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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Effects of N-Doping on Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a widely preferred material within many industries due to its favorable properties, most notably its low electrical resistivity at high temperatures, excellent thermal conductivity, and sturdy mechanical properties. Doping, particularly n-type doping, is shown to extremely reduce electrical resistivity, but due to structural changes within the lattice caused by interaction with thermal neutrons, it is possible that other attributes of SiC may also be affected. In addition to review of past literature and data, four-point probe testing, scanning electron microscopy, nanoindentation, strength tests, differential scanning calorimetry and laser flash analysis were used to investigate the effects of n-doping 3C ß-phase SiC. According to temperature dependent measurements, electric resistivity and thermal conductivity both declined as dopant levels increases. Dopant levels are shown to have a significant effect on the mechanical performance of SiC, with the highest dopant levels (4 x 1018 cm-3) providing a 40% decrease in elastic modulus from 420 GPa to 258 GPa and a 30% decrease in hardness from 40 GPa to 27.7 GPa. These values are still above average and doped SiC may prove valuable for nuclear applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Facile and scalable dry surface doping technique to enhance the electrochemical performance of LiNi 0.64 Mn 0.2 Co 0.16 O 2 cathode materials

Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) is one of the dominant cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. In this study a simple, efficient and scalable surface doping technique is successfully demonstrated, which can be readily used in mass production of cathode materials. For the first time neodymium oxide (Nd 2 O 3 ) has been employed as the surface doping agent. The Nd-doped NMC shows greatly improved cycling and rate performance, and the enhanced cycling stability has been demonstrated in full pouch cells, with a 17.5% increase in capacity retention after 300 cycles. Fewer cracks have been observed in the doped NMC after cycling, and in situ X-ray diffraction reveals the suppressed lattice collapse by Nd doping. Greatly suppressed surface phase change has been confirmed by HR-TEM and EELS. The result suggests great promise in using this dry doping technique to enhance the electrochemical performance of NMC cathodes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Open-Shell Donor–Acceptor Conjugated Polymers with High Electrical Conductivity

Conductive polymers largely derive their electronic functionality from chemical doping, processes by which redox and charge-transfer reactions form mobile carriers. While decades of research have demonstrated fundamentally new technologies that merge the unique functionality of these materials with the chemical versatility of macromolecules, doping and the resultant material properties are not ideal for many applications. Here, it is demonstrated that open-shell conjugated polymers comprised of alternating cyclopentadithiophene and thiadiazoloquinoxaline units can achieve high electrical conductivities in their native “undoped” form. Spectroscopic, electrochemical, electron paramagnetic resonance, and magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate that this donor–acceptor architecture promotes very narrow bandgaps, strong electronic correlations, high-spin ground states, and long-range π-delocalization. A comparative study of structural variants and processing methodologies demonstrates that the conductivity can be tuned up to 8.18 S cm -1 . This exceeds other neutral narrow bandgap conjugated polymers, many doped polymers, radical conductors, and is comparable to commercial grades of poly(styrene-sulfonate)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). X-ray and morphological studies trace the high conductivity to rigid backbone conformations emanating from strong π-interactions and long-range ordered structures formed through self-organization that lead to a network of delocalized open-shell sites in electronic communication. The results offer a new platform for the transport of charge in molecular systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Moderate active Fe 3+ doping enables improved cationic and anionic redox reactions for wide-voltage-range sodium storage

Layered metal oxides are promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high theoretical specific capacity and wide Na + diffusion channels. However, the irreversible phase transitions and cationic/anionic redoxes cause fast capacity decay. Herein, P2-type Na 0.67 Mg 0.1 Mn 0.8 Fe 0.1 O 2 (NMMF-1) cathode material with moderate active Fe 3+ doping has been designed for sodium storage. Uneven Mn 3+ /Mn 4+ distribution is observed in NMMF-1 and the introduction of Fe 3+ is beneficial for reducing the Mn 3+ contents both at the surface and in the bulk to alleviate the Jahn–Teller effect. The moderate Fe 3+ /Fe 4+ redox can realize the best tradeoff between capacity and cyclability. Therefore, the NMMF-1 demonstrates a high capacity (174.7 mAh g -1 at 20 mA g -1 ) and improved cyclability (78.5% over 100 cycles) in a wide-voltage range of 1.5–4.5 V (vs. Na + /Na). In-situ X-ray diffraction reveals a complete solid-solution reaction with a small volume change of 1.7% during charge/discharge processes and the charge compensation is disclosed in detail. This study will provide new insights into designing high-capacity and stable layered oxide cathode materials for SIBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cu- and Zn-doped alkali activated mortar – Properties and durability in (bio)chemically aggressive wastewater environments

Metakaolin-based alkali activated mortars (AAM) - with and without CuSO{sub 4}·5H{sub 2}O and ZnO addition (mass ratio M{sup n+}/solid binder 0.08% to 1.7%) - were casted and exposed within an extensive long-term field campaign over the period of 20 months to a sewer basin, strongly affected by biogenic acid corrosion. (Un-)exposed AAM were tested regarding their physicochemical and microstructural properties, bioreceptivity and overall durability. Metal addition led to a retarding effect during alkali-activation reaction, as well as to an increase in open porosity of up to 3.0% and corresponding lower compressive strength of up to 10.9%. Reduced microbial colonization and diversity were observed on AAM with Cu, while Zn addition led to increased biodiversity. We propose that the observed higher durability of Cu-doped AAM is due to antibacterial effects and associated reduction of biogenic acid production, superseding overall negative effects of metal-dosage on physical material properties. Observed lower durability of Zn-doped AAM was related to combined negative physicochemical and microbial effects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Semiconducting High-Entropy Chalcogenide Alloys with Ambi-ionic Entropy Stabilization and Ambipolar Doping

Entropy stabilization is a novel materials-design paradigm to realize new compounds with widely tunable properties. However, almost all entropy-stabilized materials so far are either conducting metals or insulating ceramics, with a clear dearth in the semiconducting regime. Here, a new class of the multi-cationic and -anionic entropy-stabilized chalcogenide alloys based on the (Ge,Sn,Pb)(S,Se,Te) formula are synthesized and characterized experimentally. The con-figurational entropy from the disorder of both the anion and the cation sublattices reaches a record value of ~2.2 R mol -1 for the equimolar composition and stabilizes the single-phase solid solution. Theoretical calculations and experiments both show that the synthesized alloys are thermodynamically stable at the growth temperature and kinetically metastable at room temperature, segregating by spinodal decomposition at moderate temperatures. In conclusion, doping and electronic transport measurements verify that the synthesized materials are ambipolarly dopable semiconductors, which paves the way for the wider adoption of entropy-stabilized chalcogenide alloys in functional applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1999

Rare Earth Doped High Temperature Ceramic Selective Emitters

As a result of their electron structure, rare earth ions in crystals at high temperature emit radiation in several narrow bands rather than in a continuous blackbody manner. This study develops a spectral emittance model for films of rare earth containing materials. Although there are several possible rare earth doped high temperature materials, this study was confined to rare earth aluminum garnets. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical spectral emittances was found for erbium, thulium and erbium-holmium aluminum garnets. Spectral emittances of these films are sensitive to temperature differences across the film. Emitter efficiency is also a sensitive function of temperature. For thulium aluminum garnet the efficiency is 0.38 at 1700 K but only 0.19 at 1262 K.

Chubb, Donald L.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Post-growth modulation doping by ion implantation

Modulation doping is a commonly adopted technique to create two-dimensional (2D) electrons or holes in semiconductor heterostructures. One constraint, however, is that the intentional dopants required for modulation doping are controlled and incorporated during the growth of heterostructures. Here, using undoped strained germanium quantum wells as the model material system, we show that modulation doping can be achieved post-growth of heterostructures by ion implantation and dopant-activation anneals. The carrier density is controlled ex situ by varying the ion fluence and implant energy, and an empirical calibration curve is obtained. While the mobility of the resulting 2D holes is lower than that in undoped heterostructure field-effect transistors built using the same material, the achievable carrier density is significantly higher. Potential applications of this modulation-doping technique are discussed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Anomalous frequency and temperature dependent scattering in the dilute metallic phase in lightly doped-SrTiO 3

The mechanism of superconductivity in materials with aborted ferroelectricity and its emergence out of a dilute metallic phase in systems like doped-SrTiO 3 is an outstanding issue in condensed matter physics. This dilute metal has anomalous properties that are both similar and different to those found in the normal state of other unconventional superconductors. For instance, T 2 resistivity can be found at densities that are too small to allow current decay through electronelectron scattering. We have investigated the optical properties of the dilute metallic phase in doped-SrTiO 3 using THz time-domain spectroscopy. At low frequencies the THz response exhibits a Drude-like form as expected for typical metal-like conductivity. We observed the frequency and temperature dependencies to the low energy scattering rate Γ(ω, T) ∝ (¯hω) 2 + (pπk B T) 2 expected in a conventional Fermi liquid. However we find the lowest known p values of 0.39-0.72. As p is 2 in a canonical Fermi liquid and existing models based on energy dependent elastic scattering bound p from below to 1, our observation lies outside current explanation. Our data also gives insight into the high temperature regime and shows that the temperature dependence of the resistivity derives in part from strong T dependent mass renormalizations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sequential Doping of Ladder-Type Conjugated Polymers for Thermally Stable n-Type Organic Conductors

Doping of organic semiconductors is a powerful tool to optimize the performance of various organic (opto)electronic and bioelectronic devices. Despite recent advances, the low thermal stability of the electronic properties of doped polymers still represents a significant obstacle to implementing these materials into practical applications. Hence, the development of conducting doped polymers with excellent long-term stability at elevated temperatures is highly desirable. Here, we report on the sequential doping of the ladder-type polymer poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline) (BBL) with a benzimidazole-based dopant (i.e., N-DMBI). By combining electrical, UV–vis/infrared, X-ray diffraction, and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements, we quantitatively characterized the conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, spin density, and microstructure of the sequentially doped polymer films as a function of the thermal annealing temperature. Importantly, we observed that the electrical conductivity of N-DMBI-doped BBL remains unchanged even after 20 h of heating at 190 °C. This finding is remarkable and of particular interest for organic thermoelectrics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1989

The influence of Sb doping on the growth and electronic properties of GaAs(100) and AlGaAs(100)

Isoelectronic doping using antimony has been shown to reduce traps and improve material properties during epitaxial growth of Si doped GaAs(100) and AlGaAs(100). In this study, the effect of the antimony dopant on the optimal growth temperature is examined with the aim of producing high-quality heterostructures at lower temperatues. High-quality films of GaAs and AlGaAs have been grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at the normal growth temperatures of 610 and 700 C, respectively, and 50-100 C below this temperature using varying small amounts of Sb as a dopant. Electrical properties of the films were then examined using Hall mobility measurements and deep-level transient spectroscopy.

Jamison, K. D.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Optical Properties of Tm(3+) Ions in Alkali Germanate Glass

Tm-doped alkali germanate glass is investigated for use as a laser material. Spectroscopic investigations of bulk Tm-doped germanate glass are reported for the absorption, emission and luminescence decay. Tm:germanate shows promise as a fiber laser when pumped with 0.792 m diodes because of low phonon energies. Spectroscopic analysis indicates low nonradiative quenching and pulsed laser performance studies confirm this prediction by showing a quantum efficiency of 1.69.

Walsh, Brian M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A two-electron transfer mechanism of the Zn-doped δ-MnO 2 cathode toward aqueous Zn-ion batteries with ultrahigh capacity

Neutral aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted considerable attention due to their safe and green features. As one typical cathode, birnessite MnO 2 (δ-MnO 2 ) suffers from low conductivity and structural instability, and its energy storage mechanism is still not well established yet. Herein, we developed a Zn-doped δ-MnO 2 material via a facile and effective microwave-assisted method for the cathode in aqueous ZIBs. By incorporating Zn to modify the microstructure and promote reaction kinetics, the Zn-doped δ-MnO 2 electrode demonstrates significantly enhanced electrochemical performance with an ultrahigh reversible capacity of 455 mA h g –1 and excellent specific energy of 628 W h kg –1 . In addition, the successive insertion of H + and Zn 2+ and deep two-electron transfer routes are revealed systematically by ex situ experiments. In this study, the two-electron transfer route (Mn 4+ /Mn 3+ and Mn 3+ /Mn 2+ ) mechanism of Zn-doped δ-MnO 2 electrodes explains the exceedingly high capacity and opens new opportunities to develop high-energy aqueous ZIBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bandgap engineering of SrZrS 3 chalcogenide perovskite via substitutional doping for photovoltaic applications: a first-principles DFT study

Strontium zirconium sulfide (SrZrS 3 ) has garnered significant attention for photovoltaic (PV) applications due to its excellent optoelectronic properties, high chemical and moisture stability, and non-toxicity. However, the bandgaps of both the α- and β-phases lie outside the optimum ranges for both single-junction solar cells (SJSCs) and tandem solar cells (TSCs), thereby limiting their applications in PV technologies. In this study, we employed hybrid density functional theory to engineer the band gaps of α- and β-SrZrS 3 through substitutional doping. We considered three dopants (Hf, Sn, and Ti) at the Zr site of SrZrS 3 with varying doping concentrations and investigated their effects on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the materials. We found that Sn and Ti doping effectively lowers the band gaps of both α- and β-SrZrS 3 , whereas Hf doping increases them. For x values up to 0.25, the band gaps of the α-SrZr 1−x Sn x S 3 and α-SrZr 1−x Ti x S 3 are within the optimum range for SJSCs, and those of β-SrZr 1−x Sn x S 3 and β-SrZr 1−x Ti x S 3 lie within the optimum range for Si/perovskite as well as perovskite/perovskite TSCs. The three dopants exhibited significant effects on the optical properties of both α- and β-SrZrS 3 , including the absorption coefficient, energy-loss functions, reflectivity, and refractivity spectra. Thermodynamic stability analysis revealed that for both phases, SrZr 1−x Hf x S 3 can be synthesized via exothermic processes, whereas the formation of SrZr 1−x Ti x S 3 and SrZr1−xSn x S 3 is endothermic and hence, not thermodynamically favorable. Further analysis showed that SrZr 1−x Ti x S 3 in both α- and β-phases are stable under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, whereas SrZr 1−x Sn x S 3 is prone to dissociation into ternary phases (SrZrS 3 and SrSnS 3 ), especially at higher doping concentrations. These results show that Ti doping is effective in tuning the band gaps of α- and β-SrZrS 3 toward the optimal values for PV applications.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Analysis of Organic Electron Materials using Neutron Scattering (Final Report)

Neutron scattering is a powerful suite of measurement techniques that enable unique analysis of structure and dynamics of a wide variety of materials. Specifically, neutrons interact strongly with protons, which enables excellent contrast in light element organic materials that cannot be obtained with any other measurements. This series of three proposals focused on using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to study the vibrations (dynamics) of the organic molecules involved in organic electronic devices. Our main goals were to demonstrate that INS is capable of elucidating new, useful, and unique knowledge about organic electronic samples that could be used to improve the function of devices or to solve outstanding problems that could not be solved using other measurement techniques. Since all of the goal involved using INS or other neutron techniques to do something “new” a large part of the effort was focused on complex data interpretation and development of modeling workflows that could be used by other members of the organic electronics community to study their materials. To facilitate the goal of making INS measurements more accessible to a broader community and for a wider range of materials, we optimized and engineered the computational workflows to be well documented, publicly available, and user friendly. The individual titles of the three sequential DOE-BES awards are: (1) Engineering doping profiles in organic semiconducting materials, (2) Measurement and modeling of molecular dopant structure and dynamics, and (3) Quantification of Dynamic Disorder in Electronic and Excitonic Organic Materials. For readability, this report is organized to highlight the progress of the research thematically. Many of the ideas started in one grant period and then spilled over into later awards and collaborative research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1980

Determination of carrier concentration and compensation microprofiles in GaAs

Simultaneous microprofiling of semiconductor free carrier, donor, and acceptor concentrations was achieved for the first time from the absolute value of the free carrier absorption coefficient and its wavelength dependence determined by IR absorption in a scanning mode. Employing Ge- and Si-doped melt-grown GaAs, striking differences were found between the variations of electron concentration and those of ionized impurity concentrations. These results showed clearly that the electronic characteristics of this material are controlled by amphoteric doping and deviations from stoichiometry rather than by impurity segregation.

Jastrzebski, L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Results From Cs Activated GaN Photocathode Development for MCP Detector Systems at GSFC

We describe the development of high quantum efficiency W photocathodes for use in large area two dimensional microchannel plate based detector arrays to enable new W space astronomy missions. Future W missions will require improvements in detector sensitivity, which has the most leverage for cost-effective improvements in overall telescope/instrument sensitivity. We use new materials such as p-doped GaN, AIGaN, ZnMgO, Sic and diamond. We have currently obtained QE values > 40 % at 185 nm with Cesiated GaN, and hope to demonstrate higher values in the future. By using controlled internal fields and nano-structuring of the surfaces, we plan to provide field emission assistance for photoelectrons while maintaining their energy distinction from dark noise electrons. We will transfer these methods from GaN to ZnMgO, a new family of wide band-gap materials more compatible with microchannel plates. We also are exploring technical parameters such as doping profiles, internal and external field strengths, angle of incidence, field emission assistance, surface preparation, etc.

Norton, Tim↗