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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

A Flat Analyzer Polycapillary Spectrometer for X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Dilute Transition Metals at X-ray-Free Electron Lasers

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) coupled with highly intense pulses from an X-ray-free electron laser (XFEL) can be used to track ultrafast chemical dynamics. Nonetheless, measurements for dilute samples (≤1 mM) have been exceptionally challenging, as scattering background signals dominate over the sample’s X-ray fluorescence. We show that femtosecond time-resolved XAS measurements of sub-millimolar transition metal solutions are now possible at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) using a high-throughput polycapillary XAS spectrometer, designed, developed, and commissioned at LCLS and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL). The instrument integrates three polycapillary optics that collect and collimate X-ray fluorescence emitted from the interaction point with a high solid angle. X-ray collimated fluorescence is then selectively diffracted by coupled graphite analyzer crystals. As a result, the contribution of scattered photons is suppressed. Experiments at the Pt L 3 -edge on 0.1 mM aqueous K 2 PtCl 6 (delivered via a 100 μm liquid jet) were successfully performed in the laser pump X-ray probe configuration at the LCLS XCS and XPP instruments. We report the transient spectra of hexachloroplatinate within the first 10 ps after a 266 nm photoexcitation. We observed a short-lived reduced intermediate (≈2 ps). The polycapillary X-ray spectrometer at LCLS now enables the efficient study of the dynamics of ultradilute transition metals in solution. This capability opens the door to investigating plasmonic systems, photocatalysts, enzymes, and other scarce and dilute samples.

LCLS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large-scale 2D heterostructures from hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks and graphene with distinct Dirac and flat bands

The current strategies for building 2D organic-inorganic heterojunctions involve mostly wet-chemistry processes or exfoliation and transfer, leading to interface contaminations, poor crystallizing, or limited size. Here we show a bottom-up procedure to fabricate 2D large-scale heterostructure with clean interface and highly-crystalline sheets. As a prototypical example, a well-ordered hydrogen-bonded organic framework is self-assembled on the highly-oriented-pyrolytic-graphite substrate. The organic framework adopts a honeycomb lattice with faulted/unfaulted halves in a unit cell, resemble to molecular “graphene”. Interestingly, the topmost layer of substrate is self-lifted by organic framework via strong interlayer coupling, to form effectively a floating organic framework/graphene heterostructure. The individual layer of heterostructure inherits its intrinsic property, exhibiting distinct Dirac bands of graphene and narrow bands of organic framework. Our results demonstrate a promising approach to fabricate 2D organic-inorganic heterostructure with large-scale uniformity and highly-crystalline via the self-lifting effect, which is generally applicable to most of van der Waals materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Delocalization of dark and bright excitons in flat-band materials and the optical properties of V2O5

Abstract The simplest picture of excitons in materials with atomic-like localization of electrons is that of Frenkel excitons, where electrons and holes stay close together, which is associated with a large binding energy. Here, using the example of the layered oxide V 2 O 5 , we show how localized charge-transfer excitations combine to form excitons that also have a huge binding energy but, at the same time, a large electron-hole distance, and we explain this seemingly contradictory finding. The anisotropy of the exciton delocalization is determined by the local anisotropy of the structure, whereas the exciton extends orthogonally to the chains formed by the crystal structure. Moreover, we show that the bright exciton goes together with a dark exciton of even larger binding energy and more pronounced anisotropy. These findings are obtained by combining first principles many-body perturbation theory calculations, ellipsometry experiments, and tight binding modelling, leading to very good agreement and a consistent picture. Our explanation is general and can be extended to other materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tuning electrochemically driven surface transformation in atomically flat LaNiO 3 thin films for enhanced water electrolysis

Structure–activity relationships built on descriptors of bulk and bulk-terminated surfaces are the basis for the rational design of electrocatalysts. However, electrochemically driven surface transformations complicate the identification of such descriptors. In this work, we demonstrate how the as-prepared surface composition of (001)-terminated LaNiO 3 epitaxial thin films dictates the surface transformation and the electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction. Specifically, the Ni termination (in the as-prepared state) is considerably more active than the La termination, with overpotential differences of up to 150 mV. A combined electrochemical, spectroscopic and density-functional theory investigation suggests that this activity trend originates from a thermodynamically stable, disordered NiO 2 surface layer that forms during the operation of Ni-terminated surfaces, which is kinetically inaccessible when starting with a La termination. Our work thus demonstrates the tunability of surface transformation pathways by modifying a single atomic layer at the surface and that active surface phases only develop for select as-synthesized surface terminations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hopping frustration-induced flat band and strange metallicity in a kagome metal

The introduction of localized electronic states into a metal can alter its physical properties, for example enabling exotic metal physics including heavy fermion and strange metal behaviour. A common source of localized states in such systems are partially filled 4f and 5f shells because of the inherently compact nature of those orbitals. The interaction of electrons in these orbitals with the conduction sea is well described by the Kondo framework. However, there have also been observations of Kondo-like behaviour in 3d transition metal oxides and in 4d- and 5d-containing van der Waals heterostructures. This calls for a broader consideration of the physical requirements for Kondo systems. Here we show transport and thermodynamic hallmarks of heavy fermion and strange metal behaviour that arise in the kagome metal Ni3In, wherein the source of localized states is destructive interference-induced band flattening of partially filled Ni 3d states. With magnetic field and pressure tuning, here we also find evidence that the system is proximate to quantum criticality, extending the analogy to f-electron Kondo lattices. These observations highlight the role of hopping frustration in metallic systems as a potential source for strong correlations. Additionally, this suggests a lattice-driven approach to realizing correlated metals with non-trivial band topology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigating the Cuprates as a platform for high-order Van Hove singularities and flat-band physics

Abstract Beyond the two-dimensional saddle-point Van Hove singularities (VHSs) with logarithmic divergences in the density of states, recent studies have identified higher-order VHSs with faster-than-logarithmic divergences that can amplify electron correlation effects. Here we show that the cuprate high-Tc superconductors harbor high-order VHSs in their electronic spectra and unveil a new correlation that the cuprates with high-order VHSs display higher T c ’s. Our analysis indicates that the normal and higher-order VHSs can provide a straightforward new marker for identifying propensity of a material toward the occurrence of correlated phases such as the excitonic insulators and supermetals. Our study suggests cuprates and related high-T c superconductors as materials for exploring the interplay between high-order VHSs, superconducting transition temperatures, and electron correlation effects.

Markiewicz, Robert S. (ORCID:0000000207470713)↗