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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 OSTI2025

Interlayer Exciton Polarons in Mesoscopic V 2 O 5 for Broadband Optoelectronic Synapses

Persistent photoconductivity and optoelectronic synaptic behavior are demonstrated in solution-processed mesoscopic α-phase vanadium pentoxide (V 2 O 5 ) thin films. First-principles simulations coupled with the two-site Holstein polaron hopping model show that vacancies at the terminal oxygen position lead to long recombination times because photoexcited electrons and holes reside on different layers separated by the van der Waals gap, forming a weakly coupled interlayer exciton polaron. Mid-gap polaronic states also significantly broaden the photoresponse of the films to span across visible and infrared wavelengths. By controlling the amplitude/intensity, duration, and/or number of optical pulses, tunable optoelectronic memory functions, such as short-term and long-term plasticity, are experimentally established in V 2 O 5 -based optoelectronic synapses. Furthermore, device fabrication was extended to mechanically flexible ultrathin glass substrates. Flexible optoelectronic synapses maintained high performance after 150 bending cycles.

Phan, Thanh Luan [National Renewable Energy Labora↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optomechanical self-organization in a mesoscopic atom array

Increasing the number of particles in a system often leads to qualitative changes in its properties, such as breaking of symmetries and the appearance of phase transitions. This renders a macroscopic system fundamentally different from its individual microscopic constituents. Lying between these extremes, mesoscopic systems exhibit microscopic fluctuations that influence behaviour on longer length scales, leading to critical phenomena and dynamics. Therefore, tracing the properties of well-controlled mesoscopic systems can help bridge the gap between an exact description of few-body microscopic systems and the emergent description of many-body systems. Here we explore the mesoscopic signatures of an optomechanical self-organization phase transition using arrays of cold atoms inside an optical cavity. By precisely engineering atom–cavity interactions, we reveal how critical behaviour depends on the atom number, identify characteristic dynamical behaviours in the self-organized regime and observe a finite optomechanical susceptibility at the critical point. These findings advance our understanding of particle-number- and time-resolved properties of phase transitions in mesoscopic systems.

Atomic and molecular interactions with photons↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unlocking Mesoscopic Disorder in Graphitic Carbon with Spectroelectrochemistry

Intrinsic structural and oxidic defects activate graphitic carbon electrodes towards electrochemical reactions underpinning energy conversion and storage technologies. Yet, these defects can also disrupt the long-range and periodic arrangement of carbon atoms, thus, the characterization of graphitic carbon electrodes necessitates in-situ atomistic differentiation of graphitic regions from mesoscopic bulk disorder. Here, we leverage the combined techniques of in-situ attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy and first-principles calculations to reveal that graphitic carbon electrodes exhibit electric-field dependent infrared activity that is sensitive to the bulk mesoscopic intrinsic disorder. With this platform, we identify graphitic regions from amorphous domains by discovering that they demonstrate opposing electric-field-dependent infrared activity under electrochemical conditions. Our work provides a roadmap for identifying mesoscopic disorder in bulk carbon materials under potential bias.

Disordered graphitic carbon electrodes↗
DOE OSTI2025

Supersaturation, Nucleation, and Phase Separation of Mesoscopic Systems

Supersaturation, nucleation, and phase separation are ubiquitous phenomena of great interest in both science and industry. However, a unified, quantitative understanding of these phenomena has yet to be achieved for mesoscopic systems. Here, we present a set of general equations that determine the monomer saturation degree, the size distribution, and the free energy of mesoscopic systems, as well as their phase-transition conditions. These equations reveal that, under supersaturation, the largest cluster size (LCS) is an important state variable; the supersaturation degree decreases with the LCS, approaching unity in the macroscopic limit. We identify the critical supersaturation, at which the nuclei undergo the phase transition to form large crystals. Below this critical supersaturation, the nucleus size distribution is either a unimodal function or a monotonically decreasing function of size, depending on the system and temperature. We also predict the most probable nucleus size and the direction of spontaneous changes of the LCS. Our theory provides a unified, quantitative explanation of the nucleus-size-distribution across six different systems, including nanoparticles and biological condensates. This work serves as a general theoretical framework useful for understanding and designing nucleation and phase transitions of mesoscopic systems.

Kang, Jingyu↗
DOE OSTI2025

Current-based metrology with two-terminal mesoscopic conductors

The traditional approach to quantum parameter estimation focuses on the quantum state, deriving fundamental bounds on precision through the quantum Fisher information. In most experimental settings, however, performing arbitrary quantum measurements is highly unfeasible. In open quantum systems, an alternative approach to metrology involves the measurement of stochastic currents flowing from the system to its environment. However, the present understanding of current-based metrology is mostly limited to Markovian master equations. Considering a parameter estimation problem in a two-terminal mesoscopic conductor, we identify the key elements that determine estimation precision within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism. Crucially, this approach allows us to address arbitrary coupling and temperature regimes. Furthermore, we obtain analytical results for the precision in linear-response and zero-temperature regimes. For the specific parameter estimation task that we consider, we demonstrate that the boxcar transmission function is optimal for current-based metrology in all parameter regimes.

Landauer formula↗
DOE OSTI2024

Three-dimensional hard X-ray ptychographic reflectometry imaging on extended mesoscopic surface structures

Many nanodevices and quantum devices, with their sizes often spanning from millimeters down to sub-nanometer, have intricate low-dimensional, non-uniform, or hierarchical structures on surfaces and interfaces. Since their functionalities are dependent on these structures, high-resolution surface-sensitive characterization becomes imperative to gain a comprehensive understanding of the function–structure relationship. We thus developed hard x-ray ptychographic reflectometry imaging, a new technique that merges the high-resolution two-dimensional imaging capabilities of hard x-ray ptychography for extended objects, with the high-resolution depth profiling capabilities of x-ray reflectivity for layered structures. The synergy of these two methods fully leverages both amplitude and phase information from ptychography reconstruction to not only reveal surface topography and localized structures, such as shapes and electron densities, but also yields statistical details, such as interfacial roughness that is not readily accessible through coherent imaging solely. The hard x-ray ptychographic reflectometry imaging is well-suited for three-dimensional imaging of mesoscopic samples, particularly those comprising planar or layered nanostructures on opaque supports, and could also offer a high-resolution surface metrology and defect analysis on semiconductor devices, such as integrated nanocircuits and lithographic photomasks for microchip fabrications.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Thermodynamic consistency and fluctuations in mesoscopic stochastic simulations of reactive gas mixtures

It is essential that mesoscopic simulations of reactive systems reproduce the correct statistical distributions at thermodynamic equilibrium. By considering a compressible fluctuating hydrodynamics (FHD) simulation method of ideal gas mixtures undergoing reversible reactions described by the chemical Langevin equations, we show that thermodynamic consistency in reaction rates and the use of instantaneous temperatures for the evaluation of reaction rates is required for fluctuations for the overall system to be correct. We then formulate the required properties of a thermodynamically consistent reaction (TCR) model. As noted in the literature, while reactions are often discussed in terms of forward and reverse rates, these rates should not be modeled independently because they must be compatible with thermodynamic equilibrium for the system. Using a simple TCR model where each chemical species has constant heat capacity, we derive the explicit condition that the forward and reverse reaction rate constants must satisfy in order for the system to be thermodynamically consistent. We perform equilibrium and non-equilibrium simulations of ideal gas mixtures undergoing a reversible dimerization reaction to measure the fluctuational behavior of the system numerically. We confirm that FHD simulations with the TCR model give the correct static structure factor of equilibrium fluctuations. For the statistically steady simulation of a gas mixture between two isothermal walls with different temperatures, we show using the TCR model that the temperature variance agrees with the corresponding thermodynamic-equilibrium temperature variance in the interior of the system, whereas noticeable deviations are present in regions near walls, where chemistry is far from equilibrium.

Polimeno, Matteo [University of California, Merced↗
DOE OSTI2026

Discovery of spontaneous mesoscopic strain waves in nematic domains using dark-field x-ray microscopy

Electronic nematic order arises when correlated electrons spontaneously break the rotational symmetry of a crystal lattice. When electronic nematic order couples bilinearly to symmetry-breaking lattice strain, both appear together at a single ferroelastic phase transition, producing structural twin domains with distinct orientations of the nematic director. While the effects of applied strain on these domains are well established, the intrinsic behavior of spontaneous subdomain strain fields has remained unexplored. Here, we report the discovery of spontaneous mesoscopic strain waves within individual nematic domains of an iron-based superconductor, observed using dark-field x-ray microscopy (DFXM). Using this advanced full-field imaging technique, we visualize subdomain strain modulations emerging concurrently with nematic order. Elastic compatibility relations governing inhomogeneous strains provide a natural mechanism for the strain waves. Our findings reveal a broadly relevant form of strain self-organization and position DFXM as a powerful probe of the local interplay between lattice strain and electronic order.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Few is different: deciphering many-body dynamics in mesoscopic quantum gases

Emergent macroscopic descriptions of matter, such as hydrodynamics, are central to our description of complex physical systems across a wide spectrum of energy scales. The conventional understanding of these many-body phenomena has recently been shaken by a number of experimental findings. Collective behavior of matter has been observed in mesoscopic systems, such as high-energy hadron–hadron collisions, or ultracold gases with only a few strongly interacting fermions. In such systems, the separation of scales between macroscopic and microscopic dynamics (at the heart of any effective theory) is inapplicable. To address the conceptual challenges that arise from these observations and explore the universality of emergent descriptions of matter, the EMMI Rapid Reaction Task Force was assembled. This document summarizes the RRTF discussions on recent theoretical and experimental advances in this rapidly developing field. Leveraging technological breakthroughs in the control of quantum systems, we can now quantitatively explore what it means for a system to exhibit behavior beyond the sum of its individual parts. In particular, the report highlights how the (in)applicability of hydrodynamics and other effective theories can be probed across three principal frontiers: the size frontier, the equilibrium frontier, and the interaction frontier.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2001

Self-assembly of mesoscopically ordered chromatic polydiacetylene/silica nanocomposites

Nature abounds with intricate composite architectures composed of hard and soft materials synergistically intertwined to provide both useful functionality and mechanical integrity. Recent synthetic efforts to mimic such natural designs have focused on nanocomposites, prepared mainly by slow procedures like monomer or polymer infiltration of inorganic nanostructures or sequential deposition. Here we report the self-assembly of conjugated polymer/silica nanocomposite films with hexagonal, cubic or lamellar mesoscopic order using polymerizable amphiphilic diacetylene molecules as both structure-directing agents and monomers. The self-assembly procedure is rapid and incorporates the organic monomers uniformly within a highly ordered, inorganic environment. Polymerization results in polydiacetylene/silica nanocomposites that are optically transparent and mechanically robust. Compared to ordered diacetylene-containing films prepared as Langmuir monolayers or by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, the nanostructured inorganic host alters the diacetylene polymerization behaviour, and the resulting nanocomposite exhibits unusual chromatic changes in response to thermal, mechanical and chemical stimuli. The inorganic framework serves to protect, stabilize, and orient the polymer, and to mediate its function. The nanocomposite architecture also provides sufficient mechanical integrity to enable integration into devices and microsystems.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optically induced quantum transitions in direct probed mesoscopic NbSe 2 for prototypical bolometers

Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) have emerged as fascinating devices to detect broadband electromagnetic radiation with low thermal noise. The advent of metallic transition metal dichalcogenides, such as NbSe 2 , has also created an impetus to understand their low-temperature properties, including superconductivity. Interestingly, NbSe 2 -based sensor within the TES framework remains unexplored. In this work, direct-probed superconducting NbSe 2 absorbers led to a proof-of-concept demonstration for the transduction of incoming light to heat, where a thermodynamic superconducting phase transition in NbSe 2 was evident to switch it to the normal-state, when biased below its superconducting transition temperature. A wavelength-dependent response of its optical absorption properties was observed, based on the incident optical excitation source used. Furthermore, extensive optical characterization studies were conducted using Raman spectroscopy, where the in-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivity was empirically determined. Our results open new possibilities for the use of NbSe 2 in superconducting radiation detectors, including in a TES framework

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Geometric control of magnetic domain morphology in electrodeposited Ni rich NiPt mesoscopic wires

In this paper, we study the electrodeposited Ni—Pt magnetic wires, exploring the mechanisms by which changes in geometry and composition influence the local magnetic structure. The samples were prepared by electrodeposition, their elemental composition was analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and phase analysis was carried out by an X-ray diffraction measurement. Magnetic force microscopy measurements, and magnetic force microscopy measurements in magnetic field were carried out to study the domain morphology of the prepared samples. Magnetization characteristics were measured via vibrating sample magnetometry mode of a superconducting quantum interference device. Here, the results were analyzed and compared with micromagnetic simulations. It is shown that a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is responsible for the characteristic checkerboard-like surface magnetization patterns, which can be tuned by geometrical constriction and Ni content. Understanding these relationships provides insights into the design of magnetic materials with tailored properties for advanced applications, like magnetic sensors.

Binary alloy↗
DOE OSTI2025

A mesoscopic link-transmission-model able to track individual vehicles

Macroscopic traffic flow is a common choice for large-scale traffic simulations. These models do not provide individual-specific metrics as outputs. However, this treatment is necessary in agent-based-models, as in, for example, assigning routes based on personal characteristics. Here, in this paper, we propose an extension of the link-transmission-model, an efficient and yet accurate discretization of the Lighthill-Whitham-Richards (LWR) model, which allow vehicles to be tracked individually while keeping the main features of the underlying model. The extension comprises modifying the link and node models to ensure that the flow between links is always at discrete levels. Therefore, every unit of flow is associated with one individual vehicle moving from its current to its next link. An upper bound of the discretization error is provided. We show that the proposed model resembles its continuous counterpart on lane drop, merge, and diverge cases. In addition, we apply the model into three different networks to validate its applicability in large networks. Finally, we also confirm the parameter transferability between continuous and discrete models and that both can well reproduce field data.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

A mesoscopic device for a realization of the topological Kondo effect

The search for anyons is a field of immense interest owing to its potential application in the field of quantum information. Quantum critical Kondo impurities constitute one possible platform for their realization and topological Kondo effect (TKE) by virtue of remaining critical in the presence of perturbations, seems to be especially promising in this regard. In this paper we discuss practical steps for a realization of TKE with a relatively high Kondo temperature $\mathbf{T}$ k . Its central feature is the so-called Majorana-Cooper box (MCB) and we argue that a particular type of iron-based topological superconductor is especially suitable for realization of TKE. Once MCB is available one needs to connect it to external metallic leads to produce TKE. A relatively high value of the Kondo temperature $\mathbf{T}$ k is then aided by a large superconducting gap of the iron-based superconductor. We give estimates for $\mathbf{T}$ k , for the cases of both isotropic and anisotropic exchange couplings of MCB with the leads.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nanoscale engineering and dynamic stabilization of mesoscopic spin textures

Thermalization, while ubiquitous in physics, has traditionally been viewed as an obstacle to be mitigated. In contrast, we demonstrate here the use of thermalization in the generation, control, and readout of “shell-like” spin textures with interacting 13 C nuclear spins in diamond, wherein spins are polarized oppositely on either side of a critical radius. The textures span several nanometers and encompass many hundred spins; they are created and interrogated without manipulating the nuclear spins individually. Long-time stabilization is achieved via prethermalization to a Floquet-engineered Hamiltonian under the electronic gradient field: The texture is therefore metastable and robust against spin diffusion. This enables the state to endure over multiple minutes before it decays. Our work on spin-state engineering paves the way for applications in quantum simulation and nanoscale imaging.

42 ENGINEERING↗