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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Ion-beam-induced damage formation in CdTe

Damage formation in <111>- and <112>-oriented CdTe single crystals irradiated at room temperature and 15 K with 270 keV Ar or 730 keV Sb ions was investigated in situ using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) in channeling configuration. Defect profiles were calculated from the RBS spectra using the computer code DICADA and additional energy-dependent RBS measurements were performed to identify the type of defects. At both temperatures no formation of a buried amorphous layer was detected even after prolonged irradiation with several 10{sup 16} ions/cm{sup 2}. The fact that CdTe is not rendered amorphous even at 15 K suggests that the high resistance to amorphization is caused by the high ionicity of CdTe rather than thermal effects. The calculated defect profiles show the formation of a broad defect distribution that extends much deeper into the crystal than the projected range of the implanted ions at both temperatures. The post-range defects in CdTe thus do not seem to be of thermal origin either, but are instead believed to result from migration driven by the electronic energy loss.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Neutron doping effects in epitaxially laterally overgrown n-GaN

Thermal neutron irradiation and annealing effects were studied for undoped n-GaN prepared by epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG). Electron beam induced current (EBIC) imaging and profiling prior to irradiation showed that the residual donor doping in our ELOG samples was about three times higher in the high-dislocation-density ELOG wing than in the low-dislocation-density ELOG window regions. Irradiation with thermal neutrons and subsequent annealing led to greatly improved doping uniformity, as evidenced by EBIC imaging. The neutron transmutation doping avoids the anisotropy of donor incorporation efficiency for different planes during ELOG and provides a uniform doping environment. Capacitance-voltage profiling on such samples showed the presence of electrically active centers with concentration close to the concentration of Ge donors produced by Ga interaction with thermal neutrons.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Concentration and relaxation depth profiles of In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As/GaAs and GaAs{sub 1-x}P{sub x}/GaAs graded epitaxial films studied by x-ray diffraction

A method is proposed to determine the concentration and relaxation depth profiles in graded epitaxial films from x-ray reciprocal space maps (RSMs). Various approximations in the kinematical x-ray diffraction from epitaxial films with the misfit dislocation density depth profile are developed. We show that a symmetric and an asymmetric RSM, or two asymmetric RSMs, contain enough information to obtain the concentration, relaxation, and lattice tilt depth profiles without any additional assumptions. The proposed approach is applied to In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As/GaAs and GaAs{sub 1-x}P{sub x}/GaAs epitaxial graded films. The reconstructed concentration and dislocation density depth profiles are found to be in an agreement with the ones expected from the growth conditions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dislocation-mediated melting of one-dimensional Rydberg crystals

We consider cold Rydberg atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice in the Mott regime with a single atom per site at zero temperature. An external laser drive with Rabi frequency {Omega} and laser detuning {Delta} creates Rydberg excitations whose dynamics is governed by an effective spin-chain model with (quasi) long-range interactions. This system possesses intrinsically a large degree of frustration resulting in a ground-state phase diagram in the ({Delta},{Omega}) plane with a rich topology. As a function of {Delta}, the Rydberg blockade effect gives rise to a series of crystalline phases commensurate with the optical lattice that form a so-called devil's staircase. The Rabi frequency {Omega}, on the other hand, creates quantum fluctuations that eventually lead to a quantum melting of the crystalline states. Upon increasing {Omega}, we find that generically a commensurate-incommensurate transition to a floating Rydberg crystal that supports gapless phonon excitations occurs first. For even larger {Omega}, dislocations within the floating Rydberg crystal start to proliferate and a second, Kosterlitz-Thouless-Nelson-Halperin-Young dislocation-mediated melting transition finally destroys the crystalline arrangement of Rydberg excitations. This latter melting transition is generic for one-dimensional Rydberg crystals and persists even in the absence of an optical lattice. The floating phase and the concomitant transitions can, in principle, be detected by Bragg scattering of light.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Epitaxial growth and piezoelectric characterization of the (1-x)BiScO{sub 3}-(x)PbTiO{sub 3} ultrathin film

We studied ferroelectric properties of morphotropic phase boundary (1-x)BiScO{sub 3}-(x)PbTiO{sub 3} (BSPT, x = 0.64) epitaxial thin films on SrTiO{sub 3} (001) and Nb:SrTiO{sub 3} (001). BSPT thin films with various thicknesses were deposited using off-axis radio frequency magnetron sputtering. By analyzing x-ray data of BSPT thin films with various thicknesses, we confirmed that films thinner than {approx}22 nm were in a strained state. Films thicker than {approx}22 nm were in a relaxed state because of the strain relaxation mechanism caused by misfit dislocation formation. Clear piezoresponses and polarization reversal phenomena can be observed in the ultrathin limit down to 8 nm through Piezo Force Microscope experiments. The piezoresponse data as a function of thickness correlates with the structural modification of thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Lattice realizations of topological defects in the critical (1+1)-d three-state Potts model

Topological/perfectly-transmissive defects play a fundamental role in the analysis of the symmetries of two dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs). In the present work, spin chain regularizations for these defects are proposed and analyzed in the case of the three-state Potts CFT. In particular, lattice versions for all the primitive defects are presented, with the remaining defects obtained from the fusion of the primitive ones. The defects are obtained by introducing modified interactions around two given sites of an otherwise homogeneous spin chain with periodic boundary condition. The various primitive defects are topological on the lattice except for one, which is topological only in the scaling limit. The lattice models are analyzed using a combination of exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group techniques. Low-lying energy spectra for different defect Hamiltonians as well as entanglement entropy of blocks located symmetrically around the defects are computed. The latter provides a convenient way to compute the g-function which characterizes various defects. Finally, the eigenvalues of the line operators in the “crossed channel” and fusion of different defect lines are also analyzed. The results are all in agreement with expectations from conformal field theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Electronic-grade GaN(0001)/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) grown by reactive DC-magnetron sputter epitaxy using a liquid Ga target

Electronic-grade GaN (0001) epilayers have been grown directly on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) substrates by reactive direct-current-magnetron sputter epitaxy (MSE) using a liquid Ga sputtering target in an Ar/N{sub 2} atmosphere. The as-grown GaN epitaxial films exhibit low threading dislocation density on the order of {<=}10{sup 10} cm{sup -2} determined by transmission electron microscopy and modified Williamson-Hall plot. X-ray rocking curve shows narrow full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1054 arc sec of the 0002 reflection. A sharp 4 K photoluminescence peak at 3.474 eV with a FWHM of 6.3 meV is attributed to intrinsic GaN band edge emission. The high structural and optical qualities indicate that MSE-grown GaN epilayers can be used for fabricating high-performance devices without the need of any buffer layer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Mechanisms of edge-dislocation formation in strained films of zinc blende and diamond cubic semiconductors epitaxially grown on (001)-oriented substrates

Ninety degree edge misfit dislocations (MDs) are 'sessile' dislocations; such dislocations, however, were found in large amounts in relaxed films. The commonly accepted formation mechanism of such dislocations is an interaction of two complementary 60 deg. dislocations with appropriate Burger's vectors, for example: a/2[101] + a/2 [011] = a/2 [110]. In the present study, four possible types of interaction were analyzed: (i) random meeting of two complementary MDs; (ii) crossing of two complementary 60 deg. MDs in the vicinity of film-substrate interface in systems grown on substrates misoriented from exact (001) orientation; (iii) formation of edge MDs during cross-slipping of a secondary MD; and (iv) induced nucleation of a secondary complementary 60 deg. MD. Examples of discussed interactions are given. Contrary to the widespread opinion that edge MDs in GeSi and InGaAs films grown by MBE on Si and GaAs substrates predominantly form under elastic strains greater than 2% and at the final stage of plastic relaxation, in the present study, we show that such dislocations may also form at an early stage of plastic relaxation in films with less-than-1% lattice misfit with substrate. A necessary condition for that is a sufficient amount of 60 deg. dislocations available in the system by the moment the strained film starts growing. Dislocations (60 deg. ) can be introduced into the system using a preliminarily grown, partially or fully relaxed buffer layer. This layer serves as a source of threading dislocations for the next growing layer that favor the formation of paired complementary MDs and their 'reagents', edge MDs, at the interface with growing film.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Sink strength and dislocation bias of three-dimensional microstructures

Irradiation induces significant changes in the microstructure of structural materials, many of which are driven by the preferential capture of point defects at particular sinks, such as dislocations. To quantify the kinetics of defect absorption at sinks, theoretical models of radiation damage generally rely on the concept of sink strength. However, analytical approaches to estimating the sink strength of dislocations rely, in turn, on a series of geometrical assumptions, idealizing the dislocation network as a series of infinite straight dislocations or isolated loops, often with artificial boundary conditions. In this paper, we use a recently developed technique to quantify point defect capture in three-dimensional dislocation networks. We integrate this technique with discrete dislocation dynamics to analyze the sink strengths of realistic dislocation microstructures consisting of a mixture of edge, screw, and junction segments, complete with an accurate description of the strain fields these microstructures produce and the resultant energetic interactions experienced by point defects. Furthermore, we show that the effective kinetics for absorbing point defects can vary significantly with the arrangement of the microstructure with a strong dependence on the structure and character of its dislocation content and introduce a surrogate model for sink strength which incorporates these effects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Characterization of high-quality kerfless epitaxial silicon for solar cells: Defect sources and impact on minority-carrier lifetime

We investigate the types and origins of structural defects in thin (<100 μm) kerfless epitaxial single crystal silicon grown on top of reorganized porous silicon layers. Although the structural defect density is low (has average defect density < 10 4 cm -2 ), localized areas with a defect density > 10 5 cm -2 are observed. Cross-sectional and systematic plan-view defect etching and microscopy reveals that the majority of stacking faults and dislocations originate at the interface between the porous silicon layer and the epitaxial wafer. Localised dislocation clusters are observed in regions of collapsed/deformed porous silicon and at decorated stacking faults. In localized regions of high extended defect density, increased minority-carrier recombination activity is observed. Evidence for impurity segregation to the extended defects (internal gettering), which is known to exacerbate carrier recombination is demonstrated. In conclusion, the impact of the defects on material performance and substrate re-use is also discussed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Revealing origin of quasi-one dimensional current transport in defect rich two dimensional materials

The presence of defects in graphene have for a long time been recognized as a bottleneck for its utilization in electronic and mechanical devices. We recently showed that micro four-point probes may be used to evaluate if a graphene film is truly 2D or if defects in proximity of the probe will lead to a non-uniform current flow characteristic of lower dimensionality. In this work, simulations based on a finite element method together with a Monte Carlo approach are used to establish the transition from 2D to quasi-1D current transport, when applying a micro four-point probe to measure on 2D conductors with an increasing amount of line-shaped defects. Clear 2D and 1D signatures are observed at low and high defect densities, respectively, and current density plots reveal the presence of current channels or branches in defect configurations yielding 1D current transport. A strong correlation is found between the density filling factor and the simulation yield, the fraction of cases with 1D transport and the mean sheet conductance. The upper transition limit is shown to agree with the percolation threshold for sticks. Finally, the conductance of a square sample evaluated with macroscopic edge contacts is compared to the micro four-point probe conductance measurements and we find that the micro four-point probe tends to measure a slightly higher conductance in samples containing defects.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Phonon scattering effects from point and extended defects on thermal conductivity studied via ion irradiation of crystals with self-impurities

Fundamental theories predict that reductions in thermal conductivity from point and extended defects can arise due to phonon scattering with localized strain fields. In this paper, to experimentally determine how these strain fields impact phonon scattering mechanisms, we employ ion irradiation as a controlled means of introducing strain and assorted defects into the lattice. In particular, we observe the reduction in thermal conductivity of intrinsic natural silicon after self-irradiation with two different silicon isotopes, $^{28}\mathrm{Si}^{+}$ and $^{29}\mathrm{Si}^{+}$. Irradiating with an isotope with a nearly identical atomic mass as the majority of the host lattice produces a damage profile lacking mass impurities and allows us to assess the role of phonon scattering with local strain fields on the thermal conductivity. Our results demonstrate that point defects will decrease the thermal conductivity more so than spatially extended defect structures assuming the same volumetric defect concentrations due to the larger strain per defect that arises in spatially separated point defects. Finally, with thermal conductivity models using density functional theory, we show that for a given defect concentration, the type of defect (i.e., point vs extended) plays a negligible role in reducing the thermal conductivity compared to the strain per defect in a given volume.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Electron Screening in Metals

Electron screening enhances cross sections for nuclear reactions at low energies. We have studied the {sup 1}H({sup 7}Li,{alpha}){sup 4}He reaction in inverse kinematics and observed large electron screening only when the metallic targets were under tensile stress. Hydrogen was loaded into Pd and PdAg alloy foils from gas phase and concentrations reached about 0.6 protons per metallic atom. Mechanical pressure creates stress induced states in the metal. Without pressure hydrogen occupies octahedral interstitial positions in the fcc Pd lattice. Under stress some protons move to dislocated octahedral (dis-O) sites in the lattice. We believe that the magnitude of screening in various metals depends on the electron density on dis-O sites in case of fcc lattices or dislocated tetrahedral sites in bcc metals. We are currently trying to confirm the above by determining the electron density at the sites occupied by protons via the measurement of proton Knight's shift with {sup 1}H nuclear magnetic resonance technique.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Generalized global symmetries

A q-form global symmetry is a global symmetry for which the charged operators are of space-time dimension q; e.g. Wilson lines, surface defects, etc., and the charged excitations have q spatial dimensions; e.g. strings, membranes, etc. Many of the properties of ordinary global symmetries (q = 0) apply here. They lead to Ward identities and hence to selection rules on amplitudes. Such global symmetries can be coupled to classical background fields and they can be gauged by summing over these classical fields. These generalized global symmetries can be spontaneously broken (either completely or to a sub-group). They can also have ’t Hooft anomalies, which prevent us from gauging them, but lead to ’t Hooft anomaly matching conditions. Such anomalies can also lead to anomaly inflow on various defects and exotic Symmetry Protected Topological phases. In conclusion, our analysis of these symmetries gives a new unified perspective of many known phenomena and uncovers new results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Reduced dislocation density in Ga x In 1–x P compositionally graded buffer layers through engineered glide plane switch

In this work we develop control over dislocation glide dynamics in Ga x In 1-x P compositionally graded buffer layers (CGBs) through control of CuPt ordering on the group-III sublattice. The ordered structure is metastable in the bulk, so any glissile dislocation that disrupts the ordered pattern will release stored energy, and experience an increased glide force. Here we show how this connection between atomic ordering and dislocation glide force can be exploited to control the threading dislocation density (TDD) in Ga x In 1-x P CGBs. When ordered Ga x In 1-x P is graded from the GaAs lattice constant to InP, the order parameter ..eta.. decreases as x decreases, and dislocation glide switches from one set of glide planes to the other. This glide plane switch (GPS) is accompanied by the nucleation of dislocations on the new glide plane, which typically leads to increased TDD. We develop control of the GPS position within a Ga x In 1-x P CGB through manipulation of deposition temperature, surfactant concentration, and strain-grading rate. We demonstrate a two-stage Ga x In 1-x P CGB from GaAs to InP with sufficiently low TDD for high performance devices, such as the 4-junction inverted metamorphic multi-junction solar cell, achieved through careful control the GPS position. Here, experimental results are analyzed within the context of a model that considers the force balance on dislocations on the two competing glide planes as a function of the degree of ordering.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Linear Complexions: Metastable Phase Formation and Coexistence at Dislocations

The unique three-phase coexistence of metastable B2–FeNi with stable L1 0 –FeNi and L1 2 –FeNi 3 is discovered near edge dislocations in body-centered cubic Fe-Ni alloys using atomistic simulations. Stable nanoscale precipitate arrays, formed along the compression side of dislocation lines and defined as linear complexions, were observed for a wide range of compositions and temperatures. Here, by analyzing the thermodynamics associated with these phase transitions, we are able to explain the metastable phase formation and coexistence, in the process defining new research avenues for theoretical and experimental investigations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Avalanche statistics and the intermittent-to-smooth transition in microplasticity

Plastic flow at small scales is generally observed to be intermittent, whereas the stress-strain behavior of bulk crystals is mostly smooth. Here we find that when the external deformation rate of small-scale crystals approaches the speed of the crystallographic slip velocity, an intermittent-to-smooth transition of plastic flow is observed. By defining a rate-dependent intermittency parameter, this phenomenon can be captured with a power law covering 5.5 orders of magnitude for Au and Nb micron-sized single crystals with experiments and via simulations for Nb crystals. Here, our results indicate that the transition to smooth flow is driven by a gradual truncation of the underlying truncated power law that describes the intermittently evolving system. This is caused by a competition of internal and external rates, which aligns with the well-known transitions from serrated to nonserrated flow in metallic glasses or materials with dynamic strain aging.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗