Radiation and scattering from ferrite-tuned cavity-backed slotantennas: theory and experiment

A three-dimensional finite-element method hybridized with the spectral/spatial domain method of moments is presented for the analysis of ferrite-tuned cavity-backed slot antennas. The cavity, which is partially filled with magnetized ferrite layers, is flush mounted on an infinite ground plane with possible dielectric or magnetic overlay. The antenna operates primarily in the ultrahigh-frequency band. The finite-element method is used to solve for the electric-field distribution inside the cavity, whereas the spectral-domain approach is used to solve for the exterior region. An asymptotic extraction of the exponential behavior of the Green's function followed by a spatial evaluation of the resulting integral is used to improve computational speed. Radar cross section, input impedance, return loss, gain, and efficiency of ferrite-tuned cavity-backed slots (CBS) are calculated for various biasing conditions. Numerical results are compared with experimental data     

Improving the performance of microstrip-patch antennas

This paper describes a cavity-backed patch-antenna geometry, which features multiple dielectric layers and shorting posts. These features are exploited to design antennas which retain many of the desirable characteristics of conventional microstrip antennas, yet overcome some of their inherent disadvantages     

Bovine muscle shortening and protein degradation after electrical stimulation, excision and chilling

Electrical stimulation-dependent improvement in beef tenderness resulted from mechanisms other than avoidance of cold shortening in excised muscle chilled at a normal rate (10°C at 10h post-stimulation). At normal chilling rate, electrical stimulation enhanced degradation of the myofibrillar proteins, alpha actinin and troponin-T, and increased the amount of a 30 000 dalton protein, as assessed by gel electrophoresis, whereas sarcomere lengths were not different from unstimulated muscle. Under slightly accelerated chilling conditions (10°C at 5 h post stimulation), electrical stimulation prevented cold shortening but the meat was more tender than, and had the same sarcomere length as, unstimulated muscle chilled to 10°C in 10 h. Electrical stimulation did not improve the tenderness of beef chilled at a rapid rate (10°C at 2 h post stimulation), nor did it prevent cold shortening when muscles were chilled rapidly.     

An introduction to spectral domain method-of-moments formulations

The capacitance per unit length of a microstrip transmission line is obtained using a spectral-domain method-of-moments (MoM) formulation. The paper emphasizes this problem as a teaching tool to introduce students of electromagnetics to this technique. Firstly, the derivation of the spectral-domain Green's function is outlined. Using this, the relevant integral equation is derived to which the Galerkin MoM approach is then applied. The MoM problem is solved in the spectral domain by also transforming the expansion and weighting functions. The inverse Fourier transform is then applied to find the spatial-domain charge distribution, and, hence, capacitance. The issues that arise here - both of selecting how much of the spectrum to include, and how to choose the number of integration points - are discussed, and the results of typical numerical experiments are presented. The time required to compute the elements of the immittance matrix is shown to be 0(N/sup 3/); the use of translational symmetry (and thus Toeplitz matrix structure) to reduce this is outlined. Classroom experience with this material is discussed. Finally, a hybrid spectral/spatial-domain formulation, introducing asymptotics, is outlined to accelerate the evaluation of the immittance matrix.     

Commercial white paint as back surface reflector for thin-film solar cells

In this work, commercially available white paint is applied as a pigmented diffuse reflector (PDR) on the rear surface of thin-film crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells with a silicon thickness in the 1–2 μm range. We show that white paint increases the short-circuit current density of the solar cells enormously, with a boost of 41% observed for very thin planar solar cells illuminated with the global AM1.5 solar spectrum. We also show that white paint is a better back surface reflector (BSR) than aluminium, air, a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)/aluminium stack, and even a detached aluminium mirror. While previous studies have investigated the influence of PDRs on silicon solar cells with thicknesses of over 27 μm, this work closes the gap that has existed for much thinner cells.     

An annular ring coupled to a shorted patch

A novel broad-band microstrip antenna is presented. The printed configuration consists of a shorted circular patch and a concentric parasitic annular ring. Compared to a conventional microstrip patch, this ensemble is smaller in size with enhanced impedance bandwidth. Both experimental and theoretical impedance behavior and radiation characteristics of the modified patch are considered. Very good agreement between the experiment and the theory was achieved     

Single and stacked circular microstrip patch antennas backed by acircular cavity

In this communication, a full wave moment method solution for a probe-fed circular microstrip patch antenna, backed by a circular cavity both in single and in stacked configurations, is used to analyze the effect of a parasitic patch on antenna bandwidth. In addition, the effect of recessing a single patch into the antenna cavity is studied. In both cases, theoretical results for the scattering and radiation characteristics of the antenna are presented     

Progress in Low-temperature Surface Passivation of Silicon Solar Cells using Remote-plasma Silicon Nitride

Using a remote-plasma technique as opposed to the conventional direct-plasma technique, significant progress has been obtained at ISFH in the area of low-temperature surface passivation of p-type crystalline silicon solar cells by means of silicon nitride (SiN) films fabricated at 350–400°C in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition system. If applied to the rear surface of the low-resistivity p-type substrates, the remote-plasma SiN films provide outstanding surface recombination velocities (SRVs) as low as 4 cm s⁻¹, which is by a clear margin the lowest value ever obtained on a low-resistivity p-Si wafer passivated by a solid film, including highest quality thermal oxides. Compared to direct-plasma SiN films or thermally grown oxides, the remote-plasma films not only provide significantly better SRVs on low-resistivity p-silicon wafers, but also an enormously improved stability against ultraviolet (UV) light. The potential of these remote-plasma silicon nitride films for silicon solar cell applications is further increased by the fact that they provide a surface passivation on phosphorus-diffused emitters which is comparable to high-quality thermal oxides. Furthermore, if combined with a thermal oxide and a caesium treatment, the films induce a UV-stable inversion-layer emitter of outstanding electronic quality. Due to the low deposition temperature and the high refraction index, these remote-plasma SiN films act as highly efficient surface-passivating antireflection coatings. Application of these films to cost-effective silicon solar cell designs presently under development at ISFH turned out to be most successful, as demonstrated by diffused p-n junction cells with efficiencies above 19%, by bifacial p-n junction cells with front and rear efficiencies above 18%, by mask-free evaporated p-n junction cells with efficiencies above 18% and by MIS inversion-layer cells with a new record efficiency of above 17%. All cells are found to be stable during a UV test corresponding to more than 4 years of glass-encapsulated outdoor operation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

聚苯板粘结砂浆成本优化的创新方案

纤维素醚和可再分散聚合物胶粉为聚苯板粘结砂浆提供了重要的功能。外墙外保温体系"墙-粘结砂浆-聚苯板"中最关键的是粘结砂浆与聚苯板之间的粘结。一种特殊改性的聚苯板粘结型纤维素醚Bermocoll PAD 1,特别适用于EPS外墙外保温系统的粘结砂浆。Bermocoll PAD 1除具有纤维素醚的所有功能外还可提高砂浆与聚苯板间的粘接强度。即使在低掺量的情况下,它不仅能提高新拌砂浆的保水性和工作性,同时由于独特的锚固技术还可以显著提高砂浆与聚苯板之间的原粘接强度和耐水粘接强度。     

A new method to characterize bifacial solar cells

We present a new method to characterize bifacial solar cells under standard test conditions (STC). The method considers the bifacial operation of the cell and provides the characteristics for simultaneous front and rear side illumination rather than providing the front and the rear side characteristics separately. The method involves measurements of front side electrical parameters (efficiency, open‐circuit voltage, short‐circuit current and fill factor) and rear side short‐circuit current under STC. Two new parameters are introduced, namely bifacial 1.x efficiency (effective efficiency) and gain‐efficiency product, which are calculated from the measured STC parameters. The former provides information related to the cell design considering the bifacial operation, whereas the latter provides the end‐use benefits from the modules with bifacial cells for a particular installation. To calculate the bifacial 1.x efficiency and the gain‐efficiency product, a one‐diode solar cell equivalent circuit is used. Characteristic plots are shown for the newly introduced parameters as a function of rear‐side illumination for various example solar cells. A sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of each single‐sided STC solar cell parameter on the newly introduced parameters. This sensitivity analysis shows that the fill factor and the rear‐to‐front current ratio are the most critical parameters for bifacial solar cells. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.