Evidence for two distinct orthorhombic structures associated with different Tc regimes in LnBa2Cu3O7 − δ (Ln = Nd, Eu, Gd and Dy): A study of the dependence of superconductivity on oxygen stoichiometry

Superconductivity in LnBa2Cu3O7 − δ with Ln = Nd, Eu, Gdand Dy has been investigated as a function of δ, closely following the accompanying changes in crystal structure. Orthorhombic GdBa2Cu3O7 − δ and DyBa2Cu3O7 − δ show a Tc of ≈ 90 K up to δ = 0.2 and a lower Tc plateau (40–50 K) in the δ range 02 to 0.4, similar to that found in YBa2Cu3O7 − δ. The orthorhombic structure II in the lower Tc regions is different from the structure I in the 90 K Tc (low δ) region. The unit cell parameters of the orthorhombic I structure in the high Tc region bear the relationship of a a ≠ b not, vert, similar c/3. This relationship is not seen in the low Tc plateau. The low Tc plateau region does not distinctly manifest itself in NdBa2Cu3O7 − δ just as in LaBa2Cu3O7 − δ.

Dust aerosols over India and adjacent continents retrieved using METEOSAT infrared radiance Part II: quantification of wind dependence and estimation of radiative forcing

Long-range transport of continental dust makes these particles a significant constituent even at locations far from their sources. It is important to study the temporal variations in dust loading over desert regions and the role of meteorology, in order to assess its radiative impact. In this paper, infrared radiance (10.5-12.5 mu m), acquired by the METEOSAT-5 satellite (similar to 5-km resolution) during 1999 and 2003 was used to quantify wind dependence of dust aerosols and to estimate the radiative forcing. Our analysis shows that the frequency of occurrence of dust events was higher during 2003 compared to 1999. Since the dust production function depends mainly on the surface wind speed over regions which are dry and without vegetation, the role of surface wind on IDDI was examined in detail. It was found that an increase of IDDI with wind speed was nearly linear and the rate of increase in IDDI with surface wind was higher during 2003 compared to 1999. It was also observed that over the Indian desert, when wind speed was the highest during monsoon months (June to August), the dust production rate was lower because of higher soil moisture (due to monsoon rainfall). Over the Arabian deserts, when the wind speed is the highest during June to August, the dust production rate is also highest, as soil moisture is lowest during this season. Even though nothing can be said precisely on the reason why 2003 had a greater number of dust events, examination of monthly mean soil moisture at source regions indicates that the occurrence of high winds simultaneous with high soil moisture could be the reason for the decreased dust production efficiency in 1999. It appears that the deserts of Northwest India are more efficient dust sources compared to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Northeast Africa (excluding Sahara). The radiative impact of dust over various source regions is estimated, and the regionally and annually averaged top of the atmosphere dust radiative forcing (short wave, clear-sky and over land) over the entire study region (0-35 degrees N; 30 degrees-100 degrees E) was in the range of -0.9 to +4.5 W m(-2). The corresponding values at the surface were in the range of -10 to -25 W m(-2). Our studies demonstrate that neglecting the diurnal variation of dust can cause errors in the estimation of long wave dust forcing by as much as 50 to 100%, and nighttime retrieval of dust can significantly reduce the uncertainties. A method to retrieve dust aerosols during nighttime is proposed. The regionally and annually averaged long wave dust radiative forcing was +3.4 +/- 1.6 W m(-2).

Low-voltage varistors from ZnO+CaMnO3 ceramics

: Varistors prepared from ZnO with CaMnO3 perovskite as the only forming additive, exhibit voltage-limiting current-voltage characteristics with nonlinearity coefficient alpha up to 380 at low voltages of 1.8-12 V/mm. High nonlinearity is observed only with a suitable combination of processing parameters. The most crucial of them are (i) initial formulation of ceramics and (ii) the sintering temperature and conditions of post-sinter annealing. An electrically active intergranular phase is formed between ZnO grains with the composition ranging from Ca4Mn6Zn4O17 to Ca4Mn8Zn3O19, which creates the n-p-n heterojunctions. The low-voltage nonlinearity originates as a result of higher concentration of Mn(III)/Mn(IV) present at the grain boundary layer regions, being charge compensated by zinc vacancies. Under the external electric field, the barrier height is lowered due to the uphill diffusion of holes mediated by the acceptor states. Above the turn-on voltages, the unhindered transport of charge carriers between grains generates high current density associated with large nonlinearity.

Studies on electrical switching behavior of As-Te-Tl glasses - effect of local structure on switching type and composition dependence of switching voltages

Bulk As-Te-Tl glasses belonging to the As30Te70-xTlx (4 <= x <= 22) and As40Te60-xTlx (5 <= x <= 20) composition tie lines are studied for their I-V characteristics. Unlike other As-Te-III glasses such as As-Te-Al and As-Te-In, which exhibit threshold behavior, the present samples show memory switching. The composition dependence of switching voltages (V-t) of As-Te-Tl glasses is also different from that of As-Te-Al and As-Te-In glasses, and it is found that V-t decreases with the addition of Tl. Both the type of switching exhibited by As-Te-Tl glasses and the composition dependence of V-t, seems to be intimately connected with the nature of bonding of Tl atoms and the resultant structural network. Furthermore, the temperature and thickness dependence of switching voltages of As-Te-Tl glasses suggest an electro thermal mechanism for switching in these samples.

Direction dependence in supernova data: constraining isotropy

We revise and extend the extreme value statistic, introduced in Gupta et al., to study direction dependence in the high-redshift supernova data, arising either from departures, from the cosmological principle or due to direction-dependent statistical systematics in the data. We introduce a likelihood function that analytically marginalizes over the,Hubble constant and use it to extend our previous statistic. We also introduce a new statistic that is sensitive to direction dependence arising from living off-centre inside a large void as well as from previously mentioned reasons for anisotropy. We show that for large data sets, this statistic has a limiting form that can be computed analytically. We apply our statistics to the gold data sets from Riess et al., as in our previous work. Our revision and extension of the previous statistic show that the effect of marginalizing over the Hubble constant instead of using its best-fitting value on our results is only marginal. However, correction of errors in our previous work reduces the level of non-Gaussianity in the 2004 gold data that were found in our earlier work. The revised results for the 2007 gold data show that the data are consistent with isotropy and Gaussianity. Our second statistic confirms these results.

Experimental investigation of the dependence of barrier height on metal work function for metal---SiO2---p---Si (MIS) Schottky-barrier diodes in the presence of inversion

The dependence of barrier height on the metal work function of metal-SiO2-p-Si Schottky barrier diodes was investigated and nonlinearity was found. This is explained by the theoretical model proposed recently by Chattopadhyay and Daw. The values of interface trap density and fixed charge density of the insulating layer of the diodes were calculated using this model and found to be appreciably different from those estimated by the usual method.

Microstructure related influence on the electrical properties of pulsed laser ablated (Ba, Sr)TiO3 thin films

The microstructural dependence of electrical properties of (Ba, Sr)TiO3(BST) thin films were studied from the viewpoint of dc and ac electrical properties. The films were grown using a pulsed laser deposition technique in a temperature range of 300 to 600 degrees C, inducing changes in grain size, structure, and morphology. Consequently, two different types of films were realized, of which type I, was polycrystalline, multigrained, while type II was [100] oriented possessing a densely packed fibrous microstructure. Leakage current measurements were done at elevated temperatures to provide evidence of the conduction mechanism present in these films. The results revealed a contribution from both electronic and ionic conduction. In the case of type I films, two trapping levels were identified with energies around 0.5 and 2.73 eV, which possibly originate from oxygen vacancies V-O and Ti3+ centers, respectively. These levels act as shallow and deep traps and are reflected in the current-voltage characteristics of the BST thin films. The activation energy associated with oxygen vacancy motion in this case was obtained as 1.28 eV. On the contrary, type II films showed no evidence of deep trap energy levels, while the identified activation energy associated with shallow traps was obtained as 0.38 eV. The activation energy obtained for oxygen vacancy motion in type II films was around 1.02 eV. The dc measurement results were further elucidated through ac impedance analysis, which revealed a grain boundary dominated response in type I in comparison to type II films where grain response is highlighted. A comparison of the mean relaxation time of the two films revealed three orders of magnitude higher relaxation time in the case of type I films. Due to smaller grain size in type I films the grains were considered to be completely depleted giving rise to only grain boundary response for the bulk of the film. The activation energy obtained from conductivity plots agree very well with that of dc measurements giving values 1.3 and 1.07 eV for type I and type II films, respectively. Since oxygen vacancy transport have been identified as the origin of resistance degradation in BST thin films, type I films with their higher value of activation energy for oxygen ion mobility explains the improvement in breakdown characteristics under constant high dc field stress. The role of microstructure in controlling the rate of degradation is found useful in this instance to enhance the film properties under high electric field stresses. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)00418-7].

Length-independent voltage fluctuations in small conductors

The mean-squared voltage fluctuation of a disordered conductor of lengthL smaller than the phase coherence lengthL ϕ, is independent of the distance between the probes. We obtain this result using the voltage additivity and the known results for the conductance fluctuation. Our results complement the recent theoretical and experimental findings.

Simplified Analysis of Steady-State Performance of a Voltage Controlled Induction Motor Drive

Utilizing a circuit model [1, 2] of an induction motor, a simplified analysis of steady state performance of a voltage controlled induction motor (VCIM) drive is described in this paper. By solving a set of nonlinear algebraic equations which describe the VCIM drive under steady operation, the operating variables such as constant components of torque, rotor flux linkages, fundamental components of stator voltage and current and phase angle are obtained for any given value of slip, triggering angle and supply voltage.

A Five-Level Inverter Scheme for a Four-Pole Induction Motor Drive by Feeding the Identical Voltage-Profile Windings From Both Sides

This paper presents a five-level inverter scheme with four two-level inverters for a four-pole induction motor (IM) drive. In a conventional three-phase four-pole IM, there exists two identical voltage-profile winding coil groups per phase around the armature, which are connected in series and spatially apart by two pole pitches. In this paper, these two identical voltage-profile pole-pair winding coils in each phase of the IM are disconnected and fed from four two-level inverters from four sides of the windings with one-fourth dc-link voltage as compared to a conventional five-level neutral-point-clamped inverter. The scheme presented in this paper does not require any special design modification for the induction machine. For this paper, a four-pole IM drive is used, and the scheme can be easily extended to IMs with more than four poles. The proposed scheme is experimentally verified on a four-pole 5-hp IM drive.

Equivalent circuit parameters of the film-covered magnesium/electrolyte interface in Mg/MnO2 dry cells from transient and ac impedance measurements

The electrochemical properties of the film-covered anode/solution interface in the magnesium/ manganese dioxide dry cell have been evaluated. The most plausible electrical equivalent circuit description of the Mg/solution interface with the passive film intact, has been identified. These results are based on the analysis of ac impedance and voltage transient measurements made on the dry cell under conditions which cause no damage to the protective passive film on the anode. The study demonstrates the complementary character of impedance and transient measurements when widely different frequency ranges are sampled in each type of investigation. The values and temperature dependence of the anode-film resistance, film capacitance, double-layer capacitance and charge-transfer resistance of the film-covered magnesium/solution interface have been determined. The magnitude of these values and its implications in understanding the important performance aspects of the magnesium/manganese dioxide dry cell are discussed. The study may be extended, in principle, to Li, Al and Ca batteries.

Equivalent circuit parameters of the film-covered magnesium/electrolyte interface in Mg/MnO2 dry cells from transient and ac impedance measurements

The electrochemical properties of the film-covered anode/solution interface in the magnesium/ manganese dioxide dry cell have been evaluated. The most plausible electrical equivalent circuit description of the Mg/solution interface with the passive film intact, has been identified. These results are based on the analysis of ac impedance and voltage transient measurements made on the dry cell under conditions which cause no damage to the protective passive film on the anode. The study demonstrates the complementary character of impedance and transient measurements when widely different frequency ranges are sampled in each type of investigation. The values and temperature dependence of the anode-film resistance, film capacitance, double-layer capacitance and charge-transfer resistance of the film-covered magnesium/solution interface have been determined. The magnitude of these values and its implications in understanding the important performance aspects of the magnesium/manganese dioxide dry cell are discussed. The study may be extended, in principle, to Li, Al and Ca batteries.