USEFUL PAPERS THREAD

    ResearchGate dealt a blow in lawsuit

    Neither side has emerged as the clear winner of a court case in which two major academic publishers sued ResearchGate for hosting 50 of their copyrighted papers. The court in Germany ruled that ResearchGate is responsible for copyright-infringing content uploaded to its platform by authors. But the court rejected the publishers’ request to be paid damages, and the direct implications for any article other than the 50 named in the lawsuit are unclear. The ruling is “far from a blocking order”, says legal scholar Guido Westkamp. “In principle, any other content is subject to a new lawsuit.” Both sides say they will appeal.

    Nature | 6 min read

    Paul Chu.. still hanging in there.. 40K superconductivity with selenides.. after all these years

    Quote from Alan Smith

    Teller and Chu "Boost" Cold fusion.

    Hydrides and hydrogen... such a special atom.

    "There is no reason that the technique cannot be equally applied to the hydrides that have shown signs of superconductivity with a Tc approaching room temperature.”

    The Pressure Is Off and High Temperature Superconductivity Remains
    Development of a New Pressure-Quench Technique Demonstrates Superconductivity in Iron Selenide Crystals Sans Pressure
    uh.edu

    In-Target Proton–Boron Nuclear Fusion Using a PW-Class Laser



    The results presented in this work provide the first proof of principle experimental
    demonstration of efficient α-particle generation from p–B fusion using a PW-class laser and
    the “in-target” geometry. The measured α-particle flux was ~1010/sr, thus one order of
    magnitude higher than previous results that were obtained with the same laser parameters
    but in the “pitcher–catcher” geometry [5,6]. This achievement is in line with the experimental progress in p–B fusion that has been reported in the last 15 years (see Figure 1)
    and confirms the advantage of triggering p–B fusion reactions using a direct irradiation
    scheme, at least in terms of α-particle flux [2–4]. A crude estimate of the total α-particle
    generation could be provided under the assumption of quasi-isotropic emission, which
    was based on the fact that the kinetic energy of the accelerated protons was relatively
    low (unlike the pitcher–catcher geometry that was reported in our previous p–B fusion
    experiment at LFEX [6]), hence there was no substantial momentum transfer from the
    protons to the α-particles. Therefore, under such a rough assumption, the total number of
    α-particles (including those particles absorbed inside the thick BN target) was ~1.4 × 1011
    .
    However, despite the high α-particle flux that was experimentally measured, we noted
    that the overall conversion efficiency of the process (laser to α-particle energy) was still low
    (~0.005%). It is worth noting that the α-particle flux that was measured experimentally was
    a clear underestimation of the number of α-particles that were emitted backward due to
    the limited energy range (5–10 MeV) that was detectable by the diagnostics that were used.
    In fact, the numerically predicted α-particle energy range was much broader (1–14 MeV).
    Thus, considering the diagnostic limitations, we could expect a produced α-particle flux
    and conversion efficiency in line with the previous results that were reported in [4] with
    a kJ (TW-class) laser and in-target geometry (see Figure 1). Nevertheless, the start-to-end
    numerical simulation study that was performed (hydrodynamic, PIC, and Monte Carlo)
    allowed the qualitative support of the basic mechanism of multi-MeV proton acceleration
    at the target’s front side and the subsequent generation of α-particles via p–B fusion that
    occurred inside the BN target.
    These results are propaedeutic for the preparation of future experiments with PWclass lasers with the aim of generating high-flux α-particle streams in the laser–plasma
    environment that are tunable in energy, which is of potential interest for the study of ion
    stopping power in plasma, including the related implications in inertial confinement fusion
    schemes [26–29]. In fact, in contrast with TW-class kJ-laser pulses, the use of PW-class
    kJ-laser beams allows us to achieve high laser intensities on target (1019–1020 W/cm2
    ) and
    thus, to explore acceleration regimes occurring at the target’s front surface (e.g., HB-RPA)
    Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 1444 6 of 7
    that could potentially be used to tune the energy of the protons that are responsible for p–B
    fusion reactions in the target bulk and, ultimately, to tune the average kinetic energy of the
    α-particles.

    My thanks to Volodymir Vysotskii and Sergei Tcvetkov for bringing these two papers to my attention, notable in some ways for the 30 year gap between the publication of the dirst and the second



    Features and Mechanisms of the Generation of Neutrons and Other Particles in First Laser Fusion Experiments (My 2020)


    V. I. Vysotskii, A. A. Kornilova, M. V. Vysotskyy, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, 01033 Ukraine


    Abstract—The quantitative characteristics of the first successful experiments on the formation of a fusion

    plasma have been discussed. It has been shown that the generation of neutrons detected in these experiments is not directly due to fusion processes in a laser plasma with a comparatively low temperature. Alternative mechanisms of stimulation of a fusion reaction have been considered. It has been shown that the most probable mechanism of neutron generation is attributed to the processes of formation of correlated coherent states, which are generated by a shock wave in the undestroyed part of the target lattice or at the motion of slow ions emitted from the laser plasma in the target. It is reasonable to repeat these experiments, where the effective generation of not only neutrons but also other products of nuclear fusion should be expected.


    Laser fusion Vyssotsky.pdf


    And here a much earlier paper by Sergei Tcvetkov et al (1990) covering similar ground.


    Laser fusion.pdf


    Is it time to bin scientific papers?

    THE GUARDIAN ǀ 6 MINUTE READ

    The internet has transformed the way we read science, so maybe it’s time to update the way we publish research findings too. In this ‘big idea’ piece in The Guardian, King’s College London neuroscientist Stuart Ritchie argues that scholarly journals are riddled with problems: publication bias, hype, wordcounts, difficulties sharing raw data, the hassle of requesting corrections… Perhaps it’s time to just ‘get rid of scientific papers altogether’. Instead, Ritchie suggests we could replace them with mini-websites that are easy to update and allow researchers to share the full story of their research projects, with no pressure to cherry-pick data or overegg results. Food for thought, although questions remain over how such a system could work in practice: who would assess the quality of research? How could you ensure the longevity of such websites? What about researchers without the specific know-how to code a website? Who would pay?

    Most Downloaded Articles - Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry


    This article is top on the list. Ranked as the most downloaded article in the past nine months at the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry! December 2021

    Preliminary survey on cold fusion: It's not pathological science and may require revision of nuclear theory · Electrolysis of water on oxide surfaces · 2D MXenes: .


    Related article

    E-Cat World

    November 18, 2021 • 9 Comments

    Paper: “”Preliminary Survey On Cold Fusion: It’s Not Pathological Science And May Require Revision Of Nuclear Theory” (Journal Of Electroanalytical Chemistry)

    Paper: “”Preliminary Survey on Cold Fusion: It’s Not Pathological Science and May Require Revision of Nuclear Theory” (Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry) |



    November 18, 2021 • 9

    Good for Luciano Ondir, therefore good for LENR, that this article is getting attention. I was so impressed when he said to me he wanted to devote to LENR full time, and it seems it’s working well for him, we all need to be very happy about this.

    I certainly Hope to see LENR helping humans to blossom, and I'm here to help it happen.

    Like 2

    An alternative to gas-loading or long slow electrolysis perhaps? Certainly of interest to LEC replicators and LENR researchers.


    ElectrochemicalHcharging (1).pdf


    Abstract
    A high temperature electrochemical charging technique was developed for effective introduction of hydrogen or tritium into the metallic materials
    to a high level in a short period of time. The samples of the steels and alloys, as the cathode, were charged in an electrochemical cell consists of
    Pt anode and molten salt electrolyte. After 3, 6 and 12 h charging, the 304 stainless steel absorbed 25, 45 and 60 ppm of hydrogen, respectively.
    Correspondingly, the mechanical strength lost 10, 16 and 23%. The plasticity was also reduced to 20, 23 and 38%. The fractography showed the
    hydrogen embrittlement effect on the fractures. The electrochemical hydrogen charging technique was successfully used for introducing tritium, an
    isotope of hydrogen, into the super alloys for visualization of hydrogen trapped in the microstructure of the materials. It is found that the hydrogen
    is trapped at the grain boundaries, in inclusions and carbides. The deformed and twisted grain boundaries trap most hydrogen under stress.
    © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

    Electrons Ejected Due of Laser Irradiation of Deuterons Layer on Metals Surface -

    A New Source of Instant Electrical Energy


    Stefan Mehedinteanu1 1

    (retired CITON-Romania) Senior Principal Engineer Researcher; E-Mail:

    [email protected]; [email protected],

    [email protected]

    Sept 15 2016

    PACS numbers: 52.25.-b,31.15.-p,32.70.-n

    Abstract

    Based on the previously author works about models on nucleons structure and on the bias current inside valence nucleons during   decay stimulation by a laser, in the present one is analyzed the feasibility of these experiments. Thus, by using QM&MD programme: fhi96md is confirmed the apparition of high D coverage (~0.5) of the surface

    of Pd lattice. Also is proved the author’s model of vortex assisted photon beta decay, when a laser photon makes this process much more probable by creating a spot (melt) in nucleon with suppressed order parameter that lowering the energy barrier for vortex crossing together with an heavy electron (bias current  e ) as resulting from the decay of the permanent rate of bosons pairs as produced inside nucleons by a Schwinger effect.

    Then, if we use lasers of much smaller power in this case it can appears a net gain of ~20. Concomitantly, if we use a co-deposition Pd/D , when working and counter electrodes are immersed in a solution of palladium chloride and lithium chloride in deuterated water, the coverage fraction attains 1, and are possible a lot of cold fusions as

    it was shown early by author and recently finally proved, after 25 years of studies.

    1. The state of art

    Based on the previously author works about models on nucleons structure and on the bias current inside valence nucleons during   decay stimulation by a laser, in the present one is analyzed the feasibility of some experiments to prove this theoretical finding [1].

    The adsorption and absorption of hydrogen on palladium are described i [2a], when the binding energies of about 22, 25, and 35 kcal/mole were observed, and the saturation coverage at 300 °K was 0.39 H/Pd and at 200 °K this value was increased to 0.95 H/Pd.

    In [2b], the neutron diffraction studies have shown that hydrogen atoms randomly occupy the octahedral interstices in the metal lattice (in a fcc lattice there is one octahedral hole

    per metal atom). The limit of absorption at normal pressures is PdH0.7, indicating that approximately 70% of the octahedral holes are occupied. The absorption of hydrogen is reversible, and hydrogen rapidly diffuses through the metal lattice.

    Tera Hertz Tech is new. My interest this field is certain references to THz radiation in advanced CMNS literature, specifically the Forsley and Google groups. Other references are easily found. This paper introduces advances in this quickly changing field, control on the Femto scale. Everyone should have a Tera Hertz experimental/theorist on their team... Perhaps.


    Article

    Open Access

    Published: 23 May 2022


    "Scalable High-Repetition-Rate Sub-Half-Cycle Terahertz Pulses from Spatially Indirect Interband Transitions"


    Scalable high-repetition-rate sub-half-cycle terahertz pulses from spatially indirect interband transitions - Light: Science & Applications
    We generate extremely asymmetric sub-half-cycle terahertz waveforms with scalable field strengths at megahertz pulse-repetition rates via ultrafast excitation…
    www.nature.com


    Christian Meineke, Michael Prager, …Dominique Bougeard et al

    Light: Science & Applications volume 11, Article number: 151 (2022) Cite this article


    Abstract

    Intense phase-locked terahertz (THz) pulses are the bedrock of THz lightwave electronics, where the carrier field creates a transient bias to control electrons on sub-cycle time scales. Key applications such as THz scanning tunnelling microscopy or electronic devices operating at optical clock rates call for ultimately short, almost unipolar waveforms, at megahertz (MHz) repetition rates. Here, we present a flexible and scalable scheme for the generation of strong phase-locked THz pulses based on shift currents in type-II-aligned epitaxial semiconductor heterostructures. The measured THz waveforms exhibit only 0.45 optical cycles at their centre frequency within the full width at half maximum of the intensity envelope, peak fields above 1.1 kV cm−1 and spectral components up to the mid-infrared, at a repetition rate of 4 MHz. The only positive half-cycle of this waveform exceeds all negative half-cycles by almost four times, which is unexpected from shift currents alone. Our detailed analysis reveals that local charging dynamics induces the pronounced positive THz-emission peak as electrons and holes approach charge neutrality after separation by the optical pump pulse, also enabling ultrabroadband operation. Our unipolar emitters mark a milestone for flexibly scalable, next-generation high-repetition-rate sources of intense and strongly asymmetric electric field transients.


    Introduction

    Ultrashort pulses in the terahertz (THz) spectral range represent the most direct tools to probe and control low-energy elementary dynamics in condensed matter1,2,3,4. Recently, intense phase-locked THz waveforms with octave-spanning spectra and sub-cycle durations have enabled the advent of THz lightwave electronics, where the strong carrier field serves as a transient bias to drive ultrafast currents5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Tailored THz fields have been employed to open sequential tunnelling channels in stationary junctions 13 or operational scanning tunnelling microscopes, in time windows much shorter than a single oscillation period of the carrier wave14,15,16,17,18,19. In all these applications, unidirectional currents would be ideally driven by hypothetical strictly unipolar THz waveforms made of a single oscillation half-cycle. Since electromagnetic waves propagating in the far field are expected to require AC fields20, however, the best possible THz waveforms consist of asymmetric bipolar transients in which a dominant positive half-cycle dramatically exceeds the strength of feeble negative excursions needed to cancel the temporal integral of the electric field. Moreover, practical lightwave electronic experiments and future device applications demand large and scalable field strengths (typically 1 kV cm–1 and higher) combined with high repetition rates of 1 MHz and above to drive the required nonlinearities and guarantee competitive signal-to-noise ratios.


    Most sources aiming to meet these criteria are based on frequency conversion of near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser pulses. Difference frequency mixing via χ(2) nonlinearities in non-centrosymmetric media has provided intense sub-cycle THz pulses21,22. However, upscaling their field strength, e.g., by increasing the length of the nonlinear crystal, limits the bandwidth. Photocurrents in transient gas plasmas give rise to multi-octave-spanning spectra23,24,25, but the necessary pump-pulse energies exceeding 0.1 mJ limit this technique to relatively low-repetition-rate lasers. Emitters based on spin-to-charge current conversion via the inverse spin-Hall effect have marked another important breakthrough as these metal-based spintronic THz emitters generate octave-spanning, sub-cycle THz waveforms26,27,28,29. The finite optical skin depth of metals prevents the thickness scaling of these emitters such that high THz field strengths have required large pump-pulse energies. Recently, a promising alternative mechanism generating ultrashort THz transients was observed in van der Waals heterostructures. After optical excitation of electron–hole pairs in a heterobilayer of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) featuring type-II band alignment, charge separation by shift currents has given rise to a sub-cycle THz pulse30,31. However, the efficiency of this scheme is rather low as the charge separation length is small. Furthermore, these emitters are only as scalable as the delicate stacking of TMDC monolayers permits. Lastly, the inherently fixed resonances and the complicated simulation of the microscopic processes causing charge separation make it tough to optimise and custom-tailor the THz emission. In contrast, band-gap engineering in semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) allows matching electronic transition energies to a pump source of choice. This has been employed to generate few- and sub-cycle THz pulses via photoexcitation of electron–hole pairs in DC-biased QWs32,33 and intersubband transitions in asymmetric QWs34, but has not been scaled to high-power pump lasers.


    Here we transfer the concept of shift-current-based THz generation in type-II aligned nanostructures to epitaxial semiconductor heterostructures and introduce a fully scalable THz source capable of generating strongly asymmetric sub-cycle field transients. The key idea is to engineer electronic wavefunctions in asymmetrically coupled semiconductor QWs such that resonant interband photoexcitation induces an ultrafast charge separation by shift currents over several nanometres even without any bias. By fine-tuning the interband transitions to the spectral range of state-of-the-art high-power ytterbium fibre pump lasers, we generate strong THz pulses featuring only 0.45 optical cycles at their centre frequency within the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of their intensity envelope at repetition rates up to 4 MHz. By tuning the pump-pulse spectrum and duration, we can achieve a positive field maximum of up to 1.1 kV cm–1, which exceeds the strongest negative excursions by a factor of 3.7. Owing to the lattice-matched unstrained growth, the emitter concept is scalable to yet higher field strengths by straightforwardly increasing the number of growth repetitions.

    Researchers used the ethanol and water mixture and a small amount of electricity to produce pure compressed hydrogen The electrochemical system the team developed uses less than half the electricity of pure water splitting. The reaction can run at a much lower electrical voltage than is typically needed for pure water electrolysis. The system also doesn’t require an expensive membrane that other water splitting methods do.


    Caustic Aqueous Phase Electrochemical Reforming (CAPER) of Ethanol for Process Intensified Compressed Hydrogen Production


    The problem of this method is that oxygen convert ethanol to carbon dioxide, which must be absorbed with caustic electrolyte. This method of hydrogen production thus consumes alkali hydroxides, which are generally produced also with electrolysis - but the cost of its electricity isn't included in electrochemical yield, so that investors may be fooled with it easily. Maybe the replacement of ethanol by urea or similar waste could enable the electrolysis to run in neutral environment.


    This electrochemical system is thus currently infeasible economically, but it could find usage in future cold fusion generators, which would require in situ high pressure hydrogen without oxygen presence. One can for example imagine heavy water/lithium deuteride+methanol system for such purpose. One such a system is already known as a source of cold fusion runaway (see Thermacore Inc. experiments).

    Quote from Zephir_AWT

    The problem of this method is that oxygen convert ethanol to carbon dioxide, which must be absorbed with caustic electrolyte. This method of hydrogen production thus consumes alkali hydroxides, which are generally produced also with electrolysis

    I would be tempted to try this with an ammonia based electrolyte. Solid Ammonium Carbonates decompose very readily (at around 60C back into ammonia and CO2. The differential solubility of these gases in water offers some potential to separate them. Since CO2 is in short supply its currently high price might make this feasible as a commercial co-product, with the NH3 being recycled back to the start of the process, But this is just a first thought.


    ETA- the price of sodium carbonate is almost high enough to make NaOH a possibility- but using more expensive Lithium Hydroxide might work, the advantage being that lithium carbonate is almost insoluble so would precipitate from the solution. That avoids a lot of the need for an evaporative drying cycle - which is another energy hog.


    The price of LiOH is around $75/Kg, and the price of Li2CO3 is $60/Kg. However, since the carbonate is heavier than the hydroxide ( half a carbon and 1-1/2 oxygen atoms per Li atom as against one oxygen and one hydrogen per Li) the weight gain will cancel this extra out. You could sell the carbonate for as much as the hydroxide costs you. If you square this circle by brewing your own ethanol from grain or potatoes you could probably sell the whole shebang as green hydrogen and green lithium.

Subscribe to our newsletter

It's sent once a month, you can unsubscribe at anytime!

View archive of previous newsletters

* indicates required

Your email address will be used to send you email newsletters only. See our Privacy Policy for more information.

Our Partners

Supporting researchers for over 20 years
Want to Advertise or Sponsor LENR Forum?
CLICK HERE to contact us.