Contact Whiskers for Millimeter Wave Diodes

Several techniques are investigated for making short conical tips on wires (whiskers) used for contacting millimeter-wave Schottky diodes. One procedure, using a phosphoric and chromic acid etching solution (PCE), is found to give good results on 12 microns phosphor-bronze wires. Full cone angles of 60 degrees-80 degrees are consistently obtained, compared with the 15 degrees-20 degrees angles obtained with the widely used sodium hydroxide etch. Methods are also described for cleaning, increasing the tip diameter (i.e. blunting), gold plating, and testing the contact resistance of the whiskers. The effects of the whisker tip shape on the electrical resistance, inductance, and capacitance of the whiskers are studied, and examples given for typical sets of parameters

Fluorescent visualization of a spreading surfactant

The spreading of surfactants on thin films is an industrially and medically important phenomenon, but the dynamics are highly nonlinear and visualization of the surfactant dynamics has been a long-standing experimental challenge. We perform the first quantitative, spatiotemporally-resolved measurements of the spreading of an insoluble surfactant on a thin fluid layer. During the spreading process, we directly observe both the radial height profile of the spreading droplet and the spatial distribution of the fluorescently-tagged surfactant. We find that the leading edge of spreading circular layer of surfactant forms a Marangoni ridge in the underlying fluid, with a trough trailing the ridge as expected. However, several novel features are observed using the fluorescence technique, including a peak in the surfactant concentration which trails the leading edge, and a flat, monolayer-scale spreading film which differs from concentration profiles predicted by current models. Both the Marangoni ridge and surfactant leading edge can be described to spread as $R \propto t^{\delta}$. We find spreading exponents, $\delta_H \approx 0.30$ and $\delta_\Gamma \approx 0.22$ for the ridge peak and surfactant leading edge, respectively, which are in good agreement with theoretical predictions of $\delta = 1/4$. In addition, we observe that the surfactant leading edge initially leads the peak of the Marangoni ridge, with the peak later catching up to the leading edge

Searching for electromagnetic counterpart of LIGO gravitational waves in the Fermi GBM data with ADWO

The Fermi collaboration identified a possible electromagnetic counterpart of the gravitational wave event of September 14, 2015. Our goal is to provide an unsupervised data analysis algorithm to identify similar events in Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor CTTE data stream. We are looking for signals that are typically weak. Therefore, they can only be found by a careful analysis of count rates of all detectors and energy channels simultaneously. Our Automatized Detector Weight Optimization (ADWO) method consists of a search for the signal, and a test of its significance. We developed ADWO, a virtual detector analysis tool for multi-channel multi-detector signals, and performed successful searches for short transients in the data-streams. We have identified GRB150522B, as well as possible electromagnetic candidates of the transients GW150914 and LVT151012. ADWO is an independently developed, unsupervised data analysis tool that only relies on the raw data of the Fermi satellite. It can therefore provide a strong, independent test to any electromagnetic signal accompanying future gravitational wave observations.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figures, A&A Letters accepte

The Early Childhood Educator Preparation Innovation Grant: Lessons from Initial Implementation

The main goals of this implementation study were to: a) examine how the grant recipients were implementing the changes set forth in their grant proposals; b) identify initial barriers to implementation of grant activities; c) identify catalysts that aided in goal attainment and/or partnership development; and d) consider the sustainability of the impact of the grant-related activities. Through structured telephone interviews, we solicited a brief description of major activities associated with the grant; catalysts and/or levers enhancing grant activities; barriers inhibiting implementation of grant activities; and successful strategies utilized to overcome barriers. There was also a specific emphasis on articulation activities within the partnerships, as articulation was considered a foundational component of the EPPI grants.https://spark.siue.edu/ierc_pub/1004/thumbnail.jp

Investigating Dunedin whistlers using volcanic lightning

Whistlers detected at Dunedin, New Zealand are an anomaly: there is little lightning around Dunedin's conjugate point yet whistlers appear in relatively large numbers. These surplus whistlers have consequently inspired investigations into their origins. Dunedin's lightning-sparse conjugate point lies in the Aleutian Islands, a region populated with active volcanoes. Their presence has allowed us to perform a novel analysis: the correlation of whistlers to volcanic lightning. We report on our investigation, which successfully yielded the first observations of "volcanic whistlers." It was found that the single July 2008 Mount Okmok eruption had an impressive effect on the number of whistlers at Dunedin. The eruptions at Mount Redoubt in 2009 also caused a sporadic flow of whistlers in Dunedin

Lightning driven inner radiation belt energy deposition into the atmosphere: regional and global estimates

International audienceIn this study we examine energetic electron precipitation fluxes driven by lightning, in order to determine the global distribution of energy deposited into the middle atmosphere. Previous studies using lightning-driven precipitation burst rates have estimated losses from the inner radiation belts. In order to confirm the reliability of those rates and the validity of the conclusions drawn from those studies, we have analyzed New Zealand data to test our global understanding of troposphere to magnetosphere coupling. We examine about 10000h of AbsPAL recordings made from 17 April 2003 through to 26 June 2004, and analyze subionospheric very-low frequency (VLF) perturbations observed on transmissions from VLF transmitters in Hawaii (NPM) and western Australia (NWC). These observations are compared with those previously reported from the Antarctic Peninsula. The perturbation rates observed in the New Zealand data are consistent with those predicted from the global distribution of the lightning sources, once the different experimental configurations are taken into account. Using lightning current distributions rather than VLF perturbation observations we revise previous estimates of typical precipitation bursts at L~2.3 to a mean precipitation energy flux of ~1×10-3 ergs cm-2s-1. The precipitation of energetic electrons by these bursts in the range L=1.9-3.5 will lead to a mean rate of energy deposited into the atmosphere of 3×10-4 ergs cm-2min-1, spatially varying from a low of zero above some ocean regions to highs of ~3-6×10-3 ergs cm-2min-1 above North America and its conjugate region