Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Capacitance”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,099 records · Page 61

Quantized impedance dealing with the damping behavior of the one-dimensional oscillator

A quantized impedance is proposed to theoretically establish the relationship between the atomic eigenfrequency and the intrinsic frequency of the one-dimensional oscillator in this paper. The classical oscillator is modified by the idea that the electron transition is treated as a charge-discharge process of a suggested capacitor with the capacitive energy equal to the energy level difference of the jumping electron. The quantized capacitance of the impedance interacting with the jumping electron can lead the resonant frequency of the oscillator to the same as the atomic eigenfrequency. The quantized resistance reflects that the damping coefficient of the oscillator is the mean collision frequency of the transition electron. In addition, the first and third order electric susceptibilities based on the oscillator are accordingly quantized. Our simulation of the hydrogen atom emission spectrum based on the proposed method agrees well with the experimental one. Our results exhibits that the one-dimensional oscillator with the quantized impedance may become useful in the estimations of the refractive index and one- or multi-photon absorption coefficients of some nonmagnetic media composed of hydrogen-like atoms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Device level optimization of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene)–zinc oxide polymer nanocomposite thin films for ferroelectric applications

Polymer nanocomposite was prepared using poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowder, which are ferroelectric in nature. Nanocomposite was prepared in various concentrations(0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1 wt. %) using probe ultra-sonication, followed by spin coating and annealing at 120 °C for 2 h to improve the formation of β-phase. Metal-ferroelectric-metal capacitor was fabricated using this optimized thin film as a ferroelectric layer. Device level optimization was carried out by polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis studies of this film, which shows polarization enhancement of composite. Various characterization techniques like atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), Differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction were used to study the β-phase formation of nancomposite. The capacitance–voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics were studied through varying frequency and temperature. C-V measurements show an increase of 79% in the capacitance of polymer nanocomposite, which can be used for the fabrication of ferroelectric devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Parasitic effects in superconducting quantum interference device-based radiation comb generators

We study several parasitic effects on the implementation of a Josephson radiation comb generator based on a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) driven by an external magnetic field. This system can be used as a radiation generator similarly to what is done in optics and metrology, and allows one to generate up to several hundreds of harmonics of the driving frequency. First we take into account how the assumption of a finite loop geometrical inductance and junction capacitance in each SQUID may alter the operation of the devices. Then, we estimate the effect of imperfections in the fabrication of an array of SQUIDs, which is an unavoidable source of errors in practical situations. We show that the role of the junction capacitance is, in general, negligible, whereas the geometrical inductance has a beneficial effect on the performance of the device. The errors on the areas and junction resistance asymmetries may deteriorate the performance, but their effect can be limited to a large extent by a suitable choice of fabrication parameters.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Fabrication and characterization of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} /Si composite nanodome structures for high efficiency crystalline Si thin film solar cells

We report on our fabrication and characterization of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Si composite nanodome (CND) structures, which is composed of Si nanodome structures with a conformal cladding Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer to evaluate its optical and electrical performance when it is applied to thin film solar cells. It has been observed that by application of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}thin film coating using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to the Si nanodome structures, both optical and electrical performances are greatly improved. The reflectivity of less than 3% over the wavelength range of from 200 nm to 2000 nm at an incident angle from 0° to 45° is achieved when the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film is 90 nm thick. The ultimate efficiency of around 27% is obtained on the CND textured 2 μm-thick Si solar cells, which is compared to the efficiency of around 25.75% and 15% for the 2 μm-thick Si nanodome surface-decorated and planar samples respectively. Electrical characterization was made by using CND-decorated MOS devices to measure device’s leakage current and capacitance dispersion. It is found the electrical performance is sensitive to the thickness of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film, and the performance is remarkably improved when the dielectric layer thickness is 90 nm thick. The leakage current, which is less than 4x10{sup −9} A/cm{sup 2} over voltage range of from -3 V to 3 V, is reduced by several orders of magnitude. C-V measurements also shows as small as 0.3% of variation in the capacitance over the frequency range from 10 kHz to 500 kHz, which is a strong indication of surface states being fully passivated. TEM examination of CND-decorated samples also reveals the occurrence of SiO{sub x} layer formed between the interface of Si and the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film, which is thin enough that ensures the presence of field-effect passivation, From our theoretical and experimental study, we believe Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} coated CND structures is a truly viable approach to achieving higher device efficiency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Linearity optimization of atomic layer deposited ZrO{sub 2} metal-insulator-metal capacitors by inserting interfacial Zr-doped chromia layers

In order to improve the electrical behaviour of metal-insulator-metal capacitors with ZrO{sub 2} insulator grown by Atomic Layer Deposition, the influence of the insertion of interfacial Cr layers between Pt electrodes and the zirconia is investigated. An improvement of the α-voltage coefficient of capacitance as low as 567 ppm/V{sup 2} is achieved for a single layer of Cr while maintaining a high capacitance density of 10.7 fF/μm{sup 2} and a leakage current of less than 1.2 × 10{sup −8} A/cm{sup 2} at +1 V. The role of the interface is discussed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showing the formation of Zr stabilized chromia oxide phase with a dielectric constant of 16.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

ZrO{sub 2} and HfO{sub 2} dielectrics on (001) n-InAs with atomic-layer-deposited in situ surface treatment

The electrical properties of ZrO{sub 2} and HfO{sub 2} gate dielectrics on n-InAs were evaluated. Particularly, an in situ surface treatment method including cyclic nitrogen plasma and trimethylaluminum pulses was used to improve the quality of the high-κ oxides. The quality of the InAs-oxide interface was evaluated with a full equivalent circuit model developed for narrow band gap metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements exhibit a total trap density profile with a minimum of 1 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1} and 4 × 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1} for ZrO{sub 2} and HfO{sub 2}, respectively, both of which are comparable to the best values reported for high-κ/III-V devices. Our simulations showed that the measured capacitance is to a large extent affected by the border trap response suggesting a very low density of interface traps. Charge trapping in MOS structures was also investigated using the hysteresis in the C–V measurements. The experimental results demonstrated that the magnitude of the hysteresis increases with increase in accumulation voltage, indicating an increase in the charge trapping response.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Reduced defect density at the CZTSSe/CdS interface by atomic layer deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}

The greatest challenge for improving the power conversion efficiency of Cu{sub 2}ZnSn(S,Se){sub 4} (CZTSSe)/CdS/ZnO thin film solar cells is increasing the open circuit voltage (V{sub OC}). Probable leading causes of the V{sub OC} deficit in state-of-the-art CZTSSe devices have been identified as bulk recombination, band tails, and the intertwined effects of CZTSSe/CdS band offset, interface defects, and interface recombination. In this work, we demonstrate the modification of the CZTSSe absorber/CdS buffer interface following the deposition of 1 nm-thick Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers by atomic layer deposition (ALD) near room temperature. Capacitance-voltage profiling and quantum efficiency measurements reveal that ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interface modification reduces the density of acceptor-like states at the heterojunction resulting in reduced interface recombination and wider depletion width. Indications of increased V{sub OC} resulting from the modification of the heterojunction interface as a result of ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} treatment are presented. These results, while not conclusive for application to state-of-the-art high efficiency CZTSSe devices, suggest the need for further studies as it is probable that interface recombination contributes to reduced V{sub OC} even in such devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Combined analysis of energy band diagram and equivalent circuit on nanocrystal solid

We investigate a combined analysis of an energy band diagram and an equivalent circuit on nanocrystal (NC) solids. We prepared a flat silicon-NC solid in order to carry out the analysis. An energy band diagram of a NC solid is determined from DC transport properties. Current-voltage characteristics, photocurrent measurements, and conductive atomic force microscopy images indicate that a tunneling transport through a NC solid is dominant. Impedance spectroscopy gives an equivalent circuit: a series of parallel resistor-capacitors corresponding to NC/metal and NC/NC interfaces. The equivalent circuit also provides an evidence that the NC/NC interface mainly dominates the carrier transport through NC solids. Tunneling barriers inside a NC solid can be taken into account in a combined capacitance. Evaluated circuit parameters coincide with simple geometrical models of capacitances. As a result, impedance spectroscopy is also a useful technique to analyze semiconductor NC solids as well as usual DC transport. The analyses provide indispensable information to implement NC solids into actual electronic devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Low-frequency dielectric properties of intrinsic and Al-doped rutile TiO{sub 2} thin films grown by the atomic layer deposition technique

Dielectric spectroscopy is carried out for intrinsic and aluminum-doped TiO{sub 2} rutile films which are deposited on RuO{sub 2} by the atomic layer deposition technique. Capacitance and conductance are measured in the 0.1 Hz–100 kHz range, for ac electric fields up to 1 MV{sub rms}/cm. Intrinsic films have a much lower dielectric constant than rutile crystals. This is ascribed to the presence of oxygen vacancies which depress polarizability. When Al is substituted for Ti, the dielectric constant further decreases. By considering Al-induced modification of polarizability, a theoretical relationship between the dielectric constant and the Al concentration is proposed. Al doping drastically decreases the loss in the very low frequency part of the spectrum. However, Al doping has almost no effect on the loss at high frequencies. The effect of Al doping on loss is discussed through models of hopping transport implying intrinsic oxygen vacancies and Al related centers. When increasing the ac electric field in the MV{sub rms}/cm range, strong voltage non-linearities are evidenced in undoped films. The conductance increases exponentially with the ac field and the capacitance displays negative values (inductive behavior). Hopping barrier lowering is proposed to explain high-field effects. Finally, it is shown that Al doping strongly improves the high-field dielectric behavior.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effects of antimony (Sb) on electron trapping near SiO{sub 2}/4H-SiC interfaces

To investigate the mechanism by which Sb at the SiO{sub 2}/SiC interface improves the channel mobility of 4H-SiC MOSFETs, 1 MHz capacitance measurements and constant capacitance deep level transient spectroscopy (CCDLTS) measurements were performed on Sb-implanted 4H-SiC MOS capacitors. The measurements reveal a significant concentration of Sb donors near the SiO{sub 2}/SiC interface. Two Sb donor related CCDLTS peaks corresponding to shallow energy levels in SiC were observed close to the SiO{sub 2}/SiC interface. Furthermore, CCDLTS measurements show that the same type of near-interface traps found in conventional dry oxide or NO-annealed capacitors are present in the Sb implanted samples. These are O1 traps, suggested to be carbon dimers substituted for O dimers in SiO{sub 2}, and O2 traps, suggested to be interstitial Si in SiO{sub 2}. However, electron trapping is reduced by a factor of ∼2 in Sb-implanted samples compared with samples with no Sb, primarily at energy levels within 0.2 eV of the SiC conduction band edge. This trap passivation effect is relatively small compared with the Sb-induced counter-doping effect on the MOSFET channel surface, which results in improved channel transport.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

GeO{sub x} interfacial layer scavenging remotely induced by metal electrode in metal/HfO{sub 2}/GeO{sub x}/Ge capacitors

The metal gate electrodes of Ni, W, and Pt have been investigated for their scavenging effect: a reduction of the GeO{sub x} interfacial layer (IL) between HfO{sub 2} dielectric and Ge substrate in metal/HfO{sub 2}/GeO{sub x}/Ge capacitors. All the capacitors were fabricated using the same process except for the material used in the metal electrodes. Capacitance-voltage measurements, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy were conducted to confirm the scavenging of GeO{sub x} IL. Interestingly, these metals are observed to remotely scavenge the interfacial layer, reducing its thickness in the order of Ni, W, and then Pt. The capacitance equivalent thickness of these capacitors with Ni, W, and Pt electrodes are evaluated to be 2.7 nm, 3.0 nm, and 3.5 nm, and each final remnant physical thickness of GeO{sub x} IL layer is 1.1 nm 1.4 nm, and 1.9 nm, respectively. It is suggested that the scavenging effect induced by the metal electrodes is related to the concentration of oxygen vacancies generated by oxidation reaction at the metal/HfO{sub 2} interface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Frequency driven inversion of tunnel magnetoimpedance and observation of positive tunnel magnetocapacitance in magnetic tunnel junctions

The relevance for modern computation of non-volatile high-frequency memories makes ac-transport measurements of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) crucial for exploring this regime. Here, we demonstrate a frequency-mediated effect in which the tunnel magnetoimpedance reverses its sign in a classical Co/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/NiFe MTJ, whereas we only observe a gradual decrease in the tunnel magnetophase. Such effects are explained by the capacitive coupling of a parallel resistor and capacitor in the equivalent circuit model of the MTJ. Furthermore, we report a positive tunnel magnetocapacitance effect, suggesting the presence of a spin-capacitance at the two ferromagnet/tunnel-barrier interfaces. Our results are important for understanding spin transport phenomena at the high frequency regime in which the spin-polarized charge accumulation due to spin-dependent penetration depth at the two interfaces plays a crucial role.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Achieving high volumetric EDLC carbons via hydrothermal carbonization and cyclic activation

A novel activation method involving hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and a pressure-induced low temperature oxidation has been demonstrated for cellulose derived HTC char by using hydrogen peroxide as an active di-oxygen source. The optimized porosity versus gravimetric capacitance results from cellulose derived HTC char synthesized at 220 °C. Almost homogeneous and small particle size micro-ellipse/sphere, relatively high surface area and narrow pore size distributions lead to a high bulk density, i.e. 0.73 g cm -3 , of coating type electrodes, which is much denser than those manufactured from steam activated carbons for supercapacitor industry, i.e., 0.52 g cm -3 . The resulting carbon prepared herein achieves a relatively high volumetric capacitance in an organic electrolyte-based supercapacitor reaching a competitive value of industrial system with the features of environment friendly, cost-effective as well as high yield, and less energy consumption.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Fano resonances in magnetic metamaterials

We study the scattering of magnetoinductive plane waves by internal (external) capacitive (inductive) defects coupled to a one-dimensional split-ring resonator array. We examine a number of simple defect configurations where Fano resonances occur and study the behavior of the transmission coefficient as a function of the controllable external parameters. We find that for embedded capacitive defects, the addition of a small amount of coupling to second neighbors is necessary for the occurrence of Fano resonance. For external inductive defects, Fano resonances are commonplace, and they can be tuned by changing the relative orientation or distance between the defect and the SSR array.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Anticorrelation of compressibility and resistivity in a microwave-irradiated two-dimensional electron system

Here, we report our direct study of the compressibility on an ultrahigh mobility two-dimensional electron system ( μ e ~ 1 × 10 7 cm 2 /V s) in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells under microwave irradiation. The field penetration current results show that the quantum capacitance oscillates with microwave-induced resistance oscillations, yet, the trend is opposite with respect to the compressibility of equilibrium states in previous theoretical explanations. The anomalous phenomena provide a platform for study on the nonequilibrium system under microwaves. Moreover, the quantum capacitance indication for a multiphoton process around j = 1 / 2 is detected under an intensive microwave below 30 GHz.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

A machine learning degradation model for electrochemical capacitors operated at high temperature

Electrochemical capacitors (ECs) have only recently been considered as an alternative power source for telemetry sensors of drilling equipment for geothermal or oil and gas exploration. The lifecycle analysis and modelling of ECs is underrepresented in literature in comparison to other storage devices e.g. Li-ion batteries. This paper investigates the degradation of ECs when cycled outside the manufacturer-specified operating temperature envelope and proposes a machine learning-based approach for modelling the degradation. Experimental results show that end of life, defined as a 30% decrease in capacitance, occurs at 1,000 cycles when the environmental temperature exceeds the maximum operating temperature by 30%. The life-cycle test data is then used as an input to a Gaussian process regression (GPR) algorithm to predict the capacitance fade trend. The GPR is validated on a total of nine commercial cells from two different manufacturers, achieving an average root mean squared percent error of less than 2% and a mean calibration score of 93% when referenced to a 95% confidence interval. The model can be utilized to determine the EC degradation rate at a range of operating temperature values.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Cascaded Quadruple Active Bridge Structures for Multilevel DC to Three-Phase AC Conversion

This paper introduces a multilevel architecture comprised of interconnected dc to three-phase ac converter units. To enable series connected operation, each converter unit contains a quadruple active bridge (QAB) converter that provides isolation between the dc side and each of the three ac sides. Since each converter unit transfers dc-side power as constant balanced three-phase power on the ac side, this implies instantaneous input-output power balance and allows elimination of bulk capacitive energy storage. In addition to minimizing required capacitance, the proposed approach simultaneously enables simplified dc-link controllers amenable to decentralized implementation, supports bidirectional power transfer, and exhibits a modular structure to enhance scalability. Isolation provided by the QAB allows a wide range of electrical configurations among multiple units in various dc-ac, ac-dc or ac-ac applications. In this paper, the focus is on series connections on the ac side to emphasize multilevel operation, and the approach is experimentally validated in a dc-ac system containing two cascaded converter units.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

The Implications of Collisions on the Spatial Profile of Electric Potential and the Space-Charge-Limited Current

The space-charge-limited current (SCLC) in a vacuum diode is given by the Child-Langmuir law (CLL), whose electric potential ϕ(x) ∝ (x/D) 4/3 , where x is the spatial coordinate across the gap and D is the gap separation distance. For a collisional diode, SCLC is given by the Mott-Gurney law (MGL) and ϕ(x) ∝ (x/D) 3/2 . Here, we apply a capacitance argument for SCLC and use the transit time from a recent exact solution for collisional SCLC to show that ϕ(x) ∝ (x/D)ξ for a general collisional gap, where 4/3 ≤ ξ ≤ 3/2 . Furthermore, ξ is strictly a function of νT, where ν is the collision frequency and T is the electron transit time. Using this definition of ξ, we estimate the spatial dependence of the electron velocity and use the gap capacitance to derive an analytic equation for collisional SCLC that agrees within ~4.5% of the exact solution that requires solving parametrically through T. This analytic equation for general ξ asymptotically recovers the CLL as ν → 0 and the MGL as ν → ∞. As a result, matching these limits shows that ξ ≈ 1.40 and V ∝ D 2 ν 2 at the transition from a vacuum to a collisional diode for any device condition.

Anodes↗