Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “CURRENTS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Control of bootstrap current in the pedestal region of tokamaks

The high confinement mode (H-mode) plasmas in the pedestal region of tokamaks are characterized by steep gradient of the radial electric field, and sonic poloidal U{sub p,m} flow that consists of poloidal components of the E×B flow and the plasma flow velocity that is parallel to the magnetic field B. Here, E is the electric field. The bootstrap current that is important for the equilibrium, and stability of the pedestal of H-mode plasmas is shown to have an expression different from that in the conventional theory. In the limit where ‖U{sub p,m}‖≫ 1, the bootstrap current is driven by the electron temperature gradient and inductive electric field fundamentally different from that in the conventional theory. The bootstrap current in the pedestal region can be controlled through manipulating U{sub p,m} and the gradient of the radial electric. This, in turn, can control plasma stability such as edge-localized modes. Quantitative evaluations of various coefficients are shown to illustrate that the bootstrap current remains finite when ‖U{sub p,m}‖ approaches infinite and to provide indications how to control the bootstrap current. Approximate analytic expressions for viscous coefficients that join results in the banana and plateau-Pfirsch-Schluter regimes are presented to facilitate bootstrap and neoclassical transport simulations in the pedestal region.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Asymmetric current-phase relation due to spin-orbit interaction in semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction

We theoretically study the current-phase relation in semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. In the nanowire, the impurity scattering with strong SO interaction is taken into account using the random matrix theory. In the absence of magnetic field, the Josephson current I and phase difference φ between the superconductors satisfy the relation of I(φ) = –I(–φ). In the presence of magnetic field along the nanowire, the interplay between the SO interaction and Zeeman effect breaks the current-phase relation of I(φ) = –I(–φ). In this case, we show that the critical current depends on the current direction, which qualitatively agrees with recent experimental findings.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Non-perturbative calculation of molecular magnetic properties within current-density functional theory

We present a novel implementation of Kohn–Sham density-functional theory utilizing London atomic orbitals as basis functions. External magnetic fields are treated non-perturbatively, which enable the study of both magnetic response properties and the effects of strong fields, using either standard density functionals or current-density functionals—the implementation is the first fully self-consistent implementation of the latter for molecules. Pilot applications are presented for the finite-field calculation of molecular magnetizabilities, hypermagnetizabilities, and nuclear magnetic resonance shielding constants, focusing on the impact of current-density functionals on the accuracy of the results. Existing current-density functionals based on the gauge-invariant vorticity are tested and found to be sensitive to numerical details of their implementation. Furthermore, when appropriately regularized, the resulting magnetic properties show no improvement over standard density-functional results. An advantage of the present implementation is the ability to apply density-functional theory to molecules in very strong magnetic fields, where the perturbative approach breaks down. Comparison with high accuracy full-configuration-interaction results show that the inadequacies of current-density approximations are exacerbated with increasing magnetic field strength. Standard density-functionals remain well behaved but fail to deliver high accuracy. The need for improved current-dependent density-functionals, and how they may be tested using the presented implementation, is discussed in light of our findings.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Lateral carrier diffusion and current gain in terahertz InGaAs/InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistors

The DC current gain in In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As/InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistors is computed based on a drift-diffusion model, and is compared with experimental data. Even in the absence of other scaling effects, lateral diffusion of electrons to the base Ohmic contacts causes a rapid reduction in DC current gain as the emitter junction width and emitter-base contact spacing are reduced. The simulation and experimental data are compared in order to examine the effect of carrier lateral diffusion on current gain. The impact on current gain due to device scaling and approaches to increase current gain are discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Persistent currents in absence of magnetic field in graphene nanorings: The ambiguous role of inter valley scattering

Persistent currents can arise in normal-metal rings due to a magnetic flux threading the ring in equilibrium. However, can persistent currents arise in absence of magnetic flux in the same normal-metal rings? Yes they can but in a non-equilibrium set-up. This is known as current magnification. In this work, we show that current magnification can be seen in graphene nanorings. Further, graphene can have electrons polarized with a valley quantum number. Electron scattering between valleys can have a non-trivial effect on these persistent currents including inducing a sign change and generating them for parameters where none existed to begin with.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Beam extraction and high stability operation of high current electron cyclotron resonance proton ion source

A high current electron cyclotron resonance proton ion source is designed and developed for the low energy high intensity proton accelerator at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The plasma discharge in the ion source is stabilized by minimizing the reflected microwave power using four stub auto tuner and magnetic field. The optimization of extraction geometry is performed using PBGUNS code by varying the aperture, shape, accelerating gap, and the potential on the electrodes. While operating the source, it was found that the two layered microwave window (6 mm quartz plate and 2 mm boron nitride plate) was damaged (a fine hole was drilled) by the back-streaming electrons after continuous operation of the source for 3 h at beam current of 20–40 mA. The microwave window was then shifted from the line of sight of the back-streaming electrons and located after the water-cooled H-plane bend. In this configuration the stable operation of the high current ion source for several hours is achieved. The ion beam is extracted from the source by biasing plasma electrode, puller electrode, and ground electrode to +10 to +50 kV, −2 to −4 kV, and 0 kV, respectively. The total ion beam current of 30–40 mA is recorded on Faraday cup at 40 keV of beam energy at 600–1000 W of microwave power, 800–1000 G axial magnetic field and (1.2–3.9) × 10{sup −3} mbar of neutral hydrogen gas pressure in the plasma chamber. The dependence of beam current on extraction voltage, microwave power, and gas pressure is investigated in the range of operation of the ion source.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Photo-induced tunneling currents in MOS structures with various HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} stacking dielectrics

In this study, the current conduction mechanisms of structures with tandem high-k dielectric in illumination are discussed. Samples of Al/SiO{sub 2}/Si (S), Al/HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si (H), and Al/3HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si (3H) were examined. The significant observation of electron traps of sample H compares to sample S is found under the double bias capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements in illumination. Moreover, the photo absorption sensitivity of sample H is higher than S due to the formation of HfO{sub 2} dielectric layer, which leads to larger numbers of carriers crowded through the sweep of V{sub G} before the domination of tunneling current. Additionally, the HfO{sub 2} dielectric layer would block the electrons passing through oxide from valance band, which would result in less electron-hole (e{sup −}-h{sup +}) pairs recombination effect. Also, it was found that both of the samples S and H show perimeter dependency of positive bias currents due to strong fringing field effect in dark and illumination; while sample 3H shows area dependency of positive bias currents in strong illumination. The non-uniform tunneling current through thin dielectric and through HfO{sub 2} stacking layers are importance to MOS(p) tunneling photo diodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study of surface leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

Temperature-dependent surface current measurements were performed to analyze the mechanism of surface conductance of AlGaN/GaN channel high-electron-mobility transistors by utilizing process-optimized double gate structures. Different temperatures and electric field dependence have been found in surface current measurements. At low electric field, the mechanism of surface conductance is considered to be two-dimensional variable range hopping. At elevated electric field, the Frenkel–Poole trap assisted emission governs the main surface electrons transportation. The extracted energy barrier height of electrons emitting from trapped state near Fermi energy level into a threading dislocations-related continuum state is 0.38 eV. SiN passivation reduces the surface leakage current by two order of magnitude and nearly 4 orders of magnitude at low and high electric fields, respectively. SiN also suppresses the Frenkel–Poole conductance at high temperature by improving the surface states of AlGaN/GaN. A surface treatment process has been introduced to further suppress the surface leakage current at high temperature and high field, which results in a decrease in surface current of almost 3 orders of magnitude at 476 K.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pure spin current induced by adiabatic quantum pumping in zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons

We show theoretically that pure spin current can be generated in zigzag edged graphene nanoribbons through the adiabatic pumping by edge selective pumping potentials. The origin of such pure spin current is the spin splitting of the edge localized states, which are oppositely spin polarized at opposite edges. In the proposed device, each edge of the ribbon is covered by two independent time-periodic local gate potentials with a definite phase difference, inducing the edge spin polarized current. When the pumping phase difference is opposite in sign between two edges, the total charge currents is zero and the pure edge spin current is generated.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Latitudinal dependence of nonlinear interaction between electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave and terrestrial ring current ions

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves can lead to the rapid decay (on a timescale of hours) of the terrestrial ring current. Such decay process is usually investigated in the framework of quasi-linear theory. Here, both theoretical analysis and test-particle simulation are performed to understand the nonlinear interaction between ring current ions and EMIC waves. In particular, the dependence of the nonlinear wave-particle interaction processes on the ion initial latitude is investigated in detail. These nonlinear processes are classified into the phase trapping and phase bunching, and the phase bunching is further divided into the channel and cluster effects. Compared to the prediction of the quasi-linear theory, the ring current decay rate can be reduced by the phase trapping, increased by the channel effect phase bunching, but non-deterministically influenced by the cluster effect phase bunching. The ion initial latitude changes the occurrence of the phase trapping, modulates the transport direction and strength of the cluster effect phase bunching, and only slightly affects the channel effect phase bunching. The current results suggest that the latitudinal dependence of these nonlinear processes should be considered in the evaluation of the ring current decay induced by EMIC waves.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Revealing origin of quasi-one dimensional current transport in defect rich two dimensional materials

The presence of defects in graphene have for a long time been recognized as a bottleneck for its utilization in electronic and mechanical devices. We recently showed that micro four-point probes may be used to evaluate if a graphene film is truly 2D or if defects in proximity of the probe will lead to a non-uniform current flow characteristic of lower dimensionality. In this work, simulations based on a finite element method together with a Monte Carlo approach are used to establish the transition from 2D to quasi-1D current transport, when applying a micro four-point probe to measure on 2D conductors with an increasing amount of line-shaped defects. Clear 2D and 1D signatures are observed at low and high defect densities, respectively, and current density plots reveal the presence of current channels or branches in defect configurations yielding 1D current transport. A strong correlation is found between the density filling factor and the simulation yield, the fraction of cases with 1D transport and the mean sheet conductance. The upper transition limit is shown to agree with the percolation threshold for sticks. Finally, the conductance of a square sample evaluated with macroscopic edge contacts is compared to the micro four-point probe conductance measurements and we find that the micro four-point probe tends to measure a slightly higher conductance in samples containing defects.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Current flow and efficiencies of concentrator InGaP/GaAs/Ge solar cells at temperatures below 300K

The forward dark current density – voltage (J-V) characteristic is one of the most important characteristics of multi-junction solar cells. It indicates that the mechanisms of current flow in the space charge region of photoactive p-n junctions. If one is to idealize the optical and electrical (coupling) elements of the solar cells, it is the J-V characteristic that determines the theoretically possible efficiency of the solar cell. In this paper, using the connection between the dark J-V and photovoltaic (η-J{sub g}) efficiency – generated current density characteristics, the effect of current transport mechanisms in the space charge on the efficiency of multi-junction solar cells was investigated in the temperature range of 300 – 80 K. In the experimental J-V and η-J{sub g} curves of the multi-junction solar cells, segments corresponding to the dominant current transport mechanisms were identified. The developed method, based on the analysis of forward dark J-V characteristics, makes it possible to identify the parameters affecting the efficiency of the multi-junction solar cells in a wide range of temperatures and solar radiation concentration.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Measurement of the target current by inductive probe during laser interaction on terawatt laser system PALS

Measurements of the return-current flowing through a solid target irradiated with the sub-nanosecond kJ-class Prague Asterix Laser System is reported. A new inductive target probe was developed which allows us measuring the target current derivative in a kA/ns range. The dependences of the target current on the laser pulse energy for cooper, graphite, and polyethylene targets are reported. The experiment shows that the target current is proportional to the deposited laser energy and is strongly affected by the shot-to-shot fluctuations. The corresponding maximum target charge exceeded a value of 10 μC. A return-current dependence of the electromagnetic pulse produced by the laser-target interaction is presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dark current mechanism of terahertz quantum-well photodetectors

Dark current mechanisms of terahertz quantum-well photodetectors (THz QWPs) are systematically investigated experimentally and theoretically by measuring two newly designed structures combined with samples reported previously. In contrast to previous investigations, scattering-assisted tunneling dark current is found to cause significant contributions to total dark current. A criterion is also proposed to determine the major dark current mechanism at different peak response frequencies. We further determine background limited performance (BLIP) temperatures, which decrease both experimentally and theoretically as the electric field increases. This work gives good description of dark current mechanism for QWPs in the THz region and is extended to determine the transition fields and BLIP temperatures with response peaks from 3 to 12 THz.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Short-circuit current density imaging of crystalline silicon solar cells via lock-in thermography: Robustness and simplifications

Spatially resolved determination of solar cell parameters is beneficial for loss analysis and optimization of conversion efficiency. One key parameter that has been challenging to access by an imaging technique on solar cell level is short-circuit current density. This work discusses the robustness of a recently suggested approach to determine short-circuit current density spatially resolved based on a series of lock-in thermography images and options for a simplified image acquisition procedure. For an accurate result, one or two emissivity-corrected illuminated lock-in thermography images and one dark lock-in thermography image have to be recorded. The dark lock-in thermography image can be omitted if local shunts are negligible. Furthermore, it is shown that omitting the correction of lock-in thermography images for local emissivity variations only leads to minor distortions for standard silicon solar cells. Hence, adequate acquisition of one image only is sufficient to generate a meaningful map of short-circuit current density. Beyond that, this work illustrates the underlying physics of the recently proposed method and demonstrates its robustness concerning varying excitation conditions and locally increased series resistance. Experimentally gained short-circuit current density images are validated for monochromatic illumination in comparison to the reference method of light-beam induced current.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Simulation of electron transmittance and tunnel current in n{sup +} Poly-Si/HfSiO{sub x}N/Trap/SiO{sub 2}/Si(100) capacitors using analytical and numerical approaches

In this paper, we discuss the electron transmittance and tunneling current in high-k-based-MOS capacitors with trapping charge by including the off-diagonal effective-mass tensor elements and the effect of coupling between transverse and longitudinal energies represented by an electron velocity in the gate. The HfSiO{sub x}N/SiO{sub 2} dual ultrathin layer is used as the gate oxide in an n{sup +} poly- Si/oxide/Si capacitor to replace SiO{sub 2}. The main problem of using HfSiO{sub x}N is the charge trapping formed at the HfSiO{sub x}N/SiO{sub 2} interface that can influence the performance of the device. Therefore, it is important to develop a model taking into account the presence of electron traps at the HfSiO{sub x}N/SiO{sub 2} interface in the electron transmittance and tunneling current. The transmittance and tunneling current in n{sup +} poly- Si/HfSiO{sub x}N/trap/SiO2/Si(100) capacitors are calculated by using Airy wavefunctions and a transfer matrix method (TMM) as analytical and numerical approaches, respectively. The transmittance and tunneling current obtained from the Airy wavefunction are compared to those computed by the TMM. The effects of the electron velocity on the transmittance and tunneling current are also discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Current transport mechanisms in lattice-matched Pt/Au-InAlN/GaN Schottky diodes

Lattice-matched Pt/Au-In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N/GaN hetreojunction Schottky diodes with circular planar structure have been fabricated and investigated by temperature dependent electrical measurements. The forward and reverse current transport mechanisms are analyzed by fitting the experimental current-voltage characteristics of the devices with various models. The results show that (1) the forward-low-bias current is mainly due to the multiple trap-assisted tunneling, while the forward-high-bias current is governed by the thermionic emission mechanism with a significant series resistance effect; (2) the reverse leakage current under low electric fields (<6 MV/cm) is mainly carried by the Frenkel-Poole emission electrons, while at higher fields the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling mechanism dominates due to the formation of a triangular barrier.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The use of segmented cathodes to determine the spoke current density distribution in high power impulse magnetron sputtering plasmas

The localized target current density associated with quasi-periodic ionization zones (spokes) has been measured in a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge using an array of azimuthally separated and electrical isolated probes incorporated into a circular aluminum target. For a particular range of operating conditions (pulse energies up to 2.2 J and argon pressures from 0.2 to 1.9 Pa), strong oscillations in the probe current density are seen with amplitudes up to 52% above a base value. These perturbations, identified as spokes, travel around the discharge above the target in the E×B direction. Using phase information from the angularly separated probes, the spoke drift speeds, angular frequencies, and mode number have been determined. Generally, at low HiPIMS pulse energies E{sub p} < 0.8 J, spokes appear to be chaotic in nature (with random arrival times), however as E{sub p} increases, coherent spokes are observed with velocities between 6.5 and 10 km s{sup −1} and mode numbers m = 3 or above. At E{sub p} > 1.8 J, the plasma becomes spoke-free. The boundaries between chaotic, coherent, and no-spoke regions are weakly dependent on pressure. During each HiPIMS pulse, the spoke velocities increase by about 50%. Such an observation is explained by considering spoke velocities to be determined by the critical ionization velocity, which changes as the plasma composition changes during the pulse. From the shape of individual current density oscillations, it appears that the leading edge of the spoke is associated with a slow increase in local current density to the target and the rear with a more rapid decrease. The measurements show that the discharge current density associated with individual spokes is broadly spread over a wide region of the target.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗