Development and use of a two-dimensional interferometer to measure mass flow from a multi-shell Z-pinch gas puff

For gas puff Z-pinches, the K-shell x-ray yield is maximized with the use of a multi-shell nozzle. Optimization of the yield, verification of hydrodynamic models of the nozzle flows, and plausible MHD code modeling of the implosions require data on the radial and axial (R,Z) distribution of mass in the nozzle's flow field. Interferometry is a well-established technique for acquiring such data. We describe the development and use of a two-dimensional interferometer with emphasis on the required data reduction methods. We also show that the instrument can derive the flow from each individual nozzle in a multi-shell system.     

气体对磁流体动力学传感器影响机理的探讨

由于气体和导电流体性质上的差异,导电流体中气体的存在将对磁流体动力学(MHD)传感器的输出特性产生影响。基于电磁感应理论和两相流理论,文章推导并建立了导电流体中含气体的MHD传感器VOF模型。通过ANSYS Fluent对含气体的MHD传感器输出特性进行仿真分析,同时搭建试验平台对不同气体含量MHD传感器进行试验验证。结果表明,导电流体中的气泡在低频时容易被拉伸撕裂成小气泡并随着角振动分散,同时使得流体环流场和电场产生偏移和畸变,角振动频率越低,此现象越明显;当导电流体中不含气体时角振动频率和幅值、重力加速度及偏心等外部因素对MHD传感器的输出特性无影响;当导电流体中含有气体时,MHD传感器的输出特性畸变等随气体含量、重力加速度和偏心的增大而增大,随角振动频率和幅值的增大而减小。文章研究成果能够为MHD传感器导电流体灌装工艺控制提供指导,有助于MHD传感器精度和稳定性的提升。     

Thermal behavior and entropy generation rate analysis of a viscous flow in MHD micropumps

Studying the effects of various parameters on the behavior of velocity, temperature and thus the entropy generation rate in the microfluidic systems to reduce loss power is very important. Minimization of entropy generation in the flow system enables us for the parametric optimization of the MHD micropumps operation. In the present study, a transient, laminar and fully developed electrically conductive fluid flow in MHD micropumps has been investigated and the temperature distribution and effects of dimensionless influencing parameters on the entropy generation rate has been presented. Pumping operator in MHD micropumps are the Lorentz forces, which is produced as a result of the interaction between magnetic and electric fields. Governing equations have been solved numerically using finite-difference (ADI) method. The results of simulation have shown good agreement with analytical results by ei-genfunction expansion method. In addition, the results are compared with experimental data from literature which confirms the accuracy of the model. The obtained results showed that aspect ratio, Hartman, Prandtl, Eckert numbers and Joule heating parameter have significant influences on the flow and temperature distribution as well as entropy generation rate in MHD micropumps that controlling them can lead us for optimized operation of MHD micropumps.

     

Note: Studies on x-ray production in electron cyclotron resonance x-ray source based on ridged cylindrical cavity

A ridged cylindrical cavity has been designed using MICROWAVE STUDIO programme and it is used in the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) x-ray source. The experimental parameters of the source are optimized for maximizing the x-ray output, and an x-ray dose rate of ～1000 μSv∕h was observed at 20 cm from the port, for 500 W of microwave power without using any target. With the molybdenum target located at optimum position of the ridged cavity, the dose rate is found to be increased only by 10%. In order to understand the experimental observation, the electric field pattern of the cavity with the target placed at various radial distances is studied. In this note, the experimental and theoretical studies on ECR x-ray source using the ridged cylindrical cavity are presented.     

X-ray beam induced current method at the laboratory x-ray source

The x-ray beam induced current method (XBIC) is realized on the laboratory x-ray source using the polycapillary x-ray optics. It is shown that rather good images of grain boundaries in Si can be obtained by this method. The parameters of x-ray beam are estimated by the simulation of Schottky diode image. A good correlation between the experimental and calculated grain boundary XBIC contrast is obtained. The possibilities of laboratory source based XBIC method are estimated.     

A study on the MHD (magnetohydrodynamic) micropump with side-walled electrodes

This paper presents the continuous flow MHD(magnetohydrodynamic) micropump with side walled electrodes using Lorentz force, which is perpendicular to both magnetic and electric fields, for the application of microfluidic systems. A theoretically simplified MHD flow model includes the theory of fluid dynamics and electromagnetics and it is based upon the steady state, incompressible and fully developed laminar flow theory. A numerical analysis with the finite difference method is employed for solving the velocity profile of the working fluid across the microchannel under various operation currents and magnetic flux densities. In addition, the commercial CFD code called CFD-ACE has been utilized for simulating the MHD micropump. When the program was run(CFD-ACE), the applied current and magnetic flux density were set to be the variables that affected the performance of the MHD micropump. The MHD micropump was fabricated by using MEMS technology. The performance of the MHD micropump was obtained by measuring the flow rate as the applied DC current was changed from 0 to 1mA at 4900 and 3300 Gauss for the electrodes with the lengths of 5000, 7500 and 10000 μm, respectively. The experimental results were compared with the analytical and the numerical results. In addition, with the theoretical analysis and the preliminary experiments, we propose a final model for a simple and new MHD micropump, which could be applicable to microfluidic systems. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Seungbae Lee Bumkyoo Choi received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering, M.S. in mechanical design engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea in 1981 and 1983 respectively, and PhD in engineering mechanics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1992. From 1992 to 1994, he was a technical staff member of CXrL (Center of X-ray Lithography) in the University of Wisconsin where he developed a computer code for thermal modeling of X-ray mask membrane during synchrotron radiation. He is currently a professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering of Sogang Univ., Seoul, Korea. His research interest includes microelec-tromechanical system (MEMS), micromatching and microfabrication technologies, and modeling issues. Sangsoo Lim received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Sogang University, Seoul, Korea in 2005. He currently works at Hyundai Motors.     

Normalization schemes for ultrafast x-ray diffraction using a table-top laser-driven plasma source

We present an experimental setup of a laser-driven x-ray plasma source for femtosecond x-ray diffraction. Different normalization schemes accounting for x-ray source intensity fluctuations are discussed in detail. We apply these schemes to measure the temporal evolution of Bragg peak intensities of perovskite superlattices after ultrafast laser excitation.     

Analysis of magnetic probe signals including effect of cylindrical conducting wall for field-reversed configuration experiment

A confinement field is disturbed by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) motions of a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma in a cylindrical conductor. The effect of the conductor should be included to obtain a spatial structure of the disturbed field with a good precision. For this purpose, a toroidal current in the plasma and an eddy current on a conducting wall are replaced by magnetic dipole and image magnetic dipole moments, respectively. Typical spatial structures of the disturbed field are calculated by using the dipole moments for such MHD motions as radial shift, internal tilt, external tilt, and n=2 mode deformation. Then, analytic formulas for estimating the shift distance, tilt angle, and deformation rate of the MHD motions from magnetic probe signals are derived. It is estimated from the calculations by using the dipole moments that the analytic formulas include an approximately 40% error. Two kinds of experiment are carried out to investigate the reliability of the calculations. First, a magnetic field produced by a circular current is measured in an aluminum pipe to confirm the replacement of the eddy current with the image magnetic dipole moments. The measured fields coincide well with the calculated values including the image magnetic dipole moments. Second, magnetic probe signals measured from the FRC plasma are substituted into the analytic formulas to obtain shift distance and deformation rate. The experimental results are compared to the MHD motions measured by using a radiation from the plasma. If the error included in the analytic formulas and the difference between the magnetic and optical structures in the plasma are considered, the results of the radiation measurement support well those of the magnetic analysis.     

Radiation hardening of gated x-ray imagers for the National Ignition Facility (invited)

The National Ignition Facility will soon be producing x-ray flux and neutron yields higher than any produced in laser driven implosion experiments in the past. Even a non-igniting capsule will require x-ray imaging of near burning plasmas at 10(17) neutrons, requiring x-ray recording systems to work in more hostile conditions than we have encountered in past laser facilities. We will present modeling, experimental data and design concepts for x-ray imaging with electronic recording systems for this environment (ARIANE). A novel instrument, active readout in a nuclear environment, is described which uses the time-of-flight difference between the gated x-ray signal and the neutron which induces a background signal to increase the yield at which gated cameras can be used.     

A wide-aperture x-ray source with high intensity and uniformity of radiation

The results of experimental research on an x-ray source intended for preionizing the laser mixture in wide-aperture electric-discharge excimer lasers are presented. An experimental prototype of the source in which an x-ray radiation pulse is formed in an inverted-type vacuum diode during braking of accelerated electrons in a tantalum foil has been developed. It is shown that the use of a metal-dielectric cathode allows generation of x rays with nonuniformity of the intensity distribution within limits of 10% at an energy of quanta no higher than 55 keV and a radiation exposure dose 160 mR.     

The effect of exit beam phase aberrations on parallel beam coherent x-ray reconstructions

Diffraction artifacts from imperfect x-ray windows near the sample are an important consideration in the design of coherent x-ray diffraction measurements. In this study, we used simulated and experimental diffraction patterns in two and three dimensions to explore the effect of phase imperfections in a beryllium window (such as a void or inclusion) on the convergence behavior of phasing algorithms and on the ultimate reconstruction. A predictive relationship between beam wavelength, sample size, and window position was derived to explain the dependence of reconstruction quality on beryllium defect size. Defects corresponding to this prediction cause the most damage to the sample exit wave and induce signature error oscillations during phasing that can be used as a fingerprint of experimental x-ray window artifacts. The relationship between x-ray window imperfection size and coherent x-ray diffractive imaging reconstruction quality explored in this work can play an important role in designing high-resolution in situ coherent imaging instrumentation and will help interpret the phasing behavior of coherent diffraction measured in these in situ environments.     

Performance Analysis of Flexible Manufacturing Systems with a Single Discrete Material-Handling Device

We present an analytical model for performance prediction of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) with a single discrete material-handling device (MHD). This configuration of FMS is significant for many reasons: it is commonly found in industry, it simplifies material-handling control, it is amenable to analytical modeling, and it forms a building block for more complex systems.Standard queueing models are inadequate to analyze this configuration because of the need to take into consideration many nontrivial issues such as state-dependent routing, interference from the MHD, and the analysis of the MHD. To account for state-dependent routing, we develop an iterative method that is built around mean value analysis. To analyze the MHD interference, we use two queueing network models. In the first, we ignore queueing at the MHD but model the interference from the MHD by inflating the station service times. The second network models the queueing for the MHD and estimates the blocking (inflation) times needed for the first model. By iterating between the two networks, we are able to predict the performance of this configuration of FMS. Our analytical estimates are validated against discrete event simulation and shown to be quite accurate for initial system design.     

Detection of soft x rays with NEA III-V photocathodes

We describe the experimental energy response of a negative electron affinity (NEA) III-V photocathode to x rays with energies from approximately 0.8 to approximately 3 keV. Energy resolutions, E/DeltaE, from approximately 1 to approximately 3 are obtained, together with approximately 100% quantum efficiency. Theoretical calculations based on an electron diffusion model are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. The use of NEA III-V photocathodes as efficient soft x-ray detectors with good energy and spatial resolution is discussed for imaging applications in x-ray astronomy.     

Measurement of the high energy component of the x-ray spectra in the VENUS electron cyclotron resonance ion source

High performance electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources, such as VENUS (Versatile ECR for NUclear Science), produce large amounts of x-rays. By studying their energy spectra, conclusions can be drawn about the electron heating process and the electron confinement. In addition, the bremsstrahlung from the plasma chamber is partly absorbed by the cold mass of the superconducting magnet, adding an extra heat load to the cryostat. Germanium or NaI detectors are generally used for x-ray measurements. Due to the high x-ray flux from the source, the experimental setup to measure bremsstrahlung spectra from ECR ion sources is somewhat different from that for the traditional nuclear physics measurements these detectors are generally used for. In particular, the collimation and background shielding can be problematic. In this paper, we will discuss the experimental setup for such a measurement, the energy calibration and background reduction, the shielding of the detector, and collimation of the x-ray flux. We will present x-ray energy spectra and cryostat heating rates depending on various ion source parameters, such as confinement fields, minimum B-field, rf power, and heating frequency.     

The soft x-ray instrument for materials studies at the linac coherent light source x-ray free-electron laser

The soft x-ray materials science instrument is the second operational beamline at the linac coherent light source x-ray free electron laser. The instrument operates with a photon energy range of 480-2000 eV and features a grating monochromator as well as bendable refocusing mirrors. A broad range of experimental stations may be installed to study diverse scientific topics such as: ultrafast chemistry, surface science, highly correlated electron systems, matter under extreme conditions, and laboratory astrophysics. Preliminary commissioning results are presented including the first soft x-ray single-shot energy spectrum from a free electron laser.     

Design and performance of a versatile curved-crystal spectrometer for high-resolution spectroscopy in the tender x-ray range

A complete in-vacuum curved-crystal x-ray emission spectrometer in Johansson geometry has been constructed for a 2-6 keV energy range with sub natural line-width energy resolution. The spectrometer is designed to measure x-ray emission induced by photon and charged particle impact on solid and gaseous targets. It works with a relatively large x-ray source placed inside the Rowland circle and employs position sensitive detection of diffracted x-rays. Its compact modular design enables fast and easy installation at a synchrotron or particle accelerator beamline. The paper presents main characteristics of the spectrometer and illustrates its capabilities by showing few selected experimental examples.     

A method to measure the effective gas path length in the environmental or variable pressure scanning electron microscope

A simple method is described to determine the effective gas path length when incident electrons scatter in the gas above the specimen. This method is based on the measurement of a characteristic x-ray line emitted from a region close to the incident beam. From various experimental measurements performed on various microscopes, it is shown that the effective gas path length may increase with the chamber pressure and that it is also often dependent of the type of x-ray bullet.     

Geometrical factor correction in grazing incident x-ray fluorescence experiment

The geometrical factor in the grazing incident x-ray fluorescence analysis is an important angle-dependent term, which can have a great effect on the measured data. In this paper, the effects of the geometrical factor on the florescence yield have been demonstrated. A formula is presented to estimate the geometrical factor, which includes the experimental parameters of the beam and setup. The validity of this formula is proven by the good agreement between the calculated fluorescence yields with the experimental results in grazing incident x-ray fluorescence analysis.     

MHD couple stress squeeze film characteristics between sphere and plane surface

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of non-Newtonian couple stress fluids on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) squeeze film characteristics between a sphere and a plane surface is analysed. By taking into account the couple stresses due to the presence of microstructure additives in the lubricant and the magnetic effects due to the magnetisation of the couple stress fluid, the non-Newtonian couple stress MHD Reynolds type equation is derived. The numerical solutions for the MHD squeeze film characteristics are presented for various values of couple stress parameter, and magnetic Hartmann number. The results indicate that the influences of couple stresses and the magnetic effects on the squeeze film characteristics are significantly apparent. It is concluded that the MHD couple stress fluids have better lubricating qualities than the corresponding Newtonian case.     

Note: Synchronized stress-strain measurements in dynamic loading at high pressure using D-DIA

A new data collection protocol for forced oscillation experiments using a multianvil high pressure device is reported. We derive the stress of the sample at high pressure and temperature from synchrotron x-ray diffraction that is synchronized with sample strain measurements from x-ray radiographs. This method yields stress directly from the sample rather than a stress proxy. Furthermore, the diffraction pattern yields useful information concerning time evolution of structurally related phenomena. Here we illustrate some of these possibilities with high pressure experimental data.