Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Alloying materials of different structures offers new tool for controlling properties

Abstract:
New research into the largely unstudied area of heterostructural alloys could lead to greater materials control and in turn better semiconductors, advances in nanotechnology for pharmaceuticals and improved metallic glasses for industrial applications.

Alloying materials of different structures offers new tool for controlling properties

Corvallis, OR | Posted on June 19th, 2017

Heterostructural alloys are blends of compounds made from materials that don't share the same atom arrangement. Conventional alloys are isostructural, meaning the compounds they consist of, known as the end members, have the same crystal structure.

"Alloys are all around us," said study co-author Janet Tate, a physicist at Oregon State University. "An example of an istostructural alloy is an LED; you have a semiconductor like aluminum gallium arsenide, dope it with a particular material and make it emit light, and change the color of the light by changing the relative concentration of aluminum and gallium."

Structure and composition are the two means of controlling the behavior of materials, Tate said. Combining materials gives the alloy properties between those that the end members have on their own.

"If two materials have different structures, as you mix them together it's not so clear which structure will win," said Tate, the Dr. Russ and Dolores Gorman Faculty Scholar in the College of Science. "The two together want to take different structures, and so this is an extra way of tuning an alloy's properties, a structural way. The transition between different crystal structures provides an additional degree of control."

Tate and collaborators from around the world, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, published their findings in Science Advances.

"This is a very interesting piece of materials science that represents a somewhat uncharted area and it may be the beginning something quite important," Tate said. "The heterostructural alloy concept had been known before, but it's different enough that it hadn't really been explored in a detailed phase diagram - the mapping of exactly how, at what temperature and what concentration, it goes from one structure to another.

"This paper is primarily the NERL's theoretical work being supported by other collaborators' experimental work," Tate said. "Our involvement at OSU was in making one of the kinds of heterostructural alloys used in the research, the combination of tin sulfide and calcium sulfide."

Tate and graduate student Bethany Matthews have been focusing on the semiconductor application.

"Tin sulfide is a solar cell absorber, and the addition of calcium sulfide changes the structure and therefore the electrical properties necessary for an absorber," Tate said "Combining tin sulfide with calcium sulfide makes it more isotropic - properties being the same regardless of orientation - and that's usually a useful thing in devices."

In this study, thin-film synthesis confirmed the metastable phases of the alloys that had been predicted theoretically.

"Many alloys are metastable, not stable - if you gave them enough time and temperature, they'd eventually separate," Tate said. "The way we make them, with pulsed laser deposition, we allow the unstable structure to form, then suppress the decomposition pathways that would allow them to separate; we don't give them enough time to equilibrate."

Metastable materials - those that are thermodynamically stable provided they are not subjected to large disturbances - are in general understudied, Tate said.

"When theorists predict properties, they tend to work with materials that are stable," she said. "In general the stable compounds are easier to attack. The idea here with heterostructural alloys is that they give us a new handle, a new knob to turn to change and control materials' properties."

###

In addition to scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the collaboration included researchers at the University of Colorado, the Colorado School of Mines, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Harvard University.

The U.S. Department of Energy supported this research.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Janet Tate

541-737-1700

Copyright © Oregon State University

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

RELATED JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers are cracking the code on solid-state batteries: Using a combination of advanced imagery and ultra-thin coatings, University of Missouri researchers are working to revolutionize solid-state battery performance February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Laboratories

Giving batteries a longer life with the Advanced Photon Source: New research uncovers a hydrogen-centered mechanism that triggers degradation in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles September 13th, 2024

A 2D device for quantum cooling:EPFL engineers have created a device that can efficiently convert heat into electrical voltage at temperatures lower than that of outer space. The innovation could help overcome a significant obstacle to the advancement of quantum computing technol July 5th, 2024

A battery’s hopping ions remember where they’ve been: Seen in atomic detail, the seemingly smooth flow of ions through a battery’s electrolyte is surprisingly complicated February 16th, 2024

NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024

Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Department of Energy announces $71 million for research on quantum information science enabled discoveries in high energy physics: Projects combine theory and experiment to open new windows on the universe January 17th, 2025

Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025

Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025

Possible Futures

Researchers are cracking the code on solid-state batteries: Using a combination of advanced imagery and ultra-thin coatings, University of Missouri researchers are working to revolutionize solid-state battery performance February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Chip Technology

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays Overcoming: Poisson's ratio enables fully transparent, distortion-free, non-deformable display substrates February 28th, 2025

New ocelot chip makes strides in quantum computing: Based on "cat qubits," the technology provides a new way to reduce quantum errors February 28th, 2025

Enhancing transverse thermoelectric conversion performance in magnetic materials with tilted structural design: A new approach to developing practical thermoelectric technologies December 13th, 2024

Bringing the power of tabletop precision lasers for quantum science to the chip scale December 13th, 2024

Discoveries

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays Overcoming: Poisson's ratio enables fully transparent, distortion-free, non-deformable display substrates February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance

Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025

Enhancing transverse thermoelectric conversion performance in magnetic materials with tilted structural design: A new approach to developing practical thermoelectric technologies December 13th, 2024

FSU researchers develop new methods to generate and improve magnetism of 2D materials December 13th, 2024

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

Announcements

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays Overcoming: Poisson's ratio enables fully transparent, distortion-free, non-deformable display substrates February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays Overcoming: Poisson's ratio enables fully transparent, distortion-free, non-deformable display substrates February 28th, 2025

Leading the charge to better batteries February 28th, 2025

Quantum interference in molecule-surface collisions February 28th, 2025

New ocelot chip makes strides in quantum computing: Based on "cat qubits," the technology provides a new way to reduce quantum errors February 28th, 2025

Industrial

Quantum interference in molecule-surface collisions February 28th, 2025

Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real: Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process June 24th, 2022

Nanotubes: a promising solution for advanced rubber cables with 60% less conductive filler June 1st, 2022

Protective equipment with graphene nanotubes meets the strictest ESD safety standards March 25th, 2022

Research partnerships

SMART researchers pioneer first-of-its-kind nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants February 28th, 2025

Gene therapy relieves back pain, repairs damaged disc in mice: Study suggests nanocarriers loaded with DNA could replace opioids May 17th, 2024

Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project