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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 1,387 records · Page 77
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DOE OSTI2012

Defect mediated reversible ferromagnetism in Co and Mn doped zinc oxide epitaxial films

We have introduced defects in ZnO (undoped and doped with Co and Mn) epitaxial thin films using laser irradiation from nanosecond laser pulses and thermal annealing in oxygen ambient. In contrast to the as grown samples, the laser irradiated films show a significant increase in conductivity, enhancement in UV emission, while maintaining the same wurtzite crystal structure. Room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) is observed in laser-irradiated samples, which increased with the number of laser pulses up to a certain value where magnetic moment saturates. The induced ferromagnetism as well as the enhanced electrical conductivity can be reversed with thermal annealing in oxygen ambient. The magnetization in Co and Mn doped films was found to be strong function of growth conditions and defect concentration. X-ray diffraction and optical absorption experiments suggested a 2+ valance state and tetrahedral coordination for both Co and Mn ions. There is a simultaneous increase in n-type electrical conductivity with the number of laser pulses and continue to exhibit semiconducting behavior in both undoped and doped films. The saturation magnetization was found to be 0.08 {mu}{sub B}/Co and 0.05 {mu}{sub B}/Mn, much lower than 3.0 {mu}{sub B}/Co and 5.0 {mu}{sub B}/Mn, indicating the prominent role of intrinsic defects in RTFM with some contribution from Co{sup 2+}-oxygen vacancy complexes. We propose a unified mechanism based upon introduction of intrinsic defects to explain RTFM and n-type conductivity enhancements during pulsed laser and thermal annealing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Electronic structure of CuCrO{sub 2} thin films grown on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(001) by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Thin films of CuCrO{sub 2} have been grown on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(001) substrates by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. With a substrate temperature of 700 Degree-Sign C or 750 Degree-Sign C, the films showed an unanticipated (015) orientation but at a higher substrate temperature of 800 Degree-Sign C the expected basal (001) orientation predominates. The optical absorption spectrum of CuCrO{sub 2} shows a direct allowed absorption onset at 3.18 eV together with a weak peak at 2.0 eV which is suppressed by Sn doping. This suggests that the low energy peak should be attributed to 3d{yields}3d excitations associated with Cu{sup 2+} defect states rather than excitations localised on Cr{sup 3+}. Valence band X-ray photoemission spectra of (001) and (015) oriented CuCrO{sub 2} are compared with those obtained from polycrystalline samples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Low-temperature grown graphene films by using molecular beam epitaxy

Complete graphene film is prepared by depositing carbon atoms directly on Cu foils in a molecular beam epitaxy chamber at 300 Degree-Sign C. The Raman spectrum of the film has indicated that high-quality few-layer graphene is obtained. With back-gated transistor architecture, the characteristic current modulation of graphene transistors is observed. Following the similar growth procedure, graphitization is observed at room temperature, which is consistent with the molecular dynamics simulations of graphene growth.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

High electron mobility in Ga(In)NAs films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report the highest mobility values above 2000 cm{sup 2}/Vs in Si doped GaNAs film grown by molecular beam epitaxy. To understand the feature of the origin which limits the electron mobility in GaNAs, temperature dependences of mobility were measured for high mobility GaNAs and referential low mobility GaInNAs. Temperature dependent mobility for high mobility GaNAs is similar to the GaAs case, while that for low mobility GaInNAs shows large decrease in lower temperature region. The electron mobility of high quality GaNAs can be explained by intrinsic limiting factor of random alloy scattering and extrinsic factor of ionized impurity scattering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Intense terahertz emission from molecular beam epitaxy-grown GaAs/GaSb(001)

Intense terahertz (THz) electromagnetic wave emission was observed in undoped GaAs thin films deposited on (100) n-GaSb substrates via molecular beam epitaxy. GaAs/n-GaSb heterostructures were found to be viable THz sources having signal amplitude 75% that of bulk p-InAs. The GaAs films were grown by interruption method during the growth initiation and using various metamorphic buffer layers. Reciprocal space maps revealed that the GaAs epilayers are tensile relaxed. Defects at the i-GaAs/n-GaSb interface were confirmed by scanning electron microscope images. Band calculations were performed to infer the depletion region and electric field at the i-GaAs/n-GaSb and the air-GaAs interfaces. However, the resulting band calculations were found to be insufficient to explain the THz emission. The enhanced THz emission is currently attributed to a piezoelectric field induced by incoherent strain and defects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Epitaxial growth of (111)-oriented LaAlO{sub 3}/LaNiO{sub 3} ultra-thin superlattices

The epitaxial stabilization of a single layer or superlattice structures composed of complex oxide materials on polar (111) surfaces is severely burdened by the reconstructions at the interface that commonly arise to neutralize the polarity. We report on the synthesis of high quality LaNiO{sub 3}/mLaAlO{sub 3} pseudo cubic (111) superlattices on polar (111)-oriented LaAlO{sub 3}, the proposed complex oxide candidate for a topological insulating behavior. Comprehensive X-Ray diffraction measurements, reflection high energy electron diffraction, and element specific resonant X-ray absorption spectroscopy affirm their high structural and chemical quality. The study offers an opportunity to fabricate interesting interface and topology controlled (111)-oriented superlattices based on ortho-nickelates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Growth of SrTiO{sub 3}(110) film by oxide molecular beam epitaxy with feedback control

By controlling the growth of complex oxide films with atomic precision, emergent phenomena and fascinating properties have been discovered, and even been manipulated. With oxide molecular beam epitaxy (OMBE) we grow high-quality SrTiO{sub 3}(110) films by evaporating Sr and Ti metals with separate controls of the open/close timing of the shutters. The incident electron beam angle of the reflective high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is adjusted to make the (01) beam sensitive to surface chemical concentration. By monitoring such an intensity, we tune the shutter timing to synchronize the evaporation amount of Sr and Ti in real-time. The intensity is further used as a feedback control signal for automatic growth optimization to fully compensate the possible fluctuation of the source flux rates upon extended growth. A 22 nm-thick film is obtained with the precision of metal cation stoichiometry better than 0.5%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Non-adiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics of supersonic beam epitaxy of silicon carbide at room temperature

In this work, we investigate the processes leading to the room-temperature growth of silicon carbide thin films by supersonic molecular beam epitaxy technique. We present experimental data showing that the collision of fullerene on a silicon surface induces strong chemical-physical perturbations and, for sufficient velocity, disruption of molecular bonds, and cage breaking with formation of nanostructures with different stoichiometric character. We show that in these out-of-equilibrium conditions, it is necessary to go beyond the standard implementations of density functional theory, as ab initio methods based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation fail to capture the excited-state dynamics. In particular, we analyse the Si-C{sub 60} collision within the non-adiabatic nuclear dynamics framework, where stochastic hops occur between adiabatic surfaces calculated with time-dependent density functional theory. This theoretical description of the C{sub 60} impact on the Si surface is in good agreement with our experimental findings.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Localized Si enrichment in coherent self-assembled Ge islands grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001)Si single crystal

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) have been used to investigate the morphology, structure, and composition of self-assembled Ge islands grown on Si (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at different temperatures. Increasing the temperature from 550 Degree-Sign C to 700 Degree-Sign C causes progressive size and shape uniformity, accompanied by enhanced Si-Ge intermixing within the islands and their wetting layer. Elemental maps obtained by energy filtered-TEM (EF-TEM) clearly show pronounced Si concentration not only in correspondence of island base perimeters, but also along their curved surface boundaries. This phenomenon is strengthened by an increase of the growth temperature, being practically negligible at 550 Degree-Sign C, while very remarkable already at 650 Degree-Sign C. The resulting island shape is affected, since this localized Si enrichment not only provides strain relief near their highly stressed base perimeters but it also influences the cluster surface energy by effective alloying, so as to form Si-enriched SiGe interfaces. Further increase to 700 Degree-Sign C causes a shape transition where more homogenous Si-Ge concentration profiles are observed. The crucial role played by local 'flattened' alloyed clusters, similar to truncated pyramids with larger bases and enhanced Si enrichment at coherently stressed interfaces, has been further clarified by EF-TEM analysis of a multi-layered Ge/Si structure containing stacked Ge islands grown at 650 Degree-Sign C. Sharp accumulation of Si has been here observed not only in proximity of the uncapped island surface in the topmost layer but also at the buried Ge/Si interfaces and even in the core of such capped Ge islands.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Experimental determination of electron-hole pair creation energy in 4H-SiC epitaxial layer: An absolute calibration approach

Electron-hole pair creation energy ({epsilon}) has been determined from alpha spectroscopy using 4H-SiC epitaxial layer Schottky detectors and a pulser calibration technique. We report an experimentally obtained {epsilon} value of 7.28 eV in 4H-SiC. The obtained {epsilon} value and theoretical models were used to calculate a Fano factor of 0.128 for 5.48 MeV alpha particles. The contributions of different factors to the ultimate alpha peak broadening in pulse-height spectra were determined using the calculated {epsilon} value and Monte-Carlo simulations. The determined {epsilon} value was verified using a drift-diffusion model of variation of charge collection efficiency with applied bias.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

X-ray diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine structure study of epitaxial mixed ternary bixbyite Pr{sub x}Y{sub 2-x}O{sub 3} (x = 0-2) films on Si (111)

Ternary single crystalline bixbyite Pr{sub x}Y{sub 2-x}O{sub 3} films over the full stoichiometry range (x = 0-2) have been epitaxially grown on Si (111) with tailored electronic and crystallographic structure. In this work, we present a detailed study of their local atomic environment by extended X-ray absorption fine structure at both Y K and Pr L{sub III} edges, in combination with complementary high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. The local structure exhibits systematic variations as a function of the film composition. The cation coordination in the second and third coordination shells changes with composition and is equal to the average concentration, implying that the Pr{sub x}Y{sub 2-x}O{sub 3} films are indeed fully mixed and have a local bixbyite structure with random atomic-scale ordering. A clear deviation from the virtual crystal approximation for the cation-oxygen bond lengths is detected. This demonstrates that the observed Vegard's law for the lattice variation as a function of composition is based microscopically on a more complex scheme related to local structural distortions which accommodate the different cation-oxygen bond lengths.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Mechanisms of droplet formation and Bi incorporation during molecular beam epitaxy of GaAsBi

We have examined the mechanisms of droplet formation and Bi incorporation during molecular beam epitaxy of GaAsBi. We consider the role of the transition from group-V-rich to group-III-rich conditions, i.e., the stoichiometry threshold, in the presence of Bi. For As-rich GaAsBi growth, Bi acts as a surfactant, leading to the formation of droplet-free GaAsBi films. For films within 10% of the stoichiometric GaAsBi growth regime, surface Ga droplets are observed. However, for Ga-rich GaAsBi growth, Bi acts as an anti-surfactant, inducing Ga-Bi droplet formation. We propose a growth mechanism based upon the growth-rate-dependence of the stoichiometry threshold for GaAsBi.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Reduced threading dislocation densities in high-T/N-rich grown InN films by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We explore the effect of growth kinetics on the structural properties of In-polar InN films on GaN templates grown near the thermal dissociation limit by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Unlike the common growth temperature limit (T Almost-Equal-To 500 Degree-Sign C) for In-polar InN grown under In-rich conditions, slightly N-rich conditions are demonstrated to shift the available growth temperature window to much higher temperatures (by >50 Degree-Sign C). InN films grown in this high-T/N-rich regime show significantly reduced off-axis X-ray diffraction rocking curve peak widths and record low threading dislocation densities (TDD {approx} 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} cm{sup -2}) even for film thicknesses <1 {mu}m, as compared to state of the art In-rich growth. The reduction of TDD is attributed to more effective TD inclination and annihilation under N-rich growth, delineating prospective routes for improved InN-based materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Layer-by-layer shuttered molecular-beam epitaxial growth of superconducting Sr{sub 1-x}La{sub x}CuO{sub 2} thin films

Superconducting Sr{sub 1-x}La{sub x}CuO{sub 2} thin films have been grown on GdScO{sub 3} substrates by reflection high-energy electron diffraction calibrated layer-by-layer molecular-beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction analysis has confirmed the infinite layer structure after an in situ vacuum annealing step. In situ photoemission spectroscopy indicates that the vacuum annealing step employed immediately after film growth to achieve superconducting films results in oxygen loss from the films. The superconducting critical temperature depends on the La content x, with the highest value obtained for x{approx}0.10. Resistivity as a function of temperature {rho}(T) curves of optimally doped samples show a T{sup 2} temperature dependence characteristic of a scattering process where electron-electron interactions dominate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Infrared reflectivity spectra of gas-source molecular beam epitaxy grown dilute InN{sub x}As{sub 1-x}/InP (001)

Vibrational spectra of gas-source molecular beam epitaxy grown dilute InN{sub x}As{sub 1-x}/InP (001) alloys are obtained using a Fourier-transform infrared (IR) spectroscopy. A triply degenerate N{sub As} local vibrational mode of T{sub d}-symmetry is observed near 438 cm{sup -1} corresponding to the In-N bond energy. The analysis of composition dependent infrared reflectivity spectra in InNAs has predicted a two-phonon-mode behavior. In In(Ga)-rich GaInNAs alloys the observed splitting of the N{sub As} local mode into a doublet for the N{sub As}-Ga{sub 1}(In{sub 1})In{sub 3}(Ga{sub 3}) pair-defect of C{sub 3v}-symmetry is consistent with our simulated results based on a sophisticated Green's function theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Impact of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of strain-balanced InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of strain-balanced InAs/InAs{sub 1-x}Sb{sub x} type-II superlattices on GaSb substrates has been investigated for substrate temperatures from 400 Degree-Sign C to 450 Degree-Sign C. The Sb composition is found to vary linearly with substrate temperature at constant V/III ratios. For samples grown at the optimized substrate temperature (410 Degree-Sign C), superlattice zero-order peak full-width at half-maximums are routinely less than 25 arc sec using high-resolution X-ray diffraction. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images show the absence of any visible defects. Strong photoluminescence covers a wavelength range from 5.5 to 13 {mu}m at 12 K. Photoluminescence linewidth simulations show satisfactory agreement with experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Molecular beam epitaxial growth and optical properties of red-emitting ({lambda} = 650 nm) InGaN/GaN disks-in-nanowires on silicon

We have investigated the radiative properties of InGaN disks in GaN nanowires grown by plasma enhanced molecular beam epitaxy on (001) silicon substrates. The growth of the nanowire heterostructures has been optimized to maximize the radiative efficiency, or internal quantum efficiency (IQE), for photoluminescence emission at {lambda} = 650 nm. It is found that the IQE increases significantly (by {approx}10%) to 52%, when post-growth passivation of nanowire surface with silicon nitride or parylene is applied. The increase in efficiency is supported by radiative- and nonradiative lifetimes derived from data obtained from temperature dependent- and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Light emitting diodes with p-i-n disk-in-nanowire heterostructures passivated with parylene have been fabricated and characterized.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Peculiarly strong room-temperature ferromagnetism from low Mn-doping in ZnO grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Strong room-temperature ferromagnetism is demonstrated in single crystalline Mn-doped ZnO thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Very low Mn doping concentration is investigated, and the measured magnetic moment is much larger than what is expected for an isolated ion based on Hund's rules. The ferromagnetic behavior evolves with Mn concentration. Both magnetic anisotropy and anomalous Hall effect confirm the intrinsic nature of ferromagnetism. While the Mn dopant plays a crucial role, another entity in the system is needed to explain the observed large magnetic moments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗