Effects of Ca and Zr substitution upon structure and properties of Ba5LaTi3Ta7O30 low-loss dielectric ceramics

Effects of Ca and Zr substitution upon the dielectric properties of Ba₅LaTi₃Ta₇O₃₀ ceramics were investigated together with the structural characterization. All the samples of Ba₅La(Zr_xTi_1−x)₃Ta₇O₃₀ formed a filled tungsten-bronze structures, whereas the solid solution limit was determined as x=0.25 in (Ca_xBa_1−x)₅LaTi₃Ta₇O₃₀. Beyond this limit secondary phase of CaTa₂O₆ was detected and it would become the major phase for the Ca-rich compositions. The temperature coefficient of dielectric constant was improved with increasing Zr content while the dielectric constant decreased and the low dielectric loss varied little (in the order of 10⁻⁴). In the case of (Ca_xBa_1−x)₅LaTi₃Ta₇O₃₀, small temperature coefficient of dielectric constant could be obtained with increasing Ca content while the dielectric constant decreased significantly, and a small amount substitution of Ca for Ba induced decrease in dielectric loss.     

Effects of gallia additions on sintering behavior of gadolinia-doped ceria

The effects of gallia additions on the sintering behavior of gadolinia-doped ceria were systematically investigated from the following aspects: the variation in sintered density, the variation in grain size, and the existing forms of Ga₂O₃ in CeO₂.Sintered density increased with increasing Ga₂O₃ content up to 5 mol.% and then it decreased with further addition of Ga₂O₃. Grain size also increased with increasing Ga₂O₃ content up to 5 mol.% and then decreased with further addition of Ga₂O₃. Decrease in grain size was caused by a pinning effect of Ga₂O₃ precipitation at grain boundaries. Lattice constant decreased with increasing Ga₂O₃ content up to 5 mol.%. This decrease will be due to the substitution of smaller Ga³⁺ ions for Ce⁴⁺ ions in the CeO₂ structure. According to the results obtained from scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, the solubility limit of Ga₂O₃ in Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_1.9 ceramics can be estimated to be nearly 5 mol.%. The addition of Ga₂O₃ up to the solubility limit was found to promote the sintering properties of Gd₂O₃-doped CeO₂.     

Adhesive element modelling and weighted static shape control of composite plates with piezoelectric actuator patches

A novel finite element model is presented for static and dynamic analysis of composite plates integrated with a laminated piezoelectric layer, a host laminated composite plate and an adhesive layer between them. A new adhesive element is developed which includes both peel and shear effects in the adhesive layer based on first‐order shear deformation plate theory. The thin adhesive layer between the piezoelectric layer and the host plate is modelled by assuming that it carries constant shear and peel strains throughout its thickness. In addition, a weighted static shape control scheme for finding the optimal voltage distribution for static shape control is given. By selecting different weighting matrices, a variety of items such as displacements, slopes, curvatures, strains and even generalized forces, can be included in finding the optimal actuating voltage for static shape control. The present model is validated by comparing with those results available in the literature. The numerical results show that the weighted linear least method can give a satisfactory voltage distribution to best match the desired shape. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High dielectric constant thin film EBG power/ground network for broad-band suppression of SSN and radiated emissions

We experimentally demonstrated the great advantages of a high dielectric constant thin film electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) power distribution network (PDN) for the suppression of power/ground noises and radiated emissions in high-performance multilayer digital printed circuit boards (PCBs). Five-layer test PCBs were fabricated and their scattering parameters measured. The power plane noise and radiated emissions were measured, investigated and related to the PDN impedance. This successfully demonstrated that the bandgap of the EBG was extended more than three times, covering a range of hundreds of MHz using a 1-cm /spl times/ 1-cm EBG cell, the SSN was reduced from 170 mV to 10 mV and the radiated emission was suppressed by 22 dB because of the high dielectric constant thin film EBG power/ground network.     

Entities,identities, identifiers and credentials — what does it all mean?

This paper looks at the concepts of entities, identities, identifiers and credentials, their definitions, and how they combine to authenticate an identity to an account, or function, within a service. Credentials can be divided into several different types on the basis of their use, origin and characteristics. In particular, types such as composite, dynamic and derived credentials will be considered, and their applicability within an identity management system. Each credential must be managed through its entire life cycle from initial registration, general use and suspension, to deletion. The notion of public (i.e. freely distributable) and private (i.e. known only to you) aspects of a credential is explored. The bindings, by trusted third parties, of identifiers and public credentials into permits and instruments of proof is explained along with the convenience, but greater exposure, of local information. Several scenarios are analysed in terms of how different types of credentials are employed during the authentication process.     

Spectrum efficient region-based resource allocation with fractional loading for FH-OFDMA cellular systems

A practical resource management method that can significantly reduce cochannel interference (CCI) and improve spectrum utilisation in FH-OFDMA packet-based cellular networks is presented. The proposed method seeks an effective combination of dynamic resource allocation with fractional coding and bit loading to respectively minimise CCI and maximise system throughput for a desired performance.     

Grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier transform infrared (GIRA-FTIR) spectroscopic studies on the ferroelectric behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) ultrathin films

Grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier transform infrared (GIRA-FTIR) spectroscopy was used to characterize the ferroelectric behavior of a thin poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) P(VDF–TrFE) copolymer. The lab-built GIRA-FTIR apparatus allowed the heating and corona poling process to be carried out whilst collecting the GIRA spectra of the thin polymer film. The Curie transition from the ferroelectric to paraelectric phase was confirmed from the abrupt change in intensity of the 849 cm⁻¹ band in the RA-FTIR spectrum. It was found that the Curie temperature dropped dramatically when the film thickness was lowered to below a certain critical value of approximately 100 nm. The switching of the CF₂ dipoles in the ferroelectric crystals after applying the external electric field could be determined by monitoring the change in the 849 cm⁻¹ band intensity. For the 600 nm thick P(VDF–TrFE) film, the switching of the dipoles appears to occur almost instantaneously, while the kinetics of dipole switching of the 75 nm thick film were significantly retarded. The repeated switchability of the CF₂ dipoles upon the application of a bipolar cyclic electric field was also confirmed. The bistability of the film due to remnant polarization was also confirmed from the absorbance of the 849 cm⁻¹ band after removing the applied voltage during corona poling.     

Design and practical implementation of multifrequency RF front ends using direct RF sampling

The use of direct RF sampling has been explored as a means of designing multifrequency RF front ends. Such front ends will be useful to multifrequency RF applications such as global navigation satellite system receivers that use global positioning system (GPS) L1, L2, and L5 signals and Galileo signals. The design of a practical multifrequency direct RF sampling front end is dependent on having an analog-to-digital converter whose input bandwidth accommodates the highest carrier frequency and whose maximum sampling frequency is more than twice the cumulative bandwidth about the multiple carrier signals. The principle of direct RF sampling is used to alias all frequency bands of interest onto portions of the Nyquist bandwidth that do not overlap. This paper presents a new algorithm that finds the minimum sampling frequency that avoids overlap. This design approach requires a multifrequency bandpass filter for the frequency bands of interest. A prototype front end has been designed, built, and tested. It receives a GPS coarse/acquisition code at the L1 frequency and GPS antispoofing precision code at both L1 and L2. Dual-frequency signals with received carrier-to-noise ratios in excess of 52 dB-Hz have been acquired and tracked using this system.     

Observer design for autonomous discrete-time nonlinear systems

We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for a discrete-time nonlinear system to be locally state equivalent to the nonlinear observer form. The result looks similar to the continuous counterpart except for the fact that Ad-operation is utilized instead of ad-operation.