The Qualification Alternatives to the Sandia Pulsed Reactor (QASPR) program is aimed at developing a combined system of experiments and science-based simulations that will replace qualification tests previously performed using the Sandia Pulsed Reactor (SPR). We present an overview of the Modeling and Simulation component of the QASPR program, which consists of a hierarchy of simulation codes bridging from first-principles electronic structure calculations to circuit models. The application of this hierarchy of codes is enabled by massive utilization of capacity computing resources including 9 million node-hours of usage over the past two years. We focus on scientific progress resulting from QASPR including the characterization of energetic collision cascades in silicon using molecular dynamics, state-of-the-art density functional theory calculations for defect electronic levels and diffusion rates, and an investigation of the effects of spatially non-random defect distributions on carrier recombination.
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.