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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Single-nanowire photoelectrochemistry

Photoelectrochemistry is one of several promising approaches for the realization of efficient solar-to-fuel conversion. Recent work has shown that photoelectrodes made of semiconductor nano-/microwire arrays can have better photoelectrochemical performance than their planar counterparts because of their unique properties, such as high surface area. Although considerable research effort has focused on studying wire arrays, the inhomogeneity in the geometry, doping, defects and catalyst loading present in such arrays can obscure the link between these properties and the photoelectrochemical performance of the wires, and correlating performance with the specific properties of individual wires is difficult because of ensemble averaging. Here, we show that a single-nanowire-based photoelectrode platform can be used to reliably probe the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of individual nanowires. We find that the photovoltage output of ensemble array samples can be limited by poorly performing individual wires, which highlights the importance of improving nanowire homogeneity within an array. Furthermore, the platform allows the flux of photogenerated electrons to be quantified as a function of the lengths and diameters of individual nanowires, and we find that the flux over the entire nanowire surface (7–30 electrons nm –2 s –1 ) is significantly reduced as compared with that of a planar analogue (~1,200 electrons nm –2 s –1 ). Here, such characterization of the photogenerated carrier flux at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface is essential for designing nanowire photoelectrodes that match the activity of their loaded electrocatalysts.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Role of collisionality and radiative cooling in supersonic plasma jet collisions of different materials

Currently there is considerable interest in creating scalable laboratory plasmas to study the mechanisms behind the formation and evolution of astrophysical phenomena such as Herbig-Haro objects and supernova remnants. Laboratory-scaled experiments can provide a well diagnosed and repeatable supplement to direct observations of these extraterrestrial objects if they meet similarity criteria demonstrating that the same physics govern both systems. Here, we present a study on the role of collision and cooling rates on shock formation using colliding jets from opposed conical wire arrays on a compact pulsed-power driver. These diverse conditions were achieved by changing the wire material feeding the jets, since the ion-ion mean free path (λmfp-ii) and radiative cooling rates (Prad) increase with atomic number. Low Z carbon flows produced smooth, temporally stable shocks. Weakly collisional, moderately cooled aluminum flows produced strong shocks that developed signs of thermal condensation instabilities and turbulence. Weakly collisional, strongly cooled copper flows collided to form thin shocks that developed inconsistently and fragmented. Effectively collisionless, strongly cooled tungsten flows interpenetrated, producing long axial density perturbations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Profiling Photoinduced Carrier Generation in Semiconductor Microwire Arrays via Photoelectrochemical Metal Deposition

Au was photoelectrochemically deposited onto cylindrical or tapered p-Si microwires on Si substrates to profile the photoinduced charge-carrier generation in individual wires in a photoactive semiconductor wire array. Similar experiments were repeated for otherwise identical Si microwires doped to be n-type. The metal plating profile was conformal for n-type wires, but for p-type wires was a function of distance from the substrate and was dependent on the illumination wavelength. Spatially resolved charge-carrier generation profiles were computed using full-wave electromagnetic simulations, and the localization of the deposition at the p-type wire surfaces observed experimentally correlated well with the regions of enhanced calculated carrier generation in the volumes of the microwires. Finally, this technique could potentially be extended to determine the spatially resolved carrier generation profiles in a variety of mesostructured, photoactive semiconductors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Coarse spectral characterization of warm x-rays at the Z facility using a filtered thermoluminescent dosimeter array

A new collimated filtered thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) array has been developed at the Z facility to characterize warm x-rays (hν > 10 keV) produced by Z pinch radiation sources. This array includes a Kapton debris shield assembly to protect the TLDs from the source debris, a collimator array to limit the field of view of the TLDs to the source region, a filter wheel containing filters of aluminum, copper and tungsten up to 3 mm thick to independently filter each TLD, and a hermetically sealed cassette containing the TLDs as well as tungsten shielding on the sides and back of the array to minimize scattered radiation reaching the TLDs. Here experimental results from a krypton gas puff and silver wire array shot are analyzed using two different functional forms of the energy spectrum to demonstrate the ability of this diagnostic to consistently extend the upper end of the x-ray spectrum characterization from ~50 keV to >1 MeV.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1972

Research study on stellar X-ray imaging experiment, volume 1

The use of microchannel plates as focal plane readout devices and the evaluation of mirrors for X-ray telescopes applied to stellar X-ray imaging is discussed. The microchannel plate outputs were either imaged on a phosphor screen which was viewed by a low light level vidicon or on a wire array which was read out by digitally processing the output of a charge division network attached to the wires. A service life test which was conducted on two image intensifiers is described.

Wilson, H. H.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Peculiarities of planar shockwave interaction with air–water interface and solid target

We present the results of the research on underwater electrical explosion of planar copper wire arrays, accompanied by the generation of a planar shock, using the synchrotron-based phase-contrast radiography imaging capabilities of the ID19 beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. It is shown that the interaction of a strong shock with an air–water interface leads to additional acceleration of the wire expansion due to a rarefaction wave along with the emergence of micro-jets. In the case of a target placed above the array, we observed the formation of a cavity between the array and the target due to the interaction of two rarefaction waves. Furthermore, the results of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the wire explosion and the interaction of the generated shock with the water–air and water-target interfaces showed good agreement with experimental results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A multi-institution collaboration to study copper wire hybrid and laser-cut foil X-pinches

X-pinches are a pulsed power wire-array configuration that produce nanosecond and micron-scale X-ray sources with numerous applications. The earliest embodiment of the X-pinch inspired its name, as it is typically composed of two or more fine (5-50 µm) wires crossed into the shape of an X (Fig. 1a). The ‘X’ ablates when subjected to large (10 1 -10 4 kA), fast-rising (~1 kA/ns) currents, and extreme magnetic pressure at the cross-point constricts the ablated plasma, which develops instabilities and then pinches to near-zero radius, localized ‘hot spots’, emitting X-rays from a sub-nanosecond and 1 µm scale source characteristic of a hot (~1 keV), dense (10% solid density) plasma. A subsequent gap forms where the hot spot(s) occurred, across which substantial potential accelerates electron beams (e-beams) that generate larger, longer-lasting X-ray bursts composed of harder X-rays.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Shock wave convergence in water with parabolic wall boundaries

The convergence of shock waves in water, where the cross section of the boundaries between which the shock wave propagates is either straight or parabolic, was studied. The shock wave was generated by underwater electrical explosions of planar Cu wire arrays using a high-current generator with a peak output current of ∼45 kA and rise time of ∼80 ns. The boundaries of the walls between which the shock wave propagates were symmetric along the z axis, which is defined by the direction of the exploding wires. It was shown that with walls having a parabolic cross section, the shock waves converge faster and the pressure in the vicinity of the line of convergence, calculated by two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations coupled with the equations of state of water and copper, is also larger.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tandem Microwire Solar Cells for Flexible High Efficiency Low Cost Photovoltaics

This project has developed components of a waferless, flexible, low-cost tandem multijunction III-V/Si microwire array solar cell technology which combines the efficiency of wafered III-V photovoltaic technologies with the process designed to meet the Sunshot object. The project focused on design of lattice-matched GaAsP/SiGe two junction cell design and lattice-mismatched GaInP/Si tandem cell design. Combined electromagnetic simulation/device physics models using realistic microwire tandem structures were developed that predict >22% conversion efficiency for known material parameters, such as tunnel junction structure, window layer structure, absorber lifetimes and optical absorption and these model indicate a clear path to 30% efficiency for high quality III-V heterostructures. SiGe microwire arrays were synthesized via Cu-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth with inexpensive chlorosilane and chlorogermance precursors in an atmospheric pressure reactor. SiGe alloy composition in microwires was found to be limited to a maximum of 12% Ge incorporation during chlorogermane growth, due to the melting of the alloy near the solidus composition. Lattice mismatched InGaP double heterostructures were grown by selective epitaxy with a thermal oxide mask on Si microwire substrates using metallorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis confirms the growth of individual step graded layers and a high density of defects near the wire/III-V interface. Selective epitaxy was initiated with a low temperature nucleation scheme under “atomic layer epitaxy” or “flow mediated epitaxy” conditions whereby the Ga and P containing precursors are alternately introduced into the reactor to promote layer-bylayer growth. In parallel to our efforts on conformal GaInP heteroepitaxy on selectively masked Si microwires, we explored direct, axial growth of GaAs on Si wire arrays as another route to a tandem junction architecture. We proposed axial, lattice-mismatched growth of a GaAs segment that extrude out of a Si wire via a self-aligned SiO 2 hollow cylindrical mask. With this growth strategy, misfit dislocations that would normally form at the GaAs/Si interface during thin film epitaxy may bend over to and thus terminate at the sidewall of the SiO 2 tube. A reactive-ion etching technique was employed 1) to remove Si to form a hollow, self-aligned SiO 2 cylindrical tube as a growth template for GaAs epitaxy using a vertical, showerhead, low-pressure metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition reactor that was operated at 0.1 atm. Successful epitaxy of axial GaAs wires on non-polar, <111>-oriented Si wire substrates was found at temperatures of ~850C. This and the other III-V/Si heterojunction wire synthesis strategies described here are promising approaches to realize future III-V/Si tandem solar cell designs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2016

Deep Charging Evaluation of Satellite Power and Communication System Components

Deep charging, in contrast to surface charging, focuses on electron penetration deep into insulating materials applied over conductors. A classic example of this scenario is an insulated wire. Deep charging can pose a threat to material integrity, and to sensitive electronics, when it gives rise to an electrostatic discharge or arc. With the advent of Electric Orbit Raising, which requires spiraling through Earth's radiation belts, satellites are subjected to high energy electron environments which they normally would not encounter. Beyond Earth orbit, missions to Jupiter and Saturn face deep charging concerns due to the high energy radiation environments. While predictions can be made about charging in insulating materials, it is difficult to extend those predictions to complicated geometries, such as the case of an insulating coating around a small wire, or a non-uniform silicone grouting on a bus bar. Therefore, to conclusively determine the susceptibility of a system to arcs from deep charging, experimental investigations must be carried out. This paper will describe the evaluation carried out by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on subscale flight-like samples developed by Space Systems/Loral, LLC. Specifically, deep charging evaluations of solar array wire coupons, a photovoltaic cell coupon, and a coaxial microwave transmission cable, will be discussed. The results of each evaluation will be benchmarked against control sample tests, as well as typical power system levels, to show no significant deep charging threat existed for this set of samples under the conditions tested.

Schneider, T. A.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Operation of a LAr-TPC equipped with a multilayer LEM charge readout

A novel detector for ionization signals in a single phase LAr-TPC has been experimented in the ICARINO test facility at the INFN Laboratories in Legnaro. It is based on the adoption of a multilayer Large Electron Multiplier (LEM) replacing the traditional anodic wire arrays. Cosmic muon tracks were detected allowing the measurement of energy deposition and a first determination of the signal to noise ratio. The analysis of the recorded events thus demonstrated the 3D reconstruction capability of this device for ionizing events in liquid Argon. The collected fraction of ionization charge is close to about 90%, with signal to noise ratio similar to that measured with more traditional wire chambers.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Time-resolved velocity and ion sound speed measurements from simultaneous bow shock imaging and inductive probe measurements

We present a technique to measure the time-resolved velocity and ion sound speed in magnetized, supersonic high-energy-density plasmas. We place an inductive (“b-dot”) probe in a supersonic pulsed-power-driven plasma flow and measure the magnetic field advected by the plasma. As the magnetic Reynolds number is large (R M > 10), the plasma flow advects a magnetic field proportional to the current at the load. This enables us to estimate the flow velocity as a function of time from the delay between the current at the load and the signal at the probe. The supersonic flow also generates a hydrodynamic bow shock around the probe, the structure of which depends on the upstream sonic Mach number. By imaging the shock around the probe with a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, we determine the upstream Mach number from the shock Mach angle, which we then use to determine the ion sound speed from the known upstream velocity. We use the sound speed to infer the value of Z̄T e , where Z̄ is the average ionization and T e is the electron temperature. We use this diagnostic to measure the time-resolved velocity and sound speed of a supersonic (M S ~ 8), super-Alfvénic (M A ~ 2) aluminum plasma generated during the ablation stage of an exploding wire array on the Magpie generator (1.4 MA, 250 ns). The velocity and Z̄T e measurements agree well with the optical Thompson scattering measurements reported in the literature and with 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations in GORGON.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Specific features of implosion of metallized fiber arrays

Implosion of metallized fiber arrays was studied experimentally at the Angara-5-1 facility. The use of such arrays makes it possible to investigate the production and implosion dynamics of plasmas of various metals (such as tin, indium, and bismuth) that were previously unavailable for such studies. The plasma production rates m-dot (in μg/(cm{sup 2} ns)) for different metals were determined and quantitatively compared. Varying the thickness of the metal layer deposited on kapron fibers (the total linear mass of the metal coating being maintained at the level of 220 μg/cm), the current and velocity of the plasma precursor were studied as functions of the thickness of the metal coating. The strong difference in the rates of plasma production from the metal coating and kapron fibers results in the redistribution of the discharge current between the Z-pinch and the trailing fiber plasma. The outer boundary of the plasma produced from the metal coating is found to be stable against instabilities typical of the final stage of implosion of conventional wire arrays.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2019

Prototype Magnetic Calorimeter Arrays with Buried Wiring for the Lynx X-Ray Microcalorimeter

Metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC) technology is a leading contender for detectors for the Lynx X-ray Microcalorimeter, which is an imaging spectrometer consisting of an array of greater than 100,000 pixels. The fabrication of such large arrays presents a challenge when attempting to route the superconducting wiring from the pixels to the multiplexed readout. If the wiring is designed to be planar, then an aggressive, submicron scale wiring pitch has to be employed, which is technically challenging to design and fabricate on account of the requirements of low inductance, low cross-talk, high critical currents and high yield. An alternative way to achieve large scale, high density wiring is through the use of multiple buried metal layers, planarized by Chemical Mechanical Planarization. This approach is well-suited for connecting thousands of pixels on a large focal plane to readout chips, and also for fabricating sensor meander coils with narrow line widths, which helps in increasing the sensor inductance and thus alleviates stray inductance issues associated with the wiring in large size arrays. In this work we describe the fabrication of high sensor inductance MMC arrays implementing Lynx concepts and incorporating multiple layers of buried Nb wiring. The detector array is composed of three sub-arrays with pixels optimized to meet the different science driven performance requirements of Lynx. In two of the sub-arrays we adopt a thermal multiplexing scheme to read out pixels by coupling 25 absorbers to a single sensor through thermal links of varied thermal conductance. We demonstrate the successful fabrication of multi-absorber MMCs with fine pitch pixels in very large size arrays.

Solid-State Physics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collective optical Thomson scattering in pulsed-power driven high energy density physics experiments (invited)

Optical collective Thomson scattering is used to diagnose magnetized high energy density physics experiments at the Magpie pulsed-power generator at Imperial College London. The system uses an amplified pulse from the 2nd harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser (3 J, 8 ns, 532 nm) to probe a wide diversity of hightemperature plasma objects; with densities in the range of 10 17 -10 19 cm -3 and temperatures between 10 eV and a few keV. The scattered light is collected from 100 μm-scale volumes within the plasmas, which are imaged onto optical fiber arrays. Multiple collection systems observe these volumes from different directions, providing simultaneous probing with different scattering K-vectors (and different associated α-parameters, typically in the range 0.5 – 3) allowing independent measurements of separate velocity components of the bulk plasma flow. The fiber arrays are coupled to an imaging spectrometer with a gated ICCD. The spectrometer is configured to view the ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) of the collective Thomson scattered spectrum. Fits to the spectra with the theoretical spectral density function S(K,ω) yield measurements of the local plasma temperatures and velocities. Fitting is constrained by independent measurements of the electron density from laser interferometry, and the corresponding spectra for different scattering vectors. Furthermore, this TS diagnostic has been successfully implemented on a wide range of experiments, revealing temperature and flow velocity transitions across magnetized shocks, inside rotating plasma jets and imploding wire arrays, as well as providing direct measurements of drift velocities inside a magnetic reconnection current sheet.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interpenetration and deflection phenomena in collisions between supersonic, magnetized, tungsten plasma flows diagnosed using high resolution optical Thomson scattering

An optical Thomson scattering diagnostic has been used to investigate collisions between supersonic, magnetized plasma flows, in particular the transition from collisionless to collisional interaction dynamics. These flows were produced using tungsten wire array z-pinches, driven by the 1.4 MA 240 ns Magpie generator at Imperial College London. Measurements of the collective-mode Thomson scattering ion-feature clearly indicate that the ablation flows are interpenetrating at 100 ns (after current start), and this interpenetration continues until at least 140 ns. The Thomson spectrum at 150 ns shows a clear change in the dynamics of the stream interactions, transitioning towards a collisional, shock-like interaction of the streams near the axis. The Thomson scattering data also provide indirect evidence of the presence of a significant toroidal magnetic field embedded in the “precursor” plasma near the axis of the array over the period 100–140 ns; these observations are in agreement with previous measurements [Swadling et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 035003 (2014)]. The Thomson scattering measurements at 150 ns suggest that this magnetic field must collapse at around the time the dense precursor column begins to form.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Observation of plasma jets in a table top plasma focus discharge

In the last years, medium size Z-pinch experiments operating at tens of kJ are being used to create supersonic plasma jets. Those experiments are produced with wire arrays and radial foils, and they are conducted in generators based on water-filled transmission lines. Also plasma jets have been observed in small X-pinch experiments operating at 1 kJ. In this work, observations of plasma jets produced in a table top plasma focus device by means of optical and digital interferometry are shown. The device was operated at only ∼70 J, achieving 50 kA in 150 ns. The plasma jets were observed after the pinch, in the region close and on the anode, along the axis. The electron density measured from the jets is in the range 10{sup 24}–10{sup 25 }m{sup −3}. From two consecutive plasma images separated 18 ns, the axial jet velocity was measured in the order of 4 × 10{sup 4 }m/s.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quadrupolar density structures in driven magnetic reconnection experiments with a guide field

Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous process in plasma physics, driving rapid and energetic events such as coronal mass ejections. Reconnection between magnetic fields with arbitrary shear can be decomposed into an anti-parallel reconnecting component and a non-reconnecting guide-field component, which is parallel to the reconnecting electric field. This guide field modifies the structure of the reconnection layer and the reconnection rate. We present results from experiments on the MAIZE pulsed-power generator (500 kA peak current, 200 ns rise time), which use two exploding wire arrays, tilted in opposite directions, to embed a guide field in the plasma flows with a relative strength b≡B g /B rec =0, 0.4, or 1. The reconnection layers in these experiments have widths that are less than the ion skin depth, d i =c/ω pi , indicating the importance of the Hall term, which generates a distinctive quadrupolar magnetic field structure along the separatrices of the reconnection layer. Using laser imaging interferometry, we observe quadrupolar structures in the line-integrated electron density, consistent with the interaction of the embedded guide field with the quadrupolar Hall field. Our measurements extend over much larger length scales (40d i ) at higher β (∼1) than previous experiments, providing an insight into the global structure of the reconnection layer.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗