The kinetics of the light-induced defect creation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon – Stretched exponential relaxation

Our model for light-induced defect creation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon is applied to its kinetics, i.e., the growing curve of light-induced dangling bond density as a function of illumination time, which is fitted to a stretched exponential function. Two parameters β and τ involved in the function are estimated as functions of saturated dangling bond density in terms of our model. These are compared with two experimental results, i.e., our results obtained from ESR measurements and Shimakawa et al.’s results obtained from photoconductivity measurements. The saturated dangling bond density is also measured as a function of the generation rate of free carriers. The experimental results are compared with calculated results and discussed.     

Multi-mode wave propagation in ribbed plates: Part I,wavenumber-space characteristics

This paper addresses the issue of energy propagation features in ribbed panels over a wide frequency range. First, a tool for estimating the wave propagation characteristics of one- and two-dimensional structures by k-space analysis is presented. This tool uses a concept of Inhomogeneous Wave Correlation with sparse measured or extracted data, and leads to the estimation of θ-dependent wavenumbers. Here, the method is employed with the sparse simulated and measured normal velocities of a set of ribbed panels and new insights into their k-space behavior are highlighted. Behavior is essentially characterized at low frequencies by structural orthotropy. Comparisons with homogenized data show very good agreement. At higher frequencies, a new behavior pattern is observed and explained both numerically and experimentally. This is a multi-modal waveguide type of propagation in a direction parallel to the ribs.     

Buckling of a stiff thin film on a compliant substrate in large deformation

A finite-deformation theory is developed to study the mechanics of thin buckled films on compliant substrates. Perturbation analysis is performed for this highly nonlinear system to obtain the analytical solution. The results agree well with experiments and finite element analysis in wavelength and amplitude. In particular, it is found that the wavelength depends on the strain. Based on the accurate wavelength and amplitude, the membrane and peak strains in thin films, and stretchability and compressibility of the system are also obtained analytically.     

Multi-layer thin films/substrate system subjected to non-uniform misfit strains

Current methodologies used for the inference of thin film stress through curvature measurement are strictly restricted to stress and curvature states that are assumed to remain uniform over the entire film/substrate system. These methodologies have recently been extended to a single layer of thin film deposited on a substrate subjected to the non-uniform misfit strain in the thin film. Such methodologies are further extended to multi-layer thin films deposited on a substrate in the present study. Each thin film may have its own non-uniform misfit strain. We derive relations between the stresses in each thin film and the change of system curvatures due to the deposition of each thin film. The interface shear stresses between the adjacent films and between the thin film and the substrate are also obtained from the system curvatures. This provides the basis for the experimental determination of thin film stresses in multi-layer thin films on a substrate.     

Application of the wavelet transform for a channel flow in a mixed convection phenomenon

The aim of this paper is to investigate laminar-turbulent transition in a mixed convection phenomenon occurring in a horizontal rectangular duct. Indeed, laminar-turbulent transition is well known in the case of forced convection but the presence of secondary flow induced by natural convection on this transition is not well highlighted. In this study, we will not be concerned by determining a critical threshold value of a Reynolds number of transition but only to estimate the degree of turbulence in the transition regime, i.e. weak turbulence in the case of a mixed convection phenomenon. This is possible thanks to the application of the wavelet transform. The calculation of the Hölder exponent, associated with the maximum value of the singularity spectrum for various experimental conditions allows the degree of turbulence to be measured. The variation of the Hölder exponent versus heat flux and Reynolds number enables us to show that there are two ways to go towards turbulence: thermal by increasing heat flux and hydrodynamic by increasing fluid velocity.     

Closed-form solutions for a rectangular layer with central crack under anti-plane shear stress

We consider the problem of determining the stress distributionin a finite rectangular elastic layer containing a Griffithcrack which is opened by internal shear stress acting alongthe length of the crack. The mode III crack is assumed to belocated in the middle plane of the rectangular layer. The followingtwo problems are considered: (A) the central crack is perpendicularto the two fixed lateral surfaces and parallel to the othertwo stress-free surfaces; (B) all the lateral surfaces of therectangular layer are clamped and the central crack is parallelto the two lateral surfaces. By using Fourier transformations,we reduce the solution of each problem to the solution of dualintegral equations with sine kernels and a weight function whichare solved exactly. Finally, we derive closed-form expressionsfor the stress intensity factor at the tip of the crack andthe numerical values for the stress intensity factor at theedges of the cracks are presented in the form of tables.     

Combined supercritical-fluid chromatography/mass spectrometry in the analysis of diuron in plasma using on-line phase-system switching

On-line sample pretreatment by means of the phase-system switching approach is an interesting technique for the analysis of aqueous samples, e.g., plasma, by means of supercritical-fluid chromatography. In order to analyse plasma samples the following analytical procedure is used. The plasma sample is injected on to a short precolumn, which is washed with water and subsequently dried with nitrogen. Next, the solutes are desorbed with the supercritical mobile phase, analysed with packed-column supercritical-fluid chromatography and detected with either a UV detector or a mass spectrometer, equipped with a moving-belt interface. The herbicide diuron is selected as a test compound to study the feasibility of this approach. Using a selective detector the procedure is sufficiently sensitive to detect diuron in plasma, but not appropriate to detect the diuron metabolites in a post-mortem plasma sample. These have been identified with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The detection limit of diuron in plasma using the procedure described is about 30 ng/mL.     

Characterization of thermal diffusion in polymer solutions by thermal field-flow fractionation: Dependence on polymer and solvent parameters

The thermal diffusion coefficient D_T has been obtained for 17 polymer-solvent combinations, each of them spanning a range of polymer molecular weights, using thermal field-flow fractionation. The polymers examined include polystyrene, poly(alpha-methyl)styrene, polymethylmethacrylate, and polysioprene. The solvents include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, tetrahydrofuran, methylethylketone, ethylacetate, and cyclohexane. Although D_T was confirmed as essentially independent of polymer molecular weight, it was found to vary substantially with the chemical composition of polymer and solvent. The results were used to evaluate several thermal diffusion theories; the agreement with theory was generally found to be unsatisfactory. Attempts were then made to correlate the measured thermal diffusion coefficients with various physicochemical parameters of the polymers and solvent. A good correlation was found in which D_T increases with the thermal conductivity difference of the polymer and solvent and varies inversely with the activation energy of viscous flow of the solvent.