Organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology is an attractive solar-electric conversion paradigm due to the promise of low cost roll-to-roll production and amenability to flexible substrates. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) exceeding 7% has recently been achieved. OPV cells suffer from low charge carrier mobilities of polymers, leading to recombination losses, higher series resistances and lower fill-factors. Thus, it is imperative to develop fabrication methodologies that can enable efficient optical absorption in films thinner than optical absorption length. Active layers conformally deposited on light-trapping, microscale textured, grating-type surfaces is one possible approach to achieve this objective. In this study, 40% theoretical increase in photonic absorption over flat OPVs is shown for devices with textured geometry by the simulation results. For verifying this theoretical result and improving the efficiency of OPVs by light trapping, OPVs were fabricated on grating-type textured substrates possessing t pitch and -coat PV active-layer on these textured substrates led to over filling of the valleys and shunts at the crest, which severely affected the performance of the resultant PV devices. Thus, it is established that although the optical design is important for OPV performance but the potential of light trapping can only be effectively tapped if the textures are amenable …

This is a memorandum of understanding between the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and the experiments of the NaI Crystal Test for DM-Ice from the University of Wisconsin who have committed to participate in detector tests to be carried out during the 2011-2012 Fermilab Neutrino program. The memorandum is intended primarily for the purpose of recording expectations for budget estimates and work allocations for Fermilab, the funding agencies and the participating institutions. It reflects an arrangement that currently is satisfactory to the parties; however, it is recognized and anticipated that changing circumstances of the evolving research program will necessitate revisions. The parties agree to modify this memorandum to reflect such required adjustments. Actual contractual obligations will be set forth in separate documents. The DM-Ice collaboration is designing a sodium-iodide (NaI) based detector for a direct dark matter search. The detectors should have low readout noise and background levels to carry out a sensitive search. A 17-kg version of the experiment is running at the South Pole, 2500 m deep in the Antarctic ice, and a large scale experiment is currently being designed. One of the keys to the success of the experiment is to have a good understanding of the …

Improved measurements of strongly correlated systems will enable the predicative design of the next generation of supermaterials. In this program, we are harnessing recent advances in the quantum manipulation of ultracold atomic gases to expand our ability to probe these technologically important materials in heretofore unexplored regions of temperature, resolution, and sensitivity parameter space. We are working to demonstrate the use of atom chips to enable single-shot, large area detection of magnetic flux at the 10^-7 flux quantum level and below. By harnessing the extreme sensitivity of atomic clocks and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) to external perturbations, the cryogenic atom chip technology developed here will provide a magnetic flux detection capability that surpasses other techniques---such as scanning SQUIDs---by a factor of 10--1000. We are testing the utility of this technique by using rubidium BECs to image the magnetic fields emanating from charge transport and magnetic domain percolation in strongly correlated materials as they undergo temperature-tuned metal--to--insulator phase transitions. Cryogenic atom chip microscopy introduces three very important features to the toolbox of high-resolution, strongly correlated material microscopy: simultaneous detection of magnetic and electric fields (down to the sub-single electron charge level); no invasive large magnetic fields or gradients; simultaneous micro- and macroscopic …

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CUORICINO was a cryogenic bolometer experiment designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay and other rare processes, including double beta decay with two neutrinos (2{nu}{beta}{beta}). The experiment was located at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and ran for a period of about 5 years, from 2003 to 2008. The detector consisted of an array of 62 TeO{sub 2} crystals arranged in a tower and operated at a temperature of #24;10 mK. Events depositing energy in the detectors, such as radioactive decays or impinging particles, produced thermal pulses in the crystals which were read out using sensitive thermistors. The experiment included 4 enriched crystals, 2 enriched with {sup 130}Te and 2 with {sup 128}Te, in order to aid in the measurement of the 2{nu}{beta}{beta} rate. The enriched crystals contained a total of #24;350 g {sup 130}Te. The 128-enriched (130-depleted) crystals were used as background monitors, so that the shared backgrounds could be subtracted from the energy spectrum of the 130- enriched crystals. Residual backgrounds in the subtracted spectrum were fit using spectra generated by Monte-Carlo simulations of natural radioactive contaminants located in and on the crystals. The 2{nu}{beta}{beta} half-life was measured to be T{sup 2{nu}}{sub 1/2} = [9.81{+-} #6;0.96(stat){+-} 0.49(syst)]#2;x10{sup …

The scientific community is exploring the suitability of cloud infrastructure to handle High Performance Computing (HPC) applications. The goal of Magellan, a project funded through DOE ASCR, is to investigate the potential role of cloud computing to address the computing needs of the Department of Energy?s Office of Science, especially for mid-range computing and data-intensive applications which are not served through existing DOE centers today. Prior work has shown that applications with significant communication orI/O tend to perform poorly in virtualized cloud environments. However, there is a limited understanding of the I/O characteristics in virtualized cloud environments. This paper will present our results in benchmarking the I/O performance over different cloud and HPC platforms to identify the major bottlenecks in existing infrastructure. We compare the I/O performance using IOR benchmark on two cloud platforms - Amazon and Magellan. We analyze the performance of different storage options available, different instance types in multiple availability zones. Finally, we perform large-scale tests in order to analyze the variability in the I/O patterns over time and region. Our results highlight the overhead and variability in I/O performance on both public and private cloud solutions. Our results will help applications decide between the different storage …

This document is a close-out report on work performed by UCSD researchers in support of the Fusion Simulation Project Planning Activity.

Given a social network, who is the best person to introduce you to, say, Chris Ferguson, the poker champion? Or, given a network of people and skills, who is the best person to help you learn about, say, wavelets? The goal is to find a small group of 'gateways': persons who are close enough to us, as well as close enough to the target (person, or skill) or, in other words, are crucial in connecting us to the target. The main contributions are the following: (a) we show how to formulate this problem precisely; (b) we show that it is sub-modular and thus it can be solved near-optimally; (c) we give fast, scalable algorithms to find such gateways. Experiments on real data sets validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods, achieving up to 6,000,000x speedup.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Bioinformatics group has recently taken on a role in DTRA's Transformation Medical Technologies (TMT) program. The high-level goal of TMT is to accelerate the development of broad-spectrum countermeasures. To achieve this goal, there is a need to assess the genetic engineering (GE) approaches, potential application as well as detection and mitigation strategies. LLNL was tasked to coordinate a workshop to determine the scope of investments that DTRA should make to stay current with the rapid advances in genetic engineering technologies, so that accidental or malicious uses of GE technologies could be adequately detected and characterized. Attachment A is an earlier report produced by LLNL for TMT that provides some relevant background on Genetic Engineering detection. A workshop was held on September 23-24, 2010 in Springfield, Virginia. It was attended by a total of 55 people (see Attachment B). Twenty four (44%) of the attendees were academic researchers involved in GE or bioinformatics technology, 6 (11%) were from DTRA or the TMT program management, 7 (13%) were current TMT performers (including Jonathan Allen and Tom Slezak of LLNL who hosted the workshop), 11 (20%) were from other Federal agencies, and 7 (13%) were from industries …

Substrate scratches can limit the laser resistance of multilayer mirror coatings on high-peak-power laser systems. To date, the mechanism by which substrate surface defects affect the performance of coating layers under high power laser irradiation is not well defined. In this study, we combine experimental approaches with theoretical simulations to delineate the correlation between laser damage resistance of coating layers and the physical properties of the substrate surface defects including scratches. A focused ion beam technique is used to reveal the morphological evolution of coating layers on surface scratches. Preliminary results show that coating layers initially follow the trench morphology on the substrate surface, and as the thickness increases, gradually overcoat voids and planarize the surface. Simulations of the electrical-field distribution of the defective layers using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method show that field intensification exists mostly near the top surface region of the coating near convex focusing structures. The light intensification could be responsible for the reduced damage threshold. Damage testing under 1064 nm, 3 ns laser irradiation over coating layers on substrates with designed scratches show that damage probability and threshold of the multilayer depend on substrate scratch density and width. Our preliminary results show that damage occurs …

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We quantitatively model resonant Ti L2,3 reflectivity Rs,p(q, hn) from several SrTiO3 (001) single crystals having different initial surface preparations and stored in ambient conditions before and between measurements. All samples exhibit unexpected 300 K Rs(hn) - Rp(hn) anisotropy corresponding to weak linear dichroism and tetragonal distortion of the TiO6 octahedra indicating a surface layer with properties different from cubic SrTiO3. Oscillations in Rs(q) confirm a ubiquitous surface layer 2-3 nm thick that evolves over a range of time scales. Resonant optical constant spectra derived from Rs,p(hn) assuming a uniform sample are refined using a single surface layer to fit measured Rs(q). Differences in surface layer and bulk optical properties indicate that the surface is significantly depleted in Sr and enriched in Ti and O. While consistent with the tendency of SrTiO3 surfaces toward non-stoichiometry, this layer does not conform simply to existing models for the near surface region and apparently forms via room temperature surface reactions with the ambient. This new quantitative spectral modeling approach is generally applicable and has potential to study near-surface properties of a variety of systems with unique chemical and electronic sensitivities.

The modulation instability (MI) in optical fiber amplifiers and lasers with anomalous dispersion leads to CW beam breakup and the growth of multiple pulses. This can be both a detrimental effect, limiting the performance of amplifiers, and also an underlying physical mechanism in the operation of MI-based devices. Here we revisit the analytical theory of MI in fiber optical amplifiers. The results of the exact theory are compared with the previously used adiabatic approximation model, and the range of applicability of the latter is determined. The same technique is applicable to the study of spatial MI in solid state laser amplifiers and MI in non-uniform media.

Following discharge from research reactors, spent nuclear fuel may be stored 'wet' in water pools or basins, or it may be stored 'dry' in various configurations including non-sealed or sealed containers until retrieved for ultimate disposition. Interim safe storage practices are based on avoiding degradation to the fuel that would impact functions related to safety. Recommended practices including environmental controls with technical bases, are outlined for wet storage and dry storage of aluminum-clad, aluminum-based research reactor fuel. For wet storage, water quality must be maintained to minimize corrosion degradation of aluminum fuel. For dry storage, vented canister storage of aluminum fuel readily provides a safe storage configuration. For sealed dry storage, drying must be performed so as to minimize water that would cause additional corrosion and hydrogen generation. Consideration must also be given to the potential for radiolytically-generated hydrogen from the bound water in the attendant oxyhydroxides on aluminum fuel from reactor operation for dry storage systems.

5098-SR-04-0 PROJECT-SPECIFIC TYPE A VERIFICATION FOR THE HIGH FLUX BEAM REACTOR UNDERGROUND UTILITIES REMOVAL PHASE 3 TRENCH 5, BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

The rich information contained in the plasma response to external magnetic perturbations can be used to help design stellarator coils more effectively. We demonstrate the feasibility by first devel- oping a simple, direct method to study perturbations in stellarators that do not break stellarator symmetry and periodicity. The method applies a small perturbation to the plasma boundary and evaluates the resulting perturbed free-boundary equilibrium to build up a sensitivity matrix for the important physics attributes of the underlying configuration. Using this sensitivity information, design methods for better stellarator coils are then developed. The procedure and a proof-of-principle application are given that (1) determine the spatial distributions of external normal magnetic field at the location of the unperturbed plasma boundary to which the plasma properties are most sen- sitive, (2) determine the distributions of external normal magnetic field that can be produced most efficiently by distant coils, (3) choose the ratios of the magnitudes of the the efficiently produced magnetic distributions so the sensitive plasma properties can be controlled. Using these methods, sets of modular coils are found for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) that are either smoother or can be located much farther from the plasma boundary than those …

A presentation at the 22nd Industry Growth Forum by Marty Murphy that provides an overview of the event

This report describes the results of the work performed by PNNL using feedstock materials provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, KL Energy and Lignol lignocellulosic ethanol pilot plants. Test results with algae feedstocks provided by Genifuel, which provided in-kind cost share to the project, are also included. The work conducted during this project involved developing and demonstrating on the bench-scale process technology at PNNL for catalytic hydrothermal gasification of lignin-rich biorefinery residues and algae. A technoeconomic assessment evaluated the use of the technology for energy recovery in a lignocellulosic ethanol plant.

The Feasibility Study/or the 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (DOE/RL-2007-28) and the Proposed Plan/or Remediation of the 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (DOE/RL-2007-33) describe the use of groundwater pump-and-treat technology for the 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (OU) as part of an expanded groundwater remedy. During fiscal year 2008 (FY08), a groundwater flow and contaminant transport (flow and transport) model was developed to support remedy design decisions at the 200-ZP-1 OU. This model was developed because the size and influence of the proposed 200-ZP-1 groundwater pump-and-treat remedy will have a larger areal extent than the current interim remedy, and modeling is required to provide estimates of influent concentrations and contaminant mass removal rates to support the design of the aboveground treatment train. The 200 West Area Pre-Conceptual Design/or Final Extraction/Injection Well Network: Modeling Analyses (DOE/RL-2008-56) documents the development of the first version of the MODFLOW/MT3DMS model of the Hanford Site's Central Plateau, as well as the initial application of that model to simulate a potential well field for the 200-ZP-1 remedy (considering only the contaminants carbon tetrachloride and technetium-99). This document focuses on the use of the flow and transport model to identify suitable extraction and injection well locations as part of the …

The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) concept [add ref to TPC section] has been applied to many projects outside of particle physics and the accelerator based experiments where it was initially developed. TPCs in non-accelerator particle physics experiments are principally focused on rare event detection (e.g. neutrino and darkmater experiments) and the physics of these experiments can place dramatically different constraints on the TPC design (only extensions to the traditional TPCs are discussed here). The drift gas, or liquid, is usually the target or matter under observation and due to very low signal rates a TPC with the largest active mass is desired. The large mass complicates particle tracking of short and sometimes very low energy particles. Other special design issues include, efficient light collection, background rejection, internal triggering and optimal energy resolution. Backgrounds from gamma-rays and neutrons are significant design issues in the construction of these TPCs. They are generally placed deep underground to shield from cosmogenic particles and surrounded with shielding to reduce radiation from the local surroundings. The construction materials have to be carefully screened for radiopurity as they are in close contact with the active mass and can be a signification source of background events. The TPC …

We demonstrate the basic operation of an organic/inorganic hybrid single nanowire solar cell. End-functionalized oligo- and polythiophenes were grafted onto ZnO nanowires to produce p-n heterojunction nanowires. The hybrid nanostructures were characterized via absorption and electron microscopy to determine the optoelectronic properties and to probe the morphology at the organic/inorganic interface. Individual nanowire solar cell devices exhibited well-resolved characteristics with efficiencies as high as 0.036percent, Jsc = 0.32 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.4 V, and a FF = 0.28 under AM 1.5 illumination with 100 mW/cm2 light intensity. These individual test structures will enable detailed analysis to be carried out in areas that have been difficult to study in bulk heterojunction devices.

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sodium battery heat release parameters were determined experimentally

Halothermothirx orenii is a strictly anaerobic thermohalophilic bacterium isolated from sediment of a Tunisian salt lake. It belongs to the order Halanaerobiales in the phylum Firmicutes. The complete sequence revealed that the genome consists of one circular chromosome of 2578146 bps encoding 2451 predicted genes. This is the first genome sequence of an organism belonging to the Haloanaerobiales. Features of both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were identified with the presence of both a sporulating mechanism typical of Firmicutes and a characteristic Gram negative lipopolysaccharide being the most prominent. Protein sequence analyses and metabolic reconstruction reveal a unique combination of strategies for thermophilic and halophilic adaptation. H. orenii can serve as a model organism for the study of the evolution of the Gram negative phenotype as well as the adaptation under thermohalophilic conditions and the development of biotechnological applications under conditions that require high temperatures and high salt concentrations.