Characterization of bulk MgB2 synthesized by infiltration and growth

Superconducting MgB2 has been synthesized successfully by a modified infiltration and growth (IG) technique. The ambient pressure technique is relatively simple and scalable to complex shaped bulks. The extent of MgB 2 phase formation has been found to be influenced strongly by the IG process time and/or temperature, and this is found to reflect in the X-ray diffraction patterns, magnetization measurements, and microhardness. Scanning electron microscopy images show a bimodal particle size distribution with 20-50 nm sized fine precipitates in the inter particle region. A critical current density of 400 kA cm-2 was measured at 5 K.KACST-Cambridge Research Centre, Cambridge, U.K

Synthesis of dense bulk MgB2 by an infiltration and growth process

We report the processing of dense, superconducting MgB2 (2.4 g cm-3) by an infiltration and growth technique. The process, which involves infiltration of liquid magnesium at 750 C into a pre-defined boron precursor pellet, is relatively simple, results in the formation of a hard, dense structure and has the potential to fabricate large bulk samples of complex geometries. X-ray diffraction has been used to confirm the presence of the MgB2 primary phase with only residual magnesium content in the fully processed samples. The samples exhibit sharp superconducting transitions at 38.4 K and have critical current densities of up to 260 kA cm-2 in self-field at 5 K. Modest measured values of Hc2(0) of 17 T suggest that superconductivity in bulk MgB2 fabricated by this technique is in the clean pairing limit

空中ジェスチャ・インタラクションにおける触覚提示の高臨場感化および安定化に関する研究

Tohoku University昆陽雅司課

Growth rate of YBCO single grains containing Y-2411(M)

Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) single grains have the potential to generate large trapped magnetic fields for a variety of engineering applications, and research on the processing and properties of this material has attracted world-wide interest. In particular, the introduction of flux pinning centres to the large grain microstructure to improve its current density, Jc, and hence trapped field, has been investigated extensively over the past decade. Y 2Ba4CuMOx [Y-2411(M)], where M = Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Ru, Zr, Bi and Ag, has been reported to form particularly effective flux pinning centres in YBCO due primarily to its ability to exist as nano-size inclusions in the superconducting phase matrix. However, the addition of the Y-2411(M) phase to the precursor composition complicates the melt-processing of single grains. We report an investigation of the growth rate of single YBCO grains containing Y-2411(Bi) phase inclusions and Y2O3. The superconducting properties of these large single grains have been measured specifically to investigate the effect of Y2O3 on broadening the growth window of these materials

High Trapped Fields in C-doped MgB2 Bulk Superconductors Fabricated by Infiltration and Growth Process.

The grain boundaries in superconducting MgB2 are known to form effective magnetic flux pinning sites and, consequently, bulk MgB2 containing a fine-grain microstructure fabricated from nanoscale Mg and B precursor powders exhibits good magnetic field-trapping performance below 20 K. We report here that the trapped field of MgB2 bulk superconductors fabricated by an infiltration and growth process to yield a dense, pore-free microstructure, can be enhanced significantly by carbon-doping, which increases intra-band scattering within the superconducting grains. A maximum trapped field of 4.15 T has been measured at 7.5 K at the centre of a five-sample stack of Mg(B1-xiCxi)2 bulk superconductors processed by infiltration and growth, which not only represents a ~40% increase in trapped field observed compared to undoped bulk MgB2, but also is the highest trapped field reported to date in MgB2 samples processed under ambient pressure. The trapped field is observed to decay at a rate of <2%/day at 10 K, which suggests that bulk MgB2 superconductors fabricated using the infiltration and growth technique can be used potentially to generate stable, high magnetic fields for a variety of engineering applications

Bench- and pilot-scale evaluation of mercury speciation measurement methods

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess the health risks associated with mercury. Since the rate of mercury deposition and the type of control strategies used may depend on the type of mercury species emitted, a proven sampling method that can reliably and accurately speciate mercury at the very low concentrations found in coal combustion flue gas is necessary. A number of mercury speciation methods have been proposed, including wet-chemistry methods, such as EPA Method 29, the Ontario Hydro method, and the tris-buffer method, as well as dry methods such as the Mercury Speciation Absorption method (MESA). In addition, a number of companies are developing continuous emissions monitors to speciate mercury by difference. Bench- and pilot-scale tests, sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), are currently under way at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) to determine the most accurate and precise mercury speciation method available. The overall objective of the test program is to determine whether EPA Method 29 or other sampling methods can reliably quantify and speciate mercury in flue gas from coal-fired boilers at both the inlet and outlet of a particulate control device such as a pulse-jet baghouse. A specific goal of the project is to determine the precision and bias of the various mercury speciation methods as a function of process variables

A Trapped Field of >3T in Bulk MgB2 Fabricated by Uniaxial Hot Pressing

A trapped field of over 3 T has been measured at 17.5 K in a magnetised stack of two disc-shaped bulk MgB2 superconductors of diameter 25 mm and thickness 5.4 mm. The bulk MgB2 samples were fabricated by uniaxial hot pressing, which is a readily scalable, industrial technique, to 91% of their maximum theoretical density. The macroscopic critical current density derived from the trapped field data using the Biot-Savart law is consistent with the measured local critical current density. From this we conclude that critical current density, and therefore trapped field performance, is limited by the flux pinning available in MgB2, rather than by lack of connectivity. This suggests strongly that both increasing sample size and enhancing pinning through doping will allow further increases in trapped field performance of bulk MgB2.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted as a Rapid Publication in Superconductor Science and Technology (Final version after peer review

Physics searches at the LHC

With the LHC up and running, the focus of experimental and theoretical high energy physics will soon turn to an interpretation of LHC data in terms of the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking and the TeV scale. We present here a broad review of models for new TeV-scale physics and their LHC signatures. In addition, we discuss possible new physics signatures and describe how they can be linked to specific models of physics beyond the Standard Model. Finally, we illustrate how the LHC era could culminate in a detailed understanding of the underlying principles of TeV-scale physics.Comment: 184 pages, 55 figures, 14 tables, hundreds of references; scientific feedback is welcome and encouraged. v2: text, references and Overview Table added; feedback still welcom

Characterizing Loop Dynamics and Ligand Recognition in Human- and Avian-Type Influenza Neuraminidases via Generalized Born Molecular Dynamics and End-Point Free Energy Calculations

The comparative dynamics and inhibitor binding free energies of group-1 and group-2 pathogenic influenza A subtype neuraminidase (NA) enzymes are of fundamental biological interest and relevant to structure-based drug design studies for antiviral compounds. In this work, we present seven generalized Born molecular dynamics simulations of avian (N1)- and human (N9)-type NAs in order to probe the comparative flexibility of the two subtypes, both with and without the inhibitor oseltamivir bound. The enhanced sampling obtained through the implicit solvent treatment suggests several provocative insights into the dynamics of the two subtypes, including that the group-2 enzymes may exhibit similar motion in the 430-binding site regions but different 150-loop motion. End-point free energy calculations elucidate the contributions to inhibitor binding free energies and suggest that entropic considerations cannot be neglected when comparing across the subtypes. We anticipate the findings presented here will have broad implications for the development of novel antiviral compounds against both seasonal and pandemic influenza strains