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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 1,585 records · Page 88
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Phase Separation in the Iron Chalcogenide Superconductor Fe1+yTexSe1−x

We present direct evidence for phase separation and chemical inhomogeneity in Fe{sub 1+y}Te{sub x}Se{sub 1-x} single crystals from scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) data. In STEM, images recorded using a high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector show characteristic nanometer-scale patterns of phase separation from the Z-dependent image contrast. The separation was observed both in non-superconducting samples with excess iron and in superconducting samples. Using EELS, we determined {approx}20% (or lower) fluctuation in Te concentration from the average local compositions by integrating the intensity of the Te-M{sub 4,5} edge. The energy-loss near-edge structure (ELNES) of the Fe-L{sub 2,3} edge changes with varying composition, especially the L{sub 3}/L{sub 2} white-line intensity ratio, which is sensitive to the d-state occupancy of the Fe. The results suggest a miscibility gap in the Fe{sub 1+y}Te{sub x}Se{sub 1-x} system and changes in the d-electron states at the nanometer scale from the separated phases.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Angular photonic band gap

We propose detailed numerical simulations of a class of material systems that strongly discriminate light based primarily on the angle of incidence, over a broad range of frequencies, and independent of the polarization. Unique properties of these systems emerge from investigating photonic crystals whose constituents have an anisotropic dielectric response.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Finite field regime for a quantum spin liquid in α – RuCl 3

An external magnetic field can cause a transition in α – RuCl 3 from an ordered zigzag state to a disordered state that is possibly related to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid. Here, we present field-dependent inelastic neutron scattering and magnetocaloric effect measurements implying the existence of an additional transition out of the quantum spin-liquid phase at an upper field limit B u . The neutron scattering reveals three distinct regimes of magnetic response. In the low-field ordered state the response shows magnon peaks; the intermediate-field regime shows only continuum scattering, and above B u the response shows sharp magnon peaks at the lower bound of a strong continuum. Measurable dispersion of magnon modes along the (0,0,L) direction implies non-negligible interplane interactions. Combining the magnetocaloric effect measurements with other data, a T–B phase diagram is constructed. The results constrain the range where one might expect to observe quantum spin-liquid behavior in α – RuCl 3 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Local imaging of diamagnetism in proximity-coupled niobium nanoisland arrays on gold thin films.

In this work, we study the effect of engineered disorder on the local magnetic response of proximity-coupled superconducting island arrays by comparing scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) susceptibility measurements to a model in which we treat the system as a network of one-dimensional (1D) superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor Josephson junctions, each with a Josephson coupling energy E-J determined by the junction length or distance between islands. We find that the disordered arrays exhibit a spatially inhomogeneous diamagnetic response which, for low local applied magnetic fields, is well described by this junction network model, and we discuss these results as they relate to inhomogeneous 2D superconductors. Our model of the static magnetic response of the arrays does not fully capture the onset of nonlinearity and dissipation with increasing applied field, as these effects are associated with vortex motion due to the dynamic nature of the scanning SQUID susceptometry measurement. This work demonstrates a model 2D superconducting system with engineered disorder, and it highlights the impact of dissipation on the local magnetic properties of 2D superconductors and Josephson junction arrays.

Bishop-Van Horn, Logan↗
DOE OSTI2023

Improved quasiparticle self-consistent electronic band structure and excitons in β – LiGaO 2

The band structure of β–LiGaO 2 is calculated using the quasiparticle self-consistent QSGWˆ method where the screened Coulomb interaction Wˆ is evaluated including electron-hole interaction ladder diagrams and G is the one-electron Green's function. Improved convergence compared to previous calculations leads to a significantly larger band gap of about 7.0 eV. However, exciton binding energies are found to be large and lead to an exciton gap of about 6.0 eV if also a zero-point-motion correction of about –0.4 eV is included. Furthermore, these results are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results on the onset of absorption. Besides the excitons observed thus far, the calculations indicate the existence of a Rydberg-like series of exciton excited states, which is however modified from the classical Wannier exciton model by the anisotropies of the material and the more complex mixing of Bloch states in the excitons resulting from the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The exciton fine structure and the exciton wave functions are visualized and analyzed in various ways.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Vortex dynamics induced by scanning SQUID susceptometry

In this work, we measured the local magnetic response of a niobium thin film by applying a millitesla-scale AC magnetic field using a micron-scale field coil and detecting the response with a micron-scale pickup loop in a scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) susceptometry measurement. Near the film's critical temperature, we observed a steplike nonlinear and dissipative magnetic response due to the dynamics of a small number of vortex-antivortex pairs induced in the film by the local applied AC field. We modeled the dynamics of the measurement using a combined two-dimensional London-Maxwell and time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach, allowing us to construct a detailed real-space picture of the vortex motion causing the observed dissipative response. This work pushes scanning SQUID susceptometry of two-dimensional superconductors beyond the regime of linear response and lays the foundation for microscopic studies of vortex dynamics and pinning in superconducting devices and more exotic materials systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Magnetotropic susceptibility

The magnetotropic susceptibility is the thermodynamic coefficient associated with the rotational anisotropy of the free energy in an external magnetic field and is closely related to the magnetic susceptibility. It emerges naturally in frequency-shift measurements of oscillating mechanical cantilevers, which are becoming an increasingly important tool in the quantitative study of the thermodynamics of modern condensed-matter systems. Here, in this work, we discuss the basic properties of the magnetotropic susceptibility as they relate to the experimental aspects of frequency-shift measurements, as well as to the interpretation of those experiments in terms of the intrinsic properties of the system under study.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experimental evidence for nonspherical magnetic form factor in Ru 3 +

The Mott insulator ..alpha..-RuCl3 has generated great interest in the community due to its possible field-induced Kitaev quantum spin liquid state. Despite enormous effort spent trying to obtain the form of the low-energy Hamiltonian, there is currently no agreed upon set of parameters which is able to explain all of the data. A key piece of missing information lies in the determination of the magnetic form factor of Ru3+, particularly for a true quantitative treatment of inelastic neutron scattering data. Here we present the experimentally derived magnetic form factor of Ru3+ in the low spin 4d5 state using polarized neutron diffraction within the paramagnetic regime on high-quality single crystals of ..alpha..-RuCl3. We observe strong evidence of an anisotropic form factor, expected of the spin-orbit coupled jeff=12 ground state. We model the static magnetization density in increasing complexity from simple isotropic cases, to a multipolar expansion, and, finally, ab initio calculations of the generalized jeff=12 ground state. Comparison of both single ion models and inclusion of Cl- anions support the presence of hybridization of Ru3+ with the surrounding Cl- ligands.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2010

Ultrafast cascading theory of intersystem crossings in transition-metal complexes

We investigate the cascade decay mechanism for ultrafast intersystem crossing mediated by the spin-orbit coupling in transition-metal complexes. A quantum-mechanical description of the cascading process that occurs after photoexcitation is presented. The conditions for ultrafast cascading are given, which relate the energy difference between the levels in the cascading process to the electron-phonon self energy. These limitations aid in the determination of the cascade path. For Fe{sup 2+} spin-crossover complexes, this leads to the conclusion that the ultrafast decay primarily occurs in the manifold of antibonding metal-to-ligand charge-transfer states. We also give an interpretation why some intermediate states are bypassed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2010

Spherical Solid He Nanometer Bubbles in an Anisotropic Complex Oxide

We show, using room temperature, high-resolution electron microscopy studies, that implanted He in LiNbO{sub 3} nucleates and accumulates as bubbles. These He inclusions are at {approx} 20 GPa pressure and most probably in the solid phase. In addition, the energetically favored shape of the inclusions in their as-implanted form is spherical and not oblate; this spherical shape is due to the fact that their diameter is below a critical radius for balancing the surface and elastic energies as predicted by elastic theory. When annealed, the characteristic length scale of the He inclusions increases, forming faceted bubbles. Annealing also causes the He inclusions to migrate and accumulate into strings due to the preferred {l_brace}101{bar 4}{r_brace}-pyramidal-twinning planes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2010

Thermoelectric Enhancement in PbTe with K or Na codoping from tuning the interaction of the light- and heavy-hole valence bands

The effect of K and K-Na substitution for Pb atoms in the rocksalt lattice of PbTe was investigated to test a hypothesis for development of resonant states in the valence band that may enhance the thermoelectric power. We combined high-temperature Hall-effect, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity measurements to show that K-Na codoping do not form resonance states but can control the energy difference of the maxima of the two primary valence subbands in PbTe. This leads to an enhanced interband interaction with rising temperature and a significant rise in the thermoelectric figure of merit of p -type PbTe. The experimental data can be explained by a combination of a single- and two-band models for the valence band of PbTe depending on hole density that varies in the range of 1–15x10 19 cm -3 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2010

Hybridization and suppression of the superconductivity in CeFeAsO 1-y . Pressure and temperature dependences of the electronic structure

Pressure and temperature dependence of the electronic structure of superconducting (SC) CeFeAsO 1-y and non-SC CeFeAsO 1-y have been investigated using two complementary hard x-ray spectroscopic probes at the Ce L 3 edge, partial fluorescence yield x-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy. With increasing pressure, the ratio between the intensity of the peak related to the f 0 (Ce 4+ ) state and that of the f 1 (Ce 3+ ) state, I(f 0 )/I(f 1 ), is found to increase continuously for both compounds, indicating a continuous increase in the Ce valence. The valence of non-SC CeFeAsO 1-y is found to be slightly higher than that of SC CeFeAsO 1-y in the entire pressure and temperature ranges of this study. The valence of CeFeAsO 1-y around 6 GPa, where the superconductivity breaks down, is estimated to be ~3.0 , but no change in the valence is observed upon cooling. The dependence of the interatomic distances on the concentration of oxygen vacancies is studied via extended absorption fine structure spectroscopy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Anomalous Enhancement of the Superconducting Transition Temperature of Electron-doped La2-xCexCuO4 and Pr2-xCexCuO4 Cuprate Heterostructures

The superconducting transition temperature T{sub c} of multilayers of electron-doped cuprates, composed of underdoped (or undoped) and overdoped La{sub 2-x}Ce{sub x}CuO{sub 4} (LCCO) and Pr{sub 2-x}Ce{sub x}CuO{sub 4} (PCCO) thin films, is found to increase significantly with respect to the T{sub c} of the corresponding single-phase films. By investigating the critical current density of superlattices with different doping levels and layer thicknesses, we find that the T{sub c} enhancement is caused by a redistribution of charge over an anomalously large distance.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Twinning and Dislocation Pileups in Heavily Implanted LiNbO3

The nature of a striking pattern of extended defects formed by very high dose implantation of helium in a complex oxide, for example, ferroelectricz-cut LiNbO{sub 3}, is studied. After irradiation, a high concentration of defects is found to collect and create a network of thick prismatic planar defects, which have typical dimensions of {approx}1.5 {micro}m and 200 nm parallel and perpendicular to the z axis, respectively. This defect network and its effect on the lattice were studied using a set of x-ray and electron microscopy probes of the lattice structure and spatial variation. Optical microscopy shows that there is strong temperature dependence for forming the network; the density of these extended defects reaches a maximum value for an annealing temperature of 250 C but is fully eliminated by a temperature of 380 C. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies indicate that these extended defects are probably localized twinning and dislocation pileups due to plastic deformation of the lattice to relieve He-implantation-induced stress. During this deformation, He accumulates at the twin boundaries. The study also shows that the He interstitials evolve into bubbles causing high stress and resulting in a formation of thick prismatic planar defects. Finally, a mechanism is proposed for defect creation and elimination.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Epitaxial growth, structure, and intermixing at the LaAlO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} interface as the film stoichiometry is varied

LaAlO{sub 3} epitaxial films with La:Al cation ratios ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 were grown on TiO{sub 2}-terminated SrTiO{sub 3} (001) substrates by off-axis pulsed laser deposition. Although all films are epitaxial, rocking curve measurements show that the crystallographic quality degrades with increasing La:Al ratio. Films with La:Al ratios of 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 were coherently strained to the substrate. However, the out-of-plane lattice parameter increases over this range, revealing a decrease in film tetragonality. Although all film surfaces exhibit hydroxylation, the extent of hydroxylation is greater for the La-rich films. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry reveals that La from the film diffuses deeply into the SrTiO{sub 3} substrate and secondary-ion-mass spectroscopy shows unambiguous Sr outdiffusion into the films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Spin-ordering and Magnetoelastic Coupling in the Extended Kagome System YBaCo4O7

Low-temperature magnetic and structural behavior of the extended Kagome system YBaCo{sub 4}O{sub 7} has been studied by single-crystal neutron diffraction and high-resolution powder x-ray diffraction. Long-range magnetic ordering associated with a structural transition from orthorhombic Pbn2{sub 1} to monoclinic P2{sub 1} symmetry has been found at T{sub 1}-100 K. The interplay between the structural and magnetic degrees of freedom indicates that the degeneracy of the magnetic ground state, present in the orthorhombic phase, is lifted through a strong magnetoelastic coupling, as observed in other frustrated systems. At T{sub 2}-60 K, an additional magnetic transition is observed, though isosymmetric. Models for the magnetic structures below T{sub 1} and T{sub 2} are presented, based on refinements using a large number of independent reflections. The results obtained are compared with previous single-crystal and powder-diffraction studies on this and related compositions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Ultraprecise Studies of the Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Diamond using Backscattering X-ray Diffraction

The linear thermal expansion coefficient of diamond crystals of type IIa and type Ia was measured in the temperature range from 10 to 295 K. Neither negative thermal expansion nor any substantial difference in the thermal expansion coefficient in crystals of the different types were observed. An empirical expression was obtained that approximates the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient of diamond. The T{sup 3} temperature dependence of a Debye solid holds below {approx}100 K with an accuracy of {approx}10{sup -8} K{sup -1}. A slight increase in the value of the lattice parameter was found for the Ia-type crystal, which suggests lattice dilatation by nitrogen impurity. The measurements were performed using Bragg diffraction in backscattering from diamond crystals of highly monochromatic 23.7 keV x rays with the recently demonstrated high relative accuracy of 1.2 x 10{sup -8} in the determination of the lattice parameter [S. Stoupin and Yu. Shvyd'ko Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 085901 (2010)].

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗