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Results for “substrate amorphization”

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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Electron cyclotron resonance deposition of diamond-like films

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasma CVD has been developed at low pressures (0.0001 - 0.01 torr) and at ambient and high substrate temperatures (up to 750 C), to achieve large-area (greater than 4 in. diameter) depositions of diamondlike amorphous carbon (a - C:H) films. The application of a RF bias to the substrate stage, which induces a negative self-bias voltage, is found to play a critical role in determining carbon bonding configurations and in modifying the film morphology. There are two distinct types of ECR-deposited diamondlike films. One type of diamondlike film exhibits a Raman spectrum consisting of broad and overlapping, graphitic D (1360/cm, line width = 280/cm) and G (1590/cm, line width 140/cm) lines, and the other type has a broad Raman peak centered at appoximately 1500/cm. Examination of plasma species by optical emission spectroscopy shows no correlation between the CH-asterisk emission intensity and the deposition rate of diamondklike films.

Shing, Y. H.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Fast Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement-ductilitization of an Iron-based Amorphous Alloy using In Situ Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction

Amorphous Fe-based nanostructured alloy coatings thermally sprayed on bcc steel substrate, were subjected to neutron irradiation doses up to 2 × 10 19 n/cm 2 . It is shown that the interplay between embrittlement and recovery of ductility is governed by amorphous to crystallization transition and phase decomposition in which temperature and irradiation dose have reciprocal effects. Microscopic (X-ray diffraction) observations on the behavior of the amorphous Fe-based alloy are correlated with relevant macroscopically observed mechanical behavior. It is shown that amorphous Fe-based alloy coatings maintain and even enhance their amorphous structure with irradiation, exhibit radiation-induced restoration of thermally-induced embrittlement and finally exhibit resistance to ductility loss up to the fluence of 2 × 10 18 n/cm 2 and good thermal stability up to 350 °C. The latter is deduced from X-ray diffraction experiments of in-situ tensile strain application on the irradiated coating.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Oblique angle deposition of boron carbide films by magnetron sputtering

Many applications of boron carbide (B4C) films entail deposition on non-planar substrates, necessitating a better understanding of oblique angle deposition phenomena. Here, we systematically study the effect of substrate tilt on properties of B 4 C films with thicknesses up to 10 μm deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering. Results show that all films are amorphous and columnar with an average column width of ~100 nm, independent of substrate tilt. Column tilt angles are limited to ~20° even for substrate tilt of 80°. Film density, residual stress, and the refractive index weakly (within ≲20%) depend on substrate tilt. Furthermore, oxygen impurities bond preferentially with carbon atoms in inter-columnar regions. Substrate tilt has a major effect on mechanical properties that decrease by ~50%, suggesting weak interconnection between nano-columns. Implications of these observations for the deposition onto non-planar substrates are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1973

Low-temperature epitaxy of Ge films by sputter deposition.

It is shown experimentally that isoepitaxial growth of Ge films on Ge substrates can be obtained by dc sputtering at substrate temperatures as low as 100 C. The crystallographic structure and orientation of the films are strongly influenced by such deposition parameters as substrate temperature, growth rate, surface contamination, and sputtering-gas purity. The amorphous-polycrystalline transition occurs between 110 and 115 C, while the polycrystalline-single crystalline transition occurs at roughly 140 C. The crystallographic order increases with increasing substrate temperature.

Khan, I. H.↗
DOE OSTI2023

On silica's roles in controlling americium migration in contaminated sediments

Two studies in the early 1980s described the leaching behavior of americium (Am) disposed as part of acidic high-salt processing wastes from the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant to nearby ground sediments. Here these batch leach experiments showed that the Am concentrations followed a linear log [Am] versus pH relationship with a slope of –1. Column leach experiments in the second study, however, did not follow this relationship and only ~30% of the americium desorbed even after extensive column leaching. Here, the 1980s research is re-examined along with previously unpublished information and, in light of recent published work, a plausible mechanism is proposed to explain these phenomena. Amorphous silica in the contaminated sediments is postulated to be the substrate responsible for both the exchangeable Am available for leaching and the retained low-leachable Am made evident in the column leach experiments. The exchangeable Am 3+ in the contaminated sediment leach experiments behaves with pH dependence similar to that observed for uptake onto amorphous silica of sodium (Na + ), calcium (Ca 2+ ), barium (Ba 2+ ), cadmium (Cd 2+ ), uranyl (UO 2 2+ ), ferric (Fe 3+ ), chromic (Cr 3+ ), cupric (Cu 2+ ), plumbous (Pb 2+ ), uranium(IV) (U 4+ ), plutonium(IV) (Pu 4+ ), zirconium (Zr 4+ ), analogue lanthanide (gadolinium, Gd 3+ , europium, Eu 3+ , and lutetium, Lu 3+ ) and curium (Cm 3+ ) ions as well as other studies with Am 3+ . Correspondingly, the residual low-leachable Am 3+ revealed in the column leach experiments is attributed to incorporation of Am 3+ within amorphous silica by dynamic Am 3+ sorption and silica precipitation processes.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of High-QE GaN Photodectors for Liquid Noble Particle Detectors

Detection of the handful of photons generated when a dark matter particle interacts in a liquid Xenon detector requires a new type of photodetector with very high detection efficiency at ultraviolet wavelengths, very low radioactive backgrounds, and essentially no measureable readout noise (achieved with devices with high intrisic gain). Such devices would find wide applicability to not only high energy physics experiments, but to a number of commercial applications including, e.g., biomedical imaging of fluorescent tags. We developed photodetectors based on amorphous GaN thin film structures (photocathodes) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on quartz windows. We also developed approaches to integrate these photocathode device structures with vacuum electron multipliers. All materials and fabrication techniques were developed to minimize radioactive backgrounds in materials, so these detectors could be used for very low count rate experiments, such as the future liquid-Xenon dark matter detectors, and future liquid-Argon neutrino detectors. We demonstrated growth of very high quantum efficiency amorphous GaN cathodes grown on a number of different substrates (Stainless steel, p-Silicon) reaching detection efficiencies of 80% at 220nm. The key to this growth was to use nitrogen plasma-assistend MBEs and very low growth temperatures. We also discovered that thinner structures (e.g.,40nm a-GaN thin films) had the best performance. We successfully demonstrated techniques for the vacuum transfer of these photocathode structures to a novel chamber that used hydraulics and bellow to form a cold indium bond needed to integrate these cathodes into sealed-tube devices. A complete, stand-along, device could not be completed during this proposal period due to difficulties in growing structures on the thick quartz window. Subsequent work is aimed at addressing this difficulty, by growing a buffer layer on the quartz substrate.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
NASA NTRS1973

Study for identification of Beneficial Uses of Space (BUS), phase 2. Volume 2: Technical report. Book 2: Section 5, appendices A through D

An investigation of the technology and programmatics involved in the development of four of the products selected as capable of benefitting from space manufacturing was conducted. The four activities selected are as follows: (1) levitation heating and melting of tungsten, (2) free suspension processing of oxides to form amorphous oxide materials, (3) crystals for surface wave acoustic substrates, and (4) space manufacturing of surface acoustic wave devices.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1985

Spray Application of Rapidly Solidified Metals

Fast and economical process now available. New process applies rapidly solidified (RS) metal coatings to substrates. RS metals made directly from molten material. Have amorphous or microcrystalline structures and yield coatings having superior wear and corrosion resistance. Mixture of RS metal powder and peening particles sprayed from nozzle against surface coated. Powder and peening particles strike surface simultaneously, and impact bonds powder to surface as uniform coating. New process, which employs shot peening, is safe, fast, and inexpensive.

Chu, H. P.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Coating MCPs with AlN and GaN

A development effort underway at the time of reporting the information for this article is devoted to increasing the sensitivity of microchannel plates (MCPs) as detectors of photons and ions by coating the MCPs with nitrides of elements in period III of the periodic table. Conventional MCPs are relatively insensitive to slowly moving, large-mass ions for example, ions of biomolecules under analysis in mass spectrometers. The idea underlying this development is to coat an MCP to reduce its work function (decrease its electron affinity) in order to increase both (1) the emission of electrons in response to impingement of low-energy, large-mass ions and (2) the multiplying effect of secondary electron emission. Of particular interest as coating materials having appropriately low or even negative electron affinities are gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, and ternary alloys of general composition Al(x)Ga(1-x)N (where 0<x<1). These materials exhibit attractively high degrees of chemical, mechanical, and thermal stability plus acceptably high resistance to sputtering. The electron-excitation cross sections of these materials are expected to exceed those of several other materials (including diamond) that are, variously, in use or under development for the same purpose. Moreover, by doping these materials with silicon, one can render them partly electrically conductive, thereby suppressing the undesired accumulation of electric charge that could otherwise occur during bombardment by ions. For experiments, thin films of AlN and GaN both undoped and doped with Si were deposited on commercial MCPs by radio-frequency molecular-beam epitaxy (also known as plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy) at temperatures <200 C. This deposition technique is particularly suitable because (1) MCPs cannot withstand the higher deposition-substrate temperatures used to decompose constituent compounds in some other deposition techniques and (2) in this technique, the constituent Al, Ga, and N are supplied in elemental form, so that there is no need for thermal decomposition at the substrate surface. The nitride films thus formed were, variously, amorphous or polycrystalline. The nitride films were coated with surface layers of gold <100 thick. The MCPs were tested in a standard configuration in which the output stage of a first MCP was coupled to the input stage of a second MCP. Each pair of MCPs was mounted in a standard holder that included front and back contact rings and an anode for collecting the output electrons of the second MCP. The MCP pairs were biased at potentials between 1.7 and 1.9 kV, and count rates measured after preamplification and discrimination. To enable a direct comparison, in one pair, the second MCP was uncoated while the first MCP was coated over half its surface. The coated and uncoated sides of the half-coated MCP were exposed to fluxes of argon ions at kinetic energies of 1.0 and 0.5 keV. At 1.0 keV, the count rate for the coated side was about 2.3 times greater than that for the uncoated side; at 0.5 keV, the count rate for the coated side was about 1.8 times greater than that for the uncoated side.

Bensaoula, Abdelhakim↗
DOE OSTI2025

Engineering PHL7 for Improved Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Depolymerization via Rational Design and Directed Evolution

Enzymatic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has emerged as a promising approach for polyester recycling, and, to date, many natural and engineered PET hydrolase enzymes have been reported. For industrial use, PET hydrolases must achieve high depolymerization extent and exhibit excellent thermostability. Here, we engineered a natural PET hydrolase, Polyester Hydrolase Leipzig #7 (PHL7), through rational design and directed evolution using a high-throughput screening platform. Four new enzymes were engineered with enhanced properties compared with the parent enzyme, wild-type PHL7 (PHL7-WT), and other benchmark PET hydrolases, under the tested conditions. In bioreactors, the exemplary engineered enzyme, PHL7-Jemez, exhibited improved ability to depolymerize amorphous PET film compared with PHL7-WT at 2.9% and 20% substrate loadings, with 37% and 270% higher hydrolysis, respectively, after 48 h. This study develops several state-of-the-art PET hydrolases and demonstrates a directed evolution platform to engineer high-performance enzymes, which can accelerate enzyme discovery toward improved biocatalytic recycling.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1971

Mechanism of the oxidation of titanium disilicide.

Study of the oxidation of TiSi2 at temperatures of 300 to 1300 C. Wafers prepared using the techniques of powder metallurgy had densities of 95 to 98% of the theoretical value. On oxidation at temperatures up to 600 C, the polished wafers formed a protective, titania-silica glass. The rate data indicate a complex surface and diffusion-limited mechanism. Above 600 deg C, the oxide consisted of an amorphous SiO2 film with crystalline islands of TiO2 (rutile). From 1000 to 1300 C, parabolic kinetics with an activation energy of 21.3 kcal/mole were observed. These data are consistent with a model in which the rate-determining step is the diffusion of oxygen through the silica film with the simultaneous diffusion of titanium from the substrate to the islands of rutile growing on top of the amorphous silica.

Schwettmann, F. N.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of substrate tilt on sputter-deposited AuTa films

Gold-tantalum alloy films are of interest for biomedical and magnetically-assisted inertial confinement fusion applications. However, growth mechanisms of such Au-Ta alloy films are not well understood. Here, we systematically study the effect of substrate tilt on properties of films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering from a AuTa alloy target. Experimental data is correlated with distributions of landing energies and incident angles of sputtered and backscattered species calculated by Monte Carlo simulations of ballistic collisions and gas phase atomic transport. Results reveal that the deposition rate and film density monotonically decrease with increasing substrate tilt. Properties are similar for films with a tilt of 40° and below: films are amorphous, with an average compressive stress of 0.5 GPa, a density of 16 g/cm 3 , and electrical resistivity of 200 μΩ cm. The critical substrate tilt angle for the onset of porosity, a transition to a reduced stress state, and an increase in electrical resistivity lies between 40 and 60°. Based on Monte Carlo simulations, these changes in film properties are correlated with an increase in the average impact angle of the ballistic component of atomic flux. Implications of these results to deposition onto non-planar substrates are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2005

Development of a Thin-Film Solar Cell Interconnect for the Powersphere Concept

Dual junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells produced on polyimide substrate have been selected as the best candidate to produce a lightweight solar array for the PowerSphere program. The PowerSphere concept features a space-inflatable, geodetic solar array approximately 0.6 meters in diameter and capable of generating about 20W of electrical power. Trade studies of various wiring concepts and connection methods led to an interconnect design with a copper contact that wraps around the edge, to the back of the solar cell. Applying Plasma Vapor Deposited (PVD) copper film to both sides and the edge of the solar cell produces the wrap around contact. This procedure results in a contact pad on the back of the solar cell, which is then laser welded to a flex circuit material. The flex circuit is constructed of copper in a custom designed routing pattern, and then sandwiched in a Kapton insulation layer. The flex circuit then serves as the primary power distribution system between the solar cells and the spacecraft. Flex circuit material is the best candidate for the wiring harness because it allows for low force deployment of the solar cells by the inflatable hinges on the PowerSphere. An additional frame structure, fabricated and assembled by ILC Dover, will reinforce the wrap around contact-flex blanket connection, thus providing a mechanically robust solar cell interconnect for the PowerSphere multifunctional program. The PowerSphere team will use the wraparound contact design approach as the primary solution for solar cell integration and the flex blanket for power distribution.

Simburger, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Thermal and structural stability of cosputtered amorphous Ta(x)Cu(1-x) alloy thin films on GaAs

The characteristics of thin films of Ta-Cu, prepared over a wide range of compositions by cosputter deposition onto GaAs and fused quartz substrates, are studied by X-ray diffraction and van der Pauw resistivity measurement. Results show films to be amorphous over the range of 55-95 at. pct, and show Ta(93)Cu(7) barriers to be effective in preventing Au in-diffusion, with a 3000-A layer remaining unpenetrated after an annealing at 700 C for 20 min. Diffusion of Ga and/or As into amorphous 93 at. pct Ta is found to be more rapid than that of Au, and interfacial reactions were shown to form compounds including Ta3Au, CuAu, TaAs2, and Ga3Cu7 above 700 C.

Oh, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Interfacial electrical properties of ion-beam sputter deposited amorphous carbon on silicon

Amorphous, 'diamond-like' carbon films have been deposited on Si substrates, using ion-beam sputtering. The interfacial properties are studied using capacitance and conductance measurements. Data are analyzed using existing theories for interfacial electrical properties. The density of electronic states at the interface, along with corresponding time constants are determined.

Khan, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Oxygen diffusion barrier coating

A method for coating a titanium panel or foil with aluminum and amorphous silicon to provide an oxygen barrier abrogating oxidation of the substrate metal is developed. The process is accomplished with known inexpensive procedures common in materials research laboratories, i.e., electron beam deposition and sputtering. The procedures are conductive to treating foil gage titanium and result in submicron layers which virtually add no weight to the titanium. There are no costly heating steps. The coatings blend with the substrate titanium until separate mechanical properties are subsumed by those of the substrate without cracking or spallation. This method appreciably increases the ability of titanium to mechanically perform in high thermal environments such as those witnessed on structures of space vehicles during re-entry

Unnam, Jalaiah↗
DOE OSTI2026

Solid-phase heteroepitaxy of oriented Sb 2 Se 3 on GaAs for birefringent thin films

Here, we investigate the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of antimony selenide (Sb 2 Se 3 ) on UHV-prepared GaAs (001) substrates. In the bulk orthorhombic form, Sb 2 Se 3 is a layered quasi-1D semiconductor with highly anisotropic properties of interest for optical and electronic devices. We find that an amorphous layer deposited by molecular beam epitaxy annealed at or above 230 °C yields a textured-epitaxial structure among some randomly oriented domains. The textured-epitaxial Sb 2 Se 3 grains are oriented with the covalently bonded “1D axis” constrained in-plane to GaAs [110] and with multiple van der Waals (hk0) orientations out-of-plane. The same texture was achieved exclusively without randomly oriented grains using continuous-wave laser radiation, highlighting the use of thermal and optical methods to yield anisotropic crystalline Sb 2 Se 3 films directly from the amorphous phase. Polarized reflectance and polarized microscopy confirm the unique state of in-plane birefringence in the crystallized thin film. Overall, we show that solid-phase heteroepitaxy provides additional pathways to the integration of low-symmetry chalcogenide semiconductors for demanding applications where the inherent anisotropy needs to be preserved.

Xiao, Kelly [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (↗
DOE OSTI2020

Large anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in all-sputtered epitaxial terbium thin films

We present an experimental investigation of the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of sputtered epitaxial and amorphous Tb thin films. We grew epitaxial Nb (50-nm)/Tb (100-nm) bilayer thin films on Al 2 O 3 $(11\bar{2}0)$ substrate using DC magnetron sputtering at high temperature, with excellent crystalline quality of the hcp Tb(0001) layer. While the amorphous Tb thin film exhibits more isotropic magnetocaloric properties, we show that the epitaxial Tb thin film displays large anisotropic magnetocaloric properties, with a large maximum magnetic entropy change of 6.27 J kg -1 K -1 at the Néel temperature as well as a large relative cooling power of 225 J kg -1 with a magnetic field change ΔH = 20 kOe applied along the in-plane direction. These large and anisotropic magnetocaloric properties are much larger than those measured for the amorphous Tb thin film, or previously reported for Tb-based thin-film structures. Our findings highlight the opportunities for growing epitaxial rare-earth thin films using sputtering techniques and demonstrate the importance of crystallographic control on the magnetocaloric effect in Tb thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗