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At least 1,333 records · Page 74

Electromagnetic Modeling of Distributed-Source-Excitation of Coplanar Waveguides: Applications to Traveling-Wave Photomixers

In this work an electromagnetic model and subsequent design is presented for a traveling-wave, coplanar waveguide (CPW) based source that will operate in the THz frequency regime. The radio frequency (RF) driving current is a result of photoexcitation of a thin GaAs membrane using two frequency-offset lasers. The GaAs film is grown by molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) and displays sub-ps carrier lifetimes which enable the material conductivity to be modulated at a very high rate. The RF current flows between electrodes deposited on the GaAs membrane which are biased with a DC voltage source. The electrodes form a CPW and are terminated with a double slot antenna that couples the power to a quasi-optical system. The membrane is suspended above a metallic reflector to launch all radiation in one direction. The theoretical investigation and consequent design is performed in two steps. The first step consists of a direct evaluation of the magnetic current distribution on an infinitely extended coplanar waveguide excited by an impressed electric current distributed over a finite area. The result of the analysis is the difference between the incident angle of the laser beams and the length of the excited area that maximizes the RF power coupled to the CPW. The optimal values for both parameters are found as functions of the CPW and membrane dimensions as well as the dielectric constants of the layers. In the second step, a design is presented of a double slot antenna that matches the CPW characteristic impedance and gives good overall performance. The design is presently being implemented and measurements will soon be available.

Pasqualini, Davide↗

Tunable Solid Acid Catalyst Thin Films Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

Solid acid catalysts, including zeolites and amorphous silica-aluminas (ASAs), are industrially important materials widely used in the fuel and petrochemical industries. The versatility of zeolites is due to the Brønsted acidity of the bridging hydroxyl and shape selectivity that can be tailored during and after synthesis. This is in contrast to amorphous silica-alumina, where tailoring acidity is a major challenge as the Brønsted acid structure in ASA is still debated. In both cases, however, the pore size and acidity cannot be tuned independently, and this is particularly limiting in the application of biomass conversion, where zeolite pores are too small for the molecules of interest. Herein, we present a method using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to prepare thin films of solid acid materials where the ratio of Brønsted to Lewis acid sites can be tuned precisely. This capability, combined with the sub-nm pore size control afforded by ALD yields a powerful and flexible method for synthesizing solid acid catalysts inside virtually any mesoporous host. We demonstrate the utility of these materials in two acid-catalyzed reactions relevant to biomass conversion: (1) Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley–Oppenauer (MPVO) reaction and dehydration of fructose and (2) cascade reaction of glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Finally, we propose a plausible structure for the Brønsted acid sites in our materials based on infrared spectroscopy and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance measurements and density functional theory calculations and argue that this same structure might apply to conventional ASAs as well.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Yield analysis of large capacity magnetic bubble circuits with redundancy design

The fabrication yield of an on-chip modifiable redundant circuit design for a 100M bit serial shift register is evaluated. The yield model is a redundancy design in which there is a primary loop and a set of secondary loops which can be enabled/disabled without introducing blanks to the data stream. This function has a finite yield, the loop-modification yield factor, which must be greater than 0.9 to make the system more economical than the simple nonredundant design. It is further established that small loop capacities greatly degrade the yield because of the effect of the modification yield factor, while large loop capacities degrade the yield because of defects in the operating area. As the modification yield increases the optimum loop capacity decreases. An optimum value for the number of redundant loops exists for each loop capacity. Other factors that affect the yield are the garnet film and the processed circuit.

Bailey, R. F.↗

Approaching the ultimate superconducting properties of (Ba,K)Fe 2 As 2 by naturally formed low-angle grain boundary networks

The most effective way to enhance the dissipation-free supercurrent in the presence of a magnetic field for type II superconductors is to introduce defects that act as artificial pinning centers (APCs) for vortices. For instance, the in-field critical current density of doped BaFe 2 As 2 (Ba122), one of the most technologically important Fe-based superconductors, has been improved over the last decade by APCs created by ion irradiation. The technique of ion irradiation has been commonly implemented to determine the ultimate superconducting properties. However, this method is rather complicated and expensive. Here, we report a surprisingly high critical current density and strong pinning efficiency close to the crystallographic c-axis for a K-doped Ba122 epitaxial thin film without APCs, achieving performance comparable to ion-irradiated K-doped Ba122 single crystals. Microstructural analysis reveals that the film is composed of columnar grains with widths of approximately 30–60 nm. The grains are rotated around the b- (or a-) axis by 1.5° and around the c-axis by –1°, resulting in the formation of low-angle grain boundary networks. This study demonstrates that the upper limit of in-field properties reached in ion-irradiated K-doped Ba122 is achievable by grain boundary engineering, which is a simple and industrially scalable manner.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Photoinduced structural recovery dynamics of rare-earth nickelate thin films

Photoinduced structural dynamics of rare-earth nickelate thin films, NdNiO 3 and SmNiO 3 , grown on (001) oriented SrTiO 3 were studied using time-resolved x-ray diffraction. The evolution of the (002) Bragg peak was tracked following laser excitation. The recovery pathways were found to be strongly dependent on laser fluence for NdNiO 3 and distinct for the two rare-earth nickelates. The recovery of the (002) peak shifts was modeled using a one-dimensional thermal diffusion model which showed that the recovery processes are non-thermal at high fluences. For NdNiO 3 , the timescales for the recovery of the (002) peak shift were found to be closely related to Ni magnetism recovery, potentially indicating magneto-structural coupling. Moreover, the evolution of integrated intensity and full-width-half-maximum points towards the presence of a structural phase separation during recovery. In conclusion, our studies highlight structural recovery pathways in nickelates by comparing the distinct responses of the photoinduced metal-insulator transition in NdNiO 3 and SmNiO 3 .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Isothermal-desorption-rate measurements in the vicinity of the Curie temperature for H2 chemisorbed on nickel films

Measurements of the isothermal desorption rate of H2 chemisorbed onto polycrystalline nickel films made for temperatures spanning the Curie temperature of the nickel film are presented. Desorption kinetics were followed by measuring the decay of the change in resistance of the nickel film brought about by hydrogen chemisorption after gas-phase H2 had been rapidly evacuated. The desorption rate is found to undergo an anomalous decrease in the vicinity of the Curie temperature, accompanied by an increase in the desorption activation energy and the equilibrium constant for the chemisorbed hydrogen. The results are interpreted in terms of anomalous variations in rate constants for the formation of the precursor molecular adsorbed state and the chemisorbed atomic state due to the phase transition in the nickel. The changes in rate constants are also considered to be in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions based on a spin coupling between the adatom and the magnetic substrate.

Shanabarger, M. R.↗

Highly Conductive Wire: Cu Carbon Nanotube Composite Ampacity and Metallic CNT Buckypaper Conductivity

NASA is currently working on developing motors for hybrid electric propulsion applications in aviation. To make electric power more feasible in airplanes higher power to weight ratios are sought for electric motors. One facet to these efforts is to improve (increase) the conductivity and (lower) density of the magnet wire used in motors. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and composites containing CNT are being explored as a possible way to increase wire conductivity and lower density. Presented here are measurements of the current carrying capacity (ampacity) of a composite made from CNT and copper. The ability of CNT to improve the conductivity of such composites is hindered by the presence of semiconductive CNT (s-CNT) that exist in CNT supplies naturally, and currently, unavoidably. To solve this problem, and avoid s-CNT, various preferential growth and sorting methods are being explored. A supply of sorted 95 metallic CNT (m-CNT) was acquired in the form of thick film Buckypaper (BP) as part of this work and characterized using Raman spectroscopy, resistivity, and density measurements. The ampacity (Acm2) of the Cu-5volCNT composite was 3.8 lower than the same gauge pure Cu wire similarly tested. The lower ampacity in the composite wire is believed to be due to the presence of s-CNT in the composite and the relatively low (proper) level of longitudinal cooling employed in the test method. Although Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize CNT, a strong relation between the ratios of the primary peaks GGand the relative amounts of m-CNT and s-CNT was not observed. The average effective conductivity of the CNT in the sorted, 95 m-CNT BP was 2.5 times higher than the CNT in the similar but un-sorted BP. This is an indication that improvements in the conductivity of CNT composites can be made by the use of sorted, highly conductive m-CNT.

wire↗

Carbon Nanotube Composite Ampacity and Metallic CNT Buckypaper Conductivity

NASA is currently working on developing motors for hybrid electric propulsion applications in aviation. To make electric power more feasible in airplanes higher power to weight ratios are sought for electric motors. One facet to these efforts is to improve (increase) the conductivity and (lower) density of the magnet wire used in motors. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and composites containing CNT are being explored as a possible way to increase wire conductivity and lower density. Presented here are measurements of the current carrying capacity (ampacity) of a composite made from CNT and copper. The ability of CNT to improve the conductivity of such composites is hindered by the presence of semiconductive CNT (s-CNT) that exist in CNT supplies naturally, and currently, unavoidably. To solve this problem, and avoid s-CNT, various preferential growth and sorting methods are being explored. A supply of sorted 95 metallic CNT (m-CNT) was acquired in the form of thick film Buckypaper (BP) as part of this work and characterized using Raman spectroscopy, resistivity, and density measurements. The ampacity (Acm2) of the Cu-5volCNT composite was 3.8 lower than the same gauge pure Cu wire similarly tested. The lower ampacity in the composite wire is believed to be due to the presence of s-CNT in the composite and the relatively low (proper) level of longitudinal cooling employed in the test method. Although Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize CNT, a strong relation between the ratios of the primary peaks GGand the relative amounts of m-CNT and s-CNT was not observed. The average effective conductivity of the CNT in the sorted, 95 m-CNT BP was 2.5 times higher than the CNT in the similar but un-sorted BP. This is an indication that improvements in the conductivity of CNT composites can be made by the use of sorted, highly conductive m-CNT.

yarns↗

Emergence of Fermi arcs due to magnetic splitting in an antiferromagnet

The Fermi surface plays an important role in controlling the electronic, transport and thermodynamic properties of materials. As the Fermi surface consists of closed contours in the momentum space for well-defined energy bands, disconnected sections known as Fermi arcs can be signatures of unusual electronic states, such as a pseudogap. Another way to obtain Fermi arcs is to break either the time-reversal symmetry or the inversion symmetry of a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, which results in formation of pairs of Weyl nodes that have opposite chirality, and their projections are connected by Fermi arcs at the bulk boundary. Here, we present experimental evidence that pairs of hole- and electron-like Fermi arcs emerge below the Neel temperature (TN) in the antiferromagnetic state of cubic NdBi due to a new magnetic splitting effect. The observed magnetic splitting is unusual, as it creates bands of opposing curvature, which change with temperature and follow the antiferromagnetic order parameter. This is different from previous theoretically considered and experimentally reported cases of magnetic splitting, such as traditional Zeeman and Rashba, in which the curvature of the bands is preserved. Therefore, our findings demonstrate a type of magnetic band splitting in the presence of a long-range antiferromagnetic order that is not readily explained by existing theoretical ideas.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

New materials: Fountainhead for new technologies and new science

The role of materials as the benchmark technologies which give epochs of human history their names continues into the present. The discovery of new materials has nearly always been the source of new materials science, and frequently of new technologies. This paper analyzes the actual processes by which new materials are synthesized, i.e. whether driven by serendipitous observations, new knowledge is pulled by the market, or integrated into a technological thrust. This analysis focuses on modern ceramic materials discoveries, since World War 2 and uses 45 years experience in materials synthesis in the author's own laboratory as case studies. A dozen different families of materials or processes are involved: hydrothermal reactions; sol-gel processing; clays and zeolites; electroceramics; zero expansion ceramics; diamond films; and radioactive waste host phases. Nanocomposite concepts introduced by the author a decade ago offer an entire, large, new class of materials which will dominate synthesis for the next period. The future of materials research for the next 25 years cannot be extrapolated from the past 25 years. We are near the asymptote for materials utilization in most metals. Likewise we are approaching saturation in improvement of many useful properties. Justifying much further 'basic' R/D for incremental improvement in civilian-oriented industries will not be easy. In materials synthesis, the near-term future is sure to emphasize not new phases, but tailored micro- and nanocomposites for chemical, electrical, optical, and magnetic uses. Unexpected new discoveries such as the Lanxide process may offer rarer chances for step function advances. The new structure of knowledge management will rely less on local research than on integration of worldwide inputs. Better scientific and technological opportunities will lie in designing knowledge intensive materials to meet the new environmental and conservation goals, and the human needs of the very large numbers at the bottom of the socio-economic structures of the world.

Rustum, Roy↗

United States Space Explorations 1958

The film describes preparation and launch of five satellites and two space probes during 1958. On January 31, a Jupiter vehicle launched Explorer I into space. Data from this satellite was used to identify the van Allen radiation belts. On March 17, a Vanguard I rocket launched an Earth satellite with solar batteries. Data from the mission was used to determine that the Earth is slightly pear-shaped. On March 26, Explorer III was launched to further study the van Allen belts, micrometeoroid impacts, and internal and external temperatures. Explorer IV, launched on July 26, was intended to study radiation and temperature data. A lunar probe, ABLE I, was intended to measure radiation, magnetic fields of Earth and the Moon, density of micrometeoric matter, and internal temperatures. A four-stage rocket was used in the launch. However, a turbo-pump failed and the liquid oxygen pump stopped, resulting in a failed mission. On October 10, Pioneer I was launched by an ABLE vehicle. First and second stage velocity was less than desired and the probe did not leave Earth orbit. Attempts to attain escape velocity were unsuccessful. On December, a Jupiter boost vehicle was used to launch Juno II, with Pioneer III as the payload. Escape velocity was reached and Pioneer III left Earth's atmosphere. Failed launches, such as those of Vanguard boost vehicles and several Explorer satellites, also added to scientific knowledge.

Source record↗

Synthesis and Observation of Emergent Phenomena in Epitaxial Heusler Compound Heterostructures

The proposal was on the synthesis and observation of emergent phenomena in epitaxial Heusler compound heterostructures. The large range of properties and number of Heusler compounds opens up a wide number of potential compounds that will exhibit emergent phenomena. The similarity, large range of relatively inexpensive, large area, high crystal quality, III-V bulk substrates, lattice parameters and the ability to tune the lattice parameters through ternary or quaternary III-V compound semiconductor epitaxial growth, makes III-V semiconductors an ideal choice for substrates for epitaxial growth of Heusler compounds. A number of half Heusler compounds have been predicted to exhibit band inversion, making them topological and are therefore expected to exhibit spin-momentum locked topological surface states with linear dispersion. Others are predicted to be semimetals with Weyl points and others semiconducting and magnetic. During the course of this grant, emphasis has been on investigating Heusler compounds with emergent phenomena and demonstrating the ability to tune their properties through alloying and strain. We have grown toplogical semimetal (PtLuSb, PtMnBi), Weyl (Co 2 MnAl, Co 2 TiGe), half metal (PtMnSb, Co 2 MnSi, Co 2 MnAl x Si 1-x , Co2FeAl), and semiconducting (CoTiSb, NiTiSn) and tuned their properties through alloying and epitaxial strain. We also investigated the closely related materials of rare-earth monopnictide, some of which have also been predicted to be topological. During the attempts to grow the PtMnBi, it was discovered that Bi, another predicted topological material when ultrathin, could be grown epitaxially on InSb, results for which are also reported here. The main focus for this effort has been on using variable photon energy and spin-dependent angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) to determine bulk band structure and surface states of pristine epitaxial films grown on III-V semiconductor and MgO substrates and correlate results with theory and transport measurements. Theory has been critical to interpretation of experimental results and has been essential in guiding experiments. The research benefited from several strong collaborations between the PIs and the beamline scientists at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) at Stanford and at the Max Lab at Lund University in Sweden. The strong experiment - theory collaboration between the PI’s groups, the Palmstrøm group at UCSB and the Janotti group at the University of Delaware, has been critical for interpreting the experimental ARPES and magnetotransport measurements results and making predictions to guide experiments. Weekly interactive Zoom meetings made this work well. A collaboration between the Palmstrøm group and Dr. Alexei Fedorov at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) resulted in significant modifications to his end chamber to accommodate the vacuum suitcase that was designed and constructed in the Palmstrøm group at UCSB. In collaboration with beamline scientists, Drs. Makoto Hashimoto and Donghui Lu at SLAC, Palmstrøm made modifications to the vacuum suitcase and developed special sample holders that allowed samples to be grown in the Palmstrøm MBE systems at UCSB and transported in the UHV vacuum suitcase to SLAC for ARPES measurements. The development of the vacuum suitcase was essential for this grant as it has allowed variable photon energies to be used to identify surface versus bulk states on samples that could not be capped and decapped using As- or Sb-capping layers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Concurrence of quantum anomalous Hall and topological Hall effects in magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is a consequence of non-zero Berry curvature in momentum space. The QAH insulator harbours dissipation-free chiral edge states in the absence of an external magnetic field. Yet, the topological Hall (TH) effect, a hallmark of chiral spin textures, is a consequence of real-space Berry curvature. Herein, by inserting a topological insulator (TI) layer between two magnetic TI layers, we realized the concurrence of the TH effect and the QAH effect through electric-field gating. The TH effect is probed by bulk carriers, whereas the QAH effect is characterized by chiral edge states. The appearance of the TH effect in the QAH insulating regime is a consequence of chiral magnetic domain walls that result from the gate-induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and occurs during the magnetization reversal process in the magnetic TI sandwich samples. The coexistence of chiral edge states and chiral spin textures provides a platform for proof-of-concept dis- sipationless spin-textured spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Interfacial reconstruction effects in insulating double perovskite Nd2NiMnO6/SrTiO3 and Nd2NiMnO6/NdGaO3 thin films

Ferromagnetic insulating (FMI) double perovskite oxides (DPOs) A2BB′O6 with near-room-temperature Curie temperatures are promising candidates for ambient-temperature spintronics applications. To realize their potential, epitaxial stabilization of DPO films and understanding the effect of multiple broken symmetries across the film/substrate interface are crucial. This study investigates ultrathin films of the FMI Nd2NiMnO6 grown on SrTiO3 (STO) and NdGaO3 (NGO) substrates. By comparing growth on these substrates, we examine the influence of polarity and structural symmetry mismatches, which are absent in the NGO system. The interface exhibits immeasurable resistance in both cases. Using synchrotron x-ray diffraction, we show that films have three octahedral rotational domains because of the structural symmetry mismatch with the STO substrate. Furthermore, our coherent Bragg rod analysis of specular x-ray diffraction reveals a significant modification of the out-of-plane lattice parameter within a few unit cells at the film/substrate interface and the surface. This arises from polarity compensation and surface symmetry breaking, respectively. These structural alterations influence the Mn orbital symmetry, a dependence that we further confirm through x-ray linear dichroism measurements. Since the ferromagnetism in insulating DPOs is mediated by orbital-dependent superexchange interactions [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 186402 (2008)0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.100.186402], our study provides a framework for understanding the evolution of magnetism in ultrathin geometry.

Bhattacharya, Nandana↗

Comparison of projected critical currents in PbMo6S8 and Nb3Ge

Critical current densities, Jc, of sputtered Chevrel phase PbMo6S8 films have been measured as a function of field to 19 T at several temperatures. The pinning forces were found to obey a scaling law. Assuming an effective upper critical field Bc2 = 45 T, an effective critical temperature Tc = 13 K, together with empirical estimates of numerical factors in the scaling law, the upper limits for critical current density Jc in PbMo6S8 are estimated. Comparisons are made with estimates of Jc for Nb3Ge at 4.2 K. A crossover of Jc vs. B is found for B of the order of 25 to 30 T. Below this point, Nb3Ge is projected to have a higher critical current density. Thus practical use of Chevrel materials in high field magnets only appears to be competitive with Nb3Ge for fields above 25 to 30 T.

Alterovitz, S. A.↗

Observation of magnetic adatom-induced Majorana vortex and its hybridization with field-induced Majorana vortex in an iron-based superconductor

Braiding Majorana zero modes is essential for fault-tolerant topological quantum computing. Iron-based superconductors with nontrivial band topology have recently emerged as a surprisingly promising platform for creating distinct Majorana zero modes in magnetic vortices in a single material and at relatively high temperatures. The magnetic field-induced Abrikosov vortex lattice makes it difficult to braid a set of Majorana zero modes or to study the coupling of a Majorana doublet due to overlapping wave functions. Here we report the observation of the proposed quantum anomalous vortex with integer quantized vortex core states and the Majorana zero mode induced by magnetic Fe adatoms deposited on the surface. We observe its hybridization with a nearby field-induced Majorana vortex in iron-based superconductor FeTe 0.55 Se 0.45 . We also observe vortex-free Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states at the Fe adatoms with a weaker coupling to the substrate, and discover a reversible transition between Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states and Majorana zero mode by manipulating the exchange coupling strength. The dual origin of the Majorana zero modes, from magnetic adatoms and external magnetic field, provides a new single-material platform for studying their interactions and braiding in superconductors bearing topological band structures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Atomic oxygen beam source for erosion simulation

A device for the production of low energy (3 to 10 eV) neutral atomic beams for surface modification studies is described that reproduces the flux of atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit. The beam is produced by the acceleration of plasma ions onto a negatively biased plate of high-Z metal; the ions are neutralized and reflected by the surface, retaining some fraction of their incident kinetic energy, forming a beam of atoms. The plasma is generated by a coaxial RF exciter which produces a magnetically-confined (4 kG) plasma column. At the end of the column, ions fall through the sheath to the plate, whose bias relative to the plasma can be varied to adjust the beam energy. The source provides a neutral flux approximately equal to 5 x 10(exp 16)/sq cm at a distance of 9 cm and a fluence approximately equal to 10(exp 20)/sq cm in five hours. The composition and energy of inert gas beams was diagnosed using a mass spectometer/energy analyzer. The energy spectra of the beams demonstrate energies in the range 5 to 15 eV, and qualitatively show expected dependences upon incident and reflecting atom species and potential drop. Samples of carbon film, carbon-based paint, Kapton, mylar, and teflon exposed to atomic O beams show erosion quite similar to that observed in orbit on the space shuttle.

Cuthbertson, J. W.↗

Quantum anomalous Hall insulator phases in Fe-doped GaBi honeycomb

We discuss electronic and magnetic properties of the Fe-doped GaBi honeycomb using first principles calculations. Our analysis shows that the pristine GaBi honeycomb transitions from being a two-dimensional quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator to a quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulator when it is doped with one Fe atom in a 4 × 4 GaBi honeycomb. Additionally, the QAH phase in Fe-doped GaBi is found to be robust in that it maintains its Chern number (C = 1) under fairly large strains (~ 4%) and supports a gap as large as 112 meV at 2.21% strain. The QAH phase is also retained when the Fe-doped GaBi is placed on a CdTe substrate, suggesting that Fe-doped GaBi films could be useful for spintronics applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗