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Topic Review
4D Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D STEM) is a subset of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) which utilizes a pixelated electron detector to capture a convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) pattern at each scan location. This technique captures a 2 dimensional reciprocal space image associated with each scan point as the beam rasters across a 2 dimensional region in real space, hence the name 4D STEM. Its development was enabled by evolution in STEM detectors and improvements computational power. The technique has applications in visual diffraction imaging, phase orientation and strain mapping, phase contrast analysis, among others. The name 4D STEM is common in literature, however it is known by other names: 4D STEM EELS, ND STEM (N- since the number of dimensions could be higher than 4), position resolved diffraction (PRD), spatial resolved diffractometry, momentum-resolved STEM, "nanobeam precision electron diffraction", scanning electron nano diffraction, nanobeam electron diffraction, or pixelated STEM.
  • 995
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Argonaut Class Reactor
The Argonaut class reactor is a design of small nuclear research reactor. Many have been built throughout the world, over a wide range of power levels. Its functions are to teach nuclear reactor theory, nuclear physics and for use in engineering laboratory experiments.
  • 932
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Auger Electron Spectroscopy
thumb|A Hanford scientist uses an Auger electron spectrometer to determine the elemental composition of surfaces. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES; pronounced [oʒe] in French) is a common analytical technique used specifically in the study of surfaces and, more generally, in the area of materials science. Underlying the spectroscopic technique is the Auger effect, as it has come to be called, which is based on the analysis of energetic electrons emitted from an excited atom after a series of internal relaxation events. The Auger effect was discovered independently by both Lise Meitner and Pierre Auger in the 1920s. Though the discovery was made by Meitner and initially reported in the journal Zeitschrift für Physik in 1922, Auger is credited with the discovery in most of the scientific community. Until the early 1950s Auger transitions were considered nuisance effects by spectroscopists, not containing much relevant material information, but studied so as to explain anomalies in X-ray spectroscopy data. Since 1953 however, AES has become a practical and straightforward characterization technique for probing chemical and compositional surface environments and has found applications in metallurgy, gas-phase chemistry, and throughout the microelectronics industry.
  • 792
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Biological Small-Angle Scattering
Biological small-angle scattering is a small-angle scattering method for structure analysis of biological materials. Small-angle scattering is used to study the structure of a variety of objects such as solutions of biological macromolecules, nanocomposites, alloys, and synthetic polymers. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) are the two complementary techniques known jointly as small-angle scattering (SAS). SAS is an analogous method to X-ray and neutron diffraction, wide angle X-ray scattering, as well as to static light scattering. In contrast to other X-ray and neutron scattering methods, SAS yields information on the sizes and shapes of both crystalline and non-crystalline particles. When used to study biological materials, which are very often in aqueous solution, the scattering pattern is orientation averaged. SAS patterns are collected at small angles of a few degrees. SAS is capable of delivering structural information in the resolution range between 1 and 25 nm, and of repeat distances in partially ordered systems of up to 150 nm in size. Ultra small-angle scattering (USAS) can resolve even larger dimensions. The grazing-incidence small-angle scattering (GISAS) is a powerful technique for studying of biological molecule layers on surfaces. In biological applications SAS is used to determine the structure of a particle in terms of average particle size and shape. One can also get information on the surface-to-volume ratio. Typically, the biological macromolecules are dispersed in a liquid. The method is accurate, mostly non-destructive and usually requires only a minimum of sample preparation. However, biological molecules are always susceptible to radiation damage. In comparison to other structure determination methods, such as solution NMR or X-ray crystallography, SAS allows one to overcome some restraints. For example, solution NMR is limited to protein size, whereas SAS can be used for small molecules as well as for large multi-molecular assemblies. Solid-State NMR is still an indispensable tool for determining atomic level information of macromolecules greater than 40 kDa or non-crystalline samples such as amyloid fibrils. Structure determination by X-ray crystallography may take several weeks or even years, whereas SAS measurements take days. SAS can also be coupled to other analytical techniques like size-exclusion chromatography to study heterogeneous samples. However, with SAS it is not possible to measure the positions of the atoms within the molecule.
  • 520
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
CNO Cycle
The CNO cycle (for carbon–nitrogen–oxygen; sometimes called Bethe–Weizsäcker cycle after Hans Albrecht Bethe and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker) is one of the two known sets of fusion reactions by which stars convert hydrogen to helium, the other being the proton–proton chain reaction (p-p cycle), which is more efficient at the Sun's core temperature. The CNO cycle is hypothesized to be dominant in stars that are more than 1.3 times as massive as the Sun. Unlike the proton-proton reaction, which consumes all its constituents, the CNO cycle is a catalytic cycle. In the CNO cycle, four protons fuse, using carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes as catalysts, each of which is consumed at one step of the CNO cycle, but re-generated in a later step. The end product is one alpha particle (a stable helium nucleus), two positrons, and two electron neutrinos. There are various alternative paths and catalysts involved in the CNO cycles, all these cycles have the same net result: The positrons will almost instantly annihilate with electrons, releasing energy in the form of gamma rays. The neutrinos escape from the star carrying away some energy. One nucleus goes on to become carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes through a number of transformations in an endless loop. The proton–proton chain is more prominent in stars the mass of the Sun or less. This difference stems from temperature dependency differences between the two reactions; pp-chain reaction starts at temperatures around 4×106 K (4 megakelvin), making it the dominant energy source in smaller stars. A self-maintaining CNO chain starts at approximately 15×106 K, but its energy output rises much more rapidly with increasing temperatures so that it becomes the dominant source of energy at approximately 17×106 K. The Sun has a core temperature of around 15.7×106 K, and only 1.7% of 4He nuclei produced in the Sun are born in the CNO cycle. The CNO-I process was independently proposed by Carl von Weizsäcker and Hans Bethe in the late 1930s. The first reports of the experimental detection of the neutrinos produced by the CNO cycle in the Sun were published in 2020. This was also the first experimental confirmation that the Sun had a CNO cycle, that the proposed magnitude of the cycle was accurate, and that von Weizsäcker and Bethe were correct.
  • 1.6K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Control and Upgradation of Indoor Air Quality
Due to increasing health and environmental issues, indoor air quality (IAQ) has garnered much research attention with regard to incorporating advanced clean air technologies. Various physicochemical air treatments have been used to monitor, control, and manage air contaminants, such as monitoring devices (gas sensors and internet of things-based systems), filtration (mechanical and electrical), adsorption, UV disinfection, UV photocatalysts, a non-thermal plasma approach, air conditioning systems, and green technologies (green plants and algae).
  • 606
  • 24 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Corium (Nuclear Reactor)
Corium, also called fuel-containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel-containing material (LFCM), is a material that is created in the core of a nuclear reactor during a meltdown accident. It resembles natural lava in its consistency. It consists of a mixture of nuclear fuel, fission products, control rods, structural materials from the affected parts of the reactor, products of their chemical reaction with air, water and steam, and, in the event that the reactor vessel is breached, molten concrete from the floor of the reactor room.
  • 603
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Cross Section
In physics, the cross section is a measure of the probability that a specific process will take place when some kind of radiant excitation (e.g. a particle beam, sound wave, light, or an X-ray) intersects a localized phenomenon (e.g. a particle or density fluctuation). For example, the Rutherford cross-section is a measure of probability that an alpha particle will be deflected by a given angle during an interaction with an atomic nucleus. Cross section is typically denoted σ (sigma) and is expressed in units of area, more specifically in barns. In a way, it can be thought of as the size of the object that the excitation must hit in order for the process to occur, but more exactly, it is a parameter of a stochastic process. In classical physics, this probability often converges to a deterministic proportion of excitation energy involved in the process, so that, for example, with light scattering off of a particle, the cross section specifies the amount of optical power scattered from light of a given irradiance (power per area). It is important to note that although the cross section has the same units as area, the cross section may not necessarily correspond to the actual physical size of the target given by other forms of measurement. It is not uncommon for the actual cross-sectional area of a scattering object to be much larger or smaller than the cross section relative to some physical process. For example, plasmonic nanoparticles can have light scattering cross sections for particular frequencies that are much larger than their actual cross-sectional areas. When two discrete particles interact in classical physics, their mutual cross section is the area transverse to their relative motion within which they must meet in order to scatter from each other. If the particles are hard inelastic spheres that interact only upon contact, their scattering cross section is related to their geometric size. If the particles interact through some action-at-a-distance force, such as electromagnetism or gravity, their scattering cross section is generally larger than their geometric size. When a cross section is specified as the differential limit of a function of some final-state variable, such as particle angle or energy, it is called a differential cross section (see detailed discussion below). When a cross section is integrated over all scattering angles (and possibly other variables), it is called a total cross section or integrated total cross section. For example, in Rayleigh scattering, the intensity scattered at the forward and backward angles is greater than the intensity scattered sideways, so the forward differential scattering cross section is greater than the perpendicular differential cross section, and by adding all of the infinitesimal cross sections over the whole range of angles with integral calculus, we can find the total cross section. Scattering cross sections may be defined in nuclear, atomic, and particle physics for collisions of accelerated beams of one type of particle with targets (either stationary or moving) of a second type of particle. The probability for any given reaction to occur is in proportion to its cross section. Thus, specifying the cross section for a given reaction is a proxy for stating the probability that a given scattering process will occur. The measured reaction rate of a given process depends strongly on experimental variables such as the density of the target material, the intensity of the beam, the detection efficiency of the apparatus, or the angle setting of the detection apparatus. However, these quantities can be factored away, allowing measurement of the underlying two-particle collisional cross section. Differential and total scattering cross sections are among the most important measurable quantities in nuclear, atomic, and particle physics.
  • 508
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a neutrino experiment under construction, with a near detector at Fermilab and a far detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility that will observe neutrinos produced at Fermilab. An intense beam of trillions of neutrinos from the production facility at Fermilab (in Illinois) will be sent over a distance of 1,300 kilometers (810 mi) with the goal of understanding the role of neutrinos in the universe. More than 1,000 collaborators work on the project. The experiment is designed for a 20-year period of data collection. The primary science objectives of DUNE are The science goals are so compelling that the 2014 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) ranked this as "the highest priority project in its timeframe" (recommendation 13).[10] The importance of these goals has led to proposals for competing projects in other countries, particularly the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment in Japan, scheduled to begin data-taking in 2027. The DUNE project, overseen by Fermilab, has suffered delays to its schedule and growth of cost from less than $2B to $3B, leading to articles in the journals Science and Scientific American described the project as "troubled."[11][12] As of 2022, the DUNE experiment has a neutrino-beam start-date in the early-2030's, and the project is now phased.[11][12]
  • 557
  • 02 Oct 2022
Topic Review
DUNE Experiment
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a neutrino experiment under construction, with a near detector at Fermilab and a far detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility that will observe neutrinos produced at Fermilab. An intense beam of trillions of neutrinos from the production facility at Fermilab (in Illinois) will be sent over a distance of 1,300 kilometers (810 mi) with the goal of understanding the role of neutrinos in the universe. More than 1,000 collaborators work on the project. The experiment is designed for a 20-year period of data collection. The primary science objectives of DUNE are The science goals are so compelling that the 2014 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) ranked this as "the highest priority project in its timeframe" (recommendation 13). The importance of these goals has led to proposals for competing projects in other countries, particularly the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment in Japan, scheduled to begin data-taking in 2027. The DUNE project, overseen by Fermilab, has suffered delays to its schedule and growth of cost from less than $2B to $3B, leading to articles in the journals Science and Scientific American described the project as "troubled." As of 2022, the DUNE experiment has a neutrino-beam start-date in the early-2030's, and the project is now phased.
  • 498
  • 24 Oct 2022
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