Computational efficient RCWA method for simulation of thin film solar cells

This paper presents a new implementation of the Fourier modal method to solve the Maxwell equations in nanostructured optoelectronic solid state devices such as thin-film solar cells. The proposed algorithm is suitable for structures with arbitrary spatial variation of the permittivity and it is based on an improved and computationally efficient approach that does not involve the calculation of eigenvalues. The two-dimensional (2-D) numerical simulator has been applied to model the light propagation in a thin film amorphous silicon solar cell in order to analyze the dependence of conversion efficiency on the morphology of the internal interfaces.     

Heterogeneous diffuse interfaces: A new mechanism for arrested coarsening in binary mixtures Heterogeneous diffuse interfaces

We discuss the dynamics of binary fluid mixtures in which surface tension density is allowed to become locally negative within the interface, while still preserving positivity of the overall surface tension (heterogeneous diffuse interface). Numerical simulations of two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau phase field equations implementing such mechanism and including hydrodynamic motion, show evidence of dynamically arrested domain coarsening. Under specific conditions on the functional form of the surface tension density, dynamical arrest can be interpreted in terms of the collective dynamics of metastable, non-linear excitations of the density field, named compactons, as they are localized to finite-size regions of configuration space and strictly zero elsewhere. Aside from compactons, the heterogeneous diffuse interface scenario appears to provide a robust mechanism for the interpretation of many aspects of soft-glassy behaviour in binary fluid mixtures.     

Sparse approximate inverse preconditioning for dense linear systems arising in computational electromagnetics

We investigate the use of sparse approximate inverse preconditioners for the iterative solution of linear systems with dense complex coefficient matrices arising in industrial electromagnetic problems. An approximate inverse is computed via a Frobenius norm approach with a prescribed nonzero pattern. Some strategies for determining the nonzero pattern of an approximate inverse are described. The results of numerical experiments suggest that sparse approximate inverse preconditioning is a viable approach for the solution of large-scale dense linear systems on parallel computers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the stability of geophysical flows

Summary The stability of the solution of two-dimensional stationary Euler equations for rotating flows with a constant Coriolis force is studied. An Arnold theorem in which some sufficient conditions for the stability are given was used for this purpose. This theorem can be applied to a large class of geophysical flows.

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Riassunto Si è studiata la stabilità delle soluzioni per le equazioni di Eulero stazionarie bidimensionali nel caso di un flusso in rotazione con una forza di Coriolis costante. A tal fine si è fatto uso di un teorema, dovuto ad Arnold, nel quale sono date le condizioni sufficienti per la stabilità del moto. Questo teorema può essere applicato ad una vasta classe di flussi geofisici.

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Work supported by a CNR grant. Progetto Finalizzato Oceanografia.     

Solution of linear systems from an optimal control problem arising in wind simulation

Several solution strategies for a class of large, sparse linear systems with a block 2 × 2 structure arising from the finite element discretization of an optimal control problem in wind simulation are introduced and analyzed. Block preconditioners and a sparse direct solver on the original coupled system are compared with a preconditioned GMRES iteration applied to a reduced system (Schur complement). Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the reduced system approach. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface roughness-hydrophobicity coupling in microchannel and nanochannel flows

An approach based on a lattice version of the Boltzmann kinetic equation for describing multiphase flows in nano- and microcorrugated devices is proposed. We specialize it to describe the wetting-dewetting transition of fluids in the presence of nanoscopic grooves etched on the boundaries. This approach permits us to retain the essential supramolecular details of fluid-solid interactions without surrendering--actually boosting--the computational efficiency of continuum methods. The method is used to analyze the importance of conspiring effects between hydrophobicity and roughness on the global mass flow rate of the microchannel. In particular we show that smart surfaces can be tailored to yield very different mass throughput by changing the bulk pressure. The mesoscopic method is also validated quantitatively against the molecular dynamics results of [Cottin-Bizonne, Nat. Mater. 2, 237 (2003)].     

Universality in passively advected hydrodynamic fields: the case of a passive vector with pressure

Universality of statistical properties of passive quantities advected by turbulent velocity fields at changing the passive forcing mechanism is discussed. In particular, we concentrate on the statistical properties of an hydrodynamic system with pressure. We present theoretical arguments and preliminary numerical results which show that the fluxes of passive vector field and of the velocity field have the same scaling behavior. By exploiting such a property, we propose a way to compute the anomalous exponents of three dimensional turbulent velocity fields. Our findings are in agreement within 5% with experimental values of the anomalous exponents. Received 4 July 2001     

On the reliability of a rapid method for the determination of90Sr in natural samples

A method for the rapid evaluation of⁹⁰Sr in environmental matrices has been developed. It is a one-day time-consuming procedure compared with 20–25 d of the traditional methods. It is based on a partial measurement of the sample activity and on data extrapolation. This work reports the methodology and its reliability.