1,196 research outputs found
Silicon material task. Part 3: Low-cost silicon solar array project
The feasibility of a process for carbon reduction of low impurity silica in a plasma heat source was investigated to produce low-cost solar-grade silicon. Theoretical aspects of the reaction chemistry were studied with the aid of a computer program using iterative free energy minimization. These calculations indicate a threshold temperature exists at 2400 K below which no silicon is formed. The computer simulation technique of molecular dynamics was used to study the quenching of product species
Surface Roughness Contribution to the Auger Electron Emission
Scanning Auger Microscopy (SAM) experiments have shown that z height and θ slope relative to the analysed spot are parameters that contribute to the measured Auger intensity I(z, θ). For greater analysed areas specific to Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), the knowledge of height and slope statistical distributions P(z) and P(θ) is required. These functions have been determined by means of profilometric data. The spatial resolution of the used tactile profilometer is similar to that which characterizes AES. A mathematical relationship I { P(z), P(θ) } has been set up for Si samples whose roughness is well defined. On the other hand, Auger images can be compared to level sections
Kuiper Belt Object Occultations: Expected Rates, False Positives, and Survey Design
A novel method of generating artificial scintillation noise is developed and
used to evaluate occultation rates and false positive rates for surveys probing
the Kuiper Belt with the method of serendipitous stellar occultations. A
thorough examination of survey design shows that: (1) diffraction-dominated
occultations are critically (Nyquist) sampled at a rate of 2 Fsu^{-1},
corresponding to 40 s^{-1} for objects at 40 AU, (2) occultation detection
rates are maximized when targets are observed at solar opposition, (3) Main
Belt Asteroids will produce occultations lightcurves identical to those of
Kuiper Belt Objects if target stars are observed at solar elongations of: 116
deg < epsilon < 125 deg, or 131 deg < epsilon < 141 deg, and (4) genuine KBO
occultations are likely to be so rare that a detection threshold of >7-8 sigma
should be adopted to ensure that viable candidate events can be disentangled
from false positives.Comment: Accepted AJ, 12 pages, 12 figure
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A Portfolio approach to wind and solar deployment in Australia
We develop a new framework that can be used to analyse interactions between solar and wind generation using a Mean-Variance Portfolio Theory (MPT) framework. We use this framework to understand the role of electricity transmission integrating a high shar
Mid-Infrared Ethane Emission on Neptune and Uranus
We report 8- to 13-micron spectral observations of Neptune and Uranus from
the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility spanning more than a decade. The
spectroscopic data indicate a steady increase in Neptune's mean atmospheric
12-micron ethane emission from 1985 to 2003, followed by a slight decrease in
2004. The simplest explanation for the intensity variation is an increase in
stratospheric effective temperature from 155 +/- 3 K in 1985 to 176 +/- 3 K in
2003 (an average rate of 1.2 K/year), and subsequent decrease to 165 +/- 3 K in
2004. We also detected variation of the overall spectral structure of the
ethane band, specifically an apparent absorption structure in the central
portion of the band; this structure arises from coarse spectral sampling
coupled with a non-uniform response function within the detector elements. We
also report a probable direct detection of ethane emission on Uranus. The
deduced peak mole fraction is approximately an order of magnitude higher than
previous upper limits for Uranus. The model fit suggests an effective
temperature of 114 +/- 3 K for the globally-averaged stratosphere of Uranus,
which is consistent with recent measurements indicative of seasonal variation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 16 pages, 10 figures, 2 table
Simulating the dispersal of Monochamus galloprovincialis based on its flight mill performance and testing several management scenarios
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