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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 109 records · Page 6

Self‐Assembled Metal–Dielectric Hybrid Metamaterials in Vertically Aligned Nanocomposite Form with Tailorable Optical Properties and Coupled Multifunctionalities

Metal–dielectric hybrid metamaterials have attracted increasing research interest in recent years because of their novel optical properties and promising applications in the fields of electronic and photonic devices. Dielectric permittivity is a key parameter that strongly influences the optical properties of materials. By self‐assembling the metallic and dielectric components in a pillar‐in‐matrix structure, a strong anisotropic structure forms and results in opposite signs of permittivity components (i.e., ε || > 0 and ε ⊥ < 0, or vice versa) and exotic optical responses including hyperbolic dispersion in the visible to near‐infrared region. Herein, the main approaches of tuning the permittivity in self‐assembled metal–dielectric vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films are reviewed, including tuning the metal pillar density and geometry, film strain state and background pressure during growth, and seeking other metal‐free and complex structure designs. Future research directions are also proposed, including unique approaches to improve their thermal stability, integrate on flexible substrates toward wearable device fabrication, and explore real‐time tunable metamaterials.

Zhang, Di↗

Influence of Austempering Temperature and Time on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ductile Iron Weldment Using Developed Coated Electrode

Sound welded joints of ductile iron were first made by developing coated electrodes as well as weld procedure. The weldments were then austenitized at 900 °C for 2-h holding time followed by austempering at 300 and 350 °C for three different holding times (1.5, 2 and 2.5 h) at each austempering temperature. The influence of austempering temperature and time on the microstructural and mechanical properties was studied. Microstructural characterization, phase analysis, microhardness and mechanical properties were performed to understand the effect of austempering heat treatment on microstructure, austempering kinetics and mechanical properties of welded joints. In spite of significant variation in microstructures among all the three zones of DI weldment before austempering, the response of both weld metal and HAZ to austempering heat treatment similar to a base metal was noted. However, a significant variation in matrix structures (bainitic ferrite, retained austenite) as well as graphite nodules among the three zones was observed with changing the austempering temperature and holding time. Also, 100% joint efficiency of the welded joints was achieved at both 300 and 350 °C for 2-h holding time. Hardness and charpy impact toughness mostly depended on the volume fraction of retained austenite and carbon content. Based on the results of tensile and charpy impact testing, 350 °C and 2-h holding time could be considered as an optimum austempering condition for ADI weldment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Cryogenic Treatment of CoCrFeMnNi(NbC) High-Entropy Alloys

The effect of cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrFeMnNi and CoCrFeMnNi(NbC) high-entropy alloys was investigated during annealing. The heat-treated samples were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction technique, differential scanning calorimetry, Vickers hardness testing and tensile testing. The results showed a single-phase FCC crystal structure matrix in both alloys during cryogenic treatment and annealing. Cryogenic treatment altered the recrystallization behavior of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy, while it did not influence the recrystallization of CoCrFeMnNi(NbC) high-entropy alloy. It was also found that cryogenic treatment changed the precipitation behavior of CoCrFeMnNi(NbC) high-entropy alloy during annealing. In both studied high-entropy alloys, the mechanical testing indicated that the cryogenic treatment can effectively reduce the yield strength of cold-rolled samples after annealing. This was primarily attributed to the effect of cryogenic treatment in enhancing crystalline defects annihilation. Furthermore, the cryogenic treatment increased the ultimate tensile strength of CoCrFeMnNi(NbC). A lager plastic deformation and precipitates were considered as the main reasons for the higher ultimate tensile strength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mechanically graded granular scaffolds for osteochondral tissue engineering

Engineered scaffolds designed to approximate the mechanical microenvironment of the osteochondral unit often address this complexity using discrete, two-phase architectures that introduce mechanical discontinuities and interfacial stress concentrations rather than a contiguous stiffness transition. To address this challenge, we created a photoannealed polyethylene glycol (PEG) granular scaffold with a spatially controlled stiffness gradient within a cell-permissive, macroporous architecture. Stiffness was dictated by photoannealing microgels using a photomask. We tuned void volume and available surface area by varying microgel diameter and tested how mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) interpret local mechanical environments. MSCs exhibited position-dependent differences in morphology, cytoskeletal structure, matrix deposition, and lineage-specific gene expression within the gradient scaffolds. Softer regions supported rounded cell morphology and deposition of a glycosaminoglycan-rich matrix, whereas stiffer regions promoted cell elongation, increased cytoskeletal tension, and expression of mineral-associated markers. Gradients formed from smaller microgels magnified these spatial responses by increasing cellular confinement and adhesion site availability. Disruption of actomyosin contractility eliminated these regional differences, demonstrating that MSCs rely on tension-dependent mechanotransduction to interpret the gradient. These findings reveal that coupling microgel architecture with continuous stiffness transitions provides a tractable platform to study multiscale mechanobiologic regulation and spatially guide osteochondral tissue formation.

Biological and medical sciences↗

Evaluation of strain caused by coherent precipitates in an Al alloy using TEM techniques

Elastic strains, caused by GP zones in an aged Al alloy, were determined quantitatively using two techniques: Dark Field In-line Holography (DFH) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy-Geometric Phase Analysis (HRTEM-GPA). The results obtained by both techniques showed that the elastic strain was not uniform along the precipitate-matrix interface. In some areas, it was found that strain had negligible value and this was attributed to the loss of coherence between the lattices. It is suggested that a possible explanation for this fact could be a variation in the 'vacancies pump mechanism' kinetics. To obtain a better interpretation of the experimental deformation maps, a reference GP precipitate-matrix structure was built using QSTEM software. The main advantages of DFH over HRTEM-GPA were a bigger field of view and low electron dose requirements without spatial resolution loss. Another difference found was that crystalline defects such as dislocations were evidenced by HRTEM-GPA in contrast to the result obtained by DFH. However, strain measurements were affected by mask size effect in the former. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Strain around GP precipitates was not uniform and was in a more relaxed state. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Strain values determined by HRTEM had more artifacts compared with holography ones. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Strain distribution was attributed to differences in the release of vacancies. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Holography showed important advantages over HRTEM regarding field of view mainly.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Multiorbital singlet pairing and d + d superconductivity

Recent experiments in multiband Fe-based and heavy-fermion superconductors have challenged the long-held dichotomy between simple s - and d -wave spin-singlet pairing states. Here, we advance several time-reversal-invariant irreducible pairings that go beyond the standard singlet functions through a matrix structure in the band/orbital space, and elucidate their naturalness in multiband systems. We consider the s τ 3 multiorbital superconducting state for Fe-chalcogenide superconductors. This state, corresponding to a d + d intra- and inter-band pairing, is shown to contrast with the more familiar d + i d state in a way analogous to how the B- triplet pairing phase of 3 He superfluid differs from its A- phase counterpart. In addition, we construct an analog of the s τ 3 pairing for the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCu 2 Si 2 , using degrees-of-freedom that incorporate spin-orbit coupling. Our results lead to the proposition that d -wave superconductors in correlated multiband systems will generically have a fully-gapped Fermi surface when they are examined at sufficiently low energies.

Materials Science↗

On the exact continuous mapping of fermions

We derive a rigorous, quantum mechanical map of fermionic creation and annihilation operators to continuous Cartesian variables that exactly reproduces the matrix structure of the many-fermion problem. We show how our scheme can be used to map a general many-fermion Hamiltonian and then consider two specific models that encode the fundamental physics of many fermionic systems, the Anderson impurity and Hubbard models. We use these models to demonstrate how efficient mappings of these Hamiltonians can be constructed using a judicious choice of index ordering of the fermions. This development provides an alternative exact route to calculate the static and dynamical properties of fermionic systems and sets the stage to exploit the quantum-classical and semiclassical hierarchies to systematically derive methods offering a range of accuracies, thus enabling the study of problems where the fermionic degrees of freedom are coupled to complex anharmonic nuclear motion and spins which lie beyond the reach of most currently available methods.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Forecasting for the Weather Driven Energy System - A New Task under IEA Wind

The energy system needs a range of forecast types for its operation in addition to the narrow wind power forecast that has been the focus of considerable recent attention. Therefore, the group behind the former IEA Wind Task 36 Forecasting for Wind Energy has initiated a new IEA Wind Task with a much broader perspective, which includes prospective interaction with other IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes such as the ones for PV, hydropower, system integration, hydrogen etc. In the new IEA Wind Task 51 (entitled "Foreacsting for the Weather Drive Energy System") the existing Work Packages (WPs) are complemented by work streams in a matrix structure. The Task is divided in three WPs according to the stakeholders: WP1 is mainly aimed at meteorologists, providing the weather forecast basis for the power forecasts. In WP2, the forecast service vendors are the main stakeholders, while the end users populate WP3. The new Task 51 started in January 2022. Planned activities include 4 workshops. The first will focus on the state of the art in forecasting for the energy system plus related research issues and be held during September 2022 in Dublin. The other three workshops will be held later during the 4-year Task period and address (1) seasonal forecasting with emphasis on Dunkelflaute, storage and hydro, (2) minute-scale forecasting, and (3) extreme power system events. The issues and conclusions of each of the workshops will be documented by a published paper. Additionally, the Recommended Practice on Forecast Solution Selection will be updated to reflect the broader perspective.

geophysics computing↗

Laser-assisted sol-gel growth and characteristics of ZnO thin films

ZnO thin films were grown on Si(100) substrates by a sol-gel method assisted by laser beam irradiation with a 325 nm He-Cd laser. In contrast to conventional sol-gel ZnO thin films, the surface morphology of the laser-assisted sol-gel thin films was much smoother, and the residual stress in the films was relaxed by laser irradiation. The luminescent properties of the films were also enhanced by laser irradiation, especially, by irradiation during the deposition and post-heat treatment stages. The incident laser beam is thought to play several roles, such as annihilating defects by accelerating crystallization during heat treatment, enhancing the surface migration of atoms and molecules, and relaxing the ZnO matrix structure during crystallization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-impedance wire grid method to study spatiotemporal behavior of hot electron clump generated in a plasma

High-impedance Wire Grid (HIWG) detector has been developed to study spatiotemporal behavior of a hot electron clump generated in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma. By measuring the floating potentials of the wire electrodes, and generating structure matrix made of geometrical means of the floating potentials, the HIWG detector reconstructs the spatial distribution of high-temperature electron clump at an arbitrary instant of time. Time slices of the spike event in floating potential revealed the growth and decay process of a hot spot occurs in an ECR plasma.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Neutrino quantum kinetic equations: The collision term

We derive the collision term relevant for neutrino quantum kinetic equations in the early universe and compact astrophysical objects, displaying its full matrix structure in both flavor and spin degrees of freedom. We include in our analysis neutrino-neutrino processes, scattering and annihilation with electrons and positrons, and neutrino scattering off nucleons (the latter in the low-density limit). After presenting the general structure of the collision terms, we take two instructive limiting cases. The one-flavor limit highlights the structure in helicity space and allows for a straightforward interpretation of the off-diagonal entries in terms of the product of scattering amplitudes of the two helicity states. As a result, the isotropic limit is relevant for studies of the early universe: in this case the terms involving spin coherence vanish and the collision term can be expressed in terms of two-dimensional integrals, suitable for computational implementation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

SU-E-I-49: Simulation Study for Removing Scatter Radiation in Cesium-Iodine Based Flat Panel Detector System

Purpose: This study aims to identify the feasibility of a novel cesium-iodine (CsI)-based flat-panel detector (FPD) for removing scatter radiation in diagnostic radiology. Methods: The indirect FPD comprises three layers: a substrate, scintillation, and thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer. The TFT layer has a matrix structure with pixels. There are ineffective dimensions on the TFT layer, such as the voltage and data lines; therefore, we devised a new FPD system having net-like lead in the substrate layer, matching the ineffective area, to block the scatter radiation so that only primary X-rays could reach the effective dimension.To evaluate the performance of this new FPD system, we conducted a Monte Carlo simulation using MCNPX 2.6.0 software. Scatter fractions (SFs) were acquired using no grid, a parallel grid (8:1 grid ratio), and the new system, and the performances were compared.Two systems having different thicknesses of lead in the substrate layer—10 and 20μm—were simulated. Additionally, we examined the effects of different pixel sizes (153×153 and 163×163μm) on the image quality, while keeping the effective area of pixels constant (143×143μm). Results: In case of 10μm lead, the SFs of the new system (∼11%) were lower than those of the other system (∼27% with no grid, ∼16% with parallel grid) at 40kV. However, as the tube voltage increased, the SF of new system (∼19%) was higher than that of parallel grid (∼18%) at 120kV. In the case of 20μm lead, the SFs of the new system were lower than those of the other systems at all ranges of the tube voltage (40–120kV). Conclusion: The novel CsI-based FPD system for removing scatter radiation is feasible for improving the image contrast but must be optimized with respect to the lead thickness, considering the system’s purposes and the ranges of the tube voltage in diagnostic radiology. This study was supported by a grant(K1422651) from Institute of Health Science, Korea University.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Photoluminescence of Amorphous SiO{sub 2} with Implanted Ar{sup +} Ions

Implantation of ions into amorphous silicon dioxide (a-SiO{sub 2}) is widely used in microelectronics (mainly, using Si ions) and in the production of light-guiding components of optical fibers (Ge, P, B ions). All of these elements interact with the matrix oxygen, so the point defects that occur during implantation are not only the result of the displacement of the silicon–oxygen frame atoms from their equilibrium positions, but also reflect the specific chemical interaction in the material. In this study, inert argon ions were implanted into silicon dioxide plates, which excluded chemical reactions. It is demonstrated using photoluminescence (PL) that the highest concentration of point defects in the damaged silicate network belongs to neutral oxygen vacancies (NOVs). The concentration of these and some other induced defects increased with an increase in fluence up to 5 × 10{sup 15} Ar{sup +}/cm{sup 2}, and, with a further increase in dose, the concentration dropped due to annealing of defects in the layer heated by the introduction of ions. The NOV defects appeared in the photoluminescence spectrum in the form of doublets, that is, pairs of bands belonging to the same optical transition. The appearance of doublets is explained by the dependence of the optical transition energy on the localization of identical point defects in zones of different distortions of the matrix structure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

ANL Critical Assembly Covariance Matrix Generation - Addendum

In March 2012, a report was issued on covariance matrices for Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) critical experiments. That report detailed the theory behind the calculation of covariance matrices and the methodology used to determine the matrices for a set of 33 ANL experimental set-ups. Since that time, three new experiments have been evaluated and approved. This report essentially updates the previous report by adding in these new experiments to the preceding covariance matrix structure.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Optimizing the Performance of Sparse-Matrix Vector Products on Next-Generation Processors

Matrix-vector products are ubiquitous in high-performance scientific applications and have a growing set of occurrences in advanced data analysis activities. Achieving high performance for these kernels is therefore paramount, in part, because these operations can consume vast amounts of application execution time. In this report we document the development of several sparse-matrix vector product kernel implementations using a variety of programming models and approaches. Each kernel is run on a broad set of matrices selected to demonstrate the wide variety of matrix structure and sparsity that is possible with a single, generic kernel. For benchmarking and performance analysis, we utilize leading computing architectures for the NNSA/ASC program including Intel's Knights Landing processor and IBM's POWER8.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Comparison of the Baseline USL Calculation Methods for Loosely-Coupled and Novel Neutronic Systems [Slides]

Current work includes reconstructing 187-group ENDF B/VII.1 covariance matrix for comparison study to 44-group ENDF B/VII.1 matrix to determine how covariance matrix structures affect the USL calculations and investigating the exact domination mechanism of region-wise sensitivities in a loosely-coupled system. Future work will involve seeking to understand how bias distributions change with reactivity and how to calculate propagate distribution error into USL calculations, as well as how cross section perturbation studies can be extended to other types of calculations, such as shielding calculations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗