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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 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Hydrogen trapping in 3D-printed (additive manufactured) Ti-6Al-4V

Highlights: • The AM process influence hydrogen trapping and desorption behavior. • Susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement significantly depends on the printing direction. • Hydrogen desorption in SLM Ti-6Al-4V is designated to dislocations and Ti-hydride phase. - Abstract: Hydrogen trapping state and desorption behavior in 3D printed-Ti-6Al-4V, designed using additive manufacturing (AM), have been investigated. The AM process in this work is selective laser melting (SLM) by which components are built using melting powder's layers with a laser beam. During this process, hydrogen can meet with Ti, leading to a catastrophically failure known as hydrogen embrittlement. The effect of hydrogen on different textural anisotropy of AM-Ti-6Al-4V, and on metal's defect (created during the SLM process), have been studied in relation with hydrogen trapping state, and hydrogen embrittlement. The common effect of hydrogen on phase transformation in AM-Ti-6Al-4V has been shown. It is shown that the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement significantly depends on the printing direction. The impact of hydrogen desorption on AM-Ti-6Al-4V have been demonstrated with thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and microstructural observations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Analysis of the energy distribution of interface traps related to tunnel oxide degradation using charge pumping techniques for 3D NAND flash applications

Graphical abstract: The degradation tendency extracted by CP technique was almost the same in both the bulk-type and TFT-type cells. - Highlights: • D{sub it} is directly investigated from bulk-type and TFT-type CTF memory. • Charge pumping technique was employed to analyze the D{sub it} information. • To apply the CP technique to monitor the reliability of the 3D NAND flash. - Abstract: The energy distribution and density of interface traps (D{sub it}) are directly investigated from bulk-type and thin-film transistor (TFT)-type charge trap flash memory cells with tunnel oxide degradation, under program/erase (P/E) cycling using a charge pumping (CP) technique, in view of application in a 3-demension stackable NAND flash memory cell. After P/E cycling in bulk-type devices, the interface trap density gradually increased from 1.55 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1} to 3.66 × 10{sup 13} cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1} due to tunnel oxide damage, which was consistent with the subthreshold swing and transconductance degradation after P/E cycling. Its distribution moved toward shallow energy levels with increasing cycling numbers, which coincided with the decay rate degradation with short-term retention time. The tendency extracted with the CP technique for D{sub it} of the TFT-type cells was similar to those of bulk-type cells.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Efficient light-trapping in ultrathin GaAs solar cells using quasi-random photonic crystals

Ultrathin solar cells reduce material usage and allow the use of lower-quality materials thanks to their one order of magnitude smaller thickness than their conventional counterparts. However, efficient photonic light-trapping is required to harvest the incident light efficiently for an otherwise insufficient absorber thickness. Quasi-random photonic crystals are predicted to have high efficient light-trapping while being more robust under angle and thickness variations than simple photonic crystals. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a light-trapping solution based on quasi-random photonic crystals fabricated by polymer blend lithography. We control the average lattice parameter by modifying the spin-coating speed. We demonstrate an ultrathin GaAs cell of 260 nm with a rear quasi-random pattern with submicron features, and a J sc = 26.4 mA/cm 2 and an efficiency of 22.35% under the global solar spectrum.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Novel Approach to β-delayed Neutron Spectroscopy Using the Beta-decay Paul Trap

A new approach to β-delayed neutron spectroscopy has been demonstrated that circumvents the many limitations associated with neutron detection by instead inferring the decay branching ratios and energy spectra of the emitted neutrons by studying the nuclear recoil. Using the Beta-decay Paul Trap, fission-product ions were trapped and confined to within a 1-mm{sup 3} volume under vacuum using only electric fields. Results from recent measurements of {sup 137}I{sup +} and plans for development of a dedicated ion trap for future experiments using the intense fission fragment beams from the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility at Argonne National Laboratory are summarized. The improved nuclear data that can be collected is needed in many fields of basic and applied science such as nuclear energy, nuclear astrophysics, and stockpile stewardship.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermal equilibrium of collisional non-neutral plasma in a magnetic dipole trap

This paper discusses thermal equilibrium states of single-species plasmas, such as pure electron plasmas and pure positron plasmas, that are confined in a dipole trap. Thermal equilibrium states for such plasmas are routinely realized in the homogeneous magnetic field of Penning–Malmberg traps. We generalize the theory of these states to include inhomogeneous magnetic dipole fields. The approach to thermal equilibrium takes place in two stages with well separated time scales. On the collision time scale, thermal equilibrium is established along each magnetic field line. On the much longer transport time scale, heat conduction and viscosity bring the plasmas on different flux contours into thermal equilibrium, we call this a state of global thermal equilibrium. We present numerical results for local and global thermal equilibria. These results agree with the analytic predictions for charge collections that are large compared with the Debye length. There is, in principle, no limit to the confinement time of a single-species plasma in a global thermal equilibrium state. Experiments with hot electron–ion plasmas performed in the LDX and RT1 devices give us confidence that, in contrast to a Penning–Malmberg trap, a magnetic dipole field can also confine cold quasi-neutral electron–positron pair plasmas on the time scale of the phenomena of interest. Such pair plasmas are assumed to form in the magnetosphere of neutron stars but have so far not been realized in a laboratory. The creation of an electron–positron pair plasma is the main goal of the APEX collaboration.

Steinbrunner, P. (ORCID:0000000317693686)↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improving Ion Mobility Measurement Sensitivity by Utilizing Helium in an Ion Funnel-Trap

Ion mobility instruments that utilize nitrogen as buffer gas are often preceded by an ion trap and accumulation region that also uses nitrogen, and for different inert gases no significant effects upon performance are expected for IMS of larger ions. However, we have observed significantly improved performance for an ion funnel trap upon adding helium; the signal intensities for higher m/z species were improved by more than an order of magnitude compared to using pure nitrogen. The effect of helium upon IMS resolving power was also studied by introducing a He/N2 gas mixture into the drift cell, and in some cases a slight improvement was observed compared to pure N2. The improvement in signal can be largely attributed to faster and more efficient ion ejection into the drift tube from the ion funnel trap.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hole Trapping in Halide Perovskites Induces Phase Segregation

Metal halide perovskites have garnered a great deal of attention for their applications in photovoltaics, LEDs, and radiation detection. The ease of solution processing high-quality perovskite semiconductors with large absorption coefficients and tolerance to native defects is decidedly attractive. Additionally, the ability to precisely tune the band gap of halide perovskites through compositional alloying of the halide ion is of particular interest for a range of applications, especially for tandem solar cells. However, under steady state light irradiation, an initially homogeneous mixed halide perovskite (MHP) will form local domains that are rich in one halide ion (e.g., Br or I). This light-induced phase segregation in MHPs forms iodide-rich domains that act as charge carrier traps and lowers the efficiency of perovskite-based devices. Thus, phase segregation poses a serious challenge to the implementation of MHPs in real-world device settings. Interestingly, when a phase segregated MHP film is placed in the dark, entropic driving forces become dominant and the segregated perovskite remixes and returns to its initially homogeneous state. Several key mechanistic details of phase segregation have been elucidated over the years. However, there are still aspects of halide segregation that are not clear, and there is ongoing debate in the literature as to what are the key factors that contribute to the mechanism. This Account discusses recent results that point to the specific role of hole trapping in phase segregation. Interestingly, generation of holes through above-band-gap excitation or through electrochemical injection increases ion migration and leads to phase segregation. The thermodynamic and redox properties of halide perovskites provide a strong driving force for hole trapping and oxidation of iodide species in MHPs. However, mobile halide species within the perovskite lattice take time to migrate and generate halide-rich domains. When in contact with a nonpolar solvent, the migration of iodine species is further extended to expulsion of iodine from the perovskite film. Thus, the mobility of halides and their susceptibility to hole-induced oxidation play a crucial role in determining the long-term stability of metal halide perovskites. Strategies to gain kinetic control over ion migration to slow phase segregation are needed to overcome these hurdles and achieve stable mixed halide perovskites. Modification of the perovskite composition through introduction of different cations or halide ions, or introduction of low-dimensional perovskite phases may suppress phase segregation. Furthermore, in achieving stability and improving the efficiency of perovskite solar cells and light emitting devices with minimal impacts, suppression of segregation remains the key factor.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Greatly Increasing Trapped Ion Populations for Mobility Separations Using Traveling Waves in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

The initial use of traveling waves (TW) for ion mobility (IM) separations using a structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM) employed an ion funnel trap (IFT) to accumulate ions from a continuous electrospray ionization source, and limited to injected ion populations of ~106 charges due to the onset of space charge effects in the trapping region. Additional limitations arise due to the loss of resolution for the injection of ions over longer periods (e.g. in extended pulses). In this work a new SLIM ‘flat funnel’ (FF) module has been developed and demonstrated to enable the accumulation of much larger ion populations and their injection for IM separations. Ion current measurements indicate a capacity of ~3.2×108 charges for the extended trapping volume, over an order of magnitude greater than the IFT. The orthogonal ion injection into a funnel shaped separation region can greatly reduce space charge effects during the initial IM separation stage, and the gradually reduced width of the path allows the ion packet to be increasingly compressed in the lateral dimension as the separation progresses, allowing e.g. efficient transmission through conductance limits or compatibility with subsequent ion manipulations. This work examined the TW, RF, and DC confining field SLIM parameters involved in ion accumulation, injection, transmission and separation in the FF IM module using both direct ion current and MS measurements. Wide m/z range ion transmission is demonstrated, along with significant increases in signal to noise (S/N) ratios due to the larger ion populations injected. Additionally, we observed a reduction in the chemical background, which was attributed to more efficient desolvation of solvent related clusters over the extended ion accumulation periods. The TW SLIM FF IM module is anticipated to be especially effective as a front end for long path SLIM IM separation modules.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2023

Improving Proton Conductivity by Navigating Proton Trapping in High Scandium-Doped Barium Zirconate Electrolytes

Proton-conducting oxides are used in intermediate-temperature (300 °C < T < 700 °C) applications of fuel cells, electrolyzers, membrane reactors, hydrogen pumps, and sensors. The proton conductivity of doped ABO 3 perovskites is partly dependent on the proton concentration and hence on the level of material hydration. However, how the material hydration ability is affected by differences in doping is not fully understood. Here, we show the prospect of proton trapping and detrapping that influences material hydration and dehydration. The proton-trapping influence is significant for Sc-doped BaZrO 3 compared to Y-doped BaZrO 3 . Here, our work offers a perspective to understand how defect interaction/associations influence the hydration ability of proton-conducting oxides. Furthermore, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was revealed to be a valuable technique for studying the proton-trapping phenomena and the defect chemistry of dense proton conductors. Density functional theory calculations also showed that a high hydration level in Sc-doped BaZrO 3 boosts proton migration. In contrast, the effect of boosting the proton migration due to increased hydration is limited for Y-doped BaZrO 3 . This effect, in turn, might explain the trend of conductivity with dopant concentration in doped BaZrO 3 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Hydrogen treatment as a detergent of electronic trap states in lead chalcogenide nanoparticles

Lead chalcogenide (PbX) nanoparticles are promising materials for solar energy conversion. However, the presence of trap states in their electronic gap limits their usability, and developing a universal strategy to remove trap states is a persistent challenge. Using calculations based on density functional theory, we show that hydrogen acts as an amphoteric impurity on PbX nanoparticle surfaces; hydrogen atoms may passivate defects arising from ligand imbalance or off-stoichiometric surface terminations irrespective of whether they originate from cation or anion excess. In addition, we show, using constrained density functional theory calculations, that hydrogen treatment of defective nanoparticles is also beneficial for charge transport in films. We also find that hydrogen adsorption on stoichiometric nanoparticles leads to electronic doping, preferentially n-type. Lastly, our findings suggest that postsynthesis hydrogen treatment of lead chalcogenide nanoparticle films is a viable approach to reduce electronic trap states or to dope well-passivated films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Tandem Mass-Selective Cryogenic Digital Ion Traps for Enhanced Cluster Formation

We present the implementation of tandem mass-selective cryogenic ion traps, designed to enhance the range of ion processing capabilities that can be performed prior to spectroscopic interrogation. We show that both the formation of ion clusters and mass filtering steps can be combined in a single cryogenic linear quadrupole ion trap driven by RF square waves. Mass filtering and mass isolation can be achieved by manipulation of the RF frequency and duty cycle. Very importantly, this scheme circumvents the need for high-amplitude RF voltages that can be incompatible with typical cryogenic ion processing conditions. In addition, proper adjustment of the stability boundaries during the clustering process allows for the preferential formation of a specific cluster size rather than a broad distribution of sizes. Lastly, we show that a specific cluster size can be formed, mass-selected, and then transferred to another ion trap for a second completely separate ion processing step. Furthermore, the instrumentation and modular design developed here expand the scope of ionic species and clusters that can be accessed by processing electrosprayed ions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Demonstration of Capture, Cooling, Tagging, and Spectroscopic Characterization of UV Photoproduct Ions in a Cryogenic Ion Trap: Application to 266 nm Photofragment Ions from Rhodamine 6G

We demonstrate a method to determine the structures of the primary photodissociation products from a cryogenically cooled parent ion. In this approach, a target ion is cooled by a pulse of buffer gas and tagged in a 20 K Paul trap. The cold ion is then photodissociated by pulsed (~5 ns) UV laser excitation, and the ionic products are trapped, cooled, and tagged by introduction of a second buffer gas pulse in the same trap. The tagged fragments are then ejected into a triple focusing, UV/vis/IR time-of-flight photofragmentation mass spectrometer which yields vibrational and electronic spectra of the mass-selected photofragments. Furthermore, these methods are demonstrated by application to the 266 nm photodissociation of the Rhodamine 6G cation to yield the R575 fragment ion based on loss of ethene as well as to a weaker secondary fragment arising from loss of m/z 43.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Extremely Slow Trap-Mediated Hole Relaxation in Room-Temperature InP/ZnSe/ZnS Quantum Dots

Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy have been used to elucidate the hole relaxation dynamics in high-quality InP/ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) at room temperature. In QDs having an In/P ratio close to 1:1, hole cooling is fast compared to the ~40 ps time-correlated photon-counting instrument response. However, in QDs that luminesce at wavelengths greater than around 600 nm and have excess indium, a significant fraction of the PL exhibits a slower rise time. In this case, the PL rises over a range of timescales varying from close to the instrument response to approximately 300–400 ps. The time constant of the slowest component increases with increasing InP core size and the fraction of the PL that has the slow rise time increases with excess indium in the particle. In all cases, a slow rise time and any spectral evolution on that timescale are absent in the TA results, indicating that the slow dynamics may be assigned to relaxation in the valence band. QDs emitting at wavelengths below 560 nm show very different dynamics, exhibiting a barely detectable <50 ps rise time. Based on these results and measured elemental compositions, the slow hole relaxation is assigned to the transient population of indium-based traps in the ZnSe shell that are above the valence band edge only for the larger, red-emitting QDs. Here, the relative trap to band edge relaxation rates can be understood in terms of effective mass approximation hole wave function calculations, which show that the relaxation rate is largely determined by the extent to which the hole wave function in the lowest exciton penetrates into the ZnSe shell, overlapping the trapped-hole wave functions.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultrafast Hole Trapping and Relaxation Dynamics in p-Type CuS Nanodisks

CuS nanocrystals are potential materials for developing low-cost solar energy conversion devices. Understanding the underlying dynamics of photoinduced carriers in CuS nanocrystals is essential to improve their performance in these devices. In this work, we investigated the photoinduced hole dynamics in CuS nanodisks (NDs) using the combination of transient optical (OTA) and X-ray (XTA) absorption spectroscopy. OTA results show that the broad transient absorption in the visible region is attributed to the photoinduced hot and trapped holes. The hole trapping process occurs on a subpicosecond time scale, followed by carrier recombination (~100 ps). The nature of the hole trapping sites, revealed by XTA, is characteristic of S or organic ligands on the surface of CuS NDs. Lastly, these results not only suggest the possibility to control the hole dynamics by tuning the surface chemistry of CuS but also represent the first time observation of hole dynamics in semiconductor nanocrystals using XTA.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Both Free and Trapped Carriers Contribute to Photocurrent of Sb 2 Se 3 Solar Cells

Polycrystalline semiconductor films, such as methylammonium lead iodide, cadmium telluride, copper-indium-gallium selenide, etc., are being intensively studied due to their great potential for highly efficient and cost-effective solar cells. Among them, polycrystalline antimony chalcogenide films are also promising for photovoltaic applications because they are nontoxic, stable, flexible, and have a suitable bandgap. Considerable effort has already been devoted to improving the power conversion efficiency of antimony chalcogenide solar cells, but their efficiency still lingers below 10% due in part to scarce fundamental optoelectronic studies that help guide their development. Here, we use a combination of time-resolved terahertz and transient absorption spectroscopies to interrogate the optoelectronic behavior of antimony selenide thin films. By combining these two techniques we are able to monitor both free and trapped carrier dynamics and then evaluate their respective diffusion lengths. Our results indicate that trapped carriers remain mobile and can reach charge collecting interfaces prior to recombination, and therefore, both free and trapped carriers can contribute to the photocurrent of antimony selenide solar cells.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Trap-Assisted Dopant Compensation Prevents Shunting in Poly-Si Passivating Interdigitated Back Contact Silicon Solar Cells

Using a trap-assisted compensation model, we explain why polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) passivating contacts are able to achieve low leakage current between the doped fingers of interdigitated back contact (IBC) monocrystalline Si solar cells despite mixing of boron and phosphorus dopants in the isolation region. The fill factor of IBC solar cells is strongly affected by the electrical isolation region between n- and p-type fingers, as this region is critical in minimizing shunting losses. During fabrication of monocrystalline Si solar cells with poly-Si passivating contacts, the intrinsic poly-Si isolation region inevitably gets contaminated with both p- and n-type dopants. Using dopant profiles measured with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and scanning probe measurements of the isolation region, we demonstrate that despite the dopant spreading during cell processing, a well-compensated region between the doped fingers exists that prevents shunting. The trap-assisted dopant compensation mechanism significantly widens the compensated region to tens of microns, where the residual dopant densities are below the trap density. This enables a high-resistivity region, resulting in low shunt current. Using one-dimensional (1-D) finite element diode simulations, we identify the design parameters and experimental conditions under which a sufficiently resistive region can form. Furthermore, our measurements of 2-D local resistivity and work function maps across the isolation region using scanning spreading resistance microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy demonstrate the existence of a highly resistive, wide compensated region and confirm our proposed compensation mechanism. For our structures, this region is ~25 µm in width within a ~150 µm wide finger isolation region with nearly 3 orders of magnitude higher resistivity than the regions dominated by a single type of dopant.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Synthetic Ligand Selection Affects Stoichiometry, Carrier Dynamics, and Trapping in CuInSe 2 Nanocrystals

CuInSe 2 nanocrystals exhibit tunable near-infrared bandgaps that bolster utility in photovoltaic applications as well as offer potential as substitutes for more-toxic Cd- and Pb-based semiconductor compositions. However, they can present a variety of defect states as well as unusual photophysics. In this work, we examine the effects of ligand composition (oleylamine, diphenylphosphine, and tributylphosphine) on carrier dynamics in these materials. Via spectroscopic measurements such as photoluminescence and transient absorption, we find that ligands present during the synthesis of CuInSe 2 nanocrystals impart non-radiative electronic states which compete with radiative recombination and give rise to low photoluminescence quantum yields. We characterize the nature of these defect states (hole vs. electron traps) and investigate whether they exist at the surface or interior of the nanocrystals. Carrier lifetimes are highly dependent on ligand identity where oleylamine-capped nanocrystals exhibit rapid trapping (< 20 ps) followed by diphenylphosphine (< 500 ps) and finally tributylphosphine (> 2 ns). A majority of carrier population localizes at indium copper antisites (electrons), copper vacancies (holes), or surface traps (electrons and/or holes), all of which are non-emissive.

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

Photonic Crystal Waveguides for >90% Light Trapping Efficiency in Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent solar concentrators are currently limited in their potential concentration factor and solar conversion efficiency by the inherent escape cone losses present in conventional planar dielectric waveguides. Here, we demonstrate that photonic crystal slab waveguides tailored for luminescent solar concentrator applications can exhibit >90% light trapping efficiency. This is achieved by use of quantum dot luminophores embedded within the waveguide that absorb light at photon energies corresponding to photonic crystal leaky modes that couple to incoming sunlight. The luminophores then emit at lower photon energies into photonic crystal bound modes that enable highly efficient light trapping in slab waveguides of wavelength-scale thickness. Photonic crystal waveguides thus nearly eliminate escape cone losses, and overcome the performance limitations of previously proposed wavelength-selective dielectric multilayer filters. We describe designs for hole-array and rod-array photonic crystals comprised of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide using CdSe/CdS quantum dots. Our analysis suggests that photonic crystal waveguide luminescent solar concentrators using these materials these can achieve light trapping efficiency above 92% and a concentration factor as high as 100.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗