Gravity gradiometer system for Earth Exploration

We develop a gravity gradiometer (GG) for use on planetary missions to planets like Mars and Jupiter. With some modifications this development is extended to include (airborne) applications for the Dutch exploratory industry. We adapt key technology of the space based GG for the use in an environment with considerable acceleration noise. The major benefit is the considerable decrease in weight and size with the presently used gradiometer systems

Extending a multi-set relational algebra to a parallel environment

Parallel database systems will very probably be the future for high-performance data-intensive applications. In the past decade, many parallel database systems have been developed, together with many languages and approaches to specify operations in these systems. A common background is still missing, however. This paper proposes an extended relational algebra for this purpose, based on the well-known standard relational algebra. The extended algebra provides both complete database manipulation language features, and data distribution and process allocation primitives to describe parallelism. It is defined in terms of multi-sets of tuples to allow handling of duplicates and to obtain a close connection to the world of high-performance data processing. Due to its algebraic nature, the language is well suited for optimization and parallelization through expression rewriting. The proposed language can be used as a database manipulation language on its own, as has been done in the PRISMA parallel database project, or as a formal basis for other languages, like SQL

Cryogenic magnetometer research at Twente University of Technology

In 1982 we started the project ‘Cryogenic Magnetometers’ with the aim to develop SQUID-magnetometers appropriate to a large variety of applications. The first system we developed is a SQUID-magnetometer with an open-ended horizontal access at room temperature. The measuring space inside the pick-up coils is easy accessible and the magnetization (remanent or induced) can be measured of materials in a static position or transported through the access.\ud \ud Further, systems have been developed with the pick-up coil set outside the cryostat, in order to arrive at a flexible system with which the object under investigation can be approached as close as possible. Another part of the project is the optimization of magnetometers with respect to the cryogenic system in order to develop cryogenic magnetometer systems with a very long time between helium refills. The present status of these three research subjects is briefly described

Relaxation behaviour at the spin-flop phase transition in the quasi-1D antiferromagnet CsMnCl3·2H2O

The low-frequency relaxation behaviour of the linear-chain antiferromagnet CsMnCl3·2H2O at the spin-flop transition has been determined from dynamic susceptibility measurements on a single crystal placed in direct contact with liquid helium. The experiments were performed between 1.4 and 4.2 K in the frequency range 0.1 Hz–3.0 kHz with a frequency-sweeping SQUID susceptometer. Below Tλ = 2.17 K, the relaxation rate τ−1 manifests an exponential temperature dependence, τ−1 = ω0e−E/kT, where E/k = 3.19±0.04 K is approximately equal to the magnitude of the intrachain exchange interaction constant Ja/k. Above Tλ the apparent deviation from the exponential behaviour has been explained satisfactorily by using the thermal conduction model of relaxation. The field-dependent factor ω0 is directly proportional to the ratio of the adiabatic χs to the isothermal χT susceptibilities

Temperature dependence of spin-cluster resonance intensity in RbFeCl3·2H2O

The spin-cluster resonance intensity is observed as a function of temperature in the pseudo-one-dimensional canted Ising metamagnet RbFeCl3·2H2O. For T 0.7 TN a pure one-dimensional Ising model gives a good description of the observed intensities. For T TN the intensity decreases rapidly as a function of temperature due to the destruction of the local ordering around a spin-cluster. The measured value of the intrachain interaction Ja/k of -36 K is in good agreement with earlier measurements on spin-cluster excitations

Basic elements for photodeposited high Tc thin film devices

Flat films, high quality insulating layers and adequately superconducting via contacts are basic elements for high Tc device fabrication. We studied the influence of the process parameters of laser deposition on the occurrence of droplets and outgrowths in YBaCuO films. The droplet density is minimal when a laser fluence below about 1.0 J cm-2 is used. The outgrowth density decreases with increasing laser pulse rate or decreasing deposition temperature. High quality flat films were obtained with a rate of 10 Hz and at a temperature of 720 °C. Wet chemical etching and etching with an Argon ion source were used for structuring multilayers with SrTiO3 as an insulating layer. Smooth edges were obtained with an argon gun. Bromine and EDTA etching are not adequate techniques for fabricating controllable well-defined edges. Cross-overs, via contacts and coils were prepared

Fabrication of 45 degrees template grain boundary junctions using a CaO lift-off technique

45 degrees grain boundary junctions have been made using (100) MgO substrates, a CeO2 template layer and an YBa2Cu3O7 top layer. To minimize the damage to the MgO surface, which will occur if the CeO2 is structured using ion milling, the CeO2 layer has been structured using the CaO lift-off technique. Electrical measurements of these junctions as a function of temperature, microwave irradiation and magnetic field will be discussed in this paper