Engineering topics
Svensson, C.
Publications and source records attributed to Svensson, C..
First direct measurement of 59 Cu(p,α) 56 Ni: A step towards constraining the Ni-Cu cycle in the cosmos
Reactions on proton-rich nuclides drive the nucleosynthesis in core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and in x-ray bursts (XRBs). CCSNe eject the nucleosynthesis products to the interstellar medium and hence are a potential inventory of p nuclei, whereas in XRBs nucleosynthesis powers the light curves. In both astrophysical sites the Ni-Cu cycle, which features a competition between 59 Cu(p,α) 56 Ni and 59 Cu(p,γ) 60 Zn, could potentially halt the production of heavier elements. Here, we report the first direct measurement of 59 Cu(p,α) 56 Ni using a reaccelerated 59Cu beam and a cryogenic solid hydrogen target. Furthermore, our results show that the reaction proceeds predominantly to the ground state of 56 Ni, and the experimental rate has been found to be lower than Hauser-Feshbach based statistical model predictions. New results hints that the νp process could operate at higher temperatures than previously inferred and therefore remains a viable site for synthesizing the heavier elements
Time dependent breakdown in silicon dioxide films
An investigation was conducted regarding the possible existence of a time-dependent breakdown mechanism in thermal oxides of the type used as gate oxide in MOS circuits. Questions of device fabrication are discussed along with details concerning breakdown measurements and the determination of C-V characteristics. A relatively large prebreakdown current observed in one of the cases is related to the time-dependent breakdown.