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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Superior dielectric properties for template assisted grown (100) oriented Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films on Si(100)

We report about the single crystalline growth and dielectric properties of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}(100) thin films on Si(100) surface. Using a two step molecular beam epitaxy growth process, we demonstrate that controlled engineering of the oxide/Si interface is a key step to achieve the atypical (100) oriented growth of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Unusually, high dielectric constant values (∼23–27) were extracted from capacitance voltage measurements. Such effect can be understood in terms of a two dimensional charge layer at the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Si interface (W. Sitaputra and R. Tsu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 222903 (2012)) which can influence the dielectric properties of the oxide layer by forming an additional negative quantum capacitance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Bulk and surface half-metallicity: The case of D0{sub 3}-type Mn{sub 3}Ge

Motivated by the experimental realization of D0{sub 22}-type Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) films [Kurt et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 132410 (2012)] and the structural stability of D0{sub 3}-type Heusler alloy Mn{sub 3}Ge [Zhang et al. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25, 206006 (2013)], we use the first-principles calculations based on the full potential linearized augmented plane-wave method to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of D0{sub 3}-type Heusler alloy Mn{sub 3}Ge and its (001) surface. We show that bulk D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge is a half-metallic ferromagnet with the minority-spin energy gap of 0.52 eV and the magnetic moment of 1.00 μ{sub B} per formula unit. The bulk half-metallicity is preserved at the pure Mn-terminated (001) surface due to the large exchange split, but the MnGe-terminated (001) surface destroys the bulk half-metallicity. We also reveal that the surface stabilities are comparable between the D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) and the experimental D0{sub 22}-Mn{sub 3}Ge (001), which indicates the feasibility to grow the Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) films with D0{sub 3} phase other than D0{sub 22} one. The surface half-metallicity and stability make D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge a promising candidate for spintronic applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Micromagnetic simulations of spin-wave normal modes and the spin-transfer-torque driven magnetization dynamics of a ferromagnetic cross

We studied spin-transfer-torque (STT) switching of a cross-shaped magnetic tunnel junction in a recent report [Roy et al., J. Appl. Phys. 113, 223904 (2013)]. In that structure, the free layer is designed to have four stable energy states using the shape anisotropy of a cross. STT switching showed different regions with increasing current density. Here, we employ the micromagnetic spectral mapping technique in an attempt to understand how the asymmetry of cross dimensions and spin polarization direction of the injected current affect the magnetization dynamics. We compute spatially averaged frequency-domain spectrum of the time-domain magnetization dynamics in the presence of the current-induced STT term. At low currents, the asymmetry of polarization direction and that of the arms are observed to cause a splitting of the excited frequency modes. Higher harmonics are also observed, presumably due to spin-wave wells caused by the regions of spatially non-uniform effective magnetic field. The results could be used towards designing a multi-bit-per-cell STT-based random access memory with an improved storage density.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Influence of gap spacing on the characteristics of Trichel pulse generated in point-to-plane discharge gaps

In this paper, the specific characteristics of the Trichel pulse generated in wide point-to-plane discharge gaps are investigated and compared with those of the currents generated in narrow gaps. A set of empirical formulas are derived to describe the specific characteristics. The influence of the gap spacing both on the current characteristics and on the coefficients of the formulas is studied. Based on the experiment results, an improvement is made to the space charge calculation method proposed by Lama and Gallo [J. Appl. Phys. 45, 103–113 (1974)] and the calculation results are compared to the ones obtained with Lama and Gallo's original method. With the influence of the space charge considered, the modified method obtains more accurate results of the space charge accumulating in the gap and gives a more precise description of the motion of the space charge in the gap. Based on the calculation results, the influence of the space charge on the distribution of the electric field is examined and the influence of the gap spacing on the current characteristics is also studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

The force exerted by a fireball

The force exerted by a fireball was deduced both from the change of the equilibrium position of a pendulum and from the change in the pendulum oscillation period. That measured force was found to be several times larger than the force exerted by the ions accelerated across the double layer that is assumed to surround the fireball. The force enhancement that is expected by ion-neutral collisions in the fireball is evaluated to be too small to explain the measured enhanced force. Gas pressure increase, due to gas heating through electron-neutral collisions, as recently suggested [Stenzel et al., J. Appl. Phys. 109, 113305 (2011)], is examined as the source for the force enhancement.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Excitonic recombination dynamics in non-polar GaN/AlGaN quantum wells

The optical properties of GaN/Al{sub 0.15}Ga{sub 0.85}N multiple quantum wells are examined in 8 K–300 K temperature range. Both polarized CW and time resolved temperature-dependent photoluminescence experiment are performed so that we can deduce the relative contributions of the non-radiative and radiative recombination processes. From the calculation of the proportion of the excitonic population having wave vector in the light cone, we can deduce the variation of the radiative decay time with temperature. We find part of the excitonic population to be localized in concert with the report of Corfdir et al. (Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 2 52, 08JC01 (2013)) in case of a-plane quantum wells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Comment on “Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic Lagrangian density in fractional form” [J. Math. Phys. 53, 033505 (2012)]

In a recent paper, Jaradat et al. [J. Math. Phys. 53, 033505 (2012)] have presented the fractional form of the electromagnetic Lagrangian density within the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative. They claimed that the Agrawal procedure [O. P. Agrawal, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 272, 368 (2002)] is used to obtain Maxwell's equations in the fractional form, and the Hamilton's equations of motion together with the conserved quantities obtained from fractional Noether's theorem are reported. In this comment, we draw the attention that there are some serious steps of the procedure used in their work are not applicable even though their final results are correct. Their work should have been done based on a formulation as reported by Baleanu and Muslih [Phys. Scr. 72, 119 (2005)].

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

An environment-dependent semi-empirical tight binding model suitable for electron transport in bulk metals, metal alloys, metallic interfaces, and metallic nanostructures. II. Application—Effect of quantum confinement and homogeneous strain on Cu conductance

The Semi-Empirical tight binding model developed in Part I Hegde et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 115, 123703 (2014)] is applied to metal transport problems of current relevance in Part II. A systematic study of the effect of quantum confinement, transport orientation, and homogeneous strain on electronic transport properties of Cu is carried out. It is found that quantum confinement from bulk to nanowire boundary conditions leads to significant anisotropy in conductance of Cu along different transport orientations. Compressive homogeneous strain is found to reduce resistivity by increasing the density of conducting modes in Cu. The [110] transport orientation in Cu nanowires is found to be the most favorable for mitigating conductivity degradation since it shows least reduction in conductance with confinement and responds most favorably to compressive strain.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Role of interface structure and chemistry in resistive switching of NiO nanocrystals on SrTiO{sub 3}

Nickel oxide (NiO) nanocrystals epitaxially grown on (001) strontium titanate (SrTiO{sub 3}) single crystal substrates were characterized to investigate interface morphology and chemistry. Aberration corrected high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the interface between the NiO nanocrystals and the underlying SrTiO{sub 3} substrate to be rough, irregular, and have a lower average atomic number than the substrate or the nanocrystal. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy confirm both chemical disorder and a shift of the energy of the Ti L{sub 2,3} peaks. Analysis of the O K edge profiles in conjunction with this shift, implies the presence of oxygen vacancies at the interface. This sheds light into the origin of the previously postulated minority carriers’ model to explain resistive switching in NiO [J. Sullaphen, K. Bogle, X. Cheng, J. M. Gregg, and N. Valanoor, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 203115 (2012)].

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Connectivity and critical current density of in-situ processed MgB{sub 2} superconductors: Effect of excess Mg and non-carbon based additives

In a sequel to our previous paper (J. Appl. Phys. 113, 036908 (2013)), where we reported comprehensive analysis of inter-grain connectivity (A{sub F}), pinning, percolation threshold (P{sub c}), and anisotropy (γ) in a series of ex-situ processed MgB{sub 2}, we address the same issues in in-situ processed samples. MgB{sub 2} samples with stoichiometric composition, excess Mg (5 wt. %) and further 3 wt. % addition of various non-carbon based additives like nano-Ag, nano-Ni, and YBCO are synthesised by the in-situ route. Detailed investigations of X-ray diffraction, magnetization (M), and resistivity (ρ) as a function of temperature (T) and field (B) in the range 5–300 K and 0–8 T are carried out in all the samples. The resistive superconducting onset T{sub con} ∼ 38.6 ± 0.3 K and offset (where ρ goes to zero) T{sub c0} ∼ 38.1 ± 0.3 K of the samples stay nearly unchanged. The inter-grain connectivity (A{sub F}) of the samples varies between 11%–20%. All the additives result in a critical current density (J{sub c}) higher than the stoichiometric MgB{sub 2} sample, where the highest values (e.g., J{sub c}(1 T, 5 K) ∼ 1.2 × 10{sup 9} A/m{sup 2}) are observed for the sample with 5 wt. % excess Mg. The major findings based on quantitative analysis of ρ (T, B) and J{sub c} (B, T) data in all the samples are: (1) along with previously studied ex-situ samples, the J{sub c}(A{sub F}) shows a significant increase at A{sub F} ∼ 7%; (2) the irreversibility lines lie lower than the characteristic T{sub c0}(B) lines in the B-T phase diagram; (3) a universal core pinning (δl- and/or δT{sub c}- type) mechanism is revealed in the entire T range 5–30 K; and (4) typical values of P{sub c} ∼ 0.57 ± 0.04 is indicative of weak link networks.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

On the limits of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy tuning by a ripple surface pattern

Ion beam patterning of a nanoscale ripple surface has emerged as a versatile method of imprinting uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) on a desired in-plane direction in magnetic films. In the case of ripple patterned thick films, dipolar interactions around the top and/or bottom interfaces are generally assumed to drive this effect following Schlömann's calculations for demagnetizing fields of an ideally sinusoidal surface [E. Schlömann, J. Appl. Phys. 41, 1617 (1970)]. We have explored the validity of his predictions and the limits of ion beam sputtering to induce UMA in a ferromagnetic system where other relevant sources of magnetic anisotropy are neglected: ripple films not displaying any evidence of volume uniaxial anisotropy and where magnetocrystalline contributions average out in a fine grain polycrystal structure. To this purpose, the surface of 100 nm cobalt films grown on flat substrates has been irradiated at fixed ion energy, fixed ion fluency but different ion densities to make the ripple pattern at the top surface with wavelength Λ and selected, large amplitudes (ω) up to 20 nm so that stray dipolar fields are enhanced, while the residual film thickness t = 35–50 nm is sufficiently large to preserve the continuous morphology in most cases. The film-substrate interface has been studied with X-ray photoemission spectroscopy depth profiles and is found that there is a graded silicon-rich cobalt silicide, presumably formed during the film growth. This graded interface is of uncertain small thickness but the range of compositions clearly makes it a magnetically dead layer. On the other hand, the ripple surface rules both the magnetic coercivity and the uniaxial anisotropy as these are found to correlate with the pattern dimensions. Remarkably, the saturation fields in the hard axis of uniaxial continuous films are measured up to values as high as 0.80 kG and obey a linear dependence on the parameter ω{sup 2}/Λ/t in quantitative agreement with Schlömann's prediction for a surface anisotropy entirely ruled by dipolar interaction. The limits of UMA tuning by a ripple pattern are discussed in terms of the surface local angle with respect to the mean surface and of the onset of ripple detachment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electronic and optical properties of single excitons and biexcitons in type-II quantum dot nanocrystals

In this study, a detailed investigation of the electronic and optical properties (i.e., binding energies, absorption wavelength, overlap of the electron-hole wave functions, recombination oscillator strength, etc.) of an exciton and a biexciton in CdTe/CdSe core/shell type-II quantum dot heterostructures has been carried out in the frame of the single band effective mass approximation. In order to determine the electronic properties, we have self-consistently solved the Poisson-Schrödinger equations in the Hartree approximation. We have considered all probable Coulomb interaction effects on both energy levels and also on the corresponding wave functions for both single exciton and biexciton. In addition, we have taken into account the quantum mechanical exchange-correlation effects in the local density approximation between same kinds of particles for biexciton. Also, we have examined the effect of the ligands and dielectric mismatch on the electronic and optical properties. We have used a different approximation proposed by Sahin and Koc [Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 183103 (2013)] for the recombination oscillator strength of the biexciton for bound and unbound cases. The results obtained have been presented comparatively as a function of the shell thicknesses and probable physical reasons in behind of the results have been discussed in a detail.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural, electronic transport and magnetoresistance of a 142nm lead telluride nanowire synthesized using stress-induced growth

In this study, structurally uniform single crystalline PbTe nanowires (NWs) were synthesized using a stress-induced growth. Selected-area electron diffraction patterns show that the PbTe NWs were grown along the [100] direction. The electrical conductivity σ of a NW with 142 nm in diameter exhibited a semiconducting behavior at 50–300 K. An enhancement of electrical conductivity σ up to 2383 S m{sup −1} at 300 K is much higher than σ [0.44–1526 S m{sup −1}, Chen et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, p023115, (2013)] in previous studies. The room temperature magnetoresistance of the 142 nm NW was ∼0.8% at B = 2 T, which is considerably higher than that [0.2% at B = 2 T, Ovsyannikov et al., Sol. State Comm. 126, 373, (2003)] of the PbTe bulk reported.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy relaxation of hot electrons in Si-doped GaN

Energy relaxation of the hot electrons in Si-doped bulk GaN is studied theoretically, taking into account non-equilibrium polar optical phonons, electron degeneracy, and screening from the mobile electrons. The electron power dissipation and energy relaxation time are calculated as functions of the electron temperature T{sub e}, the hot-phonon effect (HPE) is examined by varying the optical phonon lifetime values, and the results are compared with previous calculations for typical GaN-based heterostructures. Particular attention is paid to the distinct temperature T{sub e} dependences of the power loss and the energy relaxation time τ{sub E} at the low and high electron temperatures. At low electron temperatures (T{sub e}<500 K), the exponential rise of phonon generation number, fast weakened screening and HPE result in a rapid increase of power loss and sharp drop of relaxation time with T{sub e}. At high electron temperatures (T{sub e}>1500 K), the power loss increases slowly with T{sub e} due to the decrease in phonon generation rate, and the temperature-dependence of the energy relaxation time depends on the polar optical phonon lifetime—saturation in energy relaxation occurs when the phonon lifetime increases or varies little with T{sub e}. Our calculated temperature dependences of the energy relaxation time are in good agreement with experimental findings [Liberis et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 202117 (2006); Matulionis et al., Phys. Status Solidi C 2, 2585 (2005)]. With no HPE, the electron energy relaxation is much faster in bulk GaN (τ{sub E}∼ several tens femtoseconds) than in the GaN-based heterostructures. However, stronger hot-phonon re-absorption occurs in bulk GaN due to rapid polar-optical phonon emission compared to phonon decay. Therefore, including HPE yields very close power loss and energy relaxation times in bulk and heterostructures with similar densities of electrons (τ{sub E}∼ several tenths of a picosecond). Transparent expressions for energy relaxation are obtained in the Boltzmann approximation, which are very useful for resolving the temperature dependences of the energy relaxation in the low- and high-T{sub e} regions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of Ce doping on the electrocaloric effect of Sr{sub x}Ba{sub 1−x}Nb{sub 2}O{sub 6} single crystals

The electrocaloric effect (ECE) of Sr{sub x}Ba{sub (1−x)}Nb{sub 2}O{sub 6} (SBN100x) single crystals, with a tetragonal tungsten bronze structure and a high ECE near room temperature, is studied by direct measurements. It is shown that although the onset of the ECE peak is closer to room temperature in SBN80 than in SBN75, the effect of the increase of the strontium content is very detrimental to the ECE performances with a decrease to ΔT{sub EC} = 0.23 K for SBN80 from the reported value of ΔT{sub EC} = 0.42 K under 10 kV/cm for SBN75 [F. Le Goupil et al., “Anisotropy of the electrocaloric effect in lead-free relaxor ferroelectrics,” Adv. Energy Mater. (published online)]. However, when 1.40% of cerium is introduced in SBN61, the temperature of depolarisation is shifted below 30 °C, while an ECE above 0.6 K is maintained over more than 70 K for a low electric field of 28 kV/cm. The maximum ECE ΔT{sub EC} = 0.85 K is measured at 61 °C. In addition to having an ECE peak close to room temperature, the ECE measured in Ce-doped SBN61 is comparable with the best reported values for lead-free materials [Y. Bai et al., J. Appl. Phys. 110, 094103 (2011); X.-S. Qian et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 24, 1300 (2014)], when linearly extrapolated to higher electric fields.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Anomalous effect due to oxygen vacancy accumulation below the electrode in bipolar resistance switching Pt/Nb:SrTiO{sub 3} cells

In conventional semiconductor theory, greater doping decreases the electronic resistance of a semiconductor. For the bipolar resistance switching (BRS) phenomena in oxides, the same doping principle has been used commonly to explain the relationship between the density variation of oxygen vacancies (V{sub o}¨) and the electronic resistance. We find that the V{sub o}¨ density can change at a depth of ∼10 nm below the Pt electrodes in Pt/Nb:SrTiO{sub 3} cells, depending on the resistance state. Using electron energy loss spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry, we found that greater V{sub o}¨ density underneath the electrode resulted in higher resistance, contrary to the conventional doping principle of semiconductors. To explain this seemingly anomalous experimental behavior, we provide quantitative explanations on the anomalous BRS behavior by simulating the mobile V{sub o}¨ [J. S. Lee et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 253503 (2013)] near the Schottky barrier interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation of stopping power for deuterons in partially ionized warm Al plasmas

The stopping powers for deuterons in Al plasmas with a fixed density of 0.02 g/cm{sup 3} and the temperatures at 4.5, 13, and 17 eV are studied in detail for a wide projectile energy range with different models. Comparison of these models indicates that our model is totally in best agreement with the experimental data and the main reason for this is that our calculation for the inelastic processes should be the most reliable. It is found that the difference between our model and the local density approximation model (Wang et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 2977 (1998)) is mainly due to the quite different physical picture behind them. In Mehlhorn's model (J. Appl. Phys. 52, 6522 (1981)), the Bethe equation is found to overestimate the inelastic stopping in Al plasmas, meanwhile, it is gradually close to our results with temperature decreasing. The model by classical dielectric function with the choice of the maximum of the momentum transfer associated with the temperature is found not suitable to describe the stopping in warm plasmas. With temperature increasing the stopping due to plasma wave rises up which rapidly exceeds the inelastic stopping in warm Al plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗