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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 1,729 records · Page 96
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Ferroelectric capped magnetization in multiferroic PZT/LSMO tunnel junctions

Self-poled ultra-thin ferroelectric PbZr{sub 0.52}Ti{sub 0.48}O{sub 3} (PZT) (5 and 7 nm) films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition technique on ferromagnetic La{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3} (LSMO) (30 nm) to check the effect of polar capping on magnetization for ferroelectric tunnel junction devices. PZT/LSMO heterostructures with thick polar PZT (7 nm) capping show nearly 100% enhancement in magnetization compared with thin polar PZT (5 nm) films, probably due to excess hole transfer from the ferroelectric to the ferromagnetic layers. Core-level x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies revealed the presence of larger Mn 3s exchange splitting and higher Mn{sup 3+}/Mn{sup 4+} ion ratio in the LSMO with 7 nm polar capping.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ferromagnetic and paramagnetic magnetization of implanted GaN:Ho,Tb,Sm,Tm films

The SQUID magnetic measurements were performed on the GaN films prepared by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy and implanted by Tb{sup 3+}, Tm{sup 3+}, Sm{sup 3+}, and Ho{sup 3+} ions. The sapphire substrate was checked by the electron paramagnetic resonance method which showed a content of Cr{sup 3+} and Fe{sup 3+} impurities. The samples 5 × 5 mm{sup 2} were positioned in the classical straws and within an estimated accuracy of 10{sup −6 }emu, no ferromagnetic moment was detected in the temperature region of 2–300 K. The paramagnetic magnetization was studied for parallel and perpendicular orientation. In the case of GaN:Tb sample, at T = 2 K, a pronounced anisotropy with the easy axis perpendicular to the film was observed which can be explained by the lowest quasi-doublet state of the non-Kramers Tb{sup 3+} ion. The Weiss temperature deduced from the susceptibility data using the Curie-Weiss (C-W) law was found to depend substantially on the magnetic field.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Trace element analysis of soil type collected from the Manjung and central Perak

Trace elements in soils primarily originated from their parent materials. Parents’ material is the underlying geological material that has been undergone different types of chemical weathering and leaching processes. Soil trace elements concentrations may be increases as a result of continuous input from various human activities, including power generation, agriculture, mining and manufacturing. This paper describes the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) method used for the determination of trace elements concentrations in part per million (ppm) present in the terrestrial environment soil in Perak. The data may indicate any contamination of trace elements contributed from human activities in the area. The enrichment factors were used to check if there any contamination due to the human activities (power plants, agricultural, mining, etc.) otherwise the values would serve as a baseline data for future study. The samples were collected from 27 locations of different soil series in the area at two different depths: the top soil (0-15cm) and the sub soil (15-30cm). The collected soil samples were air dried at 60°C and passed through 2 µm sieve. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been used for the determination of trace elements. Samples were activated in the Nuclear Malaysia TRIGA Mark II reactor followed by gamma spectrometric analysis. By activating the stable elements in the samples, the elements can be determined from the intensities of gamma energies emitted by the respected radionuclides.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Analysis of the scintillation mechanism in a pressurized {sup 4}He fast neutron detector using pulse shape fitting

An empirical investigation of the scintillation mechanism in a pressurized {sup 4}He gas fast neutron detector was conducted using pulse shape fitting. Scintillation signals from neutron interactions were measured and averaged to produce a single generic neutron pulse shape from both a {sup 252}Cf spontaneous fission source and a (d,d) neutron generator. An expression for light output over time was then developed by treating the decay of helium excited states in the same manner as the decay of radioactive isotopes. This pulse shape expression was fitted to the measured neutron pulse shape using a least-squares optimization algorithm, allowing an empirical analysis of the mechanism of scintillation inside the {sup 4}He detector. A further understanding of this mechanism in the {sup 4}He detector will advance the use of this system as a neutron spectrometer. For {sup 252}Cf neutrons, the triplet and singlet time constants were found to be 970 ns and 686 ns, respectively. For neutrons from the (d,d) generator, the time constants were found to be 884 ns and 636 ns. Differences were noted in the magnitude of these parameters compared to previously published data, however the general relationships were noted to be the same and checked with expected trends from theory. Of the excited helium states produced from a {sup 252}Cf neutron interaction, 76% were found to be born as triplet states, similar to the result from the neutron generator of 71%. The two sources yielded similar pulse shapes despite having very different neutron energy spectra, validating the robustness of the fits across various neutron energies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Systematic study of the spin stiffness dependence on phosphorus alloying in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

We study the dependence of the spin stiffness constant on the phosphorus concentration in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)(As,P) with the aim of determining whether alloying with phosphorus is detrimental, neutral, or advantageous to the spin stiffness. Time-resolved magneto-optical experiments are carried out in thin epilayers. Laser pulses excite two perpendicular standing spin wave modes, which are exchange related. We show that the first mode is spatially uniform across the layer corresponding to a k≈0 wavevector. From the two frequencies and k-vector spacings we obtain the spin stiffness constant for different phosphorus concentrations using weak surface pinning conditions. The mode assessment is checked by comparison to the spin stiffness obtained from domain pattern analysis for samples with out-of-plane magnetization. The spin stiffness is found to exhibit little variation with phosphorus concentration in contradiction with ab-initio predictions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of low temperature and high magnetic field X-ray diffraction facility

The current progress of materials science regarding multifunctional materials (MFM) has put forward the challenges to understand the microscopic origin of their properties. Most of such MFMs have magneto-elastic correlations. To investigate the underlying mechanism it is therefore essential to investigate the structural properties in the presence of magnetic field. Keeping this in view low temperature and high magnetic field (LTHM) powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), a unique state-of-art facility in the country has been developed at CSR Indore. This setup works on symmetric Bragg Brentano geometry using a parallel incident x-ray beam from a rotating anode source working at 17 kW. Using this one can do structural studies at non-ambient conditions i.e. at low- temperatures (2-300 K) and high magnetic field (+8 to −8 T). The available scattering angle ranges from 5° to 115° 2θ with a resolution better than 0.1°. The proper functioning of the setup has been checked using Si sample. The effect of magnetic field on the structural properties has been demonstrated on Pr{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}MnO{sub 3} sample. Clear effect of field induced phase transition has been observed. Moreover, the effect of zero field cooled and field cooled conditions is also observed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Augmentation of Quick-EXAFS measurement facility at the energy scanning EXAFS beamline at INDUS-2 SRS

In this paper implementation of Quick-EXAFS data acquisition facility at the Energy Scanning EXAFS beamline(BL-09) at INDUS-2 synchrotron source, Indore is presented. By adopting a continuous-scan mode in the Double Crystal monochromator (DCM), a high signal-to-noise ratio is maintained and the acquisition time is reduced to few seconds. The quality of spectra and repeatability is checked by measuring standards. The present mode of data acquisition would enable EXAFS measurement for in-situ studies even in fluorescence mode.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth of Nd{sub 2}TiO{sub 5} single crystal using optical floating zone technique

Single crystals of Nd{sub 2}TiO{sub 5} were grown using Optical Floating zone technique in oxygen atmosphere by spontaneous nucleation. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the grown single crystal is of homogeneous composition. Laue diffraction was recorded in both transmission and backscattering geometries to check the crystal quality. Vibrational properties were analyzed using Raman measurements.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fe{sub 2-x}Co{sub x}MnSi (x = 0, 1 and 2) Heusler alloys: Structural, magnetic and atomic site disorder properties

The Heusler alloy series Fe{sub 2-x}Co{sub x}MnSi (x = 0, 1 and 2) is theoretically predicted to be half metallic. We prepared the sample series and determined the structural and magnetic properties to check if these materials are suitable for spintronics applications. The Curie temperatures of two of the alloys have been found to be well above the room temperature. But the presence of elements with atoms of similar size leads to atomic site disorder in these alloys, which may destroy the half metallic nature. The atomic site disorder has been confirmed by Mössbauer spectroscopy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurements of deuterium quadrupole coupling in propiolic acid and fluorobenzenes using pulsed-beam Fourier transform microwave spectrometers

The pure rotational spectra of deuterated propiolic acids (HCCCOOD and DCCCOOH), 1-fluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}), and 1,2-difluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}) in their ground states have been measured using two Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) spectrometers at the University of Arizona. For 1-fluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}), nine hyperfine lines of three different ΔJ = 0 and 1 transitions were measured to check the synthesis method and resolution. For 1,2-difluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}), we obtained 44 hyperfine transitions from 1 to 12 GHz, including 14 different ΔJ = 0, 1 transitions. Deuterium quadrupole coupling constants along the three principal inertia axes were well determined. For deuterated propiolic acids, 37 hyperfine lines of Pro-OD and 59 hyperfine lines of Pro-CD, covering 11 and 12 different ΔJ = − 1, 0, 1 transitions, respectively, were obtained from 5 to 16 GHz. Deuterium quadrupole coupling constants along the three inertia axes were well resolved for Pro-OD. For Pro-CD, only eQq{sub aa} was determined due to the near coincidence of the CD bond and the least principal inertia axis. Some measurements were made using a newer FTMW spectrometer employing multiple free induction decays as well as background subtraction. For 1-fluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}) and 1,2-difluorobenzene (4-d{sub 1}), a very large-cavity (1.2 m mirror dia.) spectrometer yielded very high resolution (2 kHz) spectra.

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

Electrostatics on the sphere with applications to Monte Carlo simulations of two dimensional polar fluids

We present two methods for solving the electrostatics of point charges and multipoles on the surface of a sphere, i.e., in the space S{sub 2}, with applications to numerical simulations of two-dimensional (2D) polar fluids. In the first approach, point charges are associated with uniform neutralizing backgrounds to form neutral pseudo-charges, while in the second, one instead considers bi-charges, i.e., dumbells of antipodal point charges of opposite signs. We establish the expressions of the electric potentials of pseudo- and bi-charges as isotropic solutions of the Laplace-Beltrami equation in S{sub 2}. A multipolar expansion of pseudo- and bi-charge potentials leads to the electric potentials of mono- and bi-multipoles, respectively. These potentials constitute non-isotropic solutions of the Laplace-Beltrami equation, the general solution of which in spherical coordinates is recast under a new appealing form. We then focus on the case of mono- and bi-dipoles and build the theory of dielectric media in S{sub 2}. We notably obtain the expression of the static dielectric constant of a uniform isotropic polar fluid living in S{sub 2} in terms of the polarization fluctuations of subdomains of S{sub 2}. We also derive the long range behavior of the equilibrium pair correlation function under the assumption that it is governed by macroscopic electrostatics. These theoretical developments find their application in Monte Carlo simulations of the 2D fluid of dipolar hard spheres. Some preliminary numerical experiments are discussed with a special emphasis on finite size effects, a careful study of the thermodynamic limit, and a check of the theoretical predictions for the asymptotic behavior of the pair correlation function.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of addition of Ag nano powder on mechanical properties of epoxy/polyaminoamide adduct coatings filled with conducting polymer

In this study the effect of Ag Nano powder on mechanical properties of epoxy coatings filled with optimized ratio of conducting polymers (Polyaniline and Polyppyrole) was evaluated. Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether epoxy resin (DGEBA) along with polyaminoamide adduct (ARADUR 3282-1 BD) is used as curing agent under optimized stoichiometry values. Curing is performed at room temperature with different percentages of Nano filler. Glass and steel panels were used as coating substrate. Bird applicator was used to coat the samples in order to obtain thin film with wet film thickness (WFT) of about 70-90 µm. The samples were kept in dust free environment for about 7 days at room temperature for complete curing. The coated steel panels were used to evaluate the mechanical properties of coating such as hardness, scratch and impact tests whereas coated glass panels were used for measuring pendulum hardness of the coatings. To check the dispersion and morphology of Nano filler in epoxy matrix scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used in addition Nano indentation was also performed to observe the effect of Nano filler on modulus of elasticity and hardness at Nano scale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

MINERνA neutrino detector calibration

MINERνA is a neutrino scattering experiment that uses Fermilab’s NuMI beamline. Its goal is to measure cross-sections for neutrino scattering from different nuclei. Precise knowledge of these cross-sections is vital for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. In order to measure these values to a high degree of accuracy, it is essential that the detector be carefully calibrated. Here, we describe in-situ calibration and cross-checks.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Simulation of atmospheric temperature effects on cosmic ray muon flux

The collision between a cosmic ray and an atmosphere nucleus produces a set of secondary particles, which will decay or interact with other atmosphere elements. This set of events produced a primary particle is known as an extensive air shower (EAS) and is composed by a muonic, a hadronic and an electromagnetic component. The muonic flux, produced mainly by pions and kaons decays, has a dependency with the atmosphere’s effective temperature: an increase in the effective temperature results in a lower density profile, which decreases the probability of pions and kaons to interact with the atmosphere and, consequently, resulting in a major number of meson decays. Such correlation between the muon flux and the atmosphere’s effective temperature was measured by a set of experiments, such as AMANDA, Borexino, MACRO and MINOS. This phenomena can be investigated by simulating the final muon flux produced by two different parameterizations of the isothermal atmospheric model in CORSIKA, where each parameterization is described by a depth function which can be related to the muon flux in the same way that the muon flux is related to the temperature. This research checks the agreement among different high energy hadronic interactions models and the physical expected behavior of the atmosphere temperature effect by analyzing a set of variables, such as the height of the primary interaction and the difference in the muon flux.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Collision-induced Raman scattering by rare-gas atoms: The isotropic spectrum of Ne–Ne and its mean polarizability

We report the room-temperature isotropic collision-induced light scattering spectrum of Ne–Ne over a wide interval of Raman shifts, and we compare it with the only available experimental spectrum for that system as well as with spectra calculated quantum-mechanically with the employ of advanced ab initio-computed data for the incremental mean polarizability. The spectral range previously limited to 170 cm{sup −1} is now extended to 485 cm{sup −1} allowing us to successfully solve the inverse-scattering problem toward an analytic model for the mean polarizability that perfectly matches our measurements. We also report the depolarization ratio of the scattering process, lingering over the usefulness of this property for more stringent checks between the various polarizability models.

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

Analytical evaluation of atomic form factors: Application to Rayleigh scattering

Atomic form factors are widely used for the characterization of targets and specimens, from crystallography to biology. By using recent mathematical results, here we derive an analytical expression for the atomic form factor within the independent particle model constructed from nonrelativistic screened hydrogenic wave functions. The range of validity of this analytical expression is checked by comparing the analytically obtained form factors with the ones obtained within the Hartee-Fock method. As an example, we apply our analytical expression for the atomic form factor to evaluate the differential cross section for Rayleigh scattering off neutral atoms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Normal form decomposition for Gaussian-to-Gaussian superoperators

In this paper, we explore the set of linear maps sending the set of quantum Gaussian states into itself. These maps are in general not positive, a feature which can be exploited as a test to check whether a given quantum state belongs to the convex hull of Gaussian states (if one of the considered maps sends it into a non-positive operator, the above state is certified not to belong to the set). Generalizing a result known to be valid under the assumption of complete positivity, we provide a characterization of these Gaussian-to-Gaussian (not necessarily positive) superoperators in terms of their action on the characteristic function of the inputs. For the special case of one-mode mappings, we also show that any Gaussian-to-Gaussian superoperator can be expressed as a concatenation of a phase-space dilatation, followed by the action of a completely positive Gaussian channel, possibly composed with a transposition. While a similar decomposition is shown to fail in the multi-mode scenario, we prove that it still holds at least under the further hypothesis of homogeneous action on the covariance matrix.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Si/ZnO nanorods/Ag/AZO structures as promising photovoltaic plasmonic cells

The test structures for photovoltaic (PV) applications based on zinc oxide nanorods (NRs) that were grown using a low-temperature hydrothermal method on p-type silicon substrates (100) covered with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were studied. The NPs of three different diameters, i.e., 5–10 nm, 20-30 nm, and 50–60 nm, were deposited using a sputtering method. The morphology and crystallinity of the structures were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the nanorods have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. An analysis of the Raman and photoluminescence spectra permitted the identification of the surface modes at 476 cm{sup −1} and 561 cm{sup −1}. The presence of these modes is evidence of nanorods oriented along the wurtzite c-axis. The NRs with Ag NPs were covered with a ZnO:Al (AZO) layer that was grown using the low-temperature atomic layer deposition technique. The AZO layer served as a transparent ohmic contact to the ZnO nanorods. The applicability of the AZO layer for this purpose and the influence of the Ag nanoparticles on the effectiveness of light acquisition by such prepared PV cells were checked by reflectance and transmittance measurements of the AZO/glass and AZO/NPs/glass reference structures. Based on these studies, the high-energy transmittance edge was assigned to the ZnO energy gap, although it is blueshifted with respect to the bulk ZnO energy gap because of Al doping. It was also shown that the most optimal PV performance is obtained from a structure containing Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 20–30 nm. This result is confirmed by the current-voltage measurements performed with 1-sun illumination. The structures show a plasmonic effect within the short wavelength range: the PV response for the structure with Ag nanoparticles is twice that of the structure without the nanoparticles. However, the influence of the Ag nanoparticle diameters on the plasmonic effect is ambiguous.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗