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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Laboratory CO2 photolysis studies related to planetary atmospheres

The CO(a 3II) state, the upper state of the Cameron bands, was characterized with respect to its average radiative lifetime and its quenching coefficients for a series of simple molecules. The CO2 recombination reaction (O(3P) + CO + M yields CO2 + M) was studied as a function of temperature. For M = CO, the rate constant can be expressed as k = 6.5 x 10/33 exp(-4340 plus or minus 550/RT) cm to the 6th power molec/2 sec/1, whereas the rate for M = CO2, the pertinent species in the planetary atmospheres, is 1.6 times greater. The quantum yield for CO2 photodissociation was measured in the 1200-1500 A region, using atomic line sources. The yield throughout this spectral region was much lower than that measured at 1470 A, the lowest value obtained being 8% at 1304 A.

Slanger, T. G.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The ionization equilibrium of astrophysically abundant elements

The paper presents new calculations of ionization equilibrium fractions of 11 abundant elements (C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe, Ni) as functions of temperature. Convenient coefficients for fitting the rates of collisional ionization, radiative recombination, and dielectronic recombination are also tabulated. Many of the ionization rates are based on recent experimental measurements of cross sections for collisional ionization and autoionization following inner-shell excitation. These rates are used elsewhere in computations of nonequilibrium ionization, radiative cooling, radiative shock models, and plasma emission diagnostics.

Shull, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Evidence for gain on the C VI 182 A transition in a radiation-cooled selenium/Formvar plasma

Thin plastic foils coated with selenium have been irradiated using from 4 to 8 beams of the OMEGA laser in a line focus configuration. Spectra were recorded using a 3 meter spectrograph that viewed the plasma along the line focus. Based on a comparison of the intensities of the spectral lines from plasmas with lengths of 1.7, 3.4, 6.8, and 13.6 mm, the C VI n = 3 to 2 transition at 182 A was anomalously intense in the spectra from the longer plasmas. Calculations indicate that the carbon plasma was cooled by radiation from the highly-charged selenium plasma in a time that was smaller than the expansion time of the plasma. These plasma conditions are favorable for the occurrence of population inversions between the n = 2 and 3 levels of C VI resulting from recombination and cascading from higher levels. The measured gain coefficient for the C VI 182 A transition is 3/cm, and this corresponds to a gain-length product of 4 in the longest plasma.

Seely, J. F.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamics of carrier injection through V-defects in long wavelength GaN LEDs

The efficiency of high-power operation of multiple quantum well (QW) light emitting diodes (LEDs) to a large degree depends on the realization of uniform hole distribution between the QWs. In long wavelength InGaN/GaN QW LEDs, the thermionic interwell hole transport is hindered by high GaN barriers. However, in polar LED structures, these barriers may be circumvented by the lateral hole injection via semipolar {$10\bar{1}1$} QWs that form on the facets of V-defects. The efficiency of such carrier transfer depends on the transport time since transport in the semipolar QWs is competed by recombination. In this work, we study the carrier transfer from the semipolar to polar QWs by time-resolved photoluminescence in long wavelength (green to red) LEDs. We find that the carrier transfer through the semipolar QWs is fast, a few tens of picoseconds with the estimated room temperature ambipolar diffusion coefficient of ∼5.5 cm 2 /s. With diffusion much faster than recombination, the hole transport from the p-side of the structure to the polar QWs should proceed without a substantial loss, contributing to the high efficiency of long wavelength GaN LEDs.

Crystallographic defects↗
NASA NTRS1984

Temperature-dependent reaction-rate expression for oxygen recombination at Shuttle entry conditions

A temperature-dependent oxygen surface reaction-rate coefficient has been determined from experimental STS-2 heating and wall temperature data at altitudes of 77.91 km, 74.98 km, and 71.29 km. The coefficient is presented in an Arrhenius form and is shown to be less temperature dependent than previous results. Finite-rate viscous-shock-layer heating rates based on this present expression have been compared with predicted heating rates using the previous rate coefficients and with experimental heating data obtained over an extensive range of STS-2 and STS-3 entry conditions. A substantial improvement is obtained in comparison of experimental data and predicted heating rates using the present oxygen reaction-rate expression.

Zoby, E. V.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Effects of grain boundaries in polycrystalline solar cells

In polycrystalline solar cells, the short-circuit current is reduced (compared to single-crystal cells) due to recombination of minority carriers at the grain boundaries. The magnitude of this reduction is calculated for the case of a monochromatic beam of light, assuming that both the light beam and the grain boundaries are perpendicular to a p-n junction. The photoresponse of the junction is calculated in terms of the absorption coefficient of the light, the minority-carrier diffusion length, the surface recombination velocity at the grain boundary and the distance of the light beam from the grain boundary. The analysis gives an expression for an effective grain boundary width which depends on wavelength. This width determines the reduction in short-circuit current of solar cells made from material with columnar-type grains.

Zook, J. D.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Iodine Vacancies do not Cause Nonradiative Recombination in Halide Perovskites

The iodine vacancy (V I ) has frequently been discussed as a strong nonradiative recombination center in halide perovskites. This proposition was mainly based on the presence of charge-state transition levels in the band gap, as found in early first-principles calculations. In this work, we perform accurate hybrid-density-functional calculations for V I in CsPbI 3 , CsSnI 3 , and CsGeI 3 and find that V I does not have any transition levels in the band gap in CsPbI 3 , in contrast to the results from calculations based on semilocal functionals. The iodine vacancy V I does introduce levels in the band gap in CsSnI 3 and CsGeI 3 , but our explicitly computed nonradiative capture coefficients demonstrate that V I has a negligible impact on nonradiative recombination. Our study corrects a misunderstanding of the role of V I in the iodide-based perovskites, and shifts the focus toward identifying and mitigating actual recombination centers in order to further improve the optoelectronic performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1988

Molecular-Beam-Epitaxy Program

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) computer program developed to aid in design of single- and double-junction cascade cells made of silicon. Cascade cell has efficiency 1 or 2 percent higher than single cell, with twice the open-circuit voltage. Input parameters include doping density, diffusion lengths, thicknesses of regions, solar spectrum, absorption coefficients of silicon (data included for 101 wavelengths), and surface recombination velocities. Results include maximum power, short-circuit current, and open-circuit voltage. Program written in FORTRAN IV.

Sparks, Patricia D.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Modeling arcjet space thrusters

The UTSI arcjet model is used to compare the performance of a hydrogen and an ammonia arcjet in the same configuration and at the same electrical power. The predicted specific impulse is 50 percent higher for the hydrogen propellant. Numerical studies made of the effect of transport properties on the performance of a hydrogen arcjet indicate that diffusive transport is very significant even in the supersonic part of the flow, and that relatively small changes in transport properties can have a significant effect on performance. These studies also show that nonequilibrium recombination chemistry can have a large effect on the transport coefficients. This leads to the conclusion that finite rate chemical calculations are necessary if accurate arcjet performance is to be calculated.

Rhodes, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1972

Dynamics of the molecular and atomic mechanisms for the hydrogen-iodine exchange reaction.

The molecular and atomic mechanisms for the hydrogen-iodine exchange reaction are treated theoretically by means of extensive classical trajectories calculated on a reasonable potential energy surface on which the single adjustable parameter is the iodine-core effective charge. The analysis shows the molecular mechanism to be dynamically forbidden, but gives an over-all rate constant for the atomic mechanism that is in agreement with the experimental values. It is indicated that the formation of a weak H2I complex plays an important dynamical role if the atomic mechanism is limited to reactions with collision complexes involving no more than two hydrogen atoms and two iodine atoms. Excellent agreement with experiment is obtained for the rate constant for the recombination I+I+H2 yields I2+H2 and its negative temperature coefficient.

Raff, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Thickness dependences of solar cell performance

The significance of including factors such as the base resistivity loss for solar cells thicker than 100 microns and emitter and BSF layer recombination for thin cells in predicting the fill factor and efficiency of solar cells is demonstrated analytically. A model for a solar cell is devised with the inclusion of the dopant impurity concentration profile, variation of the electron and hole mobility with dopant concentration, the concentration and thermal capture and emission rates of the recombination center, device temperature, the AM1 spectra and the Si absorption coefficient. Device equations were solved by means of the transmission line technique. The analytical results were compared with those of low-level theory for cell performance. Significant differences in predictions of the fill factor resulted, and inaccuracies in the low-level approximations are discussed.

Sah, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Solar-simulator-pumped atomic iodine laser kinetics

The literature contains broad ranges of disagreement in kinetic data for the atomic iodine laser. A kinetic model of a solar-simulator-pumped iodine laser is used to select those kinetic data consistent with recent laser experiments at the Langley Research Center. Analysis of the solar-simulator-pumped laser experiments resulted in the following estimates of rate coefficients: for alkyl radical (n-C3F7) and atomic iodine (I) recombination, 4.3 x 10 to the 11th power (1.9) + or - cu cm/s; for n-C3F7I stabilized atomic iodine recombination (I + I) 3.7 x 10 to the -32nd power (2.3) + or -1 cm to the 6th power/s; and for molecular iodine (I2) quenching, 3.1 x 10 to the -11th power (1.6) + or - 1 cu cm/s. These rates are consistent with the recent measurements.

Wilson, H. W.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Strain dependence of Auger recombination in 3 μm GaInAsSb/GaSb type-I active regions

We differentiate the effect of strain induced by lattice-mismatched growth from strain induced by mechanical deformation on cubic nonradiative Auger recombination in narrow-gap GaInAsSb/GaSb quantum well (QW) heterostructures. The typical reduction in the Auger coefficient observed with lattice-mismatched growth appears to be due to the concomitant compositional change rather than the addition of strain, with implications for mid-IR semiconductor laser design. We induced a range of internal compressive strain in five samples from -0.90% to -2.07% by varying the composition during the growth and mechanically induced a similar range of internal strain in analogous quantum well membrane samples. We performed time-resolved photoluminescence and differential reflectivity measurements to extract the carrier recombination dynamics, taken at 300 K with carrier densities from 2.7 × 10 18 cm -3 to 1.4 × 10 19 cm -3 . We observed no change with strain in the cubic Auger coefficient of samples that were strained mechanically, but we did observe a trend with strain in samples that were strained by the QW alloy composition. Measured Auger coefficients ranged from 3.0 × 1 0 - 29 cm 6 s -1 to 3.0 × 1 0 - 28 cm 6 s -1 .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Numerical Simulations of Time-Resolved Photoluminescence in CdSexTe1-x/CdTe Solar Cells

We present initial time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) simulations in graded CdSexTe1-e thin-film solar cells to quantify the front-interface recombination velocity, S int,front . Our model includes several composition dependences: bandgap energy, absorption coefficient, electron affinity, and carrier lifetime. Cathodoluminescence spectrum imaging measurements on bevels provide an estimate of the bandgap and the CdSe x Te 1-x alloy composition through the absorber thickness. TRPL decays are simulated as a function of the laser power, S int,front , front-interface band offset, and bulk Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime. We find the impact of S intf,ront on the PL decay increases as the band offset shifts from a "spike" to a "cliff". Recombination rate analysis shows that back-interface recombination could potentially dictate the later part of the TRPL decay "t 2" in high-lifetime CdSe x Te 1-x cells. We briefly discuss ongoing work to determine TRPL measurement conditions that maximize sensitivity to S itnt,front.

CdTe solar cells↗
NASA NTRS1982

Theoretical studies of solar-pumped lasers

Solar-pumped lasers were investigated by comparing experimental results from pulse experiments with steady state calculations. The time varying behavior of an IBr laser is studied. The analysis is only approximate, but indicates that conditions occurring in a pulsed experiment are quite different from those at steady state. The possibility of steady-state lasing in an IBr laser is determined. The effects of high temperatures on the quenching and recombination rates are examined. Although uncertainties in the values of the rate coefficients make it difficult to draw firm conclusions, it seems steady state running may be possible at high temperatures.

Harries, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Calculations of atomic processes in Fe XVII

A synoptic study has been made of the neon-like ion Fe XVII in order to improve knowledge of its line production in high-temperature, low-density plasmas. The following were computed: (1) distorted wave, electron collision strengths from the ground level to all 88 levels with one n = 3 - or n = 4 electron; (2) a complete cascade matrix; (3) the contribution of resonances to the n = 3 level population rates; and (4) the resulting X-ray and EUV line emission coefficients as functions of temperature between T = 10 to the 5.6 and T = 10 to the 8.4 K. Results are presented for typical population rates, line emission coefficients fitted with a useful formula for spectrum calculations, and the dielectronic recombination rate.

Smith, B. W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comprehensive model for evaluating voltage losses and performance improvements in thin-film photovoltaic devices

Progress of state-of-the-art and next-generation thin-film photovoltaic devices is often stymied by open-circuit voltage (𝑉 oc ) that is significantly lower than theoretical and practical limits. Yet, effectively diagnosing the primary sources of voltage loss remains challenging. Herein, a sequence of device-level characterization techniques and simulations are employed to identify and rank loss mechanisms. For the research-based Cd⁡(Se,Te) device under study, most of the loss was at the front semiconductor heterointerface due to a clifflike conduction-band offset that lowered the recombination activation energy. Additional losses due to band tails were quantified by photoluminescence analysis. The latter provided the absorption coefficient and activation energy reduction associated with band tails as inputs to device models. Simulations showed that alleviating front-interface issues would improve 𝑉 oc , but it would then be limited by bulk recombination. Further improvement of the bulk would then lead to back-contact limitations. Reducing band tails is beneficial in any circumstance. In conclusion, this analysis provides guidance for reaching toward the radiative 𝑉 oc limit.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1995

The Dissociative Recombination of OH(+)

Theoretical quantum chemical calculations of the cross sections and rates for the dissociative recombination of the upsilon = 0 level of the ground state of OH(+) show that recombination occurs primarily along the 2 (2)Pi diabatic route. The products are 0((1)D) and a hot H atom with 6.1 eV kinetic energy. The coupling to the resonances is very small and the indirect recombination mechanism plays only a minor role. The recommended value for the rate coefficient is (6.3 +/- 0.7) x 10(exp -9)x (T(e)/1300)(exp -0.48) cu.cm/s for 10 less than T(e) less than 1000 K.

Guberman, Steven L.↗