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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

Exoelectronic emission of particles of lunar surface material

A secondary electron multiplier was used to study the thermostimulated exoelectronic emission of particles of lunar surface material returned by the Soviet Luna 16 automatic station. The natural exoemission from fragments of slag, glass, anorthosite, and a metallic particle was recorded in the isochronic and isothermal thermostimulation regimes. The temperature of emission onset depended on the type of regolith fragment. For the first three particles the isothermal drop in emission is described by first-order kinetic equations. For the anorthosite fragment, exoemission at constant temperature is characterized by a symmetric curve with a maximum. These data indicate the presence of active surface defects, whose nature can be due to the prehistory of the particles.

Mints, R. I.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Laser annealing of ion implanted CZ silicon for solar cell junction formation

The merits of large spot size pulsed laser annealing of phosphorus implanted, Czochralski grown silicon for function formation of solar cells are evaluated. The feasibility and requirements are also determined to scale-up a laser system to anneal 7.62 cm diameter wafers at a rate of one wafer/second. Results show that laser annealing yields active, defect-free, shallow junction devices. Functional cells with AM 1 conversion efficiencies up to 15.4% for 2 x 2 cm and 2 x 4 cm sizes were attained. For larger cells, 7.62 cm dia., conversion efficiencies ranged up to 14.5%. Experiments showed that texture etched surfaces are not compatible with pulsed laser annealing due to the surface melting caused by the laser energy. When compared with furnace annealed cells, the laser annealed cells generally exhibited conversion efficiencies which were equal to or better than those furnace annealed. In addition, laser annealing has greater throughput potential.

Katzeff, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Laser processing of silicon solar cells

Results of a study to utilize an Nd:glass laser for production line annealing of ion implantation induced damage in solar cells are reported. Czochralski-grown and sawn Si wafers 7.6 cm in diam, 0.35 mm thick, were implanted with phosphorus junctions and boron BSFs. Annealing with electron beam, laser, and firing of an Al paste to form the BSFs in different cells was compared. The laser was employed at 1.06 and 0.53 micron and in combination of both, with a 20-50 nsec pulsewidth, and energy densities of 1.2, 1.5, 1.9, and 2.1 J/sq cm. Best optical coupling was observed with the combined wavelengths and a 20 nsec pulse, using energy densities less than 1.5 J/sq cm. Although the Al sintered cells displayed the best characteristics, laser annealing is concluded to offer electrically active, defect-free, shallow junction Si substrates for high efficiency cells.

Katzeff, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Mode of incorporation of phosphorus in Hg(0.8)Cd(0.2)Te

Selim and Kroeger (1977) have studied the mode of incorporation of phosphorus in CdTe. According to their findings, phosphorus behaves amphoterically in CdTe acting as an acceptor interstitially and on Te lattice sites, and as a triple donor on Cd lattice sites. The present investigation is concerned with the role of phosphorus in Hg(0.8)Cd(0.2)Te, taking into account Hall-effect and mobility measurements on phosphorus-doped crystals quenched from a temperature in the range from 450 to 600 C subsequent to anneals in different partial pressures of Hg. It is found that the behavior of phosphorus in Hg(0.8)Cd(0.2)Te is similar to that established for CdTe, except that all the electrically active phosphorus defect centers in Hg(0.8)Cd(0.2)Te appear to be only singly ionized. At low Hg pressure, phosphorus is incorporated as a single donor occupying Hg lattice sites, and at high Hg pressure, as a single acceptor on interstitial sites and Te lattice sites.

Vydyanath, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Development and Characterization of Lightweight Durable Composite Conductor for Cables

Sustainable aviation in the form of electrified propulsion is likely to lead to an increase in the electrical assets contained within a single aircraft. As a result, it is desirable to design light weight conductor materials, thus reducing the payload of components like motor windings, low voltage signal cables, and transmission cables for data and power. One approach involves replacing pure Cu wiring with metalized CNT composites. This paper evaluates a framework for modeling overall conductivity and current sharing within such composites. Processing methods and parameters were refined. Select electroplated samples outperformed pure Cu in conductivity and had comparable ultimate tensile strengths. Tensile strengths are expected to improve with an additional densification step during processing. Acoustic emission data was used to predict the failure mechanism of the composite. Theories explaining improved intrinsic conductivity are discussed, with a focus on chemical and mechanical interactions at the Cu-CNT interface. These include Cu infiltration of CNT crevices, CNT oxidation, activity at defects in CNT walls, and the release of carbide-forming metals from CNT walls. Validating any or all these theories will require further work replicating data, collecting electron micrographs and conducting chemical analyses.

Metalized CNT↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Role of NDE and In-Situ Process Monitoring in Managing Risk of AM Space Hardware

The recently published NASA-STD-6030 defines the Additive Manufacturing (AM) Requirements for Spaceflight Systems. Key aspects of the certification approach include the development of a qualified material process (QMP) and material characterization determined by part classification. Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of the full surface and volume is required for all part classifications except those with negligible risk. NASA is exploring the use of in-process monitoring data to improve risk posture and supplement post-build inspection for complex parts. Currently, the most challenging obstacle to overcome is linking the indications in the monitoring data to the physics of the process and the final material state of the finished part. NASA is undertaking studies to understand and quantify this relationship for various monitoring methods. The desired goal is to develop a protocol to establish this correlation for any monitoring method. Once this correlation is known, the critical defect size can be linked to a representative indication in the monitoring data, and the capability of the monitoring system can be tested using the 90/95 probability of detection requirement for NDE methods. This would enable the use of in-process monitoring as a defect screening activity for AM part certification. Many high-criticality components built with AM have high complexity and therefore limited inspectability, so using in-process monitoring can help address this certification gap. The use of adaptive, closed-loop monitoring systems that alter the locked process will require a new approach to the QMP.

additive manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Role of NDE and In-Situ Process Monitoring in Managing Risk of AM Space Hardware

The recently published NASA-STD-6030 defines the Additive Manufacturing (AM) Requirements for Spaceflight Systems. Key aspects of the certification approach include the development of a qualified material process (QMP) and material characterization determined by part classification. Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of the full surface and volume is required for all part classifications except those with negligible risk. NASA is exploring the use of in-process monitoring data to improve risk posture and supplement post-build inspection for complex parts. Currently, the most challenging obstacle to overcome is linking the indications in the monitoring data to the physics of the process and the final material state of the finished part. NASA is undertaking studies to understand and quantify this relationship for various monitoring methods. The desired goal is to develop a protocol to establish this correlation for any monitoring method. Once this correlation is known, the critical defect size can be linked to a representative indication in the monitoring data, and the capability of the monitoring system can be tested using the 90/95 probability of detection requirement for NDE methods. This would enable the use of in-process monitoring as a defect screening activity for AM part certification. Many high-criticality components built with AM have high complexity and therefore limited inspectability, so using in-process monitoring can help address this certification gap. The use of adaptive, closed-loop monitoring systems that alter the locked process will require a new approach to the QMP.

advanced manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Investigating the Ability of Plastic Current Collectors to Isolate Internal Shorts

Metallized plastic current collectors in Li-ion cells reduce mass and reduce the internal short circuit hazard compared to aluminum and copper foils. Shorts induced by nail and by our internal short circuit device were performed on control 18650 cells and on cells with the collectors replaced with metallized polyester and aramid films. Tests were performed inside our fractional thermal runaway calorimeter to quantify the heat transferred and its distributions and those runs done at a synchrotron yielded fascinating very high speedX-ray videography. These show tolerance to nail penetration and activation of defect internal shorts and when thermally forced into thermal runaway, the heat output is significantly reduced. Very high resolutionCT scans, cross sections, and cell tear downs give insights into the thermal and mechanism for these plastic collectors.

Plastic Current Collectors↗
NASA NTRS1984

Stress studies in EFG

Electrical characterization of defects induced in FZ and CZ silicon stress in four-point bending above 1200 C was started. Techniques to study electrical activity that will permit correlation of defect activity with diffusion length and with room and low temperature EBIC are being developed. Preliminary characterization of defects in ribbon grown at very low speeds of less than 1 cm/min shows that the dislocation density is very low over significant regions of cross section, while regions of high dislocation density (approx. 5 x 10(6)/cm(2)) occur in bands in a number of places. Addition measurements of stress distributions in EFG material were obtained at the University of Illinois using shadow-Moire interferometry.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Simulation of Oxidative Etch Pit Formation and Growth on FiberForm

Erosion of carbon surfaces due to oxidation does not occur uniformly but through the formation of localized etch pits because of active surface sites. These active sites are formed due to the presence of atomic defects on the carbon surface and have much higher reactivity compared to average non-defective sites. Thus, these active sites are the first to react during ablation, resulting in their removal. This causes all the neighboring atoms to be defective, and increasing their reactivity, thus leading to localized carbon removal around these “active” sites. In this manner, these highly reactive defects serve as nucleation sites for the formation and growth of etch pits, with detrimental effects on the structural integrity. In order to understand the influence of these etch pits on the material properties of carbon fiber microstructures, we have developed a new capability within direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to capture the etch pit formation process. This capability is developed within the DSMC code SPARTA (Stochastic PArallel Rarefied-gas Time-accurate Analyzer) and can model the material removal in the presence of active sites leading to the formation of etch pits. The focus of the current work will be to study the effect of etch pits on the material properties of FiberForm, the precursor substrate of the PICA Thermal Protection System (TPS) material. The microstructure of virgin FiberForm obtained directly from X-ray microtomography scans is used within SPARTA to obtain the ablated geometries with etch pits. These pitted microstructures are then imported into the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software and various material properties such as thermal conductivity, elasticity, and permeability are computed. The variation of these properties because of the complex evolution of the surface topology due to the formation of etch pits is studied and analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of pitting is compared to the case of uniform radial shrinking of fibers, which has been the standard for modelling ablation of carbon structures, and significant differences are observed. Thus, a physically realistic model of material removal through the formation of etch pits will be helpful in predicting the degradation of carbon-based TPS more accurately during oxidation; as well as other mechanisms such as spallation, which involves the removal of chunks of material into the flow due to the growth of etch pits. This will ultimately improve our understanding of the failure modes in these materials due to ablation.

DSMC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Simulation of Oxidative Etch Pit Formation and Growth on FiberForm

Erosion of carbon surfaces due to oxidation does not occur uniformly but through the formation of localized etch pits because of active surface sites. These active sites are formed due to the presence of atomic defects on the carbon surface and have much higher reactivity compared to average non-defective sites. Thus, these active sites are the first to react during ablation, resulting in their removal. This causes all the neighboring atoms to be defective, and increasing their reactivity, thus leading to localized carbon removal around these “active” sites. In this manner, these highly reactive defects serve as nucleation sites for the formation and growth of etch pits, with detrimental effects on the structural integrity. In order to understand the influence of these etch pits on the material properties of carbon fiber microstructures, we have developed a new capability within direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to capture the etch pit formation process. This capability is developed within the DSMC code SPARTA (Stochastic PArallel Rarefied-gas Time-accurate Analyzer) and can model the material removal in the presence of active sites leading to the formation of etch pits. The focus of the current work will be to study the effect of etch pits on the material properties of FiberForm, the precursor substrate of the PICA Thermal Protection System (TPS) material. The microstructure of virgin FiberForm obtained directly from X-ray microtomography scans is used within SPARTA to obtain the ablated geometries with etch pits. These pitted microstructures are then imported into the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software and various material properties such as thermal conductivity, elasticity, and permeability are computed. The variation of these properties because of the complex evolution of the surface topology due to the formation of etch pits is studied and analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of pitting is compared to the case of uniform radial shrinking of fibers, which has been the standard for modelling ablation of carbon structures, and significant differences are observed. Thus, a physically realistic model of material removal through the formation of etch pits will be helpful in predicting the degradation of carbon-based TPS more accurately during oxidation; as well as other mechanisms such as spallation, which involves the removal of chunks of material into the flow due to the growth of etch pits. This will ultimately improve our understanding of the failure modes in these materials due to ablation.

DSMC↗
NASA NTRS1978

The impact of defects on the photovoltaic potential of RTR silicon ribbon

Silicon ribbon grown at a high rate by the ribbon-to-ribbon (RTR) method contains a variety of defects and can exhibit an unusual dendritic morphology. This paper is a study of the effect of the defect structure and dendritic morphology on the photovoltaic potential of RTR ribbon. Defects found in RTR ribbon include grain boundaries, twin planes, stacking faults and dislocations. The electrical activity of these defects is investigated by measuring the diffusion length in the ribbon; by fabricating small area diodes on the ribbon and evaluating their photoresponse; and by using a scanning electron microscope in the electron beam induced current mode. It is concluded that although grain boundaries serve very effectively as recombination centers, they do not occur frequently enough in RTR ribbons to significantly affect the generation current. Dislocation densities up to 1,000,000/sq cm can be tolerated without strongly reducing the photoresponse. Similarly, linear boundaries such as twin planes or stacking faults do not affect the cell performance up to densities of 1000/sq cm.

Baghdadi, A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Computational Study of Oxidative Etch Pitting in FiberForm and the Effect on Its Material Properties

Erosion of carbon due to oxidation does not occur uniformly but through the formation of localized etch pits because of active surface sites. These active sites are formed due to the presence of atomic defects on the carbon surface, and have much higher reactivity compared to average non-defective sites. Thus, these active sites are first to react during ablation, resulting in their removal. This causes all the neighboring atoms to be defective and increase their reactivity, thus leading to the localized carbon removal around these “active” sites. In this manner, these highly reactive defective sites serve as nucleation sites for the formation and growth of etch pits with potentially detrimental effects on the structural integrity. In order to understand the influence of these etch pits on the material properties of carbon fiber microstructures, we have developed a new capability within direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to capture the etch pit formation process. This capability is developed within the DSMC code SPARTA (Stochastic PArallel Rarefied-gas Time-accurate Analyzer) and can model the material removal in presence of active sites leading to the formation of etch pits. The focus of the current work will be to study the effect of etch pits on the material properties of FiberForm, a commonly used base material within many thermal protection system materials (TPS). The microstructure of virgin FiberForm obtained directly from X-ray microtomography experiments is used within SPARTA to obtain the ablated geometries with etch pits. These pitted microstructures are then imported within the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software and various material properties such as elasticity, thermal conductivity, and permeability are computed. The variation of these properties as a result of the complex evolution of the surface topology due to etch pit formation is studied and analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of pitting is compared to the case of shrinking fibers, which has been the standard for modelling ablation of carbon structures; and significant differences are observed. Thus, such a physically realistic modeling of material removal through the formation of etch pits will be helpful in predicting the degradation of carbon-based TPS more accurately during oxidation; as well as other mechanisms such as spallation, which involves the removal of chunks of material into the flow due to etch pit growth. This will ultimately improve our understanding of the failure modes in these materials due to ablation.

Carbon Ablators↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Computational Study of Oxidative Etch Pitting in FiberForm and the Effect on Its Material Properties

Erosion of carbon due to oxidation does not occur uniformly but through the formation of localized etch pits because of active surface sites. These active sites are formed due to the presence of atomic defects on the carbon surface, and have much higher reactivity compared to average non-defective sites. Thus, these active sites are first to react during ablation, resulting in their removal. This causes all the neighboring atoms to be defective and increase their reactivity, thus leading to the localized carbon removal around these “active” sites. In this manner, these highly reactive defective sites serve as nucleation sites for the formation and growth of etch pits with potentially detrimental effects on the structural integrity. In order to understand the influence of these etch pits on the material properties of carbon fiber microstructures, we have developed a new capability within direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) to capture the etch pit formation process. This capability is developed within the DSMC code SPARTA (Stochastic PArallel Rarefied-gas Time-accurate Analyzer) and can model the material removal in presence of active sites leading to the formation of etch pits. The focus of the current work will be to study the effect of etch pits on the material properties of FiberForm, a commonly used base material within many thermal protection system materials (TPS). The microstructure of virgin FiberForm obtained directly from X-ray microtomography experiments is used within SPARTA to obtain the ablated geometries with etch pits. These pitted microstructures are then imported within the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software and various material properties such as elasticity, thermal conductivity, and permeability are computed. The variation of these properties as a result of the complex evolution of the surface topology due to etch pit formation is studied and analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of pitting is compared to the case of shrinking fibers, which has been the standard for modelling ablation of carbon structures; and significant differences are observed. Thus, such a physically realistic modeling of material removal through the formation of etch pits will be helpful in predicting the degradation of carbon-based TPS more accurately during oxidation; as well as other mechanisms such as spallation, which involves the removal of chunks of material into the flow due to etch pit growth. This will ultimately improve our understanding of the failure modes in these materials due to ablation.

Carbon Ablators↗
NASA NTRS1980

Defect structure of web silicon ribbon

The results of a preliminary study of two dendritic web samples are presented. The structure and electrical activity of the defects in the silicon webs were studied. Optical microscopy of chemically etched specimens was used to determine dislocation densities. Samples were mechanically polished, then Secco etched for approximately 5 minutes. High voltage transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize the crystallographic nature of the defects.

Cunningham, B.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Full Life-Cycle Defect Management Assessment: Initial Inspection Data Collection Results and Research Questions for Further Study

It is often the case in software projects that when schedule and budget resources are limited, the Verification and Validation (V&V) activities suffer. Fewer V&V activities can be afforded and moreover, short-term challenges can result in V&V activities being scaled back or dropped altogether. As a result, too often the default solution is to save activities for improving software quality until too late in the life-cycle, relying on late-term code inspections followed by thorough testing activities to reduce defect counts to acceptable levels. As many project managers realize, however, this is a resource-intensive way of achieving the required quality for software. The Full Life-cycle Defect Management Assessment Initiative, funded by NASA s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance under the Software Assurance Research Program, aims to address these problems by: Improving the effectiveness of early life-cycle V&V activities to make their benefits more attractive to team leads. Specifically, we focus on software inspection, a proven method that can be applied to any software work product, long before executable code has been developed; Better communicating this effectiveness to software development teams, along with suggestions for parameters to improve in the future to increase effectiveness; Analyzing the impact of early life-cycle V&V on the effectiveness and cost required for late life-cycle V&V activities, such as testing, in order to make the tradeoffs more apparent. This white paper reports on an initial milestone in this work, the development of a preliminary model of inspection effectiveness across multiple NASA Centers. This model contributes toward reaching our project goals by: Allowing an examination of inspection parameters, across different types of projects and different work products, for an analysis of factors that impact defect detection effectiveness. Allowing a comparison of this NASA-specific model to existing recommendations in the literature regarding how to plan effective inspections. Forming a baseline model which can be extended to incorporate factors describing: the numbers and types of defects that are missed by inspections; how such defects flow downstream through software development phases; how effectively they can be caught by testing activities in the late stages of development. The model has been implemented in a prototype web-enabled decision-support tool which allows developers to enter their inspection data and receive feedback based on a comparison against the model. The tool also allows users to access reusable materials (such as checklists) from projects included in the baseline. Both the tool itself and the model underlying it will continue to be extended throughout the remainder of this initiative. As results of analyzing inspection effectiveness for defect containment are determined, they can be shared via the tool and also via updates to existing training courses on metrics and software inspections. Moreover, the tool will help satisfy key CMMI requirements for the NASA Centers, as it will enable NASA to take a global view across peer review results for various types of projects to identify systemic problems. This analysis can result in continuous improvements to the approach to verification.

Shull, Forrest↗
NASA NTRS1995

Hydrogen Passivation of N(+)P and P(+)N Heteroepitaxial InP Solar Cell Structures

Dislocations and related point defect complexes caused by lattice mismatch currently limit the performance of heteroepitaxial InP cells by introducing shunting paths across the active junction and by the formation of deep traps within the base region. We have previously demonstrated that plasma hydrogenation is an effective and stable means to passivate the electrical activity of such defects in specially designed heteroepitaxial InP test structures to probe hydrogen passivation at typical base depths within a cell structure. In this work, we present our results on the hydrogen passivation of actual heteroepitaxial n(+)p and p(+)n InP cell structures grown on GaAs substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We have found that a 2 hour exposure to a 13.56 MHz hydrogen plasma at 275 C reduces the deep level concentration in the base regions of both n(+)p and p(+)n heteroepitaxial InP cell structures from as-grown values of 5 - 7 x 10(exp 14)/cc, down to 3 - 5 x 10(exp 12)/cc. All dopants were successfully reactivated by a 400 C, 5 minute anneal With no detectable activation of deep levels. I-V analysis indicated a subsequent approx. 100 fold decrease In reverse leakage current at -1 volt reverse bias, and an improved built in voltage for the p(+)n structures. ln addition to being passivated,dislocations are also shown to participate in secondary interactions during hydrogenation. We find that the presence of dislocations enhances hydrogen diffusion into the cell structure, and lowers the apparent dissociation energy of Zn-H complexes from 1.19 eV for homoepitaxial Zn-doped InP to 1.12 eV for heteroepitaxial Zn-doped InP. This is explained by additional hydrogen trapping at dislocations subsequent to the reactivation of Zn dopants after hydrogenation.

Chatterjee, B.↗