Fast phase differentiation between liquid-water and ice by pulsed neutron imaging with gated image intensifier

Isegawa, Kazuhisa; Setoyama, Daigo*; Higuchi, Yuki*; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro*; Nagai, Yasutaka*; Shinohara, Takenao

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 1040, p.167260_1 - 167260_10, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2022.167260

Pulsed neutron imaging for differentiation of ice and liquid water towards fuel cell vehicle applications

Higuchi, Yuki*; Setoyama, Daigo*; Isegawa, Kazuhisa; Tsuchikawa, Yusuke; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro*; Parker, J. D.*; Shinohara, Takenao; Nagai, Yasutaka*

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 23(2), p.1062 - 1071, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CP03887C

This study is the first report on liquid water and ice imaging conducted at a pulsed spallation neutron source facility. Neutron imaging can be utilised to visualise the water distribution inside polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Particularly, energy-resolved neutron imaging is a methodology capable of distinguishing between liquid water and ice, and is effective for investigating ice formation in PEFCs operating in a subfreezing environment. The distinction principle is based on the fact that the cross sections of liquid water and ice differ from each other at low neutron energies. In order to quantitatively observe transient freezing and thawing phenomena in a multiphase mixture (gas/liquid/solid) within real PEFCs with high spatial resolution, a pulsed neutron beam with both high intensity and wide energy range is most appropriate. In the validation study of the present work, we used water sealed in narrow capillary tubes to simulate the flow channels of a PEFC, and a pulsed neutron beam was applied to distinguish ice, liquid water and super-cooled water, and to clarify freezing and thawing phenomena of the water within the capillary tubes. Moreover, we have enabled the observation of liquid water/ice distributions in a large field of view (300 mm 300 mm) by manufacturing a sub-zero environment chamber that can be cooled down to -30C, as a step towards visualisation of full-size fuel cells.

Initial quantum levels of captured muons in CO, CO, and COS

Yoshida, Go*; Ninomiya, Kazuhiko*; Inagaki, Makoto*; Higemoto, Wataru; Strasser, P.*; Kawamura, Naritoshi*; Shimomura, Koichiro*; Miyake, Yasuhiro*; Miura, Taichi*; Kubo, Kenya*; et al.

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 320, p.283 - 289, 2019/05

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06470-4

The role of valence electrons for the muon capture process by molecules is experimentally investigated with the aid of cascade calculations. Low-momentum muons are introduced to gas targets below atmospheric pressure. The initial states of captured muons are determined from the measured muonic X-ray structure of the Lyman and Balmer series. We propose that the lone pair electrons in the carbon atom of CO significantly contribute to the capture of a muon with large angular momenta.

Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, 2; Neutron scattering instruments

Nakajima, Kenji; Kawakita, Yukinobu; Ito, Shinichi*; Abe, Jun*; Aizawa, Kazuya; Aoki, Hiroyuki; Endo, Hitoshi*; Fujita, Masaki*; Funakoshi, Kenichi*; Gong, W.*; et al.

Quantum Beam Science (Internet), 1(3), p.9_1 - 9_59, 2017/12

https://doi.org/10.3390/qubs1030009

The neutron instruments suite, installed at the spallation neutron source of the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), is reviewed. MLF has 23 neutron beam ports and 21 instruments are in operation for user programs or are under commissioning. A unique and challenging instrumental suite in MLF has been realized via combination of a high-performance neutron source, optimized for neutron scattering, and unique instruments using cutting-edge technologies. All instruments are/will serve in world-leading investigations in a broad range of fields, from fundamental physics to industrial applications. In this review, overviews, characteristic features, and typical applications of the individual instruments are mentioned.

Femtosecond time-resolved dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect

Otobe, Tomohito; Shinohara, Yasushi*; Sato, Shunsuke*; Yabana, Kazuhiro*

Physical Review B, 93(4), p.045124_1 - 045124_9, 2016/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.045124

We theoretically investigate the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect in femtosecond time resolution, that is, the time-dependent modulation of a dielectric function at around the band gap under an irradiation of an intense laser field. We develop a pump-probe formalism in two distinct approaches: first-principles simulation based on real-time time-dependent density functional theory and analytic consideration of a simple two-band model. We find that, while time-average modulation may be reasonably described by the static Franz-Keldysh theory, a remarkable phase shift is found to appear between the dielectric response and the applied electric field.

Integrated modelling of toroidal rotation with the 3D non-local drift-kinetic code and boundary models for JT-60U analyses and predictive simulations

Honda, Mitsuru; Satake, Shinsuke*; Suzuki, Yasuhiro*; Yoshida, Maiko; Hayashi, Nobuhiko; Kamiya, Kensaku; Matsuyama, Akinobu; Shinohara, Koji; Matsunaga, Go; Nakata, Motoki; et al.

Nuclear Fusion, 55(7), p.073033_1 - 073033_11, 2015/07

https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/55/7/073033

Experimental analyses and predictive simulations of toroidal rotation driven by the neoclassical toroidal viscosity in rippled tokamaks

Honda, Mitsuru; Satake, Shinsuke*; Suzuki, Yasuhiro*; Matsunaga, Go; Shinohara, Koji; Yoshida, Maiko; Matsuyama, Akinobu; Ide, Shunsuke; Urano, Hajime

Nuclear Fusion, 54(11), p.114005_1 - 114005_14, 2014/11

https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/54/11/114005

Integrated modeling of toroidal rotation with the 3D non-local drift-kinetic code and boundary models for JT-60U analyses and predictive simulations

Honda, Mitsuru; Satake, Shinsuke*; Suzuki, Yasuhiro*; Yoshida, Maiko; Hayashi, Nobuhiko; Kamiya, Kensaku; Matsuyama, Akinobu; Shinohara, Koji; Matsunaga, Go; Nakata, Motoki; et al.

Proceedings of 25th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2014) (CD-ROM), 8 Pages, 2014/10

Numerical pump-probe experiments of laser-excited silicon in nonequilibrium phase

Sato, Shunsuke*; Yabana, Kazuhiro; Shinohara, Yasushi*; Otobe, Tomohito; Bertsch, G. F.*

Physical Review B, 89(6), p.064304_1 - 064304_8, 2014/02

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.064304

We calculate the dielectric response of crystalline silicon following irradiation by a high-intensity laser pulse, modeling the dynamics by the time-dependent Kohn-Sham equations in the presence of the laser field. As expected, the excited silicon shows features of an electron-hole plasma of nonequilibrium phase in its response, characterized by a negative divergence in the real part of the dielectric function at small frequencies. We also find that the imaginary part of the dielectric function can be negative, particularly for the parallel polarization of pump and probe fields.

First-principles calculation to explore mechanisms of coherent phonon generation

Shinohara, Yasushi*; Otobe, Tomohito; Iwata, Junichi*; Yabana, Kazuhiro*

Nihon Butsuri Gakkai-Shi, 67(10), p.685 - 689, 2012/10

https://doi.org/10.11316/butsuri.67.10_685

Coherent phonon is the macroscopic coherent oscillation of atoms in a solid state generating under the ultrafast laser pulse which is shorter than the frequency of the phonon. Some physical processes for the coherent phonon have been proposed. We are studying the computational method describing the dynamics of the electron and atom employing the time-dependent density functional theory. Our computational results show the origine of the coherent phonon in Si quantitatively.