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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 739 records · Page 41
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Tracking nanoparticle growth in pulsed carbon arc discharge

The dynamics of nanoparticle growth in pulsed anodic arc discharge has been studied in time-resolved mode. To this end, a fast moving probe was employed to extract the material generated in a pulsed arc plasma held between two graphite electrodes. The probe motion was synchronized with the pulse phase and the exposure time to the plasma was set to 10 ms. The graphite anode was eroded in a helium atmosphere (300 Torr) by an arc plasma pulsed at 1 Hz with a 10% duty cycle and showing 250 A of peak current. The structure and morphology of the probe depositions were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and focused ion beam. A maximal deposition rate of 260 μm/s was measured 5 mm away from the arc core during the active 0.1 s of the pulse. Such a rate yields a growth flux of 1.3 × 10 21 cm –2 s –1 , rich in carbon nanostructures (graphene platelets, nanotubes) with a characteristic aggregate size within 1–10 μm. The deposition during the inactive 0.9 s of the pulse was several orders of magnitude slower and consisted of amorphous carbon traces. Furthermore, the nanoparticle distribution along the collecting probe is correlated with the pulse phase, thereby providing information on particle transport. Pulsed nanosynthesis can be modeled as a periodical growth process, where the volume and propagation velocity of the growth region can be adjusted through modulation of the pulse signal waveform. The proposed model constitutes a suitable framework to investigate the pulsed arc synthesis of nanomaterials with tailored physical and chemical properties.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multiphonon diffuse scattering in solids from first principles: Application to layered crystals and two-dimensional materials

Time-resolved diffuse scattering experiments have gained increasing attention due to their potential to reveal nonequilibrium dynamics of crystal lattice vibrations with full momentum resolution. Although progress has been made in interpreting experimental data on the basis of one-phonon scattering, understanding the role of individual phonons can be sometimes hindered by multiphonon excitations. In Ref. [M. Zacharias, H. Seiler, F. Caruso, D. Zahn, F. Giustino, P. C. Kelires, and R. Ernstorfer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 207401 (2021)], we have introduced a rigorous approach for the calculation of the all-phonon inelastic scattering intensity of solids from first-principles. In the present work, we describe our implementation in detail and show that multiphonon interactions are captured efficiently by exploiting translational and time-reversal symmetries of the crystal. We demonstrate its predictive power by calculating the scattering patterns of monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ), bulk MoS 2 , and black phosphorus (bP), and we obtain excellent agreement with our measurements of thermal electron diffuse scattering. Remarkably, our results show that multiphonon excitations dominate in bP across multiple Brillouin zones, while in MoS 2 they play a less pronounced role. We expand our analysis for each system and examine the effect of individual atomic and interatomic vibrational motion on the diffuse scattering signals. We further demonstrate the high-throughput capability of our approach by reporting all-phonon scattering maps of two-dimensional MoSe 2 , WSe 2 , WS 2 , graphene, and CdI 2 , rationalizing in each case the effect of multiphonon processes. As a side point, we show that the special displacement method reproduces the thermally distorted configuration that generates precisely the all-phonon diffuse pattern. In conclusion, the present methodology opens the way for systematic calculations of the scattering intensity in crystals and the accurate interpretation of static and time-resolved inelastic scattering experiments.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Topological and nematic superconductivity mediated by ferro-SU(4) fluctuations in twisted bilayer graphene

We propose an SU(4) spin-valley-fermion model to investigate the superconducting instabilities of twisted bilayer graphene (TBG). In this approach, bosonic fluctuations associated with an emergent SU(4) symmetry, corresponding to combined rotations in valley and spin spaces, couple to the low-energy fermions that comprise the flat bands. These fluctuations are peaked at zero wave vector, reflecting the “ferromagnetic-like” SU(4) ground state recently found in strong-coupling solutions of microscopic models for TBG. Focusing on electronic states related to symmetry-imposed points of the Fermi surface, dubbed here “valley hot-spots” and “van Hove hot-spots,” we find that the coupling to the itinerant electrons partially lifts the huge degeneracy of the ferro-SU(4) ground state manifold, favoring intervalley order, spin-valley coupled order, ferromagnetic order, spin-current order, and valley-polarized order, depending on details of the band structure. Here, these fluctuations, in turn, promote attractive pairing interactions in a variety of closely competing channels, including a nodeless f-wave state, a nodal i-wave state, and topological d+id and p+ip states with unusual Chern numbers 2 and 4, respectively. Nematic superconductivity, although not realized as a primary instability of the system, appears as a consequence of the near-degeneracy of superconducting order parameters that transform as one-dimensional and two-dimensional irreducible representations of the point group D 6 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ionic‐Liquid Free and Flexible Transistors Made of 2D Material Inks

The development of thin-film transistors (TFTs) using 2D materials is crucial for enabling scalable, low-cost, and flexible electronics. Currently, 2D TFTs with the highest performance have been achieved by using ionic-liquid gating (ILG), a technique suited for proof-of-concept studies. However, ILG suffers from slow switching speeds, temperature sensitivity, poor long-term stability, and integration challenges, making it unsuitable for practical use. Moreover, typical fabrication methods for 2D TFTs involve harsh conditions such as strong acids or high temperatures (>300 °C), limiting integration with flexible substrates. This work provides the first demonstration of an ILG-free, all-2D-material TFT fabricated onto a flexible substrate. Water-based graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) inks are printed to deposit the electrodes and dielectric layers, respectively. The MoS 2 channel is produced via supramolecular interfacial self-assembly, yielding uniform, monolayer-rich films transferable to rigid and flexible substrates. The resulting TFTs operate below 3 V, exhibit negligible leakage current, and achieve field-effect mobilities up to 0.46 cm 2 V −1 s −1 (rising to 2.47 cm 2 V −1 s −1 with silver electrodes) measured under ambient conditions, while maintaining excellent mechanical flexibility. This work establishes a low-cost and scalable solution-processable platform for flexible electronics based on 2D materials that match requirements for practical applications.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2020

Graphene-assisted spontaneous relaxation towards dislocation-free heteroepitaxy

While conventional homoepitaxy forms high-quality epitaxial layers, the limited set of material systems for commercially available wafers restricts the range of materials that can be grown homoepitaxially. At the same time, conventional heteroepitaxy of lattice-mismatched systems produces dislocations above a critical strain energy to release the accumulated strain energy as the film thickness increases. The formation of dislocations, which severely degrade electronic/photonic device performances, is fundamentally unavoidable in highly lattice-mismatched epitaxy. Herein, we introduce a unique mechanism of relaxing misfit strain in heteroepitaxial films that can enable effective lattice engineering. We have observed that heteroepitaxy on graphene-coated substrates allows for spontaneous relaxation of misfit strain owing to the slippery graphene surface while achieving single-crystalline films by reading the atomic potential from the substrate. This spontaneous relaxation technique could transform the monolithic integration of largely lattice-mismatched systems by covering a wide range of the misfit spectrum to enhance and broaden the functionality of semiconductor devices for advanced electronics and photonics.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

High harmonic generation governed by edge states in triangular graphene quantum dots

Here, we study theoretically interaction of short optical pulses with triangular graphene quantum dots. If such quantum dots have zigzag edges then there are in-gap degenerate edge states, the number of which depends on the size of the system. We show that the nonlinear optical response, such as high harmonic generation, of triangular quantum dots is sensitive to the initial electron population of their edge states. In general, the emission spectra of quantum dots have weak dependence on the number of occupied edge states, but if half of the edge states are initially occupied, which can be realized only in the quantum dots with even number of edge states, then the even high harmonics are strongly suppressed. The suppression is the strongest when the frequency of the pulse is well below the band gap and it is weak when the pulse frequency becomes comparable to the band gap of the system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tunable atomically enhanced moiré Berry curvatures in twisted triple bilayer graphene

We report a twisted triple bilayer graphene platform consisting of three units of Bernal bilayer graphene consecutively twisted at 1.49° and 1.68°. We demonstrate the atomic reconstruction between the two competing moiré superlattices strongly enhances the Berry curvature of each moiré band insulator state, characterized by measured strong nonlocal valley Hall effect that sensitively depends on the intermoiré competition strength, tunable by manipulating the out-of-plane carrier distribution. Our study sheds light on the microscopic mechanism of atomic and electronic reconstruction in twisted multilayer systems, by systematically investigating transport signatures of moiré Berry curvature and its enhancement from moiré-of-moiré lattice reconstruction. In conclusion, we show that the reconstructed electronic band can be versatilely tuned by electrostatics, providing an approach toward engineering the band structure and its topology for a quantum material platform with designer electrical and optical properties.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Accessing the Spectral Function in a Current-Carrying Device

The presence of an electrical transport current in a material is one of the simplest and most important realizations of nonequilibrium physics. The current density breaks the crystalline symmetry and can give rise to dramatic phenomena, such as sliding charge density waves, insulator-to-metal transitions, or gap openings in topologically protected states. Almost nothing is known about how a current influences the electron spectral function, which characterizes most of the solid’s electronic, optical, and chemical properties. In this work, we show that angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with a nanoscale light spot provides not only a wealth of information on local equilibrium properties, but also opens the possibility to access the local nonequilibrium spectral function in the presence of a transport current. Unifying spectroscopic and transport measurements in this way allows simultaneous noninvasive local measurements of the composition, structure, many-body effects, and carrier mobility in the presence of high current densities. In the particular case of our graphene-based device, we are able to correlate the presence of structural defects with locally reduced carrier lifetimes in the spectral function and a locally reduced mobility with a spatial resolution of 500 nm.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

2D Electrets of Ultrathin MoO 2 with Apparent Piezoelectricity

Since graphene, a variety of 2D materials have been fabricated in a quest for a tantalizing combination of properties and desired physiochemical behavior. 2D materials that are piezoelectric, i.e., that allow for a facile conversion of electrical energy into mechanical and vice versa, offer applications for sensors, actuators, energy harvesting, stretchable and flexible electronics, and energy storage, among others. Unfortunately, materials must satisfy stringent symmetry requirements to be classified as piezoelectric. Here, 2D ultrathin single-crystal molybdenum oxide (MoO 2 ) flakes that exhibit unexpected piezoelectric-like response are fabricated, as MoO 2 is centrosymmetric and should not exhibit intrinsic piezoelectricity. However, it is demonstrated that the apparent piezoelectricity in 2D MoO 2 emerges from an electret-like behavior induced by the trapping and stabilization of charges around defects in the material. Arguably, the material represents the first 2D electret material and suggests a route to artificially engineer piezoelectricity in 2D crystals. Specifically, it is found that the maximum out-of-plane piezoresponse is 0.56 pm V -1 , which is as strong as that observed in conventional 2D piezoelectric materials. The charges are found to be highly stable at room temperature with a trapping energy barrier of ≈2 eV.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

4D Printing of Stretchable Supercapacitors via Hybrid Composite Materials

Stretchable supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted significant attention in developing power-independent stretchable electronic systems due to their intrinsic energy storage function and unique mechanical properties. Most current SCs are generally limited by their low stretchability, complicated fabrication process, and insufficient performance and robustness. This study presents a facile method to fabricate arbitrary-shaped stretchable electrodes via 4D printing of conductive composite from reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotube, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate. The electrode patterns of an arbitrary shape can be deposited onto prestretched substrates by aerosol-jet printing, then self-organized origami (ridge) patterns are generated after releasing the substrates from holding stretchers due to the mismatched strains. The stretchable electrodes demonstrate superior mechanical robustness and stretchability without sacrificing its outstanding electrochemical performance. The symmetric SC prototype possesses a gravimetric capacitance of ≈21.7 F g -1 at a current density of 0.5 A g -1 and a capacitance retention of ≈85.8% from 0.5 to 5 A g -1 . A SC array with arbitrary-shaped electrodes is also fabricated and connected in series to power light-emitting diode patterns for large-scale applications. Finally, the proposed method paves avenues for scalable manufacturing of future energy-storage devices with controlled extensibility and high electrochemical performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Chemomechanical effect of reduced graphene oxide encapsulation on hydrogen storage performance of Pd nanoparticles

Primary chemomechanical impacts of confinement on hydrogen storage performance are studied using a nanolaminate structure where reduced graphene oxide (rGO) encapsulates palladium (Pd) nanoparticles. Three contributing factors are identified that can alter the reaction enthalpy: nanosizing, chemical interaction with the encapsulant, and mechanical stress induced strain from a combination of clamping force and lateral pulling force exerted on the Pd nanoparticles. The mechanical contributions are quantified by combining transmission electron microscopy, ab initio computation, and continuum elasticity theory, from which the encapsulation is found to exert an additional strain of 4.96% and 2.99% before and after hydrogen absorption, respectively, increasing the Pd and Pd hydride (PdH x ) reaction enthalpy by 1.3–2.8 kJ (mol H 2 ) -1 . The effect of the chemical interaction with rGO also raises the reaction enthalpy by up to 1.6 kJ (mol H 2 ) -1 , while the nanosizing effect decreases the reaction enthalpy. The three contributing factors to the reaction enthalpy are found to be similar in magnitude, where the net effect is in agreement with the measured enthalpy increase of 3.7 kJ (mol H 2 ) -1 from the bulk value. Hydrogen absorption kinetics and capacity also improved, which is attributed to facile nucleation of the hydrogen-rich phase enabled by the inhomogeneous strain distribution over the encapsulated PdHx nanoparticles. These results demonstrate that the chemomechanical effect can be controlled in the nanolaminate structure, providing an ideal template for tuning hydrogen storage performance.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Visualizing interaction-driven restructuring of quantum Hall edge states

Many topological phases host gapless boundary modes that can be dramatically modified by electronic interactions. Even for the long-studied edge modes of quantum Hall phases, forming at the boundaries of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems, the nature of such interaction-induced changes has been elusive. Despite advances made using local probes, key experimental challenges persist: the lack of direct information about the internal structure of edge states on microscopic scales, and complications from edge disorder. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to image pristine electrostatically defined quantum Hall edge states in graphene with high spatial resolution and demonstrate how correlations dictate the structures of edge channels on both magnetic and atomic length scales. For integer quantum Hall states in the zeroth Landau level, we show that interactions renormalize the edge velocity, dictate the spatial profile for copropagating modes, and induce unexpected edge valley polarization that differ from those of the bulk. While some of our findings can be understood by mean-field theory, others show breakdown of this picture, highlighting the roles of edge fluctuations and inter-channel couplings. We also extend our measurements to spatially resolve the edge state of fractional quantum Hall phases and detect spectroscopic signatures of interactions in this chiral Luttinger liquid. Furthermore, our study establishes STM as a promising tool for exploring edge physics of the rapidly expanding 2D topological phases, including newly realized fractional Chern insulators.

Electronic properties and materials↗
DOE OSTI2022

Observation of Reentrant Correlated Insulators and Interaction-Driven Fermi-Surface Reconstructions at One Magnetic Flux Quantum per Moiré Unit Cell in Magic-Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene

The discovery of flat bands with nontrivial band topology in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) has provided a unique platform to study strongly correlated phenomena including superconductivity, correlated insulators, Chern insulators, and magnetism. A fundamental feature of the MATBG, so far unexplored, is its high magnetic field Hofstadter spectrum. Here, we report on a detailed magnetotransport study of a MATBG device in external magnetic fields of up to B = 3 1 T , corresponding to one magnetic flux quantum per moiré unit cell Φ 0 . At Φ 0 , we observe reentrant correlated insulators at a flat band filling factors of ν = + 2 and of ν = + 3 , and interaction-driven Fermi-surface reconstructions at other fillings, which are identified by new sets of Landau levels originating from these. These experimental observations are supplemented by theoretical work that predicts a new set of eight well-isolated flat bands at Φ 0 , of comparable band width, but with different topology than in zero field. Overall, our magnetotransport data reveal a qualitatively new Hofstadter spectrum in MATBG, which arises due to the strong electronic correlations in the reentrant flat bands.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Styrene-Based Elastomer Composites with Functionalized Graphene Oxide and Silica Nanofiber Fillers: Mechanical and Thermal Conductivity Properties

The mechanical and thermal conductivity properties of two composite elastomers were studied. Styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) filled with functionalized graphene oxide (GO) and silica nanofibers, and styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) block copolymers filled with graphene oxide. For the SBR composites, GO fillers with two different surface functionalities were synthesized (cysteamine and dodecylamine) and dispersed in the SBR using mechanical and liquid mixing techniques. The hydrophilic cysteamine-based GO fillers were dispersed in the SBR by mechanical mixing, whereas the hydrophobic dodecylamine-based GO fillers were dispersed in the SBR by liquid mixing. Silica nanofibers (SnFs) were fabricated by electrospinning a sol–gel precursor solution. The surface chemistry of the functionalized fillers was studied in detail. The properties of the composites and the synergistic improvements between the GO and SnFs are presented. For the SBS composites, GO fillers were dispersed in the SBS elastomer at several weight percent loadings using liquid mixing. Characterization of the filler material and the composite elastomers was performed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile testing, nanoindentation, thermal conductivity and abrasion testing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped two-dimensional van der Waals ZnO

The recent discovery of ferromagnetism in two-dimensional van der Waals crystals has provoked a surge of interest in the exploration of fundamental spin interaction in reduced dimensions. However, existing material candidates have several limitations, notably lacking intrinsic room-temperature ferromagnetic order and air stability. Here, motivated by the anomalously high Curie temperature observed in bulk diluted magnetic oxides, we demonstrate room-temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped graphene-like Zinc Oxide, a chemically stable layered material in air, down to single atom thickness. Through the magneto-optic Kerr effect, superconducting quantum interference device and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, we observe clear evidences of spontaneous magnetization in such exotic material systems at room temperature and above. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy results explicitly exclude the existence of metallic Co or cobalt oxides clusters. X-ray characterizations reveal that the substitutional Co atoms form Co 2+ states in the graphitic lattice of ZnO. By varying the Co doping level, we observe transitions between paramagnetic, ferromagnetic and less ordered phases due to the interplay between impurity-band-exchange and super-exchange interactions. Our discovery opens another path to 2D ferromagnetism at room temperature with the advantage of exceptional tunability and robustness.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2003

Silicon Carbide Nanotube Synthesized

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have generated a great deal of scientific and commercial interest because of the countless envisioned applications that stem from their extraordinary materials properties. Included among these properties are high mechanical strength (tensile and modulus), high thermal conductivity, and electrical properties that make different forms of single-walled CNTs either conducting or semiconducting, and therefore, suitable for making ultraminiature, high-performance CNT-based electronics, sensors, and actuators. Among the limitations for CNTs is their inability to survive in high-temperature, harsh-environment applications. Silicon carbon nanotubes (SiCNTs) are being developed for their superior material properties under such conditions. For example, SiC is stable in regards to oxidation in air to temperatures exceeding 1000 C, whereas carbon-based materials are limited to 600 C. The high-temperature stability of SiCNTs is envisioned to enable high-temperature, harsh-environment nanofiber- and nanotube-reinforced ceramics. In addition, single-crystal SiC-based semiconductors are being developed for hightemperature, high-power electronics, and by analogy to CNTs with silicon semiconductors, SiCNTs with single-crystal SiC-based semiconductors may allow high-temperature harsh-environment nanoelectronics, nanosensors, and nanoactuators to be realized. Another challenge in CNT development is the difficulty of chemically modifying the tube walls, which are composed of chemically stable graphene sheets. The chemical substitution of the CNTs walls will be necessary for nanotube self-assembly and biological- and chemical-sensing applications. SiCNTs are expected to have a different multiple-bilayer wall structure, allowing the surface Si atoms to be functionalized readily with molecules that will allow SiCNTs to undergo self-assembly and be compatible with a variety of materials (for biotechnology applications and high-performance fiber-reinforced ceramics).

Lienhard, Michael A.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tunable Lattice Reconstruction, Triangular Network of Chiral One-Dimensional States, and Bandwidth of Flat Bands in Magic Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene

The interplay between interlayer van der Waals interaction and intralayer lattice distortion can lead to structural reconstruction in slightly twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) with the twist angle being smaller than a characteristic angle θ c . Experimentally, the θ c is demonstrated to be very close to the magic angle (θ≈1.08°). Here we address the transition between reconstructed and unreconstructed structures of the TBG across the magic angle by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Our experiment demonstrates that both structures are stable in the TBG around the magic angle. By using a STM tip, we show that the two structures can be changed to each other and a triangular network of chiral one-dimensional states hosted by domain boundaries can be switched on and off. Consequently, the bandwidth of the flat band, which plays a vital role in the emergent strongly correlated states in the magic angle TBG, is tuned. This provides an extra control knob to manipulate the exotic electronic states of the TBG near the magic angle.

1-dimensional systems↗