The KDP crystals present in the final optics assembly at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are used for conversion of infrared laser light beam into ultraviolet. The conversion is highest for a certain incident angle, the alignment of which is determined from the position of the back reflection beam, which exhibits a distinct characteristics shape. When a phase plate device is introduced before the final assembly to increase the uniformity of the beam, the back reflection pattern changes drastically. The algorithm which is best for tracking the special shaped beam is no longer suitable to track the phase modified beam. The work presented here discusses our detection schemes for both the situations. In particular, we demonstrate how the algorithm senses the modified beam using a newly proposed criterion of ''correlation peak pedestal area'' and execute an alternate algorithm in real time without operator intervention. This new algorithm continuously tracks the beam pattern to guarantee reliable and repeatable sensing. Results from simulation and real world implementation of the algorithm at the NIF facility are presented.

Soils from many industrial sites in southeastern USA arecontaminated with As because of the application of herbicide containingAs2O3. Among those contaminated sites, two industrial sites, FW and BH,which are currently active and of most serious environmental concerns,were selected to characterize the occurrence of As in the contaminatedsoils and to evaluate its environmental leachability. The soils are bothsandy loams with varying mineralogical and organic matter contents.Microwave-assisted acid digestion (EPA method 3051) of the contaminatedsoils indicated As levels of up to 325 mg/kg and 900 mg/kg (dry weightbasis) for FW and BH soils, respectively. However, bulk X-ray powderdiffraction (XRD) analysis failed to find any detectable As-bearingphases in either of the studied soil samples. Most of the soil As wasobserved by scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy dispersiveX-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), to be disseminated on the surfaces offine-grained soil particles in close association with Al and Fe. A fewAs-bearing particles were detected in BH soil using electron microprobeanalysis (EMPA). Synchrotron micro-XRD and X-ray absorption near-edgestructure (XANES) analyses indicated that these As-rich particles werepossibly phaunouxite, a mineral similar to calcium arsenate, which couldhave been formed by natural weathering after the application of As2O3.However, the scarcity of those particles eliminated them from playing anyimportant role in …

We discuss aspects of open and hidden charm production in deuterium-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. We describe calculations of the total c{bar c} cross section and the charm quark transverse momentum distributions. We next explain how shadowing and moderate nuclear absorption can explain the PHENIX J/{psi} dAu/pp ratios and predict the combined effect of shadowing and absorption in 6.2 TeV d+Pb collisions.