Publications

This report is divided into: budget, capital equipment requests, general programmatic overview and institutional issues, DOE center of excellence for synthesis and processing of advanced materials, industrial interactions and technology transfer, and research program summaries (new proposals, existing programs). Ceramics, semiconductors, superconductors, interfaces, CVD, tailored surfaces, adhesion, growth and epitaxy, boron-rich solids, nanoclusters, etc. are covered.

Measurements of the effects of pressure on the thermal electron emission rate and capture cross section for a variety of deep electronic levels in GaAs, GaP and their alloys have yielded the pressure dependences of the energies of these levels in the bandgaps, allowed evaluation of the breathing mode lattice relaxations accompanying carrier emission or capture by these levels and revealed trends which lead to new insights into the nature of the responsible defects. Emphasis is on deep levels believed to be associated with simple defects. Specifically, results will be summarized for the donor levels of the dominant native defect known as EL2 in CAM, which is believed to be associated with the arsenic antisite, and on the radiation-induced El and E2 levels in GaAs, GaP and their alloys, which are believed to be due to arsenic (or phosphorous) vacancies. The results are discussed in terms of models for the defects responsible for these deep levels.

Research programs from Sandia Laboratory in Materials Science are briefly presented. Significant accomplishments include: preparation of Tl superconductors under equilibrium conditions, development of force-feedback sensor for interfacial force microscope, predictive model of hydrogen interactions in silicon dioxide on silicon, layer-by-layer sputtering of Si (001), oscillatory As{sub 4} surface reaction rates during molecular beam epitaxy of AlAs, GaAs and InAs, the effects of interfacial strain on the band offsets of lattice matched III-V semiconductor, a new mechanism for surface diffusion, solid solution effects in Tl-containing superconductors, record high superconducting transitions for organic materials, atomic vibrations in boron carbides and a method for studying radical/surface reactions in chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

The effects of pressure on the energetics and kinetics of electron emission and capture processes by several important deep levels in Si are discussed. The results yield the first quantitative measures of the breathing mode lattice relaxations accompanying these processes. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

The BES Materials Science program at Sandia Albuquerque has the central theme of Scientifically Tailored Materials. The major objective of this program is to combine Sandia's expertise and capabilities in the areas of solid state sciences, advanced atomic-level diagnostics and materials-processing science to produce new classes of tailorable materials for the US energy industry, the electronics industry and for defense needs. Current research in this program includes the physics and chemistry of ceramics, the use of energetic particles for the synthesis and study of materials, high-temperature and organic superconductors, tailored surfaces for materials applications, chemical vapor deposition sciences, strained-layer semiconductors, advanced growth techniques for improved semiconductor structures and boron-rich very high temperature semiconductors. A new start just getting underway deals with the atomic level science of interfacial adhesion. Our interdisciplinary program utilizes a broad array of sophisticated, state-of-the-art experimental capabilities provided by other programs. The major capabilities include several molecular-beam epitaxy and chemical-vapor-deposition facilities, electron- and ion-beam accelerators, laser-based diagnostics, advanced surface spectroscopies, unique combined high-pressure/low-temperature/high-magnetic-field facilities, and the soon to be added scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopies.

The goals of our Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Materials Science Program at Sandia are: (1) Perform basic, forefront interdisciplinary research using the capabilities of several organizations. (2) Choose programs broadly complementary to Sandia's weapons laboratory mission, but separably identifiable. (3) Perform research in a setting which enhances technological impact because of Sandia's spectrum of basic research, applied research and development engineering. (4) Use large, capital-intensive research facilities not usually found at universities. The BES Materials Science program at Sandia Albuquerque has the central theme of Scientifically Tailored Materials. The major objective of this program is to combine Sandia's expertise and capabilities in the areas of solid state sciences, advanced atomic-level diagnostics, and materials-processing science to produce new classes of tailorable materials for the US energy industry, the electronics industry and for defense needs. Current research in this program includes ion-implantation-modified materials, physics and chemistry of ceramics, tailored surfaces for materials applications, strained-layer semiconductors, chemical vapor deposition, surface photo kinetics, organic and high-temperature superconductors, advanced growth techniques for improved semiconductor structures and boron-rich very high temperature semiconductors.

The hydrostatic pressure dependence of the /beta/ molecular relaxation process of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has been investigated to 20 kbar. This relaxation is known to have a strong influence on the electrical and mechanical properties of PVDF. The observed large slowing down of the relaxation process is discussed in terms of the Vogel/endash/Fulcher equation. There is an increase in both the energy barrier to dipolar motion and the reference temperature (T/sub 0/) for the kinetic relaxation process which represents the ''static'' dipolar freezing temperature for the process.