Showing papers in "AIP Advances in 2016"

Elastic anisotropy of crystals

Abstract: An anisotropy index seeks to quantify how directionally dependent the properties of a system are. In this article, the focus is on quantifying the elastic anisotropy of crystalline materials. Previous elastic anisotropy indices are reviewed and their shortcomings discussed. A new scalar log-Euclidean anisotropy measure AL is proposed, which overcomes these deficiencies. It is based on a distance measure in a log-Euclidean space applied to fourth-rank elastic tensors. AL is an absolute measure of anisotropy where the limiting case of perfect isotropy yields zero. It is a universal measure of anisotropy applicable to all crystalline materials. Specific examples of strong anisotropy are highlighted. A supplementary material provides an anisotropy table giving the values of AL for 2,176 crystallite compounds.

Optical properties of functionalized Ti3C2T2 (T = F, O, OH) MXene: First-principles calculations

Abstract: Role of surface termination on the dielectric and optical properties of Ti3C2T2 (T = F, O, OH) MXene is studied using first-principles density functional theory. The results show that the surface functionalization has a significant impact on the optical properties of the MXene. For example, in the visible range of the spectrum, the oxidized sample shows larger absorption, whereas surface fluorination results in weaker absorption as compared to pristine MXene. In the ultraviolet energy range, all functional groups lead to the enhancement of both absorption and reflectivity of the material. Dielectric properties of MXene are also sensitive to the surface functionalization. Our findings demonstrate the importance of surface termination on the optical properties of the MXene.

Atomic displacement in the CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy – A scaling factor to predict solid solution strengthening

Abstract: Although metals strengthened by alloying have been used for millennia, models to quantify solid solution strengthening (SSS) were first proposed scarcely seventy years ago. Early models could predict the strengths of only simple alloys such as dilute binaries and not those of compositionally complex alloys because of the difficulty of calculating dislocation-solute interaction energies. Recently, models and theories of SSS have been proposed to tackle complex high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Here we show that the strength at 0 K of a prototypical HEA, CrMnFeCoNi, can be scaled and predicted using the root-mean-square atomic displacement, which can be deduced from X-ray diffraction and first-principles calculations as the isotropic atomic displacement parameter, that is, the average displacements of the constituent atoms from regular lattice positions. We show that our approach can be applied successfully to rationalize SSS in FeCoNi, MnFeCoNi, MnCoNi, MnFeNi, CrCoNi, CrFeCoNi, and CrMnCoNi, which are all medium-entropy subsets of the CrMnFeCoNi HEA.

Correlation of film density and wet etch rate in hydrofluoric acid of plasma enhanced atomic layer deposited silicon nitride

Abstract: The continued scaling in transistors and memory elements has necessitated the development of atomic layer deposition (ALD) of silicon nitride (SiNx), particularly for use a low k dielectric spacer. One of the key material properties needed for SiNx films is a low wet etch rate (WER) in hydrofluoric (HF) acid. In this work, we report on the evaluation of multiple precursors for plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) of SiNx and evaluate the film’s WER in 100:1 dilutions of HF in H2O. The remote plasma capability available in PEALD, enabled controlling the density of the SiNx film. Namely, prolonged plasma exposure made films denser which corresponded to lower WER in a systematic fashion. We determined that there is a strong correlation between WER and the density of the film that extends across multiple precursors, PEALD reactors, and a variety of process conditions. Limiting all steps in the deposition to a maximum temperature of 350 °C, it was shown to be possible to achieve a WER in PEALD SiNx ...

Size-dependent vibration of nickel cantilever microbeams: Experiment and gradient elasticity

Abstract: The size-dependent elasticity of a series of nickel cantilever microbeams was investigated experimentally for the first time. The experimental results revealed that the dimensionless natural frequencies of the cantilever microbeams increase to about 2.1 times with the beam thickness decreasing from 15 to 2.1 μm. Furthermore, based on the strain gradient elasticity theory (SGT) and by using the differential quadrature method (DQM) and the least square method (LSM), the experimental results were interpreted and the material length scale parameters in the scale of micron in elastic range were obtained. This investigation will be useful and helpful for the theoretical and numerical simulation of micro-structures and important for the design of the MEMS/NEMS.

Exact solutions for the static bending of Euler-Bernoulli beams using Eringen’s two-phase local/nonlocal model

Abstract: Though widely used in modelling nano- and micro- structures, Eringen’s differential model shows some inconsistencies and recent study has demonstrated its differences between the integral model, which then implies the necessity of using the latter model. In this paper, an analytical study is taken to analyze static bending of nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beams using Eringen’s two-phase local/nonlocal model. Firstly, a reduction method is proved rigorously, with which the integral equation in consideration can be reduced to a differential equation with mixed boundary value conditions. Then, the static bending problem is formulated and four types of boundary conditions with various loadings are considered. By solving the corresponding differential equations, exact solutions are obtained explicitly in all of the cases, especially for the paradoxical cantilever beam problem. Finally, asymptotic analysis of the exact solutions reveals clearly that, unlike the differential model, the integral model adopted herein h...

Lifetime degradation and regeneration in multicrystalline silicon under illumination at elevated temperature

Abstract: We examine the carrier lifetime evolution of block-cast multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers under illumination (100 mW/cm2) at elevated temperature (75°C). Samples are treated with different process steps typically applied in industrial solar cell production. We observe a pronounced degradation in lifetime after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 900°C. However, we detect only a weak lifetime instability in mc-Si wafers which are RTA-treated at 650°C. After completion of the degradation, the lifetime is observed to recover and finally reaches carrier lifetimes comparable to the initial state. To explain the observed lifetime evolution, we suggest a defect model, where metal precipitates in the mc-Si bulk dissolve during the RTA treatment.

(Sm,Zr)(Fe,Co)11.0-11.5Ti1.0-0.5 compounds as new permanent magnet materials

Abstract: We investigated (Sm,Zr)(Fe,Co)11.0-11.5Ti1.0-0.5 compounds as permanent magnet materials. Good magnetic properties were observed in (Sm0.8Zr0.2)(Fe0.75Co0.25)11.5Ti0.5 powder containing a limited amount of the α-(Fe, Co) phase, including saturation polarization (Js) of 1.63 T, an anisotropic field (Ha) of 5.90 MA/m at room temperature, and a Curie temperature (Tc) of about 880 K. Notably, Js and Ha remained above 1.5 T and 3.70 MA/m, respectively, even at 473 K. The high-temperature magnetic properties of (Sm0.8Zr0.2)(Fe0.75Co0.25)11.5Ti0.5 were superior to those of Nd2Fe14B.

Making sound vortices by metasurfaces

Abstract: Based on the Huygens-Fresnel principle, a metasurface structure is designed to generate a sound vortex beam in airborne environment. The metasurface is constructed by a thin planar plate perforated with a circular array of deep subwavelength resonators with desired phase and amplitude responses. The metasurface approach in making sound vortices is validated well by full-wave simulations and experimental measurements. Potential applications of such artificial spiral beams can be anticipated, as exemplified experimentally by the torque effect exerting on an absorbing disk.

On device design for steep-slope negative-capacitance field-effect-transistor operating at sub-0.2V supply voltage with ferroelectric HfO2 thin film

Abstract: Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies require a new energy-efficient transistor which operates at ultralow voltage and ultralow power for sensor node devices employing energy-harvesting techniques as power supply. In this paper, a practical device design guideline for low voltage operation of steep-slope negative-capacitance field-effect-transistors (NCFETs) operating at sub-0.2V supply voltage is investigated regarding operation speed, material requirement and energy efficiency in the case of ferroelectric HfO2 gate insulator, which is the material fully compatible to Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor(CMOS) process technologies. A physics-based numerical simulator was built to design NCFETs with the use of experimental HfO2material parameters by modeling the ferroelectric gate insulator and FET channel simultaneously. The simulator revealed that NCFETs with ferroelectric HfO2 gate insulator enable hysteresis-free operation by setting appropriate operation point with a few nm thick gate insulator. It also revealed that, if the finite response time of spontaneous polarization of the ferroelectric gate insulator is 10-100psec, 1-10MHz operation speed can be achieved with negligible hysteresis. Finally, by optimizing material parameters and tuning negative capacitance, 2.5 times higher energy efficiency can be achieved by NCFET than by conventional MOSFETs. Thus, NCFET is expected to be a new CMOS technology platform for ultralow power IoT.

Dual stratified mixed convection flow of Eyring-Powell fluid over an inclined stretching cylinder with heat generation/absorption effect

Abstract: Present work is made to study the effects of double stratified medium on the mixed convection boundary layer flow of Eyring-Powell fluid induced by an inclined stretching cylinder. Flow analysis is conceded in the presence of heat generation/absorption. Temperature and concentration are supposed to be higher than ambient fluid across the surface of cylinder. The arising flow conducting system of partial differential equations is primarily transformed into coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations with the aid of suitable transformations. Numerical solutions of resulting intricate non-linear boundary value problem are computed successfully by utilizing fifth order Runge-Kutta algorithm with shooting technique. The effect logs of physical flow controlling parameters on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles are examined graphically. Further, numerical findings are obtained for two distinct cases namely, zero (plate) and non-zero (cylinder) values of curvature parameter and the behaviour are presented through graphs for skin-friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number. The current analysis is validated by developing comparison with previously published work, which sets a benchmark of quality of numerical approach.

Three-dimensional rotating flow of Jeffrey fluid for Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model

Abstract: Present study addresses the three dimensional flow of Jeffrey fluid. Flow is induced by a porous stretching sheet. Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model is used to form energy equation. Appropriate transformations are employed to form system of ordinary differential equations. Convergent series solutions are obtained. Impact of pertinent parameters on the velocity and temperature is examined. It is noted that by increasing the ratio of relaxation to retardation times the velocity components are decreased. Temperature distribution also decreases for larger values of thermal relaxation time.

Numerical solution of Williamson fluid flow past a stretching cylinder and heat transfer with variable thermal conductivity and heat generation/absorption

Abstract: In this article, Williamson fluid flow and heat transfer over a stretching cylinder is discussed. The thermal conductivity is assumed to be vary linearly with temperature. Heat generation/absorption effects are also taken into account. Modeled partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential form by using appropriate transformations. Shooting method in conjunction with Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method is used to find the solution of the problem. Moreover, the effects of different flow parameters γ, λ, ϵ, β and Pr on velocity and temperature profiles are shown graphically. Local Nusselt number and skin friction coefficient are shown in tabular and graphical form.

Melting heat transfer in stagnation point flow of carbon nanotubes towards variable thickness surface

Abstract: This work concentrates on the mathematical modeling for stagnation point flow of nanofluids over an impermeable stretching sheet with variable thickness. Carbon nanotubes [single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)] as the nanoparticles are utilized. Water and kerosene oil are taken as the base fluids. Heat transfer through melting effect is discussed. Transformation procedure is adapted to obtain the non-linear ordinary differential equations from the fundamental laws of mass, linear momentum and energy. The optimal values of convergence control parameters and corresponding individual and total residual errors for SWCNTs and MWCNTs are computed by means of homotopy analysis method (HAM) based BVPh 2.0. Characteristics of different involved parameters on the velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are discussed. Higher velocity profile is observed for wall thickness parameter in case of water carbon nanotubes when compared with the kerosene o...

First steps towards the realization of a double layer perceptron based on organic memristive devices

Abstract: Memristors are widely considered as promising elements for the efficient implementation of synaptic weights in artificial neural networks (ANNs) since they are resistors that keep memory of their previous conductive state. Whereas demonstrations of simple neural networks (e.g., a single-layer perceptron) based on memristors already exist, the implementation of more complicated networks is more challenging and has yet to be reported. In this study, we demonstrate linearly nonseparable combinational logic classification (XOR logic task) using a network implemented with CMOS-based neurons and organic memrisitive devices that constitutes the first step toward the realization of a double layer perceptron. We also show numerically the ability of such network to solve a principally analogue task which cannot be realized by digital devices. The obtained results prove the possibility to create a multilayer ANN based on memristive devices that paves the way for designing a more complex network such as the double layer perceptron.

Tunable bandgap in hybrid perovskite CH3NH3Pb(Br3−yXy) single crystals and photodetector applications

Abstract: We report the synthesis of CH3NH3Pb(Br3−yXy) (X=Cl and I) single crystals via a stepwise temperature control approach. High-quality CH3NH3Pb(Br3−yXy) crystals with a tunable bandgap from 1.92eV to 2.53eV have been prepared successfully in this way. And further experiments revealed the influence of halogen content and preparation temperature on the structural and optical properties of these crystals. It is observed that chlorine can lower the critical nucleation energy, which results in crystallizing at lower temperature with the chlorine content increasing, while the nucleation energy increases slowly with increasing iodine content. Moreover, in contrast to Frank–van der Merwe growth with low heating rate, high heating rate leads to a mass of small size single crystals and Stranski-Krastanov growth. The single crystals with tunable band gap and impressive characteristics enable us to fabricate high performance photodetectors for different wavelengths.

Strain engineering band gap, effective mass and anisotropic Dirac-like cone in monolayer arsenene

Abstract: The electronic properties of two-dimensional puckered arsenene have been investigated using first-principles calculations. The effective mass of electrons exhibits highly anisotropic dispersion in intrinsic puckered arsenene. Futhermore, we find that out-of-plane strain is effective in tuning the band gap, as the material undergoes the transition into a metal from an indirect gap semiconductor. Remarkably, we observe the emergence of Dirac-like cone with in-plane strain. Strain modulates not only the band gap of monolayer arsenene, but also the effective mass. Our results present possibilities for engineering the electronic properties of two-dimensional puckered arsenene and pave a way for tuning carrier mobility of future electronic devices.

MHD boundary layer flow of a power-law nanofluid with new mass flux condition

Abstract: An analysis is carried out to study the magnetohydrodynamic MHD boundary layer flow of power-law nanofluid over a non-linear stretching sheet. In the presence of a transverse magnetic field, the flow is generated due to non-linear stretching sheet. By using similarity transformations, the governing boundary layer equations are reduced into a system of ordinary differential equations. A recently proposed boundary condition requiring zero nanoparticle mass flux is employed in the flow analysis of power-law fluid. The reduced coupled differential equations are then solved numerically by the shooting method. The variations of dimensionless temperature and nanoparticle concentration with various parameters are graphed and discussed in detail. Numerical values of physical quantities such as the skin-friction coefficient and the reduced local Nusselt number are computed in tabular form.

Large-scale micromagnetic simulation of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets with Dy-rich shell structures

Abstract: Large-scale micromagnetic simulations have been performed using the energy minimization method on a model with structural features similar to those of Dy grain boundary diffusion (GBD)-processed sinteredmagnets.Coercivity increases as a linear function of the anisotropy field of the Dy-rich shell, which is independent of Dy composition in the core as long as the shell thickness is greater than about 15 nm. This result shows that the Dy contained in the initial sinteredmagnets prior to the GBD process is not essential for enhancing coercivity.Magnetization reversal patterns indicate that coercivity is strongly influenced by domain wall pinning at the grain boundary. This observation is found to be consistent with the one-dimensional pinning theory.

Low temperature aluminum nitride thin films for sensory applications

Abstract: A low-temperature sputter deposition process for the synthesis of aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films that is attractive for applications with a limited temperature budget is presented. Influence of the reactive gas concentration, plasma treatment of the nucleation surface and film thickness on the microstructural, piezoelectric and dielectric properties of AlN is investigated. An improved crystal quality with respect to the increased film thickness was observed; where full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the AlN films decreased from 2.88 ± 0.16° down to 1.25 ± 0.07° and the effective longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient (d33,f) increased from 2.30 ± 0.32 pm/V up to 5.57 ± 0.34 pm/V for film thicknesses in the range of 30 nm to 2 μm. Dielectric loss angle (tan δ) decreased from 0.626% ± 0.005% to 0.025% ± 0.011% for the same thickness range. The average relative permittivity (er) was calculated as 10.4 ± 0.05. An almost constant transversal piezoelectric coefficient (|e31,f|) of 1.39 ± 0.01 C/m2 was measured for samples in the range of 0.5 μm to 2 μm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations performed on thin (100 nm) and thick (1.6 μm) films revealed an (002) oriented AlN nucleation and growth starting directly from the AlN-Pt interface independent of the film thickness and exhibit comparable quality with the state-of-the-art AlN thin films sputtered at much higher substrate temperatures.

Broadband metasurface for independent control of reflected amplitude and phase

Abstract: We propose an ultra-thin metasurface to control the amplitudes and phases independently of the reflected waves by changing geometries and orientations of I-shaped metallic particles. We demonstrate that the particles can realize independent controls of reflection amplitudes and phases with a magnitude range of [0, 0.82] and a full phase range of 360° in broad frequency band. Based on such particles, two ultrathin metasurface gratings are further proposed to form anomalous reflection with polarization orthogonal to the incident waves. The simulated and measured results of the presented metasurfaces show very good agreements. The proposed method has potential applications in engineering high-efficiency holography and complex electromagnetic and optical patterns.

Machine learning scheme for fast extraction of chemically interpretable interatomic potentials

Abstract: We present a new method for a fast, unbiased and accurate representation of interatomic interactions. It is a combination of an artificial neural network and our new approach for pair potential reconstruction. The potential reconstruction method is simple and computationally cheap and gives rich information about interactions in crystals. This method can be combined with structure prediction and molecular dynamics simulations, providing accuracy similar to ab initio methods, but at a small fraction of the cost. We present applications to real systems and discuss the insight provided by our method.

Single-conductor co-planar quasi-symmetry unequal power divider based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons of bow-tie cells

Abstract: In this paper, the spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) transmission line (TL) of periodical grooved bow-tie cells is proposed. The complex propagation constant and characteristic impedance of the SSPPs TLs and microstrip lines (MLs) are extracted using the analytical method of generalized lossy TL theory. The properties of the SSPPs TLs with different substrates and the same geometrical configuration are experimented. Then, for comparison, two ML counterparts are also experimented, which shows that the SSPPs TL is less sensitive to the thickness, dielectric constant and loss tangent of the chosen substrate below the cutoff frequency, compared with the ML ones. The single-conductor co-planar quasi-symmetry unequal power divider based on this SSPPs TL is presented in microwave frequencies. For experimental validation, the 0-dB, 2-dB, and 5-dB power dividers are designed, fabricated, and measured. Both simulated and measured results verify that the unequal power divider is a flexible option, which offers massive advantages including single-conductor co-planar quasi-symmetry structures, wide-band operation, and convenient implementations of different power-dividing ratios. Hence, it can be expected that the proposed unequal power dividers will inspire further researches on SSPPs for future design of novel planar passive and active microwave components, circuits and systems.

Cycling and floating performance of symmetric supercapacitor derived from coconut shell biomass

Abstract: The South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No 97994). F. Barzegar and D. Y. Momodu acknowledge the University of Pretoria for Postdoctoral fellowship support, while A. Bello acknowledges financial support from NRF through SARChI in Carbon Technology and Materials.

Adsorption of CO molecules on doped graphene: A first-principles study

Abstract: As a typical kinds of toxic gases, CO plays an important role in environmental monitoring, control of chemical processes, space missions, agricultural and medical applications. Graphene is considered a potential candidate of gases sensor, so the adsorption of CO molecules on various graphene, including pristine graphene, Nitrogen-doped graphene (N-doped graphene) and Aluminum-doped graphene (Al-doped graphene), are studied by using first-principles calculations. The optimal configurations, adsorption energies, charge transfer, and electronic properties including band structures, density of states and differential charge density are obtained. The adsorption energies of CO molecules on pristine graphene and N-doped graphene are −0.01 eV, and −0.03 eV, respectively. In comparison, the adsorption energy of CO on Al-doped graphene is much larger, −2.69 eV. Our results also show that there occurs a large amount of charge transfer between CO molecules and graphene sheet after the adsorption, which suggests Al-doped graphene is more sensitive to the adsorption of CO than pristine graphene and N-doped graphene. Therefore, the sensitivity of gases on graphene can be drastically improved by introducing the suitable dopants.

Structural and proximity-induced ferromagnetic properties of topological insulator-magnetic insulator heterostructures

Abstract: The spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry can lead to the formation of an energy gap in the Dirac spectrum of the surface states of a topological insulator (TI) which can consequently give rise to a variety of interesting phenomena potentially useful for spintronics. In this work, we couple a non-magnetic TI to a high Curie temperature TC magnetic insulator to induce strong exchange interaction via the proximity effect. We have successfully grown 5 quintuple layer thick ternary TI (BixSb1-x)2Te3 films on atomically flat yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film with the combination of molecular beam epitaxy and pulsed laser deposition, in which the Fermi level position relative to the Dirac point is varied by controlling the Bi:Sb ratio. The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and suppressed weak antilocalization (WAL) measured under out of plane magnetic fields reveal that the TI surface in contact with YIG is magnetized. Our high-quality (BixSb1-x)2Te3/Y IG heterostructure provides a tunable system for exploring the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) at higher temperatures in TI-based spintronic devices.

A thermally robust and thickness independent ferroelectric phase in laminated hafnium zirconium oxide

Abstract: Ferroelectric properties in hafnium oxide based thin films have recovered the scaling potential for ferroelectric memories due to their ultra-thin-film- and CMOS-compatibility. However, the variety of physical phenomena connected to ferroelectricity allows a wider range of applications for these materials than ferroelectric memory. Especially mixed HfxZr1-xO2 thin films exhibit a broad compositional range of ferroelectric phase stability and provide the possibility to tailor material properties for multiple applications. Here it is shown that the limited thermal stability and thick-film capability of HfxZr1-xO2 can be overcome by a laminated approach using alumina interlayers.

Pressure-induced Td to 1T′ structural phase transition in WTe2

Abstract: WTe2 is provoking immense interest owing to its extraordinary properties, such as large positive magnetoresistance, pressure-driven superconductivity and possible type-II Weyl semimetal state. Here we report results of high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and electrical transport measurements on WTe2. Both the XRD and Raman results reveal a structural transition upon compression, starting at 6.0 GPa and completing above 15.5 GPa. We have determined that the high-pressure lattice symmetry is monoclinic 1T′ with space group of P21/m. This transition is related to a lateral sliding of adjacent Te-W-Te layers and results in a collapse of the unit cell volume by ∼20.5%. The structural transition also casts a pressure range with the broadened superconducting transition, where the zero resistance disappears.

Improvement of electron mobility in La:BaSnO3 thin films by insertion of an atomically flat insulating (Sr,Ba)SnO3 buffer layer

Abstract: One perovskite oxide, ASnO3 (A = Sr, Ba), is a candidate for use as a transparent conductive oxide with high electron mobility in single crystalline form. However, the electron mobility of films grown on SrTiO3 substrates does not reach the bulk value, probably because of dislocation scattering that originates from the large lattice mismatch. This study investigates the effect of insertion of bilayer BaSnO3 / (Sr,Ba)SnO3 for buffering this large lattice mismatch between La:BaSnO3 and SrTiO3 substrate. The insertion of 200-nm-thick BaSnO3 on (Sr,Ba)SnO3 bilayer buffer structures reduces the number of dislocations and improves surface smoothness of the films after annealing as proved respectively by scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. A systematic investigation of BaSnO3 buffer layer thickness dependence on Hall mobility of the electron transport in La:BaSnO3 shows that the highest obtained value of mobility is 78 cm2V−1s−1 because of its fewer dislocations. High electron mobility films based on perovskite BaSnO3 can provide a good platform for transparent-conducting-oxide electronic devices and for creation of fascinating perovskite heterostructures.

Modeling silica aerogel optical performance by determining its radiative properties

Abstract: Silica aerogel has been known as a promising candidate for high performance transparent insulation material (TIM). Optical transparency is a crucial metric for silica aerogels in many solar related applications. Both scattering and absorption can reduce the amount of light transmitted through an aerogel slab. Due to multiple scattering, the transmittance deviates from the Beer-Lambert law (exponential attenuation). To better understand its optical performance, we decoupled and quantified the extinction contributions of absorption and scattering separately by identifying two sets of radiative properties. The radiative properties are deduced from the measured total transmittance and reflectance spectra (from 250 nm to 2500 nm) of synthesized aerogel samples by solving the inverse problem of the 1-D Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE). The obtained radiative properties are found to be independent of the sample geometry and can be considered intrinsic material properties, which originate from the aerogel’s microstructure. This finding allows for these properties to be directly compared between different samples. We also demonstrate that by using the obtained radiative properties, we can model the photon transport in aerogels of arbitrary shapes, where an analytical solution is difficult to obtain.