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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 145 records · Page 8

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2019

Energy recovery in capacitive deionization systems with inverted operation characteristics

Capacitive deionization (CDI) operated under inverted mode involves electronic charging and discharge steps with corresponding ion concentration and desalting coupled with simultaneous energy storage. In this work, an energy recovery system derived from a Cuk dc–dc converter is explored to transfer the energy stored from one inverted capacitive deionization (i-CDI) cell during the electronic discharge step to another during the charge step, decreasing the overall energy requirement for capacitive water desalination. The i-CDI cell, a subset of CDI architecture operated in an inverted mode, is improved by incorporating ion-selective membranes to allow inverted membrane capacitive deionization (i-MCDI), leading to enhanced charge storage achieved with reduced energy input. For example, in comparison to i-CDI that requires ~12 J g -1 of energy input, the i-MCDI cell requires only 8 J g -1 . By incorporating the recovery system, the energy penalty can be reduced to only require ~8 and 4 J g -1 for i-CDI and i-MCDI cells, respectively. Improvement in energy recovery was shown to be achieved by reducing charge leakage, with the i-MCDI cell showing up to 3 times the leakage resistance of the i-CDI cell.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2012

Effect of capacitive coupling in a miniature inductively coupled plasma source

Two-dimensional axisymmetric particle-in-cell simulations with a Monte Carlo collision algorithm (PIC-MCC) have been conducted to investigate the effect of capacitive coupling in a miniature inductively coupled plasma source (mICP) by using two models: an inductive model and a hybrid model. The mICP is 3 mm in radius and 6 mm in height with a three-turn planar coil, where argon plasma is sustained. In the inductive model, the coil is assumed to be electrostatically shielded, and thus the discharge is purely inductive coupling. In the hybrid model, we assume that the different turns of the coil act like electrodes in capacitive discharge to include the effect of capacitive coupling. The voltage applied to these electrodes decreases linearly from the powered end of the coil towards the grounded end. The numerical analysis has been performed for rf frequencies in the range of 100-1000 MHz, and the power absorbed by the plasma in the range of 5-50 mW at a fixed pressure of 500 mTorr. The PIC-MCC results show that potential oscillations at the plasma-dielectric interface are not negligible, and thus the major component of the absorbed power is caused by the axial motion of electrons in the hybrid model, although almost all of the power absorption is due to the azimuthal motion of electrons in the inductive model. The effect of capacitive coupling is more significant at lower rf frequencies and at higher absorbed powers under the calculation conditions examined. Moreover, much less coil currents are required in the hybrid model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Direct observation of electrical properties of grain boundaries in sputter-deposited CdTe using scan-probe microwave reflectivity based capacitance measurements

Here, polycrystalline CdTe in 12% efficient solar cells has been studied using scanning microwave impedance microscopy (sMIM). The CdS/CdTe junctions were grown on transparent-conducting-oxide-coated soda lime glass using rf sputter deposition. sMIM based capacitance measurements were performed on the exposed surface of CdCl 2 treated CdTe adjacent to thermal-evaporation-deposited Cu/Au back contacts. The sMIM instrument was operated at ~3 GHz, and capacitance measurements were performed as a function of ac and dc voltage biases applied to the tip, with and without sample illumination. Although dc capacitance measurements are affected by sample topography, the differential capacitance measurement was shown to be topography independent. It was found that the grain boundaries exhibit a depleted carrier concentration as compared to the grain bulk. This depletion effect is enhanced under photo-generated carrier separation or under sufficiently large probe tip biases opposite to the majority carrier charge.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2017

A multi-channel capacitive probe for electrostatic fluctuation measurement in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch

A 40-channel capacitive probe has been developed to measure the electrostatic fluctuations associated with the tearing modes deep into Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed field pinch plasma. The capacitive probe measures the ac component of the plasma potential via the voltage induced on stainless steel electrodes capacitively coupled with the plasma through a thin annular layer of boron nitride (BN) dielectric (also serves as the particle shield). When bombarded by the plasma electrons, BN provides a sufficiently large secondary electron emission for the induced voltage to be very close to the plasma potential. The probe consists of four stalks each with ten cylindrical capacitors that are radially separated by 1.5 cm. The four stalks are arranged on a 1.3 cm square grid so that at each radial position, there are four electrodes forming a square grid. Every two adjacent radial sets of four electrodes form a cube. The fluctuating electric field can be calculated by the gradient of the plasma potential fluctuations at the eight corners of the cube. The probe can be inserted up to 15 cm (r/a = 0.7) into the plasma. Furthermore, the capacitive probe has a frequency bandwidth from 13 Hz to 100 kHz, amplifier-circuit limit, sufficient for studying the tearing modes (5-30 kHz) in the MST reversed-field pinch.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2021

Extraction of intrinsic contact resistance in organic thin-film transistors with single channel length and high capacitance density

Accurate characterization of the intrinsic contact resistance is important for the optimization of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), especially in devices with high gate capacitance density. This study reports on a method for the extraction of the intrinsic, or gate-voltage independent, contact resistance from OTFTs. In contrast to the transfer length method (TLM), this method can be applied to devices with a single geometry. The method is an extension of the previously reported Y-function method and combines the model proposed by S. Luan et al. to analyze the effect of the gate voltage on the contact resistance. Here, this method is first applied to OTFTs with a bottom-gate top-contact geometry having varying gate capacitance density values. The intrinsic contact resistance is found to decrease with increased gate capacitance density with values ranging between 4 kΩcm and under 1 kΩcm when the gate capacitance is changed from 36.6 nF/cm 2 to 231.7 nF/cm 2 , respectively. These values are in good agreement with those obtained using TLM experiments. The new method is also shown to be applicable to OTFTs with top-gate bottom contact geometry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Capacitance–voltage modeling of mid-wavelength infrared nBn detectors

Capacitance–voltage measurements are a powerful technique to determine doping profiles of semiconductor pn junctions and Schottky barrier diodes. The measurements were recently extended to III-V-based mid-wavelength nBn infrared detectors, and absorber doping densities have been extracted using the widely accepted Schottky approximation, where the potential drop across the device is assumed to be across the depleting absorber layer. However, this approach is limited to when the absorber region of the nBn is under high reverse bias and thus is only able to extract the absorber region doping profile. Here, we introduce a semi-analytical model that is capable of extracting barrier dopant polarity, doping concentration, and thickness, as well as contact and absorber layer doping concentrations, all from a capacitance–voltage measurement. Rather than solely considering the potential drop across the depleting layers, it considers the potential drop across the accumulating layer as well. This negative charge accumulation occurs for the contact and absorber layers in the case of reverse and forward biases, respectively. This allows for a single model to be applied to a capacitance–voltage curve at forward and reverse biases and it can provide regions of bias where the absorber transitions from depletion to accumulation. We compare the agreement of the semianalytical model with modeling results from commercially available finite element method software and experimental capacitance–voltage data. Finally, we show that the method is consistent with the Schottky approximation of extracting absorber doping densities at high reverse bias and discuss the model's limitations.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2015

Rescaling of metal oxide nanocrystals for energy storage having high capacitance and energy density with robust cycle life

Significance The combined study of experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrates that metal oxide nanocrystals on graphene can be rescaled into atomic clusters. It is notable that the capacitance of 3,023 F per the mass of NiO, matching the measured capacitance of 2,231 per the total electrode mass, exceeds the theoretical gravimetric capacitance of 2,618 F available via ion-to-atom redox reactions. This approach thus provides a new pathway to realize full capacitance via ion-to-atom Faradaic redox reactions. Furthermore, assembly with a rescaled metal oxide positive electrode shows that further development of high-capacity negative counter electrode materials can pave a new route to address challenging energy storage issues.

Jeong, Hyung Mo↗

DOE OSTI2022

A PWM Strategy for Cascaded H-bridges to Reduce the Loss Caused by Parasitic Capacitances of Medium Voltage Dual Active Bridge Transformers

In this paper, to reduce the power loss caused by the parasitic capacitances of medium voltage medium frequency transformers in a two-stage dc/ac converter, including a dual active bridge (DAB)-based dc/dc stage and a cascaded H-bridge (CHB)-based dc/ac stage, a PWM strategy is proposed for the dc/ac stage. For each H-bridge, by shifting the high switching frequency to one half-bridge and having the other half-bridge switching at the fundamental frequency of the ac voltage, equivalent frequencies of transformer terminal-to-ground voltages are reduced. As a result, the frequencies of charging and discharging current to the parasitic capacitance are reduced, and therefore the loss caused by the parasitic capacitances is reduced. Compared to the conventional phase-shift PWM, the proposed PWM strategy can reduce the parasitic capacitance loss by about 75%. Experimental test results of one phase in the 13.8 kV/ 100 kW converter prototype are provided to validate the approach.

Li, Haiguo↗

DOE OSTI2023

Capacitive discharge in flash experiments: A discussion of the charged species

Abstract We report on the discharge of the capacitance formed at the electrodes in flash experiments with yttria stabilized zirconia. The experiments were carried out by disconnecting the current, and, instead, short circuiting the electrodes through a resistor. The time dependent voltage across the resistor was measured; the ratio yielded the discharge current. The current decayed exponentially with time, as expected in an RC circuit, which allowed the measurement of the capacitance. Experiments were carried out in two ways. In one case the specimens were flashed within a glove box filled with Ar (< 1 ppm O 2 ): these yielded electronic conductors. In the other case the specimens were flashed in ambient air: while electronically conducting in‐flash these specimens recover their prior insulating behavior as soon as the current is turned off. The stored charge was two orders of magnitude greater in the Ar experiments. Rather unexpectedly, the sign of the voltage expressed at the electrodes was opposite in experiments carried out in air and in Ar. The capacitance measured in the discharge experiments is attributed to the formation of space charge adjacent to the electrodes. In the case of Ar experiments, the capacitance is very large, approaching 1 F; in this case the space charge is expected to be constituted from ions. In the air experiments the specimen becomes insulating, trapping the electrons as a space charge. Hall effect measurements of the carrier density and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of electronically conducting single crystal specimen of cubic zirconia are reported.

Materials Science↗

DOE OSTI2015

Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography: A Comparison between 12- and 24-Channels Sensor Systems

Spatial resolution represents akey performance aspect in electrical capacitance volume tomography (ECVT). Factors affecting the resolution include the ``soft-field'' nature of ECVT, the number of capacitance channels used, the ill-conditioned nature of the imaging reconstruction problem, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement apparatus. In this study, the effect of choosing different numbers of capacitance plates on the performance of ECVT is investigated. Specifically, two ECVT sensors with 12 and 24 capacitance channels but covering equal volumes of a cylinder are used to examine the resulting impact on the image resolution.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS1971

A fast algorithm for the calculation of junction capacitance and its application for impurity profile determination

A fast algorithm is described which calculates the space charge layer width and junction capacitance for an arbitrary impurity profile and for plane, cylindrical and spherical junctions. The algorithm is based on the abrupt space charge edge (ASCE) approximation. A method to use the algorithm for the determination of impurity profiles for two-sided junctions is presented. An expression is derived for the built-in voltage to be used for capacitance calculations with the ASCE approximation. Experimental evidence is given that the algorithm permits very accurate capacitance calculations and also predicts the exact temperature dependence of the junction capacitance.

Deman, H. J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1972

A fast algorithm for the calculation of junction capacitance and its application for impurity profile determination.

De Man, H. J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

A user oriented computer program for the analysis of microwave mixers, and a study of the effects of the series inductance and diode capacitance on the performance of some simple mixers

A user oriented computer program for analyzing microwave and millimeter wave mixers with a single Schottky barrier diode of known I-V and C-V characteristics is described. The program first performs a nonlinear analysis to determine the diode conductance and capacitance waveforms produced by the local oscillator. A small signal linear analysis is then used to find the conversion loss, port impedances, and input noise temperature of the mixer. Thermal noise from the series resistance of the diode and shot noise from the periodically pumped current in the diode conductance are considered. The effects of the series inductance and diode capacitance on the performance of some simple mixer circuits using a conventional Schottky diode, a Schottky diode in which there is no capacitance variation, and a Mott diode are studied. It is shown that the parametric effects of the voltage dependent capacitance of a conventional Schottky diode may be either detrimental or beneficial depending on the diode and circuit parameters.

Siegel, P. H.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Ramp-integration technique for capacitance-type blade-tip clearance measurement

The analysis of a proposed new technique for capacitance type blade tip clearance measurement is presented. The capacitance between the blade tip and a mounted capacitance electrode within a guard ring forms one of the feedback elements of a high speed operational amplifier. The differential equation governing the operational amplifier circuit is formulated and solved for two types of inputs to the amplifier - a constant voltage and a ramp. The resultant solutions shows an output that contains a term that is proportional to the derivative of the product of the input voltage and the time constant of the feedback network. The blade tip clearance capacitance is obtained by subtracting the output of a balancing reference channel followed by integration. The proposed sampled data algorithm corrects the environmental effects and varying rotor speeds on-line, making the system suitable for turbine instrumentation. System requirements, block diagrams, and typical application are included.

Sarma, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Ramp-integration technique for capacitance-type blade-tip clearance measurement

The analysis of a proposed new technique for capacitance type blade tip clearance measurement is presented. The capacitance between the blade tip and a mounted capacitance electrode within a guard ring forms one of the feedback elements of a high speed operational amplifier. The differential equation governing the operational amplifier circuit is formulated and solved for two types of inputs to the amplifier - a constant voltage and a ramp. The resultant solution shows an output that contains a term that is proportional to the derivative of the product of the input voltage and the time constant of the feedback network. The blade tip clearance capacitance is obtained by subtracting the output of a balancing reference channel followed by integration. The proposed sampled data algorithm corrects for environmental effects and varying rotor speeds on-line, making the system suitable for turbine instrumentation. System requirements, block diagrams, and a typical application are included.

Sarma, Garimella R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Recent advances in capacitance type of blade tip clearance measurements

Two recent electronic advances at NASA-Lewis that meet the blade tip clearance needs of a wide class of fans, compressors, and turbines are described. The first is a frequency modulated (FM) oscillator that requires only a single low cost ultrahigh frequency operational amplifier. Its carrier frequency is 42.8 MHz when used with a 61 cm long hermetically sealed coaxial cable. The oscillator can be calibrated in the static mode and has a negative peak frequency deviation of 400 kHz for a typical rotor blade. High temperature performance tests of the probe and 13 cm of the adjacent cable show good accuracy up to 600 C, the maximum which produces a clearance error of + or - 10 microns at a clearance of 500 microns. In the second advance, a guarded probe configuration allows a longer cable capacitance. The capacitance of the probe is part of a small time constant feedback in a high speed operational amplifier. The solution of the governing differential equation is applied to a ramp type of input. The results show an amplifier output that contains a term which is proportional to the derivative of the feedback capacitance. The capacitance is obtained by subtracting a balancing reference channel followed by an integration stage.

Barranger, John P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Recent advances in capacitance type of blade tip clearance measurements

Barranger, John P.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Capacitive Proximity Sensor Has Longer Range

Capacitive proximity sensor on robot arm detects nearby object via capacitive effect of object on frequency of oscillator. Sensing element part of oscillator circuit operating at about 20 kHz. Total capacitance between sensing element and ground constitutes tuning capacitance of oscillator. Sensor circuit includes shield driven by replica of alternating voltage applied to sensing element. Driven shield concentrates sensing electrostatic field in exterior region to enhance sensitivity to object. Sensitivity and dynamic range has corresponding 12-to-1 improvement.

Vranish, John M.↗