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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

MONSTER: a TOF Spectrometer for β-delayed Neutron Spectroscopy

β-delayed neutron (DN) data, including emission probabilities, Pn, and energy spectrum, play an important role in our understanding of nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics and nuclear technologies. A MOdular Neutron time-of-flight SpectromeTER (MONSTER) is being built for the measurement of the neutron energy spectra and branching ratios. The TOF spectrometer will consist of one hundred liquid scintillator cells covering a significant solid angle. The MONSTER design has been optimized by using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. The response function of the MONSTER cell has been characterized with mono-energetic neutron beams and compared to dedicated MC simulations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Surface Characterization of Populus during Caldicellulosiruptor bescii Growth by TOF-SIMS Analysis

Caldicellulosiruptor bescii is a thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium that is capable of utilizing unpretreated biomass in addition to breaking down cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars. Despite the fact that C. bescii must first bind to the surface of the biomass, there has been no analysis of the morphological or chemical changes to the biomass surface as a result of incubation with the micro-organism. To understand more about C. bescii growth, juvenile poplar stems were sectioned (80 μm thick) and incubated with C. bescii beyond the typical 24 h experiment length. Monitoring the cell counts during incubation revealed a biphasic growth pattern. The impact the micro-organism had on the surface was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), which showed physical crevices in the cell wall caused by the C. bescii along with a decrease of polysaccharide ions and an increase in lignin ions on the poplar surface. Employing infrared microspectroscopy, the decreasing trend was corroborated.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing the Cherenkov over scintillation ratio using dichroic filters in BGO and TlCl for TOF-PET

Abstract The Cherenkov emission in inorganic crystal scintillators has been shown to dramatically improve time resolution for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET) for in slow scintillators with a high refractive index such as bismuth germanium oxide (BGO). This is due to the faster nature of the Cherenkov emission (tens of picoseconds) with respect to scintillation (nanosecond). However, the presence of slower scintillation light and the inability of existing detectors to distinguish between Cherenkov and scintillation make it difficult for BGO to achieve a good CTR for all the detected coincidence events. In this paper, we exploit the difference between the Cherenkov and scintillation emission spectra and use dichroic filters to enhance the Cherenkov over scintillation ratio. Dichroic filters transmit or reflect photons based on their wavelength, with a photon attenuation lower than 10%. We investigate several shortpass and longpass dichroic filters in a single-photon configuration with BGO and find the optimal filter that maximizes the Cherenkov over scintillation ratio. We demonstrate that we can enhance the ratio of Cherenkov to scintillation photons by a factor of 2.17 ± 0.38 by employing a shortpass dichroic filter with a cut-off wavelength of 450 nm for BGO, and by a factor of 2.87 ± 0.40 using a longpass dichroic filter with a cut-on wavelength of 550 nm for iodine/beryllium-doped thallium chloride.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Liquid ToF-SIMS revealing the oil, water, and surfactant interface evolution

Bilge water from ships is regarded as a major pollutant in the marine environment. Bilge water exists in a stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion form. However, little is known about the O/W liquid–liquid (l–l) interface. Traditional bulk characterization approaches are not capable of capturing the chemical changes at the O/W l–l interface. Although surfactants are deemed essential in droplet formation, their roles in bilge water stabilization have not been fully revealed. We have utilized novel in situ chemical imaging tools including in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and in situ time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to study the evolving O/W interface using a NAVY bilge model for the first time. The droplet size distribution (DSD) does not change significantly without the addition of X-100 surfactants under static or rocking conditions. Both the oil components and the water clusters are shown to evolve over time at the O/W droplet interface by in situ liquid SIMS imaging. Of particular interest to droplet stabilization, the contribution of surfactants to the aged bilge droplets becomes more significant as the droplet size increases. The higher mass surfactant component does not appear on the droplet surface immediately while many lower mass surfactants are solvated inside the droplet. We have provided the first three-dimensional images of the evolving O/W interface and demonstrated that in situ surface chemical mapping is powerful enough to reveal the complex and dynamic l–l interface in the liquid state. Our observational insights suggest that surfactants are important in mediating droplet growth and facilitating effective separation of bilge water emulsion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

The Neutron Time-Of-Flight Facility n lowbar TOF At CERN: Phase II

Neutron-induced reactions are studied at the neutron time-of-flight facility n lowbar TOF at CERN. The facility uses 6{approx}ns wide pulses of 20 GeV/c protons impinging on a lead spallation target. The large neutron energy range and the high instantaneous neutron flux combined with high resolution are among the key characteristics of the facility. After a first phase of data taking during the period 2001-2004, the facility has been refurbished with an upgraded spallation target and cooling system for a second phase of data taking which started in 2009. Since 2010, the experimental area at 185 m where the neutron beam arrives, has been modified into a worksector of type A, allowing the extension of the physics program to include neutron-induced reactions on radioactive isotopes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Annealed Si/SiGeC Superlattices Studied by Dark-Field Electron Holography, ToF-SIMS and Infrared Spectroscopy

Si/SiGeC superlattices are used in the construction of new generation devices such as multichannel transistors. The incorporation of C in the SiGe layers allows for a better control of the strain and the Ge content. However the formation of {beta}-SiC clusters during annealing at high temperature limits the thermal stability of the alloy. It leads to a strong modification of the strain due to the reduction of the substitutional carbon content. Here, we investigated the behavior of Si/SiGeC superlattices that have been annealed using different characterization techniques: dark-field electron holography for the evaluation of strain; infrared spectroscopy and ToF-SIMS for the determination of the composition. It was found that after annealing at 1050 deg. C, the reduction of the substitutional C proportion leads to a recovery of the perpendicular strain in the superlattice. It was also proposed that the local arrangement of C atoms in a third nearest neighbor configuration is an intermediary step during the formation of the SiC clusters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

High resolution TOF - SIMS depth profiling of nano-film multilayers

We present the results of depth profiling studies conducted using an indigenously developed dual-beam high resolution Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) on thinfilm W-C-W multilayer structure grown on Si substrate. Opto 8 layers could be clearly identified. Mixing of layers is seen which from analysis using roughness model calculations indicate a mixing thickness of about 2nm that correspond to the escape depth of secondary ions from the sample.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Neutron-induced fission cross section measurement of 233 U, 241 Am and 243 Am in the energy range 0.5 MeV En 20 MeV at n TOF at CERN

Neutron-induced fission cross section measurements of 233U, 243Am and 241Am relative to 235U have been carried out at the neutron time-of-flight facility n TOF at CERN. A fast ionization chamber has been employed. All samples were located in the same detector; therefore the studied elements and the reference 235U target are subject to the same neutron beam.

Belloni, F.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Introducing a Markov chain-based time calibration procedure for multi-channel particle detectors: application to the SuperFGD and ToF detectors of the T2K experiment

Inter-channel mis-synchronisation can be a limiting factor to the time resolution of high performance timing detectors with multiple readout channels and independent electronics units. In these systems, time calibration methods employed must be able to efficiently correct for minimal mis-synchronisation between channels and achieve the best detector performance. We present an iterative time calibration method based on Markov Chains, suitable for detector systems with multiple readout channels. Starting from correlated hit pairs alone, and without requiring an external reference time measurement, the method solves for fixed per-channel offsets, with precision limited only by the intrinsic single-channel resolution. A mathematical proof that the method is able to find the correct time offsets to be assigned to each detector channel in order to achieve inter-channel synchronisation is given, and it is shown that the number of iterations to reach convergence within the desired precision is controllable with a single parameter. Numerical studies are used to confirm unbiased recovery of true offsets. Finally, the application of the calibration method to the Super Fine-Grained Detector (SuperFGD) and the Time of Flight (TOF) detector at the upgraded T2K near detector (ND280) shows good improvement in overall timing resolution, demonstrating the effectiveness in a real-world scenario and scalability.

calibration and fitting methods↗
DOE OSTI2016

Neutron-induced fission cross section of Np 237 in the keV to MeV range at the CERN n_TOF facility

We experimentally determined the neutron-induced fission cross section of Np-237 at the high-resolution and high-intensity facility n_TOF, at CERN, in the energy range 100 keV to 9 MeV, using the U-235(n, f) and U-238(n, f) cross section standards below and above 2 MeV, respectively. Moreover, a fast ionization chamber was used in order to detect the fission fragments from the reactions and the targets were characterized as far as their mass and homogeneity are concerned by means of a spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy respectively. Finally, theoretical calculations within the Hauser-Feshbach formalism have been performed, employing the EMPIRE code, and the model parameters were tuned in order to successfully reproduce the experimental fission cross-sectional data and simultaneously all the competing reaction channels.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Errata: “Switchable 1,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene and 1-hexanol ionic liquid analyzed by liquid ToF-SIMS” [Surf. Sci. Spectra 23 , 9 (2016) ]

The identification of a number of mass peaks in the switchable ionic liquid (SWIL) observed in ToF-SIMS is updated based on the most likely chemical formation pathways. The revised identification better reflects the chemical interactions in the SWIL consisting of DBU, 1-hexanol and CO2. A companion paper illustrates the formation mechanism of these updated species is currently under review.

Yao, Juan↗
DOE OSTI2024

In-house synthesized poly(ether ether ketone) ionenes. I. ToF-SIMS spectra in the positive ion mode

Static time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was performed for acquiring the high-resolution surface spectra of four types of synthesized imidazolium ionene membranes. These novel membranes have aromatic ether–ketone–ether linkages inspired by poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK). The PEEK-ionenes synthesized for this study have imidazolium cations placed in the polymeric backbone with bistriflimide [Tf 2 N]- counterions. The attention given to synthetically modified PEEK derivatives, such as PEEK-ionenes, is considerable due to their ability to selectively capture CO 2 molecules and other light gases. Therefore, it is important to characterize the surface of these synthesized novel PEEK-ionenes. In this work, characteristic and unique peaks were identified in the positive spectra of each sample. The differences in mass spectra among the samples provide insights for optimizing or fine-tuning the PEEK-ionenes synthesis to achieve a high-performance CO 2 separation membrane with enhanced permeability, selectivity, and mechanical stability. The SIMS spectra and identified characteristic peaks of these synthesized ionenes will serve as a reference in the positive mode, complementing the corresponding spectra reported in the negative ion mode (Paper II).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Time-of-Flight Neutron Diffraction (TOF-ND) Analyses of the Composition and Minting of Ancient Judaean “Biblical” Coins

TOF-ND elastic scattering of thermal neutrons offers some important advantages over X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and metallography for the study of archaeological and numismatic problems. Traditional analytical methods are usually destructive and often probe only the surface. Neutrons deeply penetrate samples, simultaneously giving nondestructive bulk information about the crystal structure, composition, and texture (alignment of crystallites) from which thermomechanical manufacturing processes (e.g., cast, struck, or rolled) may be inferred. An analysis of the metal composition and minting processes used for making ancient Judaean bronze and leaded bronze coins from first century BCE and CE is used as a case study. One of the first ND analyses of the temperature used for striking bronze coins is also presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Sensitive and Specific Peak Detection for SELDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Using a Wavelet/Neural-Network Based Approach

SELDI-TOF mass spectrometer’s compact size and automated, high throughput design have been attractive to clinical researchers, and the platform has seen steady-use in biomarker studies. Despite new algorithms and preprocessing pipelines that have been developed to address reproducibility issues, visual inspection of the results of SELDI spectra preprocessing by the best algorithms still shows miscalled peaks and systematic sources of error. This suggests that there continues to be problems with SELDI preprocessing. In this work, we study the preprocessing of SELDI in detail and introduce improvements. While many algorithms, including the vendor supplied software, can identify peak clusters of specific mass (or m/z) in groups of spectra with high specificity and low false discover rate (FDR), the algorithms tend to underperform estimating the exact prevalence and intensity of peaks in those clusters. Thus group differences that at first appear very strong are shown, after careful and laborious hand inspection of the spectra, to be less than significant. Here we introduce a wavelet/neural network based algorithm which mimics what a team of expert, human users would call for peaks in each of several hundred spectra in a typical SELDI clinical study. The wavelet denoising part of the algorithm optimally smoothes the signal in each spectrum according to an improved suite of signal processing algorithms previously reported (the LibSELDI toolbox under development). The neural network part of the algorithm combines those results with the raw signal and a training dataset of expertly called peaks, to call peaks in a test set of spectra with approximately 95% accuracy. The new method was applied to data collected from a study of cervical mucus for the early detection of cervical cancer in HPV infected women. The method shows promise in addressing the ongoing SELDI reproducibility issues.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

ToF-SIMS imaging reveals that p -hydroxybenzoate groups specifically decorate the lignin of fibres in the xylem of poplar and willow

Esterified phenolics occur as γ-linked lignin acylations in many plant taxa but little is known about the distribution or function of such groups. In the family Salicaceae, p-hydroxybenzoate groups are present in the lignin of poplars (Populus spp.) and willows (Salix spp.). In this study, the distribution of cell wall-bound p-hydroxybenzoate was examined in different tissue and cell types of poplar and willow trees. This analysis showed that p-hydroxybenzoate groups were most prevalent in juvenile stems, and were elevated in tension wood and following nitrogen fertilisation. Closer examination of stem cross-sections using time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) directly showed that p-hydroxybenzoate groups occur predominantly in the cell walls of fibres and are largely absent from vessel elements. Furthermore, these results point to a role for ester-linked groups in modifying the syringyl-rich lignin of fibres, perhaps to strengthen the cell walls of these structural elements or to increase lignification rates.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of vapor diffusion Nb$^{3}$Sn coating at Fermilab: Minimizing impurities using TOF-SIMS

Nb₃Sn demonstrates steady advancements nowadays offering reduced power cost in superconducting radio-frequency cavities due to its high critical temperature, quality factor, and achieved accelerating gradient. However, theoretical estimates of its radio-frequency parameters have not been achieved due to several potentially limiting mechanisms: tin spots, patchy regions, defects, thermal impedance, and impurities. While some of these limitations have been intensively studied, impurity analysis in Nb$_3$Sn coatings have received less attention. We report an investigation of impurities in several vapor-diffused Nb₃Sn coated samples using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and show allowable impurity levels in view of superconducting cavity performance. Challenges and lessons learned in maintaining clean Nb$_3$Sn coatings are also discussed.

Tagdulang, Nikki [Fermilab]↗