Apatite, Ca{sub 5}(PO{sub 4}){sub 3}(F,OH,Cl)(P6{sub 3}/m, Z=2), is the most abundant phosphate mineral on Earth. The end-member hydroxyapatite, Ca{sub 5}(PO{sub 4}){sub 3}OH(P2{sub 1}/b), is the primary mineral component in bones and teeth and tends to scavenge and sequester heavy metals in the human body. Hydroxyapatite has also been shown to be effective at sequestering radionuclides and heavy metals in certain natural systems (Dybowska et al., 2004). Hydroxyapatite has been the focus of many laboratory studies and is utilized for environmental remediation of contaminated sites (Moore et al., 2002). The crystal structure of apatite tolerates a great deal of distortion caused by extensive chemical substitutions. Metal cations (e.g. REE, actinides, K, Na, Mn, Ni, Cu, Co, Zn, Sr, Ba, Pb, Cd, Fe) substitute for Ca, and oxyanions (e.g. AsO{sub 4}{sup 3-}, SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}, CO{sub 3}{sup 2-}, SiO{sub 4}{sup 4-}, CrO{sub 4}{sup 2-}) replace PO{sub 4}{sup 3-} through a series of coupled substitutions that preserve electroneutrality. Owing to the ability of apatite to incorporate 'impurities'(including actinides) gives rise to its proposed use as a waste form for radionuclides. Recent work at Sandia National Laboratory demonstrated that hydroxyapatite has a strong affinity for U, Pu, Np, Sr and Tc reduced from pertechnetate (TcO{sub 4}{sup -}) by SnCl{sub 2} (Moore et al., 2002). Based on these earlier promising results, an investigation was initiated into the use of apatite-type materials doped with aliovalent cations including Fe, Cu and Sn as Tc-scavengers. Synthetic Fe and Cu-doped hydroxyapatite samples were prepared by precipitation of Ca, from Ca-acetate, and P, from ammonium phosphate. The Fe and Cu were introduced as chlorides into the Ca-acetate solution. Stannous chloride was used as a reducing agent and was apparently incorporated into the crystal structures of the hydroxyapatite samples in small, as yet undetermined quantities.
The goal of this one year LDRD was to improve the overall efficiency of InGaN LEDs by improving the extraction of light from the semiconductor chip. InGaN LEDs are currently the most promising technology for producing high efficiency blue and green semiconductor light emitters. Improving the efficiency of InGaN LEDs will enable a more rapid adoption of semiconductor based lighting. In this LDRD, we proposed to develop photonic structures to improve light extraction from nitride-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). While many advanced device geometries were considered for this work, we focused on the use of a photonic crystal for improved light extraction. Although resonant cavity LEDs and other advanced structures certainly have the potential to improve light extraction, the photonic crystal approach showed the most promise in the early stages of this short program. The photonic crystal (PX)-LED developed here incorporates a two dimensional photonic crystal, or photonic lattice, into a nitride-based LED. The dimensions of the photonic crystal are selected such that there are very few or no optical modes in the plane of the LED ('lateral' modes). This will reduce or eliminate any radiation in the lateral direction so that the majority of the LED radiation will be in vertical modes that escape the semiconductor, which will improve the light-extraction efficiency. PX-LEDs were fabricated using a range of hole diameters and lattice constants and compared to control LEDs without a photonic crystal. The far field patterns from the PX-LEDs were dramatically modified by the presence of the photonic crystal. An increase in LED brightness of 1.75X was observed for light measured into a 40 degree emission cone with a total increase in power of 1.5X for an unencapsulated LED.
STDEM is the structured mesh time-domain electromagnetic and plasma physics component of Emphasis/Nevada. This report provides a guide on using STDEM. Emphasis, the electromagnetic physics analysis system, is a suite of codes for the simulation of electromagnetic and plasma physics phenomena. The time-dependent components of Emphasis have been implemented using the Nevada framework [1]. The notation Emphasis/Nevada is used to highlight this relationship and/or distinguish the time-dependent components of Emphasis. In theory the underlying framework should have little influence on the user's interaction with the application. In practice the framework tends to be more invasive as it provides key services such as input parsing and defines fundamental concepts and terminology. While the framework offers many technological advancements from a software development point of view, from a user's perspective the key benefits of the underlying framework are the common interface for all framework physics modules as well as the ability to perform coupled physics simulations. STDEM is the structured time-domain electromagnetic and plasma physics component of Emphasis/Nevada. STDEM provides for the full-wave solution to Maxwell's equations on multi-block three-dimensional structured grids using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithms. Additionally STDEM provides for the fully relativistic, self-consistent simulation of charged particles using particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithms.
The shock compaction behavior of a tungsten carbide powder was investigated using a new experimental design for gas-gun experiments. This design allows the Hugoniot properties to be measured with reasonably good accuracy despite the inherent difficulties involved with distended powders. The experiments also provide the first reshock state for the compacted powder. Experiments were conducted at impact velocities of 245, 500, and 711 m/s. A steady shock wave was observed for some of the sample thicknesses, but the remainder were attenuated due to release from the back of the impactor or the edge of the sample. The shock velocity for the powder was found to be quite low, and the propagating shock waves were seen to be very dispersive. The Hugoniot density for the 711 m/s experiment was close to ambient crystal density for tungsten carbide, indicating nearly complete compaction. When compared with quasi-static compaction results for the same material, the dynamic compaction data is seen to be significantly stiffer for the regime over which they overlap. Based on these initial results, recommendations are made for improving the experimental technique and for future work to improve our understanding of powder compaction.
Numerical models of complex phenomena often contain approximations due to our inability to fully model the underlying physics, the excessive computational resources required to fully resolve the physics, the need to calibrate constitutive models, or in some cases, our ability to only bound behavior. Here we illustrate the relationship between approximation, calibration, extrapolation, and model validation through a series of examples that use the linear transient convective/dispersion equation to represent the nonlinear behavior of Burgers equation. While the use of these models represents a simplification relative to the types of systems we normally address in engineering and science, the present examples do support the tutorial nature of this document without obscuring the basic issues presented with unnecessarily complex models.
The Bryan Mound salt dome, located near Freeport, Texas, is home to one of four underground crude oil-storage facilities managed by the U. S. Department of Energy Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Program. Sandia National Laboratories, as the geotechnical advisor to the SPR, conducts site-characterization investigations and other longer-term geotechnical and engineering studies in support of the program. This report describes the conversion of two-dimensional geologic interpretations of the Bryan Mound site into three-dimensional geologic models. The new models include the geometry of the salt dome, the surrounding sedimentary units, mapped faults, and the 20 oil-storage caverns at the site. This work provides an internally consistent geologic model of the Bryan Mound site that can be used in support of future work.
Sandia is undergoing tremendous change. Sandia's executive management recognized the need for leadership development. About ten years ago the Business, Leadership, and Management Development department in partnership with executive management developed and implemented the organizational leadership Success Profile Competencies to help address some of the changes on the horizon such as workforce losses and lack of a skill set in the area of interpersonal skills. This study addresses the need for the Business, Leadership, and Management Development department to provide statistically sound data in two areas. One is to demonstrate that the organizational 360-degree success profile assessment tool has made a difference for leaders. A second area is to demonstrate the presence of high performing leaders at the Labs. The study utilized two tools to address these two areas. Study participants were made up of individuals who have solid data on Sandia's 360-degree success profile assessment tool. The second assessment tool was comprised of those leaders who participated in the Lockheed Martin Corporation Employee Preferences Survey. Statistical data supports the connection between leader indicators and the 360-degree assessment tool. The study also indicates the presence of high performing leaders at Sandia.
The room-temperature velocity-field characteristics for n-type gallium nitride and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, grown epitaxially on sapphire, were determined experimentally. A pulsed voltage input and four-point measurements were used on special geometry samples to determine the electron drift velocity as a function of applied electric field in the basal plane. These measurements show apparent saturation velocities near 2.5 x 10{sup 7} cm/s at 180 kV/cm for the n-type gallium nitride and 3.1 x 10{sup 7} cm/s at 140 kV/cm for the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. A comparison of these studies shows that the experimental velocities are close to previously published simulations based upon Monte Carlo techniques.