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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of LSCo/mullite composite contact materials for solid oxide fuel cells

Lanthanum strontium cobaltite (LSCo) is considered as a good candidate cathode contact material for solid oxide fuel cells, due to high electrical conductivity. However, LSCo has a very large coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) than the cells and metallic interconnects. As a result, poor mechanical stability is expected during thermal cycling. To minimize the CTE mismatch, we investigate a composite approach involving mixing LSCo with an inert material of low CTE, such as mullite at volume fractions from 0.1 to 0.4. Composite’s CTE shows a decreasing trend with increasing mullite volume fractions, and is consistent with model predictions. X-ray powder diffraction analysis of sintered LSCo/mullite composites exhibits no presence of other phases for samples aged for 500h at 800oC, indicating chemical compatibility. Electrical conductivity by a 4-pt method shows a decreasing trend with increasing mullite content. Contact strength of as-sintered and thermally cycled samples show that only the composite with 0.4 volume fraction has a measurable strength; the other composites have no strength. Overall, the composite approach is demonstrated in the LSCo/mullite system to lower the CTE and hence achieve thermal cycle stability. The addition of the inert phase to the LSCo matrix; however, also reduces the electrical conductivity.

Contact materials, LSCo, mullite, CTE, electrical ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Narrowing of band gap at source/drain contact scheme of nanoscale InAs–nMOS

A multi-scale simulation study of Ni/InAs nano-scale contact aimed for the sub-14 nm technology is carried out to understand material and transport properties at a metal-semiconductor interface. The deposited Ni metal contact on an 11 nm thick InAs channel forms an 8.5 nm thick InAs leaving a 2.5 nm thick InAs channel on a ptype doped (1x10(16) cm(-3)) AlAs 0.47 Sb 0.53 buffer. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal a band gap narrowing in the InAs at the metal-semiconductor interface. The one-dimensional (1D) self-consistent Poisson-Schrodinger transport simulations using real-space material parameters extracted from the DFT calculations at the metal-semiconductor interface, exhibiting band gap narrowing, give a specific sheet resistance of R-sh= 90.9 Omega/sq which is in a good agreement with an experimental value of 97 Omega/sq.

ELECTRON-MOBILITY TRANSISTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effective hole extraction using MoO{sub x}-Al contact in perovskite CH{sub 3}NH{sub 3}PbI{sub 3} solar cells

We report an 11.4%-efficient perovskite CH{sub 3}NH{sub 3}PbI{sub 3} solar cell using low-cost molybdenum oxide/aluminum (i.e., MoO{sub x}/Al) as an alternative top contact to replace noble/precious metals (e.g., Au or Ag) for extracting photogenerated holes. The device performance of perovskite solar cells using a MoO{sub x}/Al top contact is comparable to that of cells using the standard Ag top contact. Analysis of impedance spectroscopy measurements suggests that using 10-nm-thick MoO{sub x} and Al does not affect charge-recombination properties of perovskite solar cells. Using a thicker (20-nm) MoO{sub x} layer leads to a lower cell performance caused mainly by a reduced fill factor. Our results suggest that MoO{sub x}/Al is promising as a low-cost and effective hole-extraction contact for perovskite solar cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Crystals of $\mathrm{TELSAM}$–target protein fusions that exhibit minimal crystal contacts and lack direct inter-$\mathrm{TELSAM}$ contacts

While conducting pilot studies into the usefulness of fusion to TELSAM polymers as a potential protein crystallization strategy, we observed novel properties in crystals of two TELSAM–target protein fusions, as follows. (i) A TELSAM–target protein fusion can crystallize more rapidly and with greater propensity than the same target protein alone. (ii) TELSAM–target protein fusions can be crystallized at low protein concentrations. This unprecedented observation suggests a route to crystallize proteins that can only be produced in microgram amounts. (iii) The TELSAM polymers themselves need not directly contact one another in the crystal lattice in order to form well-diffracting crystals. This novel observation is important because it suggests that TELSAM may be able to crystallize target proteins too large to allow direct inter-polymer contacts. (iv) Flexible TELSAM–target protein linkers can allow target proteins to find productive binding modes against the TELSAM polymer. (v) TELSAM polymers can adjust their helical rise to allow fused target proteins to make productive crystal contacts. (vi). Fusion to TELSAM polymers can stabilize weak inter-target protein crystal contacts. We report features of these TELSAM–target protein crystal structures and outline future work needed to validate TELSAM as a crystallization chaperone and determine best practices for its use.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Non-Contact Printed Aluminum Metallization of Si Photovoltaic Devices

Alternative solution-based techniques such as aerosol jet printing offer the dual benefits of contactless pattern deposition and high material utilization. We have used aerosol jet printing to investigate non-contact printed Al metal ink as a replacement for screen printed Al back contacts on wafer Si solar cells. This particle-based ink can be prepared at high loadings of 60 weight % metal, which enables rapid deposition of 1 - 10 um thick lines. Al lines printed on Si wafers and heated between 550 and 800 degrees C form low resistance contacts suitable for current extraction. The effectiveness of these printed Al back contacts has further been demonstrated by incorporating them into a series of 21 cm 2 crystalline Si solar cells that produced a champion power conversion efficiencyof 13%.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

CdSexTe1-x/CdTe Devices with Reduced Interface Recombination Through Novel Back Contacts and Group-V Doping

Since excellent carrier lifetimes and front interface electronic quality are now achieved, rear interface recombination can limit V OC in CdSexTe1-x/CdTe solar cells. Several back-contact structures for devices were fabricated using combinations of tellurium, aluminum oxide, amorphous silicon, and indium tin oxide (ITO). Time-resolved photoluminescence was used to characterize such structures. We show increasingly improved interface passivation through the subsequent use of aluminum oxide, amorphous silicon, and ITO. Additionally, we show that arsenic-doped absorbers form a more passive interface with numerous back contact structures.

aluminum oxide↗
NASA NTRS1992

Contact detection and contact motion for error recovery in the presence of uncertainties

Due to various kinds of uncertainties, a robot motion may fail and result in some unintended contact between the object held by the robot and the environment, which greatly hampers robotics applications on tasks with high-precision requirements, such as assembly tasks. Aiming at automatically recovering a robotic task from such a failure, this paper discusses, in the presence of uncertainties, contact detection based on contact motion for recovery. It presents a framework for on-line recognizing contacts using multiple sensor modalities in the presence of sensing uncertainties and means for ensuring successful compliant motions in the presence of sensing and control uncertainties.

Xiao, Jing↗
DOE OSTI2022

Phosphorus replenishment to improve the contact resistivity of light-induced Al contacts on Si solar cells

A method to repair laser-induced phosphorus loss from the n-type emitter of Si solar cells during light-induced Al plating is demonstrated. The ability to add a water-reactive phosphorus compound, PCl 5 , into the Al plating bath gives a unique advantage to Al over Cu for front contacts on Si solar cells. The contact resistivity between light-induced Al and Si emitter is reduced to as low as 0.1 mΩ-cm 2 . Cyclic voltammetry performed on a plating bath composed of 81 wt% 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloroaluminate, 19 wt% AlCl 3 , and 0.2 wt% PCl 5 reveals multiple reduction reactions of PCl 5 , although incomplete decomposition of PCl 5 is possible. A decrease in nucleation loop size during cyclic voltammetry is also observed suggesting that PCl 5 , while being consumed, modifies the growth mechanism during Al plating. Structural analysis confirms that the addition of PCl 5 produces an Al film which is levelized and compact. Here, a pulsed voltage profile coupled with chemical analysis verifies that phosphorus incorporation is electrolytically activated and is likely the cause for the low contact resistivity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Acoustic Mismatch Model for Thermal Contact Conductance of Van Der Waals Contacts Under Static Force

We report that Van der Waals interfaces play a major role in technology today. Thermal transport in material systems with van der Waals interfaces is mainly limited by the contact conductance. Although the effects of static force, such as pressure or the electrostatic part of hydrogen bonds, on the thermal contact conductance of van der Waals interfaces have been examined in a few studies, the focus was either on numerical simulation using techniques such as molecular dynamics or on experimental investigation. In this article, an analytical model of thermal contact conductance that accounts for the effects of static force and adhesion energy is presented. The application of static forces is found to cause a decrease in the intermolecular distance, which leads to increased interatomic forces across the interfaces and thus higher thermal conductance. The model is in good agreement with experimental data on the effect of pressure on thermal conductance collected by Gotsmann and Lantz (Nature Materials, Vol. 12, p. 59–65, 2012).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Investigation of the Interactions Between Low-Temperature Ag Paste Components and SiO2/Poly-Si(n) Contacts and the Impact on Contact Properties

Reducing poly-Si thickness to minimize parasitic absorption on a light-receiving side of a TOPCon solar cell without suffering voltage losses after metallization is a challenge in optimizing TOPCon performance. As an alternative to fire-through pastes, we investigate low-temperature Ag paste to SiO2/poly-Si passivating contacts through fabrication of electrical test structures to characterize the passivation quality and electrical transport across the metallized interface. With current paste chemistries, we find that solvent wetting of the poly-Si surface before evaporation and non-volatile binder resin adhesion to the surface after curing are major impediments which prevent Ag contact formation. However, low- resistance poly-Si/Ag interfaces formed with physical vapour deposition similarly degrade after annealing, indicating contacting issues related to the Ag content even in the absence of the organic paste components.

low temperature Ag paste↗