Table of contents

We show the effect of multiple scattering on the shape of the pulse returned by a modulated lidar for bathymetry studies. Multiple scattering lengthens the tracks of individual photons, and consequently broadens pulse shape destroying the modulation. However, the reduction of the detector field of view allowed us to sharpen the pulses and to restore the modulated signal.

This rapid communication reports on nanosecond breakdown in liquid nitrogen at 77 K and atmospheric pressure. The key features of the experimental system established to undertake this work have been described along with the measuring techniques employed. Attention is given to the pulsed reflectometry method, and in particular the problem of synchronizing the current and voltage signals with a high degree of accuracy is examined in detail. The breakdown occurs in a gap geometry with plane electrodes and a variable interelectrode distance. The focus is on investigating the breakdown dynamics, numerically estimating the electron multiplication rates and determining the time the discharge takes to bridge the gap. The experimental results obtained for gaseous and liquid nitrogen under identical conditions are compared to reveal some specific features of the breakdown dynamics in liquid nitrogen.

Tellurite based oxyfluoride glass, [70 mol% TeO₂, 30 mol% LiF]_0.9/[LnO]_0.1 where Ln = Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺, Er³⁺ and Eu³⁺ ions, were prepared. The Judd-Ofelt parameters Ω_λ (λ = 2, 4, 6) and radiative parameters, viz, the total radiative transition probability (A_T), radiative lifetimes (τ_R) the branching ratio (β_R) and the stimulated emission cross sections (σ_p), for the respective excited states of Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺and Er³⁺ ions were evaluated and compared with reported values. The network structure of these glasses has been established from FT-IR spectra and the phonon side band spectrum of Eu³⁺ ions.

Potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO₄ or KTP) was implanted with 1.0 MeV Au⁺ ions to a fluence of 5×10¹⁵ ions cm^-2 at room temperature under different angles of incidence. The longitudinal and lateral range profiles, diffusion, damage, surface morphology and structure have been studied by Rutherford backscattering (RBS)/channelling, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction. The results show that (1) the experimental mean projected range is larger than the value predicted by TRIM (transport of ions in matter) by about 15%; (2) the experimental range straggling and lateral spread deviate from the TRIM predictions by around 50 and 20%, respectively; (3) the crystal is completely amorphized in the damaged region; (4) the implanted gold in KTiOPO₄ is stable against annealing at 700 °C, but diffusion takes place at and above 800 °C; (5) the surface morphology is different for virgin and Au⁺ implanted KTiOPO₄.

The morphology of nanocermet thin films deposited on substrates having different roughnesses has been studied by surface sensitive x-ray scattering techniques. Grazing incidence small angle scattering data of the films shows that the nanoparticles, which are present in the ceramic matrix, exhibit a specific average interparticle separation. Analysis of the x-ray reflectivity indicates that, in the films deposited on smooth substrates, the nanoparticles adopt some layering along the growth direction. This layering tends to diminish with increasing substrate roughness and vanish completely for very high substrate roughness. The variation of such layering with substrate roughness is an indication that it starts close to the substrate and is an effect of the substrate boundary condition.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the subharmonic generation of waves (SWG) in piezoelectric plates with Cantor-like structure. We show that SWG is due to a nonlinear superposition of cnoidal waves in both phonon and fracton vibration regimes. We propose an original inverse method based on a genetic algorithm for an optimal identification of system parameters by inversion of the vibrational data.

We report on the low-temperature growth and characterization of epitaxial all-oxide ferroelectric thin film capacitors, La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃/Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃/La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃, on Si(001) substrates by use of SrTiO₃/TiN as buffer layers. The capacitor and the buffer layer stack were grown sequentially at 540 °C by in situ pulsed laser deposition. Structural characterization using three-axis x-ray diffraction (specular and off-specular θ-2θ scan, ω-scan rocking curve, and ϕ scan) reveals a parallel growth for all layers. Scanning electron micrographs show that the epitaxial heterostructures have a smooth and crack-free surface. The sharp characteristic optical absorption bands of the SrTiO₃ and Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ layers also imply good crystallinity in the as-grown films. Resistivity versus temperature measurements show that both the bottom and top oxide electrodes are highly conductive with resistivity at 300 K of 170 and 140 µΩ cm, respectively. Remanent polarization of 19 µC cm^-2, coercive field of 45 kV cm^-1 and negligible fatigue after 10⁹ cycles at 8 V indicate good electric performance of the integrated capacitor structure.

In this study, a new experimental annealing procedure, which is based on combined UV(253.7±1.2 nm) irradiation and thermal annealing (300 °C for 30 min followed by 90 °C for 6 h) is introduced to reduce the large standard deviation (8-20% between consecutive ten cycles) observed after standard annealing (400 °C for 1 h followed by 100 °C for 10 min) on the main dosimetric peak 5 of thermoluminescence dosimeter TLD-100. The results indicate that when the combined UV irradiation and thermal annealing protocol is applied, the standard deviation in the area of the main dosimetric peak 5 is reduced to less than 10% for the consecutive ten-cycle operation.

Field electron emission properties of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube films were studied with variation of the vacuum gap d between anode and cathode. With d varying in the range of 0.4-2 mm, the emission current-gap voltage characteristics and the corresponding Fowler-Nordheim (FN) plots show distinct nonlinearity and regular changes with electrode separation. Three field enhancement factors may be derived from the three linear sections of a FN plot. Their variation with gap d results in different behaviours; significantly a drop of five times in the field enhancement factor is observed. The physical process responsible for our findings is suggested to be the space charge effect and both theoretical and experimental evidence is provided to support our arguments. The implication of our findings in technical applications is also discussed.

The investigations of the nonlinear optical parameters of Au, Ag, Pt and Cu colloidal solutions using the Z-scan method and third-harmonic generation (THG) are presented. The nonlinear refractive indices, nonlinear absorption coefficients and Kerr-induced nonlinear susceptibilities (χ⁽³⁾(-ω;ω,-ω,ω)) of these solutions on the wavelengths of picosecond and nanosecond Nd:YAG laser radiation (λ = 1064 nm) and its second harmonic (λ = 532 nm) have been measured. A tenfold increase of nonlinear susceptibilities on the wavelength of 532 nm in comparison with λ = 1064 nm is shown for these colloidal metals. The application of colloidal metals as optical limiters of picosecond and nanosecond radiation (λ = 1064 nm and 532 nm) was studied. The influence of aggregation of colloidal clusters on optical limiting in these media was considered. It was shown that the appearance of the long-wave wing of absorption at the final stages of aggregation led to the nonlinear absorption of picosecond pulses. The investigations of the THG of picosecond Nd:YAG laser radiation in colloidal metals (Pt and Cu) are presented. THG efficiency was found to be 7×10^-7 for colloidal platinum. Nonlinear susceptibilities χ⁽³⁾(-3ω;ω,ω,ω) of colloidal platinum and copper were measured to be (1.5±0.75)×10^-14 esu and (1±0.5)×10^-14 esu, respectively.

The quality of a single-domain nanoparticle as a signal processing device is estimated with the aid of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) characteristic. In the absence of an external field, the magnetic moment of a uniaxial particle flips spontaneously between two anti-parallel equilibrium positions ensuing customary superparamagnetism. On imposition of an external ac field, it, together with random noise, influences the magnetic switching and the SNR can be found in the framework of micromagnetic theory. The main material parameters essentially involved in the resulting expression are, the Néel relaxation time, τ_N, the precessional decay time, τ₀, and also the magnetic viscosity coefficient, η_m. In the paper we find these quantities by measuring the complex magnetic susceptibility as a function of frequency and polarizing field. Using these data, we estimate the SNR for the nanometre-size grains of a cobalt ferrofluid.

The fundamental mechanism for magneto-rheological clutches, switches and devices is the ability of magnetic fields to induce relatively thick, linearly extended structures which span the relevant fluid medium. Recent observations have shown these to form via initial thin, linear, chain-like threads along the field lines, which then associate laterally via a diffusion-controlled process into the relatively thick columns which give rise to the enhanced rheology of the fluid. A theoretical analysis is given herein which accounts for these two types of associations. By considering the interaction energy between parallel aligned free chain segments, the theory reveals a tendency for the threads to associate at their overlapping ends, thereby forming thick columns. The weak overlapping thus accounts for the ability of the columns to disperse rapidly once the field has been removed. Tentative geometries for the initial morphology of these secondary column clusters are proposed.

The perturbation theory developed previously for describing electron swarm properties is used to describe ion-molecule rate coefficients in a gas and weakly ionized plasma under non-uniform electric field and ion-density conditions when the deviation from spatial uniformity is small. The effect of slow variation in time of the electric field is also considered. The space- or time-dependent rate coefficients are represented as a sum of the local values and the product of new rate coefficients dependent on the local field and the gradients (or time derivative) of the field and ion density. The new rate coefficients are determined for an ion motion in its parent gas under the model assumptions of the energy dependence of the cross sections for ion-molecule reactions. It is shown that the relaxation in space or time of high-energy ions is much slower than the relaxation of low-energy ions. The effect is more pronounced for ions in a non-uniform electric field. The suitability of the new rate coefficients is demonstrated for estimating the role of non-local effects in ion swarm experiments and low current discharges and analysing the development of attachment instability in the plasma of electronegative gases.

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) are self-extinguishing discharges due to charge accumulation on dielectric surfaces. In order to take advantage of these surface charges also at a low repetition frequency, high-voltage unipolar square pulses (amplitude up to 15 kV, rise and fall time less than 20 ns) are applied to drive DBDs. For electrical diagnostics of this novel excitation method, a temporally dynamic model for diffuse DBDs is introduced, from which equations were derived which allow the calculation of internal electrical quantities in the discharge gap from measured external electrical quantities. It was found, following a primary discharge at the rising front or at the top of the voltage pulse, that a secondary discharge is induced at the end of the falling voltage flank without simultaneously consuming energy from the external circuit. The energy needed is provided by the accumulated surface and space charges left by the primary discharge, which are totally or partially lost under normal low-frequency sine or square wave excitation. Secondary discharges are observed in a wide range of electrode configurations, gases and gas pressures for both homogeneous and filamentary discharges. In the case of filamentary modes, secondary discharges are found to develop along the remaining channels of the preceding primary discharges. Experiments for ozone synthesis show an improved energy efficiency of 8-9 eV per ozone molecule, which is about 30% better than that achieved with sine wave excitation.

The sample temperature during plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) of metals and semiconductors is crucial as it affects the resultant surface properties and structures. In elevated temperature PIII processes such as fast-pulsing, low-voltage PIII, the target temperature is very time dependent, particularly during the temperature rise, and accurate prediction and knowledge of the target temperature is vital. In addition, there is likely to be temperature variation across the target surface that can lead to locally different surface properties. In this paper, we describe a two-dimensional fluid model to simulate the sheath dynamics when a negative high voltage is applied to a sample with a typical PIII geometry. The equations are solved by finite difference to derive the ion distribution, sheath configuration, ion flux to the target, and energy imparted to the substrate by the ions. The calculated heat input is used to predict the temperature rise. Using this model, the effects of the implantation voltage, pulse duration, pulsing frequency, as well as plasma density on the target temperature can be determined. The developed model can be combined with experimental data acquired from a small area by using a pyrometer or thermocouple to derive the temperature distribution on the entire surface.

By means of a laser-produced plasma a selective population of O⁵⁺ ion following a charge transfer interaction (O⁶⁺ + H₂) is studied. The distribution among the sublevels s, p, d and f of the most preferably populated level 4 is measured for the first time at relatively low colliding velocities (~2×10⁷ cm s^-1).

Hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have been deposited on silicon substrates from dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasmas of CH₄ at room temperature under a pressure of 0.4-4.0 Torr. The effects of discharge gas pressure (P), the applied peak voltage and the distance of the discharge gas spacing (d) on the film quality have been systematically investigated. The film hardness is mainly dependent on the Pd value and applied peak voltage. The best films of ϕ40-70 mm with Knoop hardness up to 20 GPa can be deposited at 30 kV peak voltage with a Pd value of about 2 Torr mm. The deposited films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. These analyses show that the deposited films are homogeneous hydrogenated amorphous carbon films with very smooth surfaces containing significant amounts of sp³ C-C bonding. The high-voltage and current waveform measurements of the discharge indicate that the low-pressure DBD consists of uniform (along the whole electrode) glow-like single breakdowns with half-widths of several microseconds. The DBD-induced deposition technique used in this work has many advantages, including the simplicity of the experimental set-up, large area deposition of DLC films and a lower consumption of feed gas and electric power.

The pressure, the composition, the internal energy, the heat capacity and several monatomic spectral line intensities are calculated at constant volume for a plasma composed of SiO₂ and Ag for several initial densities and in the temperature range 5000-25 000 K at thermodynamic equilibrium. We show that with a small quantity of material in the plasma we obtain a high pressure. From the heat capacity and composition calculation, we deduce that the main reactions are the ionization of Ag, the dissociation of SiO₂ to SiO with further dissociation and ionization of Si and O in the considered temperature range. Furthermore, with the monatomic spectral line calculation, we deduce that the oxygen spectral line has a behaviour rather different from those emitted by Ag and Si.

To preserve the qualities of the contacts of a circuit breaker, an important phenomenon to be valued is the arc motion. In this paper, the behaviour of a high-current and low-voltage electric break-arc is studied thanks to a means of diagnostics called `magnetic camera'. One hundred probes measure the magnetic induction outside the breaking device. A processing software reconstructs the average line of current representing the arc with a 0.64 µs minimal resolution time, the line being assumed to be composed of segments. The presented study deals with the analysis of a harmful phenomenon for the circuit breaker: the re-strike during which several arcs exist. Tests have been carried out in a quenching chamber composed of a copper or steel splitting plate with an assumed peak current of 4000 A. One of the main difficulties of this study taking into consideration the magnetic effects due to steel splitting plates. Actually, we show that they have a slight influence on the location of the line of current. Thanks to the `magnetic camera', the arc positions and their respective intensity values are both determined. Besides, differences in behaviour have not been noticed between the use of a copper and a steel splitting plate.

A kinetic model is developed of Teflon ablation caused by a plasma. The model takes into account the returned atom flux that forms in the non-equilibrium layer during the ablation. This approach makes it possible to calculate the ablation rate for the case when the Teflon surface temperature and the density and temperature in the plasma bulk are known.

Analyses of experimental and theoretical investigations of energy dissipation in a pulse discharge are reported. The pulse discharge has been investigated in the form of fast ionization waves. The dependence of part of the energy deposition on the impedance discharge cell is found. From the presented model it follows that at high values of the impedance of the discharge cell the energy deposition is determined by the front of the ionization wave, and, in the opposite case, at small values of the impedance it is determined by the charging of the discharge cell capacitance and by joule's losses. The part of the energy deposition in the fast ionization wavefront is estimated to be 20-45%. The conditions at which up to 100% energy deposition is achieved.

The pendulum motion of electrons in a hollow cathode discharge accelerated in the cathode fall is demonstrated with the use of a femtosecond laser pulse and the so-called fast optogalvanic effect. The signals are described quantitatively using a Monte Carlo model for various pressure and current levels. As a result the discharge can be described by the model from start-up to high-current operation.

Discharges at several atmospheres are widely used for triggering combustion in cars. However, their properties are not well understood since the size and duration of the discharges become very small at high pressures, which makes the experimental approach more difficult. One possibility should be to infer the discharge properties at high pressures from those at atmospheric pressure, provided that the so-called discharge similarity rules work correctly. Thus, an attempt to check this validity is provided in this paper. Then, after establishing the exact conditions which preserve pressure similarity rules in non-uniform gaps, an example is given of two discharges under similar conditions. A departure from similarity is quite clearly observed. At several atmospheres, the streamer induced plasma channel, instead of developing the usual streamer filaments seen at atmospheric pressure, demonstrates a leader structure, i.e. the formation of a hot channel before the whole gap is bridged. Finally, reasons are given explaining that such a fast rise in temperature with pressure is indeed to be expected.

The dielectric barrier discharge burning at atmospheric pressure usually has a filamentary non-homogeneous form. However, it was found that uniform dielectric barrier discharge can be generated in helium, nitrogen and in the mixture of argon with acetone under specific conditions. Such uniform discharge is called atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD). We studied dielectric barrier discharge burning in neon at atmospheric pressure and we found that the APGD can also be generated in neon. We measured the electrical characteristics of APGD in neon for different voltages and frequencies of power supply and different gas flows. We found that higher gas flow stabilizes the APGD and we determined the area of parameters in which the APGD burns. The images of discharges were recorded by a video camera and emission optical spectra were measured by a spectrometer. The properties of the discharges in neon were compared with the properties of discharges burning in argon and in the mixture of neon with argon.

A study of the electrical conductivity of polypyrrole-polyoxyphenylene composites (PPy-POP and PPy-POP-MPcTS) prepared by in situ electropolymerization is presented, where MPcTS stands for tetrasulfonated tetrasodium metallophthalocyanine salts and is used as a second dopand for polypyrrole. The conductivity is studied as a function of temperature in the range 77⩽T⩽300 K. The temperature dependence of the total ac conductivity, in the frequency range 10²-10⁵ Hz, changes by approximately five orders of magnitude, showing a sub-linear dispersive behaviour. The temperature dependence of the dc conductivity gives evidence for a transport mechanism based on the Mott's variable-range hopping model in one dimension for the PPy-POP composite, which shows a crossover to three dimensions for the PPy-POP-MPcTS composites. Using this model we were able to calculate meaningful values for the density of states, hopping energy and hopping distance.

Reflection second harmonic generation is employed to examine the surfaces of epitaxial layers of Cd_xHg_1-xTe (CMT) grown on vicinal GaAs (100) substrates. Different vicinal tilts, with respect to the GaAs substrates, are observed in the epitaxial CMT layers. We also report here on the measurement of the second-order nonlinear coefficient (d₃₆) of CMT. Because CMT is strongly absorbing at the 1.06 µm wavelength, this measurement was performed by comparing the second harmonic intensity reflected from the CMT surface to that measured for a quartz sample in transmission. Directly comparable expressions for the reflected and transmitted second harmonic intensities are derived from which a value of d₃₆ = 365±15 pm V^-1 is obtained. This value is much larger than those reported for similar zinc-blende-type materials and is attributed to an electronic resonance enhancement.

Two series of trends in negative pressure with cavitation in water were observed by the Berthelot method using single- and poly-crystalline molybdenum tubes sealed with single-crystalline copper plugs by repeating runs of temperature cycles at rates of 70-100 cycles/day between 50 and 98 °C, where a run means successive cycles with the same water. The first series were observed while both tubes and plugs were pre-degassed, and the second after exposure of the both tubes alone to N₂ gas.

The all-single-crystalline-metal tube in the pre-degassed state yielded a steady increase from -120 to -140 bar (1 bar≃0.1 MPa) in the initial 1250 cycles. After its gas exposure the single-crystalline tube yielded a trend having an initial peak of -160 bar followed by a steady fall to -110 bar in the first run, and recovered the capability of yielding a trend levelling around -165 bar throughout the sixth run after a total of about 5000 cycles. In any run cavitation occurred within about ±12 bar around the current average.

In contrast, the poly-crystalline Mo tube in the pre-degassed state yielded widely-scattered negative pressures; the higher envelope increased gradually to -140 bar while lower envelope remained to be about -40 bar in the second run to a total of initial 4000 cycles. After similar gas exposure of the tube alone, the deteriorated capability of the poly-crystalline tube was recovered only to -120 bar after a total of 1.2×10⁴ cycles.

The results form qualitative evidence of the crucial effects of impurity gas transport in metal bulks on trends in negative pressures of water in metal tubes. The thermodynamic and metallurgical causes of the time consumption for achieving high negative pressure in liquid/metal Berthelot tube systems are discussed.

In this paper, the power density, defined as the ratio of power output to the maximum specific volume in the cycle, is taken as the objective for performance analysis and optimization of an irreversible regenerated closed Brayton cycle coupled to variable-temperature heat reservoirs from the viewpoint of finite time thermodynamics (FTT) or entropy generation minimization (EGM). The analytical formulae about the relations between power density and pressure ratio are derived with the heat resistance losses in the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator, the irreversible compression and expansion losses in the compressor and turbine, the pressure drop losses at the heater, cooler and regenerator as well as in the piping, and the effect of the finite thermal capacity rate of the heat reservoirs. The obtained results are compared with those results obtained by using the maximum power criterion, and the advantages and disadvantages of maximum power density design are analysed. The maximum power density optimization is performed in two stages. The first is to search the optimum heat conductance distribution corresponding to the optimum power density among the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator for a fixed total heat exchanger inventory. The second is to search the optimum thermal capacitance rate matching corresponding to the optimum power density between the working fluid and the high-temperature heat source for a fixed ratio of the thermal capacitance rates of two heat reservoirs. The influences of some design parameters, including the effectiveness of the regenerator, the inlet temperature ratio of the heat reservoirs, the effectiveness of the heat exchangers between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs, the efficiencies of the compressor and the turbine, and the pressure recovery coefficient, on the optimum heat conductance distribution, the optimum thermal capacitance rate matching, and the maximum power density are provided by numerical examples. The power plant design with optimization leads to a smaller size including the compressor, turbine, and the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator. When the heat transfers between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs are carried out ideally, the pressure drop loss may be neglected, and the thermal capacity rates of the heat reservoirs are infinite, the results of this paper then replicate those obtained in recent literature.

In one common type of single-shot high-current crowbar, a short-circuit path is created by the deliberate failure of the solid insulation separating two conductors, by either the explosive fusing of a conductor carrying the circuit current or the controlled firing of a detonator circuit. Unfortunately, in neither technique does the voltage between the conductors directly initiate the explosion, nor is the crowbar necessarily closed within a set range of the circuit voltage. This paper describes a novel switch that overcomes this difficulty. Semiconductor devices are connected such that they explode and break through the insulation shortly after the voltage between the conductors moves outside a set range.

Figures 1, 2(a) and 2(b) are corrected so that they correspond to T_ec as a limiting value at high pressure.

The reference list of this article is corrected to the following:

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