Characterization of thermal and frequency-dispersion effects inGaAs MESFET devices

New simple and accurate measurement procedures that enable the dispersion and thermal effects in GaAs MESFETs to be observed independently are presented in this paper. The results indicate that the differences observed between the static and pulsed characteristics of the device are not solely due to thermal effects, as is sometimes thought. Electrical and thermal measurements also show the GaAs MESFET to take a relatively long time before the effect of self-heating manifests itself on the IV characteristics of the device     

On the stability of periodic orbits in lattice dynamical systems

The variation of the norm of a matrix operator in the space l_q² when q varies is investigated. The linear part of a lattice dynamical system is a matrix operator. The consequences of this variation on the stability of periodic orbits in such systems is given.     

Taxonomy of the manufacturing strategies of large Spanish industrial companies

This work presents a classification of the manufacturing strategies of large Spanish industrial companies in Spain. For this purpose the various international empirical studies on alternative manufacturing strategies have been taken as a reference, reviewed and compared. The database used in this study is made up of information on 114 factories and has been designed using the information from a survey mailed to the industrial companies which have production plants in Spain and which in the financial year of 1994 (reference date of this research) employed over 200 workers. Cluster analysis methodology has been used and the classification criterion taken was the competitive advantages or strengths of each factory concerning the five competitive priorities in manufacturing: efficiency, flexibility, quality, delivery and customer service. Finally, this work identifies a taxonomy of the manufacturing strategies of a sample of the largest industrial companies in Spain, differentiating three alternative production strategies: flexible marketoriented manufacturers, low-cost quality manufacturers and delivery-based manufacturers. Large industrial companies analysed compete in manufacturing, basically following a choice of three criteria: flexibility, quality or delivery. The companies belonging to each of the three categories identified maintain common and lasting manufacturing objectives and policies.     

Development of α-Tocopherol Acetate Nanoparticles: Influence of Preparative Processes

We studied different methods of preparing α-tocopherol acetate (ATA) nanoparticles, which are to be used in targeting the lungs as aerosols in order to prevent cigarette smoke toxicity. Poly-(lactide) nanoparticles were prepared using nanoprecipitation and solvent evaporation techniques, which produced, respectively, too small and too large nanoparticles to be aerosolized. The emulsification-diffusion method produced 2 months stable nanoparticles with a size between (500–700 nm). Increasing ATA concentration (1–7 mg/mL) induced a decrease in the association rate (97–93%) and in the adsorbed ATA rate (7–4.5%), which was associated with variations of Zeta potentials (?27.5 to ?24.3 mV) and decrease in polymeric wall thickness and density.     

Metaheuristic optimization frameworks: a survey and benchmarking

This paper performs an unprecedented comparative study of Metaheuristic optimization frameworks. As criteria for comparison a set of 271 features grouped in 30 characteristics and 6 areas has been selected. These features include the different metaheuristic techniques covered, mechanisms for solution encoding, constraint handling, neighborhood specification, hybridization, parallel and distributed computation, software engineering best practices, documentation and user interface, etc. A metric has been defined for each feature so that the scores obtained by a framework are averaged within each group of features, leading to a final average score for each framework. Out of 33 frameworks ten have been selected from the literature using well-defined filtering criteria, and the results of the comparison are analyzed with the aim of identifying improvement areas and gaps in specific frameworks and the whole set. Generally speaking, a significant lack of support has been found for hyper-heuristics, and parallel and distributed computing capabilities. It is also desirable to have a wider implementation of some Software Engineering best practices. Finally, a wider support for some metaheuristics and hybridization capabilities is needed.     

Precise selective deposition of microparticles on electrodes of microelectronic chips

We examined the high precision deposition of toner and polymer microparticles with a typical size of approximately 10 microm on electrode arrays with electrodes of 100 microm and below using custom-made microelectronic chips. Selective desorption of redundant particles was employed to obtain a given particle pattern from preadsorbed particle layers. Microparticle desorption was regulated by dielectrophoretic attracting forces generated by individual pixel electrodes, tangential detaching forces of an air flow, and adhesion forces on the microchip surface. A theoretical consideration of the acting forces showed that without pixel voltage, the tangential force applied for particle detachment exceeded the particle adhesion force. When the pixel voltage was switched on, however, the sum of attracting forces was larger than the tangential detaching force, which was crucial for desorption efficiency. In our experiments, appropriately large dielectrophoretic forces were achieved by applying high voltages of up to 100 V on the pixel electrodes. In addition, electrode geometries on the chip's surface as well as particle size influenced the desorption quality. We further demonstrated the compatibility of this procedure to complementary metal oxide semiconductor chip technology, which should allow for an easy technical implementation with respect to high-resolution microparticle deposition.     

Development of a high resolution and high dispersion Thomson parabola

Here, we report on the development of a novel high resolution and high dispersion Thomson parabola for simultaneously resolving protons and low-Z ions of more than 100 MeV/nucleon necessary to explore novel laser ion acceleration schemes. High electric and magnetic fields enable energy resolutions of ΔE∕E < 5% at 100 MeV/nucleon and impede premature merging of different ion species at low energies on the detector plane. First results from laser driven ion acceleration experiments performed at the Trident Laser Facility demonstrate high resolution and superior species and charge state separation of this novel Thomson parabola for ion energies of more than 30 MeV/nucleon.     

Analysis of residual stress and work-hardened profiles on Inconel 718 when face turning with large-nose radius tools

Surface integrity (SI) and, particularly, the residual stress profile, has a great influence on the fatigue life of machined aeronautical critical parts. Among the different cutting parameters that affect the final SI, tool geometry is one of the most important factors. In particular, tool nose radius determines the surface roughness, as well as the thermoplastic deformation of the workpiece. Indeed, the use of large tool nose radius in the industry enables (1) increasing the feed rate while keeping the roughness values below specifications and (2) reducing the influence of the tool wear in the surface roughness. Therefore, in this study, the influence of tool nose radius in the induced residual stress profile and work-hardened layer when face turning Inconel 718 is analysed for a cutting speed range between (30–70 m/min) and a feed rate range of (0.15–0.25 mm/rev). For this purpose, residual stress profiles and work-hardened layer were measured by x-ray diffraction method after machining with a 4 mm nose radius. Then, results have been compared against different tool nose radius studies carried out by other authors for the specified working conditions. Results revealed that residual stress profiles varied when machining with different nose radius for the studied range. In particular, the increase of the nose radius brought to a higher difference between surface tensile stress and subsurface compressive peak stress, which is attributed to an increase of the thermal effect. Moreover, thicker work-hardened layer (around 100 μm) was observed when machining with large-nose radius for the studied working conditions.