Article on dynamic conductance of carbon nanotubes.

Article on theoretical STM signatures and transport properties of native defects in carbon nanotubes.

Article discussing a study on a fixed effects panel data model and mathematics achievement in the United States.

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We present a map and an angular power spectrum of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the first flight of MAXIMA. MAXIMA is a balloon-borne experiment with an array of 16 bolometric photometers operated at 100 mK. MAXIMA observed a 124 deg region of the sky with 10' resolution at frequencies of 150, 240 and 410 GHz. The data were calibrated using in-flight measurements of the CMB dipole anisotropy. A map of the CMB anisotropy was produced from three 150 and one 240 GHz photometer without need for foreground subtractions. Analysis of this CMB map yields a power spectrum for the CMB anisotropy over the range 36 {le} {ell} {le} 785. The spectrum shows a peak with an amplitude of 78 {+-} 6 {mu}K at {ell} {approx_equal} 220 and an amplitude varying between {approx} 40 {mu}K and {approx} 50 {mu}K for 400 {approx}< {ell} {approx}< 785.

A procedure was developed to assign energy ratings to a photovoltaic (PV) module for five reference days that represent different climates.

The structure and effects of extended defects in rapid deposited polycrystalline Si thin films were studied using a combination of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and first-principles total energy calculations.

Technologies were investigated to determine viable processes for removing mercury from the calciner (NWCF) offgas system at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Technologies for gas phase and aqueous phase treatment were evaluated. The technologies determined are intended to meet EPA Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements under the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Currently, mercury accumulation in the calciner off-gas scrubbing system is transferred to the tank farm. These transfers lead to accumulation in the liquid heels of the tanks. The principal objective for aqueous phase mercury removal is heel mercury reduction. The system presents a challenge to traditional methods because of the presence of nitrogen oxides in the gas phase and high nitric acid in the aqueous scrubbing solution. Many old and new technologies were evaluated including sorbents and absorption in the gas phase and ion exchange, membranes/sorption, galvanic methods, and UV reduction in the aqueous phase. Process modifications and feed pre-treatment were also evaluated. Various properties of mercury and its compounds were summarized and speciation was predicted based on thermodynamics. Three systems (process modification, NOxidizer combustor, and electrochemical aqueous phase treatment) and additional technology testing were recommended.

This paper presents the results of interviews conducted with 44 business people in 10 states to examine the use of the utility bill as an information mechanism for providing businesses with the relationship between energy consumption and cost. Our results indicate that there are significant barriers to the use of the utility bill as an information tool for energy consumers. Furthermore, we found significant variations among respondents in the information desired from the bill, and differences in decision-making criteria for investments aimed at reducing energy consumption and for those aimed at other forms of waste minimization. These results call into question the applicability of standard market theories in the purchase of energy by most businesses.

We present a new computed tomography method, the low third derivative (LTD) method, that is particularly suited for reconstructing the spatial distribution of gas concentrations from path-integral data for a small number of optical paths. The method finds a spatial distribution of gas concentrations that (1) has path integrals that agree with measured path integrals, and (2) has a low third spatial derivative in each direction, at every point. The trade-off between (1) and (2) is controlled by an adjustable parameter, which can be set based on analysis of the path-integral data. The method produces a set of linear equations, which can be solved with a single matrix multiplication if the constraint that all concentrations must be positive is ignored; the method is therefore extremely rapid. Analysis of experimental data from thousands of concentration distributions shows that the method works nearly as well as Smooth Basis Function Minimization (the best method previously available), yet is 100 times faster.

This article is about the Chopping effect observed at cathodic arc initiation. It is argued that current chopping at the rising edge is similar to the current chopping effect that is well-known for the arc current approaching current-zero.

Low cross section experiments to produce super-heavyelements have increased the demand for high intensity heavy ion beams atenergies of about 5 MeV/nucleon at the 88-Inch Cyclotron at the LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory. Therefore, efforts are underway to increasethe overall ion beam transmission through the axial injection line andthe cyclotron. The ion beam emittance has been measured for various ionmasses and charge states. Beam transport simulations including spacecharge effects were performed for both of the injection line and the ionsource extraction. The relatively low nominal injection voltage of 10 kVwas found to be the main factor for ion beam losses, because of beam blowup due to space charge forces at higher intensities. Consequently,experiments and simulations have been performed at higherinjectionenergies, and it was demonstrated that the ion beams could still becentered in the cyclotron at these energies. Therefore, the new injectorion source VENUS and its ion beam transport system (currently underconstruction at the 88-Inch Cyclotron) are designed for extractionvoltages up to 30 kV.

As part of a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Sandia National Laboratories Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center is developing and testing the feasibility of using a cooperative team of robotic sentry vehicles to guard a perimeter, perform a surround task, and travel extended distances. This paper describes the authors most recent activities. In particular, this paper highlights the development of a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) leapfrog capability that allows two or more vehicles to alternate sending DGPS corrections. Using this leapfrog technique, this paper shows that a group of autonomous vehicles can travel 22.68 kilometers with a root mean square positioning error of only 5 meters.

A multi-rover cooperative team or swarm developed by Sandia National Laboratories is described, including various control methodologies that have been implemented to date. How the swarm's capabilities could be applied to a lunar ice prospecting mission is briefly explored. Some of the specific major engineering issues that must be addressed to successfully implement the swarm approach to a lunar surface mission are outlined, and potential solutions are proposed.

Article on the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with trichloroethylene and evidence for chlorine elimination channels at elevated temperatures.

An all solid-state kicker pulser for a high current induction accelerator (the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility DARHT-2) has been designed and fabricated. This kicker pulser uses multiple solid state modulators stacked in an inductive-adder configuration. Each modulator is comprised of multiple metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) which quickly switch the energy storage capacitors across a magnetic induction core. Metglas is used as the core material to minimize loss. Voltage from each modulator is inductively added by a voltage summing stalk and delivered to a 50 ohm output cable. A lumped element circuit model of the inductive adder has been developed to optimize the performance of the pulser. Results for several stalk geometries will be compared with experimental data.

An experimental study of the combustion of two isomers of pentane, n-pentane and iso-pentane, in laminar cool flames has been carried out. Three flames were studied, one with n-pentane, the second with iso-pentane, and the third with an equimolar mixture of the two isomers. Particular attention has been given to the low temperature region ahead of the hot region of the flame and the cool flame chemistry occurring there. A unique experimental facility has been used to provide access to this cool flame region. Comparisons are made of the structures of the three flames, with particular attention on the different intermediate species produced and the correlations between the fuel molecule structure and the specific intermediates produced.

Efforts to more effectively monitor nuclear explosions include the calibration of travel times along specific paths. Benchmark events are used to improve travel-time prediction by (1) improving models, (2) determining travel times empirically, or (3) using a hybrid approach. Even velocity models that are determined using geophysical analogy (i.e. models determined without the direct use of calibration data) require validation with calibration events. Ideally, the locations and origin times of calibration events would be perfectly known. However, the existing set of perfectly known events is spatially limited and many of these events occurred prior to the installation of current monitoring stations, thus limiting their usefulness. There are, however, large numbers of well (but not perfectly) located events that are spatially distributed, and many of these events may be used for calibration. Identifying the utility and limitations of the spatially distributed set of imperfect calibration data is of paramount importance to the calibration effort. In order to develop guidelines for calibration utility, we examine the uncertainty and correlation of location parameters under several network configurations that are commonly used to produce calibration-grade locations. We then map these calibration uncertainties through location procedures with network configurations that are likely in monitoring situations. …

The idea of producing beams of high energy photons by Compton backscattering of laser photons was proposed over 20 years ago. At the time, producing the required laser pulses was not feasible. However, recent advances in high average power, diode pumped lasers appear to have solved this problem. The US Collaboration is now turning its attention to the engineering requirement of mating the laser and optics components with the accelerator structures in the confined space of the a colliding beam interaction region. The demonstration of a technically feasible interaction region design is planned for the Snowmass conference in 2001.

The Plutonium Immobilization Program requires development of the process and plant prototypic equipment to immobilize surplus plutonium in ceramic for long-term storage. Because of the hazardous nature of plutonium, it was necessary to develop a remotely operable materials transfer system which can function within the confines of a glovebox. In support of this work at LLNL, such a material transfer system (MTS) was developed. This paper presents both the mechanical and controls parts making up this system, and includes photographs of the key components and diagrams of their assemblies, as well as a description of the control sequence used to validate the MTS capabilities.

This paper discusses: (1) A general block-factorization (matrix) form of multilevel preconditioners; algebraic methods; (2) Selecting parameters based on the matrix topology; graph based algorithms; (3) Examples of coarsening; (4) Numerical experiments.

A technique is developed to construct bulk hydroxyapatite (HAp) with different cellular structures. The technique involves the initial synthesis of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite powder from an aqueous solution using water-soluble compounds and then followed by spray drying into agglomerated granules. The granules were further cold pressed and sintered into bulks at elevated temperatures. The sintering behavior of the HAp granules was characterized and compared with those previously reported. Resulting from the fact that the starting HAp powders were extremely fine, a relatively low activation energy for sintering was obtained. In the present study, both porous and dense structures were produced by varying powder morphology and sintering parameters. Porous structures consisting of open cells were constructed. Sintered structures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray tomography. In the present paper, hydroxyapatite coatings produced by magnetron sputtering on silicon and titanium substrates will also be presented. The mechanical properties of the coatings were measured using nanoindentation techniques and microstructures examined using transmission electron microscopy.

Use of multiple backlighter foils and/or double-sided laser interaction geometry with backlit imaging can result in improved backlighter efficiency. An experimental comparison of backlighter intensity for Ti foils and Ti/Sc combination foils in both the one-sided and double-sided laser-interaction configuration is presented. Spectrally-integrated framing camera images show intensity contributions of front and rear backlighter surfaces for both foil types. Analysis of time-resolved x-ray spectra collected from foil targets show the relative contribution of Ti and Sc 2-1 He-like resonance lines to the total backlighter intensity.

{l_brace}311{r_brace} defects and dislocation loops are formed after ion-implantation and annealing of a silicon wafer. Recent Transmission Electron Microscopy studies by Li and Jones have shown that sub-threshold dislocation loops nucleate from {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects. In our study, the conjugate gradient method with the Stillinger Weber potential is used to relax different configurations such as {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects with a maximum of five chains and perfect dislocation loops. From the formation energies thus obtained we find that there is an optimal width for each length of the {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects. Moreover the relative stability of {l_brace}311{r_brace}s and loops is studied as a function of defect size. We observe that at very small sizes the perfect loops are more stable than the {l_brace}311{r_brace}s. This may provide an explanation for the experimental observation by Robertson et al that, in an annealing study of end of range damage of amorphized samples, 45% of the loops had nucleated in the first 10 minutes of anneal. We propose that homogeneous nucleation, as against unfaulting of the {l_brace}311{r_brace}s, could be the source of these loops.