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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication of GeSn-multiple quantum wells by overgrowth of Sn on Ge by using molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the fabrication and structural characterization of epitaxially grown ultra-thin layers of Sn on Ge virtual substrates (Si buffer layer overgrown by a 50 nm thick Ge epilayer followed by an annealing step). Samples with 1 to 5 monolayers of Sn on Ge virtual substrates were grown using solid source molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by atomic force microscopy. We determined the critical thickness at which the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth occurs. This transition is due to the large lattice mismatch between Ge and Sn (≈14.7%). By depositing Ge on top of Sn layers, which have thicknesses at or just below the critical thickness, we were able to fabricate ultra-narrow GeSn multi-quantum-well structures that are fully embedded in Ge. We report results on samples with one and ten GeSn wells separated by 5 and 10 nm thick Ge spacer layers that were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. We discuss the structure and material intermixing observed in the samples.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Manipulation of electronic property of epitaxial graphene on SiC substrate by Pb intercalation

Manipulating the electronic properties of graphene has been a subject of great interest since it can aid material design to extend the applications of graphene to many different areas. Here, we systematically investigate the effect of lead (Pb) intercalation on the structural and electronic properties of epitaxial graphene on the SiC(0001) substrate. We show that the band structure of Pb-intercalated few-layer graphene can be effectively tuned through changing intercalation conditions, such as coverage, location of Pb, and the initial number of graphene layers. Lead intercalation at the interface between the buffer layer (BL) and the SiC substrate decouples the BL from the substrate and transforms the BL into a p-doped graphene layer. We also show that Pb atoms tend to donate electrons to neighboring layers, leading to an n-doping graphene layer and a small gap in the Dirac cone under a sufficiently high Pb coverage. This paper provides useful guidance for manipulating the electronic properties of graphene layers on the SiC substrate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Strained multilayer structures with pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers

The temperature and composition dependences of the critical thickness of the 2D–3D transition for a GeSiSn film on Si(100) have been studied. The regularities of the formation of multilayer structures with pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers directly on a Si substrate, without relaxed buffer layers, were investigated for the first time. The possibility of forming multilayer structures based on pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers has been shown and the lattice parameters have been determined using transmission electron microscopy. The grown structures demonstrate photoluminescence for Sn contents from 3.5 to 5% in GeSiSn layers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Technical Report

This report highlights of the last 3 years research. Discovery that one-layer (1L) epitaxial graphene plus one carbon interfacial buffer layer (BfL) , both grown by sublimation on SiC(0001), present a stiffness upon indentation similar/larger than bulk diamond and resist to perforation by a diamond indenter. Discovery of an sp 2 - sp 3 phase transformation upon indentation at room temperature of 1L+BfL epitaxial graphene on SiC, the new ultra-hard, ultra-stiff and insulating sp 3 phase was named Diamene . Demonstration of Å-Indentation (ÅI) measurements to measure the stiffness (up to 1 TPa) of ultra-thin (down to 1 atomic layer) films on substrates. First measurement by ÅI of the stiffness of Q-Carbon nano-filaments. Discovery of an oscillatory behavior in friction forces and work function values for even and odd number of layers in polycrystalline MoS 2 films, associated to the oscillatory piezoelectricity of the grains . Demonstration that monolayer MoS 2 can efficiently screen the vdW interaction of the underlying substrate with external systems. Identification of SiC buried terraces and graphene number of layers in a continuous film of epitaxial graphene on SiC by machine learning algorithms. New understanding of defects formation in monolayer MoS 2 . Demonstration of a new method based on thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) for patterning electrodes on 2D materials overcoming EBL limitations . Demonstration of t-SPL for patterning nanoscale magnetic quantum waveguides . New understanding of how charged nanoparticles electrostatically assemble in 1D .

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Study of the influence of ga as a surfactant during the high-temperature ammonia MBE of AlN layers on the properties of nitride heterostructures

The results of growing AlN buffer layers for transistors with a high electron mobility by high-temperature ammonia MBE using Ga as a surfactant are presented. The main parameters affecting the growth and defect formation kinetics are efficient flows of precursors and the surfactant as well as the temperature of the substrate, which limits the surfactant flow because of Ga desorption from the surface. In particular, the addition of the Ga flow equal to the Al flow at a substrate temperature of 1150°C keeps the growth rate constant, changing its kinetics herewith. This approach allows to increase the surface mobility of adatoms and provides a rapid transition to the 2D growth mode. An electron mobility up to 2000 cm{sup 2}/(V s) was achieved for heterostructures with a 2D electron gas grown using a surfactant.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Photoelectric properties of the metamorphic InAs/InGaAs quantum dot structure at room temperature

We present the study of optical and photoelectric properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on a metamorphic In{sub 0.15}Ga{sub 0.85}As buffer layer: such nanostructures show efficient light emission in the telecom window at 1.3 μm (0.95 eV) at room temperature. We prepared a sample with vertical geometry of contacts isolated from the GaAs substrate. The structure is found to be photosensitive in the spectral range above 0.9 eV at room temperature, showing distinctive features in the photovoltage and photocurrent spectra attributed to QDs, InAs wetting layer, and In{sub 0.15}Ga{sub 0.85}As metamorphic buffer, while a drop in the photoelectric signal above 1.36 eV is related to the GaAs layer. No effect of defect centers on the photoelectrical properties is found, although they are observed in the absorption spectrum. We conclude that metamorphic QDs have a low amount of interface-related defects close to the optically active region and charge carriers can be effectively collected into InAs QDs.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

High performance non-volatile ferroelectric copolymer memory based on a ZnO nanowire transistor fabricated on a transparent substrate

A high performance ferroelectric non-volatile memory device based on a top-gate ZnO nanowire (NW) transistor fabricated on a glass substrate is demonstrated. The ZnO NW channel was spin-coated with a poly (vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) layer acting as a top-gate dielectric without buffer layer. Electrical conductance modulation and memory hysteresis are achieved by a gate electric field induced reversible electrical polarization switching of the P(VDF-TrFE) thin film. Furthermore, the fabricated device exhibits a memory window of ∼16.5 V, a high drain current on/off ratio of ∼10{sup 5}, a gate leakage current below ∼300 pA, and excellent retention characteristics for over 10{sup 4} s.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic domain observation of FeCo thin films fabricated by alternate monoatomic layer deposition

FeCo thin films are fabricated by alternate monoatomic layer deposition method on a Cu{sub 3}Au buffer layer, which in-plane lattice constant is very close to the predicted value to obtain a large magnetic anisotropy constant. The variation of the in-plane lattice constant during the deposition process is investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The magnetic domain images are also observed by a photoelectron emission microscope in order to microscopically understand the magnetic structure. As a result, element-specific magnetic domain images show that Fe and Co magnetic moments align parallel. A series of images obtained with various azimuth reveal that the FeCo thin films show fourfold in-plane magnetic anisotropy along 〈110〉 direction, and that the magnetic domain structure is composed only of 90∘ wall.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

A futuristic approach towards interface layer modifications for improved efficiency in inverted organic solar cells

Inverted polymer Solar Cells of the classical poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):(6,6)-phenyl-C{sub 61}butyric acid methyl ester (PC{sub 61}BM) blend on indium tin oxide substrates were fabricated, which shows improved device performance, by using a facile solution–processed ZnO-polyelectrolytes [poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), Poly (acrylic acid sodium salt) (PAS), poly (4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS), and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)] nanocomposite as a cathode interface layer compared to devices using pristine ZnO as cathode buffer layer in ambient conditions. The devices with different combinations of polyelectrolyte with ZnO show different improvements in the device efficiency. The combinations of ZnO with PVP and PDADMAC show highest amount of improvements in the efficiency by a factor of ∼17–19. The improvement of the efficiency may be due to various phenomena, such as the passivation of ZnO surface as well as bulk traps, work function modification, improved energy level alignment, improved electronic coupling of the inorganic/organic interface, improved light harvesting, and decrease of surface as well as bulk charge recombination in the device. The introduction of polyelectrolyte into ZnO inhibits the aggregation of ZnO nanoparticles yielding the large area ZnO nanoclusters; and hence, forming the uniform film of ZnO resulting in the modifications of morphology as well as electronic structure of ZnO-polyelectrolyte nano-composite favouring better electronic coupling between cathode and active layer and hence enhancing the current and, consequently, the efficiency. This simple low temperature ZnO-polyelectrolyte nanocomposite based protocol proposed for cathode interface layer modification may be very much useful for roll to roll industrial manufacturing of organic solar cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Evidence of the metal-insulator transition in ultrathin unstrained V{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films

We report the strain state and transport properties of V{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers and V{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} bilayers deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on (0001)-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. By changing the layer on top of which V{sub 2}O{sub 3} is grown, we change the lattice parameters of ultrathin V{sub 2}O{sub 3} films significantly. We find that the metal-insulator transition is strongly attenuated in ultrathin V{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers grown coherently on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. This is in contrast with ultrathin V{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers grown on Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} buffer layers, where the metal-insulator transition is preserved. Our results provide evidence that the existence of the transition in ultrathin films is closely linked with the lattice deformation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Heteroepitaxy of GaP Nucleation Layers on Si by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The growth of single crystalline GaP nucleation and buffer layers on Si substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy is demonstrated. The use of two different regimes of migration-enhanced epitaxy was studied. It was found that p–n junctions can be created due to the interdiffusion during the growth of GaP layer on p-type Si substrate.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth and characterization of (110) InAs quantum well metamorphic heterostructures

An understanding of the growth of (110) quantum wells (QWs) is of great importance to spin systems due to the observed long spin relaxation times. In this article, we report on the metamorphic growth and characterization of high mobility undoped InAs (110) QWs on GaAs (110) substrates. A low-temperature nucleation layer reduces dislocation density, results in tilting of the subsequent buffer layer and increases the electron mobility of the QW structure. The mobility varies widely and systematically (4000–16 000 cm{sup 2}/Vs at room temperature) with deposition temperature and layer thicknesses. Low-temperature transport measurements exhibit Shubnikov de-Haas oscillations and quantized plateaus in the quantum Hall regime.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Improved film quality of plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition SiO{sub 2} using plasma treatment cycle

Chemical, physical, and electrical characteristics of high quality silicon dioxide (SiO{sub 2}) films grown using low temperature plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) have been investigated as a buffer layer for three dimensional vertical NAND flash memory devices. The comparative angle resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies show the plasma treatment cycle causes to shift the core level binding energy (chemical shifts) in the SiO{sub 2} film. The wet etch rates with respect to plasma treatment cycle times were varied due to curing of the SiO{sub 2} network defects by Ar{sup +} ions and oxygen radicals. It is assumed that the angle between the bonds linking SiO{sub 4} tetrahedra is a critical point understanding the variation in wet etch rate of SiO{sub 2}. The features of wet etch rate of low temperature high quality SiO{sub 2} demonstrated lower than high temperature low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LP-CVD) SiO{sub 2} values. In addition, the better step-coverage compared to that of the LP-CVD SiO{sub 2} film was achieved from the deep trench structure having the 20:1 aspect ratio. PE-ALD SiO{sub 2} with plasma treatment cycle showed excellent I–V properties with higher breakdown voltage compared to LP-CVD SiO{sub 2} and similar to the thermal SiO{sub 2} carrier transport plot.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Improvement of Drain Breakdown Voltage with A Back-Side Gate on AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors

The effect of a back gate on the dc performance of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor was investigated. The back gate was fabricated directly under the device active area by etching off the Si substrate, AlN nucleation layer, and graded AlGaN transition layer and depositing Ni/Au-based gate metal on the exposed GaN buffer layer. The reverse bias gate leakage current decreased from 3.9 × 10 -5 to 1.2 × 10 -5 mA/mm by applying -10 V at the back gate. Because of the suppression of gate leakage current by the back gate, the drain on/off ratio improved from 1.8 × 10 5 to 1.2 × 10 6 and the subthreshold swing from 204 to 137 mV/dec. The drain breakdown voltage could be improved by 40% when the back gate was biased at -25 V.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1994

Non-volatile magnetic random access memory

Improvements are made in a non-volatile magnetic random access memory. Such a memory is comprised of an array of unit cells, each having a Hall-effect sensor and a thin-film magnetic element made of material having an in-plane, uniaxial anisotropy and in-plane, bipolar remanent magnetization states. The Hall-effect sensor is made more sensitive by using a 1 m thick molecular beam epitaxy grown InAs layer on a silicon substrate by employing a GaAs/AlGaAs/InAlAs superlattice buffering layer. One improvement avoids current shunting problems of matrix architecture. Another improvement reduces the required magnetizing current for the micromagnets. Another improvement relates to the use of GaAs technology wherein high electron-mobility GaAs MESFETs provide faster switching times. Still another improvement relates to a method for configuring the invention as a three-dimensional random access memory.

Katti, Romney R.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Direct wafer bonding technology for large-scale InGaAs-on-insulator transistors

Heterogeneous integration of III-V devices on Si wafers have been explored for realizing high device performance as well as merging electrical and photonic applications on the Si platform. Existing methodologies have unavoidable drawbacks such as inferior device quality or high cost in comparison with the current Si-based technology. In this paper, we present InGaAs-on-insulator (-OI) fabrication from an InGaAs layer grown on a Si donor wafer with a III-V buffer layer instead of growth on a InP donor wafer. This technology allows us to yield large wafer size scalability of III-V-OI layers up to the Si wafer size of 300 mm with a high film quality and low cost. The high film quality has been confirmed by Raman and photoluminescence spectra. In addition, the fabricated InGaAs-OI transistors exhibit the high electron mobility of 1700 cm{sup 2}/V s and uniform distribution of the leakage current, indicating high layer quality with low defect density.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Asymmetry of the Defect Structure of Semipolar GaN Grown on Si(001)

The defect structure of a thick (~15 μm) semipolar gallium nitride (GaN) layer grown by hydride–chloride vapor phase epitaxy on a Si(001) substrate with buffer layers has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. The asymmetry of the defect structure of GaN epilayer has been revealed and analyzed. The influence of this asymmetry on the rate of decrease in the density of threading dislocations in the growing epitaxial layer is discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optical spacing effect in organic photovoltaic cells incorporating a dilute acceptor layer

The addition of spacing layers in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) can enhance light absorption by optimizing the spatial distribution of the incident optical field in the multilayer structure. We explore the optical spacing effect in OPVs achieved using a diluted electron acceptor layer of C{sub 60}. While optical spacing is often realized by optimizing buffer layer thickness, we find that optical spacing via dilution leads to cells with similar or enhanced photocurrent. This is observed despite a smaller quantity of absorbing molecules, suggesting a more efficient use of absorbed photons. In fact, dilution is found to concentrate optical absorption near the electron donor-acceptor interface, resulting in a marked increase in the exciton diffusion efficiency. Contrasting the use of changes in thickness to engineer optical absorption, the use of dilution does not significantly alter the overall thickness of the OPV. Optical spacing via dilution is shown to be a viable alternative to more traditional optical spacing techniques and may be especially useful in the continued optimization of next-generation, tandem OPVs where it is important to minimize competition for optical absorption between individual sub-cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗