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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 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Topological Hall Effect in a Topological Insulator Interfaced with a Magnetic Insulator

A topological insulator (TI) interfaced with a magnetic insulator (MI) may host an anomalous Hall effect (AHE), a quantum AHE, and a topological Hall effect (THE). Recent studies, however, suggest that coexisting magnetic phases in TI/MI heterostructures may result in an AHE-associated response that resembles a THE but in fact is not. Here, we report a genuine THE in a TI/MI structure that has only one magnetic phase. The structure shows a THE in the temperature range of T = 2–3 K and an AHE at T = 80–300 K. Over T = 3–80 K, the two effects coexist but show opposite temperature dependencies. Control measurements, calculations, and simulations together suggest that the observed THE originates from skyrmions, rather than the coexistence of two AHE responses. The skyrmions are formed due to a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) at the interface; the DMI strength estimated is substantially higher than that in heavy metal-based systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Anomalous Hall effect at the Lifshitz transition in ZrTe 5

Zirconium pentatelluride ZrTe 5 is a topological semimetal. The presence of a temperature-induced Lifshitz transition, in which the Fermi level goes from the conduction band to the valence band with increasing temperature, provides unique opportunities to study the interplay between Fermi-surface topology, dynamics of Dirac fermions, and Berry curvature in one system. Here we present a combined experimental and theoretical study and show that a low-energy model can be used to understand the complicated Hall response and large anomalous Hall effect observed in ZrTe 5 over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. We found that the anomalous Hall contribution dominates the Hall response in a narrow temperature window around the Lifshitz transition, away from which the orbital contribution dominates. Moreover, our results indicate that a topological phase transition coexists with the Lifshitz transition. To conclude, our model provides a unifying framework to understand the Hall effect in semimetals with large Zeeman splitting and nontrivial topology.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantitative investigation of the short-range magnetic correlations in the candidate quantum spin liquid NaYbO 2

Here, we present a neutron diffraction study of NaYbO 2 , a candidate quantum spin-liquid (QSL) compound hosting a geometrically frustrated triangular lattice of magnetic Yb 3+ ions. We observe diffuse magnetic scattering that persists to at least 20 K, demonstrating the presence of short-range magnetic correlations in this system up to a relatively high-energy scale. Using a reverse Monte Carlo and magnetic pair distribution function analysis, we confirm the predominant antiferromagnetic nature of these correlations and show that the diffuse scattering data can be well described by noninteracting layers of Heisenberg or XY spins on the triangular lattice. We rule out Ising spins and short-range-ordered stripe or 120° phases as candidate ground states of NaYbO 2 . These results are consistent with a possible QSL ground state in NaYbO 2 and showcase the benefit of a combined reciprocal- and real-space analysis of materials with short-range magnetic correlations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Magnetic structure and magnetoelectric properties of the spin-flop phase in LiFePO 4

We investigate the magnetic structure and magnetoelectric(ME) effect in the high-field phase of the antiferromagnet LiFePO 4 above the critical field of 31 T. A neutron diffraction study in pulsed magnetic fields reveals the propagation vector to be q = 0 for the high-field magnetic structure. Pulsed-field electric polarization measurements show that, at the critical field, the low-field off-diagonal ME coupling α ab is partially suppressed, and the diagonal element α bb emerges. These results are consistent with a spin-flop transition where the spin direction changes from primarily being along the easy b axis below the transition to being along a above. The persistence of off-diagonal ME tensor elements above the critical field suggests a lowering of the magnetic point-group symmetry and hence a more complex magnetic structure in the high-field phase. In addition, neutron diffraction measurements in low magnetic fields show no observable field-induced spin canting, which indicates a negligible Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The observed spin-flop field supports the Hamiltonian recently deduced from inelastic neutron studies and indicates that the system is less frustrated and with a larger single-ion anisotropy than originally thought. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining pulsed-field neutron diffraction and electric polarization measurements to elucidate the magnetic structures and symmetries at the highest attainable field strengths.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

MODELING OF ENHANCED AIR DEHUMIDIFICATION THROUGH ELECTRICALLY CHARGED VAPOR CAPTURING ELECTROSTATIC DROPLETS

This paper investigated the potential of a new electrostatic-based water vapor separation system for humidity control in buildings. The Electrospray Vortical Flow eXchanger (EVFX) consists of small electrically charged water droplets released inside air vortexes to attract water vapor molecules, effectively wiping out the humidity from the air. Larger droplets are then removed at the outer wall of the vortex. If a water molecule is placed in a gradient electric field, such a polar molecule experiences a dielectrophoresis force, which moves the molecules and produces a vapor concentration gradient. When the vapor density exceeds the saturation level, nucleation occurs. A thermodynamic model that captures this phenomenon was described in this paper. Electrosprayed droplets were initially charged close to their maximum electrical charge dictated by the Rayleigh limit; these droplets were used as nucleation centers. The high electric charge decreased the pressure of the vapor, which was in equilibrium with the droplets. This enhanced the charged droplets' nucleation and growth that depleted the vapor phase near the droplets, which was compensated for by the dielectrophoresis flow and diffusion. Significant water vapor condensation was predicted for small droplets at a high electrical charge. Beyond a specific droplet size, while the condensation of water vapor was still theoretically possible, it was somewhat limited because the further growth of the large charged droplets was inhibited due to their high inherent water vapor pressure near the surface. A case study illustrated the potentials and limitation of the EVFX for droplets charged to the Rayleigh limit, for which the effective range of diameters resulted between 10 nm up to few micron.

Morcelli, Stefano↗
DOE OSTI2021

Band-selective gap opening by a C 4 -symmetric order in a proximity-coupled heterostructure Sr 2 VO 3 FeAs

Significance Heterostructures of correlated electronic systems offer versatile platforms for various types of quantum phases and their transitions. A common wisdom states that the proximity coupling between constituent layers plays a secondary role, because it is much weaker than the intralayer interactions. In this work, we present a counterexample of the belief. Namely, the proximity coupling between localized spins and itinerant electrons stabilizes an exotic electronic state with band-selective gap opening whose observation is done in a correlated heterostructure Sr 2 VO 3 FeAs. Our finding highlights that the proximity coupling can be an effective knob for exotic phases in correlated heterostructures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Light-driven transitions in quantum paraelectrics

Motivated by recent experiments on pump-induced polar ordering in the quantum paraelectric SrTiO 3 , we study a driven phonon system close to a second-order phase transition. Analyzing its classical dynamics, we find that sufficiently strong driving leads to transitions into polar phases whose structures, determined by the light polarization, are not all accessible in equilibrium. In addition, for certain intensity profiles, we demonstrate the possibility of two-step transitions as a function of fluence. For even stronger field intensities, the possibility of period-doubling and chaotic behavior is demonstrated. Finally we develop a generalized formalism that allows us to consider quantum corrections to the classical dynamics in a systematic fashion. Furthermore, we predict a shift in the critical pump fluence due to quantum fluctuations with a characteristic dependence on the fluence increase rate that should be observable in experiment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Field-induced topological Hall effect and double-fan spin structure with a $c$-axis component in the metallic kagome antiferromagnetic compound YMn 6 Sn 6

Geometric frustration in the kagome lattice makes it a great host for the flat electronic band, nontrivial topological properties, and novel magnetism. In this work, we use magnetotransport measurements to map out the field-temperature phase diagram of the centrosymmetric YMn 6 Sn 6 with a Mn kagome lattice and show that the system exhibits the topological Hall effect (THE) with an in-plane applied magnetic field around 240 K. In addition, our neutron diffraction results demonstrate that the observed THE cannot arise from a magnetic skyrmion lattice, but instead from an in-plane field-induced double-fan spin structure with c-axis components. This paper provides a platform to understand the influence of a field-induced novel magnetic structure on magnetoelectric response in topological kagome metals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Disorder recovers the Wiedemann-Franz law in the metallic phase of VO 2

At temperatures higher than 341 K, vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) is a strongly correlated metal with resistivity exceeding the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit. Its electronic thermal conductivity is lower than that predicted by the Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law, and can be explained by nonquasiparticle transport where heat and charge currents follow separate diffusive modes. In contradiction, the Wiedemann-Franz law is a direct consequence of quasiparticle transport where charge carriers are elastically scattered. In this work, we enhance elastic electron scattering in VO 2 by introducing atomic disorder with ion irradiation. Furthermore, a gradual and eventually full recovery of the WF law is observed at high defect densities. This observation provides an example that connects hydrodynamic quasiparticle transport to nonquasiparticle transport in metallic systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparison of atomized mass and crater volume in laser ablation

The extent and dynamics of laser ablation are typically studied using crater imaging or by invoking the relationship between atomic emission and the mass removed. The former is a static view of a dynamic process and requires the accumulation of multiple shots in one location. The latter is complex and not absolute without calibration of the optical system with a standard of spectral radiance. We measure the mass of the atomized plume by laser atomic-absorption spectroscopy at 2 µs without external mass calibration; mass uncertainty in laser-ablation atomic absorption spectroscopy (LA-AAS) results from uncertainties in line area fitting, tabulated oscillator strengths, and partition functions as well as a <10% underrepresentation of the mass due to treating the plasma as a single thermodynamic equilibrium. The LA-AAS-measured mass pertains to the atoms in the probed charge states and does not include condensed or molecular species. The ablation efficiency at 300 mbar of helium varies significantly between the two focusing conditions used. A comparison of crater-derived masses and LA-AAS masses suggests that more defocused ablation may result in significant redeposition of material in the crater, distorting the conclusions from drilling studies and crater imaging. More focused ablation conditions result in crater-derived masses that exceed those measured with LA-AAS and suggest melt expulsion or phase explosion.

Merten, Jonathan [Arkansas State University, Jones↗
DOE OSTI2024

Discovery of orbital ordering in Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+x

The primordial ingredient of cuprate superconductivity is the CuO 2 unit cell. Theories usually concentrate on the intra-atom Coulombic interactions dominating the 3d 9 and 3d 10 configurations of each copper ion. However, if Coulombic interactions also occur between electrons of the 2p 6 orbitals of each planar oxygen atom, spontaneous orbital ordering may split their energy levels. This long-predicted intra-unit-cell symmetry breaking should generate an orbitally ordered phase, for which the charge transfer energy ε separating the 2p 6 and 3d 10 orbitals is distinct for the two oxygen atoms. Here we introduce sublattice-resolved ε(r) imaging to CuO 2 studies and discover intra-unit-cell rotational symmetry breaking of ε(r). Spatially, this state is arranged in disordered Ising domains of orthogonally oriented orbital order bounded by dopant ions, and within whose domain walls low-energy electronic quadrupolar two-level systems occur. Overall, these data reveal a Q = 0 orbitally ordered state that splits the oxygen energy levels by ~50 meV, in underdoped CuO 2 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Entrainment and aerosol effects on marine boundary-layer clouds: An investigation using ACE-ENA data from HOLODEC, G1, Pico and ACTOS (Final Report on Project Activities)

Marine boundary-layer clouds cover large regions of the globe and are known to strongly influence radiative balances. The microphysical properties and persistence of these clouds are tightly coupled with cloud-top entrainment and aerosol properties within both the boundary layer and the overlying free troposphere. This work addressed the microphysical response to entrainment and aerosol properties in marine stratocumulus clouds, using data from the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) project. Specifically, emphasis was placed on 1. extensive in situ measurements taken with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) G1 aircraft using the Holographic Detector for Clouds (Holodec) instrument; 2. airborne measurements obtained with the helicopter-borne Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System (ACTOS) operated by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) during the first phase of ACE-ENA; and 3. above-boundary-layer, mountain-top measurements taken at the Pico Mountain Observatory (OMP) by the research group of the co-investigator and scientists from TROPOS during the first phase of ACE-ENA. The work is aligned with the topic “Warm Boundary-Layer Atmospheric Processes.” Key results include the following. Data from the Holographic Detector for Clouds (Holodec) were reprocessed, refined, and validated through a careful instrument intercomparison, resulting in a high-quality dataset available on the ARM archive for ACE-ENA. High-resolution ACTOS measurements of thermodynamics, microphysical, and turbulence properties were analyzed to explore the behavior of the entrainment velocity at cloud top. Analysis of the vertical variability of cloud droplet size distribution shape suggests that mixing is more inhomogeneous near cloud top, and more homogeneous deeper into the cloud. Analysis of aerosol measurements from OMP explored the mixing state and cloud condensation nucleus properties, as well as the implications for radiative forcing. Finally, a machine learning algorithm was developed for identifying characteristic cloud droplet size distributions, and was employed to explore microphysical regimes in stratocumulus clouds observed during ACE-ENA. The characteristic size distributions are narrow, and only when spatially averaged do they produce the broad “gamma” distributions typically assumed in models. This implies that precipitation development should account for variability and correlations in the distribution shape as well as the number concentration of cloud droplets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

pyTDGL: Time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau in Python

Time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) theory is a phenomenological model for the dynamics of superconducting systems. Due to its simplicity in comparison to microscopic theories and its effectiveness in describing the observed properties of the superconducting state, TDGL is widely used to interpret or explain measurements of superconducting devices. Here, we introduce pyTDGL, a Python package that solves a generalized TDGL model for superconducting thin films of arbitrary geometry, enabling simulations of vortex and phase dynamics in mesoscopic superconducting devices. pyTDGL can model the nonlinear magnetic response and dynamics of multiply connected films, films with multiple current bias terminals, and films with a spatially inhomogeneous critical temperature. We demonstrate these capabilities by modeling quasi-equilibrium vortex distributions in irregularly shaped films, and the dynamics and current-voltage-field characteristics of nanoscale superconducting quantum interference devices (nanoSQUIDs).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Shear banding, intermittency, jamming, and dynamic phases for skyrmions in inhomogeneous pinning arrays

In this work, we examine driven skyrmion dynamics in systems with inhomogeneous pinning where a strip of strong pinning coexists with a region containing no pinning. For driving parallel to the strip, we find that the initial skyrmion motion is confined to the unpinned region and the skyrmion Hall angle is zero. At larger drives, a transition occurs to a phase in which motion also appears within the pinned region, creating a shear band in the skyrmion velocity, while the skyrmion Hall angle is still zero. As the drive increases further, the flow becomes disordered and the skyrmion Hall angle increases with drive until saturating at the highest drives when the system transitions into a moving crystal phase. The different dynamic phases are associated with velocity and density gradients across the pinning boundaries. We map out the dynamic phases as a function of pinning strength, skyrmion density, and Magnus force strength, and correlate the phase boundaries with features in the velocity-force curves and changes in the local and global ordering of the skyrmion structure. For large Magnus forces, the shear banding instability is replaced by large-scale intermittent flow in the pinned region accompanied by simultaneous motion perpendicular to the direction of the drive, which appears as oscillations in the transport curves. We also examine the case of a drive applied perpendicular to the strip, where we find a jamming effect in which the skyrmion flow is blocked by skyrmion-skyrmion interactions until the drive is large enough to induce plastic flow.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Enhanced ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of BCT-BZT at the morphotropic phase boundary driven by the coexistence of phases with different symmetries

The discovery of lead-free piezoelectric materials is crucial for future information and energy storage applications. Enhanced piezoelectric and other physical properties are commonly observed near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition of ferroelectric solid solutions. The (1 – x)Ba(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 -x(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO 3 (BZT-xBCT) system exhibits a large electromechanical response around its MPB region at x = 0.5. Here, we report experimental and theoretical results of BZT-xBCT over a wide composition range (0.3 ≤ x ≤ 1.0). X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies indicate a composition-induced structural phase transition from a rhombohedral (R3m) phase at x ≤ 0.4 to a tetragonal (P4mm) phase at x ≥ 0.6 through a multiphase coexistence region at 0.45 ≤ x ≤ 0.55 involving orthorhombic + tetragonal (Amm2 + P4mm) phases. First-principles calculations elucidate the phase competition in the coexistence region. The critical composition (x = 0.5) displays enhanced dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties, where notably d 33 ~ 320 pC/N. This paper provides clear evidence of Amm2+P4mm crystallographic phases in the MPB region, which is responsible for the improved functional properties.

MPB↗
DOE OSTI2022

Topological antiferromagnetic semimetal for spintronics: A case study of a layered square-net system EuZnSb 2

Here, we use the first-principles and effective Hamiltonian methods to study the electronic structure and magnetic properties of a recently synthesized layered antiferromagnetic square-net topological semimetal EuZnSb2 [Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 033462 (2020)]. The main message of the paper is that effects of small changes in the band structure produced by the magnetic ordering and changes in the orientation of the Néel vector are amplified in such transport properties as the spin Hall conductivity. We predict that the effects of the broken symmetry introduced by the ordering of the Néel vector, being very weak in the bulk, are pronounced in the surface electronic dispersion, suggesting that surface probes may be more suited to measure them. The coexistence of the magnetism with many other competing phases make this material interesting and possibly useful for quantum spintronics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

On Gibbs Equilibrium and Hillert Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

During his time at Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan) in Sweden, the present author learned nonequilibrium thermodynamics from Mats Hillert. The key concepts are the separation of internal and external variables of a system and the definitions of potentials and molar quantities. In equilibrium thermodynamics derived by Gibbs, the internal variables are not independent and can be fully evaluated from given external variables. While irreversible thermodynamics led by Onsager focuses on internal variables though often mixed with external variables. Hillert integrated them together by first emphasizing their differences and then examining their connections. His philosophy was reflected by the title of his book “Phase Equilibria, Phase Diagrams and Phase Transformations” that puts equilibrium, nonequilibrium, and internal processes on equal footing. Here, in the present paper honoring Hillert, the present author reflects his experiences with Hillert and his work in last 40 years and expresses his gratitude for all the wisdom and support from him in terms of “Hillert nonequilibrium thermodynamics” and discusses some recent topics that the present author has been working on.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗