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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Ion Implantation in Narrow-Gap Cd{sub x}Hg{sub 1–x}Te Solid Solutions

The results of experimental studies of processes of the radiation defect formation under ion implantation of narrow-gap Cd{sub x}Hg{sub 1-x}Te solid solutions (MCT) are presented. The processes of formation of structural damages of the crystal and their effect on the electrophysical properties of ion-implanted bulk crystals and ptype heteroepitaxial structures grown by liquid-phase and molecular-beam epitaxy are considered. The results on the spatial distribution of implanted boron atoms and radiation donor centers in these materials are presented as a function of the mass, dose, and energy of ions being implanted and the implantation temperature. The processes and models of the formation of n{sup +}–n{sup -}–p-structures during boron ion implantation in p-type MCT and their experimental proof are considered.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the increased efficiency in InGaN-based multiple quantum wells emitting at 530–590 nm with AlGaN interlayers

InGaN/AlGaN/GaN-based multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with AlGaN interlayers (ILs) are investigated, specifically to examine the fundamental mechanisms behind their increased radiative efficiency at wavelengths of 530–590 nm. The Al z Ga 1-z N (z~0.38) IL is ~1–2 nm thick, and is grown after and at the same growth temperature as the ~3 nm thick InGaN quantum well (QW). This is followed by an increase in temperature for the growth of a ~10 nm thick GaN barrier layer. The insertion of the AlGaN IL within the MQW provides various benefits. First, the AlGaN IL allows for growth of the In x Ga 1-x N QW well below typical growth temperatures to achieve higher x (up to~0.25). Second, annealing the IL capped QW prior to the GaN barrier growth improves the AlGaN IL smoothness as determined by atomic force microscopy, improves the InGaN/AlGaN/GaN interface quality as determined from scanning transmission electron microscope images and x-ray diffraction, and increases the radiative efficiency by reducing non-radiative defects as determined by time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Finally, the AlGaN IL increases the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization induced electric fields acting on the InGaN QW, providing an additional red-shift to the emission wavelength as determined by Schrodinger-Poisson modeling and fitting to the experimental data. The relative impact of increased indium concentration and polarization fields on the radiative efficiency of MQWs with AlGaN ILs is also explored, along with implications to conventional longer wavelength emitters.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Influence of High-Energy Krypton Ion Implantation Temperature on Structure and Properties of Ni–Ti Alloy

The influence of the temperature of implantation of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy with {sub 84}Kr{sup 15+}ions at the energy E = 147 MeV on its structural-phase state is investigated. At the implantation temperatures 250 and 300°С, within the projective range Rp and out-range area the following processes and phenomena are observed: new formation of the martensitic В19'-phase, formation of nano-sized particles of the R-phase, increase in resistivity due to the formation of radiation-defect structures, strengthening of the alloy in the austenitic structural-phase state, and longer phase-transition temperature intervals.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the electronic properties of GaSb irradiated with reactor neutrons and its charge neutrality level

The electronic properties and the limiting position of the Fermi level in p-GaSb crystals irradiated with full-spectrum reactor neutrons at up to a fluence of 8.6 × 10{sup 18} cm{sup −2} are studied. It is shown that the irradiation of GaSb with reactor neutrons results in an increase in the concentration of free holes to p{sub lim} = (5−6) × 10{sup 18} cm{sup −3} and in pinning of the Fermi level at the limiting position F{sub lim} close to E{sub V} + 0.02 eV at 300 K. The effect of the annealing of radiation defects in the temperature range 100–550°C is explored.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Radiation hardness of n-GaN schottky diodes

Schottky-barrier diodes with a diameter of ∼10 µm are fabricated on n-GaN epitaxial films grown by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) on sapphire substrates. The changes in the parameters of the diodes under irradiation with 15 MeV protons are studied. The carrier removal rate was found to be 130–145 cm{sup –1}. The linear nature of the dependence N = f(D) (N is the carrier concentration, and D, the irradiation dose) shows that compensation of the material is associated with transitions of electrons from shallow donors to deep acceptor levels which are related to primary radiation defects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Transmutation-induced precipitation in tungsten irradiated with a mixed energy neutron spectrum

Transmutation-induced precipitation in neutron-irradiated tungsten is an important performance concern for its application as plasma facing material in fusion reactors. In this study, segregation and precipitation of transmutant elements in single crystal and polycrystal tungsten irradiated at 460–1100 °C to 0.02–2.4 displacements per atom (dpa) in the High Flux Isotope Reactor were investigated using transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that nanoscale W-Re-Os clusters were identified in the low dose regime from 0.02 to 0.44 dpa with irradiation temperature lower than 800 °C while acicular-shape precipitates formed when irradiation dose is higher than 1.5 dpa. A tentative roadmap of the kinetics process of the transmutation-induced precipitation in neutron-irradiated tungsten is presented characterizing the defect features (i.e., W-Re-Os clusters and precipitates) consisting of transmutant elements in tungsten irradiated to various doses. All TEM-visible voids were associated with the acicular-shape precipitates. Voids were formed prior to the formation of acicular-shape precipitates and act as strong trapping sites for mobile species involved in the precipitation together with dislocations. Thermal stability of W-Re-Os clusters was assessed by performing a 2-h anneal at 1200 °C on tungsten irradiated to 0.44 dpa at 705 °C. In conclusion, the kinetics process of transmutant elements and radiation defects are discussed to reveal the underlying mechanisms controlling the formation of precipitates in tungsten.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Linear chains of Ge/Si quantum dots grown on a prepatterned surface formed by ion irradiation

The growth of Ge nanoclusters on a prepatterned Si (100) surface formed by imprint lithography in combination with subsequent irradiation with Ge{sup +} ions is studied. The prepatterned surface presents a system of parallel 10-nm-wide grooves repeating with a period of 180 nm. Irradiation of the substrate was conducted at two temperatures, room temperature (cold irradiation) and 400°C (hot irradiation). It is shown that, during epitaxy (550–700°C), the residual radiation defects located in the bulk under the grooves suppress the nucleation of Ge nanoclusters in the grooves. In the case of prepatterned substrates, from which imperfect regions are completely removed, nanoclusters grow in the grooves.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Changes in the conductivity of lead-selenide thin films after plasma etching

The conductivity of epitaxial n- and p-PbSe thin films after dry etching in radio-frequency highdensity low-pressure inductively coupled argon plasma at a bombarding-ion energy of 200 eV is studied. It is shown that the observed changes in the conductivity can be adequately interpreted in the context of the classical model of the generation of donor-type radiation defects and that the processes of post-irradiation vacuum annealing result in the removal of such defects. The mean free path of charge carriers in p-PbSe films is determined within the context of the Fuchs–Sondheimer theory. It is found that, at room temperature, this parameter is 16 and 32 nm for the specularity parameter 0 and 0.5, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

NNL.Fe.qSNAP-ZBL.2024.1: A Fe Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential for Radiation Damage Simulations

The NNL.Fe.qSNAP-ZBL.2024.1 machine-learned potential (MLP) has been generated to support the development of an elemental body-centered cubic (BCC) Fe athermal recombination corrected neutron damage model and simulations of primary recoil atom (PRA) cascades in BCC Fe. This MLP is a quadratic spectral neighbor analysis potential (qSNAP) hybridized with the universal Ziegler-Beirsack-Littmark (ZBL) potential at short-range and is named according to Naval Nuclear Laboratory MLP naming conventions (NNL.material-system.MLP-type.year.version). Training set calculations for Fe are presented along with the subsequent MLP fitting procedure. A key criterion of the fitting procedure is that ZBL describes the short-range interaction with minimal impact on the MLP. The MLP is compared to density functional theory (DFT) predicted properties relevant to radiation damage simulation, including threshold displacement energies, for validation. The NNL.Fe.qSNAP-ZBL.2024.1 potential is considered suitable for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of radiation defects up to 800 K and PRA cascades in BCC Fe up to around 10 keV. The potential can additionally be used on a limited basis for recoils of 10–20 keV, within which range the emergence of structures outside the training set in cascade simulations may cause system instabilities.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Effect of Heavy Ion Irradiation on the Forward Dissolution Rate of Borosilicate Glasses Studied In Situ and Real Time by Fluid-Cell Raman Spectroscopy

Borosilicate glasses are the favored material for immobilization of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) from the reprocessing of spent fuel used in nuclear power plants. To assess the long-term stability of nuclear waste glasses, it is crucial to understand how self-irradiation affects the structural state of the glass and influences its dissolution behavior. In this study, we focus on the effect of heavy ion irradiation on the forward dissolution rate of a non-radioactive ternary borosilicate glass. To create extended radiation defects, the glass was subjected to heavy ion irradiation using 197 Au ions that penetrated ~50 µm deep into the glass. The structural damage was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, revealing a significant depolymerization of the silicate and borate network in the irradiated glass and a reduction of the average boron coordination number. Real time, in situ fluid-cell Raman spectroscopic corrosion experiments were performed with the irradiated glass in a silica-undersaturated, 0.5 M NaHCO 3 solution at temperatures between 80 and 85 °C (initial pH = 7.1). The time- and space-resolved in situ Raman data revealed a 3.7 ± 0.5 times increased forward dissolution rate for the irradiated glass compared to the non-irradiated glass, demonstrating a significant impact of irradiation-induced structural damage on the dissolution kinetics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Chemical compatibility of silicon carbide in molten fluoride salts for the fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor

Silicon carbide is widely appreciated for its high temperature strength, radiation tolerance and neutronic transparency in applications for fuel particles and core internals of nuclear reactors. In the Fluoride Salt-Cooled High Temperature Reactor, silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites are candidate construction material for regions of higher neutron fluxes. Silicon carbide is wettable and reacts electrochemically with dissolved metals. Metallic impurities, tritium, moisture-based impurities and fission products, as well as thermal gradients can accelerate hot corrosion of silicon carbide in molten fluoride salt. Tritium can become trapped in radiation defects of silicon carbide. Thus, an understanding of the potential for tritium absorption, impurities reactions and thermal gradient-assisted corrosion mechanisms along with tritium recovery and redox control systems are necessary to mitigate silicon carbide corrosion in molten fluoride salt systems. Furthermore, we survey current research on silicon carbide corrosion in molten fluoride salts and critically evaluate the research and development gaps.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Rapid synthesis of spherical-shaped green-emitting MgGa{sub 2}O{sub 4}:Mn{sup 2+} phosphor via spray pyrolysis

Simple, one-step synthesis of spherical-shaped powder phosphors with aqueous precursors via a spray pyrolysis method is reported. Green-emitting MgGa{sub 2}O{sub 4}:Mn{sup 2+} phosphor with a controlled shape was successfully obtained by spraying under a reductive atmosphere (N{sub 2} + H{sub 2} carrier gas) without high-temperature post-heat treatment. In addition, the corresponding powder phosphors were well dispersed and showed a clean surface morphology compared to an existing cumbersome process using high-temperature post-annealing. The new method may help to prevent surface residual non-radiative defect sites. The result of highly luminescent and spherical morphology, non-aggregated powder phosphor by this procedure holds promise for a cost-effective and rapid synthesis process for conventional inorganic phosphors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

CLARION2-TRINITY: A Compton-suppressed HPGe and GAGG:Ce-Si-Si array for absolute cross-section measurements with heavy ions

The design and performance of a new Compton-suppressed HPGe and charged-particle array, CLARION2-TRINITY, are described. The TRINITY charged-particle array is comprised of 64 Cerium-doped Gadolinium Aluminum Gallium Garnet (GAGG:Ce) crystals configured into five rings spanning 7–54 degrees, and two annular silicon detectors that can shadow or extend the angular coverage to backward angles with minimal $\gamma$-ray attenuation. GAGG:Ce is a non-hygroscopic, bright, and relatively fast scintillator with a light distribution well matched to SiPMs. Count rates up to 40 kHz per crystal are sustainable. Fundamental characteristics of GAGG:Ce are measured and presented, including light- and heavy-ion particle identification (PID) capability, pulse-height defects, radiation hardness, and emission spectra. The CLARION2 array consists of up to 16 Compton-suppressed HPGe Clover detectors (efficiency at 1 MeV) configured into four rings (eight HPGe crystal rings) using a non-Archimedean geometry that suppresses back-to-back coincident 511-keV gamma rays. The entire array is instrumented with 100- and 500-MHz (14 bit) waveform digitizers which enable triggerless operation, pulse-shape discrimination, fast timing, and pileup correction. Lastly, two examples of experimental data taken during the commissioning of the CLARION2-TRINITY system are given: a PID spectrum from 16 O + 18 O fusion-evaporation, and PID and Doppler-corrected -ray spectra from 48 Ti + 12 C Coulomb excitation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Sub-Bandgap Luminescence from Doped Polycrystalline and Amorphous Silicon Films and Its Application to Understanding Passivating-Contact Solar Cells

We report luminescence phenomena from doped polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films and their applications to study carrier transport properties in passivating-contact solar cells. Low-temperature luminescence spectra emitted from doped poly-Si layers are found to be very broad and stretched from the crystalline silicon (c-Si) luminescence peak to significantly lower energies. This suggests that these layers contain radiative defect levels whose energies are continuously distributed from the band edges to deep levels in the poly-Si bandgap. Moreover, photoinduced carriers inside poly-Si layers are found to be completely blocked by an ultrathin SiOx interlayer (~1.3 nm). This demonstrates that there is no free-carrier coupling from poly-Si layers in practical passivating-contact solar cells. Finally, we demonstrate that the same principle can be applied to study carrier transport properties in hydrogenated amorphous silicon films.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Carriers mobility of InAs- and InP- rich InAs-InP solid solutions irradiated by fast neutrons

We have studied the low temperature charge carriers mobility in bulk single crystals of InAs- and InP- rich InAs-InP solid solutions irradiated with maximum integral flux 2⋅10{sup 18} n/cm{sup 2} of fast neutrons. Influence of minor component small addition in InAs-InP solid solutions has been revealed. There are also presented data of radiation defects thermal stability.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Hydrogen plasma induced modification of photoluminescence from a-SiN{sub x}:H thin films

Low temperature (250–350 °C) hydrogen plasma annealing (HPA) treatments have been performed on amorphous hydrogenated silicon nitride (a-SiN{sub x}:H) thin films having a range of compositions and subsequent modification of photoluminescence (PL) is investigated. The PL spectral shape and peak positions for the as deposited films could be tuned with composition and excitation energies. HPA induced modification of PL of these films is found to depend on the N/Si ratio (x). Upon HPA, the PL spectra show an emergence of a red emission band for x ≤ 1, whereas an overall increase of intensity without change in the spectral shape is observed for x > 1. The emission observed in the Si rich films is attributed to nanoscale a-Si:H inclusions. The enhancement is maximum for off-stoichiometric films (x ∼ 1) and decreases as the compositions of a-Si (x = 0) and a-Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} (x = 1.33) are approached, implying high density of non-radiative defects around x = 1. The diffusion of hydrogen in these films is also analyzed by Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis technique.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cascade phonon-assisted trapping of positrons by divacancies in n-FZ-Si(P) single crystals irradiated with 15 MeV protons

The trapping of positrons by the radiation defects in moderately doped oxygen-lean n-FZ-Si(P) single crystal irradiated with 15 MeV protons has been investigated in a comparative way using the positron lifetime spectroscopy and Hall effect measurements. The experiments were carried out within a wide temperature interval ranging from 25 K – 29 K to 300 K. The positron trapping rate for divacancies was reconstructed in the course of many-stage isochronal annealing. The concentration and the charged states of divacancies (V{sub 2}{sup −} and V{sub 2}{sup −−}) were estimated. The temperature dependency of the trapping cross section of positrons by the negatively charged divacancies is in a good agreement with the data of calculations based on the assumptions of the cascade phonon-assisted mechanism of exchange of the energy between the positron and acoustic long-wave phonons. Obeying ∼ T{sup −3} law, the cross-section of the trapping of positrons by divacancies changes considerably ranging from ∼1.7×10{sup −12} cm{sup 2} (66 – 100 K) to ∼2×10{sup −14} cm{sup 2} (≈ 250 K). The characteristic length of trapping of the positron by V{sub 2}{sup −−} divacancy was estimated to be l{sub 0}(V{sub 2}{sup −−})≈(3.4±0.2)×10{sup −8} cm.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural evolution and photoluminescence of annealed Si-rich nitride with Si quantum dots prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Silicon-rich nitride films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) were formed by post-thermal annealing processing verified using the High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope. The 1100 °C thermal annealing leads to the nucleation of silicon atoms, the growth of Si QDs, and the rearrangement of Si 2p and N 1s elements. The structural evolution of silicon-rich nitride thin film with post annealing promotes the formation of Si QDs and Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} matrix. We also investigated the effect of the NH{sub 3}-to-SiH{sub 4} ratio R on the photoluminescence (PL) of SiN{sub x} with Si QDs. We found that the broad blue luminescence originates from both quantum confined effect and radiative defects. The intensity of the PL was changed by adjusting the NH{sub 3} flow rate. The increase of R could limit the transformation of Si QDs from amorphous to crystalline status, meanwhile lead to the alteration of distribution of defect states. These can help to understand the annealing-dependent characteristics, the PL mechanisms of silicon-rich nitride and to optimize the fabrication process of Si QDs embedded in nitride.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗