Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Defect kinetics”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

399 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Structural and mechanical properties of monolayer amorphous carbon and boron nitride

Amorphous materials exhibit various characteristics that are not featured by crystals and can sometimes be tuned by their degree of disorder (DOD). Here, we report results on the mechanical properties of monolayer amorphous carbon (MAC) and monolayer amorphous boron nitride (maBN) with different DOD. The pertinent structures are obtained by kinetic-Monte-Carlo (kMC) simulations using machine-learning potentials (MLP) with density-functional-theory (DFT)-level accuracy. An intuitive order parameter, namely the areal fraction F x occupied by crystallites within the continuous random network, is proposed to describe the DOD. We find that F x captures the essence of the DOD: Samples with the same F x but different sizes and arrangements of crystallites, obtained using two distinct kMC procedures, have virtually identical radial distributions functions as well as bond-length and bond-angle distributions. Furthermore, by simulating the fracture process with molecular dynamics, we found that the mechanical responses of MAC and maBN before fracture are mainly determined by F x and are insensitive to the sizes and specific arrangements and to some extent the numbers and area distributions of the crystallites. The behavior of cracks in the two materials is analyzed and found to mainly propagate in meandering paths in the CRN region and to be influenced by crystallites in distinct ways that toughen the material. Furthermore, the present results reveal the relation between structure and mechanical properties in amorphous monolayers and may provide a universal toughening strategy for 2D materials.

2-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2026

Spatio-Kinetic Electronic Heterogeneity in MoS 2 Revealed by Ultrafast Electron Microscopy: Implications for Optoelectronics

There is broad interest in layered, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors owing to their high optical absorption and ability to heterogeneously integrate with various substrates. In such layered semiconductors, mesoscopic imperfections, such as surface step edges, may affect charge carrier kinetics and device performance, but studying their effects on carrier transport with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution is a challenge. Using scanning ultrafast electron microscopy, we image the near-surface charge carrier kinetics with μm/ps spatiotemporal resolution in single-crystal MoS 2 samples with surface steps tens of nanometers in height. We find an approximately 3-fold increase in surface trap density near such surface steps compared to the uniform, flat surface regions. Despite the difference in trap state density, filling of the traps occurs over the same time scale (∼100 ps), but carrier recovery is much slower near the step compared to the uniform regions of the material. Furthermore, these results provide an approach to measure ultrafast dynamics and determine the required uniformity of layered materials depending on the speed limit constraints for specific applications.

SEM↗
DOE OSTI2025

Encapsulation of Monolayer 2D Materials Using Kinetic Energy-Controlled Pulsed Laser Deposition

The integration of monolayer (ML) two-dimensional (2D) materials into next-generation microelectronics, optoelectronics, and sensors is hindered by their sensitivity to environmental exposure. Deposition of additional layers for encapsulation or growth on ML 2D materials by versatile but energetic plasma techniques such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has not been considered at the monolayer level because of potential damage caused by hyperthermal species with kinetic energies (KEs) exceeding the threshold displacement energy (TDE) of the ML. Here, we describe a general strategy to understand and mitigate damage during PLD by reducing the incident KE of ablated species below the TDE of the 2D monolayer using background gas collisions. Ion flux diagnostics, combined with in situ Raman spectroscopy of monolayer graphene during PLD of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) as a dielectric encapsulation layer, show that damage is primarily correlated with fast ions that penetrate the background gas in accordance with Beer’s Law and are often overlooked in ICCD imaging due to the dominance of the bright, delayed plasma luminescence. Significantly, if fast ions are eliminated and a ∼2 nm-thick a-BN layer is “soft landed”, the monolayer graphene is effectively protected from damage by high KE species in the boron nitride plasma plume. Deposited a-BN films display a characteristic dielectric constant of 3.6 at 100 kHz and tunable charge injection properties. Our results enable PLD as a viable option for encapsulation and thin film growth onto ML 2D materials, with implications for both fundamental research and device integration.

2D materials↗