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Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) can be used to improve the prepulse contrast in chirped-pulse amplification systems by amplifying the main pulse with a total saturated OPCPA gain, while not affecting the preceding prepulses of the seed oscillator mode-locked pulse train. We show that a simple modification of a multistage OPCPA system into a cascaded optical parametric amplifier (COPA) results in an optical switch and extreme contrast enhancement which can completely eliminate the preceding and trailing oscillator pulses. Instrument-limited measurement of prepulse contrast ratio of 1.4 x 10{sup 11} is demonstrated from COPA at a 30-mJ level.

We investigate the role of lifetime effects from resonances and emission duration tails in femtoscopy at RHIC in two Blast-Wave models. We find the non-Gaussian components compare well with published source imaged data, but the value of R{sub out} obtained from Gaussian fits is not insensitive to the non-Gaussian contributions when realistic acceptance cuts are applied to models.

Solid state experiments at extreme pressures (10-100 GPa) and strain rates ({approx}10{sup 6}-10{sup 8}s{sup -1}) are being developed on high-energy laser facilities, and offer the possibility for exploring new regimes of materials science. These extreme solid-state conditions can be accessed with either shock loading or with a quasi-isentropic ramped pressure drive. Velocity interferometer measurements establish the high pressure conditions. Constitutive models for solid-state strength under these conditions are tested by comparing 2D continuum simulations with experiments measuring perturbation growth due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in solid-state samples. Lattice compression, phase, and temperature are deduced from extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements, from which the shock-induced {alpha}-{omega} phase transition in Ti and the {alpha}-{var_epsilon} phase transition in Fe are inferred to occur on sub-nanosec time scales. Time resolved lattice response and phase can also be measured with dynamic x-ray diffraction measurements, where the elastic-plastic (1D-3D) lattice relaxation in shocked Cu is shown to occur promptly (< 1 ns). Subsequent large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations elucidate the microscopic dynamics that underlie the 3D lattice relaxation. Deformation mechanisms are identified by examining the residual microstructure in recovered samples. The slip-twinning threshold in single-crystal Cu shocked along the [001] direction is shown to …

Scrap materials containing plutonium (Pu) metal were dissolved at the Savannah River Site (SRS) as part of a program to disposition nuclear materials during the deactivation of the FB-Line facility. Some of these items contained both Pu and beryllium (Be) metal as a composite material. The Pu and Be metals were physically separated to minimize the amount of Be associated with the Pu; however, a dissolution flowsheet was required to dissolve small amounts of Be combined with the Pu metal using a dissolving solution containing nitric acid (HNO{sub 3}) and potassium fluoride (KF). Since the dissolution of Pu metal in HNO{sub 3}/fluoride (F{sup -}) solutions was well understood, the primary focus of the flowsheet development was the dissolution of Be metal. Initially, small-scale experiments were used to measure the dissolution rate of Be metal foils using conditions effective for the dissolution of Pu metal. The experiments demonstrated that the dissolution rate was nearly independent of the HNO{sub 3} concentration over the limited range of investigation and only a moderate to weak function of the F{sup -} concentration. The effect of temperature was more pronounced, significantly increasing the dissolution rate between 40 and 105 C. The offgas analysis from three Be …

The Demolition of B431 is required to achieve the mission of LLNL and the NNSA FIRP objectives by: (1) Supporting the NNSA Infrastructure Plan goal to ''demolish excess facilities as early as possible''; (2) Banking square footage that allows continued application of advanced science and nuclear technology to the Nation's defense; and (3) Helping maintain and enhance the safety, security, and reliability of the weapons stockpile. A significant effort has been put into the demolition concept in order to ensure that it is well thought out and represents best-value to the government for the money.

Dislocation substructures developed in high-purity Mo single crystals deformed under uniaxial compression at room temperature to a total strain of {approx} 0.5% with a strain rate of 1 s{sup -1} have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques in order to elucidate the underlying micromechanisms of the anomalous operation of {l_brace}0{bar 1}1{r_brace} slip systems, i.e. Schmid-law violation, in bcc metals. The crystals were oriented with the stress axis parallel to a nominal single-slip orientation of [{bar 2}920], in which the ({bar 1}01)[111] slip system is the only system having a maximum value of Schmid factor (m = 0.5). Nevertheless, the recorded stress-strain curve reveals no single-slip or easy-glide stage, and the anomalous slip occurs in both (011) and (0{bar 1}1) planes. TEM examination of the dislocation structure in the ({bar 1}01) primary slip plane reveals that in addition to the operation of the ({bar 1}01)[111] slip system, the coplanar ({bar 1}01)[1{bar 1}1] slip system that has a much smaller Schmid factor (m = 0.167) is also operative. Similarly, the (0{bar 1}1)[111] slip system (m = 0.25) is cooperative with the coplanar (0{bar 1}1)[{bar 1}11] system (m = 0.287), and the (011)[1{bar 1}1] slip system (m = 0.222) is cooperative …

The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) uses a magnetized coaxial gun to form and sustain spheromaks by helicity injection. Internal probes give the magnetic profile within the gun. Analysis of these data show that a number of commonly applied assumptions are not completely correct, and some previously unrecognized processes may be at work. Specifically, the fraction of the available vacuum flux spanning the gun that is stretched out of the gun is variable and not usually 100%. The n=1 mode that is present during sustained discharges has its largest value of {delta}B/B within the gun, so that instantaneously B within the gun is not axisymmetric. By applying a rigid-rotor model to account for the mode, the instantaneous field and current structure within the gun are determined. The current density is also highly non-axisymmetric and the local value of {lambda} {triple_bond} {mu}{sub 0}j{sub {parallel}}/B is not constant, although the global value {lambda}{sub g} {triple_bond} {mu}{sub 0}I{sub g}/{psi}{sub g} closely matches that expected by axisymmetric models. The current distribution near the gun muzzle suggests cross-field current exists, and this is explained as a line-tying reaction to plasma rotation.

Recently observed hadrons that do not fit into the ''normal'' spectroscopic order should have been produced in old experiments. Are these claims supported by the legacy data? Fermilab Experiment 690 collected a 5 x 10{sup 9} event sample of p+p{yields} p{sub f}+X events at a beam momentum of 800 GeV/c ({radical}s = 38.8 GeV) at Lab G in the Neutrino-East beam line in the Tevatron 1991 fixed target run. The detector was an open geometry magnetic spectrometer with large geometric acceptance and extremely good momentum resolution.

The biological generation of oxygen by the oxygen-evolving complex in photosystem II (PS II) is one of natures most important reactions. The recent X-ray crystal structures, while limited by resolutions of 3.2 to 3.5 A, have located the electron density associated with the Mn4Ca complex within the multi-protein PS II complex. Detailed structures critically depend on input from spectroscopic techniques such as EXAFS and EPR/ENDOR, as the XRD resolution does not allow for accurate determination of the position of Mn/Ca or the bridging and terminal ligand atoms. The number and distances of Mn-Mn/Ca/ligand interactions determined from EXAFS provide important constraints for the structure of the Mn cluster. Here we present data from a high-resolution EXAFS method using a novel multi-crystal monochromator that show three short Mn-Mn distances between 2.7 and 2.8 A and hence the presence of three di-mu-oxobridged units in the Mn4Ca cluster. This result imposes clear limitations on the proposed structures based on spectroscopic and diffraction data and provides input for refining such structures.

Stretched wires are beginning to play an important role in the alignment of accelerators and synchrotron light sources. Stretched wires are proposed for the alignment of the 130 meter long LCLS undulator. Wire position technology has reached sub-micron resolution yet analyses of perturbations to wire straightness are hard to find. This paper considers possible deviations of stretched wire from the simple 2-dimensional catenary form.

In the Summer of 2004 a request for proposals went out to potential vendors to offer a three-dimensional laser scanner for a number of unique metrology tasks at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). Specifications were established including range, accuracy, scan density, resolution and field of view in consideration of anticipated department requirements. Four vendors visited the site to present their system and they were asked to perform three unique tests with their system on a two day visit to SLAC. Two of the three tests were created to emulate real-world applications at SLAC while the third was an accuracy and resolution series of experiments. The scope of these tests is presented and some of the vendor's results are included.

Using curved electrodes in the injector, an array of converging beamlets can produce a beam with the envelope radius, convergence, and ellipticity matched to an electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) channel. Experimental results were in good quantitative agreement with simulation and have demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. The size of a driver-scale injector system using this approach will be several times smaller than the one designed using traditional single large-aperture beams, so the success of this experiment has significant economical and technical impacts on the architecture of heavy ion fusion (HIF) drivers.

In FY04, the 88-Inch Cyclotron began a new operating mode that supports a local research program in nuclear science, R&D in accelerator technology and a test facility for the National Security Space (NSS) community (the U.S. Air Force and NRO). The NSS community (and others on a cost recovery basis) can take advantage of both the light- and heavy-ion capabilities of the Cyclotron to simulate the space radiation environment. A significant portion of this work involves the testing of microcircuits for single event effects. The experimental areas within the building that are used for the radiation effects testing are now called the Berkeley Accelerator and Space Effects (BASE) facility. Improvements to the facility to provide increased reliability, quality assurance and new capabilities are underway and will be discussed. These include a 16 AMeV ''cocktail'' of beams for heavy ion testing, a neutron beam, more robust dosimetry, and other upgrades.

This poster provides an overview of SLAC's TCRA1105 reflectorless total station for the Alignment Engineering Group. This instrument has shown itself to be very useful for planning new construction and providing quick measurements to difficult to reach or inaccessible surfaces.

The authors report results from the BABAR Collaboration on the semileptonic B decays, highlighting the measurements of the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements V{sub ub} and V{sub cb}. They describe the techniques used to obtain the matrix element |V{sub cb}| using the measurement of the inclusive B {yields} X{sub c}{ell}{nu} process and a large sample of exclusive B {yields} D*{ell}{nu} decays. The |V{sub ub}| matrix elements has been measured studying the hadronic mass distribution M{sub X} and the lepton spectra at the endpoint for the B {yields} X{sub u}{ell}{nu} process.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to image particles of a high-rate LiFePO4 sample containing a small amount of in situ carbon. The particle morphology is highly irregular, with a wide size distribution. Nevertheless, coatings, varying from about 5-10 nm in thickness, could readily be detected on surfaces of particles as well as on edges of agglomerates. Elemental mapping using Energy Filtered TEM (EFTEM) indicates that these very thin surface layers are composed of carbon. These observations have important implications for the design of high-rate LiFePO4 materials in which, ideally, a minimal amount of carbon coating is used.

Presently there is interest in making medical devices such as expandable stents and intravascular microactuators from shape memory polymer (SMP). One of the key challenges in realizing SMP medical devices is the implementation of a safe and effective method of thermally actuating various device geometries in vivo. A novel scheme of actuation by Curie-thermoregulated inductive heating is presented. Prototype medical devices made from SMP loaded with Nickel Zinc ferrite ferromagnetic particles were actuated in air by applying an alternating magnetic field to induce heating. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis was performed on both the particle-loaded and neat SMP materials to assess the impact of the ferrite particles on the mechanical properties of the samples. Calorimetry was used to quantify the rate of heat generation as a function of particle size and volumetric loading of ferrite particles in the SMP. These tests demonstrated the feasibility of SMP actuation by inductive heating. Rapid and uniform heating was achieved in complex device geometries and particle loading up to 10% volume content did not interfere with the shape recovery of the SMP.