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Results for “UV-ozone”

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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DOE OSTI2026

Enhancing mobility and interface state engineering via UV-ozone treatment in BEOL-compatible ultrathin TiO 2 transistors

It has emerged as a potential candidate to improve the performance of monolithic-three-dimensional (M3D) integration of fused logic and memories through low-temperature in situ synthesis of high-performance metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) transistors. Here, we report the demonstration of the BEOL-compatible low thermal budget (350 °C) fabrication process of ultrathin-TiO2 transistors by the combination of RTA and UV-ozone treatment (RTA-UVOz). UV–ozone (UVOz) treatment of TiO2 anatase films significantly enhances stability, boosting ION current and field effect mobility (μ FE ) by two times of magnitude in TiO2 TFTs. UV ozone treatment helps to eliminate pre-existing oxygen vacancies and carbon contamination on TiO2 channels even at low temperature (100 °C), resulting in high-quality channel/dielectric interfaces with low interface states (D it ). During UVOz treatment, oxygen species (O x ) passivate the oxygen vacancies ($V$$^{2+}_{o}$), and hence low concentration of $V$$^{2+}_{o}$ would be left for ionization/de-ionization under PBS/NBS, leading to improved bias stress stability. Furthermore, the TiO 2 TFTs with thin ZrO 2 gate dielectric exhibited excellent performance including a lower subthreshold swing (SS) of 98 mV/dec with high drive I ON current ∼ 4.5 μA/μm, a high I ON /I OFF > 10 9 , and mobility μFE of 7 cm 2 /V-s under a battery powered voltage of 1 V. UV–ozone treatment enables high-performance, CMOS-compatible TiO 2 transistors with a low thermal budget, ideal for next-generation flexible, energy-efficient electronics.

BEOL↗

DOE OSTI2026

Super-Resolved Single-Molecule Tracking Studies of Rhodamine B Accumulation on Fresh and Aged Polyethylene Terephthalate

It is well-known that toxic organic micropollutants (OMs) accumulate on the surfaces of microplastics. However, much remains to be learned about the exact molecular level mechanisms of OM accumulation and how these evolve as the plastics age. In this work, super-resolved single-molecule tracking (SMT) is used for the first time to investigate the accumulation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye on fresh and artificially aged polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surfaces. PET thin films serve as models for microplastics, while RhB serves as a proxy for the OMs they accumulate. Artificial aging of the films is accomplished by exposing them in a UV-ozone chamber. Water contact angle, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and carbonyl index measurements reveal a gradual decrease in film hydrophobicity, thickness, and carbonyl content with age. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) data reveal an increase in surface roughness and confirm that the films remain largely intact and continuous across the aging times explored. In SMT experiments, wide-field fluorescence videos acquired from the water/PET interface under 7.5 pM RhB reveal both mobile and immobile dye molecules. Measurements of the frame-to-frame displacements of the dye show that diffusion occurs by a desorption-mediated mechanism and that the diffusion rate varies with PET film age. The surface density of mobile dye molecules decreases with increasing PET age, while the population of immobile molecules becomes relatively larger, suggesting an age-dependent transformation of the mechanism(s) by which the dye is accumulated. SMT data reveal that both mobile and immobile molecules repeatedly adsorb over the same surface sites, consistent with the emergence of nanoscale PET surface heterogeneity also revealed by AFM. Estimates of the adsorption coefficients are obtained using a nearest-neighbor analysis, giving values from 9.9 × 10 5 to 2.1 × 10 6 M –1 for immobile molecules and from 1.8 × 10 5 to 2.5 × 10 5 M –1 for mobile molecules on fresh and 5 min aged PET, respectively. Here, anomalous age-dependent variations in the velocity of molecular motion on the PET surface and in the population of immobile molecules are shown to correlate with changes in the strength of RhB adsorption.

Adsorption↗

NASA NTRS2026

Hydrofluoroether (HFE) Cleaning Fluid Replacement and Qualification

This NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Technical Assessment Report addresses the urgent need to identify, test, and qualify replacement cleaning solvents and technologies following 3M’s decision to discontinue production of hydrofluoroether (HFE) products, including Novec HFE-7100, by the end of 2025. HFE-7100 is widely used across NASA for precision cleaning of ground and flight hardware, especially in oxygen system components, and as a heat transfer fluid in high-power-density thermal control systems. The assessment evaluates commercially available replacement solvents, alternative cleaning technologies, and their compatibility with NASA’s operational requirements. Key findings include the identification of viable solvent replacements, their performance in contaminant removal, materials compatibility, and oxygen system safety. The report also explores novel cleaning approaches, including aqueous, supercritical CO₂, cryogenic aerosol, plasma, UV-ozone, magnetically optimized fluids, and induced charge active filtration, highlighting their merits, limitations, and readiness for NASA adoption. The NESC provides recommendations for solvent selection, facility adaptation, and continued technology maturation to ensure mission continuity and regulatory compliance.

Alternative Cleaning Technologies↗