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

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At least 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

A SIMPLE METHOD FOR MEASURING THE ELECTRON-BEAM MAGNETIZATION

There are a number of projects that require magnetized beams, such as electron cooling or aiding in “flat” beam transforms. Here we explore a simple technique to characterize the magnetization, observed through the angular momentum of magnetized beams. These beams are produced through photoemission. The generating drive laser first passes through microlens arrays (fly-eye light condensers) to form a transversely modulated pulse incident on the photocathode surface [1]. The resulting charge distribution is then accelerated from the photocathode. We explore the evolution of the pattern via the relative shearing of the beamlets, providing information about the angular momentum. This method is illustrated through numerical simulations and preliminary measurements carried out at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA) facility are presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Matching into the Helical Bunch Coalescing Channel for a High Luminosity Muon Collider

For high luminosity in a muon collider, muon bunches that have been cooled in the six-dimensional helical cooling channel (HCC) must be merged into a single bunch and further cooled in preparation for acceleration and transport to the collider ring. The helical bunch coalescing channel has been previously simulated and provides the most natural match from helical upstream and downstream subsystems. This work focuses on the matching from the exit of the multiple bunch HCC into the start of the helical bunch coalescing channel. The simulated helical matching section simultaneously matches the helical spatial period lambda in addition to providing the necessary acceleration for efficient bunch coalescing. Previous studies assumed that the acceleration of muon bunches from p=209.15 MeV/c to 286.816 MeV/c and matching of lambda from 0.5 m to 1.0 m could be accomplished with zero particle losses and zero emittance growth in the individual bunches. This study demonstrates nonzero values for both particle loss and emittance growth, and provides considerations for reducing these adverse effects to best preserve high luminosity.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Role of stochastic heating in wakefield acceleration when optical injection is used

The dynamics of an electron in two counterpropagating waves is investigated. Conditions for stochastic acceleration are derived. The possibility of stochastic heating is confirmed when two waves interact with low density plasma by performing PIC (Particle In Cell) code simulations. It is shown that stochastic heating can play an important role in laser wakefield acceleration. When considering low density plasma interacting with a high intensity wave perturbed by a low intensity counterpropagating wave, stochastic heating can provide electrons with the right momentum for trapping in the wakefield. The influence of stochastic acceleration on the trapping of electrons is compared to the one of the beatwave force which is responsible for cold injection. To do so, several polarizations for the colliding pulses are considered. For some value of the plasma density and pulse duration, a transition from an injection due to stochastic acceleration to a cold injection dominated regime—regarding the trapped charge—has been observed from 2D and 3D PIC code simulations. This transition is ruled by the ratio of the interaction length of the pulses to the longitudinal size of the bubble. When the interaction length of the laser pulses reaches the radius of the accelerating cavity stochastic heating becomes dominant, and might be necessary to get electrons trapped into the wakefield, when wakefield inhibition grows with plasma density.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

The effect of broad-band Alfven-cyclotron waves spectra on the preferential heating and differential acceleration of He{sup ++} ions in the solar wind

In anticipation of results from inner heliospheric missions such as the Solar Orbiter and the Solar Probe we present the results from 1.5D hybrid simulations to study the role of magnetic fluctuations for the heating and differential acceleration of He{sup ++} ions in the solar wind. We consider the effects of nonlinear Alfven-cyclotron waves at different frequency regimes. Monochromatic nonlinear Alfven-alpha-cyclotron waves are known to preferentially heat and accelerate He{sup ++} ions in collisionless low beta plasma. In this study we demonstrate that these effects are preserved when higherfrequency monochromatic and broad-band spectra of Alfven-proton-cyclotron waves are considered. Comparison between several nonlinear monochromatic waves shows that the ion temperatures, anisotropies and relative drift are quantitatively affected by the shift in frequency. Including a broad-band wave-spectrum results in a significant reduction of both the parallel and the perpendicular temperature components for the He{sup ++} ions, whereas the proton heating is barely influenced, with the parallel proton temperature only slightly enhanced. The differential streaming is strongly affected by the available wave power in the resonant daughter ion-acoustic waves. Therefore for the same initial wave energy, the relative drift is significantly reduced in the case of initial wave-spectra in comparison to the simulations with monochromatic waves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

COMPRESSIBLE RELATIVISTIC MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE IN MAGNETICALLY DOMINATED PLASMAS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR A STRONG-COUPLING REGIME

In this Letter, we report compressible mode effects on relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) turbulence in Poynting-dominated plasmas using three-dimensional numerical simulations. We decomposed fluctuations in the turbulence into 3 MHD modes (fast, slow, and Alfvén) following the procedure of mode decomposition in Cho and Lazarian, and analyzed their energy spectra and structure functions separately. We also analyzed the ratio of compressible mode to Alfvén mode energy with respect to its Mach number. We found the ratio of compressible mode increases not only with the Alfvén Mach number, but also with the background magnetization, which indicates a strong coupling between the fast and Alfvén modes. It also signifies the appearance of a new regime of RMHD turbulence in Poynting-dominated plasmas where the fast and Alfvén modes are strongly coupled and, unlike the non-relativistic MHD regime, cannot be treated separately. This finding will affect particle acceleration efficiency obtained by assuming Alfvénic critical-balance turbulence and can change the resulting photon spectra emitted by non-thermal electrons.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Spectral–Dynamic Model of the Hot Plasma Layer Expansion

We propose a theoretical model describing the expansion of a plasma layer into vacuum for an arbitrary electron plasma component temperature. Comparison with the known limiting cases of the quasi-neutral outflow and the Coulomb explosion, as well as with the results of the 1D electrostatic simulation, has revealed a high accuracy of the proposed model in the description of the spectral–energy and spatial characteristics of ions accelerated during the plasma expansion. The procedure for obtaining the relations between the characteristics of accelerated ions and the laser pulse and target parameters is described with regard to qualitative predictions and the description of the results of numerical kinetic simulation and experiments on the laser and plasma acceleration of ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ion acceleration in shell cylinders irradiated by a short intense laser pulse

The interaction of a short high intensity laser pulse with homo and heterogeneous shell cylinders has been analyzed using particle-in-cell simulations and analytical modeling. We show that the shell cylinder is proficient of accelerating and focusing ions in a narrow region. In the case of shell cylinder, the ion energy exceeds the ion energy for a flat target of the same thickness. The constructed model enables the evaluation of the ion energy and the number of ions in the focusing region.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Improved melt model for power flow

Accelerators that drive z-pinch experiments transport current densities in excess of 1 MA/cm 2 in order to melt or ionize the target and implode it on axis. These high current densities stress the transmission lines upstream from the target, where rapid electrode heating causes plasma formation, melt, and possibly vaporization. These plasmas negatively impact accelerator efficiency by diverting some portion of the current away from the target, referred to as “current loss”. Simulations that are able to reproduce this behavior may be applied to improving the efficiency of existing accelerators and to designing systems operating at ever higher current densities. The relativistic particle-in-cell code CHICAGO ® is the primary code for modeling power flow on Sandia National Laboratories’ Z accelerator. We report here on new algorithms that incorporate vaporization and melt into the standard power-flow simulation framework. Taking a hybrid approach, the CHICAGO® kinetic/multi-fluid treatment has been expanded to include vaporization while the quasi-neutral equation-of-motion has been updated for melt at high current-densities. For vaporization, a new one-dimensional substrate model provides a more accurate calculation of electrode thermal, mass, and magnetic field diffusion as well as a means of emitting absorbed contaminants and vaporized metal ions. A quasi-fluid model has been implemented expressly to mimic the motion of imploding liners for accurate inductance histories. For melt, a multi-ion Hall-MHD option has been implemented and benchmarked against Alegra MHD. This new model is described with sufficient detail to reproduce these algorithms in any hybrid kinetic code. Physics results from the new code are also presented. A CHICAGO ® Hall-MHD simulation of a radial transmission line demonstrates that Hall physics, not included in Alegra, has no significant impact on the diffusion of electrode material. When surface contaminant desorption is mocked in as a hydrogen surface plasma, both the surface and bulk-material plasmas largely compress under the influence of the j × B force. Similar results are seen in Alegra, which also shows magnetic and material diffusion scaling with peak current. Test vaporization simulations using MagLIF and a power-flow experimental geometry show Fe + ions diffuse only a few hundred µm from the electrodes, so present models of Z power flow remain valid.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE EFFICIENCY OF SECOND-ORDER FERMI ACCELERATION BY WEAKLY COMPRESSIBLE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

We investigate the effects of pitch-angle scattering on the efficiency of particle heating and acceleration by MHD turbulence using phenomenological estimates and simulations of non-relativistic test particles interacting with strong, subsonic MHD turbulence. We include an imposed pitch-angle scattering rate, which is meant to approximate the effects of high-frequency plasma waves and/or velocity space instabilities. We focus on plasma parameters similar to those found in the near-Earth solar wind, though most of our results are more broadly applicable. An important control parameter is the size of the particle mean free path λ{sub mfp} relative to the scale of the turbulent fluctuations L. For small scattering rates, particles interact quasi-resonantly with turbulent fluctuations in magnetic field strength. Scattering increases the long-term efficiency of this resonant heating by factors of a few times 10, but the distribution function does not develop a significant non-thermal power-law tail. For higher scattering rates, the interaction between particles and turbulent fluctuations becomes non-resonant, governed by particles heating and cooling adiabatically as they encounter turbulent density fluctuations. Rapid pitch-angle scattering can produce a power-law tail in the proton distribution function, but this requires fine-tuning of parameters. Moreover, in the near-Earth solar wind, a significant power-law tail cannot develop by this mechanism because the particle acceleration timescales are longer than the adiabatic cooling timescale set by the expansion of the solar wind. Our results thus imply that MHD-scale turbulent fluctuations are unlikely to be the origin of the v {sup –5} tail in the proton distribution function observed in the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effect of RF Gradient upon the Performance of the Wisconsin SRF Electron Gun

The performance of the Wisconsin 200-MHz SRF electron gun is simulated for several values of the RF gradient. Bunches with charge of 200 pC are modeled for the case where emittance compensation is completed during post-acceleration to 85 MeV in a TESLA module. We first perform simulations in which the initial bunch radius is optimal for the design gradient of 41 MV/m. We then optimize the radius as a function of RF gradient to improve the performance for low gradients.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Atomistically-informed modeling of point defect clustering and evolution in irradiated ThO 2

A cluster dynamics (CD) model has been developed to investigate the nucleation and growth of point defect clusters, i.e., interstitial prismatic loops and nanoscale and sub-nanoscale voids, in ThO 2 during irradiation by energetic particles. The model considers cluster off-stoichiometry due to the asymmetry of point defect generation on the O and Th sublattices under irradiation, as well as the point defect diffusivities and the defect binding energies to clusters. The energies were established using detailed molecular dynamics simulations considering the statistical variability of cluster configuration. A high-order adaptive time-integration has been used to solve the model. The predicted loop density and their average size is in good agreement with reported experimental observations for proton irradiated ThO 2 at 600°C. In conclusion, the model did not predict void evolution due to the sluggish kinetics of cation vacancies, explaining the absence of voids in proton irradiated ThO 2 (and other oxides) at relatively low temperatures.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Startup regime of high-efficiency tapering-enhanced FEL oscillator

In this paper, we present a design of a high-efficiency high-gain free-electron laser oscillator based on the use of a strongly tapered undulator for extracting energy from high-brightness electron beams. We provide an analytical model of the setup followed by numerical simulations for lasing at the wavelength of 13.5 nm. We discuss the optimization of the system in steady state and the conditions necessary for the pass-per-pass buildup of the power from shot noise level. We propose the use of fast phase shifters as a way to accelerate the buildup. Finally, we present time-dependent simulations of the oscillator and discuss the role of spectral filtering. The optimized working point yields a total energy conversion efficiency from the electron beam to output radiation above 1% at the wavelength of 13.5 nm.

Beam dynamics↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development Of A Compact Photo-injector With RF-focusing Lens For Short Pulse Electron Source Application

For development of compact ultrafast electron source system, we are currently designing a short-pulse RF-gun with RF focusing structure by means of a series of comprehensive modeling analysis processes. EM design of a 2.5 cell resonant cavity with input coupler, acceleration dynamics of photo-emitted electron bunch, EM design of RF-lens with input coupler, and phasespace analysis of focused electron bunch are systematically examined with multi-physics simulators. All the features of the 2.856 GHz cavity geometry were precisely engineered for acceleration energies ranging from 100 keV to 500 keV (safety limited) to be powered by our 5 MW S-band klystron. The klystron (Thales TH2163) and modulator system (ScandiNova K1 turnkey system) were successfully installed and tested. Performance tests of the klystron system show peak output power > 5 MW, as per operation specifications. At the quasi-relativistic energies, the electron source is capable of generating 100fC -- 1 pC electron bunch with pulse duration close to 30 fs -- 1 ps and transverse size of a few hundred microns. PIC simulations have shown that the electron bunch undergoes fast RF acceleration, rapidly reaching the desired energies, which can be controlled by tuning RF injection phase and input driving power. It has been shown that it is possible to also focus/compress the bunch longitudinally using a RF-lens, which would allow us to control the temporal resolution of the system as well. While our primary analysis has been performed on a 2.5 cell design, we are also looking into half-cell (single cavity) design that is expected to provide the same range of beam energy with a simple configuration.

Grabenhofer, Alexander↗
DOE OSTI2021

Intrinsic quality factor extraction of multi-port cavity with arbitrary coupling

In this work, we derived S-parameter based expressions for the intrinsic quality factor of an arbitrary coupled multiport microwave cavity and a non-ideal test fixture. Practical accuracy limitations of the obtained expressions specifically for superconducting accelerator cavities were evaluated both analytically and with the simulation software. The resulting formulas can be used to extract the intrinsic quality factor of normal-conducting and superconducting cavities directly from the calibrated S-parameter measurements.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quasi-stable injection channels in a wakefield accelerator

The influence of initial position on the acceleration of externally injected electrons in a plasma wakefield is investigated. Test-particle simulations show previously unobserved complex structure in the parameter space, with quasi-stable injection channels forming for particles injected in narrow regions away from the wake centre. Particles injected into these channels remain in the wake for a considerable time after dephasing and as a result achieve significantly higher energy than their neighbours. The result is relevant to both the planning and optimisation of experiments making use of external injection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing of CAD-Based Geometry for Monte Carlo Radiation Transport

Monte Carlo radiation transport (MCRT) methods have been used to simulate radiation environments for many decades by tracking individual particles through a model to accumulate statistical information. MCRT geometry is historically formed using the constructive solid geometry (CSG). Recently, significant work has been performed to support simulations using computer-aided design (CAD)-based tessellated surfaces to support highly complex geometries. Ray tracing acceleration data structures from the rendering and visualization community are applied to accelerate particle tracking in CAD-based models. Despite these efforts, CSG representations provide the superior performance in surface intersection operations during particle flight. Concurrently, pseudo Monte Carlo methods have become prevalent in rendering applications to support more realistic models for scattering media, motivating innovations that are advantageous for MCRT simulations. Finally, the authors’ work extends these innovations by employing Intel’s Embree ray tracing kernel within a geometry toolkit for Monte Carlo to improve the simulation performance using CAD-based models by factors of 1.5 to 2.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bayesian force fields from active learning for simulation of inter-dimensional transformation of stanene

Abstract We present a way to dramatically accelerate Gaussian process models for interatomic force fields based on many-body kernels by mapping both forces and uncertainties onto functions of low-dimensional features. This allows for automated active learning of models combining near-quantum accuracy, built-in uncertainty, and constant cost of evaluation that is comparable to classical analytical models, capable of simulating millions of atoms. Using this approach, we perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of the stability of the stanene monolayer. We discover an unusual phase transformation mechanism of 2D stanene, where ripples lead to nucleation of bilayer defects, densification into a disordered multilayer structure, followed by formation of bulk liquid at high temperature or nucleation and growth of the 3D bcc crystal at low temperature. The presented method opens possibilities for rapid development of fast accurate uncertainty-aware models for simulating long-time large-scale dynamics of complex materials.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2017

Mock Target Window OTR and IR Design and Testing

In order to fully verify temperature measurements made on the target window using infrared (IR) optical non-contact methods, actual comparative measurements are made with a real beam distribution as the heat source using Argonne National Laboratory’s (ANL) 35 MeV electron accelerator. Using Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulations and thermal Finite Element Analysis (FEA), a cooled mock target window with thermocouple implants is designed to be used in such a test to achieve window temperatures up to 700°C. An uncoated and blackcoated mock window is designed to enhance the IR temperature measurements and verify optical transmitted radiation (OTR) imagery. This allows us to fully verify and characterize our temperature accuracy with our current IR camera method and any future method we may wish to explore using actual production conditions. This test also provides us with valuable conclusions/concerns regarding the calibration method we developed using our IR test stand at TA-53 in MPF-14.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗