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At least 73 records · Page 4

Atomic step disorder on polycrystalline surfaces leads to spatially inhomogeneous work functions

Structural disorder causes materials’ surface electronic properties, e.g., work function (ϕ), to vary spatially, yet it is challenging to prove exact causal relationships to underlying ensemble disorder, e.g., roughness or granularity. For polycrystalline Pt, nanoscale resolution photoemission threshold mapping reveals a spatially varying ϕ=5.70±0.03 eV over a distribution of (111) vicinal grain surfaces prepared by sputter deposition and annealing. With regard to field emission and related phenomena, e.g., vacuum arc initiation, a salient feature of the ϕ distribution is that it is skewed with a long tail to values down to 5.4 eV, i.e., far below the mean, which is exponentially impactful to field emission via the Fowler–Nordheim relation. We show that the ϕ spatial variation and distribution can be explained by ensemble variations of granular tilts and surface slopes via a Smoluchowski smoothing model wherein local ϕ variations result from spatially varying densities of electric dipole moments, intrinsic to atomic steps, that locally modify ϕ. Atomic step-terrace structure is confirmed with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at several locations on our surfaces, and prior works showed STM evidence for atomic step dipoles at various metal surfaces. From our model, we find an atomic step edge dipole μ=0.12 D/edge atom, which is comparable to values reported in studies that utilized other methods and materials. Our results elucidate a connection between macroscopic ϕ and the nanostructure that may contribute to the spread of reported ϕ for Pt and other surfaces and may be useful toward more complete descriptions of polycrystalline metals in the models of field emission and other related vacuum electronics phenomena, e.g., arc initiation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A macro-scale ruck and tuck mechanism for deformation in ion-irradiated polycrystalline graphite

A vein structure, which becomes more pronounced with increasing ion dose, was found on the surface of polycrystalline HOPG (highly oriented pyrolytic graphite) implanted by ex situ C + (up to 1.8 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 ), and in situ Ar + in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). These veins are found to be independent of the crystallographic orientations and are associated with the formation of pores. Underneath the veins, a triangular-shaped core was formed with the graphite platelet inside the core displaced up towards the surface. A macro-scale ‘ruck&tuck’ geometry was thus generated at these triangle structure boundaries. Progressive movement of dislocations along basal planes during irradiation was observed, and a mechanistic model was proposed on this basis to explain the vein formation. A small increase of c-spacing was observed with irradiation but it is believed that macro-scale vein formation plays a more vital role in the dimensional and property changes in polycrystalline graphite, especially when a stress gradient is present. Here, the model proposed also explains the change of thermal expansion in HOPG with irradiation. Together with Heggie’s ‘ruck&tuck’ and Barsoum’s ‘ripplocations’ models, the present model is considered to have provided an additional experimentally proven mechanism responsible for irradiation behaviour in graphite materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The impact of anisotropic thermal expansion on the isothermal annealing of polycrystalline α -uranium

Although grain growth impacts microstructural evolution in a wide variety of materials systems, the effect of anisotropic thermal expansion on grain boundary mobility and texture evolution has not been widely studied. Anisotropic thermal expansion occurs in multiple non-cubic metals, and the thermomechanical processing behavior of these materials can be better understood with further study into the impact of thermal expansion on grain boundary mobility and texture evolution. In this work, we develop a mesoscale phase field model of grain growth that includes the effect of anisotropic thermal expansion, which is applied to study polycrystalline α-uranium, a highly anisotropic metal. Three-dimensional simulations on polycrystalline a-uranium with and without thermal expansion eigenstrains are performed to study the grain boundary mobility and texture evolution as a function of temperature. A strain-free temperature of 933 K is selected, and the system is studied at within the range of 873 – 933 K at intervals of ten degrees, resulting in increasing thermal eigenstrain with decreasing temperature. We also estimate a grain boundary mobility prefactor and activation energy based on existing experimental data of isothermal annealing of α-uranium. The grain boundary mobility is found to display significant deviation from Arrhenius behavior with the inclusion of thermal expansion eigenstrain as the amount of thermal eigenstrain (and thus elastic strain energy within the system) increases. This result explains an experimentally observed grain boundary mobility deviation from Arrhenius behavior. Furthermore, the texture evolution is affected, such that the grain orientations become less random with increasing thermal eigenstrain, which could explain experimentally observed texture behavior. These results indicate that the effect of thermal expansion should be considered when predicting the thermomechanical processing behavior of α-uranium and other materials with anisotropic thermal expansion.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Dynamic flow stress of pure polycrystalline aluminum: Pressure-shear plate impact experiments and extension of dislocation-based modeling to large strains

The dynamic thermo-mechanical behavior of pure aluminum has attracted renewed interest lately due to experimental observations of an anomalous increase in Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL) at incipient plasticity and elevated temperatures in polycrystalline pure metals. In context of current dislocation-mediated plasticity models for metals, this increase in dynamic strength is indicative of a transition in the rate controlling mechanism for dislocation glide from being thermally assisted to phonon-drag restricted due to increase in phonon viscosity at elevated temperatures. Though these studies have helped to shed light on these important mechanisms operative in FCC metals at incipient plasticity, the extent to which they contribute to flow stress, particularly at larger strains, remains unclear. Here, we address these questions through a combined experimental and modeling effort focused on investigating the evolution of dynamic flow stress in polycrystalline aluminum using experimental data gathered from a series of combined pressure-and-shear plate impact (PSPI) experiments designed to reveal the flow stress of pure aluminum at strain rates ~ 10 5 /s, plastic strains of up to 40% and temperatures ranging from room to 866 K. In all cases, the flow stress of aluminum, as inferred from the measured transverse particle velocity histories at the free surface of an elastic tungsten carbide target plate, reveals saturation with increasing plastic strains at stress levels that decrease with increasing test temperatures. Numerical simulations are performed to correlate the experimentally observed temperature and strain rate dependence of flow stress at small and large plastic strains using the Austin-McDowell dislocation-mediated plasticity model parametrized to normal plate impact experiments conducted in an earlier study by Zaretsky and Kanel (2012). Extensions to the model are made to better represent dynamic behavior of pure aluminum at larger plastic strains as observed in elevated temperature split Hopkinson Pressure bar (SPHB) experiments of Samanta (1971) and Lindholm and Yeakly (1965), and the combined pressure-and-shear plate-impact experiments conducted in the present study. The main theoretical extension to the Austin-McDowell model made in this paper is the introduction of a new rate- and temperature- dependent dynamic recovery function, which can potentially allow for an effective reduction in the rate of accumulation of dislocations at large plastic strains. The numerical predictions of the revised and re-calibrated plasticity model are brought into agreement with the experimental observations, correlating sufficiently well with dynamic yield stress at incipient plasticity and the flow stress levels at larger plastic strains, plastic strain rates in the range 10 3 – 10 6 /s, and elevated temperatures up to near melt. The model, in concert with the experimental measurements, suggests that at incipient plasticity the rate governing mechanism for plastic flow is phonon-drag restricted dislocation glide, whereas, at higher magnitudes of plastic strain, it transitions to stress-assisted thermally activated glide. The transition between these two rate governing mechanisms is controlled by the evolution of dislocations throughout the deformation process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Determination of single crystal thermal expansion in Uranium-6wt%Niobium shape memory alloy using in-situ diffraction and modeling of textured polycrystalline samples

In-situ neutron diffraction and ex-situ dilatometry experiments were performed on a chemically banded, quenched uranium-6wt% niobium shape memory alloy to study the impact of deformation-(detwinning-) induced texture on the evolution of thermally induced strains (and associated stresses). Thermal heating and cooling cycles between 5K and 473K were performed in-situ with neutron diffraction, and the lattice strain evolution is reported for the observed monoclinic α" phase. Comparisons between the measured diffraction strains and macroscopic dilatometry experiments reveal relationships between micro- and macro-level thermal expansion. Softening of the texture during heating suggests that twin boundary motion can accommodate the large internal thermal strains which are approximately 2% greater than that typically observed during the 175K heating interval used to age more randomly oriented polycrystalline material. Assuming weak constraint of neighboring grains in randomly textured polycrystals, the single crystal thermal expansion tensor is extracted from measurements of lattice strains over the range 5K to 473K. Predictions of polycrystalline thermal expansion, based upon this single crystal thermal expansion tensor, are shown to compare favorably with bulk thermal expansion observations of the as quenched microstructure. However, such a lower-bound estimate is insufficient to explain all aspects of the behavior of the textured material, where the matrix is not isotropic. In conclusion, it is hypothesized that relaxation processes which occur within the quenched microstructure during heating are responsible for the distinct thermal expansion behavior observed during the initial heating cycle compared to cooling and subsequent cycling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Pinhole electrical conductivity in polycrystalline Si on locally etched SiN$_y$/SiO$_x$ passivating contacts for Si solar cells

State-of-the-art monocrystalline Si (c-Si) solar cells require passivating contacts to achieve a high degree of charge-carrier separation and collection. In this work, we focus on boron-doped polycrystalline Si on locally etched silicon nitride/silicon oxide (PLENO) passivating contacts. In PLENO contacts, excellent surface passivation is provided by the ~10 nm dielectric bilayer, while pinholes in the dielectric bilayer, that are filled with doped polycrystalline Si, provide charge-carrier selectivity and transport. During PLENO fabrication, etch undercut in the dielectric bilayer occurs. Here, using electrical characterization and microscopies, we show that undercut causes pinholes to be electrically resistive in PLENO. A processing sequence that eliminates the undercut in the final PLENO structure results in electrically conductive pinholes with low contact resistivity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Digital polycrystalline microstructure generation using diffusion probabilistic models

Accurate micromechanical simulation of polycrystalline materials requires a realistic digital representation of the grain scale microstructure. Here, this work demonstrates the use of a generative diffusion probabilistic model for synthesizing single phase polycrystalline realizations. The model performs well and is capable of producing realistic microstructures consisting of not just simple equiaxed structures but also structures exhibiting more complex spatial arrangements. Masked microstructure generation reveals that the model is context aware of morphological descriptors which may be encoded in the latent space. Training on more diverse data sets, with scaled up architectures, may enable development of future models capable of synthesizing even more complex microstructural features.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of Sn oxides on the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline SnSe

SnSe is a promising thermoelectric material, with intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity, κL. Surprisingly, in several reports, polycrystalline samples are found to have a higher thermal conductivity than single crystals. This disparity has been attributed to trace amounts of thermally conductive Sn oxides at the grain boundaries of polycrystalline samples. The same culprit was recently proposed to explain the reduction of κL in purified, oxide-free, SnSe polycrystals. Here, we test this hypothesis by: (i) tuning the type of oxide in SnSe by exploiting thermodynamic stability regions, since Sn-rich or Sn-poor compositions favour the formation of SnO or SnO 2 , respectively; and (ii) varying the quantity of SnO 2 by intentionally oxidizing SnSe powder before consolidation, to obtain samples with quantifiable amounts - up to 15% - of SnO 2 . We find that the κL of SnSe is impervious to changes in the type or the amount of Sn oxide present in the samples. Our results show that a simple “rule of mixtures” cannot be used to estimate the effect of grain boundary oxides on the thermal conductivity of SnSe. These results call for an improved understanding of the intriguing thermal transport mechanisms in SnSe and numerous other systems where a two-phase transport is presumed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nanoscale Magnetic Domains in Polycrystalline Mn 3 Sn Films Imaged by a Scanning Single-Spin Magnetometer

Noncollinear antiferromagnets with novel magnetic orders, vanishingly small net magnetization, and exotic spin related properties hold enormous promise for developing next-generation, transformative spintronic applications. A major ongoing research focus of this community is to explore, control, and harness unconventional magnetic phases of this emergent material system to deliver state-of-the-art functionalities for modern microelectronics. Here we report direct imaging of magnetic domains of polycrystalline Mn 3 Sn films, a prototypical noncollinear antiferromagnet, using nitrogen-vacancy-based single-spin scanning microscopy. Nanoscale evolution of local stray field patterns of Mn 3 Sn samples are systematically investigated in response to external driving forces, revealing the characteristic “heterogeneous” magnetic switching behaviors in polycrystalline textured Mn 3 Sn films. Furthermore, our results contribute to a comprehensive understanding of inhomogeneous magnetic orders of noncollinear antiferromagnets, highlighting the potential of nitrogen-vacancy centers to study microscopic spin properties of a broad range of emergent condensed matter systems.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

A Polycrystalline Pd Surface Studied by Two-Dimensional Surface Optical Reflectance during CO Oxidation: Bridging the Materials Gap

Industrial catalysts are complex materials systems operating in harsh environments. The active parts of the catalysts are nanoparticles that expose different facets with different surface orientations at which the catalytic reactions occur. However, these facets are close to impossible to study in detail under industrially relevant operating conditions. Instead, simpler model systems, such as single crystals with a well-defined surface orientation, have been successfully used to study gas–surface interactions such as adsorption and desorption, surface oxidation, and oxidation/reduction reactions. To more closely mimic the many facets exhibited by nanoparticles and thereby close the so-called materials gap, there has also been a recent move toward using polycrystalline surfaces and curved crystals. However, these studies are limited either by the pressure or spatial resolution at realistic pressures or by the number of surfaces studied simultaneously. In this work, we demonstrate the use of reflectance microscopy to study a vast number of catalytically active surfaces simultaneously under realistic and identical reaction conditions. As a proof of concept, we have conducted an operando experiment to study CO oxidation over a Pd polycrystal, where the polycrystalline surface acts as a collection of many single-crystal surfaces. Finally, we visualized the resulting data by plotting the reflectivity as a function of surface orientation. We think the techniques and visualization methods introduced in this work will be key toward bridging the materials gap in catalysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Insights into interfacial effect and local lithium-ion transport in polycrystalline cathodes of solid-state batteries

Interfacial issues commonly exist in solid-state batteries, and the microstructural complexity combines with the chemical heterogeneity to govern the local interfacial chemistry. The conventional wisdom suggests that “point-to-point” ion diffusion at the interface determines the ion transport kinetics. Here, we show that solid-solid ion transport kinetics are not only impacted by the physical interfacial contact but are also closely associated with the interior local environments within polycrystalline particles. In spite of the initial discrete interfacial contact, solid-state batteries may still display homogeneous lithium-ion transportation owing to the chemical potential force to achieve an ionic-electronic equilibrium. Nevertheless, once the interior local environment within secondary particle is disrupted upon cycling, it triggers charge distribution from homogeneity to heterogeneity and leads to fast capacity fading. Our work highlights the importance of interior local environment within polycrystalline particles for electrochemical reactions in solid-state batteries and provides crucial insights into underlying mechanism in interfacial transport.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Effect of the grain arrangements on the thermal stability of polycrystalline nickel-rich lithium-based battery cathodes

One of the most challenging aspects of developing high-energy lithium-based batteries is the structural and (electro)chemical stability of Ni-rich active cathode materials at thermally-abused and prolonged cell cycling conditions. Here, we report in situ physicochemical characterizations to improve the fundamental understanding of the degradation mechanism of charged polycrystalline Ni-rich cathodes at elevated temperatures (e.g., ≥ 40 °C). Using multiple microscopy, scattering, thermal, and electrochemical probes, we decouple the major contributors for the thermal instability from intertwined factors. Our research work demonstrates that the grain microstructures play an essential role in the thermal stability of polycrystalline lithium-based positive battery electrodes. We also show that the oxygen release, a crucial process during battery thermal runaway, can be regulated by engineering grain arrangements. Furthermore, the grain arrangements can also modulate the macroscopic crystallographic transformation pattern and oxygen diffusion length in layered oxide cathode materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Polycrystalline SnSe with a thermoelectric figure of merit greater than the single crystal

Abstract Thermoelectric materials generate electric energy from waste heat, with conversion efficiency governed by the dimensionless figure of merit, ZT. Single-crystal tin selenide (SnSe) was discovered to exhibit a high ZT of roughly 2.2–2.6 at 913 K, but more practical and deployable polycrystal versions of the same compound suffer from much poorer overall ZT, thereby thwarting prospects for cost-effective lead-free thermoelectrics. The poor polycrystal bulk performance is attributed to traces of tin oxides covering the surface of SnSe powders, which increases thermal conductivity, reduces electrical conductivity and thereby reduces ZT. Here, we report that hole-doped SnSe polycrystalline samples with reagents carefully purified and tin oxides removed exhibit an ZT of roughly 3.1 at 783 K. Its lattice thermal conductivity is ultralow at roughly 0.07 W m –1 K –1 at 783 K, lower than the single crystals. The path to ultrahigh thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline samples is the proper removal of the deleterious thermally conductive oxides from the surface of SnSe grains. These results could open an era of high-performance practical thermoelectrics from this high-performance material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Molten Salt Synthesis of Increased (100)-Facet and Polycrystalline Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Impact of Facet and Crystallinity on Electrocatalysis

Nickel oxide nanocubes with increased (100) surface facet presence (NiO(100)) were synthesized through a molten salt synthesis procedure to probe their oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity in order to investigate the relationship between the surface facet and OER performance. While altering the synthesis parameters to decrease NiO(100) particle sizes and agglomeration, a polycrystalline NiO nanoparticle system formed from using Li2O as a Lux-Flood base (labelled Li2O-MSS NiO, where MSS stands for molten salt synthesis). This novel synthesis was further elaborated and the obtained materials were also tested for OER activity. After thorough structural characterization to determine crystallinity, lattice spacings, and elemental distribution, their OER activity was compared versus high surface area NiO(111) nanosheets in a three-electrode rotating disk electrode (RDE) system. The activity trend of (111) > Li2O-MSS > (100) was observed. This decrease in activity of the nanocube and polycrystalline samples was explained by differences between theoretical and experimental conditions, differences in ink rheology and resulting catalyst layer properties, and significant agglomeration seen in the imaging of the sample. Methods for improving the OER activity of these samples are discussed in the conclusion of this study.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Experimental investigation of laser ablation of stone polycrystalline targets

We report the results of an experimental investigation of ablation of stone polycrystalline targets of complex multicomponent composition, which imitate the substance of asteroids. The targets were irradiated by nanosecond pulses of a neodymium laser at an energy density Φ{sub L} of up to 5 × 10{sup 4} J cm{sup −2}. The experiments demonstrated the existence of two ablation regimes, with the boundary between them lying at Φ{sub L} ≈ 4000 J cm{sup −2}. The regime change is characterised by a change in the form of the dependence of the surface mass density of removed target material on the laser energy density and by the appearance of a minimum in the dependence of specific energy of destruction on Φ{sub L}. This is supposedly related to the passage from a one-dimensional plasma plume expansion to the three-dimensional one and the corresponding decrease in the efficiency of energy transfer from the laser beam to the target due to a lowering of laser-produced plasma density. Our experiments also showed the existence of a maximum in impulse coupling coefficient C{sub m} as a function of laser energy density (C{sub m} ≈ 6.3 × 10{sup −5} N W{sup −1} for Φ{sub L} = Φ{sub opt} ≈ 25 J cm{sup −2}). Maxima were also recorded in the dependences of the ablation efficiency and average ablation flow velocity on Φ{sub L}. For Φ{sub L} > Φ{sub opt}, the decrease in the function C{sub m}(Φ{sub L}) turns out to be much steeper than for metals and polymer materials. The difference is supposedly due to the lower strength and lower plasticity of the polycrystalline stone targets. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effect of CO{sub 2}-laser power density on the absorption coefficient of polycrystalline CVD diamonds

The effect of 1-s irradiation of an uncooled polycrystalline CVD diamond plate by a focused cw CO{sub 2} laser beam with a power density of 300 – 800 kW cm{sup −2} is investigated. The absorption coefficient of the sample at a power density of 800 kW cm{sup −2} is found to be 0.035 cm{sup −1} larger as compared with that at 300 kW cm{sup −2}, which is related to the temperature dependence of its phonon-induced absorption with a change in temperature from 44 to 100 °C. It is shown that polycrystalline diamond, in contrast to other optical materials, does not exhibit nonlinear (avalanche-like) rise in absorption at high CO{sub 2}-laser power densities, at least up to 800 kW cm{sup −2}. (paper)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Microstructure-dependent rate theory model of defect segregation and phase stability in irradiated polycrystalline LiAlO 2

We report gamma lithium aluminate (LiAlO 2 ) is a breeder material for tritium and is one of key components in a tritium-producing burnable absorber rod (TPBAR). Dissolution and precipitation of second phases such as LiAl 5 O 8 and voids are observed in irradiated LiAlO 2 . Such microstructure changes cause the degradation of thermomechanical properties of LiAlO 2 and affect tritium retention and release kinetics, and hence, the TPBAR performance. In this work, a microstructure-dependent model of radiation-induced segregation (RIS) has been developed for investigating the accumulation of species and phase stability in polycrystalline LiAlO 2 structures under irradiation. Three sublattices (i.e. [Li, Al, V] I [O, V o ] II [Li i , Al i , O i , V i ] III ), and concentrations of six diffusive species (i.e. Li; vacancy of Li or Al at [Li, Al, V] I sublattice, O vacancy at [O, V o ] II sublattice, and Li, Al and O interstitials at [Li i , Al i , O i , V i ] III interstitial sublattices; are used to describe spatial and temporal distributions of defects and chemistry. Microstructure-dependent thermodynamic and kinetic properties including the generation, reaction, and chemical potentials of defects and defect mobility are taken into account in the model. The parametric studies demonstrated the capability of the developed RIS model to assess the effect of thermodynamic and kinetic properties of defects on the segregation and depletion of species in polycrystalline structures and to explain the phase stability observed in irradiated LiAlO 2 samples. The developed RIS model will be extended to study the precipitation of LiAl 5 O 8 and voids and tritium retention by integrating the phase-field method.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Synthesis routes to eliminate oxide impurity segregation and their influence on intergrain connectivity in K-doped BaFe 2 As 2 polycrystalline bulks

The poor reproducibility of intergrain critical current density $J_c$ in Fe-based superconductors is often believed to result from uncontrolled grain boundary (GB) connectivity degraded by extrinsic factors such as the local or global impurity concentration or GB porosity or cracks. Earlier we found that Ba and K can appear as oxide impurities at GBs, along with GB-wetting FeAs. In this study, we evaluated how the sample preparation environment and purity of the starting materials influence the polycrystalline $J_c$ in K-doped BaFe 2 As 2 (Ba122) bulks. Using a high-performance glovebox, the oxygen and water levels were significantly reduced, eliminating traces of FeAs. We report oxide impurities and Ba (or K) segregation associated with oxygen in the starting materials were significantly reduced by using high purity starting materials. This combination essentially doubled the best $J_c$(4.2 K) values to 2.3 × 10 5 at self-field and 1.6 × 10 4 A cm –2 at 10 T and analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy showed no GB or O segregation in the best samples, but did show dark Z-contrast and distinct nanoscale porosity. Our work shows that an inert synthesis environment and high purity K and Ba do reduce current-blocking oxygen impurity and GB impurity phases, allowing deeper exploration of the role of extrinsic and intrinsic GB blocking effects in controlling the $J_c$ of polycrystalline Ba122.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗