Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “ionization potentials”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,549 records · Page 86
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

THE MAGELLAN/IMACS CATALOG OF OPTICAL SUPERNOVA REMNANT CANDIDATES IN M83

We present a new optical imaging survey of supernova remnants (SNRs) in M83, using data obtained with the Magellan I 6.5 m telescope and IMACS instrument under conditions of excellent seeing. Using the criterion of strong [S II] emission relative to H{alpha}, we confirm all but three of the 71 SNR candidates listed in our previous survey, and expand the SNR candidate list to 225 objects, more than tripling the earlier sample. Comparing the optical survey with a new deep X-ray survey of M83 with Chandra, we find that 61 of these SNR candidates have X-ray counterparts. We also identify an additional list of 46 [O III]-selected nebulae for follow-up as potential ejecta-dominated remnants, seven of which have associated X-ray emission that makes them strong candidates. Some of the other [O III]-bright objects could also be normal interstellar medium (ISM) dominated SNRs with shocks fast enough to doubly ionize oxygen, but with H{alpha} and [S II] emission faint enough to have been missed. A few of these objects may also be H II regions with abnormally high [O III] emission compared with the majority of M83 H II regions, compact nebulae excited by young Wolf-Rayet stars, or even background active galactic nuclei. The SNR H{alpha} luminosity function in M83 is shifted by a factor of {approx}4.5 times higher than for M33 SNRs, indicative of a higher mean ISM density in M83. We describe the search technique used to identify the SNR candidates and provide basic information and finder charts for the objects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Novel Human Radiation Exposure Biomarker Panel Applicable for Population Triage

Purpose: To identify a panel of radiation-responsive plasma proteins that could be used in a point-of-care biologic dosimeter to detect clinically significant levels of ionizing radiation exposure. Methods and Materials: Patients undergoing preparation for hematopoietic cell transplantation using radiation therapy (RT) with either total lymphoid irradiation or fractionated total body irradiation were eligible. Plasma was examined from patients with potentially confounding conditions and from normal individuals. Each plasma sample was analyzed for a panel of 17 proteins before RT was begun and at several time points after RT exposure. Paired and unpaired t tests between the dose and control groups were performed. Conditional inference trees were constructed based on panels of proteins to compare the non-RT group with the RT group. Results: A total of 151 patients (62 RT, 41 infection, 48 trauma) were enrolled on the study, and the plasma from an additional 24 healthy control individuals was analyzed. In comparison with to control individuals, tenascin-C was upregulated and clusterin was downregulated in patients receiving RT. Salivary amylase was strongly radiation responsive, with upregulation in total body irradiation patients and slight downregulation in total lymphoid irradiation patients compared with control individuals. A panel consisting of these 3 proteins accurately distinguished between irradiated patients and healthy control individuals within 3 days after exposure: 97% accuracy, 0.5% false negative rate, 2% false positive rate. The accuracy was diminished when patients with trauma, infection, or both were included (accuracy, 74%-84%; false positive rate, 14%-33%, false negative rate: 8%-40%). Conclusions: A panel of 3 proteins accurately distinguishes unirradiated healthy donors from those exposed to RT (0.8-9.6 Gy) within 3 days of exposure. These findings have significant implications in terms of triaging individuals in the case of nuclear or other radiologic events.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Alpha Radiation Effects on Silicon Oxynitride Waveguides

Photonic technologies are today of great interest for use in harsh environments, such as outer space, where they can potentially replace current communication systems based on radiofrequency components. However, very much alike to electronic devices, the behavior of optical materials and circuits can be strongly altered by high-energy and high-dose ionizing radiations. Here, we investigate the effects of alpha () radiation with MeV-range energy on silicon oxynitride (SiON) optical waveguides. Irradiation with a dose of 5×1015 cm-2 increases the refractive index of the SiON core by nearly 10-2, twice as much that of the surrounding silica cladding, leading to a significant increase of the refractive index contrast of the waveguide. The higher mode confinement induced by -radiation reduces the loss of tightly bent waveguides. We show that this increases the quality factor of microring resonators by 20%, with values larger than 105 after irradiation.

alpha particles↗
NASA NTRS1983

Rate processes in gas phase

Reaction-rate theory and experiment are given a critical review from the engineers' point of view. Rates of heavy-particle, collision-induced reaction in gas phase are formulated in terms of the cross sections and activation energies for reaction. The effect of cross section function shape and of excited state contributions to reaction both cause the slope of Arrhenius plots to differ from the true activation energy, except at low temperature. The master equations for chemically reacting gases are introduced, and dissociation and ionization reactions are shown to proceed primarily from excited states about kT from the dissociation or ionization limit. Collision-induced vibration, vibration-rotation, and pure rotation transitions are treated, including three-dimensional effects and conservation of energy, which have usually been ignored. The quantum theory of transitions at potential surface crossing is derived, and results are found to be in fair agreement with experiment in spite of some questionable approximations involved.

Hansen, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Assessment of Plasma Transport and Convection at High Latitudes

The high-latitude ionosphere is strongly coupled to the thermosphere and magnetosphere. The magnetospheric coupling occurs via electric fields, field-aligned currents, and particle precipitation. Owing to the interaction of the shocked solar wind with the geomagnetic field, an electric potential difference is generated across the tail of the magnetosphere, with the resulting electric field pointing from dawn to dusk. Energetic particle precipitation from the magnetosphere in the auroral region leads to the creation of ionization and to electron, ion, and neutral gas heating. In order to assess the current understanding of plasma transport and convection at high latitudes, it is necessary to take account of the strong coupling between the ionosphere, thermosphere, and magnetosphere.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Neutral gas in the central 2 parsecs of the Galaxy

New spectroscopic observations are presented that elucidate the spatial distribution, kinematics, and density structure of atomic and molecular gas within about 2 p from IRS 16/SgrA*. The measurements confirm the presence of a dense clumpy molecular gas ring surrounding a short-lived central cavity of much lower mean gas density. It appears that this ring consists of several distinct and probably short-lived gas streamers that result from accretion from the massive molecular clouds within 10-30 pc of the center toward the central gravitational potential. Within 1 pc of SgrA* a large atomic cloud is found that appears to be falling in from more than 3 pc Galactocentric distance into the central cavity. The northern and eastern 'arms' of ionized gas are very likely dense bright rims at the surface of this atomic cloud that is now exposed to the intense UV radiation from the few central arcsec surrounding IRS 16/SgrA*.

Jackson, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Benzenoid hydrocarbons in space: The evidence and implications

Many different celestial objects emit an infrared spectrum which has been attributed to infrared fluorescence from a family of highly vibrationally excited benzenoid hydrocarbons referred to as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The most intense emitters contain between 20 to 50 carbon atoms, although larger species also contribute to the emission. This assignment is based on a rough resemblance of the interstellar emission spectra to the vibrational spectra of PAHs and related materials such as chars and soots which contain PAH mixtures. The spectroscopic assignments of the features between 3200 and 700/cm are discussed in detail. Much laboratory work on PAHs which are larger than those previously studied, isolated, ionized and dehydrogenated is called for to fully exploit this model. As PAHs are thought to be ubiquitous throughout the interstellar medium and more abundant than all other known polyatomic, interstellar molecules, they possess great potential as important probes of conditions in many different kinds of astronomical objects. Conversely, astronomical observations are extending our knowledge of these exotic materials by probing regions in which some conditions may be impossible to duplicate in the laboratory.

Allamandola, Louis J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Techniques for Embedding Instrumentation in Pressure Vessel Test Articles

Many interesting structural and thermal events occur in materials that are housed within a surrounding pressure vessel. In order to measure the environment during these events and explore their causes instrumentation must be installed on or in the material. Transducers can be selected that are small enough to be embedded within the test material but these instruments must interface with an external system in order to apply excitation voltages and output the desired data. The methods for installing the instrumentation and creating an interface are complicated when the material is located in a case or housing containing high pressures and hot gases. Installation techniques for overcoming some of these difficulties were developed while testing a series of small-scale solid propellant and hybrid rocket motors at Marshall Space Flight Center. These techniques have potential applications in other test articles where data are acquired from materials that require containment due to the severe environment encountered during the test process. This severe environment could include high pressure, hot gases, or ionized atmospheres. The development of these techniques, problems encountered, and the lessons learned from the ongoing testing process are summarized.

Cornelius, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2012

EBT2 film as a depth-dose measurement tool for radiotherapy beams over a wide range of energies and modalities

Purpose: One of the fundamental parameters used for dose calculation is percentage depth-dose, generally measured employing ionization chambers. There are situations where use of ion chambers for measuring depth-doses is difficult or problematic. In such cases, radiochromic film might be an alternative. The EBT-2 model GAFCHROMIC film was investigated as a potential tool for depth-dose measurement in radiotherapy beams over a broad range of energies and modalities. Methods: Pieces of the EBT-2 model GAFCHROMIC EBT2 film were exposed to x-ray, electron, and proton beams used in radiotherapy. The beams employed for this study included kilovoltage x-rays (75 kVp), {sup 60}Co gamma-rays, megavoltage x-rays (18 MV), electrons (7 and 20 MeV), and pristine Bragg-peak proton beams (126 and 152 MeV). At each beam quality, film response was measured over the dose range of 0.4-8.0 Gy, which corresponds to optical densities ranging from 0.05 to 0.4 measured with a flat-bed document scanner. To assess precision in depth-dose measurements with the EBT-2 model GAFCHROMIC film, uncertainty in measured optical density was investigated with respect to variation in film-to-film and scanner-bed uniformity. Results: For most beams, percentage depth-doses measured with the EBT-2 model GAFCHROMIC film show an excellent agreement with those measured with ion chambers. Some discrepancies are observed in case of (i) kilovoltage x-rays at larger depths due to beam-hardening, and (ii) proton beams around Bragg-peak due to quenching effects. For these beams, an empirical polynomial correction produces better agreement with ion-chamber data. Conclusions: The EBT-2 model GAFCHROMIC film is an excellent secondary dosimeter for measurement of percentage depth-doses for a broad range of beam qualities and modalities used in radiotherapy. It offers an easy and efficient way to measure beam depth-dose data with a high spatial resolution.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrodynamics on extrasolar giant planets

Strong ionization on close-in extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) suggests that their atmospheres may be affected by ion drag and resistive heating arising from wind-driven electrodynamics. Recent models of ion drag on these planets, however, are based on thermal ionization only and do not include the upper atmosphere above the 1 mbar level. These models are also based on simplified equations of resistive magnetohydrodynamics that are not always valid in extrasolar planet atmospheres. We show that photoionization dominates over thermal ionization over much of the dayside atmosphere above the 100 mbar level, creating an upper ionosphere dominated by ionization of H and He and a lower ionosphere dominated by ionization of metals such as Na, K, and Mg. The resulting dayside electron densities on close-in exoplanets are higher than those encountered in any planetary ionosphere of the solar system, and the conductivities are comparable to the chromosphere of the Sun. Based on these results and assumed magnetic fields, we constrain the conductivity regimes on close-in EGPs and use a generalized Ohm's law to study the basic effects of electrodynamics in their atmospheres. We find that ion drag is important above the 10 mbar level where it can also significantly alter the energy balance through resistive heating. Due to frequent collisions of the electrons and ions with the neutral atmosphere, however, ion drag is largely negligible in the lower atmosphere below the 10 mbar level for a reasonable range of planetary magnetic moments. We find that the atmospheric conductivity decreases by several orders of magnitude in the night side of tidally locked planets, leading to a potentially interesting large-scale dichotomy in electrodynamics between the day and night sides. A combined approach that relies on UV observations of the upper atmosphere, phase curve and Doppler measurements of global dynamics, and visual transit observations to probe the alkali metals can potentially be used to constrain electrodynamics in the future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Numerical study of effect of secondary electron emission on discharge characteristics in low pressure capacitive RF argon discharge

Based on the drift and diffusion approximation theory, a 1D fluid model on capacitively coupled RF argon glow discharge at low pressure is established to study the effect of secondary electron emission (SEE) on the discharge characteristics. The model is numerically solved by using a finite difference method and the numerical results are obtained. The numerical results indicate that when the SEE coefficient is larger, the plasma density is higher and the time of reaching steady state is longer. It is also found that the cycle-averaged electric field, electric potential, and electron temperature change a little as the SEE coefficient is increased. Moreover, the discharge characteristics in some nonequilibrium discharge processes with different SEE coefficients have been compared. The analysis shows that when the SEE coefficient is varied from 0.01 to 0.3, the cycle-averaged electron net power absorption, electron heating rate, thermal convective term, electron energy dissipation, and ionization all have different degrees of growth. While the electron energy dissipation and ionization are quite special, there appear two peaks near each sheath region in the discharge with a relatively larger SEE coefficient. In this case, the discharge is certainly operated in a hybrid α-γ-mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

K-SHELL PHOTOABSORPTION OF MAGNESIUM IONS

X-ray photoabsorption cross sections have been computed for all magnesium ions with three or more electrons using the R-matrix method. A comparison with other available data for Mg II-Mg X shows good qualitative agreement in the resultant resonance shapes. However, for the lower ionization stages, and for singly ionized Mg II in particular, the previous R-matrix results overestimate the K-edge position due to the neglect of important orbital relaxation effects, and a global shift downward in photon energy of those cross sections is therefore warranted. We have found that the cross sections for Mg I and Mg II are further complicated by the M-shell (n = 3) occupancy. As a result, the treatment of spectator Auger decay of 1s → np resonances using a method based on multichannel quantum defect theory and an optical potential becomes problematic, making it necessary to implement an alternative, approximate treatment of Auger decay for neutral Mg I. The new cross sections are used to fit the Mg K edge in XMM-Newton spectra of the low-mass X-ray binary GS 1826-238, where most of the interstellar Mg is found to be in ionized form.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2022

The Contribution of M-Dwarf Flares to the Thermal Escape of Potentially Habitable Planet Atmospheres

The habitability of planets around M dwarfs (. 0:5M ) can be a ected by the XUV (X rays + extreme UV) emission of these stars, with flares occasionally increasing the XUV flux by more than 2 orders of magnitude above quiescent levels. This wavelength range can warm and ionize terrestrial planets' upper atmospheres, which expands the planetary radius and promotes atmospheric loss. In this work, we study the contribution of the XUV flux due to flares on the atmospheric escape of Earth-like planets orbiting M dwarfs through numerical simulations. We considered the fi rst Gyr of planets with initial surface water abundances between 1 and 10 terrestrial oceans (TO), a small primordial hydrogen envelope ( 10􀀀3 M), and with host star masses between 0.2 and 0.6 M . In this parameter range, we fi nd that flares can remove up to two TO more than non flaring stars, which, in some cases, translates to a doubling of the total water loss. We also fi nd that flaring can increase atmospheric oxygen partial pressures by hundreds of bars in some cases. These results were obtained by adding a new module for flares to the VPLanet software package and upgrading its atmospheric escape module to account for Roche lobe overflow and radiation/recombination-limited escape.

Laura N R Do Amaral↗
DOE OSTI2014

Detector to detector corrections: A comprehensive experimental study of detector specific correction factors for beam output measurements for small radiotherapy beams

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive set of detector specific correction factors for beam output measurements for small beams, for a wide range of real time and passive detectors. The detector specific correction factors determined in this study may be potentially useful as a reference data set for small beam dosimetry measurements. Methods: Dose response of passive and real time detectors was investigated for small field sizes shaped with a micromultileaf collimator ranging from 0.6 × 0.6 cm{sup 2} to 4.2 × 4.2 cm{sup 2} and the measurements were extended to larger fields of up to 10 × 10 cm{sup 2}. Measurements were performed at 5 cm depth, in a 6 MV photon beam. Detectors used included alanine, thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), stereotactic diode, electron diode, photon diode, radiophotoluminescent dosimeters (RPLDs), radioluminescence detector based on carbon-doped aluminium oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}:C), organic plastic scintillators, diamond detectors, liquid filled ion chamber, and a range of small volume air filled ionization chambers (volumes ranging from 0.002 cm{sup 3} to 0.3 cm{sup 3}). All detector measurements were corrected for volume averaging effect and compared with dose ratios determined from alanine to derive a detector correction factors that account for beam perturbation related to nonwater equivalence of the detector materials. Results: For the detectors used in this study, volume averaging corrections ranged from unity for the smallest detectors such as the diodes, 1.148 for the 0.14 cm{sup 3} air filled ionization chamber and were as high as 1.924 for the 0.3 cm{sup 3} ionization chamber. After applying volume averaging corrections, the detector readings were consistent among themselves and with alanine measurements for several small detectors but they differed for larger detectors, in particular for some small ionization chambers with volumes larger than 0.1 cm{sup 3}. Conclusions: The results demonstrate how important it is for the appropriate corrections to be applied to give consistent and accurate measurements for a range of detectors in small beam geometry. The results further demonstrate that depending on the choice of detectors, there is a potential for large errors when effects such as volume averaging, perturbation and differences in material properties of detectors are not taken into account. As the commissioning of small fields for clinical treatment has to rely on accurate dose measurements, the authors recommend the use of detectors that require relatively little correction, such as unshielded diodes, diamond detectors or microchambers, and solid state detectors such as alanine, TLD, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}:C, or scintillators.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Preliminary investigations on the determination of three-dimensional dose distributions using scintillator blocks and optical tomography

Purpose: Clinical QA in teletherapy as well as the characterization of experimental radiation sources for future medical applications requires effective methods for measuring three-dimensional (3D) dose distributions generated in a water-equivalent medium. Current dosimeters based on ionization chambers, diodes, thermoluminescence detectors, radiochromic films, or polymer gels exhibit various drawbacks: High quality 3D dose determination is either very sophisticated and expensive or requires high amounts of effort and time for the preparation or read out. New detectors based on scintillator blocks in combination with optical tomography are studied, since they have the potential to facilitate the desired cost-effective, transportable, and long-term stable dosimetry system that is able to determine 3D dose distributions with high spatial resolution in a short time.Methods: A portable detector prototype was set up based on a plastic scintillator block and four digital cameras. During irradiation the scintillator emits light, which is detected by the fixed cameras. The light distribution is then reconstructed by optical tomography, using maximum-likelihood expectation maximization. The result of the reconstruction approximates the 3D dose distribution. First performance tests of the prototype using laser light were carried out. Irradiation experiments were performed with ionizing radiation, i.e., bremsstrahlung (6 to 21 MV), electrons (6 to 21 MeV), and protons (68 MeV), provided by clinical and research accelerators.Results: Laser experiments show that the current imaging properties differ from the design specifications: The imaging scale of the optical systems is position dependent, ranging from 0.185 mm/pixel to 0.225 mm/pixel. Nevertheless, the developed dosimetry method is proven to be functional for electron and proton beams. Induced radiation doses of 50 mGy or more made 3D dose reconstructions possible. Taking the imaging properties into account, determined dose profiles are in agreement with reference measurements. An inherent drawback of the scintillator is the nonlinear light output for high stopping-power radiation due to the quenching effect. It impacts the depth dose curves measured with the dosimeter. For single Bragg peak distributions this leads to a peak to plateau ratio of 2.8 instead of 4.5 for the reference ionization chamber measurement. Furthermore, the transmission of the clinical bremsstrahlung beams through the scintillator leads to the saturation of one camera, making dose reconstructions in that case presently not feasible.Conclusions: It is shown that distributions of scintillation light generated by proton or electron beams can be reconstructed by the dosimetry system within minutes. The quenching apparent for proton irradiation, and the yet not precisely determined position dependency of the imaging scale, require further investigation and corrections. Upgrading the prototype with larger or inorganic scintillators would increase the detectable proton and electron energy range. The presented results show that the determination of 3D dose distributions using scintillator blocks and optical tomography is a promising dosimetry method.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

CO 2 –Based Dual–Tone Resists for Electron Beam Lithography

The increasing global environmental and energy crisis has urgently motivated the advancement of sustainable materials. Significant effort has been focused on developing new materials to replace the fossil-based resists in the semiconductor industry based on greener sources such as ice, dry ice, small organic molecules, and proteins. Such resist materials, however, have yet to meet the stringent requirements of high sensitivity, high resolution, reliable repeatability, and good compatibility with the current protocols. To this end, CO 2 -based polycarbonates (CO 2 -PCs) obtained from the copolymerization of CO 2 and epoxides are demonstrated as sustainable dual-tone (positive & negative tone) resists for electron beam lithography. By adjusting the chemical structure, developing agent, and molecular weight, the CO 2 -PCs present high sensitivities to electron beam (1.3/120 μC cm -2 ), narrow critical dimensions (29/58 nm), and moderate line edge roughness (4.6/26.7 nm) for negative and positive resists, respectively. Here, a deep understanding of the exposure mechanism of CO 2 -PC resists is provided on the basis of the Fourier transform infrared, Raman, and electron ionization mass spectroscopy. 2D photonic crystal devices are fabricated using the negative and positive CO 2 -PC resists, respectively, and both devices show distinct colors derived from their well-defined nanostructures, indicating the great practical potential of CO 2 -derived electron beam resists.

nanofabrication↗
DOE OSTI2015

Analysis of the S{sub 2}←S{sub 0} vibronic spectrum of the ortho-cyanophenol dimer using a multimode vibronic coupling approach

The S{sub 2}←S{sub 0} vibronic spectrum of the ortho-cyanophenol dimer (oCP){sub 2} is analyzed in a joint experimental and theoretical investigation. Vibronic excitation energies up to 750 cm{sup −1} are covered, which extends our previous analysis of the quenching of the excitonic splitting in this and related species [Kopec et al., J. Chem. Phys. 137, 184312 (2012)]. As we demonstrate, this necessitates an extension of the coupling model. Accordingly, we compute the potential energy surfaces of the ortho-cyanophenol dimer (oCP){sub 2} along all relevant normal modes using the approximate second-order coupled cluster method RI-CC2 and extract the corresponding coupling constants using the linear and quadratic vibronic coupling scheme. These serve as the basis to calculate the vibronic spectrum. The theoretical results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental highly resolved resonant two-photon ionization spectrum. This allows to interpret key features of the excitonic and vibronic interactions in terms of nodal patterns of the underlying vibronic wave functions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Twisted Landau damping rates in multi-component dusty plasmas

Keeping in view the kinetic treatment for plasma particles, the electrostatic twisted dust-acoustic (DA) and dust-ion-acoustic (DIA) waves are investigated in a collisionless unmagnetized multi-component dusty plasma, whose constituents are the electrons, singly ionized positive ions, and negatively charged massive dust particulates. With this background, the Vlasov–Poisson equations are coupled together to derive a generalized dielectric constant by utilizing the Laguerre-Gaussian perturbed distribution function and electrostatic potential in the paraxial limit. The dispersion and damping rates of twisted DA and DIA waves are analyzed with finite orbital angular momentum states in a multi-component dusty plasma. Significant modifications concerning the real wave frequencies and damping rates appeared with varying twisted dimensionless parameter and dust concentration. In particular, it is shown that dust concentration enhances the phase speed of the DIA waves in contrary to DA waves, whereas the impact of twisted parameter reduces the frequencies of both DA and DIA waves. The results should be useful for the understanding of particle transport and trapping phenomena caused by wave excitation in laboratory dusty plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗