8,203 research outputs found
Domestic UK retrofit challenge: Barriers, incentives and current performance leading into the green deal
Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier - The official published version can be accessed from the link below.This paper reviews the thermal performance of the existing UK housing stock, the main fabric efficiency incentive schemes and the barriers to obtaining deep energy and CO2 savings throughout the stock. The UK faces a major challenge to improve the thermal performance of its existing housing stock. Millions of dwellings possess ‘hard-to-treat’ solid walls and have glazing which is not cost effective to improve. A range of fabric efficiency incentive schemes exist, but many do not target the full range of private and social housing. From now on, the Green Deal will be the UK's key energy efficiency policy. However, the scheme is forecasted to have low consumer appeal and low incentives for investors. Moreover, calculated Green Deal loan repayments will be reliant upon estimated energy savings, yet it is claimed that retrofit measures may only be half as effective as anticipated due to a lack of monitoring, poor quality installation and the increased use of heating following refurbishment. Looking to Germany, there has been success through the Passivhaus standard, but the UK currently lacks appropriate skills and cost effective components to replicate this approach. In addition, the embodied energy in retrofit products and materials threatens to counter operational savings.This study is funded by the EPSRC, Brunel University and Buro Happold Ltd
A variant of nested dissection for solving n by n grid problems
Nested dissection orderings are known to be very effective for solving the sparse positive definite linear systems which arise from n by n grid problems. In this paper nested dissection is shown to be the final step of incomplete nested dissection, an ordering which corresponds to the premature termination of dissection. Analyses of the arithmetic and storage requirements for incomplete nested dissection are given, and the ordering is shown to be competitive with nested dissection under certain conditions
Few-electron quantum dots in III-V ternary alloys: role of fluctuations
We study experimentally the electron transport properties of gated quantum
dots formed in InGaAs/InP and InAsP/InP quantum well structures grown by
chemical-beam epitaxy. For the case of the InGaAs quantum well, quantum dots
form directly underneath narrow gate electrodes due to potential fluctuations.
We measure the Coulomb-blockade diamonds in the few-electron regime of a single
quantum dot and observe photon-assisted tunneling peaks under microwave
irradiation. A singlet-triplet transition at high magnetic field and
Coulomb-blockade effects in the quantum Hall regime are also observed. For the
InAsP quantum well, an incidental triple quantum dot forms also due to
potential fluctuations within a single dot layout. Tunable quadruple points are
observed via transport measurements.Comment: 3.3 pages, 3 figures. Added two new subfigures, new references, and
improved the tex
Microstrip resonator for microwaves with controllable polarization
In this work the authors implemented a resonator based upon microstrip
cavities that permits the generation of microwaves with arbitrary polarization.
Design, simulation, and implementation of the resonators were performed using
standard printed circuit boards. The electric field distribution was mapped
using a scanning probe cavity perturbation technique. Electron spin resonance
using a standard marker was carried out in order to verify the polarization
control from linear to circular.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Appl. Phys. Let
Reducing Polarization Mode Dispersion With Controlled Polarization Rotations
One of the fundamental limitations to high bit rate, long distance,
telecommunication in optical fibers is Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD). Here
we introduce a conceptually new method to reduce PMD in optical fibers by
carrying out controlled rotations of polarization at predetermined locations
along the fiber. The distance between these controlled polarization rotations
must be less than both the beat length and the mode coupling length of the
fiber. This method can also be combined with the method in which the fiber is
spun while it drawn. The incidence of imperfections on the efficiency of the
method is analysed.Comment: 4 page
First critical field measurements of superconducting films by third harmonic analysis
The temperature behaviour of the first critical field () of
superconducting thin film samples can be determined with high accuracy using an
inductive and contactless method. Driving a sinusoidal current in a single coil
placed in front of the sample, a non zero third harmonic voltage is
induced in it when Abrikosov vortices enter the sample. Conditions to be
satisfied for the quantitative evaluation of using this technique are
detailed. As validation test, different type II superconductors (Nb, NbN,
MgB and YBaCuO under the form of thin films)
have been measured. The comparison between experimental results, data presented
in literature and theoretical predictions is presented and discussed.Comment: to be published in Journal of Applied Physic
Axially open nonradiative structures: an example of single-mode resonator based on the sample holder
The concept of nonradiative dielectric resonator is generalized in order to
include axially open configurations having rotational invariance. The resulting
additional nonradiative conditions are established for the different resonance
modes on the basis of their azimuthal modal index. An approximate chart of the
allowed dielectric and geometrical parameters for the TE011 mode is given. A
practical realization of the proposed device based on commercial fused quartz
tubes is demonstrated at millimeter wavelengths, together with simple
excitation and tuning mechanisms. The observed resonances are characterized in
their basic parameters, as well as in the field distribution by means of a
finite element method. The predictions of the theoretical analysis are well
confirmed, both in the general behaviour and in the expected quality factors.
The resulting device, in which the sample holder acts itself as single-mode
resonating element, combines an extreme ease of realization with
state-of-the-art performances. The general benefits of the proposed open
single-mode resonators are finally discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Superconducting properties of the In-substituted topological crystalline insulator, SnTe
We report detailed investigations of the properties of a superconductor obtained by substituting In at the Sn site in the topological crystalline insulator (TCI), SnTe. Transport, magnetization and heat capacity measurements have been performed on crystals of SnInTe, which is shown to be a bulk superconductor with at ~K and at ~K. The upper and lower critical fields are estimated to be ~T and ~mT respectively, while indicates this material is a strongly type II superconductor
- …