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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 OSTI2026

A Trifunctional Cyclohexasilane for Branched Poly(cyclosilane)s

The poly(cyclosilane)s are a class of hybrid inorganic-organic polymers with an all Si–Si backbone, arranged into repeating cyclohexasilane motifs, and mixed methyl and hydro side chains. The synthesis of a densely functionalized cyclosilane with three-fold symmetry enabled copolymerization studies yielding poly(cyclosilane)s with variable amounts of branching. The properties of the novel branched poly(cyclosilane)s were investigated and it was found that branching led to less volatilization during pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere, suggesting the utility of poly(cyclosilane)s for applications as preceramic polymers.

Coschigano, Marissa G. [Johns Hopkins University, ↗
DOE OSTI2017

In situ study of annealing-induced strain relaxation in diamond nanoparticles using Bragg coherent diffraction imaging

Here, we observed changes in morphology and internal strain state of commercial diamond nanocrystals during high-temperature annealing. Three nanodiamonds were measured with Bragg coherent x-ray diffraction imaging, yielding three-dimensional strain-sensitive images as a function of time/temperature. Up to temperatures of 800 °C, crystals with Gaussian strain distributions with a full-width-at-half-maximum of less than 8 × 10 –4 were largely unchanged, and annealing-induced strain relaxation was observed in a nanodiamond with maximum lattice distortions above this threshold. X-ray measurements found changes in nanodiamond morphology at temperatures above 600 °C that are consistent with graphitization of the surface, a result verified with ensemble Raman measurements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Quantum coherent control of H 3 + formation in strong fields

Quantum coherent control (QCC) has been successfully demonstrated experimentally and theoretically for two- and three-photon optical excitation of atoms and molecules. Here, we explore QCC using spectral phase functions with a single spectral phase step for controlling the yield of H 3 + from methanol under strong laser field excitation. We observe a significant and systematic enhanced production of H 3 + when a negative 3/4 $π$ phase step is applied near the low energy region of the laser spectrum and when a positive 3/4 $π$ phase step is applied near the high energy region of the laser spectrum. In some cases, most notably the HCO + fragment, we found the enhancement exceeded the yield measured for transform limited pulses. The observation of enhanced yield is surprising and far from the QCC prediction of yield suppression. The observed QCC enhancement implies an underlying strong field process responsible for polyatomic fragmentation controllable by easy to reproduce shaped pulses.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

A neutron recoil-spectrometer for measuring yield and determining liner areal densities at the Z facility

For this study, a proof-of-principle CR-39 based neutron-recoil-spectrometer was built and fielded on the Z facility. Data from this experiment match indium activation yields within a factor of 2 using simplified instrument response function (IRF) models. The data also demonstrates the need for neutron shielding in order to infer liner areal densities. A new shielded design has been developed. The spectrometer is expected to achieve signal-to-background greater than 2 for the down-scattered neutron signal and greater than 30 for the primary signal.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Physical discovery in representation learning via conditioning on prior knowledge

Recent advances in electron, scanning probe, optical, and chemical imaging and spectroscopy yield bespoke data sets containing the information of structure and functionality of complex systems. In many cases, the resulting data sets are underpinned by low-dimensional simple representations encoding the factors of variability within the data. The representation learning methods seek to discover these factors of variability, ideally further connecting them with relevant physical mechanisms. However, generally, the task of identifying the latent variables corresponding to actual physical mechanisms is extremely complex. Here, we present an empirical study of an approach based on conditioning the data on the known (continuous) physical parameters and systematically compare it with the previously introduced approach based on the invariant variational autoencoders. The conditional variational autoencoder (cVAE) approach does not rely on the existence of the invariant transforms and hence allows for much greater flexibility and applicability. Interestingly, cVAE allows for limited extrapolation outside of the original domain of the conditional variable. However, this extrapolation is limited compared to the cases when true physical mechanisms are known, and the physical factor of variability can be disentangled in full. We further show that introducing the known conditioning results in the simplification of the latent distribution if the conditioning vector is correlated with the factor of variability in the data, thus allowing us to separate relevant physical factors. We initially demonstrate this approach using 1D and 2D examples on a synthetic data set and then extend it to the analysis of experimental data on ferroelectric domain dynamics visualized via piezoresponse force microscopy.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Completed SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: measurement of the BAO and growth rate of structure of the emission line galaxy sample from the anisotropic power spectrum between redshift 0.6 and 1.1

We analyse the large-scale clustering in Fourier space of emission line galaxies (ELG) from the Data Release 16 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. The ELG sample contains 173,736 galaxies covering 1,170 square degrees in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.1. We perform a BAO measurement from the post-reconstruction power spectrum monopole, and study redshift space distortions (RSD) in the first three even multipoles. Furthermore, photometric variations yield fluctuations of both the angular and radial survey selection functions. Those are directly inferred from data, imposing integral constraints which we model consistently. The full data set has only a weak preference for a BAO feature (1.4σ). At the effective redshift zeff = 0.845 we measure $D_{\rm V}(z_{\rm eff})/r_{\rm drag} = 18.33_{-0.62}^{+0.57}$, with DV the volume-averaged distance and rdrag the comoving sound horizon at the drag epoch. In combination with the RSD measurement, at zeff = 0.85 we find $f\sigma _8(z_{\rm eff}) = 0.289_{-0.096}^{+0.085}$, with f the growth rate of structure and σ8 the normalisation of the linear power spectrum, $D_{\rm H}(z_{\rm eff})/r_{\rm drag} = 20.0_{-2.2}^{+2.4}$ and DM(zeff)/rdrag = 19.17 ± 0.99 with DH and DM the Hubble and comoving angular distances, respectively. These results are in agreement with those obtained in configuration space, thus allowing a consensus measurement of fσ8(zeff) = 0.315 ± 0.095, $D_{\rm H}(z_{\rm eff})/r_{\rm drag} = 19.6_{-2.1}^{+2.2}$ and DM(zeff)/rdrag = 19.5 ± 1.0. This measurement is consistent with a flat ΛCDM model with Planck parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Probing large-scale UV background inhomogeneity associated with quasars using metal absorption

ABSTRACT We study large-scale UV background inhomogeneity in three-dimensions associated with the observed quasar populations at high redshift. We do this by measuring metal absorption through quasar absorption spectrum stacking as a function distance to closest quasar in SDSS-IV/eBOSS on 10 s of comoving megaparsec scales. We study both intergalactic medium absorbers and mixed circumgalactic medium absorbers and probe absorption in O vi, C iv, and Si iv, and Si iii. Overall, stronger high ionization species absorption is seen closer to quasars at 2.4 < z < 3.1. O vi absorption shows a particularly strong change, with effects in C iv evident in some cases, and more marginal effects in Si iii and Si iv. We further study 2.05 < z < 2.4 (with weak signs of increasing homogeneity with time) and explore the study of metal absorption as a function of integrated SDSS-r band flux quasar flux (yielding consistent but less significant results). While the metal absorption does show sensitivity to large-scale 3D quasar proximity, the current incomplete quasar samples limit detailed interpretation. This work does, however, demonstrate that UV background inhomogeneities exist on scales of several 10 s of comoving megaparsecs associated with quasars and that they can be measured with precision by examining metal absorption in the intergalactic medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Observation of Charmonium Sequential Suppression in Heavy-Ion Collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

We report measurements of charmonium sequential suppression in Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV with the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The inclusive yield ratio of 𝜓⁡(2⁢S) to J/𝜓 as a function of transverse momentum is reported, along with the centrality dependence of the double ratio, defined as the 𝜓⁡(2⁢S) to J/𝜓 ratio in heavy-ion collisions relative to that in 𝑝 +𝑝 collisions. In the 0–80% centrality class, the double ratio is found to be 0.41±0.10 (stat)±0.03 (syst)±0.02 (ref), lower than unity with a significance of 5.6 standard deviations. This provides experimental evidence that 𝜓⁡(2⁢S) is significantly more suppressed than J/𝜓 in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. This sequential suppression pattern seems to increase from peripheral to central collisions, but with no significant dependence on the transverse momentum.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Reactors as a Source of Antineutrinos: Effects of Fuel Loading and Burnup for Mixed-Oxide Fuels

In a conventional light-water reactor loaded with a range of uranium and plutonium-based fuel mixtures, the variation in antineutrino production over the cycle reflects both the initial core fissile inventory and its evolution. Under an assumption of constant thermal power, we calculate here the rate at which antineutrinos are emitted from variously fueled cores, and the evolution of that rate as measured by a representative ton-scale antineutrino detector. We find that antineutrino flux decreases with burnup for low-enriched uranium cores, increases for full mixed-oxide (MOX) cores, and does not appreciably change for cores with a MOX fraction of approximately 75%. Accounting for uncertainties in the fission yields in the emitted antineutrino spectra and the detector response function, we show that the difference in corewide MOX fractions at least as small as 8% can be distinguished using a hypothesis test. The test compares the evolution of the antineutrino rate relative to an initial value over part or all of the cycle. The use of relative rates reduces the sensitivity of the test to an independent thermal power measurement, making the result more robust against possible countermeasures. This rate-only approach also offers the potential advantage of reducing the cost and complexity of the antineutrino detectors used to verify the diversion, compared to methods that depend on the use of the antineutrino spectrum. A possible application is the verification of the disposition of surplus plutonium in nuclear reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

First Measurement of the Nuclear-Recoil Ionization Yield in Silicon at 100 eV

We measured the nuclear-recoil ionization yield in silicon with a cryogenic phonon-sensitive gram-scale detector. Neutrons from a mono-energetic beam scatter off of the silicon nuclei at angles corresponding to energy depositions from 4 keV down to 100 eV, the lowest energy probed so far. The results show no sign of an ionization production threshold above 100 eV. In conclusion, these results call for further investigation of the ionization yield theory and a comprehensive determination of the detector response function at energies below the keV scale.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of Suppression of Large-Radius Jets and Its Dependence on Substructure in Pb+Pb Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This letter presents a measurement of the nuclear modification factor of large-radius jets in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV Pb + Pb collisions by the ATLAS experiment. The measurement is performed using 1.72 nb –1 and 257 pb –1 of Pb + Pb and pp data, respectively. The large-radius jets are reconstructed with the anti-k t algorithm using a radius parameter of R = 1.0, by reclustering anti-k t R = 0.2 jets, and are measured over the transverse momentum (p T ) kinematic range of 158 < p T <1000 GeV and absolute pseudorapidity |y| < 2.0. The large-radius jet constituents are further reclustered using the k t algorithm in order to obtain the splitting parameters, $\sqrt{d_{12}}$ and Δ⁢R 12 , which characterize the transverse momentum scale and angular separation for the hardest splitting in the jet, respectively. The nuclear modification factor, R AA , obtained by comparing the Pb + Pb jet yields to those in pp collisions, is measured as a function of jet transverse momentum (p T ) and $\sqrt{d_{12}}$ or Δ⁢R 12 . A significant difference in the quenching of large-radius jets having single subjet and those with more complex substructure is observed. Systematic comparison of jet suppression in terms of R AA for different jet definitions is also provided. Presented results support the hypothesis that jets with hard internal splittings lose more energy through quenching and provide a new perspective for understanding the role of jet structure in jet suppression.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-mass vector-meson production at forward rapidity in 𝑝 + 𝑝 and Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{𝑠_{𝑁⁢𝑁}}$ = 200 GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured low-mass vector-meson (𝜔+𝜌 and 𝜙) production through the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity (1.2 < |y| < 2.2) in 𝑝 + 𝑝 and Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{𝑠_{𝑁⁢𝑁}}$ = 200 GeV. The low-mass vector-meson yield and nuclear-modification factor were measured as a function of the average number of participating nucleons, ⟨𝑁 part ⟩, and the transverse momentum 𝑝 𝑇 . These results were compared with those obtained via the kaon decay channel in a similar 𝑝 𝑇 range at midrapidity. The nuclear-modification factors in both rapidity regions are consistent within the uncertainties. A comparison of the 𝜔 + 𝜌 and 𝐽/𝜓 mesons reveals that the light and heavy flavors are consistently suppressed across both 𝑝 𝑇 and ⟨𝑁 part ⟩. Finally, in contrast, the 𝜙 meson displays a nuclear-modification factor consistent with unity, suggesting strangeness enhancement in the medium formed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Forward modeling approach to nuclear reaction cross sections: Applications in neutron inelastic scattering

The development of nuclear reaction models for the production of evaluated nuclear data has traditionally been performed by comparing measured cross sections with predictions from reaction model codes whose physical input parameters are adjusted to obtain the best agreement between measured and modeled results. To more directly probe reaction model inputs, this work introduces a forward modeling approach to experimental reaction cross-section determination, where the most important physical input parameters to reaction model calculations are obtained via 𝜒 2 minimization between measured and calculated observables. This was demonstrated using data collected by the Gamma Energy Neutron Energy Spectrometer for Inelastic Scattering (GENESIS) at the 88-inch cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a detection array consisting of organic liquid scintillators and high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. Using a broad-spectrum neutron beam and a 99.98%-enriched 56 Fe target, GENESIS was used to perform a simultaneous measurement of 56 Fe 𝛾-ray production cross sections and secondary neutron energy and angle distributions. The results of the forward modeling approach to the determination of energy-differential 𝛾-ray production cross sections for the yrast 4 + → 2 + and 6 + → 4 + transitions, as well as eight other off-yrast transitions, were compared against those obtained using conventional techniques, and the results are in good agreement. In addition to discrete 𝛾-ray yield total scattered neutron energy-angular distributions as a function of incident neutron energy were also obtained using forward modeling and found to agree with evaluated data, with the exception of elastic scattering at small angles. The fitted reaction model parameters obtained through forward modeling were also used to calculate the cross section for the unobserved (𝑛, 2⁢𝑛) reaction; excellent agreement with the current evaluation was obtained, providing a validation of the predictive capabilities of the forward model approach. This work bridges the gap between nuclear data experiment and evaluation by providing a new means for extracting inelastic neutron-scattering cross sections and neutron-induced 𝛾-ray production data while directly probing reaction model physics.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Study of {sup 179}Hf{sup m2} excitation

Isomeric ratios of {sup 179}Hf{sup m2,g} yields in the (γ, n) reaction and the cross section for the {sup 179}Hf{sup m2} population in the (α, p) reaction are measured for the first time at the end-point energies of 15.1 and 17.5 MeV for bremsstrahlung photons and 26 MeV for alpha particles. The results are σ = (1.1 ± 0.11) × 10{sup −27} cm{sup 2} for the {sup 176}Lu(α, p){sup 179}Hf{sup m2} reaction and Y{sub m2}/Y{sub g} = (6.1 ± 0.3) × 10{sup −6} and (3.7 ± 0.2) × 10{sup −6} for the {sup 180}Hf(γ, n){sup 179}Hf{sup m22} reaction at E{sub ep} =15.1 and 17.5 MeV, respectively. The experimental data on the relative {sup 179}Hf{sup m2} yield indicate a single-humped shape of the excitation function for the {sup 180}Hf(γ, n){sup 179}Hf{sup m2} reaction. Simulation is performed using the TALYS-1.4 and EMPIRE-3.2 codes.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Importance of Being Inconsistent

We review the role of self-consistency in density functional theory (DFT). We apply a recent analysis to both Kohn–Sham and orbital-free DFT, as well as to partition DFT, which generalizes all aspects of standard DFT. In each case, the analysis distinguishes between errors in approximate functionals versus errors in the self-consistent density. This yields insights into the origins of many errors in DFT calculations, especially those often attributed to self-interaction or delocalization error. In many classes of problems, errors can be substantially reduced by using better densities. Finally, we review the history of these approaches, discuss many of their applications, and give simple pedagogical examples.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Comparative Critical Mass Calculations for NNL and ENDF/B-VIII.0 Zirconium Hydride Thermal Neutron Scattering Laws

Zirconium hydride (ZrH x ) is a moderator material for TRIGA reactors and historical space reactor systems, such as SNAP-10A. Thermal neutron scattering laws (TSL) for two phases of this material, δ and ε, have been previously evaluated by Naval Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and submitted to the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) for inclusion in the US national ENDF/B-VIII.1 nuclear data library. In contrast to the current ENDF/B-VIII.0 TSL evaluations, which consider only a single phase, the new evaluations are derived from separate ab initio calculations for both phases and include coherent elastic effects of the zirconium sublattice. To estimate the impact of these changes to the TSL evaluation of this material, comparative critical mass calculations were performed with MC21 for homogenous mixtures of high- enriched uranium (HEU) and ZrH x in bare and water reflected sphere configurations. These calculations yield an impact on the estimated critical mass as a function of 235 U loading density with maximum differences as large as 1% - 5% for over-moderated thermal spectrum systems. Consequently, the NNL TSL evaluations are anticipated to have a small impact on criticality calculations of thermal reactor systems regardless of the material phase. Nevertheless, characteristic differences exist in the predicted thermal spectra as function of energy for the two sets of TSL evaluations, which are attributed to difference in the underlying phonon density of states of hydrogen bound in ZrH x .

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Design of State-of-the-art Flow Cells for Energy Applications

The worldwide energy demand is increasing every day and it necessitates rational and efficient usage of renewable energy. Undoubtedly, utilization of renewable energy can address various environmental challenges. However, all current renewable energy resources (wind, solar, and hydroelectric power) are intermittent and fluctuating in their nature that raises an important question of introducing effective energy storage solutions. Utilization of redox flow cells (RFCs) has recently been recognized as a viable technology for large-scale energy storage and, hence, is well suited for integrating renewable energy and balancing electricity grids. In brief, RFC is an electrochemical storage device where energy is stored in chemical bonds, similar to a battery, but with reactants external to the cell. The state-of-the-art in flow cell technology uses an aqueous acidic electrolyte and simple metal redox couples. Thus, there is an urgent call to develop efficient (high-energy density) and low-cost RFCs to meet the efflorescent energy storage demands. To address the first challenge of achieving high-energy density, we plan to design and further modify complexes composed of bifunctional multidentate ligands and specific metal centers, capable of storing as many electrons as possible. In order to address the second challenge of reducing cost of the RFCs, we plan to use iron (Fe) metal as it regularly occupies multiple oxidation states and is the second most abundant metal in the earth’s crust that makes it an ideal metal for improved energy densities, higher potentials, and numbers of electrons per molecule while maintaining potential cost competitiveness. Density functional theory calculations considering solvation effects will be performed to yield accurate predictions of redox potentials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Maintaining Continuity of Knowledge over Spent Fuel Pools- IR Imaging

This report covers the experiments performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Oregon State University at their Testing, Research, Isotope, and General Atomic (TRIGA) test reactor. These experiments fall under a larger goal to maintain Continuity of Knowledge (CoK) over a spent fuel pool in the absence of light. During FY 17, PNNL was tasked with investigating the ex-pool solutions to this investigation. Preliminary analysis done in FY 16 resulted in the identification of IR and UV cameras as a viable option. One experiment conducted that year yield results showing that a pure IR camera would not function to image thermal objects through water due to the large absorption cross section of IR light within water. This experiment lead PNNL to investigate cameras that ranged from UV to IR in the hopes that the cameras would be able to image the objects more efficiently with cameras that ranged across these spectra. This constraint lead us to being conversations with Phoenix Engineering based out of Georgia as they have cameras that sample UV-IR and Vis – IR light spectra. The two cameras identified and eventually used for this experiment were the HAWK-216 and OWL 640 cameras. The specific QE curves of these cameras can be found in subsequent sections. The results discussed in this report pertain to the images captured at the OSU TRIGA reactor under varying power levels to see what thresholds and minimum detectable thermal output could be detected by these cameras.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗