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Results for “ELECTRON TRAJECTORY”

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

Gamma-ray momentum reconstruction from Compton electron trajectories by filtered back-projection

Gamma-ray imaging utilizing Compton scattering has traditionally relied on measuring coincident gamma-ray interactions to map directional information of the source distribution. This coincidence requirement makes it an inherently inefficient process. We present an approach to gamma-ray reconstruction from Compton scattering that requires only a single electron tracking detector, thus removing the coincidence requirement. From the Compton scattered electron momentum distribution, our algorithm analytically computes the incident photon's correlated direction and energy distributions. Because this method maps the source energy and location, it is useful in applications, where prior information about the source distribution is unknown. We demonstrate this method with electron tracks measured in a scientific Si charge coupled device. While this method was demonstrated with electron tracks in a Si-based detector, it is applicable to any detector that can measure electron direction and energy, or equivalently the electron momentum. For example, it can increase the sensitivity to obtain energy and direction in gas-based systems that suffer from limited efficiency.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Investigation of the electron trajectories and gain regimes of the whistler pumped free-electron laser

A free-electron laser (FEL) scheme, which employs the whistler wave as a slow electromagnetic wave wiggler, was studied theoretically. Subjected to the transverse fields of whistler wave wiggler, the beam electrons are the source of the energy needed to produce electromagnetic radiation. The strength and the period of the wiggler field depend on the parameters of the magnetoplasma medium. This configuration has a higher tunability by controlling the plasma density, on top of the {gamma}-tunability of the conventional FELs. The theory of linear gain and electron trajectories was presented and four groups (I, II, III, and IV) of electron orbits were found in the presence of an axial guide magnetic field. Using perturbation analysis, it is found that these groups of orbits were stable except small regions of group I and IV orbits. The function {Phi} which determines the rate of change of axial velocity with beam energy was also derived. In the case in which {Phi}<0 represents a negative-mass regime in which the axial velocity accelerates as the electrons lose energy. Numerical solutions showed that by increasing the cyclotron frequency, the gain for group I and III orbits increased, while a gain decrement was obtained for group II and IV orbits.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

On the analytical properties of the magneto-conductivity in the case of presence of stable open electron trajectories on a complex Fermi surface

We consider the electric conductivity in normal metals in presence of a strong magnetic field. It is assumed here that the Fermi surface of a metal has rather complicated form such that different types of quasiclassical electron trajectories can appear on the Fermi level for different directions of B. The effects we consider are connected with the existence of regular (stable) open electron trajectories which arise in general on complicated Fermi surfaces. The trajectories of this type have a nice geometric description and represent quasiperiodic lines with a fixed mean direction in the p-space. Being stable geometric objects, the trajectories of this kind exist for some open regions in the space of directions of B, which can be represented by “Stability Zones” on the unit sphere S{sup 2}. The main goal of the paper is to give a description of the analytical behavior of conductivity in the Stability Zones, which demonstrates in general rather nontrivial properties.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Electrons trajectories around a bubble regime in intense laser plasma interaction

Some typical electrons trajectories around a bubble regime in intense laser plasma interaction are investigated theoretically. By considering a modification of the fields and ellipsoid bubble shape due to the presence of residual electrons in the bubble regime, we study in detail the electrons nonlinear dynamics with or without laser pulse. To examine the electron dynamical behaviors, a set of typical electrons, which locate initially at the front of the bubble, on the transverse edge and at the bottom of the bubble respectively, are chosen for study. It is found that the range of trapped electrons in the case with laser pulse is a little narrower than that without laser pulse. The partial phase portraits for electrons around the bubble are presented numerically and their characteristic behaviors are discussed theoretically. Implication of our results on the high quality electron beam generation is also discussed briefly.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Collisional Effects on Electron Trajectories in Crossed-Field Devices

Crossed-field diodes (CFDs) are used in multiple high-power applications and are characterized by an applied magnetic field orthogonal to the electric field, induced by the applied voltage across the anode-cathode gap. In vacuum, the Hull cutoff magnetic field (HCMF) represents the maximum applied magnetic field for which an electron from the cathode can reach the anode. This study investigates the effects of non-vacuum conditions on electron trajectories by introducing electron mobility, which represents particle collisions. We used numerical solutions of the electron force law and particle-in-cell simulations (XPDP1) to assess electron motion for various electron mobilities. For magnetic fields above the HCMF in vacuum, reducing the electron mobility increases the time for an electron emitted from the cathode to reach the anode. Reducing mobility below 22 C s/kg eliminates the HCMF for any magnetic field, meaning that an emitted electron will always cross the gap. We derived the magnetic field, mobility, and electron transit time corresponding to this condition by solving for the condition when the electron velocity in the direction across the anode-cathode gap going to zero at the anode. A parametric study of these conditions using theory and XPDP1 is performed under different gap distances, voltages, and magnetic fields.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Simulation of Betatron X-Ray Radiation as an Indirect Measurement of Electron Trajectories in a Laser-Wakefield Accelerator

Laser-wakefield accelerators (LWFA) only a few centimeters long have generated ultrarelativistic electrons and synchrotron-like x-rays. One barrier to using LWFA's for accelerator and x-ray source applications is the current inability to directly measure and characterize the betatron oscillations of electrons in the plasma. We have developed Mathematica/MATLAB simulations to model betatron oscillations and x-ray generation in a LWFA. By fitting simulation parameters to obtain closest agreement with experimentally measured betatron x-ray beam profiles, we obtain indirect measurements of experimental electron trajectories.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Modeling alignment of electron trajectory in cooling section of EIC Low Energy Cooler

The Electron Ion Collider (EIC) requires cooling of protons at the injection energy to obtain emittances needed to achieve the design luminosity. The low energy cooler (LEC) provides such a capability. The LEC is an electron cooler utilizing a non-magnetized, RF-based electron cooling. This approach to cooling was successfully used in Low Energy RHIC Electron Cooler (LEReC).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Understanding How Isotopes Affect Charge Transfer in P3HT/PCBM: A Quantum Trajectory-Electronic Structure Study with Nonlinear Quantum Corrections

The experimentally observed effect of selective deuterium substitution on the open circuit voltage for a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 - butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) (Nat. Commun. 5:3180, 2014) is explored using a 221-atom model of a polymer-wrapped PCBM molecule. We describe the protonic and deuteronic wavefunctions for the H/D isotopologues of the hexyl side chains within a Quantum Trajectory/Electronic Structure approach where the dynamics is performed with newly developed nonlinear corrections to the quantum forces, necessary to describe the nuclear wavefunctions; the classical forces are generated with a Density Functional Tight Binding method. We used the resulting protonic and deuteronic time-dependent wavefunctions to assess the effects of isotopic substitution (deuteration) on the energy gaps relevant to the charge transfer for the donor and acceptor electronic states. Furthermore, while the isotope effect on the electronic energy levels is found negligible, the quantum-induced fluctuations of the energy gap between the charge transfer and charge separated states due to nuclear wavefunctions may account for experimental trends by promoting charge transfer in P3HT/PCBM and increasing charge recombination on the donor in the deuterium substituted P3HT/PCBM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Strategy for alignment of electron beam trajectory in LEReC cooling section

We considered the steps required to align the electron beam trajectory through the LEReC cooling section. We devised a detailed procedure for the beam-based alignment of the cooling section solenoids. We showed that it is critical to have an individual control of each CS solenoid current. Finally, we modeled the alignment procedure and showed that with two BPM fitting the solenoid shift can be measured with 40 um accuracy and the solenoid inclination can be measured with 30 urad accuracy. These accuracies are well within the tolerances of the cooling section solenoid alignment.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Trajectories of electrons with large longitudinal momenta in the phase plane during surfatron acceleration by an electromagnetic wave

The trajectories of electrons with large longitudinal momenta in the phase plane in the course of their surfatron acceleration by an electromagnetic wave propagating in space plasma across the external magnetic field are analyzed. Electrons with large longitudinal momenta are trapped immediately if the initial wave phase Ψ(0) on the particle trajectory is positive. For negative values of Ψ(0), no electrons trapping by the wave is observed over the available computational times. According to numerical calculations, the trajectories of trapped particles in the phase plane have a singular point of the stable focus type and the behavior of the trajectory corresponds to the motion in a complex nonstationary effective potential well. For some initial phases, electrons are confined in the region of the accelerating electric field for relatively short time, the energy gain being about 50–130% and more.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Sub-nanosecond time-resolved ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy setup for pulsed and constant wave X-ray light sources

An apparatus for sub-nanosecond time-resolved ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies with pulsed and constant wave X-ray light sources is presented. A differentially pumped hemispherical electron analyzer is equipped with a delay-line detector that simultaneously records the position and arrival time of every single electron at the exit aperture of the hemisphere with ∼0.1 mm spatial resolution and ∼150 ps temporal accuracy. The kinetic energies of the photoelectrons are encoded in the hit positions along the dispersive axis of the two-dimensional detector. Pump-probe time-delays are provided by the electron arrival times relative to the pump pulse timing. An average time-resolution of (780 ± 20) ps (FWHM) is demonstrated for a hemisphere pass energy E{sub p} = 150 eV and an electron kinetic energy range KE = 503–508 eV. The time-resolution of the setup is limited by the electron time-of-flight (TOF) spread related to the electron trajectory distribution within the analyzer hemisphere and within the electrostatic lens system that images the interaction volume onto the hemisphere entrance slit. The TOF spread for electrons with KE = 430 eV varies between ∼9 ns at a pass energy of 50 eV and ∼1 ns at pass energies between 200 eV and 400 eV. The correlation between the retarding ratio and the TOF spread is evaluated by means of both analytical descriptions of the electron trajectories within the analyzer hemisphere and computer simulations of the entire trajectories including the electrostatic lens system. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the by far dominant contribution to the TOF spread is acquired within the hemisphere. However, both experiment and computer simulations show that the lens system indirectly affects the time resolution of the setup to a significant extent by inducing a strong dependence of the angular spread of electron trajectories entering the hemisphere on the retarding ratio. The scaling of the angular spread with the retarding ratio can be well approximated by applying Liouville's theorem of constant emittance to the electron trajectories inside the lens system. The performance of the setup is demonstrated by characterizing the laser fluence-dependent transient surface photovoltage response of a laser-excited Si(100) sample.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

The Second Boundaries of Stability Zones and the Angular Diagrams of Conductivity for Metals Having Complicated Fermi Surfaces

We consider some general aspects of dependence of magneto-conductivity on a magnetic field in metals having complicated Fermi surfaces. As it is well known, a nontrivial behavior of conductivity in metals in strong magnetic fields is connected usually with appearance of non-closed quasiclassical electron trajectories on the Fermi surface in a magnetic field. The structure of the electron trajectories depends strongly on the direction of the magnetic field and usually the greatest interest is caused by open trajectories that are stable to small rotations of the direction of B. The geometry of the corresponding Stability Zones on the angular diagram in the space of directions of B represents a very important characteristic of the electron spectrum in a metal linking the parameters of the spectrum to the experimental data. Here we will consider some very general features inherent in the angular diagrams of metals with Fermi surfaces of the most arbitrary form. In particular, we will show here that any Stability Zone actually has a second boundary, restricting a larger region with a certain behavior of conductivity. Besides that, we shall discuss here general questions of complexity of the angular diagrams for the conductivity and propose a theoretical scheme for dividing the angular diagrams into “simple” and “complex” diagrams. The proposed scheme will in fact also be closely related to behavior of the Hall conductivity in a metal in strong magnetic fields. In conclusion, we will also discuss the relationship of the questions under consideration to the general features of an (abstract) angular diagram describing the behavior of quasiclassical electron trajectories at all energy levels in the conduction band.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Coherent control of the electron quantum paths for the generation of single ultrashort atto second laser pulse

We report a mechanism and a realizable approach for the coherent control of the generation of an isolated and ultrashort atto second (as) laser pulse from atoms by optimizing the two-color laser fields with a proper time delay. Optimizing the laser pulse shape allows the control of the electron quantum paths and enables high-harmonic generation from the long- and short-trajectory electrons to be enhanced and split near the cutoff region. In addition, it delays the long-trajectory electron emission time and allows the production of extremely short atto second pulses in a relatively narrow time duration. As a case study, we show that an isolated 30 as pulse with a bandwidth of 127 eV can be generated directly from the contribution of long-trajectory electrons alone.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Alternative trajectories of electron density to plot the atomic connectivity graph in the region of nondirectional interactions

Model supramolecular associates possessing nondirectional intermolecular interactions were investigated in order to demonstrate the opportunity of plotting of an atomic connectivity graph based on trajectories of Hessian eigenvector of electron density corresponding to the largest eigenvalue. Such trajectories are a reasonable alternative to the gradient bond paths in the case of proximity of the latter to the T-shaped form upon the presence of parallel surface of the zero-flux of electron density in the neighborhood of gradient-based trajectory.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗