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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Investigation of dissimilar metal welds by energy-resolved neutron imaging

A nondestructive study of the internal structure and compositional gradient of dissimilar metal-alloy welds through energy-resolved neutron imaging is described in this paper. The ability of neutrons to penetrate thick metal objects (up to several cm) provides a unique possibility to examine samples which are opaque to other conventional techniques. The presence of Bragg edges in the measured neutron transmission spectra can be used to characterize the internal residual strain within the samples and some microstructural features, e.g. texture within the grains, while neutron resonance absorption provides the possibility to map the degree of uniformity in mixing of the participating alloys and intermetallic formation within the welds. In addition, voids and other defects can be revealed by the variation of neutron attenuation across the samples. This paper demonstrates the potential of neutron energy-resolved imaging to measure all these characteristics simultaneously in a single experiment with sub-mm spatial resolution. Two dissimilar alloy welds are used in this study: Al autogenously laser welded to steel, and Ti gas metal arc welded (GMAW) to stainless steel using Cu as a filler alloy. The cold metal transfer variant of the GMAW process was used in joining the Ti to the stainless steel in order to minimize the heat input. The distributions of the lattice parameter and texture variation in these welds as well as the presence of voids and defects in the melt region are mapped across the welds. The depth of the thermal front in the Al–steel weld is clearly resolved and could be used to optimize the welding process. As a result, a highly textured structure is revealed in the Ti to stainless steel joint where copper was used as a filler wire. The limited diffusion of Ti into the weld region is also verified by the resonance absorption.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of Mg Content in Melt-Spun Mn–Bi–Mg–Sb–In Alloys on the Structure and Properties of Field-Annealed Magnets

Mn-Bi alloys modified with Mg and other elements were recently developed into promising rare-earth-free permanent magnets through successive melt-spinning, warm compaction, and short magnetic-field annealing. This letter reports herein on the crystal structures, texture, and magnetic properties observed in Mn 50 Bi 49-x Mg x Sb 0.5 In 0.5 alloys (x = 0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5) throughout these processing steps. The Mg substitution favors MnBi-based intermetallic phases over the Bi- and Mn-based solid solutions and the stable α intermetallic phase over the metastable β' intermetallic phase. Magnesium increases the c/a ratio of the α phase lattice parameters for all studied x values and it increases the degree of the field-annealing-induced texture for x ≤ 3. The effect of Mg on coercivity is explained as combination of a positive one via the α phase magnetocrystalline anisotropy and a negative one via the development of texture. The effect of the substitution on the maximum energy product additionally involves the decreasing density of the alloys; the optimum x is found to be ≈3. Additionally reported are the thermal properties of selected alloys. The mechanism of field-annealing effect on the coercivity is briefly discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

An Improved Microwave Semiempirical Model for the Dielectric Behavior of Moist Soils

Soil semiempirical dielectric models (SEMs) are powerful, and they are generally considered a useful hybrid of both empirical and physical models. In this work, the Wang-Schmugge dielectric model is improved to more accurately estimate the relative complex dielectric constants (CDCs) of moist soils. Instead of the Debye relaxation spectrum of liquid water located outside of the soil (i.e., free out-of-soil water) adopted in the Wang-Schmugge model, the Debye relaxation formula related to the free-water component inside the soil [i.e., free soil water (FSW)], which is correlated with the soil texture, is employed in the improved SEM. In addition, the effective conductivity loss term related to both soil texture and soil moisture is introduced to explain the ionic conductivity losses of FSW. Since the soil moisture influence is reduced at high frequencies, the effective conductivity loss term related to only the soil texture is also analyzed for 14-18 GHz. As in the Wang-Schmugge model, the relative CDC of bound soil water varies with the soil volumetric moisture content when the soil moisture is lower than the maximum bound water fraction in the new model, which takes a different approach than the Mironov mineralogy-based SEM. The proposed model obtains better fitting results than the three most widely employed SEMs. Lastly, the improved model exhibits a significantly improved accuracy with a higher correlation coefficient (R²), a closer 1:1 relationship, and a lower root-mean-square error, including in the L-band, and especially in the imaginary part of the L-band.

semiempirical dielectric model (SEM)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of processing hydrogen pressure on magnetic properties of HDDR Nd-Fe-B magnet

High coercivity and anisotropic Nd-Fe-B powders for making anisotropic bonded magnets have been prepared by hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination (HDDR). In this work, we found that the processing hydrogen pressure is intimately correlated with the formation of c-axis crystal texture of Nd 2 Fe 14 B phase. There exists a critical hydrogen pressure, P crit , during hydrogen-disproportionation stage, that promotes the formation of c-axis crystal texture. When processing hydrogen pressure is higher than P crit , the formation of c-axis texture deteriorates and results in isotropic Nd-Fe-B magnetic powders. The existence of P crit is ascribed to the thermodynamics and kinetics origin during HDDR process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

K in an Urban World: New Contexts for Hydraulic Conductivity

Abstract Hydraulic conductivity ( K ) is a key hydrologic parameter widely recognized to be difficult to estimate and constrain, with little consistent assessment in disturbed, urbanized soils. To estimate K , it is either measured, or simulated by pedotransfer functions, which relate K to easily measured soil properties. We measured K in urbanized soils by double‐ring infiltrometer ( K dring ), near‐saturated tension infiltrometry ( K minidisk ), and constant head borehole permeametry ( K borehole ), along with other soil properties across the major soil orders in 12 United States cities. We compared measured K with that predicted from the pedotransfer function, ROSETTA. We found that regardless of soil texture, K dring was consistently larger than K minidisk ; with the latter having slightly less sample variance. K borehole was dependent upon specific subsurface conditions, and contrary to common expectations, did not always decrease with depth. Based on either soil textural class, or percent textural separates (sand, silt clay), ROSETTA did not accurately predict measured K for surface nor subsurface soils. We go on to discuss how K varies in urban landscapes, the role of measurement methods and artifacts in the perception of this metric, and implications for hydrologic modeling. Overall, we aim to inspire consistency and coherence when addressing K ‐related challenges in sustainable urban water management.

Shuster, W. D.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Influence of dosing sequence and film thickness on structure and resistivity of Al-ZnO films grown by atomic layer deposition

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were deposited onto amorphous silica substrates using an atomic layer deposition process with diethyl zinc (DEZ), trimethyl aluminum (TMA), and deionized water at 200 °C. Three different Al doping sequences were used at a ZnO:Al ratio of 11:1 within the films. A minimum film resistivity of 1.6 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm was produced using sequential dosing of DEZ, TMA, DEZ, followed by H{sub 2}O for the Al doping step. This “ZAZW” sequence yielded an AZO film resistivity that is independent of film thickness, crystallographic texture, and grain size, as determined by high resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD). A pseudo-Voigt analysis method yields values for grain sizes that are smaller than those calculated using other XRD methods. Anisotropic grain sizes or variations in crystallographic texture have minimal influence on film resistivity, which suggests that factors other than film texture, such as intragrain scattering, may be important in influencing film resistivity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Solid-phase heteroepitaxy of oriented Sb 2 Se 3 on GaAs for birefringent thin films

Here, we investigate the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of antimony selenide (Sb 2 Se 3 ) on UHV-prepared GaAs (001) substrates. In the bulk orthorhombic form, Sb 2 Se 3 is a layered quasi-1D semiconductor with highly anisotropic properties of interest for optical and electronic devices. We find that an amorphous layer deposited by molecular beam epitaxy annealed at or above 230 °C yields a textured-epitaxial structure among some randomly oriented domains. The textured-epitaxial Sb 2 Se 3 grains are oriented with the covalently bonded “1D axis” constrained in-plane to GaAs [110] and with multiple van der Waals (hk0) orientations out-of-plane. The same texture was achieved exclusively without randomly oriented grains using continuous-wave laser radiation, highlighting the use of thermal and optical methods to yield anisotropic crystalline Sb 2 Se 3 films directly from the amorphous phase. Polarized reflectance and polarized microscopy confirm the unique state of in-plane birefringence in the crystallized thin film. Overall, we show that solid-phase heteroepitaxy provides additional pathways to the integration of low-symmetry chalcogenide semiconductors for demanding applications where the inherent anisotropy needs to be preserved.

Xiao, Kelly [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (↗
DOE OSTI2012

A statistically defined anthropomorphic software breast phantom

Purpose: Digital anthropomorphic breast phantoms have emerged in the past decade because of recent advances in 3D breast x-ray imaging techniques. Computer phantoms in the literature have incorporated power-law noise to represent glandular tissue and branching structures to represent linear components such as ducts. When power-law noise is added to those phantoms in one piece, the simulated fibroglandular tissue is distributed randomly throughout the breast, resulting in dense tissue placement that may not be observed in a real breast. The authors describe a method for enhancing an existing digital anthropomorphic breast phantom by adding binarized power-law noise to a limited area of the breast. Methods: Phantoms with (0.5 mm){sup 3} voxel size were generated using software developed by Bakic et al. Between 0% and 40% of adipose compartments in each phantom were replaced with binarized power-law noise ({beta} = 3.0) ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 volumetric glandular fraction. The phantoms were compressed to 7.5 cm thickness, then blurred using a 3 Multiplication-Sign 3 boxcar kernel and up-sampled to (0.1 mm){sup 3} voxel size using trilinear interpolation. Following interpolation, the phantoms were adjusted for volumetric glandular fraction using global thresholding. Monoenergetic phantom projections were created, including quantum noise and simulated detector blur. Texture was quantified in the simulated projections using power-spectrum analysis to estimate the power-law exponent {beta} from 25.6 Multiplication-Sign 25.6 mm{sup 2} regions of interest. Results: Phantoms were generated with total volumetric glandular fraction ranging from 3% to 24%. Values for {beta} (averaged per projection view) were found to be between 2.67 and 3.73. Thus, the range of textures of the simulated breasts covers the textures observed in clinical images. Conclusions: Using these new techniques, digital anthropomorphic breast phantoms can be generated with a variety of glandular fractions and patterns. {beta} values for this new phantom are comparable with published values for breast tissue in x-ray projection modalities. The combination of conspicuous linear structures and binarized power-law noise added to a limited area of the phantom qualitatively improves its realism.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Characterization of a commercial hybrid iterative and model-based reconstruction algorithm in radiation oncology

Purpose: Iterative reconstruction (IR) reduces noise, thereby allowing dose reduction in computed tomography (CT) while maintaining comparable image quality to filtered back-projection (FBP). This study sought to characterize image quality metrics, delineation, dosimetric assessment, and other aspects necessary to integrate IR into treatment planning. Methods: CT images (Brilliance Big Bore v3.6, Philips Healthcare) were acquired of several phantoms using 120 kVp and 25–800 mAs. IR was applied at levels corresponding to noise reduction of 0.89–0.55 with respect to FBP. Noise power spectrum (NPS) analysis was used to characterize noise magnitude and texture. CT to electron density (CT-ED) curves were generated over all IR levels. Uniformity as well as spatial and low contrast resolution were quantified using a CATPHAN phantom. Task specific modulation transfer functions (MTF{sub task}) were developed to characterize spatial frequency across objects of varied contrast. A prospective dose reduction study was conducted for 14 patients undergoing interfraction CT scans for high-dose rate brachytherapy. Three physicians performed image quality assessment using a six-point grading scale between the normal-dose FBP (reference), low-dose FBP, and low-dose IR scans for the following metrics: image noise, detectability of the vaginal cuff/bladder interface, spatial resolution, texture, segmentation confidence, and overall image quality. Contouring differences between FBP and IR were quantified for the bladder and rectum via overlap indices (OI) and Dice similarity coefficients (DSC). Line profile and region of interest analyses quantified noise and boundary changes. For two subjects, the impact of IR on external beam dose calculation was assessed via gamma analysis and changes in digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) were quantified. Results: NPS showed large reduction in noise magnitude (50%), and a slight spatial frequency shift (∼0.1 mm{sup −1}) with application of IR at L6. No appreciable changes were observed for CT-ED curves between FBP and IR levels [maximum difference ∼13 HU for bone (∼1% difference)]. For uniformity, differences were ∼1 HU between FBP and IR. Spatial resolution was well conserved; the largest MTF{sub task} decrease between FBP and IR levels was 0.08 A.U. No notable changes in low-contrast detectability were observed and CNR increased substantially with IR. For the patient study, qualitative image grading showed low-dose IR was equivalent to or slightly worse than normal dose FBP, and is superior to low-dose FBP (p < 0.001 for noise), although these did not translate to differences in CT number, contouring ability, or dose calculation. The largest CT number discrepancy from FBP occurred at a bone/tissue interface using the most aggressive IR level [−1.2 ± 4.9 HU (range: −17.6–12.5 HU)]. No clinically significant contour differences were found between IR and FBP, with OIs and DSCs ranging from 0.85 to 0.95. Negligible changes in dose calculation were observed. DRRs preserved anatomical detail with <2% difference in intensity from FBP combined with aggressive IRL6. Conclusions: These results support integrating IR into treatment planning. While slight degradation in edges and shift in texture were observed in phantom, patient results show qualitative image grading, contouring ability, and dosimetric parameters were not adversely affected.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-F-18C-06: Prospective Patient Evaluation of Iterative Reconstruction in Radiation Oncology

Purpose: This work incorporates iterative reconstruction (IR) into a dose reduction study to characterize image quality metrics, delineation, and dosimetric assessment, with the goal of reducing imaging dose in Radiation Oncology. Methods: Three-dimensional noise power spectrum (NPS) analysis characterized noise magnitude/texture (120 kVp, 50–200 mAs, IR levels 1–6 yielding noise reduction of 0.89–0.55 compared to filtered backprojection (FBP)). Task-specific Modulation Transfer Functions (MTFtask) were characterized across varied subject contrasts. A prospective dose reduction study (500 to 150 mAs) was conducted for 12 patients (43 inter-fraction CTs) for high-dose rate brachytherapy. Three physicians performed qualitative image assessment between full-dose FBP (FD-FBP, 500 mAs), low-dose FBP (LD-FBP, 150–250 mAs), and low-dose IRL5-6 (LD-IR) scans for image noise, cuff/bladder interface detectability, spatial resolution, texture, and segmentation confidence. Comparisons between LD-FBP and LD-IR were conducted for the following metrics: delineation (bladder and rectum evaluated via overlap indices (OI) and Dice similarity coefficients (DSC)), noise, boundary changes, dose calculation, and digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs). Results: NPS showed ∼50% reduction in noise magnitude and ∼0.1 1/mm spatial frequency shift with IRL6. The largest MTFtask decrease between FBP and IR was 0.08 A.U. Qualitative patient image evaluation revealed LD-IR was equivalent or slightly worse than FD-FBP, and superior to LD-FBP for all metrics except low contrast interface and texture. The largest CT number discrepancy from FBP occurred at a bone/tissue interface using IRL6 (−1.2 ± 4.9 HU (range: −17.6 – 12.5 HU)). No significant contour differences (OIs and DSCs = 0.85 – 0.95) and dose calculation discrepancy (<0.02%) were observed. DRRs preserved anatomical detail and demonstrated <2% difference in intensity between LD-FBP and LD-IRL6. Conclusion: While phantom analysis showed slight noise texture differences with IR, patient results revealed that image quality, contouring ability, and dosimetric parameters were not adversely affected, thus support integrating IR into treatment planning. Research supported in part by a grant from Philips HealthCare.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

WE-E-17A-02: Predictive Modeling of Outcome Following SABR for NSCLC Based On Radiomics of FDG-PET Images

Purpose: This study aims to develop predictive models of patient outcome by extracting advanced imaging features (i.e., Radiomics) from FDG-PET images. Methods: We acquired pre-treatment PET scans for 51 stage I NSCLC patients treated with SABR. We calculated 139 quantitative features from each patient PET image, including 5 morphological features, 8 statistical features, 27 texture features, and 100 features from the intensity-volume histogram. Based on the imaging features, we aim to distinguish between 2 risk groups of patients: those with regional failure or distant metastasis versus those without. We investigated 3 pattern classification algorithms: linear discriminant analysis (LDA), naive Bayes (NB), and logistic regression (LR). To avoid the curse of dimensionality, we performed feature selection by first removing redundant features and then applying sequential forward selection using the wrapper approach. To evaluate the predictive performance, we performed 10-fold cross validation with 1000 random splits of the data and calculated the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results: Feature selection identified 2 texture features (homogeneity and/or wavelet decompositions) for NB and LR, while for LDA SUVmax and one texture feature (correlation) were identified. All 3 classifiers achieved statistically significant improvements over conventional PET imaging metrics such as tumor volume (AUC = 0.668) and SUVmax (AUC = 0.737). Overall, NB achieved the best predictive performance (AUC = 0.806). This also compares favorably with MTV using the best threshold at an SUV of 11.6 (AUC = 0.746). At a sensitivity of 80%, NB achieved 69% specificity, while SUVmax and tumor volume only had 36% and 47% specificity. Conclusion: Through a systematic analysis of advanced PET imaging features, we are able to build models with improved predictive value over conventional imaging metrics. If validated in a large independent cohort, the proposed techniques could potentially aid in identifying patients who might benefit from adjuvant therapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-J-245: Sensitivity of FDG PET Feature Analysis in Multi-Plane Vs. Single-Plane Extraction

Purpose: Sensitivity of PET-derived texture features to reconstruction methods has been reported for features extracted from axial planes; however, studies often utilize three dimensional techniques. This work aims to quantify the impact of multi-plane (3D) vs. single-plane (2D) feature extraction on radiomics-based analysis, including sensitivity to reconstruction parameters and potential loss of spatial information. Methods: Twenty-three patients with solid tumors underwent [{sup 18}F]FDG PET/CT scans under identical protocols. PET data were reconstructed using five sets of reconstruction parameters. Tumors were segmented using an automatic, in-house algorithm robust to reconstruction variations. 50 texture features were extracted using two Methods: 2D patches along axial planes and 3D patches. For each method, sensitivity of features to reconstruction parameters was calculated as percent difference relative to the average value across reconstructions. Correlations between feature values were compared when using 2D and 3D extraction. Results: 21/50 features showed significantly different sensitivity to reconstruction parameters when extracted in 2D vs 3D (wilcoxon α<0.05), assessed by overall range of variation, Rangevar(%). Eleven showed greater sensitivity to reconstruction in 2D extraction, primarily first-order and co-occurrence features (average Rangevar increase 83%). The remaining ten showed higher variation in 3D extraction (average Range{sub var}increase 27%), mainly co-occurence and greylevel run-length features. Correlation of feature value extracted in 2D and feature value extracted in 3D was poor (R<0.5) in 12/50 features, including eight co-occurrence features. Feature-to-feature correlations in 2D were marginally higher than 3D, ∣R∣>0.8 in 16% and 13% of all feature combinations, respectively. Larger sensitivity to reconstruction parameters were seen for inter-feature correlation in 2D(σ=6%) than 3D (σ<1%) extraction. Conclusion: Sensitivity and correlation of various texture features were shown to significantly differ between 2D and 3D extraction. Additionally, inter-feature correlations were more sensitive to reconstruction variation using single-plane extraction. This work highlights a need for standardized feature extraction/selection techniques in radiomics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

MO-FG-204-01: Improved Noise Suppression for Dual-Energy CT Through Entropy Minimization

Purpose: In dual energy CT (DECT), noise amplification during signal decomposition significantly limits the utility of basis material images. Since clinically relevant objects contain a limited number of materials, we propose to suppress noise for DECT based on image entropy minimization. An adaptive weighting scheme is employed during noise suppression to improve decomposition accuracy with limited effect on spatial resolution and image texture preservation. Methods: From decomposed images, we first generate a 2D plot of scattered data points, using basis material densities as coordinates. Data points representing the same material generate a highly asymmetric cluster. We orient an axis by minimizing the entropy in a 1D histogram of these points projected onto the axis. To suppress noise, we replace pixel values of decomposed images with center-of-mass values in the direction perpendicular to the optimal axis. To limit errors due to cluster overlap, we weight each data point’s contribution based on its high and low energy CT values and location within the image. The proposed method’s performance is assessed on physical phantom studies. Electron density is used as the quality metric for decomposition accuracy. Our results are compared to those without noise suppression and with a recently developed iterative method. Results: The proposed method reduces noise standard deviations of the decomposed images by at least one order of magnitude. On the Catphan phantom, this method greatly preserves the spatial resolution and texture of the CT images and limits induced error in measured electron density to below 1.2%. In the head phantom study, the proposed method performs the best in retaining fine, intricate structures. Conclusion: The entropy minimization based algorithm with adaptive weighting substantially reduces DECT noise while preserving image spatial resolution and texture. Future investigations will include extensive investigations on material decomposition accuracy that go beyond the current electron density calculations. This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Grant Number R21 EB012700.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

TU-CD-BRB-04: Automated Radiomic Features Complement the Prognostic Value of VASARI in the TCGA-GBM Dataset

Purpose: To compare the complementary prognostic value of automated Radiomic features to that of radiologist-annotated VASARI features in TCGA-GBM MRI dataset. Methods: For 96 GBM patients, pre-operative MRI images were obtained from The Cancer Imaging Archive. The abnormal tumor bulks were manually defined on post-contrast T1w images. The contrast-enhancing and necrotic regions were segmented using FAST. From these sub-volumes and the total abnormal tumor bulk, a set of Radiomic features quantifying phenotypic differences based on the tumor intensity, shape and texture, were extracted from the post-contrast T1w images. Minimum-redundancy-maximum-relevance (MRMR) was used to identify the most informative Radiomic, VASARI and combined Radiomic-VASARI features in 70% of the dataset (training-set). Multivariate Cox-proportional hazards models were evaluated in 30% of the dataset (validation-set) using the C-index for OS. A bootstrap procedure was used to assess significance while comparing the C-Indices of the different models. Results: Overall, the Radiomic features showed a moderate correlation with the radiologist-annotated VASARI features (r = −0.37 – 0.49); however that correlation was stronger for the Tumor Diameter and Proportion of Necrosis VASARI features (r = −0.71 – 0.69). After MRMR feature selection, the best-performing Radiomic, VASARI, and Radiomic-VASARI Cox-PH models showed a validation C-index of 0.56 (p = NS), 0.58 (p = NS) and 0.65 (p = 0.01), respectively. The combined Radiomic-VASARI model C-index was significantly higher than that obtained from either the Radiomic or VASARI model alone (p = <0.001). Conclusion: Quantitative volumetric and textural Radiomic features complement the qualitative and semi-quantitative annotated VASARI feature set. The prognostic value of informative qualitative VASARI features such as Eloquent Brain and Multifocality is increased with the addition of quantitative volumetric and textural features from the contrast-enhancing and necrotic tumor regions. These results should be further evaluated in larger validation cohorts.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-R-56: Early Assessment of Treatment Response During Radiation Therapy Delivery for Esophageal Cancer Using Quantitative CT

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of assessing treatment response using CTs during delivery of radiation therapy (RT) for esophageal cancer. Methods: Daily CTs acquired using a CT-on-Rails during the routine CT-guided RT for 20 patients with stage II to IV esophageal cancers were analyzed. All patients were treated with combined chemotherapy and IMRT of 45–50 Gy in 25 fractions, and were followed up for two years. Contours of GTV, spinal cord, and non-specified tissue (NST) irradiated with low dose were generated on each daily CT. A series of CT-texture metrics including Hounsfield Unit (HU) histogram, mean HU, standard derivation (STD), entropy, and energy were obtained in these contours on each daily CT. The changes of these metrics and GTV volume during RT delivery were calculated and correlated with treatment outcome. Results: Changes in CT texture (e.g., HU histogram) in GTV and spinal cord (but not in NST) were observed during RT delivery and were consistently increased with radiation dose. For the 20 cases studied, the mean HU in GTV was reduced on average by 4.0HU from the first to the last fractions, while 8 patients (responders) had larger reductions in GTV mean HU (average 7.8 HU) with an average GTV reduction of 51% and had increased consistently in GTV STD and entropy with radiation dose. The rest of 12 patients (non-responders) had lower reductions in GTV mean HU (average 1.5HU) and almost no change in STD and entropy. For the 8 responders, 2 experienced complete response, 7 (88%) survived and 1 died. In contrast, for the 12 non-responders, 4 (33%) survived and 8 died. Conclusion: Radiation can induce changes in CT texture in tumor (e.g., mean HU) during the delivery of RT for esophageal cancer. If validated with more data, such changes may be used for early prediction of RT response for esophageal cancer.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Interfacial tuning of chiral magnetic interactions for large topological Hall effects in LaMnO 3 /SrIrO 3 heterostructures

Chiral interactions in magnetic systems can give rise to rich physics manifested, for example, as nontrivial spin textures. The foremost interaction responsible for chiral magnetism is the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), resulting from inversion symmetry breaking in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. However, the atomistic origin of DMIs and their relationship to emergent electrodynamic phenomena, such as topological Hall effect (THE), remain unclear. Here, we investigate the role of interfacial DMIs in 3 d –5 d transition metal-oxide-based LaMnO 3 /SrIrO 3 superlattices on THE from a chiral spin texture. By additively engineering the interfacial inversion symmetry with atomic-scale precision, we directly link the competition between interfacial collinear ferromagnetic interactions and DMIs to an enhanced THE. The ability to control the DMI and resulting THE points to a pathway for harnessing interfacial structures to maximize the density of chiral spin textures useful for developing high-density information storage and quantum magnets for quantum information science.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Atomically sharp domain walls in an antiferromagnet

The interest in understanding scaling limits of magnetic textures such as domain walls spans the entire field of magnetism from its physical fundamentals to applications in information technologies. Here, we explore antiferromagnetic CuMnAs in which imaging by x-ray photoemission reveals the presence of magnetic textures down to nanoscale, reaching the detection limit of this established microscopy in antiferromagnets. We achieve atomic resolution by using differential phase-contrast imaging within aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. We identify abrupt domain walls in the antiferromagnetic film corresponding to the Néel order reversal between two neighboring atomic planes. Our work stimulates research of magnetic textures at the ultimate atomic scale and sheds light on electrical and ultrafast optical antiferromagnetic devices with magnetic field–insensitive neuromorphic functionalities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing 3D surface imaging: single-axis structured light illumination plenoptic camera with machine learning integration

Structured light illumination (SLI) is a configurable 3D surface imaging modality that can function largely independently of surface texture. At the same time, machine learning (ML) approaches are providing new ways to capture relevant information from SLI patterns, avoiding the need to develop advanced computer vision algorithms. By projecting an optical pattern onto a surface and measuring the apparent distortion of that pattern, one can determine surface topography from a single image. Common realizations of SLI 3D imaging use off-axis SLI to allow for parallax-based determination of depth; however, in constrained geometries, the ability to make single-axis measurements can be of major benefit. While plenoptic imaging (PI) cameras have long been developed for the purpose of single-axis 3D imaging, they are generally reliant on the surface texture of the measured object, thus making them unreliable in certain experimental conditions. Therefore, we present a single-axis 3D SLI plenoptic camera, which combines the single-axis benefits of PI technology while using coaxial SLI to maintain indifference to surface conditions. We also present a study of the camera capabilities paired with the development of several algorithms, including traditional feature tracking methods as well as ML methods, which are found to enhance resolution and range. We report depth sensitivity down to 0.2% $\frac{dz}{z_0}$. The single-axis SLI 3D plenoptic camera demonstrates potential applicability for in-situ topographical measurements under a wide range of conditions including, but not limited to, objects without trackable surface texture, high temperatures, and constrained geometry environments.

Imaging systems↗