Investigation of nuclear quantum effect on the hydrogen bonds of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate using single-crystal neutron diffraction and theoretical modelling

The heterostructure of patterned CdS / CdTe thin films with back contact have been devised with electron beam lithography and fabricated using sputter deposition technique. The metallic contacts for n-CdS and p-CdTe are patterned such that both are placed at the bottom of the cell. This avoids losses due to contact shading and increases absorption in the window layer. Patterning of the device surface helps in increasing the junction area which can modulate the absorption of more number of photons due to total internal reflection. Computing the surface area between a planar and a patterned device has revealed 133% increase in the junction area. The physical and optical properties of the sputter-deposited CdS / CdTe layers are also presented. J–V characteristics of the solar cell showed the fill factor to be 25.9%, open circuit voltage to be 17 mV and short-circuit current density to be \(113.68~\hbox {A}/\hbox {m}^{2}\). The increase in surface area is directly related to the increase in the short circuit current of the photovoltaic cell, which is observed from the results of simulated model in Atlas / Silvaco.     

Experimental study of the shock–bubble interaction with reshock

The interaction of a planar shock wave with a spherical density inhomogeneity is studied experimentally under reshock conditions. Reshock occurs when the incident shock wave, which has already accelerated the spherical bubble, reflects off the tube end wall and reaccelerates the inhomogeneity for a second time. These experiments are performed at the Wisconsin Shock Tube Laboratory, in a 9m-long vertical shock tube with a large square cross section (25.4×25.4 cm²). The bubble is prepared on a pneumatically retracted injector and released into a state of free fall. Planar diagnostic methods are used to study the bubble morphology after reshock. Data are presented for experiments involving two Atwood numbers (A = 0.17 and 0.68) and three Mach numbers (1.35 < M < 2.33). For the low Atwood number case, a secondary vortex ring appears immediately after reshock which is not observed for the larger Atwood number. The post-reshock vortex velocity is shown to be proportional to the incident Mach number, M, the initial Atwood number, A, and the incident shock wave speed, W _i.     

Enhancement of photocatalytic activity and regeneration of Fe-doped TiO2 (Ti1−xFexO2) nanocrystalline particles synthesized using inexpensive TiO2 precursor

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Fe-doped TiO2, Ti1?xFexO2 (x?=?0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09) photocatalysts with enhanced activity were synthesized via a...     

Free and forced finite amplitude oscillation of a spherical shell of radially isotropic elastic material

A spherical elastic shell with radial transverse isotropy is considered. The periods of finite amplitude radial oscillation of the shell have been obtained in two cases, namely (i) when both the surfaces of the shell are free from traction, and (ii) when the shell boundaries are uniformly loaded in such a way that the pressure difference between inner and outer surfaces is constant with respect to time. It is observed that for free oscillation to take place it is necessary to impose a new restriction on the strain energy function in addition to those already obtained for finite amplitude oscillation of an isotropic elastic shell. In the forced oscillation case however the required conditions are of the same form as in the corresponding case for isotropic media.     

Charged-particle multiplicity distributions in different rapidity windows in 800 GeV proton-nucleus interactions

Multiplicity distributions of charged particles produced in interactions of 800 GeV protons with emulsion nuclei in various rapidity windows are presented. The data is also analyzed separately for the forward and the backward hemispheres, for rapidity windows of different widths. It is found that the Negative Binomial Distribution (NBD) describes well the multiplicity distribution of secondary particles in various rapidity windows and also in both the hemispheres. We have compared the NBD parameters, in both the hemispheres, at 200 GeV and 360 GeV, with those at 800 GeV. The behaviour of NBD parameters in rapidity windows of different widths and for different targets has also been studied. Received: 30 August 2001 / Accepted: 28 January 2002     

Experimental investigation of a strongly shocked gas bubble

A free-falling, spherical, soap-film bubble filled with argon is subjected to a planar M=2.88 shock in atmospheric nitrogen; vorticity is deposited on the surface of the bubble during shock interaction, and the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability ensues. The geometrical development of the shocked bubble is diagnosed with laser sheet imaging and a planar slice showing two cross sections of both the major vortex ring and a secondary vortex ring is revealed experimentally for the first time. Quantitative measurements of the experimental data include the vortex velocity defect, and subsequent circulation calculations, along with a new set of relevant length scales. The shock wave strength, leading to a post-shock compressible regime, allows the study of the instability development in a regime between low Mach number shock tube experiments and high Mach number laser driven experiments that has not been investigated previously.     

First total synthesis of the 4a-methyltetrahydrofluorene diterpenoids (+/-)-dichroanal B and (+/-)-dichroanone

[reaction: see text] A simple synthesis of the 4a-methyltetrahydrofluorene diterpenoids (+/-)-dichroanal B and (+/-)-dichroanone has been achieved through a common hexahydrofluorenone intermediate obtained via Pd(0)-catalyzed reductive cyclization of a substituted 2-(2-bromobenzyl) methylene cyclohexane.