ALBERT

Description: Significant progress in permafrost carbon science made over the past decades include the identification of vast permafrost carbon stocks, the development of new pan‐Arctic permafrost maps, an increase in terrestrial measurement sites for CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 and methane fluxes, and important factors affecting carbon cycling, including vegetation changes, periods of soil freezing and thawing, wildfire, and other disturbance events. Process‐based modeling studies now include key elements of permafrost carbon cycling and advances in statistical modeling and inverse modeling enhance understanding of permafrost region C budgets. By combining existing data syntheses and model outputs, the permafrost region is likely a wetland methane source and small terrestrial ecosystem CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 sink with lower net CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 uptake toward higher latitudes, excluding wildfire emissions. For 2002–2014, the strongest CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 sink was located in western Canada (median: −52 g C m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉) and smallest sinks in Alaska, Canadian tundra, and Siberian tundra (medians: −5 to −9 g C m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉). Eurasian regions had the largest median wetland methane fluxes (16–18 g CH〈jats:sub〉4〈/jats:sub〉 m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉). Quantifying the regional scale carbon balance remains challenging because of high spatial and temporal variability and relatively low density of observations. More accurate permafrost region carbon fluxes require: (a) the development of better maps characterizing wetlands and dynamics of vegetation and disturbances, including abrupt permafrost thaw; (b) the establishment of new year‐round CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 and methane flux sites in underrepresented areas; and (c) improved models that better represent important permafrost carbon cycle dynamics, including non‐growing season emissions and disturbance effects.〈/jats:p〉

Description: To support direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng. 43 , 2841 (2004)] in its indirect-drive beam configuration, the polar-direct-drive (PDD) concept [S. Skupsky et al. , Phys. Plasmas 11 , 2763 (2004)] has been proposed. Ignition in PDD geometry requires direct-drive–specific beam smoothing, phase plates, and repointing the NIF beams toward the equator to ensure symmetric target irradiation. First experiments to study the energetics and preheat in PDD implosions at the NIF have been performed. These experiments utilize the NIF in its current configuration, including beam geometry, phase plates, and beam smoothing. Room-temperature, 2.2-mm-diam plastic shells filled with D 2 gas were imploded with total drive energies ranging from ∼500 to 750 kJ with peak powers of 120 to 180 TW and peak on-target irradiances at the initial target radius from 8 × 10 14 to 1.2 × 10 15  W/cm 2 . Results from these initial experiments are presented, including measurements of shell trajectory, implosion symmetry, and the level of hot-electron preheat in plastic and Si ablators. Experiments are simulated with the 2-D hydrodynamics code DRACO including a full 3-D ray-trace to model oblique beams, and models for nonlocal electron transport and cross-beam energy transport (CBET). These simulations indicate that CBET affects the shell symmetry and leads to a loss of energy imparted onto the shell, consistent with the experimental data.

Description: A biomedical microwave tomography system with 3D-imaging capabilities has been constructed and translated to the clinic. Updates to the hardware and reconfiguration of the electronic-network layouts in a more compartmentalized construct have streamlined system packaging. Upgrades to the data acquisition and microwave components have increased data-acquisition speeds and improved system performance. By incorporating analog-to-digital boards that accommodate the linear amplification and dynamic-range coverage our system requires, a complete set of data (for a fixed array position at a single frequency) is now acquired in 5.8 s. Replacement of key components (e.g., switches and power dividers) by devices with improved operational bandwidths has enhanced system response over a wider frequency range. High-integrity, low-power signals are routinely measured down to −130 dBm for frequencies ranging from 500 to 2300 MHz. Adequate inter-channel isolation has been maintained, and a dynamic range 〉110 dB has been achieved for the full operating frequency range (500–2900 MHz). For our primary band of interest, the associated measurement deviations are less than 0.33% and 0.5° for signal amplitude and phase values, respectively. A modified monopole antenna array (composed of two interwoven eight-element sub-arrays), in conjunction with an updated motion-control system capable of independently moving the sub-arrays to various in-plane and cross-plane positions within the illumination chamber, has been configured in the new design for full volumetric data acquisition. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) are more than adequate for all transmit/receive antenna pairs over the full frequency range and for the variety of in-plane and cross-plane configurations. For proximal receivers, in-plane SNRs greater than 80 dB are observed up to 2900 MHz, while cross-plane SNRs greater than 80 dB are seen for 6 cm sub-array spacing (for frequencies up to 1500 MHz). We demonstrate accurate recovery of 3D dielectric property distributions for breast-like phantoms with tumor inclusions utilizing both the in-plane and new cross-plane data.

Description: Pressure, by definition, characterizes the conditions within an isobaric implosion core at peak compression [Gus'kov et al. , Nucl. Fusion 16 , 957 (1976); Betti et al. , Phys. Plasmas 8 , 5257 (2001)] and is a key parameter in quantifying its near-ignition performance [Lawson, Proc. Phys. Soc. London, B 70 , 6 (1957); Betti et al. , Phys. Plasmas 17 , 058102 (2010); Goncharov et al. , Phys. Plasmas 21 , 056315 (2014); and Glenzer et al ., Phys. Plasmas 19 , 056318 (2012)]. At high spectral energy, where the x-ray emission from an imploded hydrogen core is optically thin, the emissivity profile can be inferred from the spatially resolved core emission. This emissivity, which can be modeled accurately under hot-core conditions, is dependent almost entirely on the pressure when measured within a restricted spectral range matched to the temperature range anticipated for the emitting volume. In this way, the hot core pressure at the time of peak emission can be inferred from the measured free-free emissivity profile. The pressure and temperature dependences of the x-ray emissivity and the neutron-production rate explain a simple scaling of the total filtered x-ray emission as a constant power of the total neutron yield for implosions of targets of similar design over a broad range of shell implosion isentropes. This scaling behavior has been seen in implosion simulations and is confirmed by measurements of high-isentrope implosions [Sangster et al. , Phys. Plasmas 20 , 056317 (2013)] on the OMEGA laser system [Boehly et al. , Opt. Commun. 133 , 495 (1997)]. Attributing the excess emission from less-stable, low-isentrope implosions, above the level expected from this neutron-yield scaling, to the higher emissivity of shell carbon mixed into the implosion's central hot spot, the hot-spot “fuel–shell” mix mass can be inferred.

Description: We present a brief, idiosyncratic overview of the past quarter century of progress in nonlinear chemical dynamics and discuss what we view as the most exciting recent developments and some challenges and likely areas of progress in the next 25 years.

Description: Polar-driven direct-drive experiments recently performed on the OMEGA Laser System have demonstrated the efficacy of using a target with a contoured shell with varying thickness to improve the symmetry and fusion performance of the implosion. The polar-driven contoured-shell implosions have substantially reduced low mode perturbations compared to polar-driven spherical-shell implosions as diagnosed by x-ray radiographs up to shell stagnation. Fusion yields were increased by more than a factor of ∼2 without increasing the energy of the laser by the use of contoured shells.

Description: Thin films of organic-based magnet, V[TCNE] x (TCNE: tetracyanoethylene), were deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) based reactive evaporation. The growth conditions were studied in detail. A saturated composition of V[TCNE] ∼1.9 was determined by optimizing the growth condition. Two sets of films with different V to TCNE ratios were characterized. Both films were magnetic ordered up to 400 K and held coercive field of 60 Oe at room temperature. With the presence of excess vanadium within the film, the increase of defects created by PVD results in significant change in electronic property.

Description: Achieving thermonuclear ignition using direct laser illumination relies on the capability to accelerate spherical shells to high implosion velocities while maintaining shell integrity. Ablator materials of moderate atomic number Z reduce the detrimental effects of laser–plasma instabilities in direct-drive implosions. To validate the physics of moderate- Z ablator materials for ignition target designs on the National Ignition Facility (NIF), hydro-equivalent targets are designed using pure plastic (CH), high-density carbon, and glass (SiO 2 ) ablators. The hydrodynamic stability of these targets is investigated through two-dimensional (2D) single-mode and multimode simulations. The overall stability of these targets to laser-imprint perturbations and low-mode asymmetries makes it possible to design high-gain targets. Designs using polar-drive illumination are developed within the NIF laser system specifications. Mid- Z ablator targets are an attractive candidate for direct-drive ignition since they present better overall performance than plastic ablator targets through reduced laser–plasma instabilities and a similar hydrodynamic stability.

Description: The organic-based ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene (V[TCNE] x ∼2 ) has demonstrated potential for use in both microwave electronics and spintronics due to the combination of high temperature magnetic ordering ( T C  〉 600 K), extremely sharp ferromagnetic resonance (peak to peak linewidth of 1 G), and low-temperature conformal deposition via chemical vapor deposition (deposition temperature of 50 °C). However, air-sensitivity leads to the complete degradation of the films within 2 h under ambient conditions, with noticeable degradation occurring within 30 min. Here, we demonstrate encapsulation of V[TCNE] x ∼2 thin films using a UV-cured epoxy that increases film lifetime to over 710 h (30 days) as measured by the remanent magnetization. The saturation magnetization and Curie temperature decay more slowly than the remanence, and the coercivity is unchanged after 340 h (14 days) of air exposure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicates that the epoxy does not react with the film, and magnetometry measurements show that the presence of the epoxy does not degrade the magnetic properties. This encapsulation strategy directly enables a host of experimental protocols and investigations not previously feasible for air-sensitive samples and lays the foundation for the development of practical applications for this promising organic-based magnetic material.

Description: Forecasting of aperiodic time series is a compelling challenge for science. In this work, we analyze aperiodic spectrophotometric data, proportional to the concentrations of two forms of a thermoreversible photochromic spiro-oxazine, that are generated when a cuvette containing a solution of the spiro-oxazine undergoes photoreaction and convection due to localized ultraviolet illumination. We construct the phase space for the system using Takens' theorem and we calculate the Lyapunov exponents and the correlation dimensions to ascertain the chaotic character of the time series. Finally, we predict the time series using three distinct methods: a feed-forward neural network, fuzzy logic, and a local nonlinear predictor. We compare the performances of these three methods.