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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 OSTI2014

Future nano- and micro-systems using nanobonding technologies

In this paper, some of the recent achievements in surface-activation-based nanobonding technology are described. This bonding technology allows for the combination of electronic, photonic, fluidic and mechanical functionalities into small form-factor systems for emerging applications in health diagnostics and screening, for example. These nanobonding technologies provide void-free, strong, and nanoscale bonding at room temperature or at low temperatures (<200 °C), and they do not require chemicals, adhesives, or high external pressure. The interfaces of the nanobonded materials in ultra-high vacuum and in air correspond to the covalent bonds, and hydrogen and hydroxyl bonds, respectively, which gives rise to excellent bonding properties. Further, these nanobonding technologies are well-suited for the development of low-cost, high-performance miniaturized systems such as biophotonic imaging systems.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

High quality single crystal Ge nano-membranes for opto-electronic integrated circuitry

A thin, flat, and single crystal germanium membrane would be an ideal platform on which to mount sensors or integrate photonic and electronic devices, using standard silicon processing technology. We present a fabrication technique compatible with integrated-circuit wafer scale processing to produce membranes of thickness between 60 nm and 800 nm, with large areas of up to 3.5 mm{sup 2}. We show how the optical properties change with thickness, including appearance of Fabry-Pérot type interference in thin membranes. The membranes have low Q-factors, which allow the platforms to counteract distortion during agitation and movement. Finally, we report on the physical characteristics showing sub-nm roughness and a homogenous strain profile throughout the freestanding layer, making the single crystal Ge membrane an excellent platform for further epitaxial growth or deposition of materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tailoring the surface plasmon resonance of embedded silver nanoparticles by combining nano- and femtosecond laser pulses

We demonstrate that the broad surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of a single layer of near-coalescence silver nanoparticles (NPs), embedded in a dielectric matrix can be tailored by irradiation with a single nanosecond laser pulse into a distribution featuring a sharp resonance at 435 nm. Scanning electron microscopy studies reveal the underlying mechanism to be a transformation into a distribution of well-separated spherical particles. Additional exposure to multiple femtosecond laser pulses at 400 nm or 800 nm wavelength induces polarization anisotropy of the SPR, with a peak shift that increases with laser wavelength. The spectral changes are measured in-situ, employing reflection and transmission micro-spectroscopy with a lateral resolution of 4 μm. Spectral maps as a continuous function of local fluence can be readily produced from a single spot. The results open exciting perspectives for dynamically tuning and switching the optical response of NP systems, paving the way for next-generation applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

CdO-CdS nano-composites as improved photo-catalysts for the generation of hydrogen from water

CdO-CdS nanocomposites were prepared by polyol method followed by heating at 300°C. XRD study confirmed the atomic scale mixing of CdO and CdS nanoparticles, leading to the formation of CdSO{sub 3} phase at the interfacial region between CdO and CdS. The enhancement in photo-catalytic activity for hydrogen generation from water is observed in case of CdO-CdS nanocomposites compared to individual CdS and CdO nanoparticles. Based on XRD, steady state and time resolved luminescence studies and surface area measurements, it is determined that, the fine mixing of CdS and CdO, higher surface area of the composite sample and increase in lifetime of the charge carriers are responsible for the observed increase in hydrogen yield from water when composite sample was used as the photo-catalyst compared to individual components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Synthesis and characterization of Bi{sub 1−x}La{sub x}PO{sub 4} nano-rods

Monoclinic form of BiPO{sub 4} phase has been prepared based on the reaction of Bi{sup 3+} and PO{sub 4}{sup 3−} ions in ethylene glycol medium at 185°C. Monoclinic BiPO{sub 4} forms random solid solutions with lanthanide phosphates having monoclinic structure as confirmed by XRD and {sup 31}P solid state nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Surface-engineered core-shell nano-size ferrites and their antimicrobial activity

We report the results of biological study on core-shell structured MFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (where M = Co, Mn, Ni) nanoparticles and influence of silica- DEG dual coating on their antimicrobial activity. Spherical MFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} nanoparticles were prepared via a Co-precipitation method. The microstructures and morphologies of these nanoparticles were studied by x-ray diffraction and FTIR. The antimicrobial activity study carried out in nutrient agar medium with addition of antimicrobial synthesis compound which is tested for its activity against different types of bacteria.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Antimicrobial polymers - The antibacterial effect of photoactivated nano titanium dioxide polymer composites

To obtain a polymer with antimicrobial properties for medical and sanitary applications nanoscale titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) particles have been incorporated into a medical grade polypropylene (PP) matrix with various filler contents (0 wt %, 2 wt %, 10 wt % and 15 wt %). The standard application of TiO{sub 2} for antimicrobial efficacy is to deposit a thin TiO{sub 2} coating on the surface. In contrast to the common way of applying a coating, TiO{sub 2} particles were applied into the bulk polymer. With this design we want to ensure antimicrobial properties even after application of impact effects that could lead to surface defects. The filler material (Aeroxide® TiO{sub 2} P25, Evonik) was applied via melt compounding and the compounding parameters were optimized with respect to nanoscale titanium dioxide. In a next step the effect of UV-irradiation on the compounds concerning their photocatalytic activity, which is related to the titanium dioxide amount, was investigated. The photocatalytic effect of TiO{sub 2}-PP-composites was analyzed by contact angle measurement, by methylene blue testing and by evaluation of inactivation potential for Escherichia coli (E.coli) bacteria. The dependence of antimicrobial activity on the filler content was evaluated, and on the basis of different titanium dioxide fractions adequate amounts of additives within the compounds were discussed. Specimens displayed a higher photocatalytic and also antimicrobial activity and lower contact angles with increasing titania content. The results suggest that the presence of titania embedded in the PP matrix leads to a surface change and a photocatalytic effect with bacteria killing result.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reconciling macro- with nano- carrier mobility measurements in organic photovoltaic blends

Conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) is a valuable tool for electrical characterization of organic photovoltaics. However, the quantitative interpretation of the data is complicated by an apparent disagreement between the carrier mobilities calculated by CAFM and those determined by macroscopic measurements, with no apparent physical explanation for the discrepancy. In the present work, the space charge limited current model (specifically Mott-Gurney law) and its assumptions are assessed, and a physical model reconciling this discrepancy is proposed. Its applicability on the tip-sample system used in CAFM measurements is discussed, by accounting for the high electric fields arising around the tip of the CAFM probe and affecting carrier mobility. Charge carrier mobility is calculated from current-voltage curves obtained from conductive atomic force microscopy spectroscopy scans done on Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl): 95% PC{sub 70}BM ([6,6]-Phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester)/5% PC{sub 60}BM ([6,6]-Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) samples for different concentration ratios of donor and acceptor. We show that charge carrier mobilities obtained with this model are in satisfactory agreement with macroscopic measurements available in literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Determination of the thermodynamic correction factor of fluids confined in nano-metric slit pores from molecular simulation

The multi-component diffusive mass transport is generally quantified by means of the Maxwell-Stefan diffusion coefficients when using molecular simulations. These coefficients can be related to the Fick diffusion coefficients using the thermodynamic correction factor matrix, which requires to run several simulations to estimate all the elements of the matrix. In a recent work, Schnell et al. [“Thermodynamics of small systems embedded in a reservoir: A detailed analysis of finite size effects,” Mol. Phys. 110, 1069–1079 (2012)] developed an approach to determine the full matrix of thermodynamic factors from a single simulation in bulk. This approach relies on finite size effects of small systems on the density fluctuations. We present here an extension of their work for inhomogeneous Lennard Jones fluids confined in slit pores. We first verified this extension by cross validating the results obtained from this approach with the results obtained from the simulated adsorption isotherms, which allows to determine the thermodynamic factor in porous medium. We then studied the effects of the pore width (from 1 to 15 molecular sizes), of the solid-fluid interaction potential (Lennard Jones 9-3, hard wall potential) and of the reduced fluid density (from 0.1 to 0.7 at a reduced temperature T* = 2) on the thermodynamic factor. The deviation of the thermodynamic factor compared to its equivalent bulk value decreases when increasing the pore width and becomes insignificant for reduced pore width above 15. We also found that the thermodynamic factor is sensitive to the magnitude of the fluid-fluid and solid-fluid interactions, which softens or exacerbates the density fluctuations.

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

Effect of band offset on carrier transport and infrared detection in InP quantum dots/Si nano-heterojunction grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique

Epitaxy of III-V semiconductors on Si gets recent interest for next generation system on heterogeneous chip on wafer. The understanding of band offset is thus necessary for describing the charge transport phenomenon in these heterojunctions. In this work, x-ray photoemission spectroscopy has been used to determine the band offsets in a heterojunction made of InP quantum dots on Si. The valence and conduction band offset was found to be 0.12 eV and 0.35 eV, respectively, with a type-II band lineup. Deviation from theoretical prediction and previously published reports on quasi similar systems have been found and analyzed on the basis of the effect of strain, surface energy, shift in the electrostatic dipole and charge transfer at the interface. The carrier transport mechanisms along with different device parameters in the heterojunction have been studied for a temperature range of 180–300 K. This heterojunction is found to behave as an efficient infrared photodetector with an ON/OFF ratio of 21 at a reverse bias of 2 V. The corresponding rise and decay time was found to be 132 ms and 147 ms, respectively.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study of the relation between oxygen vacancies and ferromagnetism in Fe-doped TiO{sub 2} nano-powders

In this work, we present an experimental and theoretical study of structural and magnetic properties of Fe doped rutile TiO{sub 2} nanopowders. We show that Fe-doping induces the formation of oxygen vacancies in the first-sphere coordination of iron ions, which are in +2 and +3 oxidation states. We found that Fe ions form dimers that share one oxygen vacancy in the case of Fe{sup 3+} and two oxygen vacancies in the case of Fe{sup 2+}. The saturation magnetization is almost independent of iron concentration and slightly increases with the relative fraction of Fe{sup 2+}. Ab initio calculations show that two Fe ions sharing an oxygen vacancy are coupled ferromagnetically, forming a bound magnetic polaron (BMP), but two neighbor BMPs are aligned antiparallel to each other. Extra electron doping plays a fundamental role mediating the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic entities: carriers, possibly concentrated at grain boundaries, mediate between the BMP to produce ferromagnetic alignment.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A genetic algorithm for first principles global structure optimization of supported nano structures

We present a newly developed publicly available genetic algorithm (GA) for global structure optimisation within atomic scale modeling. The GA is focused on optimizations using first principles calculations, but it works equally well with empirical potentials. The implementation is described and benchmarked through a detailed statistical analysis employing averages across many independent runs of the GA. This analysis focuses on the practical use of GA’s with a description of optimal parameters to use. New results for the adsorption of M{sub 8} clusters (M = Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Pt, Au) on the stoichiometric rutile TiO{sub 2}(110) surface are presented showing the power of automated structure prediction and highlighting the diversity of metal cluster geometries at the atomic scale.

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

Effects of polycrystallinity in nano patterning by ion-beam sputtering

Employing graphites with distinctly different mean grain sizes, we study the effects of polycrystallinity on the pattern formation by ion-beam sputtering. The grains influence the growth of the ripples in a highly anisotropic fashion; both the mean uninterrupted ripple length along the ridges and the surface width depend on the mean size of the grains, which is attributed to the large sputter yield at the grain boundary compared with that on the terrace. In contrast, the ripple wavelength does not depend on the mean size of the grains, indicating that the mass transport across the grain boundaries should efficiently proceed by both thermal diffusion and ion-induced processes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Chirality-related interactions and a mirror symmetry violation in handed nano structures

Hindering of inversion transitions and a violation of mirror symmetry of the right- and left-handed configurations of diazabizyclooctane (dabco, N{sub 2}C{sub 6}H{sub 12}) enantiomers has been studied with low-temperature adiabatic calorimetry. The dabco molecules were sandwiched in a high-porous layered structure of a metal organic framework (MOF) compound. We show from the data of low-temperature adiabatic calorimetry and {sup 1}H NMR spin relaxation method that hindering of inversion transitions of dabco molecules cannot be associated with the influence of the intracrystalline self-consistent molecular field as a continuously monitoring environment within the quantum Zeno effect. In addition, lack of another manifestation of this effect associated with the collisional suppression of the inversion transitions in MOF samples impregnated by helium has been shown. These results lead to the conclusion that chiral polarization is related to the fundamental effect of parity nonconservation.

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

Nano-scale luminescence characterization of individual InGaN/GaN quantum wells stacked in a microcavity using scanning transmission electron microscope cathodoluminescence

Using cathodoluminescence spectroscopy directly performed in a scanning transmission electron microscope at liquid helium temperatures, the optical and structural properties of a 62 InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well embedded in an AlInN/GaN based microcavity are investigated at the nanometer scale. We are able to spatially resolve a spectral redshift between the individual quantum wells towards the surface. Cathodoluminescence spectral linescans allow directly visualizing the critical layer thickness in the quantum well stack resulting in the onset of plastic relaxation of the strained InGaN/GaN system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Temperature driven nano-domain evolution in lead-free Ba(Zr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8})O{sub 3}-50(Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3})TiO{sub 3} piezoceramics

Hierarchical micro- and nanoscale domain structures in Pb-free Ba(Zr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8})O{sub 3}-50(Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3})TiO{sub 3} piezoceramics were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. In situ heating and cooling studies of domain structure evolution reveal an irreversible domain transformation from a wedge-shaped rhombohedral nanodomain structure to a lamellar tetragonal domain structure, which could be associated with strong piezoelectricity in Ba(Zr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8})O{sub 3}-50(Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3})TiO{sub 3} piezoceramics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spin-Hall nano-oscillator: A micromagnetic study

This Letter studies the dynamical behavior of spin-Hall nanoscillators from a micromagnetic point of view. The model parameters have been identified by reproducing recent experimental data quantitatively. Our results indicate that a strongly localized mode is observed for in-plane bias fields such as in the experiments, while predict the excitation of an asymmetric propagating mode for large enough out-of plane bias field similarly to what observed in spin-torque nanocontact oscillators. Our findings show that spin-Hall nanoscillators can find application as spin-wave emitters for magnonic applications where spin waves are used for transmission and processing information on nanoscale.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗