7,291 research outputs found
Kinetic simulation of the sheath dynamics in the intermediate radio-frequency regime
The dynamics of temporally modulated plasma boundary sheaths is studied in
the intermediate radio frequency regime where the applied radio frequency and
the ion plasma frequency are comparable. Two kinetic simulation codes are
employed and their results are compared. The first code is a realization of the
well-known scheme, Particle-In-Cell with Monte Carlo collisions (PIC/MCC) and
simulates the entire discharge, a planar radio frequency capacitively coupled
plasma (RF-CCP) with an additional heating source. The second code is based on
the recently published scheme Ensemble-in-Spacetime (EST); it resolves only the
sheath and requires the time resolved voltage across and the ion flux into the
sheath as input. Ion inertia causes a temporal asymmetry (hysteresis) of the
sheath charge-voltage relation; also other ion transit time effects are found.
The two codes are in good agreement, both with respect to the spatial and
temporal dynamics of the sheath and with respect to the ion energy
distributions at the electrodes. It is concluded that the EST scheme may serve
as an efficient post-processor for fluid or global simulations and for
measurements: It can rapidly and accurately calculate ion distribution
functions even when no genuine kinetic information is available
Shear stabilization of solidification fronts
A linear-stability analysis is performed on the interface formed during the directional solidification of a dilute binary alloy in the presence of a time-periodic flow. In general, the flow is generated by the elliptical motion of the crystal parallel to the interface. The presence of the flow can either stabilize or destabilize the system relative to the case without flow with the result depending on the frequency and amplitude of the oscillations as well as the properties of the material. In the particular, we find that the morphological instability present in the absence of flow can be entirely suppressed with respect to disturbances of the same frequency as the oscillation
Kinetic Interpretation of Resonance Phenomena in Low Pressure Capacitively Coupled Radio Frequency Plasmas
The kinetic origin of resonance phenomena in capacitively coupled radio
frequency plasmas is discovered based on particle-based numerical simulations.
The analysis of the spatio-temporal distributions of plasma parameters such as
the densities of hot and cold electrons, as well as the conduction and
displacement currents reveals the mechanism of the formation of multiple
electron beams during sheath expansion. The interplay between highly energetic
beam electrons and low energetic bulk electrons is identified as the physical
origin of the excitation of harmonics in the current
Stress-Minimizing Orthogonal Layout of Data Flow Diagrams with Ports
We present a fundamentally different approach to orthogonal layout of data
flow diagrams with ports. This is based on extending constrained stress
majorization to cater for ports and flow layout. Because we are minimizing
stress we are able to better display global structure, as measured by several
criteria such as stress, edge-length variance, and aspect ratio. Compared to
the layered approach, our layouts tend to exhibit symmetries, and eliminate
inter-layer whitespace, making the diagrams more compact
In medium T matrix for neutron matter
We calculate the equation of state of pure neutron matter, comparing the
G-matrix calculation with the in-medium T-matrix result. At low densities, we
obtain similar energies per nucleon, however some differences appear at higher
densities. We use the self-consistent spectral functions from the T-matrix
approach to calculate the 1S0 superfluid gap including self-energy effects. We
find a reduction of the superfluid gap by 30%
Nonlinear Convection in Mushy Layers
When alloys solidify in a gravitational field there are complex interactions between solidification and natural, buoyancy-driven convection that can alter the composition and impair the structure of the solid product. The particular focus of this project has been the compositional convection within mushy layers that occurs in situations where the lighter component of the alloy is rejected into the melt during solidification by cooling from below. The linear stability of such a situation was previously described and has been further elucidated in a number of published articles. Here we describe some recent developments in the study of nonlinear evolution of convection in mushy layers
Multiscale Kinetic Monte-Carlo for Simulating Epitaxial Growth
We present a fast Monte-Carlo algorithm for simulating epitaxial surface
growth, based on the continuous-time Monte-Carlo algorithm of Bortz, Kalos and
Lebowitz. When simulating realistic growth regimes, much computational time is
consumed by the relatively fast dynamics of the adatoms. Continuum and
continuum-discrete hybrid methods have been developed to approach this issue;
however in many situations, the density of adatoms is too low to efficiently
and accurately simulate as a continuum. To solve the problem of fast adatom
dynamics, we allow adatoms to take larger steps, effectively reducing the
number of transitions required. We achieve nearly a factor of ten speed up, for
growth at moderate temperatures and large D/F.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; revised text, accepted by PR
Qa-SNAREs localized to the trans-Golgi network regulate multiple transport pathways and extracellular disease resistance in plants
In all eukaryotic cells, a membrane-trafficking system connects the post-Golgi organelles, such as the trans-Golgi network (TGN), endosomes, vacuoles, and the plasma membrane. This complex network plays critical roles in several higher-order functions in multicellular organisms. The TGN, one of the important organelles for protein transport in the post-Golgi network, functions as a sorting station, where cargo proteins are directed to the appropriate post-Golgi compartments. Unlike its roles in animal and yeast cells, the TGN has also been reported to function like early endosomal compartments in plant cells. However, the physiological roles of the TGN functions in plants are not understood. Here, we report a study of the SYP4 group (SYP41, SYP42, and SYP43), which represents the plant orthologs of the Tlg2/syntaxin16 Qa-SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) that localizes on the TGN in yeast and animal cells. The SYP4 group regulates the secretory and vacuolar transport pathways in the post-Golgi network and maintains the morphology of the Golgi apparatus and TGN. Consistent with a secretory role, SYP4 proteins are required for extracellular resistance responses to a fungal pathogen. We also reveal a plant cell-specific higher-order role of the SYP4 group in the protection of chloroplasts from salicylic acid-dependent biotic stress
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