Engineering the Electronic Band Structure for Multiband Solar Cells (open access)

Engineering the Electronic Band Structure for Multiband Solar Cells

Using the unique features of the electronic band structure of GaNxAs1-x alloys, we have designed, fabricated and tested a multiband photovoltaic device. The device demonstrates an optical activity of three energy bands that absorb, and convert into electrical current, the crucial part of the solar spectrum. The performance of the device and measurements of electroluminescence, quantum efficiency and photomodulated reflectivity are analyzed in terms of the Band Anticrossing model of the electronic structure of highly mismatched alloys. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using highly mismatched alloys to engineer the semiconductor energy band structure for specific device applications.
Date: July 12, 2010
Creator: Lopez, N.; Reichertz, L. A.; Yu, K. M.; Campman, K. & Walukiewicz, W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
500 MW X-BAND RF SYSTEM OF A 0.25 GEV ELECTRON LINAC FOR ADVANCED COMPTON SCATTERING SOURCE APPLICATION (open access)

500 MW X-BAND RF SYSTEM OF A 0.25 GEV ELECTRON LINAC FOR ADVANCED COMPTON SCATTERING SOURCE APPLICATION

A Mono-Energetic Gamma-Ray (MEGa-Ray) Compton scattering light source is being developed at LLNL in collaboration with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The electron beam for the Compton scattering interaction will be generated by a X-band RF gun and a X-band LINAC at the frequency of 11.424 GHz. High power RF in excess of 500 MW is needed to accelerate the electrons to energy of 250 MeV or greater for the interaction. Two high power klystron amplifiers, each capable of generating 50 MW, 1.5 msec pulses, will be the main high power RF sources for the system. These klystrons will be powered by state of the art solid-state high voltage modulators. A RF pulse compressor, similar to the SLED II pulse compressor, will compress the klystron output pulse with a power gain factor of five. For compactness consideration, we are looking at a folded waveguide setup. This will give us 500 MW at output of the compressor. The compressed pulse will then be distributed to the RF gun and to six traveling wave accelerator sections. Phase and amplitude control are located at the RF gun input and additional control points along the LINAC to allow for parameter control during operation. This high …
Date: May 12, 2010
Creator: Chu, T S; Anderson, S G; Gibson, D J; Hartemann, F V; Marsh, R A; Siders, C et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hydrogen Bonding Under High-Pressure (open access)

Hydrogen Bonding Under High-Pressure

None
Date: March 12, 2010
Creator: Manaa, M R & Fried, L E
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Power Picosecond Laser Pulse Recirculation (open access)

High Power Picosecond Laser Pulse Recirculation

We demonstrate a nonlinear crystal-based short pulse recirculation cavity for trapping the second harmonic of an incident high power laser pulse. This scheme aims to increase the efficiency and flux of Compton-scattering based light sources. We demonstrate up to 36x average power enhancement of frequency doubled sub-millijoule picosecond pulses, and 17x average power enhancement of 177 mJ, 10 ps, 10 Hz pulses.
Date: April 12, 2010
Creator: Shverdin, M Y; Jovanovic, I; Semenov, V A; Betts, S M; Brown, C; Gibson, D J et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Magnetic stochasticity in gyrokinetic simulations of plasma microturbulence (open access)

Magnetic stochasticity in gyrokinetic simulations of plasma microturbulence

Analysis of the magnetic field structure from electromagnetic simulations of tokamak ion temperature gradient turbulence demonstrates that the magnetic field can be stochastic even at very low plasma pressure. The degree of magnetic stochasticity is quantified by evaluating the magnetic diffusion coefficient. We find that the magnetic stochasticity fails to produce a dramatic increase in the electron heat conductivity because the magnetic diffusion coefficient remains small.
Date: February 12, 2010
Creator: Nevins, W M; Wang, E & Candy, J
System: The UNT Digital Library
Target Diagnostic Control System Implementation for the National Ignition Facility (open access)

Target Diagnostic Control System Implementation for the National Ignition Facility

The extreme physics of targets shocked by NIF's 192-beam laser are observed by a diverse suite of diagnostics. Many diagnostics are being developed by collaborators at other sites, but ad hoc controls could lead to unreliable and costly operations. A Diagnostic Control System (DCS) framework for both hardware and software facilitates development and eases integration. Each complex diagnostic typically uses an ensemble of electronic instruments attached to sensors, digitizers, cameras, and other devices. In the DCS architecture each instrument is interfaced to a low-cost Windows XP processor and Java application. Each instrument is aggregated with others as needed in the supervisory system to form an integrated diagnostic. The Java framework provides data management, control services and operator GUI generation. DCS instruments are reusable by replication with reconfiguration for specific diagnostics in XML. Advantages include minimal application code, easy testing, and high reliability. Collaborators save costs by assembling diagnostics with existing DCS instruments. This talk discusses target diagnostic instrumentation used on NIF and presents the DCS architecture and framework.
Date: May 12, 2010
Creator: Shelton, R T; Kamperschroer, J H; Lagin, L J; Nelson, J R & O'Brien, D W
System: The UNT Digital Library
ADVANCED X-BAND TEST ACCELERATOR FOR HIGH BRIGHTNESS ELECTRON AND GAMMA RAY BEAMS (open access)

ADVANCED X-BAND TEST ACCELERATOR FOR HIGH BRIGHTNESS ELECTRON AND GAMMA RAY BEAMS

In support of Compton scattering gamma-ray source efforts at LLNL, a multi-bunch test stand is being developed to investigate accelerator optimization for future upgrades. This test stand will enable work to explore the science and technology paths required to boost the current 10 Hz monoenergetic gamma-ray (MEGa-Ray) technology to an effective repetition rate exceeding 1 kHz, potentially increasing the average gamma-ray brightness by two orders of magnitude. Multiple bunches must be of exceedingly high quality to produce narrow-bandwidth gamma-rays. Modeling efforts will be presented, along with plans for a multi-bunch test stand at LLNL. The test stand will consist of a 5.5 cell X-band rf photoinjector, single accelerator section, and beam diagnostics. The photoinjector will be a high gradient standing wave structure, featuring a dual feed racetrack coupler. The accelerator will increase the electron energy so that the emittance can be measured using quadrupole scanning techniques. Multi-bunch diagnostics will be developed so that the beam quality can be measured and compared with theory. Design will be presented with modeling simulations, and layout plans.
Date: May 12, 2010
Creator: Marsh, R A; Anderson, S G; Barty, C P; Chu, T S; Ebbers, C A; Gibson, D J et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scaling Algebraic Multigrid Solvers: On the Road to Exascale (open access)

Scaling Algebraic Multigrid Solvers: On the Road to Exascale

Algebraic Multigrid (AMG) solvers are an essential component of many large-scale scientific simulation codes. Their continued numerical scalability and efficient implementation is critical for preparing these codes for exascale. Our experiences on modern multi-core machines show that significant challenges must be addressed for AMG to perform well on such machines. We discuss our experiences and describe the techniques we have used to overcome scalability challenges for AMG on hybrid architectures in preparation for exascale.
Date: December 12, 2010
Creator: Baker, A H; Falgout, R D; Gamblin, T; Kolev, T; Schulz, M & Yang, U M
System: The UNT Digital Library
Commissioning of the EBIS-based heavy ion preinjector at Brookhaven (open access)

Commissioning of the EBIS-based heavy ion preinjector at Brookhaven

The status is presented of the commissioning of a new heavy ion preinjector at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This preinjector uses an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), and an RFQ and IH Linac, both operating at 100.625 MHz, to produce 2 MeV/u ions of any species for use, after further acceleration, at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Among the increased capabilities provided by this preinjector are the ability to produce ions of any species, and the ability to switch between multiple species in 1 second, to simultaneously meet the needs of both science programs. For initial setup, helium beam from EBIS was injected and circulated in the Booster synchrotron. Following this, accelerated Au{sup 32+} and Fe{sup 20+} beams were transported to the Booster injection point, fulfilling DOE requirements for project completion.
Date: September 12, 2010
Creator: Alessi, J.; Beebe, E.; Binello, S.; Hoff, L.; Kondo, K.; Lambiase, R. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nanoscale Advances in Catalysis and Energy Applications (open access)

Nanoscale Advances in Catalysis and Energy Applications

In this perspective, we present an overview of nanoscience applications in catalysis, energy conversion, and energy conservation technologies. We discuss how novel physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials can be applied and engineered to meet the advanced material requirements in the new generation of chemical and energy conversion devices. We highlight some of the latest advances in these nanotechnologies and provide an outlook at the major challenges for further developments.
Date: May 12, 2010
Creator: Li, Yimin & Somorjai, Gabor A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Low and High Temperature Combustion Chemistry of Butanol Isomers in Premixed Flames and Autoignition Systems (open access)

Low and High Temperature Combustion Chemistry of Butanol Isomers in Premixed Flames and Autoignition Systems

Butanol is a fuel that has been proposed as a bio-derived alternative to conventional petroleum derived fuels. The structural isomer in traditional 'bio-butanol' fuel is n-butanol, but newer conversion technologies produce iso-butanol as a fuel. In order to better understand the combustion chemistry of bio-butanol, this study presents a comprehensive chemical kinetic model for all the four isomers of butanol (e.g., 1-, 2-, iso- and tert-butanol). The proposed model includes detailed high temperature and low temperature reaction pathways. In this study, the primary experimental validation target for the model is premixed flat low-pressure flame species profiles obtained using molecular beam mass spectrometry (MBMS). The model is also validated against previously published data for premixed flame velocity and n-butanol rapid compression machine and shock tube ignition delay. The agreement with these data sets is reasonably good. The dominant reaction pathways at the various pressures and temperatures studied are elucidated. At low temperature conditions, we found that the reaction of alphahydroxybutyl with O{sub 2} was important in controlling the reactivity of the system, and for correctly predicting C{sub 4} aldehyde profiles in low pressure premixed flames. Enol-keto isomerization reactions assisted by HO{sub 2} were also found to be important in converting enols …
Date: December 12, 2010
Creator: Sarathy, S M; Pitz, W J; Westbrook, C K; Mehl, M; Yasunaga, K; Curran, H J et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Near-Infrared Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances Arising from Free Carriers in Doped Quantum Dots (open access)

Near-Infrared Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances Arising from Free Carriers in Doped Quantum Dots

Quantum confinement of electronic wavefunctions in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) yields discrete atom-like and tunable electronic levels, thereby allowing the engineering of excitation and emission spectra. Metal nanoparticles, on the other hand, display strong resonant interactions with light from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) oscillations of free carriers, resulting in enhanced and geometrically tunable absorption and scattering resonances. The complementary attributes of these nanostructures lends strong interest toward integration into hybrid nanostructures to explore enhanced properties or the emergence of unique attributes arising from their interaction. However, the physicochemical interface between the two components can be limiting for energy transfer and synergistic coupling within such a hybrid nanostructure. Therefore, it is advantageous to realize both attributes, i.e., LSPRs and quantum confinement within the same nanostructure. Here, we describe well-defined LSPRs arising from p-type carriers in vacancy-doped semiconductor quantum dots. This opens up possibilities for light harvesting, non-linear optics, optical sensing and manipulation of solid-state processes in single nanocrystals.
Date: October 12, 2010
Creator: Jain, Prashant K.; Luther, Joey; Ewers, Trevor & Alivisatos, A. Paul
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of a Time-resolved Soft X-ray Spectrometer for Laser Produced Plasma Experiments (open access)

Development of a Time-resolved Soft X-ray Spectrometer for Laser Produced Plasma Experiments

A 2400 line/mm variable spaced grating spectrometer (VSG) has been used to measure soft x-ray emission (8-22 {angstrom}) from laser-produced plasma experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Compact Multipulse Terrawatt (COMET) Laser Facility. The spectrometer was coupled to a Kentech x-ray streak camera to study the temporal evolution of soft x-rays emitted from the back of mylar and copper foils irradiated at 10{sup 15} W/cm{sup 2}. The instrument demonstrated a resolving power of {approx} 120 at 19 {angstrom} with a time resolution of 31 ps. The time-resolved copper emission spectrum was consistent with a photodiode monitoring the laser temporal pulse shape and indicated that the soft x-ray emission follows the laser heating of the target. The time and spectral resolution of this diagnostic make it useful for studies of high temperature plasmas.
Date: May 12, 2010
Creator: Cone, K. V.; Dunn, J.; Schneider, M. B.; Baldis, H. A.; Brown, G. V.; Emig, J. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Extension of the Southern Hemisphere Atmospheric Radiocarbon Curve, 2120-850 years BP: Results from Tasmanian Huon Pine (open access)

Extension of the Southern Hemisphere Atmospheric Radiocarbon Curve, 2120-850 years BP: Results from Tasmanian Huon Pine

Decadal samples of dendrochronologically-dated pine (Lagorostrobos franklinii) from the Stanley River basin, Tasmania have been radiocarbon dated between 2120-850 yr BP. This data set overlaps and extends the current Southern Hemisphere record, which currently covers the period 110-995 yr BP. There is good agreement between the two records between 995-850 yr BP, between sample replicates and with consensus values for standards. As in the younger dataset, we find evidence for a distinct but variable offset between the southern hemisphere data and IntCal04; although this is likely due to real temporal variability in the interhemispheric offset, further work is planned to rule out possible laboratory or sample preparation differences.
Date: February 12, 2010
Creator: Zimmerman, S. R.; Guilderson, T. P.; Buckley, B. M. & Cook, E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alphabet Soup - An Overview of Diagnostic Techniques (open access)

Alphabet Soup - An Overview of Diagnostic Techniques

This report gives an overview of diagnostic techniques of "Alphabet Soup".
Date: October 12, 2010
Creator: Smedley, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
INNOVATIVE ALARA TOOLS AND WORK PRACTICES USED AT THE DOE HANFORD SITE (open access)

INNOVATIVE ALARA TOOLS AND WORK PRACTICES USED AT THE DOE HANFORD SITE

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation occupies an area of 586 square miles in southeastern Washington state. The site was created as part of the World War II Manhattan Project to produce weapons grade plutonium. A multitude of old reactor plants, processing facilities, underground tank farms, contaminated soil and ground water remain and are part of an on-going environmental cleanup mission of the site. The Columbia River bisects Hanford, and the concern is that the river will become contaminated if the sources of contamination are not removed. Currently facilities are being removed, the ground water is being treated, and contaminated soil is being transferred to an approved burial ground about 15 miles away from the River located in the center of the Hanford Site The remaining facilities and adjacent structures are undergoing D&D (decontaminate and demolish) and to date, significant progress has been made. During this presentation, I will discuss how we are using innovative tools and work practices to D&D these Hanford Site facilities.
Date: February 12, 2010
Creator: LO, WAGGONER
System: The UNT Digital Library
Thermodynamic States in Explosion Fields (open access)

Thermodynamic States in Explosion Fields

We investigate the thermodynamic states occurring in explosion fields from condensed explosive charges. These states are often modeled with a Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) function. However, the JWL function is not a Fundamental Equation of Thermodynamics, and therefore cannot give a complete specification of such states. We use the Cheetah code of Fried to study the loci of states of the expanded detonation products gases from C-4 charges, and their combustion products air. In the Le Chatelier Plane of specific-internal-energy versus temperature, these loci are fit with a Quadratic Model function u(T), which has been shown to be valid for T < 3,000 K and p < 1k-bar. This model is used to derive a Fundamental Equation u(v,s) for C-4. Given u(v,s), one can use Maxwell's Relations to derive all other thermodynamic functions, such as temperature: T(v,s), pressure: p(v,s), enthalpy: h(v,s), Gibbs free energy: g(v,s) and Helmholz free energy: f(v,s); these loci are displayed in figures for C-4. Such complete equations of state are needed for numerical simulations of blast waves from explosive charges, and their reflections from surfaces.
Date: March 12, 2010
Creator: Kuhl, A L
System: The UNT Digital Library
A 10-Hz Terawatt Class Ti:Sapphire Laser System: Development and Applications (open access)

A 10-Hz Terawatt Class Ti:Sapphire Laser System: Development and Applications

We developed a two stage Ti:Sapphire laser system to generate 16 mJ/80fs laser pulses at the pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz. The key deriver for the present design is implementing a highly efficient symmetric confocal pre-amplifier and employing a simple, inexpensive synchronization scheme relying only on a commercial digital delay-generator. We characterized the amplified pulses in spatial-, spectral-, and temporal-domains. The laser system was used to investigate various nonlinear optical processes, and to modify the optical properties of metal- and semiconductor-surfaces. We are currently building a third amplifier to boost the laser power to the multi-terawatt range.
Date: January 12, 2010
Creator: Sharma, A. K.; Smedley, J.; Tsang, T. & Rao, T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-Order Weno Simulations of Three-Dimensional Reshocked Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability to Late Times: Dynamics, Dependence on Initial Conditions, and Comparisons to Experimental Data (open access)

High-Order Weno Simulations of Three-Dimensional Reshocked Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability to Late Times: Dynamics, Dependence on Initial Conditions, and Comparisons to Experimental Data

The dynamics of the reshocked multi-mode Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is investigated using 513 x 257{sup 2} three-dimensional ninth-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory shock-capturing simulations. A two-mode initial perturbation with superposed random noise is used to model the Mach 1.5 air/SF{sub 6} Vetter-Sturtevant shock tube experiment. The mass fraction and enstrophy isosurfaces, and density cross-sections are utilized to show the detailed flow structure before, during, and after reshock. It is shown that the mixing layer growth agrees well with the experimentally measured growth rate before and after reshock. The post-reshock growth rate is also in good agreement with the prediction of the Mikaelian model. A parametric study of the sensitivity of the layer growth to the choice of amplitudes of the short and long wavelength initial interfacial perturbation is also presented. Finally, the amplification effects of reshock are quantified using the evolution of the turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent enstrophy spectra, as well as the evolution of the baroclinic enstrophy production, buoyancy production, and shear production terms in the enstrophy and turbulent kinetic transport equations.
Date: January 12, 2010
Creator: Schilling, O & Latini, M
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applications of Laser and Synchrotron Based ARPES to Photocathode Research (open access)

Applications of Laser and Synchrotron Based ARPES to Photocathode Research

Laser angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) provides unique information about angle and energy distribution of photoelectrons. Laser ARPES gives unique insight into how NEA materials work. ARPES combined with some ancillary measurements gives a very complete picture of system electronic physics. For H:C[100] there is now a clear program for engineering as well as development analogous systems. ARPES well suited for identifying 'ideal' photocathodes with intrinsically low emittance and high QE.
Date: October 12, 2010
Creator: Rameau, J.; Smedley. J.; Muller, E.; Kidd, T.; Johnson, P.; Allen, P. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Challenges of Algebraic Multigrid across Multicore Architectures (open access)

Challenges of Algebraic Multigrid across Multicore Architectures

Algebraic multigrid (AMG) is a popular solver for large-scale scientific computing and an essential component of many simulation codes. AMG has shown to be extremely efficient on distributed-memory architectures. However, when executed on modern multicore architectures, we face new challenges that can significantly deteriorate AMG's performance. We examine its performance and scalability on three disparate multicore architectures: a cluster with four AMD Opteron Quad-core processors per node (Hera), a Cray XT5 with two AMD Opteron Hex-core processors per node (Jaguar), and an IBM BlueGene/P system with a single Quad-core processor (Intrepid). We discuss our experiences on these platforms and present results using both an MPI-only and a hybrid MPI/OpenMP model. We also discuss a set of techniques that helped to overcome the associated problems, including thread and process pinning and correct memory associations.
Date: April 12, 2010
Creator: Baker, A H; Gamblin, T; Schulz, M & Yang, U M
System: The UNT Digital Library
SINGLE-MODE FIBER, VELOCITY INTERFEROMETRY (open access)

SINGLE-MODE FIBER, VELOCITY INTERFEROMETRY

None
Date: December 12, 2010
Creator: Krauter, K. G.; Jacobson, G. F.; Patterson, J. R.; Nguyen, J. H. & Ambrose, W. P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transient Heat Transfer Analysis for Ion-Exchange Waste Removal Process (open access)

Transient Heat Transfer Analysis for Ion-Exchange Waste Removal Process

The small column ion exchange (SCIX) process treats low curie salt (LCS) waste before feeding it to the saltstone facility to be made into grout. Through this process, radioactive cesium from the salt solution is absorbed into the CST bed. A CST column loaded with radioactive cesium will generate significant heat from radiolytic decay. If engineering designs of the CST sorption column can not handle this thermal load, hot spots may develop locally within the column and degrade the performance of the ion-exchange process. The CST starts to degrade at about 80 to 85 C, and the CST completely changes to another material above 120 C. In addition, the process solution will boil around 130 C. If the column boiled dry, the sorbent could plug the column and require replacement of the column module. The objective of the present work is to compute temperature distributions across the column as a function of transit time after the initiation of accidents when there is loss of the salt solution flow in the CST column under abnormal conditions of the process operations. In this situation, the customer requested that the calculations should be conservative in that the model results would show the maximum …
Date: July 12, 2010
Creator: Lee, S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study of multi-muon events produced in p anti-p interactions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV (open access)

Study of multi-muon events produced in p anti-p interactions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV

We report the results of a study of multi-muon events produced at the Fermilab Tevatron collider and acquired with the CDF II detector using a dedicated dimuon trigger. The production cross section and kinematics of events in which both muon candidates are produced inside the beam pipe of radius 1.5 cm are successfully modeled by known processes which include heavy flavor production. In contrast, we are presently unable to fully account for the number and properties of the remaining events, in which at least one muon candidate is produced outside of the beam pipe, in terms of the same understanding of the CDF II detector, trigger, and event reconstruction.
Date: June 12, 2010
Creator: Aaltonen, T.; Phys., /Helsinki Inst. of; Adelman, J.; /Chicago U., EFI; Alvarez Gonzalez, B.; Phys., /Cantabria Inst. of et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library