Phase transitions in a dusty plasma with two distinct particle sizes

In semiconductor manufacturing, contamination due to particulates significantly decreases the yield and quality of device fabrication, therefore increasing the cost of production. Dust particle clouds can be found in almost all plasma processing environments including both plasma etching devices and in plasma deposition processes. Dust particles suspended within such plasmas will acquire an electric charge from collisions with electrons and ions in the plasma. If the ratio of inter-particle potential energy to the average kinetic energy is sufficient, the particles will form either a “liquid” structure with short-range ordering or a crystalline structure with long-range ordering. Many experiments have been conducted over the past decade on such colloidal plasmas to discover the character of the systems formed, but more work is needed to fully understand these structures. The preponderance of previous experiments used monodisperse spheres to form complex plasma systems. However, most plasma processing environments contain more arbitrary distributions of particle size. In order to examine in more detail the effects of a size distribution, experiments were carried out in a GEC rf reference cell modified for use as a dusty plasma system. Using two monodisperse particle sizes, experiments were conducted to determine the manner in which phase transitions and other thermodynamic properties depended upon the overall dust grain size distribution. Plasma crystals were formed from different mixtures of 8.89 and 6.50 μm monodisperse particles in argon plasma. With the use of various optical techniques, the pair correlation function was determined at different pressures and powers and then compared to measurements obtained for monodisperse spheres.     

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer (EMIRS) Instrument

Space Science Reviews - Modern observatories have revealed the ubiquitous presence of magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar corona. The propagating waves (in contrast to the standing waves) are...     

Titan aerosol analogues: analysis of the nonvolatile tholins

Laboratory experiments that produced tholins in a simulated Titan atmosphere were conducted. We report the first systematic analyses of these compounds using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The findings suggest surprising simplicity and nonrandomness in the mass distribution and regularity in species clusters. The degree of unsaturation generally increased with increasing molecular weight in a predictable fashion, and nitrogen is proposed as the dominant carrier of unsaturation. In detected compounds with a general formula of C(x)H(y)N(z), the carbon to nitrogen ratio (x/z) varied only slightly within a narrow limit, and decreased with increasing molecular weights. These compounds are of potential prebiotic interest since they sediment to the surface of Titan, and would dissolve readily in transient aqueous pools that might be generated from time to time by impacts and volcanic     

A multiple type-II burst associated with a coronal transient and its MHD simulation

A large coronal transient took place on 8 May 1981. The transient was related to an M7.7/2B flare and was associated with at least two coronal type II bursts. The velocities of the type II bursts were in the range 1100–1800 kms^?1, in excess of the transient velocity of 500–1000 kms^?1. Two dimensional positions of the type II radio sources are available from both the Clark Lake and the Culgoora Radio Observatories. We carry out two dimensional MHD simulations of the event, taking into account the observed velocity, position, and size of the type II bursts. We simulate the multiple shocks observed during the event and their interaction, and discuss some results of the simulation.     

Generation Schemes for Wind Power Plants

This paper reviews various electric generation schemes for wind energy conversion suitable for interconnection with a power grid. The schemes can be generally classified as constant speed constant frequency (CSCF) and variable speed constant frequency (VSCF) systems. Historically, only CSCF systems have been used for large power generation in wind power plants. However, with the advent of power electronics and the availability of solid state devices capable of handling large amounts of power, VSCF systems are becoming competitive. Various schemes under each classification are discussed and compared. It is stressed, however, that the optimum choice of the generating scheme is not decided by considering the generator alone. The optimum choice is one which minimizes the cost of energy generated by the wind power plant.     

Type-III radio bursts and their interpretation

The observations of type-III solar radio bursts are briefly reviewed to set requirements on a model for their interpretation. The most important of these requirements is that the source must be an electron stream which is in a state of continuous quasilinear relaxation and which initially must have a nearly monotonically decreasing velocity distribution. The problem of constructing a model is broken into three parts: (1) The plasma wave source which depends on the interaction of the electron stream with electron plasma waves. (2) The radiation source which depends on the interaction of plasma waves and transverse electromagnetic waves or in a magnetized plasma the ordinary and extraordinary modes of magnetoionic theory. (3) The propagation of radiation between the source and the observer which depends on the transmission of radiation through a scattering refracting absorbing magnetized plasma.Progress on a model for the plasma wave source is reviewed and it is concluded that no existing models are adequate. The equations which would lead to an adequate model are written down, but not solved. These include, in addition to collisional damping, Landau damping both by the exciting stream and the background plasma, and spontaneous and induced processes for a three-dimensional distribution of plasma waves. Possible limitations to a quasilinear approach such as pile-up of plasma waves and nonlinear effects are considered. Processes which affect the gross structure of the source such as electron trajectories in coronal streamers and electron scattering by inhomogeneities are reviewed.Progress on the radiation source is considered both in the absence and presence of a magnetic field. At high frequencies (e.g., 80 MHz) observations of radiation near the fundamental and second harmonic of the plasma frequency allow a unique determination of source size and the energy density in plasma waves within the uncertainties of geometry by source ray tracing. This determination is extremely critical because the fundamental must be amplified and thus production of the fundamental is effectively a much more highly nonlinear process than production of the second harmonic. At low frequencies (e.g., 500 kHz) the second harmonic is shown to be dominant because amplification of the fundamental becomes an inefficient process.Calculations of scattering of radiation in a random medium are reviewed. It is concluded that these are adequate at high and low frequencies, but have not been carried out properly at intermediate frequencies where amplification of the fundamental may still be present. It is shown in particular that when scattering is taken into account at high frequencies all observations can be explained by isotropic emission near the second harmonic. At low frequencies the nature of the scatterers is determined by source occultations unlike the case at high frequencies where these are free parameters. This fact allows the possibility of determining true source sizes at low frequencies by subtracting out the contribution due to scattering. A mechanism for producing the possibly observed linear or highly elliptical polarization of type-III bursts, which must be imposed far from the source due to Faraday rotation, is reviewed.Finally, the questions of what remains to be done and what we can hope to obtain upon completion of this work are briefly considered.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Run Diameter Statistics as a Measure of Image Texture

The new concept of "run circles" and their "run diameters," which can be used as a statistical measure of the spacing between points in a two-dimensional image, are presented. For synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images the spacing between bright spots in the image is a useful measure of image texture. The histogram of the run diameters for a set of points has been found to be useful in characterizing the spacings of the points. These histograms can be classified either using features of the histogram such as mode or median, or using classical linear classifiers. As an example, the histogram of run diameters is used to detect a set of points with approximately equal spacing interspersed with a background set of randomly located points.     

Time delay techniques for satellite interference location system

Describes the development of a system for inferring the position of uplink ground stations, using existing domestic satellites, with minimal disruption of normal operation. The system uses the differential time delay of a single uplink signal passing through two adjacent spacecraft to infer the relative position of the uplink transmitter. A system for the measurement of such differential time delays is described. Since this technique alone does not provide an unambiguous determination of uplink transmitter location, the use of an interferometer to resolve such ambiguities is discussed     

Bacillus subtilis spores on artificial meteorites survive hypervelocity atmospheric entry: implications for Lithopanspermia

An important but untested aspect of the lithopanspermia hypothesis is that microbes situated on or within meteorites could survive hypervelocity entry from space through Earth's atmosphere. The use of high-altitude sounding rockets to test this notion was explored. Granite samples permeated with spores of Bacillus subtilis strain WN511 were attached to the exterior telemetry module of a sounding rocket and launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico into space, reaching maximum atmospheric entry velocity of 1.2 km/s. Maximum recorded temperature during the flight was measured at 145 degrees C. The surfaces of the post-flight granite samples were swabbed and tested for recovery and survival of WN511 spores, using genetic markers and the unique DNA fingerprint of WN511 as recovery criteria. Spore survivors were isolated at high frequency, ranging from 1.2% to 4.4% compared with ground controls, from all surfaces except the forward-facing surface. Sporulation-defective mutants were noted among the spaceflight survivors at high frequency (4%). These experiments constitute the first report of spore survival to hypervelocity atmospheric transit, and indicate that sounding rocket flights can be used to model the high-speed atmospheric entry of bacteria-laden artificial meteorites.