792 research outputs found
Piezoelectric actuation for microfluidic cell sorting
Since the field of microfluidics is vastly improving and developing, and piezoelectric actuators offer good control on a micrometer scale, this work was created as a combination of the two. A microfluidic chip with an embedded piezoelectric actuator was designed and constructed using polydimethylsiloxane as the main material. The chip was experimented on by varying both mechanical and electrical properties. Performance dependencies of volumetric flow rate and input waveform were described and analyzed. Moreover, beneficial phenomena were discovered and analyzed using high-speed microscopy and digital image analysis. A situation where control of microfluidic flow direction could potentially be available was achieved. Other promising results showed new potential applications for piezoelectric actuation in microfluidic systems
Construction and testing of the optical bench for LISA pathfinder
eLISA is a space mission designed to measure gravitational radiation over a frequency range of 0.1–100 mHz (European Space Agency LISA Assessment Study Report 2011). It uses laser interferometry to measure changes of order in the separation of inertial test masses housed in spacecraft separated by 1 million km. LISA Pathfinder (LPF) is a technology demonstrator mission that will test the key eLISA technologies of inertial test masses monitored by laser interferometry in a drag-free spacecraft. The optical bench that provides the interferometry for LPF must meet a number of stringent requirements: the optical path must be stable at the few level; it must direct the optical beams onto the inertial masses with an accuracy of better than ±25 μm, and it must be robust enough not only to survive launch vibrations but to achieve full performance after launch. In this paper we describe the construction and testing of the flight optical bench for LISA Pathfinder that meets all the design requirements
CMB observations with the Jodrell Bank - IAC interferometer at 33 GHz
The paper presents the first results obtained with the Jodrell Bank - IAC
two-element 33 GHz interferometer. The instrument was designed to measure the
level of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) fluctuations at angular scales
of 1 - 2 degrees. The observations analyzed here were taken in a strip of the
sky at Dec = +41 deg with an element separation of 16.7 lambda, which gives a
maximum sensitivity to ~1.6 deg structures on the sky. The data processing and
calibration of the instrument are described. The sensitivity achieved in each
of the two channels is 7 micro K per resolution element. A reconstruction of
the sky at Dec = +41 deg using a maximum entropy method shows the presence of
structure at a high level of significance. A likelihood analysis, assuming a
flat CMB spatial power spectrum, gives a best estimate of the level of CMB
fluctuations of Delta Tl = 43 (+13,-12) micro K for the range l = 109 +/- 19;
the main uncertainty in this result arises from sample variance. We consider
that the contamination from the Galaxy is small. These results represent a new
determination of the CMB power spectrum on angular scales where previous
results show a large scatter; our new results are in agreement with the
theoretical predictions of the standard inflationary cold dark matter models.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures. Web site at
http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/research/cmb/ Accepted for publication in MNRA
New Cosmological Structures on Medium Angular Scales Detected with the Tenerife Experiments
We present observations at 10 and 15 GHz taken with the Tenerife experiments
in a band of the sky at Dec.=+35 degrees. These experiments are sensitive to
multipoles in the range l=10-30. The sensitivity per beam is 56 and 20 microK
for the 10 and the 15 GHz data, respectively. After subtraction of the
prediction of known radio-sources, the analysis of the data at 15 GHz at high
Galactic latitude shows the presence of a signal with amplitude Delta Trms ~ 32
microK. In the case of a Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum for the primordial
fluctuations, a likelihood analysis shows that this signal corresponds to a
quadrupole amplitude Q_rms-ps=20.1+7.1-5.4 microK, in agreement with our
previous results at Dec.+=40 degrees and with the results of the COBE DMR.
There is clear evidence for the presence of individual features in the RA range
190 degrees to 250 degrees with a peak to peak amplitude of ~110 microK. A
preliminary comparison between our results and COBE DMR predictions for the
Tenerife experiments clearly indicates the presence of individual features
common to both. The constancy in amplitude over such a large range in frequency
(10-90 GHz) is strongly indicative of an intrinsic cosmological origin for
these structures.Comment: ApJ Letters accepted, 13 pages Latex (uses AASTEX) and 4 encapsulated
postscript figures
QUIJOTE Scientific Results. II. Polarisation Measurements of the Microwave Emission in the Galactic molecular complexes W43 and W47 and supernova remnant W44
We present Q-U-I JOint TEnerife (QUIJOTE) intensity and polarisation maps at
10-20 GHz covering a region along the Galactic plane 24<l<45 deg, |b|<8 deg.
These maps result from 210 h of data, have a sensitivity in polarisation of ~40
muK/beam and an angular resolution of ~1 deg. Our intensity data are crucial to
confirm the presence of anomalous microwave emission (AME) towards the two
molecular complexes W43 (22 sigma) and W47 (8 sigma). We also detect at high
significance (6 sigma) AME associated with W44, the first clear detection of
this emission towards a SNR. The new QUIJOTE polarisation data, in combination
with WMAP, are essential to: i) Determine the spectral index of the synchrotron
emission in W44, beta_sync =-0.62 +/-0.03, in good agreement with the value
inferred from the intensity spectrum once a free-free component is included in
the fit. ii) Trace the change in the polarisation angle associated with Faraday
rotation in the direction of W44 with rotation measure -404 +/- 49 rad/m2. And
iii) set upper limits on the polarisation of W43 of Pi_AME <0.39 per cent (95
per cent C.L.) from QUIJOTE 17~GHz, and <0.22 per cent from WMAP 41 GHz data,
which are the most stringent constraints ever obtained on the polarisation
fraction of the AME. For typical physical conditions (grain temperature and
magnetic field strengths), and in the case of perfect alignment between the
grains and the magnetic field, the models of electric or magnetic dipole
emissions predict higher polarisation fractions.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Design, development and verification of the 30 and 44 GHz front-end modules for the Planck Low Frequency Instrument
We give a description of the design, construction and testing of the 30 and
44 GHz Front End Modules (FEMs) for the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) of the
Planck mission to be launched in 2009. The scientific requirements of the
mission determine the performance parameters to be met by the FEMs, including
their linear polarization characteristics.
The FEM design is that of a differential pseudo-correlation radiometer in
which the signal from the sky is compared with a 4-K blackbody load. The Low
Noise Amplifier (LNA) at the heart of the FEM is based on indium phosphide High
Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). The radiometer incorporates a novel
phase-switch design which gives excellent amplitude and phase match across the
band.
The noise temperature requirements are met within the measurement errors at
the two frequencies. For the most sensitive LNAs, the noise temperature at the
band centre is 3 and 5 times the quantum limit at 30 and 44 GHz respectively.
For some of the FEMs, the noise temperature is still falling as the ambient
temperature is reduced to 20 K. Stability tests of the FEMs, including a
measurement of the 1/f knee frequency, also meet mission requirements.
The 30 and 44 GHz FEMs have met or bettered the mission requirements in all
critical aspects. The most sensitive LNAs have reached new limits of noise
temperature for HEMTs at their band centres. The FEMs have well-defined linear
polarization characteristcs.Comment: 39 pages, 33 figures (33 EPS files), 12 tables. Planck LFI technical
papers published by JINST:
http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.proc5/1748-022
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