Silicon on Ceramic Process: Silicon Sheet Growth and Device Development for the Large-area Silicon Sheet and Cell Development Tasks of the Low-cost Solar Array Project

The technical and economic feasibility of producing solar cell quality sheet silicon was investigated. It was hoped this could be done by coating one surface of carbonized ceramic substrates with a thin layer of large-grain polycrystalline silicon from the melt. Work was directed towards the solution of unique cell processing/design problems encountered with the silicon-ceramic (SOC) material due to its intimate contact with the ceramic substrate. Significant progress was demonstrated in the following areas; (1) the continuous coater succeeded in producing small-area coatings exhibiting unidirectional solidification and substatial grain size; (2) dip coater succeeded in producing thick (more than 500 micron) dendritic layers at coating speeds of 0.2-0.3 cm/sec; and (3) a standard for producing total area SOC solar cells using slotted ceramic substrates was developed

Inflation in Realistic D-Brane Models

We find successful models of D-brane/anti-brane inflation within a string context. We work within the GKP-KKLT class of type IIB string vacua for which many moduli are stabilized through fluxes, as recently modified to include `realistic' orbifold sectors containing standard-model type particles. We allow all moduli to roll when searching for inflationary solutions and find that inflation is not generic inasmuch as special choices must be made for the parameters describing the vacuum. But given these choices inflation can occur for a reasonably wide range of initial conditions for the brane and antibrane. We find that D-terms associated with the orbifold blowing-up modes play an important role in the inflationary dynamics. Since the models contain a standard-model-like sector after inflation, they open up the possibility of addressing reheating issues. We calculate predictions for the CMB temperature fluctuations and find that these can be consistent with observations, but are generically not deep within the scale-invariant regime and so can allow appreciable values for $dn_s/d\ln k$ as well as predicting a potentially observable gravity-wave signal. It is also possible to generate some admixture of isocurvature fluctuations.Comment: 39 pages, 21 figures; added references; identified parameters combining successful inflation with strong warping, as needed for consistency of the approximation

Some experiences with the viscous-inviscid interaction approach

Methods for simulating compressible viscous flow using the viscid-inviscid interaction approach are described. The formulations presented range from the more familiar full-potential/boundary-layer interaction schemes to a method for coupling Euler/Navier-Stokes and boundary-layer algorithms. An effort is made to describe the advantages and disadvantages of each formulation. Sample results are presented which illustrate the applicability of the methods

Relativistic particle acceleration in developing Alfv\'{e}n turbulence

A new particle acceleration process in a developing Alfv\'{e}n turbulence in the course of successive parametric instabilities of a relativistic pair plasma is investigated by utilyzing one-dimensional electromagnetic full particle code. Coherent wave-particle interactions result in efficient particle acceleration leading to a power-law like energy distribution function. In the simulation high energy particles having large relativistic masses are preferentially accelerated as the turbulence spectrum evolves in time. Main acceleration mechanism is simultaneous relativistic resonance between a particle and two different waves. An analytical expression of maximum attainable energy in such wave-particle interactions is derived.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

The Environmental Kuznets Curve from Multiple Perspectives

The analysis finds that in addition to U-shaped paths of environmental quality arising for growth in income per capita, growth in population can also produce socially efficient patterns that are U-shaped. Sufficient conditions for both types of paths are identified for a range of models and parameters, including symmetrical models with homothetic, constant-returns functions such as with CES functions. Similar results are also shown to arise in decentralized economies under either homogeneous or heterogeneous income levels.Environmental Kuznets Curve, Economic Growth, Environmental Quality

Low-Concentration Solar-Power Systems Based on Organic Rankine Cycles for Distributed-Scale Applications: Overview and Further Developments

This paper is concerned with the emergence and development of low-to-medium-grade thermal-energy-conversion systems for distributed power generation based on thermo- dynamic vapor-phase heat-engine cycles undergone by organic working uids, namely organic Rankine cycles (ORCs). ORC power systems are, to some extent, a relatively established and mature technology that is well-suited to converting low/medium-grade heat (at temperatures up to ~300–400°C) to useful work, at an output power scale from a few kilowatts to 10s of megawatts. Thermal ef ciencies in excess of 25% are achievable at higher temperatures and larger scales, and efforts are currently in progress to improve the overall economic viability and thus uptake of ORC power systems, by focusing on advanced architectures, working- uid selection, heat exchangers and expansion machines. Solar-power systems based on ORC technology have a signi cant potential to be used for distributed power generation, by converting thermal energy from simple and low-cost non-concentrated or low-concentration collectors to mechanical, hydrau- lic, or electrical energy. Current elds of use include mainly geothermal and biomass/ biogas, as well as the recovery and conversion of waste heat, leading to improved energy ef ciency, primary energy (i.e., fuel) use and emission minimization, yet the technology is highly transferable to solar-power generation as an affordable alternative to small-to- medium-scale photovoltaic systems. Solar-ORC systems offer naturally the advantages of providing a simultaneous thermal-energy output for hot water provision and/or space heating, and the particularly interesting possibility of relatively straightforward onsite (thermal) energy storage. Key performance characteristics are presented, and important heat transfer effects that act to limit performance are identi ed as noteworthy directions of future research for the further development of this technology

Anomalous price impact and the critical nature of liquidity in financial markets

We propose a dynamical theory of market liquidity that predicts that the average supply/demand profile is V-shaped and {\it vanishes} around the current price. This result is generic, and only relies on mild assumptions about the order flow and on the fact that prices are (to a first approximation) diffusive. This naturally accounts for two striking stylized facts: first, large metaorders have to be fragmented in order to be digested by the liquidity funnel, leading to long-memory in the sign of the order flow. Second, the anomalously small local liquidity induces a breakdown of linear response and a diverging impact of small orders, explaining the "square-root" impact law, for which we provide additional empirical support. Finally, we test our arguments quantitatively using a numerical model of order flow based on the same minimal ingredients.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Silicon-on ceramic process: Silicon sheet growth and device development for the large-area silicon sheet task of the low-cost solar array project

The technical feasibility of producing solar-cell-quality sheet silicon to meet the Department of Energy (DOE) 1986 overall price goal of $0.70/watt was investigated. With the silicon-on-ceramic (SOC) approach, a low-cost ceramic substrate is coated with large-grain polycrystalline silicon by unidirectional solidification of molten silicon. This effort was divided into several areas of investigation in order to most efficiently meet the goals of the program. These areas include: (1) dip-coating; (2) continuous coating designated SCIM-coating, and acronym for Silicon Coating by an Inverted Meniscus (SCIM); (3) material characterization; (4) cell fabrication and evaluation; and (5) theoretical analysis. Both coating approaches were successful in producing thin layers of large grain, solar-cell-quality silicon. The dip-coating approach was initially investigated and considerable effort was given to this technique. The SCIM technique was adopted because of its scale-up potential and its capability to produce more conventiently large areas of SOC