Structure, microstructure and dielectric properties of 100-x(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-x[SrTiO3] composites ceramics

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

PbO-GeO2 rib waveguides for photonic applications

This work presents for the first time to our knowledge the fabrication and characterization of rib waveguides produced with PbO-GeO2 (PGO) thin films. The target was manufactured using pure oxides ( 60 PbO-40 GeO2, in wt%) and amorphous thin films were produced with the RF sputtering technique. PGO thin films present small absorption in the visible and in the near infrared and refractive index of similar to 2.0. The definition of the rib waveguide structure was made using conventional optical lithography followed by plasma etching, performed in a Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) reactor. Light propagation mode in the waveguide structure was analyzed using integrated optic simulation software. Optical loss measurements were performed to determine the propagation loss at 633 nm, for ribs with height of 70 nm and width of 3-5 mu m; experimental values around 2 dB/cm were found for the propagation loss and confirmed the theoretical calculations. The results obtained demonstrate that PGO thin films are potential candidates for application in integrated optics. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Broadband NIR Emission in Sol-Gel Er(3+)-Activated SiO(2)-Ta(2)O(5) Glass Ceramic Planar and Channel Waveguides for Optical Application

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

INFLUENCE of THE EVAPORATOR POSITION IN STATIC DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS

The temperature and velocity distributions of the air inside the cabinet of domestic refrigerators affect the quality of food products. If the consumer knows the location of warm and cold zones in the refrigerator, the products can be placed in the right zone. In addition, the knowledge of the thickness of thermal and hydrodynamic boundary layers near the evaporator and the other walls is also important. If the product is too close to the evaporator wall, freezing can occur, and if it is too close to warm walls, the products can be deteriorated. The aim of the present work is to develop a steady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for domestic refrigerators working on natural convection regime. The Finite Volume Methodology is chosen as numerical procedure for discretizing the governing equations. The SIMPLE-Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations algorithm applied to a staggered mesh was used for solving the pressure-velocity coupling problem. The Power-Law scheme is employed as interpolation function for the convective-diffusive terms, and the TDMA-Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm is used to solve the systems of algebraic equations. The model is applied to a commercial static refrigerator, where the cabinet is considered an empty three-dimensional rectangular cavity with one drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, but without shelves. In order to analyze the velocity and temperature fields of the air flow inside the cabinet the evaporator temperature, Te, was varied from -20 degrees C to 0 degrees C, and nine different evaporator positions are evaluated for evaporator temperature of -15 degrees C. The cooling capacity of the evaporator for the steady state regime is also computed for each case. One can conclude that the vertical positioning of the evaporator inside the cabinet plays an important role on the temperature distribution inside the cabinet.

Rare Earth Doped SnO(2) Nanoscaled Powders and Coatings: Enhanced Photoluminescence in Water and Waveguiding Properties

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Correlation of properties of Brazilian Haplustalfs with magnetic susceptibility measurements

Magnetic susceptibility (chi, mass specific) is useful for easy indirect estimation of other soil properties at a low cost. The aim of this study was to assess the use of chi as measured with an analytical balance for predicting properties with a substantial influence on the management of Typic Haplustalfs in southern Brazil. To achieve this 48 topsoil samples were taken at the intersection points in a rectangular grid of 20 m x 20 m cells, with 38 of these used for calibration and 10 for validation in regression analyses. The obtained chi values were slightly higher than, and highly correlated (r = 0.970; P < 0.001) with those measured with a susceptibility meter. Highly significant (P < 0.001) correlations were also found between chi and other soil properties relevant to soil classification and management such as clay content (r = 0.68), cation exchange capacity (r = 0.62), P sorption capacity (r = 0.76) and haematite content (r = 0.82). Results from a principal component analysis of eight properties important for soil classification explained 11% of the variance in the data set. The good predictive ability of chi was consistent with current knowledge on the formation pathways for pedogenic ferrimagnets. In summary, chi, which can be readily measured with an analytical balance, has the potential for quantifying soil attributes and may therefore be used in pedotransfer functions.

Crystallization of nordstrandite in ethylene glycol water solutions: electron microscopic studies

The present work shows the growth of nordstrandile microcrystals observed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Nordstrandite was synthesised from non-crystalline aluminium hydroxide reacted in 20% ethylene glycol/water solution, at room temperature. This material was characterized by TEM, SEM, SAED, XRD and EDS/TEM, during six month and revealed the formation and growth of nordstrandite. Fibrillar pseudoboehmite is the only aluminium hydroxide which could be identified during the first two weeks. The nuclei grow, from complete dissolution/recrystallization of pseudoboehmite fibrils, into platy rectangular microscrystals of nordstrandite. Some tabular microcrystals recrystallise, forming after six months only the mufti-point nordstrandite stars. This electron-optical study suggest that the star shape results from the overlapping of rectangular plates, and pseudoboehmite fibrils act as the precursor of nordstrandite crystallisation in ethylene glycol/water solution.

Collision and Stable Regions around Bodies with Simple Geometric Shape

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

PRACTICAL LAND GRADING BASED ON LEAST SQUARES.

Practical methods for land grading design of a plane surface for rectangular and irregularly shaped fields based on a least squares analysis are presented. The least squares procedure leads to a system of three linear equations with three unknowns for determination of the best-fit plane. The equations can be solved by determinants (Cramer's rule) using a procedure capable of solution by many programmable calculators. The detailed computational process for determining the equation of the plane and a simple method to find the centroid location of an irregular field are also given. An illustrative example and design instructions are included to demonstrate the application of the design procedure.

Rugosidade superficial de ligas com alto conteúdo de cobre, em função do aquecimento acima da temperatura de fusão.

Being the surface roughness a fundamental property in the fit of the castings, it was determined the roughness of 5 high-copper casting alloys, according to the heating over their melting temperature. That way, the specimens made with smooth plastic in the shape of a rectangular plate, 2 mm x 7 mm x 11 mm were invested into a cristobalite investment. After heating and elimination on the plastic, the molds were filled by 3 g of molten alloy, casted in a electrical casting machine at the casting temperature at 25 degrees C and 50 degrees C overheating. The surface roughness was measured in a roughness analyser, Talysurf. As a result, it was verified that there is a variation of surface roughness among the alloys tested, and the heating of the alloys until 50 degrees C over the melting temperature does not interfere in the roughness.

Novel fabrication process of planar waveguides in rare-earth doped fluoroindate glasses

We report the successful fabrication of planar waveguides in rare-earth doped fluoroindate glass substrates. A new procedure for waveguide fabrication using a thermally evaporated AgF nonmetallic film was developed. The refractive index changes of more than 0.03, associated to low propagation losses achieved, open new perspectives and show the potentiality of using this glass family toward further developments in fabrication and design of integrated optical devices for optical communication wavelengths.© 1995 American Institute of Physics.

High resolution spectroscopy of 13CH3OH around the 10R(20) CO2 laser emission: New FIR laser lines, frequency measurement and assignments

We investigated the IR absorption spectrum of 13CH3OH around the frequency of the 10R(20) CO2 laser line. We found two absorption lines which can be excited by 10R(20) and studied the FIR laser emissions excited by this pump line using a waveguide CO2 laser of 300 MHz tunability. We report two new FIR laser lines of large offset, not previously observed due to their weakness and closeness to other stronger lines. We measured the frequencies of five FIR laser lines for the first time by an accurate heterodyne technique and present the complete assignments of the IR-FIR laser systems relative to this pump line. Furthermore we present new frequency values for two FIR laser lines whose frequencies had been previously wrongly measured. Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Sol-Gel Erbium-Doped Silica-Hafnia Planar and Channel Waveguides

Erbium activated SiO2 -HfO2 planar waveguides, doped with Er3+ concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 4 mol%, were prepared by sol-gel method. The films were deposited on v-SiO2 and silica-on-silicon substrates using dip-coating technique. The waveguides show high densification degree, effective intermingling of the two film components, and uniform surface morphology. The waveguide deposited on silica-on-silicon substrates shows one single propagation mode at 1.5μm, with a confinement coefficient of 0.81 and an attenuation coefficient of 0.8 dB/cm at 632.8nm. Emission in the C-telecommunication band was observed at room temperature for all the samples upon continuouswave excitation at 980 nm or 514.5 nm. The shape of the emission band corresponding to the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition is found to be almost independent both on erbium content and excitation wavelength, with a FWHM between 44 and 48 nm. The 4I13/2 level decay curves presented a single-exponential profile, with a lifetime ranging between 1.1 - 6.6 ms, depending on the erbium concentration. Infrared to visible upconversion luminescence upon continuous-wave excitation at 980 nm was observed for all the samples. Channel waveguide in rib configuration was obtained by etching the active film in order to have a well confined mode at 1.5 μm.

Nucleation and crystallization of titania nanoparticles in silica titania planar waveguides: A study by low frequency Raman scattering

SiO2 (1-x) - TiO2 (x) waveguides, with the mole fraction x in the range 0.07 - 0.20 and thickness of about 0.4 μm, were deposited on silica substrates by a dip-coating technique. The thermal treatments at 700-900°C, used to fully densify the xerogels, produce nucleation of TiO2 nanocrystals even for the lowest TiO2 content. The nucleation of TiO2 nanocrystals and their growth by thermal annealing up to 1300°C were studied by waveguide Raman spectroscopy, for the SiO2 (0.8) - TiO2 (0.2) composition. By increasing the annealing temperature, the Raman spectrum evolves from that typical of the silica-titania glass to that of anatase, but brookite phase is dominant at intermediate temperatures. In the low. frequency region (5-50 cm-1) of the Raman spectra, acoustic vibrations of the nanocrystals are observed. From the measured line shapes, we can deduce the size distribution of the particles. The results are compared with those obtained from the line widths in the X-ray diffraction patterns. Nanocrystals with a mean size in the range 4-20 nm are obtained, by thermal annealing in a corresponding range of 800-1300°C.

O limiar de esforço percebido (LEP) corresponde à potência crítica e a um indicador de máximo estado estável de consumo de oxigěnio

The perceived exertion has been a target of several investigations, many times with association with objective physiological indicators in exercise. Recently, the identification of the perceived exertion threshold (PET) was proposed in the water running, which presented no difference in relation to the critical velocity. Theoretically, both parameters would be indicators of the maximum steady state of variables such as V̇O2 and blood lactate. The objective of this work was to verify the coincidence between PET, critical power (PCrit) and an indicator of maximum V̇O2 steady state (PCrit') in cycle ergometer. Eight male participants were submitted to progressive effort test in order to determine V̇O2peak (46.7 ± 8.5 ml/kg/min) and to four rectangular tests until exhaustion for the estimation of the critical power model parameters, PET and PCrit'. The hyperbolic relation between mechanical power and time spent for the V̇O2peak to be reached in each test was used for the PCrit' estimation, considered as the asymptote in the power axis, and the portion of the anaerobic work capacity (CTAnaer) depleted up to the establishment of the V̇O2peak (CTAnaer'). In order to identify PET, the straight lines angular coefficients of the perceived exertion in time (ordinate) and the powers used (abscissa) were adjusted to a linear function that provided a point in the power axis in which the perceived exertion would be kept indefinitely stable. The parameters PCrit and CTAnaer were estimated by means of the power-time non-linear equation. In order to compare the estimations of PET, PCrit and PCrit', the analysis of variance ANOVA for repeated measurements was employed, and the associations were established through the Pearson correlation. CTAnaer and CTAnaer' were compared through the t test. PET (180 W ± 61 W), PCrit (174 W ± 43 W) and PCrit' (176 W ± 48 W) were not significantly different and the correlations were of 0.92-0.98. CTAnaer' (14,080 ± 5,219 J) was lower than CTAnaer (22,093 ± 9,042 J). One concludes that the PET predicts the intensity of PCrit and PCrit' with accuracy.