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Franklin, Brian

Publications and source records attributed to Franklin, Brian.

Fault-Tolerant, Multiple-Zone Temperature Control

A computer program has been written as an essential part of an electronic temperature control system for a spaceborne instrument that contains several zones. The system was developed because the temperature and the rate of change of temperature in each zone are required to be maintained to within limits that amount to degrees of precision thought to be unattainable by use of simple bimetallic thermostats. The software collects temperature readings from six platinum resistance thermometers, calculates temperature errors from the readings, and implements a proportional + integral + derivative (PID) control algorithm that adjusts heater power levels. The software accepts, via a serial port, commands to change its operational parameters. The software attempts to detect and mitigate a host of potential faults. It is robust to many kinds of faults in that it can maintain PID control in the presence of those faults.

Granger, James

Study of electron impact excitation of argon in the extreme ultraviolet - Emission cross section of resonance lines of Ar I, Ar II

In a crossed-beam experiment under optically thin conditions the EUV spectrum of argon produced by electron impact excitation is studied. The cross sections of the resonance lines of Ar I and II are measured. The resonance lines of Ar I at 104.8 nm and 106.7 nm, and of Ar II at 91.96 nm and 93.21 nm are the most prominent features of the EUV spectrum between 40 and 110 nm. The relative-flow technique is used to measure the absolute cross sections of these lines at 200 eV. The measurements are compared with previous estimates. The measured emission cross section values at 200 eV for the Ar I lines at 104.8 nm and 106.7 nm, when compared to the electron energy loss estimates of the direct excitation cross sections, establish that cascading is larger for the Ar I resonance lines than previous emission experiments have indicated. In addition, all the emission cross sections for the Ar I and II Rydberg series in the EUV are measured at 0.5 nm resolution. The FUV spectrum is also surveyed and found to consist of Ar II multiplets from simultaneous ionization-excitation.

Ajello, Joseph M.

Medium resolution studies of extreme ultraviolet emission from N2 by electron impact - The effect of predissociation on the emission cross section of the b 1Pi(u) state

The electron impact induced fluorescence spectrum of N2 is measured in the 102-134 nm range at a 0.05 nm spectral resolution. The spectral measurements provide the emission cross sections of the transitions of the b 1Pi(u)-X 1Sigma(+)g Birge-Hopfield I-band system. The structure and vibrational population distribution of this system are strongly affected by a configuration interaction of the valence b 1Pi(u) and Rydberg c 1Pi(u) and o 1Pi(u) states. The excitation function (0-400 eV) for the b-X (1,2) transition is measured and a modified Born approximation analytic model is applied to calculate the oscillator strength for the b 1Pi(u)-X band system. With the exception of the v-prime = 1 level, vibrational levels of the b 1Pi(u) state predissociate with a branching ratio of between 0.95 and 1.00. Predissociation of the b 1Pi(u) state contributes approximately six percent of the total dissociation cross section of N2 by electron impact at 100 eV.

James, Geoffrey K.