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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Nanodot formation induced by femtosecond laser irradiation

The femtosecond laser generation of ZnSe nanoscale features on ZnSe surfaces was studied. Irradiation with multiple exposures produces 10–100 nm agglomerations of nanocrystalline ZnSe while retaining the original single crystal structure of the underlying material. The structure of these nanodots was verified using a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The nanodots continue to grow hours after irradiation through a combination of bulk and surface diffusion. We suggest that in nanodot formation the result of ultrafast laser induced point defect formation is more than an order of magnitude below the ZnSe ultrafast melt threshold fluence. This unique mechanism of point defect injection will be discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Schottky contact by Ag on In{sub 2}O{sub 3} (111) single crystals

The barrier height of a metal-semiconductor contact was studied by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, which was implemented through stepwise Ag deposition on the ultra-high vacuum cleaved (111) surface of melt-grown In{sub 2}O{sub 3} single crystals. A small Schottky barrier height of 0.22 ± 0.08 eV was determined by following the band bending of the valence band and core level spectra with Ag thickness and corrected for the photovoltage effect. In addition, the work function of Ag and the electron affinity of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} were measured in situ to be 4.30 ± 0.05 eV and 4.18 ± 0.06 eV, respectively. Agreement was observed when comparing the barrier height from band bending to the calculated one by applying the Schottky-Mott rule, yielding a value of 0.12 ± 0.11 eV. Due to an additionally appearing photovoltage, an explicit reference to the surface electron accumulation layer is not necessary when discussing the Schottky character of the Ag/In{sub 2}O{sub 3} contact.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

The enhanced spontaneous dielectric polarization in Ga doped CuFeO{sub 2}

The magnetic and dielectric polarization properties of the single crystal samples of CuFe{sub 1−x}Ga{sub x}O{sub 2} (x = 0 and 0.02) are investigated. Experimental results show that the magnetization and dielectric polarizations are anisotropy and coupled together. Compared with pure CuFeO{sub 2}, in the case with the magnetic field parallel to the c axis, a field-induced phase transition with a hysteresis is clearly observed between the five-sublattice (5SL) and three-sublattice (3SL) phases. Specially, an obvious spontaneous dielectric polarization is observed in CuFe{sub 0.98}Ga{sub 0.02}O{sub 2} in a lower magnetic field region, indicating that the Ga doping has an effect on the enhancement of spontaneous dielectric polarization. Based on the dilution effect, change of exchange interaction, and partial release of the spin frustration due to the structural modulation of the Ga ion dopant, the origin of the magnetization, and spontaneous polarization characteristics are discussed and the complete dielectric polarization diagrams are assumed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single crystal diamond for infrared sensing applications

The synthesis of new materials for thermal infrared (IR) detection has been an intensive research area in recent years. Among new semiconductor materials, synthetic diamond has the ability to function even under very high temperature and high radiation conditions. In the present work, diamond Schottky diodes with boron concentrations in the range of 10{sup 14 }< B < 10{sup 17 }cm{sup −3} are presented as candidates for IR thermal sensors with an excellent temperature coefficient of resistance (−8.42%/K) and very low noise levels around 6.6 × 10{sup −15} V{sup 2}/Hz. This enables huge performance enhancements for a wide variety of systems, e.g., automotive and space applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optical nonlinearities and carrier dynamics in Fe doped GaN single crystal

Optical nonlinearities and transient dynamics of Fe doped GaN (GaN:Fe) were studied by Z-scan and pump-probe with phase object techniques under picosecond and nanosecond at 532 nm. From the pump-probe results, an additional decay pathway subsequent to two photon excitation was observed due to the carrier trapping of Fe{sup 3+}/Fe{sup 2+} deep acceptors. The trapping state in the band gap results in a pronounced modulation to nonlinear responses of GaN:Fe compared to that of undoped GaN. With an effective three-level model as well as carrier trapping effect we described the photo-physical dynamics in GaN:Fe unambiguously.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

A new method for polychromatic X-ray μLaue diffraction on a Cu pillar using an energy-dispersive pn-junction charge-coupled device

μLaue diffraction with a polychromatic X-ray beam can be used to measure strain fields and crystal orientations of micro crystals. The hydrostatic strain tensor can be obtained once the energy profile of the reflections is measured. However, this remains a challenge both on the time scale and reproducibility of the beam position on the sample. In this review, we present a new approach to obtain the spatial and energy profiles of Laue spots by using a pn-junction charge-coupled device, an energy-dispersive area detector providing 3D resolution of incident X-rays. The morphology and energetic structure of various Bragg peaks from a single crystalline Cu micro-cantilever used as a test system were simultaneously acquired. The method facilitates the determination of the Laue spots’ energy spectra without filtering the white X-ray beam. The synchrotron experiment was performed at the BM32 beamline of ESRF using polychromatic X-rays in the energy range between 5 and 25 keV and a beam size of 0.5 μm × 0.5 μm. The feasibility test on the well known system demonstrates the capabilities of the approach and introduces the “3D detector method” as a promising tool for material investigations to separate bending and strain for technical materials.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Evolution of structure in Na{sub 0.5}Bi{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} single crystals with BaTiO{sub 3}

The structural, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties of Na{sub 0.5}Bi{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3}-x mol. %BaTiO{sub 3} (NBT-x%BT) crystals have been investigated. The dielectric and piezoelectric properties of NBT-x%BT were enhanced near x = 5–7. High resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction studies revealed the presence of a phase boundary between monoclinic (Cc) and tetragonal (P4bm) phases near x = 5–7, where the dielectric and piezoelectric properties were enhanced.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Charge transport in single CuO nanowires

Charge transport in single crystal, p-type cupric oxide (CuO) nanowire (NW) was studied through temperature based (120 K–400 K) current-voltage measurements. CuO NW with a diameter of 85 nm was attached to Au electrodes 2.25 μm apart, using dielectrophoresis. At low electrical field (<0.89 × 103 V/cm), an ohmic conduction is observed with an activation energy of 272 meV. The injected electrons fill traps with an average energy, ET = 26.6 meV and trap density, NT = 3.4 × 1015 cm−3. After the traps are saturated, space charge limited current mechanism becomes dominant. For 120 K ≤ T ≤ 210 K phonon scattering limits mobility. For T ≥ 220 K, a thermally activated mobility is observed and is attributed to small polaron hopping with an activation energy of 44 meV. This mechanism yields a hole mobility of 0.0015 cm2/V s and an effective hole concentration of 4 × 1018 cm−3 at 250 K.

Wu, Junnan↗
DOE OSTI2014

Morphology and magnetic flux distribution in superparamagnetic, single-crystalline Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticle rings

This study reports on the correlation between crystal orientation and magnetic flux distribution of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles in the form of self-assembled rings. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the nanoparticles were single-crystalline, highly monodispersed, (25 nm average diameter), and showed no appreciable lattice imperfections such as twins or stacking faults. Electron holography studies of these superparamagnetic nanoparticle rings indicated significant fluctuations in the magnetic flux lines, consistent with variations in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the nanoparticles. The observations provide useful information for a deeper understanding of the micromagnetics of ultrasmall nanoparticles, where the magnetic dipolar interaction competes with the magnetic anisotropy.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Role of oxygen vacancies in resistive switching in Pt/Nb-doped SrTiO{sub 3}

Oxygen vacancies at the metal/oxide interface, driven by an electric field, have been considered responsible for the switching to the low-resistance state. We studied the electrical properties, along with microscopic observations, of the Pt/Nb-doped SrTiO{sub 3} (001) single-crystal system. Electron energy loss spectroscopy revealed highly accumulated oxygen vacancies at the interface in the high-resistance state, contrasting to common explanation. Higher resistance state by more oxygen vacancies was further confirmed in Pt/H{sub 2}-annealed SrTiO{sub 3}. These results suggest the presence of an interfacial state which dominantly determined the resistivity by changing the barrier height at the interface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Strong nonlinear current–voltage behaviour in iron oxyborate

Strong nonlinear resistance has been found in the charge ordered ferroelectric iron oxyborate (Fe{sub 2}OBO{sub 3}) with a high dielectric constant and giant converse magnetoelectric effect. In low temperature range the I-V nonlinearity increases quickly with decreasing temperature. Transport measurements on polycrystalline and single crystal Fe{sub 2}OBO{sub 3} indicate that the nonlinearity is not induced by grain boundaries. The nonlinear I-V behavior is intrinsically correlated with the charge order phase melting in Fe{sub 2}OBO{sub 3} by detailed in-situ TEM investigations. These results provide an insight into structure-activity relationship of resistance switching effects at atomic and electric scales, which is essential for its potential application as varistors and storage media.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Amorphization of hard crystalline materials by electrosprayed nanodroplet impact

A beam of electrosprayed nanodroplets impacting on single-crystal silicon amorphizes a thin surface layer of a thickness comparable to the diameter of the drops. The phase transition occurs at projectile velocities exceeding a threshold, and is caused by the quenching of material melted by the impacts. This article demonstrates that the amorphization of silicon is a general phenomenon, as nanodroplets impacting at sufficient velocity also amorphize other covalently bonded crystals. In particular, we bombard single-crystal wafers of Si, Ge, GaAs, GaP, InAs, and SiC in a range of projectile velocities, and characterize the samples via electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscopy to determine the aggregation state under the surface. InAs requires the lowest projectile velocity to develop an amorphous layer, followed by Ge, Si, GaAs, and GaP. SiC is the only semiconductor that remains fully crystalline, likely due to the relatively low velocities of the beamlets used in this study. The resiliency of each crystal to amorphization correlates well with the specific energy needed to melt it except for Ge, which requires projectile velocities higher than expected.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nanoscale phase separation in epitaxial Cr-Mo and Cr-V alloy thin films studied using atom probe tomography: Comparison of experiments and simulation

Tailored metal alloy thin film-oxide interfaces generated using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) deposition of alloy thin films on a single crystalline oxide substrate can be used for detailed studies of irradiation damage response on the interface structure. However, the presence of nanoscale phase separation in the MBE grown alloy thin films can impact the metal-oxide interface structure. Due to nanoscale domain size of such phase separation, it is very challenging to characterize by conventional techniques. Therefore, laser assisted atom probe tomography (APT) was utilized to study the phase separation in epitaxial Cr{sub 0.61}Mo{sub 0.39}, Cr{sub 0.77}Mo{sub 0.23}, and Cr{sub 0.32}V{sub 0.68} alloy thin films grown by MBE on MgO(001) single crystal substrates. Statistical analysis, namely frequency distribution analysis and Pearson coefficient analysis of experimental data was compared with similar analyses conducted on simulated APT datasets with known extent of phase separation. Thus, the presence of phase separation in Cr-Mo films, even when phase separation was not clearly observed by x-ray diffraction, and the absence of phase separation in the Cr-V film were confirmed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural characterization of impurified zinc oxide thin films

Europium doped zinc oxide (Eu:ZnO) thin films have been obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). 002 textured thin films were achieved on glass and silicon substrates, while hetero-epilayers and homo-epilayers have been attained on single crystal SrTiO{sub 3} and ZnO, respectively. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) was employed to characterize the Eu:ZnO thin films. Extended XRD studies confirmed the different thin film structural properties as function of chosen substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nonlinear optical properties of bulk cuprous oxide using single beam Z-scan at 790 nm

The two-photon absorption (TPA) coefficient β and the nonlinear index of refraction n{sub 2} for bulk cuprous oxide (Cu{sub 2}O) direct gap semiconductor single crystal have been measured by using a balance-detection Z-scan single beam technique, with an excellent signal to noise ratio. Both coefficients were measured at 790 nm using a 65 fs laser pulse at a repetition rate of 90.9 MHz, generated by a Ti:Sapphire laser oscillator. The experimental values for β were explained by using a model that includes allowed-allowed, forbidden-allowed, and forbidden-forbidden transitions. It was found that the forbidden-forbidden transition is the dominant mechanism, which is consistent with the band structure of Cu{sub 2}O. The low value for β found in bulk, as compared with respect to thin film, is explained in terms of the structural change in thin films that result in opposite parities of the conduction and valence band. The n{sub 2} is also theoretically calculated by using the TPA dispersion curve and the Kramers-Kronig relations for nonlinear optics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single crystalline Er{sub 2}O{sub 3}:sapphire films as potentially high-gain amplifiers at telecommunication wavelength

Single crystalline thin films of Er{sub 2}O{sub 3}, demonstrating efficient 1.5 μm luminescence of Er{sup 3+} at room temperature were grown on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. The absorption coefficient at 1.536 μm was found to reach 270 cm{sup −1} translating in a maximal possible gain of 1390 dBcm{sup −1}. In conjunction with the 10% higher refractive index as compared to Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, this opens the possibility to use Er{sub 2}O{sub 3}:sapphire films as short-length waveguide amplifiers in telecommunication.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

The high temperature photoluminescence and optical absorption of undoped ZnO single crystals and thin films

The photoluminescence of undoped ZnO single crystals up to 1350 °C and the optical absorption of stress-relaxed, epitaxial ZnO thin films up to 1100 °C are reported. The photoluminescence intensity and power dependence with illumination flux are related to the crystal growth methods and stabilize after high temperature annealing. The observation of excitonic recombination at very high temperatures requires high illumination flux. It is found that the zero phonon line model reproduces the shift and the band gap narrowing as well as the free excitonic transition up to the cross-over with a defect level at 2.83 eV that occurs at 800 °C. A phenomenological model of the excitonic recombination band shape, taking account exciton-phonon losses and defect levels provides an excellent fit up to 2.2–2.4 eV (1100 °C). At these cross-over temperatures, an energy transfer is observed between the free exciton transition and defect transitions. However, at temperature above 1100 °C, the decrease of the band gap and the increase of thermal radiation, as well as the restrictions of our experimental set-up and particularly the illumination flux of the exciting laser, limit the analysis of the photoluminescence spectra measurements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Giant increase of critical current density and vortex pinning in Mn doped K{sub x}Fe{sub 2−y}Se{sub 2} single crystals

We report a comparative study of the critical current density (J{sub c}) and vortex pinning among pure and Mn doped K{sub x}Fe{sub 2−y}Se{sub 2} single crystals. It is found that the J{sub c} values can be greatly improved by Mn doping and post-quenching treatment when comparing to pristine pure sample. In contrast to pure samples, an anomalous second magnetization peak (SMP) effect is observed in both 1% and 2% Mn doped samples at T = 3 K for H∥ab but not for H∥c. Referring to Dew-Hughes and Kramer's model, we performed scaling analyses of the vortex pinning force density vs magnetic field in 1% Mn doped and quenched pristine crystals. The results show that the normal point defects are the dominant pinning sources, which probably originate from the variations of intercalated K atoms. We propose that the large nonsuperconducting K-Mn-Se inclusions may contribute to the partial normal surface pinning and give rise to the anomalous SMP effect for H∥ab in Mn doped crystals. These results may facilitate further understanding of the superconductivity and vortex pinning in intercalated iron-selenides superconductors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗