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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
DOE OSTI2022

Induced Superconducting Pairing in Integer Quantum Hall Edge States

Indium arsenide (InAs) near surface quantum wells (QWs) are promising for the fabrication of semiconductor–superconductor heterostructures given that they allow for a strong hybridization between the two-dimensional states in the quantum well and the ones in the superconductor. In this work, we present results for InAs QWs in the quantum Hall regime placed in proximity of superconducting NbTiN. We observe a negative downstream resistance with a corresponding reduction of Hall (upstream) resistance, consistent with a very high Andreev conversion. Further, we analyze the experimental data using the Landauer-Büttiker formalism, generalized to allow for Andreev reflection processes. We attribute the high efficiency of Andreev conversion in our devices to the large transparency of the InAs/NbTiN interface and the consequent strong hybridization of the QH edge modes with the states in the superconductor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nanodevices engineering and spin transport properties of MnBi2Te4 monolayer

Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials are essential for the development of the next-generation spintronic technologies. Recently, layered van der Waals (vdW) compound MnBi 2 Te 4 (MBT) has attracted great interest, and its 2D structure has been reported to host coexisting magnetism and topology. Here, we design several conceptual nanodevices based on MBT monolayer (MBT-ML) and reveal their spin-dependent transport properties by means of the first-principles calculations. The pn -junction diodes and sub-3-nm pin -junction field-effect transistors (FETs) show a strong rectifying effect and a spin filtering effect, with an ideality factor n close to 1 even at a reasonably high temperature. In addition, the pip - and nin -junction FETs give an interesting negative differential resistive (NDR) effect. The gate voltages can tune currents through these FETs in a large range. Furthermore, the MBT-ML has a strong response to light. Our results uncover the multifunctional nature of MBT-ML, pave the road for its applications in diverse next-generation semiconductor spin electric devices.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2020

An interface-controlled Mott memristor in α -RuCl 3

Memristor devices have history-dependent charge transport properties that are ideal for neuromorphic computing applications. We reveal a memristor material and mechanism in the layered Mott insulator α-RuCl 3 . The pinched hysteresis loops and S-shaped negative differential resistance in bulk crystals verify memristor behavior and are attributed to a nonlinear coupling between charge injection over a Schottky barrier at the electrical contacts and concurrent Joule heating. Direct simulations of this coupling can reproduce the device characteristics.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

In situ observation of medium range ordering and crystallization of amorphous TiO 2 ultrathin films grown by atomic layer deposition

The evolution of medium range ordering (MRO) and crystallization behavior of amorphous TiO 2 films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) were studied using in situ four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy. The films remain fully amorphous when grown at 120 °C or below, but they start showing crystallization of anatase phases when grown at 140 °C or above. The degree of MRO increases as a function of temperature and maximizes at 140 °C when crystallization starts to occur, which suggests that crystallization prerequires the development of nanoscale MRO that serves as the site of nucleation. In situ annealing of amorphous TiO 2 films grown at 80 °C shows enhancement of MRO but limited number of nucleation, which suggests that post-annealing develops only a small portion of MRO into crystal nuclei. The MRO regions that do not develop into crystals undergo structural relaxation instead, which provides insights into the critical size and degree of ordering and the stability of certain MRO types at different temperatures. In addition, crystallographic defects were observed within crystal phases, which likely negate corrosion resistance of the film. Our result highlights the importance of understanding and controlling MRO for optimizing ALD-grown amorphous films for next-generation functional devices and renewable energy applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Epitaxial stabilization and oxygen vacancy control of EuNiO 3 thin films

Rare-earth nickelates exhibit valuable behavior for neuromorphic computing at low temperature: Building blocks for biologically inspired microelectronic neurons like electrically driven insulator–metal transitions (IMTs), negative differential resistance, and self-oscillations have been shown up to 230 K for SmNiO 3 and NdNiO 3 . EuNiO 3 raises the IMT far above room temperature (460 K) but high-quality thin films are challenging to synthesize. Here, we explore the epitaxial stabilization of EuNiO 3 using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy show that higher growth temperature (800 °C) reduces oxygen vacancy concentrations in EuNiO 3 . Pseudomorphic EuNiO 3 is demonstrated on both SrLaAlO 4 and NdGaO 3 substrates, and LaNiO 3 buffer layers are incorporated to facilitate future vertical device fabrication. In contrast to bulk thermodynamic predictions, the greater oxidation and crystallinity at higher temperature we observe indicates that epitaxial substrates can stabilize EuNiO 3 at O 2 pressures less than 1 atm.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Split-well resonant-phonon terahertz quantum cascade laser

We present a highly diagonal “split-well resonant-phonon” (SWRP) active region design for GaAs/Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs). Negative differential resistance is observed at room temperature, which indicates the suppression of thermally activated leakage channels. The overlap between the doped region and the active level states is reduced relative to that of the split-well direct-phonon (SWDP) design. The energy gap between the lower laser level (LLL) and the injector is kept at 36 meV, enabling a fast depopulation of the LLL. Within this work, we investigated the temperature performance and potential of this structure.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1986

A superconducting tunnel junction receiver for millimeter-wave astronomy

The development and construction of an ultralow noise heterodyne receiver for millimeter wave astronomy is described along with its use for 115.3 GHz Co line observations. The receiver uses a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) quasiparticle tunnel junction mixer to convert the millimeter wave signal to a microwave intermediate frequency. Experiments aimed at quantitative verification of J. R. Tucker's quantum mixer theory are studied, to see whether it could be used as the basis for the design of a practical receiver. The experimental results were in excellent agreement with the theory, assuming the three frequency approximation. Infinite available gain and negative output resistance were observed for the first time, nonclassical effects which are not seen in conventional diode mixers. Using Tucker's theory, an SIS receiver was then designed and constructed. At 115 GHz, the single sideband receiver noise temperature is 83K, the lowest ever reported in this frequency range. A CO survey toward Cygnus-X region, using this SIS receiver on the Columbia-GISS 4 ft. telescope, is also described.

Pan, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Microwave and millimeter-wave resonant-tunneling devices

Resonant-tunneling devices in microelectronic component form, whose structure is the electron analog of a Fabry-Perot resonator, encompass oscillators, self-oscillating mixers, and harmonic multipliers. The negative differential resistance characteristic of these devices has been obtained at room temperature, and resonant-tunneling transistors capable of operation in the THz-frequency range appear to be feasible. Three-terminal resonant-tunneling device development is in its infancy, as is that of devices for digital applications.

Sollner, T. C. L. Gerhard↗
NASA NTRS1988

Electronic states of semiconductor-metal-semiconductor quantum-well structures

Quantum-size effects are calculated in thin layered semiconductor-metal-semiconductor structures using an ideal free-electron model for the metal layer. The results suggest new quantum-well structures having device applications. Structures with sufficiently high-quality interfaces should exhibit effects such as negative differential resistance due to tunneling between allowed states. Similarly, optical detection by intersubband absorption may be possible. Ultrathin metal layers are predicted to behave as high-density dopant sheets.

Huberman, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Tunneling calculations for GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1-x)As graded band-gap sawtooth superlattices

The transmission resonance spectra and tunneling current-voltage characteristics for direct conduction band electrons in sawtooth GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1-x)As superlattices are computed. Only direct-gap interfaces are considered. It is found that sawtooth superlattices exhibit resonant tunneling similar to that in step superlattices, manifested by correlation of peaks and regions of negative differential resistance in the current-voltage curves with transmission resonances. The Stark shift of the resonances of step-barrier superlattices is a linear function of the field, whereas in sawtooth superlattices under strong fields the shift is not a simple function of the field. This follows from the different ways in which the two structures deform under uniform electric fields: the sawtooth deforms into a staircase, at which field strength all barriers to tunneling are eradicated. The step-barrier superlattice always presents some barrier to tunneling, no matter how high the electric field strength.

Forrest, Kathrine↗
NASA NTRS1992

Simulating the arcjet thruster using a nonlinear active load

Arcjet thrusters are known to have distinctly nonlinear electrical characteristics with negative incremental resistance throughout their normal operating region. The 1-kW arcjet simulator proposed here accurately mimics these characteristics statically, and dynamically up to 40 kHz. Testing with a power-processing unit (PPU) and the simulator, a 1-kW arcjet, and a resistive load bank established that the simulator accurately predicted the transient behavior of the PPU-arcjet combination, while the resistive load bank did not. The simulator uses resistors and insulated-gate bipolar transistors to dissipate the PPU output power; a nonlinear feedback is applied to produce the desired v-i characteristics. This feedback is analyzed dynamically. The arcjet simulator allows development of a PPU to a higher level of confidence before beginning testing at an arcjet facility.

Altenburger, Gene P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Resonant tunneling through mixed quasibound states in a triple-well structure

A triple-well resonant-tunneling structure made from the In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As/AlAs material system yields a broad negative differential resistance (NDR) region without the precipitous drop in current that occurs in single-well structures. This NDR characteristic is attributed to resonant tunneling through mixed quasi-bound states. A diode made from this structure is used to generate a nearly constant power of 0.5 mW up to 16 GHz.

Brown, E. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Non-isolated 30 kW class arcjet PCU

A 30 kW class arcjet Power Conditioning Unit, PCU, was built and tested during this Phase 2 SBIR contract. The PCU is an improved version of two previously developed PCU's. All of these units are 3-phase, 20 kHz buck regulators with current mode feed back to modulate the duty cycle to control the arcjet current at any selected operating point. The steady state control can assure arcjet stability despite the negative dynamic resistance of the arc discharge. The system also has a circuit to produce a high voltage start pulse to breakdown the gas and initiate the arc. The start pulse is formed by temporarily switching a short current path across the output terminals with a special solid state switching array. The switches then open rapidly, and the energy stored in the output inductors of the buck regulator produces a pulse of approximately 2500 V for approximately 500 nsec. The system was tested and modified until the transition to steady operation occurred after start up with a very small surge current overshoot. The system also can withstand a direct short circuit across the output without damage. The automatic feed back control simply reduces the duty cycle to hold the current at the set point. When the short is removed the full power output is immediately restored. This latest version arcjet PCU is conduction cooled to remove waste heat by conduction to the base plate. This unit is closer to flight a type of design than the previous functional bread boards. Waste heat is small because the PCU has a very high efficiency, 296 percent. The PCU was extensively tested with resistor loads to simulate operation with an arcjet. The unit was tested with ammonia arcjets at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Approximately 400 hours of testing were completed, with several starts. Many hours were also demonstrated with resistive loads. Some testing with hydrogen arcjets was also carried out at NASA LeRC. This system concept is now the design base for the ATTD program.

Wong, See-Pok↗
NASA NTRS1994

Quantum state transfer in double-quantum-well devices

A Monte Carlo simulation of double-quantum-well (DQW) devices is presented in view of analyzing the quantum state transfer (QST) effect. Different structures, based on the AlGaAs/GaAs system, were simulated at 77 and 300 K and optimized in terms of electron transfer and device speed. The analysis revealed the dominant role of the impurity scattering for the QST. Different approaches were used for the optimization of QST devices and basic physical limitations were found in the electron transfer between the QWs. The maximum transfer of electrons from a high to a low mobility well was at best 20%. Negative differential resistance is hampered by the almost linear rather than threshold dependent relation of electron transfer on electric field. By optimizing the doping profile the operation frequency limit could be extended to 260 GHz.

Jakumeit, Jurgen↗
NASA NTRS1995

A 32-bit Ultrafast Parallel Correlator using Resonant Tunneling Devices

An ultrafast 32-bit pipeline correlator has been implemented using resonant tunneling diodes (RTD) and hetero-junction bipolar transistors (HBT). The negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristics of RTD's is the basis of logic gates with the self-latching property that eliminates pipeline area and delay overheads which limit throughput in conventional technologies. The circuit topology also allows threshold logic functions such as minority/majority to be implemented in a compact manner resulting in reduction of the overall complexity and delay of arbitrary logic circuits. The parallel correlator is an essential component in code division multi-access (CDMA) transceivers used for the continuous calculation of correlation between an incoming data stream and a PN sequence. Simulation results show that a nano-pipelined correlator can provide and effective throughput of one 32-bit correlation every 100 picoseconds, using minimal hardware, with a power dissipation of 1.5 watts. RTD plus HBT based logic gates have been fabricated and the RTD plus HBT based correlator is compared with state of the art complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) implementations.

Kulkarni, Shriram↗
NASA NTRS2001

Electro-Thermal Simulation Studies of SiC Junction Diodes Containing Screw Dislocations Under High Reverse-Bias Operation

The objective of this work was to conduct a modeling study of SiC P-N junction diodes operating under high reverse biased conditions. Analytical models and numerical simulation capabilities were to be developed for self-consistent electro-thermal analysis of the diode current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. Data from GRC indicate that screw dislocations are unavoidable in large area SiC devices, and lead to changes in the SiC diode electrical response characteristics under high field conditions. For example, device instability and failures linked to internal current filamentation have been observed. The physical origin of these processes is not well understood, and quantitative projections of the electrical behavior under high field and temperature conditions are lacking. Thermal calculations for SiC devices have not been reported in the literature either. So estimates or projections of peak device temperatures and power limitations do not exist. This numerical study and simulation analysis was aimed at resolving some of the above issues. The following tasks were successfully accomplished: (1) Development of physically based models using one- and two-dimensional drift-diffusion theory for the transport behavior and I-V characteristics; (2) One- and two-dimensional heat flow to account for internal device heating. This led to calculations of the internal temperature profiles, which in turn, were used to update the electrical transport parameters for a self-consistent analysis. The temperature profiles and the peak values were thus obtainable for a given device operating condition; (3) Inclusion of traps assumed to model the presence of internal screw dislocations running along the longitudinal direction; (4) Predictions of the operating characteristics with and without heating as a function of applied bias with and without traps. Both one and two-dimensional cases were implemented; (5) Assessment of device stability based on the operating characteristics. The presence of internal non-uniformities, particularly filamentary structures, was probed and demonstrated; (6) Cause and physical origins of filamentary behavior and unstable I-V characteristics were made transparent; (7) It was demonstrated that diodes containing defects would be more prone to thermal breakdown associated with the temperature dependent decrease in the thermal conductivity; and (8) Finally, negative differential resistance (S-shaped NDR) which can potential lead to device instability and filamentary behavior was shown to occur for diodes containing a line of defects such as could be associated with a screw dislocation line.

Joshi, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Lower Body Negative Pressure Treadmill Exercise and Resistive Exercise Countermeasures Maintain Physiologic Function in Women during Simulated Microgravity

We hypothesized that supine LBNP treadmill exercise combined with Flywheel resistive exercise maintains upright physiologic responses following 60-days of head-down tilt (HDT) bed rest (BR). METHODS: 16 healthy women (age 25-40 years) underwent 60-days HDT (-6deg.) BR. Women were assigned to either a non-exercise control group (CON, n=8) or to an exercise group (EX, n=8). EX subjects performed a 40-min, variable intensity LBNP exercise protocol at foot-ward forces between 1.0-1.1 times body weight, followed by 10- min of resting LBNP 3-4 days/week. Resistive exercise of maximal concentric and eccentric supine leg press and heel raise exercises were performed using a flywheel ergometer 2-3 days/week. IRBs approved this study with informed/written consent. RESULTS: Post-BR VO2pk was not different in EX (-3.3+/-1.2%) but decreased significantly in CON (-21.2+/-2.1%), p< 0.05. Post-BR orthostatic tolerance time (mean se) decreased significantly less in EX (19.3+/-1.3 to 14.4+/-1.5 min) than in CON (17.5+/-0.1 to 9.1+/- 1.5 min), p=0.03. Post-BR muscle strength decreased significantly in CON, but was preserved in EX. Post-BR bone resorption was greater than pre-BR in both groups (p<0.05). Bone formation markers, were significantly elevated (p<0.05) in EX than in CON. CONCLUSIONS: Supine LBNP treadmill exercise along with flywheel resistive exercise maintains upright exercise capacity, orthostatic responses and muscle strength during 60-days HDT BR.

Macias, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Extreme Helicity and Intense Convective Towers in Hurricane Bonnie

Helicity was calculated in Hurricane Bonnie (1998) using tropospheric-deep dropsonde soundings from the NASA Convection and Moisture Experiment. Large helicity existed downshear of the storm center with respect to the ambient vertical wind shear. It was associated with veering, semicircular hodographs created by strong, vortex-scale, radial-vertical flow induced by the shear. The most extreme values of helicity, among the largest ever reported in the literature, occurred in the vicinity of deep convective cells in the downshear-left quadrant. These cells reached as high as 17.5 km and displayed the temporal and spatial scales of supercells. Convective available potential energy (CAPE) averaged 861 J/kg downshear, but only about one-third as large upshear. The soundings nearest the deep cells were evaluated using two empirical supercell parameters that make use of CAPE, helicity, and/or shear. These parameters supported the possible existence of supercells as a consequence of the exceptional helicity combined with moderate but sufficient CAPE. Ambient vertical wind shear exceeded 12 m/s for 30 h, yet the hurricane maintained 50 m/s maximum winds. It is hypothesized that the long-lived convective cells enabled the storm to resist the negative impact of the shear. Supercells in large-helicity, curved-hodograph environments appear to provide a useful conceptual model for intense convection in the hurricane core. Helicity calculations might also give some insight into the behavior of vortical hot towers, which share some characteristics with supercells.

Molinari, John↗