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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 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Growth and characterization of ZnO{sub 1−x}S{sub x} highly mismatched alloys over the entire composition

Alloys from ZnO and ZnS have been synthesized by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering over the entire alloying range. The ZnO{sub 1−x}S{sub x} films are crystalline for all compositions. The optical absorption edge of these alloys decreases rapidly with small amount of added sulfur (x ∼ 0.02) and continues to red shift to a minimum of 2.6 eV at x = 0.45. At higher sulfur concentrations (x > 0.45), the absorption edge shows a continuous blue shift. The strong reduction in the band gap for O-rich alloys is the result of the upward shift of the valence-band edge with x as observed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As a result, the room temperature bandgap of ZnO{sub 1−x}S{sub x} alloys can be tuned from 3.7 eV to 2.6 eV. The observed large bowing in the composition dependence of the energy bandgap arises from the anticrossing interactions between (1) the valence-band of ZnO and the localized sulfur level at 0.30 eV above the ZnO valence-band maximum for O-rich alloys and (2) the conduction-band of ZnS and the localized oxygen level at 0.20 eV below the ZnS conduction band minimum for the S-rich alloys. The ability to tune the bandgap and knowledge of the location of the valence and conduction-band can be advantageous in applications, such as heterojunction solar cells, where band alignment is crucial.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Characterization of electrically-active defects in ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with laser-based failure analysis techniques

Laser-based failure analysis techniques demonstrate the ability to quickly and non-intrusively screen deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for electrically-active defects. In particular, two laser-based techniques, light-induced voltage alteration and thermally-induced voltage alteration, generate applied voltage maps (AVMs) that provide information on electrically-active defect behavior including turn-on bias, density, and spatial location. Here, multiple commercial LEDs were examined and found to have dark defect signals in the AVM indicating a site of reduced resistance or leakage through the diode. The existence of the dark defect signals in the AVM correlates strongly with an increased forward-bias leakage current. This increased leakage is not present in devices without AVM signals. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of a dark defect signal site revealed a dislocation cluster through the pn junction. The cluster included an open core dislocation. Even though LEDs with few dark AVM defect signals did not correlate strongly with power loss, direct association between increased open core dislocation densities and reduced LED device performance has been presented elsewhere [M. W. Moseley et al., J. Appl. Phys. 117, 095301 (2015)].

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Photocurrent response of B{sub 12}As{sub 2} crystals to blue light, and its temperature- dependent electrical characterizations

With the global shortage of {sup 3}He gas, researchers worldwide are looking for alternative materials for detecting neutrons. Among the candidate materials, semiconductors are attractive because of their light weight and ease in handling. Currently, we are looking into the suitability of boron arsenide (B{sub 12}As{sub 2}) for this specific application. As the first step in evaluating the material qualitatively, the photo-response of B{sub 12}As{sub 2} bulk crystals to light with different wavelengths was examined. The crystals showed photocurrent response to a band of 407- and 470- nm blue light. The maximum measured photoresponsivity and the photocurrent density at 0.7 V for 470 nm blue light at room temperature were 0.25 A ⋅ W{sup −1} and 2.47 mA ⋅ cm{sup −2}, respectively. In addition to photo current measurements, the electrical properties as a function of temperature (range: 50-320 K) were measured. Reliable data were obtained for the low-temperature I-V characteristics, the temperature dependence of dark current and its density, and the resistivity variations with temperature in B{sub 12}As{sub 2} bulk crystals. The experiments showed an exponential dependence on temperature for the dark current, current density, and resistivity; these three electrical parameters, respectively, had a variation of a few nA to μA, 1-100 μA ⋅ cm{sup −2} and 7.6x10{sup 5}-7.7x10{sup 3} Ω ⋅ cm, for temperature increasing from 50 K to 320 K. The results from this study reported the first photoresponse and demonstrated that B{sub 12}As{sub 2} is a potential candidate for thermal-neutron detectors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Alternate current magnetic property characterization of nonstoichiometric zinc ferrite nanocrystals for inductor fabrication via a solution based process

We investigate the ac magnetic behavior of solution processable, non-stoichiometric zinc ferrite nanocrystals with a series of sizes and zinc concentrations. Nearly monodisperse Zn{sub x}Fe{sub 3−x}O{sub 4} nanocrystals (x = 0–0.25) with an average size ranging from 7.4 nm to 13.8 nm are synthesized by using a solvothermal method. All the nanocrystals are in a superparamagnetic state at 300 K, which is confirmed by Superconductive Quantum Interference Device magnetometry. Due to the doping of non-magnetic Zn{sup 2+} into A site of ferrite, the saturation magnetization of nanocrystals increases as the size and Zn concentration increases. The ac magnetic permeability measurements at radio frequencies reveal that the real part of the magnetic permeability of similarly sized ferrite nanocrystals can be enhanced by almost twofold as the Zn{sup 2+} doping level increases from 0 to 0.25. The integration of 12.3 nm Zn{sub 0.25}Fe{sub 2.75}O{sub 4} nanocrystals into a toroidal inductor and a solenoid inductor prepared via a simple solution cast process yields a higher quality factors than air core inductors with the same geometries up to 5 MHz and 9 MHz, respectively, which is in the regime of the switching frequencies for the advanced integrated power converters.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fabrication and characterization of p{sup +}-i-p{sup +} type organic thin film transistors with electrodes of highly doped polymer

Organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) have been explored because of their advantageous features such as light-weight, flexible, and large-area. For more practical application of organic electronic devices, it is very important to realize OTFTs that are composed only of organic materials. In this paper, we have fabricated p{sup +}-i-p{sup +} type of OTFTs in which an intrinsic (i) regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) layer is used as the active layer and highly doped p-type (p{sup +}) P3HT is used as the source and drain electrodes. The 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F{sub 4}-TCNQ) was used as the p-type dopant. A fabricating method of p{sup +}-i-p{sup +} OTFTs has been developed by using SiO{sub 2} and aluminum films as capping layers for micro-scaled patterning of the p{sup +}-P3HT electrodes. The characteristics of the OTFTs were examined using the photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical measurements. We demonstrated that the fabricated p{sup +}-i-p{sup +} OTFTs work with carrier injection through a built-in potential at p{sup +}/i interfaces. We found that the p{sup +}-i-p{sup +} OTFTs exhibit better FET characteristics than the conventional P3HT-OTFT with metal (Au) electrodes, indicating that the influence of a carrier injection barrier at the interface between the electrode and the active layer was suppressed by replacing the metal electrodes with p{sup +}-P3HT layers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

In-situ characterization of highly reversible phase transformation by synchrotron X-ray Laue microdiffraction

The alloy Cu{sub 25}Au{sub 30}Zn{sub 45} undergoes a huge first-order phase transformation (6% strain) and shows a high reversibility under thermal cycling and an unusual martensitc microstructure in sharp contrast to its nearby compositions. This alloy was discovered by systematically tuning the composition so that its lattice parameters satisfy the cofactor conditions (i.e., the kinematic conditions of compatibility between phases). It was conjectured that satisfaction of these conditions is responsible for the enhanced reversibility as well as the observed unusual fluid-like microstructure during transformation, but so far, there has been no direct evidence confirming that these observed microstructures are those predicted by the cofactor conditions. To verify this hypothesis, we use synchrotron X-ray Laue microdiffraction to measure the orientations and structural parameters of variants and phases near the austenite/martensite interface. The areas consisting of both austenite and multi-variants of martensite are scanned by microLaue diffraction. The cofactor conditions have been examined from the kinematic relation of lattice vectors across the interface. The continuity condition of the interface is precisely verified from the correspondent lattice vectors between two phases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Absolute dosimetric characterization of Gafchromic EBT3 and HDv2 films using commercial flat-bed scanners and evaluation of the scanner response function variability

Radiochromic films (RCF) are commonly used in dosimetry for a wide range of radiation sources (electrons, protons, and photons) for medical, industrial, and scientific applications. They are multi-layered, which includes plastic substrate layers and sensitive layers that incorporate a radiation-sensitive dye. Quantitative dose can be retrieved by digitizing the film, provided that a prior calibration exists. Here, to calibrate the newly developed EBT3 and HDv2 RCFs from Gafchromic™, we used the Stanford Medical LINAC to deposit in the films various doses of 10 MeV photons, and by scanning the films using three independent EPSON Precision 2450 scanners, three independent EPSON V750 scanners, and two independent EPSON 11000XL scanners. The films were scanned in separate RGB channels, as well as in black and white, and film orientation was varied. We found that the green channel of the RGB scan and the grayscale channel are in fact quite consistent over the different models of the scanner, although this comes at the cost of a reduction in sensitivity (by a factor ∼2.5 compared to the red channel). To allow any user to extend the absolute calibration reported here to any other scanner, we furthermore provide a calibration curve of the EPSON 2450 scanner based on absolutely calibrated, commercially available, optical density filters.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Growth and characterization of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films on fluorine functionalized epitaxial graphene

Intelligent engineering of graphene-based electronic devices on SiC(0001) requires a better understanding of processes used to deposit gate-dielectric materials on graphene. Recently, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dielectrics have been shown to form conformal, pinhole-free thin films by functionalizing the top surface of the graphene with fluorine prior to atomic layer deposition (ALD) of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} using a trimethylaluminum (TMA) precursor. In this work, the functionalization and ALD-precursor adsorption processes have been studied with angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It has been found that the functionalization process has a negligible effect on the electronic structure of the graphene, and that it results in a twofold increase in the adsorption of the ALD-precursor. In situ TMA-dosing and XPS studies were also performed on three different Si(100) substrates that were terminated with H, OH, or dangling Si-bonds. This dosing experiment revealed that OH is required for TMA adsorption. Based on those data along with supportive in situ measurements that showed F-functionalization increases the amount of oxygen (in the form of adsorbed H{sub 2}O) on the surface of the graphene, a model for TMA-adsorption on graphene is proposed that is based on a reaction of a TMA molecule with OH.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-speed nanoscale characterization of dewetting via dynamic transmission electron microscopy

The dewetting of thin films can occur in either the solid or the liquid state for which different mass transport mechanisms are expected to control morphological changes. Traditionally, dewetting dynamics have been examined on time scales between several seconds to hours, and length scales ranging between nanometers and millimeters. The determination of mass transport mechanisms on the nanoscale, however, requires nanoscale spatial resolution and much shorter time scales. This study reports the high-speed observation of dewetting phenomena for kinetically constrained Ni thin films on crystalline SrTiO{sub 3} substrates. Movie-mode Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscopy (DTEM) was used for high-speed image acquisition during thin film dewetting at different temperatures. DTEM imaging confirmed that the initial stages of film agglomeration include edge retraction, hole formation, and growth. Finite element modeling was used to simulate temperature distributions within the DTEM samples after laser irradiation with different energies. For pulsed laser irradiation at 18 μJ, experimentally observed hole growth suggests that Marangoni flow dominates hole formation in the liquid nickel film. After irradiation with 13.8 μJ, however, the observations suggest that dewetting was initiated by nucleation of voids followed by hole growth through solid-state surface diffusion.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Characterization of laser-induced plasmas as a complement to high-explosive large-scale detonations

Experimental investigations into the characteristics of laser-induced plasmas indicate that LIBS provides a relatively inexpensive and easily replicable laboratory technique to isolate and measure reactions germane to understanding aspects of high-explosive detonations under controlled conditions. Furthermore, we examine spectral signatures and derived physical parameters following laser ablation of aluminum, graphite and laser-sparked air as they relate to those observed following detonation of high explosives and as they relate to shocked air. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) reliably correlates reactions involving atomic Al and aluminum monoxide (AlO) with respect to both emission spectra and temperatures, as compared to small- and large-scale high-explosive detonations. Atomic Al and AlO resulting from laser ablation and a cited small-scale study, decay within ~10 -5 s, roughly 100 times faster than the Al and AlO decay rates (~10 -3 s) observed following the large-scale detonation of an Al-encased explosive. Temperatures and species produced in laser-sparked air are compared to those produced with laser ablated graphite in air. With graphite present, CN is dominant relative to N 2 + . Thus, in studies where the height of the ablating laser's focus was altered relative to the surface of the graphite substrate, CN concentration was found to decrease with laser focus below the graphite surface, indicating that laser intensity is a critical factor in the production of CN, via reactive nitrogen.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Timing characterization of fast hCMOS sensors

We describe a method of analyzing gate profile data for ultrafast x-ray imagers that allows pixel-by-pixel determination of temporal sensitivity in the presence of substantial background oscillations. With this method, systematic timing errors in gate width and gate arrival time of up to 1 ns (in a 2 ns wide gate) can be removed. In-sensor variations in gate arrival and gate width are observed, with variations in each up to 0.5 ns. This method can be used to estimate the coarse timing of the sensor, even if errors up to several ns are present.

Benedetti, L. R. (ORCID:0000000160502983)↗
DOE OSTI2018

Synthesis and characterization of an amethyrin-uranyl complex displaying aromatic character

The reaction among amethyrin and non-aqueous uranyl silylamide (UO2[N(SiMe 3 ) 2 ] 2 ) under anaerobic conditions afford a bench-stable uranyl complex. UV-Vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, as well as proton NMR spectroscopic analyses offer support for the conclusion that all six pyrrole subunits participate in coordination of the uranyl dication and that, upon complexation, the amethyrin-core undergoes a 2-electron oxidation to yield a formal 22 π-electron aromatic species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗