Publications

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The waters surrounding Taiwan are important international waterways. In addition to merchant ships of every nation, the warships of the United States, Japan, Russia, and China may appear in these waters. No hostility is expected between Taiwan and the United States, Japan, or Russia; however, Taiwan and China have a tense relationship, and both sides face a potential for naval incidents. As Taiwan and China expand their naval capability, the International Maritime Organization Convention for the lnternational Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea may not be sufficient to prevent naval incidents, any of which might develop into conflict or war. Therefore, China and Taiwan need to develop maritime confidence building measures (CBMs) that could reduce the chance of naval incidents and strengthen mutual trust and confidence. Among the variety of maritime CBM concepts for military purposes, the most successful and effective measure has been the 1972 U.S.-Soviet Union Agreement on the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High Seas (INCSEA). The success of the agreement demonstrates that CBMs represent a workable alternative to traditional arms controls. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a concrete approach to the constraint of naval activities between China and Taiwan to reduce accidents and misunderstandings. This paper outlines the categories and characteristics of incidents at sea. Next, the author identifies the successful factors of the U.S.-Soviet INCSEA and applies the INCSEA concept to the Taiwan Strait. Finally, the author develops a framework of options and a step-by-step approach for establishing an INCSEA between Taiwan and China.

Many microfabrication techniques are being developed for applications in microelectronics, microsensors, and micro-optics. Since the advent of microcomponents, designers have been forced to modify their designs to include limitations of current technology, such as the inability to make three-dimensional structures and the need for piece-part assembly. Many groups have successfully transferred a wide variety of patterns to both two-dimensional and three-dimensional substrates using microcontact printing. Microcontact printing is a technique in which a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is patterned onto a substrate by transfer printing. The patterned layer can act as an etch resist or a foundation upon which to build new types of microstructures. We created a gold pattern with features as small as 1.2 {micro}m using microcontact printing and subsequent processing. This approach looks promising for constructing single-level structures such as microelectrode arrays and sensors. It can be a viable technique for creating three-dimensional structures such as microcoils and microsprings if the right equipment is available to achieve proper alignment, and if a means is available to connect the final parts to other components in subsequent assembly operations. Microcontact printing provides a wide variety of new opportunities in the fabrication of microcomponents, and increases the options of designers.

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Robotic vehicles that navigate autonomously are hindered by unnecessary avoidance of soft obstacles, and entrapment by potentially avoidable obstacles. Existing sensing technologies fail to reliably distinguish hard obstacles from soft obstacles, as well as impassable thickets and other sources of entrapment. Automated materials classification through advanced sensing methods may provide a means to identify such obstacles, and from their identity, to determine whether they must be avoided. Multi- and hyper-spectral electro-optic sensors are used in remote sensing applications to classify both man-made and naturally occurring materials on the earth's surface by their reflectance spectra. The applicability of this sensing technology to obstacle identification for autonomous ground vehicle navigation is the focus of this report. The analysis is restricted to system concepts in which the multi- or hyper-spectral sensor is on-board the ground vehicle, facing forward to detect and classify obstacles ahead of the vehicle. Obstacles of interest include various types of vegetation, rocks, soils, minerals, and selected man-made materials such as paving asphalt and concrete.

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The Materials Chemistry Department 1846 has developed a lab-scale chem-prep process for the synthesis of PNZT 95/5, referred to as the ''SP'' process (Sandia Process). This process (TSP) has been successfully transferred to and scaled-up by Department 14192 (Ceramics and Glass Department), producing the larger quantities of PZT powder required to meet the future supply needs of Sandia for neutron generator production. The particle size distributions of TSP powders routinely have been found to contain a large particle size fraction that was absent in development (SP) powders. This SAND report documents experimental studies focused on characterizing these particles and assessing their potential impact on material performance. To characterize these larger particles, fractionation of several TSP powders was performed. The ''large particle size fractions'' obtained were characterized by particle size analysis, SEM, and ICP analysis and incorporated into compacts and sintered. Large particles were found to be very similar in structure and composition as the bulk of the powder. Studies showed that the large-size fractions of the powders behave similarly to the non-fractionated powder with respect to the types of microstructural features once sintered. Powders were also compared that were prepared using different post-synthesis processing (i.e. differences in precipitate drying). Results showed that these powders contained different amounts and sizes of porous inclusions when sintered. How this affects the functional performance of the PZT 95/5 material is the subject of future investigations.

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