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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Piezoelectric transformers for low-voltage generation of gas discharges and ionic winds in atmospheric air

To generate a gas discharge (plasma) in atmospheric air requires an electric field that exceeds the breakdown threshold of ∼30 kV/cm. Because of safety, size, or cost constraints, the large applied voltages required to generate such fields are often prohibitive for portable applications. In this work, piezoelectric transformers are used to amplify a low input applied voltage (<30 V) to generate breakdown in air without the need for conventional high-voltage electrical equipment. Piezoelectric transformers (PTs) use their inherent electromechanical resonance to produce a voltage amplification, such that the surface of the piezoelectric exhibits a large surface voltage that can generate corona-like discharges on its corners or on adjacent electrodes. In the proper configuration, these discharges can be used to generate a bulk air flow called an ionic wind. In this work, PT-driven discharges are characterized by measuring the discharge current and the velocity of the induced ionic wind with ionic winds generated using input voltages as low as 7 V. The characteristics of the discharge change as the input voltage increases; this modifies the resonance of the system and subsequent required operating parameters.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The electro-mechanical effect from charge dynamics on polymeric insulation lifetime

For polymeric material used as electrical insulation, the presence of space charges could be the consequence of material degradations that are thermally activated but increased by the application of an electric field. The dynamics of space charge, therefore, can be potentially used to characterize the material. In this direction, a new aging model in which parameters have clear physical meanings has been developed and applied to the material to extrapolate the lifetime. The kinetic equation has been established based on charge trapping and detrapping of the injected charge from the electrodes. The local electromechanical energy stored in the region surrounding the trap is able to reduce the trap-depth with a value related to the electric field. At a level where the internal electric field exceeds the detrapping field in the material, an electron can be efficiently detrapped and the released energy from detrapping process can cause a weak bond or chain scission i.e. material degradation. The model has been applied to the electro-thermally aged low density polyethylene film samples, showing well fitted result, as well as interesting relationships between parameter estimates and insulation morphology.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the stability and compressive nonlinearity of a physiologically based model of the cochlea

Hearing relies on a series of coupled electrical, acoustical (fluidic) and mechanical interactions inside the cochlea that enable sound processing. A positive feedback mechanism within the cochlea, called the cochlear amplifier, provides amplitude and frequency selectivity in the mammalian auditory system. The cochlear amplifier and stability are studied using a nonlinear, micromechanical model of the Organ of Corti (OoC) coupled to the electrical potentials in the cochlear ducts. It is observed that the mechano-electrical transduction (MET) sensitivity and somatic motility of the outer hair cell (OHC), control the cochlear stability. Increasing MET sensitivity beyond a critical value, while electromechanical coupling coefficient is within a specific range, causes instability. We show that instability in this model is generated through a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. A reduced order model of the system is approximated and it is shown that the tectorial membrane (TM) transverse mode effect on the dynamics is significant while the radial mode can be simplified from the equations. The cochlear amplifier in this model exhibits good agreement with the experimental data. A comprehensive 3-dimensional model based on the cross sectional model is simulated and the results are compared. It is indicated that the global model qualitatively inherits some characteristics of the local model, but the longitudinal coupling along the cochlea shifts the stability boundary (i.e., Hopf bifurcation point) and enhances stability.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Elastic properties of suspended multilayer WSe{sub 2}

We report the experimental determination of the elastic properties of suspended multilayer WSe{sub 2}, a promising two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting material combined with high optical quality. The suspended WSe{sub 2} membranes have been fabricated by mechanical exfoliation of bulk WSe{sub 2} and transfer of the exfoliated multilayer WSe{sub 2} flakes onto SiO{sub 2}/Si substrates pre-patterned with hole arrays. Then, indentation experiments have been performed on these membranes with an atomic force microscope. The results show that the 2D elastic modulus of the multilayer WSe{sub 2} membranes increases linearly while the prestress decreases linearly as the number of layers increases. The interlayer interaction in WSe{sub 2} has been observed to be strong enough to prevent the interlayer sliding during the indentation experiments. The Young's modulus of multilayer WSe{sub 2} (167.3 ± 6.7 GPa) is statistically independent of the thickness of the membranes, whose value is about two thirds of other most investigated 2D semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, namely, MoS{sub 2} and WS{sub 2}. Moreover, the multilayer WSe{sub 2} can endure ∼12.4 GPa stress and ∼7.3% strain without fracture or mechanical degradation. The 2D WSe{sub 2} can be an attractive semiconducting material for application in flexible optoelectronic devices and nano-electromechanical systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Static deflection analysis of non prismatic multilayer p-NEMS cantilevers under electrical load

Deflection of Euler-Bernoulli non prismatic multilayer piezoelectric nano electromechanical (p-NEMS) cantilever beams have been studied theoretically for various profiles of p-NEMS cantilevers by applying the electrical load. This problem has been answered by applying the boundary conditions derived by simple polynomials. This method is applied for various profiles like rectangular and trapezoidal by varying the thickness of the piezoelectric layer as well as the material. The obtained results provide the better deflection for trapezoidal profile with ZnO piezo electric layer of suitable nano cantilevers for nano scale applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

A study of the piezoelectric resonance in metal organic NLO single crystals: Sodium D-isoascorbate monohydrate and Lithium L-ascorbate dihydrate

Large single crystals of Sodium D-isoacsorbate monohydrate and Lithium L-ascorbate dehydrate were grown using solution growth technique. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss were monitored as a function of frequency at different temperatures. These are typically characterized by strong resonance peaks. The piezoelectric coefficients d{sub 31}, elastic coefficient (S{sub 11}) and electromechanical coupling coefficient (k{sub 31}) were estimated by resonance-antiresonance method. The temperature dependence of the resonance-peaks frequencies was studied.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effect of poling process on piezoelectric properties of BCZT - 0.08 wt.% CeO{sub 2} lead-free ceramics

The properties of lead free piezoelectric materials can be tuned by suitable doping in the A and B sites of the perovskite structure. In the present study, cerium has been identified as a dopant to investigate the piezoelectric properties of lead-free BCZT system. BCZT – 0.08 wt.%CeO{sub 2} lead-free ceramics have been synthesized using sol-gel technique and the effects of CeO{sub 2} dopant on their phase structure and piezoelectric properties were investigated systematically. Poling conditions, such as temperature, electric field, and poling time have been optimized to get enhanced piezoelectric response. The optimized poling conditions (50°C, 3Ec and 30min) resulted in high piezoelectric charge coefficient d{sub 33} ~ 670pC/N, high electromechanical coupling coefficient k{sub p} ~ 60% and piezoelectric voltage coefficient g{sub 33} ~ 14 mV.m/N for BCZT – 0.08wt.% CeO{sub 2} ceramics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

The review of various synthesis methods of barium titanate with the enhanced dielectric properties

The Barium Titanate is a very well known dielectric ceramic belongs to perovskite structure. It has very wide applications in the field of electronic, electro ceramic, electromechanical and electro-optical applications. Barium Titanate has very high dielectric constant as well as low dielectric loss. Substituted dielectrics are one of the most important technological compounds in modern electro ceramics. Its electrical properties can be tuned flexibly by a simple substitution technique. This has encouraged researchers to select a typical cation to be substituted at cationic sites. In the present paper, the review of various synthesis methods of Barium Titanate compound with the effect of different dopants, the grain size on the dielectric properties at various temperatures is discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effect of Fe doping on structural and impedance properties of PZTFN ceramics

An attempts have been made to synthesis the ceramics Pb{sub 1-3x/2} Fe{sub x}(Zr{sub 0.52}Ti{sub 0.48}){sub 1-5y/4} NbyO{sub 3} abbreviated as (PFZTN) for x = 1-6 mol% and y = 5.5 mol% by a semi-wet route. In the present paper, we have investigated the effect of Fe doping on structural and electrical properties of the PFZTN ceramics. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveal that PFZTN ceramics are single phase in nature. However, for x = 0.05 and 0.06, a secondary phase appears as discernible from the XRD profiles. Rietveld analysis of the powder diffraction data shows the presence of coexistence of tetragonal (P4mm space group) and rhombohedral phases (R3c space group) occurs near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) at x ≥ = 0.05. The log-log plots show that the conductivity increases with increase of temperature. The ac conductivity becomes sensitive at high frequency region and shifted towards higher frequency side with increasing temperature. It is observed that the activation energy (Ea) decreases with increasing frequency. This complex perovskite structure can be used as a multilayer ceramic capacitors and electromechanical transducers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Polarization rotation associated critical phenomena in epitaxial PbTiO{sub 3} thin films near room temperature

Strain-driven and temperature-driven monoclinic-orthorhombic phase transition in epitaxial PbTiO{sub 3} exhibit similar behavior under electric field, i.e., polarization discontinuity is reduced at the first-order ferroelectric-ferroelectric transition whose latent heat vanishes at a critical point. Due to critical phenomena the energy barrier for polarization rotation significantly diminishes, and hence thermodynamic response functions tend to diverge in the induced monoclinic states. Phenomenological calculations show that dielectric and piezoelectric properties are highly tunable by in-plane strain and electric field, and large electromechanical response may occur in epitaxial PbTiO{sub 3} thin films at room temperature. Phenomenological calculations show that large electrocaloric responsivity can also be expected at room temperature by manipulating the phase transition.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multimode delta-E effect magnetic field sensors with adapted electrodes

We present an analytical and experimental study on low-noise piezoelectric thin film resonators that utilize the delta-E effect of a magnetostrictive layer to measure magnetic fields at low frequencies. Calculations from a physical model of the electromechanical resonator enable electrode designs to efficiently operate in the first and second transversal bending modes. As predicted by our calculations, the adapted electrode design improves the sensitivity by a factor of 6 and reduces the dynamic range of the sensor output by 16 dB, which significantly eases the requirements on readout electronics. Magnetic measurements show a bandwidth of 100 Hz at a noise level of about 100 pTHz{sup −0.5}.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effect of top electrode material on radiation-induced degradation of ferroelectric thin film structures

The effects of gamma irradiation on the dielectric and piezoelectric responses of Pb[Zr{sub 0.52}Ti{sub 0.48}]O{sub 3} (PZT) thin film stacks were investigated for structures with conductive oxide (IrO{sub 2}) and metallic (Pt) top electrodes. The samples showed, generally, degradation of various key dielectric, ferroelectric, and electromechanical responses when exposed to 2.5 Mrad (Si) {sup 60}Co gamma radiation. However, the low-field, relative dielectric permittivity, ε{sub r}, remained largely unaffected by irradiation in samples with both types of electrodes. Samples with Pt top electrodes showed substantial degradation of the remanent polarization and overall piezoelectric response, as well as pinching of the polarization hysteresis curves and creation of multiple peaks in the permittivity-electric field curves post irradiation. The samples with oxide electrodes, however, were largely impervious to the same radiation dose, with less than 5% change in any of the functional characteristics. The results suggest a radiation-induced change in the defect population or defect energy in PZT with metallic top electrodes, which substantially affects motion of internal interfaces such as domain walls. Additionally, the differences observed for stacks with different electrode materials implicate the ferroelectric–electrode interface as either the predominant source of radiation-induced effects (Pt electrodes) or the site of healing for radiation-induced defects (IrO{sub 2} electrodes).

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Morphotropic NaNbO{sub 3}-BaTiO{sub 3}-CaZrO{sub 3} lead-free ceramics with temperature-insensitive piezoelectric properties

A morphotropic NaNbO{sub 3}-based lead-free ceramic was reported to have temperature-insensitive piezoelectric and electromechanical properties (d{sub 33} = 231 pC/N, k{sub p} = 35%, T{sub c} = 148 °C, and low-hysteresis strain ∼0.15%) in a relatively wide temperature range. This was fundamentally ascribed to the finding of a composition-axis vertical morphotropic phase boundary in which coexisting ferroelectric phases are only compositionally driven and thermally insensitive. Both phase coexistence and nano-scaled domain morphology deserved well enhanced electrical properties, as evidenced by means of synchrotron x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Our study suggests that the current lead-free ceramic would be a very promising piezoelectric material for actuator and sensor applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Switchable and tunable film bulk acoustic resonator fabricated using barium strontium titanate active layer and Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5}/SiO{sub 2} acoustic reflector

A solidly mounted acoustic resonator was fabricated using a Ba{sub 0.60}Sr{sub 0.40}TiO{sub 3} (BST) film deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The device was acoustically isolated from the substrate using a Bragg reflector consisting of three pairs of Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5}/SiO{sub 2} layers deposited by chemical solution deposition. Transmission electron microscopy verified that the Bragg reflector was not affected by the high temperatures and oxidizing conditions necessary to process high quality BST films. Electrical characterization of the resonator demonstrated a quality factor (Q) of 320 and an electromechanical coupling coefficient (K{sub t}{sup 2}) of 7.0% at 11 V.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Size-effect in layered ferrielectric CuInP 2 S 6

In this paper, we report on polarization switching properties of thin flakes of van der Waals ferrielectric CuInP 2 S 6 . We observe mesoscale polarization domains, ferroelectric switching, and the Curie temperature above 299 K down to a thickness of ~50 nm. However, the electromechanical response is progressively suppressed below 50 nm, and vanishes at room temperature at a thickness of ~10 nm. Though larger than a single layer, 10 nm is still a very small value compared to the expectations for an intrinsic ferroelectric semiconductor. We therefore propose a model for a doped surface layer that screens spontaneous polarization in this material. The charges in the screening layer may also participate in secondary chemical reactions, which may explain domain pinning observed in thermal cycling of the flakes above the Curie temperature. At the same time, ferroelectric switching is intertwined with ionic diffusion, resulting in erratic and damaging switching at room temperature. Finally, owing to much stronger temperature dependence of ionic diffusion, the two phenomena can be decoupled allowing more reliable switching to be obtained at low temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Controllable piezoelectricity of Pb(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 film via in situ misfit strain

In this paper, the tetragonality (c/a) of a PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 (PZT) thin film on La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 /0.72Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -0.28PbTiO 3 (PMN-PT) substrates was controlled by applying an electric field on the PMN-PT substrate. The piezoelectric response of the PZT thin film under various biaxial strains was observed using time-resolved micro X-ray diffraction. The longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient (d 33 ) was reduced from 29.5 to 14.9 pm/V when the c/a ratio of the PZT film slightly changed from 1.051 to 1.056. Finally, our results demonstrate that the tetragonality of the PZT thin film plays a critical role in determining d 33 , and in situ strain engineering using electromechanical substrate is useful in excluding the extrinsic effect resulting from the variation in the film thickness or the interface between substrate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Low-frequency ultrasonic Bessel-like collimated beam generation from radial modes of piezoelectric transducers

We present a very simple approach to generate a collimated ultrasonic beam that exploits the natural Bessel-like vibration pattern of the radial modes of a piezoelectric disc with lateral clamping. This eliminates the need for the conventional annular Bessel pattern of the electrodes with individual electrode excitation on the piezo-disc, thus simplifying the transducer design. Numerical and experimental studies are carried out to investigate the Bessel-like vibration patterns of these radial modes showing an excellent agreement between these two studies. Measured ultrasonic beam- pro les in water from the radial modes con rm the profile to be a Bessel beam. Collimated beam generation from radial modes is investigated using a coupled electromechanical finite-element model. It is found that clamping the lateral edges of piezoelectric transducers results in a high-degree of collimation with practically no side-lobes similar to a parametric array beam. Ultrasonic beam- profile measurements in water with both free and clamped piezoelectric transducer are presented. The collimated beam generation using the present technique of using the laterally clamped radial modes finds significant applications in low-frequency imaging through highly attenuating materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ferroelectric or non-ferroelectric: Why so many materials exhibit “ferroelectricity” on the nanoscale

Here, ferroelectric materials have remained one of the major focal points of condensed matter physics and materials science for over 50 years. In the last 20 years, the development of voltage-modulated scanning probe microscopy techniques, exemplified by Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and associated time- and voltage spectroscopies, opened a pathway to explore these materials on a single-digit nanometer level. Consequently, domain structures and walls and polarization dynamics can now be imaged in real space. More generally, PFM has allowed studying electromechanical coupling in a broad variety of materials ranging from ionics to biological systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗