Silver-base ternary alloy proves superior for slip ring lead wires

Slip ring lead wires composed of ternary alloys of silver, have high electrical conductivity, a tensile strength of at least 30,000 psi, high ductility, and are solderable and weldable. An unexpected advantage of these alloys is their resistance to discoloration on heating in air

Development of an ultra-low-shock separation nut

The technical problems encountered in the development of an advanced separation nut design are described. The nut is capable of sustaining a large preload and releasing that load with a low level of induced pyrotechnic shock, while demonstrating a tolerance for extremely high shock imposed by other pyrotechnic devices. The analysis of the separation nut was performed to acquire additional understanding of the phenomena affecting operation of the nut and to provide quantitative evaluation of design modification for aerospace applications

Metallic oxide switches using thick film technology

Metallic oxide thick film switches were processed on alumina substrates using thick film technology. Vanadium pentoxide in powder form was mixed with other oxides e.g., barium, strontium copper and glass frit, ground to a fine powder. Pastes and screen printable inks were made using commercial conductive vehicles and appropriate thinners. Some switching devices were processed by conventional screen printing and firing of the inks and commercial cermet conductor terminals on 96% alumina substrates while others were made by applying small beads or dots of the pastes between platinum wires. Static, and dynamic volt-ampere, and pulse tests indicate that the switching and self-oscillatory characteristics of these devices could make them useful in memory element, oscillator, and automatic control applications

Visible spectral power emitted from a laser produced uranium plasma

The development of plasma-core nuclear reactors for advanced terrestrial and space-power sources is researched. Experimental measurements of the intensity and the spectral distribution of radiation from a nonfissioning uranium plasma are reported

Distinguishing step relaxation mechanisms via pair correlation functions

Theoretical predictions of coupled step motion are tested by direct STM measurement of the fluctuations of near-neighbor pairs of steps on Si(111)-root3 x root3 R30 - Al at 970K. The average magnitude of the pair-correlation function is within one standard deviation of zero, consistent with uncorrelated near-neighbor step fluctuations. The time dependence of the pair-correlation function shows no statistically significant agreement with the predicted t^1/2 growth of pair correlations via rate-limiting atomic diffusion between adjacent steps. The physical considerations governing uncorrelated step fluctuations occurring via random attachment/detachment events at the step edge are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Ultrascale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT): Semi-Annual Progress Report

This report summarizes work carried out by the Ultrascale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT) Team for the period of July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. It discusses highlights, overall progress, period goals, and collaborations and lists papers and presentations. The UV-CDAT team is positioned to address the following high-level visualization requirements: (1) Alternative parallel streaming statistics and analysis pipelines - Data parallelism, Task parallelism, Visualization parallelism; (2) Optimized parallel input/output (I/O); (3) Remote interactive execution; (4) Advanced intercomparison visualization; (5) Data provenance processing and capture; and (6) Interfaces for scientists - Workflow data analysis and visualization construction tools, Visualization interfaces

Magnetocaloric effect in Gd/W thin film heterostructures

In an effort to understand the impact of nanostructuring on the magnetocaloric effect, we have grown and studied gadolinium in MgO/W(50 $\textrm{\AA}$)/[Gd(400 $\textrm{\AA}$)/W(50 $\textrm{\AA}$)]$_8$ heterostructures. The entropy change associated with the second order magnetic phase transition was determined from the isothermal magnetization for numerous temperatures and the appropriate Maxwell relation. The entropy change peaks at a temperature of 284 K with a value of approximately 3.4 J/kg-K for a 0-30 kOe field change; the full width at half max of the entropy change peak is about 70 K, which is significantly wider than that of bulk Gd under similar conditions. The relative cooling power of this nanoscale system is about 240 J/kg, somewhat lower than that of bulk Gd (410 J/kg). An iterative Kovel-Fisher method was used to determine the critical exponents governing the phase transition to be $\beta=0.51$, and $\gamma=1.75$. Along with a suppressed Curie temperature relative to the bulk, the fact that the convergent value of $\gamma$ is that predicted by the 2-D Ising model may suggest that finite size effects play an important role in this system. Together, these observations suggest that nanostructuring may be a promising route to tailoring the magnetocaloric response of materials

Effects of large disorder on the Hofstadter butterfly

Motivated by the recent experiments on periodically modulated, two dimensional electron systems placed in large transversal magnetic fields, we investigate the interplay between the effects of disorder and periodic potentials in the integer quantum Hall regime. In particular, we study the case where disorder is larger than the periodic modulation, but both are small enough that Landau level mixing is negligible. In this limit, the self-consistent Born approximation is inadequate. We carry extensive numerical calculations to understand the relevant physics in the lowest Landau level, such as the spectrum and nature (localized or extended) of the wave functions. Based on our results, we propose a qualitative explanation of the new features uncovered recently in transport measurements.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, several pictures have been shrunk to comply with the size requirement