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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Cold collisions of highly rotationally excited CO{sub 2} with He: The prospects for cold chemistry with super-rotors

Building on recent advances in ultrafast lasers and methods to slow molecules, an experiment is proposed to produce translationally cold CO{sub 2} super-rotors (j{approx}200) by combining an optical centrifuge with helium-buffer-gas cooling. Quantum mechanical calculations of the complex scattering length for He-CO{sub 2} collisions demonstrate that the efficiency of rotational quenching decreases rapidly with increasing rotational excitation j in the ultracold regime. Extrapolating to helium cryogenic temperatures, rotational quenching is predicted to remain inefficient up to {approx}1 K, allowing for the possible creation of a beam of translationally cold, rotationally hot molecules.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Reduced leakage in epitaxial BiFeO{sub 3} films following oxygen radio frequency plasma treatment

Epitaxial BiFeO{sub 3} (BFO) films were deposited using pulsed laser deposition method. The prepared films were characterized using x-ray diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, ferroelectric loop tracer, and leakage current measurements before and after oxygen plasma treatment. The leakage current of the films, a crucial parameter in device applications, is observed to be reduced by two orders of magnitude with oxygen plasma treatment at room temperature. P-E hysteresis loops were observed in oxygen plasma treated BFO films. The observed results indicate the usefulness of oxygen radio frequency plasma treatment (RF 13.56 MHz), which is an effective and low temperature processing technique, in such lossy ferroelectric thin films.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Correlation between the electronic and atomic structure, transport properties, and oxygen vacancies on La{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} thin films

We present a study of the role of oxygen vacancies on the atomic and electronic structure and transport properties on a 20 nm thick La{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} film grown by the pulsed laser deposition method on a SrTiO{sub 3} (001) substrate. The results show that oxygen vacancies induce an atomic structure modification characterized by the movement of the La/Ca cations to the perovskite regular position, by the reduction of the MnO{sub 6} basal plane rotation, and by a cooperative tilting of the octahedra along the out-of-plane direction. The out-of-plane lattice parameter increases due to the reduction of the Mn valence upon oxygen vacancies creation. As a consequence, a shift of the Metal-to-Insulator transition to lower temperatures is found to occur. We discuss the influence of the competitive phenomena of manganese valence and Mn-O-Mn bond distortion on the transport properties of manganite thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

The laser-based gain monitoring system of the calorimeters in the Muon $g-2$ experiment at Fermilab

The Muon $g-2$ experiment, E989, is currently taking data at Fermilab with the aim of reducing the experimental error on the muon anomaly by a factor of four and possibly clarifying the current discrepancy with the theoretical prediction. A central component of this four-fold improvement in precision is the laser calibration system of the calorimeters, which has to monitor the gain variations of the photo-sensors with a 0.04\% precision on the short-term ($\sim 1\,$ms). This is about one order of magnitude better than what has ever been achieved for the calibration of a particle physics calorimeter. The system is designed to monitor also long-term gain variations, mostly due to temperature effects, with a precision below the per mille level. This article reviews the design, the implementation and the performance of the Muon $g-2$ laser calibration system, showing how the experimental requirements have been met.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Adhesion Testing of Direct-Write Printed Ink on Metallic Structural Components

The successful adoption of additive manufacturing for the rapid prototyping of direct-write printed electronics requires the establishment of quantifiable metrics that can interrogate device performance. One measure of performance is the adhesion strength between the substrate and printed film interface, which is critical since the strength of this interface can dictate the accuracy and reliability of the printed device. In this work, a non-contact laser-induced spallation technique was used to quantify the adhesion of silver printed films on aluminum alloy substrates. The laser-based method was compared to a standardized pull-off adhesion test, which provided baseline measurements of adhesion strength. The sintering conditions were shown to play an important role in the film-substrate adhesion strength, as well as the cohesion and ductility of the film itself. The methods and results described in this work support the establishment of process control steps that are necessary for quickly verifying the reliability of printed devices prior to their deployment in critical experiments.

Adhesion test↗
DOE OSTI2017

Structural and electrical properties of K{sub 3}Li{sub 2}Nb{sub 5}O{sub 15} thin film grown by pulsed laser deposition

Highlights: • (001)KLN tetragonal tungsten bronze thin film has been successfully deposited on MgO substrate using PLD. • Smooth and droplets-free surface has been obtained as evidenced by RHEED and AFM. • Impedance spectroscopy shows Debye type dielectric relaxation. • The ferroelectric character of the obtained (001)KLN film has been evidenced using capacitance voltage measurement. - Abstract: Potassium lithium niobate K{sub 3}Li{sub 2}Nb{sub 5}O{sub 15} (KLN) with tetragonal tungsten bronze-type structure (TTB) thin film was successfully deposited on MgO substrate by pulsed laser ablation method. The substrate was coated by a perovskite conductive layer of La{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}CoO{sub 3}. X-ray diffraction revealed (001) orientation with low mosaicity. The oriented film had smooth and droplets-free surface as evidenced by reflection high electron energy diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Using Pt top electrode, dielectric measurements indicated stable dielectric permittivity of about 400 up to 10{sup 5} Hz. A dielectric relaxation was also observed. Moreover, the capacitance voltage measurements of the obtained (001)KLN film show ferroelectric behavior. Our results provide useful insights into the growth of tetragonal tungsten and other complex materials. These results will be useful for the growth and integration of epitaxial TTB thin films on perovskite and Si substrates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth of residual stress-free ZnO films on SiO{sub 2}/Si substrate at room temperature for MEMS devices

ZnO thick Stress relaxed films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on 2”-wafer of SiO{sub 2}/Si at room temperature. The residual stress of ZnO films was measured by measuring the curvature of wafer using laser scanning method and found in the range of 0.18 x 10{sup 9} to 11.28 x 10{sup 9} dyne/cm{sup 2} with compressive in nature. Sputter pressure changes the deposition rates, which strongly affects the residual stress and surface morphologies of ZnO films. The crystalline wurtzite structure of ZnO films were confirmed by X-ray diffraction and a shift in (0002) diffraction peak of ZnO towards lower 2θ angle was observed with increasing the compressive stress in the films. The band gap of ZnO films shows a red shift from ∼3.275 eV to ∼3.23 eV as compressive stress is increased, unlike the stress for III-nitride materials. A relationship between stress and band gap of ZnO was derived and proposed. The stress-free growth of piezoelectric films is very important for functional devices applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

A laserball calibration device for the SNO+ scintillator phase

Located 2 km underground in SNOLAB, Sudbury, Canada, SNO+ is a large scale liquid scintillator experiment that primarily aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Whilst SNO+ has light and radioactive calibration sources external to the inner volume, an internally deployed optical source is necessary for the full characterization of the detector model. A laser diffuser ball developed for SNO has previously demonstrated to be an effective optical calibration device for both SNO and SNO+ water phase. Since the introduction of liquid scintillator for SNO+, the material compatibility, cleanliness, and radiopurity requirements of any materials in contact with the internal medium have increased. Improving on the original SNO laserball design, a new laserball calibration device has been developed for the SNO+ scintillator phase with the goal of measuring the optical properties of the detector and performing routine PMT gain and timing calibrations. Simulations have been written to model the diffusion properties to optimise optical and temporal performance for calibration. Prototype laserballs have been built and characterised, demonstrating sub-ns timing resolution and a quasi-isotropic light distribution.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic properties and microstructure of Sm-Co/α-Fe nanocomposite thick film-magnets composed of multi-layers over 700 layers

We synthesized Sm-Co/α-Fe nanocomposite film-magnets, approximately 10 μm in thickness, composed of 780 layers by the pulse laser deposition method. Transmission electron microscopic observations revealed that the synthesized film is composed of Sm-Co and α-Fe layers with the well-controlled α-Fe thickness of approximately 10–20 nm, which is suitable one predicted by the micromagnetic simulation. In spite of the enhanced interlayer diffusion of Fe and Co by annealing for crystallization, the (BH){sub max} value of 100 kJ/m{sup 3} was obtained at the averaged compositions of Sm/(Sm + Co) = 0.16 and Fe/(Sm + Co + Fe) = 0.47. The α-Fe fraction for obtaining the highest (BH){sub max} value was smaller than that expected from the micromagnetic simulation. Although the annealing for crystallization lay the easy direction of magnetization in the plane, the film is not expected to have strong crystallographic texture.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Crystal plasticity finite element simulation of lattice rotation and x-ray diffraction during laser shock compression of tantalum

Here we present a crystal plasticity model tailored for high-pressure, high-strain-rate conditions that uses a multiscale treatment of dislocation-based slip kinetics. We use this model to analyze the pronounced plasticity-induced lattice rotations observed in shock-compressed polycrystalline tantalum via in situ x-ray diffraction. By making direct comparisons between experimentally measured and simulated texture evolution, we can explain how the details of the underlying slip kinetics control the degree of lattice rotation that ensues. Specifically, we show that only the highly nonlinear kinetics caused by dislocation nucleation can explain the magnitude of the rotation observed under shock compression. We demonstrate a good fit between our crystal plasticity model and x-ray diffraction data and exploit the data to quantify the dislocation nucleation rates that are otherwise poorly constrained by experiment in the dynamic compression regime.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Two-dimensional profile measurement of plasma parameters in radio frequency-driven argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet

The two-dimensional profiles of the electron density, electron temperature, neutral translational temperature, and molecular rotational temperature are investigated in an argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet, which is driven by the radio frequency of 13.56 MHz by means of the laser scattering methods of Thomson, Rayleigh, and Raman. All measured parameters have maximum values at the center of the discharge and decrease toward the plasma edge. The results for the electron temperature profile are contrary to the results for the microwave-driven plasma. From our experimental results, the profiles of the plasma parameters arise from the radial contraction of plasmas and the time averaged profile of the electric field, which is obtained by a microwave simulation performed under identical conditions to the plasma jet. In the case of the neutral temperature, a higher translational temperature than the rotational temperature is measured, and its discrepancy is tentatively explained in terms of the low ion-neutral charge exchange rate and the additional degrees of freedom of the molecules. The description of our experimental results and the underlying physics are addressed in detail.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Measurements of the electron density and degree of plasma ionization in a plasma target based on a linear electric discharge in hydrogen

Laser interferometry methods were used to measure the density of free electrons and degree of plasma ionization in a hydrogen target intended for experiments on determining energy losses of heavy ion beams in an ionized matter. It is shown that the linear electron density can be varied in the range from 3.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 17} to 1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} cm{sup -2} by varying the initial plasma parameters (the hydrogen pressure in the target and the discharge current). The error in measuring the linear electron density in the entire range of the varied plasma parameters was less than 1%. The maximum degree of plasma ionization achieved at the initial gas pressure of 1 mbar was 0.62 {+-} 0.05.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Infrared spectroscopy of jet-cooled HCCl singlet chlorocarbene diradical: CH stretching and vibrational coupling dynamics

Quantum shot noise limited laser absorption methods are used to obtain first high-resolution infrared rovibrational spectra of jet cooled chlorocarbene (HCCl) diradical in a supersonic slit-jet discharge expansion spectrometer. The rotationally resolved absorption spectra of the C–H stretch ν 1 fundamental are analyzed in the framework of a Watson non-rigid asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian model. Further analysis of the mid-infrared data reveals the additional presence of what has nominally been assigned as the $\tilde x$(012) combination band with one quantum of the H–C–Cl bend (ν 2 ) and two quanta of the C–Cl stretch (2ν 3 ). Rovibrational constants are obtained from least squares fits for each of the four excited vibrational states built on the ν 1 fundamental $\tilde x$(100) and the $\tilde x$(012) combination mode for each 35 Cl and 37 Cl atom isotopologue. The four bands occur within a narrow spectral window, requiring detailed comparison of multiple spectral properties (e.g., rotational constant dependence on vibrational excitation, band types/transition dipole moment alignment in the body-fixed frame, etc.) to aid in the vibrational assignment. Indeed, the IR transition intensities arise from strong anharmonic mixing between the “bright” ν 1 C–H stretch and “dark” $\tilde x$(012) H–C–Cl bend/C–Cl stretch combination modes, resulting in nearly equal amplitudes for the zeroth order $\tilde x$(100) and $\tilde x$(012) harmonic states. Lastly, to aid the spectral search for HCCl in the interstellar medium, ground state two-line combination differences are combined with previous laser-induced fluorescence results to predict precision microwave transitions for HC 35 Cl and HC 37 Cl.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of substrate temperature on the microstructural properties of titanium nitride nanowires grown by pulsed laser deposition

The current work reports on the growth and microstructural characterization of titanium nitride (TiN) nanowires on single crystal silicon substrates using a pulsed laser deposition method. The physical and microstructural properties of the nanowires were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The corrosion properties of the TiN nanowires compared to TiN thin film were evaluated using Direct Current potentiodynamic and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The nanowires corroded faster than the TiN thin film, because the nanowires have a larger surface area which makes them more reactive in a corrosive environment. It was observed from the FESEM image analyses that as the substrate temperature increases from 600 °C to 800 °C, there was an increase in both diameter (25 nm–50 nm) and length (150 nm–250 nm) of the nanowire growth. There was also an increase in spatial density with an increase of substrate temperature. The TEM results showed that the TiN nanowires grow epitaxially with the silicon substrate via domain matching epitaxy paradigm, despite a large misfit.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Observation of low voltage driven green emission from erbium doped Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} light-emitting devices

Erbium doped Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films were deposited on Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition method. Bright green emission (∼548 nm) can be observed by naked eye from Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Er/Si light-emitting devices (LEDs). The driven voltage of this LEDs is 6.2 V which is lower than that of ZnO:Er/Si or GaN:Er/Si devices. Since the wide bandgap of Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} contain more defect-related level which will enhance the effects of recombination between electrons in the defect-related level and the holes in the valence band, resulting in the improvement of the energy transfer to Er ions. We believe that this work paves the way for the development of Si-based green LEDs by using wide bandgap Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3} as the host materials for Er{sup 3+} ions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Transport properties and c/a ratio of V{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films grown on C- and R-plane sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition

We prepared V{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films on C- or R-plane sapphire (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) substrates by a pulsed laser deposition method. X-ray diffraction analyses confirmed that single-phase V{sub 2}O{sub 3} films were epitaxially grown on both C- and R-planes under an Ar gas ambient of 2 × 10{sup −2} mbar at a substrate temperature of 873 K. Depending on the deposition conditions, c/a ratios at room temperature of (0001)-oriented V{sub 2}O{sub 3} films widely ranged from 2.79 to 2.88. Among them, the films of 2.81 ≤ c/a ≤ 2.84 showed complex metal (M)–insulator (I)–M transition during cooling from 300 to 10 K, while those of larger c/a ratios were accompanied by metallic properties throughout this temperature range. All the films on R-plane substrates underwent simple M-I transition at ∼150 K, which was more abrupt than the films on C-plane, whereas their c/a ratios were narrowly distributed. The distinct difference of M-I transition properties between C- and R-plane films is explained by the intrinsic a- and c-axes evolution through the transition from M to I phases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth of epitaxial orthorhombic YO{sub 1.5}-substituted HfO{sub 2} thin film

YO{sub 1.5}-substituted HfO{sub 2} thin films with various substitution amounts were grown on (100) YSZ substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method directly from the vapor phase. The epitaxial growth of film with different YO{sub 1.5} amounts was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction method. Wide-area reciprocal lattice mapping measurements were performed to clarify the crystal symmetry of films. The formed phases changed from low-symmetry monoclinic baddeleyite to high-symmetry tetragonal/cubic fluorite phases through an orthorhombic phase as the YO{sub 1.5} amount increased from 0 to 0.15. The additional annular bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy indicates that the orthorhombic phase has polar structure. This means that the direct growth by vapor is of polar orthorhombic HfO{sub 2}-based film. Moreover, high-temperature X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the film with a YO{sub 1.5} amount of 0.07 with orthorhombic structure at room temperature only exhibited a structural phase transition to tetragonal phase above 450 °C. This temperature is much higher than the reported maximum temperature of 200 °C to obtain ferroelectricity as well as the expected temperature for real device application. The growth of epitaxial orthorhombic HfO{sub 2}-based film helps clarify the nature of ferroelectricity in HfO{sub 2}-based films (186 words/200 words)

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Investigation on the Current Transport Characteristics of SrTiO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} Heterostructure

By the combined use of the sol-gel and pulsed laser deposition methods, the SrTiO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} (STO/YBCO) heterostructure was prepared on a LaAlO{sub 3} substrate. XRD results and φ scanning test showed that the prepared STO/YBCO heterostructure had good biaxial texture. Moreover, a Pt electrode was sputtered on the STO/YBCO heterostructure to investigate the current density-voltage (J − V) characteristic curves of STO/YBCO in the 50–300 K temperature range. The results showed that the STO/YBCO heterostructure had good rectifying characteristics. With an applied positive bias voltage smaller than 3.7 V, the current density of the STO/YBCO heterostructure decreased with the decrease of temperature; for higher voltages, on the contrary, the current density increased with the decrease of temperature. When the YBCO experienced superconducting transition, the turn-on voltage (V{sub t}) changed suddenly due to the sudden opening of the superconducting energy gap of YBCO. The V{sub t} variation obtained from the experiment was essentially consistent with the known value of the YBCO superconducting energy gap.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗