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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 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Comparison of electrostatic and localized plasmon induced light enhancement in hybrid InGaN/GaN quantum wells

The light enhancement phenomena in InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) infiltrated with metal nanoparticles (NPs) are studied using resonant and off-resonant localized plasmon interactions. The emission and recombination characteristics of carriers in InGaN/GaN MQW structures with inverted hexagonal pits (IHPs) are modified distinctly depending on the nature of their interaction with the metal NPs and with the pumping and emitted photons. It is observed that the emission intensity of light is significantly enhanced when the emission energy is off-resonant to the localized plasmon frequency of the metal nanoparticles. This results in enhanced emission from MQW due to Au nanoparticles and from IHPs due to Ag nanoparticles. At resonant-plasmon frequency of the Ag NPs, the emission from MQWs is quenched due to the re-absorption of the emitted photons, or due to the drift carriers from c-plane MQWs towards the NPs because of the Coulomb forces induced by the image charge effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-speed force mapping on living cells with a small cantilever atomic force microscope

The imaging speed of the wide-spread force mapping mode for quantitative mechanical measurements on soft samples in liquid with the atomic force microscope (AFM) is limited by the bandwidth of the z-scanner and viscous drag forces on the cantilever. Here, we applied high-speed, large scan-range atomic force microscopy and small cantilevers to increase the speed of force mapping by ≈10−100 times. This allowed resolving dynamic processes on living mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Cytoskeleton reorganization during cell locomotion, growth of individual cytoskeleton fibers, cell blebbing, and the formation of endocytic pits in the cell membrane were observed. Increasing the force curve rate from 2 to 300 Hz increased the measured apparent Young's modulus of the cells by about 10 times, which facilitated force mapping measurements at high speed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multicycle rapid thermal annealing optimization of Mg-implanted GaN: Evolution of surface, optical, and structural properties

The first step of a multi-cycle rapid thermal annealing process was systematically studied. The surface, structure, and optical properties of Mg implanted GaN thin films annealed at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1200 °C were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence, UV-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Nomarski microscopy. The GaN thin films are capped with two layers of in-situ metal organic chemical vapor deposition -grown AlN and annealed in 24 bar of N{sub 2} overpressure to avoid GaN decomposition. The crystal quality of the GaN improves with increasing annealing temperature as confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy and the full widths at half maximums of the E{sub 2} and A{sub 1} (LO) Raman modes. The crystal quality of films annealed above 1100 °C exceeds the quality of the as-grown films. At 1200 °C, Mg is optically activated, which is determined by photoluminescence measurements. However, at 1200 °C, the GaN begins to decompose as evidenced by pit formation on the surface of the samples. Therefore, it was determined that the optimal temperature for the first step in a multi-cycle rapid thermal anneal process should be conducted at 1150 °C due to crystal quality and surface morphology considerations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Note: On the generation of sub-300 keV flash-X-rays using rod-pinch diode: An experimental investigation

Generation of flash X-rays (FXRs) at less than 500 keV is described with emphasis on experimental investigation. The pulser is a Tesla transformer-Water transmission line based pulsed power generator operating in double resonance mode to power a rod-pinch diode. The configuration of aspect ratio reported here falls much below the normally reported ratios for the rod-pinch diode operation. Experimental investigation at such low pulsed voltage has revealed “flowering” of the anode tip and “pitting” of the perspex window. A possible explanation in terms of Lorentz body force is discussed rather than the pinch mechanism generally suggested in literature. The experimental investigation for the FXR generation is corroborated by measuring the radiation dose using CaSO{sub 4} (Dy) thermo luminescent dosimeters.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication of ultra-high aspect ratio silicon nanopores by electrochemical etching

We report on the formation of ultra-high aspect ratio nanopores in silicon bulk material using photo-assisted electrochemical etching. Here, n-type silicon is used as anode in contact with hydrofluoric acid. Based on the local dissolution of surface atoms in pre-defined etching pits, pore growth and pore diameter are, respectively, driven and controlled by the supply of minority charge carriers generated by backside illumination. Thus, arrays with sub-100 nm wide pores were fabricated. Similar to macropore etching, it was found that the pore diameter is proportional to the etching current, i.e., smaller etching currents result in smaller pore diameters. To find the limits under which nanopores with controllable diameter still can be obtained, etching was performed at very low current densities (several μA cm{sup −2}). By local etching, straight nanopores with aspect ratios above 1000 (∼19 μm deep and ∼15 nm pore tip diameter) were achieved. However, inherent to the formation of such narrow pores is a radius of curvature of a few nanometers at the pore tip, which favors electrical breakdown resulting in rough pore wall morphologies. Lowering the applied bias is adequate to reduce spiking pores but in most cases also causes etch stop. Our findings on bulk silicon provide a realistic chance towards sub-10 nm pore arrays on silicon membranes, which are of great interest for molecular filtering and possibly DNA sequencing.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pyroelectric-field driven defects diffusion along c-axis in ZnO nanobelts under high-energy electron beam irradiation

When ZnO nanobelts are exposed to a high-dose electron probe of several nanometers to hundred nanometers in diameter inside a transmission electron microscope, due to the radiolysis effect, part of oxygen atoms will be ejected into the vacuum and leaving a Zn-ion rich surface with a pit appearance at both the electron-entrance and electron-exit surfaces. At the same time, a temperature distribution is created around the electron probe due to local beam heating effect, which generates a unidirectional pyroelectric field. This pyroelectric field is strong enough to drive Zn ions moving along its positive c-axis direction as interstitial ions. In the first case, for the ZnO nanobelts with c-axis lie in their large surfaces, defects due to the aggregation of Zn interstitial ions will be formed at some distances of 30–50 nm approximately along the c-axis direction from the electron beam illuminated area. Alternatively, for the ZnO nanobelts with ±(0001) planes as their large surfaces, the incident electron beam is along its c-axis and the generated pyroelectric field will drive the interstitial Zn-ions to aggregate at the Zn terminated (0001) surface where the local electrical potential is the lowest. Such electron beam induced damage in ZnO nanostructures is suggested as a result of Zn ion diffusion driven by the temperature gradient induced pyroelectric field along c-axis. Our study shows a radiation damage caused by electron beam in transmission electron microscopy, especially when the electron energy is high.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication of anti-adhesion surfaces on aluminium substrates of rubber plastic moulds using electrolysis plasma treatment

An anti-adhesion surface with a water contact angle of 167° was fabricated on aluminium samples of rubber plastic moulds by electrolysis plasma treatment using mixed electrolytes of C{sub 6}H{sub 5}O{sub 7}(NH{sub 4}){sub 3} and Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, followed by fluorination. To optimise the fabrication conditions, several important processing parameters such as the discharge voltage, discharge time, concentrations of supporting electrolyte and stearic acid ethanol solution were examined systematically. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyse surfaces morphology, micrometer scale pits, and protrusions were found on the surface, with numerous nanometer mastoids contained in the protrusions. These binary micro/nano-scale structures, which are similar to the micro-structures of soil-burrowing animals, play a critical role in achieving low adhesion properties. Otherwise, the anti-adhesion behaviours of the resulting samples were analysed by the atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), electrons probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), optical contact angle meter, digital Vickers microhardness (Hv) tester, and electronic universal testing. The results show that the electrolysis plasma treatment does not require complex processing parameters, using a simple device, and is an environment-friendly and effective method. Under the optimised conditions, the contact angle (CA) for the modified anti-adhesion surface is up to 167°, the sliding angle (SA) is less than 2°, roughness of the sample surface is only 0.409μm. Moreover, the adhesion force and H{sub v} are 0. 9KN and 385, respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-quality II-VI films grown on amorphous substrates using tunable tetradymite templates

We demonstrate the growth of highly oriented CdSe and ZnTe films at ~300 °C on amorphous substrates such as glass and flexible polyimide using ultrathin tetradymite buffer layers composed of Sb x Bi 2-x Te 3 alloys lattice-matched to the film overgrowth. This leads to significant improvement of the crystallinity, roughness, grain size, and pit density of the II-VI overlayer along with enhancement of the optoelectronic properties. For example, photoluminescence emission is observed at ~1.74 eV for optimized CdSe films, the same as in a single crystal reference. An in-plane carrier diffusion length of ~500 nm is inferred from transient optical data. The use of tetradymite buffer layers to control II-VI compound deposition on non-crystalline substrates is a promising route for large area optoelectronic applications such as photovoltaic, light-emission, or infrared detector devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Characterization of solid state nuclear track detectors of the polyallyl-diglycol-carbonate (CR-39/PM-355) type for light charged particle spectroscopy

This paper presents a method which uses the characteristics of the etch pits induced in a polyallyl-diglycol-carbonate (PADC) detector of the CR-39/PM-355 type to estimate particle energy. This method is based on the data provided by a semiautomatic system that selects tracks according to two parameters, crater diameters, and mean gray level values. In this paper we used the results of the calibration measurements that were obtained in our laboratory in the period 2000–2014. Combining the information on the two parameters it is possible to determine unambiguously the incident projectile energy values. The paper presents the results of an attempt to estimate the energy resolution of the method when analyzing the tracks produced in the CR-39/PM-355 detector by energetic ions such as alpha particles, protons, and deuterons. We discuss the energy resolution of the measurement of light charged particle energy which is based on the parameters (crater diameter and mean gray level value) of tracks induced in solid state nuclear track detectors of the PADC type.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of pulse frequency on microstructural, nanomechanical, and wear properties of electrodeposited Ni–TiN composite coatings

The current paper reports successful syntheses of Ni–TiN composite coatings by pulse electrodeposition. The effect of pulse frequency on the microstructures, nanomechanical, and wear properties of the coatings was investigated using transmission electron microscopy, X–ray diffraction, nanoindenter, scanning electron microscopy, and wear test instrument. The results showed that the Ni–TiN composite coating prepared at the pulse frequency of 100 Hz showed the presence of a less number of TiN particles and some degrees of aggregation in micro-regions. By contrast, in the Ni–TiN coating deposited at the pulse frequency of 500 Hz, the TiN particles were large in number and dispersed homogeneously, thereby, offering the coating a uniform and fine structure. The average grain diameters of Ni and TiN in the coating prepared at 100 Hz were 154.7 and 44.8 nm, respectively, whereas those for the coating prepared at 500 Hz were 67.3 and 25.9 nm, respectively. The maximum TiN content in the Ni-TiN coating deposited at 800 Hz was approximately 10.5 wt. %. The maximum microhardness and the Young's modulus values for the Ni–TiN composite coatings deposited at 800 Hz were 35.7 GPa and 167.4 GPa, respectively. Furthermore, the Ni–TiN composite coating prepared at 100 Hz had more severe damages, whereas the morphologies of worn surface of the coatings deposited at 500 Hz and 800 Hz were smooth and only a few small pits appeared on the surface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nucleation and growth of oxide islands during the initial-stage oxidation of (100)Cu-Pt alloys

The initial-stage oxidation of (100) Cu-Pt alloys has been examined by in situ environmental transmission electron microscopy and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). It is shown that the oxidation proceeds via the nucleation and growth of Cu{sub 2}O islands that show dependence on the alloy composition and oxidation temperature. The kinetic measurements on the oxide nucleation reveal that both the nucleation density and surface coverage of Cu{sub 2}O islands can be promoted by alloying more Pt in the Cu-Pt alloys. Increasing the oxidation temperature above 700 °C results in the growth of large Cu{sub 2}O islands that transits to a dendritic growth morphology. The ex situ AFM studies reveal that the nucleation of oxide islands can occur on surface terraces and the subsequent oxide growth depletes local terrace Cu atoms that results in the formation of surface pits.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy growth and effect of varying buffer thickness on the formation of ultra-thin In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N/GaN heterostructure on Si(111)

This work reports on the detailed plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) growth of ultra-thin In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N/GaN heterostructures on Si(111) substrate with three different buffer thickness (600 nm, 400 nm, and 200 nm). Growth through critical optimization of growth conditions is followed by the investigation of impact of varying buffer thickness on the formation of ultra-thin 1.5 nm, In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N–1.25 nm, GaN–1.5 nm, In{sub 0.17}Al{sub 0.83}N heterostructure, in terms of threading dislocation (TD) density. Analysis reveals a drastic reduction of TD density from the order 10{sup 10 }cm{sup −2} to 10{sup 8 }cm{sup −2} with increasing buffer thickness resulting smooth ultra-thin active region for thick buffer structure. Increasing strain with decreasing buffer thickness is studied through reciprocal space mapping analysis. Surface morphology through atomic force microscopy analysis also supports our study by observing an increase of pits and root mean square value (0.89 nm, 1.2 nm, and 1.45 nm) with decreasing buffer thickness which are resulted due to the internal strain and TDs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Stress induced growth of Sn nanowires in a single step by sputtering method

Sn nanowires in aluminum film have been synthesized in a single step by co-sputtering of Al and Sn targets. Due to immiscibility of Sn and Al, co-sputtering leads to generation of stress in the composite film. In order to attain thermodynamic equilibrium, Sn separates from Al and diffuses towards the grain boundaries. External perturbation due to ambient atmosphere leads to corrosion at the grain boundaries forming pits which provide path for Sn to evolve. Owing to this, extrusion of Sn nanowires from Al film occurs to release the residual stress in the film.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of varying buffer thickness generated strain and threading dislocations on the formation of plasma assisted MBE grown ultra-thin AlGaN/GaN heterostructure on silicon

Plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) growth of ultra-thin Al{sub 0.2}Ga{sub 0.8}N/GaN heterostructures on Si(111) substrate with three buffer thickness (600 nm/400 nm/200 nm) have been reported. An unique growth process has been developed that supports lower temperature epitaxy of GaN buffer which minimizes thermally generated tensile strain through appropriate nitridation and AlN initiated epitaxy for achieving high quality GaN buffer which supports such ultra-thin heterostructures in the range of 10-15Å. It is followed by investigations of role of buffer thickness on formation of ultra-thin Al{sub 0.2}Ga{sub 0.8}N/GaN heterostructure, in terms of stress-strain and threading dislocation (TD). Structural characterization were performed by High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HRXRD), room-temperature Photoluminescence (RT-PL), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Analysis revealed increasing biaxial tensile stress of 0.6918 ± 0.04, 1.1084, 1.1814 GPa in heterostructures with decreasing buffer thickness of 600, 400, 200 nm respectively which are summed up with residual tensile strain causing red-shift in RT-PL peak. Also, increasing buffer thickness drastically reduced TD density from the order 10{sup 10} cm{sup −2} to 10{sup 8} cm{sup −2}. Surface morphology through AFM leads to decrease of pits and root mean square value with increasing buffer thickness which are resulted due to reduction of combined effect of strain and TDs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nano-honeycomb structured transparent electrode for enhanced light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes

A universal nano-sphere lithography method has been developed to fabricate nano-structured transparent electrode, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), for light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Perforated SiO{sub 2} film made from a monolayer colloidal crystal of polystyrene spheres and tetraethyl orthosilicate sol-gel is used as a template. Ordered nano-honeycomb pits on the ITO electrode surface are obtained by chemical etching. The proposed method can be utilized to form large-area nano-structured ITO electrode. More than two folds' enhancement in both current efficiency and power efficiency has been achieved in a red phosphorescent OLED which was fabricated on the nano-structured ITO substrate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Study on GaN buffer leakage current in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor structures grown by ammonia-molecular beam epitaxy on 100-mm Si(111)

The effect of carbon doping on the structural and electrical properties of GaN buffer layer of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures has been studied. In the undoped HEMT structures, oxygen was identified as the dominant impurity using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. In addition, a notable parallel conduction channel was identified in the GaN buffer at the interface. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures with carbon doped GaN buffer using a CBr{sub 4} beam equivalent pressure of 1.86 × 10{sup −7} mTorr showed a reduction in the buffer leakage current by two orders of magnitude. Carbon doped GaN buffers also exhibited a slight increase in the crystalline tilt with some pits on the growth surface. PL and Raman measurements indicated only a partial compensation of donor states with carbon acceptors. However, AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures with carbon doped GaN buffer with 200 nm thick undoped GaN near the channel exhibited good 2DEG characteristics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cavitation erosion prediction based on analysis of flow dynamics and impact load spectra

Cavitation erosion is the consequence of repeated collapse-induced high pressure-loads on a material surface. The present paper assesses the prediction of impact load spectra of cavitating flows, i.e., the rate and intensity distribution of collapse events based on a detailed analysis of flow dynamics. Data are obtained from a numerical simulation which employs a density-based finite volume method, taking into account the compressibility of both phases, and resolves collapse-induced pressure waves. To determine the spectrum of collapse events in the fluid domain, we detect and quantify the collapse of isolated vapor structures. As reference configuration we consider the expansion of a liquid into a radially divergent gap which exhibits unsteady sheet and cloud cavitation. Analysis of simulation data shows that global cavitation dynamics and dominant flow events are well resolved, even though the spatial resolution is too coarse to resolve individual vapor bubbles. The inviscid flow model recovers increasingly fine-scale vapor structures and collapses with increasing resolution. We demonstrate that frequency and intensity of these collapse events scale with grid resolution. Scaling laws based on two reference lengths are introduced for this purpose. We show that upon applying these laws impact load spectra recorded on experimental and numerical pressure sensors agree with each other. Furthermore, correlation between experimental pitting rates and collapse-event rates is found. Locations of high maximum wall pressures and high densities of collapse events near walls obtained numerically agree well with areas of erosion damage in the experiment. The investigation shows that impact load spectra of cavitating flows can be inferred from flow data that captures the main vapor structures and wave dynamics without the need for resolving all flow scales.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Defects, strain relaxation, and compositional grading in high indium content InGaN epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We investigate the structural properties of a series of high alloy content InGaN epilayers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, employing the deposition temperature as variable under invariant element fluxes. Using transmission electron microscopy methods, distinct strain relaxation modes were observed, depending on the indium content attained through temperature adjustment. At lower indium contents, strain relaxation by V-pit formation dominated, with concurrent formation of an indium-rich interfacial zone. With increasing indium content, this mechanism was gradually substituted by the introduction of a self-formed strained interfacial InGaN layer of lower indium content, as well as multiple intrinsic basal stacking faults and threading dislocations in the rest of the film. We show that this interfacial layer is not chemically abrupt and that major plastic strain relaxation through defect introduction commences upon reaching a critical indium concentration as a result of compositional pulling. Upon further increase of the indium content, this relaxation mode was again gradually succeeded by the increase in the density of misfit dislocations at the InGaN/GaN interface, leading eventually to the suppression of the strained InGaN layer and basal stacking faults.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗