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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 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Tunable electronic properties of silicon nanowires under strain and electric bias

The electronic structure characteristics of silicon nanowires under strain and electric bias are studied using first-principles density functional theory. The unique wire-like structure leads to distinct spatial distribution of carriers, which can be tailored by applying tensile and compressive strains, as well as by an electric bias. Our results indicate that the combined effect of strain and electric bias leads to tunable electronic structures that can be used for piezo-electric devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optimizing biased semiconductor superlattices for terahertz amplification

Over the past 15 yr or more, researchers have been trying to achieve gain for electromagnetic fields in the terahertz frequency region using biased semiconductor superlattices, but with little success. In this work, we employ our model of the excitonic states in biased GaAs/Al{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As semiconductor superlattices to find the optimal structures for amplification of terahertz radiation. In particular, we determine the optimum well width, barrier width, and bias field for terahertz fields with frequencies ranging from 1 to 4 terahertz. We find that gain coefficients on the order of 40 cm{sup −1} should be achievable over most of this frequency range.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Exchange bias effect in Ti doped nanocrystalline SrFeO{sub 3-δ}

Materials of Ti doped nanocrystalline SrFeO{sub 3-δ} were synthesized through solid state reaction. Detailed magnetization measurements were carried out in zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) conditions. Compounds of SrFe{sub 1-x}Ti{sub x}O{sub 3-δ} (x = 0.1 to 0.3) are found to be spin glass and parent compound is a helical antiferromagnet. Non magnetic Ti{sup 4+} reduces the strength of exchange interactions and the curvature of hysteresis is changed towards concave nature. Exchange bias is observed below the peak temperature (irreversibility in magnetization (T{sub Irr})) in ZFC-FC of SrFe{sub 1-x}Ti{sub x}O{sub 3-δ} (x = 0 to 0.3). The coercivity and exchange bias field values are found to be decreases with increase in temperature. Observed exchange bias effect is attributed to competition between antiferromagnetic superexchange and ferromagnetic double exchange interactions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Communication: Estimating the initial biasing potential for λ-local-elevation umbrella-sampling (λ-LEUS) simulations via slow growth

In a recent article [Bieler et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 10, 3006–3022 (2014)], we introduced a combination of the λ-dynamics (λD) approach for calculating alchemical free-energy differences and of the local-elevation umbrella-sampling (LEUS) memory-based biasing method to enhance the sampling along the alchemical coordinate. The combined scheme, referred to as λ-LEUS, was applied to the perturbation of hydroquinone to benzene in water as a test system, and found to represent an improvement over thermodynamic integration (TI) in terms of sampling efficiency at equivalent accuracy. However, the preoptimization of the biasing potential required in the λ-LEUS method requires “filling up” all the basins in the potential of mean force. This introduces a non-productive pre-sampling time that is system-dependent, and generally exceeds the corresponding equilibration time in a TI calculation. In this letter, a remedy is proposed to this problem, termed the slow growth memory guessing (SGMG) approach. Instead of initializing the biasing potential to zero at the start of the preoptimization, an approximate potential of mean force is estimated from a short slow growth calculation, and its negative used to construct the initial memory. Considering the same test system as in the preceding article, it is shown that of the application of SGMG in λ-LEUS permits to reduce the preoptimization time by about a factor of four.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improvement in gate bias stress instability of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors using microwave irradiation

In this study, we evaluated the effects of microwave irradiation (MWI) post-deposition-annealing (PDA) treatment on the gate bias stress instability of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) and compared the results with a conventional thermal annealing PDA treatment. The MWI-PDA-treated a-IGZO TFTs exhibited enhanced electrical performance as well as improved long-term stability with increasing microwave power. The positive turn-on voltage shift (ΔV{sub ON}) as a function of stress time with positive bias and varying temperature was precisely modeled on a stretched-exponential equation, suggesting that charge trapping is a dominant mechanism in the instability of MWI-PDA-treated a-IGZO TFTs. The characteristic trapping time and average effective barrier height for electron transport indicate that the MWI-PDA treatment effectively reduces the defects in a-IGZO TFTs, resulting in a superior resistance against gate bias stress.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tilted dipole model for bias-dependent photoluminescence pattern

In a guest-host system containing elongated dyes and a nematic liquid crystal, both molecules are aligned to each other. An external bias tilts these molecules and the radiation pattern of the system is altered. A model is proposed to describe this bias-dependent photoluminescence patterns. It divides the liquid crystal/dye layer into sub-layers that contain electric dipoles with specific tilt angles. Each sub-layer emits linearly polarized light. Its radiation pattern is toroidal and is determined by the tilt angle. Its intensity is assumed to be proportional to the power of excitation light absorbed by the sub-layer. This is calculated by the Lambert-Beer's Law. The absorption coefficient is assumed to be proportional to the cross-section of the tilted dipole moment, in analogy to the ellipsoid of refractive index, to evaluate the cross-section for each polarized component of the excitation light. Contributions from all the sub-layers are added to give a final expression for the radiation pattern. Self-absorption is neglected. The model is simplified by reducing the number of sub-layers. Analytical expressions are derived for a simple case that consists of a single layer with tilted dipoles sandwiched by two layers with horizontally-aligned dipoles. All the parameters except for the tilt angle can be determined by measuring transmittance of the excitation light. The model roughly reproduces the bias-dependent photoluminescence patterns of a cell containing 0.5 wt. % coumarin 6. It breaks down at large emission angles. Measured spectral changes suggest that the discrepancy is due to self-absorption and re-emission.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improved optogalvanic detection with voltage biased Langmuir probes

Optogalvanic detectors show great potential for infrared spectroscopy, especially in cavity enhanced techniques where they, in contrast to ordinary absorption detectors, can perform intracavity measurements. This enables them to utilize the signal-to-noise ratio improvement gained from the extended effective path length inside an optical cavity, without losing signal strength due to the limited amount of light exiting through the rear mirror. However, if optogalvanic detectors are to become truly competitive, their intrinsic sensitivity and stability has to be improved. This, in turn, requires a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the generation of the optogalvanic signal. The study presented here focuses on an optogalvanic detector based on a miniaturized stripline split-ring resonator plasma source equipped with Langmuir probes for detecting the optogalvanic signal. In particular, the effect of applying a constant bias voltage to one of the probes is investigated, both with respect to the sensitivity and stability, and to the mechanism behind the generation of the signal. Experiments with different bias voltages at different pressures and gas composition have been conducted. In particular, two different gas compositions (pure CO{sub 2} and 0.25% CO{sub 2} in 99.75% N{sub 2}) at six different pressures (100 Pa to 600 Pa) have been studied. It has been shown that probe biasing effectively improves the performance of the detector, by increasing the amplitude of the signal linearly over one order of magnitude, and the stability by about 40% compared with previous studies. Furthermore, it has been shown that relatively straightforward plasma theory can be applied to interpret the mechanism behind the generation of the signal, although additional mechanisms, such as rovibrational excitation from electron-molecule collisions, become apparent in CO{sub 2} plasmas with electron energies in the 1–6 eV range. With the achieved performance improvement and the more solid theoretical framework presented here, stripline split-ring resonator optogalvanic detectors can evolve into a compact, inexpensive, and easy-to-operate alternative for future infrared spectrometers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of negative bias temperature instability dependence on fin width of silicon-on-insulator-fin-based field effect transistors

The fin width dependence of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) of double-gate, fin-based p-type Field Effect Transistors (FinFETs) fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers was investigated. The NBTI degradation increased as the fin width narrowed. To investigate this phenomenon, simulations of pre-stress conditions were employed to determine any differences in gate oxide field, fin band bending, and electric field profile as a function of the fin width. The simulation results were similar at a given gate stress bias, regardless of the fin width, although the threshold voltage was found to increase with decreasing fin width. Thus, the NBTI fin width dependence could not be explained from the pre-stress conditions. Different physics-based degradation models were evaluated using specific fin-based device structures with different biasing schemes to ascertain an appropriate model that best explains the measured NBTI dependence. A plausible cause is an accumulation of electrons that tunnel from the gate during stress into the floating SOI fin body. As the fin narrows, the sidewall device channel moves in closer proximity to the stored electrons, thereby inducing more band bending at the fin/dielectric interface, resulting in a higher electric field and hole concentration in this region during stress, which leads to more degradation. The data obtained in this work provide direct experimental proof of the effect of electron accumulation on the threshold voltage stability in FinFETs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ferromagnetic behavior and exchange bias effect in akaganeite nanorods

We report ferromagnetic-like properties and exchange bias effect in akaganeite (β-FeOOH) nanorods. They exhibit a Néel temperature T{sub N} = 259 K and ferromagnetic-like hysteresis behavior both below and above T{sub N}. An exchange bias effect is observed below T{sub N} and represents an interesting behavior for akaganeite nanorods. These results are explained on the basis of a core-shell structure in which the core has bulk akaganeite magnetic properties (i.e., antiferromagnetic ordering) while the shell exhibits a disordered spin state. Thus, the nanorods show ferromagnetic properties and an exchange bias effect at the same time, increasing their potential for use in practical applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetoelectric switching of perpendicular exchange bias in Pt/Co/α-Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Pt stacked films

We report the realization of magnetoelectric switching of the perpendicular exchange bias in Pt/Co/α-Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Pt stacked films. The perpendicular exchange bias was switched isothermally by the simultaneous application of magnetic and electric fields. The threshold electric field required to switch the perpendicular exchange bias was found to be inversely proportional to the magnetic field, which confirmed the magnetoelectric mechanism of the process. The observed temperature dependence of the threshold electric field suggested that the energy barrier of the antiferromagnetic spin reversal was significantly lower than that assuming the coherent rotation. Pulse voltage measurements indicated that the antiferromagnetic domain propagation dominates the switching process. These results suggest an analogy of the electric-field-induced magnetization with a simple ferromagnet.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Perpendicular exchange bias behaviors of CoPt/IrMn and CoPt/FeMn bilayers: A comparative study

In this study, FeMn was introduced as an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer to couple with a single-layered Co{sub 49}Pt{sub 51} alloy thin film, and it was compared with a Co{sub 49}Pt{sub 51}/IrMn bilayer system in exchange bias (EB) effect, to explore the mechanism of spontaneous perpendicular exchange bias (PEB), which has been recently observed in CoPt/IrMn bilayers. Bilayers of CoPt/IrMn and CoPt/FeMn were prepared under the same conditions by sputtering at room temperature without any inducing field. Although PEB was observed in as-grown CoPt/FeMn bilayers, the loop shape and PEB behavior were found to exhibit different characteristics from those of CoPt/IrMn bilayers. The CoPt (5 nm)/FeMn (10 nm) bilayer has a sheared loop that is similar to a double-shifted loop and a much lower squareness ratio (SQR = 0.52) and exchange bias field (H{sub e} = 180 Oe) than the CoPt (5 nm)/IrMn (10 nm) system, which has a rectangular loop shape and a high SQR of 0.97 and large H{sub e} of 290 Oe. The two systems present entirely different dependences of PEB on the thickness of the AFM layer. CoPt/IrMn exhibits behavior that is typical of most EB systems, but for CoPt/FeMn, this dependence is more complicated with an unusual peak at an AFM layer thickness of 10 nm. Based on the dissimilar loop shapes and dependences of PEB on AFM thickness, the mechanisms of the spontaneously established PEB in these two systems are considered to differ. Investigations of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy revealed no apparent difference between the interfacial microstructures of the two systems. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrated the 〈111〉 texture of both systems. Therefore, different interfacial spin configurations may be responsible for the dissimilar PEB behaviors in these two FM/AFM bilayer systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetized sheath near positively biased wall between two permanent magnetic plates

The characteristics of magnetized electron sheath near a positively biased conducting wall parallel to magnetic field formed between two permanent magnetic plates were experimentally investigated in a double plasma device. The magnetic field strength between the magnetic plates is about 1200 G which is sufficient to magnetize the plasma such that the ion gyroradius is comparable to the electron Debye length. A virtual cathode (or potential dip) structure was found between the electron-rich sheath and bulk plasma. For a given neutral gas pressure, the potential minimum (dip position) remains almost the same for different positive biases on the wall. For a given bias on the wall, however, the electron sheath thickness and the potential drop from the bulk plasma to the dip decrease with the increase of the neutral gas pressure. In addition, the electron sheath and potential dip appear to be wider and deeper in the downstream side of the wall.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Coupling and tuning of modal frequencies in direct current biased microelectromechanical systems arrays

Understanding the coupling of different modal frequencies and their tuning mechanisms has become essential to design multi-frequency MEMS devices. In this work, we fabricate a MEMS beam with fixed boundaries separated from two side electrodes and a bottom electrode. Subsequently, we perform experiments to obtain the frequency variation of in-plane and out-of-plane mechanical modes of the microbeam with respect to both DC bias and laser heating. We show that the frequencies of the two modes coincide at a certain DC bias, which in turn can also be varied due to temperature. Subsequently, we develop a theoretical model to predict the variation of the two modes and their coupling due to a variable gap between the microbeam and electrodes, initial tension, and fringing field coefficients. Finally, we discuss the influence of frequency tuning parameters in arrays of 3, 33, and 40 microbeams, respectively. It is also found that the frequency bandwidth of a microbeam array can be increased to as high as 25 kHz for a 40 microbeam array with a DC bias of 80 V.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Exchange bias effect and glassy-like behavior of EuCrO{sub 3} and CeCrO{sub 3} nano-powders

The magnetic properties of nano-sized EuCrO{sub 3} and CeCrO{sub 3} powders, synthesized by a solution combustion method, were investigated using DC/AC magnetization measurements. An exchange bias effect, magnetization irreversibility and AC susceptibility dispersion in these samples provided evidence for the presence of the spin disorder magnetic phase. The exchange bias phenomenon, which is assigned to the exchange coupling between the glassy-like shell and canted antiferromagnetic core, showed the opposite sign in EuCrO{sub 3} and CeCrO{sub 3} at low temperatures, suggesting different exchange interactions at the interfaces in these compounds. We also observed a sign reversal of exchange bias in CeCrO{sub 3} at different temperatures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Neutron detection using a current biased kinetic inductance detector

We demonstrate neutron detection using a solid state superconducting current biased kinetic inductance detector (CB-KID), which consists of a superconducting Nb meander line of 1 μm width and 40 nm thickness. {sup 10}B-enriched neutron absorber layer of 150 nm thickness is placed on top of the CB-KID. Our neutron detectors are able to operate in a wide superconducting region in the bias current–temperature diagram. This is in sharp contrast with our preceding current-biased transition edge detector, which can operate only in a narrow range just below the superconducting critical temperature. The full width at half maximum of the signals remains of the order of a few tens of ns, which confirms the high speed operation of our detectors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Abnormal positive bias stress instability of In–Ga–Zn–O thin-film transistors with low-temperature Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gate dielectric

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) was employed to deposit Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} as a gate dielectric in amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O thin-film transistors fabricated at temperatures below 120 °C. The devices exhibited a negligible threshold voltage shift (ΔV{sub T}) during negative bias stress, but a more pronounced ΔV{sub T} under positive bias stress with a characteristic turnaround behavior from a positive ΔV{sub T} to a negative ΔV{sub T}. This abnormal positive bias instability is explained using a two-process model, including both electron trapping and hydrogen release and migration. Electron trapping induces the initial positive ΔV{sub T}, which can be fitted using the stretched exponential function. The breakage of residual AlO-H bonds in low-temperature ALD Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} is triggered by the energetic channel electrons. The hydrogen atoms then diffuse toward the In–Ga–Zn–O channel and induce the negative ΔV{sub T} through electron doping with power-law time dependence. A rapid partial recovery of the negative ΔV{sub T} after stress is also observed during relaxation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

DC bias effect on alternating current electrical conductivity of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/alumina nanocomposites

Polymer nanocomposites based on metal oxide (ceramic) nanoparticles are a new class of materials with unique properties and designed for various applications such as electronic device packaging, insulation, fabrication and automotive industries. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/alumina (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) nanocomposites with filler content between 1 wt% and 5 wt% were prepared by melt compounding method using co-rotating twin screw extruder and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and precision LCR meter techniques. The results revealed that proper uniform dispersion at lower content up to 2 wt% of nano-alumina observed by using TEM. Aggregation of nanoparticles was observed at higher content of alumina examined by using SEM and TEM. The frequency dependences of the alternating current (AC) conductivity (σ{sub AC}) of PET/alumina nanocomposites on the filler content and DC bias were investigated in the frequency range of 20Hz - 1MHz. The results showed that the AC and direct current (DC) conductivity increases with increasing DC bias and nano-alumina content upto 3 wt%. It follows the Jonscher’s universal power law of solids. It revealed that σ{sub AC} of PET/alumina nanocomposites can be well characterized by the DC conductivity (σ{sub DC}), critical frequency (ω{sub c}), critical exponent of the power law (s). Roll of DC bias potential led to an increase of DC conductivity (σ{sub DC}) due to the creation of additional conducting paths with the polymer nanocomposites and percolation behavior achieved through co-continuous morphology.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Communication: Improved ab initio molecular dynamics by minimally biasing with experimental data

Accounting for electrons and nuclei simultaneously is a powerful capability of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). However, AIMD is often unable to accurately reproduce properties of systems such as water due to inaccuracies in the underlying electronic density functionals. This shortcoming is often addressed by added empirical corrections and/or increasing the simulation temperature. We present here a maximum-entropy approach to directly incorporate limited experimental data via a minimal bias. Biased AIMD simulations of water and an excess proton in water are shown to give significantly improved properties both for observables which were biased to match experimental data and for unbiased observables. Here, this approach also yields new physical insight into inaccuracies in the underlying density functional theory as utilized in the unbiased AIMD.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗