Plane flame furnace combustion tests on JPL desulfurized coal

The combustion characteristics of three raw bituminous (PSOC-282 and 276) and subbituminous (PSOC-230) coals, the raw coals partially desulfurized (ca -60%) by JPL chlorinolysis, and the chlorinated coals more completely desulfurized (ca -75%) by JPL hydrodesulfurization were determined. The extent to which the combustion characteristics of the untreated coals were altered upon JPL sulfur removal was examined. Combustion conditions typical of utility boilers were simulated in the plane flame furnace. Upon decreasing the parent coal voltaile matter generically by 80% and the sulfur by 75% via the JPL desulfurization process, ignition time was delayed 70 fold, burning velocity was retarded 1.5 fold, and burnout time was prolonged 1.4 fold. Total flame residence time increased 2.3 fold. The JPL desulfurization process appears to show significant promise for producing technologically combustible and clean burning (low SO3) fuels

Time-Resolved Measurement of a Charge Qubit

We propose a scheme for monitoring coherent quantum dynamics with good time-resolution and low backaction, which relies on the response of the considered quantum system to high-frequency ac driving. An approximate analytical solution of the corresponding quantum master equation reveals that the phase of an outgoing signal, which can directly be measured in an experiment with lock-in technique, is proportional to the expectation value of a particular system observable. This result is corroborated by the numerical solution of the master equation for a charge qubit realized with a Cooper-pair box, where we focus on monitoring coherent oscillations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Absence of ferromagnetism in V-implanted ZnO single crystals

The structural and magnetic properties of V doped ZnO are presented. V ions were introduced into hydrothermal ZnO single crystals by ion implantation with fluences of 1.2*10^16 to 6*10^16 cm^-2. Post-implantation annealing was performed in high vacuum from 823 K to 1023 K. The ZnO host material still partly remains in a crystalline state after irradiation, and is partly recovered by annealing. The V ions show a thermal mobility as revealed by depth profile Auger electron spectroscopy. Synchrotron radiation x-ray diffraction revealed no secondary phase formation which indicates the substitution of V onto Zn site. However in all samples no pronounced ferromagnetism was observed down to 5 K by a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figs, MMM conference 2007, accepted by J. Appl. Phy

Study of plasma immersion ion implantation into silicon substrate using magnetic mirror geometry

AbstractThe effect of magnetic field enhanced plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) in silicon substrate has been investigated at low and high pulsed bias voltages. The magnetic field in magnetic bottle configuration was generated by two magnetic coils installed outside the vacuum chamber. The presence of both, electric and magnetic field in PIII creates a system of crossed E×B fields, promoting plasma rotation around the target. The magnetized electrons drifting in crossed E×B fields provide electron-neutral collision. Consequently, the efficient background gas ionization augments the plasma density around the target where a magnetic confinement is achieved. As a result, the ion current density increases, promoting changes in the samples surface properties, especially in the surface roughness and wettability and also an increase of implantation dose and depth

Monitoring Entanglement Evolution and Collective Quantum Dynamics

We generalize a recently developed scheme for monitoring coherent quantum dynamics with good time-resolution and low backaction [Reuther et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 033602 (2009)] to the case of more complex quantum dynamics of one or several qubits. The underlying idea is to measure with lock-in techniques the response of the quantum system to a high-frequency ac field. We demonstrate that this scheme also allows one to observe quantum dynamics with many frequency scales, such as that of a qubit undergoing Landau-Zener transitions. Moreover, we propose how to measure the entanglement between two qubits as well as the collective dynamics of qubit arrays.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Thermal Conductivity, Thermopower, and Figure of Merit of La_{1-x}Sr_xCoO_3

We present a study of the thermal conductivity k and the thermopower S of single crystals of La_{1-x}Sr_xCoO_3 with 0<= x <= 0.3. For all Sr concentrations La_{1-x}Sr_xCoO_3 has rather low k values, whereas S strongly changes as a function of x. We discuss the influence of the temperature- and the doping-induced spin-state transitions of the Co ions on both, S and k. From S, k, and the electrical resistivity rho we derive the thermoelectric figure of merit Z=S^2/(k*rho). For intermediate Sr concentrations we find notably large values of Z indicating that Co-based materials could be promising candidates for thermoelectric cooling.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures included, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Characteristics of austenitic stainless steel nitrided in a hybrid glow discharge plasma

A nitriding process based on two distinct nitrogen glow discharge modes, with sample temperatures ranging from 380 °Cto480°C, was employed to treat the surface of austenitic stainless steel (SS 304). The temperature is controlled exclusively by switching the operation conditions of the discharges. First mode of operation is the conventional one, named cathodic, which runs at higher pressure values (1 mbar) in comparison to the second mode, named anodic, which runs at the pressure range of 10-3 -10-2 mbar. Cathodic mode is used to quickly heat the sample holder, by the high ion flux. On the other hand, in the anodic mode, due to the lower operation pressure, higher effective ion acceleration takes place, which allows deeper ion implantation into the sample surface. This hybrid process was thoroughly explored regarding the duty cycle and conditions of operation, to achieve optimal performance of the treatments, which led to the attainment of surface hardness for samples of AISI SS 304 as high as 20 GPa and improvements including higher elastic modulus and resistance against corrosion. Detailed comparison among samples treated by this process with others treated by conventional method was done using nanoindentation, Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) and corrosion resistance testing

Low energy structure of spiral spin liquids

In this paper we identify a previously unexplored type of topological defect in spiral spin liquids the momentum vortex and reveal its dominant role in shaping the low energy physics of such systems. Spiral spin liquids are a class of classical spin liquids featuring subextensively degenerate ground states. They are distinct from spin liquids on geometrically frustrated lattices, in which the ground state degeneracy is extensive and connected by local spin flips. Despite a handful of experimental realizations and many theoretical studies, a concrete physical picture of their spin liquidity has not been established so far. In this paper, we study a 2D spiral spin liquid model to answer this question. We find that the local momentum vector field can carry topological defects in the form of vortices, which, however, have very different properties from the commonly known spin vortices. The fluctuations of such vortices lead the system into a liquid phase at intermediate temperatures. Furthermore, the effective low energy theory of such vortices indicates their equivalence to quadrupoles of fractons in a rank 2 U 1 gauge theory or, alternatively, to quadrupoles of disclinations in elasticity theory. At very low temperatures, the system freezes into a glassy state in which these vortices form a rigid network with straight line domain walls. Our paper sheds light on the nature of spiral spin liquids and also paves the way toward understanding their quantum limi

The spin state transition in LaCoO3_{3}; revising a revision

Using soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism at the Co-$L_{2,3}$ edge we reveal that the spin state transition in LaCoO$_{3}$ can be well described by a low-spin ground state and a triply-degenerate high-spin first excited state. From the temperature dependence of the spectral lineshapes we find that LaCoO$_{3}$ at finite temperatures is an inhomogeneous mixed-spin-state system. Crucial is that the magnetic circular dichroism signal in the paramagnetic state carries a large orbital momentum. This directly shows that the currently accepted low-/intermediate-spin picture is at variance. Parameters derived from these spectroscopies fully explain existing magnetic susceptibility, electron spin resonance and inelastic neutron data