10,316 research outputs found
Ion-acoustic solitons in warm magnetoplasmas with super-thermal electrons
In this work, the phenomenon of formation of localised electrostatic waves
(ESW) or soliton is considered in a warm magnetoplasma with the possibility of
non-thermal electron distribution. The parameter regime considered here is
relevant in case of magnetospheric plasmas. We show that deviation from a usual
relaxed Maxwellian distribution of the electron population has a significant
bearing in the allowed parameter regime, where these ESWs can be found. We
further consider the presence of more than one electron temperature, which is
inspired by recent space-based observations[key-2].Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Probing large distance higher dimensional gravity from lensing data
The modifications induced in the standard weak-lensing formula if Newtonian
gravity differs from inverse square law at large distances are studied. The
possibility of putting bounds on the mass of gravitons from lensing data is
explored. A bound on graviton mass, esitmated to be about 100 Mpc is
obtained from analysis of some recent data on gravitational lensing.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, added reference
Unitarity constraints on the stabilized Randall-Sundrum scenario
Recently proposed stabilization mechanism of the Randall-Sundrum metric gives
rise to a scalar radion, which couples universally to matter with a weak
interaction ( TeV) scale. Demanding that gauge boson scattering as
described by the effective low enerrgy theory be unitary upto a given scale
leads to significant constraints on the mass of such a radion.Comment: 10 page Latex 2e file including 4 postscript figures. Accepted in
Journal of Physics
Comments on scalar-tensor representation of nonlocally corrected gravity
The scalar-tensor representation of nonlocally corrected gravity is
considered. Some special solutions of the vacuum background equations were
obtained that indicate to the nonequivalence of the initial theory and its
scalar-tensor representation.Comment: 6 pages, refs adde
Silicon materials task of the low cost solar array project. Phase 3: Effect of impurities and processing on silicon solar cells
The 13th quarterly report of a study entitled an Investigation of the Effects of Impurities and Processing on Silicon Solar Cells is given. The objective of the program is to define the effects of impurities, various thermochemical processes and any impurity-process interactions on the performance of terrestrial silicon solar cells. The Phase 3 program effort falls in five areas: (1) cell processing studies; (2) completion of the data base and impurity-performance modeling for n-base cells; (3) extension of p-base studies to include contaminants likely to be introduced during silicon production, refining or crystal growth; (4) anisotropy effects; and (5) a preliminary study of the permanence of impurity effects in silicon solar cells. The quarterly activities for this report focus on tasks (1), (3) and (4)
Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of impure snow for diffuse shortwave radiation
Impurities enter a snowpack as a result of fallout of scavenging by falling snow crystals. Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of soot contaminated snowcovers were studied using a two stream approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The effect of soot was calculated by two methods: independent scattering by ice grains and impurities and average refractive index for ice grains. Both methods predict a qualitatively similar effect of soot; the albedo is decreased and the extinction coefficient is increased compared to that for pure snow in the visible region; the infrared properties are largely unaffected. Quantitatively, however, the effect of soot is more pronounced in the average refractive index method. Soot contamination provides a qualitative explanation for several snow observations
Silicon dendritic web material
The development of a low cost and reliable contact system for solar cells and the fabrication of several solar cell modules using ultrasonic bonding for the interconnection of cells and ethylene vinyl acetate as the potting material for module encapsulation are examined. The cells in the modules were made from dendritic web silicon. To reduce cost, the electroplated layer of silver was replaced with an electroplated layer of copper. The modules that were fabricated used the evaporated Ti, Pd, Ag and electroplated Cu (TiPdAg/Cu) system. Adherence of Ni to Si is improved if a nickel silicide can be formed by heat treatment. The effectiveness of Ni as a diffusion barrier to Cu and the ease with which nickel silicide is formed is discussed. The fabrication of three modules using dendritic web silicon and employing ultrasonic bonding for interconnecting calls and ethylene vinyl acetate as the potting material is examined
Phase 2 of the array automated assembly task for the low cost solar array project
The process sequence for the fabrication of dendritic web silicon into solar panels was modified to include aluminum back surface field formation. Plasma etching was found to be a feasible technique for pre-diffusion cleaning of the web. Several contacting systems were studied. The total plated Pd-Ni system was not compatible with the process sequence; however, the evaporated TiPd-electroplated Cu system was shown stable under life testing. Ultrasonic bonding parameters were determined for various interconnect and contact metals but the yield of the process was not sufficiently high to use for module fabrication at this time. Over 400 solar cells were fabricated according to the modified sequence. No sub-process incompatibility was seen. These cells were used to fabricate four demonstration modules. A cost analysis of the modified process sequence resulted in a selling price of $0.75/peak watt
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