Thermal effects on high-frequency magnetic-field-induced martensite reorientation in ferromagnetic shape memory alloys: An experimental and theoretical investigation

Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys (FSMAs) exhibit large strains by the magnetic-field-induced martensite reorientation. But, due to the high-frequency field-induced cyclic frictional martensite twin boundary motion in FSMAs, the dissipation heat can cause a large temperature rise. Thus, the output strain amplitude of FSMAs would decrease significantly if the temperature increases to be high enough to trigger the Martensite-Austenite phase transformation. Such thermal effects on the dynamic responses of FSMAs are unclear in literature because most existing dynamic experiments were performed only for a short-time period (a few seconds) to avoid the temperature rise. In this paper, systematic long-time experiments (>100 s) on a Ni-Mn-Ga single crystal are conducted at various levels of magnetic field frequency, initial compressive stress and ambient airflow velocity. It is found that, during the long-time actuation, the specimen temperature increases and then saturates at a certain level (stable temperature) while the strain oscillation evolves to a stable cycle; both the stable temperature and the stable strain amplitude depend on the frequency, the stress level and the heat exchange condition (i.e., ambient airflow velocity). Particularly, when the specimen temperature reaches a critical level to partially transform the martensite to the austenite, the output strain amplitude reduces suddenly because of less martensite reorientation. Changing the ambient heat-exchange condition (by the airflow) can modify the specimen temperature evolution to avoid the phase transformation, but it also changes the behaviors of the martensite reorientation that is sensitive to temperature. Eventually, the output strain amplitude depends on the airflow velocity non-monotonically, i.e., there exists a critical heat exchange condition to achieve the maximum stable strain amplitude. Based on the systematic experiments and a simplified one-dimensional heat-transfer model, the critical condition can be determined. The new experimental phenomena of the thermal effects can be well understood and described by the heat-transfer model. Further, instead of avoiding the temperature rise and the phase transformation, we propose to take advantage of the interaction between the temperature-induced phase transformation and the magnetic-field-induced martensite reorientation to develop a special “isothermal” FSMA actuator with a tunable output strain amplitude and a constant working temperature. This paper provides systematic experimental data and theoretical analysis for understanding the thermo-magneto-mechanical coupling in FSMAs and developing reliable high-frequency long-time running FSMA-actuators

Quasi-Biennial variations in helioseismic frequencies: Can the source of the variation be localized?

We investigate the spherical harmonic degree (l) dependence of the "seismic" quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) observed in low-degree solar p-mode frequencies, using Sun-as-a-star Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON) data. The amplitude of the seismic QBO is modulated by the 11-yr solar cycle, with the amplitude of the signal being largest at solar maximum. The amplitude of the signal is noticeably larger for the l=2 and 3 modes than for the l=0 and 1 modes. The seismic QBO shows some frequency dependence but this dependence is not as strong as observed in the 11-yr solar cycle. These results are consistent with the seismic QBO having its origins in shallow layers of the interior (one possibility being the bottom of the shear layer extending 5per cent below the solar surface). Under this scenario the magnetic flux responsible for the seismic QBO is brought to the surface (where its influence on the p modes is stronger) by buoyant flux from the 11-yr cycle, the strong component of which is observed at predominantly low-latitudes. As the l=2 and 3 modes are much more sensitive to equatorial latitudes than the l=0 and 1 modes the influence of the 11-yr cycle on the seismic QBO is more visible in l=2 and 3 mode frequencies. Our results imply that close to solar maximum the main influence of the seismic QBO occurs at low latitudes (<45 degrees), which is where the strong component of the 11-yr solar cycle resides. To isolate the latitudinal dependence of the seismic QBO from the 11-yr solar cycle we must consider epochs when the 11-yr solar cycle is weak. However, away from solar maximum, the amplitude of the seismic QBO is weak making the latitudinal dependence hard to constrain.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Sensitivity and spatial resolution for electron-spin-resonance detection by magnetic resonance force microscopy

The signal intensity of electron spin resonance in magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) experiments employing periodic saturation of the electron spin magnetization is determined by four parameters: the rf field H1, the modulation level of the bias field Hm, the spin relaxation time tau1, and the magnetic size R([partial-derivative]H/[partial-derivative]z) of the sample. Calculations of the MRFM spectra obtained from a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl particle have been performed for various conditions. The results are compared with experimental data and excellent agreement is found. The systematic variation of the signal intensity as a function of H1 and Hm provides a powerful tool to characterize the MRFM apparatus

Aperture synthesis for gravitational-wave data analysis: Deterministic Sources

Gravitational wave detectors now under construction are sensitive to the phase of the incident gravitational waves. Correspondingly, the signals from the different detectors can be combined, in the analysis, to simulate a single detector of greater amplitude and directional sensitivity: in short, aperture synthesis. Here we consider the problem of aperture synthesis in the special case of a search for a source whose waveform is known in detail: \textit{e.g.,} compact binary inspiral. We derive the likelihood function for joint output of several detectors as a function of the parameters that describe the signal and find the optimal matched filter for the detection of the known signal. Our results allow for the presence of noise that is correlated between the several detectors. While their derivation is specialized to the case of Gaussian noise we show that the results obtained are, in fact, appropriate in a well-defined, information-theoretic sense even when the noise is non-Gaussian in character. The analysis described here stands in distinction to ``coincidence analyses'', wherein the data from each of several detectors is studied in isolation to produce a list of candidate events, which are then compared to search for coincidences that might indicate common origin in a gravitational wave signal. We compare these two analyses --- optimal filtering and coincidence --- in a series of numerical examples, showing that the optimal filtering analysis always yields a greater detection efficiency for given false alarm rate, even when the detector noise is strongly non-Gaussian.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

MEMS-Based Terahertz Photoacoustic Chemical Sensing System

Advancements in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology over the last several decades has been a driving force behind miniaturizing and improving sensor designs. In this work, a specialized cantilever pressure sensor was designed, modeled, and fabricated to investigate the photoacoustic (PA) response of gases to terahertz (THz) radiation under low-vacuum conditions associated with high-resolution spectroscopy. Microfabricated cantilever devices made using silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers were tested in a custom-built test chamber in this first ever demonstration of a cantilever-based PA chemical sensor and spectroscopy system in the THz frequency regime. The THz radiation source was amplitude modulated to excite acoustic waves in the chamber, and PA molecular spectroscopy of a gas species was performed. An optical measurement technique was used to evaluate the PA effect on the cantilever sensor; a laser beam was reflected off the cantilever tip and through an iris to a photodiode. As the cantilever movement deflected the laser beam, the beam was clipped by an iris and generated the PA signal. Experimental data indicated a predominantly linear response in signal amplitude from the photodiode measurement technique, which directly correlated to measured cantilever deflections. Using the custom-designed PA chamber and MEMS cantilever sensor, excellent low-pressure PA spectral data of methyl cyanide (CH3CN) at 2 to 40 mTorr range has been obtained. At low chamber pressures, the sensitivity of our system was 1.97 × 10−5 cm−1 and had an excellent normalized noise equivalent absorption (NNEA) coefficient of 1.39 × 10−9 cm−1 W Hz-½ using a 0.5 s signal averaging time