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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

Light source and method for making a light source

A light source fabrication process to fabricate a customized light source includes attaching a plurality of light emitting diodes to a circuit board, where each light emitting diode is configured to emit light within a same wavelength range. Further, the light source fabrication process includes applying a first phosphor layer to a first set of light emitting diodes of the plurality of light emitting diodes and applying a second phosphor layer to a second set of light emitting diodes of the plurality of light emitting diodes. The phosphor layers are applied to the light emitting diodes using one of a screen printing process and an inkjet printing process. The first phosphor layer is different from and has different optical properties from the second phosphor layer.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Demonstration of Machine Learning-Based Model-Independent Stabilization of Source Properties in Synchrotron Light Sources

Synchrotron light sources, arguably among the most powerful tools of modern scientific discovery, are presently undergoing a major transformation to provide orders of magnitude higher brightness and transverse coherence enabling the most demanding experiments. In these experiments, overall source stability will soon be limited by achievable levels of electron beam size stability, presently on the order of several microns, which is still 1–2 orders of magnitude larger than already demonstrated stability of source position and current. Until now source size stabilization has been achieved through corrections based on a combination of static predetermined physics models and lengthy calibration measurements, periodically repeated to counteract drift in the accelerator and instrumentation. In this paper, we now demonstrate for the first time how the application of machine learning allows for a physics- and model-independent stabilization of source size relying only on previously existing instrumentation. Such feed-forward correction based on a neural network that can be continuously online retrained achieves source size stability as low as 0.2 μm (0.4%) rms, which results in overall source stability approaching the subpercent noise floor of the most sensitive experiments.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Comprehensive comparison of two tracking codes for single-particle dynamics evaluation of a next-generation storage ring light source

Next-generation light sources based on the multibend achromat concept place great reliance on the accuracy of beam dynamics modeling. To ensure the success of such light sources, confirmation of design performance with at least two independent codes is prudent. The APS Upgrade (APS-U) lattice has been designed using the code ELEGANT, which has existing and new features that are needed by the design. Corresponding, independent improvements have recently been made to the accelerator toolbox (AT), in order to permit an independent check of nonlinear dynamics predictions. The new developments include the modeling of combined-function bending magnets with straight geometry and improved fringe field effects of quadrupole magnets. Calculations of linear and nonlinear lattice parameters and particle tracking results were compared, showing remarkable agreement was found between the two independently developed codes. This provides significant confirmation of the feasibility of the APS-U design.

storage ring↗

Collaborative development of diffraction-limited beamline optical systems at US DOE light sources

An ongoing collaboration among four US Department of Energy National Laboratories has demonstrated key technology prototypes and software modeling tools required for new high-coherent flux beamline optical systems. New free electron laser (FEL) and diffraction-limited storage ring (DLSR) light sources demand wavefront preservation from source to sample to achieve and maintain optimal performance. Fine wavefront control was achieved using a novel, roomtemperature cooled mirror system called REAL (resistive element adjustable length) that combines cooling with applied, spatially variable auxiliary heating. Single-grating shearing interferometry (also called Talbot interferometry) and Hartmann wavefront sensors were developed and used for optical characterization and alignment on several beamlines, across a range of photon energies. Demonstrations of non-invasive hard x-ray wavefront sensing were performed using a thin diamond single-crystal as a beamsplitter.

Goldberg, Kenneth A.↗

APS upgrade: Commissioning the world’s first light source based on swap-out injection

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) has recently completed a major upgrade, replacing its 25-year-old storage ring with a cutting-edge hybrid seven-bend achromat lattice enhanced by six additional reverse bends. The new design achieves a natural emittance of 42 pm-rad, enabling the production of X-rays up to 500 times brighter than those generated by the original APS. A key innovation of the upgrade is the implementation of a swap-out injection scheme, which replaces entire depleted bunches instead of performing traditional top-up injection. This approach enables on-axis injection to accommodate for the reduced dynamic aperture resulting from strong focusing. This paper outlines the commissioning process, shares initial operating experience with swap-out injection, and presents performance data for new systems such as the bunch-lengthening cavity.

Sajaev, Vadim [Argonne, PHY]↗

Electron beam emittance at operational intensity in fourth-generation synchrotron light sources

For synchrotron light sources, the brightness of user X-ray beams is primarily determined by the electron beam emittance and energy spread at operational intensity. A common feature of fourth-generation synchrotrons is the short length of electron bunches combined with a very small transverse beam size. Consequently, the particle density is much higher than in machines of previous generations, leading to strong collective effects that significantly increase the emittance and limit the achievable brightness at operational beam intensity. In this article, we summarize our studies of the emittance scaled with the beam energy and intensity, taking into account the effects of intrabeam scattering, beam-impedance interaction, and bunch lengthening provided by higher-harmonic RF systems, to identify optimal combinations of machine and beam parameters.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Macromolecular crystallography and biology at the Linac Coherent Light Source

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) has significantly impacted the field of biology by providing advanced capabilities for probing the structure and dynamics of biological molecules with high precision. The ultrashort coherent X-ray pulses from the LCLS have enabled ultrafast, time-resolved, serial femtosecond crystallography that is inaccessible at conventional synchrotron light sources. Since the facility's founding, scientists have captured detailed insights into biological processes at atomic resolution and fundamental timescales. The ability to observe these processes in real time and under conditions closely resembling their natural state is transforming our approach to studying biochemical mechanisms and developing new medical and energy applications. This work recounts some of the history of the LCLS, advances in biological research enabled by the LCLS, key biological areas that have been impacted and how the LCLS has helped to unravel complex biological phenomena in these fields.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Design, development and commissioning of a multi-alkali semiconductor photocathode deposition system for the IUAC Delhi light source photoinjector

A fourth-generation light source, called Delhi Light Source (DLS) based on photocathode-based RF gun has been commissioned at Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi. Presently, the electron beam is being generated from copper photocathode and the beam is being used for scheduled experiments. Soon, the semiconductor photocathode will be used to produce higher beam current. Here, to develop the semiconductor photocathode, a dedicated photocathode deposition facility was developed in collaboration with Brookhaven national Laboratory (BNL) and has been successfully commissioned and becomes operational at IUAC. This deposition facility is an integrated system with the electron gun and is a unique system as it is capable of producing, preserving (without residual gas poisoning) and in-vacuum transfer of the deposited photocathodes from the deposition chamber up to the RF electron gun. The system is designed to operate under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and is equipped with load-lock chambers, substrate heating assembly, thickness monitoring via a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and an in-situ setup for quantum efficiency (QE) measurements. After testing of all the subsystems and a detailed calibration, the first deposition of a cesium telluride (Cs 2 Te) photocathode was successfully performed on a copper (Cu) substrate. This successful commissioning and initial deposition mark a significant step toward the indigenous photocathode development and lays the groundwork for further research into advanced photo emissive materials at IUAC. This paper will discuss the salient features, installation, commissioning, first semiconductor photocathode deposition and its results.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

High repetition-rate 0.5 Hz broadband neutron source driven by the Advanced Laser Light Source

Neutron beams are an essential tool to investigate material structure and perform nondestructive analysis, as they give unique access to element composition, thus ideally complementing density analysis allowed by standard x-rays investigation. Laser-driven neutron sources, though compact and cost-effective, currently have lower average flux than conventional neutron sources, due to the limited repetition rate of the lasers used so far. However, advancements in laser technology allow nowadays to address this challenge. Here, we report results obtained at the Advanced Laser Light Source characterizing stable production of broadband (0.1–2 MeV) neutrons produced at a high repetition rate (0.5 Hz). The interaction of laser pulses of 22 fs duration and 3.2 J on-target energy with 2-μm-thick tantalum targets produced protons in the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime up to 7.3 MeV. These protons were subsequently converted into neutrons by (p,n) reactions in lithium fluoride (LiF). Activation measurements and bubble detectors were used to characterize neutron emissions, with a neutron fluence of up to ∼1.4×105 neutrons/shot/sr and energies mainly between a few hundred of kilo-electron volt and 2 MeV. The total neutron yield was ∼5×105 neutrons/shot. This paves the way for numerous applications, e.g., in homeland security, materials science, or cultural heritage.

Physics↗

A multi-scale cognitive interaction model of instrument operations at the Linac Coherent Light Source

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is the world’s first x-ray free electron laser. It is a scientific user facility operated by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, at Stanford, for the U.S. Department of Energy. As beam time at LCLS is extremely valuable and limited, experimental efficiency—getting the most high quality data in the least time—is critical. Our overall project employs cognitive engineering methodologies with the goal of improving experimental efficiency and increasing scientific productivity at LCLS by refining experimental interfaces and workflows, simplifying tasks, reducing errors, and improving operator safety and stress. Here, in this study, we describe a multi-agent, multi-scale computational cognitive interaction model of instrument operations at LCLS. Our model simulates the aspects of human cognition at multiple cognitive and temporal scales, ranging from seconds to hours, and among agents playing multiple roles, including instrument operator, real time data analyst, and experiment manager. The model can roughly predict impacts stemming from proposed changes to operational interfaces and workflows. Example results demonstrate the model’s potential in guiding modifications to improve operational efficiency. We discuss the implications of our effort for cognitive engineering in complex experimental settings and outline future directions for research. The model is open source, and the videos of the supplementary material provide extensive detail.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The Effect of Spectral Resolution of Light Sources on Photopic and a-opic Quantities

There is a growing interest in including light source spectrum in advanced lighting software tools and simulations. Given that traditional lighting software tools have been used primarily for calculating photometric quantities, their simplifying assumptions may not be suitable for calculating other a-opic quantities. Commonly used simulation tools use three values to represent the three primary colors (red, green, and blue), but others have expanded the number of bands (i.e., the spectral resolution) to 9, 27, or 81 in an attempt to more accurately represent variations in light source spectrum and downstream spectrally-derived quantities. It remains unclear, however, to what extent spectral resolution affects calculated quantities. To address this gap, a numerical analysis was completed using a large spectral power distribution database (n = 1,302 light sources). Calculated illuminance, a-opic irradiance, luminous efficacy of radiation (LER), melanopic efficacy of radiation (MER), and melanopic to photopic (M/P) ratio were compared for spectral resolutions of 3 and 9 bands compared to a baseline of 81 bands. Across all examined lighting quantities, considerable errors—a mean absolute percent error of 18.4%—were found when using 3 band calculations. These were reduced to 4% for 9 band calculations. The errors varied by metric and light source type. The results suggest that the use of 9 bands can more accurately characterize performance of different light source types across a range of metrics compared to using 3 bands.

Abboushi, Belal K.↗

High-sensitivity electronic Stark spectrometer featuring a laser-driven light source

We report developmental details of a high-sensitivity Stark absorption spectrometer featuring a laser-driven light source. The light source exhibits intensity fluctuations of ~0.3% over timescales ranging from 1 min to 12 h, minimal drift (≤0.1%/h), and very little 1/f noise at frequencies greater than 200 Hz, which are comparable to or better than an arc-driven light source. Additional features of the spectrometer include balanced detection with multiplex sampling, which yielded lower noise in A, and constant wavelength or wavenumber (energy) spectral bandpass modes. We achieve noise amplitudes of ~7 × 10 –4 and ~6 × 10 –6 in measurements of single A and ΔA spectra (with 92 data points) taking ~7 and ~19 min, respectively.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Resonant metasurface‐enabled quantum light sources for single‐photon emission and entangled photon‐pair generation

Light encodes information in multiple degrees of freedom (e.g., frequency, amplitude, and phase), enabling high‐speed, high‐bandwidth communication through fiber optics. Unlike classical light, quantum light (single or entangled photons) can transmit quantum states over long distances without loss of coherence, thereby coherently interconnecting quantum nodes for distributed quantum entanglement. Quantum light sources are critical for developing scalable quantum networks aimed at distributed quantum computing, quantum teleportation, and secure quantum communications. However, existing quantum light sources suffer from limited integrability, insufficient spectral and spatial tunability, and inefficiencies in achieving mass‐produced, deterministic, on‐demand quantum light generation. These limitations significantly hinder progress toward direct, on‐chip integration with quantum processing units and detectors – an essential step toward scalable quantum networks. Resonant metasurfaces that leverage photonic modes – such as Mie resonances, guided‐mode resonances, or symmetry‐protected bound states in the continuum – offer strong spatial and temporal confinement of electromagnetic fields, characterized by high quality factors and small mode volumes. These metasurfaces greatly enhance linear and nonlinear light‐matter interactions, making them ideal for efficient on‐chip quantum light generation and manipulation. Here, we describe recent advances in nanoscale quantum light sources and quantum photonic state manipulation enabled by resonant metasurfaces. We also provide an outlook on next‐generation miniaturized quantum light sources achievable through materials innovations in quantum emitters, the co‐design of resonant metasurfaces, and ultimately, the heterogeneous integration of emerging layered van der Waals materials with resonant metasurfaces.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ultimate brightness of a medium-energy synchrotron light source at operational beam intensity

Synchrotron light sources are key instruments of modern science, providing unique opportunities for groundbreaking studies in diverse scientific disciplines and driving innovation in numerous scientific and technological fields. Fourth-generation light sources provide unprecedented capabilities in imaging, spectroscopy and diffraction techniques. Ultimate brightness is the key to advancing to a smaller scale, faster response, and higher data measurement and processing rate. The brightness is primarily determined by the electron beam emittance and energy spread at operational intensity. A common feature of fourth-generation synchrotrons is the short length of the electron bunches combined with a very small transverse beam size. Consequently, the high particle density leads to strong collective effects that significantly increase the emittance and limit the achievable brightness at operational beam intensity. In this article, we summarize our studies of the emittance and brightness scaled with the beam energy and intensity, taking into account the effects of intrabeam scattering, beam-impedance interaction and bunch lengthening provided by higher-harmonic RF systems to identify optimal combinations of machine and beam parameters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Cassette for holding a planar light source with a thermally isolated driver board

A loadable cassette holds a planar light source, such as a flat OLED panel, along with a companion driver board in a manner that allows both the light source and driver board to be operatively and replaceably connected to a luminaire or lighting system. The cassette maintains an air gap between the light source and driver board so as to prevent heat produced by the driver board from damaging the light source.

42 ENGINEERING↗