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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 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

A facile strategy to fabricate a lignin-based thermoset alternative to formaldehyde-based wood adhesives

The utilization of sustainable lignin to synthesize wood adhesives has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, the facile fabrication of strong and environmentally friendly lignin-based adhesives with a high lignin content remains a significant challenge. In this study, we developed a formaldehyde-free wood adhesive system by combining alkali lignin and poly(propylene glycol) bis(2-aminopropyl ether). The process of producing lignin-based adhesives involves a simple mixing of wood flour, lignin, and a commercially available crosslinker (polyetherimide), followed by direct hot-pressing into particleboards. The lignin-based adhesive showed a high biomass content of 75 wt% (crosslinker accounting for 25 wt%) and the internal bonding strength of the formaldehyde-free and non-toxic particleboards was 1.42 MPa, outperforming many other bio-based adhesives. In conclusion, the study demonstrates a new and facile strategy to synthesize a lignin-based thermoset that is readily and practically applicable as an adhesive to fabricate high-performance, high lignin content, and formaldehyde-free wood products.

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

Deterministic fabrication of highly reproducible monochromatic quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride

Quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride are important room temperature single-photon sources. However, conventional fabrication methods yield quantum emitters with dispersed and inconsistent spectral profiles, limiting their potential for practical quantum applications, which demand reproducible high quality single-photon sources. Here, we report the deterministic creation of highly reproducible monochromatic quantum emitters by applying carbon-ion implantation on freestanding hexagonal boron nitride flakes, while a carbon mask with suitable thickness was adapted to optimize the implantation results. Quantum emitters fabricated using this approach exhibited thermally limited monochromaticity, with an emission center wavelength of 590.7 ± 2.7 nm, a narrow full width at half maximum of 7.1 ± 1.7 nm, an emission rate of 1 MHz without optical engineering, and exceptional stability under ambient conditions. Density functional theory calculations and scanning transmission electron microscopy suggest that these emitters are comprised of boron centered carbon tetramers. This method provides a reliable single-photon source for optical quantum computing and potential future industry-scale applications.

Hua, Muchuan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), A↗
DOE OSTI2013

High detection efficiency micro-structured solid-state neutron detector with extremely low leakage current fabricated with continuous p-n junction

We report the continuous p-n junction formation in honeycomb structured Si diode by in situ boron deposition and diffusion process using low pressure chemical vapor deposition for solid-state thermal neutron detection applications. Optimized diffusion temperature of 800 Degree-Sign C was obtained by current density-voltage characteristics for fabricated p{sup +}-n diodes. A very low leakage current density of {approx}2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8} A/cm{sup 2} at -1 V was measured for enriched boron filled honeycomb structured neutron detector with a continuous p{sup +}-n junction. The neutron detection efficiency for a Maxwellian spectrum incident on the face of the detector was measured under zero bias voltage to be {approx}26%. These results are very encouraging for fabrication of large area solid-state neutron detector that could be a viable alternative to {sup 3}He tube based technology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} topological insulators on GaAs (111) substrates: a potential route to fabricate topological insulator p-n junction

High quality Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} topological insulators films were epitaxially grown on GaAs (111) substrate using solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Their growth and behavior on both vicinal and non-vicinal GaAs (111) substrates were investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is found that non-vicinal GaAs (111) substrate is better than a vicinal substrate to provide high quality Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} films. Hall and magnetoresistance measurements indicate that p type Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and n type Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} topological insulator films can be directly grown on a GaAs (111) substrate, which may pave a way to fabricate topological insulator p-n junction on the same substrate, compatible with the fabrication process of present semiconductor optoelectronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dielectric strength of voidless BaTiO{sub 3} films with nano-scale grains fabricated by aerosol deposition

In order to investigate the dielectric strength properties of the BaTiO{sub 3} films with nano-scale grains with uniform grain size and no voids, BaTiO{sub 3} films were fabricated with a thickness of 1 μm by an AD process, and the fabricated films were sintered at 800, 900, and 1000 °C in air and reducing atmosphere. The films have superior dielectric strength properties due to their uniform grain size and high density without any voids. In addition, based on investigation of the leakage current (intrinsic) properties, it was confirmed that the sintering conditions of the reducing atmosphere largely increase leakage currents due to generated electrons and doubly ionized oxygen vacancies following the Poole-Frenkel emission mechanism, and increased leakage currents flow at grain boundary regions. Therefore, we conclude that the extrinsic breakdown factors should be eliminated for superior dielectric strength properties, and it is important to enhance grain boundaries by doping acceptors and rare-earth elements.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Deformable silicone grating fabricated with a photo-imprinted polymer mold

A tunable transmission grating was fabricated by molding a silicone elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane). Its optical characteristics were then evaluated during compression. For fabrication, a glass plate with a photoimprinted polymer grating film was used as a mold. Both the grating period and diffraction transmittance of the molded elastomer were functions of the compressive stress. The grating period changed from 3.02 to 2.86 μm during compressing the elastomer in the direction perpendicular to the grooves.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

High performance non-volatile ferroelectric copolymer memory based on a ZnO nanowire transistor fabricated on a transparent substrate

A high performance ferroelectric non-volatile memory device based on a top-gate ZnO nanowire (NW) transistor fabricated on a glass substrate is demonstrated. The ZnO NW channel was spin-coated with a poly (vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) layer acting as a top-gate dielectric without buffer layer. Electrical conductance modulation and memory hysteresis are achieved by a gate electric field induced reversible electrical polarization switching of the P(VDF-TrFE) thin film. Furthermore, the fabricated device exhibits a memory window of ∼16.5 V, a high drain current on/off ratio of ∼10{sup 5}, a gate leakage current below ∼300 pA, and excellent retention characteristics for over 10{sup 4} s.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Physical understanding of electron mobility in asymmetrically strained InGaAs-on-insulator metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors fabricated by lateral strain relaxation

In this paper, we fabricated asymmetrically tensile-strained In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-on-insulator (-OI) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) using a lateral strain relaxation technique. A stripe-like line structure, fabricated in biaxially strained In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-OI can lead to the lateral strain relaxation and asymmetric strain configuration in In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-OI with the channel width of 100 nm. We have found that the effective mobility (μ{sub eff}) enhancement in In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-OI MOSFETs with uniaxial-like asymmetric strain becomes smaller than that in In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-OI MOSFETs with biaxial strain. We have clarified from a systematic analysis between the strain values and the μ{sub eff} characteristics that this mobility behavior can be understood by the change of the energy level of the conduction band minimum due to the lateral strain relaxation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Site-controlled fabrication of Ga nanodroplets by focused ion beam

Ga droplets are created by focused ion beam irradiation of GaAs surface. We report that ordered Ga droplets can be formed on the GaAs surface without any implantation damage. The droplets are characterized with bigger sizes than those droplets formed on damaged area. These aligned Ga droplets are formed via the migration of Ga atoms from ion irradiation area to the edge of undamaged GaAs surface and further nucleation into droplets. The morphological evolution and size distribution of these nanodroplets are investigated systematically with different beam irradiation time and incident angles. Based on this method, well positioned Ga nanodroplets, such as chains, are achieved by using focus ion beam patterning. The controllable assembly of droplets on undamaged semiconductor surface can be used to fabricate templates, to fabricate quantum structures and quantum devices by droplet epitaxy technique.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication of moth-eye structures on silicon by direct six-beam laser interference lithography

This paper presents a new method for the generation of cross-scale laser interference patterns and the fabrication of moth-eye structures on silicon. In the method, moth-eye structures were produced on a surface of silicon wafer using direct six-beam laser interference lithography to improve the antireflection performance of the material surface. The periodic dot arrays of the moth-eye structures were formed due to the ablation of the irradiance distribution of interference patterns on the wafer surface. The shape, size, and distribution of the moth-eye structures can be adjusted by controlling the wavelength, incidence angles, and exposure doses in a direct six-beam laser interference lithography setup. The theoretical and experimental results have shown that direct six-beam laser interference lithography can provide a way to fabricate cross-scale moth-eye structures for antireflection applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

High aspect ratio x-ray waveguide channels fabricated by e-beam lithography and wafer bonding

We report on the fabrication and characterization of hard x-ray waveguide channels manufactured by e-beam lithography, reactive ion etching and wafer bonding. The guiding layer consists of air or vacuum and the cladding material of silicon, which is favorable in view of minimizing absorption losses. The specifications for waveguide channels which have to be met in the hard x-ray range to achieve a suitable beam confinement in two orthogonal directions are extremely demanding. First, high aspect ratios up to 10{sup 6} have to be achieved between lateral structure size and length of the guides. Second, the channels have to be deeply embedded in material to warrant the guiding of the desired modes while absorbing all other (radiative) modes in the cladding material. We give a detailed report on device fabrication with the respective protocols and parameter optimization, the inspection and the optical characterization.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated from an amorphous Mo{sub 0.75}Ge{sub 0.25} thin film

We present the characteristics of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) fabricated from amorphous Mo{sub 0.75}Ge{sub 0.25} thin-films. Fabricated devices show a saturation of the internal detection efficiency at temperatures below 1 K, with system dark count rates below 500 cps. Operation in a closed-cycle cryocooler at 2.5 K is possible with system detection efficiencies exceeding 20% for SNSPDs which have not been optimized for high detection efficiency. Jitter is observed to vary between 69 ps at 250 mK and 187 ps at 2.5 K using room temperature amplifiers.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Integrating atomic layer deposition and ultra-high vacuum physical vapor deposition for in situ fabrication of tunnel junctions

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a promising technique for growing ultrathin, pristine dielectrics on metal substrates, which is essential to many electronic devices. Tunnel junctions are an excellent example which require a leak-free, ultrathin dielectric tunnel barrier of typical thickness around 1 nm between two metal electrodes. A challenge in the development of ultrathin dielectric tunnel barriers using ALD is controlling the nucleation of dielectrics on metals with minimal formation of native oxides at the metal surface for high-quality interfaces between the tunnel barrier and metal electrodes. This poses a critical need for integrating ALD with ultra-high vacuum (UHV) physical vapor deposition. In order to address these challenges, a viscous-flow ALD chamber was designed and interfaced to an UHV magnetron sputtering chamber via a load lock. A sample transportation system was implemented for in situ sample transfer between the ALD, load lock, and sputtering chambers. Using this integrated ALD-UHV sputtering system, superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Nb-Al/Al{sub 2}O{sub 2}/Nb Josephson tunnel junctions were fabricated with tunnel barriers of thickness varied from sub-nm to ∼1 nm. The suitability of using an Al wetting layer for initiation of the ALD Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} tunnel barrier was investigated with ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and electrical transport measurements. With optimized processing conditions, leak-free SIS tunnel junctions were obtained, demonstrating the viability of this integrated ALD-UHV sputtering system for the fabrication of tunnel junctions and devices comprised of metal-dielectric-metal multilayers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design and characterization of ultra-stretchable monolithic silicon fabric

Stretchable electronic systems can play instrumental role for reconfigurable macro-electronics such as distributed sensor networks for wearable and bio-integrated electronics. Typically, polymer composite based materials and its deterministic design as interconnects are used to achieve such systems. Nonetheless, non-polymeric inorganic silicon is the predominant material for 90% of electronics. Therefore, we report the design and fabrication of an all silicon based network of hexagonal islands connected through spiral springs to form an ultra-stretchable arrangement for complete compliance to highly asymmetric shapes. Several design parameters are considered and their validation is carried out through finite element analysis. The fabrication process is based on conventional microfabrication techniques and the measured stretchability is more than 1000% for single spirals and area expansions as high as 30 folds in arrays. The reported method can provide ultra-stretchable and adaptable electronic systems for distributed network of high-performance macro-electronics especially useful for wearable electronics and bio-integrated devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication of anti-adhesion surfaces on aluminium substrates of rubber plastic moulds using electrolysis plasma treatment

An anti-adhesion surface with a water contact angle of 167° was fabricated on aluminium samples of rubber plastic moulds by electrolysis plasma treatment using mixed electrolytes of C{sub 6}H{sub 5}O{sub 7}(NH{sub 4}){sub 3} and Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, followed by fluorination. To optimise the fabrication conditions, several important processing parameters such as the discharge voltage, discharge time, concentrations of supporting electrolyte and stearic acid ethanol solution were examined systematically. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyse surfaces morphology, micrometer scale pits, and protrusions were found on the surface, with numerous nanometer mastoids contained in the protrusions. These binary micro/nano-scale structures, which are similar to the micro-structures of soil-burrowing animals, play a critical role in achieving low adhesion properties. Otherwise, the anti-adhesion behaviours of the resulting samples were analysed by the atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), electrons probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), optical contact angle meter, digital Vickers microhardness (Hv) tester, and electronic universal testing. The results show that the electrolysis plasma treatment does not require complex processing parameters, using a simple device, and is an environment-friendly and effective method. Under the optimised conditions, the contact angle (CA) for the modified anti-adhesion surface is up to 167°, the sliding angle (SA) is less than 2°, roughness of the sample surface is only 0.409μm. Moreover, the adhesion force and H{sub v} are 0. 9KN and 385, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultrafine nanoporous palladium-aluminum film fabricated by citric acid-assisted hot-water-treatment of aluminum-palladium alloy film

Hot-water-treatment has been adapted to fabricate ultrafine nanoporous palladium-aluminum film from aluminum-palladium alloy film. Using citric acid as a chelating agent, a precipitation of boehmite (aluminum oxide hydroxide, AlOOH) on the nanoporous palladium-aluminum film was suppressed. According to cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy observations, the ligament/pore sizes of the prepared nanoporous film were considerably small (on the order of 10 nm). Since this fabrication method only requires aluminum alloy film and hot-water with chelating agent, the ultrafine nanoporous film can be prepared simply and environmentally friendly.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Structural and magnetic properties of FeNi thin films fabricated on amorphous substrates

FeNi films were fabricated by sputtering and rapid thermal annealing on thermally amorphous substrates to realize the formation of an L1{sub 0}-FeNi phase by a simple method. Structural and magnetic properties of FeNi films were investigated by varying the annealing temperature. L1{sub 0}-FeNi superlattice peaks were not observed in X-ray diffraction patterns, indicating no formation of L1{sub 0}-ordered phase, however, the surface structure systematically changed with the annealing temperature. Magnetization curves also revealed a drastic change depending on the annealing temperature, which indicates the close relation between the morphology and magnetic properties of FeNi films fabricated on amorphous substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Studies on n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction fabricated by hydrothermal method

Pure and Aluminum (Al) doped ZnO nanorods were grown on silicon (Si) substrates by hydrothermal method. The grown samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FESEM images shows that there is no distinct difference between morphology of Al-doped and undoped nanorods. The pure and Al doped ZnO nanorods were used to fabricate n-ZnO/p-Si p–n heterojunction diodes. Temperature-dependant (313, 473, 523, 573, 623, and 673 K) current voltage (I–V) characteristics for the fabricated diodes are presented in this paper.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗