Engineering topics

Ben-Jacob, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Ben-Jacob, E..

5 records

NASA NTRS1985

New quantum oscillations in current driven small junctions

The response of current-biased Josephson and normal tunnel junctions (JJs and NTJs) such as those fabricated by Voss and Webb (1981) is predicted from a quantum-mechanical description based on the observation that the response of a current-driven open system is equivalent to that of a closed system subject to an external time-dependent voltage bias. Phenomena expected include voltage oscillations with no dc voltage applied, inverse Shapiro steps of dc voltage in the presence of microwave radiation, voltage oscillation in a JJ and an NTJ coupled by a capacitance to a current-biased junction, JJ voltage oscillation frequency = I/e rather than I/2e, and different NTJ resistance than in the voltage-driven case. The effects require approximate experimental parameter values Ic = 15 nA, C = 1 fF, and T much less than 0.4 K for JJs and Ic = a few nA, C = 1 fF, and R = 3 kiloohms for 100-microV inverse Shapiro steps at 10 GHz in NTJs.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Pattern selection in dendritic solidification

It is shown that the dynamically selected velocity and tip radius of dendrites in the boundary-layer model of solidification have the special values which permit the existence of steady-state needle-crystal solutions. This result, in conjunction with considerations of stability, provides new insight concerning the validity of the marginal-stability hypothesis.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Boundary-layer model of pattern formation in solidification

A model of pattern formation in crystal growth is proposed, and its analytic properties are investigated. The principal dynamical variables in this model are the curvature of the solidification front and the thickness (or heat content) of a thermal boundary layer, both taken to be functions of position along the interface. This model is mathematically much more tractable than the realistic, fully nonlocal version of the free-boundary problem, and still recaptures many of the features that seem essential for studying dendritic behavior, for example. Preliminary numerical solutions produce snowflakelike patterns similar to those seen in nature.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Quantum shot noise in tunnel junctions

The current and voltage fluctuations in a normal tunnel junction are calculated from microscopic theory. The power spectrum can deviate from the familiar Johnson-Nyquist form when the self-capacitance of the junction is small, at low temperatures permitting experimental verification. The deviation reflects the discrete nature of the charge transfer across the junction and should be present in a wide class of similar systems.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Dynamics of interfacial pattern formation

A phenomenological model of dendritic solidification incorporating interfacial kinetics, crystalline anisotropy, and a local approximation for the dynamics of the thermal diffusion field is proposed. The preliminary results are in qualitative agreement with natural dendrite-like pattern formation.

Ben-Jacob, E.↗