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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Tunable electron beam pulser for picoseconds stroboscopic microscopy in transmission electron microscopes

For two decades, time-resolved transmission electron microscopes (TEM) have relied on pulsed-laser photoemission to generate electron bunches to explore sub-microsecond to sub-picosecond dynamics. Despite the vast successes of photoemission time-resolved TEMs, laser-based systems are inherently complex, thus tend not to be turn-key. In this paper, we report on the successful retrofit of a commercial 200 keV TEM, without an external laser, capable of producing continuously tunable pulsed electron beams with repetition rates from 0.1 GHz up to 12 GHz and a tunable bunch length from tens of nanoseconds down to 10 ps. This innovation enables temporal access into previously inaccessible regimes: i.e., high repetition rate stroboscopic experiments. Combination of a pair of RF-driven traveling wave stripline elements, quadrupole magnets, and a variable beam aperture enables operation of the instrument in (1) continuous waveform (CW) mode as though the instrument was never modified (i.e. convention TEM operation mode, where the electrons from the emission cathode randomly arrive at the sample without resolvable time information), (2) stroboscopic (pump-probe) mode, and (3) pulsed beam mode for dose rate sensitive materials. In order to analyze the effect of a pulsed beam on image quality, we examined Au nanoparticles using bright field, high-resolution TEM imaging and selected area diffraction in both continuous and pulsed-beam mode. Furthermore, in comparison of conventional TEMs, the add-on beam pulser enables the observation of ultrafast dynamic behavior in materials that are reversible under synchronized excitation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Broad band tunable energy electron beam pulser

An electromagnetic mechanical pulser implements a transverse wave metallic comb stripline TWMCS kicker having inwardly opposing teeth that retards a phase velocity of an RF traveling wave to match the kinetic velocity of a continuous electron beam, causing the beam to oscillate before being chopped into pulses by an aperture. The RF phase velocity is substantially independent of RF frequency and amplitude, thereby enabling independent tuning of the electron pulse widths and repetition rate. The TWMCS further comprises an electron pulse picker (EPP) that applies a pulsed transverse electric field across the TWMCS to deflect electrons out of the beam, allowing only selected electrons and/or groups of electrons to pass through. The EPP pulses can be synchronized with the RF traveling wave and/or with a pumping trigger of a transverse electron microscope (TEM), for example to obtain dynamic TEM images in real time.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Broad band tunable energy electron beam pulser

An electromagnetic mechanical pulser implements a transverse wave metallic comb stripline TWMCS kicker having inwardly opposing teeth structured to retard a phase velocity of an RF traveling wave propagated therethrough to match the kinetic velocity of a continuous electron beam simultaneously propagated therethrough. The kicker imposes transverse oscillations onto the beam, which is subsequently chopped into pulses by an aperture. The RF phase velocity is substantially independent of RF frequency and amplitude, thereby enabling independent tuning of the electron pulse widths and repetition rate. The exterior surface of the kicker is conductive, thereby avoiding electron charging. In embodiments, various elements of the kicker and/or aperture can be mechanically varied to provide further tuning of the pulsed electron beam. A divergence suppression section can include a mirror TWMCS and/or magnetic quadrupoles. RF can be applied to a down-selecting TWMCS downstream of the aperture to reduce the pulse repetition rate.

Jing, Chunguang↗
DOE OSTI2011

Ion Source Development at the SNS

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) now routinely operates near 1 MW of beam power on target with a highly-persistent {approx}38 mA peak current in the linac and an availability of {approx}90%. The {approx}1 ms-long, 60 Hz, {approx}50 mA H{sup -} beam pulses are extracted from a Cs-enhanced, multi-cusp, RF-driven, internal-antenna ion source. An electrostatic LEBT (Low Energy Beam Transport) focuses the 65 kV beam into the RFQ accelerator. The ion source and LEBT have normally a combined availability of {approx}99%. Although much progress has been made over the last years to achieve this level of availability further improvements are desirable. Failures of the internal antenna and occasionally impaired electron dump insulators require several source replacements per year. An attempt to overcome the antenna issues with an AlN external antenna source early in 2009 had to be terminated due to availability issues. This report provides a comprehensive review of the design, experimental history, status, and description of recently updated components and future plans for this ion source. The mechanical design for improved electron dump vacuum feedthroughs is also presented, which is compatible with the baseline and both external antenna ion sources.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

H{sup -} radio frequency source development at the Spallation Neutron Source

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) now routinely operates nearly 1 MW of beam power on target with a highly persistent {approx}38 mA peak current in the linac and an availability of {approx}90%. H{sup -} beam pulses ({approx}1 ms, 60 Hz) are produced by a Cs-enhanced, multicusp ion source closely coupled with an electrostatic low energy beam transport (LEBT), which focuses the 65 kV beam into a radio frequency quadrupole accelerator. The source plasma is generated by RF excitation (2 MHz, {approx}60 kW) of a copper antenna that has been encased with a thickness of {approx}0.7 mm of porcelain enamel and immersed into the plasma chamber. The ion source and LEBT normally have a combined availability of {approx}99%. Recent increases in duty-factor and RF power have made antenna failures a leading cause of downtime. This report first identifies the physical mechanism of antenna failure from a statistical inspection of {approx}75 antennas which ran at the SNS, scanning electron microscopy studies of antenna surface, and cross sectional cuts and analysis of calorimetric heating measurements. Failure mitigation efforts are then described which include modifying the antenna geometry and our acceptance/installation criteria. Progress and status of the development of the SNS external antenna source, a long-term solution to the internal antenna problem, are then discussed. Currently, this source is capable of delivering comparable beam currents to the baseline source to the SNS and, an earlier version, has briefly demonstrated unanalyzed currents up to {approx}100 mA (1 ms, 60 Hz) on the test stand. In particular, this paper discusses plasma ignition (dc and RF plasma guns), antenna reliability, magnet overheating, and insufficient beam persistence.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A low energy beam transport system for proton beam

A low energy beam transport (LEBT) system has been built for a compact pulsed hadron source (CPHS) at Tsinghua University in China. The LEBT, consisting of two solenoids and three short-drift sections, transports a pulsed proton beam of 60 mA of energy of 50 keV to the entrance of a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ). Measurement has shown a normalized RMS beam emittance less than 0.2 {pi} mm mrad at the end of the LEBT. Beam simulations were carried out to compare with the measurement and are in good agreement. Based on the successful CPHS LEBT development, a new LEBT for a China ADS projector has been designed. The features of the new design, including a beam chopper and beam simulations of the LEBT are presented and discussed along with CPHS LEBT development in this article.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhancement of beam pulse controllability for a single-pulse formation system of a cyclotron

The single-pulse formation technique using a beam chopping system consisting of two types of high-voltage beam kickers was improved to enhance the quality and intensity of the single-pulse beam with a pulse interval over 1 μs at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency cyclotron facility. A contamination rate of neighboring beam bunches in the single-pulse beam was reduced to less than 0.1%. Long-term purification of the single pulse beam was guaranteed by the well-controlled magnetic field stabilization system for the cyclotron magnet. Reduction of the multi-turn extraction number for suppressing the neighboring beam bunch contamination was achieved by restriction of a beam phase width and precise optimization of a particle acceleration phase. In addition, the single-pulse beam intensity was increased by a factor of two or more by a combination of two types of beam bunchers using sinusoidal and saw-tooth voltage waveforms. Provision of the high quality intense single-pulse beam contributed to improve the accuracy of experiments for investigation of scintillation light time-profile and for neutron energy measurement by a time-of-flight method.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ultra-high vacuum compatible optical chopper system for synchrotron x-ray scanning tunneling microscopy

High-speed beam choppers are a crucial part of time-resolved x-ray studies as well as a necessary component to enable elemental contrast in synchrotron x-ray scanning tunneling microscopy (SX-STM). However, many chopper systems are not capable of operation in vacuum, which restricts their application to x-ray studies with high photon energies, where air absorption does not present a significant problem. To overcome this limitation, we present a fully ultra-high vacuum (UHV) compatible chopper system capable of operating at variable chopping frequencies up to 4 kHz. The lightweight aluminum chopper disk is coated with Ti and Au films to provide the required beam attenuation for soft and hard x-rays with photon energies up to about 12 keV. The chopper is used for lock-in detection of x-ray enhanced signals in SX-STM.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Temporal Current Modulation on the Tracking Force Acting on a Relativistic Electron Beam in an Ohmic Plasma Channel

The effect of the current rise time in a relativistic electron beam pulse on the tracking force exerted by the low-conductivity Ohmic plasma channel on the beam has been analyzed using the “hard” beam model. It is shown using numerical analysis that an increase in the beam current rise time substantially reduces the tracking force considered here.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Laser ion source with a double pulse laser system

To extend an ion beam pulse of a laser ion source, multiple laser shots could be used. To check the feasibility of this idea, we tested double laser irradiations on an iron target. When the interval of the two laser shots is longer than 10 {mu}s, the obtained ion current profile was expressed as a sum of two individual expanded laser plasmas. However, if the interval is too close, a current reduction was observed. This technique can be effectively applied to low charge state ion production.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Compact, low power radio frequency cavity for femtosecond electron microscopy

Reported here is the design, construction, and characterization of a small, power efficient, tunable dielectric filled cavity for the creation of femtosecond electron bunches in an existing electron microscope without the mandatory use of femtosecond lasers. A 3 GHz pillbox cavity operating in the TM{sub 110} mode was specially designed for chopping the beam of a 30 keV scanning electron microscope. The dielectric material used is ZrTiO{sub 4}, chosen for the high relative permittivity ({epsilon}{sub r}= 37 at 10 GHz) and low loss tangent (tan {delta}= 2 x 10{sup -4}). This allows the cavity radius to be reduced by a factor of six, while the power consumption is reduced by an order of magnitude compared to a vacuum pillbox cavity. These features make this cavity ideal as a module for existing electron microscopes, and an alternative to femtosecond laser systems integrated with electron microscopes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improvement in the statistical operation of a Blumlein pulse forming line in bipolar pulse mode

The paper presents the results of studies on shot-to-shot performance of a water Blumlein pulse forming line of 1–1.2 kJ of stored energy. The experiments were carried using the TEMP-4M pulsed ion beam accelerator during its operation in both unipolar pulse mode (150 ns, 250–300 kV) and bipolar-pulse mode with the first negative (300–600 ns, 100–150 kV) followed by a second positive (120 ns, 250–300 kV) pulse. The analysis was carried out for two cases when the Blumlein was terminated with a resistive load and with a self-magnetically insulated ion diode. It was found that in bipolar pulse mode the shot-to-shot variation in breakdown voltage of a preliminary spark gap is small, the standard deviation (1σ) does not exceed 2%. At the same time, the shot-to-shot variation in the breakdown voltage of the main spark gap in both bipolar-pulse and unipolar pulse mode is 3–4 times higher than that for the preliminary spark gap. To improve the statistical performance of the main spark gap we changed the regime of its operation from a self-triggered mode to an externally triggered mode. In the new arrangement the first voltage pulse at the output of Blumlein was used to trigger the main spark gap. The new trigatron-type regime of the main spark gap operation showed a good stability of breakdown voltage and thus allowed to stabilize the duration of the first pulse. The standard deviation of the breakdown voltage and duration of the first pulse did not exceed 2% for a set of 50 pulses. The externally triggered mode of the main gap operation also allowed for a decrease in the charging voltage of the Blumlein to a 0.9–0.95 of self-breakdown voltage of the main spark gap while the energy stored in Marx generator was decreased from 4 kJ to 2.5 kJ. At the same time the energy stored in Blumlein remained the same.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A look ahead: Status of the SNS external antenna ion source and the new RFQ test stand

The U.S. Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) now operates with ∼1 MW of beam power to target with the near-term goal of delivering 1.4 MW. Plans are being considered to incorporate a second target station into the facility which will require ∼2.8 MW of beam power. Presently, H{sup −} beam pulses (∼1 ms, 60 Hz) are produced by an RF-driven, Cs-enhanced, multi-cusp ion source which injects beam into an RFQ (Radio Frequency Quadrupole) accelerator that, in turn, feeds the SNS Linac. Currently the source/RFQ system delivers ∼35 mA of pulsed current to the linac which is mostly sufficient for 1.4 MW operations while ∼50 mA are needed for the second target station upgrade. This paper provides a look forward for the SNS by providing (i) the present and future SNS source/RFQ beam requirements and our plans to achieve these, (ii) a description and status of the external antenna ion source being developed for the replacement of the current internal antenna ion source, and (iii) a description and status of the newly constructed RFQ test facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The influence of magnetic fields on the wake field and stopping power of an ion-beam pulse in plasmas

We performed two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to investigate how a magnetic field affects the wake field and stopping power of an ion-beam pulse moving in plasmas. The corresponding density of plasma electrons is investigated. At a weak magnetic field, the wakes exhibit typical V-shaped cone structures. As the magnetic field strengthens, the wakes spread and lose their typical V-shaped structures. At a sufficiently strong magnetic field, the wakes exhibit conversed V-shaped structures. Additionally, strengthening the magnetic field reduces the stopping power in regions of low and high beam density. However, the influence of the magnetic field becomes complicated in regions of moderate beam density. The stopping power increases in a weak magnetic field, but it decreases in a strong magnetic field. At high beam density and moderate magnetic field, two low-density channels of plasma electrons appear on both sides of the incident beam pulse trajectory. This is because electrons near the beam pulses will be attracted and move along with the beam pulses, while other electrons nearby are restricted by the magnetic field and cannot fill the gap.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Modeling nitrogen plasmas produced by intense electron beams

A new gas–chemistry model is presented to treat the breakdown of a nitrogen gas with pressures on the order of 1 Torr from intense electron beams with current densities on the order of 10 kA/cm{sup 2} and pulse durations on the order of 100 ns. For these parameter regimes, the gas transitions from a weakly ionized molecular state to a strongly ionized atomic state on the time scale of the beam pulse. The model is coupled to a 0D–circuit model using the rigid–beam approximation that can be driven by specifying the time and spatial profiles of the beam pulse. Simulation results are in good agreement with experimental measurements of the line–integrated electron density from experiments done using the Gamble II generator at the Naval Research Laboratory. It is found that the species are mostly in the ground and metastable states during the atomic phase, but that ionization proceeds predominantly through thermal ionization of optically allowed states with excitation energies close to the ionization limit.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development of a 2 ns duration high current electron beam source using CsI coated carbon fibre cathode

A 50 ampere beam current having a rise time lesser than 500 pico-seconds with its energy 50 keV is generated using field emission mechanism. Beam duration was 2 ns. CsI coating on carbon fibre cathode was done using plasma spray coating. The results obtained from this cathode were compared to the carbon fibre cathode and the reason behind higher current density in the case of CsI coating has been explained. (author)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Use of the focusing multi-slit ion optical system at RUssian Diagnostic Injector (RUDI)

The upgrade of the diagnostic neutral beam injector RUDI in 2010 was performed to increase the beam density at the focal plane in accordance with the requirements of charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy diagnostics. A new focusing ion-optical system (IOS) with slit beamlets and an enlarged aperture was optimized for 50% higher nominal beam current and reduced angular divergence with respect to the previous multi-aperture IOS version. The upgraded injector provides the beam current up to 3 A, the measured beam divergence in the direction along the slits is 0.35 deg. Additionally, the plasma generator was modified to extend the beam pulse to 8 s.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗