The authors demonstrate, for the first time, both functional Pnp AlGaAs/InGaAsN/GaAs (Pnp InGaAsN) and Npn InGaP/InGaAsN/GaAs (Npn InGaAsN) double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) using a 1.2 eV In{sub 0.03}Ga{sub 0.97}As{sub 0.99}N{sub 0.01} as the base layer for low-power electronic applications. The Pnp InGaAsN DHBT has a peak current gain ({beta}) of 25 and a low turn-on voltage (V{sub ON}) of 0.79 V. This low V{sub ON} is {approximately} 0.25 V lower than in a comparable Pnp AlGAAs/GaAs HBT. For the Npn InGaAsN DHBT, it has a low V{sub ON} of 0.81 V, which is 0.13 V lower than in an InGaP/GaAs HBT. A peak {beta} of 7 with nearly ideal I-V characteristics has been demonstrated. Since GaAs is used as the collector of both Npn and Pnp InGaAsN DHBTs, the emitter-collector breakdown voltage (BV{sub CEO}) are 10 and 12 V, respectively, consistent with the BV{sub CEO} of Npn InGaP/GaAs and Pnp AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs of comparable collector thickness and doping level. All these results demonstrate the potential of InGaAsN DHBTs as an alternative for application in low-power electronics.
The authors have demonstrated an aluminum-free P-n-P GaAs/InGaAsN/GaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT). The device has a low turn-on voltage (V{sub ON}) that is 0.27 V lower than in a comparable P-n-p AlGaAs/GaAs HBT. The device shows near-ideal D. C. characteristics with a current gain ({beta}) greater than 45. The high-speed performance of the device are comparable to a similar P-n-p AlGaAs/GaAs HBT, with f{sub T} and f{sub MAX} values of 12 GHz and 10 GHz, respectively. This device is very suitable for low-power complementary HBT circuit applications, while the aluminum-free emitter structure eliminates issues typically associated with AlGaAs.
Throughout the construction and operation of the caverns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), three types of cavern volume measurements have been maintained. These are: (1) the calculated solution volume determined during initial construction by solution mining and any subsequent solutioning during oil transfers, (2) the calculated sonar volume determined through sonar surveys of the cavern dimensions, and (3) the direct metering of oil to determine the volume of the cavern occupied by the oil. The objective of this study is to compare these measurements to each other and determine, if possible, the uncertainties associated with a given type of measurement. Over time, each type of measurement has acquired a customary, or an industry accepted, stated uncertainty. This uncertainty is not necessarily the result of a technical analysis. Ultimately there is one definitive quantity, the oil volume measure by the oil custody transfer meters, taken by all parties to the transfer as the correct ledger amount and for which the SPR Project is accountable. However, subsequent transfers within a site may not be with meters of the same accuracy. In this study, a very simple theory of the perfect relationship is used to evaluate the correlation (deviation) of the various measures. This theory permits separation of uncertainty and bias. Each of the four SPR sites are examined, first with comparisons between the calculated solution volumes and the sonar volumes determined during construction, then with comparisons of the oil inventories and the sonar volumes obtained either by surveying through brine prior to oil filling or through the oil directly.
Portions of the SmartSampling{trademark} analysis methodology have been applied to the evaluation of radioactive contaminated landscape soils at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Specifically, the spatial, volumetric distribution of cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) contamination within Area of Concern 16E-1 has been modeled probabilistically using a geostatistical methodology, with the purpose of identifying the likelihood of successfully reducing, with respect to a pre-existing, baseline remediation plan, the volume of soil that must be disposed of offsite during clean-up. The principal objective of the analysis was to evaluate the likelihood of successful deployment of the Segmented Gate System (SGS), a novel remediation approach that emphasizes real-time separation of clean from contaminated materials during remediation operations. One primary requirement for successful application of the segmented gate technology investigated is that a variety of contaminant levels exist at the deployment site, which would enable to the SGS to discriminate material above and below a specified remediation threshold value. The results of this analysis indicate that there is potential for significant volume reduction with respect to the baseline remediation plan at a threshold excavation level of 23 pCi/g {sup 137}Cs. A reduction of approximately 50%, from a baseline volume of approximately 1,064.7 yd{sup 3} to less than 550 yd{sup 3}, is possible with acceptance of only a very small level of engineering risk. The vast majority of this volume reduction is obtained by not excavating almost all of levels 3 and 4 (from 12 to 24 inches in depth), which appear to be virtually uncontaminated, based on the available data. Additional volume reductions related to soil materials on levels 1 (depths of 0--6 inches) and 2 (6--12 inches) may be possible, specifically through use of the SGS technology. Level-by-level evaluation of simulation results suggests that as much as 26 percent of level 1 and as much as 65% of level 2 soils may actually be uncontaminated. Additionally, numerical experiments have been conducted to investigate the effects of selective excavation on the volume and average activity of the remediated materials. These numerical experiments indicate that nonselective excavation may result in mixing of contaminated and uncontaminated materials such that the total volume of material above the threshold excavation level of 23 pCi/g may exceed the baseline volume, thus defeating volume-reduction efforts.
An optical method of detecting a liquid level is presented that uses fluorescence radiation generated in an impurity-doped glass or plastic slab. In operation, the slab is inserted into the liquid and pump light is coupled into it so that the light is guided by the slab-air interface above the liquid and escapes into the liquid just below its surface. Since the fluorescence is generated only in that section of the slab above the liquid, the fluorescence power will monotonically decrease with increasing liquid level. Thus, a relationship can be established between any signal proportional to it and the, liquid level. Because optical fibers link the pump source and the detector of fluorescence radiation to the sensor, no electrical connections are needed in or near the liquid. Their absence vastly decreases the hazard associated with placing a liquid level sensor in a potentially explosive environment. A laboratory prototype, consisting of a methyl styrene slab doped with an organic dye, has been built and successfully tested in water. Its response to liquid level when pumped by a tunable argon-ion laser at 476, 488, and 496 nm, and by a blue LED, is presented and shown to be consistent with theory. The fluorescence spectra, optical efficiency, temperature, and other effects are also presented and discussed.
The density of threading dislocations (TD) in GaN grown directly on flat sapphire substrates is typically greater than 10{sup 9}/cm{sup 2}. Such high dislocation densities degrade both the electronic and photonic properties of the material. The density of dislocations can be decreased by orders of magnitude using cantilever epitaxy (CE), which employs prepatterned sapphire substrates to provide reduced-dimension mesa regions for nucleation and etched trenches between them for suspended lateral growth of GaN or AlGaN. The substrate is prepatterned with narrow lines and etched to a depth that permits coalescence of laterally growing III-N nucleated on the mesa surfaces before vertical growth fills the etched trench. Low dislocation densities typical of epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) are obtained in the cantilever regions and the TD density is also reduced up to 1 micrometer from the edge of the support regions.
Sandia National Laboratories has continued to evaluate the performance of infrasound sensors that are candidates for use by the International Monitoring System (IMS) for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The performance criteria against which these sensors are assessed are specified in ``Operational Manual for Infra-sound Monitoring and the International Exchange of Infrasound Data''. This presentation includes the results of efforts concerning two of these sensors: (1) Chaparral Physics Model 5; and (2) CEA MB2000. Sandia is working with Chaparral Physics in order to improve the capability of the Model 5 (a prototype sensor) to be calibrated and evaluated. With the assistance of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sandia is also conducting tests to evaluate the performance of the CEA MB2000. Sensor models based on theoretical transfer functions and manufacturer specifications for these two devices have been developed. This presentation will feature the results of coherence-based data analysis of signals from a huddle test, utilizing several sensors of both types, in order to verify the sensor performance.
All stations planned for the International Monitoring System (IMS) must be certified by the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) prior to acceptance to ensure that the monitoring stations initially meet the required specifications. Working Group B of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has established requirements for the quality, availability, and surety of data received at the International Data Centre (IDC). These requirements are verified by the PTS during a 3-component process that includes initial station assessment, testing and evaluation, and certification. Sandia National Laboratories has developed procedures, facilities, and tools that can be used to assist in evaluating IMS stations for compliance with certification requirements. System evaluation includes station design reviews, component testing, and operational testing of station equipment. Station design is evaluated for security and reliability considerations, and to ensure that operational procedures and documentation are adequate. Components of the station are tested for compliance with technical specifications, such as timing and noise levels of sampled data, and monitoring of tamper detection equipment. Data sent from the station in an IMS-standard format (CD-1 or IMS-1) are analyzed for compliance with the specified protocol and to ensure that the station data (sensor and state-of-health) are accurately transmitted. Data availability and authentication statistics are compiled and examined for problems.
For the WIPP, chemical and physical characteristics of MgO suggest it to be the most beneficial backfill choice, particularly because it has the ability to buffer the aqueous chemical conditions to control actinide volubility. In the current experimental program, the authors are developing a technical basis for taking credit for the complete set of attributes of MgO in geochemical, hydrogeological, and geomechanical technical areas, resulting in an improved conceptual model for the WIPP such as the following. Water uptake by MgO will delay the development of mobile actinides and gas generation by microbes and corrosion. Reduced gas generation will reduce or even eliminate spallings releases. As MgO hydrates, it swells, reducing porosity and permeability, which will inhibit gas flow in the repository, in turn reducing spallings releases. Hydration will also result in a self-sealing mechanism by which water uptake and swelling of MgO adjacent to a groundwater seep cuts off further seepage. Reaction with some groundwaters will produce cementitious materials, which will help to cement waste particles or produce a cohesive solid mass. Larger particles are less likely to be entrained in a spallings release. If sufficient water eventually accumulates in a repository to support microbial gas generation, magnesium carbonate cements will form; also producing good cohesion and strength.
The aim of this paper is to understand the numerous nuclear-related agreements that involve India and Pakistan, and in so doing identify starting points for future confidence-creating and confidence-building projects. Existing nuclear-related agreements provide a framework under which various projects can be proposed that foster greater nuclear transparency and cooperation in South Asia. The basic assumptions and arguments underlying this paper can be summarized as follows: (1) Increased nuclear transparency between India and Pakistan is a worthwhile objective, as it will lead to the irreversibility of extant nuclear agreements, the prospects of future agreements; and the balance of opacity and transparency required for stability in times of crises; (2) Given the current state of Indian and Pakistani relations, incremental progress in increased nuclear transparency is the most likely future outcome; and (3) Incremental progress can be achieved by enhancing the information exchange required by existing nuclear-related agreements.
A gridless technique for the solution of the integral form of the radiative heat flux equation for emitting and absorbing media is presented. Treatment of non-uniform absorptivity and gray boundaries is included. As part of this work, the authors have developed fast multipole techniques for extracting radiative heat flux quantities from the temperature fields of one-dimensional and three-dimensional geometries. Example calculations include those for one-dimensional radiative heat transfer through multiple flame sheets, a three-dimensional enclosure with black walls, and an axisymmetric enclosure with black walls.
[Tl(OCH{sub 2}CH{sub 3})]{sub 4}, (1) was reacted with excess HOR to prepare a series of [Tl(OR)]{sub n} where OR= OCHMe{sub 2} (2, n = 4), OCMe{sub 3} (3, n = 4), OCH{sub 2}CMe{sub 3} (4, n = 4), OC{sub 6}H{sub 3}(Me){sub 2}-2,6 (5, n = {infinity}), and OC{sub 6}H{sub 3}(Pr{sup i}){sub 2}-2,6 (6, n = {infinity}). Single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to determine the structure of compounds ligated by more sterically demanding ligands. Compound 4 was found to adopt a cubane structure, while 5 and 6 formed linear polymeric structures. These compounds were additionally characterized by {sup 203,205}Tl solution and {sup 205}Tl solid state NMR. Compounds 1--4 were found to remain intact in solution while the polymeric species, 5 and 6, appeared to be fluxional. While variations in the solution and solid state structures for the tetrameric [Tl(OR)]{sub 4} and polymeric [Tl(OAr)]{sub {infinity}} may be influenced by the steric hindrance of their respective ligands, the covalency of the species is believed to be more an effect of the parent alcohol acidity.
This paper presents techniques for fabricating microscopic, curvilinear features in a variety of workpiece materials. Micro-grooving and micro-threading tools having cutting widths as small as 13 {micro}m are made by focused ion beam sputtering and used for ultra-precision machining. Tool fabrication involves directing a 20 keV gallium beam at polished cylindrical punches made of cobalt M42 high-speed steel or C2 tungsten carbide to create a number of critically aligned facets. Sputtering produces rake facets of desired angle and cutting edges having radii of curvature equal to 0.4 {micro}m. Clearance for minimizing frictional drag of a tool results from a particular ion beam/target geometry that accounts for the sputter yield dependence on incidence angle. It is believed that geometrically specific cutting tools of this dimension have not been made previously. Numerically controlled, ultra-precision machining with micro-grooving tools results in a close match between tool width and feature size. Microtools are used to machine 13 {micro}m wide, 4 {micro}m deep, helical grooves in polymethyl methacrylate and 6061 Al cylindrical workplaces. Micro-grooving tools are also used to fabricate sinusoidal cross-section features in planar metal samples.
The thermal stability of photo-imprinted Bragg gratings formed in reactive-atmosphere, RF-magnetron sputtered germanosilicate thin films was evaluated in terms of point defect modifications observed during isochronal annealing. Optical and magnetic spectroscopes were utilized to evaluate structural relaxation in these sputtered glasses on both a local and medium-range size scale. Depending upon the substrate temperature used during deposition, significant structural rearrangement was found to occur with increasing post-deposition anneal temperature to 600 C. This resulted in changes in the photobleaching response of the material itself as the identity of optically active structural defects evolved. Based on a color center model for photosensitivity in these materials and measured changes in optical absorption with annealing, the thermal stability of a photo-imprinted Bragg grating was modeled. Good qualitative agreement with experiment was observed.
Simulations of granular packings in 2-D by throwing disks in a rectangular die are performed. Different size distributions as bimodal, uniform and gaussian are used. Once the array of particles is done, a relaxation process is carried on using a large-amplitude, low-frequency vertical shaking. This relaxation is performed a number N of times. Then, the authors measure the density of the package, contact distribution, coordination number distribution, entropy and also the disks size distribution vs. height. The dependence of all these magnitudes on the number N of shakings used to relax the packing and on the size distribution parameters are explored and discussed.
The weld solidification and cracking behavior of sulfur bearing free machining austenitic stainless steel was investigated for both gas-tungsten arc (GTA) and pulsed laser beam weld processes. The GTA weld solidification was consistent with those predicted with existing solidification diagrams and the cracking response was controlled primarily by solidification mode. The solidification behavior of the pulsed laser welds was complex, and often contained regions of primary ferrite and primary austenite solidification, although in all cases the welds were found to be completely austenite at room temperature. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) pattern analysis indicated that the nature of the base metal at the time of solidification plays a primary role in initial solidification. The solid state transformation of austenite to ferrite at the fusion zone boundary, and ferrite to austenite on cooling may both be massive in nature. A range of alloy compositions that exhibited good resistance to solidification cracking and was compatible with both welding processes was identified. The compositional range is bounded by laser weldability at lower Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} ratios and by the GTA weldability at higher ratios. It was found with both processes that the limiting ratios were somewhat dependent upon sulfur content.
This document highlights the Discom{sup 2}'s Distance computing and communication team activities at the 1999 Supercomputing conference in Portland, Oregon. This conference is sponsored by the IEEE and ACM. Sandia, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National laboratories have participated in this conference for eleven years. For the last four years the three laboratories have come together at the conference under the DOE's ASCI, Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiatives rubric. Communication support for the ASCI exhibit is provided by the ASCI DISCOM{sup 2} project. The DISCOM{sup 2} communication team uses this forum to demonstrate and focus communication and networking developments within the community. At SC 99, DISCOM built a prototype of the next generation ASCI network demonstrated remote clustering techniques, demonstrated the capabilities of the emerging Terabit Routers products, demonstrated the latest technologies for delivering visualization data to the scientific users, and demonstrated the latest in encryption methods including IP VPN technologies and ATM encryption research. The authors also coordinated the other production networking activities within the booth and between their demonstration partners on the exhibit floor. This paper documents those accomplishments, discusses the details of their implementation, and describes how these demonstrations support Sandia's overall strategies in ASCI networking.
A hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)/isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) elastomer is commonly used as propellant binder material. The thermal degradation of the binder is believed to be an important parameter governing the performance of the propellant. The aging of these binders can be monitored by mechanical property measurements such as modulus or tensile elongation. These techniques, however, are not easily adapted to binder agents that are dispersed throughout a propellant. In this paper the authors investigated solid state NMR relaxation times as a means to predict the mechanical properties of the binder as a function of aging time. {sup 1}H spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times were found to be insensitive to the degree of thermal degradation of the elastomer. Apparently these relaxation times depend on localized motions that are only weakly correlated with mechanical properties. A strong correlation was found between the {sup 13}C cross-polarization (CP) NMR time constant, T{sub cp}, and the tensile elongation at break of the elastomer as a function of aging time. A ramped-amplitude CP experiment was shown to be less sensitive to imperfections in setting critical instrumental parameters for this mobile material.
The authors carry out a comparative study of the energetic and dynamics of Si-Si, Ge-Ge, and Ge-Si ad-dimers on top of a dimer row in the Si(001) surface, using first-principles calculations. The dynamic appearance of a Ge-Si dimer is distinctively different from that of a Si-Si or Ge-Ge dimer, providing a unique way for its identification by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Its rocking motion, observed in STM, actually reflects a 180{degree} rotation of the dimer, involving a piecewise-rotation mechanism. The calculated energy barrier of 0.74 eV is in good agreement with the experimental value of 0.82 eV.
For many scientific and programmatic applications, it is necessary to determine the shock compression response of materials to several tens of Mbar. In addition, a complete EOS is often needed in these applications, which requires that shock data be supplemented with other information, such as temperature measurements or by EOS data off the principal Hugoniot. Recent developments in the use of fast pulsed power techniques for EOS studies have been useful in achieving these goals. In particular, the Z accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories, which develops over 20 million amperes of current in 100-200 ns, can be used to produce muM-Mbar shock pressures and to obtain continuous compression data to pressures exceeding 1 Mbar. With this technique, isentropic compression data have been obtained on several materials to pressures of several hundred kbar. The technique has also been used to launch ultra-high velocity flyer plates to a maximum velocity of 14 km/s, which can be used to produce impact pressures of several Mbar in low impedance materials and over 10 Mbar in high impedance materials. The paper will review developments in both of these areas.
Terrestrial climate records and historical observations of the Sun suggest that the Sun undergoes aperiodic oscillations in radiative output and size over time periods of centuries and millenia. Such behavior can be explained by the solar convective zone acting as a nonlinear oscillator, forced at the sunspot-cycle frequency by variations in heliomagnetic field strength. A forced variant of the Lorenz equations can generate a time series with the same characteristics as the solar and climate records. The timescales and magnitudes of oscillations that could be caused by this mechanism are consistent with what is known about the Sun and terrestrial climate.
Pulsed power science and engineering activities at Sandia National Laboratories grew out of a programmatic need for intense radiation sources to advance capabilities in radiographic imaging and to create environments for testing and certifying the hardness of components and systems to radiation in hostile environments. By the early 1970s, scientists in laboratories around the world began utilizing pulsed power drivers with very short (10s of nanoseconds) pulse lengths for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments. In the United States, Defense Programs within the Department of Energy has sponsored this research. Recent progress in pulsed power, specifically fast-pulsed-power-driven z pinches, in creating temperatures relevant to ICF has been remarkable. Worldwide developments in pulsed power technologies and increased applications in both defense and industry are contrasted with ever increasing stress on research and development tiding. The current environment has prompted us at Sandia to evaluate our role in the continued development of pulsed power science and to consider options for the future. This presentation will highlight our recent progress and provide an overview of our plans as we begin the new millennium.
Stable self-channeling of ultra-powerful (P{sub 0} - 1 TW -1 PW) laser pulses in dense plasmas is a key process for many applications requiring the controlled compression of power at high levels. Theoretical computations predict that the transition zone between the stable and highly unstable regimes of relativistic/charge-displacement self-channeling is well characterized by a form of weakly unstable behavior that involves bifurcation of the propagating energy into two powerful channels. Recent observations of channel instability with femtosecond 248 nm pulses reveal a mode of bifurcation that corresponds well to these theoretical predictions. It is further experimentally shown that the use of a suitable longitudinal gradient in the plasma density can eliminate this unstable behavior and restore the efficient formation of stable channels.
The most conspicuous feature of boron carbides' electronic transport properties is their having both high carrier densities and large Seebeck coefficients. The magnitudes and temperature dependencies of the Seebeck coefficients are consistent with large contributions from softening bipolarons: singlet bipolarons whose stabilization is significantly affected by their softening of local vibrations. Boron carbides' high carrier densities, small activation energies for hopping ({approx} 0.16 eV), and anomalously large Seebeck coefficients combine with their low, glass-like thermal conductivities to make them unexpectedly efficient high-temperature thermoelectrics.
Ab-initio formation energies for (100)- and (111)-microfacet steps on Pb(111) are in satisfactory agreement with measured values, given that these values are known only as well as the Pb(111) surface energy; the calculated step-energy ratio, 1.29, is within {approximately}8% of experiment. In contrast, calculated kink-formation energies, 41 and 60 meV for the two step types, are 40--50% below published experimental values derived from STM images. The discrepancy results from interpreting the images with a step-stiffness vs. kink-energy relation appropriate to (100) but not (111) surfaces. Good agreement is found when the step-stiffness data are reinterpreted, taking proper account of the trigonal symmetry of Pb(111).
The intrinsic chirality of metal surfaces with kinked steps (e.g. Pt(643)) endows them with enantiospecific adsorption properties (D. S. Shell, Langmuir, 14, 1998, 862). To understand these properties quantitatively the impact of thermally-driven step wandering must be assessed. The authors derive a lattice-gas model of step motion on Pt(111) surfaces using diffusion barriers from Density Functional Theory. This model is used to examine thermal fluctuations of straight and kinked steps.
Using interracial force microscopy (IFM), the tribological properties of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on Si surfaces produced by a new chemical strategy are investigated and compared to those of classical SAM systems, which include alkanethiols on Au and alkylsilanes on SiO{sub x}. The new SAM films are prepared by depositing n-alkyl chains with OH-terminations onto Cl-terminated Si substrates. The chemical nature of the actual lubricating molecules, n-dodecyl, is kept constant in all three thin film systems for direct comparison and similarities and differences in tribological properties are observed. The adhesion strength is virtually identical for all three systems; however, frictional properties differ due to differences in film packing. Differences in the chemical bonds that attach the lubricant molecules to the substrate are also discussed as they influence variations in film wear and durability. It is demonstrated that the new SAM films are capable of controlling the friction and adhesion of Si surfaces as well as the classical SAMs in addition to providing a greater potential to be more reproducible and more durable.
The authors report a monolithic coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser with an ion-implanted top cavity and a selectively oxidized bottom cavity which exhibits bistable behavior in the light output versus injection current. Large bistability regions over current ranges as wide as 18 mA have been observed with on/off contrast ratios of greater than 20 dB. The position and width of the bistability region can be varied by changing the bias to the top cavity. Switching between on and off states can be accomplished with changes as small as 250 {micro}W to the electrical power applied to the top cavity. Theoretical analysis suggests that the bistable behavior is the response of the nonlinear susceptibility in the top cavity to the changes in the bottom intracavity laser intensity as the bottom cavity reaches the thermal rollover point.
The authors have discussed the three factors that they believe are the most important in determining the difficulty of a beam shaping problem: scaling, smoothness, and coherence. The arguments have been almost completely based on considering how these factors influence beam shaping lenses that were designed using geometrical optics. However, they believe that these factors control the difficulty of beam shaping problems even if one does not base ones design strategy on geometrical optics. For example, they have shown that a lens designed using geometrical optics will not work well unless {beta} is large. However, they have also shown that if {beta} is small the uncertainty principle shows that it is impossible to do a good job of beam shaping no matter how one designs ones lens.
The process of combining nuclei (the protons and neutrons inside an atomic nucleus) together with a release of kinetic energy is called fusion. This process powers the Sun, it contributes to the world stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and may one day generate safe, clean electrical power. Understanding the intricacies of fusion power, promised for 50 years, ,is sometimes difficult because there are a number of ways of doing it. There is hot fusion, cold fusion and con-fusion. Hot fusion is what powers suns through the conversion of mass energy to kinetic energy. Cold fusion generates con-fusion and nobody really knows what it is. Honestly - this is true. There does seem to be something going on here; I just don't know what. Apparently some experimenters get energy out of a process many call cold fission but no one seems to know what it is, or how to do it reliably. It is not getting much attention from the mainline physics community. Even so, no one is generating electrical power for you and me with either method. In this article 1 will point out some basic features of the mainstream approaches taken to hot fusion power, as well as describe why z pinches are worth pursuing as a driver for a power reactor and may one day generate electrical power for mankind.
An unconstrained minimization algorithm for electronic structure calculations using density functional for systems with a gap is developed to solve for nonorthogonal Wannier-like orbitals in the spirit of E. B. Stechel, A. R. Williams, and P. J. Feibelman, Phys. Rev. B 49, 10,008 (1994). The search for the occupied sub-space is a Grassmann conjugate gradient algorithm generalized from the algorithm of A. Edelman, T.A. Arias, and S. T. Smith, SIAM J. on Matrix Anal. Appl. 20, 303 (1998). The gradient takes into account the nonorthogonality of a local atom-centered basis, gaussian in their implementation. With a localization constraint on the Wannier-like orbitals, well-constructed sparse matrix multiplies lead to O(N) scaling of the computationally intensive parts of the algorithm. Using silicon carbide as a test system, the accuracy, convergence, and implementation of this algorithm as a quantitative alternative to diagonalization are investigated. Results up to 1,458 atoms on a single processor are presented.
The ability to engineer ordered arrays of objects on multiple length scales has potential for applications such as microelectronics, sensors, wave guides, and photonic lattices with tunable band gaps. Since the invention of surfactant templated mesoporous sieves in 1992, great progress has been made in controlling different mesophases in the form of powders, particles, fibers, and films. To date, although there have been several reports of patterned mesostructures, materials prepared have been limited to metal oxides with no specific functionality. For many of the envisioned applications of hierarchical materials in micro-systems, sensors, waveguides, photonics, and electronics, it is necessary to define both form and function on several length scales. In addition, the patterning strategies utilized so far require hours or even days for completion. Such slow processes are inherently difficult to implement in commercial environments. The authors present a series of new methods of producing patterns within seconds. Combining sol-gel chemistry, Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA), and rapid prototyping techniques like pen lithography, ink-jet printing, and dip-coating on micro-contact printed substrates, they form hierarchically organized silica structures that exhibit order and function on multiple scales: on the molecular scale, functional organic moieties are positioned on pore surfaces, on the mesoscale, mono-sized pores are organized into 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional networks, providing size-selective accessibility from the gas or liquid phase, and on the macroscale, 2-dimensional arrays and fluidic or photonic systems may be defined. These rapid patterning techniques establish for the first time a link between computer-aided design and rapid processing of self-assembled nanostructures.
This paper describes the most recent version of a human reliability analysis (HRA) method called ``A Technique for Human Event Analysis'' (ATHEANA). The new version is documented in NUREG-1624, Rev. 1 [1] and reflects improvements to the method based on comments received from a peer review that was held in 1998 (see [2] for a detailed discussion of the peer review comments) and on the results of an initial trial application of the method conducted at a nuclear power plant in 1997 (see Appendix A in [3]). A summary of the more important recommendations resulting from the peer review and trial application is provided and critical and unique aspects of the revised method are discussed.
We present a computational method that finds an efficient runner network for an investment casting, once the gate locations have been established. The method seeks to minimize a cost function that is based on total network volume. The runner segments are restricted to lie in the space not occupied by the part itself. The collection of algorithms has been coded in C and runner designs have been computed for several real parts, demonstrating substantial reductions in rigging volume.
Robocasting, a computer controlled slurry deposition technique, was used to fabricate ceramic monoliths and composites of chemically prepared Pb(Zr{sub 0.95}Ti{sub 0.05})O{sub 3} (PZT 95/5) ceramics. Densities and electrical properties of the robocast samples were equivalent to those obtained for cold isostatically pressed (CIP) parts formed at 200 MPa. Robocast composites consisting of alternate layers of the following sintered densities: (93.9%--96.1%--93.9%), were fabricated using different levels of organic pore former additions. Modification from a single to a multiple material deposition robocaster was essential to the fabrication of composites that could withstand repeated cycles of saturated polarization switching under 30 kV/cm fields. Further, these composites withstood 500 MPa hydrostatic pressure induced poled ferroelectric (FE) to antiferroelectric (AFE) phase transformation during which strain differences on the order of 0.8% occurred between composite elements.