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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Real-space imaging of periodic nanotextures in thin films via phasing of diffraction data

New properties and exotic quantum phenomena can form due to periodic nanotextures, including Moire patterns, ferroic domains, and topologically protected magnetization and polarization textures. Despite the availability of powerful tools to characterize the atomic crystal structure, the visualization of nanoscale strain-modulated structural motifs remains challenging. Here, we develop nondestructive real-space imaging of periodic lattice distortions in thin epitaxial films and report an emergent periodic nanotexture in a Mott insulator. Specifically, we combine iterative phase retrieval with unsupervised machine learning to invert the diffuse scattering pattern from conventional X-ray reciprocal-space maps into real-space images of crystalline displacements. Our imaging in PbTiO 3 /SrTiO 3 superlattices exhibiting checkerboard strain modulation substantiates published phase-field model calculations. Furthermore, the imaging of biaxially strained Mott insulator Ca 2 RuO 4 reveals a strain-induced nanotexture comprised of nanometer-thin metallic-structure wires separated by nanometer-thin Mott-insulating-structure walls, as confirmed by cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM). The nanotexture in Ca 2 RuO 4 film is induced by the metal-to-insulator transition and has not been reported in bulk crystals. We expect the phasing of diffuse X-ray scattering from thin crystalline films in combination with cryo-STEM to open a powerful avenue for discovering, visualizing, and quantifying the periodic strain-modulated structures in quantum materials.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Particle Physics of the Dark Sector

The mystery associated with a proposed Dark Sector of phenomena that are separate from the standard model of particle physics is described. A Dark Sector may possess matter particles, force carriers which mediate their interactions, and new interactions and symmetries that are beyond the standard model of particle physics. Various approaches for Dark Sector searches are described, including those at the energy frontier at the Large Hadron Collider, in astrophysical interactions with both terrestrial experiments and those in space-born platforms. Searches using low energy photons from microwave energies in cryogenic environments to x-ray energies are also described. While there is no noncontroversial evidence for Dark Sector phenomena presently, new searches with more modern equipment and analysis methods are exploring regions of phase space that have not been available before now, indicating ongoing interest and excitement in this research.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

4D-STEM of Beam-Sensitive Materials

We report that a scanning electron nanobeam diffraction, or 4D-STEM (four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy), is a flexible and powerful approach to elucidate structure from "soft" materials that are challenging to image in the transmission electron microscope because their structure is easily damaged by the electron beam. In a 4D-STEM experiment, a converged electron beam is scanned across the sample, and a pixelated camera records a diffraction pattern at each scan position. This four-dimensional data set can be mined for various analyses, producing maps of local crystal orientation, structural distortions, crystallinity, or different structural classes. Holding the sample at cryogenic temperatures minimizes diffusion of radicals and the resulting damage and disorder caused by the electron beam. The total fluence of incident electrons can easily be controlled during 4D-STEM experiments by careful use of the beam blanker, steering of the localized electron dose, and by minimizing the fluence in the convergent beam thus minimizing beam damage. This technique can be applied to both organic and inorganic materials that are known to be beam-sensitive; they can be highly crystalline, semicrystalline, mixed phase, or amorphous. One common example is the case for many organic materials that have a π-π stacking of polymer chains or rings on the order of 3.4-4.2 Å separation. If these chains or rings are aligned in some regions, they will produce distinct diffraction spots (as would other crystalline spacings in this range), though they may be weak or diffuse for disordered or weakly scattering materials. We can reconstruct the orientation of the π-π stacking, the degree of π-π stacking in the sample, and the domain size of the aligned regions. This Account summarizes illumination conditions and experimental parameters for 4D-STEM experiments with the goal of producing images of structural features for materials that are beam-sensitive. We will discuss experimental parameters including sample cooling, probe size and shape, fluence, and cameras. 4D-STEM has been applied to a variety of materials, not only as an advanced technique for model systems, but as a technique for the beginning microscopist to answer materials science questions. It is noteworthy that the experimental data acquisition does not require an aberration-corrected TEM but can be produced on a variety of instruments with the right attention to experimental parameters.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reversible transformations between the non-porous phases of a flexible coordination network enabled by transient porosity

Abstract Flexible metal–organic materials that exhibit stimulus-responsive switching between closed (non-porous) and open (porous) structures induced by gas molecules are of potential utility in gas storage and separation. Such behaviour is currently limited to a few dozen physisorbents that typically switch through a breathing mechanism requiring structural contortions. Here we show a clathrate (non-porous) coordination network that undergoes gas-induced switching between multiple non-porous phases through transient porosity, which involves the diffusion of guests between discrete voids through intra-network distortions. This material is synthesized as a clathrate phase with solvent-filled cavities; evacuation affords a single-crystal to single-crystal transformation to a phase with smaller cavities. At 298 K, carbon dioxide, acetylene, ethylene and ethane induce reversible switching between guest-free and gas-loaded clathrate phases. For carbon dioxide and acetylene at cryogenic temperatures, phases showing progressively higher loadings were observed and characterized using in situ X-ray diffraction, and the mechanism of diffusion was computationally elucidated.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2026

Lunar accelerometer network gravitational observatory (LANGO)

With ground-based interferometers detecting hundreds of gravitational-wave (GW) events, GW astronomy has continued to blossom. U.S. and European scientists are developing plans to construct third-generation ground-based interferometers. ESA has proceeded through the mission formulation phase of space-based interferometer in a lower-frequency band, 10 –4 –0.1 Hz. Despite all these exciting developments, there is still a missing frequency band, 0.1–10 Hz. This mid-frequency band is rich with interesting astrophysical events. Coalescence and merger of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) will occur in this frequency band. Coalescing stellar-mass BHs will pass through this frequency band days before they reach the frequency band of LIGO and Virgo. Detection of such signals would enable a mid-frequency detector to issue an advance notice to the high-frequency GW detectors, as well as to optical, x-ray and γ-ray telescopes. We propose Lunar Accelerometer Network Gravitational Observatory (LANGO) to detect GWs in this frequency band. In the first phase (LANGO 1), we propose to deploy four ambient-temperature (250 K) accelerometers in the tetrahedral or in a square configuration on the hemisphere facing the Earth. After successful operation at 250 K, LANGO would be upgraded to a cryogenic (4 K) version with over two orders of magnitude increased sensitivity (LANGO 2), with coherent rejection of seismic noise implemented. LANGO is a full-tensor detector, capable of determining the source direction and wave polarization. Each test mass (TM) is suspended as a pendulum with resonance frequency ∼ 0.01 Hz, thus is only weakly coupled to the lunar surface horizontally. LANGO is designed to detect the relative motion of globally separated, nearly free, TMs by using the Moon as a large quiet platform. LANGO 1 and 2 accelerometers aim at sensitivities ⩽ 10 –11 m s –2 Hz –1/2 and ⩽ 10 –13 m s –2 Hz –1/2 in the horizontal axes over the frequency band of 1 mHz–10 Hz, which yield GW sensitivities 1.1 x 10 -21 Hz -1/2 and 3.8 x 10 -24 Hz -1/2 at 1 Hz, respectively. The LANGO accelerometers will be 10 3 –10 5 times more sensitive than Apollo seismometers. With such sensitivity, LANGO will also make great contribution to the advancement of lunar geophysics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗