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At least 397 records · Page 22

Room temperature homogeneous flow in a bulk metallic glass with low glass transition temperature

We report a high entropy metallic glass of Zn{sub 20}Ca{sub 20}Sr{sub 20}Yb{sub 20}(Li{sub 0.55}Mg{sub 0.45}){sub 20} via composition design that exhibiting remarkable homogeneous deformation without shear banding under stress at room temperature. The glass also shows properties such as low glass transition temperature (323 K) approaching room temperature, low density and high specific strength, good conductivity, polymerlike thermoplastic manufacturability, and ultralow elastic moduli comparable to that of bones. The alloy is thermally and chemically stable.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Acoustoelastic lamb wave propagation in a homogeneous, isotropic aluminum plate

The effect of stress on Lamb wave propagation is relevant to both nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring because of changes in received signals due to both the associated strain and the acoustoelastic effect. A homogeneous plate that is initially isotropic becomes anisotropic under uniaxial stress, and dispersion of propagating waves becomes directionally dependent. The problem is similar to Lamb wave propagation in an anisotropic plate, except the fourth order tensor in the resulting wave equation does not have the same symmetry as that for the unstressed anisotropic plate, and the constitutive equation relating incremental stress to incremental strain is more complicated. Here we consider the theory of acoustoelastic Lamb wave propagation and show how dispersion curves shift anisotropically for an aluminum plate under uniaxial tension. Theoretical predictions of changes in phase velocity as a function of propagation direction are compared to experimental results for a single wave mode.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The interfacial amorphous double layer and the homogeneous nucleation in reflow of a Sn-Zn solder on Cu substrate

To illustrate the interfacial reaction mechanism, the Sn-Zn[Sn-8.5Zn-0.5Ag-0.01Al-0.1Ga (wt%)] solder was reflowed on Cu substrate at 250 deg. C for 15 s followed by immediate quench in liquid nitrogen. The frozen interfacial microstructure was investigated with high resolution transmission electron microscope. An amorphous double layer was formed at the interface which consists of a 5 nm pure Cu region and a Cu-Zn diffusion region. Nanocrystalline intermetallic compound (IMC) Cu{sub 5}Zn{sub 8} were observed in the Cu-Zn diffusion region. These nanocrystalline IMCs are suggested to form via a homogeneous nucleation process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The kinetics of homogeneous melting beyond the limit of superheating

Here, molecular dynamics simulation is used to study the time-scales involved in the homogeneous melting of a superheated crystal. The interaction model used is an embedded-atom model for Fe developed in previous work, and the melting process is simulated in the microcanonical (N, V, E) ensemble. We study periodically repeated systems containing from 96 to 7776 atoms, and the initial system is always the perfect crystal without free surfaces or other defects. For each chosen total energy E and number of atoms N, we perform several hundred statistically independent simulations, with each simulation lasting for between 500 ps and 10 ns, in order to gather statistics for the waiting time τ w before melting occurs. We find that the probability distribution of τ w is roughly exponential, and that the mean value $\langle$τ w $\rangle$ depends strongly on the excess of the initial steady temperature of the crystal above the superheating limit identified by other researchers. The mean $\langle$τ w $\rangle$ furthermore depends strongly on system size in a way that we have quantified. For very small systems of ~100 atoms, we observe a persistent alternation between the solid and liquid states, and we explain why this happens. Our results allow us to draw conclusions about the reliability of the recently proposed Z method for determining the melting properties of simulated materials and to suggest ways of correcting for the errors of the method.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Over-reflection of slow magnetosonic waves by homogeneous shear flow: Analytical solution

We have analyzed the amplification of slow magnetosonic (or pseudo-Alfvenic) waves (SMW) in incompressible shear flow. As found here, the amplification depends on the component of the wave-vector perpendicular to the direction of the shear flow. Earlier numerical results are consistent with the general analytic solution for the linearized magnetohydrodynamic equations, derived here for the model case of pure homogeneous shear (without Coriolis force). An asymptotically exact analytical formula for the amplification coefficient is derived for the case when the amplification is sufficiently large.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Intermittency and geometrical statistics of three-dimensional homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic turbulence: A wavelet viewpoint

Scale-dependent and geometrical statistics of three-dimensional incompressible homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic turbulence without mean magnetic field are examined by means of the orthogonal wavelet decomposition. The flow is computed by direct numerical simulation with a Fourier spectral method at resolution 512{sup 3} and a unit magnetic Prandtl number. Scale-dependent second and higher order statistics of the velocity and magnetic fields allow to quantify their intermittency in terms of spatial fluctuations of the energy spectra, the flatness, and the probability distribution functions at different scales. Different scale-dependent relative helicities, e.g., kinetic, cross, and magnetic relative helicities, yield geometrical information on alignment between the different scale-dependent fields. At each scale, the alignment between the velocity and magnetic field is found to be more pronounced than the other alignments considered here, i.e., the scale-dependent alignment between the velocity and vorticity, the scale-dependent alignment between the magnetic field and its vector potential, and the scale-dependent alignment between the magnetic field and the current density. Finally, statistical scale-dependent analyses of both Eulerian and Lagrangian accelerations and the corresponding time-derivatives of the magnetic field are performed. It is found that the Lagrangian acceleration does not exhibit substantially stronger intermittency compared to the Eulerian acceleration, in contrast to hydrodynamic turbulence where the Lagrangian acceleration shows much stronger intermittency than the Eulerian acceleration. The Eulerian time-derivative of the magnetic field is more intermittent than the Lagrangian time-derivative of the magnetic field.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Cation stoichiometry optimization of SrTiO{sub 3} (110) thin films with atomic precision in homogeneous molecular beam epitaxy

We study the evolution of surface reconstructions on SrTiO{sub 3} (110) determined by cation concentration ratio and find it detectable by high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) even at high temperature up to 800 deg. C. The evaporation rate of Sr and Ti sources can be calibrated precisely by monitoring RHEED patterns in situ and in real time during the extended homogeneous oxide molecule beam epitaxy growth of SrTiO{sub 3} (110) film. High quality film is obtained with deviation of cation stoichiometry less than 0.5%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Preliminary development of thermal nuclear cell homogenization code

Nuclear fuel cell homogenization for thermal reactors usually include three main parts, i.e., fast energy resonance part which usually adopt narrow resonance approximation to treat the resonance, low (intermediate) energy region in which the resonance can not be treated accurately using NR approximation and therefore we should use intermediate resonance treatment, and thermal energy region (very low) in which the effect of thermal must be treated properly. In n this study the application of the intermediate resonance approximation treatment for low energy nuclear resonance is discussed. The method is iterative based. As a sample the method is applied in U-235 low lying resonance and the result is presented and discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Role of the laser pulse-length in producing high-quality electron beams in a homogenous plasma

In laser wakefield acceleration, the pulse-length of the laser is an important parameter that affects the laser evolution and electron beam injection and acceleration in the bubble regime. Here, we use three-dimensional simulations to find, for a given plasma density, the optimal pulse-length that gives the best quality electron beam. For three different pulse lengths, we study the evolution dynamics of the laser spot-size and quality of the injected electron beam. We find that a pulse-length that is less than the theoretical optimum, {tau}{sub L} = {lambda}{sub p}/{radical}2{pi}c, derived from linear theory, gives the best beam quality. Conversely, our simulations suggest that for a given laser system, with a fixed pulse-length, there is an optimal value of the plasma density that will give the best quality accelerated beams in experiments. For an rms pulse-length of 10 fs (around 24 fs FWHM), this corresponds to a plasma density of around 3.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18}/cm{sup 3}. For these parameters, we obtain, in a homogenous plasma and with a single laser, an electron beam with an energy of around 700 MeV, an energy-spread less than 2%, and rms normalized emittance of a few {pi} mm-mrad.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

High compositional homogeneity in In-rich InGaAs nanowire arrays on nanoimprinted SiO{sub 2}/Si (111)

We report improved homogeneity control of composition-tuned In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}As (x < 0.4) nanowire (NW) arrays grown by catalyst-free molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on nanoimprinted SiO{sub 2}/Si (111) substrates. Using very high As/(Ga+In) ratios at growth temperatures of 550 Degree-Sign C enabled uniform incorporation of the respective group-III elements (In,Ga) over the investigated composition range, confirmed by high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Low-temperature (20 K) photoluminescence of these In-rich In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}As NW ensembles reveal state-of-the-art linewidths of {approx}29-33 meV. These are independent of Ga content, suggesting an overall low degree of phase separation. In contrast, self-assembled, non-periodic In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}As NW arrays show larger inhomogeneity with increased peakwidths in 2{theta}-{omega} HRXRD scans as well as broadened Raman modes. These results demonstrate the excellent potential of site-selective MBE growth of high-periodicity non-tapered In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}As NW arrays with low size and composition dispersion for optimized device integration on Si.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Homogeneous pinhole free 1 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} tunnel barriers on graphene

We report on the topographical and electrical characterisations of 1 nm thick Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dielectric films on graphene. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} is grown by sputtering a 0.6 nm Al layer on graphene and subsequentially oxidizing it in an O{sub 2} atmosphere. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer presents no pinholes and is homogeneous enough to act as a tunnel barrier. A resistance-area product in the mega-ohm micrometer-square range is found. Comparatively, the growth of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} by evaporation does not lead to well-wetted films on graphene. Application of this high quality sputtered tunnel barrier to efficient spin injection in graphene is discussed.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Atomically smooth and homogeneously N-polar AlN film grown on silicon by alumination of Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}

By using an alumination process of Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} at high temperature with aluminum flux irradiation for sufficient time, homogeneously N-polar and atomically smooth AlN film has been realized on silicon substrate with inversion domain suppressed to less than 3.0 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 6} cm{sup -2} and root mean square surface roughness of {approx}0.4 nm. A general interface model is proposed to explain the mechanism of polarity determination. The sharp AlN(0001)/Si(111) interface exhibits 5:4 coincidence domain matching, resulting in an almost fully relaxed AlN film.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A quasi-Bohmian approach for a homogeneous spherical solid body based on its geometric structure

In this paper we express the space of rotation as a Riemannian space and try to generalize the classical equations of motion of a homogeneous spherical solid body in the domain of quantum mechanics. This is done within Bohm's view of quantum mechanics, but we do not use the Schrödinger equation. Instead, we assume that in addition to the classical potential there is an extra potential and try to obtain it. In doing this, we start from a classical picture based on Hamilton-Jacobi formalism and statistical mechanics but we use an interpretation which is different from the classical one. Then, we introduce a proper action and extremize it. This procedure gives us a mathematical identity for the extra potential that limits its form. The classical mechanics is a trivial solution of this method. In the simplest cases where the extra potential is not a constant, a mathematical identity determines it uniquely. In fact the first nontrivial potential, apart from some constant coefficients which are determined by experiment, is the usual Bohmian quantum potential.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Adapting SAFT-γ perturbation theory to site-based molecular dynamics simulation. I. Homogeneous fluids

In this work, we aim to develop a version of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT)-γ equation of state (EOS) that is compatible with united-atom force fields, rather than experimental data. We rely on the accuracy of the force fields to provide the relation to experimental data. Although, our objective is a transferable theory of interfacial properties for soft and fused heteronuclear chains, we first clarify the details of the SAFT-γ approach in terms of site-based simulations for homogeneous fluids. We show that a direct comparison of Helmholtz free energy to molecular simulation, in the framework of a third order Weeks-Chandler-Andersen perturbation theory, leads to an EOS that takes force field parameters as input and reproduces simulation results for Vapor-Liquid Equilibria (VLE) calculations. For example, saturated liquid density and vapor pressure of n-alkanes ranging from methane to dodecane deviate from those of the Transferable Potential for Phase Equilibria (TraPPE) force field by about 0.8% and 4%, respectively. Similar agreement between simulation and theory is obtained for critical properties and second virial coefficient. The EOS also reproduces simulation data of mixtures with about 5% deviation in bubble point pressure. Extension to inhomogeneous systems and united-atom site types beyond those used in description of n-alkanes will be addressed in succeeding papers.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Homogeneous states in driven granular mixtures: Enskog kinetic theory versus molecular dynamics simulations

The homogeneous state of a binary mixture of smooth inelastic hard disks or spheres is analyzed. The mixture is driven by a thermostat composed by two terms: a stochastic force and a drag force proportional to the particle velocity. The combined action of both forces attempts to model the interaction of the mixture with a bath or surrounding fluid. The problem is studied by means of two independent and complementary routes. First, the Enskog kinetic equation with a Fokker-Planck term describing interactions of particles with thermostat is derived. Then, a scaling solution to the Enskog kinetic equation is proposed where the dependence of the scaled distributions φ{sub i} of each species on the granular temperature occurs not only through the dimensionless velocity c = v/v{sub 0} (v{sub 0} being the thermal velocity) but also through the dimensionless driving force parameters. Approximate forms for φ{sub i} are constructed by considering the leading order in a Sonine polynomial expansion. The ratio of kinetic temperatures T{sub 1}/T{sub 2} and the fourth-degree velocity moments λ{sub 1} and λ{sub 2} (which measure non-Gaussian properties of φ{sub 1} and φ{sub 2}, respectively) are explicitly determined as a function of the mass ratio, size ratio, composition, density, and coefficients of restitution. Second, to assess the reliability of the theoretical results, molecular dynamics simulations of a binary granular mixture of spheres are performed for two values of the coefficient of restitution (α = 0.9 and 0.8) and three different solid volume fractions (ϕ = 0.00785, 0.1, and 0.2). Comparison between kinetic theory and computer simulations for the temperature ratio shows excellent agreement, even for moderate densities and strong dissipation. In the case of the cumulants λ{sub 1} and λ{sub 2}, good agreement is found for the lower densities although significant discrepancies between theory and simulation are observed with increasing density.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Non-homogeneous solutions of a Coulomb Schrödinger equation as basis set for scattering problems

We introduce and study two-body Quasi Sturmian functions which are proposed as basis functions for applications in three-body scattering problems. They are solutions of a two-body non-homogeneous Schrödinger equation. We present different analytic expressions, including asymptotic behaviors, for the pure Coulomb potential with a driven term involving either Slater-type or Laguerre-type orbitals. The efficiency of Quasi Sturmian functions as basis set is numerically illustrated through a two-body scattering problem.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Homogenization limit for a multiband effective mass model in heterostructures

We study the homogenization limit of a multiband model that describes the quantum mechanical motion of an electron in a quasi-periodic crystal. In this approach, the distance among the atoms that constitute the material (lattice parameter) is considered a small quantity. Our model include the description of materials with variable chemical composition, intergrowth compounds, and heterostructures. We derive the effective multiband evolution system in the framework of the kp approach. We study the well posedness of the mathematical problem. We compare the effective mass model with the standard kp models for uniform and non-uniforms crystals. We show that in the limit of vanishing lattice parameter, the particle density obtained by the effective mass model, converges to the exact probability density of the particle.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗