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At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Time-reversed Young’s experiment: Deterministic, diffractionless second-order interference effect

The classic Young’s double-slit experiment exhibits first-order interference, producing alternating bright and dark fringes shaped by the diffraction effect of the slits. In contrast, here we demonstrate that its time-reversed configuration generates an ideal, deterministic second-order ‘ghost’ interference pattern free from diffraction and first-order effects with the use of only a position-fixed detector. The pattern’s size is governed by the dimensions of the ‘effectively extended light source’ formed by point emitter(s). Beyond highlighting the nonreciprocal physics between the two configurations, this system unlocks a range of novel phenomena inaccessible in traditional double-slit experiments. These include fully programmable, digitized interference fringe formations and the ability to align the pattern plane with the source plane on the same side of the setup. Remarkably, our proposed experiment achieves these outcomes without relying on nonclassical correlations or quantum entanglement. Here, by restoring time-reversal symmetry and eliminating diffraction, our theoretical analysis reveals that this approach offers exciting potential for advancing optical imaging and sensing technologies with improved transverse and longitudinal phase-shift sensitivity and resolution limit beyond current limitations.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Higher-Order VLP-Based Protein Macromolecular Framework Structures Assembled via Coiled-Coil Interactions

Hierarchical organization is one of the fundamental features observed in biological systems that allows for efficient and effective functioning. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are elegant examples of a hierarchically organized supramolecular structure, where many subunits are self-assembled to generate the functional cage-like architecture. Utilizing VLPs as building blocks to construct two- and three-dimensional (3D) higher-order structures is an emerging research area in developing functional biomimetic materials. VLPs derived from P22 bacteriophages can be repurposed as nanoreactors by encapsulating enzymes and modular units to build higher-order catalytic materials via several techniques. In this study, we have used coiled-coil peptide interactions to mediate the P22 interparticle assembly into a highly stable, amorphous protein macromolecular framework (PMF) material, where the assembly does not depend on the VLP morphology, a limitation observed in previously reported P22 PMF assemblies. Many encapsulated enzymes lose their optimum functionalities under the harsh conditions that are required for the P22 VLP morphology transitions. Therefore, the coiled-coil-based PMF provides a fitting and versatile platform for constructing functional higher-order catalytic materials compatible with sensitive enzymes. Finally, we have characterized the material properties of the PMF and utilized the disordered PMF to construct a biocatalytic 3D material performing single- and multistep catalysis.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Kinetics of Shear-Induced Structural Ordering in Dense Colloids

The macroscopic rheological response of a colloidal solution is highly correlated with the local microscopic structure, as revealed by an in situ Rheo-SAXS experiment with a high temporal resolution. Oscillatory shear can induce a strain-controlled ordering-to-disorder transition, resulting in a shear-thickening process that is different from the normal shear-thickening behavior that is driven by hydrodynamics and particle friction. Here, we reveal that there is a complex time-dependent kinetics toward structural ordering under different applied strains. When the strain amplitude reaches a critical value that starts to induce disordering in the system, the pathway toward the dynamic equilibrium can also become highly non-monotonic. Within the same oscillatory cycle, there is a strong correlation of ordering with different phases of the oscillation, with the system oscillating between two dynamic metastable states.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Harnessing the Second-Order Metal−Insulator Transition for Neuromorphic Computing

Vanadium oxides are widely studied phase change materials for brain-inspired computing architectures. Systems like VO 2 and V 2 O 3 exhibit first-order metal−insulator transitions (MITs) with hysteresis and percolative switching, increasing stochasticity and device variability. Here, we focus on the less explored Magnéli phase V 4 O 7 , which undergoes a continuous, non-hysteretic, second-order MIT. This surprisingly enables highly reproducible volatile resistive switching in spiking-neuron-type devices. We synthesize V 4 O 7 films, characterize their structural and transport properties, and demonstrate voltage and current-driven threshold switching with electrothermal feedback. In a Pearson–Anson oscillator, V 4 O 7 devices produce stable, tunable spiking across 20–200 kHz, with consistent operation among multiple devices. We introduce a numerical analog leaky-integrate-and-fire (aLIF) model that captures waveform shapes and their dependence on load resistance, temperature, and voltage. Furthermore, these findings suggest that second-order MIT materials like V 4 O 7 are promising for deterministic, scalable spiking neuron arrays for neuromorphic computing.

V4O7↗
DOE OSTI2022

Short-Range Crystalline Order-Tuned Conductivity in Cr 2 Si 2 Te 6 van der Waals Magnetic Crystals

Two-dimensional magnetic materials (2DMMs) are significant not only for studies on the nature of 2D long-range magnetic order but also for future spintronic devices. Of particular interest are 2DMMs where spins can be manipulated by electrical conduction. Whereas Cr 2 Si 2 Te 6 exhibits magnetic order in few-layer crystals, its large band gap inhibits electronic conduction. Here we show that the defect-induced short-range crystal order in Cr 2 Si 2 Te 6 , on the length scale below 0.6 nm, induces a substantially reduced band gap and robust semiconducting behavior down to 2 K that turns to metallic above 10 GPa. Our results in this work will be helpful in designing conducting states in 2DMMs and call for spin-resolved measurement of the electronic structure in exfoliated ultrathin crystals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Entropy Engineering and Tunable Magnetic Order in the Spinel High-Entropy Oxide

Spinel oxides are an ideal setting to explore the interplay between configurational entropy, site selectivity, and magnetism in high-entropy oxides (HEOs). In this work, we characterize the magnetic properties of the spinel (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) 3 O 4 and study the evolution of its magnetism as a function of nonmagnetic gallium substitution. Across the range of compositions studied here, from 0 to 40% Ga, magnetic susceptibility and powder neutron diffraction measurements show that ferrimagnetic order is robust in the spinel HEO. However, we also find that the ferrimagnetic order is highly tunable, with the ordering temperature, saturated and sublattice moments, and magnetic hardness all varying significantly as a function of Ga concentration. Through X-ray absorption and magnetic circular dichroism, we are able to correlate this magnetic tunability with strong site selectivity between the various cations and the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the spinel structure. In particular, we find that while Ni and Cr are largely unaffected by the substitution with Ga, the occupancies of Mn, Co, and Fe are each significantly redistributed. Ga substitution also requires an overall reduction in the transition metal valence, and this is entirely accommodated by Mn. Finally, we show that while site selectivity has an overall suppressing effect on the configurational entropy, over a certain range of compositions, Ga substitution yields a striking increase in the configurational entropy and may confer additional stabilization. In conclusion, spinel oxides can be tuned seamlessly from the low-entropy to the high-entropy regime, making this an ideal platform for entropy engineering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Revealing the evolution of order in materials microstructures using multi-modal computer vision

The development of high-performance materials for microelectronics, energy storage, and extreme environments depends on our ability to describe and direct property-defining microstructural order. Our present understanding is typically derived from laborious manual analysis of imaging and spectroscopy data, which is difficult to scale, challenging to reproduce, and lacks the ability to reveal latent associations needed for mechanistic models. Here, we demonstrate a multi-modal machine learning (ML) approach to describe order from electron microscopy analysis of the complex oxide La 1−x Sr x FeO 3 . We construct a hybrid pipeline based on fully and semi-supervised classification, allowing us to evaluate both the characteristics of each data modality and the value each modality adds to the ensemble. We observe distinct differences in the performance of uni- and multi-modal models, from which we draw general lessons in describing crystal order using computer vision.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

VpROM: a novel variational autoencoder-boosted reduced order model for the treatment of parametric dependencies in nonlinear systems

Reduced Order Models (ROMs) are of considerable importance in many areas of engineering in which computational time presents difficulties. Established approaches employ projection-based reduction, such as Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. The limitation of the linear nature of such operators is typically tackled via a library of local reduction subspaces, which requires the assembly of numerous local ROMs to address parametric dependencies. Our work attempts to define a more generalisable mapping between parametric inputs and reduced bases for the purpose of generative modeling. We propose the use of Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) in place of the typically utilised clustering or interpolation operations, for inferring the fundamental vectors, termed as modes, which approximate the manifold of the model response for any and each parametric input state. The derived ROM still relies on projection bases, built on the basis of full-order model simulations, thus retaining the imprinted physical connotation. However, it additionally exploits a matrix of coefficients that relates each local sample response and dynamics to the global phenomena across the parametric input domain. The VAE scheme is utilised for approximating these coefficients for any input state. This coupling leads to a high-precision low-order representation, which is particularly suited for problems where model dependencies or excitation traits cause the dynamic behavior to span multiple response regimes. Moreover, the probabilistic treatment of the VAE representation allows for uncertainty quantification on the reduction bases, which may then be propagated to the ROM response. The performance of the proposed approach is validated on an open-source simulation benchmark featuring hysteresis and multi-parametric dependencies, and on a large-scale wind turbine tower characterised by nonlinear material behavior and model uncertainty.

Conditional VAEs↗
DOE OSTI2020

From antiferromagnetic and hidden order to Pauli paramagnetism in U M 2 Si 2 compounds with 5 f electron duality

Using inelastic X-ray scattering beyond the dipole limit and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy we establish the dual nature of the U 5 f electrons in U M 2 Si 2 ( M = Pd, Ni, Ru, Fe), regardless of their degree of delocalization. We have observed that the compounds have in common a local atomic-like state that is well described by the U 5 f 2 configuration with the $Γ^{(1)}_1$ and $Γ_2$ quasi-doublet symmetry. The amount of the U 5 f 3 configuration, however, varies considerably across the U M 2 Si 2 series, indicating an increase of U 5 f itineracy in going from M = Pd to Ni to Ru and to the Fe compound. The identified electronic states explain the formation of the very large ordered magnetic moments in UPd 2 Si 2 and UNi 2 Si 2 , the availability of orbital degrees of freedom needed for the hidden order in URu 2 Si 2 to occur, as well as the appearance of Pauli paramagnetism in UFe 2 Si 2 . A unified and systematic picture of the U M 2 Si 2 compounds may now be drawn, thereby providing suggestions for additional experiments to induce hidden order and/or superconductivity in U compounds with the tetragonal body-centered ThCr 2 Si 2 structure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effect of local chemical order on the irradiation-induced defect evolution in CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy

High- (and medium-) entropy alloys have emerged as potentially suitable structural materials for nuclear applications, particularly as they appear to show promising irradiation resistance. Recent studies have provided evidence of the presence of local chemical order (LCO) as a salient feature of these complex concentrated solid-solution alloys. However, the influence of such LCO on their irradiation response has remained uncertain thus far. Here, in this work, we combine ion irradiation experiments with large-scale atomistic simulations to reveal that the presence of chemical short-range order, developed as an early stage of LCO, slows down the formation and evolution of point defects in the equiatomic medium-entropy alloy CrCoNi during irradiation. In particular, the irradiation-induced vacancies and interstitials exhibit a smaller difference in their mobility, arising from a stronger effect of LCO in localizing interstitial diffusion. This effect promotes their recombination as the LCO serves to tune the migration energy barriers of these point defects, thereby delaying the initiation of damage. These findings imply that local chemical ordering may provide a variable in the design space to enhance the resistance of multi-principal element alloys to irradiation damage.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Charge ordering in superconducting copper oxides

Abstract Charge order has recently been identified as a leading competitor of high-temperature superconductivity in moderately doped cuprates. We provide a survey of universal and materials-specific aspects of this phenomenon, with emphasis on results obtained by scattering methods. In particular, we discuss the structure, periodicity, and stability range of the charge-ordered state, its response to various external perturbations, the influence of disorder, the coexistence and competition with superconductivity, as well as collective charge dynamics. In the context of this journal issue which honors Roger Cowley’s legacy, we also discuss the connection of charge ordering with lattice vibrations and the central-peak phenomenon. We end the review with an outlook on research opportunities offered by new synthesis methods and experimental platforms, including cuprate thin films and superlattices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Filtering higher-order datasets

Many complex systems often contain interactions between more than two nodes, known as higher-order interactions, which can change the structure of these systems in significant ways. Researchers often assume that all interactions paint a consistent picture of a higher-order dataset's structure. In contrast, the connection patterns of individuals or entities in empirical systems are often stratified by interaction size. Ignoring this fact can aggregate connection patterns that exist only at certain scales of interaction. To isolate these scale-dependent patterns, we present an approach for analyzing higher-order datasets by filtering interactions by their size. We apply this framework to several empirical datasets from three domains to demonstrate that data practitioners can gain valuable information from this approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exploring Structural Anisotropy in Amorphous Tb-Co via Changes in Medium-Range Ordering

Amorphous thin films grown by magnetron co-sputtering exhibit changes in atomic structure with varying growth and annealing temperatures. Structural variations influence the bulk properties of the films. Scanning nanodiffraction performed in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) is applied to amorphous Tb 17 Co 83 (a-Tb-Co) films deposited over a range of temperatures to measure relative changes in medium-range ordering (MRO). These measurements reveal an increase in MRO with higher growth temperatures and a decrease in MRO with higher annealing temperatures. The trend in MRO indicates a relationship between the growth conditions and local atomic ordering. By tilting select films, the TEM measures variations in the local atomic structure as a function of orientation within the films. The findings support claims that preferential ordering along the growth direction results from temperature-mediated adatom configurations during deposition, and that oriented MRO correlates with increased structural anisotropy, explaining the strong growth-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy found in rare earth–transition metal films. Beyond magnetic films, we propose the tilted FEM workflow as a method of extracting anisotropic structural information in a variety of amorphous materials with directionally dependent bulk properties, such as films with inherent bonding asymmetry grown by physical vapor deposition.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Higher-order topology induced by structural buckling

Abstract Higher-order topological insulator (HOTI) states, such as two-dimension (2D) HOTI featured with topologically protected corner modes at the intersection of two gapped crystalline boundaries, have attracted much recent interest. However, the physical mechanism underlying the formation of HOTI states is not fully understood, which has hindered our fundamental understanding and discovery of HOTI materials. Here we propose a mechanistic approach to induce higher-order topological phases via structural buckling of 2D topological crystalline insulators (TCIs). While in-plane mirror symmetry is broken by structural buckling, which destroys the TCI state, the combination of mirror and rotation symmetry is preserved in the buckled system, which gives rise to the HOTI state. We demonstrate that this approach is generally applicable to various 2D lattices with different symmetries and buckling patterns, opening a horizon of possible materials to realize 2D HOTIs. The HOTIs so generated are also shown to be robust against buckling height fluctuation and in-plane displacement. A concrete example is given for the buckled $\beta $-Sb monolayer from first-principles calculations. Our finding not only enriches our fundamental understanding of higher-order topology, but also opens a new route to discovering HOTI materials.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Unexpected magnetic phase in the weakly ordered spin- 1 2 chain cuprate Sr 2 CuO 3

The magnetic phase diagram of a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ chain antiferromagnet Sr 2 CuO 3 is studied by an ultrasound phase-sensitive detection technique. The system is in the extreme proximity of the Luttinger-liquid quantum-critical point and we observe an unusually strong effect of magnetic field, which is very weak compared to the in-chain interaction, on the Néel ordering temperature. Inside the ordered phase, we detect an unexpected, field-induced continuous phase transition. The transition is accompanied by softening of magnetic excitation observed by electron-spin resonance, which in previous work [E. G. Sergeicheva et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 020411(R) (2017)] was associated with a longitudinal (amplitude) mode of the order parameter. These results suggest a transition from a transverse collinear antiferromagnet to an amplitude-modulated spin-density-wave phase in a very weak magnetic field, which is unexpected for a system of weakly coupled Heisenberg spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ chains.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Magnetic order of tetragonal CuO ultrathin films

Here, we present a detailed low-energy muon spin rotation and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) investigation of the magnetic structure in ultrathin tetragonal (T)-CuO films. The measured muon-spin polarization decay indicates an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order with a transition temperature higher than 200 K. The XMCD signal obtained around the CuL 2,3 edges indicates the presence of pinned Cu 2+ moments that are parallel to the sample surface, and additionally, isotropic paramagnetic moments. The pinning of some of the Cu moments is caused by an AFM ordering consisting of moments that lie most likely in plane of the film. Moreover, pinned moments show a larger orbital magnetic moment contribution with an approximate ratio of m orb /m spin =1.5, indicating that these spins are located at sites with reduced symmetry. Some fractions of the pinned moments remain pinned from an AFM background even at 360 K, indicating that T N >360K. We propose a simple model that explains these experimental findings, showing that the magnetic order of the T-CuO ultrathin films differs from the theoretical predictions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Coexistence of non-Abelian chiral spin liquid and magnetic order in a spin-1 antiferromagnet

We study the ground-state properties of a spin-1 Heisenberg model on a square lattice with the first- and second-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic couplings $J_1$ and $J_2$ and a three-spin scalar chirality term $J_\chi$. Using the density matrix renormalization group calculation, we map out a global phase diagram including various magnetic order phases and an emergent quantum spin liquid phase. The nature of the spin liquid is identified as a bosonic non-Abelian Moore-Read state from the fingerprint of the entanglement spectra and identification of a full set of topological sectors. We further unveil a stripe magnetic order coexisting with this spin liquid. Furthermore, our results not only establish a rare example of non-Abelian spin liquids in simple spin systems but also demonstrate the coexistence of fractionalized excitations and magnetic order beyond mean-field descriptions.

2-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2023

Orthorhombic distortion drives orbital ordering in the antiferromagnetic 3$d$ 1 Mott insulator PrTiO 3

The orbital, which represents the shape of the electron cloud, very often strongly influences the manifestation of various exotic phenomena, e.g., magnetism, metal-insulator transition, colossal magnetoresistance, unconventional superconductivity, etc. in solid-state systems. The observation of the antiferromagnetism in $RE$TiO 3 ($RE$ = rare-earth) series has been puzzling since the celebrated Kugel-Khomskii model of spin-orbital superexchange predicts ferromagnetism in an orbitally degenerate $d$ 1 system. Further, the existence of the orbitally ordered vs. orbital liquid phase in both antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phase have been unsettled issues thus far. To address these longstanding questions, we investigate single crystalline film of PrTiO 3 . Our synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements confirm the retention of bulklike orthorhombic ($D_{2h}$) symmetry in the thin film geometry. We observe similar x-ray linear dichroism signal in both paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic phase, which can be accounted by ferro-orbital ordering (FOO). While the presence of $D_{2h}$ crystal field does not guarantee lifting of orbital degeneracy always, we find it to be strong enough in these rare-earth titanates, leading to the FOO state. Thus, our work demonstrates the orthorhombic distortion is the driving force for the orbital ordering of antiferromagnetic $RE$TiO 3 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗