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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 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Quality-enhanced In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As film grown on GaAs substrate with an ultrathin amorphous In{sub 0.6}Ga{sub 0.4}As buffer layer

Using low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy, amorphous In{sub 0.6}Ga{sub 0.4}As layers have been grown on GaAs substrates to act as buffer layers for the subsequent epitaxial growth of In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As films. It is revealed that the crystallinity of as-grown In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As films is strongly affected by the thickness of the large-mismatched amorphous In{sub 0.6}Ga{sub 0.4}As buffer layer. Given an optimized thickness of 2 nm, this amorphous In{sub 0.6}Ga{sub 0.4}As buffer layer can efficiently release the misfit strain between the In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As epi-layer and the GaAs substrate, trap the threading and misfit dislocations from propagating to the following In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As epi-layer, and reduce the surface fluctuation of the as-grown In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As, leading to a high-quality In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As film with competitive crystallinity to that grown on GaAs substrate using compositionally graded In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As metamorphic buffer layers. Considering the complexity of the application of the conventional In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As graded buffer layers, this work demonstrates a much simpler approach to achieve high-quality In{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As film on GaAs substrate and, therefore, is of huge potential for the InGaAs-based high-efficiency photovoltaic industry.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electric current induced flow of liquid metals: Mechanism and substrate-surface effects

Long range, continuous flow of liquid metals occurs upon application of an electric current. Here, we report experimental results elucidating the mechanism of current-induced liquid metal flow, and its dependence on substrate surface condition. It is shown that the observed flow is diffusion-controlled, with the flow-rate depending linearly on applied current density, indicating that it is driven by electromigration. The effective charge number for liquid electromigration, Z*, of several pure metals, such as Al, Bi, Ga, Sn, and Pb, were deduced from the experimental results and were found to be close to the elemental valency. With the exception of liquid Pb, Z* for all liquid metals tested in this study were positive, indicating that: (i) electron wind contributes much less to Z* in liquid metals than in solids, and (ii) with a few exceptions, liquid metals generally flow in the direction of the electric current. On smooth substrates which are wetted well by the liquid metal, flow occurs in a thin, continuous stream. On rough surfaces which are poorly wetted, on the other hand, discrete beads of liquid form, with mass transport between adjacent beads occurring by surface diffusion on the substrate. A rationale for the role of substrate roughness in fostering this observed transition in flow mechanism is presented.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Controlling the anisotropy and domain structure with oblique deposition and substrate rotation

Effect of substrate rotation on anisotropy and domain structure for a thin ferromagnetic film has been investigated in this work. For this purpose Co films with 10 nm thickness have been prepared by sputtering with oblique angle of incidence for various substrate rotations. This method of preparation induces a uniaxial anisotropy due to shadow deposition effect. The magnetization reversal is studied by magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) based microscope in the longitudinal geometry. The Co films prepared by rotating the substrate with 10 and 20 rpm weakens the anisotropy but does not completely give isotropic films. But this leads to high dispersion in local grain anisotropy resulting in ripple and labyrinth domains. It is observed that the substrate rotation has moderate effect on uniaxial anisotropy but has significant effect on the magnetization reversal process and the domain structure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study of a 1 eV GaNAsSb photovoltaic cell grown on a silicon substrate

We report the performance of a 1 eV GaNAsSb photovoltaic cell grown on a Si substrate with a SiGe graded buffer grown using molecular beam epitaxy. For comparison, the performance of a similar 1 eV GaN{sub 0.018}As{sub 0.897}Sb{sub 0.085} photovoltaic cell grown on a GaAs substrate was also reported. Both devices were in situ annealed at 700 °C for 5 min, and a significant performance improvement over our previous result was observed. The device on the GaAs substrate showed a low open circuit voltage (V{sub OC}) of 0.42 V and a short circuit current density (J{sub SC}) of 23.4 mA/cm{sup 2} while the device on the Si substrate showed a V{sub OC} of 0.39 V and a J{sub SC} of 21.3 mA/cm{sup 2}. Both devices delivered a quantum efficiency of 50%–55% without any anti-reflection coating.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Excitons in a mirror: Formation of “optical bilayers” using MoS{sub 2} monolayers on gold substrates

We report coupling of excitons in monolayers of molybdenum disulphide to their mirror image in an underlying gold substrate. Excitons at the direct band gap are little affected by the substrate whereas strongly bound C-excitons associated with a van-Hove singularity change drastically. On quartz substrates only one C-exciton is visible (in the blue) but on gold substrates a strong red-shifted extra resonance in the green is seen. Exciton coupling to its image leads to formation of a “mirror biexciton” with enhanced binding energy. Estimates of this energy shift in an emitter-gold system match experiments well. The absorption spectrum of MoS{sub 2} on gold thus resembles a bilayer of MoS{sub 2} which has been created by optical coupling. Additional top-mirrors produce an “optical bulk.”.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Substrate dielectric effects on graphene field effect transistors

Graphene is emerging as a promising material for future electronics and optoelectronics applications due to its unique electronic structure. Understanding the graphene-dielectric interaction is of vital importance for the development of graphene field effect transistors (FETs) and other novel graphene devices. Here, we extend the exploration of substrate dielectrics from conventionally used thermally grown SiO{sub 2} and hexagonal boron nitride films to technologically relevant deposited dielectrics used in semiconductor industry. A systematic analysis of morphology and optical and electrical properties was performed to study the effects of different substrates (SiO{sub 2}, HfO{sub 2}, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS)-oxide, and Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}) on the carrier transport of chemical vapor deposition-derived graphene FET devices. As baseline, we use graphene FETs fabricated on thermal SiO{sub 2} with a relatively high carrier mobility of 10 000 cm{sup 2}/(V s). Among the deposited dielectrics studied, silicon nitride showed the highest mobility, comparable to the properties of graphene fabricated on thermal SiO{sub 2}. We conclude that this result comes from lower long range scattering and short range scattering rates in the nitride compared those in the other deposited films. The carrier fluctuation caused by substrates, however, seems to be the main contributing factor for mobility degradation, as a universal mobility-disorder density product is observed for all the dielectrics examined. The extrinsic doping trend is further confirmed by Raman spectra. We also provide, for the first time, correlation between the intensity ratio of G peak and 2D peak in the Raman spectra to the carrier mobility of graphene for different substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
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 OSTI2014

Flexible cadmium telluride thin films grown on electron-beam-irradiated graphene/thin glass substrates

We demonstrate the close-spaced sublimation growth of polycrystalline cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films on a flexible graphene electrode/thin glass substrate structure. Prior to the growth of CdTe films, chemical-vapor-deposited graphene was transferred onto a flexible glass substrate and subjected to electron-beam irradiation at an energy of 0.2 MeV in order to intentionally introduce the defects into it in a controlled manner. Micro-Raman spectroscopy and sheet resistance measurements were employed to monitor the damage and disorder in the electron-beam irradiated graphene layers. The morphology and optical properties of the CdTe thin films deposited on a graphene/flexible glass substrate were systematically characterized. The integration of the defective graphene layers with a flexible glass substrate can be a useful platform to grow various thin-film structures for flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Laser lift-off technique for freestanding GaN substrate using an In droplet formed by thermal decomposition of GaInN and its application to light-emitting diodes

We developed a laser lift-off technique for a freestanding GaN substrate using an In droplet formed by thermal decomposition of GaInN. A combination of an In droplet formed by thermal decomposition of GaInN during growth and a pulsed second-harmonic neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser (λ = 532 nm) realized the lift-off GaN substrate. After laser lift-off of the GaN substrate, it was used to achieve 380 nm ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with light output enhanced 1.7-fold. In this way, the light extraction can be improved by removing the GaN substrate.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multi-spectral optical absorption in substrate-free nanowire arrays

A method is presented of fabricating gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowire arrays of controlled diameter and period by reactive ion etching of a GaAs substrate containing an indium gallium arsenide (InGaP) etch stop layer, allowing the precise nanowire length to be controlled. The substrate is subsequently removed by selective etching, using the same InGaP etch stop layer, to create a substrate-free GaAs nanowire array. The optical absorptance of the nanowire array was then directly measured without absorption from a substrate. We directly observe absorptance spectra that can be tuned by the nanowire diameter, as explained with rigorous coupled wave analysis. These results illustrate strong optical absorption suitable for nanowire-based solar cells and multi-spectral absorption for wavelength discriminating photodetectors. The solar-weighted absorptance above the bandgap of GaAs was 94% for a nanowire surface coverage of only 15%.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of Si substrate on interfacial SiO{sub 2} scavenging in HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si stacks

The scavenging kinetics of an ultra-thin SiO{sub 2} interface layer (SiO{sub 2}-IL) in an HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si stack is discussed by focusing on the substrate effect in addition to oxygen diffusion. {sup 18}O tracing experiments demonstrate that the O-atom moves from the SiO{sub 2}-IL to the HfO{sub 2} layer during scavenging. SiO{sub 2}-IL scavenging with various substrates (Si, SiC, and sapphire) has been found to be significantly different, which suggests that the Si in the substrate is also necessary to continuously cause the scavenging. Based on these findings and thermodynamic considerations, a kinetic model where oxygen vacancy (V{sub O}) transferred from the HfO{sub 2} reacts with the SiO{sub 2}, which is in contact with the Si-substrate, is proposed for the SiO{sub 2}-IL scavenging.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural and optical properties of AgAlTe{sub 2} layers grown on sapphire substrates by closed space sublimation method

AgAlTe{sub 2} layers were grown on a- and c-plane sapphire substrates using a closed space sublimation method. Grown layers were confirmed to be single phase layers of AgAlTe{sub 2} by X-ray diffraction. AgAlTe{sub 2} layers were grown to have a strong preference for the (112) orientation on both kinds of substrates. The variation in the orientation of grown layers was analyzed in detail using the X-ray diffraction pole figure measurement, which revealed that the AgAlTe{sub 2} had a preferential epitaxial relationship with the c-plane sapphire substrate. The atomic arrangement between the (112) AgAlTe{sub 2} layer and sapphire substrates was compared. It was considered that the high order of the lattice arrangement symmetry probably effectively accommodated the lattice mismatch. The optical properties of the grown layer were also evaluated by transmittance measurements. The bandgap energy was found to be around 2.3 eV, which was in agreement with the theoretical bandgap energy of AgAlTe{sub 2}.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of InGaAs interlayer on the properties of GaAs grown on Si (111) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

High-quality GaAs films have been epitaxially grown on Si (111) substrates by inserting an In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As interlayer with proper In composition by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The effect of In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As (0 < x < 0.2) interlayers on the properties of GaAs films grown on Si (111) substrates by MBE has been studied in detailed. Due to the high compressive strain between InGaAs and Si, InGaAs undergoes partial strain relaxation. Unstrained InGaAs has a larger lattice constant than GaAs. Therefore, a thin InGaAs layer with proper In composition may adopt a close lattice constant with that of GaAs, which is beneficial to the growth of high-quality GaAs epilayer on top. It is found that the proper In composition in In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As interlayer of 10% is beneficial to obtaining high-quality GaAs films, which, on the one hand, greatly compensates the misfit stress between GaAs film and Si substrate, and on the other hand, suppresses the formation of multiple twin during the heteroepitaxial growth of GaAs film. However, when the In composition does not reach the proper value (∼10%), the In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As adopts a lower strain relaxation and undergoes a lattice constant smaller than unstrained GaAs, and therefore introduces compressive stress to GaAs grown on top. When In composition exceeds the proper value, the In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As will adopt a higher strain relaxation and undergoes a lattice constant larger than unstrained GaAs, and therefore introduces tensile stress to GaAs grown on top. As a result, In{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}As interlayers with improper In composition introduces enlarged misfit stress to GaAs epilayers grown on top, and deteriorates the quality of GaAs epilayers. This work demonstrates a simple but effective method to grow high-quality GaAs epilayers and brings up a broad prospect for the application of GaAs-based optoelectronic devices on Si substrates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Raman measurements of substrate temperature in a molecular beam epitaxy growth chamber

A method is described for directly measuring the temperature of a substrate in a molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) growth system. The approach relies on the establishment of the temperature dependence of Raman-active phonons of the substrate material using independently known calibration points across the range of interest. An unknown temperature in this range is then determined based on the Raman peak position with the substrate in situ the MBE chamber. The apparatus relies on conventional optics and Raman components. Shifting and broadening of the Raman spectrum are described based on the effects of thermal expansion and anharmonic decay. The choice of reference temperature is discussed. The method is qualified by examining the substrate temperature dependence, relative to that of a standard thermocouple, during a commonly used ramp procedure. Both temperature difference and time lag are obtained.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetic anisotropy of [Co{sub 2}MnSi/Pd]{sub n} superlattice films prepared on MgO(001), (110), and (111) substrates

Superlattice films with full-Heusler Co{sub 2}MnSi (CMS) alloy and Pd layers prepared on Pd-buffered MgO(001), (110), and (111) substrates were investigated. Crystal orientation and epitaxial relationship of Pd and CMS layers were analyzed from x-ray diffraction, pole figure measurements, and transmission electron microscope observation. Formation of the L2{sub 1}-ordered structure in the CMS layers was confirmed by observation of CMS(111) diffraction. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) was obtained in the [CMS (0.6 nm)/Pd (2 nm)]{sub 6} superlattice film formed using MgO(111) substrates although other superlattice films prepared using MgO(001) and (110) substrates showed in-plane and isotropic magnetic anisotropy, respectively. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy constant K for the superlattice films prepared using MgO(111) substrate was estimated to be 2.3 Mergs/cm{sup 3}, and an interfacial anisotropy constant K{sub i} per one CMS-Pd interface in the superlattice films was estimated to be 0.16 ergs/cm{sup 2}. K{sub i} in superlattice films with various crystal orientations showed positive values, indicating that Pd/CMS interfaces had an ability to induce PMA regardless of their crystal orientation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Static and high frequency magnetic properties of FeGa thin films deposited on convex flexible substrates

Magnetostrictive FeGa thin films were deposited on the bowed flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, which were fixed on the convex mold. A compressive stress was induced in FeGa films when the PET substrates were shaped from convex to flat. Due to the effect of magnetostriction, FeGa films exhibit an obvious in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy which could be enhanced by increasing the applied pre-strains on the substrates during growth. Consequently, the ferromagnetic resonance frequency of the films was significantly increased, but the corresponding initial permeability was decreased. Moreover, the films with pre-strains less than 0.78% exhibit a working bandwidth of microwave absorption about 2 GHz. Our investigations demonstrated a convenient method via the pre-strained substrates to tune the high frequency properties of magnetic thin films which could be applied in flexible microwave devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Reducing intrinsic loss in superconducting resonators by surface treatment and deep etching of silicon substrates

We present microwave-frequency NbTiN resonators on silicon, systematically achieving internal quality factors above 1 M in the quantum regime. We use two techniques to reduce losses associated with two-level systems: an additional substrate surface treatment prior to NbTiN deposition to optimize the metal-substrate interface and deep reactive-ion etching of the substrate to displace the substrate-vacuum interfaces away from high electric fields. The temperature and power dependence of resonator behavior indicate that two-level systems still contribute significantly to energy dissipation, suggesting that more interface optimization could further improve performance.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition

AlN films with various thicknesses have been grown on Si(111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The surface morphology and structural property of the as-grown AlN films have been investigated carefully to comprehensively explore the epitaxial behavior. The ∼2 nm-thick AlN film initially grown on Si substrate exhibits an atomically flat surface with a root-mean-square surface roughness of 0.23 nm. As the thickness increases, AlN grains gradually grow larger, causing a relatively rough surface. The surface morphology of ∼120 nm-thick AlN film indicates that AlN islands coalesce together and eventually form AlN layers. The decreasing growth rate from 240 to 180 nm/h is a direct evidence that the growth mode of AlN films grown on Si substrates by PLD changes from the islands growth to the layer growth. The evolution of AlN films throughout the growth is studied deeply, and its corresponding growth mechanism is hence proposed. These results are instructional for the growth of high-quality nitride films on Si substrates by PLD, and of great interest for the fabrication of AlN-based devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗