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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Unidirectional ray polaritons in twisted asymmetric stacks

Abstract The vast repository of van der Waals (vdW) materials supporting polaritons offers numerous possibilities to tailor electromagnetic waves at the nanoscale. The development of twistoptics—the modulation of the optical properties by twisting stacks of vdW materials—enables directional propagation of phonon polaritons (PhPs) along a single spatial direction, known as canalization. Here we demonstrate a complementary type of directional propagation of polaritons by reporting the visualization of unidirectional ray polaritons (URPs). They arise naturally in twisted hyperbolic stacks with very different thicknesses of their constituents, demonstrated for homostructures of$$\alpha$$ α -MoO 3 and heterostructures of$$\alpha$$ α -MoO 3 and$$\beta$$ β -Ga 2 O 3 . Importantly, their ray-like propagation, characterized by large momenta and constant phase, is tunable by both the twist angle and the illumination frequency. Apart from their fundamental importance, our findings introduce twisted asymmetric stacks as efficient platforms for nanoscale directional polariton propagation, opening the door for applications in nanoimaging, (bio)-sensing, or polaritonic thermal management.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fast, Nondestructive and Precise Biomass Measurements Are Possible Using Lidar-Based Convex Hull and Voxelization Algorithms

Light detection and ranging (lidar) scanning tools are available that can make rapid digital estimations of biomass. Voxelization and convex hull are two algorithms used to calculate the volume of the scanned plant canopy, which is correlated with biomass, often the primary trait of interest. Voxelization splits the scans into regular-sized cubes, or voxels, whereas the convex hull algorithm creates a polygon mesh around the outermost points of the point cloud and calculates the volume within that mesh. In this study, digital estimates of biomass were correlated against hand-harvested biomass for field-grown corn, broom corn, and energy sorghum. Voxelization (r = 0.92) and convex hull (r = 0.95) both correlated well with plant dry biomass. Lidar data were also collected in a large breeding trial with nearly 900 genotypes of energy sorghum. In contrast to the manual harvest studies, digital biomass estimations correlated poorly with yield collected from a forage harvester for both voxel count (r = 0.32) and convex hull volume (r = 0.39). However, further analysis showed that the coefficient of variation (CV, a measure of variability) for harvester-based estimates of biomass was greater than the CV of the voxel and convex-hull-based biomass estimates, indicating that poor correlation was due to harvester imprecision, not digital estimations. Overall, results indicate that the lidar-based digital biomass estimates presented here are comparable or more precise than current approaches.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2026

Final Technical Report: Transport of Complex Mixtures in Ion-Containing Polymer Membranes

Permselective ion-containing membranes are an integral component for many applications from water treatment, fuel cells, and solar fuels devices where the selective transport of molecules and ions is desired. In solar fuels devices, ion-containing polymer membranes are responsible for permitting selective transport of ions between electrodes to maintain overall charge neutrality yet limit transport of reaction products produced at the electrodes. While the transport of single solutes through such membranes has been fairly well described, binary and multicomponent transport is poorly understood due to the myriad of interactions that occur in these systems (i.e. between co-permeants and between permeants and the membrane). Solar fuels devices are just one example of an application where understanding the transport of multiple simultaneous species is critically important to improving device performance as product crossover leads to reductions in overall device performance. The objectives of this research was to improve our understanding of the complex array of factors that influence transport behavior of multiple solutes within ion-containing polymer membranes. This experimental project addressed the lack of fundamental understanding of multicomponent transport behavior by synthesizing ion exchange membranes with varied incorporation of comonomers (ionic and neutral moieties) to investigate fundamental relationships between membrane structure, membrane physiochemical properties, and transport behavior of solutes and complex solute mixtures through dense, hydrated membranes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Alignments in the orientation of radio jets from AGN and their host galaxies

It is well established that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play an important role in the evolution of galaxies. These AGNs can be linked to the accretion processes onto massive black holes and past merger events in their host galaxies, which may lead to different alignments of the jets with respect to the host galaxies. This paper presents a study of the position angle (PA) differences between radio and optical images of radio-AGNs based on the second data release (DR2) of the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-Meter Sky Survey (LoTSS), theKarl G. JanskyVery Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters Survey (FIRST), the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We assessed PA measurement biases in the data and classified the radio-AGNs based on the radio luminosity and infrared colour from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). This resulted in the largest sample of radio AGNs with reliable radio and optical PA measurements published to date, with a total of 3682 AGNs. The PA difference (dPA) distributions for the radio-AGN sample show a prominent minor-axis alignment tendency. Based on some simple assumptions, we simulated the projection effect to estimate the intrinsic jet-galaxy alignment. The observed dPA distribution can be well described by a two-component jet-alignment model in which one component is more aligned with the minor axis of the host galaxy than the other. The fitting results indicate that the jet alignment is dependent on radio luminosity and the shape of the host galaxies, with the jets being more likely to be aligned with the minor axis of the galaxy for lower radio luminosity and for optically more elongated radio-AGNs. The minor-axis alignment of the entire sample may suggest a coherent accretion model present in most AGN host galaxies, while a considerable number of luminous radio-AGNs with massive host galaxies might have undergone accretion – according to the chaotic model – or past merger events.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Autonomous phototaxis of hydrogel swimmers

The design of synthetic soft matter capable of emulating the complex behaviors of living organisms, such as sensing and adapting to their environment, remains an important challenge in developing biomimetic materials. Functionalized hydrogels are ideal candidates for such materials since they are highly responsive to their environment and can be operated in water. In this work, we investigate a hybrid bonding hydrogel composed of peptide amphiphile supramolecular nanofibers covalently attached to a photoresponsive network, in which high-aspect-ratio ferromagnetic nanowires are aligned along the length of the sample, designed to swim under oscillating magnetic fields. This hybrid hydrogel swimmer can autonomously swim toward a light source by utilizing photoinduced interactions between supramolecular and covalent networks reminiscent of phototactic swimming in living systems. Using a combination of experimental techniques and a continuum model incorporating photochemistry, magnetoelasticity, and hydrodynamics, we explain the swimming mechanism and predict phototactic behavior. Our work highlights the potential role of hybrid bonding polymers, which leverage the interplay between supramolecular assemblies and covalent networks. We demonstrate how these polymers can be tailored to react dynamically to their environment, paving the way for developing intelligent and autonomous robotic systems.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2026

The impact of chemistry on anion migration in bixbyite-structured lanthanide oxides

This manuscript describes atomistic calculations of oxygen vacancy and interstitial migration in bixbyite structured lanthanide oxides. We examine two types of compounds, one in which only one type of lanthanide cation is present and a second class in which two lanthanides are present in a 3:1 ratio as dictated by the symmetry of the bixbyite crystal structure. Using temperature accelerated dynamics and the nudged elastic band method, we quantify the role of chemistry on the energy barriers for the most important pathways for both vacancy and interstitial migration. We then analyze the impact of these variations on the overall diffusivity of each defect, quantifying the contribution of each pathway using the theory of kinosons. We find that vacancy mobility can vary by as much as three orders of magnitude through changes in chemistry at 500 K. Changes in interstitial mobility are more modest but can still vary by an order of magnitude. This points to the ability to tune the mass transport characteristics of these compounds through appropriate choices in chemistry. We have also included supplementary information containing the atomic structures of the relevant pathways.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Enter the AHU (36th Chamber of ASHRAE): A Multi-site Field Study of ASHRAE G36

Despite being recognized as the best practice for advanced building controls, ASHRAE Guideline 36 (G36) has seen slow adoption in retrofit cases. Decisionmakers lack credible field evidence to justify the time and person-power investment. Most prior analyses have relied on software simulations, which overlook implementation challenges and fail to persuade owners to move from models to real-world deployment. This paper presents a multi-site field study of G36 performance, drawing on measured results from 17 projects across diverse building types and climate zones. The analysis disaggregates outcomes by the most widely adopted air handling unit (AHU) based G36 strategies, including trim-and-respond approaches to supply air temperature (SAT) and duct static pressure (DSP) reset, and economizer controls. Results for controls re programming implementations are encouraging, with HVAC savings ranging from 2% - 49%, with a median of 18%. The range aligns with simulation study findings showing 1% - 46% savings through these three strategies. These findings show that even without capital investment in control infrastructure upgrades, existing building owners are reaping significant benefits from updating HVAC sequences of operation to industry best-practice solutions. The results give practitioners and decisionmakers a reference point on what to expect, which strategies deliver, and how field performance may compare to simulation.

Deshpande, Reva↗
DOE OSTI2024

Three-dimensional dispersion in the type-II Dirac semimetals PtTe 2 and PdTe 2 revealed through circular dichroism in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

PtTe 2 and PdTe 2 are among the first transition metal dichalcogenides that were predicted to host type-II Dirac fermions, exotic particles prohibited in free space. These materials are layered and air stable, which makes them top candidates for technological applications that take advantage of their anisotropic magnetotransport properties. Here, in this work, we provide a detailed characterization of the electronic structure of PtTe 2 and PdTe 2 using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and density functional theory calculations, offering an alternative interpretation for one of the Dirac-like dispersions in these materials. Through the use of circularly polarized light, we report a different behavior of such dispersion in PdTe 2 compared to PtTe 2 , that we relate to a symmetry analysis of the dipole matrix element. Such analysis reveals a link between the observed circular dichroism and the different momentum-dependent terms in the dispersion of these two compounds, despite their close similarity in crystal structure. Additionally, our data show a clear difference in the circular dichroic signal for the type-II Dirac cones characteristic of these materials, compared to their topologically protected surface states. Our paper provides a useful reference for the ARPES characterization of other transition metal dichalcogenides with topological properties and illustrates the use of circular dichroism as a guide to identify the topological character and attributes of two otherwise equivalent band dispersions.

angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy↗
DOE OSTI2026

Identifying microstructures susceptible to pulverization in commercially irradiated high burnup UO2 under LOCA conditions

High burnup fuel fragmentation (HBFF) has been a concern in the nuclear industry for many years. When UO2 reaches and exceeds pellet average burnups around 55 GWd/tU, microstructural changes in the fuel pellet begin to occur that render the pellet susceptible to fine fragmentation under loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions. During a LOCA event, the cladding balloons and bursts, potentially releasing part of these fine fuel fragments into the reactor pressure vessel. This process is known as fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD). Presently, the US nuclear industry is developing a safety basis for FFRD with the goal of increasing burnups and pressurized water reactor cycle lengths. Increased cycle lengths would push the burnup limits of the fuel rods past the known threshold for HBFF susceptibility. In this work, the microstructural impact on HBFF was investigated by comparing the microstructures of as-irradiated rod segments to their post-LOCA tested counterparts. This investigation found that varied operational histories result in different microstructural evolutions across the pellet radius, which impacts the fragmentation behavior and radial location of the fragmentation. It is noted that regions with a high bubble density and a high density of grain boundaries fragment under LOCA-relevant conditions. In addition to the fragmentation that has been previously reported at the periphery of the fuel, fragmentation was also noted in the dark zone toward the fuel center. Analysis of the power histories of the fuel samples suggests that the dark zone forms in the central regions of the pellet between temperatures of approximately 740 and 960 °C.

McKinney, Casey [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000335383614)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Environmental drivers of spatial variation in tropical forest canopy height: Insights from NASA’s GEDI spaceborne LiDAR

Forest canopy height is a fundamental ecosystem property—influencing patterns of forest carbon storage and forest ecosystem responses to climate variability and change. Previous studies have analyzed environmental drivers influencing spatial variation in canopy height at landscape-to-regional scales; however, far less is known about the environmental determinants underlying regional and global scale variation in forest canopy height. Using the canopy height metrics products from Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), a space-borne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) instrument specifically designed to characterize forest structure, we analyze the environmental correlates of spatial variation of global tropical forest canopy height. Our study demonstrates that climate, topography, and soil properties account for 75% of the variation in tropical forest canopy height. Elevation, dry season length, and solar radiation are the most important drivers in determining canopy height both locally and regionally. These results emphasize the vulnerability of tropical forest structure to ongoing changes in the earth’s climate and provide a valuable empirical baseline for tropical forest management.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Self-Leveling Inks for Printing Ultra-uniform Perovskite Solar Modules by Flexography

The report describes the development of scalable manufacturing methods for high-performance, stable perovskite solar modules using flexographic printing. The project developed self-leveling perovskite inks that exploit Marangoni flows to reduce coating defects and improve large-area film uniformity. Bayesian optimization was integrated with high-throughput photoluminescence mapping and photovoltaic measurements to efficiently optimize ink formulations and printing conditions. The resulting printed perovskite solar cells achieved champion power conversion efficiencies above 21.6%, with median efficiencies exceeding 20% across large device batches. At the module scale, printed devices achieved active-area efficiencies up to approximately 17.3% on 25 cm² substrates. The project also demonstrated improved performance and stability using additively patterned interconnections compared with laser-scribed controls. Overall, the work establishes a data-driven, roll-compatible pathway toward high-throughput, low-capital-cost manufacturing of uniform and stable perovskite photovoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Virtual Growth of SRF Materials

Niobium's native surface oxide affects SRF cavity and superconducting qubit performance, motivating interest in controlling its crystalline structure. We combine a literature-derived machine-learning analysis with temperature-dependent XRD to study crystalline ordering in Nb2O5. Random Forest models, trained on 74 processing conditions from 17 papers and validated by leave-one-group-out cross-validation, predicted broad crystallinity outcomes well (balanced accuracy 0.809), but struggled with specific polymorph identity (0.577). Annealing temperature was the dominant predictor across all targets; oxygen partial pressure showed negligible importance, reflecting narrow literature coverage rather than physical irrelevance. Temperature-dependent XRD on anodized and H2O2-treated Niobium showed structural evolution consistent with the machine learning predictions. Our model and overall approach provide a data-driven framework for identifying and optimizing conditions that promote crystallization in initially amorphous oxides. This framework can guide the selection of growth and post-annealing conditions for Nb surfaces by narrowing the experimental parameter space, thereby reducing trial-and-error efforts in developing oxide structures relevant to SRF applications.

Tilkin, Anthony [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Manipulation of Localized Excitons in CrPS4 by Temperature and Magnetic Field

Layered van der Waals magnetic semiconductors provide a versatile platform for exploring excitonic phenomena intertwined with spin and lattice degrees of freedom, enabling excitons to act as sensitive probes of magnetic order. CrPS4 is a layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor that hosts rich excitonic features whose microscopic origin and connection to magnetic ordering remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigate the electronic and excitonic properties of bulk CrPS4 using a combination of many-body perturbation theory, dynamical mean-field theory, and photoluminescence-based experiments. Our calculations establish CrPS4 as a direct-gap semiconductor with a bandgap of 2.48 eV in the antiferromagnetic phase. Several subbandgap excitonic transitions are predicted by theory, comprising multiple spin-allowed excitons and an additional spin-flip excitation, predominantly localized on the Cr3+ ions. Temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent optical measurements reveal thermally driven exciton redistribution among localized states and identify characteristic energy shifts that provide clear optical signatures of magnetic phase transitions in CrPS4. These results provide insights into the excitonic transitions of antiferromagnets and suggest potential routes for all-optical sensing and light-driven control of their magnetic order.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2026

Accelerating actinium-225 purification by high-pressure ion chromatography

Actinium-225 (t1/2 = 9.92 days) is an important radioisotope for targeted alpha therapy applications. The limited supply obtained through the decay of thorium-229 has motivated accelerator-based production routes, including irradiation of thorium targets. Irradiated targets can produce useful quantities of actinium-225, but the product requires final purification from chemically similar lanthanide contaminants. This work describes an automated high-pressure ion chromatography method for this final polishing step. The method uses a reusable strong-acid cation-exchange column bearing sulfonic acid functional groups. α-Hydroxyisobutyric acid (α-HIBA), adjusted to pH 4.3 with lithium hydroxide, complexes and elutes lanthanides, a dilute hydrochloric acid matrix-exchange step removes residual α-HIBA, and concentrated hydrochloric acid then elutes retained actinium(III). The protocol purified actinium-225 to >99% radiopurity across tracer-level samples and samples containing >150 µCi (5.6 MBq) of activity. A 10 min, 0.1 M hydrochloric acid matrix exchange substantially reduced organic eluent carryover, and in-line sodium iodide detection enabled real-time monitoring of actinium and lanthanide elution. The developed method can be completed in <1 h and provides a basis for automated purification workflows for accelerator-produced actinium-225.

Gaddis, Kevin [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000183398314)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electronic glasses from a broken gauge symmetry in disorder-free systems

Glass phases can be stabilized by quenched disorders, as in most spin-glass materials, or self-generated through kinetic freezing in disorder-free systems. A canonical example of the latter is structural glasses, which have been extensively studied for many decades. Yet, how the rugged energy landscape of a glass phase is spontaneously generated in disorder-free systems remains one of the key questions in glass physics. Here, in this work, we present a general electronic mechanism for the emergence of glassy phase using the example of itinerant electrons coupled to XY spins on a lattice. This model can also be viewed as the mean-field theory of a superconducting system with attractive density-density interactions. Intriguingly, the electron gauge symmetry in the strong pairing limit gives rise to a macroscopic degeneracy of XY spins. In the presence of electron hopping that breaks the gauge symmetry, the lifting of the extensive degeneracy leads to a glass phase with disordered pairings. Our findings highlight a scenario in which a glassy state originates from the breaking of quantum gauge symmetry without quenched disorders.

XY model↗
DOE OSTI2024

Method for implant and anneal for high voltage field effect transistors

In an example, the present invention provides a method of forming a semiconductor device on a gallium and nitrogen containing material. The method includes providing a substrate member comprising a surface region, the substrate member comprising a gallium and nitrogen bearing material. The method includes causing an implanted species to electrically activate the implant profile while removing one or more crystalline damage from the epitaxial material to change the amorphous state to a single crystalline state, and thereby creating a substantially electrically activated crystalline material.

Shealy, James R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Magnetically and optically active edges in phosphorene nanoribbons

Abstract Nanoribbons, nanometre-wide strips of a two-dimensional material, are a unique system in condensed matter. They combine the exotic electronic structures of low-dimensional materials with an enhanced number of exposed edges, where phenomena including ultralong spin coherence times 1,2 , quantum confinement 3 and topologically protected states 4,5 can emerge. An exciting prospect for this material concept is the potential for both a tunable semiconducting electronic structure and magnetism along the nanoribbon edge, a key property for spin-based electronics such as (low-energy) non-volatile transistors 6 . Here we report the magnetic and semiconducting properties of phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs). We demonstrate that at room temperature, films of PNRs show macroscopic magnetic properties arising from their edge, with internal fields of roughly 240 to 850 mT. In solution, a giant magnetic anisotropy enables the alignment of PNRs at sub-1-T fields. By leveraging this alignment effect, we discover that on photoexcitation, energy is rapidly funnelled to a state that is localized to the magnetic edge and coupled to a symmetry-forbidden edge phonon mode. Our results establish PNRs as a fascinating system for studying the interplay between magnetism and semiconducting ground states at room temperature and provide a stepping-stone towards using low-dimensional nanomaterials in quantum electronics.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗