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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 901 records · Page 50
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Characterization of Vacancy Defects in Carbon Ion Irradiated Graphite Using Positrons

Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite samples are irradiated with 200 keV Carbon ions to fluences of 10{sup 14} and 10{sup 15} C{sup +} ions/cm{sup 2}. Depth resolved Doppler lineshape S-parameter exhibited large increase in peak damage regions of the sample, indicating the existence of irradiation induced vacancy defects. The depth profile of the defect region has been deduced from the analysis of the experimental data. It is found that divacancies are the dominant defects in the irradiated samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Amorphous Interface Layer in Thin Graphite Films Grown on the Carbon Face of SiC

Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to characterize an amorphous layer observed at the interface in graphite and graphene films grown via thermal decomposition of C-face 4H-SiC. The amorphous layer does not cover the entire interface, but uniform contiguous regions span microns of cross-sectional interface. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) demonstrate that the amorphous layer is a carbon-rich composition of Si/C. The amorphous layer is clearly observed in samples grown at 1600 C for a range of growth pressures in argon, but not at 1500 C, suggesting a temperature-dependent formation mechanism.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Development of a graphite polarization analyzer for resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) is a powerful technique for studying electronic excitations in correlated electron systems. Current RIXS spectrometers measure the changes in energy and momentum of the photons scattered by the sample. A powerful extension of the RIXS technique is the measurement of the polarization state of the scattered photons which contains information about the symmetry of the excitations. This long-desired addition has been elusive because of significant technical challenges. This paper reports the development of a new diffraction-based polarization analyzer which discriminates between linear polarization components of the scattered photons. The double concave surface of the polarization analyzer was designed as a good compromise between energy resolution and throughput. Such a device was fabricated using highly oriented pyrolytic graphite for measurements at the Cu K-edge incident energy. Preliminary measurements on a CuGeO{sub 3} sample are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Spatio-temporal mapping of ablated species in ultrafast laser-produced graphite plasmas

We studied the spatial and temporal distributions of ionic, neutral, and molecular species generated by femtosecond laser produced plasma under varying ambient nitrogen gas pressures. Plasmas were generated by irradiating planar graphite targets using 40 fs pulses of 800 nm radiation from a Ti:Sapphire laser. The results show that in the presence of an ambient gas, the molecular species spatial extension and lifetime are directly correlated to the evolution of excited ions. The present studies also provide valuable insights into the evolution history of various species and their excitation during ultrafast laser ablation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Photonically excited electron emission from modified graphitic nanopetal arrays

Efficient electron emission for energy conversion requires a low work function and a stable emitter material. The work function of graphene-based carbon materials can decrease significantly by intercalation with alkali metals, thus increasing their emission current. In this work, electron emission from potassium-intercalated carbon nanosheet extensions grown on electrode graphite is investigated. These petal-like structures, composed of 5-25 layers of graphene, are synthesized using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. Samples are intercalated with potassium, and a hemispherical energy analyzer is used to measure the emission intensity caused by both thermal and photonic excitation. The emission from the potassium-intercalated structures is found to consistently decrease the work function by 2.4 to 2.8 eV relative to non-intercalated samples. High emission intensity induced by photonic excitation from a solar simulator, with a narrow electron energy distribution relative to established theory, suggests that electron scattering decreases emitted electron energy as compared to surface photoemission. A modified photoemission theory is applied to account for electron scattering, and the sample work function and mean number of scattering events are used as parameters to fit theory to experimental data. The thermal stability of the intercalated nanopetals is investigated, and after an initial heating and cooling cycle, the samples are stable at low temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Absolute cross section for loss of supercoiled topology induced by 10 eV electrons in highly uniform /DNA/1,3-diaminopropane films deposited on highly ordered pyrolitic graphite

It was recently shown that the affinity of doubly charged, 1-3 diaminopropane (Dap{sup 2+}) for DNA permits the growth on highly ordered pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) substrates, of plasmid DNA films, of known uniform thickness [O. Boulanouar, A. Khatyr, G. Herlem, F. Palmino, L. Sanche, and M. Fromm, J. Phys. Chem. C 115, 21291–21298 (2011)]. Post-irradiation analysis by electrophoresis of such targets confirms that electron impact at 10 eV produces a maximum in the yield of single strand breaks that can be associated with the formation of a DNA{sup −} transient anion. Using a well-adapted deterministic survival model for the variation of electron damage with fluence and film thickness, we have determined an absolute cross section for strand-break damage by 10 eV electrons and inelastic scattering attenuation length in DNA-Dap complex films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Chemical sputtering of graphite by low temperature nitrogen plasmas at various substrate temperatures and ion flux densities

We report measurements of chemical sputtering yields of graphite exposed to low temperature nitrogen plasmas. The influence of surface temperature and incoming ion energy on the sputtering yields has been investigated in two distinct ion flux density regimes. Sputtering yields grow consistently with increasing temperatures in experiments with low flux density (Γ{sub i}≈10{sup 20} m{sup −2}s{sup −1}−10{sup 21} m{sup −2}s{sup −1}) and high flux density (Γ{sub i}≈10{sup 23} m{sup −2}s{sup −1}). Moreover, empirical fitting of the data suggests that the temperature of 670 °C is optimal for chemical sputtering at high flux density. Negative biasing of the samples was used to vary the ion energy in the low flux density regime. The sputtering yield in this case increases from 0.07 atoms/ion for E{sub i} = 1.5 eV to 0.19 atoms/ion for E{sub i} = 35 eV. After taking into account the dependence of the yields on temperature and ion energy, we evidenced a flux dependence of sputtering, similar to that found for chemical sputtering of carbon by hydrogen.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Low-energy D{sup +} and H{sup +} ion irradiation effects on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

We have investigated the low-energy (100 eV) D{sup +} and H{sup +} ion irradiation effects on the structural and chemical properties of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Structural disorder due to the ion irradiation was identified by the Raman spectroscopy, the D{sup +} irradiation giving rise to greater structural disorder than the H{sup +} irradiation. Only sp{sup 2} bonding was identified in the X-ray photoemission spectroscopy of the D{sup +}-irradiated HOPG, indicating no change in the surface chemical structure. The H{sup +} irradiation, on the other hand, gave rise to sp{sup 3} bonding and π−π{sup *} transition, the sp{sup 3} bonding increasing with increasing irradiation dose. It is thus shown that the chemical properties of the HOPG surface may be sensitively modified by the low-energy H{sup +} ion irradiation, but not by the low-energy D{sup +} ion irradiation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

The coherent interlayer resistance of a single, rotated interface between two stacks of AB graphite

The coherent, interlayer resistance of a misoriented, rotated interface between two stacks of AB graphite is determined for a variety of misorientation angles. The quantum-resistance of the ideal AB stack is on the order of 1 to 10 mΩ μm{sup 2}. For small rotation angles, the coherent interlayer resistance exponentially approaches the ideal quantum resistance at energies away from the charge neutrality point. Over a range of intermediate angles, the resistance increases exponentially with cell size for minimum size unit cells. Larger cell sizes, of similar angles, may not follow this trend. The energy dependence of the interlayer transmission is described.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Evidence for graphite-like hexagonal AlN nanosheets epitaxially grown on single crystal Ag(111)

Ultrathin (sub-monolayer to 12 monolayers) AlN nanosheets are grown epitaxially by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on Ag(111) single crystals. Electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy provide evidence that AlN on Ag adopts a graphite-like hexagonal structure with a larger lattice constant compared to bulk-like wurtzite AlN. This claim is further supported by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy indicating a reduced energy bandgap as expected for hexagonal AlN.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effect of graphite oxide solution concentration on the properties of multilayer graphene

This paper reports the influence of graphite oxide (GO) solution concentration on the optical and electrical properties of multilayer graphene (MLG) films. Graphene oxide (GrO) films were deposited on the glass substrates by spin coating aqueous solutions of GO with different concentrations (7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 mg/ml). The GrO films were then thermally reduced at temperature of 500°C in argon flow for half an hour to form MLG films. Both the transmittance and sheet resistance decreased with the GO concentration from 8 mg/ml to 9 mg/ml, possibly due to thicker and uniform coverage of MLG over the substrate. However, the transmittance and sheet resistance increased rapidly as the GO concentration reached 11 mg/ml, which can be attributed to poor film quality. The MLG film obtained at concentration of 10 mg/ml showed the highest transmittance/sheet resistance ratio with 69 % transmittance and sheet resistance of 292 ± 63 kΩ/sq. The optimum MLG film was utilized as counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanorods.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication of carbon nanotube emitters on the graphite rod and their high field emission performance

Carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters with small emission area were fabricated on graphite rods using CNT films. By introducing the edge polishing process, the field emission performance of the CNT emitter was much improved, which showed a very high emission current of 6.34 mA (1.6 A/cm{sup 2}) under an applied electric field of 5.3 V/μm. It also indicates good long-term emission stability, which reveals no degradation in the emission current for 20 h. The emission patterns demonstrate uniform and well-focused electron beam spots. The enhanced field emission performance is mainly attributed to the suppressed edge emission after the edge polishing process.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Beam-induced graphitic carbon cage transformation from sumanene aggregates

We found that electron-beam irradiation of sumanene aggregates strongly enhanced their transformation into a graphitic carbon cage, having a diameter of about 20 nm. The threshold electron dose was about 32 mC/cm{sup 2} at 200 keV, but the transformation is still induced at 20 keV. The transformation sequence suggested that the cage was constructed accompanied by the dynamical movement of the transiently linked sumanene molecules in order to pile up inside the shell. Thus, bond excitation in the sumanene molecules rather than a knock-on of carbon atoms seems to be the main cause of the cage transformation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Synthesis of few layer graphene by direct exfoliation of graphite and a Raman spectroscopic study

The exfoliation of graphene from pristine graphite in a liquid phase was achieved successfully via sonication followed by centrifugation method. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectra of the obtained graphene dispersions at different exfoliation time indicated that the concentration of graphene dispersion increased markedly with increasing exfoliation time. The sheet-like morphology of the exfoliated graphene was revealed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image. Further, the morphological change in different exfoliation time was investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). A complete structural and defect characterization was probed using micro-Raman spectroscopic technique. The shape and position of the 2D band of Raman spectra revealed the formation of bilayer to few layer graphene. Also, Raman mapping confirmed the presence of uniformly distributed bilayer graphene sheets on the substrate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single molecule tunneling spectroscopy investigation of reversibly switched dipolar vanadyl phthalocyanine on graphite

We report a spatially resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) investigation of reversibly switchable dipolar vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) on graphite by using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. VOPc molecule can be switched between O-up and O-down configurations by changing the polarity of the pulse voltage applied to the tip, actuated by the inelastic tunneling electrons. The spatially resolved STS measurements allow the identification of the electronic structures of VOPc with different dipole orientation. The present approach provides geometry images and electronic characterization of a molecular switch on surface spontaneously.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Do Ag{sub n} (up to n = 8) clusters retain their identity on graphite? Insights from first-principles calculations including dispersion interactions

Adsorption of pre-formed Ag{sub n} clusters for n = 1 − 8 on a graphite substrate is studied within the density functional theory employing the vdW-DF2 functional to treat dispersion interactions. Top sites above surface layer carbon atoms turn out to be most favorable for a Ag adatom, in agreement with experimental observations. The same feature is observed for clusters of almost all sizes which have the lowest energies when the Ag atoms are positioned over top sites. Most gas phase isomers retain their structures over the substrate, though a couple of them undergo significant distortions. Energetics of the adsorption can be understood in terms of a competition between energy cost of disturbing Ag–Ag bonds in the cluster and energy gain from Ag–C interactions at the surface. Ag{sub 3} turns out to be an exceptional candidate in this regard that undergoes significant structural distortion and has only two of the Ag atoms close to surface C atoms in its lowest energy structure.

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

Phase diagram of the CF{sub 4} monolayer and bilayer on graphite

We report an experimental study of physisorbed monolayers and bilayers of CF{sub 4} on graphite using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy supplemented by ellipsometry. The symmetric C–F stretch mode ν{sub 3} near 1283 cm{sup −1} in the gas is strongly blue shifted in the film by dynamic dipole coupling. This blue shift provides a very sensitive measure of the inter-molecular spacing in the monolayer and, less directly, in the bilayer. We find that important corrections are necessary to the volumetric coverage scales used in previous heat capacity and x-ray diffraction studies of this system. This requires quantitative and some qualitative changes to the previously proposed phase diagram. We find evidence for a new phase transition in the middle of the hexagonal incommensurate region and construct new phase diagrams in both the variables coverage-temperature and chemical potential-temperature. We determine the compressibility and thermal expansion in the low-pressure hexagonal incommensurate phase and values for the entropy change in several phase transitions. Below about 55 K there is evidence of solution of up to 7% of an impurity, most likely CO, in our monolayer but not the bilayer film.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗