High temperature thermoelectric properties of Zr and Hf based transition metal dichalcogenides: A first principles study

We investigate the electronic and thermal transport properties of bulk MX2 compounds (M = Zr, Hf and X = S, Se) by first-principles calculations and semi-classical Boltzmann transport theory. The band structure shows the confinement of heavy and light bands along the out of plane and in-plane directions, respectively. This results in high electrical conductivity (sigma) and large thermopower leading to a high power factor (S-2 sigma) for moderate n-type doping. The phonon dispersion demonstrates low frequency flat acoustical modes, which results in low group velocities (v(g)). Consequently, lowering the lattice thermal conductivity (kappa(latt)) below 2 W/m K. Low kappa(latt) combined with high power factor results in ZT > 0.8 for all the bulk MX2 compounds at high temperature of 1200 K. In particular, the ZT(max) of HfSe2 exceeds 1 at 1400 K. Our results show that Hf/Zr based dichalcogenides are very promising for high temperature thermoelectric application. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Experimental Investigations on the Pulsed Power Switch of a HIRA based UWB System

The Ultra Wide Band (UWB) system has been a subject of research in the last few years due to its utility in various high power electromagnetic applications. Due to its simplicity in design and fabrication, the Half Impulse Radiating Antenna (HIRA) based UWB system has attracted many researchers. Effectiveness of a UWB system, in terms of the bandwidth of the radiated pulse depends on the duration of the radiated field which is typically of sub nanosecond regime. This duration in turn depends on the closure time of the switch used in the UWB pulsed power source. This paper presents the work carried out on the pressurised gas switch of a 50 kV pulsed power system of a HIRA based UWB system. The aim of the present work is to establish the relationship between the pulser switch breakdown voltage and gas pressure, rise time and gas pressure as well as the dependency of the Pulse Repetition Rate (PRR) on the switch breakdown voltage.

Preliminary Investigation of Fluid Flow in Meso-Scale Rectangular Tube

The fluid flow associated with micro and meso scale devices is currently of interest. Experiments were performed to study the fluid flow in meso-scale channels. A straight flow tube was fabricated with 1.0x4.0mm^2 in rectangular cross section and 200mm in length, which was made of quartz for flow visualization and PIV measurements. Reynolds numbers were ranged from 311 to over 3105. The corresponding pressure drop was from 0.65KPa to over 16.58KPa between the inlet and outlet of the tube. The micro PIV was developed to measure the velocity distribution in the tube. A set of microscope object lens was mounted ahead of CCD camera to obtain optimized optical magnification on the CCD chip. The velocity distributions near the outlet of the tube were measured to obtain full-developed flow. A CW laser beam was focused directly on the test section by a cylinder lens to form a small light sheet. Thus, high power density of light was formed on the view region. It is very important to the experiment while the velocity of the flow reaches to a few meters per second within millimeter scale. In this case, it is necessary to reduce exposure time to microseconds for PIV measurements. In the present paper, the experimental results are compared with the classical theories.

柔性加工中高功率激光束空间变换研究

在国民经济中占有重要地位的汽车工业中，对于大型覆盖件模具的表面强化处理，最常见的是火焰淬火。火焰淬火对操作人员的要求高，可控性差，效果不理想，但是由于一直没有适合的方法，目前也只能继续使用。而激光表面强化技术结合柔性加工系统正是解决这类问题的新途径。传统的激光表面强化是采用把激光束离焦后进行扫描的方式，这种方法不能充分利用激光功率密度，而且往往要用转镜或振镜形成条形光斑来加快处理速度，这就需要复杂的机械结构，而且产生难以避免的重叠回火。我们提出一种新方法，利用二元光学元件来获得一种新型的周期光强分布，实现其在高功率激光系统中的应用，并设计成为集成到柔性加工系统中的组成部分，能够完成对大、中型模具表面的激光强化处理。本论文的工作主要是有关激光柔性加工系统中的光束传输及变换子系统，不仅包括理论设计、加工制作，同时还包括把该子系统有效的结合到整个系统中。本研究工作广泛涉及激光理论，光束变换和光纤传输，系统中的模块化集成应用技术，金属材料的特殊分布光强表面改性试验研究等等，是跨学科的交叉研究工作。在本论文中，重点是二元光学元件的设计方法的选择、计算机辅助设计的实现、二元光学元件的制作和在高功率激光传输中的应用，以及特殊光强分布应用于金属表面改性中的相关工作。通过把二元光学元件引入到高功率激光加工中，对出现的新现象给出一定的预测和分析，并获得了良好的强化结果，最终实现了系统的集成化，并具有实际生产所要求的可靠性和灵活性。本论文共分六章，主要包括两方面的内容。第一章为绪论，第六章为结论。第一方面内容在第二章到第四章中说明，是用于高功率激光应用中的二元光学元件的原理、设计和制作。第二方面的内容在第五章中，是关于应用前面设计制作的二元光学元件，在实际的金属材料表面处理中的实验研究，给出了相关试验结果。

Design, Construction and Testing of a Hydraulic Power Take-Off for Wave Energy Converters

This paper presents the construction, mathematical modeling and testing of a scaled universal hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO) device for Wave Energy Converters (WECs). A specific prototype and test bench were designed and built to carry out the tests. The results obtained from these tests were used to adjust an in-house mathematical model. The PTO was initially designed to be coupled to a scaled wave energy capture device with a low speed and high torque oscillating motion and high power fluctuations. Any Energy Capture Device (ECD) that fulfils these requirements can be coupled to this PTO, provided that its scale is adequately defined depending on the rated power of the full scale prototype. The initial calibration included estimation of the pressure drops in the different components, the pressurization time of the oil inside the hydraulic cylinders and the volumetric efficiency of the complete circuit. Since the overall efficiency measured during the tests ranged from 0.69 to 0.8 and the dynamic performance of the PTO was satisfactory, the results are really promising and it is believed that this solution might prove effective in real devices.

激光聚焦爆炸耦合场的理论建模与跨尺度计算

针对激光聚焦爆炸的电磁-热力耦合效应,在宏观尺度上,把描述激光电磁波散射和传播的Maxwell方程和高温高压气动流场的Euler方程结合起米,利用热力学状态方程(EOS)和电离平衡方程(Saha方程)并通过理论建模和数值仿真,研究和揭示激光聚焦爆炸效应及激光支持吸收波(LSC/LSD)的产生和演化、以及相关的反冲压力和动量耦合等相互作用机制.

高强度飞秒激光脉冲在空气中的自压缩

利用高重复频率(1kHz)、吉瓦级飞秒激光脉冲实验验证了高强度飞秒脉冲在空气中的自压缩现象，研究了入射脉冲在不同初始啁啾情况下经空气中聚焦成丝后，时域及频域特性随入射脉冲能量的变化规律．实验结果表明，在无需后继色散补偿情况下，高强度飞秒脉冲仅通过在空气中的非线性传输过程就可以实现脉冲压缩；在入射脉冲为负啁啾情况下，实验观察到脉冲光谱及时域宽度同时得到压缩，并可获得比激光源所能提供的更短的近双曲正割型变换限脉冲．

Electrical and optical interconnects for high-performance computing

Technology scaling has enabled drastic growth in the computational and storage capacity of integrated circuits (ICs). This constant growth drives an increasing demand for high-bandwidth communication between and within ICs. In this dissertation we focus on low-power solutions that address this demand. We divide communication links into three subcategories depending on the communication distance. Each category has a different set of challenges and requirements and is affected by CMOS technology scaling in a different manner. We start with short-range chip-to-chip links for board-level communication. Next we will discuss board-to-board links, which demand a longer communication range. Finally on-chip links with communication ranges of a few millimeters are discussed.

Electrical signaling is a natural choice for chip-to-chip communication due to efficient integration and low cost. IO data rates have increased to the point where electrical signaling is now limited by the channel bandwidth. In order to achieve multi-Gb/s data rates, complex designs that equalize the channel are necessary. In addition, a high level of parallelism is central to sustaining bandwidth growth. Decision feedback equalization (DFE) is one of the most commonly employed techniques to overcome the limited bandwidth problem of the electrical channels. A linear and low-power summer is the central block of a DFE. Conventional approaches employ current-mode techniques to implement the summer, which require high power consumption. In order to achieve low-power operation we propose performing the summation in the charge domain. This approach enables a low-power and compact realization of the DFE as well as crosstalk cancellation. A prototype receiver was fabricated in 45nm SOI CMOS to validate the functionality of the proposed technique and was tested over channels with different levels of loss and coupling. Measurement results show that the receiver can equalize channels with maximum 21dB loss while consuming about 7.5mW from a 1.2V supply. We also introduce a compact, low-power transmitter employing passive equalization. The efficacy of the proposed technique is demonstrated through implementation of a prototype in 65nm CMOS. The design achieves up to 20Gb/s data rate while consuming less than 10mW.

An alternative to electrical signaling is to employ optical signaling for chip-to-chip interconnections, which offers low channel loss and cross-talk while providing high communication bandwidth. In this work we demonstrate the possibility of building compact and low-power optical receivers. A novel RC front-end is proposed that combines dynamic offset modulation and double-sampling techniques to eliminate the need for a short time constant at the input of the receiver. Unlike conventional designs, this receiver does not require a high-gain stage that runs at the data rate, making it suitable for low-power implementations. In addition, it allows time-division multiplexing to support very high data rates. A prototype was implemented in 65nm CMOS and achieved up to 24Gb/s with less than 0.4pJ/b power efficiency per channel. As the proposed design mainly employs digital blocks, it benefits greatly from technology scaling in terms of power and area saving.

As the technology scales, the number of transistors on the chip grows. This necessitates a corresponding increase in the bandwidth of the on-chip wires. In this dissertation, we take a close look at wire scaling and investigate its effect on wire performance metrics. We explore a novel on-chip communication link based on a double-sampling architecture and dynamic offset modulation technique that enables low power consumption and high data rates while achieving high bandwidth density in 28nm CMOS technology. The functionality of the link is demonstrated using different length minimum-pitch on-chip wires. Measurement results show that the link achieves up to 20Gb/s of data rate (12.5Gb/s/$\mu$m) with better than 136fJ/b of power efficiency.

Study of the effect of alcohol on single human red blood cells using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy

The effect of alcohol solution on single human red blood Cells (RBCs) was investigated using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS). In our system, a low-power diode laser at 785 nm was applied for the trapping of a living cell and the excitation of its Raman spectrum. Such a design could simultaneously reduce the photo-damage to the cell and suppress the interference from the fluorescence on the Raman signal. The denaturation process of single RBCs in 20% alcohol solution was investigated by detecting the time evolution of the Raman spectra at the single-cell level. The vitality of RBCs was characterized by the Raman band at 752 cm(-1), which corresponds to the porphyrin breathing mode. We found that the intensity of this band decreased by 34.1% over a period of 25 min after the administration of alcohol. In a further study of the dependence of denaturation on alcohol concentration, we discovered that the decrease in the intensity of the 752 cm(-1) band became more rapid and more prominent as the alcohol concentration increased. The present LTRS technique may have several potential applications in cell biology and medicine, including probing dynamic cellular processes at the single cell level and diagnosing cell disorders in real time. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley T Sons, Ltd.

室温下稳定的多波长掺铒光纤激光器的研究

通过在线形谐振腔中引入一段缠绕在压电陶瓷上的单模光纤作为正弦相位调制器，使得激射波长的损耗不固定，抑制由于掺铒光纤的均匀展宽效应引起的模式竞争，从而避免了在室温下不稳定的单波长激射，实现了多波长掺铒光纤激光器的稳定输出。为了获得平坦的多波长输出，在谐振腔里使用了一个损耗峰位于1530nm处的长周期光纤光栅，以获得较为平坦的增益谱。通过两个3dB耦合器制成的反射型梳状滤波器的滤波作用，实验中观察到稳定的多波长激射，相邻波长间隔约为0．45nm。中心9个波长的输出功率平坦度为10dB，边模抑制比大于25dB。

提高能量密度的超衍射极限激光光束相位补偿技术

定义了激光光束衍射远场光斑压缩前后的能量比以及能量密度比来衡量超衍射极限激光光束的质量。通过利用反向传递算法设计了合适的补偿相位板，不但对准直放大的单一横模激光光束进行小于光学衍射极限的发散度的压缩，同时又保证光束能量集中于压缩后的远场衍射主瓣中，使压缩后的远场衍射光斑的能量密度增加。给出了相应的实例。这一结论不但解决了光学超分辨中光束压缩与能量损失不可避免这一矛盾，而且为发散度小且能量密度高的超衍射极限激光光束的实验工作以及该类光束的实际应用提供了理论基础。

Paths Towards High Efficiency Silicon Photovoltaics

While photovoltaics hold much promise as a sustainable electricity source, continued cost reduction is necessary to continue the current growth in deployment. A promising path to continuing to reduce total system cost is by increasing device efficiency. This thesis explores several silicon-based photovoltaic technologies with the potential to reach high power conversion efficiencies. Silicon microwire arrays, formed by joining millions of micron diameter wires together, were developed as a low cost, low efficiency solar technology. The feasibility of transitioning this to a high efficiency technology was explored. In order to achieve high efficiency, high quality silicon material must be used. Lifetimes and diffusion lengths in these wires were measured and the action of various surface passivation treatments studied. While long lifetimes were not achieved, strong inversion at the silicon / hydrofluoric acid interface was measured, which is important for understanding a common measurement used in solar materials characterization.

Cryogenic deep reactive ion etching was then explored as a method for fabricating high quality wires and improved lifetimes were measured. As another way to reach high efficiency, growth of silicon-germanium alloy wires was explored as a substrate for a III-V on Si tandem device. Patterned arrays of wires with up to 12% germanium incorporation were grown. This alloy is more closely lattice matched to GaP than silicon and allows for improvements in III-V integration on silicon.

Heterojunctions of silicon are another promising path towards achieving high efficiency devices. The GaP/Si heterointerface and properties of GaP grown on silicon were studied. Additionally, a substrate removal process was developed which allows the formation of high quality free standing GaP films and has wide applications in the field of optics.

Finally, the effect of defects at the interface of the amorphous silicon heterojuction cell was studied. Excellent voltages, and thus efficiencies, are achievable with this system, but the voltage is very sensitive to growth conditions. We directly measured lateral transport lengths at the heterointerface on the order of tens to hundreds of microns, which allows carriers to travel towards any defects that are present and recombine. This measurement adds to the understanding of these types of high efficiency devices and may aid in future device design.