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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 OSTI2014

Precision control of thermal transport in cryogenic single-crystal silicon devices

We report on the diffusive-ballistic thermal conductance of multi-moded single-crystal silicon beams measured below 1 K. It is shown that the phonon mean-free-path ℓ is a strong function of the surface roughness characteristics of the beams. This effect is enhanced in diffuse beams with lengths much larger than ℓ, even when the surface is fairly smooth, 5–10 nm rms, and the peak thermal wavelength is 0.6 μm. Resonant phonon scattering has been observed in beams with a pitted surface morphology and characteristic pit depth of 30 nm. Hence, if the surface roughness is not adequately controlled, the thermal conductance can vary significantly for diffuse beams fabricated across a wafer. In contrast, when the beam length is of order ℓ, the conductance is dominated by ballistic transport and is effectively set by the beam cross-sectional area. We have demonstrated a uniformity of ±8% in fractional deviation for ballistic beams, and this deviation is largely set by the thermal conductance of diffuse beams that support the micro-electro-mechanical device and electrical leads. In addition, we have found no evidence for excess specific heat in single-crystal silicon membranes. This allows for the precise control of the device heat capacity with normal metal films. We discuss the results in the context of the design and fabrication of large-format arrays of far-infrared and millimeter wavelength cryogenic detectors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Morphology and structure evolution of tin-doped indium oxide thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering: The role of the sputtering atmosphere

The microstructure and morphology evolution of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering in different sputtering atmospheres were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, and atomic force microscopy. The surface roughness w increases with increasing film thickness d{sub f}, and exhibits a power law behavior w ∼ d{sub f}{sup β}. The roughness decreases with increasing O{sub 2} flow, while it increases with increasing H{sub 2} flow. The growth exponent β is found to be 0.35, 0.75, and 0.98 for depositions in Ar/10%O{sub 2}, pure Ar, and Ar/10%H{sub 2} atmospheres, respectively. The correlation length ξ increases with film thickness also with a power law according to ξ ∼ d{sub f}{sup z} with exponents z = 0.36, 0.44, and 0.57 for these three different gas atmospheres, respectively. A combination of local and non-local growth modes in 2 + 1 dimensions is discussed for the ITO growth in this work.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structure and composition of zirconium carbide thin-film grown by ion beam sputtering for optical applications

Thin film of compound material ZrC was deposited on Si (100) wafer using ion beam sputtering method. The deposition was carried out at room temperature and at base pressure of 3×10{sup −5} Pa. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed for determining the surface chemical compositions. Grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity (GIXRR) measurements were performed to study the film thickness, roughness and density. From GIXRR curve roughness value of the film was found less than 1 nm indicating smooth surface morphology. Films density was found 6.51 g/cm{sup 3}, which is close to bulk density. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were performed to check the surface morphology. AFM investigation showed that the film surface is smooth, which corroborate the GIXRR data. Figure 2 of the original article PDF file, as supplied to AIP Publishing, contained a PDF processing error. This article was updated on 12 May 2014 to correct that error.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simulation and characterization of millimeter-wave InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors using Lombardi mobility model

A gate length of 0.2 μm InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor on SiC substrate is obtained with a maximum current gain cutoff frequency (f{sub T}) of 65.8 GHz and a maximum power gain cutoff frequency (f{sub max}) of 143.6 GHz. Lombardi model, which takes interface roughness scattering into consideration, has been introduced to model the transconductance (g{sub m}) degradation. The simulated g{sub m} and f{sub T} with Lombardi model are 69% and 58% lower than the ones without considering interface roughness scattering, respectively. Further analysis show experimental g{sub m}, gate capacitance (C{sub g}), and f{sub T} are consistent with results based on Lombardi model.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhancement in field emission current density of Ni nanoparticles embedded in thin silica matrix by swift heavy ion irradiation

The field emission (FE) properties of nickel nanoparticles embedded in thin silica matrix irradiated with 100 MeV Au{sup +7} ions at various fluences are studied here. A large increase in FE current density is observed in the irradiated films as compared to their as deposited counterpart. The dependence of FE properties on irradiation fluence is correlated with surface roughness, density of states of valence band and size distribution of nanoparticles as examined with atomic force microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering. A current density as high as 0.48 mA/cm{sup 2} at an applied field 15 V/μm has been found for the first time for planar field emitters in the film irradiated with fluence of 5.0 × 10{sup 13} ions/cm{sup 2}. This significant enhancement in the current density is attributed to an optimized size distribution along with highest surface roughness of the same. This new member of field emission family meets most of the requirements of cold cathodes for vacuum micro/nanoelectronic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Lowering the density of electronic defects on organic-functionalized Si(100) surfaces

The electrical quality of functionalized, oxide-free silicon surfaces is critical for chemical sensing, photovoltaics, and molecular electronics applications. In contrast to Si/SiO{sub 2} interfaces, the density of interface states (D{sub it}) cannot be reduced by high temperature annealing because organic layers decompose above 300 °C. While a reasonable D{sub it} is achieved on functionalized atomically flat Si(111) surfaces, it has been challenging to develop successful chemical treatments for the technologically relevant Si(100) surfaces. We demonstrate here that recent advances in the chemical preparation of quasi-atomically-flat, H-terminated Si(100) surfaces lead to a marked suppression of electronic states of functionalized surfaces. Using a non-invasive conductance-voltage method to study functionalized Si(100) surfaces with varying roughness, a D{sub it} as low as 2.5 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −2}eV{sup −1} is obtained for the quasi-atomically-flat surfaces, in contrast to >7 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −2}eV{sup −1} on atomically rough Si(100) surfaces. The interfacial quality of the organic/quasi-atomically-flat Si(100) interface is very close to that obtained on organic/atomically flat Si(111) surfaces, opening the door to applications previously thought to be restricted to Si(111)

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Computational study of heterojunction graphene nanoribbon tunneling transistors with p-d orbital tight-binding method

The graphene nanoribbon (GNR) tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) has been a promising candidate for a future low power logic device due to its sub-60 mV/dec subthreshold characteristic and its superior gate control on the channel electrons due to its one-dimensional nature. Even though many theoretical studies have been carried out, it is not clear that GNR TFETs would outperform conventional silicon metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). With rigorous atomistic simulations using the p/d orbital tight-binding model, this study focuses on the optimization of GNR TFETs by tuning the doping density and the size of GNRs. It is found that the optimized GNR TFET can operate at a half of the supply voltage of silicon nanowire MOSFETs in the ballistic limit. However, a study on the effects of edge roughness on the performance of the optimized GNR TFET structure reveals that experimentally feasible edge roughness can deteriorates the on-current performance if the off-current is normalized with the low power requirement specified in the international technology roadmap for semiconductors.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coupled Dzyaloshinskii walls and their current-induced dynamics by the spin Hall effect

The nucleation of domain walls in ultrathin ferromagnetic/heavy-metal bilayers is studied by means of micromagnetic simulations. In the presence of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, the nucleated walls naturally adopt a homochiral configuration with internal magnetization pointing antiparallely. The interaction between these walls was analyzed and described in terms of a classical dipolar force between the magnetic moments of the walls, which couples their dynamics. Additionally, the current-induced motion of two homochiral walls in the presence of longitudinal fields was also studied by means of a simple one-dimensional model and micromagnetic modeling, considering both one free-defect strip and another one with random edge roughness. It is evidenced that in the presence of pinning due to edge roughness, the in-plane longitudinal field introduces an asymmetry in the current-induced depinning, in agreement with recent experimental results.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Importance of growth direction in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

We report on the effect of growth direction on the performance of mid-infrared Quantum Cascade lasers. The design used has a symmetric active core, capable of operating under both negative and positive polarities, which allows to test for residual growth asymmetries such as interface roughness and dopant migration. Calculations of scattering lifetimes from interface roughness and ionized impurities suggest a dominant contribution from the former, with devices biased positively averaging ∼15% larger broadening and ∼50% shorter upper state lifetime than negatively biased devices. Experimental results for positively biased devices show at least 30% larger broadening and 35% lower electroluminescence peak intensity than those biased negatively, in good agreement with the modeling results.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhanced surface flashover strength in vacuum of polymethylmethacrylate by surface modification using atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge

Polymer materials, such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), are widely used as insulators in vacuum. The insulating performance of a high-voltage vacuum system is mainly limited by surface flashover of the insulators rather than bulk breakdown. Non-thermal plasmas are an efficient method to modify the chemical and physical properties of polymer material surfaces, and enhance the surface insulating performance. In this letter, an atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge is used to treat the PMMA surface to improve the surface flashover strength in vacuum. Experimental results indicate that the plasma treatment method using Ar and CF{sub 4} (10:1) as the working gas can etch the PMMA surface, introduce fluoride groups to the surface, and then alter the surface characteristics of the PMMA. The increase in the surface roughness can introduce physical traps that can capture free electrons, and the fluorination can enhance the charge capturing ability. The increase in the surface roughness and the introduction of the fluoride groups can enhance the PMMA hydrophobic ability, improve the charge capturing ability, decrease the secondary electron emission yield, increase the surface resistance, and improve the surface flashover voltage in vacuum.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Optical properties of metals: Infrared emissivity in the anomalous skin effect spectral region

When the penetration depth of an electromagnetic wave in a metal is similar to the mean free path of the conduction electrons, the Drude classical theory is no longer satisfied and the skin effect becomes anomalous. Physical parameters of this theory for twelve metals were calculated and analyzed. The theory predicts an emissivity peak ε{sub peak} at room temperature in the mid-infrared for smooth surface metals that moves towards larger wavelengths as temperature decreases. Furthermore, the theory states that ε{sub peak} increases with the emission angle but its position, λ{sub peak}, is constant. Copper directional emissivity measurements as well as emissivity obtained using optical constants data confirm the predictions of the theory. Considering the relationship between the specularity parameter p and the sample roughness, it is concluded that p is not the simple parameter it is usually assumed to be. Quantitative comparison between experimental data and theoretical predictions shows that the specularity parameter can be equal to one for roughness values larger than those predicted. An exhaustive analysis of the experimental optical parameters shows signs of a reflectance broad peak in Cu, Al, Au, and Mo around the wavelength predicted by the theory for p = 1.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Accurate potential drop sheet resistance measurements of laser-doped areas in semiconductors

It is investigated how potential drop sheet resistance measurements of areas formed by laser-assisted doping in crystalline Si wafers are affected by typically occurring experimental factors like sample size, inhomogeneities, surface roughness, or coatings. Measurements are obtained with a collinear four point probe setup and a modified transfer length measurement setup to measure sheet resistances of laser-doped lines. Inhomogeneities in doping depth are observed from scanning electron microscope images and electron beam induced current measurements. It is observed that influences from sample size, inhomogeneities, surface roughness, and coatings can be neglected if certain preconditions are met. Guidelines are given on how to obtain accurate potential drop sheet resistance measurements on laser-doped regions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Graphene induced remote surface scattering in graphene/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

The mobilities of single-layer graphene combined with AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on two-dimensional electron gases in graphene/AlGaN/GaN double heterojunction are calculated. The impact of electron density in single-layer graphene is also studied. Remote surface roughness (RSR) and remote interfacial charge (RIC) scatterings are introduced into this heterostructure. The mobilities limited by RSR and RIC are an order of magnitude higher than that of interface roughness and misfit dislocation. This study contributes to designing structures for generation of higher electron mobility in graphene/AlGaN/GaN double heterojunction.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Strain relaxation of thick (11–22) semipolar InGaN layer for long wavelength nitride-based device

In this study, the properties of thick stress-relaxed (11–22) semipolar InGaN layers were investigated. Owing to the inclination of growth orientation, misfit dislocations (MDs) occurred at the heterointerface when the strain state of the (11–22) semipolar InGaN layers reached the critical point. We found that unlike InGaN layers based on polar and nonpolar growth orientations, the surface morphologies of the stress-relaxed (11–22) semipolar InGaN layers did not differ from each other and were similar to the morphology of the underlying GaN layer. In addition, misfit strain across the whole InGaN layer was gradually relaxed by MD formation at the heterointerface. To minimize the effect of surface roughness and defects in GaN layers on the InGaN layer, we conducted further investigation on a thick (11–22) semipolar InGaN layer grown on an epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN template. We found that the lateral indium composition across the whole stress-relaxed InGaN layer was almost uniform. Therefore, thick stress-relaxed (11–22) semipolar InGaN layers are suitable candidates for use as underlying layers in long-wavelength devices, as they can be used to control strain accumulation in the heterostructure active region without additional influence of surface roughness.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Thin silicon foils produced by epoxy-induced spalling of silicon for high efficiency solar cells

We report on the drastic improvement of the quality of thin silicon foils produced by epoxy-induced spalling. In the past, researchers have proposed to fabricate silicon foils by spalling silicon substrates with different stress-inducing materials to manufacture thin silicon solar cells. However, the reported values of effective minority carrier lifetime of the fabricated foils remained always limited to ∼100 μs or below. In this work, we investigate epoxy-induced exfoliated foils by electron spin resonance to analyze the limiting factors of the minority carrier lifetime. These measurements highlight the presence of disordered dangling bonds and dislocation-like defects generated by the exfoliation process. A solution to remove these defects compatible with the process flow to fabricate solar cells is proposed. After etching off less than 1 μm of material, the lifetime of the foil increases by more than a factor of 4.5, reaching a value of 461 μs. This corresponds to a lower limit of the diffusion length of more than 7 times the foil thickness. Regions with different lifetime correlate well with the roughness of the crack surface which suggests that the lifetime is now limited by the quality of the passivation of rough surfaces. The reported values of the minority carrier lifetime show a potential for high efficiency (>22%) thin silicon solar cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Adjustable ferromagnetic resonance frequency in CoO/CoFeB system

Static and dynamic properties of (CoO/CoFeB){sub n} multilayers have been investigated. An anisotropy field enhancement was evidenced when the CoO layer was deposited under the CoFeB layer. Tuning the relative CoFeB and CoO layers thicknesses, high ferromagnetic resonance frequencies up to 4 GHz were achieved. The coupling effect between the CoO and CoFeB layers was induced by a dipolar coupling due to the anisotropic roughness topology of the CoO layer. This anisotropic roughness was induced by the deposition geometry and evidenced by atomic force microscopy. The strength of the dipolar interfacial coupling was calculated thanks to Schlömann's model. Multilayer stacks were fabricated and the magnetic properties observed for the trilayers could be maintained.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Note: A stand on the basis of atomic force microscope to study substrates for imaging optics

A description of a stand based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) for roughness measurements of large optical components with arbitrary surfaces is given. The sample under study is mounted on a uniaxial goniometer which allows the sample to be tilted in the range of ±30°. The inclination enables the local normal along the axis of the probe to be established at any point of the surface under study. A comparison of the results of the measurement of noise and roughness of a flat quartz sample, in the range of spatial frequencies 0.025–70 μm{sup −1}, obtained from “standard” AFM and developed versions is given. Within the experimental error, the measurement results were equivalent. Examples of applications of the stand for the study of substrates for X-ray optics are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Coupling capacitance between double quantum dots tunable by the number of electrons in Si quantum dots

Tunability of capacitive coupling in the Si double-quantum-dot system is discussed by changing the number of electrons in quantum dots (QDs), in which the QDs are fabricated using pattern-dependent oxidation (PADOX) of a Si nanowire and multi-fine-gate structure. A single QD formed by PADOX is divided into multiple QDs by additional oxidation through the gap between the fine gates. When the number of electrons occupying the QDs is large, the coupling capacitance increases gradually and almost monotonically with the number of electrons. This phenomenon is attributed to the gradual growth in the effective QD size due to the increase in the number of electrons in the QDs. On the other hand, when the number of electrons changes in the few-electron regime, the coupling capacitance irregularly changes. This irregularity can be observed even up to 40 electrons. This behavior is attributable the rough structure of Si nano-dots made by PADOX. This roughness is thought to induce complicated change in the electron wave function when an electron is added to or subtracted from a QD.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗