Carbon onions: Carriers of the 217.5 nm interstellar absorption feature

The UV-VIS characteristics of carbon ions fabricated by an arch discharge in water or liquid nitrogen show characteristics that are similar to the interstellar absorption feature. Thus, high purity and well separated carbon onion samples prepared by annealing the as-fabricated powder in air at 600°C for 60 showed a constant absorption peak at 4.6 μm-1 with a variable width ranging from 1.2-1.6 μm-1. In addition to the UV-VIS data, the origin of the absorption feature at 4.6 μm-1 in carbon onions can be attributed to the collective excitations of π plasmons.

Far-infrared emission and absorption by hot carriers in superlattices

Some of the earliest theoretical speculation, stimulated by the growth of semiconductor superlattices, focused on novel devices based on vertical transport through engineered band structures; Esaki and Tsu promised Bloch oscillators in narrow mini-band systems and Kazarinov and Suris contemplated electrically stimulated intersubband transitions as sources of infrared radiation. Nearly twenty years later these material systems have been perfected, characterized and understood and experiments are emerging that test some of these original concepts for novel submillimetre wave electronics. Here we describe recent experiments on intersubband emission in quantum wells stimulated by resonant tunnelling currents. A critical issue at this time is devising a way to achieve population inversion. Other experiments explore 'saturation' effects in narrow miniband transport. Thermal saturation may be viewed as a precursor to Bloch oscillation if the same effects can be induced with an applied electric field.

The attrition behaviour of oxygen-carriers under inert and reacting conditions

The attrition of two potential oxygen-carriers for chemical-looping, 100. wt% mechanically-mixed, unsupported iron oxide (400-600 μm diameter) and 25. wt% copper oxide impregnated on alumina (600-900 μm diameter), has been studied. The rates of attrition of batches of these particles whilst they were being fluidised and subjected to successive cycles of reduction and oxidation were determined by measuring the rate of production of fine particles elutriated from the bed, as well as progressive changes in the distribution of particle sizes retained in the bed. The ability of the particles to withstand impacts was also investigated by examining the degree of fragmentation of 1. g of reacted particles of known size on projecting them at a target at various velocities. It was found that the mechanical strength of the iron oxide particles deteriorated significantly after repeated cycles of oxidation and reduction. Thus, the rate of elutriation increased ~35-fold between the 1st and 10th cycle. At an impact velocity of 38. m/s, the amount of fragmentation in the impact test, viz. mass fraction of particles after impact having a size less than that before impact, increased from ~2.3. wt% (fresh particles) to 98. wt% after the 10th cycle. The CuO particles, in comparison, were able to withstand repeated reaction: no signs of increased rates of elutriation or fragmentation were observed over ten cycles. These results highlight the importance of selecting a durable support for oxygen-carriers. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Interaction between Fe-based oxygen carriers and n-heptane during chemical looping combustion

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) uses a metal oxide (the oxygen carrier) to provide oxygen for the combustion of a fuel and gives an inherent separation of pure CO2 with minimal energy penalty. In solid-fuel CLC, volatile matter will interact with oxygen carriers. Here, the interaction between iron-based oxygen carriers and a volatile hydrocarbon (n-heptane) was investigated in both a laboratory-scale fluidised bed and a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). Experiments were undertaken to characterise the thermal decomposition of the n-heptane occurring in the presence and in the absence of the oxygen carrier. In a bed of inert particles, carbon deposition increased with temperature and acetylene appeared as a possible precursor. For a bed of carrier consisting of pure Fe2O3, carbon deposition occurred once the Fe2O3 was fully reduced to Fe. When the Fe2O3 was doped with 10 mol % Al2O3 (Fe90Al), deposition started when the carrier was reduced to a mixture of Fe and FeAl2O4, the latter being very unreactive. Furthermore, when pure Fe2O3 was fully reduced to Fe, agglomeration of the fluidised bed occurred. However, Fe90Al did not give agglomeration even after extended reduction. The results suggest that Fe90Al is promising for the CLC of solid fuels. © 2012 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different methods of manufacturing FE-based oxygen carrier particles for reforming via chemical looping, and their effect on performance

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a means of combusting carbonaceous fuels, which inherently separates the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the remaining combustion products, and has the potential to be used for the production of high-purity hydrogen. Iron-based oxygen carriers for CLC have been subject to considerable work; however, there are issues regarding the lifespan of iron-based oxygen carriers over repeated cycles. In this work, haematite (Fe2O3) was reduced in an N2+CO+CO2 mixture within a fluidised bed at 850°C, and oxidised back to magnetite (Fe3O4) in a H2O+N2 mixture, with the subsequent yield of hydrogen during oxidation being of interest. Subsequent cycles started from Fe3O4 and two transition regimes were studied; Fe3O4↔Fe0.947O and Fe 3O4↔Fe. Particles were produced by mechanical mixing and co-precipitation. In the case of co-precipitated particles, Al was added such that the ratio of Fe:Al by weight was 9:1, and the final pH of the particles during precipitation was investigated for its subsequent effect on reactivity. This paper shows that co-precipitated particles containing additives such as Al may be able to achieve consistently high H2 yields when cycling between Fe3O4 and Fe, and that these yields are a function of the ratio of [CO2] to [CO] during reduction, where thermodynamic arguments suggest that the yield should be independent of this ratio. A striking feature with our materials was that particles made by mechanical mixing performed much better than those made by co-precipitation when cycling between Fe3O4 and Fe0.947O, but much worse than co-precipitated particles when cycling between Fe3O 4 and Fe.

Bias-dependent recovery time of all-optical resonant nonlinearity in InGaAsP/InGaAsP MQW waveguide

We have investigated a resonant refractive nonlinearity in a semiconductor waveguide by measuring intensity dependent phase shifts and bias-dependent recovery times. The measurements were performed on an optimized 750-μm-long AR coated buried heterostructure MQW p-i-n waveguide with a bandedge at 1.48 μm. Figure 1 shows the experimental arrangement. The mode-locked color center laser was tuned to 50 meV beyond the bandedge and 8 ps pulses with peak incident power up to 57 W were coupled into the waveguide. Some residual bandtail absorption remains at this wavelength and this is sufficient to cause carriers to be photogenerated and these give rise to a refractive nonlinearity, predominantly by plasma and bandfilling effects. A Fabry-Perot interferometer is used to measure the spectrum of the light which exits the waveguide. The nonlinearity within the guide causes self phase modulation (SPM) of the light and a study of the spectrum allows information to be recovered on the magnitude and recovery time of the nonlinear phase shift with a reasonable degree of accuracy. SPM spectra were recorded for a variety of pulse energies coupled into he unbiased waveguide. Figure 2 shows the resultant phase shift measured from the SPM spectra as a function of pulse energy. The relationship is a linear one, indicating that no saturation of the nonlinearity occurs for coupled pulse energies up to 230 pJ. A π phase shift, the minimum necessary for an all-optical switch, is obtained for a coupled pulse energy of 57 pJ while the maximum phase shift, 4 π, was measured for 230 pJ. The SPM spectra were highly asymmetric with pulse energy shifted to higher frequencies. Such spectra are characteristic of a slow, negative nonlinearity. This relatively slow speed is expected for the unbiased guide as the recovery time will be of the order of the recombination time of the photogenerated electrons, about 1 ns for InGaAsP material. In order to reduce the recovery time of the nonlinearity, it is necessary to remove the photogenerated carriers from the waveguide by a process other than recombination. One such technique is to apply a reverse bias to the waveguide in order to sweep the carriers out. Figure 3 shows the effect on the recovery time of the nonlinearity of applying reverse bias to the waveguide for 230 pJ coupled power. The recovery time was reduced from one much longer than the length of the pulse, estimated to be about 1 ns, at zero bias to 18 ± 3 ps for a bias voltage greater than -4 V. This compares with a value of 24 ps obtained in a bulk waveguide.

Low power all-optical switch in a passive InGaAsP multiple quantum well waveguide

We demonstrate the use of resonant bandfilling nonlinearity in an InGaAsP/InGaAsP Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) waveguide due to photogenerated carriers to obtain switching at pulse powers, which can readily be obtained from an erbium amplified diode laser source. In order to produce gating a polarisation rotation gate was used, which relies on an asymmetry in the nonlinear refraction on the principle axes of the waveguide.

Spice modelling of the superjunction IGBT

This paper presents a SPICE model of the SuperJunction Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (SJIGBT) [1]. SPICE simulation results are in good agreement with the DESSIS simulation results under DC conditions. This model consists of an intrinsic MOSFET and a parallel combination of a wide and a narrow base pnp BJTs. A parasitic JFET is also included to account for the restricted current flow between two adjacent p-wells. In addition the JFET component also models the additional depletion region caused by the transverse junction at the upper side of the n-drift region where the current is mainly transported via majority carriers.

Theoretical investigation of CoSi2/Si1-xGex detectors: Influence of a Si tunneling barrier on the electro-optical characteristics

We present a theoretical investigation of the influence of a non-reacted Si layer on the transport and optical properties of CoSi2/Si1-xGex Schottky barrier diodes grown from Co/Si/Si1-xGex systems. The presence of this layer reduces the effect of the lowering of the Schottky barrier height which would be expected in a CoSi2/Si1-xGex. However, due to the small thickness of this Si layer, the charge carriers are able to tunnel through it. This tunneling process allows for a significant lowering of the Schottky barrier height and therefore an extension of the detection regime into the infrared. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

A novel method for rapid comparative quantitative analysis of nuclear fuel cycles

One of the greatest obstacles facing the nuclear industry is that of sustainability, both in terms of the finite reserves of uranium ore and the production of highly radiotoxic spent fuel which presents proliferation and environmental hazards. Alternative nuclear technologies have been suggested as a means of delivering enhanced sustainability with proposals including fast reactors, the use of thorium fuel and tiered fuel cycles. The debate as to which is the most appropriate technology continues, with each fuel system and reactor type delivering specific advantages and disadvantages which can be difficult to compare fairly. This paper demonstrates a framework of performance metrics which, coupled with a first-order lumped reactor model to determine nuclide population balances, can be used to quantify the aforementioned pros and cons for a range of different fuel and reactor combinations. The framework includes metrics such as fuel efficiency, spent fuel toxicity and proliferation resistance, and relative cycle performance is analysed through parallel coordinate plots, yielding a quantitative comparison of disparate cycles. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetophonon resonance in graphite: High-field Raman measurements and electron-phonon coupling contributions

We perform Raman scattering experiments on natural graphite in magnetic fields up to 45 T, observing a series of peaks due to interband electronic excitations over a much broader magnetic field range than previously reported. We also explore electron-phonon coupling in graphite via magnetophonon resonances. The Raman G peak shifts and splits as a function of magnetic field, due to the magnetically tuned coupling of the E 2g optical phonons with the K- and H-point inter-Landau-level excitations. The analysis of the observed anticrossing behavior allows us to determine the electron-phonon coupling for both K- and H-point carriers. In the highest field range (>35 T) the G peak narrows due to suppression of electron-phonon interaction. © 2012 American Physical Society.