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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

Controlling and monitoring the space-station plasma interaction: A baseline for performing plasma experiments and using advanced technology

The size, complexity, and motion of space station through the Earth's environmental plasma means that there will be a large, complicated interaction region, involving a sheath, wake, charging of surfaces, induced electric fields, secondary emission, outgassing with ionization, etc. This interaction will necessarily be a factor in carrying out and interpreting plasma experiments and in the use of certain technologies. Attention should be given ahead of time to: (1) monitoring this interaction so that it is well described; (2) implifying the interaction by appropriate design and construction of the spacecraft and by appropriate planning of technology use; and (3) controlling the interaction by both active and passive means. Plasma emitters for modifying and controlling the spacecraft charge should be placed in several locations. Portable electrostatic shields could be deployed around noisy sections of the spacecraft in order to carry out sensitive experiments. A particle umbrella could be raised to deflect the ram ions and neutrals in order to provide a controlled environment. These interactions are briefly discussed.

Whipple, Elden C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Enhanced current flow through a plasma cloud by induction of plasma turbulence

Electrodynamic tethers have been proposed as a means of generating power in low earth orbit. One of the limitations on the power generated is the relatively low electron current that can be collected. It is proposed that the electron current can be significantly enhanced by means of current induced plasma turbulence in a plasma cloud around the collecting anode. This is examined for the specific case of lower hybrid turbulence. An important conclusion is that the use of plasma clouds in the ionosphere will entail a high impedance (no instability) and a low impedance (lower hybrid instability) mode of operation depending on the current density.

Hastings, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the generation of field-aligned plasma flow at the boundary of the plasma sheet

A possible cause of the large plasma flow velocities parallel to the magnetic field (which were observed in spacecraft experiments) near the boundary of the plasma sheet in the earth's magnetotail is considered in the framework of a magnetohydrodynamic model. It is shown for steady-state configurations that high parallel flow velocities can be expected to exist on field lines connecting to a region of weak magnetic field. The physical mechanism causing large values of the parallel velocity component can be visualized as a strong imbalance of perpendicular mass flux into and out of magnetic flux tubes passing through regions where the magnetic field is weak and inhomogeneous. The value of the parallel velocity component is evaluated, and it is found that it can substantially exceed the perpendicular velocity (by as much as a factor of 40). The results are applied to the earth's magnetotail; it is found that this mechanism is able to explain the parallel flow velocities near the boundary of the plasma sheet in the range of several hundreds of km/s.

Schindler, K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Enhanced current flow through a plasma cloud by induction of plasma turbulence

Electrodynamic tethers have been proposed as a means of generating power in low earth orbit. One of the limitations on the power generated is the relatively low electron current that can be collected. It is proposed that the electron current can be significantly enhanced by means of current-induced plasma turbulence in a plasma cloud around the collecting anode. This is examined for the specific case of ion acoustic turbulence. An important conclusion is that the use of plasma clouds in the ionosphere will entail a high-impedance (no instability) and a low-impedance (ion acoustic instability) mode of operation. The low-impedance mode of operation will have two submodes, one steady state and one pulsed.

Hastings, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Laboratory behavior of a plasma plume injected into the magnetized plasma flow

Plasma plumes are injected into the tail of the simulated earth's magnetosphere produced by an interaction between the simulated solar wind and a magnetic dipole. The behavior of laboratory artificial plasma plumes injected into the magnetized plasma flow is discussed in conjunction with the AMPTE artificial comet experiments (Minami et al., 1986) and other active chemical release experiments in space.

Minami, Shigeyuki↗
NASA NTRS1989

Small scale irregularities in Comet Halley's plasma mantle - An attempt at self-consistent analysis of plasma and magnetic field data

VEGA-1 measurements of the plasma density and magnetic field in the coma of Comet Halley show characteristic signatures over a significant portion of the outbound pass. It is found that the assumption that there is a balance between the thermal and magnetic pressures in these features can be used to obtain estimates of the plasma temperature as a function of distance from the nucleus. These estimates indicate that the ions cool from about 1.5 x 10 to the 6th K at 10 to the 5th km to 2 x 10 to the 5th K at 5 x 10 to the 4th km. The technique used here represents a novel approach whereby temperature measurements can be made in situations where only plasma density and magnetic field data are available.

Vaisberg, O. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Production of organic compounds in plasmas - A comparison among electric sparks, laser-induced plasmas, and UV light

In order to ascertain the features of organic compound-production in planetary atmospheres under the effects of plasmas and shocks, various mixtures of N2, CH4, and H2 modeling the atmosphere of Titan were subjected to discrete sparks, laser-induced plasmas, and UV radiation. The experimental results obtained suggest that UV photolysis from the plasma is an important organic compound synthesis process, as confirmed by the photolysis of gas samples that were exposed to the light but not to the shock waves emitted by the sparks. The thermodynamic equilibrium theory is therefore incomplete in the absence of photolysis.

Scattergood, Thomas W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Interpretation of plasma diagnostics package results in terms of large space structure plasma interactions

The Plasma Diagnostics Package (PDP) is a spacecraft which was designed and built at The University of Iowa and which contained several scientific instruments. These instruments were used for measuring Space Shuttle Orbiter environmental parameters and plasma parameters. The PDP flew on two Space Shuttle flights. The first flight of the PDP was on Space Shuttle Mission STS-3 and was a part of the NASA/Office of Space Science payload (OSS-1). The second flight of the PDP was on Space Shuttle Mission STS/51F and was a part of Spacelab 2. The interpretation of both the OSS-1 and Spacelab 2 PDP results in terms of large space structure plasma interactions is emphasized.

Kurth, William S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Modeling solar flare conduction fronts. I - Homogeneous plasmas and ion-acoustic turbulence. II - Inhomogeneous plasmas and ambipolar electric fields

A one-dimensional, electrostatic, particle-in-cell simulation is used here to model the expansion of a heated electron population in a coronal loop during a solar flare and the characteristics of the associated X-ray emissions. The hot electrons expand outward from the localized region, creating an ambipolar electric field which accelerates a return current of cooler, ambient electrons. Ion-acoustic waves are generated by the return currents as proposed by Brown et al. (1979), but they play little or no role in containing energetic electrons and the conduction front proposed by Brown et al. does not form. The X-ray emission efficiency of the electrons is too low in the corona for them to be the source of hard X-ray bursts. The particle dynamics changes dramatically if the heated plasma is at low altitudes and expands upward into the more tenuous plasma at higher altitudes. Two important applications of this finding are the radio-frequency heating of the corona and the collisional heating of the chromosphere by precipitating energetic electrons. In both cases, the overlying plasma has a density that is too low to supply a balancing return current to the expanding hot electrons. As a result, an ambipolar electric field develops that tends to confine the energetic electrons behind a front that propagate outward at about the speed of sound.

Mckean, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Plasma-screening effects on the electron-impact excitation of hydrogenic ions in dense plasmas

Plasma-screening effects are investigated on electron-impact excitation of hydrogenic ions in dense plasmas. Scaled cross sections Z(exp 4) sigma for 1s yields 2s and 1s yields 2p are obtained for a Debye-Hueckel model of the screened Coulomb interaction. Ground and excited bound wave functions are modified in the screened Coulomb potential (Debye-Hueckel model) using the Ritz variation method. The resulting atomic wave functions and their eigenenergies agree well with the numerical and high-order perturbation theory calculations for the interesting domain of the Debye length not less than 10. The Born approximation is used to describe the continuum states of the projectile electron. Plasma screening effects on the atomic electrons cannot be neglected in the high-density cases. Including these effects, the cross sections are appreciably increased for 1s yields 2s transitions and decreased for 1s yields 2p transitions.

Jung, Young-Dae↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Role of Plasma in Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition of Nanostructure Growth

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) has become the preferred process for high yield growth of carbon nanotubes and nanofibres because of its ability to pattern growth through lithographic positioning of transition metal catalysts on substrates. Many potential applications of nanotubes such as field emitters [1] require not only patterned growth but also vertical alignment. Some degree of ali,ment in thermal CVD processes can be obtained when carbon nanotubes are grown closely together as a result of van der Waals interactions. The ali,onment however is marginal, and the van der Waals prerequisite makes growth of freestanding nanofibres with thermal CVD unrealizable. The application of electric fields as a means of ali,onment has been shown to overcome this limitation [2-5], and highly aligned nanostructures can be grown if electric fields on the order of 0.5 V/microns are employed. Plasma enhanced CVD in various configurations including dc, rf, microwave, inductive and electron cyclotron resonance has been pursued as a means of enabling alignment in the CVD process. However, the sheath fields for the non-dc sources are in general not sufficient for a high degree of ali,pment and an additional dc bias is usually applied to the growth substrate. This begs the question as to the actual role of the plasma. It is clear that the plasma itself is not required for aligned growth as references [3] and [4] employed fields through small applied voltages (3-20 V) across very small electrode spacings (10-100 microns) and thus avoided striking a discharge.

Hash, David B.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Plasma Sheet Velocity Measurement Techniques for the Pulsed Plasma Thruster SIMP-LEX

The velocity of the first plasma sheet was determined between the electrodes of a pulsed plasma thruster using three measurement techniques: time of flight probe, high speed camera and magnetic field probe. Further, for time of flight probe and magnetic field probe, it was possible to determine the velocity distribution along the electrodes, as the plasma sheet is accelerated. The results from all three techniques are shown, and are compared for one thruster geometry.

Nawaz, Anuscheh↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Revisiting Voyager 2 Plasma Observations During the Uranus Flyby and Plasma Observation Requirements for Future Mission to Uranus’ Magnetosphere

We revisit the Voyager 2 (V2) plasma observations during its Uranus flyby in Jan 24, 1986. For this flyby it was found to be a highly dynamic magnetosphere with protons [1,2] and electrons [1,3] dominating the plasma environment with significant radiation belts [4,5] and large dipole tilt [6,7] relative to Uranus spin axis. The emphasis of this talk is the measurement requirement for an Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) 1 V ≤ E/Q ≤ 50 kV and Electron Plasma Spectrometer (ELS) 1 eV ≤ E ≤ 30 keV; in both cases a wide field-of view 360 x 90. The main measurement goal is “What is the relative composition of the major and minor ion species within Uranus’ magnetospheres, including both the inner magnetosphere, ionospheres, radiation belts and the deep magnetotail regions for both hot and cold ions?

Uranus↗
NASA NTRS2024

Investigation of Lunar Regolith Reduction via Hydrogen Plasma in Different Plasma Environments

The team at NASA KSC explored the use of hydrogen plasma as a reducing agent for Lunar regolith simulant in order to prove the viability of oxygen extraction from oxides. The focus of this work was to investigate the hydrogen ion production of different plasma power sources. An optimization trade study was completed by maximizing the production of the hydrogen ion and comparing the amount produced to the energy consumed. Hydrogen ion production was determined via residual gas analysis and a rough calibration using injected water. The hydrogen ions reduce the oxides present in the Lunar regolith, forming an OH molecule, which can further react with the hydrogen environment to form water vapor. This water vapor can then be measured through a residual gas analysis. Through this study, it was found that a direct current (DC) glow discharge operating at approximately 1 torr in a hydrogen environment produced the largest amount of reduced regolith when compared with a nanosecond pulsed system and alternating current (AC) source. Radiofrequency devices beyond AC were not studied in this work. Although the DC source performed the best here, limitations in design and experiment setup/scalability may lead to the selection of an alternative plasma power source in the future.

Kenneth Engeling↗
DOE OSTI2024

Advances in laser-plasma interactions using intense vortex laser beams

Low-intensity light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), commonly known as vortex beams, have garnered significant attention due to promising applications in areas ranging from optical trapping to communication. In recent years, there has been a surge in global research exploring the potential of high-intensity vortex laser beams and specifically their interactions with plasmas. Here, this paper provides a comprehensive review of recent advances in this area. Compared with conventional laser beams, intense vortex beams exhibit unique properties such as twisted phase fronts, OAM delivery, hollow intensity distribution, and spatially isolated longitudinal fields. These distinct characteristics give rise to a multitude of rich phenomena, profoundly influencing laser-plasma interactions and offering diverse applications. The paper also discusses future prospects and identifies promising general research areas involving vortex beams. These areas include low-divergence particle acceleration, instability suppression, high-energy photon delivery with OAM, and the generation of strong magnetic fields. With growing scientific interest and application potential, the study of intense vortex lasers is poised for rapid development in the coming years.

high energy density science↗
DOE OSTI2025

Spectral emission characteristics near 646 nm and plasma properties of laser-induced plasma of gaseous uranium hexafluoride

We present a detailed investigation of the temporal evolution of line and continuum emissions in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) of gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ), focusing on the spectral region near 646 nm. Spectral emission features, signal-to-background ratios (SBRs) of selected uranium lines, and spectral linewidths were examined under varying UF 6 pressures (15–60 Torr) and laser pulse energies (10–60 mJ). Higher pressures and pulse energies enhanced continuum emission and reduced SBRs but did not cause significant spectral congestion. Additional studies with the use of different laser systems, including nanosecond-pulsed Nd:YAG lasers (at fundamental and various harmonics) and a femtosecond-pulsed Ti:sapphire laser, revealed long-lived plasma continua in all cases. This persistent continuum is attributed to a pseudo-continuum from overlapping molecular emissions, as its intensity scales linearly with electron number density, deviating from the expected quadratic dependence of classical ion–electron interactions for free-free and free-bound continuum emission. Based on plasma persistence time, SBR, U II/U I intensity ratios, and electronic excitation temperature, no fundamental advantage was found for femtosecond-pulsed lasers over conventional nanosecond-pulsed ones for UF 6 enrichment assay with direct LIBS measurement.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy↗
DOE OSTI2024

Covalent Functionalization of Silicon with Plasma-Grown “Fuzzy” Graphene: Robust Aqueous Photoelectrodes for CO 2 Reduction by Molecular Catalysts

Carbon electrodes are ideal for electrochemistry with molecular catalysts, exhibiting facile charge transfer and good stability. Yet for solar-driven catalysis with semiconductor light absorbers, stable semiconductor/carbon interfaces can be difficult to achieve, and carbon’s high optical extinction means it can only be used in ultrathin layers. Here, we demonstrate a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process that achieves well-controlled deposition of out-of-plane “fuzzy” graphene (FG) on thermally oxidized Si substrates. The resulting Si|FG interfaces possess a silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) interfacial layer, implying covalent bonding between Si and the FG film that is consistent with the mechanical robustness observed from the films. The FG layer is uniform and tunable in thickness and optical transparency by deposition time. Using p-type Si|FG substrates, noncovalent immobilization of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecular catalysts was employed for the photoelectrochemical reduction of CO 2 in aqueous solution. The Si|FG|CoPc photocathodes exhibited good catalytic activity, yielding a current density of ∼1 mA/cm 2 , Faradaic efficiency for CO of ∼70% (balance H 2 ), and stable photocurrent for at least 30 h at −1.5 V vs Ag/AgCl under 1-sun illumination. Furthermore, the results suggest that plasma-deposited FG is a robust carbon electrode for molecular catalysts and suitable for further development of aqueous-stable Si photocathodes for CO 2 reduction.

CO2 reduction↗