Search

We present the methodologies for developing high-performance thermoelectric materials using nanostructured interfaces by reviewing our three studies and giving the new aspect of nanostructuring results. (1) Connected Si nanocrystals exhibited ultrasmall thermal conductivity. The drastic thermal conductivity reduction was brought by phonon confinement and phonon scattering. Here, we present discussion about the new aspect for phonon transport: not only nanocrystal size but also shape can contribute to thermal conductivity reduction. (2) Si films including Ge nanocrystals demonstrated that phonon and carrier conductions were independently controlled in the films, where carriers were easily transported through the interfaces between Si and Ge, while phonons could be effectively scattered at the interfaces. (3) Embedded-ZnO nanowire structure demonstrated the simultaneous realization of power factor increase and thermal conductivity reduction. The S 2 σ increase was caused by the interface-dominated carrier transport. The nanowire interfaces also worked as phonon scatterers, resulting in the thermal conductivity reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searching for effective pathways for the production of proton-rich and neutron-rich isotopes is one of the main driving forces behind experimental and theoretical nuclear reaction studies as well as for practical applications in nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste. To produce nuclei effectively, an optimal combination of reaction mechanism and energy is required. We report a study on incomplete fusion induced by deuteron, which contains one proton and one neutron with a weak binding energy and is easily broken up. This reaction study was achieved by measuring directly the cross sections for both proton and deuteron for 107Pd at 50 MeV/u via inverse kinematics technique. The results provide direct experimental evidence for the onset of a cross-section enhancement at high energy, indicating the potential for incomplete fusion induced by loosely-bound nuclei for creating proton-rich isotopes and nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste. Revealing how to effectively produce nuclei remains one of the main motivations of recent nuclear reaction and nuclear transmutation studies of radioactive waste. The authors show the enhancement of proton rich isotope production using incomplete fusion mechanism on weakly bound nuclei using the incomplete fusion mechanism by the inverse kinematics technique, in which a radioactive beam of Palladium bombards a proton/deuteron target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]