Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “LEVITATION”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Measurement of electron density in complex plasmas of the PK-3 plus apparatus on the International Space Station

Dust particles in discharge are often levitated in a sheath region rather than in bulk plasma under gravitational conditions (on Earth). Gravity compresses dust clouds, and the gravitational force restricts the motion of the dust particles. Microgravity gives the plasmas, including dust particles, so-called complex (dusty) plasmas, where dust particles are embedded in a completely charge-neutral region of the bulk plasma. The dust cloud, as an uncompressed strongly-coupled Coulomb system, corresponds to an atomic model with physical phenomena, e.g., crystallization, phase transition, and so on. Since the phenomena are tightly connected to plasma states expressed by plasma parameters, it is significant to estimate the plasma parameters, such as electron density and temperature. The present work shows the electron density measured by the frequency shift probe in the apparatus for microgravity experiments currently boarding on the International Space Station (PK-3 plus). The frequency shift probe measurement gave electron density in the order of 10{sup 8} cm{sup -3} as a typical value in the apparatus, and demonstrated the detection of electrons in plasmas with dust particles. The spatial distribution profile of the electron density obtained in this measurement presents an aspect for the void formation of dust clouds under microgravity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

High energy x-ray scattering studies of the local order in liquid Al

The x-ray structure factors and densities for liquid aluminum from 1123 K to 1273 K have been measured using the beamline electrostatic levitator. Atomic structures as a function of temperature have been constructed from the diffraction data with reverse Monte Carlo simulations. An analysis of the local atomic structures in terms of the Honeycutt-Andersen indices indicates a high degree of icosahedral and distorted icosahedral order, a modest amount of body-centered cubic order, and marginal amounts of face-centered cubic and hexagonal close-packed order.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dust Charging and Transport on Surfaces

In this paper, we review laboratory studies of dust transport on surfaces in plasmas, performed for a number of different mechanisms: 1) Dust particles were levitated in plasma sheaths by electrostatic forces balancing the gravitational force. 2) Dust was observed to spread over and lift off a surface that repels electrons in a plasma. 3) Dust was transported on surfaces having different secondary electron yields in plasma with an electron beam as a consequence of differential charging. 4) We also report a mechanism of dust transport by electric fields occurring at electron beam impact/shadow boundaries. These processes are candidates to explain the formation of dust ponds that were recently observed in craters on the asteroid Eros by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Observation of magnetic fluctuations and rapid density decay of magnetospheric plasma in Ring Trap 1

The Ring Trap 1 device, a magnetospheric configuration generated by a levitated dipole field magnet, has created high-{beta} (local {beta} {approx} 70%) plasma by using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH). When a large population of energetic electrons is generated at low neutral gas pressure operation, high frequency magnetic fluctuations are observed. When the fluctuations are strongly excited, rapid loss of plasma was simultaneously observed especially in a quiet decay phase after the ECH microwave power is turned off. Although the plasma is confined in a strongly inhomogeneous dipole field configuration, the frequency spectra of the fluctuations have sharp frequency peaks, implying spatially localized sources of the fluctuations. The fluctuations are stabilized by decreasing the hot electron component below approximately 40%, realizing stable high-{beta} confinement.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Thermo-magneto coupling in a dipole plasma

We observe the generation of a magnetic moment in a dipole plasma as a levitating magnet-plasma system moves in response to electron cyclotron heating and increasing {beta} (magnetically confined thermal energy). We formulate a thermodynamic model that interprets heating as injection of microscopic magnetic moments; the corresponding chemical potential is the ambient magnetic field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Three dimensional complex plasma structures in a combined radio frequency and direct current discharge

We report on the first detailed analysis of large three dimensional (3D) complex plasma structures in experiments performed in pure rf and combined rf+dc discharge modes. Inductively coupled plasma is generated by an rf coil wrapped around the vertically positioned cylindrical glass tube at a pressure of 0.3 mbar. In addition, dc plasma can be generated by applying voltage to the electrodes at the ends of the tube far from the rf coil. The injected monodisperse particles are levitated in the plasma below the coil. A scanning laser sheet and a high resolution camera are used to determine the 3D positions of about 10{sup 5} particles. The observed bowl-shaped particle clouds reveal coexistence of various structures, including well-distinguished solid-like, less ordered liquid-like, and pronounced string-like phases. New criteria to identify string-like structures are proposed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Observation of Ω mode electron heating in dusty argon radio frequency discharges

The time-resolved emission of argon atoms in a dusty plasma has been measured with phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy using an intensified charge-coupled device camera. For that purpose, three-dimensional dust clouds have been confined in a capacitively coupled rf argon discharge with the help of thermophoretic levitation. While electrons are exclusively heated by the expanding sheath (α mode) in the dust-free case, electron heating takes place in the entire plasma bulk when the discharge volume is filled with dust particles. Such a behavior is known as Ω mode, first observed in electronegative plasmas. Furthermore, particle-in-cell simulations have been carried out, which reproduce the trends of the experimental findings. These simulations support previous numerical models showing that the enhanced atomic emission in the plasma can be attributed to a bulk electric field, which is mainly caused by the reduced electrical conductivity due to electron depletion.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

A 1-D dusty plasma photonic crystal

It is demonstrated numerically that a 1-D plasma crystal made of micron size cylindrical dust particles can, in principle, work as a photonic crystal for terahertz waves. The dust rods are parallel to each other and arranged in a linear string forming a periodic structure of dielectric-plasma regions. The dispersion equation is found by solving the waves equation with the boundary conditions at the dust-plasma interface and taking into account the dielectric permittivity of the dust material and plasma. The wavelength of the electromagnetic waves is in the range of a few hundred microns, close to the interparticle separation distance. The band gaps of the 1-D plasma crystal are numerically found for different types of dust materials, separation distances between the dust rods and rod diameters. The distance between levitated dust rods forming a string in rf plasma is shown experimentally to vary over a relatively wide range, from 650 μm to about 1350 μm, depending on the rf power fed into the discharge.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

The effect of a direct current field on the microparticle charge in the plasma afterglow

Residual charges of individual microparticles forming dense clouds were measured in a RF discharge afterglow. Experiments were performed under microgravity conditions on board the International Space Station, which ensured particle levitation inside the gas volume after the plasma switch-off. The distribution of residual charges as well as the spatial distribution of charged particles across the cloud were analyzed by applying a low-frequency voltage to the electrodes and measuring amplitudes of the resulting particle oscillations. Upon “free decharging” conditions, the charge distribution had a sharp peak at zero and was rather symmetric (with charges concentrated between −10e and +10e), yet positively and negatively charged particles were homogeneously distributed over the cloud. However, when decharging evolved in the presence of an external DC field (applied shortly before the plasma switch-off) practically all residual charges were positive. In this case, the overall charge distribution had a sharp peak at about +15e and was highly asymmetric, while the spatial distribution exhibited a significant charge gradient along the direction of the applied DC field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Phase structure and magnetic properties of Mn{sub 3}Ga{sub 2} alloy

In this paper, Mn{sub 3}Ga{sub 2} alloys with high saturation magnetization and high Curie temperatures were prepared by levitation melting high pure Mn and Ga elements followed by annealing. The effect of annealing temperature on phase structure and magnetic properties was investigated by means of x-ray diffraction and a vibrating sample magnetometer. A single phase alloy Mn{sub 3}Ga{sub 2}, which has tetragonal P4/mmm structure, was obtained with an annealing temperature of 773 K and annealing time of 24 h. The hysteresis curve of its easy axis for this single phase alloy shows that the room temperature coercivity and saturation magnetization are 4.18 kOe and 50.81 emu/g, respectively. The thermomagnetic curves indicate that the Curie temperature is about 650 K and a phase transformation occurs above 823 K.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Global coherence of dust density waves

The coherence of self-excited three-dimensional dust density waves has been experimentally investigated by comparing global and local wave properties. For that purpose, three-dimensional dust clouds have been confined in a radio frequency plasma with thermophoretic levitation. Global wave properties have been measured from the line-of-sight integrated dust density obtained from homogenous light extinction measurements. Local wave properties have been obtained from thin, two-dimensional illuminated laser slices of the cloud. By correlating the simultaneous global and local wave properties, the spatial coherence of the waves has been determined. We find that linear waves with small amplitudes tend to be fragmented, featuring an incoherent wave field. Strongly non-linear waves with large amplitudes, however, feature a strong spatial coherence throughout the dust cloud, indicating a high level of synchronization.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superconducting inductive displacement detection of a microcantilever

We demonstrate a superconducting inductive technique to measure the displacement of a micromechanical resonator. In our scheme, a type I superconducting microsphere is attached to the free end of a microcantilever and approached to the loop of a dc Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) microsusceptometer. A local magnetic field as low as 100 μT, generated by a field coil concentric to the SQUID, enables detection of the cantilever thermomechanical noise at 4.2 K. The magnetomechanical coupling and the magnetic spring are in good agreement with image method calculations assuming pure Meissner effect. These measurements are relevant to recent proposals of quantum magnetomechanics experiments based on levitating superconducting microparticles.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Low-temperature Bessel beam trap for single submicrometer aerosol particle studies

We report on a new instrument for single aerosol particle studies at low temperatures that combines an optical trap consisting of two counter-propagating Bessel beams (CPBBs) and temperature control down to 223 K (−50 °C). The apparatus is capable of capturing and stably trapping individual submicrometer- to micrometer-sized aerosol particles for up to several hours. First results from studies of hexadecane, dodecane, and water aerosols reveal that we can trap and freeze supercooled droplets ranging in size from ∼450 nm to 5500 nm (radius). We have conducted homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing experiments, freezing-melting cycles, and evaporation studies. To our knowledge, this is the first reported observation of the freezing process for levitated single submicrometer-sized droplets in air using optical trapping techniques. These results show that a temperature-controlled CPBB trap is an attractive new method for studying phase transitions of individual submicrometer aerosol particles.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dust particles under the influence of crossed electric and magnetic fields in the sheath of an rf discharge

Experimental studies on the interaction of micron-sized dust particles in plasmas with external magnetic fields are presented. The particles are levitated in the sheath region of an rf discharge by gravity and electric field force under the presence of a horizontal magnetic field of up to 50 mT. It is observed that the dust particles are pushed either in the E{sup →}×B{sup →}- or in the opposite direction depending on magnetic field strength, particle properties, and discharge conditions. This transport behavior is described by a competition between horizontal ambipolar electric field force and ion and neutral drag.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

An optical tweezer for complex plasmas

This paper describes the experimental realization of an optical trap for microparticles levitating in the plasma sheath. Single particles can be trapped in a laser beam comparable to optical tweezers known from colloidal suspensions. The trapping mechanism is discussed and two applications of the system are shown.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

An experimental verification of a criterion for forming metastable phases in containerless solidification

On the thermodynamic condition for forming a metastable phase from undercooled melt in a containerless state, we had proposed a criterion that crystals will preferentially form if they have a smaller entropy of fusion than the entropy of fusion of equilibrium crystals (Kuribayashi et al., Mater. Sci. Eng., A 449–451, 675 (2007)). This criterion is proposed for being applied to materials that exhibit a faceted interface, such as semiconductors and oxides. However, no experimental data that support this criterion have been obtained. From this point, we used an aerodynamic levitator as a tool for forming metastable phases from undercooled melt and verified the above-mentioned criterion using LnFeO{sub 3} (Ln: lanthanide and Y) as the model material. In addition, the condition for double recalescence, which corresponds to forming metastable phases and stable phases, was discussed in terms of competitive 2D isomorphic nucleation of the metastable phase and 3D polymorphic nucleation of the stable phase.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗