Properties and use of cycled grown OMVPE GaAs:Zn,GaAs:Se,and GaAs:Si layers for high-conductance GaAs tunnel junctions

Heavily doped GaAs layers for high conductance GaAs tunnel junctions have been grown by atmospheric pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) using Zn as the dopant for thep ⁺ regions and either Se or Si as the dopant for then ⁺ regions. At a growth temperature of 700° C using a “cycled” growth technique for the Zn-dopedp ⁺⁺-GaAs layer, both the conductance and the peak current density of the tunnel diode has been increased by a factor of ∼65 compared to a tunnel junction with a continuously grown Zn-doped p⁺-GaAs. The conductance of the tunnel junction, which is maximized at a growth temperature of 650° C using cycled growth, is comparable to the best reported values for tunnel junctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Cycled growths forn ⁺ Se-doped regions are found to reduce the conductance of a tunnel junction by more than two orders of magnitude. However, cycled growth for the n⁺-GaAs regions with Si doping show no conductance degradation. A model based on incorporation sites of these dopants during OMVPE growth of GaAs is presented to account for the experimental observations.     

Designing the Next Generation of Real-Time Control, Communication, and Computations for Large Power Systems

The power grid is not only a network interconnecting generators and loads through a transmission and distribution system, but is overlaid with a communication and control system that enables economic and secure operation. This multilayered infrastructure has evolved over many decades utilizing new technologies as they have appeared. This evolution has been slow and incremental, as the operation of the power system consisting of vertically integrated utilities has, until recently, changed very little. The monitoring of the grid is still done by a hierarchical design with polling for data at scanning rates in seconds that reflects the conceptual design of the 1960s. This design was adequate for vertically integrated utilities with limited feedback and wide-area controls; however, the thesis of this paper is that the changing environment, in both policy and technology, requires a new look at the operation of the power grid and a complete redesign of the control, communication and computation infrastructure. We provide several example novel control and communication regimes for such a new infrastructure.     

Power ultrasound-assisted cleaner leather dyeing technique: influence of process parameters

The application of power ultrasound to leather processing has a significant role in the concept of "clean technology" for leather production. The effect of power ultrasound in leather dyeing has been compared with dyeing in the absence of ultrasound and conventional drumming. The power ultrasound source used in these experiments was ultrasonic cleaner (150 W and 33 kHz). The effect of various process parameters such as amount of dye offer, temperature, and type of dye has been experimentally found out. The effect of presonication of dye solution as well as leather has been studied. Experiments at ultrasonic bath temperature were carried out to find out the combined thermal as well as stirring effects of ultrasound. Dyeing in the presence of ultrasound affords about 37.5 (1.8 times) difference as increase in % dye exhaustion or about 50% decrease in the time required for dyeing compared to dyeing in the absence of ultrasound for 4% acid red dye. About 29 (1.55 times) increase in % dye exhaustion or 30% reduction in time required for dyeing was observed using ultrasound at stationary condition compared with conventional dynamic drumming conditions. The effect of ultrasound at constant temperature conditions with a control experiment has also been studied. The dye exhaustion increases as the temperature increases (30-60 degrees C) and better results are observed at higher temperature due to the use of ultrasound. Presonication of dye solution or crust leather prior to the dyeing process has no significant improvement in dye exhaustion, suggesting ultrasound effect is realized when it is applied during the dyeing process. The results indicate that 1697 and 1416 ppm of dye can be reduced in the spent liquor due to the use of ultrasound for acid red (for 100 min) and acid black (for 3 h) dyes, respectively, thereby reducing the pollution load in the effluent stream. The color yield of the leather as inferred from the reflectance measurement indicates that dye offer can be halved when ultrasound is employed to promote dyeing. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the cross section of the dyed leather indicates that fiber structure is not affected due to the use of ultrasound under the given process conditions. The present study clearly demonstrates that ultrasound can be used as a tool to improve the rate of exhaustion of dye, reduce pollution load in the spent effluent liquor, and improve the quality of leather produced. The study also offered provision to employ optimum levels of chemicals and increases percentage exhaustion for a given time, thereby limiting the pollution load in the tannery effluent, which is of great social concern.     

Selective electroplating of P-type and N-type areas on semiconductor surfaces

We show how N-type or P-type areas of semiconductor surfaces across which the doping polarity varies can be selectively electroplated using DC and periodic reverse (PR) plating voltages. The N-type (P-type) areas of N-type (P-type) substrates having diffused/implanted P-type (N-type) pockets can be selectively plated by a DC plating voltage. On the other hand, the diffused/implanted P-type pockets in N-type substrates can be selectively plated by a PR voltage. We also discuss a practical application of these results to semiconductor devices.     

An optimization framework for cost effective design of refueling station infrastructure for alternative fuel vehicles

Historically, gasoline and diesel fuels have been used for transportation, but the possible decline of oil supplies in the future is forcing nations to consider alternative fuels. Most technically and economically feasible alternative fuels have a lower energy density than gasoline, which results in a shorter range for these vehicles. This necessitates a greater need for convenient access to refueling facilities for alternative fuel vehicles. Since infrastructure development is expensive, there is a need to direct investments towards the establishment of refueling facilities in areas which result in maximum impact. This can be addressed by locating facilities at sites which service as many vehicles as possible. This work deals with the use of mathematical programming for determining the best locations for establishing alternative transportation fuel stations. The objective was to site the refueling stations at locations which maximize the number of vehicles served, while staying within budget constraints. The model used here is a modified form of the flow interception facility location model. For the case study we used the transportation network of Alexandria, Virginia, as a test bed for our model. Origin-destination travel demand data for this city is simulated through a transportation simulator to determine the routes taken by individual vehicles. The results are then compared with the service level offered by conventional gasoline refueling stations already located in the city. This work integrates the use of transportation modeling with mathematical programming for the solution of a complex large-scale problem on a real-life transportation network.     

Control-affine fuzzy neural network approach for nonlinear process control

An internal model control strategy employing a fuzzy neural network is proposed for SISO nonlinear process. The control-affine model is identified from both steady state and transient data using back-propagation. The inverse of the process is obtained through algebraic inversion of the process model. The resulting model is easier to interpret than models obtained from the standard neural network approaches. The proposed approach is applied to the tasks of modelling and control of a continuous stirred tank reactor and a pH neutralization process which are not inherently control-affine. The results show a significant performance improvement over a conventional PID controller. In addition, an additional neural network which models the discrepancy between a control-affine model and real process dynamics is added, and is shown to lead to further improvement in the closed-loop performance.     

Local bifurcations and feasibility regions indifferential-algebraic systems

The dynamics of a large class of physical systems such as the general power system can be represented by parameter-dependent differential-algebraic models of the form x˙=f and 0=g. Typically, such constrained models have singularities. This paper analyzes the generic local bifurcations including those which are directly related to the singularity. The notion of a feasibility region is introduced and analyzed. It consists of all equilibrium states that can be reached quasistatically from the current operating point without loss of local stability. It is shown that generically loss of stability at the feasibility boundary is caused by one of three different local bifurcations, namely the saddle-node and Hopf bifurcations and a new bifurcation called the singularity induced bifurcation which is analyzed precisely here for the first time. The latter results when an equilibrium point is at the singular surface. Under certain transversality conditions, the change in the eigenstructure of the system Jacobian at the equilibrium is established and the local dynamical structure of the trajectories near this bifurcation point is analyzed     

Ion implantation studies on VOx films prepared by pulsed dc reactive sputtering

Vanadium oxide (VO_x) thin films find extensive use in room-temperature bolometers for IR imaging. It is desirable to control and modify the electronic properties of this temperature-sensitive material with treatments such as ion implantation and thermal annealing. In this work, we report on the modification of structural and electrical properties of VO_x thin films of varying compositions, deposited by pulsed dc reactive sputtering using a vanadium target under different oxygen flow rates. The as-deposited resistivities of the films ranged from 0.1 Ω cm to 100 Ω cm and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) values varied from ?1.1% to ?2.7%. VO_x films used in microbolometers need to have a high TCR (>2%) and low resistivity values (1–10 Ω cm) in order to maximize sensitivity in conjunction with the read-out integrated circuit (ROIC). However, one usually finds a high TCR associated with high resistivity. Hence ion implantation followed by annealing was performed with the goal of improving the trade-off between TCR and resistivity. Two species – hydrogen (active) and helium (inert) – were chosen for implantation. Hydrogen is strongly electroactive and is well known for passivating defect states in a wide variety of electronic materials. As inert species, helium was chosen mainly to study the effects of bombardment on the film. The implanted films were annealed in an inert atmosphere to allow defect control and redistribution of atoms, and then characterized by current–voltage measurements over a wide temperature range. An order of magnitude change in resistance, and significant variations in TCR were observed. Further characterization has been done by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to correlate these resistivity changes with the structure of the films.