A low-temperature high-pressure apparatus with a temperature control system

Abstract

A low-temperature high-pressure apparatus was designed using commercial cryogenic equipment. Pressures up to 1 GPa and temperatures down to 40 K can be obtained in a volume of up to 30 cm³. The apparatus is of the piston-cylinder type with a piston diameter of 45 mm, and the pressure can be varied at all temperatures, An adaptive temperature control system keeps the temperature inside the pressure cylinder constant to within ±0.1 K.     

Electronic structure of platinum at ultrahigh pressure

Abstract

Platinum is studied, theoretically, under very high compression. The calculated equation of state is found to agree well with the recent experimental data. At V/V₀ = 0.4, where V₀ is the experimental equilibrium volume, we find a transition from the face centered cubic structure (fcc), found at ambient pressure, to the body centered cubic structure (bcc). The calculated transition pressure is 26 Mbar. The stabilization of the bcc structure is explained by the eigen value sum.     

Eine Dichtigkeitsprüfanlage für Halbleiterbauelemente auf der Grundlage von 85Kr

Auf der Basis von ⁸⁵Kr wurde ein Prüfstand für die routinemäßge Dichtigkeitsprüfung von Halbleiterbauelementen entwickelt und gebaut. Die Anlage arbeitet mit einer Aktivkohlepumpe und ist für einen Maximaldruck ion 13 kp/cm² und eine Maximalaktivität von 40Ci⁸⁵Kr ausgelegt. Es werden einige theoretische Angaben zur Methode gemacht und der Auf ban sowie die Funktionsweise des Prüfstandes beschrieben. Die erhaltenen Ergebnisse werden mit denen anderer Methoden verglichen.     

Electron temperature and ion density measurements in a glow discharge of an Ar–N2 mixture

A DC glow discharge produced in N₂ gas can generate several species that are important in different applications, such as the modification of surface properties of materials. A low-pressure glow discharge apparatus was used for the the analysis of the Ar–N₂ mixture at a total pressure of 2.0 Torr, a power of 20 W and 40 l/min flow rate of gases. The emission bands were measured in the wavelength range of 200–1100 nm. The principal elements are N₂, N ₂⁺ and Ar I. The electron temperature was found in the range of 1.72–2.08 eV, and the ion density was in the order of 10¹⁰ cm^?3.     

The role of cool-flame chemistry in quasi-steady combustion and extinction of n-heptane droplets

Experiments on the combustion of large n-heptane droplets, performed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the International Space Station, revealed a second stage of continued quasi-steady burning, supported by low-temperature chemistry, that follows radiative extinction of the first stage of burning, which is supported by normal hot-flame chemistry. The second stage of combustion experienced diffusive extinction, after which a large vapour cloud was observed to form around the droplet. In the present work, a 770-step reduced chemical-kinetic mechanism and a new 62-step skeletal chemical-kinetic mechanism, developed as an extension of an earlier 56-step mechanism, are employed to calculate the droplet burning rates, flame structures, and extinction diameters for this cool-flame regime. The calculations are performed for quasi-steady burning with the mixture fraction as the independent variable, which is then related to the physical variables of droplet combustion. The predictions with the new mechanism, which agree well with measured autoignition times, reveal that, in decreasing order of abundance, H₂O, CO, H₂O₂, CH₂O, and C₂H₄ are the principal reaction products during the low-temperature stage and that, during this stage, there is substantial leakage of n-heptane and O₂ through the flame, and very little production of CO₂ with no soot in the mechanism. The fuel leakage has been suggested to be the source of the observed vapour cloud that forms after flame extinction. While the new skeletal chemical-kinetic mechanism facilitates understanding of the chemical kinetics and predicts ignition times well, its predicted droplet diameters at extinction are appreciably larger than observed experimentally, but predictions with the 770-step reduced chemical-kinetic mechanism are in reasonably good agreement with experiment. The computations show how the key ketohydroperoxide compounds control the diffusion-flame structure and its extinction.     

Acoustic timescale characterisation of symmetric and asymmetric multidimensional hot spots

In this work, two-dimensional hot spots are modelled by combining a linear temperature gradient with a constant temperature plateau. This approach retains the simplicity of a linear temperature gradient, but captures the effects of a local temperature maximum of finite size. Symmetric and asymmetric plateau regions are modelled using both rectangular and elliptical geometries. A one-step Arrhenius reaction for H₂–air is used to model the reactive mixture. Plateaus with different ratios of excitation to acoustic timescales, spanning two orders of magnitude, are simulated. Even with clear differences in behaviour between one and two dimensions, the a priori prescribed hot spot timescale ratio is shown to characterise the 2-D gasdynamic response. The relationship between one and two dimensions is explored using asymmetric plateau regions. It is shown that 1-D behaviour is recovered over a finite time. Furthermore, the duration of this 1-D behaviour is directly related to the asymmetry of the plateau.     

Design of high T g Zr-based metallic glasses using atomistic simulation and experiment

In this paper, we systematically investigate local atomic structures of Zr_100?x Al _x (0???x???72) alloys using molecular dynamics simulations. Radial distribution functions of Zr-Al configurations at 300 K indicate that Zr-Al metallic glasses form only when the Al atomic concentration is larger than 32%. Voronoi polyhedral analysis shows that Zr₄₀Al₆₀ has the highest fraction of ?0,0,12,0? icosahedra around Al atoms, which are characteristic of amorphous microstructures. Variations of thermal expansion coefficient and heat capacity of Zr_100?x Al _x (40???x???72) metallic glasses as a function of temperature from 1100 to 800?K reveal that Zr₄₀Al₆₀ has the highest transition temperature of 1008?K. To confirm the simulation results, Zr-Al metallic glasses were fabricated using co-sputtering deposition; differential scanning calorimetry testing suggests the highest crystallisation-onset temperature of above 920?K is within Zr_100?x Al _x where 43?<?x?<?61. The experimental finding is in a good agreement with the simulation predictions.     

Polycrystalline silicon films prepared by metal-induced crystallisation using pre- and post-deposited aluminium on amorphous silicon

We report on the successful fabrication of polycrystalline silicon films by aluminium-induced crystallisation (AIC) of Radio frequency (rf) plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposited (PECVD) a-Si films. The effects of annealing at different temperatures (300 and 400°C), below the eutectic temperature of the Si–Al binary system, on the crystallisation process have been studied. This work emphasises the important role of the position of the Al layer with respect to the Si layer on the crystallisation process. The properties of the crystallised films were characterised using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, ellipsometry, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). With an increase in the annealing temperature, it was found that the degree of crystallisation of annealed a-Si/Al and Al/a-Si films increased. The results showed that the arrangement where the Al was on top of the a-Si had a more prominent effect on crystallisation enhancement than when Al was below the a-Si. The interfacial layer between the Al and a-Si film is crucial because it influences the layer-exchange process during annealing. The oxide layer formed between the Al and the a-Si layers greatly retards the crystallisation process in the case of the Al/Si arrangement. Our investigations suggest that polycrystalline Si films formed by AIC can be used as a seed layer in solar cell fabrication.     

Temperature Measurement in Small-Scale Flows with Digital Moiré Deflectometry

Abstract

This article explores the potential of Moiré deflectometry for measuring the temperature field in quasi-two-dimensional small scale flows. The research shows that digital Moiré deflectometry combined with two-dimensional Fourier transform for phase map extraction constitutes a useful diagnostic tool for acquiring the fluid temperature with sufficient sensibility and spatial resolution in small two-dimensional or axisymmetric arrangements with negligible pressure variations. The results obtained in the thermal boundary layer of a flat plate are in good agreement with both thermocouple measurements and numerical results.