Structural origin of set-reset processes in Ge15Te83Si2 glass investigated using in situ Raman scattering and transmission electron microscopy

We report here that the structural origin of an easily reversible Ge15Te83Si2 glass can be a promising candidate for phase change random access memories. In situ Raman scattering studies on Ge15Te83Si2 sample, undertaken during the amorphous set and reset processes, indicate that the degree of disorder in the glass is reduced from off to set state. It is also found that the local structure of the sample under reset condition is similar to that in the amorphous off state. Electron microscopic studies on switched samples indicate the formation of nanometric sized particles of c-SiTe2 structure. ©2009 American Institute of Physics

Nondeactivating Nanosized Ionic Catalysts for Water-Gas Shift Reaction

The water-gas shift reaction (WGS) is an important reaction to produce hydrogen. In this study, we have synthesized nanosized catalysts where Pt ion is substituted in the +2 state in TiO2, CeO2, and Ce1-xTixO2-delta. These catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and it has been shown that Pt2+ in these reducible oxides result in solid solutions like Ti0.99Pt0.01O2-delta, Ce0.8Ti0.15Pt0.02O2-delta, and Ce0.98Pt0.02O2-delta. These catalysts were tested for the water gas shift reaction both ill the presence and absence of hydrogen. It was shown that Ti0.99Pt0.01O2-delta exhibited higher catalytic activity than Ce0.83Ti0.15Pt0.02O2-delta and Ce0.98Pt0.02O2-delta. Further, experiments were conducted to determine the deactivation of these catalysts. There was no sintering of Pt and no carbonate formation; therefore, the catalyst did not deactivate even after prolonged reaction. There was no carbonate formation because of the highly acidic nature of Ti4+ ions in the catalysts.

Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from Australian piggeries

Current research proposal will conduct a review of measurement techniques and recommendation for a suite of techniques to be used in method and measurement protocol development.

Feeding to increase productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Feeding to increase productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Gas-liquid interfacial area in stirred vessels: The effect of an immiscible liquid phase

The presence of an inert immiscible organic phase in gas�liquid dispersions in stirred vessels influences the interfacial area in a more complex fashion than hitherto reported. As the organic phase fraction is increased, the interfacial area expressed on the basis of a unit volume of dispersion or aqueous phase, first increases, passes through a maximum and then decreases. This trend is observed irrespective of whether the area is determined by chemical means or by physical method. It is found that for low values of inert phase fraction, the average bubble size decreases whereas the gas holdup increases, resulting in increased interfacial area. The lower average bubble size is found to be due to partial prevention of coalescence as the bubbles size generated in the impeller region actually increases with the organic phase fraction. The actual values of interfacial areas depend on the nature of the organic phase. It is also found that the organic phase provides a parallel path for mass transfer to occur, when the solubility of gas in it is high.

Estimation Of Properties Of Rare-Gas Solids From Compression Characteristics Of Closed-Shell Ions

We present a unified approach to repulsion in ionic and van der Waals solids based on a compressible-ion/atom model. Earlier studies have shown that repulsion in ionic crystals can be viewed as arising from the compression energy of ions, described by two parameters per ion. Here we obtain the compression parameters of the rare-gas atoms Ne. Ar. Kr and Xe by interpolation using the known parameters of related equi-electronic ions (e.g. Ar from S2-. Cl-, K- and Ca2-). These parameters fit the experimental zero-temperature interatomic distances and compressibilities of the rare-gas crystals satisfactorily. A hightemperature equation of state based on an Einstein model of thermal motions is used to calculate the thermal expansivities, compressibilities and their temperature derivatives for Ar. Kr and Xe. It is argued that an instability at higher temperatures represents the limit to which the solid can be superheated. beyond which sublimation must occur.

An electron microscopic study of quasicrystals in a quaternary alloy : Mg32(Al, Zn, Cu)49

The discovery of a solid exhibiting m 3 5 point group symmetry by Shechtman et. al. (l) in a rapidly solidified Al-14at%Mn alloy has activated intensive studies of a new class of solids, termed as quasicrystals (2). While the original discovery reported the existence of quasicrystals in AI-Mn. AI-Fe and AI-Cr alloys, subsequent work has revealed their existence in Mg-Zn-Al(3,4), Mg-A]-Cu(5), AI-Mn-Si(6) and Ti-Ni-V(7) alloys (Table l).

Insulating phase of a disordered system: Fermi glass versus electron glass

The authors examine the critical divergence of the low-frequency conductivity of the noninteracting Fermi glass and interacting electron glass models of the insulating phase of a disordered system as the metallic phase is approached. Results for the two are found to be rather different, which can be tested experimentally. In particular, for the electron glass, there exists a nonvanishing contribution to the dielectric constants from the low-frequency (hopping) conductivity even at low temperatures, which scales with the high-frequency (optical) contribution, and diverges with the same exponent at the insulator-metal transition.

Modeling and analysis of energy quantization effects on single electron inverter performance

In this paper, for the first time, the effects of energy quantization on single electron transistor (SET) inverter performance are analyzed through analytical modeling and Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that energy quantization mainly changes the Coulomb blockade region and drain current of SET devices and thus affects the noise margin, power dissipation, and the propagation delay of SET inverter. A new analytical model for the noise margin of SET inverter is proposed which includes the energy quantization effects. Using the noise margin as a metric, the robustness of SET inverter is studied against the effects of energy quantization. A compact expression is developed for a novel parameter quantization threshold which is introduced for the first time in this paper. Quantization threshold explicitly defines the maximum energy quantization that an SET inverter logic circuit can withstand before its noise margin falls below a specified tolerance level. It is found that SET inverter designed with CT:CG=1/3 (where CT and CG are tunnel junction and gate capacitances, respectively) offers maximum robustness against energy quantization.

Prediction of Breakdown Voltages of Binary Gas Mixtures in Uniform Electric Fields

A simple equation to predict the breakdown voltages for binary mixtures (Vmix) of electronegative gases (SF6, CCl2F2) and buffer gases (N2, N2O, CO2, air) under uniform electric field has been proposed. Values of Vmix evaluated using this equation for mixtures of SF6-N2, SF6-air, SF6-N2O, SF6-CO2 and CCl2F2-N2 over a wide range of pd show an excellent agreement with the experimentally measured data available in the literature.

Some Exact-Solutions Describing Unsteady Plane Gas-Flows With Shocks

A new class of exact solutions of plane gasdynamic equations is found which describes piston-driven shocks into non-uniform media. The governing equations of these flows are taken in the coordinate system used earlier by Ustinov, and their similarity form is determined by the method of infinitesimal transformations. The solutions give shocks with velocities which either decay or grown in a finite or infinite time depending on the density distribution in the ambient medium, although their strength remains constant. The results of the present study are related to earlier investigations describing the propagation of shocks of constant strength into non-uniform media.

Electron- Spin-Resonance studies of phase transitions in double propionates

Detailed ESR investigations of Mn2+ substituting for Ca2+ in Ca2Sr(C2H5COO)6, (DSP) and Ca2Pb(C2H5COO)6, (DLP) and Ca2Ba(C2H5COO)6, (DBP), in single crystals and powders, over the temperature range from 300°C to -180°C have been carried out to study the successive phase transitions in these compounds. Spectra have been analyzed in terms of axial spin Hamiltonians and the temperature dependences of the parameters studied. Across the I-II transition, new physically and chemically inequivalent sites appear indicating the disappearance of the diad axes on which the propionate groups are located, bringing out the connection between the motional states of the propionate groups and the occurrence of ferroelectricity. The II-III transition also causes chemically inequivalent sites to develop, indicating that the transitions may not be isomorphous as believed previously. Similarities and dissimilarities of the ESR spectra of DLP, DSP and DBP are discussed in relation to the phase transitions.

Analyzing hysteresis behavior of capacitance-voltage characteristics of IZO/C₆₀/pentacene/Au diodes with a hole-transport electron-blocking polyterpenol layer by electric-field-induced optical second-harmonic generation measurement

By using electric-field-induced optical second-harmonic generation (EFISHG) measurement, we analyzed hysteresis behavior of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of IZO/polyterpenol (PT)/C₆₀/pentacene/Au diodes, where PT layer is actively working as a hole-transport electron-blocking layer. The EFISHG measurement verified the presence of interface accumulated charges in the diodes, and showed that a space charge electric field from accumulated excess electrons (holes) that remain at the PT/C₆₀ (C₆₀/pentacene) interface is responsible for the hysteresis loop observed in the C-V characteristics.