator, and permeator surface recombination constant on the expected tritium extraction efficiency for a vacuum permeator installed in TEX. As a result, we observe solubility of H in PbLi and the permeator and the recombination constant of the permeator have the largest effect on the extraction efficiency.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Highly Efficient Vacuum Smelting of Aluminum

The goal of this SBIR project was to develop and demonstrate an innovative aluminum smelting technology that will significantly increase the range of aluminum alloys that can be manufactured from recycling of scrap aluminum. This will result in reduction of need for primary aluminum with corresponding 95% energy and CO 2 emission benefits. The proposed melting of pre-sorted aluminum alloys using UHV’s patented high throughput sorter funded by ARPA-E METALS program in an energy efficient vacuum furnace avoids the typical 5% metal loss due to oxidation of molten metal. In addition, pre-sorting scrap into different categories (cast, wrought, extrusion and aerospace) allows lower cost production of high value aluminum alloys without the need for adding alloying elements to primary aluminum. During this SBIR project, pure aluminum and several different commercial alloys were procured and melted in a laboratory furnace in vacuum, CH4 and air environments. The slag and oxidation formation were measured using weight and cross-sectional scanning electron microscope. The results otained were mixed and did not show direct correlation between furnace pressure and oxidation. We believe that the results were tainted due to small furnace size and non-uniformity of oxidation layer. A more thorough investigation is required to prove the advantages of vacuum smelting which could not be performed due to the COVID-19 lockdowns during this project. The theoretical fact remains that in the absence of oxygen in the furnace, there should be no oxide after melting, however the team could not prove it experimentally, and thus decided to dis-continue the project.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Residual symmetries and scalar multiplet vacuum alignment in non-Abelian flavour models

We demonstrate that, upon minimizing a renormalizable, single-scalar potential invariant under a non-Abelian symmetry, special orientations in the associated vacuum alignment of the scalar multiplet correspond to the preservation of a discrete residual flavour symmetry in the broken phase of the theory. Conversely, we show that these special scalar alignments are perturbed when additional Lagrangian operators (e.g. renormalizable, multi-flavon operators and/or effective, higher-dimensional operators) are present that break said residual symmetry, leading to a vacuum reorientation and phenomenological consequences. We therefore construct a one-to-one correspondence principle between broken residual symmetries and vacuum alignment corrections, providing a mechanism to identify (and correct) a subtle but persistent form of phenomenologically relevant fine-tuning embedded in — but often ignored by — most successful non-Abelian flavour models. We first establish this correspondence in a set of toy models based on the S4 permutation symmetry, and then apply the lessons learned to the more realistic A4 Altarelli-Feruglio and ∆(27) Universal Texture Zero models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Vacuum stability in inert higgs doublet model with right-handed neutrinos

We analyze the vacuum stability in the inert Higgs doublet extension of the Standard Model (SM), augmented by right-handed neutrinos (RHNs) to explain neutrino masses at tree level by the seesaw mechanism. We make a comparative study of the high- and low-scale seesaw scenarios and the effect of the Dirac neutrino Yukawa couplings on the stability of the Higgs potential. Bounds on the scalar quartic couplings and Dirac Yukawa couplings are obtained from vacuum stability and perturbativity considerations. These bounds are found to be relevant only for low-scale seesaw scenarios with relatively large Yukawa couplings. The regions corresponding to stability, metastability and instability of the electroweak vacuum are identified. These theoretical constraints give a very predictive parameter space for the couplings and masses of the new scalars and RHNs which can be tested at the LHC and future colliders. The lightest non-SM neutral CP-even/odd scalar can be a good dark matter candidate and the corresponding collider signatures are also predicted for the model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Black hole induced false vacuum decay: the role of greybody factors

We study false vacuum decay catalyzed by black holes. We consider a toy two-dimensional model of a scalar field with an unstable potential in the background of a dilaton black hole. A realistic black hole in four dimensions possesses the potential barrier for linear field perturbations. We model this barrier — the greybody factor — for spherically-symmetric perturbations in the toy model by adding a coupling between the scalar field and dilaton. We compute analytically the decay rate for the black hole in thermal equilibrium (Hartle-Hawking state) and for the radiating black hole in empty space (Unruh state). Our results show that, contrary to the Hartle-Hawking vacuum, the decay probability of the Unruh vacuum remains exponentially suppressed at all black hole temperatures. We argue that this result holds also in four dimensions.

2D Gravity↗
DOE OSTI2021

Black hole induced false vacuum decay from first principles

We provide a method to calculate the rate of false vacuum decay induced by a black hole. The method uses complex tunneling solutions and consistently takes into account the structure of different quantum vacua in the black hole metric via boundary conditions. The latter are connected to the asymptotic behavior of the time-ordered Green’s function in the corresponding vacua. We illustrate the technique on a two-dimensional toy model of a scalar field with inverted Liouville potential in an external background of a dilaton black hole. We analytically derive the exponential suppression of tunneling from the Boulware, Hartle-Hawking and Unruh vacua and show that they are parametrically different. The Unruh vacuum decay rate is exponentially smaller than the decay rate of the Hartle-Hawking state, though both rates become unsuppressed at high enough black hole temperature. We interpret the vanishing suppression of the Unruh vacuum decay at high temperature as an artifact of the two-dimensional model and discuss why this result can be modified in the realistic case of black holes in four dimensions.

2D Gravity↗
DOE OSTI2022

Upper bound on the smuon mass from vacuum stability in the light of muon g–2 anomaly

We derive an upper bound on the smuon mass assuming that the muon anomaly is explained by the supersymmetric (SUSY) contribution. In the minimal SUSY standard model, the SUSY contribution to the muon g–2 is enhanced when the Higgsino mass parameter is large. Then, the smuon-smuon-Higgs trilinear coupling is enhanced, which may destabilize the electroweak vacuum. We calculate precisely the decay rate of the electroweak vacuum in such a case. We include one-loop effects which are crucial to determine the overall normalization of the decay rate. Requiring that the theoretical prediction of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is consistent with the observed value at the 1 and 2σ levels (equal to the central value of the observed value), we found that the lightest smuon mass should be smaller than 1.38 and 1.68 TeV (1.20 TeV) for tan β (with tan β being the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs bosons), respectively, and the bound is insensitive to the value of tan β.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Three-Dimensional Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Biological Structures Using a Vacuum-Compatible Microfluidic Device

Three-dimensional (3D) molecular imaging of biological structures is important for a wide range of research. In recent decades, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has been recognized as a powerful technique for both two-dimensional (2D) and 3D molecular imaging. Sample fixations (e. g., chemical fixation and cryogenic fixation methods) are necessary to adapt biological samples to the vacuum condition in the SIMS chamber, which has been demonstrated to be non-trivial and less controllable, thus limiting the wider application of SIMS on 3D molecular analysis of biological samples. Our group recently developed in situ liquid SIMS that offers great opportunities for the molecular study of various liquids and liquid interfaces. In this work, we demonstrate that a further development of the vacuum-compatible microfluidic device used in in situ liquid SIMS provides a convenient freeze-fixation of biological samples and leads to more controllable and convenient 3D molecular imaging. The special design of this new vacuum-compatible liquid chamber allows an easy determination of sputter rates of ice, which is critical for calibrating the depth scale of frozen biological samples. Sputter yield of a 20 keV Ar 1800 + ion on ice has been determined as 1500 (± 8%) water molecules per Ar 1800 + ion, consistent with our results from molecular dynamics simulations. Moreover, using the information of ice sputter yield, we successfully conduct 3D molecular imaging of frozen homogenized milk and observe network structures of interesting organic and inorganic species. Finally, taken together, our results will significantly benefit various research fields relying on 3D molecular imaging of biological structures.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum control and Berry phase of electron spins in rotating levitated diamonds in high vacuum

Levitated diamond particles in high vacuum with internal spin qubits have been proposed for exploring macroscopic quantum mechanics, quantum gravity, and precision measurements. The coupling between spins and particle rotation can be utilized to study quantum geometric phase, create gyroscopes and rotational matter-wave interferometers. However, previous efforts in levitated diamonds struggled with vacuum level or spin state readouts. To address these gaps, we fabricate an integrated surface ion trap with multiple stabilization electrodes. This facilitates on-chip levitation and, for the first time, optically detected magnetic resonance measurements of a nanodiamond levitated in high vacuum. The internal temperature of our levitated nanodiamond remains moderate at pressures below 10 -5 Torr. We have driven a nanodiamond to rotate up to 20 MHz (1.2 × 10 9 rpm), surpassing typical nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center electron spin dephasing rates. Using these NV spins, we observe the effect of the Berry phase arising from particle rotation. In addition, we demonstrate quantum control of spins in a rotating nanodiamond. These results mark an important development in interfacing mechanical rotation with spin qubits, expanding our capacity to study quantum phenomena.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Frontal polymerization of thermosets to enable vacuum-formed structural electronics

Material design and accessible manufacturing are often at odds with each other, calling for creative solutions to adapt high-performance materials to available processes. This challenge is represented well by in-mold electronics, an innovative approach to the manufacture of 3D circuitry and electronic components that offers game-changing advantages. In-mold electronics relies on vacuum forming processes, which are historically limited to thermoplastics. Extending these methods to include thermosets would enable manufacturing of robust components with desirable properties. Here, we provide a solution to make thermoset materials amenable to vacuum forming. Specifically, an ambient polymerization is used to transition a liquid monomeric solution to an elastomeric gel. These free-standing gels can then be vacuum formed, and the reaction can be completed via frontal polymerization. Thermoset materials produced with this method have properties that provide benefits over traditionally employed thermoplastic substrates and enable 3D device integration into environmentally demanding architectural, automotive, and extraterrestrial structures.

Fowler, Hayden Elise [Sandia National Laboratories↗
DOE OSTI2021

An integrated approach to understanding RF vacuum arcs

Although used in the design and costing of large projects such as linear colliders and fusion tokamaks, the theory of vacuum arcs and gradient limits is not well understood. Almost 120 years after the isolation of vacuum arcs, the exact mechanisms of the arcs and the damage they produce are still being debated. We describe our simple and general model of the vacuum arc that can incorporate all active mechanisms and aims to explain all relevant data. Our four stage model, is based on experiments done at 805 MHz with a variety of cavity geometries, magnetic fields, and experimental techniques as well as data from Atom Probe Tomography and failure analysis of microelectronics. The model considers the trigger, plasma formation, plasma evolution and surface damage phases of the RF arc. This paper also examines how known mechanisms can explain the observed sharp field dependence, fast breakdown times and observed surface damage. We update the model and discuss new features while also pointing out where new data would be useful in extending the model to a wider range of frequencies.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Design, Manufacturing, and Installation of DIII-D Lower Hybrid Current Drive Outer Wall Waveguides and Expandable Vacuum Interface

High field side lower hybrid current drive (HFS LHCD) is promising method for efficient, off axis current drive. To operate this system, development of an expandable combination radio frequency (RF) and vacuum interface was necessary to allow the long (~2 m) waveguides to thermally expand with respect to the DIII-D 0 degree R-1 port extension without damage to the waveguide or excessive force on the vacuum seals which was previously observed when baking the waveguides during operations that were installed in 2024. Design of a custom bellows assembly with RF feedthrough that allows >20mm of waveguide thermal expansion is presented. Fabrication of this bellows assembly required simultaneously vacuum brazing multiple 304 stainless steel flanges to an oxygen free high conductivity copper waveguide section which required significant manufacturing development.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Exact non-symmetric closed line vacuum magnetic fields in a topological torus

Non-symmetric vacuum magnetic fields with closed magnetic field lines are of interest in the construction of stellarator equilibria. Beyond the result of D. Lortz, Z. Angew Math. Phys. 21, 196 (1970), few results are available. This work presents a closed-form expression for a class of vacuum magnetic fields in a topological torus with closed field lines. We explicitly obtain the invariants of such a field. We finally show that a three-dimensional low beta magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium may be constructed in a topological torus, starting with these closed line vacuum magnetic fields.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Performance demonstration of vacuum microwave components critical for the operation of the ITER low-field side reflectometer

Final design studies in preparation for manufacturing have been performed for functional components of the vacuum portion of the ITER Low-Field Side Reflectometer (LFSR). These components consist of an antenna array, electron cyclotron heating (ECH) protection mirrors, phase calibration mirrors, and vacuum windows. Evaluation of these components was conducted at the LFSR test facility and DIII-D. The antenna array consists of six corrugated-waveguide antennas for simultaneous profile, fluctuation, and Doppler measurements. A diffraction grating, incorporated into the plasma-facing miter bend, provides protection of sensitive components from stray ECH at 170 GHz. For in situ phase calibration of the LFSR profile reflectometer, an embossed mirror is incorporated into the adjacent miter bend. Measurements of the radiated beam profile indicate that these components have a small, acceptable effect on mode conversion and beam quality. Baseline transmission characteristics of the dual-disk vacuum window are obtained and are used to guide ongoing developments. Preliminary simulations indicate that a surface-relief structure on the window surfaces can greatly improve transmission. The workability of real-time phase measurements was demonstrated on the DIII-D profile reflectometer. The new automated real-time analysis agrees well with the standard post-processing routine.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Two-dimensional shaping of Solov'ev equilibrium with vacuum using external coils

In this work, we demonstrate a method for constructing the Solov'ev equilibrium with any given 2D shape surrounded by a vacuum region using external poloidal field coils, based on the method previously developed by T. Xu and R. Fitzpatrick [Nuclear Fusion, 59, 064002 (2019)]. The computational domain consists of two parts: the plasma region, where the solution is the same as the Solov'ev solution, and the vacuum region, where the magnetic field generated by external coils as well as plasma current is determined using the Green function method through a matching condition near the separatrix. However, the method is not limited to the Solov'ev equilibrium in particular. In conclusion, the accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of such a scheme suggest that this method may be applied to the 2D shaping of a tokamak plasma with a vacuum region using external coils in general.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Asymptotic vacuum solution at tokamak X-point tip

In the H-mode regime of diverted tokamaks, the presence of strong pressure gradients in the pedestal gives rise to a sizable bootstrap current, together with the Ohmic and Pfirsch–Schlueter currents, close to the separatrix. For such equilibria, the presence of finite current density close to the separatrix requires the reexamination of equilibrium properties. It is almost universally assumed that the two branches of the separatrix (the stable and unstable manifolds) are straight as they cross at the X-point. However, the opposite angles of the plasma-filled segment and vacuum one cannot be equal if the current density does not vanish at the separatrix on the plasma side. We solve this difficulty by chipping off a thin layer of plasma edge so that the sharp corner of the plasma-filled segment becomes a hyperbola. Using the conformal transformation, we found that in the assumption of a hyperbolic boundary, the X point moves beyond the plasma boundary to fall in the vacuum region. An acute angle of the plasma-filled segment leads to an obtuse opposite angle of vacuum segment and vice versa. In the case of an acute angle of the plasma-filled segment, the new X point shifts inside the X point formed by the asymptotes of a hyperbolic boundary; in the case of an obtuse angle of the plasma-filled segment, the new X point shifts outside the X point formed by the asymptotes of a hyperbolic plasma boundary. Furthermore, the results are important for understanding the X point features, which affect the tokamak edge stability and transport.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantum vacuum processes in the extremely intense light of relativistic plasma mirror sources

Abstract The advent of petawatt-class laser systems allows generating electromagnetic fields of unprecedented strength in a controlled environment, driving increasingly more efforts to probe yet unobserved processes through their interaction with the quantum vacuum. Still, the lowest intensity scale governing these effects lies orders of magnitude beyond foreseen capabilities, so that such endeavor is expected to remain extremely challenging. In recent years, however, plasma mirrors have emerged as a promising bridge across this gap, by enabling the conversion of intense infrared laser pulses into coherently focused Doppler harmonic beams lying in the X-UV range. In this work, we present predictions on the quantum vacuum signatures produced when such beams are focused to intensities between 10 24 and 10 28 W cm −2 , specifically photon–photon scattering and electron–positron pair creation. These signatures are computed via the stimulated vacuum formalism, combined with a model of perfectly focused beam built from PIC-generated harmonics spectra, and implemented on state-of-the-art massively parallel numerical tools. In view of identifying experimentally favorable configurations, we also consider the coupling of the focused harmonic beam with an auxiliary optical beam, and provide comparison with other established schemes. Our results show that a single coherently focused harmonic beam can produce as much scattered photons as two infrared pulses in head-on collision, and confirm that the coupling of the harmonic beam to an auxiliary beam gives rise to significant levels of inelastic scattering, and hence holds the potential to strongly improve the attainable signal to noise ratios in experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Revealing the vacuum level in an infinite solid by real-space potential unfolding

Although real materials are finite in size, electronic structure theory is built on the assumption of infinitely large solids, which led to a longstanding controversy: where is the vacuum level? Furthermore, we introduce an analytic real-space potential-unfolding approach to uncover the vacuum level in infinitely large solids. First-principles calculations show that, in the absence of a physical surface, the bulk band structure, often measured with respect to an average bulk potential, is offset by a hereto unknown and orientation-dependent bulk quadrupole with respect to the vacuum level. By identifying intrinsic contributions of a bulk solid to its surface and interface properties, our theory eliminates the ambiguities surrounding the physical origin of the band alignment between matters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗