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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Local conductance: A means to extract polarization and depolarizing fields near domain walls in ferroelectrics

Conducting atomic force microscopy images of bulk semiconducting BaTiO{sub 3} surfaces show clear stripe domain contrast. High local conductance correlates with strong out-of-plane polarization (mapped independently using piezoresponse force microscopy), and current-voltage characteristics are consistent with dipole-induced alterations in Schottky barriers at the metallic tip-ferroelectric interface. Indeed, analyzing current-voltage data in terms of established Schottky barrier models allows relative variations in the surface polarization, and hence the local domain structure, to be determined. Fitting also reveals the signature of surface-related depolarizing fields concentrated near domain walls. Domain information obtained from mapping local conductance appears to be more surface-sensitive than that from piezoresponse force microscopy. In the right materials systems, local current mapping could therefore represent a useful complementary technique for evaluating polarization and local electric fields with nanoscale resolution.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic anisotropies in epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/GaAs(100) patterned structures

Previous studies on epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} rings in the context of spin-transfer torque effect have revealed complicated and undesirable domain structures, attributed to the intrinsic fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the ferrite. In this Letter, we report a viable solution to this problem, utilizing a 6-nm-thick epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} thin film on GaAs(100), where the fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy is negligible. We demonstrate that in the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} planar wires patterned from our thin film, such a unique magnetic anisotropy system has been preserved, and relatively simple magnetic domain configurations compared to those previous reports can be obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dynamics of spintronic materials: Exploration in the time and frequency domain

X-ray and neutron reflectivity are mature experimental techniques for the exploration of film thicknesses and interface roughnesses on the nanoscale. Combining with photon and neutron polarization, these methods can be carried forward to the analysis of magnetic thin films and magnetic domain structures. New opportunities open up when these methods are used either in the time or in the frequency domain. Then dynamical processes can be studied such as domain oscillations, domain propagation, precession of spins, and damping effects. Two methods are discussed which have been developed recently: polarized neutron reflectivity from magnetic films in an alternating magnetic field and time resolved resonant magnetic x-ray reflectivity of the free precessional dynamics in films and multilayers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Flexosensitive polarization vortices in thin ferroelectric films

In this work, we present a theoretical study on the influence of the flexoelectric coupling on the spatial distribution and temperature behavior of the spontaneous polarization for several types of stable domain structure in thin ferroelectric films, such as stripe domains and vortices. Finite-element modeling (FEM) for BaTiO 3 films and analytical calculations within the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire approach reveals that an out-of-plane polarization component can be very sensitive to the flexoelectric coupling for periodic quasi-2D stripe domains and 3D vortex-antivortex structures. However, the influence is rather different for these structures. The flexoelectric coupling increases significantly the amplitude of a small out-of-plane polarization component in the stripe domains, and the “up” or “down” direction of the component is defined by the sign of the flexoelectric coefficients. Concerning the vortex-antivortex pairs, their antivortices with in-plane antiсirculation have smooth wide dipolar cores through the entire film, whose shape and other features are almost insensitive to the coupling. The vortices with in-plane vorticity have spikelike cores with an out-of-plane quadrupolar moment induced by the flexoelectric coupling. The cores are located near the film–dead-layer interfaces. FEM results corroborated by analytical calculations prove that a change of the flexoelectric coefficient sign leads to a reorientation of the core axial polarization, making the flexosensitive 3D vortices similar to the recently introduced “flexons” in cylindrical nanoparticles. The relatively wide temperature range (from 200 to 400 K) of the flexosensitive vortices' existence gives us confidence that they can be observed experimentally in thin ferroelectric films by scanning-probe and nonlinear optical microscopy methods.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Study of the surface heterogeneity of topographic and electric nature by atomic force microscopy by the example of triglycine sulfate

Triglycine sulfate crystals with an ideal (010) cleavage plane are used as model objects to reveal problems in interpreting atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of surfaces with nonuniform charge distribution. Specific microrelief features of two types are found: lenslike formations with different contrast and rounded protrusions/valleys of different size but fixed height. An analysis of their evolution with a change in temperature and under an electric field and mechanical impacts has made it possible to separate relief elements from the crystal domain structure. The interpretation proposed is confirmed by the multimode AFM data. The specific features of the images of dynamic domains and aged domains (which cannot undergo polarization reversal) are studied. The domain-wall width found in the AFM measurements depends on the technique used and the specificity of probe-surface interaction; it varies from 9 to 2000 nm. The most reliable data on the domain-wall width in triglycine sulfate crystals are provided by piezoelectric force microscopy, according to which the wall width does not exceed 30 nm.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Polarized light microscopy study on the reentrant phase transition in a (Ba 1–x K x )Fe 2 As 2 single crystal with x = 0.24

In this study, a sequence of structural/magnetic transitions on cooling is reported in the literature for hole-doped iron-based superconductor (Ba 1–x K x )Fe 2 As 2 with x = 0.24. By using polarized light microscopy, we directly observe the formation of orthorhombic domains in (Ba 1–x K x )Fe 2 As 2 (x = 0.24) single crystal below a temperature of simultaneous structural/magnetic transition T N ~ 80 K. The structural domains vanish below ~30 K, but reappear below T = 15 K. Our results are consistent with reentrance transformation sequence from high-temperature tetragonal (HTT) to low temperature orthorhombic (LTO1) structure at T N ~ 80 K, LTO1 to low temperature tetragonal (LTT) structure at T c ~ 25 K, and LTT to low temperature orthorhombic (LTO2) structure at T ~ 15 K.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2003

Physical and Structural Studies on the Cryo-cooling of Insulin Crystals

Reflection profiles were analyzed from microgravity-(mg) and earth-grown insulin crystals to measure mosaicity (h) and to reveal mosaic domain structure and composition. The effects of cryocooling on single and multi-domain crystals were compared. The effects of cryocooling on insulin structure were also re-examined. Microgravity crystals were larger, more homogeneous, and more perfect than earth crystals. Several mg crystals contained primarily a single mosaic domain with havg of 0.005deg. The earth crystals varied in quality and all contained multiple domains with havg of 0.031deg. Cryocooling caused a 43-fold increase in h for mg crystals (havg=0.217deg) and an %fold increase for earth crystals (havg=0.246deg). These results indicate that very well-ordered crystals are not completely protected from the stresses associated with cryocooling, especially when structural perturbations occur. However, there were differences in the reflection profiles. For multi-mosaic domain crystals, each domain individually broadened and separated from the other domains upon cryo-cooling. Cryo-cooling did not cause an increase in the number of domains. A crystal composed of a single domain retained this domain structure and the reflection profiles simply broadened. Therefore, an improved signal-to-noise ratio for each reflection was measured from cryo-cooled single domain crystals relative to cryo-cooled multi-domain crystals. This improved signal, along with the increase in crystal size, facilitated the measurement of the weaker high- resolution reflections. The observed broadening of reflection profiles indicates increased variation in unit cell dimensions which may be linked to cryo-cooling-associated structural changes and disorder.

Lovelace, J.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation of ferroelectric domains in thin films of vinylidene fluoride oligomers

High-resolution vector piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has been used to investigate ferroelectric domains in thin vinylidene fluoride oligomer films fabricated by the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition technique. Molecular chains are found to be preferentially oriented normal to the substrate, and PFM imaging shows that the films are in ferroelectric β-phase with a predominantly in-plane polarization, in agreement with infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray diffraction measurements. The fractal analysis of domain structure has yielded the Hausdorff dimension (D) in the range of ∼1.3–1.5 indicating a random-bond nature of the disorder potential, with domain size exhibiting Landau-Lifshitz-Kittel scaling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

The dynamic Atg13-free conformation of the Atg1 EAT domain is required for phagophore expansion

Yeast macroautophagy begins with the de novo formation of a double-membrane phagophore at the preautophagosomal structure/phagophore assembly site (PAS), followed by its expansion into the autophagosome responsible for cargo engulfment. The kinase Atg1 is recruited to the PAS by Atg13 through interactions between the EAT domain of the former and the tMIM motif of the latter. Mass-spectrometry data have shown that, in the absence of Atg13, the EAT domain structure is strikingly dynamic, but the function of this Atg13-free dynamic state has been unclear. We used structure-based mutational analysis and quantitative and superresolution microscopy to show that Atg1 is present on autophagic puncta at, on average, twice the stoichiometry of Atg13. Moreover, Atg1 colocalizes with the expanding autophagosome in a manner dependent on Atg8 but not Atg13. We used isothermal titration calorimetry and crystal structure information to design an EAT domain mutant allele ATG1 DD that selectively perturbs the function of the Atg13-free state. Atg1 DD shows reduced PAS formation and does not support phagophore expansion, showing that the EAT domain has an essential function that is separate from its Atg13-dependent role in autophagy initiation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1981

A new view of Baryon symmetric cosmology based on grand unified theories

Within the framework of grand unified theories, it is shown how spontaneous CP violation leads to a domain structure in the universe with the domains evolving into separate regions of matter and antimatter excesses. Subsequent to exponential horizon growth, this can result in a universe of matter galaxies and antimatter galaxies. Various astrophysical data appear to favor this form of big bang cosmology. Future direct tests for cosmologically significant antimatter are discussed.

Stecker, F. W.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Direct Observation of Electron Distributions Inside Millisecond Duration Electron Holes

Despite the importance of millisecond duration spatial structures [chorus wave nonlinearity or time domain structures (TDS)] to plasma dynamics, there have been no direct observations of the generation and interaction of these waves and TDS with electrons at the millisecond timescale required for their understanding. Through superposition of 0.195 ms Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellite electron measurements inside 37 superposed, millisecond duration electron holes, the first observations of electron spectra and pitch angle distributions on a submillisecond timescale have been obtained. They show that keV electrons inside the superposed electron hole are accelerated by several hundred volts and that the spectrum of electrons inside the electron hole contain several maxima and minima that are explained by a model of electron energy changes on entering the holes. We report the first observation of trapped electrons inside the TDS, in accordance with the theoretical requirement that such electrons must be present in order to form the phase space holes. Mechanisms of electron acceleration by electron holes (through perpendicular energy gain as the TDS moves into a converging magnetic field) and scattering (due to the perpendicular electric field) are discussed.

Mozer, F. S.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Novel technique for spatially resolved imaging of molecular bond orientations using x-ray birefringence

Birefringence has been observed in anisotropic materials transmitting linearly polarized X-ray beams tuned close to an absorption edge of a specific element in the material. Synchrotron bending magnets provide X-ray beams of sufficiently high brightness and cross section for spatially resolved measurements of birefringence. The recently developed X-ray Birefringence Imaging (XBI) technique has been successfully applied for the first time using the versatile test beamline B16 at Diamond Light Source. Orientational distributions of the C–Br bonds of brominated “guest” molecules within crystalline “host” tunnel structures (in thiourea or urea inclusion compounds) have been studied using linearly polarized incident X-rays near the Br K-edge. Imaging of domain structures, changes in C–Br bond orientations associated with order-disorder phase transitions, and the effects of dynamic averaging of C–Br bond orientations have been demonstrated. The XBI setup uses a vertically deflecting high-resolution double-crystal monochromator upstream from the sample and a horizontally deflecting single-crystal polarization analyzer downstream, with a Bragg angle as close as possible to 45°. In this way, the ellipticity and rotation angle of the polarization of the beam transmitted through the sample is measured as in polarizing optical microscopy. The theoretical instrumental background calculated from the elliptical polarization of the bending-magnet X-rays, the imperfect polarization discrimination of the analyzer, and the correlation between vertical position and photon energy introduced by the monochromator agrees well with experimental observations. The background is calculated analytically because the region of X-ray phase space selected by this setup is sampled inefficiently by standard methods.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Magnetic Imaging of Domain Walls in the Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi 2 Te 4

The control of domain walls or spin textures is crucial for spintronic applications of antiferromagnets. Despite many efforts, it has been challenging to directly visualize antiferromagnetic domains or domain walls with nanoscale resolution, especially in magnetic field. Here, we report magnetic imaging of domain walls in several uniaxial antiferromagnets, the topological insulator MnBi 2 Te 4 family, using cryogenic magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Our MFM results reveal higher magnetic susceptibility inside the domain walls than in domains. Domain walls in these antiferromagnets form randomly with strong thermal and magnetic field dependence. Here, the direct visualization of these domain walls and domain structures in the magnetic field will not only facilitate the exploration of intrinsic topological phenomena in antiferromagnetic topological insulators but will also open a new path toward control and manipulation of domain walls or spin textures in functional antiferromagnets.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Modulation of the magnetic domain size induced by an electric field

The electric field (EF) effect on the magnetic domain structure of a Pt/Co system was studied, where an EF was applied to the top surface of the Co layer. The width of the maze domain was significantly modified by the application of the EF at a temperature slightly below the Curie temperature. After a detailed analysis, a change in the microscopic exchange stiffness induced by the EF application was suggested to dominate the modulation of the domain width observed in the experiment. The accumulation of electrons at the surface of the Co layer resulted in an increase in the microscopic exchange stiffness and the Curie temperature. The result was consistent with the recent theoretical prediction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The role of weak interlayer coupling in the spin-reorientation of perpendicular ultrathin Co-Fe-B/MgO-based heterostructures

Ultrathin magnetic tunneling structures implicate fundamental interlayer exchange coupling between magnetic layers. Here, we describe its important role in the spin-reorientation transition of weakly coupled perpendicular ultrathin Ta/Co-Fe-B/MgO/Co-Fe-B/Ta heterostructures. Near the spin-reorientation, the domain structure is quite sensitive to weak interlayer exchange coupling. Antiferromagnetic coupling stabilizes homogeneous perpendicular magnetization at the remanence, whereas ferromagnetic coupling favors in-/out-of-plane stripe domains. Close to the spin-reorientation transition, even the subtle changes of interlayer exchange coupling can lead to reversible switching between stable in- and out-of-plane states. Our results suggest that this multi-stability caused by the interplay of perpendicular anisotropy and weak interlayer coupling can be utilized in perpendicular spin torque devices operating under reduced spin currents.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Kinetics of magnetization reversal in a heterophase nanomagnet with spatially modulated anisotropy

Magnetization reversal modes in a thin-film NiFeCuMo ferromagnet (FM) with periodically varying in-plane anisotropy are studied by the magneto-optical indicator film (MOIF) technique. The uni-directional anisotropy in FM regions exchange-coupled to a FeMn antiferromagnet (AFM) film in the form of square mesh stripes is alternated by the uniaxial anisotropy in the FM regions inside this mesh. It is shown that the boundaries formed along the edges of these stripes, which separate FM regions with different anisotropy, crucially influence the kinetics of domain-structure transformation in both types of FM regions. It is established that the lateral exchange anisotropy in the ferromagnet, which is determined by the stabilization of the spin distribution in the FM layer along the FM-(FM/AFM) interface, leads to the asymmetry of the magnetization reversal in FM regions bordered with an FM/AFM structure. Anisotropy of the mobility of 180-degree “charged” and “uncharged” domain walls situated, respectively, perpendicular and parallel to the unidirectional anisotropy axis is revealed. The difference observed between the mobilities of charged and uncharged domain walls is attributed to the difference in the spin distribution in these walls with respect to the unidirectional anisotropy axis and is a key factor for the difference between the magnetization reversal kinetics in horizontal and vertical exchange-biased FM stripes. Drastic differences are revealed in the asymmetry of magnetization reversal processes in mutually perpendicular narrow stripes of FM/AFM structures. Possible mechanisms of magnetization reversal in low-dimensional FM-(FM/AFM) heterostructures are discussed with regard to the effect of domain walls localized on the edges of AFM layers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Magnetic stripe domains of [Pt/Co/Cu]{sub 10} multilayer near spin reorientation transition

The dependence of magnetic anisotropy, magnetic domain patterns and magnetization reversal processes in [Pt/Co(t{sub Co})/Cu]{sub 10} film stack epitaxied on Cu (111) substrate have been studied as a function of the Co layer thickness t{sub Co}, by magneto-optic polar Kerr magnetometry and microscopy. We find the film undergoes spin reorientation transition from out-of-plane to in-plane as t{sub Co} increases. The SRT thickness is verified by Rotating-field Magneto-Optic Kerr effect method. The film exhibits the stripe domain structures at remanence with the width decreasing while t{sub Co} approaches SRT. As demonstrated by the first order reversal curve measurement, the magnetization reversal process encompasses irreversible domain nucleation, domain annihilation at large field and reversible domain switching near remanence.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Relaxation of the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic–superconducting layered structure

We have proposed a real-time method of neutron reflectometry. The magnetic state of the Ta/V/FM/Nb/Si ferromagnetic–superconducting system has been analyzed. Relaxation of the inhomogeneous magnetic state with a characteristic time of several hours, which depends on the magnetic field magnitude and temperature, has been observed. The relaxation of the domain structure has changed upon a transition of the V and Nb layers to the superconducting state. It has been concluded that real-time reflectometry data for polarized neutrons are important for determining the origin of magnetism in ferromagnetic–superconducting layered structures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗