A New Approach to Analysis of Polling Systems

In this paper, we consider polling systems with J stations with Poisson arrivals and general service distributions attended by a cyclic server. The service discipline at each station is either exhaustive or gated. We propose a new approach to analysis of the mean waiting times in the polling systems. The outline of our method is as follows. We first define the stochastic process Q that represents an evolution of the system state, and define three types of the performance measures W _i ,H _i and F _i , which are the expected waiting times conditioned on the system state. Then from the analysis of customers at polling instants, we find their linear functional expressions. The steady state average waiting times can be derived from the performance measures by simple limiting procedures. Their actual values can be obtained by solving J(J+1) linear equations.     

Iteration scheme for nondensely defined ordinary differential operator equation

An iteration scheme is given for constructing the unique least-squares solution of minimal norm for an ordinary differential operator equation. This operator is subject to generalized two- point boundary conditions and is nondensely defined. The convergence is established in a uniform topology.     

The monotonic property and stability of solutions of fractional differential equations

In this paper we improve on the monotone property of Lemma 1.7.3 in Lakshmikantham et al. (2009) [5] for the case g(t,u)=λu with a nonnegative real number λ. We also investigate the Mittag-Leffler stability of solutions of fractional differential equations by using the fractional comparison principle.     

Partial Geometric Difference Families

We introduce the notion of a partial geometric difference family as a variation on the classical difference family and a generalization of partial geometric difference sets. We study the relationship between partial geometric difference families and both partial geometric designs and difference families, and show that partial geometric difference families give rise to partial geometric designs. We construct several infinite families of partial geometric difference families using Galois rings and the cyclotomy of Galois fields. From these partial geometric difference families, we generate a list of infinite families of partial geometric designs and directed strongly regular graphs.     

Influence of SiNx:H film properties according to gas mixture ratios for crystalline silicon solar cells

The Hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiN_x:H) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is widely used in photovoltaic industry as an antireflection coating and passivation layer. In the high temperature firing process, the SiN_x:H film should not change the properties for its use as high quality surface layer in crystalline silicon solar cells. For optimizing surface layer in crystalline silicon solar cells, by varying gas mixture ratios (SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂, SiH₄ + NH₃, SiH₄ + N₂), the hydrogenated silicon nitride films were analyzed for its antireflection and surface passivation (electrical and chemical) properties. The film deposited with the gas mixture of SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂ showed the best properties in before and after firing process conditions.The single crystalline silicon solar cells fabricated according to optimized gas mixture condition (SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂) on large area substrate of size 156 mm × 156 mm (Pseudo square) was found to have the conversion efficiency as high as 17.2%. The reason for the high efficiency using SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂ is because of the good optical transmittance and passivation properties. Optimized hydrogenated silicon nitride surface layer and high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells fabrication sequence has also been explained in this study.     

Scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy probe for in situ mechanism study of graphene‐oxide‐based resistive random access memory

Here, an in situ probe for scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy (STXM) has been developed and applied to the study of the bipolar resistive switching (BRS) mechanism in an Al/graphene oxide (GO)/Al resistive random access memory (RRAM) device. To perform in situ STXM studies at the C K‐ and O K‐edges, both the RRAM junctions and the I₀ junction were fabricated on a single Si₃N₄ membrane to obtain local XANES spectra at these absorption edges with more delicate I₀ normalization. Using this probe combined with the synchrotron‐based STXM technique, it was possible to observe unique chemical changes involved in the BRS process of the Al/GO/Al RRAM device. Reversible oxidation and reduction of GO induced by the externally applied bias voltages were observed at the O K‐edge XANES feature located at 538.2 eV, which strongly supported the oxygen ion drift model that was recently proposed from ex situ transmission electron microscope studies.     

Minimizing makespan on a single burn-in oven in semiconductor manufacturing

This paper considers a scheduling problem for a single burn-in oven in semiconductor manufacturing industry where the oven is a batch processing machine and each batch processing time is represented by the largest processing time among those of all the jobs contained in the batch. The objective measure of the problem is the maximum completion time (makespan) of all jobs. This paper investigates a static case in which all jobs are available to process at time zero, and also analyzes a dynamic case with different job-release times, for which a branch-and-bound algorithm and several heuristics are exploited. The worst case error performance ratios of the heuristics are also derived.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis and photoluminescence of MMoO4 (M=Ca,Ba) particles via a metathetic reaction

MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were synthesized by a metathetic reaction in ethylene glycol assisted by cyclic microwave irradiation followed by further heat-treatment. The MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were well crystallized after heat-treatment at 400–600 °C for 3 h. The microstructures exhibited fine morphologies with sizes of 0.5–1 μm and 1.5–2 μm for the CaMoO₄ and BaMoO₄ particles, respectively. The synthesized MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The optical properties were examined by photoluminescence emission and Raman spectroscopy.     

Cobalt Based Nanoparticles Embedded Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

Efficient water electrolysis catalyst is highly demanded for the production of hydrogen as a sustainable energy fuel. It is reported that cobalt derived nanoparticle (CoS₂, CoP, CoS|P) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel catalysts for highly active and reliable hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. 7 nm level cobalt derived nanoparticles are synthesized over graphene aerogel surfaces with excellent surface coverage and maximal expose of active sites. CoS|P/rGO hybrid aerogel composites show an excellent catalytic activity with overpotential of ≈169 mV at a current density of ≈10 mA cm^?2. Accordingly, efficient charge transfer is attained with Tafel slope of ≈52 mV dec^?1 and a charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of ≈12 Ω. This work suggests a viable route toward ultrasmall, uniform nanoparticles decorated graphene surfaces with well‐controlled chemical compositions, which can be generally useful for various applications commonly requiring large exposure of active surface area as well as robust interparticle charger transfer.