Formation of electric discharges above the free surface of a current-carrying liquid

The study is devoted to analysis of the formation of high-current electric discharges developing above the free surface of a liquid metal, deformed as a result of the interaction of the electric current passing through the liquid metal with the intrinsic magnetic field. We report on the electric characteristics of discharges and parameters of their initiation, consider the patterns of deformation of the free surface and the formation of electric discharges, describe the processes occurring in the system, and discuss the mechanism of cyclic formation of discharges above the liquid metal surface.     

Operating characteristics of a segmented hollow cathode over a widepressure range

A segmented hollow cathode has been designed, constructed and operated over a wide pressure range from 1 mbar to 200 mbar to determine optimum operating characteristics for a series of unique applications. The device is designed for use as a plasma source for molecular gas lasers operating in the UV and visible spectra. The cathode consists of 1 mm thick nickel disks and 0.1 mm tungsten foil disk segments stacked alternately, forming a cylindrical geometry on its outer surface and a near-spherical geometry inside. The tungsten foil disk inner diameters vary along the longitudinal axis of the cathode. With this special geometric arrangement one hollow cathode structure is embedded within another. The spacing between the segments (tungsten foil disks) creates one hollow cathode geometry, and the spherical geometry formed by the inner diameter of the segments is a second hollow cavity. This design permits one to operate the device at an expanded pressure range. The device's voltage and current characteristics are studied at different operating pressures and the optimum operating parameters such as pressure, voltage, current, and foil thickness are investigated. Helium, argon or a helium-argon mixture is used as the fill gas throughout the series of experiments     

The time evolution of the resistances and inductances of thedischarges in a pulsed gas laser through its current waveforms

In the present work, the time-dependent resistances and inductances of the electric discharges in a pulsed gas laser are revealed through the current waveforms of the circuit. This can be achieved combining step-by-step the experimental current waveforms with the current differential equations of the system. Thus, digitizing the signal, the derivative is calculated through a computer. For a certain time instant, substituting the values of the current and its derivative into the integrodifferential equations describing the performance of the circuit loops, we form relationships which connect the values of the resistance and inductance for this particular time instant. Combining relationships originating from very close adjacent time instants, the values of the resistances and inductances can be found. Scanning the entire time region of the discharges, the time dependence of the resistances and inductances of the discharges are revealed. Their behavior shows an abrupt drop for the resistances and a sharp peak for the inductances, both during the “formation phase”. After that, the above characteristic quantities fluctuate slowly around constant values. The sharp drop of the resistances was expected, bearing in mind that the number of the charges increases dramatically through the electron avalanche multiplication during the first few nanoseconds, causing the abrupt reduction of the resistances. On the other hand, the sharp peak of the inductances was unexpected. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that the plasma undergoes a temporary constriction which is due to the predominant attractive magnetic forces during the “formation phase” of the discharge     

垂直耦合自组织InAs双量子点中激子能的计算

在有效质量近似条件下研究了垂直耦合的自组织InAs/GaAs量子点的激子态.在绝热近似条件下，采用传递矩阵方法计算了电子和空穴的能谱.通过哈密顿量矩阵的对角化，对电子和空穴间的库仑相互作用进行了精确处理.讨论了两量子点间的垂直距离对激子基态能的影响.从基态波函数概率分布的角度，讨论了激子的束缚能.计算了重空穴和轻空穴激子的基态能随外部垂直磁场变化的函数关系.计算了量子点大小（量子点半径）对激子能的影响. 关键词： 量子点 激子 对角化     

Disks around young stellar objects

By 1939, when Chandrasekhar’s classic monograph on the theory of Stellar Structure was published, although the need for recent star formation was fully acknowledged, no one had yet recognized an object that could be called a star in the process of being born. Young stellar objects (YSOs), as pre-main-sequence stars, were discovered in the 1940s and 1950s. Infrared excess emission and intrinsic polarization observed in these objects in the 1960s and 1970s indicated that they are surrounded by flattened disks. The YSO disks were seen in direct imaging only in the 1980s. Since then, high-resolution optical imaging with HST, near-infrared adaptive optics on large ground-based telescopes, mm and radiowave interferometry have been used to image disks around a large number of YSOs revealing disk structure with ever-increasing detail and variety. The disks around YSOs are believed to be the sites of planet formation and a few such associations have now been confirmed. The observed properties of the disk structure and their evolution, that have very important consequences for the theory of star and planet formation, are discussed.     

Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study of the interface chemistry between ultra-thin a-C overcoat and the magnetic layer on magnetic thin film disks

Ultra-thin amorphous carbon (a-C) overcoats of different thicknesses were sputtered on magnetic thin-film disks. The chemistry at the interface of the carbon overcoat and the magnetic layer was studied using Angle-Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (ARXPS). For a-C overcoats thinner than 20 Å, the interface was found to consist of metal carbides, metal oxides, and carbon–metal–oxygen complexes, most likely carbonyls. In marked contrast, a clean transition from metals to carbon with thin metal carbides at the interface was found for the 40 Å a-C overcoat. The evolution of the C 1s, Co 2p, Ta 4f, and O 1s spectra as a function of carbon thickness and polar angle suggests that the carbon films form in a layer-by-layer fashion. The oxygen from the ambient can diffuse through carbon films when the carbon thickness is ≤20 Å, and leads to the formation of metal oxides and carbonyls at the carbon–metal interface. Overlayer thickness of ∼40 Å effectively inhibits oxygen diffusion and thus leaves the magnetic layer fully intact. This ∼40 Å carbon thickness points to a required minimum coverage necessary to maintain a functionally viable magnetic hard disk as well as other systems that use carbon overcoats on polished metal substrates.     

On the Polishing Effect of Nanosecond Discharges in Vacuum

When a metal surface in ultra high vacuum is subjected to electric discharges with a sufficiently short duration the surface becomes perfectly smooth. This polishing is caused by the inertia of the molten metal within a cathode spot that prevents the formation of a crater by acceleration of the liquid. The present paper reports an investigation of this phenomenon in dependence on the discharge parameters. The effect was found to be determined by the pulse duration, it occurs with pulses of less than 10 nanoseconds. But also long discharges of 500 ns show a polishing if the current rise rate is below a critical value (0.5 — 1 A/ns), depending on the cathode material. Thus long discharges consist of elementary steps of about 10 ns duration, in accordance with the formation time of cathode craters. The polishing effect causes an abrupt decrease of the breakdown probability of rectangular high voltage pulses from one to zero at a critical pulse duration.     

Change in the electrical resistance of the metallic composite material-steel contact under friction and electric current

The I–V characteristics of the sliding contact of metallic composites of grade 45 steel without a lubricant are presented. Steel-based composites are shown to increase the actual electric-contact area due to the appearance of electric discharges, which provide the main passage of an electric current with a density up to 300 A/cm². Copper-based composites cannot initiate electric-discharge conduction because of the fracture of the contact zone material at a current density higher than 50 A/cm². The electrical resistivity of the contact layer of metallic composites is calculated. It is found that, during friction with a high current density, the electrical resistivity of the contact layer approaches the electrical resistivity of graphite. It is experimentally shown that the actual electric-contact area can be increased by the introduction of a Pb-Sn melt into the friction zone and reaching a current density higher than 300 A/cm² in the contact.     

Investigation of anode and cathode jets influence on electric arc properties with current up to 500 kA

A number of phenomena connected with the formation of electrode jets in discharges in hydrogen at a current of 10/sup 5/-10/sup 6/ A, a current growth rate of 10/sup 10/ A/s, an initial pressure 0.1-4.0 MPa, and a discharge gap length of 5-40 mm were studied. After the secondary breakdown, the jets are observed through a discharge semitransparent channel, widening with velocity (4-7) /spl middot/ 10/sup 2/ m/s. Shockwave formation was detected at the interaction of jets with the surrounding gas and the opposite electrode. Plasma vapor pressure of metal near the end of the tungsten cathode 70 /spl mu/s after initiation of a discharge was 180 MPa. Thus, magnitude of brightness temperature was 59 /spl middot/ 10/sup 3/ K, with an average charge of ions-m~=3.1, and a concentration of metal vapors n=5.3/spl middot/10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/. While those at the end of the anode 90 /spl mu/s after initiation of discharge: m~=2.6, n=7.4/spl middot/10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/. Probable reasons of high-voltage drops near the electrodes (the summarized magnitude of which is /spl sim/1 kV) are discussed on the basis of experimental data. For the first time, the shadow method registered symmetric ejection of material from the all-cathode surface the maximum discharge current was observed.     

Future solar systems

Widely regarded as pathological variable stars – with erratic photometric and spectroscopic behavior of unknown physical origin – 20 years ago, T Tauri stars (TTSs) turned out in the last decade to be promising laboratories for observing the formation of solar systems such as ours. This is because circumstellar, presumably protoplanetary disks were found to surround a large fraction of them. While evidence for disks was primarily indirect until 1995, recent high resolution imaging confirmed earlier claims that the infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) excesses seen in the spectral energy distribution (SED) of these stars were due to disk emission. The activity displayed by young stellar objects at all wavelengths is due to the interaction between the circumstellar disk and the magnetized star and to non-stationary accretion/ejection phenomena. In this review, we briefly summarize properties of these young solar-type stars and describe their circumstellar disks in some detail, focusing on current optical, infrared and millimeter high angular resolution observations that now allow us to resolve the disks.     

年轻恒星形成过程的分子谱线诊断

恒星是宇宙的基本天体,理解恒星的起源和早期演化是天体物理最有举的课题之一,目前了解的恒星形成的一个基本图象是,恒星是由一个足够大质量的星际分子气体云在其其自引力作用下塌缩而形成。在早期塌缩过程中形成一颗原恒星（胚胎）,并且伴随该原恒星的吸积盘,原恒星吸积星际介质中的分子物质,通过吸积盘转移到原恒星表面,原恒星的质量随着增大。在吸积过程中也同时伴随物质向外的剧烈喷发,由于盘的存在,这种喷发通常沿垂直于盘的方向进行,出现双极的空间分布。在天文观测上,一种典型的表现是分子气体的外向流,观测表现为从原恒星双极的红蓝移气体运动^[1]。由于恒星形成了星际分子中,因此,对星际分子的谱线探测是研究恒星形成的强有力手段,现在已经发现和证认的星际分子总数有一百多种,其中丰富度最高的气体是H2。在所有的星际分子中,丰度仅次于H2的CO分子的转动跃迁谱易激发,相对于星际介质的不透明度小,观测上易于实现,因此,CO分子就成为探索原恒星形成的有力探针,在毫米波段出现的J＝1－0和J＝2－1跃迁变线以及CO同位素的谱线是最常使用的观测探针,八十年代以来又陆续发现了环形分子SiC2,C3H,C3H2及含磷分子PN和CN等,给宇宙中有机世界的探测提供了丰富的线索。我们对恒形成区内存在的低温原恒星天体进行毫米 波射电谱线观测,测量该原恒星周围分子气体的分布,其物理化学参数,以及速度场分布。根据这些测量结果并运用成熟的数量方法,分析正在发生的物理化学过程,特别是原恒星质量外流的过程。根据观测分析结果得出所观测天体的形成和演化状况。     

Influence of strain on the magneto-exciton in single and coupled InP/GaInP quantum disks

We investigated theoretically the influence of strain on the exciton in both single and three vertically coupled self-assembled quantum dot systems in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. For the single disk, we find that the heavy-hole exciton is the ground state, while for the system of three stacked disks, the light hole state was found to be lower in energy. Results for the diamagnetic shift were compared with experimental results.     

Arc erosion reduction on electrical contacts using transversecurrent injection

Electrical contact lifetime is often directly determined by arc erosion. A method for reducing are erosion was developed consisting of injecting from an external current source an additional electrical current flowing parallel to the contact surface. This method was examined in three are environments using the additional transverse electrical current with a density less than 1 A/mm²: 1) automobile ignition contacts; 2) pulsed air arc; and 3) low pressure (P=100 mTorr) arc in nitrogen, SEM and X-ray examination showed that application of a transverse current in a contact during arcing changed the phase composition and microstructure of the contact surface. Under optimal conditions, the microstructure which is formed is significantly more erosion resistant than without the transverse current injection     

Eddy-current loss in a rotating magnetic field

The eddy-current loss is calculated for nonferromagnetic disks in a rotating magnetic field. The power loss is found as a function of the magnetic field intensity, the field rotation velocity, and the disk dimensions. The eddy-current loss was measured experimentally in rotating fields in copper, aluminum, and zinc disks; a good agreement was found with the calculated values.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 38–42, January, 1971.     

Dynamic Superposition and Levitation Capability of Two Confronting Ultrasonic Waves

The superposition dynamics of two confronting ultrasonic waves and their levitation capability for centimeter-sized thin disks are investigated by numerical analyses and validated by experiments. The sound pressure simulation reveals that two opposite ultrasonic waves provide a more effective standing-wave field than a single ultrasonic wave when the diameter of disk-shaped object approaches the wavelength scale. The dynamic superposition of two confronting beams facilitates the acoustic levitation of the clay disk and aluminum disk with diameters of 0.97 and 0.90. The acoustic radiation forces exerting on these thin disks are measured experimentally, which exhibit a better levitation stability for the centimeter-sized thin disks. The equilibrium levitation positions of the two disks are located near the sound pressure node, and the maximum acoustic radiation pressure on their surfaces is less than one percent of the maximum sound pressure.     

Measurement of ion parameters during a forced switching off ofcurrent in vacuum

This paper presents the results of ion parameters measured during a forced current commutation of a diffuse vacuum arc, aimed at evaluating the role of ions in discharges occurring rarely after the counterpulse commutation process, in a contact arrangement corresponding to a low-voltage vacuum switch. A sinusoidal half-wave current was interrupted near its amplitude of 400 A with a counterpulse of rise velocities 2.4 and 32 A/μs. In this way, a forced switching off of dc current was modeled. A retarding field analyzer was used for ion parameter measurements at the forced commutation process. Ion potentials up to 100 V were measured at the current zero moment, and the average decay times of ions after current zero were in the range from a few microseconds up to 30 μs as a function of observed ion potential. The measured values of decay times show the rather negligible role of ions in the discharge process after the counterpulse commutation in the examined contact arrangement. The rise time of the countercurrent is proposed as a factor in the successful forced current commutation under these conditions, and values up to a few amperes per microsecond of countercurrent rise velocity can be considered as the limit value     

Disk-type Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic lasers pumped by arc-metal-halide-lamp

We observed the lasing of highly sensitized Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic disks that use artificial solar radiation pumping. The disk material can be used for high power multi-stage amplifiers pumped by lamplight or sunlight because of its scalability and ability to handle high power densities. A maximum output power of 86 mW was experimentally obtained, and this value correlated well with the calculated results. A small signal gain of 1.9 was obtained, and the estimated stored energy was 0.6 J/cm³, which is three or four times higher than that from a Nd:YAG medium.     

On the role of tunneling in metal-semiconductor nanocontacts

The shape of the contact potential that arises at the interface between semiconductor and a metal nanoparticle is calculated in the approximation of complete depletion. The particle represents a sphere of radius a?S, where S is the thickness of the depletion layer in the semiconductor in the case of an infinite plane contact with the metal. A WKB approximation is applied to develop a theory of thermal-field current transfer through such a contact. It is shown that, as the radius of the metal nanoparticle decreases, the component of thermal field emission current plays an increasing role in the current transfer, while the backward current density increases and may become comparable to the density of forward current. In this case, the current-voltage characteristics (CVCs) become more symmetric.     

Study of the effects of the prefilled-plasma parameters on theoperation of a short-conduction plasma opening switch

Spectroscopic methods are used to determine the density, the temperature, the composition, the injection velocity, and the azimuthal uniformity of the flashboard-produced prefilled plasma in an 85-ns, 200-kA plasma opening switch (POS). The electron density is found to be an order of magnitude higher than that obtained by charge collectors, which are commonly used to determine the density in such POSs, suggesting that the density in short conduction POS's is significantly higher than is usually assumed. We also find that the plasma is mainly composed of protons. The spectroscopically measured plasma parameters are used here to calculate the conduction currents at the time of the opening predicted by various theoretical models for the POS operation. Comparison of these calculated currents to the measured currents indicates that the plasma behavior during conduction is governed either by plasma pushing or by magnetic-field penetration and less by sheath widening near the cathode, as described by existing models. Also, the conduction current mainly depends an the prefilled electron density and less on the plasma flux, which is inconsistent with the predictions of the erosion (four-phase) model for the switch operation. Another finding is that a better azimuthal uniformity of the prefilled plasma density shortens the load-current rise time     

Experimental study of vibrational behavior of laminated annular disks

The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study of the vibrational behavior of laminated annular disks, and effects of laminations on the vibrations of the disks. The vibrations of a series of solid annular disks were calculated using the finite-element method in order to provide a basis for comparison with experimental data. An extensive range of experiments was performed on both a series of solid disks and a series of laminated disks under a range of normal clamping pressures. Based on the calculated and experimental results, it was found that the vibrational behavior of the laminated disks was dominated by that of the individual disk, of which the laminated disks were composed. Laminations had great effects on the vibrational behavior of the laminated disks and the effects depended upon the mode type, the clamping pressure, and the number of disk assembly. Laminations increased damping and reduced the amplitude of frequency response function for both the transverse modes and in-plane modes of disks. The resonant frequency of transverse modes shifted higher because of the effects of laminations. For the in-plane vibrational modes, the effects on the resonant frequency could be neglected and the resonant frequency could be considered to be a constant.