ROOM TEMPERATURE LIGHT-THERMO-DETECTOR MADE OF HIGH-Tc SUPERCONDUCTOR

Based on the anisotropic Seebeck tensor coefficients, a light-thermo-radiation detector made of high-T_c superconductor (YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ) was fabricated, which can function at room temperature. The induced voltaic signals at various modulation frequencies for radiation from He-Ne laser and from a 500 K black body were measured. The noise ratio for detecting He-Ne laser radiation and the D^* for black body were evaluated. Compared with bolometer made of high-T_c superconductor which functions at liquid nitrogen, and with pyroelectric detector, it was found that the advantages of this new device are that the device can work at room temperature with very low noise and very fast response. Although having a lower D^* value than that of bolometer for the present device construction, we point out the possibility and the direction for improving the D^* value, hence the promising prospect of this kind of device.     

A search for fractional electric charge in sea water

The magnetic levitation technique has been used to test for fractional electric charge in sea water, using steel balls coated with sea water residue by evaporation. The objective was to reach concentration levels below 1 g^?1 which might result from cosmic ray interactions. Four stages of increasing sensitivity are reported: (1) residue from direct evaporation of unprocessed sea water, (2) residue from sea water samples enriched by ion exchangen, (3) residue reduced by high temperature evaporation, and (4) hypothetical enrichment by dilution and separation of soluble residue. Stages 1–3 are based on the generally accepted preferential retention of fractional charge during evaporation, but stage 4 limits are subject to uncertainties in the enrichment process. No evidence for fractional charge was found in a total of about 130 samples tested in these four stages. Samples containing positive and negative ions were tested separately, and concentration limits are reported for each of the stages. Levels in the region 0.01–0.1g^?1 were reached in stage 3, and 0.001 g^?1 in stage 4.     

Electron screening in backward elastic scattering

Abstact: The elastic scattering cross sections, σ (E,θ), for the systems He+Ta and He+W have been measured at θ_lab=165° and E _lab=76.1 keV to 3.988 MeV using targets with a thickness of a few atomic layers. The results are smaller than the results given by the Rutherford scattering law, σ_R(E,θ), due to the effects of electron screening and can be described by σ(E,θ)/σ_R(E,θ)=(1+U_e/E)⁻¹, where U _e is an atomic screening potential energy. The deduced average value, U _e=28 ± 3 keV, is consistent with the Moliére- and Lenz-Jensen-models as well as electron binding energies. Received: 25 May 1998     

An analytical model for a screen evaluation of the environmental impact from a single point source

Summary A screening model (CISP) is presented for the calculation of maximum predicted concentrations from a single point source, which is particularly useful in situations where on-site meteorological measurements are limited or unavailable. CISP utilizes an analytical solution of the advection diffusion equation which is non-Gaussian in form. CISP performance in evaluating maximum ground-level concentrations was compared with that of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulatory PTPLU2 Gaussian model.