Potential distribution in ferroelectric ceramic during pulsed exoelectron emission

The potential and polarization distributions in a planar emitting layer of PLZT-9/65/35 ferroelectric ceramic with a set of conductive strip electrodes on the emitting side and a continuous electrode on the opposite side are studied by numerical methods. The state arising immediately after polarization switching at the leading edge of an applied voltage pulse (i.e., before the polarization charges are screened by free charges) is considered. When the pulsed field strength far exceeds the double coercive field, regions with alternating polarization are found to form in the surface layer between the strips. The normal component of the polarization at its maxima is close to saturation. The electric field on both sides of the surface varies as the polarization vector and reaches 200 kV/cm. At surface microirregularities, the electric field strength is much higher. This means that field emission is responsible for electron escape from the ferroelectric ceramic during pulsed polarization switching.     

Numerical simulation of silane decomposition in an RF plasma

A model of silane decomposition in a radio-frequency argon plasma is constructed. The concentrations of SiH₄ decomposition products, as well as products of synthesis (higher silanes), are calculated. The role of metastable argon atoms in the formation of SiH₃ radicals and the higher silanes is analyzed.     

Time-Cost Trade-Off Analysis in Some Constrained Assignment Problems

Several variations of two-dimensional (workers x jobs) and three-dimensional (workers x jobs x machines) time- as well as cost-minimizing assignment problems, which arise owing to (i) precedence relations of some form among the jobs or (ii) capacity restrictions on workers/machines imposed by the requirement that the surplus resources have to be fully employed, have been considered in the literature. In this paper, an algorithm is presented for time-cost trade-off analysis which is applicable to any general pair of such constrained problems. The algorithm is also illustrated by a numerical example.     

Element Pools and Numeric Coprocessors for Linear Programming on Personal Computers

This note discusses the need to use various data-compaction schemes in the implementation of sophisticated large-scale linear programming codes on modest personal computers. It demonstrates a method whereby the overhead of using these schemes is significantly reduced on Intel 80 x 86 processors.     

Measurable,nonleavable gambling problems

The optimal return function for a Borel measurable gambling problem with a bounded utility function was shown by Strauch (1967) to be universally measurable when the problem is leavable in the sense that the gambler may terminate play at any time. The same is shown here for the more general class of nonleavable problems. Research supported by National Science Foundation Grant DMS-8801085.     

Ultrasonic evaluation of anisotropic damage in multiaxially textile-reinforced thermoplastic composites made from hybrid yarns

The basic damage and failure models of multiaxially reinforced composites with a thermoplastic matrix are presented and verified. Within the framework of continuum damage mechanics, a phenomenological model is introduced, where the damage is defined as a change in the elasticity tensor. For damage identification, a specific ultrasonic device was developed. A combination of an immersion set-up and a contact coupling device formed a system for an efficient determination of stiffness-tensor components from convenient sets of velocity measurements. Linked to a tensile machine, it allowed us to measure the anisotropic damage of the new materials group caused by tensile loading. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 221–234, March–April, 2006.     

Ion implantation induced by Cu ablation at high laser fluence

High energy laser plasma-produced Cu ions have been implanted in silicon substrates placed at different distances and angles with respect to the normal to the surface of the ablated target. The implanted samples have been produced using the iodine high power Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) using 438 nm wavelength irradiating in vacuum a Cu target. The high laser pulse energy (up to 230 J) and the short pulse duration (400 ps) produced a non-equilibrium plasma expanding mainly along the normal to the Cu target surface. Time-of-flight (TOF) technique was employed, through an electrostatic ion energy analyzer (IEA) placed along the target normal, in order to measure the ion energy, the ion charge state, the energy distribution and the charge state distribution. Ions had a Boltzmann energy distributions with an energy increasing with the charge state. At a laser fluence of the order of 6 × 10⁶ J/cm², the maximum ion energy was about 600 keV and the maximum charge state was about 27+.In order to investigate the implantation processes, Cu depth profiles have been performed with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) of 1.5 MeV helium ions, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) with 3 keV electron beam and 1 keV Ar sputtering ions in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface analysis results indicate that Cu ions are implanted within the first surface layers and that the ion penetration ranges are in agreement with the ion energy measured with IEA analysis.     

Loss in a rectangular optical waveguide induced by the crossover of a second waveguide

We calculate the loss induced in a single-mode rectangular optical waveguide by the presence of a second waveguide, perpendicular to the first, which crosses over the first waveguide at a variable distance d. Our calculation is applied to the analysis of several doped silica waveguides of practical importance for optical circuit design.     

Plasticity field adjacent to faces of asperities on a rotating roll after initial indentation into a half-space

The plastic deformation field near the horizontal surface of a half space of perfectly plastic material associated with an indenting rotating rigid tooth is studied using slip line theory. The tooth is one of many on a roll surface and indents first into the half-space material and then rotates about the roll center. A slip line field is proposed for the deforming plastic region and a solution scheme is outlined. The emphasis is on determining the shape of the deforming region, especially that of the free surface. The study has a potential application in roughness transfer in metal forming processing.