Dynamic annealing in III-nitrides under ion bombardment

We study the evolution of structural defects in AlxGa1-xN films (with x=0.0-0.6) bombarded with kilo-electron-volt heavy ions at 77 and 300 K. We use a combination of Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Results show that an increase in Al content not only strongly enhances dynamic annealing processes but can also change the main features of the amorphization behavior. In particular, the damage buildup behavior at 300 K is essentially similar for all the AlGaN films studied. Ion-beam-produced disorder at 300 K accumulates preferentially in the crystal bulk region up to a certain saturation level (similar to50%-60% relative disorder). Bombardment at 300 K above a critical fluence results in a rapid increase in damage from the saturation level up to complete disordering, with a buried amorphous layer nucleating in the crystal bulk. However, at 77 K, the saturation effect of lattice disorder in the bulk occurs only for xgreater than or similar to0.1. Based on the analysis of these results for AlGaN and previously reported data for InGaN, we discuss physical mechanisms of the susceptibility of group-III nitrides to ion-beam-induced disordering and to the crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of water depth and water velocity upon the surfacing frequency of the bimodally respiring freshwater turtle, Rheodytes leukops

This study examines the effect of increasing water depth and water velocity upon the surfacing behaviour of the bimodally respiring turtle, Rheodytes leukops. Surfacing frequency was recorded for R. leukops at varying water depths (50, 100, 150 cm) and water velocities (5, 15, 30 cm s(-1)) during independent trials to provide an indirect cost-benefit analysis of aquatic versus pulmonary respiration. With increasing water velocity, R. leukops decreased its surfacing frequency twentyfold, thus suggesting a heightened reliance upon aquatic gas exchange. An elevated reliance upon aquatic respiration, which presumably translates into a decreased air-breathing frequency, may be metabolically more efficient for R. leukops compared to the expenditure (i.e. time and energy) associated with air-breathing within fast-flowing riffle zones. Additionally, R. leukops at higher water velocities preferentially selected low-velocity microhabitats, presumably to avoid the metabolic expenditure associated with high water flow. Alternatively, increasing water depth had no effect upon the surfacing frequency of R. leukops, suggesting little to no change in the respiratory partitioning of the species across treatment settings. Routinely long dives (>90 min) recorded for R. leukops indicate a high reliance upon aquatic O-2 uptake regardless of water depth. Moreover, metabolic and temporal costs attributed to pulmonary gas exchange within a pool-like environment were likely minimal for R. leukops, irrespective of water depth.

Tailored conductivity in ion implanted polyetheretherketone

Ion implantation can be used to confer electrical conductivity upon conventional insulating polymers such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK). We have implanted PEEK films using three different types of ion implantation: conventional inert gas and metal ion implantation, and ion beam mixing. We have applied a number of analytical techniques to compare the chemical, structural and electrical properties of these films. The most effective means of increasing electrical conductivity appears to be via ion beam mixing of metals into the polymer, followed by metal ion implantation and finally, inert gas ion implantation. Our results suggest that in all cases, the conducting region corresponds to the implanted layer in the near surface to a depth of similar to750 Angstrom (ion beam mixed) to similar to5000 Angstrom (metal ion). This latter value is significantly higher than would be expected from a purely ballistic standpoint, and can only be attributed to thermal inter-diffusion. Our data also indicates that graphitic carbon is formed within the implant region by chain scission and subsequent cross-linking. All ion implanted samples retained their bulk mechanical properties, i.e. they remained flexible. The implant layers showed no signs of de-lamination. We believe this to be the first comparative study between different implantation techniques, and our results support the proposition that soft electronic circuitry and devices can be created by conductivity engineering with ion beams. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy as an entanglement witness for quantum many-body systems

We investigate quantum many-body systems where all low-energy states are entangled. As a tool for quantifying such systems, we introduce the concept of the entanglement gap, which is the difference in energy between the ground-state energy and the minimum energy that a separable (unentangled) state may attain. If the energy of the system lies within the entanglement gap, the state of the system is guaranteed to be entangled. We find Hamiltonians that have the largest possible entanglement gap; for a system consisting of two interacting spin-1/2 subsystems, the Heisenberg antiferromagnet is one such example. We also introduce a related concept, the entanglement-gap temperature: the temperature below which the thermal state is certainly entangled, as witnessed by its energy. We give an example of a bipartite Hamiltonian with an arbitrarily high entanglement-gap temperature for fixed total energy range. For bipartite spin lattices we prove a theorem demonstrating that the entanglement gap necessarily decreases as the coordination number is increased. We investigate frustrated lattices and quantum phase transitions as physical phenomena that affect the entanglement gap.

Relating the stickiness property of foods undergoing drying and dried products to their surface energetics

Stickiness is a common problem encountered in food handling and processing, and also during consumption. Stickiness is observed as adhesion of the food to processing equipment surfaces or cohesion within the food particulate or mass. An important operation where this undesirable behavior of food is manifested is drying. This occurs particularly during drying of high-sugar and high-fat foods. To date, the stickiness of foods during drying or dried powder has been investigated in relation to their viscous and glass transition properties. The importance of contact surface energy of the equipment has been ignored in many analyses, despite the fact that some drying operations have reported using low-energy contact surfaces in drying equipment to avoid the problems caused by stickiness. This review discusses the fundamentals of adhesion and cohesion mechanisms and relates these phenomena to drying and dried products.

Integration of sulphate reduction, autotrophic denitrification and nitrification to achieve low-cost excess sludge minimisation for Hong Kong sewage

An integrated anaerobic-aerobic treatment system of sulphate-laden wastewater was proposed here to achieve low sludge production, low energy consumption and effective sulphide control. Before integrating the whole system, the feasibility of autotrophic denitrification utilising dissolved sulphide produced during anaerobic treatment of sulphate rich wastewater was studied here. An upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor was operated to treat sulphate-rich synthetic wastewater (TOC = 100 mg/L and sulphate = 500 mg/L) and its effluent with dissolved sulphide and external nitrate solution were fed into an anoxic biofilter. The anaerobic reactor was able to remove 77-85% of TOC at HRT of 3 h and produce 70-90 mg S/L sulphide in dissolved form for the subsequent denitrification. The performance of anoxic reactor was stable, and the anoxic reactor could remove 30 mg N/L nitrate at HRT of 2 h through autotrophic denitrification. Furthermore, sulphur balance for the anoxic filter showed that more than 90% of the removed sulphide was actually oxidised into sulphate, thereby there was no accumulation of sulphur particles in the filter bed. The net sludge productions were approximately 0.15 to 0.18 g VSS/g COD in the anaerobic reactor and 0.22 to 0.31 g VSS/g NO3--N in the anoxic reactor. The findings in this study will be helpful in developing the integrated treatment system to achieve low-cost excess sludge minimisation.

An exploratory study to determine applicability of nano-hardness and micro-compression measurements for yield stress estimation

The superior properties of ferritic/martensitic steels in a radiation environment (low swelling, low activation under irradiation and good corrosion resistance) make them good candidates for structural parts in future reactors and spallation sources. While it cannot substitute for true reactor experiments, irradiation by charged particles from accelerators can reduce the number of reactor experiments and support fundamental research for a better understanding of radiation effects in materials. Based on the nature of low energy accelerator experiments, only a small volume of material can be uniformly irradiated. Micro and nanoscale post irradiation tests thus have to be performed. We show here that nanoindentation and micro-compression testing on T91 and HT-9 stainless steel before and after ion irradiation are useful methods to evaluate the radiation induced hardening.

Oxygen effects on irradiated tantalum alloys

Ta and Ta-1% W are being considered to be used as target clad materials in the LANSCE proton beam line for the material test station (MTS). To investigate the embrittlement of these materials due to oxygen contamination and proton irradiation, Ta and Ta-1 wt% W (as received and with ~400 ppm O) were exposed to a 3.5 MeV proton beam at the ion beam materials laboratory at LANL. After irradiating the samples in the proton beam, nanoindentation was performed in cross-section to investigate the hardness increase of the materials due to irradiation. The nanoindentation showed that the hardness increase due to irradiation is between 9% and 20% depending on the material. The results show good agreement with mechanical testing results on tantalum and Ta-1 wt% W after high energy proton irradiation to doses up to 23 dpa.

A profile of low vision services in England the Low Vision Service Model Evaluation (LOVSME) project

In the UK, low vision rehabilitation is delivered by a wide variety of providers with different strategies being used to integrate services from health, social care and the voluntary sector. In order to capture the current diversity of service provision the Low vision Service Model Evaluation (LOVSME) project aimed to profile selected low vision services using published standards for service delivery as a guide. Seven geographically and organizationally varied low-vision services across England were chosen for their diversity and all agreed to participate. A series of questionnaires and follow-up visits were undertaken to obtain a comprehensive description of each service, including the staff workloads and the cost of providing the service. In this paper the strengths of each model of delivery are discussed, and examples of good practice identified. As a result of the project, an Assessment Framework tool has been developed that aims to help other service providers evaluate different aspects of their own service to identify any gaps in existing service provision, and will act as a benchmark for future service development.

An energy-efficient route to the rapid synthesis of organically-modified SBA-15 via ultrasonic template removal

A low energy route for the removal of Pluronic P123 surfactant template during the synthesis of SBA-15 mesoporous silicas is explored. The conventional reflux of the hybrid inorganic-organic intermediate formed during co-condensation routes to Pr-SOH-SBA-15 is slow, utilises large solvent volumes, and requires 24 h to remove ∼90% of the organic template. In contrast, room temperature ultrasonication in a small methanol volume achieves the same degree of template extraction in only 5 min, with a 99.9% energy saving and 90% solvent reduction, without compromising the textural, acidic or catalytic properties of the resultant Pr-SOH-SBA-15. © 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Concentration polarization model of spiral-wound membrane modules with application to batch-mode RO desalination of brackish water

Batch-mode reverse osmosis (batch-RO) operation is considered a promising desalination method due to its low energy requirement compared to other RO system arrangements. To improve and predict batch-RO performance, studies on concentration polarization (CP) are carried out. The Kimura-Sourirajan mass-transfer model is applied and validated by experimentation with two different spiral-wound RO elements. Explicit analytical Sherwood correlations are derived based on experimental results. For batch-RO operation, a new genetic algorithm method is developed to estimate the Sherwood correlation parameters, taking into account the effects of variation in operating parameters. Analytical procedures are presented, then the mass transfer coefficient models are developed for different operation processes, i.e., batch-RO and continuous RO. The CP related energy loss in batch-RO operation is quantified based on the resulting relationship between feed flow rates and mass transfer coefficients. It is found that CP increases energy consumption in batch-RO by about 25% compared to the ideal case in which CP is absent. For continuous RO process, the derived Sherwood correlation predicted CP accurately. In addition, we determined the optimum feed flow rate of our batch-RO system.

Adaptive control of hybrid battery energy storage systems under capacity fade

There is an increasing call for applications which use a mixture of batteries. These hybrid battery solutions may contain different battery types for example; using second life ex-transportation batteries in grid support applications or a combination of high power, low energy and low power, high energy batteries to meet multiple energy requirements or even the same battery types but under different states of health for example, being able to hot swap out a battery when it has failed in an application without changing all the batteries and ending up with batteries with different performances, capacities and impedances. These types of applications typically use multi-modular converters to allow hot swapping to take place without affecting the overall performance of the system. A key element of the control is how the different battery performance characteristics may be taken into account and the how the power is then shared among the different batteries in line with their performance. This paper proposes a control strategy which allows the power in the batteries to be effectively distributed even under capacity fade conditions using adaptive power sharing strategy. This strategy is then validated against a system of three different battery types connected to a multi-modular converter both with and without capacity fade mechanisms in place.

Step and flash imprint lithography: Fabrication of patterned media for extremely high density magnetic data storage devices

Currently the data storage industry is facing huge challenges with respect to the conventional method of recording data known as longitudinal magnetic recording. This technology is fast approaching a fundamental physical limit, known as the superparamagnetic limit. A unique way of deferring the superparamagnetic limit incorporates the patterning of magnetic media. This method exploits the use of lithography tools to predetermine the areal density. Various nanofabrication schemes are employed to pattern the magnetic material are Focus Ion Beam (FIB), E-beam Lithography (EBL), UV-Optical Lithography (UVL), Self-assembled Media Synthesis and Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL). Although there are many challenges to manufacturing patterned media, the large potential gains offered in terms of areal density make it one of the most promising new technologies on the horizon for future hard disk drives. Thus, this dissertation contributes to the development of future alternative data storage devices and deferring the superparamagnetic limit by designing and characterizing patterned magnetic media using a novel nanoimprint replication process called "Step and Flash Imprint lithography". As opposed to hot embossing and other high temperature-low pressure processes, SFIL can be performed at low pressure and room temperature. Initial experiments carried out, consisted of process flow design for the patterned structures on sputtered Ni-Fe thin films. The main one being the defectivity analysis for the SFIL process conducted by fabricating and testing devices of varying feature sizes (50 nm to 1 μm) and inspecting them optically as well as testing them electrically. Once the SFIL process was optimized, a number of Ni-Fe coated wafers were imprinted with a template having the patterned topography. A minimum feature size of 40 nm was obtained with varying pitch (1:1, 1:1.5, 1:2, and 1:3). The Characterization steps involved extensive SEM study at each processing step as well as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) analysis.

Estudo do tratamento sequencial (adsorção e eletro-oxidação) para remediação de efluente sintético contaminado com BTX

This paper proposed the study of the treatment of a synthetic wastewater contaminated with BTX by electro-oxidation batch with the anode of Ti/PbO2, and the adsorption of BTX using expanded perlite as adsorbent material, and to evaluate the best operating conditions both methods in order to perform a sequential treatment (adsorption and electro-oxidation) and achieve greater efficiency in the removal of the compounds. The operating conditions were measured: temperature, current density and applied amount of the adsorbent material, by UV-VIS analysis and Demand Chemical oxygen demand (COD). According to the experimental results, the electro-oxidative treatment was efficient in the degradation of the compounds BTX (benzene, toluene and xylenes) in synthetic sewage due to the electrochemical properties of the anode of Ti/PbO2. The applied current density and temperature promoted increased efficiency of COD removal, reaching obtain percentages greater than 70%. In the adsorption process, the temperature increase was not a factor in the removal of organic matter, while the increase in the amount of adsorbent material led to an increase in the percentage removal, obtaining 66.30% using 2 g of adsorbent. The selected operating conditions of both treatments performed separately take into account the removal efficiency of organic matter, and the low energy consumption and operating costs, so the sequential treatment were satisfactory reaching 87.26% of COD removal using adsorption as a pretreatment. Quantification of BTX through the analysis of gas chromatography at the end of the treatments also confirmed the removal efficiency of organic compounds, giving outstanding advantages to sequential treatment.

Análise do desempenho de um refrigerador doméstico funcionando com uma válvula de expansão micrométrica

Household refrigerators are equipments that represent a significant portion on the eletricity consumption of Brazilian homes. The use of these devices with low energy efficiency contributes to increase the energy consumption. The energy efficiency of a refrigerator is a function of the interaction between the coolant fluid and the components of the thermodynamic cycle. Changes in load and/or nature of the coolant may modify the condensing and/or evaporation pressures. The volumetric capacity of the compressor, the mass flow of coolant and the compression power are dependent parameters of the condensation and evaporation pressures. Thus, the expansion devices exert an importante role in the balance of these pressures, being fundamental for the better performance of the refrigeration cycle. This experimental research aims to investigate the sensitivity of the performance parameters of a household refrigerator operating with R134a and at different evaporation pressures. Therefore, a small refrigerator was instrumented with temperature, pressure sensors and other variables of interest, installed along the cooling circuit, in order to allow the thermal mapping and the evaluation of the equipment performance parameters. The variation of pressure loss in the coolant fluid resulting from the operation of the expansion valve with micrometric adjustment that modifies the evaporation temperature, influencing significantly the performance parameters of the thermodynamic refrigeration cycle.