Some Mathematical Reasoning on the Artificial Force Induced Reaction Method

There are works of the Maeda–Morokuma group, which propose the artificial force induced reaction (AFIR) method (Maeda et al., J. Comput. Chem. 2014, 35, 166 and 2018, 39, 233). We study this important method from a theoretical point of view. The understanding of the proposers does not use the barrier breakdown point of the AFIR parameter, which usually is half of the reaction path between the minimum and the transition state which is searched for. Based on a comparison with the theory of Newton trajectories, we could better understand the method. It allows us to follow along some reaction pathways from minimum to saddle point, or vice versa. We discuss some well-known two-dimensional test surfaces where we calculate full AFIR pathways. If one has special AFIR curves at hand, one can also study the behavior of the ansatz. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determination of Arsenic by Hydride Generation—Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: Characterization of Interelement Interferences

In this study, interelement interferences were evaluated for the determination of arsenic in aqueous samples through laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) hyphenated with a hydride generation sample introduction system. Optimum instrumental and chemical parameters were selected and variation in LIBS signal intensity was recorded for As solution in the presence of comparable concentrations of interfering elements. No significant change in the signal intensity of As(I) 228.8?nm line was observed in the presence of alkali/alkali earth metals; however, the presence of hydride-forming elements has shown a noticeable decrease in the line emission strength of arsenic. The least variation in arsenic signal was observed in the presence of Ge, the most volatile of all. However, the signal has decreased to a greater extent in the presence of Sn, Sb, and Pb. The presence of interfering elements on electron temperature and electron number density of arsenic plasma has also been studied. Plasma temperatures calculated using both As and Ar emission lines in the Boltzmann equation were similar, being around 5000?K. The McWhirter criterion for stationary and homogenous plasmas was utilized for the establishment of the local thermodynamic equilibrium under the plasma conditions studied. Applicability of the technique for multielemental analysis of water samples was tested through spiking experiments. Arsenic signal showed 26% decrease in the multielemental mixture solution. LIBS is among a few atomic spectroscopic techniques that facilitate rapid and simultaneous multielemental analysis without extensive sample preparation steps. However, the analytical performance of the technique still requires more serious efforts to compete with other conventional techniques for routine analysis of environmental samples.     

Progress in Research and Application of Micro-Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The technique of micro-laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (μLIBS) usually refers to analyzing the surface of the sample using a compact focused laser beam in the optical microscope range. Compared to conventional laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), it can provide more abundant form, structure, and content information on a smaller, less sample condition. Hence, the application field is very wide. In this paper, the basic status of μLIBS in the selection of laser source and the structure of optical path system is introduced, and its application in metal, semiconductor, animal and plant fields is reviewed. The existing problems and potential development direction is pointed out.     

Review of Laser-Induced Plasma,Its Mechanism,and Application to Quantitative Analysis of Hydrogen and Deuterium

Abstract

A comprehensive review of important progress achieved over the last 30 years regarding knowledge of laser-induced plasmas generated by CO₂ and Nd:YAG lasers in a variety of ambient gases is presented in this article, as well as research results on the extension of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for quantitative analysis of light elements, especially hydrogen and deuterium. First, the formation of shock wave–induced expanding secondary plasma in low-pressure ambient gases is discussed along with the dynamic characteristics of the secondary plasma expansion process. The unique advantages of low-pressure gas plasma are explained in relation to the successful detection of the sharp H and D emission lines. The experimental results using helium ambient gas are presented with emphasis on the role of He gas plasma in introducing an additional delayed excitation mechanism involving the helium metastable excited state, which resulted in the complete resolution of H and D emission lines, separated by only 0.18 nm. The development of a laser precleaning treatment and special double-pulse techniques further produced a linear calibration line with zero intercept applicable to quantitative H and D analyses of zircaloy sample, with either low- or high-pressure ambient He gas. More recent use of a transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO₂ laser in place of an Nd:YAG laser has demonstrated the much desired larger excited helium plasma and thereby resulted in significant emission enhancement and improved detection sensitivity.     

The Role of the Field Emission Effect in the Breakdown Mechanism of Direct‐Current Helium Discharges in Micrometer Gaps

This paper contains results of experimental studies of the direct current breakdown voltage curves and volt‐ampere characteristics of discharges generated in a system consisting of two plane‐parallel tungsten and molybdenum electrodes at separations from 100 µ m to 1 µ m. The measurements were performed in the pressure range from 22.5 Torr to 738 Torr. The results are presented in the form of Paschen curves. Based on the measured breakdown voltage curves, the effective yields have been estimated in the case of different cathode materials. Differences between them are attributed to the influence of the work function of the cathode material on the current‐voltage characteristics due to field emission effect in small gaps and high pressures. At low‐pressures, however, vaporation of impurities from the electrodes material becomes significant. The present paper delivers new data on DC breakdown under these experimental conditions and conditions on the validity of the Paschen law in helium and provides better insight into the role of the field emission and the electrode materials on the breakdown voltage. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bombarding insulating foils with highly energetic ions

Insulating (MYLAR), semi-insulating (MYLAR-Au) and conducting foils have been bombarded by very energetic 64 MeV u^{?1 78}Kr³²⁺ ions. The velocity spectra of fast electrons emitted in the backward and forward directions have been measured and analyzed as a function of the elapsed time in the run. A shift of binary encounter and convoy electrons emitted in the forward direction toward lower velocities has been observed with insulating targets. No such shift occurs with metallic targets. The surface potential evolves with time (i.e. ion fluence) both at forward and backward emission angle. It is shown that strong bulk charging of insulating targets leads to a positive potential as high as 9 kV before charge breakdown.     

Effect of driver over-acceleration on traffic breakdown in three-phase cellular automaton traffic flow models

Based on simulations with cellular automaton (CA) traffic flow models, a generic physical feature of the three-phase models studied in the paper is disclosed. The generic feature is a discontinuous character of driver over-acceleration caused by a combination of two qualitatively different mechanisms of over-acceleration: (i) Over-acceleration through lane changing to a faster lane, (ii) over-acceleration occurring in car-following without lane changing. Based on this generic feature a new three-phase CA traffic flow model is developed. This CA model explains the set of the fundamental empirical features of traffic breakdown in real heterogeneous traffic flow consisting of passenger vehicles and trucks. The model simulates also quantitative traffic pattern characteristics as measured in real heterogeneous flow.     

A novel 4H-SiC lateral bipolar junction transistor structure with high voltage and high current gain

In this paper, a novel structure of a 4H-SiC lateral bipolar junction transistor (LBJT) with a base field plate and double RESURF in the drift region is presented. Collector-base junction depletion extension in the base region is restricted by the base field plate. Thin base as well as low base doping of the LBJT therefore can be achieved under the condition of avalanche breakdown. Simulation results show that thin base of 0.32 μm and base doping of 3×1017 cm-3 are obtained, and corresponding current gain is as high as 247 with avalanche breakdown voltage of 3309 V when the drift region length is 30 μm. Besides, an investigation of a 4H-SiC vertical BJT (VBJT) with comparable breakdown voltage (3357 V) shows that the minimum base width of 0.25 μm and base doping as high as 8×1017 cm-3 contribute to a maximum current gain of only 128.     

微波击穿大气电子温度与电子密度依存关系

给出了描述高功率微波脉冲大气非线性传输及微波大气等离子体特征演化的方程组,并在以微波群速度运动的局域坐标系下完成程序编制。据此模拟分析了高功率微波大气长程非线性传输及自产生大气等离子体的基本物理过程,给出了在击穿建立过程中,电子数密度增长与电子温度升高之间的关系。模拟结果表明:由于大气层中本底自由电子数密度较低,高功率微波脉冲到达时会迅速地将大气中现有的自由电子加热至平衡温度,与之相比导致电子数密度雪崩式增长的击穿过程要缓慢得多,而且随着击穿过程的开始电子温度会从平衡温度快速下降。     

真空高功率微波介质窗表面击穿破坏现象的研究进展

综述了国内外真空中高功率微波(HPM)下介质窗表面击穿问题的研究现状和进展。在介质窗表面击穿实验研究方面,介绍了国外最具代表性的研究成果,给出了介质窗材料表面及内部的破坏发展规律,并提出相应的理论模型。在理论仿真方面,重点介绍了国外在运用蒙特卡罗(Monte Carlo)程序和PIC模型对认识HPM下介质窗表面倍增放电机理上做出的突出贡献,给出了HPM下介质窗表面电子在不同影响因素下的运行状态,并提出了一个理论模型,从本质上解释了倍增电子数目和表面静电场以微波频率的2倍振荡的原因。介绍了目前几种可有效抑制介质窗表面微波击穿的技术手段。