Conducting Performance Evaluations

published or submitted for publicatio

First Principles Theories of Piezoelectric Materials

Piezoelectrics have long been studied using parameterized models fit to experimental data, starting with the work of Devonshire in 1954. Much has been learned using such approaches, but they can also miss major phenomena if the materials properties are not well under-stood, as is exemplified by the realization that low-symmetry monoclinic phases are common around morphotropic phase boundaries, which was missed completed by low-order Devonshire models, and can only appear in higher order models. In the last 15 years, a new approach has developed using first-principles computations, based on fundamental physics, with no essential experimental input other than the desired chemistry (nuclear charges). First-principles theory laid the framework for a basic understanding of the origins of ferroelectric behavior and piezoelectric properties. The range of properties accessible to theory continues to expand as does the accuracy of the predictions. We are moving towards the ability to design materials of desired properties computationally. Here some of the fundamental developments of our understanding of piezoelectric material behavior and ability to predict a wide range of properties using theoretical methods are reviewed

Asset Forfeiture and Attorneys’ Fees: The Zero-Sum Game

The history of asset forfeiture law spans almost as long as the history of the United States. However, in the last thirty years, the number of crimes for which asset forfeiture can be levied has grown exponentially both on the federal and state levels. As a result, a growing number of defendants face asset forfeiture. When these criminal defendants seek legal representation, they place their attorneys in a difficult legal and ethical position. Asset forfeiture has developed in such a way that the criminal defense attorney cannot provide her client with zealous advocacy if the attorney seeks to retain her fees. Additionally, the law is designed to prevent these attorneys from withdrawing their representation once they learn that the funds being used to pay their fees are tainted. This Note examines these, and other, ethical dilemmas that arise for criminal defense attorneys whose clients may be subject to asset forfeiture. Ultimately, this Note proposes a statutory fix to resolve these ethical issues to ensure that lawyers retain their hard-earned fees and clients receive zealous advocates

The neuronal correlate of bidirectional synesthesia: a combined event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging study

The neuronal correlate of a rare explicit bi-directional synaesthesia was investigated with numerical and physical size comparison tasks using both functional magnetic resonance imaging and event-related potentials. Interestingly, although participant I.S. exhibited similar congruity effects for both tasks at the behavioural level, subsequent analyses of the imaging data revealed that different brain areas were recruited for each task, and in different time windows. The results support: 1) the genuineness of bi-directional synaesthesia at the neuronal level, 2) the possibility that discrepancy in the neuronal correlates of synaesthesia between previous studies might be task-related, and 3) the possibility that synaesthesia might not be a unitary phenomenon

Method and apparatus for stable silicon dioxide layers on silicon grown in silicon nitride ambient

A method and apparatus for thermally growing stable silicon dioxide layers on silicon is disclosed. A previously etched and baked silicon nitride tube placed in a furnace is used to grow the silicon dioxide. First, pure oxygen is allowed to flow through the tube to initially coat the inside surface of the tube with a thin layer of silicon dioxide. After the tube is coated with the thin layer of silicon dioxide, the silicon is oxidized thermally in a normal fashion. If the tube becomes contaminated, the silicon dioxide is etched off thereby exposing clean silicon nitride and then the inside of the tube is recoated with silicon dioxide. As is disclosed, the silicon nitride tube can also be used as the ambient for the pyrolytic decomposition of silane and ammonia to form thin layers of clean silicon nitride

Relative importance of crystal field versus bandwidth to the high pressure spin transition in transition metal monoxides

The crystal field splitting and d bandwidth of the 3d transition metal monoxides MnO, FeO, CoO and NiO are analyzed as a function of pressure within density functional theory. In all four cases the 3d bandwidth is significantly larger than the crystal field splitting over a wide range of compressions. The bandwidth actually increases more as pressure is increased than the crystal field splitting. Therefore the role of increasing bandwidth must be considered in any explanation of a possible spin collapse that these materials may exhibit under pressure.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

A method for selective gold diffusion of monolithic silicon devices and/or circuits Patent application

Selective gold diffusion on monolithic silicon chips for switching and nonswitching amplifier devices and circuits and linear and digital logic circuit