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Results for “semiconductor”

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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Atomic Scale Characterization of Compound Semiconductors using Atom Probe Tomography: Preprint

Internal interfaces are critical in determining the performance of III-V multijunction solar cells. Studying these interfaces with atomic resolution using a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atom probe tomography (APT), and density functional calculations enables a more fundamental understanding of carrier dynamics in photovoltaic (PV) device structures. To achieve fullatomic scale spatial and chemical resolution, data acquisition parameters in laser pulsed APT must be carefully studied to eliminate surface diffusion. Atom probe data with minimized group V ion clustering and expected stoichiometry can be achieved by adjusting laser pulse power, pulse repetition rate, and specimen preparation parameters such that heat flow away from the evaporating surface ismaximized. Applying these improved analysis conditions to III-V based PV gives an atomic scale understanding of compositional and dopant profiles across interfaces and tunnel junctions and the initial stages of alloy clustering and dopant accumulation. Details on APT experimental methods and future in-situ instrumentation developments are illustrated.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Programmable hyperbolic polaritons in van der Waals semiconductors

Lighting a route for hyperbolic dispersion The propagation of light within a material is usually well defined, with the propagation described by scattering and dispersion. In artificially designed metamaterials and in anisotropic layered materials, the dispersion can be hyperbolic, giving rise to subwavelength confinement of the light. Sternbach et al. show that the hyperbolic dispersion can be optically switched on and off on demand in the layered transition metal dichalcogenide tungsten diselenide (see the Perspective by Deng and Chen). Illuminating the material with ultrafast pulses of sub-bandgap light creates a transient waveguide, resulting in hyperbolic dispersion in the material. The ability to tune the dispersion characteristics on demand using optical pumping is an effective approach for developing ultrafast switching photonic devices and controlling the propagation of light on the nanoscale. Science , this issue p. 617 ; see also p. 572

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quantum Theory of Semiconductor Photo-Catalysis and Solar Water Splitting / Theory and Computation for Semiconductor Catalysis of Solar Water Splitting / Static and Dynamic Thermal Effects in Solids. Final Report

This is the final report. The finished research was published in 27 journal papers listed below. The topics fall roughly into seven categories: Photochemistry of water at the GaN ($10\bar{1}0$) surface; Quasiparticles: Band electrons and Anharmonic phonons; Quasiharmonic theory; Anharmonic lattice thermal conductivity; Water and Ice; Electron-phonon effects; and, Alloy theory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Methods of producing free-standing semiconductors using sacrificial buffer layers and recyclable substrates

A method of producing semiconductor materials and devices that incorporate the semiconductor materials are provided. In particular, a method is provided of producing a semiconductor material, such as a III-V semiconductor, on a spinel substrate using a sacrificial buffer layer, and devices such as photovoltaic cells that incorporate the semiconductor materials. The sacrificial buffer material and semiconductor materials may be deposited using lattice-matching epitaxy or coincident site lattice-matching epitaxy, resulting in a close degree of lattice matching between the substrate material and deposited material for a wide variety of material compositions. The sacrificial buffer layer may be dissolved using an epitaxial liftoff technique in order to separate the semiconductor device from the spinel substrate, and the spinel substrate may be reused in the subsequent fabrication of other semiconductor devices. The low-defect density semiconductor materials produced using this method result in the enhanced performance of the semiconductor devices that incorporate the semiconductor materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1978

Semiconductor heterostructure

A technique for fabricating a semiconductor heterostructure by growth of a ternary semiconductor on a binary semiconductor substrate from a melt of the ternary semiconductor containing less than saturation of at least one common ingredient of both the binary and ternary semiconductors wherein in a single temperature step the binary semiconductor substrate is etched, a p-n junction with specific device characteristics is produced in the binary semiconductor substrate by diffusion of a dopant from the melt and a region of the ternary semiconductor of precise conductivity type and thickness is grown by virtue of a change in the melt characteristics when the etched binary semiconductor enters the melt.

Hovel, Harold John↗
NASA NTRS1979

Semiconductor structure

A technique for fabricating a semiconductor heterostructure by growth of a ternary semiconductor on a binary semiconductor substrate from a melt of the ternary semiconductor containing less than saturation of at least one common ingredient of both the binary and ternary semiconductors wherein in a single temperature step the binary semiconductor substrate is etched, a p-n junction with specific device characteristics is produced in the binary semiconductor substrate by diffusion of a dopant from the melt and a region of the ternary semiconductor of precise conductivity type and thickness is grown by virtue of a change in the melt characteristics when the etched binary semiconductor enters the melt.

Hovel, Harold J.↗
DOE OSTI2018

SeTe alloy semiconductor core optical fibers

Highlights: • Phosphate glass-clad Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core optical fibers were fabricated. • Crystalline Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core optical fibers were successfully obtained. • The fibers can detect light incident on it from at any point along its entire length. • The fibers can be used as stress sensing without the use of optical probing signals. - Abstract: Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core optical fibers with phosphate glass cladding were fabricated by using a reactive molten core approach. The core was found to be amorphous with some oxygen diffusing in from the cladding glass. Crystalline Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} (c-Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5}) semiconductor core fibers were obtained by a post-drawing annealing process. Significant disparities in conductivity under stress and without stress were observed in c-Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core fibers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that stress sensing can be realized in c-Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core optical fibers. This is in contrast to all previous work on stress sensing using fibers, which require the use of optical probing signals. In addition, it is found that more than 60 times change in conductivity between dark and illuminated states in c-Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core fibers. These results demonstrate that c-Se{sub 0.5}Te{sub 0.5} semiconductor core optical fibers have promising applications in stress sensor, photodetector, and optical switch.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectroscopy of Charge Carriers and Traps in Field-Doped Single Crystal Organic Semiconductors

The proposed research aims to achieve quantitative, molecular level understanding of charge carriers and traps in field-doped crystalline organic semiconductors via in situ linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy, in conjunction with transport measurements and molecular/crystal engineering. Organic semiconductors are emerging as viable materials for low-cost electronics and optoelectronics, such as organic photovoltaics (OPV), organic field effect transistors (OFETs), and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Despite extensive studies spanning many decades, a clear understanding of the nature of charge carriers in organic semiconductors is still lacking. It is generally appreciated that polaron formation and charge carrier trapping are two hallmarks associated with electrical transport in organic semiconductors; the former results from the low dielectric constants and weak intermolecular electronic overlap while the latter can be attributed to the prevalence of structural disorder. These properties have lead to the common observation of low charge carrier mobilities, e.g., in the range of 10-5 - 10-3 cm2/Vs, particularly at low carrier concentrations. However, there is also growing evidence that charge carrier mobility approaching those of inorganic semiconductors and metals can exist in some crystalline organic semiconductors, such as pentacene, tetracene and rubrene. A particularly striking example is single crystal rubrene (Figure 1), in which hole mobilities well above 10 cm2/Vs have been observed in OFETs operating at room temperature. Temperature dependent transport and spectroscopic measurements both revealed evidence of free carriers in rubrene. Outstanding questions are: what are the structural features and physical properties that make rubrene so unique? How do we establish fundamental design principles for the development of other organic semiconductors of high mobility? These questions are critically important but not comprehensive, as the nature of charge carriers is known to evolve as the carrier concentration increases, due to the presence of intrinsic disorder in organic semiconductors. Thus, a complementary question is: how does the nature of charge transport change as a function of carrier concentration?

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗