Dakota Needs A Phy$ic$ PhD ThisYea:r 2/15/2012 1 ~ ~ Where We - PDF document

Physics PhD Presentation Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:59 AM Advancing Science While Pursuing Profit Why South Dakota Needs A Phy$ic$ PhD ThisYea:r 2/15/2012 1

~ ~ Where We are Now • Graduate Students and the SURF USD collaborations and the hours demanded 2nd class workers • SD has invested in the SURF ~ What does the State get back? ~ How can that happen? Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 2 Joint Appropriations Committee

~ Research at USD • Approaching Maturity Now Ultra-pure germanium through zone refining Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 3 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research at USD Germanium Crystal Growth Germani um crystals grown at USO Each crystal weighs about 1kg Chiller/Byram 2 /lS/ 2012 Photo from UM ICO RE.com University of South Dakota 4 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research at USD Is there really a Market for Germanium crystals? • China Dark Matter Experiment (1-ton) • GEODM in US (1-ton) • SuperCDMS in US ("'30 kg) Just in Research US consumption of Germanium crystal products in 2010 was"' 25,000 kg. Retail on each crystal is"' $12,000 each. Commercial production is estimated initially at 300 crystals a year- $3,600,000 annually if production does not ramp up, but, the sales tax revenue on just the projects listed above would be"' $974,000 Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 5 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research at USD on the Near Horizon Germanium Detectors They're not just for science anymore. Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 6 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research at USD on the Near Horizon German i um Based So lar Cells From D r. Khizar's November presentation: • Best large area Si-based solar ce ll :"" 22% • Uppe r limit efficiency: 33% Multi-junction (MJ) solar cell • Maximum thermodynamically achievable efficiencies are increased to 50%, 56 %, and 72% for stacks of 2, 3, and 36 junctions with appropriately optimized energy gaps Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 7 Joint Appropriations Committee

Thermal Diffusion • Experimental design and theory dates back to the 30's • Famously used in the Manhattan Project - Found to be inferior for heavy elements like uranium Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 8 Joint Appropriations Committee

S-50 Plant (Oak Ridge, TN) Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 9 Joint Appropriations Committee

Fast Forward • Re-discovered in the mid SO's - Shown to be effective for separating noble gasses such as Hydrogen, Helium, Neon, Argon • Few scientific uses for large quantities of isotopically pure gasses at that time Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 10 Joint Appropriations Committee

New Demand for Liquid Nobles • Neutrino/Dark matter detectors • LBNE • Being built at 4850' level in Sanford Lab • Has chosen LAr as a target material for neutrino interactions • Requires 34,000 tons of ultra-purified LAr Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 11 Joint Appropriations Committee

What's in it for South Dakota? • A perfect application for thermal diffusion • $20.4M for 34 Kton LAr • Includes delivery (adds 33% to cost) • Leaves $13M in possible sales to LBNE from a South Dakota Business • About $500,000 in sales tax to the state from just this one project. Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 12 Joint Appropriations Committee

Gas Separation Process • Copper pipe surrounded by " a water jacket • Gas mixture fills the copper pipe • Electrically heated wire d \ • The lighter molecules are II ::old 'a ll driven toward the hot wire, where they enter the rising convection current and are concentrated near the top of the column • Capable of enriching Ar by a factor of 1000 Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 13 Joint Appropriations Committee

5 column thermal diffusion test bench Currently work is progressing on building an automatic 5 column system. • Understand throughput of enriched Ar Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 14 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research a Little Farther Out Majo rana Ovl3l3 decay Experiment (1-ton) • • Requires crystals grown from Ultra-pure 76Ge 76Ge refined to >99%: From ORNL: $25,000, 000/kg From Russian source: $99,990/kg (If we go get it...) • Wait! That's $99,990,000. 76 Ge is 7. 7% of natural Ge rmane • • There are 53g 76 Ge/ kg Ge0 2 ;"' 19kg to produce 1kg 76 Ge • Ge02 costs"'$1300/kg; "'$24, 700/kg 76Ge • One Ton ne wi ll cost"' $24,700,000 ... for one raw material • "'$5,000,000 annually for five years for the raw materia ls . • By-product is "'12kg GeH 4 depleted of 76 Ge • Curr ent cost of GeH 4: $5500/2. Skg= $26,400 GeH 4 /12kg We could sell $26,400,000 GeH4 generati ng $1,056,000 sales tax revenue • We could sell raw 76Ge to Majorana for $50,000/kg generating $2,000,000 • sales tax revenue Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 15 Joint Appropriations Committee

Research a Little Farther Out USD Experi mental Column • . Wi ll produce data for des i gn of commercial scale unit . Data taki ng will be complete by 1/1/2013 . We expect to learn how to produce large quantit i es of 73Ge , the most commercially desirable of the isotopes . Logical next step in research is a test of the new column design for sca l ab ili ty and through put . • Chillers graduate with Ms Physics May of'13 . Applications to Graduate school due Dec to Febl, Before the Legislature can make a decision . We are not unique Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 16 Joint Appropriations Committee

Summation Su = SP+C ....... . Success= Speed+ Continuity Undiscovered Physics? South Dakotas share depends on quality Students and Highly motivated researchers The Window is Closing Questions? Chiller/Byram University of South Dakota 2/15/2012 17 Joint Appropriations Committee