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This memo consists of a manuscript draft that was never published, but was prepared in 2002 at Sandia. It is used as a user-guide for running simulations of laser welding with Sandia's Goma 6.0 software.
Specifications of the high power laser system (HPLS) designed for nuclear physics experiments are presented. Configuration of the 2 × 10 PW femtosecond laser system is described. In order to reach the required laser beam parameters, advanced laser techniques are proposed for the HPLS: parametric amplification and cross-polarized wave generation for the intensity contrast improvement and spectral broadening, acousto-optic programmable filters to compensate for spectral phase dispersion, optical filters for spectrum management, combined methods for transversal laser suppression.
The laser excited fluorescence method has been employed to determine rate constants for vibrational relaxation of O3(101) molecules by O3, O2, CO2, H2, D2, CH4, N2, He, and Ar collision partners at 298 K. Excitation of the O3(001) level by absorption of laser transitions on the CO2 9.5-micron band have permitted the first measurements of vibrational relaxation on O3.
We have developed a method of dispersive x-ray absorption spectroscopy with a hard x-ray free electron laser (XFEL), generated by a self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mechanism. A transmission grating was utilized for splitting SASE-XFEL light, which has a relatively large bandwidth (ΔE/E ∼ 5 × 10{sup −3}), into several branches. Two primary split beams were introduced into a dispersive spectrometer for measuring signal and reference spectra simultaneously. After normalization, we obtained a Zn K-edge absorption spectrum with a photon-energy range of 210 eV, which is in excellent agreement with that measured by a conventional wavelength-scanning method. From the analysis of the difference spectra, the noise ratio was evaluated to be ∼3 × 10{sup −3}, which is sufficiently small to trace minute changes in transient spectra induced by an ultrafast optical laser. This scheme enables us to perform single-shot, high-accuracy x-ray absorption spectroscopy with femtosecond time resolution.
Data processing and calibration methods are described for tunable diode laser absorption spectrometers which produce harmonic absorption spectra as raw data for measuring gas mixing ratios down to parts-per-trillion levels at a variety of pressures. The methods, which take advantage of modern computer speed, memory, and data storage capabilities, are applicable to the detection of weakly absorbing gases in quantitative industrial monitoring, in addition to aircraft and balloon atmospheric measurements for which they were designed. Algorithms for calibration and data analysis, including rejection of erroneous spectra, variation of effective integration time, spectral alignment prior to averaging, and plotting and archiving of results, have been tested on actual stratospheric laser spectra recorded by the Aircraft Laser Infrared Absorption Spectrometer (ALIAS) spectrometer in numerous flights of NASA's ER-2 aircraft.
The simulation and modeling of part-level distortion and residual stress in diverse metal additive manufacturing (AM) geometries has great potential to enable the rapid adoption of this technology in engineering design. Moreover, the use of additive manufacturing component libraries (CLs) offer a computationally efficient means of quantifying these part-level defects resultant from AM processing. We report on how the individual simulations of simple shapes, potential entries in a CL, can be superimposed to provide an indication of distortion and residual stresses in complex geometries. Laser powder bed fusion AM was used to construct test geometries of varied shapes and their combinations in the form of CLs in an effort to characterize location-dependent and feature-dependent distortion distributions. Blue light scanning was used to experimentally measure 3D distortions in order to investigate the interaction between the component shapes and local boundary conditions. Overall, part-level distortions were highly dependent on test component geometry, local boundary conditions, and shape combination. Commercial finite element software was used to verify experimental trends and to make predictions of distortion. The use of CLs resulted in over 20 times savings in computational cost while reproducing overall trends in distortion for test geometry assemblies. Therefore, it is anticipated that the use of CLs for L-PBF AM geometries has demonstrated potential to facilitate efficient simulations of full component AM assemblies, thereby reducing the need for costly trial-and-error-type experimental analysis.
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A conical nanobrush target is proposed to improve the total proton energy-conversion efficiency in proton beam acceleration and investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell (2D-PIC) simulations. Results indicate a significant enhancement of the number and energies of hot electrons through the target rear side of the conical nanobrush target. Compared with the plain target, the field increases several times. We observe enhancements of the average proton energy and total laser-proton energy conversion efficiency of 105%. This enhancement is attributed to both nanobrush and conical configurations. The proton beam is well collimated with a divergence angle less than 28{sup Degree-Sign }. The proposed target may serve as a new method for increasing laser to proton energy-conversion efficiency.
It is experimentally demonstrated that by converting a few percent of the fundamental frequency pulse energy into the second harmonic one can obtain surface structures using dielectric microspheres with the dimension of the order of the second harmonic wavelength. Structuring by means of the second harmonic solely requires a significantly greater energy density in the pulse than using bichromatic irradiation. It is impossible to obtain structures using only the fundamental frequency radiation pulses, because radiation at the fundamental frequency is not focused by the system of microspheres. Therefore, the use of bichromatic pulses allows an essential increase in the structure recording density. Theoretical calculations demonstrating the possibility of further improvement of the structure recording density by using nonspherical microlenses of a smaller size made of a material with a higher refractive index are presented. (extreme light fields and their applications)
We studied carbon/hydrogen/oxygen chemical kinetics at time scales and thermal conditions relevant to fusion energy applications using a custom-built plasma flow reactor to investigate chemical-based strategies for eliminating carbon dust formation in fusion reactors. Acetylene and oxygen gases under varying conditions of initial concentrations are injected into an inductively coupled argon plasma where complete molecular dissociation occurs. The evolution of chemical species is investigated along the plasma flow reactor as a function of temperature and residence time. Atomized species of C, H, and O cool from 5000 K to 1000 K within 30 ms at atmospheric pressures. We employed optical emission and infrared absorption spectroscopy to measure the reaction intermediates (e.g. C 2 ) and products (e.g. C 2 H 2 ). Chemical equilibrium models are inadequate to describe the evolution of carbon molecular products, and thus a chemical kinetics model is developed. In both experiments and kinetic modelling, we find that the addition of oxygen in 1:1 proportion to carbon strongly favors the formation of CO, preventing the formation of acetylene (an important soot precursor) in less than 10 milliseconds. The kinetics model is also used to perform a reaction sensitivity and a rate of production analyses to identify the rate determining steps and the major chemical pathways that control the acetylene production/consumption. The results demonstrate the feasibility of chemical-based strategies for eliminating the formation of carbonaceous particles in fusion energy reactors.
Several methods of coherent power combining are described and compared. A comparison is also made between coherent and incoherent power combining, and important operational characteristics are considered. It is found that in communication links with demanding requirements coherent power combining is necessary.
A Monte-Carlo type simulation system was developed to test concepts and associated algorithms proposed by Mayo and Smart (1984) for the extraction of two-dimensional flow parameters from laser transit anemometry data sets. The Monte-Carlo LTA simulation program models a flow field as well as the sample volume geometry of the LTA system, thereby permitting simulation of two-dimensional data acquisition in a three-dimensional flow field. The results of these tests on the proposed processing concepts suggest that the instrument is capable of measuring mean velocities to less than +0.15 percent error and flow angles to less then +0.3 percent for turbulence intensities of up to 15.0 percent.
An optical beacon is comprised of a telescope having a primary focal plane or Coud? focal plane, a plurality of fiber coupled laser sources for generating a plurality of beams, a collimator for collimating the plurality of beams, and optics for combining and focusing the plurality of collimated beams onto the primary or Coud? focal plane of the telescope. The telescope propagates the optical beacon, which is arranged into a ring of incoherent plurality of collimated beams. The apparatus further comprises fiber splitters coupled to each laser source to provide at least eight beams from at least four laser sources. The optics comprises a prism assembly, a combiner lens, a focusing lens and a field lens for focusing the plurality of collimated beams onto the primary focal plane or Coud? focal plane of the telescope.
An improved method and apparatus have been devised for measuring cyclic errors in the readouts of laser heterodyne interferometers that are configured and operated as displacement gauges. The cyclic errors arise as a consequence of mixing of spurious optical and electrical signals in beam launchers that are subsystems of such interferometers. The conventional approach to measurement of cyclic error involves phase measurements and yields values precise to within about 10 pm over air optical paths at laser wavelengths in the visible and near infrared. The present approach, which involves amplitude measurements instead of phase measurements, yields values precise to about .0.1 microns . about 100 times the precision of the conventional approach. In a displacement gauge of the type of interest here, the laser heterodyne interferometer is used to measure any change in distance along an optical axis between two corner-cube retroreflectors. One of the corner-cube retroreflectors is mounted on a piezoelectric transducer (see figure), which is used to introduce a low-frequency periodic displacement that can be measured by the gauges. The transducer is excited at a frequency of 9 Hz by a triangular waveform to generate a 9-Hz triangular-wave displacement having an amplitude of 25 microns. The displacement gives rise to both amplitude and phase modulation of the heterodyne signals in the gauges. The modulation includes cyclic error components, and the magnitude of the cyclic-error component of the phase modulation is what one needs to measure in order to determine the magnitude of the cyclic displacement error. The precision attainable in the conventional (phase measurement) approach to measuring cyclic error is limited because the phase measurements are af-
A system for generating a frequency modulated linear laser waveform includes a single frequency laser generator to produce a laser output signal. An electro-optical modulator modulates the frequency of the laser output signal to define a linear triangular waveform. An optical circulator passes the linear triangular waveform to a band-pass optical filter to filter out harmonic frequencies created in the waveform during modulation of the laser output signal, to define a pure filtered modulated waveform having a very narrow bandwidth. The optical circulator receives the pure filtered modulated laser waveform and transmits the modulated laser waveform to a target.
A system for generating a frequency modulated linear laser waveform includes a single frequency laser generator to produce a laser output signal. An electro-optical modulator modulates the frequency of the laser output signal to define a linear triangular waveform. An optical circulator passes the linear triangular waveform to a band-pass optical filter to filter out harmonic frequencies created in the waveform during modulation of the laser output signal, to define a pure filtered modulated waveform having a very narrow bandwidth. The optical circulator receives the pure filtered modulated laser waveform and transmits the modulated laser waveform to a target.
A gain medium operable to amplify light at a gain wavelength and having reduced transverse ASE includes an input surface and an output surface opposing the input surface. The gain medium also includes a central region including gain material and extending between the input surface and the output surface along a longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The gain medium further includes an edge cladding region surrounding the central region and extending between the input surface and the output surface along the longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The edge cladding region includes the gain material and a dopant operable to absorb light at the gain wavelength.
Recently a new laser based approach for measuring area with potential for producing 2D estimates of the concentration spatial distribution has been developed through a cooperative agreement with the National Energy and Technology Laboratory of the Department of Energy, Exelis Inc. and AER Inc. The new approach is based on a pair of continuous wave intensity modulated laser absorption spectrometer transceivers, combined with a series of retro reflectors located around the perimeter of the area being monitored. The main goal of this cooperative agreement is monitoring, reporting and verification for ground carbon capture and storage projects. The system was recently tested at the Zero Emission Research and Technology site in Bozeman, MT, with underground leak rates ranging from 0.1 – 0.3 metric ton per day (T/d), as well as a 0.8 T/d surface release. Over 200 hours of data were collected over a rectangular grid 180m x 200m between August 18th and September 9th. In addition, multiple days of in situ data were acquired for the same site, using a Licor gas analyzer systems. Initial comparisons between the laser-based system and the in situ agree very well. The system is designed to operate remotely and transmit the data via a 3G/4G connection along with weather data for the site. An all web-based system ingests the data, populates a database, performs the inversion to ppm CO2 using the Line-by-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM), and displays plots and statistics for the retrieved data. We will present an overview of the GreenLITE measurement system, outline the retrieval and reconstruction approach, and discuss results from extensive field testing.