La{sub 2{minus}x}Sr{sub x}CuO{sub 4} (0 {le} x {le} 0.15) can all be intercalated with oxygen by a novel electrochemical oxidation method. Bulk superconductivity is found with an onset {Tc} {approx} 40 K for the whole range 0.01 {le} x {le} 0.15; for x = 0.25 and 0.33, the electrochemical oxidation did not improve the superconducting properties. The magnetic susceptibility {chi}(T = 50--320 K) data for La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4.11} and La{sub 1.92}Sr{sub 0.08}CuO{sub 4.07} are nearly identical with those of conventionally prepared La{sub 1.85}Sr{sub 0.15}CuO{sub 4}, indicating that the hole doping level (p) in the CuO{sub 2} planes of the three compounds is nearly the same. Combined thermogravimetric analysis and iodometric titration experiments indicate that part of the intercalated oxygen has a formal valence close to {minus}1. The maximum doped-hole concentration in the CuO{sub 2} planes that can be achieved from combined Sr-doping and electrochemical oxygen doping for 0 {le} x {le} 0.15 is p {approx} 0.16 holes/formula unit. Oxygen can also intercalate into single crystal La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} through a slow electrochemical oxidation process. The required low current and long time for the charging process reflects that the oxygen intercalation for a single crystal is limited by its small specific …

This report discusses the following topics: Circular magnetic x-ray dichroism at the ER L{sub 3} Edge; angular dependence of circular magnetic x-ray dichroism in rare earth compounds: and circular magnetic x-ray dichroism in crystalline and amorphous GDFE{sub 2}.

In this thesis the fundamental concepts of moderately coupled plasmas, for which 2{approx_lt}ln{Lambda}{sub b}{approx_lt}10, are, for the first time, presented. This investigation is motivated because neither the conventional Fokker-Planck approximation [for weakly coupled plasmas (ln{Lambda}{sub b}{approx_lt}10)] nor the theory of dielectric response with correlations for strongly coupled plasmas (ln{Lambda}{sub b}{approx_lt}1) has satisfactorily addressed this regime. Specifically, herein the standard Fokker-Planck operator for Coulomb collisions has been modified to include hitherto neglected terms that are directly associated with large-angle scattering. In addition a reduced electron-ion collision operator has been calculated that, for the first time, manifests 1/ln{Lambda}{sub b} corrections. Precise calculations of some relaxation rates and crude calculations of electron transport coefficients have been made. As one of major applications of the modified Fokker-Planck equation, the stopping powers and {rho}R have been calculated for charged fusion products ({alpha}`s, {sup 3}H, {sup 3}He) and hot electrons interacting with plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion. In the second major topic of this thesis, advances made in the area of laboratory x-ray sources are presented. First, and most importantly, through the use a Cockcroft-Walton linear accelerator, a charged particle induced x-ray emission (PIXE) source has been developed. Intense line x radiation (including K-, L-, …

With the advent of powerful workstations with windowing systems, the scientific community has become interested in user friendly interfaces as a means of promoting the distribution of scientific codes to colleagues. Distributing scientific codes to a wider audience can, however, be problematic because scientists, who are familiar with the problem being addressed but not aware of necessary operational details, are encouraged to use the codes. A more friendly environment that not only guides user inputs, but also helps catch errors is needed. This thesis presents a dynamic graphical user interface (GUI) creation system with user controlled support for error detection and handling. The system checks a series of constraints defining a valid input set whenever the state of the system changes and notifies the user when an error has occurred. A naive checking scheme was implemented that checks every constraint every time the system changes. However, this method examines many constraints whose values have not changed. Therefore, a minimum evaluation scheme that only checks those constraints that may have been violated was implemented. This system was implemented in a prototype and user testing was used to determine if it was a success. Users examined both the GUI creation system and …

Radioactive metal waste makes up a significant portion of the waste currently being sent for disposal. Recovery of this metal as a valuable resource is possible through the use of decontamination technologies. Through the development and use of expert systems a comparison can be made of laser decontamination, a technology currently under development at Ames Laboratory, with currently available decontamination technologies for applicability to the types of metal waste being generated and the effectiveness of these versus simply disposing of the waste. These technologies can be technically and economically evaluated by the use of expert systems techniques to provide a waste management decision making tool that generates, given an identified metal waste, waste management recommendations. The user enters waste characteristic information as input and the system then recommends decontamination technologies, determines residual contamination levels and possible waste management strategies, carries out a cost analysis and then ranks, according to cost, the possibilities for management of the waste. The expert system was developed using information from literature and personnel experienced in the use of decontamination technologies and requires validation by human experts and assignment of confidence factors to the knowledge represented within.

The low temperature and flux dependent growth of ultrathin Ag films on the Si(111)7x7 surface is studied with Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED). The grazing incidence geometry of RHEED allows for an incident molecular beam normal to the surface, and makes it an ideal surface probe for studying ultrathin film growth in real time. Short-lived oscillations in the diffracted intensity are observed during Ag deposition at 150 K, indicating quasi-layer-by-layer growth mediated by adatom mobility. When the 150 K growth is performed over a wide range of deposition rates F, the peak intensity is observed to scale, i.e. I(Ft) depends only on the total amount deposited, which implies thermally activated diffusion is absent at 150 K. Scaling is not obeyed at higher temperatures (T{ge}473 K) for the growth of the {radical}3{times}{radical}3 R30{degrees} ({radical}3) superstructure. Testing for scaling of the diffracted intensity constitutes a new experimental method which can be applied generally to determine if thermal diffusion is active at a particular temperature. Scaling is consistent with a constant diffusion length R{sub 0}, independent of substrate temperature and deposition rate. The presence of a non-thermal diffusion mechanism (responsible for the constant diffusion length R{sub 0}) is confirmed by monitoring the flux …

The work presented here investigates the phenomenon of shock wave propagation in gas continuous, two-phase media. The motivation for this work stems from the need to understand blast venting consequences in the HYLIFE inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor. The HYLIFE concept utilizes lasers or heavy ion beams to rapidly heat and compress D-T targets injected into the center of a reactor chamber. A segmented blanket of failing molten lithium or Li{sub 2}BeF{sub 4} (Flibe) jets encircles the reactors central cavity, shielding the reactor structure from radiation damage, absorbing the fusion energy, and breeding more tritium fuel.

A discussion of the origins and interpretation of various previously proposed models for the terms in the incompressible Reynolds-stress equation is given. It is hoped that the interpretations will provoke thoughts that will help in the future modeling of Reynolds-stress transport equations. Different forms of the closed Reynolds-stress equation have been solved numerically for the given mean velocity field of the wake flow behind a flat plate at a Reynolds number of 1000. A finite-difference/finite-volume collocation scheme was used to approximate the spatial derivatives, which were implemented in a time-marching scheme. The numerical time integration produced values for the six independent Reynolds-stress components, the turbulent kinetic energy decay rate, and the turbulent length scale for each of the models tried. The results of the different cases were compared and some conclusions were drawn on the effects of the various investigated modeled terms.

The purpose of this study is to find aluminum alloys that are effective for use as wire vacuum seals in the 800MeV particle accelerator located at the Louis Anderson Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF) in Los Alamos, NM. Three alloys, Al 1100, Al 3003, and Al 6061, are investigated under uniaxial compression to determine stresses for a given height reduction from 0 to 70 percent, and to find plastic flow and surface interaction effects. Right-circular cylindrical specimens are compressed on-end (cylindrically) and radially (for modeling as compressed wire). Aluminum 1100 and 3003 alloys are compared for length to diameter ratios of 1 and 2 for both compression types, and are then compared to results of radial compression of annealed small diameter Al 1100 wire currently used at LAMPE. The specimens are also compressed between three different platen surfaces, polished steel, etched steel, and aluminum 6061-T6, to determine effects of friction. The Al 3003 alloy exhibits 20 to 25% lower stresses at all height reductions than Al 1100 for both cylindrical and radial compression.

Two methods determine the speed of 3 m glass spheres using optical reflective sensors embedded in a micro-processor system. The first method, which will be referred to as the one pulse method, is sensitive to particle size and shape. The pulse width of a detected particle is measured and normalized by a shape correction factor resulting in a speed estimate. Three models are developed to correct for effects due to particle shape and light scattering inhomogeneities. The second method, which will be referred to as the two pulse method, measures individual particle velocity components independent of size and shape with two detectors spaced a known distance apart. This distance is divided by the delay between the two detector output pulses to determine speed. A by-product of both methods is a localized particle flux. The microprocessor subsystem automates the pulse detection, timing, velocity calculation and display which are accomplished by the micro-processor subsystem. In the laboratory, a chute is used to generate particle flows with different characteristics. The detection system is tested in the chute for two different flows. A mechanical speed measurement is used for comparison to the one pulse method. The one pulse method is used for comparison to …

Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors are used to study a variety of atomic particles. Polycarbonate SSNTD is used to study environmental concentrations of {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu in human urine and feces through fission track analysis. The samples of interest are deposited upon a Lexan slide, covered with a piece of Makrofol and exposed to a neutron fluence of 1.1 X 10{sup 17}. The fissile isotopes in the sample fission and the resulting fission fragments pass through either the surface of the Lexan or the surface of the Makrofol. The positive Coulombic attraction of the ionized fission fragments causes the electrons of the polycarbonate lattice to move towards the path of these particles, resulting in the breakage of chemical bonds in the lattice. The detector is then chemically etched in 6.5 N KOH that preferentially dissolves the damaged polycarbonate left in the path of the fission fragment. The chemically etched fission tracks are permanent records of the path of the fission fragment. The etched fission tracks in Lexan are optically counted using a microscope and the fission tracks in Makrofol are counted using a Spark Chamber. The amount of fissile material in the original sample can be calculated from …

The work presented here investigates the phenomenon of shock wave propagation in gas continuous, two-phase media. The motivation for this work stems from the need to understand blast venting consequences in the HYLIFE inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor. The HYLIFE concept utilizes lasers or heavy ion beams to rapidly heat and compress D-T targets injected into the center of a reactor chamber. A segmented blanket of falling molten lithium or Li{sub 2}BeF{sub 4} (Flibe) jets encircles the reactor`s central cavity, shielding the reactor structure from radiation damage, absorbing the fusion energy, and breeding more tritium fuel. X-rays from the fusion microexplosion will ablate a thin layer of blanket material from the surfaces which face toward the fusion site. This generates a highly energetic vapor, which mostly coalesces in the central cavity. The blast expansion from the central cavity generates a shock which propagates through the segmented blanket - a complex geometry, gas-continuous two-phase medium. The impulse that the blast gives to the liquid as it vents past, the gas shock on the chamber wall, and ultimately the liquid impact on the wall are all important quantities to the HYLIFE structural designers.

This paper investigates the potential for public policies to achieve electricity efficiency improvements in US residences. This estimate of achievable potential builds upon a database of energy-efficient technologies developed for a previous study estimating the technical potential for electricity savings. The savings potential and cost for each efficiency measure in the database is modified to reflect the expected results of policies implemented between 1990 and 2010. Factors included in these modifications are: the market penetration of efficiency measures, the costs of administering policies, and adjustments to the technical potential measures to reflect the actual energy savings and cost experienced in the past. When all adjustment factors are considered, this study estimates that policies can achieve approximately 45% of the technical potential savings during the period from 1990 to 2010. Thus, policies can potentially avoid 18% of the annual frozen-efficiency baseline electricity consumption forecast for the year 2010. This study also investigates the uncertainty in best estimate of achievable potential by estimating two alternative scenarios -- a

Accurate prediction of dynamic system failure behavior can be important for the reliability and risk analyses of nuclear power plants, as well as for their backfitting to satisfy given constraints on overall system reliability, or optimization of system performance. Global analysis of dynamic systems through investigating the variations in the structure of the attractors of the system and the domains of attraction of these attractors as a function of the system parameters is also important for nuclear technology in order to understand the fault-tolerance as well as the safety margins of the system under consideration and to insure a safe operation of nuclear reactors. Such a global analysis would be particularly relevant to future reactors with inherent or passive safety features that are expected to rely on natural phenomena rather than active components to achieve and maintain safe shutdown. Conventionally, failure and global analysis of dynamic systems necessitate the utilization of different methodologies which have computational limitations on the system size that can be handled. Using a Chapman-Kolmogorov interpretation of system dynamics, a theoretical basis is developed that unifies these methodologies as special cases and which can be used for a comprehensive safety and reliability analysis of dynamic systems.

An injector is a particular type of jet pump which uses condensable vapor to entrain a liquid and discharge against a pressure higher than either motive or suction pressures. The injector has no moving parts and requires no external power supply nor any complex control system. Thus, the injector is particularly suited for emergency core cooling operations. A detailed survey has indicated that various injector designs are available for operating pressures below 250 psig. However, the design of these injectors from the viewpoint of a basic understanding of heat and mass transfer processes has not been well developed. A critical review of the models showed serious discrepancies between the analytical models and the experimental observations. The discrepancies evolved from the neglect of non-equilibrium aspects of the flow. The origin of the non-equilibrium aspects can be traced to the extremely small time scales governing the flow in the injector. Thus, time scales of the order of 10{sup {minus}2} seconds are involved in the injector, accompanied by mass, momentum, and heat transfer rates of orders of magnitude higher than that observed in conventional two-phase flows. The present study focuses on the phenomenological and mathematical modeling of the processes in the injector from …

Subcritical fatigue crack growth, from cyclic tensile loading, was demonstrated in warm pressed Polycrystalline lithium hydride. Experiments were performed with cyclic tension-tension crack opening (mode I) loads applied to a pre-cracked compact type specimen in an argon environment at a temperature of 21C (70F). The fatigue crack growth was found to occur between 7.56 {times} 10{sup {minus}ll} M/cycle (2.98 {times} l0{sup {minus}9} in/cycle) and 2.35 {times} l0{sup {minus}8} m/cycle (9.24{times}10{sup {minus}7} in/cycle) for a range of stress intensity factors between 1.04 MPa{center_dot}{radical}m (0.95 ksi{center_dot}{radical}in) and 1.49 MPa{center_dot}{radical}m (1.36 ksi{center_dot}{radical}in). The rate of fatigue crack growth from cyclic tensile loading was found to be in excess of crack growth from sustained loading at an equivalent stress intensity factor. Furthermore, a fatigue threshold was not evident from the acquired data.

This dissertation describes the measurement of the average B hadron lifetime using a high statistics sample of B → J/ΨX decays produced in p$\bar{p}$ collisions at a center of mass energy of √s = 1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 10.1 pb^-1 recorded with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). In this analysis the decay vertex of the decay J/Ψ → μ⁺μ^- as reconstructed by a silicon vertex detector is used to extract the lifetime from the data. This measurement is the average over all b-hadrons produced weighted by the product of their branching ratios into J/Ψ and their production cross sections. We find the following value for the average b hadron lifetime: τ_B = 1.46 ± 0.06(stat.) ± 0.06(syst.) ps. This is the first measurement of the b-hadron lifetime at a hadron collider. It demonstrates that it is possible to access the large b-quark production cross section in p$\bar{p}$ collisions and to achieve high statistics even in modes which have small product branching ratios as in this case: BR(B → J/ΨX) • BR(J/Ψ → μ⁺μ^-) = 7.7 x 10^-4.

The coordination chemistry and solution behavior of the toxic ions lead(II) and plutonium(IV, V, VI) have been investigated. The ligand pK{sub a}s and ligand-lead(II) stability constants of one hydroxamic acid and four thiohydroaxamic acids were determined. Solution thermodynamic results indicate that thiohydroxamic acids are more acidic and slightly better lead chelators than hydroxamates, e.g., N-methylthioaceto-hydroxamic acid, pK{sub a} = 5.94, log{beta}{sub 120} = 10.92; acetohydroxamic acid, pK{sub a} = 9.34, log{beta}{sub l20} = 9.52. The syntheses of lead complexes of two bulky hydroxamate ligands are presented. The X-ray crystal structures show the lead hydroxamates are di-bridged dimers with irregular five-coordinate geometry about the metal atom and a stereochemically active lone pair of electrons. Molecular orbital calculations of a lead hydroxamate and a highly symmetric pseudo octahedral lead complex were performed. The thermodynamic stability of plutonium(IV) complexes of the siderophore, desferrioxamine B (DFO), and two octadentate derivatives of DFO were investigated using competition spectrophotometric titrations. The stability constant measured for the plutonium(IV) complex of DFO-methylterephthalamide is log{beta}{sub 110} = 41.7. The solubility limited speciation of {sup 242}Pu as a function of time in near neutral carbonate solution was measured. Individual solutions of plutonium in a single oxidation state were added to …

This study investigates effects of aging in air and argon at 170 C on Cu coupons which were pretinned with 75Sn-25Pb, 8Sn-92Pb, and 5Sn-95Pb solders. Coatings were applied using electroplating or hot dipping techniques. The coating thickness was controlled between 3 to 3{mu}m and the specimens were aged for 0 hours, 2 hours, 24 hours and 2 weeks. Wetting balance tests were used to evaluate the wettability of the test specimens. Microstructural development was evaluated using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray and Auger spectroscopy, as well as optical and scanning electron microscopy. The wetting behavior of the test specimens is interpreted with respect to observed microstructural changes and as a function of aging time, solder composition, and processing conditions.

Forest succession models and correlative models have predicted 200--650 kilometer shifts in the geographic range of temperate forests and forest species as one response to global climate change. Few studies have investigated whether population differences may effect the response of forest species to climate change. This study examines differences in tree-ring growth, and in the phenotypic plasticity of tree-ring growth in 16-year old white fir, Abies concolor, from ten populations grown in four common gardens in the Sierra Nevada of California. For each population, tree-ring growth was modelled as a function of precipitation and degree-day sums. Tree-ring growth under three scenarios of doubled C0{sub 2} climates was estimated.

This thesis is divided into 8 sections: synthesis and characterization (char.) of Ba{sub 3}Mo{sub 18}O{sub 28} (an oligomer with four traps edge-sharing Mo octahedra); synthesis and char. of K{sub x}M{sub y}Mo{sub 14}O{sub 22} (M=Sn, Pb, Sr) (oligomers with three traps edge-sharing Mo octahedra); synthesis and char. of K{sub 0.19}Ba{sub 3.81}Mo{sub 22}O{sub 34} (an oligomer with five traps edge-sharing Mo octahedra); synthesis and char. of Ti{sub 0.31}Fe{sub 1.69}Mo{sub 4}O{sub 7} (a material containing closest-packing of infinite chains of octahedral Mo clusters); synthesis and char. of K{sub x}M{sub 2-x}Mo{sub 10}O{sub 16} (M=Ca, Sr, Gd) (oligomers with two traps edge-sharing Mo octahedra); synthesis and char. of the RE{sub 4}Mo{sub 4}O{sub 11} series; synthesis and char. of Pb{sub 0. 31}WO{sub 3} (a tetragonal tungsten bronze containing lead); and examination of superstructure in Fe{sub 1.89}Mo{sub 4.11}O{sub 7}, Sn{sub 0.9}Mo{sub 4}O{sub 6}, InMo{sub 4}O{sub 6}, and Mn{sub 1. 5}Mo{sub 8}O{sub 11} by electron microscopy.

A variety of silyl- and alkyl-germylene precursors have been synthesized and subsequently pyrolyzed in the gas phase. Arrhenius parameters were obtained employing a pulsed-stirred flow reactor for these unimolecular decompositions. These precursors are divided into two major categories by mechanism of germylene extrusion: {alpha}-elimination precursors and germylacetylenes. The extrusion of germylenes from germylacetylene precursors is of primary interest. A mechanism is proposed employing a germacyclopropene intermediate. Evidence supporting this mechanism is presented. In the process of exploring germylacetylenes as germylene precursors, an apparent dyatropic rearrangement between germanium and silicon was observed. This rearrangement was subsequently explored.

The mechanical behavior and microstructure of eutectic Bi-Sn and In-Sn solders were studied in parallel in order to better understand high temperature deformation of these alloys. Bi-Sn solder joints were made with Cu substrates, and In-Sn joints were made with either Cu or Ni substrates. The as-cast microstructure of Bi-Sn is complex regular, with the two eutectic phases interconnected in complicated patterns. The as-cast microstructure of In-Sn depends on the substrate. In-Sn on Cu has a non-uniform microstructure caused by diffusion of Cu into the solder during sample preparation, with regions of the Sn-rich {gamma} phase imbedded in a matrix of the In-rich {beta} phase. The microstructure of In-Sn on Ni is uniform and lamellar and the two phases are strongly coupled. The solders deform non-uniformly, with deformation concentrating in a band along the length of the sample for Bi-Sn and In-Sn on Cu, though the deformation is more diffuse in In-Sn than in Bi-Sn. Deformation of In-Sn on Ni spreads throughout the width of the joint. The different deformation patterns affect the shape of the stress-strain curves. Stress-strain curves for Bi-Sn and In-Sn on Cu exhibit sharp decays in the engineering stress after reaching a peak. Most of this …

In this study, the author examined the effect of grazing on phosphorus cycling in stream periphyton and leaf detritus communities using the snail Elimia clavaeformis. Phosphorus cycling fluxes and turnover rates were measured in a laboratory and in a natural stream, respectively, using radioactive tracer techniques.