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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 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

An ultra-compact, high-throughput molecular beam epitaxy growth system

We present a miniaturized molecular beam epitaxy (miniMBE) system with an outer diameter of 206 mm, optimized for flexible and high-throughput operation. The three-chamber system, used here for oxide growth, consists of a sample loading chamber, a storage chamber, and a growth chamber. The growth chamber is equipped with eight identical effusion cell ports with linear shutters, one larger port for either a multi-pocket electron beam evaporator or an oxygen plasma source, an integrated cryoshroud, retractable beam-flux monitor or quartz-crystal microbalance, reflection high energy electron diffraction, substrate manipulator, main shutter, and quadrupole mass spectrometer. The system can be combined with ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) end stations on synchrotron and neutron beamlines, or equivalently with other complex surface analysis systems, including low-temperature scanning probe microscopy systems. Substrate handling is compatible with most UHV surface characterization systems, as the miniMBE can accommodate standard surface science sample holders. We introduce the design of the system, and its specific capabilities and operational parameters, and we demonstrate the epitaxial thin film growth of magnetoelectric Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} on c-plane sapphire and ferrimagnetic Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} on MgO (001)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Room-temperature polarization switching and antiferromagnetic coupling in epitaxial (Ga,Fe){sub 2}O{sub 3}/SrRuO{sub 3} heterostructures

Room-temperature reversible remnant polarization of gallium ferrite thin-films is reported as a multiferroic material with non-zero order parameters of polarization and magnetization. With the addition of Fe ions in Ga sites, Ga{sub 0.6}Fe{sub 1.4}O{sub 3} (GFO) thin films have been considered as potentially promising of multiferroicity. The b-axis oriented epitaxial GFO films were grown on SrRuO{sub 3}(111)/SrTiO{sub 3}(111). The six-fold symmetric in-plane epitaxy of the GFO films was confirmed using X-ray diffraction. The magnetic moment of the films was measured as a function of temperature and external magnetic field, which shows a room-temperature non-zero magnetization. Macroscopic and microscopic methods have been applied to demonstrate the polarization switching of the films. The remnant polarization is measured as 0.05 μC/cm{sup 2}. Reduction of leaky behaviors of the GFO films owing to the conducting oxide of SrRuO{sub 3} will pave a way to take advantage of the room-temperature non-zero multi-orders for future non-volatile memory device applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Intrinsic Gilbert damping constant in epitaxial Co{sub 2}Fe{sub 0.4}Mn{sub 0.6}Si Heusler alloys films

The (001)-oriented and (110)-oriented epitaxial grown Co{sub 2}Fe{sub 0.4}Mn{sub 0.6}Si films were fabricated by magnetron sputtering technique in order to investigate the annealing temperature dependence of the intrinsic Gilbert damping constant (α). The stuck films, deposited on MgO and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} a-plane substrates, respectively, were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 400 °C to 550 °C. The X-ray diffraction analysis was conducted to confirm that all the films were epitaxially grown. In addition, the ferromagnetic resonance measurements as well as the vibrating sample magnetometer were carried out to determine their magnetic properties. A small α of 0.004 was recorded for the sample with 001-oriented Co{sub 2}Fe{sub 0.4}Mn{sub 0.6}Si (CFMS (001)) and 110-oriented CFMS (CFMS (110)) annealed at 450 °C.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Two-dimensional semiconductor HfSe{sub 2} and MoSe{sub 2}/HfSe{sub 2} van der Waals heterostructures by molecular beam epitaxy

Using molecular beam epitaxy, atomically thin 2D semiconductor HfSe{sub 2} and MoSe{sub 2}/HfSe{sub 2} van der Waals heterostructures are grown on AlN(0001)/Si(111) substrates. Details of the electronic band structure of HfSe{sub 2} are imaged by in-situ angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy indicating a high quality epitaxial layer. High-resolution surface tunneling microscopy supported by first principles calculations provides evidence of an ordered Se adlayer, which may be responsible for a reduction of the measured workfunction of HfSe{sub 2} compared to theoretical predictions. The latter reduction minimizes the workfunction difference between the HfSe{sub 2} and MoSe{sub 2} layers resulting in a small valence band offset of only 0.13 eV at the MoSe{sub 2}/HfSe{sub 2} heterointerface and a weak type II band alignment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Energy dissipation channels affecting photoluminescence from resonantly excited Er{sup 3+} ions doped in epitaxial ZnO host films

We identified prerequisite conditions to obtain intense photoluminescence at 1.54 μm from Er{sup 3+} ions doped in ZnO host crystals. The epitaxial ZnO:Er films were grown on sapphire C-plane substrates by sputtering, and Er{sup 3+} ions were resonantly excited at a wavelength of 532 nm between energy levels of {sup 4}I{sub 15/2} and {sup 2}H{sub 11/2}. There is a threshold deposition temperature between 500 and 550 °C, above which epitaxial ZnO films become free of miss-oriented domains. In this case, Er{sup 3+} ions are outside ZnO crystallites, having the same c-axis lattice parameters as those of undoped ZnO crystals. The improved crystallinity was correlated with enhanced emissions peaking at 1538 nm. Further elevating the deposition temperature up to 650 °C generated cracks in ZnO crystals to relax the lattice mismatch strains, and the emission intensities from cracked regions were three times as large as those from smooth regions. These results can be consistently explained if we assume that emission-active Er{sup 3+} ions are those existing at grain boundaries and bonded to single-crystalline ZnO crystallites. In contrast, ZnO:Er films deposited on a ZnO buffer layer exhibited very weak emissions because of their degraded crystallinity when most Er{sup 3+} ions were accommodated into ZnO crystals. Optimizing the degree of oxidization of ZnO crystals is another important factor because reduced films suffer from non-radiative decay of excited states. The optimum Er content to obtain intense emissions was between 2 and 4 at. %. When 4 at. % was exceeded, the emission intensity was severely attenuated because of concentration quenching as well as the degradation in crystallinity. Precipitation of Er{sub 2}O{sub 3} crystals was clearly observed at 22 at. % for films deposited above 650 °C. Minimizing the number of defects and impurities in ZnO crystals prevents energy dissipation, thus exclusively utilizing the excitation energy to emissions from Er{sup 3+} ions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Anti-damping spin transfer torque through epitaxial nickel oxide

We prepare the high quality epitaxial MgO(001)[100]/Pt(001)[100]/NiO(001)[100]/FeNi/SiO{sub 2} films to investigate the spin transport in the NiO antiferromagnetic insulator. The ferromagnetic resonance measurements of the FeNi under a spin current injection from the Pt by the spin Hall effect revealed the change of the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth depending on the amount of the spin current injection. The results can be interpreted that there is an angular momentum transfer through the NiO. A high efficient angular momentum transfer we observed in the epitaxial NiO can be attributed to the well-defined orientation of the antiferromagnetic moments and the spin quantization axis of the injected spin current.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

The local environment of cobalt in amorphous, polycrystalline and epitaxial anatase TiO{sub 2}:Co films produced by cobalt ion implantation

Amorphous, polycrystalline anatase and epitaxial anatase TiO{sub 2} films have been implanted with 5 at. % Co{sup +}. The magnetic and structural properties of different microstructures of TiO{sub 2}:Co, along with the local coordination of the implanted Co atoms within the host lattice are investigated. In amorphous TiO{sub 2}:Co film, Co atoms are in the (II) oxidation state with a complex coordination and exhibit a paramagnetic response. However, for the TiO{sub 2}:Co epitaxial and polycrystalline anatase films, Co atoms have a distorted octahedral (II) oxygen coordination assigned to a substitutional environment with traces of metallic Co clusters, which gives a rise to a superparamagnetic behavior. Despite the incorporation of the implanted atoms into the host lattice, high temperature ferromagnetism is absent in the films. On the other hand, it is found that the concentration and size of the implantation-induced nanoclusters and the magnetic properties of TiO{sub 2}:Co films have a strong dependency on the initial microstructure of TiO{sub 2}. Consequently, metallic nanocluster formation within ion implantation prepared transition metal doped TiO{sub 2} can be suppressed by tuning the film microstructure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Liquid phase epitaxy of binary III–V nanocrystals in thin Si layers triggered by ion implantation and flash lamp annealing

The integration of III–V compound semiconductors in Si is a crucial step towards faster and smaller devices in future technologies. In this work, we investigate the formation process of III–V compound semiconductor nanocrystals, namely, GaAs, GaSb, and InP, by ion implantation and sub-second flash lamp annealing in a SiO{sub 2}/Si/SiO{sub 2} layer stack on Si grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Raman spectroscopy, Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy were performed to identify the structural and optical properties of these structures. Raman spectra of the nanocomposites show typical phonon modes of the compound semiconductors. The formation process of the III–V compounds is found to be based on liquid phase epitaxy, and the model is extended to the case of an amorphous matrix without an epitaxial template from a Si substrate. It is shown that the particular segregation and diffusion coefficients of the implanted group-III and group-V ions in molten Si significantly determine the final appearance of the nanostructure and thus their suitability for potential applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Template-assisted selective epitaxy of III–V nanoscale devices for co-planar heterogeneous integration with Si

III–V nanoscale devices were monolithically integrated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates by template-assisted selective epitaxy (TASE) using metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Single crystal III–V (InAs, InGaAs, GaAs) nanostructures, such as nanowires, nanostructures containing constrictions, and cross junctions, as well as 3D stacked nanowires were directly obtained by epitaxial filling of lithographically defined oxide templates. The benefit of TASE is exemplified by the straightforward fabrication of nanoscale Hall structures as well as multiple gate field effect transistors (MuG-FETs) grown co-planar to the SOI layer. Hall measurements on InAs nanowire cross junctions revealed an electron mobility of 5400 cm{sup 2}/V s, while the alongside fabricated InAs MuG-FETs with ten 55 nm wide, 23 nm thick, and 390 nm long channels exhibit an on current of 660 μA/μm and a peak transconductance of 1.0 mS/μm at V{sub DS} = 0.5 V. These results demonstrate TASE as a promising fabrication approach for heterogeneous material integration on Si.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mid-infrared to ultraviolet optical properties of InSb grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

Spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to investigate the optical properties of an InSb film grown on a GaAs (100) substrate, and to compare the optical properties of InSb film with those of bulk InSb. The film was grown by molecular beam epitaxy under conditions intended to form 90° misfit dislocations at the InSb-GaAs interface. The complex dielectric function obtained in a wide spectroscopic range from 0.06–4.6 eV shows the critical point transitions E{sub 0}, E{sub 1}, E{sub 1} + Δ{sub 1}, E{sub 0}{sup ′}, and E{sub 2}. The amplitudes, energy transitions, broadenings, and phase angles have been determined using a derivative analysis. Comparing film and bulk critical point results reveal that the epitaxial film is nearly relaxed and has bulk-like optical characteristics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Large magneto-optic enhancement in ultra-thin liquid-phase-epitaxy iron garnet films

Significant departures from bulk-like magneto-optic behavior are found in ultra-thin bismuth-substituted iron-garnet films grown by liquid-phase-epitaxy. These changes are due, at least in part, to geometrical factors and not to departures from bulk-composition in the transient layer at the film-substrate interface. A monotonic increase in specific Faraday rotation with reduced thickness is the signature feature of the observed phenomena. These are traced to size-dependent modifications in the diamagnetic transition processes responsible for the Faraday rotation. These processes correspond to the electronic transitions from singlet {sup 6}S ground states to spin-orbit split excited states of the Fe{sup 3+} ions in the garnet. A measurable reduction in the corresponding ferrimagnetic resonance linewidths is found, thus pointing to an increase in electronic relaxation times and longer lived excitations at reduced thicknesses. These changes together with a shift in vibrational frequency of the Bi-O bonds in the garnet at reduced thicknesses result in greatly enhanced magneto-optical performance. These studies were conducted on epitaxial monocrystalline Bi{sub 0.8}Gd{sub 0.2}Lu{sub 2}Fe{sub 5}O{sub 12} films.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth of epitaxial orthorhombic YO{sub 1.5}-substituted HfO{sub 2} thin film

YO{sub 1.5}-substituted HfO{sub 2} thin films with various substitution amounts were grown on (100) YSZ substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method directly from the vapor phase. The epitaxial growth of film with different YO{sub 1.5} amounts was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction method. Wide-area reciprocal lattice mapping measurements were performed to clarify the crystal symmetry of films. The formed phases changed from low-symmetry monoclinic baddeleyite to high-symmetry tetragonal/cubic fluorite phases through an orthorhombic phase as the YO{sub 1.5} amount increased from 0 to 0.15. The additional annular bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy indicates that the orthorhombic phase has polar structure. This means that the direct growth by vapor is of polar orthorhombic HfO{sub 2}-based film. Moreover, high-temperature X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the film with a YO{sub 1.5} amount of 0.07 with orthorhombic structure at room temperature only exhibited a structural phase transition to tetragonal phase above 450 °C. This temperature is much higher than the reported maximum temperature of 200 °C to obtain ferroelectricity as well as the expected temperature for real device application. The growth of epitaxial orthorhombic HfO{sub 2}-based film helps clarify the nature of ferroelectricity in HfO{sub 2}-based films (186 words/200 words)

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Epitaxial lift-off for solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics

We demonstrate an approach to incorporate self-assembled quantum dots into a Fabry-Pérot-like microcavity. Thereby, a 3λ/4 GaAs layer containing quantum dots is epitaxially removed and attached by van der Waals bonding to one of the microcavity mirrors. We reach a finesse as high as 4100 with this configuration limited by the reflectivity of the dielectric mirrors and not by scattering at the semiconductor-mirror interface, demonstrating that the epitaxial lift-off procedure is a promising procedure for cavity quantum electrodynamics in the solid state. As a first step in this direction, we demonstrate a clear cavity-quantum dot interaction in the weak coupling regime with a Purcell factor in the order of 3. Estimations of the coupling strength via the Purcell factor suggest that we are close to the strong coupling regime.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth and properties of La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−δ}/La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} epitaxial trilayer films

We report the growth and properties of La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−δ}/La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} LSMO/YBCO/LSMO epitaxial trilayer films, fabricated on SrTiO{sub 3} substrate using pulsed laser deposition technique. From x-ray diffraction and high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements, it is confirmed that the grown trilayered films are single phase and epitaxial in nature. Magneto-transport and magnetic properties are found to be dependent on the thickness of YBCO spacer layer. We infer that for fixed thickness of top and bottom LSMO layers, superconductivity is completely suppressed. At 100 K, the hysteresis loops reveal the ferromagnetic signature of trilayered film. At room temperature, we obtain a butterfly type scenario, signifies the co-existence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interaction. In addition, at room temperature, the YBCO spacer layer allowing the top and bottom LSMO layers to interact antiferromagnetically.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Pulsed laser deposition of air-sensitive hydride epitaxial thin films: LiH

We report on the epitaxial thin film growth of an air-sensitive hydride, lithium hydride (LiH), using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). We first synthesized a dense LiH target, which is key for PLD growth of high-quality hydride films. Then, we obtained epitaxial thin films of [100]-oriented LiH on a MgO(100) substrate at 250 °C under a hydrogen pressure of 1.3 × 10{sup −2} Pa. Atomic force microscopy revealed that the film demonstrates a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode and that the film with a thickness of ∼10 nm has a good surface flatness, with root-mean-square roughness R{sub RMS} of ∼0.4 nm.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Epitaxial ferromagnetic Fe{sub 3}Si on GaAs(111)A with atomically smooth surface and interface

Single crystal ferromagnetic Fe{sub 3}Si(111) films were grown epitaxially on GaAs(111)A by molecular beam epitaxy. These hetero-structures possess extremely low surface roughness of 1.3 Å and interfacial roughness of 1.9 Å, measured by in-situ scanning tunneling microscope and X-ray reflectivity analyses, respectively, showing superior film quality, comparing to those attained on GaAs(001) in previous publications. The atomically smooth interface was revealed by the atomic-resolution Z (atomic number)-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images using the correction of spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected electron probe. Excellent crystallinity and perfect lattice match were both confirmed by high resolution x-ray diffraction. Measurements of magnetic property for the Fe{sub 3}Si/GaAs(111) yielded a saturation moment of 990 emu/cm{sup 3} with a small coercive field ≤1 Oe at room temperature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Strain induced room temperature ferromagnetism in epitaxial magnesium oxide thin films

We report on the epitaxial growth and room-temperature ferromagnetic properties of MgO thin films deposited on hexagonal c-sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The epitaxial nature of the films has been confirmed by both θ-2θ and φ-scans of X-ray diffraction pattern. Even though bulk MgO is a nonmagnetic insulator, we have found that the MgO films exhibit ferromagnetism and hysteresis loops yielding a maximum saturation magnetization up to 17 emu/cc and large coercivity, H{sub c} = 1200 Oe. We have also found that the saturation magnetization gets enhanced and that the crystallization degraded with decreased growth temperature, suggesting that the origin of our magnetic coupling could be point defects manifested by the strain in the films. X-ray (θ-2θ) diffraction peak shift and strain analysis clearly support the presence of strain in films resulting from the presence of point defects. Based on careful investigations using secondary ion mass spectrometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies, we have ruled out the possibility of the presence of any external magnetic impurities. We discuss the critical role of microstructural characteristics and associated strain on the physical properties of the MgO films and establish a correlation between defects and magnetic properties.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interpreting plasmonic response of epitaxial Ag/Si(100) island ensembles

Associating features in the experimentally measured optical response of epitaxial Ag islands grown on Si(100) with the localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) hosted by the Ag islands is challenging due to the variation of the Si dielectric function over the energy range under consideration. However, it is possible to conclusively identify features in the experimental spectra with LSPR modes oscillating both parallel and perpendicular to the epitaxial interface by simulating the optical response. The Abeles matrix method is used to describe the composite layered system and the Ag islands are modeled using the thin island film model developed by Bedeaux and Vlieger. By incorporating island morphology parameters determined by quantitative analysis of electron micrographs, the simulation faithfully reproduces the main features of the experimental spectra. Individually zeroing the dipoles associated with the LSPR modes enables conclusive identification of their contribution to the optical response of the composite system.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗