Spectral control is a key technology for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) direct energy conversion systems because only a fraction (typically less than 25%) of the incident thermal radiation has energy exceeding the diode bandgap energy, E{sub g}, and can thus be converted to electricity. The goal for TPV spectral control in most applications is twofold: (1) Maximize TPV efficiency by minimizing transfer of low energy, below bandgap photons from the radiator to the TPV diode. (2) Maximize TPV surface power density by maximizing transfer of high energy, above bandgap photons from the radiator to the TPV diode. TPV spectral control options include: front surface filters (e.g. interference filters, plasma filters, interference/plasma tandem filters, and frequency selective surfaces), back surface reflectors, and wavelength selective radiators. System analysis shows that spectral performance dominates diode performance in any practical TPV system, and that low bandgap diodes enable both higher efficiency and power density when spectral control limitations are considered. Lockheed Martin has focused its efforts on front surface tandem filters which have achieved spectral efficiencies of {approx}83% for E{sub g} = 0.52 eV and {approx}76% for E{sub g} = 0.60 eV for a 950 C radiator temperature.

This work summarizes recent data on minority carrier lifetime in n- and p-type double heterostructures (DHs) of 0.5-0.6 eV GaInAsSb confined with GaSb and AlGaAsSb cap layers. Recombination times were measured by time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and by optical frequency response (OFR) to sinusoidal excitation. It was shown that one of the mechanisms responsible for interface recombination in GaSb/GaInAsSb/GaSb DHs is thermionic emission of carriers over the heterobarrier. Considerable improvement of carrier confinement was obtained with 1 eV AlGaAsSb cap layers. Optimization of the epitaxial growth resulted in a recombination velocity at GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb interface as low as 30 cm/s.

Antimony-based III-V thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are attractive converters for systems with low radiator temperature around 1100 to 1700 K, since these cells potentially can be spectrally matched to the thermal source. Cells under development include GaSb and the lattice-matched GaInAsSb/GaSb and InPAsSb/InAs quaternary systems. GaSb cell technology is the most mature, owing in part to the relative ease in preparation of the binary alloy compared to quaternary GaInAsSb and InPAsSb alloys. Device performance of 0.7-eV GaSb cells exceeds 90% of the practical limit. GaInAsSb TPV cells have been the primary focus of recent research, and cells with energy gap E{sub g} ranging from {approx}0.6 to 0.49 eV have been demonstrated. Quantum efficiency and fill factor approach theoretical limits. Open-circuit voltage factor is as high as 87% of the practical limit for the higher-E{sub g} cells, but degrades to below 80% with decreasing E{sub g} of the alloy, which might be due to Auger recombination. InPAsSb cells are the least studied, and a cell with E{sub g} = 0.45-eV has extended spectral response out to 4.3 {micro}m. This paper briefly reviews the main contributions that have been made for antimonide-based TPV cells, and suggests additional studies for further performance enhancements.

The genome sequence of the solvent producing bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC824, has been determined by the shotgun approach. The genome consists of a 3.94 Mb chromosome and a 192 kb megaplasmid that contains the majority of genes responsible for solvent production. Comparison of C. acetobutylicum to Bacillus subtilis reveals significant local conservation of gene order, which has not been seen in comparisons of other genomes with similar, or, in some cases, closer, phylogenetic proximity. This conservation allows the prediction of many previously undetected operons in both bacteria.

The International Conference on Charged Particle Optics, CPO, is held every 4 years, and brings together scientists working in all areas of charged-particle optics including electron microscopy, accelerators, spectrometers, electron and ion sources, and theory. In October 2002 the sixth such conference, CPO6, was held near Washington, DC. This is the report on the Sixth International Charged-Particle Optics Conference. Proceedings of this conference have been published in Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research, Section A Volume 519, February/March 2004.

The authors explore the feasibility of adding a performance option to DOE's EnergyStar{copyright} Windows program whereby windows of differing U-factors and SHGCs can qualify so long as they have equivalent annual energy performance. An iterative simulation procedure is used to calculate trade-off equations giving the change in SHGC needed to compensate for a change in U-factor. Of the four EnergyStar{copyright} Window climate zones, trade-off equations are possible only in the Northern and Southern zones. In the North/Central and South/Central zones, equations are not possible either because of large intrazone climate variations or the current SHGC requirements are already near optimum.

We discuss current issues and present the latest measurements on quarkonia production from experiments monitoring hadron-hadron and lepton-hadron collisions. These measurements include cross section and polarization results for charmonium and bottomonium states.

This note describes changes in the 400 MeV beam transfer system from the Linac to improve the quality of the beam delivered to the Booster and to add the capability to direct beam to the MuCool Test Area (MTA). The new configuration has two pairs of pulsed dipole magnets on each side of the 400 MeV electrostatic Chopper. The smaller pair deflects vertically to replace the kick of the Chopper to send the beam to the Booster while the larger pair deflects horizontally to transfer the beam to the MTA. In this new scheme, the Chopper is uncharged while the beam is injected into the Booster such that the injection position does not rely on Chopper power supply regulation as it does now. A feature of the proposed upgrade is that no changes in the lattice functions are required in the lines to the Booster or to the Dump; once the four new magnets are installed, the switch between the old and new operating modes can be done from upstairs. The transfer to the MTA is already described in a previous note.

TPV technology has advanced rapidly in the last five years, with diode conversion efficiency approaching >30%, and filter efficiency of {approx}80%. These achievements have enabled repeatable testing of 20% efficient small systems, demonstrating the potential of TPV energy conversion. Near term technology gains support a 25% efficient technology demonstration in the two year timeframe. However, testing of full size systems, which includes efficiency degradation mechanisms, such as: nonuniform diode illumination, diode and filter variability, temperature non-uniformities, conduction/convection losses, and lifetime reliability processes needs to be performed. A preliminary analysis of these differential effects has been completed, and indicates a near term integrated system efficiency of {approx}15% is possible using current technology, with long term growth to 18-20%. This report addresses the system performance issues.

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A real-time reporter system was developed to monitor the thermal induction of virulence factors in Yersinia pestis. The reporter system consists of a plasmid in Y. pestis in which the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) is under the control of the promoters for six virulence factors, yopE, sycE, yopK, yopT, yscN, and lcrE/yopN, which are all components of the Type III secretion virulence mechanism of Y. pestis. Induction of the expression of these genes in vivo was determined by the increase in fluorescence intensity of GFP in real time. Basal expression levels observed for the Y. pestis promoters, expressed as percentages of the positive control with GFP under the control of the lac promoter, were: yopE (15%), sycE (15%), yopK (13%), yopT (4%), lcrE (3.3%) and yscN (0.8%). The yopE reporter showed the strongest gene induction following temperature transition from 26 C to 37 C. The induction levels of the other virulence factors, expressed as percentages of yopE induction, were: yopK (57%), sycE (9%), yscN (3%), lcrE (3%), and yopT (2%). The thermal induction of each of these promoter fusions was repressed by calcium, and the ratios of the initial rates of thermal induction without calcium supplementation compared to …

With the advent of tabletop X-ray lasers that operate at high repetition rate more emphasis is being put on finding useful applications for these lasers. The 14.7 nm Ni-like Pd X-ray laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is being used to do many interferometer experiments. As detailed quantitative comparisons are done between experiments and code simulations it is clear that some of the assumptions used to analyze the experiments need to be modified as one explores plasmas that are only a few times ionized. In the case of aluminium plasmas that have been analyzed with interferometers there has been some unusual behavior where the fringe lines bend the wrong way. In this work we will discuss how the index of refraction for aluminium is far more complicated than generally assumed because there are significant contributions to the index from the continuum and line structure of the bound electrons that can dominate the free electron contribution and even cause the index to be greater than one. We will also discuss some potential applications of the high repetition rate Ne-like Ar X-ray laser at 46.9 nm. In particular we will present modeling that shows how the Ar laser could be used to …

Sputtered Be shells are made by sputter deposition of Be, with a radially graded Cu dopant as necessary, onto plastic mandrels supplied by General Atomics. Although the plastic mandrel may not be a design issue, it is a fielding issue because at cryo temperatures the plastic shrinks more than the Be and delaminates. We described in previous memos a proposed method for thermally removing the plastic by burning it in air at elevated temperature. A key aspect to this process is getting air in and out of the shell through the small diameter hole that must be laser drilled in the capsule wall to serve as a fill hole for the fuel. Because the hole is quite small, gas flow through the orifice must be forced, and an external pressure variation was suggested to do this. Further calculations showed that since the volume of the capsule is quite small and the amount of plastic in the shell by comparison is large, the ''pumping'' of air in and out of the shell must occur at least once per minute in order to supply enough O{sub 2} to completely burn the plastic to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O in a reasonable time. …

Prior to the recent commissioning of the first NIF (National Ignition Facility) beamline, full-scale laser-amplifier-glass cleanliness experiments were performed. Aerosol measurements and obscuration data acquired using a modified flatbed scanner compare favorably to historical large-scale lasers and indicate that NIF is the cleanest large-scale laser built to date.

Lattice-matched 0.52 eV InGaAsSb/GaSb thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are grown using a multi-wafer metal-organic-chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD) system. MOCVD growth series of P/N junction epitaxial structures consisting of as many as 30 wafers demonstrate good run-to-run reproducibility, good uniformity across the wafer and exhibit high performance with open circuit voltages of {approx}300mV and fill factors of 70% at 25 C. Growth parameters, including temperature, surface preparation and substrate orientation, that directly affect growth have been optimized for the active 0.52 eV InGaAsSb region and GaSb confinement layers. Focus is on increasing TPV diode performance through architectural improvements, specifically by reducing the minority carrier recombination velocity at the emitter and base front and back interfaces. Work in support of incorporating a back surface reflector (BSR) including the growth of N/P diode architectures and the addition of a lattice-matched InAsSb etch stop layer for substrate removal and wafer bonding, is reported. The lattice matched InAsSb stop etch exhibits resiliency to the substrate removal and wafer bonding processes. Substantial improvement in carrier lifetime on test structures with P-type AlGaAsSb layers indicated incorporation of these layers into the TPV cell structure should provide significant improvement in open-circuit voltage. Addition of AlGaAsSb confinement layers to the standard P/N …

Final report on conference grant supporting the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields meeting in Philadlephia, PA April 5-8, 2003.

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) diodes fabricated from 0.52eV lattice-matched InGaAsSb alloys are grown by Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) on GaSb substrates. 4cm{sup 2} multi-chip diode modules with front-surface spectral filters were tested in a vacuum cavity and attained measured efficiency and power density of 19% and 0.58 W/cm{sup 2} respectively at operating at temperatures of T{sub radiator} = 950 C and T{sub diode} = 27 C. Device modeling and minority carrier lifetime measurements of double heterostructure lifetime specimens indicate that diode conversion efficiency is limited predominantly by interface recombination and photon energy loss to the GaSb substrate and back ohmic contact. Recent improvements to the diode include lattice-matched p-type AlGaAsSb passivating layers with interface recombination velocities less than 100 cm/s and new processing techniques enabling thinned substrates and back surface reflectors. Modeling predictions of these improvements to the diode architecture indicate that conversion efficiencies from 27-30% and {approx}0.85 W/cm{sup 2} could be attained under the above operating temperatures.

We have developed a method to remove perchlorate (14 to 27 {micro}g/L) and nitrate (48 mg/L) from contaminated groundwater using a wetland bioreactor. The bioreactor has operated continuously in a remote field location for more than two years with a stable ecosystem of indigenous organisms. This study assesses the bioreactor for long-term perchlorate and nitrate remediation by evaluating influent and effluent groundwater for reduction-oxidation conditions and nitrate and perchlorate concentrations. Total community DNA was extracted and purified from 10-g sediment samples retrieved from vertical coring of the bioreactor during winter. Analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of short, 16S rDNA, polymerase-chain-reaction products was used to identify dominant microorganisms. Bacteria genera identified were closely affiliated with bacteria widely distributed in soils, mud layers, and fresh water. Of the 17 dominant bands sequenced, most were gram negative and capable of aerobic or anaerobic respiration with nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor (Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Halomonas, and Nitrospira). Several identified genera (Rhizobium, Acinetobactor, and Xanthomonas) are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen into a combined form (ammonia) usable by host plants. Isolates were identified from the Proteobacteria class, known for the ability to reduce perchlorate. Initial bacterial assessments of sediments confirm the prevalence of facultative …