Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Li, Y..
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The effect of spin-polarized quasiparticle currents on the critical current density (J-c) of cuprate superconductors is studied in perovskite F-I-S heterostructures as a function of insulator thickness and of underlying magnetic materials. A pulsed current technique is employed to minimize extraneous Joule heating on the superconductor. At temperatures near T-c, F-I-S samples with insulator thicknesses\1e2nm show precipitous decrease in J_c as current injection (I_m) is increased. In contrast, J_c in a controlled sample with a substituted non-magnetic material (N-I-S) exhibit no dependence on I_m. Similarly, a F-I-S sample with a 10 mn insulating barrier also show little J_c effect versus I_m. At low temperatures with I_m = 0, significant suppression of J-c is observed only in the thin barrier F-I-S samples, although T_c and the normal-state resistivity of all samples are comparable. These phenomena can be attributed to the Cooper pair breaking induced by externally-injected and internally-reflected spin-polarized quasiparticle currents. We estimate an order of magnitude range for the spin diffusion length of 100 nm to 100\ mum.
The effect of spin-polarized currents on the critical current densities of cuprate superconductors is investigated in perovskite ferromagnet-insulator-superconductor heterostructures with a pulsed current technique.
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We present a 144-element terahertz quasi-optical grid frequency doubler. The grid is a planar structure with bow-tie antennas as a unit cell each loaded with a planar Schottky diode.
We present a comparison of histograms of CO (2-1) line centroid velocity increments in the rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud with those computed for spectra synthesized from a three-dimensional, compressible, but non-starforming and non-gravitating hydrodynamic simulation. Histograms of centroid velocity increments in the rho Ophiuchi cloud show clearly non-Gaussian wings, similar to those found in histograms of velocity increments and derivatives in experimental studies of laboratory and atmospheric flows, as well as numerical simulations of turbulence. The magnitude of these wings increases monotonically with decreasing separation, down to the angular resolution of the data. This behavior is consistent with that found in the phase of the simulation which has most of the properties of incompressible turbulence. The time evolution of the magnitude of the non-Gaussian wings in the histograms of centroid velocity increments in the simulation is consistent with the evolution of the vorticity in the flow. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the wings are associated with the shock interaction regions. Moreover, in an active starforming region like the rho Ophiuchi cloud, the effects of shocks may be more important than in the simulation. However, being able to identify shock interaction regions in the interstellar medium is also important, since numerical simulations show that vorticity is generated in shock interactions.
Solid state friction-stir welding (FSW) has been demonstrated to involve dynamic recrystallization producing ultra-fine, equiaxed grain structures to facilitate superplastic deformation as the welding or joining mechanism. However, the average residual, equiaxed, grain size in the weld zone has ranged from roughly 0.5 micron to slightly more than 10 micron, and the larger weld zone grain sizes have been characterized as residual or static grain growth as a consequence of the temperatures in the weld zone (where center-line temperatures in the FSW of 6061 Al have been shown to be as high as 480C or -0.8 T(sub M) where T(sub M) is the absolute melting temperature)). In addition, the average residual weld zone grain size has been observed to increase near the top of the weld, and to decrease with distance on either side of the weld-zone centerline, an d this corresponds roughly to temperature variations within the weld zone. The residual grain size also generally decreases with decreasing FSW tool rotation speed. These observations are consistent with the general rules for recrystallization where the recrystallized grain size decreases with increasing strain (or deformation) at constant strain rate, or with increasing strain-rate, or with increasing strain rate at constant strain; especially at lower ambient temperatures, (or annealing temperatures). Since the recrystallization temperature also decreases with increasing strain rate, the FSW process is somewhat complicated because the ambient temperature, the frictional heating fraction, and the adiabatic heating fraction )proportional to the product of strain and strain-rate) will all influence both the recrystallization and growth within the FSW zone. Significantly reducing the ambient temperature of the base metal or work pieces to be welded would be expected to reduce the residual weld-zone grain size. The practical consequences of this temperature reduction would be the achievement of low temperature welding. This study compares the residual grain sizes and microstructures in 2024 Al friction-stir welded at room temperature (about 30C and low temperature (-30C).
An adjoint model is developed for variational data assimilation using the 2D semi-Lagrangian semi-implicit (SLSI) shallow-water equation global model of Bates et al. with special attention being paid to the linearization of the interpolation routines. It is demonstrated that with larger time steps the limit of the validity of the tangent linear model will be curtailed due to the interpolations, especially in regions where sharp gradients in the interpolated variables coupled with strong advective wind occur, a synoptic situation common in the high latitudes. This effect is particularly evident near the pole in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter season. Variational data assimilation experiments of 'identical twin' type with observations available only at the end of the assimilation period perform well with this adjoint model. It is confirmed that the computational efficiency of the semi-Lagrangian scheme is preserved during the minimization process, related to the variational data assimilation procedure.
It is our belief that new modes of research and new tools will be required to handle the massive amount of diverse data that is to be stored, organized, accessed, distributed, visualized, and analyzed. The fundamental innovation required is the integration of three automation technologies, videlicet knowledge-based expert systems, science visualization and science data management. This integration is based on a concept caled the DataHub, which we describe here.
It was shown that 1 MeV proton irradiation with fluences of 1.25E14 and 1.25E15/sq cm reduces the normalized I(sub SC) of a-Si:H solar cell. Solar cells recently fabricated showed superior radiation tolerance compared with cells fabricated four years ago; the improvement is probably due to the fact that the new cells are thinner and fabricated from improved materials. Room temperature annealing was observed for the first time in both new and old cells. New cells anneal at a faster rate than old cells for the same fluence. From the annealing work it is apparent that there are at least two types of defects and/or annealing mechanisms. One cell had improved I-V characteristics following irradiation as compared to the virgin cell. The work shows that the photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) and annealing measurements may be used to predict the qualitative behavior of a-Si:H solar cells. It was anticipated that the modeling work will quantitatively link thin film measurements with solar cell properties. Quantitative predictions of the operation of a-Si:H solar cells in a space environment will require a knowledge of the defect creation mechanisms, defect structures, role of defects on degradation, and defect passivation and annealing mechanisms. The engineering data and knowledge base for justifying space flight testing of a-Si:H alloy based solar cells is being developed.
This study was conducted to evaluate the diurnal and seasonal, spectral reflectance characteristics of burned and unburned areas of a tallgrass prairie, based on field measurements and models of radiation transport in plant canopies. Burning of the senescent vegetation, resulting from the previous years' growth, is a common management practice, which results in improved productivity and affects the succession of grass species. The burned and unburned grass canopies showed distinctly different, diurnal and seasonal, spectral reflectance characteristics in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. These were attributed to the differences in development of the two plant canopies and the azimuthal differences in sensor-sun-canopy positions during field measurements of spectral reflectance. The radiation transfer model properly simulated the diurnal spectral behavior of the two canopies. The simulated, seasonal, spectral reflectance values for the unburned grass canopy were greater than the measured ones, because of limitations in proper representation of the layer of senescent vegetation in the model.
It has been demonstrated experimentally and theoretically that high energy particles produce detectable sounds in water. However, no one has been able to detect an acoustic signal generated by a high energy cosmic ray particle in water. Results show that transient ultrasonic signals in a large lake or reservoir are fairly complex and that the transient signals under water may arise mainly from sound radiation from microbubbles. This field is not explored in detail. Perhaps, the sounds created by cosmic ray particles hide in these ultrasonic signals. In order to develop the technique of acoustic detection, it is most important to make a thorough investigation of these ultrasonic signals in water.
Uniaxial stress was used on Fe single crystals to induce muon precession frequency shifts. The frequency shift for a nominally pure Fe sample at 302K was -0.34 + or - .023 MHz per 100 microstrain along the 100 magnetization axis. This corresponds to a change of magnetic field at the muon of 25.1 + to 1.6G/100 magnetic moment. For an Fe (3wt%Si) single crystal the shifts were -0.348 + or - .008 MHz/100 magnetic moment. The agreement between the shifts for Fe and Fe(3wt%Si) shows the effect to be intrinsic to iron and not strongly impurity sensitive. These shifts and their temperature dependence (1/T) are dominated by the effect of strain inducted population shifts between crystallographically equivalent, but mgnetically inequivalent sites. Their magnitudes are in good agreement ith previous theoretical predictions and by previous extrapolation from calculations on Nb and V especially if both 4T(0) and 1T sites contribute comparably.
Shock tube discontinuities were used to test and extend a kinetic theory of turbulence. In shock wave and contact surface fluctuations, coherent phenomena were found which provide new support for the microscopic nonempirical approach to turbulent systems, especially those with boundary layer-like instabilities.