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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 1,117 records · Page 62
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Modeling boron profiles in silicon after pulsed excimer laser annealing

In this work, we investigated four possible mechanisms which were candidates to explain the shape of boron profiles after ion implantation and melting excimer laser annealing in silicon. A laser with a wavelength of 308 nm and a pulse duration of {approx}180 ns was used. To simulate this process, an existing model for the temperature and phase evolution was complemented with equations for the migration of dopants. Outdiffusion, thermodiffusion, segregation, and adsorption were investigated as possible mechanisms. As a result, we found that outdiffusion and segregation can be excluded as major mechanisms. Thermodiffusion as well as adsorption could both reproduce the build-up at low melt depths, but only adsorption the one at deeper melt depths. In both cases, ion beam mixing during SIMS measurement had to be taken into account to reproduce the measured profiles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Enhanced heat transfer through filler-polymer interface by surface-coupling agent in heat-dissipation material: A non-equilibrium molecular dynamics study

Developing a composite material of polymers and micrometer-sized fillers with higher heat conductance is crucial to realize modular packaging of electronic components at higher densities. Enhancement mechanisms of the heat conductance of the polymer-filler interfaces by adding the surface-coupling agent in such a polymer composite material are investigated through the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. A simulation system is composed of α-alumina as the filler, bisphenol-A epoxy molecules as the polymers, and model molecules for the surface-coupling agent. The inter-atomic potential between the α-alumina and surface-coupling molecule, which is essential in the present MD simulation, is constructed to reproduce the calculated energies with the electronic density-functional theory. Through the non-equilibrium MD simulation runs, we find that the thermal resistance at the interface decreases significantly by increasing either number or lengths of the surface-coupling molecules and that the effective thermal conductivity of the system approaches to the theoretical value corresponding to zero thermal-resistance at the interface. Detailed analyses about the atomic configurations and local temperatures around the interface are performed to identify heat-transfer routes through the interface.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Photoacoustic elastic bending in thin film—Substrate system

Theoretical model for optically excited two-layer elastic plate, which includes plasmaelastic, thermoelastic, and thermodiffusion mechanisms, is given in order to study the dependence of the photoacoustic (PA) elastic bending signal on the optical, thermal, and elastic properties of thin film—substrate system. Thin film-semiconductor sample (in our case Silicon) is modeled by simultaneous analysis of the plasma, thermal, and elastic wave equations. Multireflection effects in thin film are included in theoretical model and analyzed. Relations for the amplitude and phase of electronic and thermal elastic bending in the optically excited two-layer mechanically-supported circular plate are derived. Theoretical analysis of the thermodiffusion, plasmaelastic, and thermoelastic effects in a sample-gas-microphone photoacoustic detection configuration is given. Two normalization procedures of the photoacoustic elastic bending signal in function of the modulation frequency of the optical excitation are established. Given theoretical model can be used for various photoacoustic detection configurations, for example, in the study of optical, thermal, and elastic properties of the dielectric-semiconductor or metal-semiconductor structure, etc., Theoretical analysis shows that it is possible to develop new noncontact and nondestructive experimental method—PA elastic bending method for thin film study, with possibility to obtain the optical, thermal, and elastic parameters of the film thinner than 1 μm.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electronic excitation as a mode of heat dissipation in laser-driven cluster plasmas

Electrons streaming out of laser plasma are known for non-local heat transport and energy deposition by the ionization wave. At 100 eV electron temperature, since the electronic excitation cross section is comparable to that of ionization for Ar and CO{sub 2}, a non-local excitation wave akin to the ionization wave is envisaged where energy deposition in excitations forms a excited cluster sheath beyond the laser focus. Here, we show that nano-cluster systems have the right parameters to form such an exciton sheath and experimentally demonstrate this via charge transfer reactions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Unsteady heat dissipation in accelerator superconducting coils insulated with porous ceramic insulation in normal and supercritical helium conditions

To investigate the unsteady heat dissipation in accelerator superconducting coils insulated with porous ceramic insulation, two experimental mock-ups reproducing the thermal and the mechanical conditions of a superconducting coils were produced. The mock-ups with compressive load of 10 MPa and 20 MPa were tested at normal (T = 4.23 K and p = 1 bar) and supercritical helium conditions (T = 4.23 K and p = 2.0 to 3.75 bar) during unsteady heat dissipation. The paper presents the experimental results of temperature rise in both superconducting coils as a function of time for a wide range of a localized heat load varying from 0.1 kJ/m{sup 3} up to 12.8 MJ m{sup −3} per pulse. A numerical model of the transient process in these coils has been developed and the computations are compared with the experimental results.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Highly efficient and electrically robust carbon irradiated semi-insulating GaAs based photoconductive terahertz emitters

We demonstrate here an efficient photoconductive THz source with low electrical power consumption. We have increased the maximum THz radiation power emitted from SI-GaAs based photoconductive emitters (PCEs) by two orders of magnitude. By irradiating the SI-GaAs substrate with Carbon-ions up to 2 μm deep, we have created lot of defects and decreased the lifetime of photo-excited carriers inside the substrate. Depending on the irradiation dose, we find 1 to 2 orders of magnitude decrease in total current flowing in the substrate, resulting in subsequent decrease of heat dissipation in the device. This has resulted in increasing maximum cut-off of the applied voltage across PCE electrodes to operate the device without thermal breakdown from ∼35 V to >150 V for the 25 μm electrode gaps. At optimum operating conditions, carbon irradiated (10{sup 14} ions/cm{sup 2}) PCEs give THz pulses with power about 100 times higher in comparison to the usual PCEs on SI-GaAs and electrical to THz power conversion efficiency has improved by a factor of ∼800.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Molecular-dynamics calculation of the vacancy heat of transport

We apply the recently developed constrained-dynamics method to elucidate the thermodiffusion of vacancies in a single-component material. The derivation and assumptions used in the method are clearly explained. Next, the method is applied to compute the reduced heat of transport Q{sub v}{sup *}−h{sub fv} for vacancies in a single-component material. Results from simulations using three different Morse potentials, with one providing an approximate description of Au, and an embedded-atom model potential for Ni are presented. It is found that the reduced heat of transport Q{sub v}{sup *}−h{sub fv} may take either positive or negative values depending on the potential parameters and exhibits some dependence on temperature. It is also found that Q{sub v}{sup *}−h{sub fv} may be correlated with the activation entropy. The results are discussed in comparison with experimental and previous simulation results.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Analysis of simulation methodology for calculation of the heat of transport for vacancy thermodiffusion

Computation of the heat of transport Q{sub a}{sup *} in monatomic crystalline solids is investigated using the methodology first developed by Gillan [J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 11, 4469 (1978)] and further developed by Grout and coworkers [Philos. Mag. Lett. 74, 217 (1996)], referred to as the Grout-Gillan method. In the case of pair potentials, the hopping of a vacancy results in a heat wave that persists for up to 10 ps, consistent with previous studies. This leads to generally positive values for Q{sub a}{sup *} which can be quite large and are strongly dependent on the specific details of the pair potential. By contrast, when the interactions are described using the embedded atom model, there is no evidence of a heat wave, and Q{sub a}{sup *} is found to be negative. This demonstrates that the dynamics of vacancy hopping depends strongly on the details of the empirical potential. However, the results obtained here are in strong disagreement with experiment. Arguments are presented which demonstrate that there is a fundamental error made in the Grout-Gillan method due to the fact that the ensemble of states only includes successful atom hops and hence does not represent an equilibrium ensemble. This places the interpretation of the quantity computed in the Grout-Gillan method as the heat of transport in doubt. It is demonstrated that trajectories which do not yield hopping events are nevertheless relevant to computation of the heat of transport Q{sub a}{sup *}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Broadly tunable, high-power terahertz radiation up to 73 K from a stand-alone Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+δ} mesa

High-power, continuous, broadly tunable THz radiation from 0.29 to 1.06 THz, was obtained from the outer current-voltage characteristic (IVC) branch of a single stand-alone mesa of the high-transition temperature T{sub c} superconductor Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+δ}. The particular metallic film structures placed both beneath and atop the mesas resulted in more efficient heat dissipation, higher allowed applied dc voltages, larger IVC loops, wider emission temperature ranges, and much broader emission frequency tunability than obtained previously.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of isotopic disorders on thermal transport properties of nanotubes and nanowires

We present a one-dimensional lattice model to describe thermal transport in isotopically doped nanotubes and nanowires. The thermal conductivities thus predicted, as a function of isotopic concentration, agree well with recent experiments and other simulations. Our results display that for any given concentration of isotopic atoms in a lattice without sharp atomic interfaces, the maximum thermal conductivity is attained when isotopic atoms are placed regularly with an equal space, whereas the minimum is achieved when they are randomly inserted with a uniform distribution. Non-uniformity of disorder can further tune the thermal conductivity between the two values. Moreover, the dependence of the thermal conductivity on the nanoscale feature size becomes weak at low temperature when disorder exists. In addition, when self-consistent thermal reservoirs are included to describe diffusive nanomaterials, the thermal conductivities predicted by our model are in line with the results of macroscopic theories with an interfacial effect. Our results suggest that the disorder provides an additional freedom to tune the thermal properties of nanomaterials in many technological applications including nanoelectronics, solid-state lighting, energy conservation, and conversion.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication of glass-ceramics containing spin-chain compound SrCuO{sub 2} and its high thermal conductivity

High thermal conductivity materials are in great demand for heat-flow control and heat dissipation in electronic devices. In this study, we have produced a glass-ceramics that contains spin-chain compound SrCuO{sub 2} and have found that the glass-ceramics yields high thermal conductivity of ∼5 W K{sup −1} m{sup −1} even at room temperature. The glass-ceramics is fabricated through crystallization of inhomogeneous melt-quenched oxides made from SrCO{sub 3}, CuO, Li{sub 2}CO{sub 3}, Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray and electron diffraction reveal that SrCuO{sub 2} crystallites with a size of 100–200 nm are precipitated in the glass-ceramics. The highness of the thermal conductivity is attributable to two sources: one is elongation of phonon mean free path due to the crystallization of the inhomogeneous structure or structural ordering. The other is emergence of the heat carriers, spinons, in the SrCuO{sub 2}. This highly thermal conductive glass-ceramics is expected to be utilized as base materials for heat-flow control devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multiscale model of heat dissipation mechanisms during field emission from carbon nanotube fibers

A multiscale model of field emission (FE) from carbon nanotube fibers (CNFs) is developed, which takes into account Joule heating within the fiber and radiative cooling and the Nottingham effect at the tip of the individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the array located at the fiber tip. The model predicts the fraction of CNTs being destroyed as a function of the applied external electric field and reproduces many experimental features observed in some recently investigated CNFs, such as order of magnitude of the emission current (mA range), low turn on electric field (fraction of V/μm), deviation from pure Fowler-Nordheim behavior at large applied electric field, hysteresis of the FE characteristics, and a spatial variation of the temperature along the CNF axis with a maximum close to its tip of a few hundred °C.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nonintrusive manufactured solutions for ablation

The study of heat transfer and ablation plays an important role in many problems of scientific and engineering interest. As with the computational simulation of any physical phenomenon, the first step toward establishing credibility in ablation simulations involves code verification. Code verification is typically performed using exact and manufactured solutions. However, manufactured solutions generally require the invasive introduction of an artificial forcing term within the source code such that the code solves a modified problem for which the solution is known. In this paper, we present a nonintrusive method for manufacturing solutions for a non-decomposing ablation code, which does not require the addition of a source term.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

On the merit of hot ion mode for tearing mode stabilization

The stabilization of tearing modes with rf driven current benefits from the cooperative feedback loop between rf power deposition and electron temperature within the island. This effect, termed rf current condensation, can greatly enhance and localize the current driven within magnetic islands. It has previously been shown that the condensation effect opens the possibility of passive stabilization with broad rf profiles, as would be typical of LHCD for steady state operation. Here, we show that this self-healing effect can be dramatically amplified by operation in a hot ion mode, due to the additional electron heat source provided by the hotter ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Reduced models for ETG transport in the tokamak pedestal

This paper reports on the development of reduced models for electron temperature gradient (ETG) driven transport in the pedestal. Model development is enabled by a set of 61 nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations with input parameters taken from pedestals in a broad range of experimental scenarios. The simulation data have been consolidated in a new database for gyrokinetic simulation data, the multiscale gyrokinetic database (MGKDB), facilitating the analysis. The modeling approach may be considered a generalization of the standard quasilinear mixing length procedure. The parameter η, the ratio of the density to temperature gradient scale length, emerges as the key parameter for formulating an effective saturation rule. With a single order-unity fitting coefficient, the model achieves an error of 15%. A similar model for ETG particle flux is also described. We also present simple algebraic expressions for the transport informed by an algorithm for symbolic regression.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Sensing depths in frequency domain thermoreflectance

In this work, a method is developed to calculate the length into a sample to which a Frequency Domain Thermoreflectance (FDTR) measurement is sensitive. Sensing depth and sensing radius are defined as limiting cases for the spherically spreading FDTR measurement. A finite element model for FDTR measurements is developed in COMSOL multiphysics and used to calculate sensing depth and sensing radius for silicon and silicon dioxide samples for a variety of frequencies and laser spot sizes. The model is compared to experimental FDTR measurements. Design recommendations for sample thickness are made for experiments where semi-infinite sample depth is desirable. For measurements using a metal transducer layer, the recommended sample thickness is three thermal penetration depths, as calculated from the lowest measurement frequency.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Temperature dependence of resistivity of carbon micro/nanostructures: Microscale spatial distribution with mixed metallic and semiconductive behaviors

The temperature coefficient of resistivity (θ T ) of carbon-based materials is a critical property that directly determines their electrical response upon thermal impulses. It could have metal- (positive) or semiconductor-like (negative) behavior, depending on the combined temperature dependence of electron density and electron scattering. Its distribution in space is very difficult to measure and is rarely studied. Here, for the first time, we report that carbon-based micro/nanoscale structures have a strong non-uniform spatial distribution of θ T . This distribution is probed by measuring the transient electro-thermal response of the material under extremely localized step laser heating and scanning, which magnifies the local θ T effect in the measured transient voltage evolution. For carbon microfibers (CMFs), after electrical current annealing, θ T varies from negative to positive from the sample end to the center with a magnitude change of >130% over <1 mm. This θ T sign change is confirmed by directly testing smaller segments from different regions of an annealed CMF. For micro-thick carbon nanotube bundles, θ T is found to have a relative change of >125% within a length of ~2 mm, uncovering strong metallic to semiconductive behavior change in space. In conclusion, our θ T scanning technique can be readily extended to nm-thick samples with μm scanning resolution to explore the distribution of θ T and provide a deep insight into the local electron conduction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effect of outer-cylinder rotation on the radially heated Taylor–Couette flow

A Taylor–Couette setup with radial heating is considered where a Boussinesq fluid is sheared in the annular region between two concentric, independently rotating cylinders maintained at different temperatures. Linear stability analysis is performed to determine the Taylor number for the onset of instability. Two radius ratios corresponding to wide and thin gaps with several rotation rate ratios are considered. The rotation of the outer cylinder is found to have a general stabilizing effect on the stability threshold as compared to pure inner-cylinder rotation, with a few exceptions. The radial heating sets up an axial flow which breaks the reflection symmetry of isothermal Taylor–Couette flow in the axial coordinate. This symmetry breaking separates linear stability thresholds, and we find the fastest growing modes with both positive and negative azimuthal numbers for different parameters. Another important finding of the current study is the discovery of unstable modes in the Rayleigh-stable regime. Furthermore, closed disconnected neutral curves (CDNCs) are observed for both wide and thin gaps which can separate from or merge into open neutral–stability curves. Alternatively, CDNCs can also morph into open neutral stability curves as the rotation rate ratio is changed. CDNCs are observed to be sensitive to changes in control parameters, and their appearance/disappearance is shown to induce discontinuous jumps in the critical Taylor number. Finally, for both wide and thin gaps, the fastest-growing modes found in the pure corotation case are shown to have their origins in the instability islands at smaller values of rotation rate ratios.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗