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The objective of the study was to study the perceptions of student teachers and educators of an educational cluster as a tool for improving the professional competence of future educators, and to identify the cluster-related tools to be used to improve the professional competence of future educators. The project evaluation checklist for experts, a questionnaire for participants in the experiment, a semi-structured interview questionnaire to conduct with focus group respondents were used for collecting data. Data were processed using content analysis technique and SPSS Statistics v24 package. The study is quantitative, based on subjective evaluations of study participants and representatives of educational clusters, and does not aim at evaluating students’ achievements. Two simulation models of the educational cluster (“Cluster Educational Initiative” and “Cluster of Educational Opportunities for Educators 2.0”) and four educational activities for educators (discussion "Agglomeration of Subjects, Educational Institutions: Realities and Prospects”; online conference “Ukraine-Brussels - Sharing Experience in Education”; an educational tour to Finland for teachers, parents and managers in the field of education; the exchange of four teachers from two schools) was a key result of this study. It has been found that the creation of clusters for improving the professional competence of future educators and their professional advancement is now part of national education policy in Ukraine and in the world. The tools of this form of organization of educational activity are competence-oriented and aimed at deepening professional experience, development of competences of realization of life-long education, creation of own public image.

Spherical ablator shells that contain a thin layer of ultralow-density polymer foam have recently attracted attention in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) community as they can be used to bring dopants for diagnostics and nuclear physics experiments in direct contact with the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel or to study new ignition regimes by enabling the formation of uniform liquid DT fuel layers. We developed a method to fabricate these foam-lined ablator shells using a prefabricated ablator as a mold to cast the foam liner within the shell. One crucial component of this new approach is the removal of solvent from the ablator shells without collapsing the ultralow-density porous polymer network. Here, we report on a supercritical drying approach with liquid carbon dioxide that provides critical information on how to produce thin layers of low-density polymer foams in ablator shells for ICF experiments. Diffusion experiments were used to study the time required for complete solvent exchange in 2-...

Controlled doping of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets is needed to enable nuclear diagnostics of implosions. Here, we demonstrate that ion implantation with a custom-designed carousel holder can be used for azimuthally uniform doping of ICF fuel capsules made from a glow discharge polymer (GDP). Particular emphasis is given to the selection of the initial wall thickness of GDP capsules as well as implantation and postimplantation annealing parameters in order to minimize capsule deformation during a postimplantation thermal treatment step. In contrast to GDP, ion-implanted high-density carbon exhibits excellent thermal stability and ~100% implantation efficiency for the entire range of ion doses studied (2 × 1014 to 1 × 1016 cm−2) and for annealing temperatures up to 700°C. Finally, we demonstrate a successful doping of planar Al targets with isotopes of Kr and Xe to doses of ~1017 cm−2.

Experiments and analysis in the 2 years since the 2015 Target Fabrication Meeting have resulted in further evolution of the requirements for high-performance layered implosions. This paper is a status update on the experimental program and supporting modeling, with emphasis on the implications for fabrication requirements. Previous work on the capsule support has continued, with various other support options being explored in experiments and modeling. Work also continues on ablator composition nonuniformities, with important new results from CH experiments on Omega, and the first three-dimensional X-ray transmission measurements of Be capsules on the National Ignition Facility. Work on hohlraums continues to include near-vacuum hohlraums and U hohlraums without a gold lining. Overall, the understanding that has been achieved, along with the progress in fabrication technology, represents good continuing progress toward the goal of fusion in the laboratory.

Many traditional approaches for strengthening steels typically come at the expense of useful ductility, a dilemma known as strength-ductility trade-off. New metallurgical processing might offer the possibility of overcoming this. Here we report that austenitic 316L stainless steels additively manufactured via a laser powder-bed-fusion technique exhibit a combination of yield strength and tensile ductility that surpasses that of conventional 316L steels. High strength is attributed to solidification-enabled cellular structures, low-angle grain boundaries, and dislocations formed during manufacturing, while high uniform elongation correlates to a steady and progressive work-hardening mechanism regulated by a hierarchically heterogeneous microstructure, with length scales spanning nearly six orders of magnitude. In addition, solute segregation along cellular walls and low-angle grain boundaries can enhance dislocation pinning and promote twinning. This work demonstrates the potential of additive manufacturing to create alloys with unique microstructures and high performance for structural applications.

Experiments and analysis in the 3 years since the 2012 Target Fabrication Meeting have resulted in significant improvement in understanding of the requirements for high-performance layered implosio...

Inertial confinement fusion, based on laser-heating a deuterium–tritium mixture, is one of the approaches towards energy production from fusion reactions. Now, record energy-yield experiments are reported—bringing us closer to ignition conditions.

Complex and precise research targets are required for the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments conducted at the National Ignition Facility. During the National Ignition Campaign (NIC) the ...

At National Ignition Facility (NIF), yield amplification due to alpha particle heating approached ~3 in the highest performing inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions, while yield amplification of ~15-30 is needed for ignition. Hydrodynamic instabilities are a major factor in degradation of implosions while understanding and mitigation of the instabilities are critical to achieving ignition. This article describes recent and planned hydrodynamic instability experiments with several focused platforms that have been developed to directly measure these instabilities in all phases of ICF implosions. Measurements of ripple-shock generation at OMEGA laser have indicated initial seeds for the instabilities in three ablators - plastic (CH), beryllium, and high-density carbon (HDC). Hydrodynamic Growth Radiography (HGR) platform was used to measure instability growth at the ablation front in the acceleration phase of implosions. This platform used pre-imposed 2-D perturbations for growth factor measurements at different perturbation wavelengths and was also used to measure growth of “native roughness” modulations, fill tubes, and capsule support membranes or “tents”. Also, in the acceleration phase several new experimental platforms have been or are being developed to measure instability growth at the ablator-ice interface. In the deceleration phase of implosions, “self-emission” and “self-backlighting” platforms were developed to measure perturbations near peak compression. This article reviews recent progress and results.

Current inertial confinement fusion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [G. H. Miller, E. I. Moses, and C. R. Wuest, Opt. Eng. 43, 2841 (2004)] are attempting to demonstrate thermonuclear ignition using x-ray drive by imploding spherical targets containing hydrogen-isotope fuel in the form of a thin cryogenic layer surrounding a central volume of fuel vapor [J. Lindl, Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995)]. The fuel is contained within a plastic ablator layer with small concentrations of one or more mid-Z elements, e.g., Ge or Cu. The capsule implodes, driven by intense x-ray emission from the inner surface of a hohlraum enclosure irradiated by the NIF laser, and fusion reactions occur in the central hot spot near the time of peak compression. Ignition will occur if the hot spot within the compressed fuel layer attains a high-enough areal density to retain enough of the reaction product energy to reach nuclear reaction temperatures within the inertial hydrodynamic disassembly time of the fuel mass ...

Synthesis of nanoporous alumina monoliths with controlled morphology and density is a challenge. Here, we demonstrate mechanically robust alumina monoliths synthesized by conformal overcoating of graphitic nanoligaments of low-density carbon-nanotube-based aerogels (CNT-CAs) by using atomic layer deposition. Young’s modulus of resultant monoliths increases superlinearly with the monolith density with an exponent of ∼2.4, defined by the morphology and connectivity of the CNT-CA scaffold. As a result, for a given monolith density, alumina-carbon composites have moduli comparable to those of CNT-CAs and significantly superior to those of pure alumina aerogels reported previously.

The synthesis of ultralow-density (>5 mg/cm(3) ) bulk materials with interconnected nanotubular morphology and deterministic, fully tunable feature size, composition, and density is presented. A thin-walled nanotubular design realized by employing templating based on atomic layer deposition makes the material about 10 times stronger and stiffer than aerogels of the same density.

A robust, millimeter-sized low-density Cu foam with ∼90% (v/v) porosity, ∼30 nm thick walls, and ∼1 μm diameter spherical pores is prepared by the slip-casting of metal-coated polymer core-shell particles followed by a thermal removal of the polymer. In this paper, we report our key findings that enable the development of the low-density Cu foams. First, we need to synthesize polystyrene (PS) particles coated with a very thin Cu layer (in the range of tens of nanometers). A simple reduction in the amount of Cu deposited onto the PS was not sufficient to form such a low-density Cu foams due to issues related to foam collapse and densification upon the subsequent polymer removal step. Precise control over the morphology of the Cu coating on the particles is essential for the synthesis of a lower density of foams. Second, improving the dispersion of PS-Cu particles in a suspension used for the casting as well as careful optimization of a baking condition minimize the formation of irregular large voids, leading to Cu foams with a more uniform packing and a better connectivity of neighboring Cu hollow shells. Finally, we analyzed mechanical properties of the Cu foams with a depth-sensing indentation test. The uniform Cu foams show a significant improvement in mechanical properties (∼1.5× modulus and ∼3× hardness) compared to those of uncontrolled foam samples with a similar foam density but irregular large voids. Higher surface areas and a good electric conductivity of the Cu foams present a great potential to future applications.

Indirect drive converts high power laser light into x-rays using small high-Z cavities called hohlraums. X-rays generated at the hohlraum walls drive a capsule filled with deuterium–tritium (DT) fuel to fusion conditions. Recent experiments have produced fusion yields exceeding 50 kJ where alpha heating provides ~3× increase in yield over PdV work. Closing the gaps toward ignition is challenging, requiring optimization of the target/implosions and the laser to extract maximum energy. The US program has a three-pronged approach to maximize target performance, each closing some portion of the gap. The first item is optimizing the hohlraum to couple more energy to the capsule while maintaining symmetry control. Novel hohlraum designs are being pursued that enable a larger capsule to be driven symmetrically to both reduce 3D effects and increase energy coupled to the capsule. The second issue being addressed is capsule stability. Seeding of instabilities by the hardware used to mount the capsule and fill it with DT fuel remains a concern. Work reducing the impact of the DT fill tubes and novel capsule mounts is being pursed to reduce the effect of mix on the capsule implosions. There is also growing evidence native capsule seeds such as a micro-structure may be playing a role on limiting capsule performance and dedicated experiments are being developed to better understand the phenomenon. The last area of emphasis is the laser. As technology progresses and understanding of laser damage/mitigation advances, increasing the laser energy seems possible. This would increase the amount of energy available to couple to the capsule, and allow larger capsules, potentially increasing the hot spot pressure and confinement time. The combination of each of these focus areas has the potential to produce conditions to initiate thermo-nuclear ignition.

We investigate the formation and diffraction efficiency of plasma gratings generated by the interference of two laser beams crossing at a small angle on the surface of a planar aluminum target. Such gratings were observed during National Ignition Facility experiments with the ratio of energy in the first-order to zeroth order of ≈60%. Recently, additional experiments were performed on the Optical Sciences Laser. These experiments with only two interfering beams showed high normalized energy (ratio of energy in diffracted order to zeroth order) of approximately 10% and 3% at the first and second diffracted order locations, respectively, for intensities less than 1012 W/cm2. The existence of the higher-orders is the characteristic of diffraction from gratings in the Raman-Nath as opposed to the Bragg regime. In addition, we show conical diffraction from the generated plasma grating. Using numerical simulations, we explore the large difference in diffraction efficiency observed in these two experiments and highlight the role of plasma temperature and density scale length. The simulations suggest a modulation depth of the plasma grating refractive index ranging from 1.77 × 10−4 to 3.5 × 10−2. These results are relevant to Inertial Confinement Fusion experiments or plasma photonics applications of gratings in high-field laser-physics and high-energy density science, specifically in the nanosecond regime.We investigate the formation and diffraction efficiency of plasma gratings generated by the interference of two laser beams crossing at a small angle on the surface of a planar aluminum target. Such gratings were observed during National Ignition Facility experiments with the ratio of energy in the first-order to zeroth order of ≈60%. Recently, additional experiments were performed on the Optical Sciences Laser. These experiments with only two interfering beams showed high normalized energy (ratio of energy in diffracted order to zeroth order) of approximately 10% and 3% at the first and second diffracted order locations, respectively, for intensities less than 1012 W/cm2. The existence of the higher-orders is the characteristic of diffraction from gratings in the Raman-Nath as opposed to the Bragg regime. In addition, we show conical diffraction from the generated plasma grating. Using numerical simulations, we explore the large difference in diffraction efficiency observed in these two experiments and h...

All elderly patients seen on post-take ward rounds should be assessed by the Gold Standards Framework (GSF), with resuscitation status and ceiling of care discussed and documented accordingly in the medical notes and discharge letters. We opportunistically reviewed the medical notes and discharge letters of all patients aged over 75 years immediately prior to discharge. We conducted three cycles of data collection, each lasting 1 week in duration, from November 2017 to January 2018. Data was recorded into an anonymised Excel template. We determined a pre-intervention …

A universal approach for on-demand development of monolithic metal oxide composite bulk materials with air-like densities (5 mg/cm(3)) is reported. The materials are fabricated by atomic layer deposition of titania (TiO2) or zinc oxide (ZnO) using the nanoscale architecture of 1 mg/cm(3) SiO2 aerogels formed by self-organization as a blueprint. This approach provides deterministic control over density and composition without affecting the nanoscale architecture of the composite material that is otherwise very difficult to achieve. We found that these materials provide laser-to-X-ray conversion efficiencies of up to 5.3%, which is the highest conversion efficiency yet obtained from any foam-based target, thus opening the door to a new generation of highly efficient laser-induced nanosecond scale multi-keV X-ray sources.

We report on the grain size dependent morphological, physical and chemical properties of thick microwave-plasma assisted chemical vapor deposited (MPCVD) diamond films that are used as target materials for high energy density physics experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Control over the grain size, ranging from several μm to a few nm, was achieved by adjusting the CH4 content of the CH4/H2 feed gas. The effect of grain size on surface roughness, morphology, texture, density, hydrogen and graphitic carbon content was systematically studied by a variety of techniques. For depositions performed at 35 to 45 mbar and 3000 W microwave power (power density ~ 10 W cm− 3), an abrupt transition from micro-crystalline diamond to nanocrystalline diamond was observed at 3% CH4. This transition is accompanied by a dramatic decrease in surface roughness, a six percent drop in density and an increasing content in hydrogen and graphitic carbon impurities. Guided by these results, layered nano-microhybrid diamond samples were prepared by periodically changing the growth conditions from nano- to microcrystalline.

Coherent twin boundaries (CTBs) are widely described, both theoretically and experimentally, as perfect interfaces that play a significant role in a variety of materials. Although the ability of CTBs in strengthening, maintaining the ductility and minimizing the electron scattering is well documented, most of our understanding of the origin of these properties relies on perfect-interface assumptions. Here we report experiments and simulations demonstrating that as-grown CTBs in nanotwinned copper are inherently defective with kink-like steps and curvature, and that these imperfections consist of incoherent segments and partial dislocations. We further show that these defects play a crucial role in the deformation mechanisms and mechanical behaviour of nanotwinned copper. Our findings offer a view of the structure of CTBs that is largely different from that in the literature, and underscore the significance of imperfections in nanotwin-strengthened materials.

The point design of beryllium capsules includes three Cu-doped layers in a 160-μm-thick beryllium shell to achieve the desired X-ray absorption profile. The beryllium capsules were deposited on glo...

The NIF point design uses a five-layer capsule to modify the X-ray absorption in order to achieve optimized shock timing. A stepped copper dopant design defines the layer structure. The production of the capsule involves pyrolysis to remove the inner plastic mandrel. Copper atoms diffuse radially and azimuthally throughout the capsule during pyrolysis. This diffusion significantly diminishes the capsule performance during implosion. Thermal and coated oxide barrier layers employed between layers mitigate the diffusion of copper during the mandrel removal process. The copper atoms do not diffuse through this barrier during pyrolysis. A capsule fabrication method that produces a capsule with a thin oxide layer will be discussed.

The fabrication of uniform sol–gel coatings with embedded functional nanomaterials inside cylinders requires detailed understanding of the gelation behavior. For sol–gel systems the viscosity is a function of gelation time that affects sol–gel coatings on the inside of a slowly, horizontally rotating cylinder. Therefore the angular velocity has to be adjusted to this time dependence. The higher the viscosity the more liquid is dragged along with the moving cylinder wall while the balance of gravity and drag limits the layer thickness. In addition, inertial forces and surface tension can create instabilities within the coated layer. Here, we show that it is important to suppress these instabilities by transitioning the viscous sol directly to a velocity that allows for the formation of an almost uniform layer. In this regime, which is the so-called rimming state, the recirculation of the gel precursor solution is strongly reduced which allows to fabricate coatings with shear sensitive sol–gel chemistries. Here, we tested this approach with 4 different aerogel systems, with low-density CH-based-, TiO2-, SiO2- and Fe2O3-aerogels, that represent a wide variety of different sol–gel behaviors. We show that the required rotational velocities for these aerogel systems can be predicted with a simple analytical approximation, and we performed computational fluid dynamics simulations to predict local shear and thickness uniformity.

The first cryogenic deuterium and deuterium-tritium liquid layer implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrate D_{2} and DT layer inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions that can access a low-to-moderate hot-spot convergence ratio (12CR25). Previous ICF experiments at the NIF utilized high convergence (CR30) DT ice layer implosions. Although high CR is desirable in an idealized 1D sense, it amplifies the deleterious effects of asymmetries. To date, these asymmetries prevented the achievement of ignition at the NIF and are the major cause of simulation-experiment disagreement. In the initial liquid layer experiments, high neutron yields were achieved with CRs of 12-17, and the hot-spot formation is well understood, demonstrated by a good agreement between the experimental data and the radiation hydrodynamic simulations. These initial experiments open a new NIF experimental capability that provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between hot-spot convergence ratio and the robustness of hot-spot formation during ICF implosions.

Experiments on the National Ignition Facility show that multi-dimensional effects currently dominate the implosion performance. Low mode implosion symmetry and hydrodynamic instabilities seeded by capsule mounting features appear to be two key limiting factors for implosion performance. One reason these factors have a large impact on the performance of inertial confinement fusion implosions is the high convergence required to achieve high fusion gains. To tackle these problems, a predictable implosion platform is needed meaning experiments must trade-off high gain for performance. LANL has adopted three main approaches to develop a one-dimensional (1D) implosion platform where 1D means measured yield over the 1D clean calculation. A high adiabat, low convergence platform is being developed using beryllium capsules enabling larger case-to-capsule ratios to improve symmetry. The second approach is liquid fuel layers using wetted foam targets. With liquid fuel layers, the implosion convergence can be controlled via the initial vapor pressure set by the target fielding temperature. The last method is double shell targets. For double shells, the smaller inner shell houses the DT fuel and the convergence of this cavity is relatively small compared to hot spot ignition. However, double shell targets have a different set of trade-off versus advantages. Details for each of these approaches are described.

A demonstration of the ability to control the flow of laser energy in a dense plasma by tuning the colour of multiple laser beams injected into it could be useful in the development of laser-driven fusion.

Hollow spheres with uniform coatings on the inner surface have applications in optical devices, time- or site-controlled drug release, heat storage devices, and target fabrication for inertial confinement fusion experiments. The fabrication of uniform coatings, which is often critical for the application performance, requires precise understanding and control over the coating process and its parameters. Here, we report on in situ real-time radiography experiments that provide critical spatiotemporal information about the distribution of fluids inside hollow spheres during uniaxial rotation. Image analysis and computer fluid dynamics simulations were used to explore the effect of liquid viscosity and rotational velocity on the film uniformity. The data were then used to demonstrate the fabrication of uniform sol–gel chemistry derived porous polymer films inside 2 mm inner diameter diamond shells.

Thick (>150 μm) beryllium coatings are studied as an ablator material of interest for fusion fuel capsules for the National Ignition Facility. DC magnetron sputtering is used because of the relative controllability of the processing temperature and energy of the deposits. However, coatings produced by DC magnetron sputtering leak the fuel gas D2. By using ion-assisted DC magnetron, sputtered coatings can be made that are leak-tight. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies revealed microstructural changes that lead to leak-tight coating. Ultrasmall angle x-ray spectroscopy is used to characterize the void distribution and volume along the spherical surface along with a combination of focused ion beam, scanning electron microscope, and TEM. An in situ multibeam optical stress sensor was used to measure the stress behavior of thick beryllium coatings on flat substrates as the material was being deposited.

Nanoporous metals have many technologically promising applications but their tendency to coarsen limits their long-term stability and excludes high temperature applications. Here, we demonstrate that atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be used to stabilize and functionalize nanoporous metals. Specifically, we studied the effect of nanometer-thick alumina and titania ALD films on thermal stability, mechanical properties, and catalytic activity of nanoporous gold (np-Au). Our results demonstrate that even only one-nm-thick oxide films can stabilize the nanoscale morphology of np-Au up to 1000 C, while simultaneously making the material stronger and stiffer. The catalytic activity of np-Au can be drastically increased by TiO{sub 2} ALD coatings. Our results open the door to high temperature sensor, actuator, and catalysis applications and functionalized electrodes for energy storage and harvesting applications.

The ultra low density, high electrical conductivity, and mechanical robustness of carbon nanotube aerogels (SWNT-CA) make them ideal scaffolds around which to create novel composites. Here we report on the synthesis and characterization of oxide/carbon nanotube composites fabricated through the sol–gel deposition of oxide coatings (SiO2, SnO2 or TiO2) on SWNT-CA. The porous network of the SWNT-CA scaffold is retained after the deposition and drying process. In each case, the deposited oxide appears to form a uniform coating on the surfaces of aerogel ligaments. The composite materials exhibit high electrical conductivity (∼100 S/m) and enhanced mechanical properties relative to the uncoated SWNT-CA support. In addition, the oxide/SWNT-CA composites possess high surface areas (as high as 742 m2/g) and large mesopore volumes (as high as 2.2 cm3/g). This approach offers viability in engineering new oxide/CNT composites for applications such as energy storage, sensing, and catalysis.

We show that low-density nanoporous silica monoliths (aerogels), in contrast to the case of full-density silica, exhibit pronounced time-dependent deformation during indentation at room temperature. Logarithmic indentation creep and stress relaxation are revealed, with an exponential dependency of the creep constant on the applied stress. Such time-dependent deformation is attributed to stress corrosion fracture of nanoligaments that have a large surface-to-bulk atomic fraction.

The Precision Robotic Assembly Machine was developed to manufacture the small and intricate laser-driven fusion ignition targets that are being used in the National Ignition Facility. The machine e...

A nanoconverter is capable of directly generating electricity through a nanostructure embedded in a polymer layer experiencing differential thermal expansion in a stress transfer zone. High surface-to-volume ratio semiconductor nanowires or nanotubes (such as ZnO, silicon, carbon, etc.) are grown either aligned or substantially vertically aligned on a substrate. The resulting nanoforest is then embedded with the polymer layer, which transfers stress to the nanostructures in the stress transfer zone, thereby creating a nanostructure voltage output due to the piezoelectric effect acting on the nanostructure. Electrodes attached at both ends of the nanostructures generate output power at densities of ˜20 nW/cm 2 with heating temperatures of ˜65° C. Nanoconverters arrayed in a series parallel arrangement may be constructed in planar, stacked, or rolled arrays to supply power to nano- and micro-devices without use of external batteries.

Hydrodynamic instability growth of capsule support membranes (or “tents”) has been recognized as one of the major contributors to the performance degradation in high-compression plastic capsule implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. M. Campbell et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 429, 3 (1998)]. The capsules were supported by tents because the nominal 10-μm diameter fill tubes were not strong enough to support capsules by themselves in indirect-drive implosions on NIF. After it was recognized that the tents had a significant impact of implosion's stability, new alternative support methods were investigated. While some of these methods completely eliminated tent, other concepts still used tents, but concentrated on mitigating their impact. The tent-less methods included “fishing pole” reinforced fill tubes, cantilevered fill tubes, and thin-wire “tetra cage” supports. In the “fishing pole” concept, a 10-μm fill tube was inserted inside 30-μm fill tube for extra support with the connection point located 300 μm away from the capsule surface. The cantilevered fill tubes were supported by 12-μm thick SiC rods, offset by up to 300 μm from the capsule surfaces. In the “tetra-cage” concept, 2.5-μm thick wires (carbon nanotube yarns) were used to support a capsule. Other concepts used “polar tents” and a “foam-shell” to mitigate the effects of the tents. The “polar tents” had significantly reduced contact area between the tents and the capsule compared to the nominal tents. In the “foam-shell” concept, a 200-μm thick, 30 mg/cc SiO2 foam layer was used to offset the tents away from the capsule surface in an attempt to mitigate their effects. These concepts were investigated in x-ray radiography experiments and compared with perturbations from standard tent support. The measured perturbations in the “fishing pole,” cantilevered fill tube, and “tetra-cage” concepts compared favorably with (were smaller than) nominal tent perturbations and were recommended for further testing for feasibility in layered DT implosions. The “polar tents” were tested in layered DT implosions with a relatively-stable “high-foot” drive showing an improvement in neutron yield in one experiment compared to companion implosions with nominal tents. This article reviews and summarizes recent experiments on these alternate capsule support concepts. In addition, the concept of magnetic levitation is also discussed.

Understanding the role of surface chemistry in the stability of nanostructured noble-metal materials is important for many technological applications but experimentally difficult to access and thus little understood. To develop a fundamental understanding of the effect of surface chemistry on both the formation and stabilization of self-organized gold nanostructures, we performed a series of controlled-environment annealing experiments on nanoporous gold (np-Au) and ion-bombarded Au(111) single-crystal surfaces. The annealing experiments on np-Au in ambient ozone were carried out to study the effect of adsorbed oxygen under dynamic conditions, whereas the ion-bombarded Au single-crystal surfaces were used as a model system to obtain atomic-scale information. Our results show that adsorbed oxygen stabilizes nanoscale gold structures at low temperatures whereas oxygen-induced mobilization of Au surface atoms seems to accelerate the coarsening under dynamic equilibrium conditions at higher temperatures.

We report on a general method to fabricate transition metal related defects in diamond. Controlled incorporation of Mo and W in synthetic CVD diamond was achieved by adding volatile metal precursors to the diamond chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth process. Effects of deposition temperature, grain structure and precursor exposure on the incorporation efficiency were systematically studied, and doping levels of up to 0.25 at.% have been achieved. The metal atoms are uniformly distributed throughout the diamond grains without any indication of inclusion formation. These results are discussed in context of the kinetically controlled growth process of CVD diamond.

The growth of uniform thin films on foreign substrates is impeded by several morphological instabilities. Hill-and-valley structures are formed and enhanced during sputter deposition where surface height perturbations have an opportunity to grow to large amplitudes. We show via kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations that while surface roughness can be partially controlled by changing growth conditions, such as substrate temperature, the diffusion of particles over step edges plays a very important role in determining both surface roughness and the density of the films. Our kMC simulations provide a way to evaluate the strength of surface instabilities during sputter deposition of thin films.

Ignition Set to Go One aim of the National Ignition Facility is to implode a capsule containing a deuterium-tritium fuel mix and initiate a fusion reaction. With 192 intense laser beams focused into a centimeter-scale cavity, a major challenge has been to create a symmetric implosion and the necessary temperatures within the cavity for ignition to be realized (see the Perspective by Norreys ). Glenzer et al. (p. 1228 , published online 28 January) now show that these conditions can be met, paving the way for the next step of igniting a fuel-filled capsule. Furthermore, Li et al. (p. 1231 , published online 28 January) show how charged particles can be used to characterize and measure the conditions within the imploding capsule. The high energies and temperature realized can also be used to model astrophysical and other extreme energy processes in a laboratory settings.

The generation of dynamic high energy density plasmas (HEDP) in the pico- to nano-second time domain at high-energy laser facilities affords unprecedented nuclear science research possibilities. At the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the primary goal of Inertial Confinement Fusion research has led to the synergistic development of a unique high brightness neutron source, sophisticated nuclear diagnostic instrumentation, and versatile experimental platforms. These novel experimental capabilities provide a new path to investigate nuclear processes and structural effects in the time, mass and energy density domains relevant to astrophysical phenomena in a unique terrestrial environment. Some immediate applications include neutron capture cross-section evaluation, fission fragment production, and ion energy loss measurement in electron-degenerate plasmas. More generally, the NIF conditions provide a singular environment to investigate the interplay of atomic and nuclear processes such as plasma screening effects upon thermonuclear reactivity. Achieving enhanced understanding of many of these effects will also significantly advance fusion energy research and challenge existing theoretical models.

Here, we present the synthesis and characterization of low-density single-walled carbon nanotube-based aerogels (SWNT-CA). Aerogels with varying nanotube loading (0–55 wt.%) and density (20–350 mg cm −3 ) were fabricated and characterized by four-probe method, electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen porosimetry. Several properties of the SWNT-CAs were highly dependent upon nanotube loading. At nanotube loadings of 55 wt.%, shrinkage of the aerogel monoliths during carbonization and drying was almost completely eliminated. Electrical conductivities are improved by an order of magnitude for the SWNT-CA (55 wt.% nanotubes) compared to those of foams without nanotubes. Surface areas as high as 184 m 2 g −1 were achieved for SWNT-CAs with greater than 20 wt.% nanotube loading.

Many applications of low-density nanoporous dielectrics are limited by their poor mechanical properties. Although nanoindentation is often used to evaluate the mechanical behavior of such materials, the physical meaning of the inelastic parameters measured by various indentation methods is not clear. Here, we study low-density nanoporous silica monoliths (aerogels) by nanoindentation using the most common indenter geometries (spherical, pyramidal and flat punches) and discuss the parameters measured. Results suggest that the deformation of the nanoporous silica monoliths studied in this work is controlled by elastic bending and fracture of nanoligaments with no signs of plasticity. The contact pressure (Meyer hardness) increases with increasing strain and does not represent the foam “crushing pressure”. The critical load for Hertzian fracture obeys the Auerbach law, and the formation of radial cracks and brittleness are strongly suppressed by the presence of nanopores. We also discuss the choice of indenter geometry and provide recommendations that can be used to overcome some typical challenges of indentation studies of low-density nanoporous solids, including very low contact stiffness for indenters with small contact areas, large surface roughness inherent to this class of materials, spatial non-uniformity (skin layers on monoliths), viscoelasticity and elastic nonlinearity.

Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films with a thickness of {approx}6 {micro}m and with average grain sizes ranging from 60 to 9 nm were deposited on silicon wafers using a hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) process. These samples were then characterized with the goal to identify correlations between grain size, chemical composition and mechanical properties. The characterization reveals that our films are phase pure and exhibit a relatively smooth surface morphology. The levels of sp{sup 2}-bonded carbon and hydrogen impurities are low, and showed a systematic variation with the grain size. The hydrogen content increases with decreasing grain size, whereas the sp{sup 2} carbon content decreases with decreasing grain size. The material is weaker than single crystalline diamond, and both stiffness and hardness decrease with decreasing grain size. These trends suggest gradual changes of the nature of the grain boundaries, from graphitic in the case of the 60 nm grain size material to hydrogen terminated sp{sup 3} carbon for the 9 nm grain size material. The films exhibit low levels of internal stress and freestanding structures with a length of several centimeters could be fabricated without noticeable bending.

The investigation of orientation dependent crystal growth and etch processes can provide deep insights into the underlying mechanisms and thus helps to validate theoretical models. Here, we report on homoepitaxial diamond growth and oxygen etch experiments on polished, polycrystalline CVD diamond wafers by use of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and white-light interferometry (WLI). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to provide additional atomic scale surface morphology information. The main advantage of using polycrystalline diamond substrates with almost random grain orientation is that it allows determining the orientation dependent growth (etch) rate for different orientations within one experiment. Specifically, we studied the effect of methane concentration on the diamond growth rate, using a microwave plasma CVD process. At 1% methane concentration a maximum of the growth rate near and a minimum near is detected. Increasing the methane concentration up to 5% shifts the maximum towards while the minimum stays at . Etch rate measurements in a microwave powered oxygen plasma reveal a pronounced maximum at . We also made a first attempt to interpret our experimental data in terms of local micro-faceting of high-indexed planes.

This report demonstrates a chemical functionalization method for controlling TiO2 ALD in low-density nanoporous materials, i.e., aerogels. Functionalization of silica aerogel with trimethylsilane is shown to inhibit TiO2 growth on the aerogel via ALD. A proposed mechanism for the deactivation effect is the blocking of surface functional groups, such as hydroxyl (OH) moieties, which serve as chemisorption sites for the ALD precursors and hence are essential for nucleating the deposition process. Subsequent modification of the aerogel functionalization through the selective removal of hydrocarbon groups via heat or plasma treatment reactivates the aerogel towards deposition, thereby resulting in TiO2 growth. The results presented here demonstrate the use of ALD as a selective tool for creating novel nanoporous materials.