Direct simulation of turbulent entrainment due to a plume impinging on a density interface

The law for turbulent entrainment due to plumes and jets impinging on a density interface is subject to significant uncertainty, with reported differences in entrainment rates up to a factor of 10. We report preliminary results obtained by Direct Numerical Simulation which are part of a PRACE project on turbulent entrainment carried out on JUGENE at Jülich, Germany. Various interface tracking methods are discussed and the entrainment coefficient is determined.

Design and simulation of SMES system using YBCO tapes for direct drive wave energy converters

The ocean represents a huge energy reservoir since waves can be exploited to generate clean and renewable electricity; however, a hybrid energy storage system is needed to smooth the fluctuation. In this paper a hybrid energy storage system using a superconducting magnetic energy system (SMES) and Li-ion battery is proposed. The SMES is designed using Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO) tapes, which store 60 kJ electrical energy. The magnet component of the SMES is designed using global optimization algorithm. Mechanical stress, coupled with electromagnetic field, is calculated using COMSOL and Matlab. A cooling system is presented and a suitable refrigerator is chosen to maintain a cold working temperature taking into account four heat sources. Then a microgrid system of direct drive linear wave energy converters is designed. The interface circuit connecting the generator and storage system is given. The result reveals that the fluctuated power from direct drive linear wave energy converters is smoothed by the hybrid energy storage system. The maximum power of the wave energy converter is 10 kW. © 2012 IEEE.

Direct comparison of the gravimetric responsivities of ZnO-based FBARs and SMRs

Film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs) and solidly mounted resonators (SMRs) have the potential to significantly improve upon the sensitivity and minimum detection limit of traditional gravimetric sensors based on quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) and surface acoustic wave resonators (SAWs). To date, neither FBAR nor SMR devices have been demonstrated to be superior to the other; hence the choice between them depends primarily on the users' ability to design/fabricate membranes and/or Bragg reflectors. In this work, it is shown that identically designed FBAR and SMR devices resonating at the same frequency exhibit different responsivities to mass loadings, Rm, and that the SMRs are less responsive than the FBARs. For the specific device design and resonant frequency (~2 GHz) of the resonators presented here, the FBARs' mass responsivity is ~20% greater than that of the SMRs', and although this value is not universal for all possible device designs, it clearly shows that FBAR devices should be favoured over SMRs in gravimetric sensing applications where the FBARs' fragility is not an issue. Numerical calculations based on Mason's model offer an insight into the physical mechanisms behind the greater FBARs responsivity, and it was shown that the Bragg reflector has an effect on the acoustic load at one of the facets of the piezoelectric films which is in turn responsible for the SMRs' lower responsivity to mass loadings. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent flows over superhydrophobic surfaces with gas pockets using linearized boundary conditions

Superhydrophobic surfaces are shown to be effective for surface drag reduction under laminar regime by both experiments and simulations (see for example, Ou and Rothstein, Phys. Fluids 17:103606, 2005). However, such drag reduction for fully developed turbulent flow maintaining the Cassie-Baxter state remains an open problem due to high shear rates and flow unsteadiness of turbulent boundary layer. Our work aims to develop an understanding of mechanisms leading to interface breaking and loss of gas pockets due to interactions with turbulent boundary layers. We take advantage of direct numerical simulation of turbulence with slip and no-slip patterned boundary conditions mimicking the superhydrophobic surface. In addition, we capture the dynamics of gas-water interface, by deriving a proper linearized boundary condition taking into account the surface tension of the interface and kinematic matching of interface deformation and normal velocity conditions on the wall. We will show results from our simulations predicting the dynamical behavior of gas pocket interfaces over a wide range of dimensionless surface tensions.

Direct observation of charge-carrier heating at WZ-ZB InP nanowire heterojunctions.

We have investigated the dynamics of hot charge carriers in InP nanowire ensembles containing a range of densities of zinc-blende inclusions along the otherwise wurtzite nanowires. From time-dependent photoluminescence spectra, we extract the temperature of the charge carriers as a function of time after nonresonant excitation. We find that charge-carrier temperature initially decreases rapidly with time in accordance with efficient heat transfer to lattice vibrations. However, cooling rates are subsequently slowed and are significantly lower for nanowires containing a higher density of stacking faults. We conclude that the transfer of charges across the type II interface is followed by release of additional energy to the lattice, which raises the phonon bath temperature above equilibrium and impedes the carrier cooling occurring through interaction with such phonons. These results demonstrate that type II heterointerfaces in semiconductor nanowires can sustain a hot charge-carrier distribution over an extended time period. In photovoltaic applications, such heterointerfaces may hence both reduce recombination rates and limit energy losses by allowing hot-carrier harvesting.

DIRECT DETECTION OF PICOSECOND PULSES EMITTED BY AN INJECTION LASER WITH ACTIVE MODE LOCKING.

An Agat-SF linear-scan streak image-converter camera was used to record output pulses of 2. 7 psec duration generated by an injection laser with an external dispersive resonator operated in the active mode-locking regime. The duration of the pulses was determined by the reciprocal of the spectral width and the product of the duration and the spectral width was 0. 30.

Electron-beam-induced direct etching of graphene

We present electron-beam-induced oxidation of single- and bilayer graphene devices in a low-voltage scanning electron microscope. We show that the injection of oxygen leads to targeted etching at the focal point, enabling us to pattern graphene with a resolution of better than 20 nm. Voltage-contrast imaging, in conjunction with finite-element simulations, explain the secondary-electron intensities and correlate them to the etch profile. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Direct temperature mapping of nanoscale plasmonic devices.

Side by side with the great advantages of plasmonics in nanoscale light confinement, the inevitable ohmic loss results in significant joule heating in plasmonic devices. Therefore, understanding optical-induced heat generation and heat transport in integrated on-chip plasmonic devices is of major importance. Specifically, there is a need for in situ visualization of electromagnetic induced thermal energy distribution with high spatial resolution. This paper studies the heat distribution in silicon plasmonic nanotips. Light is coupled to the plasmonic nanotips from a silicon nanowaveguide that is integrated with the tip on chip. Heat is generated by light absorption in the metal surrounding the silicon nanotip. The steady-state thermal distribution is studied numerically and measured experimentally using the approach of scanning thermal microscopy. It is shown that following the nanoscale heat generation by a 10 mW light source within a silicon photonic waveguide the temperature in the region of the nanotip is increased by ∼ 15 °C compared with the ambient temperature. Furthermore, we also perform a numerical study of the dynamics of the heat transport. Given the nanoscale dimensions of the structure, significant heating is expected to occur within the time frame of picoseconds. The capability of measuring temperature distribution of plasmonic structures at the nanoscale is shown to be a powerful tool and may be used in future applications related to thermal plasmonic applications such as control heating of liquids, thermal photovoltaic, nanochemistry, medicine, heat-assisted magnetic memories, and nanolithography.