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Detailed experimental and computational information on the response of lithium surfaces to irradiation by slow hydrogenic particles (ions, atoms, molecules) is sparse and mainly speculative. In this work, we present a computational study of the reflection and retention of deuterium (D) atoms at crystalline and amorphous lithium surfaces at 300 and 500 K, where the D atoms have an impact energy in the range of 0.025–5 eV and incident angles of 0° (perpendicular incidence) or 85° (near-grazing incidence). Classical molecular dynamics simulations are performed with the reactive bond-order force field (ReaxFF) potentials. This study provides quantitative information on the deuterium sticking probability and recycling coefficient for lithium surfaces. Our results support the ongoing work at the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment-β fusion experiment as well as relevant experiments in the laboratory setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a computational investigation of the dependence of material erosion on the incident ion angle at rough graphite and silicon carbide divertor surfaces. Ion angle distributions (IADs) for D plasmas at NSTX-U and DIII-D divertors were calculated by an equation-of-motion model that traces the ion trajectories in the sheath. Then, the effective sputtering yields and ion shadowed area fractions were calculated by a Monte Carlo micro-patterning and roughness code that applied the calculated IADs to surface topographic data that were obtained from optical confocal microscopy of rough graphite and SiC divertor surfaces from NSTX-U and DIII-D experiments. The calculations found that the effective sputtering yields, the sputtering pattern, and the shadowed area are determined by the detailed surface topology rather than the root mean square roughness RRMS, which represents deviations from a flat surface. The suppression of the effective sputtering yields for rough surfaces compared to the yield for a smooth surface was accounted for by the change of the mean local incident ion angle (LIIA) ⟨θ′⟩. The mean surface inclination angle distribution (SIAD) ⟨δ⟩ was found to be a useful parameter to estimate the LIIA from the calculated IADs. We report global empirical formulas for the mean LIIA and fraction of the area shadowed from the main ions for D plasmas for rough surfaces with B-field incident angles α = 85°–89° as a function of the mean SIAD ⟨δ⟩. We propose the use of the mean LIIA ⟨θ′⟩ to estimate the sputtering yield for rough surfaces from the angular dependence of the sputtering yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photorefractive properties of the iron-doped Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PZN-PT) relaxor ferroelectric single crystals were investigated by two-beam coupling experiments. The Fe:0.01 wt %- and the Fe:0.1 wt %-doped 0.91PZN-0.09PT single crystals were grown with the flux solution method. The Extinction spectrum, the electro-opric coefficient, the light-induced absorption change, and the photoconductivity were measured in these samples. The maximum gain coefficient reached to 21 cm-1, which is about twice as large as that of undoped PZN-PT. The grating formation rate decreases with the Fe concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia molecules formed in a nitrogen-seeded D-fueled plasma are shown to catalyze volumetric recombination of hydrogen ions. This Hydronitrogen Molecular Assisted Recombination (HN-MAR) process occurs by charge and ion exchange reactions with ammonia (ND3), leading to subsequent volumetric recombination with ND3+ and ND4+ molecular ions. When the plasma density is raised to the point where volumetric recombination dominates plasma losses to the wall [ne > 1018 m−3], a calibrated electrostatic quadrupole plasma analyzer shows that the ND4+ ammonium ion density fraction drops from 0.55 to 0.11. We show that this is consistent with a 0-d kinetics model that includes the HN-MAR process with rates that are proportional to the electron density. The results suggest that direct injection of ammonia would provide a more efficient pathway to achieve divertor detachment in future tokamak experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation mechanisms of ND3+ and ND4+ are investigated in weakly ionized nitrogen-hydrogen plasmas with electron densities ne ∼ 1016 m−3 and electron temperatures Te ∼ 3 eV. The plasmas are created by an inductively coupled RF (13.56 MHz) discharge of 500 W at the total pressure of 10 mTorr in the nitrogen partial pressure ranging from 0.02 to 2.9 mTorr. The ion density fractions are measured by an electrostatic quadrupole plasma analyzer, which is a combination of ion energy analyzer and mass spectrometer, after calibration with neutral gases. A zero-dimensional rate equation model, sometimes called a global model, is used to understand the source and loss processes of each ion and neutral species in the plasma. The ion density fractions calculated by the model show qualitatively good agreement with the experimental results. Model calculations suggest that ND3+ and ND4+ generation is dominated by electron or D+ exchange reactions of deuterium atomic/molecular ions with ND3. These processes are thought to play an important role in the recombination process of D plasma with ammonia formed in the N2 seeded divertor region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated, using molecular dynamics, the surface chemistry of hydrogen incident on the amorphous and crystalline lithium oxide and lithium hydroxide surfaces upon being slowed down by a collision cascade and retained in the amorphous surface of either Li2O or LiOH. We looked for the bonding of H to the resident structures in the surface to understand a possible chain of chemical reactions that can lead to surface transformation upon H atom impact. Our findings, using Density-Functional Theory (DFT) trained ReaxFF force field/electronegativity equalization method potentials, stress the importance of inclusion of polarization in the dynamics of a Li–O–H system, which is also illustrated by DFT energy minimization and quantum–classical molecular dynamics using tight binding DFT. The resulting polar-covalent chemistry of the studied systems is complex and very sensitive to the instantaneous positions of all atoms as well as the ratio of concentrations of various resident atoms in the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, in Cs-seeded H− ion sources for fusion applications, the experiments have shown that the surface produced H− ions are mainly extracted from the bulk plasma region, that is, 1–2 cm inside from the beam aperture. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the extraction mechanism of the surface produced H− ions from the bulk plasma region in Cs-seeded H− ion sources for fusion applications by our 3-Dimensional Particle in Cell model for the vicinity of the beam aperture. In the present model, Coulomb collisions between surface produced H− ions and H+ ions (CC H−-H+) are taken into account by the Binary Collision Model. By our model, the trajectories of extracted surface produced H− ions and beam profiles have been investigated for the case with and without CC H−-H+. From the results of trajectories for extracted surface produced H− ions, it has been shown that the surface produced H− ions extracted from the bulk plasma region are drastically increased due to CC H−-H+. Thus, our results have shown that the surface produced H− ions are extracted from the bulk plasma region due to Coulomb collision with H+ ions. Moreover, our results of the beam profiles have shown that CC H−-H+ causes the increase in the beam convergence component. From these results, Coulomb collisions between surface produced H− ions and H+ ions are shown to be very important for the modeling of the extraction mechanism and for the beam optics in Cs-seeded H− ion sources for fusion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used a combination of pico-to-nano temporal/spatial scale computational physics and chemistry modeling of plasma–material interfaces in the tokamak fusion plasma edges to unravel the evolving characteristics, not readily accessible by empirical means, of lithium-, oxygen-, and hydrogen-containing materials of plasma-facing components under irradiation by hydrogen and its isotopes. In the present calculation, amorphous lithium compound surfaces containing oxygen, Li2O, and LiOH were irradiated by 1–100 eV particles at incident angles on the surface ranging from perpendicular to almost grazing angles. Consequential surface processes, reflection, retention, and sputtering were studied at "the same footing" and compared to earlier results from amorphous Li and LiH surfaces. The critical role of charging dynamics of lithium, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms in the surface chemistry during hydrogen-fuel irradiation was found to drive the kinetics and dynamics of these surfaces in unexpected ways that ultimately could have profound effects on fusion plasma confinement behavior and surface erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficiently yielding a nitrogen-atom endohedral fullerene (N@C60) is demonstrated for the first time using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source with a minimum-B mirror configuration realized by hexapole permanent magnets. Since electrons are effectively confined around a bottom of the minimum-B mirror in the ECR region, the high-temperature electrons can be generated there, and as a result, the dissociation degree of the nitrogen molecules increases drastically. This highly dissociated nitrogen plasma has a number of nitrogen-atom radicals and ions, thus permitting an enhancement of N@C60 yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) geometrical giant magnetoresistance (GMR) single spin-valve (SPV) structures with synthetic antiferromagnets (SyAFs) as free layers were fabricated. The sample sizes range from micron to submicron. We demonstrate that SyAFs as free layers dramatically enhances the CPP-GMR ratio from 0.83% to 3.56% at room temperature and also double the resistance-area product in single SPV films. A study of the magnetic switching behavior by both experiment and single-domain thermal activation modeling shows that the CPP-GMR SPV with SyAF structure approaches that of a single-domain magnet even with low aspect ratio of 1 as long as its size diminishes to ∼0.18 μm2. The single-domain structure brings size-independent magnetic switching field when the aspect ratio is 1. The large GMR ratio at room temperature, single-domain structure and size-independent magnetic switching field demonstrate the great potential of CPP-GMR SPVs with SyAF free layers for use in future ultrahigh density magnetic storage devices. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the first observation of global recycling coefficient R near 0.5 in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment-β (LTX-β), significantly below the minimum R previously reported in other devices. In a series of experiments with varied Li wall conditioning, estimates of the recycling coefficient have been made using a Lyman-α array and DEGAS2 modeling. A progressive reduction in Lyman-α emission with increased lithium and an increase in edge electron temperature are observed. It is also observed that with increasing Li coating thickness, the effective particle confinement time τ p * is reduced and approaches TRANSP calculated energy confinement time (τE), with τ p * near τ E , TRANSP for the lowest recycling coefficients. Edge temperatures approaching core plasma temperatures, first reported in LTX, can now be directly connected to estimates of the recycling coefficient and qualitatively agree with previous UEDGE simulations. The particle flux to the limiting surfaces appears to be significantly reduced in comparison with fluid scrape-off layer (SOL) models, indicating that a large fraction of the SOL ions are mirror trapped. SOL collisionality drops more than an order of magnitude below the banana regime boundary, indicating the importance of kinetic effects. Full-f 1x2v gyrokinetic simulations of SOL field lines with the GKEYLL code indicate that the fraction of ions trapped along field lines increases as collisionality drops, as a result of increased lithium evaporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to consider a combination of inhomogeneities, which drive and/or damp instabilities in magnetized plasmas. The inhomogeneity of neutral particle density is taken into account for analyzing turbulent states in linear devices by combining two kinds of simulations in this research. One is a simulation for 2D profiles of neutral particles and the other is that for resistive drift wave turbulence. Radial and axial profiles of neutral particles are calculated by the Monte Carlo method with a configuration of linear device PANTA. The ratio for ionization of neutral particles depends on the electron temperature, and the higher temperature in the operation range makes the neutral density smaller near the center of the plasma. Then, the radial profile of the ion-neutral collision frequency is set by introducing these neutral density profiles into resistive drift wave turbulence simulations. Smaller ion-neutral collision frequency makes the instabilities more unstable, and its inhomogeneity enhances mean electrostatic potential formation. The eigenmode structure is changed with the inhomogeneous ion-neutral collision frequency, and convective derivative nonlinearity generates the azimuthal flow near the center of the plasma. Two roles of the neutral particles on the turbulence, the direct change in linear instabilities and formation of background flows, become clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pd/Mg3.3Ni films were prepared by dc sputtering deposition on three different substrates of glass, diamondlike carbon/Si, and Si. Hydrogenation and dehydrogenation cycles were performed on these samples simultaneously. The optical switching property due to the hydrogenation and dehydrogenation was monitored by the transmission of laser light via the glass substrate. The switching ability was totally lost after 120 cycles. We made comparative study of the composition change between the new (as-deposited) and old (after 120 switching cycles) samples by Rutherford backscattering (RBS), elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). From the RBS results we found out the segregation of a Mg layer between the Pd cap layer and the rest of the Mg–Ni layer. At the Pd/Mg interface in the old sample, thin MgO layer formed probably during the dehydrogenation process with O2. ERDA showed that there is much hydrogen in the old sample. NRA displayed the depth profiles of hydrogen distribution in the old sample. It is revealed that much hydrogen is accumulated at the interface between the Pd cap layer and the segregated Mg layer. It can be concluded that the formations of oxide and hydride of the segregated Mg layer are the main reasons for the degradation of the Mg3.3Ni switchable mirror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of light on magnetic initial permeability (the so-called photomagnetic effect) and photoinduced disaccommodation were studied in samples of yttrium iron garnet over the temperature range 77-300 K. The samples studied were bulk crystalline, produced by the floating zone method and the flux method, polycrystalline, produced by the usual sintering method, and single-crystalline films, produced by in situ liquid-phase epitaxis. One or both of the studied phenomena were observed in our experimental samples. To explain the experimental results, we suggest there is photoinduced structural distortion around oxygen vacancies due to a photoinduced change of charge imbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which investigated the structural and magnetic properties of (R,Zr)(Fe,Co)[sub10](R=Nd,Sm) prepared by the rapid-quenching method. Influence of the presence of zirconium; Information on the saturation magnetization of crystals; Details of the magnetic hardening of the nitrogenated materials.

To improve the H- ion beam optics, it is necessary to understand the energy relaxation process of surface produced H- ions in the extraction region of Cs seeded H- ion sources. Coulomb collisions of charged particles have been introduced to the 2D3V-PIC (two dimension in real space and three dimension in velocity space particle-in-cell) model for the H- extraction by using the binary collision model. Due to Coulomb collision, the lower energy part of the ion energy distribution function of H- ions has been greatly increased. The mean kinetic energy of the surface produced H- ions has been reduced to 0.65 eV from 1.5 eV. It has been suggested that the beam optics of the extracted H- ion beam is strongly affected by the energy relaxation process due to Coulomb collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrays of the synthetic antiferromagnetic (SyAF) patterned bits consisting of (Co[SUB90]Fe[SUB10] (t[SUB1] nm)/Ru (d nm)/Co[SUB90]Fe[SUB10] (t[SUB2] nm) were successfully fabricated with micron to submicron sizes and different aspect ratios. Magnetization switching field H[SUBsw] and magnetic domain structure were investigated using magneto-optical Kerr effect and magnetic force microscopy (MFM), respectively. It was demonstrated that the strongly AF-coupled SyAF with aspect ratio k = 1 creates size-independent H[SUBsw] down to submicron sizes fabricated, which is understood by zero demagnetization field for k = 1 and single domain structure, observed by MFM. The size-independent switching field demonstrates the predominance of the SyAF for spintronics devices, requiring a low switching field and stabilized single domain structure for small bit sizes such as ultrahigh density magnetic random access memories and spin transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]