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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 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Manipulation of polystyrene nanoparticles on a silicon wafer in the peak force tapping mode in water: pH-dependent friction and adhesion force

The friction force between nanoparticles and a silicon wafer is a crucial parameter for cleaning processes in the semiconductor industry. However, little is known about the pH-dependency of the friction forces and the shear strength at the interface. Here, we push polystyrene nanoparticles, 100 nm in diameter, with the tip of an atomic force microscope and measure the pH-dependency of the friction, adhesion, and normal forces on a silicon substrate covered with a native silicon dioxide layer. The peak force tapping mode was applied to control the vertical force on these particles. We successively increased the applied load until the particles started to move. The main advantage of this technique over single manipulation processes is the achievement of a large number of manipulation events in short time and in a straightforward manner. Geometrical considerations of the interaction forces at the tip-particle interface allowed us to calculate the friction force and shear strength from the applied normal force depending on the pH of an aqueous solution. The results clearly demonstrated that particle removal should be performed with a basic solution at pH 9 because of the low interaction forces between particle and substrate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Crystal orientation dependence of band matching in all-B2-trilayer current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance pseudo spin-valves using Co{sub 2}Fe(Ge{sub 0.5}Ga{sub 0.5}) Heusler alloy and NiAl spacer

We have experimentally investigated the crystal orientation dependence of band matching in current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) pseudo-spin-valves using Co{sub 2}Fe(Ge{sub 0.5}Ga{sub 0.5}) (CFGG) Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layer and NiAl spacer. The high quality epitaxial CFGG/NiAl/CFGG all-B2-trilayers structure devices were fabricated on both MgO(001) and sapphire (112{sup ¯}0) single crystal substrates to create (001) and (110) crystal orientations. Same magneto-transport properties were observed from these two differently orientated devices indicating that there is no or little orientation dependence of band matching on MR output. We also found that all-B2-trilayer structure was free of lattice matching influence depending on the crystal orientation, which made it a good candidate for CPP-GMR device.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dependence of the source performance on plasma parameters at the BATMAN test facility

The investigation of the dependence of the source performance (high j{sub H{sup −}}, low j{sub e}) for optimum Cs conditions on the plasma parameters at the BATMAN (Bavarian Test MAchine for Negative hydrogen ions) test facility is desirable in order to find key parameters for the operation of the source as well as to deepen the physical understanding. The most relevant source physics takes place in the extended boundary layer, which is the plasma layer with a thickness of several cm in front of the plasma grid: the production of H{sup −}, its transport through the plasma and its extraction, inevitably accompanied by the co-extraction of electrons. Hence, a link of the source performance with the plasma parameters in the extended boundary layer is expected. In order to characterize electron and negative hydrogen ion fluxes in the extended boundary layer, Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy and Langmuir probes have been applied for the measurement of the H{sup −} density and the determination of the plasma density, the plasma potential and the electron temperature, respectively. The plasma potential is of particular importance as it determines the sheath potential profile at the plasma grid: depending on the plasma grid bias relative to the plasma potential, a transition in the plasma sheath from an electron repelling to an electron attracting sheath takes place, influencing strongly the electron fraction of the bias current and thus the amount of co-extracted electrons. Dependencies of the source performance on the determined plasma parameters are presented for the comparison of two source pressures (0.6 Pa, 0.45 Pa) in hydrogen operation. The higher source pressure of 0.6 Pa is a standard point of operation at BATMAN with external magnets, whereas the lower pressure of 0.45 Pa is closer to the ITER requirements (p ≤ 0.3 Pa)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The tunneling magnetoresistance current dependence on cross sectional area, angle and temperature

The magnetoresistance of a MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) was studied experimentally. The magnetoresistance as a function of current was measured systematically on MTJs for various MgO cross sectional areas and at various temperatures from 7.5 to 290.1 K. The resistance current dependence of the MTJ was also measured for different angles between the two ferromagnetic layers. By considering particle and angular momentum conservation of transport electrons, the current dependence of magnetoresistance can be explained by the changing of spin polarization in the free magnetic layer of the MTJ. The changing of spin polarization is related to the magnetoresistance, its angular dependence and the threshold current where TMR ratio equals zero. A phenomenological model is used which avoid the complicated barrier details and also describes the data.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rough surface electrical contact resistance considering scale dependent properties and quantum effects

The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of scale dependent mechanical and electrical properties on electrical contact resistance (ECR) between rough surfaces. This work attempts to build on existing ECR models that neglect potentially important quantum- and size-dependent contact and electrical conduction mechanisms present due to the asperity sizes on typical surfaces. The electrical conductance at small scales can quantize or show a stepping trend as the contact area is varied in the range of the free electron Fermi wavelength squared. This work then evaluates if these effects remain important for the interface between rough surfaces, which may include many small scale contacts of varying sizes. The results suggest that these effects may be significant in some cases, while insignificant for others. It depends on the load and the multiscale structure of the surface roughness.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electron mean free path from angle-dependent photoelectron spectroscopy of aerosol particles

We propose angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of aerosol particles as an alternative way to determine the electron mean free path of low energy electrons in solid and liquid materials. The mean free path is obtained from fits of simulated photoemission images to experimental ones over a broad range of different aerosol particle sizes. The principal advantage of the aerosol approach is twofold. First, aerosol photoemission studies can be performed for many different materials, including liquids. Second, the size-dependent anisotropy of the photoelectrons can be exploited in addition to size-dependent changes in their kinetic energy. These finite size effects depend in different ways on the mean free path and thus provide more information on the mean free path than corresponding liquid jet, thin film, or bulk data. The present contribution is a proof of principle employing a simple model for the photoemission of electrons and preliminary experimental data for potassium chloride aerosol particles.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Density-dependent electron transport and precise modeling of GaN high electron mobility transistors

We report on the direct measurement of two-dimensional sheet charge density dependence of electron transport in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Pulsed IV measurements established increasing electron velocities with decreasing sheet charge densities, resulting in saturation velocity of 1.9 × 10{sup 7 }cm/s at a low sheet charge density of 7.8 × 10{sup 11 }cm{sup −2}. An optical phonon emission-based electron velocity model for GaN is also presented. It accommodates stimulated longitudinal optical (LO) phonon emission which clamps the electron velocity with strong electron-phonon interaction and long LO phonon lifetime in GaN. A comparison with the measured density-dependent saturation velocity shows that it captures the dependence rather well. Finally, the experimental result is applied in TCAD-based device simulator to predict DC and small signal characteristics of a reported GaN HEMT. Good agreement between the simulated and reported experimental results validated the measurement presented in this report and established accurate modeling of GaN HEMTs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of electric-field dependent dielectric constants on two-dimensional electron gases in complex oxides

High-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) can be formed at complex oxide interfaces such as SrTiO{sub 3}/GdTiO{sub 3} and SrTiO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3}. The electric field in the vicinity of the interface depends on the dielectric properties of the material as well as on the electron distribution. However, it is known that electric fields can strongly modify the dielectric constant of SrTiO{sub 3} as well as other complex oxides. Solving the electrostatic problem thus requires a self-consistent approach in which the dielectric constant varies according to the local magnitude of the field. We have implemented the field dependence of the dielectric constant in a Schrödinger-Poisson solver in order to study its effect on the electron distribution in a 2DEG. Using the SrTiO{sub 3}/GdTiO{sub 3} interface as an example, we demonstrate that including the field dependence results in the 2DEG being confined closer to the interface compared to assuming a single field-independent value for the dielectric constant. Our conclusions also apply to SrTiO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3} as well as other similar interfaces.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Phase-dependent deterministic switching of magnetoelectric spin wave detector in the presence of thermal noise via compensation of demagnetization

The possibility of achieving phase-dependent deterministic switching of the magnetoelectric spin wave detector in the presence of thermal noise has been discussed. The proposed idea relies on the modification of the energy landscape by partially canceling the out-of-plane demagnetizing field and the resultant change in the intrinsic magnetization dynamics to drive the nanomagnet towards a preferential final magnetization state. The remarkable increase in the probability of successful switching can be accounted for by the shift in the location of the saddle point in the energy landscape and a resultant change in the nature of the relaxation dynamics of the magnetization from a highly precessional to a fairly damped one and an increased dependence on the initial magnetization values, a crucial requirement for phase-dependent spin wave detection.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Process depending morphology and resulting physical properties of TPU

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is a rubber like material with outstanding properties, e.g. for seal applications. TPU basically provides high strength, low frictional behavior and excellent wear resistance. Though, due to segmented structure of TPU, which is composed of hard segments (HSs) and soft segments (SSs), physical properties depend strongly on the morphological arrangement of the phase separated HSs at a certain ratio of HSs to SSs. It is obvious that the TPU deforms differently depending on its bulk morphology. Basically, the morphology can either consist of HSs segregated into small domains, which are well dispersed in the SS matrix or of few strongly phase separated large size HS domains embedded in the SS matrix. The morphology development is hardly ruled by the melt processing conditions of the TPU. Depending on the morphology, TPU provides quite different physical properties with respect to strength, deformation behavior, thermal stability, creep resistance and tribological performance. The paper deals with the influence of important melt processing parameters, such as temperature, pressure and shear conditions, on the resulting physical properties tested by tensile and relaxation experiments. Furthermore the morphology is studied employing differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), transmission light microscopy (TLM), scanning electron beam microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron beam microscopy (TEM) investigations. Correlations between processing conditions and resulting TPU material properties are elaborated. Flow and shear simulations contribute to the understanding of thermal and flow induced morphology development.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Communication: Modeling of concentration dependent water diffusivity in ionic solutions: Role of intermolecular charge transfer

The translational diffusivity of water in solutions of alkali halide salts depends on the identity of ions, exhibiting dramatically different behavior even in solutions of similar salts of NaCl and KCl. The water diffusion coefficient decreases as the salt concentration increases in NaCl. Yet, in KCl solution, it slightly increases and remains above bulk value as salt concentration increases. Previous classical molecular dynamics simulations have failed to describe this important behavior even when polarizable models were used. Here, we show that inclusion of dynamical charge transfer among water molecules produces results in a quantitative agreement with experiments. Our results indicate that the concentration-dependent diffusivity reflects the importance of many-body effects among the water molecules in aqueous ionic solutions. Comparison with quantum mechanical calculations shows that a heterogeneous and extended distribution of charges on water molecules around the ions due to ion-water and also water-water charge transfer plays a very important role in controlling water diffusivity. Explicit inclusion of the charge transfer allows us to model accurately the difference in the concentration-dependent water diffusivity between Na{sup +} and K{sup +} ions in simulations, and it is likely to impact modeling of a wide range of systems for medical and technological applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

A time-dependent formulation of multi-reference perturbation theory

Here, we discuss the time-dependent formulation of perturbation theory in the context of the interacting zeroth-order Hamiltonians that appear in multi-reference situations. As an example, we present a time-dependent formulation and implementation of second-order n-electron valence perturbation theory. The resulting time-dependent n-electron valence second-order perturbation theory (t-NEVPT2) method yields the fully uncontracted n-electron valence perturbation wavefunction and energy, but has a lower computational scaling than the usual contracted variants, and also avoids the construction of high-order density matrices and the diagonalization of metrics.We present results of t-NEVPT2 for the water, nitrogen, carbon, and chromium molecules and outline directions for the future.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

A coarse-grain force field for RDX: Density dependent and energy conserving

We describe the development of a density-dependent transferable coarse-grain model of crystalline hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-s-triazine (RDX) that can be used with the energy conserving dissipative particle dynamics method. The model is an extension of a recently reported one-site model of RDX that was developed by using a force-matching method. The density-dependent forces in that original model are provided through an interpolation scheme that poorly conserves energy. The development of the new model presented in this work first involved a multi-objective procedure to improve the structural and thermodynamic properties of the previous model, followed by the inclusion of the density dependency via a conservative form of the force field that conserves energy. The new model accurately predicts the density, structure, pressure-volume isotherm, bulk modulus, and elastic constants of the RDX crystal at ambient pressure and exhibits transferability to a liquid phase at melt conditions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Size dependent magnetic and electrical properties of Ba-doped nanocrystalline BiFeO{sub 3}

Improvement in magnetic and electrical properties of multiferroic BiFeO{sub 3} in conjunction with their dependence on particle size is crucial due to its potential applications in multifunctional miniaturized devices. In this investigation, we report a study on particle size dependent structural, magnetic and electrical properties of sol-gel derived Bi{sub 0.9}Ba{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} nanoparticles of different sizes ranging from ∼ 12 to 49 nm. The substitution of Bi by Ba significantly suppresses oxygen vacancies, reduces leakage current density and Fe{sup 2+} state. An improvement in both magnetic and electrical properties is observed for 10 % Ba-doped BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles compared to its undoped counterpart. The saturation magnetization of Bi{sub 0.9}Ba{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} nanoparticles increase with reducing particle size in contrast with a decreasing trend of ferroelectric polarization. Moreover, a first order metamagnetic transition is noticed for ∼ 49 nm Bi{sub 0.9}Ba{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} nanoparticles which disappeared with decreasing particle size. The observed strong size dependent multiferroic properties are attributed to the complex interaction between vacancy induced crystallographic defects, multiple valence states of Fe, uncompensated surface spins, crystallographic distortion and suppression of spiral spin cycloid of BiFeO{sub 3}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Influence of momentum dependent interactions on the fragment structures at balance energies

We study the role of momentum-dependent interactions on fragment structures at balance energies for semi-peripheral collisions over a wide range of system masses using quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) model. We find a meagre role of momentum-dependent interactions for fragments in case of lighter system masses. But as we go towards higher system masses, the effect of momentum-dependent interactions increases for free nucleons, light charged particles and intermediate mass fragments at corresponding balance energies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Intensity-dependent nonlinearity of the lateral photoconductivity in InGaAs/GaAs dot-chain structures

Photoelectric properties of laterally correlated multilayer InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) heterostructures are studied. The response of the photocurrent to increasing excitation intensity is found to be nonlinear and varying with excitation energy. The structures are photosensitive in a wide range of photon energies above 0.6 eV. The spectral dependence of the photoconductivity (PC) is caused by strong interaction between the bulk GaAs and the lower energy states of the wetting layer, the QDs, as well as the defect states in the GaAs band gap. In particular, a mechanism for the participation of deep electron trap levels in the photocurrent is clarified. These structures also demonstrate a high sensitivity of up to 10 A/W at low excitation intensities. However, at higher excitation intensities, the sensitivity reduces exhibiting a strong spectral dependence at the same time. The observed sublinear PC dependence on excitation power results from a direct electron-hole recombination both in the QDs and in GaAs host. The solution of rate equations included the contributions of QD ground and exited states, bulk GaAs states and the states of defects within the GaAs bandgap describes well the experimental data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Thickness dependence of spin Hall magnetoresistance in FeMn/Pt bilayers

We investigated spin Hall magnetoresistance in FeMn/Pt bilayers, which was found to be one order of magnitude larger than that of heavy metal and insulating ferromagnet or antiferromagnet bilayer systems, and comparable to that of NiFe/Pt bilayers. The spin Hall magnetoresistance shows a non-monotonic dependence on the thicknesses of both FeMn and Pt. The former can be accounted for by the thickness dependence of net magnetization in FeMn thin films, whereas the latter is mainly due to spin accumulation and diffusion in Pt. Through analysis of the Pt thickness dependence, the spin Hall angle, spin diffusion length of Pt and the real part of spin mixing conductance were determined to be 0.2, 1.1 nm, and 5.5 × 10{sup 14} Ω{sup −1}m{sup −2}, respectively. The results corroborate the spin orbit torque effect observed in this system recently.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Algebraic solutions of shape-invariant position-dependent effective mass systems

Keeping in view the ordering ambiguity that arises due to the presence of position-dependent effective mass in the kinetic energy term of the Hamiltonian, a general scheme for obtaining algebraic solutions of quantum mechanical systems with position-dependent effective mass is discussed. We quantize the Hamiltonian of the pertaining system by using symmetric ordering of the operators concerning momentum and the spatially varying mass, initially proposed by von Roos and Lévy-Leblond. The algebraic method, used to obtain the solutions, is based on the concepts of supersymmetric quantum mechanics and shape invariance. In order to exemplify the general formalism a class of non-linear oscillators has been considered. This class includes the particular example of a one-dimensional oscillator with different position-dependent effective mass profiles. Explicit expressions for the eigenenergies and eigenfunctions in terms of generalized Hermite polynomials are presented. Moreover, properties of these modified Hermite polynomials, like existence of generating function and recurrence relations among the polynomials have also been studied. Furthermore, it has been shown that in the harmonic limit, all the results for the linear harmonic oscillator are recovered.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗