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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 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Quantum guidelines for solid-state spin defects

Defects with associated electron and nuclear spins in solid-state materials have a long history relevant to quantum information science going back to the first spin echo experiments with silicon dopants in the 1950s. Since the turn of the century, the field has rapidly spread to a vast array of defects and host crystals applicable to quantum communication, sensing, and computing. From simple spin resonance to long-distance remote entanglement, the complexity of working with spin defects is fast advancing, and requires an in-depth understanding of their spin, optical, charge, and material properties in this modern context. This is especially critical for discovering new relevant systems dedicated to specific quantum applications. In this review, we therefore expand upon all the key components with an emphasis on the properties of defects and the host material,on engineering opportunities and other pathways for improvement. Finally, this review aims to be as defect and material agnostic as possible, with some emphasis on optical emitters,providing a broad guideline for the field of solid-state spin defects for quantum information.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Quantum annealing correction with minor embedding

Quantum annealing provides a promising route for the development of quantum optimization devices, but the usefulness of such devices will be limited in part by the range of implementable problems as dictated by hardware constraints. To overcome constraints imposed by restricted connectivity between qubits, a larger set of interactions can be approximated using minor embedding techniques whereby several physical qubits are used to represent a single logical qubit. However, minor embedding introduces new types of errors due to its approximate nature. Here we introduce and study quantum annealing correction schemes designed to improve the performance of quantum annealers in conjunction with minor embedding, thus leading to a hybrid scheme defined over an encoded graph. We argue that this scheme can be efficiently decoded using an energy minimization technique provided the density of errors does not exceed the per-site percolation threshold of the encoded graph. We test the hybrid scheme using a D-Wave Two processor on problems for which the encoded graph is a two-level grid and the Ising model is known to be NP-hard. The problems we consider are frustrated Ising model problem instances with “planted” (a priori known) solutions. Applied in conjunction with optimized energy penalties and decoding techniques, we find that this approach enables the quantum annealer to solve minor embedded instances with significantly higher success probability than it would without error correction. Our work demonstrates that quantum annealing correction can and should be used to improve the robustness of quantum annealing not only for natively embeddable problems but also when minor embedding is used to extend the connectivity of physical devices.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1998

Nanoscale Etching and Indentation of Silicon Surfaces with Carbon Nanotubes

The possibility of nanolithography of silicon and germanium surfaces with bare carbon nanotube tips of scanning probe microscopy devices is considered with large scale classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations employing Tersoff's reactive many-body potential for heteroatomic C/Si/Ge system. Lithography plays a key role in semiconductor manufacturing, and it is expected that future molecular and quantum electronic devices will be fabricated with nanolithographic and nanodeposition techniques. Carbon nanotubes, rolled up sheets of graphene made of carbon, are excellent candidates for use in nanolithography because they are extremely strong along axial direction and yet extremely elastic along radial direction. In the simulations, the interaction of a carbon nanotube tip with silicon surfaces is explored in two regimes. In the first scenario, the nanotubes barely touch the surface, while in the second they are pushed into the surface to make "nano holes". The first - gentle scenario mimics the nanotube-surface chemical reaction induced by the vertical mechanical manipulation of the nanotube. The second -digging - scenario intends to study the indentation profiles. The following results are reported in the two cases. In the first regime, depending on the surface impact site, two major outcomes outcomes are the selective removal of either a single surface atom or a surface dimer off the silicon surface. In the second regime, the indentation of a silicon substrate by the nanotube is observed. Upon the nanotube withdrawal, several surface silicon atoms are adsorbed at the tip of the nanotube causing significant rearrangements of atoms comprising the surface layer of the silicon substrate. The results are explained in terms of relative strength of C-C, C-Si, and Si-Si bonds. The proposed method is very robust and does not require applied voltage between the nanotube tips and the surface. The implications of the reported controllable etching and hole-creating for nanolithography on silicon are discussed in detail.

Dzegilenko, Fedor N.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Toward Practical Carrier Multiplication: Donor/Acceptor Codoped Si Nanocrystals in SiO 2

Carrier multiplication (CM) is an interesting fundamental phenomenon with application potential in optoelectronics and photovoltaics, and it has been shown to be promoted by quantum confinement effects in nanostructures. However, mostly due to the short lifetimes of additional electron-hole (e-h) pairs generated by CM, major improvements of quantum dot devices that exploit CM are limited. Here we investigate CM in SiO2 solid state dispersions of phosphorus and boron codoped Si nanocrystals (NCs): an exotic variant of Si NCs whose photoluminescence (PL) emission energy, the optical bandgap, is significantly red-shifted in comparison to undoped Si NCs. By combining the results obtained by ultrafast induced absorption (IA) with PL quantum yield (PL QY) measurements, we demonstrate CM with a long (around 100 us) lifetime of the additional e-h pairs created by the process, similar as previously reported for undoped Si NCs, but with a significantly lower CM threshold energy. This constitutes a significant step toward the practical implementation of Si-based NCs in optoelectronic devices: we demonstrate efficient CM at the energy bandgap optimal for photovoltaic conversion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Hysteretic Superconducting Heat-Flux Quantum Modulator

In this work, we discuss heat transport in a thermally biased superconducting quantum-interference device (SQUID) in the presence of an external magnetic flux, when a non-negligible inductance of the SQUID ring is taken into account. A properly sweeping driving flux causes the thermal current to modulate and behave hysteretically. The response of this device is analyzed as a function of both the hysteresis parameter and the degree of asymmetry of the SQUID, highlighting the parameter range over which hysteretic behavior is observable. Markedly, the temperature of the SQUID also shows hysteretic evolution, with sharp transitions characterized by temperature jumps up to, e.g., approximately 0.02 K for a realistic Al-based setup. In view of these results, the proposed device can effectively find an application as a temperature-based superconducting memory element, working even at gigahertz frequencies by suitably choosing the superconductor on which the device is based.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Photovoltaic Devices Based on Colloidal PbX Quantum Dots: Progress and Prospects

Here, a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.0% and an outstanding air stability has been achieved for PbX quantum dots (QDs) solar cells, indicating strong potential for next generation low-cost solution-processed photovoltaics. Similar progress has been made in several other solar cell architectures employing PbX QD absorbers. This article aims to review the recent progress in understanding the photovoltaic-relevant properties of PbX QDs and highlight their application in various types of photovoltaic devices. In doing so, we hope that the unique properties of PbX QDs can be better understood in a broader context, and their potential can be fully realized with the aiding of other photovoltaic materials and novel device structures.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Hybrid GaAs/AlGaAs Nanowire—Quantum dot System for Single Photon Sources

III–V nanowires, or a combination of the nanowires with quantum dots, are promising building blocks for future optoelectronic devices, in particular, single-photon emitters, lasers and photodetectors. In this work we present results of molecular beam epitaxial growth of combined nanostructures containing GaAs quantum dots inside AlGaAs nanowires on a silicon substrate showing a new way to combine quantum devices with Si technology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Visible photoluminescence and room temperature ferromagnetism in high In-content InGaN:Yb nanorods grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report the growth of high indium content InGaN:Yb nanorods grown on c-plane sapphire (0001) substrates using plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns recorded during and after the growth revealed crystalline nature of the nanorods. The nanorods were examined using electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The photoluminescence studies of the nanorods showed the visible emissions. The In composition was calculated from x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the photoluminescence spectroscopy. The In-concentration was obtained from photoluminescence using modified Vegard's law and found to be around 37% for InGaN and 38% for Yb (5 ± 1%)-doped InGaN with a bowing parameter b = 1.01 eV. The Yb-doped InGaN showed significant enhancement in photoluminescence properties compared to the undoped InGaN. The Yb-doped InGaN nanorods demonstrated the shifting of the photoluminescence band at room temperature, reducing luminescence amplitude temperature dependent fluctuation, and significant narrowing of excitonic emission band as compared to the undoped InGaN. The magnetic properties measured by superconducting quantum interference devices reveals room temperature ferromagnetism, which can be explained by the double exchange mechanism and magnetostriction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superconducting inductive displacement detection of a microcantilever

We demonstrate a superconducting inductive technique to measure the displacement of a micromechanical resonator. In our scheme, a type I superconducting microsphere is attached to the free end of a microcantilever and approached to the loop of a dc Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) microsusceptometer. A local magnetic field as low as 100 μT, generated by a field coil concentric to the SQUID, enables detection of the cantilever thermomechanical noise at 4.2 K. The magnetomechanical coupling and the magnetic spring are in good agreement with image method calculations assuming pure Meissner effect. These measurements are relevant to recent proposals of quantum magnetomechanics experiments based on levitating superconducting microparticles.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Engineering the quantum anomalous Hall effect in graphene with uniaxial strains

We theoretically investigate the manipulation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) in graphene by means of the uniaxial strain. The values of Chern number and Hall conductance demonstrate that the strained graphene in presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange field, for vanishing intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, possesses non-trivial topological phase, which is robust against the direction and modulus of the strain. Besides, we also find that the interplay between Rashba and intrinsic spin-orbit couplings results in a topological phase transition in the strained graphene. Remarkably, as the strain strength is increased beyond approximately 7%, the critical parameters of the exchange field for triggering the quantum anomalous Hall phase transition show distinct behaviors—decrease (increase) for strains along zigzag (armchair) direction. Our findings open up a new platform for manipulation of the QAHE by an experimentally accessible strain deformation of the graphene structure, with promising application on novel quantum electronic devices with high efficiency.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrically driven single photon emission from a CdSe/ZnSSe single quantum dot at 200 K

High temperature operation of an electrically driven single photon emitter based on a single epitaxial quantum dot is reported. CdSe/ZnSSe/MgS quantum dots are embedded into a p-i-n diode architecture providing almost background free excitonic and biexcitonic electroluminescence from individual quantum dots through apertures in the top contacts. Clear antibunching with g{sup 2}(τ = 0) = 0.28 ± 0.20 can be tracked up to T = 200 K, representing the highest temperature for electrically triggered single photon emission from a single quantum dot device.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nonmonotonous electron mobility due to structurally induced resonant coupling of subband states in an asymmetric double quantum well

We show that sharp nonmonotic variation of low temperature electron mobility μ can be achieved in GaAs/Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As barrier delta-doped double quantum well structure due to quantum mechanical transfer of subband electron wave functions within the wells. We vary the potential profile of the coupled structure as a function of the doping concentration in order to bring the subbands into resonance such that the subband energy levels anticross and the eigen states of the coupled structure equally share both the wells thereby giving rise to a dip in mobility. When the wells are of equal widths, the dip in mobility occurs under symmetric doping of the side barriers. In case of unequal well widths, the resonance can be obtained by suitable asymmetric variation of the doping concentrations. The dip in mobility becomes sharp and also the wavy nature of mobility takes a rectangular shape by increasing the barrier width. We show that the dip in mobility at resonance is governed by the interface roughness scattering through step like changes in the subband mobilities. It is also gratifying to show that the drop in mobility at the onset of occupation of second subband is substantially supressed through the quantum mechanical transfer of subband wave functions between the wells. Our results can be utilized for performance enhancement of coupled quantum well devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Near-field imaging of plasmonic nanopatch antennas with integrated semiconductor quantum dots

Plasmonic nanopatch antennas that incorporate dielectric gaps hundreds of picometers to several nanometers thick have drawn increasing attention over the past decade because they confine electromagnetic fields to grossly sub-diffraction-limited volumes. Substantial control over the optical properties of excitons and color centers confined within these plasmonic cavities has already been demonstrated with far-field optical spectroscopies, but near-field optical spectroscopies are essential for an improved understanding of the plasmon–emitter interaction at the nanoscale. Here, we characterize the intensity and phase-resolved plasmonic response of isolated nanopatch antennas by cathodoluminescence microscopy. Furthermore, we explore the distinction between optical and electron beam spectroscopies of coupled plasmon–exciton heterostructures to identify constraints and opportunities for future nanoscale characterization and control of hybrid nanophotonic structures. While we observe substantial Purcell enhancement in time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopies, negligible Purcell enhancement is observed in cathodoluminescence spectroscopies of hybrid nanophotonic structures. The substantial differences in measured Purcell enhancement for electron beam and laser excitation can be understood as a result of the different selection rules for these complementary experiments. Overall, these results provide a fundamentally new understanding of near-field plasmon–exciton interactions in nanopatch antennas, which is essential for myriad emerging quantum photonic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Templated fabrication and characterization of SiO{sub 2} nanotube covered Fe nanowires

In this study, Fe nanowires coated with SiO{sub 2} nanotubes have been synthesized by electrodeposition method using anodic alumina oxide template. Before growing Fe nanowires, 6–8 nm thick SiO{sub 2} nanotubes are grown inside the template using a “surface sol-gel” technique. The nanotube structures were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Magnetic properties of the SiO{sub 2} insulated Fe nanowires inside the membrane are characterized by superconducting quantum interference device. Coercivities of around 120 Oe with field parallel to the nanowire axis and 240 Oe with field perpendicular the nanowire axis are observed at room temperature. These values are comparable to Fe nanowires without insulating layer in membrane. The magnetic hysteresis loop suggests that the SiO{sub 2} insulated nanowires have uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with the easy axis magnetization direction along the nanowire arrays due to their large shape anisotropy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2011

Secure Intra-Body Wireless Communications (SIWiC) System Project

SIWiC System is a project to investigate, design and implement future wireless networks of implantable sensors in the body. This futuristic project is designed to make use of the emerging and yet-to-emerge technologies, including ultra-wide band (UWB) for wireless communications, smart implantable sensors, ultra low power networking protocols, security and privacy for bandwidth and power deficient devices and quantum computing. Progress in each of these fronts is hindered by the needs of breakthrough. But, as we will see in this paper, these major challenges are being met or will be met in near future. SIWiC system is a network of in-situ wireless devices that are implanted to coordinate sensed data inside the body, such as symptoms monitoring collected internally, or biometric data collected of an outside object from within the intra-body network. One node has the capability of communicating outside the body to send data or alarm to a relevant authority, e.g., a remote physician.

Ahmad, Aftab↗
DOE OSTI2023

Kondo interaction of quantum spin Hall edge channels with charge puddles

Under time-reversal symmetry, quantum spin Hall edge channels are protected against elastic backscattering. However, even for samples which exhibit conductance quantization due to the quantum spin Hall effect, reproducible fluctuations shape the quantization plateau when the chemical potential is tuned through the bulk gap. Here, we examine those fluctuations in micron-sized HgTe quantum well devices. By performing temperature- and gate-dependent measurements, we conclude that “charge puddles” in the narrow-gap material have a Kondo-type interaction with the edge channels resulting in the observed conductance fluctuations. Our results provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of scattering in quantum spin Hall edge channels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Computer-automated tuning of semiconductor double quantum dots into the single-electron regime

We report the computer-automated tuning of gate-defined semiconductor double quantum dots in GaAs heterostructures. We benchmark the algorithm by creating three double quantum dots inside a linear array of four quantum dots. The algorithm sets the correct gate voltages for all the gates to tune the double quantum dots into the single-electron regime. The algorithm only requires (1) prior knowledge of the gate design and (2) the pinch-off value of the single gate T that is shared by all the quantum dots. This work significantly alleviates the user effort required to tune multiple quantum dot devices.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Origin of the injection-dependent emission blueshift and linewidth broadening of III-nitride light-emitting diodes

III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) exhibit an injection-dependent emission blueshift and linewidth broadening that is severely detrimental to their color purity. By using first-principles multi-scale modeling that accurately captures the competition between polarization-charge screening, phase-space filling, and many-body plasma renormalization, we explain the current-dependent spectral characteristics of polar III-nitride LEDs fabricated with state-of-the-art quantum wells. Our analysis uncovers a fundamental connection between carrier dynamics and the injection-dependent spectral characteristics of light-emitting materials. For example, polar III-nitride LEDs offer poor control over their injection-dependent color purity due to their poor hole transport and slow carrier-recombination dynamics, which forces them to operate at or near degenerate carrier densities. Designs that accelerate carrier recombination and transport and reduce the carrier density required to operate LEDs at a given current density lessen their injection-dependent wavelength shift and linewidth broadening.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗