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At least 1,729 records · Page 96
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Impact of stress relaxation in GaAsSb cladding layers on quantum dot creation in InAs/GaAsSb structures grown on GaAs (001)

We describe InAs quantum dot creation in InAs/GaAsSb barrier structures grown on GaAs (001) wafers by molecular beam epitaxy. The structures consist of 20-nm-thick GaAsSb barrier layers with Sb content of 8%, 13%, 15%, 16%, and 37% enclosing 2 monolayers of self-assembled InAs quantum dots. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction results indicate the onset of relaxation of the GaAsSb layers at around 15% Sb content with intersected 60° dislocation semi-loops, and edge segments created within the volume of the epitaxial structures. 38% relaxation of initial elastic stress is seen for 37% Sb content, accompanied by the creation of a dense net of dislocations. The degradation of In surface migration by these dislocation trenches is so severe that quantum dot formation is completely suppressed. The results highlight the importance of understanding defect formation during stress relaxation for quantum dot structures particularly those with larger numbers of InAs quantum-dot layers, such as those proposed for realizing an intermediate band material.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

The effect of nanoscratching direction on the plastic deformation and surface morphology of InP crystals

The microstructure of (001) InP crystals scratched with a sharp diamond tip depends strongly on the scratching direction. The scratch surface is found to conform to the radius of curvature of the tip (∼60 nm) by the formation of atomic crystal steps produced by dislocation glide along (111) planes. 〈110〉 scratches lead to coherent local crystal lattice movement and rotation causing deep dislocation propagation into the crystal and irregular pileups at the sides of the scratch surface. 〈100〉 scratches lead to incoherent lattice movement causing dislocation locking that inhibits their propagation and results in regular pileups.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cryogenic properties of dispersion strengthened copper for high magnetic fields

Cold deformed copper matrix composite conductors, developed for use in the 100 tesla multi-shot pulsed magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), have been characterized. The conductors are alumina strengthened copper which is fabricated by cold drawing that introduces high dislocation densities and high internal stresses. Both alumina particles and high density of dislocations provide us with high tensile strength and fatigue endurance. The conductors also have high electrical conductivities because alumina has limited solubility in Cu and dislocations have little scattering effect on conduction electrons. Such a combination of high strength and high conductivity makes it an excellent candidate over other resistive magnet materials. Thus, characterization is carried out by tensile testing and fully reversible fatigue testing. In tensile tests, the material exceeds the design criteria parameters. In the fatigue tests, both the load and displacement were measured and used to control the amplitude of the tests to simulate the various loading conditions in the pulsed magnet which is operated at 77 K in a non-destructive mode. In order to properly simulate the pulsed magnet operation, strain-controlled tests were more suitable than load controlled tests. For the dispersion strengthened coppers, the strengthening mechanism of the aluminum oxide provided better tensile and fatigue properties over convention copper.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrical and optical properties of stacking faults introduced by plastic deformation in 4H-SiC

The electrical and optical properties of stacking faults (SFs) introduced by plastic deformation in 4H-SiC were studied by Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) and cathodoluminescence (CL) methods. Partial dislocations and stacking faults in the (0001) glide planes perpendicular to the surface were introduced in n-type 4H-SiC under a well-controlled state of stress by cantilever bending at 550°C. CL measurements allow determining the multiplicity of the SFs (single or double). It is observed that the overwhelming majority of stacking faults are double Shockley type SFs (CL emission at 504 nm) that correlates well with previously published high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigations. However, single Shockley type SFs (CL emission at 422 nm) of much smaller lengths are also observed in some areas near the scratched region from where the defects are nucleated. This suggests that the velocity of partial dislocation pairs under a given applied stress could be higher than that of single partial dislocations. It is also shown that in the EBIC mode, SFs produce a strong bright contrast, which can be explained by considering the SFs in 4H-SiC to be quantum wells of II type.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Microscopic, electrical and optical studies on InGaN/GaN quantum wells based LED devices

We report here on the micro structural, electronic and optical properties of a GaN-based InGaN/GaN MQW LED grown by the MOVPE method. The present study shows that the threading dislocations present in these LED structures are terminated as V pits at the surface and have an impact on the electrical and optical activity of these devices. It has been pointed that these dislocations were of edge, screw and mixed types. EBIC maps suggest that the electrically active defects are screw and mixed dislocations and behave as nonradiative recombinant centres.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Twin boundary spacing effects on shock response and spall behaviors of hierarchically nanotwinned fcc metals

Atomistic deformation mechanisms of hierarchically nano-twinned (NT) Ag under shock conditions have been investigated using a series of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. For the same grain size d and the same spacing of primary twins λ{sub 1}, the average flow stress behind the shock front in hierarchically NT Ag first increases with decreasing spacing of secondary twins λ{sub 2}, achieving a maximum at a critical λ{sub 2}, and then drops as λ{sub 2} decreases further. Above the critical λ{sub 2}, the deformation mechanisms are dominated by three type strengthening mechanisms: (a) partial dislocations emitted from grain boundaries (GBs) travel across other boundaries; (b) partial dislocations emitted from twin boundaries (TBs) travel across other TBs; (c) formation of tertiary twins. Below the critical λ{sub 2}, the deformation mechanism are dominated by two softening mechanisms: (a) detwinning of secondary twins; (b) formation of new grains by cross slip of partial dislocations. Moreover, the twin-free nanocrystalline (NC) Ag is found to have lower average flow stress behind the shock front than those of all hierarchically NT Ag samples except the one with the smallest λ{sub 2} of 0.71 nm. No apparent correlation between the spall strength and λ{sub 2} is observed in hierarchically NT Ag, since voids always nucleate at both GBs and boundaries of the primary twins. However, twin-free NC Ag is found to have higher spall strength than hierarchically NT Ag. Voids can only nucleate from GBs for twin-free NC Ag, therefore, twin-free NC Ag has less nucleation sources along the shock direction when compared to hierarchically NT Ag, which requiring higher tensile stress to create spallation. These findings should contribute to the understandings of deformation mechanisms of hierarchically NT fcc metals under extreme deformation conditions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-electron-mobility GaN grown on free-standing GaN templates by ammonia-based molecular beam epitaxy

The dependence of electron mobility on growth conditions and threading dislocation density (TDD) was studied for n{sup −}-GaN layers grown by ammonia-based molecular beam epitaxy. Electron mobility was found to strongly depend on TDD, growth temperature, and Si-doping concentration. Temperature-dependent Hall data were fit to established transport and charge-balance equations. Dislocation scattering was analyzed over a wide range of TDDs (∼2 × 10{sup 6} cm{sup −2} to ∼2 × 10{sup 10} cm{sup −2}) on GaN films grown under similar conditions. A correlation between TDD and fitted acceptor states was observed, corresponding to an acceptor state for almost every c lattice translation along each threading dislocation. Optimized GaN growth on free-standing GaN templates with a low TDD (∼2 × 10{sup 6} cm{sup −2}) resulted in electron mobilities of 1265 cm{sup 2}/Vs at 296 K and 3327 cm{sup 2}/Vs at 113 K.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Length-scale dependent mechanical properties of Al-Cu eutectic alloy: Molecular dynamics based model and its experimental verification

This paper attempts to gain an understanding of the effect of lamellar length scale on the mechanical properties of two-phase metal-intermetallic eutectic structure. We first develop a molecular dynamics model for the in-situ grown eutectic interface followed by a model of deformation of Al-Al{sub 2}Cu lamellar eutectic. Leveraging the insights obtained from the simulation on the behaviour of dislocations at different length scales of the eutectic, we present and explain the experimental results on Al-Al{sub 2}Cu eutectic with various different lamellar spacing. The physics behind the mechanism is further quantified with help of atomic level energy model for different length scale as well as different strain. An atomic level energy partitioning of the lamellae and the interface regions reveals that the energy of the lamellae core are accumulated more due to dislocations irrespective of the length-scale. Whereas the energy of the interface is accumulated more due to dislocations when the length-scale is smaller, but the trend is reversed when the length-scale is large beyond a critical size of about 80 nm.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural anisotropic properties of a-plane GaN epilayers grown on r-plane sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy

Heteroepitaxial non-polar III-Nitride layers may exhibit extensive anisotropy in the surface morphology and the epilayer microstructure along distinct in-plane directions. The structural anisotropy, evidenced by the “M”-shape dependence of the (112{sup ¯}0) x-ray rocking curve widths on the beam azimuth angle, was studied by combining transmission electron microscopy observations, Raman spectroscopy, high resolution x-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy in a-plane GaN epilayers grown on r-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The structural anisotropic behavior was attributed quantitatively to the high dislocation densities, particularly the Frank-Shockley partial dislocations that delimit the I{sub 1} intrinsic basal stacking faults, and to the concomitant plastic strain relaxation. On the other hand, isotropic samples exhibited lower dislocation densities and a biaxial residual stress state. For PAMBE growth, the anisotropy was correlated to N-rich (or Ga-poor) conditions on the surface during growth, that result in formation of asymmetric a-plane GaN grains elongated along the c-axis. Such conditions enhance the anisotropy of gallium diffusion on the surface and reduce the GaN nucleation rate.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multiple-shocks induced nanocrystallization in iron

We found that multiple shots of femtosecond laser-driven shock pulses changed coarse crystalline iron grains with a size of 140 μm into nanocrystals with a high density of dislocations, which had never been observed in conventional shock processes. We performed metallurgical microstructure observations using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and hardness measurements using nanoindentation on cross-sections of shocked iron. TEM images showed that grains with sizes from 10 nm through 1 μm exist within 2 μm of the surface, where the dislocation density reached 2 × 10{sup 15 }m{sup −2}. Results of the hardness measurements showed a significant increase in hardness in the nanocrystallized region. We suggest that the formation of a high density of dislocations, which is produced by a single shock, induces local three-dimensional pile-up by the multiple-shocks, which causes grain refinement at the nanoscale.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

High mobility AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on Si substrates using a large lattice-mismatch induced stress control technology

A large lattice-mismatch induced stress control technology with a low Al content AlGaN layer has been used to grow high quality GaN layers on 4-in. Si substrates. The use of this technology allows for high mobility AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with electron mobility of 2040 cm{sup 2}/(V·s) at sheet charge density of 8.4 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}. Strain relaxation and dislocation evolution mechanisms have been investigated. It is demonstrated that the large lattice mismatch between the low Al content AlGaN layer and AlN buffer layer could effectively promote the edge dislocation inclination with relatively large bend angles and therefore significantly reduce the dislocation density in the GaN epilayer. Our results show a great potential for fabrication of low-cost and high performance GaN-on-Si power devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Studies of scattering mechanisms in gate tunable InAs/(Al,Ga)Sb two dimensional electron gases

A study of scattering mechanisms in gate tunable two dimensional electron gases confined to InAs/(Al,Ga)Sb heterostructures with varying interface roughness and dislocation density is presented. By integrating an insulated gate structure the evolution of the low temperature electron mobility and single-particle lifetime was determined for a previously unexplored density regime, 10{sup 11}–10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}, in this system. Existing theoretical models were used to analyze the density dependence of the electron mobility and single particle lifetime in InAs quantum wells. Scattering was found to be dominated by charged dislocations and interface roughness. It was demonstrated that the growth of InAs quantum wells on nearly lattice matched GaSb substrate results in fewer dislocations, lower interface roughness, and improved low temperature transport properties compared to growth on lattice mismatched GaAs substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Discovery of hard-magnetic domains in two-dimensional arrays of soft-magnetic Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanocubes

In this study, abnormal hard-magnetic domains were discovered in Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}@C composite material, in which well-ordered 16-nm-sized Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} cubes were tightly embedded into carbon sheets of tens of nanometers thick. It was found that ca. 40 columns of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanocubes magnetically self-assembled into a single strip-type domain with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. More strikingly, remarkable domain misalignments, which were very similar to common edge dislocations among atomic planes in crystal lattices, were clearly observed and termed as “domain dislocation” in this work. The hard-magnetic properties of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}@C material, including large coercivity of 2150 Oe, high M{sub R}/M{sub S} value of 0.9, and strong anisotropy energy of 3.772 × 10{sup 5} erg/cm{sup 3}, were further ascertained by carefully designed electromagnetic absorption contrast experiments. It is anticipated that the discovery of hard-magnetic domains and domain dislocations within 2-D arrays of soft-magnetic nanomaterials will shed new light on the development of high-density perpendicular magnetic recording industry.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The dependency of different stress-level SiN capping films and the optimization of D-SMT process for the device performance booster in Ge n-FinFETs

The capping stressed SiN film is one of the most important process steps for the dislocation stress memorization technique (D-SMT), which has been used widely in the current industry, for the electron mobility booster in the n-type transistor beyond the 32/28 nm technology node. In this work, we found that the different stress-level SiN capping films influence the crystal re-growth velocities along different directions including [100] and [110] directions in Ge a lot. It can be further used to optimize the dislocation angle in the transistor during the D-SMT process and then results in the largest channel stress distribution to boost the device performance in the Ge n-FinFETs. Based on the theoretical calculation and experimental demonstration, it shows that the Ge three dimensional (3D) n-FinFETs device performance is improved ∼55% with the usage of +3 GPa tensile stressed SiN capping film. The channel stress and dislocation angle is ∼2.5 GPa and 30°, measured by the atomic force microscope-Raman technique and transmission electron microscopy, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Strain softening mechanism at meso scale during micro-compression in an ultrafine-grained pure copper

Strain softening behavior has been found at meso scale using micro-compression testing in an ultrafine-grained (UFG) pure copper by comparison with the typical strain hardening in conventional coarse-grained (CG) material. Microstructural observations show that grain size remains nearly the same including the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries during micro-compression in UFG pure copper. The Kernel average misorientation(KAM) distribution measured by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), as a statistical method, is applied to qualitatively evaluate dislocation density in the interior of the grains. It is suggested that the deformation mechanisms are dominated by grain boundary sliding and grain rotation accompanied by dislocation slip in UFG pure copper, which demonstrates that the strain softening behavior is primarily caused by dislocation annihilation during micro-compression.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of new approaches for InGaN growth with high indium content for CPV application

We propose to use two new approaches that may overcome the issues of phase separation and high dislocation density in InGaN-based PIN solar cells. The first approach consists in the growth of a thick multi-layered InGaN/GaN absorber. The periodical insertion of the thin GaN interlayers should absorb the In excess and relieve compressive strain. The InGaN layers need to be thin enough to remain fully strained and without phase separation. The second approach consists in the growth of InGaN nano-structures for the achievement of high In content thick InGaN layers. It allows the elimination of the preexisting dislocations in the underlying template. It also allows strain relaxation of InGaN layers without any dislocations, leading to higher In incorporation and reduced piezo-electric effect. The two approaches lead to structural, morphological, and luminescence properties that are significantly improved when compared to those of thick InGaN layers. Corresponding full PIN structures have been realized by growing a p-type GaN layer on the top the half PIN structures. External quantum efficiency, electro-luminescence, and photo-current characterizations have been carried out on the different structures and reveal an enhancement of the performances of the InGaN PIN PV cells when the thick InGaN layer is replaced by either InGaN/GaN multi-layered or InGaN nanorod layer.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Integrating AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor with Si: A comparative study of integration schemes

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor stacks deposited on a single growth platform are used to compare the most common transition, AlN to GaN, schemes used for integrating GaN with Si. The efficiency of these transitions based on linearly graded, step graded, interlayer, and superlattice schemes on dislocation density reduction, stress management, surface roughness, and eventually mobility of the 2D-gas are evaluated. In a 500 nm GaN probe layer deposited, all of these transitions result in total transmission electron microscopy measured dislocations densities of 1 to 3 × 10{sup 9}/cm{sup 2} and <1 nm surface roughness. The 2-D electron gas channels formed at an AlGaN-1 nm AlN/GaN interface deposited on this GaN probe layer all have mobilities of 1600–1900 cm{sup 2}/V s at a carrier concentration of 0.7–0.9 × 10{sup 13}/cm{sup 2}. Compressive stress and changes in composition in GaN rich regions of the AlN-GaN transition are the most effective at reducing dislocation density. Amongst all the transitions studied the step graded transition is the one that helps to implement this feature of GaN integration in the simplest and most consistent manner.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Atomic-scale microstructure underneath nanoindentation in Al-Cr-N ceramic films

In this work, Al-Cr-N ceramic films deformed by nanoindentation were peeled off from silicon substrates and their atomic-scale microstructures underneath the indenter were investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). Dislocations were formed underneath the indenter and they accumulated along nano-grain boundaries. The accumulative dislocations triggered the crack initiation along grain boundaries, and further resulted in the crack propagation. Dislocations were also observed in nano-grains on the lateral contact area. A model was proposed to describe the variation of microstructures under nanoindentation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗