6,649 research outputs found
Atomic oxygen effects on candidate coatings for long-term spacecraft in low earth orbit
Candidate atomic oxygen protective coatings for long-term low Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft were evaluated using the Los Alamos National Laboratory O-atom exposure facility. The coatings studied include Teflon, Al2O3, SiO2, and SWS-V-10, a silicon material. Preliminary results indicate that sputtered PTFE Teflon (0.1 micrometers) has a fluence lifetime of 10 to the 19th power O-atoms/cm (2), and sputtered silicon dioxide (0.1 micrometers), aluminum oxide (0.1 micrometers), and SWS-V-10, a silicone, (4 micrometers) have fluence lifetimes of 10 to the 20th power to 10 to the 21st power O-atoms/cm (2). There are large variations in fluence lifetime data for these coatings
Atomic oxygen effects on boron nitride and silicon nitride: A comparison of ground based and space flight data
The effects of atomic oxygen on boron nitride (BN) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) were evaluated in a low Earth orbit (LEO) flight experiment and in a ground based simulation facility. In both the inflight and ground based experiments, these materials were coated on thin (approx. 250A) silver films, and the electrical resistance of the silver was measured in situ to detect any penetration of atomic oxygen through the BN and Si3N4 materials. In the presence of atomic oxygen, silver oxidizes to form silver oxide, which has a much higher electrical resistance than pure silver. Permeation of atomic oxygen through BN, as indicated by an increase in the electrical resistance of the silver underneath, was observed in both the inflight and ground based experiments. In contrast, no permeation of atomic oxygen through Si3N4 was observed in either the inflight or ground based experiments. The ground based results show good qualitative correlation with the LEO flight results, indicating that ground based facilities such as the one at Los Alamos National Lab can reproduce space flight data from LEO
Oxidation and formation of deposit precursors in hydrocarbon fuels
The oxidation of two jet turbine fuels and some pure hydrocarbons was studied at 130 C with and without the presence of small amounts of N-methyl pyrrole (NMP) or indene. Tendency to form solid-deposit precursors was studied by measuring soluble gum formation as well as dimer and trimer formation using field ionization mass spectrometry. Pure n-dodecane oxidized fastest and gave the smallest amount of procursors. An unstable fuel oil oxidized much slower but formed large amounts of precursors. Stable Jet A fuel oxidized slowest and gave little precursors. Indene either retarded or accelerated the oxidation of n-dodecane, depending on its concentration, but always caused more gum formation. The NMP greatly retarded n-dodecane oxidation but accelerated Jet A oxidation and greatly increased the latter's gum formation. In general, the additive reacted faster and formed most of the gum. Results are interpreted in terms of classical cooxidation theory. The effect of oxygen pressure on gum formation is also reported
Normalizing Weak Boson Pair Production at the Large Hadron Collider
The production of two weak bosons at the Large Hadron Collider will be one of
the most important sources of SM backgrounds for final states with multiple
leptons. In this paper we consider several quantities that can help normalize
the production of weak boson pairs. Ratios of inclusive cross-sections for
production of two weak bosons and Drell-Yan are investigated and the
corresponding theoretical errors are evaluated. The possibility of predicting
the jet veto survival probability of VV production from Drell-Yan data is also
considered. Overall, the theoretical errors on all quantities remain less than
5-20%. The dependence of these quantities on the center of mass energy of the
proton-proton collision is also studied.Comment: 11 pages; added references, minor text revisions, version to appear
in Phys. Rev.
A comparison of ground-based and space flight data: Atomic oxygen reactions with boron nitride and silicon nitride
The effects of atomic oxygen on boron nitride (BN) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) have been studied in low Earth orbit (LEO) flight experiments and in a ground-based simulation facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both the in-flight and ground-based experiments employed the materials coated over thin (approx 250 Angstrom) silver films whose electrical resistance was measured in situ to detect penetration of atomic oxygen through the BN and Si3N4 materials. In the presence of atomic oxygen, silver oxidizes to form silver oxide, which has a much higher electrical resistance than pure silver. Permeation of atomic oxygen through BN, as indicated by an increase in the electrical resistance of the silver underneath, was observed in both the in-flight and ground-based experiments. In contrast, no permeation of atomic oxygen through Si3N4 was observed in either the in-flight or ground-based experiments. The ground-based results show good qualitative correlation with the LEO flight results, thus validating the simulation fidelity of the ground-based facility in terms of reproducing LEO flight results
Chemistry of fuel deposits and sediments and their predursors
The mechanism of solid deposit formation on hot engine parts from turbine fuels is investigated. Deposit formation is associated with oxidation of the hydrocarbon fuel. Therefore, oxidation rates and soluble gum formation were measured for several jet turbine fuels and pure hydrocarbon mixtures. Experiments were performed at 130 C using thermal initiation and at 100 C using ditertiary butyl peroxide as a chemical initiator. Correlation of the data shows that the ratio of rate of oxidation to rate of gum formation for a single fuel is not much affected by experimental conditions, even though there are differences in the abilities of different hydrocarbons to initiate and continue the oxidation. This indicates a close association of gum formation with the oxidation process. Oxidations of n-dodecane, tetralin and the more unstable jet fuels are autocatalytic, while those of 2-ethylnaphthalene and a stable jet fuel are self-retarding. However, the ratio of oxidation rate to gum formation rate appear to be nearly constant for each substrate. The effect of oxygen pressure on gum and oxidation formation was also studied. Dependence of gum formation on the concentration of initiator at 100 C is discussed and problems for future study are suggested
Influence of surface passivation on ultrafast carrier dynamics and terahertz radiation generation in GaAs
The carrier dynamics of photoexcited electrons in the vicinity of the surface
of (NH4)2S-passivated GaAs were studied via terahertz (THz) emission
spectroscopy and optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy. THz emission spectroscopy
measurements, coupled with Monte Carlo simulations of THz emission, revealed
that the surface electric field of GaAs reverses after passivation. The
conductivity of photoexcited electrons was determined via optical-pump
THz-probe spectroscopy, and was found to double after passivation. These
experiments demonstrate that passivation significantly reduces the surface
state density and surface recombination velocity of GaAs. Finally, we have
demonstrated that passivation leads to an enhancement in the power radiated by
photoconductive switch THz emitters, thereby showing the important influence of
surface chemistry on the performance of ultrafast THz photonic devices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Applied Physics Letter
Entanglement of remote atomic qubits
We report observations of entanglement of two remote atomic qubits, achieved
by generating an entangled state of an atomic qubit and a single photon at Site
A, transmitting the photon to Site B in an adjacent laboratory through an
optical fiber, and converting the photon into an atomic qubit. Entanglement of
the two remote atomic qubits is inferred by performing, locally, quantum state
transfer of each of the atomic qubits onto a photonic qubit and subsequent
measurement of polarization correlations in violation of the Bell inequality
|S| <2. We experimentally determine S =2.16 +/- 0.03. Entanglement of two
remote atomic qubits, each qubit consisting of two independent spin wave
excitations, and reversible, coherent transfer of entanglement between matter
and light, represent important advances in quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
White blood cell count and risk of incident lung cancer in the UK Biobank
Background The contribution of measurable immunological/inflammatory parameters to lung cancer development remains unclear, particularly among never-smokers. We investigated the relationship between total and differential white blood cell (WBC) counts and incident lung cancer risk overall and among subgroups defined by smoking status and sex in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods We evaluated 424,407 adults aged 37-73 years from the UK Biobank. Questionnaires, physical measurements, and blood were administered/collected at baseline in 2006-2010. Complete blood cell counts were measured using standard methods. Lung cancer diagnoses and histological classifications were obtained from cancer registries. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of incident lung cancer in relation to quartiles (Q) of total WBC and subtype-specific counts, with Q1 as the reference. Results There were 1,493 incident cases diagnosed over an average 7-year follow-up. Overall, the highest quartile of total WBC count was significantly associated with elevated lung cancer risk (HRQ4=1.67, 95% CI:1.41-1.98). Among women, increased risks were found in current-smokers (ncases/n=244/19,464, HRQ4=2.15, 95% CI:1.46-3.16), former-smokers (ncases/n=280/69,198, HRQ4=1.75, 95% CI:1.24-2.47), and never-smokers without environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ncases/n=108/111,294, HRQ4=1.93, 95% CI:1.11-3.35). Among men, stronger associations were identified in current-smokers (ncases/n=329/22,934, HRQ4=2.95, 95% CI:2.04-4.26) and former-smokers (ncases/n= 358/71,616, HRQ4=2.38, 95% CI:1.74-3.27) but not in never-smokers. Findings were similar for lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma and were driven primarily by elevated neutrophil fractions. Conclusions Elevated WBCs could potentially be one of many important markers for increased lung cancer risk, especially among never-smoking women and ever-smoking men
- …