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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 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

A resonant sensor composed of quartz double ended tuning fork and silicon substrate for digital acceleration measurement

Presented in this paper is a micro-resonant acceleration sensor based on the frequency shift of quartz double ended tuning fork (DETF). The structure is silicon substrate having a proof mass supported by two parallel flexure hinges as doubly sustained cantilever, with a resonating DETF located between the hinges. The acceleration normal to the chip plane induces an axial stress in the DETF beam and, in turn, a proportional shift in the beam resonant frequency. Substrate is manufactured by single-crystal silicon for stable mechanical properties and batch-fabrication processes. Electrodes on the four surfaces of DETF beam excite anti-phase vibration model, to balance inner stress and torque and imply a high quality factor. The sensor is simply packaged and operates unsealed in atmosphere for measurements. The tested natural frequency is 36.9 kHz and the sensitivity is 21 Hz/g on a nominally ±100 g device, which is in good agreement with analytical calculation and finite element simulation. The output frequency drifting is less than 0.5 Hz (0.0014% of steady output) within 1 h. The nonlinearity is 0.0019%FS and hysteresis is 0.0026%FS. The testing results confirm the feasibility of combining quartz DETF and silicon substrate to achieve a micro-resonant sensor based on simple processing for digital acceleration measurements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication of single crystalline, uniaxial single domain Co nanowire arrays with high coercivity

Whilst Co nanorods with high coercivity were synthesized during recent years, they did not achieve the same results as for Co nanowires embedded in solid templates. In the present work, Co nanowire arrays (NWAs) with high coercivity were successfully fabricated in porous aluminum oxide template under optimum conditions by using pulsed ac electrodeposition technique. Magnetic properties and crystalline characteristics of the nanowires were investigated by hysteresis loop measurements, first-order reversal curve (FORC) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns. Hysteresis loop measurements showed high coercivity of about 4.8 kOe at room temperature together with optimum squareness of 1, resulting in an increase of the previous maximum coercivity for Co NWAs up to 45%. XRD and SAED patterns revealed a single crystalline texture along the [0002] direction, indicating the large magnetocrystalline anisotropy. On the other hand, FORC analysis confirmed a single domain structure for the Co NWAs. In addition, the reversal mechanism of the single crystalline, single domain Co NWAs was studied which resulted in the fixed easy axis with a coherent rotation. Accordingly, these nanowires might offer promising applications in high density bit patterned media and low power logic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Diffusion-driven precipitate growth and ripening of oxygen precipitates in boron doped silicon by dynamical x-ray diffraction

X-ray Pendellösung fringes from three silicon single crystals measured at 900 °C are analyzed with respect to density and size of oxygen precipitates within a diffusion-driven growth model and compared with TEM investigations. It appears that boron doped (p+) material shows a higher precipitate density and a higher strain than moderately (p-) boron crystals. In-situ diffraction reveals a diffusion-driven precipitate growth followed by a second growth regime in both materials. An interpretation of the second growth regime in terms of Ostwald ripening yields surface energy values (around 70 erg/cm{sup 2}) similar to published data. Further, an increased nucleation rate by a factor of ∼13 is found in the p+ sample as compared to a p- sample at a nucleation temperature of 450 °C.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stimulated emission and optical gain in AlGaN heterostructures grown on bulk AlN substrates

Optical gain spectra for ∼250 nm stimulated emission were compared in three different AlGaN-based structures grown on single crystalline AlN substrates: a single AlGaN film, a double heterostructure (DH), and a Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) structure; respective threshold pumping power densities of 700, 250, and 150 kW/cm{sup 2} were observed. Above threshold, the emission was transverse-electric polarized and as narrow as 1.8 nm without a cavity. The DH and MQW structures showed gain values of 50–60 cm{sup −1} when pumped at 1 MW/cm{sup 2}. The results demonstrated the excellent optical quality of the AlGaN-based heterostructures grown on AlN substrates and their potential for realizing electrically pumped sub-280 nm laser diodes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single-crystalline monolayer and multilayer graphene nano switches

Growth of monolayer, bi-layer, and tri-layer single-crystalline graphene (SCG) using chemical vapor deposition method is reported. SCG's mechanical properties and single-crystalline nature were characterized and verified by atomic force microscope and Raman spectroscopy. Electro-mechanical switches based on mono- and bi-layer SCG were fabricated, and the superb properties of SCG enable the switches to operate at pull-in voltage as low as 1 V, and high switching speed about 100 ns. These devices exhibit lifetime without a breakdown of over 5000 cycles, far more durable than any other graphene nanoelectromechanical system switches reported.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Prediction method of basic domain structure in Fe3%Si(110) single crystal with grooved surface

This paper proposes the method to accurately predict the 180° basic domain width (D{sub w}) in demagnetized states of the grooved Fe3%Si(110) single crystal with the tilt angle of [001] out of the sheet surface (β). The evaluation of D{sub w} enables the estimation of the anomalous eddy current losses. In this paper, D{sub w} is optimized to minimize the magnetic Gibbs free energy represented by vector potentials using the finite element method and the conjugate gradient method. The μ*-method is adopted to approximate the magnetization relaxation. The stray field energy generated by the magnetic charges occurring on both grooves cross section and sheet surfaces is considered in our proposed method. The validity of the proposed method was confirmed by comparison with the observed D{sub w}. As a result, we could reveal the β dependence of D{sub w} against the groove depth. Moreover, the theoretical threshold of the domain refinement due to the grooves has been suggested.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Mechanism of dilute-spin-exchange in solid-state NMR

In the stationary, aligned samples used in oriented sample (OS) solid-state NMR, {sup 1}H-{sup 1}H homonuclear dipolar couplings are not attenuated as they are in magic angle spinning solid-state NMR; consequently, they are available for participation in dipolar coupling-based spin-exchange processes. Here we describe analytically the pathways of {sup 15}N-{sup 15}N spin-exchange mediated by {sup 1}H-{sup 1}H homonuclear dipolar couplings. The mixed-order proton-relay mechanism can be differentiated from the third spin assisted recoupling mechanism by setting the {sup 1}H to an off-resonance frequency so that it is at the “magic angle” during the spin-exchange interval in the experiment, since the “magic angle” irradiation nearly quenches the former but only slightly attenuates the latter. Experimental spectra from a single crystal of N-acetyl leucine confirm that this proton-relay mechanism plays the dominant role in {sup 15}N-{sup 15}N dilute-spin-exchange in OS solid-state NMR in crystalline samples. Remarkably, the “forbidden” spin-exchange condition under “magic angle” irradiation results in {sup 15}N-{sup 15}N cross-peaks intensities that are comparable to those observed with on-resonance irradiation in applications to proteins. The mechanism of the proton relay in dilute-spin-exchange is crucial for the design of polarization transfer experiments.

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

Lithium ion diffusion in Li β-alumina single crystals measured by pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy

The lithium ion diffusion coefficient of a 93% Li β-alumina single crystal was measured for the first time using pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR spectroscopy with two different crystal orientations. The diffusion coefficient was found to be 1.2 × 10{sup −11} m{sup 2}/s in the direction perpendicular to the c axis at room temperature. The Li ion diffusion coefficient along the c axis direction was found to be very small (6.4 × 10{sup −13} m{sup 2}/s at 333 K), which suggests that the macroscopic diffusion of the Li ion in the β-alumina crystal is mainly two-dimensional. The diffusion coefficient for the same sample was also estimated using NMR line narrowing data and impedance measurements. The impedance data show reasonable agreement with PFG-NMR data, while the line narrowing measurements provided a lower value for the diffusion coefficient. Line narrowing measurements also provided a relatively low value for the activation energy and pre-exponential factor. The temperature dependent diffusion coefficient was obtained in the temperature range 297–333 K by PFG-NMR, from which the activation energy for diffusion of the Li ion was estimated. The activation energy obtained by PFG-NMR was smaller than that obtained by impedance measurements, which suggests that thermally activated defect formation energy exists for 93% Li β-alumina single crystals. The diffusion time dependence of the diffusion coefficient was observed for the Li ion in the 93% Li β-alumina single crystal by means of PFG-NMR experiments. Motion of Li ion in fractal dimension might be a possible explanation for the observed diffusion time dependence of the diffusion coefficient in the 93% Li β–alumina system.

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

Opto-electrical properties of Sb-doped p-type ZnO nanowires

P-type ZnO nanowires (NWs) have attracted much attention in the past years due to the potential applications for optoelectronics and piezotronics. In this study, we have synthesized Sb-doped p-type ZnO NWs on Si (100) substrates by chemical vapor deposition with Aucatalyst. The Sb-doped ZnO NWs are single crystalline with high density, grown along [1-1-2] direction. The doping percentage of Sb is about 2.49%, which has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The ZnO NW field effect transistor demonstrated its p-type characteristics. A high responsivity to ultraviolet photodetection was also observed. In addition, compared to intrinsic ZnO NWs, the conductivity of the Sb-doped ZnO NWs exhibited ∼2 orders of magnitude higher. These properties make the p-type ZnO NWs a promising candidate for electronic and optoelectronic devices.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pressure effect on elastic, lattice dynamic and superconducting behaviour of yttrium sulfide: A first principle study

First principles calculations have been carried out to analyze structural, elastic, and dynamic stability of yttrium sulphide (YS) under hydrostatic compression. The comparison of enthalpies of rocksalt type (B1) and CsCl type cubic (B2) structures determined as a function of compression suggests the B1 → B2 transition at ∼49 GPa (the same transition occurs at ∼48 GPa at 300 K). Various physical quantities such as zero pressure equilibrium volume, bulk modulus, and pressure derivative of bulk modulus have been derived from the theoretically determined equation of state. The single crystal elastic constants derived from the energy strain method agree well with the experimental values. The activation barrier between B1 and B2 phases calculated at transition point is ∼17/mRy/f.u. Our lattice dynamic calculations show that at ambient condition, the B1 phase is lattice dynamically stable, and frequencies of phonon modes in different high symmetry directions of Brillouin zone agrees well with experimental values. The B2 phase also is dynamical stable at ambient condition as well as at ∼49 GPa, supporting our static lattice calculation. The effect of temperature on volume and bulk modulus of the YS in B1 phase has also been examined. The superconducting temperature of ∼2.78 K determine at zero pressure agrees well with experimental data. The effect of pressure is found to suppress the superconducting nature of this material.

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

Lattice thermal conductivity of UO{sub 2} using ab-initio and classical molecular dynamics

We applied the non-equilibrium ab-initio molecular dynamics and predict the lattice thermal conductivity of the pristine uranium dioxide for up to 2000 K. We also use the equilibrium classical molecular dynamics and heat-current autocorrelation decay theory to decompose the lattice thermal conductivity into acoustic and optical components. The predicted optical phonon transport is temperature independent and small, while the acoustic component follows the Slack relation and is in good agreement with the limited single-crystal experimental results. Considering the phonon grain-boundary and pore scatterings, the effective lattice thermal conductivity is reduced, and we show it is in general agreement with the sintered-powder experimental results. The charge and photon thermal conductivities are also addressed, and we find small roles for electron, surface polaron, and photon in the defect-free structures and for temperatures below 1500 K.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Precision control of thermal transport in cryogenic single-crystal silicon devices

We report on the diffusive-ballistic thermal conductance of multi-moded single-crystal silicon beams measured below 1 K. It is shown that the phonon mean-free-path ℓ is a strong function of the surface roughness characteristics of the beams. This effect is enhanced in diffuse beams with lengths much larger than ℓ, even when the surface is fairly smooth, 5–10 nm rms, and the peak thermal wavelength is 0.6 μm. Resonant phonon scattering has been observed in beams with a pitted surface morphology and characteristic pit depth of 30 nm. Hence, if the surface roughness is not adequately controlled, the thermal conductance can vary significantly for diffuse beams fabricated across a wafer. In contrast, when the beam length is of order ℓ, the conductance is dominated by ballistic transport and is effectively set by the beam cross-sectional area. We have demonstrated a uniformity of ±8% in fractional deviation for ballistic beams, and this deviation is largely set by the thermal conductance of diffuse beams that support the micro-electro-mechanical device and electrical leads. In addition, we have found no evidence for excess specific heat in single-crystal silicon membranes. This allows for the precise control of the device heat capacity with normal metal films. We discuss the results in the context of the design and fabrication of large-format arrays of far-infrared and millimeter wavelength cryogenic detectors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigations on optoelectronic transition mechanisms of silicon nanoporous pillar array by using surface photovoltage spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy

We report the electronic transition mechanisms for hydrothermally prepared silicon nanoporous pillar array (Si-NPA), investigated by surface photovoltage (SPV) spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. By comparing the SPV spectra of single crystal silicon (sc-Si) with that of Si-NPA, the silicon nano-crystallites (nc-Si)/SiO{sub x} nanostructure in the Si-NPA could produce SPV in the wavelength range of 300–580 nm. And 580 nm (∼2.14 eV) was considered as the absorption edge of the nc-Si/SiO{sub x} nanostructure. After the sample was annealed and oxidized in air at different temperatures, both the SPV in the wavelength range of 300–580 nm and the PL emission band around 690 nm from the nc-Si/SiO{sub x} nanostructure weakened and disappeared as the annealing temperature increased from 100 to 500 °C. But both the red-infrared PL band (>710 nm) and the violet-blue PL band were enhanced by increasing the annealing temperature. After 2 years of natural oxidation in air, the SPV features for sc-Si disappeared completely, and the SPV characteristics of the nc-Si/SiO{sub x} nanostructure could be clearly observed. After analysis, the Si–O structure related localized states at the nc-Si/SiO{sub x} interface dominated the electronic transitions during the red PL emission and the SPV for the nc-Si/SiO{sub x} nanostructure in Si-NPA, the red–infrared PL was due to the Si=O structure related electronic transitions, and the violet-blue PL emission could attribute to the oxygen-related defect related recombination of the photo induced carriers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Atomic configuration of irradiation-induced planar defects in 3C-SiC

The atomic configuration of irradiation-induced planar defects in single crystal 3C-SiC at high irradiation temperatures was shown in this research. A spherical aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope provided images of individual silicon and carbon atoms by the annular bright-field (ABF) method. Two types of irradiation-induced planar defects were observed in the ABF images including the extrinsic stacking fault loop with two offset Si-C bilayers and the intrinsic stacking fault loop with one offset Si-C bilayer. The results are in good agreement with images simulated under identical conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Role of the interface on radiation damage in the SrTiO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3} heterostructure under Ne{sup 2+} ion irradiation

We systematically investigated the microstructural evolution of heteroepitaxial SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) thin films grown on a single crystal LaAlO{sub 3} (LAO) (001) substrate, focusing on the response of the STO/LAO interface to Ne{sup 2+} irradiation at room temperature. Cross sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis reveals that the LAO crystal amorphizes first after a relatively low dose of damage followed by the amorphization of the STO film after irradiation to a higher dose. While the critical dose to amorphize differs between each material, amorphization begins at the interface and proceeds outward in both cases. Thus, a crystalline/amorphous interface first forms at the STO/LAO interface by a dose of 1 dpa, and then an amorphous/amorphous interface forms when the dose reaches 3 dpa. Scanning TEM and x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy indicate no significant heavy cation elemental diffusion, though electron energy loss spectroscopy reveals a redistribution of oxygen across the film/substrate interface after Ne{sup 2+} irradiation. Atomistic calculations are used to interpret the experimental findings in terms of the defect properties in each of the two component phases.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Scandium resonant impurity level in PbTe

We synthesize a scandium-doped PbTe single-crystal ingot and investigate the phase and the elemental composition as well as galvanomagnetic properties of Pb{sub 1-y}Sc{sub y}Te alloys in weak magnetic fields (4.2 K ≤ T ≤ 300 K, B ≤ 0.07 T) upon varying the scandium content (y ≤ 0.02). We find that all investigated samples are single-phase and n-type. The distribution of scandium impurities along the axis of the ingot is estimated to be exponential. An increase of scandium impurity content leads to a monotonous growth of the free electron concentration by four orders of magnitude (approximately from 10{sup 16} cm{sup −3} to 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3}). In heavily doped alloys (y > 0.01), the free electron concentration at the liquid-helium temperature tends to saturation, indicating the pinning of the Fermi energy by the scandium resonant impurity level located on the background of the conduction band. Using the two-band Kane and six-band Dimmock dispersion relations for IV-VI semiconductors, dependences of the Fermi energy measured from the bottom of the conduction band E{sub c} on the scandium impurity content are calculated and the energy of the resonant scandium level is estimated to be E{sub Sc} ≈ E{sub c} + 280 meV. Diagrams of electronic structure rearrangement of Pb{sub 1-y}Sc{sub y}Te alloys upon doping are proposed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural and thermodynamic properties of Fe{sub 1.12}Te with multiple phase transitions

The parent compound of iron chalcogenide superconductors, Fe{sub 1+y}Te, with a range of excess Fe concentrations exhibits intriguing structural and magnetic properties. Here, the interplay of magnetic and structural properties of Fe{sub 1.12}Te single crystals have been probed by low-temperature synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, magnetization, and specific heat measurements. Thermodynamic measurements reveal two distinct phase transitions, considered unique to samples possessing excess Fe content in the range of 0.11≤y≤0.13. On cooling, an antiferromagnetic transition, T{sub N}≈57 K is observed. A closer examination of powder diffraction data suggests that the transition at T{sub N} is not purely magnetic, but accompanied by the commencement of a structural phase transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic symmetry. This is followed by a second prominent first-order structural transition at T{sub S} with T{sub S}<T{sub N}, where an onset of monoclinic distortion is observed. The results point to a strong magneto-structural coupling in this material.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗