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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Ellipsometric study of Si(0.5)Ge(0.5)/Si strained-layer superlattices

An ellipsometric study of two Si(0.5)Ge(0.5)/Si strained-layer super lattices grown by MBE at low temperature (500 C) is presented, and results are compared with x ray diffraction (XRD) estimates. Excellent agreement is obtained between target values, XRD, and ellipsometry when one of two available Si(x)Ge(1-x) databases is used. It is shown that ellipsometry can be used to nondestructively determine the number of superlattice periods, layer thicknesses, Si(x)Ge(1-x) composition, and oxide thickness without resorting to additional sources of information. It was also noted that we do not observe any strain effect on the E(sub 1) critical point.

Sieg, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Quasi-Liquid Layer Formation on Ice under Stratospheric Conditions

Characterization of the interaction of hydrogen chloride (HCl) with ice is essential to understanding at a molecular level the processes responsible for ozone depletion involving polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles. To explain the catalytic role PSC particle surfaces play during chlorine activation, we proposed previously that HCl induces the formation of a disordered region on the ice surface, a quasi-liquid layer (QLL), at stratospheric conditions. The QLL is known to exist in pure ice crystals at temperatures near the melting point, but its existence at stratospheric temperatures (-85 C to -70 C) had not been reported yet. We studied the interaction of HCl with ice under stratospheric conditions using the complementary approach of a) ellipsometry to directly monitor the ice surface, using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) to monitor the gas phase species present in the ellipsometry experiments, and b) flow-tube experiments with CIMS detection. Here we show that trace amounts of HCl induce QLL formation at stratospheric temperatures, and that the QLL enhances the chlorine-activation reaction of HCl with chlorine nitrate (ClONO2), and also enhances acetic acid (CH3COOH) adsorption.

McNeill, V. Faye↗
NASA NTRS2006

Molecular Substrate Alteration by Solar Wind Radiation Documented on Flown Genesis Mission Array Materials

The Genesis spacecraft sampling arrays were exposed to various regimes of solar wind during flight that included: 313.01 days of high-speed wind from coronal holes, 335.19 days of low-speed inter-stream wind, 191.79 days of coronal mass ejections, and 852.83 days of bulk solar wind at Lagrange 1 orbit. Ellipsometry measurements taken at NASA s Johnson Space Center show that all nine flown array materials from the four Genesis regimes have been altered by solar wind exposure during flight. These measurements show significant changes in the optical constant for all nine ultra-pure materials that flew on Genesis when compared with their non-flight material standard. This change in the optical constant (n and k) of the material suggests that the molecular structure of the all nine ultra-pure materials have been altered by solar radiation. In addition, 50 samples of float-zone and czochralski silicon bulk array ellipsometry results were modeled with an effective medium approximation layer (EMA substrate layer) revealing a solar radiation molecular damage zone depth below the SiO2 native oxide layer ranging from 392 to 613 . This bulk solar wind radiation penetration depth is comparable to the depth of solar wind implantation depth of Mg measured by SIMS and SARISA.

Calaway, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

O-6 Optical Property Degradation of the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera-2 Pick Off Mirror

Degradation in the performance of optical components can be greatly affected by exposure to the space environment. Many factors can contribute to such degradation including surface contaminants; outgassing; vacuum, UV, and atomic oxygen exposure; temperature cycling; or combinations of parameters. In-situ observations give important clues to degradation processes, but there are relatively few opportunities to correlate those observations with post-flight ground analyses. The return of instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) after its final servicing mission in May 2009 provided such an opportunity. Among the instruments returned from HST was the Wide-Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC-2), which had been exposed to the space environment for 16 years. This work focuses on the identifying the sources of degradation in the performance of the Pick-off mirror (POM) from WFPC-2. Techniques including surface reflectivity measurements, spectroscopic ellipsometry, FTIR (and ATR-FTIR) analyses, SEM/EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with and without ion milling, and wet and dry physical surface sampling were performed. Destructive and contact analyses took place only after completion of the non-destructive measurements. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was then repeated to determine the extent of contaminant removal by the destructive techniques, providing insight into the nature and extent of polymerization of the contaminant layer.

McNamara, Karen M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Deriving the Infrared Complex Refractive Indices of Organic Powders for Optical Modeling: Comparison of Methods

Identification of solids via infrared reflection spectroscopy requires a spectral library of all solids likely to be encountered. A confounding factor in populating such a spectral library is that the reflectance spectra of solids vary with their form, including particle size, film thickness, and substrate. To reduce the efforts of experimentally constructing such a library, an alternate strategy is to use the wavelength-dependent optical constants, n and k, of a solid to calculate a series of reflectance spectra corresponding to each scenario or morphology. Because most n/k measurements are best performed on mm-sized crystals, however, the challenge of determining the optical constants increases when a solid is only readily available as a powder, as is often the case. Some organic solids, such as caffeine, are both unavailable in large crystals and difficult to press into pellets. In this study, the infrared optical constants, or complex refractive indices, of caffeine were determined using three different methods: single-angle reflectance, infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, and quantitative absorbance measurements of KBr pellets. The n and k values derived through each method were used to model the hyperspectral imaging reflectance spectrum of a caffeine film on a steel planchet. Over 1,110 – 870 cm-1, the single-angle reflectance-derived n and k had the best correlation with the experimental spectrum. These results suggest different organic solids may require different methods to determine the most accurate infrared complex refractive indices for synthetic spectral libraries.

FTIR, hyperspectral imaging, infrared, infrared (I↗
DOE OSTI2024

Method to derive the infrared complex refractive indices n(λ) and k(λ) for organic solids from KBr pellet absorption measurements

Obtaining the complex refractive index vectors $n($$\tilde{v})$ and $k($$\tilde{v})$ allows calculation of the (infrared) reflectance spectrum that is obtained from a solid in any of its many morphological forms. Here, we report an adaptation to the KBr pellet technique using two gravimetric dilutions to derive quantitative $n($$\tilde{v})$/$k($$\tilde{v})$ for dozens of powders with greater repeatability. The optical constants of bisphenol A and sucrose are compared to those derived by other methods, particularly for powdered materials. The variability of the $k$ values for bisphenol A was examined by 10 individual measurements, showing an average coefficient of variation for $k$ peak heights of 5.6%. Though no established standards exist, the pellet-derived $k$ peak values of bisphenol A differ by 11% and 31% from their single-angle- and ellipsometry-derived values, respectively. These values provide an initial estimate of the precision and accuracy of complex refractive indices that can be derived using this method. Limitations and advantages of the method are discussed, the salient advantage being a more rapid method to derive $n$/$k$ for those species that do not readily form crystals or specular pellets.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

Semi-empirical estimation of the attenuation loss for amorphous ZBLAN glass

ZBLAN glass tends to undergo heavy devitrification, forming crystallites that act as scattering centers and results in a large attenuation loss. In this study, attenuation loss values were obtained for ZBLAN glass test samples that were melted and then cooled rapidly at a rate of 4000 °C/min, which yielded amorphous samples that were free of micro/nano-crystalline inclusions. Using an approach by Forouhi and Bloomer, which incorporates Kramers–Kronig relations, in conjunction with measured optical data using ellipsometry, an attenuation loss of 0.092 dB/Km at 1800 nm wavelength was estimated for amorphous ZBLAN test samples.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Morphology, UV–visible and ellipsometric studies of sodium lithium orthovanadate

Sodium lithium orthovanadates were prepared by the classic ceramic method technique. Structure, phase purity, composition, and morphology were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning-electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The optical properties of Na{sub x}Li{sub 1−x}CdVO{sub 4} (x = 0.5, 1) compounds prepared were recorded at room temperature using ultra-visible and ellipsometric spectroscopies in the spectral range (200–800) nm. The average reflectance of the pellets showed high reflectivity (over 80%) in the visible spectrum. The UV–Vis absorption bands are assigned to the charge transfer from the oxygen ligands to the central vanadium atom inside the [VO{sub 4}]{sup 3−} groups in the orthovanadate compounds. The optical band gaps E{sub g} of both samples are evaluated using Kubelka–Munk function. The analysis of the data revealed the existence of optical allowed direct transition for Na{sub x}Li{sub 1−x}CdVO{sub 4} (x = 0.5, 1). Spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements have been performed on Na{sub x}Li{sub 1−x}CdVO{sub 4} (x = 0.5, 1) specimens and their optical properties were analyzed using the Cauchy model.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

All-alumina quarter-wave plate coatings fabricated by glancing angle deposition using serial bideposition

Anisotropic phase retarders, used in high power laser facilities to perform polarization smoothing, can be obtained by the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) coating process. Due to its high laser resistance, the coatings are mainly made of silica. Therefore, limited attention has been given to other dielectric materials. Here we present a study on alumina GLAD anisotropic coatings; a material with high laser resistance, higher birefringence and lower environmental sensitivity than silica. Since the anisotropy is related to the coatings microstructure through the deposition angle, samples were coated at angles varying from ± 68° to ± 82° using the serial bideposition technique. They were characterized by ellipsometry, polarimetry, spectrophotometry and electron microscopy. We showed that the highest birefringence is obtained at a deposition angle of ± 76° with an in-plane value of 0.053. Based on these results, a quarter-wave plate at 351 nm was designed as a multilayer with seven pairs of anisotropic layers deposited at ± 76° and isotropic layers deposited at 0°. The fabricated coating exhibited a uniform retardance of 88.51 ± 0.45 nm. The alumina GLAD wave plates presented here, open the door to new possibilities in the laser field and especially in the field of fusion energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Spectral changes in Si–O–Si stretching band of porous glass network upon ingress of water

Water ingress into porous glass can induce internal stress, resulting in strains in chemical bonds of the network. For silica and silicate glasses, the position of Si–O–Si stretching mode in infrared spectroscopy is known to vary with the degree of strain in the Si–O network. Then, one could hypothesize that the stress due to water ingress could be probed with infrared spectroscopy. We tested this hypothesis using porous layers formed through aqueous corrosion on a model nuclear waste glass. The porosity and thickness of the porous layer were determined using ellipsometry. The humidity-dependent infrared spectra of the samples showed red-shifts of the Si–O–Si stretching band; however, it was difficult to deconvolute the spectral change due to variation of effective refractive index of the sample upon water ingress. Thus, it was infeasible to unambiguously determine the internal stress of porous glass network upon water ingress using the infrared spectroscopy alone.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Special pure germanium-rich Ga-Ge-As-Se glasses for active mid-IR fiber optics

Highlights: • Special pure Ga{sub x}Ge{sub 25}As{sub 15}Se{sub 60-x} (x = 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5) glasses were prepared and investigated. • The glasses have high glass transition temperature (>320 °C) and low tendency to crystallization. • The microstructure, the transmission region and the linear refractive index of glasses were studied. • Dispersion optical parameters of glasses were calculated using the Wemple-DiDomenico model. • For the first time, a single-index Ga{sub 3}Ge{sub 25}As{sub 15}Se{sub 57} glass fiber was fabricated and investigated. - Abstract: Special pure Ga{sub x}Ge{sub 25}As{sub 15}Se{sub 60-x} (x = 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5) glasses were prepared using various methods for purification of the glass-forming melt. The glasses are characterized by high transparency in the spectral range 0.8–15 μm, low impurity content, high glass transition temperature (>320 °C), and low tendency to crystallization. The microstructure, the transmission range edges, the optical band-gap energy, and the linear refractive index of the glasses are studied. The refractive index of Ga{sub x}Ge{sub 25}As{sub 15}Se{sub 60-x} (x = 0÷5) glasses measured by ellipsometry increases with the substitution of selenium by gallium. It is for the first time that a single-index Ga{sub 3}Ge{sub 25}As{sub 15}Se{sub 57} glass fiber was fabricated, its minimum optical loss was about 0.6 dB/m at a wavelength of 6.7 μm. High-purity germanium-rich Ga-Ge-As-Se glasses were shown to be a promising material for active mid-IR fiber optics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Temperature-dependent optical constants of vanadium dioxide thin films deposited on polar dielectrics

Coating polar dielectrics with thin film vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) enables one to exploit the temperature-dependent phase transition within VO 2 to actively tune and modulate surface phonon polaritons at mid-infrared. However, controlling the behavior of such systems requires intimate knowledge of the temperature-dependent optical constants of VO 2 , which depend greatly on the growth conditions and substrate material. Here, in this work, we accurately determine the complex optical constants of VO 2 on polar dielectrics across the insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) using only normal incident reflectance spectra by analyzing the reflectance with Kramers–Kronig relations and thin film Fresnel equations. This non-ellipsometry technique offers an advantage in determining the refractive index using a standard infrared spectrometer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Optical Properties of Bacteriorhodopsin–Gold Bionano Interfaces

Monolayers of different mutants of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) with purple membranes are deposited on gold (Au) substrates. Optical measurements and density functional theory-based electronic structure calculations are reported for the first time for the bR chromophore, which is the retinal protonated Schiff base. The dielectric function of the chromophore is extracted using spectroscopic ellipsometry. Designed mutants of bR are used to investigate the bonding with the gold substrate and bR–Au bonding changes can be tracked using the optical properties of the retinal fragment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optical and Electronic Losses Arising from Physically Mixed Interfacial Layers in Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cell device performance is affected by optical and electronic losses. To minimize these losses in solar cells, it is important to identify their sources. Here, we report the optical and electronic losses arising from physically mixed interfacial layers between the adjacent component materials in highly efficient two terminal (2T) all-perovskite tandem, single junction wide-bandgap, and single junction narrow-bandgap perovskite-based solar cells. Physically mixed interfacial layers as the sources of optical and electronic losses are identified from spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements and data analysis followed by comparisons of simulated and measured external quantum efficiency spectra. Parasitic absorbance in the physically mixed regions between silver metal electrical contacts and electron transport layers (ETLs) near the back contact and a physical mixture of commercial indium tin oxide and hole transport layers (HTL) near the front electrical contact lead to substantial optical loss. Here, a lower-density void + perovskite nucleation layer formed during perovskite deposition at the interface between the perovskite absorber layer and the HTL causes electronic losses due to incomplete collection of photogenerated carriers likely originating from poor coverage and passivation of the initially nucleating grains.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of TiAlN: Compositional and Optoelectronic Tunability

Titanium nitride (TiN) is a unique refractory plasmonic material, the nanocomposites and alloys of which provide further opportunities to tailor its optical and photonic properties. We prepare TiAlN films of continuously variable compositions through the systematic variation of TiN versus AlN cycle ratio in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) and investigate the resulting thin-film composition, crystallinity, and optical properties. The resulting properties of TiAIN films are not simple linear combinations of the TiN and AlN films, which exhibit distinct metallic and dielectric properties, but instead are dramatically influenced by the local chemical environment of neighboring constituents. In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry further enables measurement of the varying optical properties of TiAlN films, which evolve over 10 s of nm of film thickness. The tunable optoelectronic properties of TiAlN films enable durable coatings of variable electrical resistance as well as high-temperature diffusion barriers and optical coatings with application to selective solar absorbers and emitters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Methods for Determining the Infrared Complex Refractive Indices n (λ) and k (λ) from Organic Solid Powders: Comparison of a Sucrose Single Crystal and a Pressed Pellet

There exists a need to measure optical constants n and k for many materials, especially organic solids in the infrared spectral region, but at present, there are only two established methods for making such measurements: single-angle (SA) reflectance and infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry (IRSE). The former derives the n/k vectors via measurement of the change in the amplitude of light reflected from the sample and then uses the Kramers–Kronig transform, while the latter measures the change in polarization of the reflected light from the sample to derive n/k. Here we make a direct comparison between the n/k vectors derived from SA measurements of a sucrose single crystal and the n/k values obtained after the crystal had been crushed, ground to powder, and pressed into a pellet form. The pellet was measured not only by SA but also via the IRSE method, and we found that pressing specular-quality pellets was critical, especially for the SA data. The n/k values of this typical organic molecule all agree to within 0.04 root-mean-square error, confirming that a pressed pellet can be used instead of a crystal to derive the intrinsic n/k vectors. In conclusion, this result is important for the many organic materials that, unlike sugar, do not have centimeter-sized crystals readily available.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Combined Spatially Resolved Characterization of Antireflection and Antisoiling Coatings for PV Module Glass

Characterization of photovoltaic (PV) module materials throughout different stages of service life is crucial to understanding and improving the durability of these materials. Currently the large-scale of PV modules (>1 m 2 ) is imbalanced with the small-scale of most materials characterization tools (= 1 cm 2 ). Furthermore, understanding degradation mechanisms often requires a combination of multiple characterization techniques. Here, we present adaptations of three standard materials characterization techniques to enable mapping characterization over moderate sample areas (=25 cm 2 ). Contact angle, ellipsometry, and UV-Vis spectroscopy are each adapted and demonstrated on two representative samples: a commercial multi-functional coating for PV glass and an oxide combinatorial sample library. Best practices are discussed for adapting characterization techniques for large area mapping and combining mapping information from multiple techniques.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tunable Collective Excitations in Epitaxial Perovskite Nickelates

The formation of plasmons through the collective excitation of charge density has generated intense discussions, offering insights to fundamental sciences and potential applications. While the underlying physical principles have been well-established, the effects of multibody interactions and orbital hybridization on plasmonic dynamics remain understudied. Here, in this work, we present the observation of conventional metallic and correlated plasmons in epitaxial La 1-x Sr x NiO 3 (LSNO) films with varying Sr doping concentrations (x = 0, 0.125, 0.25), unveiling their intriguing evolution. Unlike samples at other doping concentrations, the x = 0.125 intermediate doping sample does not exhibit the correlated plasmons despite showing high optical conductivity. Through experimental investigation using spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, that is further supported by theoretical calculations, the O2p-Ni3d orbital hybridization for x = 0.125 is found to be significantly enhanced, alongside a considerable weakening of its effective interaction comprising long-range Coulomb and variable interaction, U*. These factors account for the absence of correlated plasmons and the high optical conductivity observed in LSNO(0.125). Our findings highlight the significant impact of orbital hybridization on the electronic structures and the formation of quasiparticles in strongly correlated systems, opening new paths for plasmonic-based engineering research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗