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At least 991 records · Page 55

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NASA NTRS1980

Effects of temperature, thermal exposure, and fatigue on an alumina/aluminum composite

An experimental investigation of the mechanical properties and microstructure of an aluminum matrix/polycrystalline alumina fiber composite material is discussed. The effects of fabrication, isothermal exposure (up to 10,000 hours at 590 K), thermal cycling (6000 cycles between 200 K and 590 K), fatigue (1,000,000 tension-tension cycles) were determined by mechanical testing and metallurgical analysis. The fabrication process severely degraded the fiber strength by reducing the alumina to a nonstoichiometric form and quenching in the resultant vacancies and stress fields. However, isothermal exposure, thermal cycling, and fatigue cycling all restored the fiber strength by enhancing vacancy annihilation. Comparison of the as-fabricated material with other aerospace materials shows that it is an attractive candidate for select applications. Long duration isothermal exposure weakened the matrix by overaging and through the diffusional loss of lithium to a surface reaction forming lithium carbonate. Thermal cycling initiated cracks in the matrix and fibers. Tension-tension fatigue cycling caused no apparent damage to the as-fabricated material but in fact, strengthened it to the rule-of-mixtures value. Fatigue cycling after thermal exposure did have a cumulative damage effect.

Olsen, G. C.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Ionic conductivity and thermoelectric power of pure and Al2O3-dispersed AgI

Ionic and electronic conductivities, and thermoelectric power have been measured for AgI and AgI containing a dispersion of submicron size Al2O3 particles. While the dispersion of Al2O3 enhances the ionic conductivity significantly, it does not affect the electronic properties of the matrix. The enhancement is a strong function of the size and concentration of the dispersoid. Various models have been tested to account for the enhanced conduction. However, the complex behavior of the present results points out the need for more sophisticated theoretical models. Ionic conduction and thermoelectric power data suggest that the dispersed Al2O3 generates an excess of cation vacancies and thereby enhances the conductivity and suppresses the thermoelectric power of the matrix. The individual heats of transport of cation interstitials and vacancies have been estimated and compared to their respective migration energies.

Shahi, K.↗

NASA NTRS1981

A thermochemical model of radiation damage and annealing applied to GaAs solar cells

Calculations of the equilibrium conditions for continuous radiation damage and thermal annealing are reported. The calculations are based on a thermochemical model developed to analyze the incorporation of point imperfections in GaAs, and modified by introducing the radiation to produce native lattice defects rather than high-temperature and arsenic atmospheric pressure. The concentration of a set of defects, including vacancies, divacancies, and impurity vacancy complexes, are calculated as a function of temperature. Minority carrier lifetimes, short circuit current, and efficiency are deduced for a range of equilibrium temperatures. The results indicate that GaAs solar cells could have a mission life which is not greatly limited by radiation damage.

Conway, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Atomic inner-shell transitions

Atomic inner-shell processes have quite different characteristics, in several important aspects, from processes in the optical regime. Energies are large, e.g., the 1s binding energy reaches 100 keV at Z = 87; relativistic and quantum-electrodynamic effects therefore are strong. Radiationless transitions vastly dominate over photon emission in most cases. Isolated inner-shell vacancies have pronounced single-particle character, with correlations generally contributing only approximately 1 eV to the 1s and 2p binding energies; the structure of such systems is thus well tractable by independent-particle self-consistent-field atomic models. For systems containing multiple deep inner-shell vacancies, or for highly stripped ions, the importance of relativistic intermediate coupling and configuration interaction becomes pronounced. Cancellation of the Coulomb interaction can lead to strong manifestations of the Breit interaction in such phenomena as multiplet splitting and hypersatellite X-ray shifts. Unique opportunities arise for the test of theory.

Crasemann, B.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Initial aging phenomena in copper-chromium alloys

The effects of quenching and aging temperatures on the initial aging curves of Cu-Cr alloy were examined mainly by means of electrical resistivity measurements. Three Cu-Cr alloy specimens having 0.24, 0.74, and 1.0% Cr were solution-treated at 950-1050 C, quenched into ice-water, and subsequently aged at 300-500 C. The results were as follows: (1) At the very early stage of aging (within about 30 sec), an abrupt decrease of resistivity with lowering aging tempratures. (T sub A) and rising solution temperatures (T sub S) was observed at (T sub A) up to about 400 C. In contrast, a transient increase of resistivity with rising T sub A and lowering T sub S was observed at T sub A from about 450 to 500 C. These phenomena seem to be caused by a rapid formation of solute clusters and the reversion of clusters formed during quenching, which are enhanced by quenched-in vacancies, respectively. (2) The amount of precipitation increased at the latter stage of aging with rising T sub S and T sub A as generally expected, where T sub S was not so high as to form secondary defects. (3) As a result, the initial aging phenomena in Cr-Cr alloy were revealed to be complicated against expectations. This was considered to be due to the migration energy of vacancies so larger in Cu-base.

Suzuki, H.↗

NASA NTRS1985

EL2 and related defects in GaAs - Challenges and pitfalls

The incorporation process of nonequilibrium vacancies in melt-grown GaAs is strongly complicated by deviations from stoichiometry and the presence of two sublattices. Many of the microdefects originating in these vacancies and their interactions introduce energy levels (shallow and deep) within the energy gap. The direct identification of the chemical or structural signature of these defects and its direct correlation to their electronic behavior is not generally possible. It is necessary, therefore, to rely on indirect methods and phenomenological models and deal with the associated pitfalls. EL2, a microdefect introducing a deep donor level, has been in the limelight in recent years because it is believed to be responsible for the semi-insulating behavior of undoped GaAs. Although much progress has been made towards understanding its origin and nature, some relevant questions remain unanswered. An attempt is made to assess the present status of understanding of EL2 in the light of most recent results.

Gatos, H. C.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Study of the Reactive-element Effect in Oxidation of Fe-cr Alloys Using Transverse Section Analytical Electron Microscopy

The role of trace additions of reactive elements like Y, Ce, Th, or Hf to Cr bearing alloys was studied by applying a new developed technique of transverse section analytical electron microscopy. This reactive-element effect improves the high temperature oxidation resistance of alloys by strongly reducing the high temperature oxidation rate and enhancing the adhesion of the oxide scale, however, the mechanisms for this important effect remain largely unknown. It is indicated that the presence of yttrium affects the oxidation of Fe-Cr-Y alloys in at least two ways. The reactive element alters the growth mechanism of the oxide scale as evidenced by the marked influence of the reactive element on the oxide scale microstructure. The present results also suggest that reactive-element intermetallic compounds, which internally oxidize in the metal during oxidation, act as sinks for excess vacancies thus inhibiting vacancy condensation at the scale-metal interface and possibly enhancing scale adhesion.

King, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Growth of the 889 per cm infrared band in annealed electron-irradiated silicon

Isothermal annealing of electron-irradiated Czochralski silicon has been studied at four different temperatures ranging from 304 to 350 C using infrared spectroscopy. At annealing temperatures above 300 C the irradiation-induced band at 830 per cm, usually attributed to a vacancy-oxygen complex (the A center), disappears and a new band at 889 per cm grows up. Within the experimental accuracy, the activation energy for the growth of this band is found to be identical with the value given by Stavola et al. for 'anomalous' oxygen diffusion in silicon. Also the frequency factors for the two processes are in reasonable agreement. The results show that a vacancy-assisted process may provide an explanation for enhanced motion of oxygen in silicon.

Svensson, B. G.↗

NASA NTRS1985

EL2 and related defects in GaAs - Challenges and pitfalls

The incorporation process of nonequilibrium vacancies in melt-grown GaAs is strongly complicated by deviations from stoichiometry, and the presence of two sublattices. Many of the microdefects originating in these vacancies and their interactions introduce energy levels (shallow and deep) within the energy gap. The direct identification of the chemical or structural signature of these defects and its direct correlation to their electronic behavior is not generally possible. It is therefore necessary to rely on indirect methods and phenomenological models and be confronted with the associated pitfalls. EL2, a microdefect introducing a deep donor level, has been in the limelight in recent years because it is believed to be responsible for the semi-insulating behavior of undoped GaAs. Although much progress has been made towards understanding its origin and nature, some relevant questions remain unanswered. An attempt is made to assess the present status of understanding of EL2 in the light of the most recent results.

Gatos, H. C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Energetics and crystal chemistry of Ruddlesden-Popper type structures in high T(sub c) ceramic superconductors

The formation of Ruddlesden-Popper type layers (alternating slabs of rocksalt and perovskite structures) is seen in these oxides which is similar in many respects to what is seen in the system Sr-Ti-O. However, it was observed that there are some significant differences, for example the rocksalt and perovskite blocks in new superconducting compounds are not necessarily electrically, unlike in Sr-Ti-O systems. This will certainly render an additional coulombic bonding energy between two different types of blocks and may well lead to significant differences in their structural chemistry. In the higher order members of the various homologous series, additional Cu-O planes are inserted in the perovskite blocks. In order for the unit cell to electrically neutral the net positive charge on rocksalt block (which remains constant throughout the homologous series) should be balanced by an equal negative charge on perovskite block. It, thus becomes necessary to create oxygen vacancies in the basic perovskite structure, when width of the perovskite slab changes on addition of extra Cu-O planes. Results of atomistic simulations suggest that these missing oxygen ions allow the Cu-O planes to buckle in these compounds. This is also supported by the absence of buckling in the first member of Bi-containing compounds in which there are no missing oxygen ions and the Sr-Ti-O series of compounds. Additional results are presented on the phase stability of polytypoid structures in these crystal chemically complex systems. The studies will focus on the determination of the location of Cu(3+) in the structures of higher order members of the La-Cu-O system and whether Cu(3+) ions or oxygen vacancies are energetically more favorable charge compensating mechanism.

Dwivedi, Anurag↗

NASA NTRS1989

Highly mobile oxygen holes in magnesium oxide

High-purity MgO exhibits an unexpected giant anomaly of the apparent static dielectric constant and a positive surface charge of the order of 5 x 10 to the 21st/cu cm in the top 15 nm. It is postulated that the MgO matrix contains traces of peroxy defects, O2(2-), associated with Mg(2+) vacancies. Above approximately 400 C the O2(2-) dissociates to vacancy bound O(-) and highly mobile O(-) states, which diffuse to the surface, giving rise to a high surface conductivity.

Freund, Minoru M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Effect of a prior stretch on the aging response of an Al-Cu-Li-Ag-Mg-Zr alloy

The effect of a prior stretching of an aluminum alloy Al-5.3Cu-1.4Li-0.4Ag-0.4Mg-0.17Zr (in wt pct) on the microstructure that develops during aging of this alloy was investigated by comparing TEM and SAD observations and hardness curves with results for the unstretched alloy. The results suggest that stretching introduces a significant number of dislocations which may act as vacanacy sinks by sweeping vacancies away and thereby decreasing the vacancy concentration available for influencing the natural aging response. In the stretched and near-peak aged condition, a fine homogeneous distribution of T1, theta-prime, and S-prime phases were observed in an alpha solid solution matrix. Upon overaging, virtually all of the theta-prime and most of the S-prime phases were found to dissolve, leaving behind a microstructure of T1 precipitates.

Kumar, K. S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The effects of alloy purity on the mechanical behavior of soft oriented NiAl single crystals

Preliminary results of the effects of alloy purity on the mechanical properties of NiAl single crystals are presented. Two stoichiometric NiAl single crystals with different impurity contents were studied. It is concluded that reductions in the interstitial and substitutional levels cause reduced yield strengths in NiAl. Heat treatment also results in reduced yield and flow stresses in both CP-NiAl and Hp-NiAl which are considered to be due to a reduction in the concentration of thermal vacancies due to vacancy coalescence during heat treatment.

Weaver, M. L.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Defect characterization in ZnGeP2 by time-resolved photoluminescence

The native defect-related optical properties of ZnGeP2 are studied by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence. ZnGeP2 crystals grown from the vapor phase by high pressure physical vapor transport (HPVT) and from the melt by gradient freezing (GF) show a broad infrared emission with peak position at 1.2 eV with a decay time constant of a few micro-s and a faster recombination center peaked at 1.68 eV. The decay transient for the emission at 1.2 eV exhibits features of classical donor-acceptor recombination and is linked to close-pairs that are tentatively associated with germanium-on-zinc antisite donors and zinc vacancy acceptors. Higher energetic luminescence structures at 1.6eV and 1.7eV are revealed after annealing of the ZnGeP2 crystals and are associated with the formation zinc and phosphorous vacancies in the near surface region. ZnGeP2 crystals grown by HPVT from zinc and phosphorus supersaturated vapor compositions show additional emission structure at 1.8 eV and a sharp donor-acceptor emission at 1.778 eV that is related to the presence of additional donor states.

Dietz, N.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Lithium-ion drifting: Application to the study of point defects in floating-zone silicon

The use of lithium-ion (Li(+)) drifting to study the properties of point defects in p-type Floating-Zone (FZ) silicon crystals is reported. The Li(+) drift technique is used to detect the presence of vacancy-related defects (D defects) in certain p-type FZ silicon crystals. SUPREM-IV modeling suggests that the silicon point defect diffusivities are considerably higher than those commonly accepted, but are in reasonable agreement with values recently proposed. These results demonstrate the utility of Li(+) drifting in the study of silicon point defect properties in p-type FZ crystals. Finally, a straightforward measurement of the Li(+) compensation depth is shown to yield estimates of the vacancy-related defect concentration in p-type FZ crystals.

Silicon↗

NASA NTRS2003

Atomic-scale Modeling of the Structure and Dynamics of Dislocations in Complex Alloys at High Temperatures

We report on the progress made during the first year of the project. Most of the progress at this point has been on the theoretical and computational side. Here are the highlights: (1) A new code, tailored for high-end desktop computing, now combines modern Accelerated Dynamics (AD) with the well-tested Embedded Atom Method (EAM); (2) The new Accelerated Dynamics allows the study of relatively slow, thermally-activated processes, such as diffusion, which are much too slow for traditional Molecular Dynamics; (3) We have benchmarked the new AD code on a rather simple and well-known process: vacancy diffusion in copper; and (4) We have begun application of the AD code to the diffusion of vacancies in ordered intermetallics.

Daw, Murray S.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Tensile Creep of Polycrystalline Near-Stoichiometric NiAl

Long term tensile creep studies were conducted on binary NiAl in the temperature range 700-1200 K with the objectives of characterizing and understanding the creep mechanisms. Inverse and normal primary creep curves were observed depending on stress and temperature. It was concluded that the creep of NiAl is limited by dislocation mobility. The stress exponent for creep, n, increased from 5.5 at 1200 K to 13.9 at 700 K. The true activation energy for creep, Qc, was constant and equal to about 400 kJ per mole between 20 and 50 MPa but decreased to a constant value of 250 kJ per mole between 50 and 110 MPa. The activation energy was observed to be stress dependent above 110 MPa. The tensile creep results reported in this investigation were compared with compression creep data reported in the literature. A detailed discussion of the probable dislocation creep mechanisms governing compressive and tensile creep of NiAl is presented. It is concluded that the non-conservative motion of jogs on screw dislocations influenced the nature of the primary creep curves, where the climb of these jogs involves either the next nearest neighbor or the six-jump cycle vacancy diffusion mechanism. The probable nature of the atom vacancy exchange that occur within the core of an edge dislocation undergoing climb in NiAl are schematically examined.

Raj, Sai V.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Comparative Planetary Mineralogy: Valence State Partitioning of Cr, Fe, Ti, and V Among Crystallographic Sites in Olivine, Pyroxene, and Spinel from Planetary Basalts

We have considered the valence-state partitioning of Cr, Fe, Ti, and V over crystallographic sites in olivine, pyroxene, and spinel from planetary basalts. The sites that accommodate these cations are the M2 site (6-8 coordinated) and M1 site (6 coordinated) in pyroxene, the M2 site (6-8 coordinated) and M1 site (6 coordinated) in olivine, and the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in spinel. The samples we studied are basalts from Earth, Moon, and Mars, which have fO2 conditions that range from IW-2 (Moon) to IW+6 (Earth) with Mars somewhere between at IW to IW+2. In this range of fO2 the significant elemental valences are (from low to high fO2) Ti4+, V3+, Fe2+, Cr2+, Cr3+, V3+, V4+, and Fe3+. V2+ and Ti3+ play a minor role in the phases considered for the Moon, and are probably in very low concentrations. V5+ plays a minor role in these phases in terrestrial basalts because it is probably in lower abundance than V4+ and it has an ionic radii that is so small (0.054 nm, 6- coordinated,[1]) that it is almost at the lower limit for octahedral coordination. The role of Cr2+ in the Moon is significant, as Sutton et al. [2] found that lunar olivine contains mostly Cr2+ while coexisting pyroxene contains mostly Cr3+. Hanson one vacancy only accommodates one V4+. Thus more vacancies are required in V4+ substitutions into olivine. In the Moon V3+ is much more abundant than V4+ [7, 8]. Thus in lunar chromite V3+ follows Cr3+, whereas in Earth V4+ (which is much greater in abundance than V3+) follows Ti4+ (eg in ulv spinel). We could go on in this vein for some time but space limitations do not permit us to do so.

Papike, J. J.↗