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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 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Negative hydrogen ion sources for particle accelerators: Sustainability issues and recent improvements in long-term operations

High brightness, negative hydrogen ion sources are used extensively in scientific facilities operating worldwide. Negative hydrogen beams have become the preferred means of filling circular accelerators and storage rings as well as enabling efficient extraction from cyclotrons. Several well-known facilities now have considerable experience with operating a variety of sources such as RF-, filament-, magnetron- and Penning-type H- ion sources. These facilities include the US Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL-ISIS), Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), numerous installations of D-Pace (licenced by TRIUMF) ion sources used mainly on cyclotrons and, most recently, the CERN-LINAC-1 injector. This report first summarizes the current performance of these ion sources in routine, daily operations with attention toward source service-periods and availability metrics. Sustainability issues encountered at each facility are also reported and categorized to identify areas of common concern and key issues. Recent ion source improvements to address these issues are also discussed as well as plans for meeting future facility upgrade requirements.

Welton, Robert F.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Electron Pre-acceleration at Nonrelativistic High-Mach-number Perpendicular Shocks

We perform particle-in-cell simulations of perpendicular nonrelativistic collisionless shocks to study electron heating and pre-acceleration for parameters that permit the extrapolation to the conditions at young supernova remnants. Our high-resolution large-scale numerical experiments sample a representative portion of the shock surface and demonstrate that the efficiency of electron injection is strongly modulated with the phase of the shock reformation. For plasmas with low and moderate temperature (plasma beta β{sub p}=5⋅10{sup −4} and β{sub p}=0.5), we explore the nonlinear shock structure and electron pre-acceleration for various orientations of the large-scale magnetic field with respect to the simulation plane, while keeping it at 90° to the shock normal. Ion reflection off of the shock leads to the formation of magnetic filaments in the shock ramp, resulting from Weibel-type instabilities, and electrostatic Buneman modes in the shock foot. In all of the cases under study, the latter provides first-stage electron energization through the shock-surfing acceleration mechanism. The subsequent energization strongly depends on the field orientation and proceeds through adiabatic or second-order Fermi acceleration processes for configurations with the out-of-plane and in-plane field components, respectively. For strictly out-of-plane field, the fraction of suprathermal electrons is much higher than for other configurations, because only in this case are the Buneman modes fully captured by the 2D simulation grid. Shocks in plasma with moderate β{sub p} provide more efficient pre-acceleration. The relevance of our results to the physics of fully 3D systems is discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Expediting model-based optoacoustic reconstructions with tomographic symmetries

Purpose: Image quantification in optoacoustic tomography implies the use of accurate forward models of excitation, propagation, and detection of optoacoustic signals while inversions with high spatial resolution usually involve very large matrices, leading to unreasonably long computation times. The development of fast and memory efficient model-based approaches represents then an important challenge to advance on the quantitative and dynamic imaging capabilities of tomographic optoacoustic imaging. Methods: Herein, a method for simplification and acceleration of model-based inversions, relying on inherent symmetries present in common tomographic acquisition geometries, has been introduced. The method is showcased for the case of cylindrical symmetries by using polar image discretization of the time-domain optoacoustic forward model combined with efficient storage and inversion strategies. Results: The suggested methodology is shown to render fast and accurate model-based inversions in both numerical simulations andpost mortem small animal experiments. In case of a full-view detection scheme, the memory requirements are reduced by one order of magnitude while high-resolution reconstructions are achieved at video rate. Conclusions: By considering the rotational symmetry present in many tomographic optoacoustic imaging systems, the proposed methodology allows exploiting the advantages of model-based algorithms with feasible computational requirements and fast reconstruction times, so that its convenience and general applicability in optoacoustic imaging systems with tomographic symmetries is anticipated.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Deep Multitask Learning Models for Radiation Estimation at High Energy Accelerator Facility

Controlling the dose of radiation exposure in potential radioactive facilities is critical for ensuring the safety of staff and the public. Here, in this paper, we developed machine learning models to estimate radiation exposure efficiently at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), aiming to enhance safety in both accelerator facilities and public areas. Multiple sensors were deployed around the three experimental halls at JLab. Data on single-beam currents, energy levels, and radiation values at the sensor locations were collected during accelerator operation. We proposed a multi-task learning model for radiation estimation, utilizing either one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1-D CNNs) or long short-term memory networks (LSTMs) as the backbone. The proposed model was trained to simultaneously estimate radiation levels at the sensor locations. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed model with LSTM backbone achieved the best estimation performance, with an average R 2 score of 0.7557 for estimation within the same year and 0.7157 for estimation across different years. These results significantly surpassed those of competing models.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

JACC: Leveraging HPC Meta-Programming and Performance Portability with the Just-in-Time and LLVM-based Julia Language

We present JACC (Julia for Accelerators), the first high-level, and performance-portable model for the just-in-time and LLVM-based Julia language. JACC provides a unified and lightweight front end across different back ends available in Julia, enabling the same Julia code to run efficiently on many HPC CPU and GPU targets. We evaluated the performance of JACC for common HPC kernels as well as for the most computationally demanding kernels used in applications, HPCCG, a supercomputing benchmark test for sparse domains, and HARVEY, a blood flow simulator to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from vascular diseases. We carried out the performance analysis on the most advanced US DOE supercomputers: Aurora, Frontier, and Perlmutter. Overall, we show that JACC has a negligible overhead versus vendor-specific solutions, reporting GPU speedups with no extra cost to programmability.

Valero-Lara, Pedro↗
DOE OSTI2012

Prototyping and Development of Commercial Nanocrystalline and Thin Film Silicon for Photovoltaic Manufacturing

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University at Albany received funding from the Department of Energy for its proposal Prototyping and Development of Commercial Nanocrystalline and Thin Film Si for Photovoltaic Manufacturing. This project was created to identify growth rate, texture uniformity, process window, economics, composition and thickness uniformity solutions related to fabricating large area, high efficiency thin film silicon based solar cells. This document serves as a final report for the closure of this program and details the deliverables from CNSE against its original scope of work. Thin-film silicon solar cells are a promising candidate for electricity generation applications because of a combination of advantages. Nanocrystalline and poly-Si based thin films, reduces the use of expensive semiconductor material content, can be deposited onto a foreign substrate (e.g. glass or flexible stainless steel) and enables use of the cells in wide variety of applications. In addition, nano and poly-Si films have higher carrier mobility as well as reduce recombination effects, relative to traditional amorphous-silicon films. They can be mass-produced at low cost, and expected to have a strong position in the international photovoltaic industry, which is experiencing a compounded annual growth of 25%. The objectives included: Demonstration of high rate VHF (Very High Frequency) growth of nc-Si over large areas with uniform thickness. Demonstration of single chamber device growth that allows mass production processing. Demonstration of uniform segmented electrodes. Development of computer models to accelerate efforts. Demonstration of large grain thin film polycrystalline silicon films fabrication. Utilizing the AIC (Aluminum Induced Crystallization) process for large grain silicon film fabrication. Demonstration of 12% efficient nanocrystalline and polycrystalline thin film devices. The end result expected was the production of high-efficiency, low-cost thin film Si devices with reduced cost per watt, allowing dramatically increased market penetration. While further research is required to meet these ultimate goals, this project proved its feasibility.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multi-beam linear accelerator EVT

A novel electron multi-beam accelerator is presented. The accelerator, short-named EVT (Electron Voltage Transformer) belongs to the class of two-beam accelerators. It combines an RF generator and essentially an accelerator within the same vacuum envelope. Drive beam-lets and an accelerated beam are modulated in RF modulators and then bunches pass into an accelerating structure, comprising uncoupled with each other and inductive tuned cavities, where the energy transfer from the drive beams to the accelerated beam occurs. A phasing of bunches is solved by choice correspond distances between gaps of the adjacent cavities. Preliminary results of numerical simulations and the initial specification of EVT operating in S-band, with a 60 kV gun and generating a 2.7 A, 1.1 MV beam at its output is presented. Furthermore, a relatively high efficiency of 67% and high design average power suggest that EVT can find its use in industrial applications.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Highly-scalable GPU-accelerated compressible reacting flow solver for modeling high-speed flows

Emerging supercomputing systems utilize a combination of central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) in an effort to reach exascale capabilities while minimizing the energy footprint of operating such systems. Such heterogeneous machines introduce new challenges for fluids solvers because the hardware architecture and operation of a GPU are fundamentally different from conventional CPUs. In this work, a general approach for efficient implementation of finite-volume based reacting flow solvers on such heterogeneous systems is presented. Three main challenges, namely, data access pattern, thread divergence, and thread safety, are addressed. Since compressible reacting flows require special methods to deal with chemical reactions, hyperbolic and nonlinear convection terms, and the presence of turbulence, specific algorithms that ensure GPU-based efficiency are developed. The approach is demonstrated on the widely available OpenFOAM open source software by modifying core algorithms for GPU accessibility. The scalability of the resulting solver, is demonstrated using practical test cases, including flow through a scramjet engine and the dynamics of a rotating detonation engine. Here, the solver provides near-ideal scaleup on a large number of GPUs (>3000), and extremely efficient use of the GPUs, with throughput nearly a constant even when processing a large number of control volumes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Accelerated optimization of pure metal and ligand compositions for light-driven hydrogen production

Photocatalytic hydrogen production is a promising alternative to traditional hydrogen production. To implement photocatalytic hydrogen production the development of efficient, sustainable, and stable catalysts is necessary, and overcoming the current challenges surrounding high dimensional search spaces requires both computational and experimental efforts. Utilizing photo driven processes, stable colloidal metal catalysts can be formed in situ for efficient hydrogen production from water. When considering colloidal catalysts, stability is typically a concern solved through the addition of supports or ligands. In this work, poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether thiol acts as a stabilizing ligand eliminating the need for catalyst supports while providing stable and active nanoparticle catalysts for more than 45 hours of reaction time and illumination. These systems utilize molecular photosensitizers, water reduction catalysts, stabilizing ligands, water, a sacrificial reductant, and organic solvents, posing new challenges pertaining to the optimization of multi-variable systems. Design of experiments (DOE) is applied to accelerate the understanding of variable interactions and is used as a tool to rapidly optimize the compositions of Au, Cu, Ni, and Fe containing systems. Through a collaboration leveraging computation and experimentation (both high throughput and characterizations), optimized performance peaks were obtained for each of these metals alongside distinct mapping of expected activity associated with photosensitizer, metal, and ligand concentration variations. With the highly digitized workflow, this study allowed for comparative generalizations to be made regarding photo driven hydrogen production for all four metals.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cryogenic operation of planar ultrananocrystalline diamond field emission source in SRF injector

Here, we report a demonstration of electron beam generation in a superconducting radio frequency (SRF) Teraelectronvolt Energy Superconducting Linear Accelerator 1.3 GHz gun equipped with a field emission cathode and operated at 2 K. The cathode is a submicrometer film of nitrogen-incorporated ultrananocrystalline diamond [(N)UNCD] deposited atop a Nb RRR300 cathode plug that is 4 mm in diameter. Measurements of the output current showed that it increased exponentially as a function of the gun gradient. Our results demonstrate a feasible path toward simplified fully cryogenic SRF injector technology. At a maximal gradient of 0.9 MV/m, a current density of 22 μA/cm2 was obtained [calculated as a 2.75 μA current over the total cathode surface area of π(2 mm)2]. One important finding is that the electron emitter made of (N)UNCD, a material long been known as a highly efficient field emission material, demonstrated a record low turn-on gradient of 0.6 MV/m. A hypothesis explaining this behavior is proposed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1986

Space station 20-kHz power management and distribution system

During the conceptual design phase a 20-kHz power distribution system was selected as the reference for the space station. The system is single-phase 400 VRMS, with a sinusoidal wave form. The initial user power level will be 75 kW with growth to 300 kW. The high-frequency system selection was based upon considerations of efficiency, weight, safety, ease of control, interface with computers, and ease of paralleling for growth. Each of these aspects will be discussed as well as the associated trade-offs involved. An advanced development program has been instituted to accelerate the maturation of the high-frequency system. Some technical aspects of the advanced development will be discussed.

Hansen, I. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Space Station 20-kHz power management and distribution system

During the conceptual design phase a 20-kHz power distribution system was selected as the reference for the Space Station. The system is single-phase 400 VRMS, with a sinusoidal wave form. The initial user power level will be 75 kW with growth to 300 kW. The high-frequency system selection was based upon considerations of efficiency, weight, safety, ease of control, interface with computers, and ease of paralleling for growth. Each of these aspects will be discussed as well as the associated trade-offs involved. An advanced development program has been instituted to accelerate the maturation of the high-frequency system. Some technical aspects of the advanced development will be discussed.

Hansen, Irving G.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coherent kilo-electron-volt backscattering from plasma-wave boosted relativistic electron mirrors

A different parameter regime of laser wakefield acceleration driven by sub-petawatt femtosecond lasers is proposed, which enables the generation of relativistic electron mirrors further accelerated by the plasma wave. Integrated particle-in-cell simulation, including both the mirror formation and Thomson scattering, demonstrates that efficient coherent backscattering up to keV photon energy can be obtained with moderate driving laser intensities and high density gas targets.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Accelerating materials science with high-throughput computations and machine learning

With unprecedented amounts of materials data generated from experiments as well as high-throughput density functional theory calculations, machine learning techniques has the potential to greatly accelerate materials discovery and design. In this report we review our efforts in the Materials Virtual Lab to integrate software automation, data generation and curation and machine learning to (i) design and optimize technological materials for energy storage, energy efficiency and high-temperature alloys; (ii) develop scalable quantum-accurate models, and (iii) enhance the speed and accuracy in interpreting characterization spectra.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Accelerated oxidation during 1350°C cycling of ytterbium silicate environmental barrier coatings

We report environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) will be needed to protect SiC-based ceramic matrix composite components for the next generation of high-efficiency industrial gas turbines (IGTs). The IGT application will require ≥25 kh lifetimes, and little data are available on EBC failure mechanisms, particularly at ≥1300°C. Initial 1-h furnace cycle testing at 1350°C in 90 vol% H 2 O/10 vol% air was conducted ≥1000 cycles on thermally sprayed ytterbium disilicate (YbDS) coatings with and without an Si bond coating. By ≥1000 h, both EBCs formed thick, highly cracked, and fully crystalline cristobalite scales. Comparison of thermally grown oxide (TGO) microstructure and kinetics to isothermal rates of Si and SiC steam oxidation indicated a departure from slow-growing parabolic growth to more rapid rates of silica formation. Possible mechanisms and implications for this acceleration are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Automated Label‐Free Assay for Viral Detection and Inhibitor Screening via Biomembrane‐Functionalized Microelectrode Arrays

Most virus infection assays have indirect readout such as virus number following entry (e.g., PCR, cell lysis). While effective, these technologies are labor‐intensive, require specialized environments (e.g., sterile or RNA‐free), and detect later‐stage viral events like lysis or cell death, lacking sensitivity to early fusion events. To address these limitations, we present biologically relevant 2D membrane materials, host‐cell‐derived supported lipid bilayers (hcd‐SLBs), integrated with organic microelectrode arrays (OMEAs) for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) fusion. By overexpressing angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors on the native membranes, the platform functions as a viral sensor capable of detecting virus pseudo particles (VPPs) through the late pathway. Additionally, hcd‐SLBs extracted from human lung epithelium expressing native ACE2 detect fusion events through the early pathway. The platform's utility as a drug‐screening tool is demonstrated by testing antibodies targeting either the ACE2 on the host membrane or the viral spike (S) proteins. To enhance the throughput, microfluidics are integrated for automation and OMEAs are incorporated within each channel, miniaturizing the testing units. This system supports high‐throughput data generation, automation, and scalability, providing an efficient platform for viral fusion detection that advances the study of pathogen‐host interactions and accelerates antiviral drug discovery.

Biology↗
DOE OSTI2023

Unit-cell-thick zeolitic imidazolate framework films for membrane application

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a subset of metal–organic frameworks with more than 200 characterized crystalline and amorphous networks made of divalent transition metal centres (for example, Zn 2+ and Co 2+ ) linked by imidazolate linkers. ZIF thin films have been intensively pursued, motivated by the desire to prepare membranes for selective gas and liquid separations. To achieve membranes with high throughput, as in ångström-scale biological channels with nanometre-scale path lengths, ZIF films with the minimum possible thickness—down to just one unit cell—are highly desired. However, the state-of-the-art methods yield membranes where ZIF films have thickness exceeding 50 nm. Here we report a crystallization method from ultradilute precursor mixtures, which exploits registry with the underlying crystalline substrate, yielding (within minutes) crystalline ZIF films with thickness down to that of a single structural building unit (2 nm). The film crystallized on graphene has a rigid aperture made of a six-membered zinc imidazolate coordination ring, enabling high-permselective H 2 separation performance. The method reported here will probably accelerate the development of two-dimensional metal–organic framework films for efficient membrane separation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

IDENTIFICATION OF SUPER- AND SUBCRITICAL REGIONS IN SHOCKS DRIVEN BY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS

In this work, we focus on the analysis of a coronal mass ejection (CME) driven shock observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment. We show that white-light coronagraphic images can be employed to estimate the compression ratio X = {rho}{sub d}/{rho}{sub u} all along the front of CME-driven shocks. X increases from the shock flanks (where X {approx_equal} 1.2) to the shock center (where X {approx_equal} 3.0 is maximum). From the estimated X values, we infer the Alfven Mach number for the general case of an oblique shock. It turns out that only a small region around the shock center is supercritical at earlier times, while higher up in the corona the whole shock becomes subcritical. This suggests that CME-driven shocks could be efficient particle accelerators at the initiation phases of the event, while at later times they progressively loose energy, also losing their capability to accelerate high-energy particles. This result has important implications on the localization of particle acceleration sites and in the context of predictive space weather studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗