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DOE OSTI2019

A Comprehensive Methodology to Evaluate Losses and Process Variations in Silicon Solar Cell Manufacturing

Novel, high-throughput metrology methods are used in this paper for detailed performance loss analysis of approximately 400 industrial crystalline silicon solar cells, all coming from the same production line. The characterization sequence combines traditional global cell measurements (e.g., current-voltage, Suns-VOC) with camera-based cell imaging of voltage distribution and power dissipation from photoluminescence and lock-in thermography, respectively. Spatial variations in current collection are visualized using a high-speed external quantum efficiency and reflectance measurement technique. A nondestructive transfer length method (TLM) measurement technique is also implemented, featuring circular TLM structures hidden within the busbars of the cells. The variance of individual loss parameters and their impact on cell performance are quantified for this large group of cells. Based on correlations performed across parameters, recombination losses in the bulk and rear surface of the cell are shown to be the primary limiting factor for the cell efficiency. The nature of these distributions and correlations provide important insights about loss mechanisms in industrial solar cells, helping to prioritize efforts for optimizing the performance of the production line. Additionally, many of the parameters extracted from these techniques can be tied back to incoming material quality issues (e.g., poor bulk carrier lifetime, nonuniform wafer doping) and to individual unit processes (e.g., texturing, phosphorus diffusion, silicon nitride deposition, metallization), allowing the data to be used directly for process control in manufacturing. All of the datasets are made available for download.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2017

A Molecular Dynamics Study of Subsurface Hydrogen-Helium Bubbles in Tungsten

Fusion reactor materials experience high ion fluxes and operating temperatures, which will ultimately produce subsurface helium and hydrogen bubbles in the tungsten divertor that can cause surface degradation and impact core plasma performance. Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to evaluate the behavior of hydrogen and helium near a 2-nm bubble or void below a tungsten surface as a function of surface orientation, temperature, gas atom concentration, initial hydrogen distribution, and depth below the surface. A clear tendency for hydrogen to segregate to the bubble-matrix interface is observed in these simulations, regardless of the initial spatial distribution of the hydrogen or simulation parameters. This segregation is due in part to a local minimum in the hydrogen energy at the periphery of the bubble. Further work is required to fully characterize the mechanism of this behavior and to assess the quantities of hydrogen in the bubble and at the bubble periphery.

Bergstrom, Z. J.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Fundamental Study of Disposition and Release of Methane in a Shale Gas Reservoir

The recent boom in shale gas production through hydrofracturing has reshaped the energy production landscape in the United States. Wellbore production rates vary greatly among the wells within a single field and decline rapidly with time, thus bring up a serious concern with the sustainability of shale gas production. Shale gas production starts with creating a fracture network by injecting a pressurized fluid in a wellbore. The induced fractures are then held open by proppant particles. During production, gas releases from the mudstone matrix, migrates to nearby fractures, and ultimately reaches a production wellbore. Given the relatively high permeability of the induced fractures, gas release and migration in low-permeability shale matrix is likely to be a limiting step for long-term wellbore production. Therefore, a clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms of methane disposition and release in shale matrix is crucial for the development of new technologies to maximize gas production and recovery. Shale is a natural nanocomposite material with distinct characteristics of nanometer-scale pore sizes, extremely low permeability, high clay contents, significant amounts of organic carbon, and large spatial heterogeneities. Our work has shown that nanopore confinement plays an important role in methane disposition and release in shale matrix. Using molecular simulations, we show that methane release in nanoporous kerogen matrix is characterized by fast release of pressurized free gas (accounting for ~ 30 - 47% recovery) followed by slow release of adsorbed gas as the gas pressure decreases. The first stage is driven by the gas pressure gradient while the second stage is controlled by gas desorption and diffusion. The long-term production decline appears controlled by the second stage of gas release. We further show that diffusion of all methane in nanoporous kerogen behaves differently from the bulk phase, with much smaller diffusion coefficients. The MD simulations also indicate that a significant fraction (3 - 35%) of methane deposited in kerogen can potentially become trapped in isolated nanopores and thus not recoverable. We have successfully established experimental capabilities for measuring gas sorption and desorption on shale and model materials under a wide range of physical and chemical conditions. Both low and high pressure measurements show significant sorption of CH 4 and CO 2 onto clays, implying that methane adsorbed on clay minerals could contribute a significant portion of gas-in-place in an unconventional reservoir. We have also studied the potential impact of the interaction of shale with hydrofracking fluid on gas sorption. We have found that the CH 4 -CO 2 sorption capacity for the reacted sample is systematically lower (by a factor of ~2) than that for the unreacted (raw) sample. This difference in sorption capacity may result from a mineralogical or surface chemistry change of the shale sample induced by fluid-rock interaction. Our results shed a new light on mechanistic understanding gas release and production decline in unconventional reservoirs.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Patchy snapshots of nuclear chain reactions

Stochastic fluctuations of the neutron population within a nuclear reactor are typically prevented by operating the core at a sufficiently high power. This regime, where the evolution of the neutron density is essentially deterministic, is key for automatic protection and safety systems to safely detect unwanted power excursions during an accident, and to rapidly initiate a reactor trip procedure in case it is needed. Recent works, supported by numerical simulations, have however reported that, for large reactors, the branching nature of the fission reactions might induce strongly non-Poissonian patterns in the neutron spatial distribution, and that stochastic fluctuations might still persist at reactor powers close to operating conditions (startup phase). An international program conducted by LANL, IRSN and CEA was therefore setup to experimentally detect and characterize such fluctuations and correlations. An experiment took place in 2017 at the Reactor Critical Facility (RCF) of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA). In this paper we will report the main findings of this experimental program, supported by stochastic models and by the development of a dedicated high-fidelity Monte Carlo simulation code. We will in particular describe and explain the strong patchiness in neutron power distributions measured at the RCF, as well as a peculiar ‘blinking’ behavior of the core, and discuss the consequences of these findings on nuclear safety.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Impacts of Siting Considerations on Offshore Wind Technical Potential in the United States

We estimated the technical potential for the offshore wind (OSW) resource in the United States under two siting regimes to characterize the uncertainty pertaining to the local drivers of siting within a national context. We established Open Access and Limited Access regimes to represent upper and lower bounds on OSW deployment, respectively. These included spatial constraints such as technology depth limits, military use areas, protected areas, existing infrastructure, shipping lanes and more. The same spatial considerations are also considered in the Limited Access regime, but with additional buffers to existing infrastructure as well as a reduced capacity density assumption. Capacity density is the concentration of wind energy development for a given area specified in terms of megawatts (MW) per square kilometer (km 2 ). In the Open-Access regime we used a 5 MW/km 2 assumption, while in the Limited Access scenario we assumed 3 MW/km 2 . This difference reflects our intention for the Open-Access scenario to serve as an upper bound for OSW technical potential, with the Limited-Access scenario as a lower bound. We also applied three technology advancement scenarios to each of the siting regimes. The three technology scenarios (Conservative, Moderate, and Advanced) represent plausible improvements in turbine technology including increased rated power and higher hub heights.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Rapid AI-based Dissection of Ashes using Raman and XRF Spectroscopy (RADAR-X)

Waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities incinerate ~35 million tons of municipal solid waste annually in the United States. The incineration process reduces the mass and the volume of the waste fraction by over 75 and 95%, respectively. The fraction left after incineration remains as ash residues and is referred to as WTE ash, compromising of bottom and fly ash. In the United States, ~10 million tons of WTE ashes are generated annually and predominantly landfilled because of the lack of secondary end-use pathways. This incurs a significant financial burden (landfilling costs) on U.S. WTE facilities and also results in the loss of materials to the landfill. The primary objective of this research is to understand better the elemental and mineralogical composition of WTE ashes from diverse origins and find composition dependent upcycling pathways for diverting these ashes from landfills. This primary objective was addressed through three research tasks –(Task I) An AI-led Multi-Modal Approach for Compositional Analysis, (Task II) Developing a Dissolution-Based Test for Real Time Analysis, and (Task III) Establishing composition-dependent end uses. The chemical composition of WTE ash is dependent on two factors, i.e., the input waste composition and the operational parameters of a WTE facility (combustion conditions). Amongst these two factors, the input waste composition will likely show spatial and temporal variation. As a result, the chemical composition of WTE ash will also fluctuate. To understand the spatial and temporal variation in WTE ash composition, in Task I, we collected 128 ash samples (62 bottom ash and 66 fly ash samples) from 11 WTE facilities located in 11 U.S. states and characterized them via X-ray Fluorescence, powder X-ray Diffraction, and Raman Spectroscopy. The findings from this extensive characterization work indicated that the key elements in WTE fly ashes are Ca, Cl (greater than 10 wt. %), Si, S, K, Zn ( between 1 and 10 wt. %), Mg, Al, P, Ti, Fe, Cu, Br, and Pb (between 0.1 and 1 wt. %). Similarly, the key elements in WTE bottom ash fraction finer than 45μm are Ca (greater than 10 wt. %), Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ti, Fe, Zn (between 1 and 10 wt. %), P, V, Cr, Mn, Cu, Br, and Pb (between 0.1 and 1 wt. %). Here, we note that the dominant fraction of WTE bottom ash is the coarse fraction. The coarse WTE bottom ash fraction (rich in silicon) was not characterized in this study because of excessive grinding requirements and their unsuitability as a supplementary cementitious material due to their coarse nature. The elements in WTE bottom ashes are present as calcite, anhydrite, vaterite, hydroxyapatite, quartz, bassanite, gehlenite, akermanite, hydrocalumite, and portlandite. Similarly, the mineralogical species present in WTE fly ashes are calcium chloride hydroxide, halite, calcite, anhydrite, sylvite, hydrocalumite, vaterite, hannebachite, quartz, and bassanite. Temporal variation in ash composition may also result in significant fluctuations in chemical compositions. Therefore, a WTE facility may need to monitor the ash composition (elemental and mineralogical composition) in real time. In Task I, we evaluated the possibility of using a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer to monitor the elemental composition in real-time. Specifically, we collected XRF data on identical specimens via a portable XRF spectrometer (low-end) and a lab-based benchtop XRF spectrometer (high-end). The collected data was used to train an A.I. algorithm (portable XRF data as an input and benchtop XRF data as an output) to predict accurate elemental composition using portable XRF data. Finally, we developed a 2-minute photobleaching protocol to monitor the mineralogical characteristics of WTE ashes via Raman spectroscopy. Overall, the activities in Task I improved our understanding of ash composition and developed techniques to monitor elemental and mineralogical composition in near real-time. Based on the findings of Task I, we find that WTE ashes exhibit wide variability in mineralogy. For ICP-based elemental analysis, all the mineralogical species in WTE ashes must be brought into solution. This is traditionally accomplished with acid digestion using a combination of multiple acids. However, acid digestion with multiple acids is time-consuming and often fails to ensure complete digestion of the ash matrix. To address this limitation, in Task II, we developed an alkali-fusion-based digestion protocol using a combination of lithium tetraborate, lithium metaborate, and their combinations as possible alkali fluxes for digesting WTE ashes entirely and rapidly. The validity of the developed method was evaluated on two standard ash specimens, i.e., SRM 1633c coal fly ash and BCR-176R incineration fly ash specimen. The findings suggest that the developed protocol can ensure complete digestion of elements such as Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, P, Sr, V, Zn, Be, K, and rare earth elements. The recent changes in the energy market towards renewables and increased metal recycling have resulted in reduced supplies of supplementary cementitious materials (coal fly ash and slag). Therefore, in Task III, we evaluated the possibility of employing WTE ashes as SCMs. As the chemical composition of WTE ashes varies temporally (on an hourly basis), there was also a need to develop tests that can evaluate the suitability of material to act as supplementary cementitious material rapidly, i.e., in a few minutes. Therefore, in Task II, we also developed a rapid test to assess the suitability of a material to act as an SCM in 5 minutes. This represents a significant advance over the state-of-the-art R 3 test, which takes ~144 hours. This test was initially validated on amorphous aluminosilicates, such as calcined clays, and could be extended to evaluate other industrial by-products, such as WTE ashes. In Task III, we evaluated the possibility of employing WTE ashes for two applications, i.e., as an SCM and a lime substitute for clay stabilization. The findings from Task I indicated that WTE ashes are enriched in chlorine and, therefore, cannot be used directly as an SCM due to corrosion-related risks and altered hydration kinetics. Accordingly, we developed an ash treatment protocol to reduce the solubility of chlorine-containing species in WTE ashes. The developed treatment protocol also immobilized lead in certain mineral forms. As a result of the treatment, WTE ashes can be used as SCMs without any corrosion or heavy metal leaching concerns. The second application examined in this study was clay stabilization. WTE ashes are calcium-rich and can be an adequate lime replacement for clay stabilization. Our findings reveal that the sum of the concentrations of Ca(OH) 2 and CaClOH controls the clay stabilization capability of WTE ashes. In summary, in this work, we evaluated the elemental and mineralogical characteristics of U.S. WTE ashes from diverse origins and developed tests to evaluate the chemical characteristics of these ashes in real time through a portable XRF and a benchtop Raman spectrometer. Based on the chemical characteristics of these ashes, we developed an ash treatment process to enable the use of WTE ashes as an SCM and also evaluated the possibility of employing these ashes for clay stabilization. Overall, the findings from this work enables the diversion of WTE ashes from landfills for multiple end-uses, i.e., as an SCM or a lime substitute for clay stabilization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Machine-Learning Functional Zonation Approach for Characterizing Terrestrial–Aquatic Interfaces: Application to Lake Erie

Ecosystems at coastal terrestrial–aquatic interfaces play a significant role in global biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we aimed to characterize coastal wetlands with particular focus on the co-variability between plant dynamics, topography, soil, and other environmental factors. We proposed a functional zonation approach based on machine learning clustering to identify the spatial regions, i.e., zones that capture these co-varied properties. This approach was applied to publicly available datasets along Lake Erie, in the Great Lakes Region. We investigated the heterogeneity of coastal ecosystem structures as a function of along-shore distance and transverse distance, based on the spatial data layers, including topography, wetland vegetation cover, and the time series of Landsat’s enhanced vegetation index (EVI) between 1990 and 2020. Results showed that the topographic metrics (elevation and slope), soil texture, and plant productivity influence the spatial distribution of wetland land-covers (emergent and phragmites). These results highlight a natural organization along the transverse axis, where the elevation and the EVI increase further away from the coastline. In addition, the clustering analysis allowed us to identify regions with distinct environmental characteristics, as well as the ones that are more sensitive to interannual lake-level variations.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Machine Learning Inference of Random Medium Properties

Earth materials are heterogeneous across a range of spatial scales, but the resolvability of small structures is limited by sparse data coverage, noise, bandlimitedness, and other difficulties. In practice, heterogeneities below a certain size cannot be recovered from seismic data except through statistical medium descriptions, which even then can be difficult to uniquely determine. To improve the characterization of such heterogeneities, we develop a novel supervised machine learning (ML) model that provides insight about the recoverability of statistical medium properties from elastic waveform data and succeeds despite cycle-skipping and other challenges well known from elastic waveform inversion. We demonstrate the approach using random media generated by superimposing self-affine random variations on homogeneous and layered background structures. After training on sparsely-recorded, high-frequency waveforms from hundreds of different random medium realizations, we show the ability of our ML model to recover correlation lengths and other statistical properties of interest to near-surface and crustal seismology, among other fields. For frequency passbands and spatial offsets encountered in seismology, Gaussian correlation lengths and the amplitude of the random variations relative to the background model are recovered even in challenging scenarios involving unknown medium parameters, complex crustal structures, and low signal-to-noise ratio. In comparison, von Kármán correlation lengths, which are related to larger-wavelength variations of the medium than Gaussian correlation lengths, are not as well recovered. These results provide one of the first and most systematic investigations of the recoverability of statistical properties of heterogeneities below the resolution limit of deterministic seismic tomography, and suggest practical ML strategies for high-frequency waveform seismology.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2015

TU-CD-304-08: Feasibility of a VMAT-Based Spatially Fractionated Grid Therapy Technique

Purpose: Grid therapy (GT) uses spatially modulated radiation doses to treat large tumors without significant toxicities. Incorporating 3D conformal-RT or IMRT improved single-field GT by reducing dose to normal tissues spatially through the use of multiple fields. The feasibility of a MLC-based, inverse-planned multi-field GT technique has been demonstrated. Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) provides conformal dose distributions with the additional potential advantage of reduced treatment times. In this study, we characterize a new VMAT-based GT (VMAT-GT) technique with respect to its deliverability and dosimetric accuracy. Methods: A lattice of 5mm-diameter spheres was created as the boost volume within a large treatment target. A simultaneous boost VMAT (RapidArc) plan with 8Gy to the target and 20Gy to the boost volume was generated using the Eclipse treatment planning system (AAA-v11). The linac utilized HD120 MLC and 6MV flattening-filter free beam. Four non-coplanar arcs, with couch angles at 0, 45, 90 and 317° were used. Collimator angles were at 45 and 315°. The plan was mapped to a phantom. Calibrated Gafchromic EBT3 films were used to measure the delivered dose. Results: The VMAT plan generated a highly spatially modulated dose distribution in the target. D95%, D50%, D5% for the spheres and the targets in Gy were 18.9, 20.6, 23 and 8.0, 9.6, 14.8, respectively. D50% for a 1cm ring 1cm outside the target was 3.0Gy. The peak-to-valley ratio of this technique is comparable to previously proposed techniques, but the MUs were reduced by almost 50%. Film dosimetry showed good agreement between calculated and delivered dose, with an overall gamma passing rate of >98% (3% and 1mm). The point dose differences at sphere centers varied from 2–8%. Conclusion: The deliverability and dose calculation accuracy of the proposed VMAT-GT technique demonstrates that ablative radiation doses are deliverable to large tumors safely and efficiently.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

Characterization and operation optimization of large aperture optical interferometers using binary pseudorandom array test standards

Recently, a technique for calibration of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of a broad variety of metrology instrumentation has been established. The technique is based on test samples structured according to binary pseudorandom (BPR) one-dimensional sequences and two-dimensional arrays. The inherent power spectral density of BPR gratings and arrays, has a deterministic white-noise-like character that allows a direct determination of the MTF with a uniform sensitivity over the entire spatial frequency range and field-of-view of an instrument. As such, the BPR samples satisfy the characteristics of a test standard: Functionality, ease of specification and fabrication, reproducibility, and low sensitivity to manufacturing error. Here we discuss our recent developments working with support of the U.S. Department of Energy on industrialization of the technique. The goal is to develop affordable BPR test samples, application procedures, and data processing software, suitable for thorough characterization of optical interferometers and microscopes, as well as x-ray, electron (scanning and transmission), and atomic force microscopes. We report on the development of BPR array test samples optimized for advanced characterization (including the instrumental MTF and aberrations) and operation optimization of large aperture optical interferometers. We describe the sample fabrication process and tests to verify the compliance to desired surface topography. The data acquisition and analysis procedures for application of the technique for precise focusing of Fizeau interferometer are discussed in detail.

Yashchuk, VV↗

DOE OSTI2019

Characterizing filamentary magnetic structures in counter-streaming plasmas by Fourier analysis of proton images

Proton imaging is a powerful tool for probing electromagnetic fields in a plasma, providing a path-integrated map of the field topology. However, in cases where the field structure is highly inhomogeneous, inferring spatial properties of the underlying field from proton images can be difficult. This problem is exemplified by recent experiments, which used proton imaging to probe the filamentary magnetic field structures produced by the Weibel instability in collisionless counterstreaming plasmas. In this paper, we perform analytical and numerical analyses of proton images of systems containing many magnetic filaments. We find that, in general, the features observed on proton images do not directly correspond to the spacing between magnetic filaments (the magnetic wavelength) as has previously been assumed and that they instead correspond to the filament size. Furthermore, we demonstrate this result by Fourier analysis of synthetic proton images for many randomized configurations of magnetic filaments. Our results help guide the interpretation of experimental proton images of filamentary magnetic structures in plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

CONUS-wide Projected Flood Frequency and Uncertainty Estimates, Version 1.0

This dataset presents a large-ensemble of CONUS-wide projected flood frequency and uncertainty estimates across ~2.7 million NHDPlusV2 river reaches over the CONUS. The framework producing this dataset leverages a multi-model, uncertainty-aware modeling framework that allows evaluating shifts in flood frequences at the stream reach level across the CONUS. CONUS-wide ensemble streamflow projections generated from hydrologic simulations driven by downscaled and bias-corrected Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) outputs are used to derive these flood frequency and uncertainty estimates over the period 1980 - 2099. A spatially consistent regional L-moment algorithm is applied across clusters defined by the US Hydrologic Unit Code Subregions (HUC4s and HUC8s) and NHDPlusV2 stream orders to estimate flood frequencies. The dataset also includes at-site based flood estimates that allow for the comparison between local and regional approach-based estimates, assess projected changes, and characterize their uncertainties. For more reliable estimation of rare flood frequencies such as 500 and 1000-year return periods, super-ensemble based estimates are also included in the dataset. This dataset is derived to support the "Impact-Informed Dam Safety Risk Assessment for Securing Hydropower Assests" project for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office (H2O). For further details, refer to Kao et al. (2022), Ghimire et al. (2023), Ghimire et al. (2025), and Hosking and Wallis (1997).

Ghimire, Ganesh [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000242843941)↗

DOE OSTI2016

TRANSITION REGION AND CHROMOSPHERIC SIGNATURES OF IMPULSIVE HEATING EVENTS. I. OBSERVATIONS

We exploit the high spatial resolution and high cadence of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph ( IRIS ) to investigate the response of the transition region and chromosphere to energy deposition during a small flare. Simultaneous observations from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager provide constraints on the energetic electrons precipitating into the flare footpoints, while observations of the X-Ray Telescope , Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, and Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) allow us to measure the temperatures and emission measures from the resulting flare loops. We find clear evidence for heating over an extended period on the spatial scale of a single IRIS pixel. During the impulsive phase of this event, the intensities in each pixel for the Si iv 1402.770 Å, C ii 1334.535 Å, Mg ii 2796.354 Å, and O i 1355.598 Å emission lines are characterized by numerous small-scale bursts typically lasting 60 s or less. Redshifts are observed in Si iv, C ii, and Mg ii during the impulsive phase. Mg ii shows redshifts during the bursts and stationary emission at other times. The Si iv and C ii profiles, in contrast, are observed to be redshifted at all times during the impulsive phase. These persistent redshifts are a challenge for one-dimensional hydrodynamic models, which predict only short-duration downflows in response to impulsive heating. We conjecture that energy is being released on many small-scale filaments with a power-law distribution of heating rates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

ASTROCHEMICAL CORRELATIONS IN MOLECULAR CLOUDS

We investigate the spectral correlations between different species used to observe molecular clouds. We use hydrodynamic simulations and a full chemical network to study the abundances of over 150 species in typical Milky Way molecular clouds. We perform synthetic observations in order to produce emission maps of a subset of these tracers. We study the effects of different lines of sight and spatial resolution on the emission distribution and perform a robust quantitative comparison of the species to each other. We use the Spectral Correlation Function (SCF), which quantifies the root mean squared difference between spectra separated by some length scale, to characterize the structure of the simulated cloud in position-position-velocity (PPV) space. We predict the observed SCF for a broad range of observational tracers, and thus identify homologous species. In particular, we show that the pairs C and CO, C{sup +} and CN, and NH{sub 3} and H{sub 2}CS have very similar SCFs. We measure the SCF slope variation as a function of beam size for all species and demonstrate that the beam size has a distinct effect on different species emission. However, for beams of up to 10'', placing the cloud at 1 kpc, the change is not large enough to move the SCF slopes into different regions of parameter space. The results from this study provide observational guidance for choosing the best tracer to probe various cloud length scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Process-Structure-Property Relations for As-Deposited Solid-State Additively Manufactured High-Strength Aluminum Alloy

Solid-state additive manufacturing methods provide innovative solutions to circumvent problems associated with materials susceptible to hot cracking by avoiding liquid solid phase transformations. In this work, the process parameter influence on microstructural evolution and mechanical response of a fully dense aluminum alloy 7050 (AA7050) component manufactured via a rapid, solid-state additive manufacturing process known as Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFS-D) was quantified for the first time. Three sections (starting dwell, transient, crossover of roads) of the deposition that exhibit differing thermomechanical processing histories were evaluated for the resulting microstructure and mechanical response. The microstructural characterization was performed on the as-deposited AA7050 via Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), TEM, optical microscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The microstructural characterization revealed refined constituent particles and grains throughout the as-deposited AA7050 microstructure. Furthermore, quasi-static tensile experiments were conducted in both the build and transverse directions, in order to quantify the orientation influence on tensile properties of the as-deposited AA7050 build. Spatially dependent tensile properties were observed in the material due to heat input variation coarsening of secondary phases towards the initial layers of the AFS-D build. Post-mortem analysis revealed that voids nucleated and coalesced from the overgrowth of the strengthening precipitates present in the material, resulting in fracture.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2015

Quantitative x-ray magnetic circular dichroism mapping with high spatial resolution full-field magnetic transmission soft x-ray spectro-microscopy

The spectroscopic analysis of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), which serves as strong and element-specific magnetic contrast in full-field magnetic transmission soft x-ray microscopy, is shown to provide information on the local distribution of spin (S) and orbital (L) magnetic moments down to a spatial resolution of 25 nm limited by the x-ray optics used in the x-ray microscope. The spatially resolved L/S ratio observed in a multilayered (Co 0.3 nm/Pt 0.5 nm) × 30 thin film exhibiting a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy decreases significantly in the vicinity of domain walls, indicating a non-uniform spin configuration in the vertical profile of a domain wall across the thin film. Quantitative XMCD mapping with x-ray spectro-microscopy will become an important characterization tool for systems with topological or engineered magnetization inhomogeneities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2024

Phase-space entropy cascade and irreversibility of stochastic heating in nearly collisionless plasma turbulence

We consider a nearly collisionless plasma consisting of a species of “test particles” in one spatial and one velocity dimension, stirred by an externally imposed stochastic electric field—a kinetic analog of the Kraichnan model of passive advection. The mean effect on the particle distribution function is turbulent diffusion in velocity space—known as stochastic heating. Accompanying this heating is the generation of fine-scale structure in the distribution function, which we characterize with the collisionless (Casimir) invariant C 2 ∝ ∫ ∫ d x d v 〈 f 2 〉 —a quantity that here plays the role of (negative) entropy of the distribution function. We find that C 2 is transferred from large scales to small scales in both position and velocity space via a phase-space cascade enabled by both particle streaming and nonlinear interactions between particles and the stochastic electric field. We compute the steady-state fluxes and spectrum of C 2 in Fourier space, with k and s denoting spatial and velocity wave numbers, respectively. In our model, the nonlinearity in the evolution equation for the spectrum turns into a fractional Laplacian operator in k space, leading to anomalous diffusion. Whereas even the linear phase mixing alone would lead to a constant flux of C 2 to high s (towards the collisional dissipation range) at every k , the nonlinearity accelerates this cascade by intertwining velocity and position space so that the flux of C 2 is to both high k and high s simultaneously. Integrating over velocity (spatial) wave numbers, the k -space ( s -space) flux of C 2 is constant down to a dissipation length (velocity) scale that tends to zero as the collision frequency does, even though the rate of collisional dissipation remains finite. The resulting spectrum in the inertial range is a self-similar function in the ( k , s ) plane, with power-law asymptotics at large k and s . Our model is fully analytically solvable, but the asymptotic scalings of the spectrum can also be found via a simple phenomenological theory whose key assumption is that the cascade is governed by a “critical balance” in phase space between the linear and nonlinear timescales. We argue that stochastic heating is made irreversible by this entropy cascade and that, while collisional dissipation accessed via phase mixing occurs only at small spatial scales rather than at every scale as it would in a linear system, the cascade makes phase mixing even more effective overall in the nonlinear regime than in the linear one. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Nanomechanical investigation of the interplay between pore morphology and crack orientation of amorphous silica

Porous amorphous silica (a-SiO 2 ) is of both fundamental and practical interests, as they exhibit a large specific surface area and tunable porous network. However, the brittle nature of a-SiO 2 and the presence of pre-existing cracks at both micro- and nano-scales lead to complex mechanical behavior. Here, we systematically investigate the effects of pre-existing crack and its orientation on the mechanical properties of a-SiO 2 with varying pore shapes using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. We demonstrate that pore shape will primarily influence the Young’s modulus (E) and critical energy release rate (G IC ). We further investigate the impact of pore shape and crack orientation by local characterization of the structural parameters. By defining the high stress and inter-mediate regions, the overall mechanical properties are found to be greatly influenced by the pore shape which can be reflected through the spatial distribution of von Mises stress. Overall, G IC is found to increase with the increase of ligament length (also known as pore wall thickness). Meanwhile, the effect of the pre-existing crack on the crack propagation process is confirmed by analyzing the density distribution evolution. These results highlight the interplay between pore morphology and crack orientation in controlling the fracture behaviors in brittle porous materials.

42 ENGINEERING↗