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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 1,009 records · Page 56

Highly Stable Battery Pack via Insulated, Reinforced, Buckling-Enabled Interconnect Array

This work describes a flexible and stretchable battery pack configuration that exhibits highly stable performance under large deformation up to 100% biaxial stretching. Using stress-enduring printable inks and serpentine interconnects, the new screen-printing route offers an attractive solution for converting rigid battery units into a flexible, stretchable energy storage device. Coin-cell lithium ion batteries are thus assembled onto the island regions of a screen-printed, buckling-enabled, polymer-reinforced interconnect “island-bridge” array. Most of the strain on the new energy-storage device is thus accommodated by the stress-enduring serpentine structures, and the array is further reinforced by mechanically strong “backbone” layers. Battery pack arrays are assembled and tested under different deformation levels, demonstrating a highly stable performance (<2.5% change) under all test conditions. Additionally, a light emitting diode band powered by the battery pack is tested on-body, showing uninterrupted illumination regardless of any degrees of deformation. Moreover, battery-powered devices that are ultrastable under large deformation can be easily fabricated by incorporating different electronics parts such as sensors or integrated circuits on the same platform. Such ability to apply traditionally rigid, bulky lithium ion batteries onto flexible and stretchable printed surfaces holds considerable promise for diverse wearable applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Monolithic Kerr and electro-optic hybrid microcombs

Microresonator-based soliton generation promises chip-scale integration of optical frequency combs for applications spanning from time keeping to frequency synthesis. Access to the soliton repetition rate is a prerequisite for those applications. While miniaturized cavities harness Kerr nonlinearity and enable terahertz soliton repetition rates, such high rates are not amenable to direct electronic detection. Here, we demonstrate hybrid Kerr and electro-optic microcombs using a lithium niobate thin film that exhibits both Kerr and Pockels nonlinearities. By interleaving the high-repetition-rate Kerr soliton comb with the low-repetition-rate electro-optic comb on the same waveguide, wide Kerr soliton mode spacing is divided within a single chip, allowing for direct electronic detection and feedback control of the soliton repetition rate. Our work establishes an integrated approach to electronically access terahertz solitons, paving the way for building chip-scale referenced comb sources.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Efficient Multiscale Optoelectronic Prediction for Conjugated Polymers

Conjugated polymers represent a high-potential material class due to the tunability of their optoelectronic properties via straightforward processing protocols. However, to in silico tailor these optoelectronic properties, one must compute the conformationally dependent electronic structure over mesoscopic length and time scales. This task represents a challenging multiscale computational problem in which quantum chemistry and atomistic or coarse-grained molecular dynamics must be integrated. Recently, we introduced a methodology, called electronic coarse graining (ECG), that utilizes artificial neural networks to compute ab initio quality electronic structures using only the reduced degrees of freedom of coarse-grained models. Here, we adapt ECG to variable-molecular weight conjugated oligomers by casting the problem in the framework of sequence detection. A machine-learning (ML) architecture employing one-dimensional convolutional neural networks and long short-term memory networks is utilized to compute ground-state orbital energies, charge density distributions, and optical spectra solely from the coarse-grained model's configurational degrees of freedom. Robust molecular weight transferability for ECG is established via a A-ML approach that leverages model electronic Hamiltonians for ground and excited-state property determination. The accuracy and transferability of the ECG methodology opens the door for scalable optoelectronic property prediction in conjugated polymers directly from coarse-grained degrees of freedom.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Single electron in a storage ring: a probe into the fundamental properties of synchrotron radiation and a powerful diagnostic tool

An experimental study of undulator radiation generated by a single electron was carried out at the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) storage ring at Fermilab. Photons were detected with a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) at an average rate of 20 kHz, corresponding to one detection every few hundred revolutions. Events were continuously recorded by a picosecond event timer for as long as 5 minutes at a time. The collected data were used to directly test the predictions of classical Poisson photostatistics. The study was motivated in part by a previous observation of sub-Poissonian statistics in a similar experiment with synchrotron radiation. In addition, we show that the time series of recorded events can be used to study the synchrotron motion of a single electron, yielding dynamical parameters such as the phase jitter of the radiofrequency cavity and the dependence of the synchrotron period on amplitude. Research plans for further experiments are also discussed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Facile Tensile Testing Platform for In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Nanomaterials

In situ tensile testing using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful technique to probe structure-property relationships of materials at the atomic scale. In this work, a facile tensile testing platform for in situ characterization of materials inside a transmission electron microscope is demonstrated. The platform consists of: 1) a commercially available, flexible, electron-transparent substrate (e.g., TEM grid) integrated with a conventional tensile testing holder, and 2) a finite element simulation providing quantification of specimen-applied strain. The flexible substrate (carbon support film of the TEM grid) mitigates strain concentrations usually found in free-standing films and enables in situ straining experiments to be performed on materials that cannot undergo localized thinning or focused ion beam lift-out. The finite element simulation enables direct correlation of holder displacement with sample strain, providing upper and lower bounds of expected strain across the substrate. The tensile testing platform is validated for three disparate material systems: sputtered gold-palladium, few-layer transferred tungsten disulfide, and electrodeposited lithium, by measuring lattice strain from experimentally recorded electron diffraction data. The results show good agreement between experiment and simulation, providing confidence in the ability to transfer strain from holder to sample and relate TEM crystal structural observations with material mechanical properties.

2D materials↗

High-Power Warm-White Hybrid LED Package for Illumination

In this project, an integrated warm-white hybrid light engine was developed. The hybrid approach involves combining phosphor-converted off-white InGaN LEDs and direct-emitting red AlInGaP LEDs in a single light engine to achieve high efficacy together with high color rendering index. We developed and integrated technology improvements in InGaN and AlInGaP die technology, phosphor technology, package architecture and encapsulation, to realize a hybrid warm-white LED package with an efficacy of 140 lm/W at a correlated color temperature of 3000K and a color rendering index of 90, measured under representative operating conditions. This efficacy is 26% higher than the best warm-white LEDs of similar specification that are commercially available at the end of the project. Since the InGaN- and AlInGaP-based LEDs used in the hybrid engine show different behavior as a function of current and temperature, a control system needs to be in place to ensure a stable color point over all operating conditions. In this project, we developed an electronic control circuit that is fully integrated into the light engine in such a way that the module can simply be driven by a conventional single-channel driver. The integrated control circuit uses a switch-mode boost converter topology to control the LED drive currents based on the temperature and the input current of the light engine. A color control performance of 5 SDCM was demonstrated, and improvement to 3 SDCM is considered well within reach. The combination of high efficacy and ease of integration with existing single-channel drivers is expected to facilitate the adoption of the hybrid technology and accelerate the energy savings associated with solid-state lighting. In the product commercialization plan, downlights and indirect-lit troffers have been selected as the first target applications for this product concept. Fully functional integrated prototypes have been developed for both applications, and the business case evaluation is ongoing as of the end of the project.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Chemical vapor deposition of monolayer MoS 2 directly on ultrathin Al 2 O 3 for low-power electronics

Monolayer MoS 2 has recently been identified as a promising material for high-performance electronics. However, monolayer MoS 2 must be integrated with ultrathin high-κ gate dielectrics in order to realize practical low-power devices. In this paper, we report the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of monolayer MoS 2 directly on 20 nm thick Al 2 O 3 grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The quality of the resulting MoS 2 is characterized by a comprehensive set of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, a low-temperature (200 °C) Al 2 O 3 ALD process is developed that maintains dielectric integrity following the high-temperature CVD of MoS 2 (800 °C). Field-effect transistors (FETs) derived from these MoS 2 /Al 2 O 3 stacks show minimal hysteresis with a sub-threshold swing as low as ~220 mV/decade, threshold voltages of ~2 V, and current I ON /I OFF ratio as high as ~10 4 , where I OFF is defined as the current at zero gate voltage as is customary for determining power consumption in complementary logic circuits. Finally, the system presented here concurrently optimizes multiple low-power electronics figures of merit while providing a transfer-free method of integrating monolayer MoS 2 with ultrathin high-κ dielectrics, thus enabling a scalable pathway for enhancement-mode FETs for low-power applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A 28 nm multiply-accumulate ASIC architecture for on-chip data compression in MHz frame rate X-ray and electron pixel detectors

Modern X-ray detector systems urgently require compact, efficient, and fast data compression schemes to handle the transmission of big data from pixel arrays, enabling frame rates in the MHz regime. Here, in this work, a data compression ASIC that implements a streaming fixed-length lossy compression scheme is introduced and analyzed, proving the feasibility and benefits of on-chip compression. The compression scheme utilizes a vector matrix product logic, which performs a number of floating-point multiplications, additions, and accumulations. The logic is verified, synthesized, and shown to fit in the area resource available for the X-ray detector under study, which comprises 192 × 168 pixels each of 12-bit width, and having a total area of 20 mm× 20 mm, about 2 mm× 20 mm of which are available for the digital logic. Several system architectures, precisions, and compression ratios ranging from 100 to 250 were analyzed to pave the way for on-chip fixed-length compression (e.g., principal component analysis, singular value decomposition) and data reduction (e.g., azimuthal integration) for X-ray and electron detectors.

Data compression↗

Observation of Undulator Radiation Generated by a Single Electron Circulating in a Storage Ring and Possible Applications

An experimental study into the undulator radiation, generated by a single electron was carried out at the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) storage ring at Fermilab. The individual photons were detected by a Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) at an average rate of 1 detection per 300 revolutions in the ring. The detection events were continuously recorded by a picosecond event timer for as long as 1 minute at a time. The collected data were used to test if there is any deviation from the classically predicted Poissonian photostatistics. It was motivated by the observation * of sub-Poissonian statistics in a similar experiment. The observation * could be an instrumentation effect related to low detection efficiency and long detector dead time. In our experiment, the detector (SPAD) has a much higher efficiency (65%) and a much lower dead time. In addition, we show that the collected data (recorded detection times) can be used to study the synchrotron motion of a single electron and infer some parameters of the ring. For example, by comparing the results of simulation and measurement for the synchrotron motion we were able to estimate the magnitude of the RF phase jitter.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural by intermediate-energy electrons

We report cross sections for electron-impact excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural, at intermediate incident electron energies (20, 30, and 40 eV). The present differential cross sections are measured over the scattered electron angular range 10°–90°, with corresponding integral cross sections subsequently being determined. Furfural is a viable plant-derived alternative to petrochemicals, being produced via low-temperature plasma treatment of biomass. Current yields, however, need to be significantly improved, possibly through modelling, with the present cross sections being an important component of such simulations. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other cross sections for vibrational excitation of furfural available in the literature, so the present data are valuable for this important molecule.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Impact of silver metallization and electron irradiation on the mechanical deformation of polyimide films

The impact of silver metallization and electron irradiation on the physical and mechanical properties of polyimide films has been studied. The metal that impregnated the structure of the polyimide substrate was 1–5 μm. The surface coatings contained 80–97% of the relative silver mirror in the visible and infrared regions. Irradiation was performed at the ELU-6 linear accelerator with an average beam electron energy of 2 MeV, an integral current of up to 1000 μA, a pulse repetition rate of 200 Hz, and a pulse duration of 5 μs. The absorbed dose in the samples was 10, 20, 30, and 40 MGy. The samples were deformed at room temperature under uniaxial tension on an Instron 5982 universal testing system. The structural changes in the composite materials that result from the impact of the physical factors were studied using an X-ray diffractometer DRON-2M in air at 293 K using CuK{sub α} radiation (λ{sub αCu} = 1.5418 Å). A substantial growth of mechanical characteristics resulting from the film metallization, as compared to the pure film, was observed. The growth of the ultimate strength by Δσ = 105 MPa and the plasticity by Δε = 75% is connected with the characteristics of the change of structure of the metallized films and the chemical etching conditions. The electron irradiation of the metallized polyimide film worsens its elastic and strength characteristics due to the formation of new phases in the form of silver oxide in the coating. The concentration of these phases increased with increasing dose, which was also the result of the violation of the ordered material structure, namely, the rupture of polyimide macromolecule bonds and the formation of new phases of silver in the coating. A mathematical model was obtained that predicts the elastic properties of silver metallized polyimide films. This model agrees with the experimental data.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Theory of extreme correlations using canonical Fermions and path integrals

The t–J model is studied using a novel and rigorous mapping of the Gutzwiller projected electrons, in terms of canonical electrons. The mapping has considerable similarity to the Dyson–Maleev transformation relating spin operators to canonical Bosons. This representation gives rise to a non Hermitian quantum theory, characterized by minimal redundancies. A path integral representation of the canonical theory is given. Using it, the salient results of the extremely correlated Fermi liquid (ECFL) theory, including the previously found Schwinger equations of motion, are easily rederived. Further, a transparent physical interpretation of the previously introduced auxiliary Greens function and the ‘caparison factor’, is obtained. The low energy electron spectral function in this theory, with a strong intrinsic asymmetry, is summarized in terms of a few expansion coefficients. These include an important emergent energy scale Δ{sub 0} that shrinks to zero on approaching the insulating state, thereby making it difficult to access the underlying very low energy Fermi liquid behavior. The scaled low frequency ECFL spectral function, related simply to the Fano line shape, has a peculiar energy dependence unlike that of a Lorentzian. The resulting energy dispersion obtained by maximization is a hybrid of a massive and a massless Dirac spectrum E{sub Q}{sup ∗}∼γQ−√(Γ{sub 0}{sup 2}+Q{sup 2}), where the vanishing of Q, a momentum type variable, locates the kink minimum. Therefore the quasiparticle velocity interpolates between (γ∓1) over a width Γ{sub 0} on the two sides of Q=0, implying a kink there that strongly resembles a prominent low energy feature seen in angle resolved photoemission spectra (ARPES) of cuprate materials. We also propose novel ways of analyzing the ARPES data to isolate the predicted asymmetry between particle and hole excitations. -- Highlights: •Spectral function of the Extremely Correlated Fermi Liquid theory at low energy. •Electronic origin of low energy kinks in energy dispersion. •Non Hermitian representation of Gutzwiller projected electrons. •Analogy with Dyson–Maleev representation of spins. •Path integral formulation of extremely correlated electrons.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Prediction of transport in the JET DTE2 discharges with TGLF and NEO models using the TGYRO transport code

Abstract The JET Deuterium-Tritium-Experiment Campaign 2 (DTE2) has demonstrated the highest-ever fusion energy production. To forecast the transport dynamics within these discharges, the TGLF and NEO models within the TGYRO transport code were employed. A critical development in this study is the new quasilinear transport model, TGLF-SAT2, specifically designed to resolve discrepancies identified in JET deuterium discharges. This model accurately describes the saturated three-dimensional (3D) fluctuation spectrum, aligning closely with a database of nonlinear CGYRO turbulence simulations, thereby enhancing the predictive accuracy of TGYRO simulations. In validating against the JET DTE2 discharges across two primary operating scenarios, TGYRO effectively predicted the temperature profiles within a broad radial window ( ρ ∼ 0.2–0.85), though with minor ion temperature discrepancies near the core. However, a consistent underprediction of electron density profiles by 20% across the simulation domain was noted, indicating areas for future refinement. To achieve a self-consistent steady-state solution based on the JET DTE2 discharges, an integrated modeling workflow TGYRO-STEP within the OMFIT framework was introduced. This workflow iterates among the core transport, the pedestal pressure and the MHD equilibrium, ultimately yielding a converged solution that significantly reduces dependence on experimental boundary conditions for temperature and density profiles. The integrated simulation results show negligible differences in electron density and temperature profiles compared to standalone TGYRO modeling, while the ion temperature profile is lower due to the updated boundary condition in TGYRO-STEP. The application of the TGYRO-STEP workflow to JET DTE2 discharges serves as a crucial test to validate its robustness and highlights its limitations, providing valuable insights for its potential future application in ITER and Fusion Power Plant deuterium and tritium prediction modeling.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

SU-E-I-97: Smart Auto-Planning Framework in An EMR Environment (SAFEE)

Purpose: Our Radiation Oncology Department uses clinical practice guidelines for patient treatment, including normal tissue sparing and other dosimetric constraints. These practice guidelines were adapted from national guidelines, clinical trials, literature reviews, and practitioner's own experience. Modern treatment planning systems (TPS) have the capability of incorporating these practice guidelines to automatically create radiation therapy treatment plans with little human intervention. We are developing a software infrastructure to integrate clinical practice guidelines and radiation oncology electronic medical record (EMR) system into radiation therapy treatment planning system (TPS) for auto planning. Methods: Our Smart Auto-Planning Framework in an EMR environment (SAFEE) uses a software pipeline framework to integrate practice guidelines,EMR, and TPS together. The SAFEE system starts with retrieving diagnosis information and physician's prescription from the EMR system. After approval of contouring, SAFEE will automatically create plans according to our guidelines. Based on clinical objectives, SAFEE will automatically select treatment delivery techniques (such as, 3DRT/IMRT/VMAT) and optimize plans. When necessary, SAFEE will create multiple treatment plans with different combinations of parameters. SAFEE's pipeline structure makes it very flexible to integrate various techniques, such as, Model-Base Segmentation (MBS) and plan optimization algorithms, e.g., Multi-Criteria Optimization (MCO). In addition, SAFEE uses machine learning, data mining techniques, and an integrated database to create clinical knowledgebase and then answer clinical questions, such as, how to score plan quality or how volume overlap affects physicians' decision in beam and treatment technique selection. Results: In our institution, we use Varian Aria EMR system and RayStation TPS from RaySearch, whose ScriptService API allows control by external programs. These applications are the building blocks of our SAFEE system. Conclusion: SAFEE is a feasible method of integrating clinical information to develop an auto-planning paradigm to improve clinical workflow in cancer patient care.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Front-end electronic readout system for the Belle II imaging Time-Of-Propagation detector

The Time-Of-Propagation detector is a Cherenkov particle identification detector based on quartz radiator bars for the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB ee collider. The purpose of the detector is to identify the type of charged hadrons produced in ee collisions, and requires a single photon timing resolution below 100 picoseconds. A novel front-end electronic system was designed, built, and integrated to acquire data from the 8192 microchannel plate photomultiplier tube channels in the detector. Waveform sampling of these analog signals is done by switched-capacitor array application-specific integrated circuits. The processes of triggering, digitization of windows of interest, readout, and data transfer to the Belle II data acquisition system are managed by Xilinx Zynq-7000 programmable system on a chip devices.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The Catalytic Reduction of Dinitrogen Under Mild Conditions (Final Report)

In order to use molecular hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels, large quantities of hydrogen (or protons and electrons) would have to be generated from water using a method based on solar energy and stored as a molecule in which hydrogen is a high weight percentage. The hydrogen must then be generated as needed from the form in which it is stored. An attractive molecule for this purpose is ammonia (~17% hydrogen by weight). Among the many problems that must be addressed for a successful implementation of this approach in the long term is the reduction of nitrogen catalytically to ammonia with protons and electrons under mild conditions, a goal that is addressed in this proposal. The first abiological catalytic reduction of N 2 to NH 3 by protons and electrons under mild conditions (22 °C and 1 atm) employed molybdenum catalysts, [(HIPTNCH 2 CH 2 ) 3 N]Mo (HIPTN 3 N 3- ), where HIPT (hexaisopropylterphenyl) is 3,5- (2,4,6-i-Pr 3 C 6 H 2 ) 2 C 6 H 3 . A total of approximately four turnovers (to give a maximum of eight equivalents of ammonia) along with approximately one equivalent of hydrogen per N 2 reduced, were found. A limitation of this catalytic approach is loss of the ligand from the metal. This project is aimed at developing a complex that contains a ligand that will not be removed from the metal. A macrocyclic TREN-based ligand of this type has been synthesized recently. The project is aimed at making similar ligands and molybdenum complexes that contain them and testing the new catalysts for catalytic reduction of dinitrogen. The results of these investigations will help guide further design of ligands for more efficient reduction of nitrogen to ammonia and ultimately an integrated device in which protons and electrons are generated using solar energy and employed to reduce nitrogen to ammonia using molybdenum catalysts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Plasma relaxation mechanics of pulsed high power microwave surface flashover

Microwave transmission and reflection characteristics of pulsed radio frequency field generated plasmas are elucidated for air, N{sub 2}, and He environments under pressure conditions ranging from 10 to 600 torr. The pulsed, low temperature plasma is generated along the atmospheric side of the dielectric boundary between the source (under vacuum) and the radiating environment with a thickness on the order of 5 mm and a cross sectional area just smaller than that of the waveguide. Utilizing custom multi-standard waveguide couplers and a continuous low power probing source, the scattering parameters were measured before, during, and after the high power microwave pulse with emphasis on the latter. From these scattering parameters, temporal electron density estimations (specifically the longitudinal integral of the density) were calculated using a 1D plane wave-excited model for analysis of the relaxation processes associated. These relaxation characteristics ultimately determine the maximum repetition rate for many pulsed electric field applications and thus are applicable to a much larger scope in the plasma community than just those related to high power microwaves. This manuscript discusses the diagnostic setup for acquiring the power measurements along with a detailed description of the kinematic and chemical behavior of the plasma as it decays down to its undisturbed state under various gas type and pressure conditions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗