Non-equilibrium dynamics in an interacting nanoparticle system

Non-equilibrium dynamics in an interacting Fe-C nanoparticle sample, exhibiting a low temperature spin glass like phase, has been studied by low frequency ac-susceptibility and magnetic relaxation experiments. The non-equilibrium behavior shows characteristic spin glass features, but some qualitative differences exist. The nature of these differences is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure

Palladium nanoparticles by electrospinning from poly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid)-PdCl2 solutions. Relations between preparation conditions, particle size, and catalytic activity

Catalytic palladium (Pd) nanoparticles on electrospun copolymers of acrylonitrile and acrylic acid (PAN-AA) mats were produced via reduction of PdCl2 with hydrazine. Fiber mats were electrospun from homogeneous solutions of PAN-AA and PdCl2 in dimethylformamide (DMF). Pd cations were reduced to Pd metals when fiber mats were treated in an aqueous hydrazine solution at room temperature. Pd atoms nucleate and form small crystallites whose sizes were estimated from the peak broadening of X-ray diffraction peaks. Two to four crystallites adhere together and form agglomerates. Agglomerate sizes and fiber diameters were determined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Spherical Pd nanoparticles were dispersed homogeneously on the electrospun nanofibers. The effects of copolymer composition and amount of PdCl2 on particle size were investigated. Pd particle size mainly depends on the amount of acrylic acid functional groups and PdCl2 concentration in the spinning solution. Increasing acrylic acid concentration on polymer chains leads to larger Pd nanoparticles. In addition, Pd particle size becomes larger with increasing PdCl2 concentration in the spinning solution. Hence, it is possible to tune the number density and the size of metal nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of the Pd nanoparticles in electrospun mats was determined by selective hydrogenation of dehydrolinalool (3,7-dimethyloct-6- ene-1-yne-3-ol, DHL) in toluene at 90 °C. Electrospun fibers with Pd particles have 4.5 times higher catalytic activity than the current Pd/Al2O3 catalyst

Feasibility of High Yield / High Gain NIF Capsules

Our original ignition ''point designs'' (circa 1992) for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) were made energetically conservative to provide margin for uncertainties in laser absorption, x-ray conversion efficiency and hohlraum-capsule coupling. Since that time, extensive experiments on Nova and Omega and their related analysis indicate that NIF coupling efficiency may be almost ''as good as we could hope for''. Given close agreement between experiment and theory/modeling, we can credibly explore target enhancements which couple more of NIF's energy to an ignition capsule. We find that 3-4X increases in absorbed capsule energy appear possible, providing a potentially more robust target and {approx}10X increase in capsule yield

High fluence 1.05 {mu}m performance tests using 20 ns shaped pulses on the Beamlet prototype laser

Beamlet is a single beamline, nearly full scale physics prototype of the 192 beam Nd:Glass laser driver of the National Ignition Facility. It is used to demonstrate laser performance of the NIF multipass amplifier architecture. Initial system characterization tests have all been performed at pulse durations less than 10 ns. Pinhole closure and modulation at the end of long pulses are a significant concern for the operation of NIF. We recently demonstrated the generation, amplification and propagation of high energy pulses temporally shaped to mimic 20 ns long ignition pulse shapes at fluence levels exceeding the nominal NIF design requirements for Inertial Confinement Fusion by Indirect Drive. We also demonstrated the effectiveness of a new conical pinhole design used in the transport spatial filter to mitigate plasma closure effects and increase closure time to exceed the duration of the 20 ns long pulse