Until recently, Pb was the preferred heat exchanger matrix material used in low temperature cryocoolers; however, the heat capacity of Pb drops drastically below {approximately}15K and new matrix materials based on the lanthanide elements have been developed. These materials magnetically order at low temperatures and the entropy change associated with ordering contributes to the materials` heat capacities. The drawback to widespread use of lanthanide intermetallic compounds in cryocoolers has been the difficulty in manufacturing high-quality particulates. The purpose of this project was to develop a technique for producing high-quality powders of lanthanide metals and lanthanide intermetallic compounds for use in cryocooler heat exchangers. A series of atomization experiments was performed using Er{sub 3}Ni, Nd, Nd{sub 3}Ni, and (Er{sub 0.5}Nd{sub 0.5}){sub 3}Ni. Atomization of these materials resulted in particles ranging from mostly spherical to extremely flattened. Analyses of size distributions for the experiments indicate that increased atomization disk speed and superheat result in smaller mean particle diameters and narrower size distributions. Chemical analyses of the atomized powders indicate that the CA/RQB technique produces particulate with much lower interstitial contamination than other techniques. The Er{sub 3}Ni and Nd{sub 3}Ni powders were predominantly of the desired phase and the (Er{sub 0.5}Nd{sub 0.5}){sub 3}Ni …

This thesis is a collection of research efforts in ultrasonics, conducted at the Center for Aviation Systems Reliability located at Iowa State University, as part of the Federal Aviation Administration`s ``Aging Aircraft Program.`` The research was directed toward the development of an ultrasonic prototype to inspect the aluminum/adhesive fuselage lap splices found on 1970`s vintage Boeing passenger aircraft. The ultrasonic prototype consists of a normal incidence, low frequency inspection technique, and a scanning adapter that allows focused immersion transducers to be operated in a direct contact manner in any inspection orientation, including upside-down. The inspection technique uses a computer-controlled data acquisition system to produce a C-scan image of a radio frequency (RF) waveform created by a low frequency, broadband, focused beam transducer, driven with a spike voltage pulser. C-scans produced by this technique are color representations of the received signal`s peak-to-peak amplitude (voltage) taken over an (x, y) grid. Low frequency, in this context, refers to a wavelength that is greater than the lap splice`s layer thicknesses. With the low frequency technique, interface echoes of the lap splice are not resolved and gating of the signal is unnecessary; this in itself makes the technique simple to implement and saves considerable …

The design of power amplifiers in any semi-conductor process is not a trivia exercise and it is often encountered that the simulated solution is qualitatively different than the results obtained. Phenomena such as oscillation occurring either in-band or out of band and sometimes at subharmonic intervals, continuous spectrum noticed in some frequency bands, often referred to as chaos, and jumps and hysteresis effects can all be encountered and render a design useless. All of these problems might have been identified through a more rigorous approach to stability analysis. Designing for stability is probably the one area of amplifier design that receives the least amount of attention but incurs the most catastrophic of effects if it is not performed properly. Other parameters such as gain, power output, frequency response and even matching may suitable mitigation paths. But the lack of stability in an amplifier has no mitigating path. In addition to of loss of the design completely there are the increased production cycle costs, costs involved with investigating and resolving the problem and the costs involved with schedule slips or delays resulting from it. The Linville or Rollett stability criteria that many microwave engineers follow and rely exclusively on is not …

In our work we revisit Ag and Au adsorbates on Si(111)-7x7, as well as experiment with a ternary system of Pentacene, Ag and Si(111). Of particular interest to us is the Si(111)-({radical}3x{radical}3)R30{degree}–Ag (Ag-Si-{radical}3 hereafter). In this thesis I systematically e plore effects of Ag deposition on the Ag-Si-{radical}3 at different temperatures, film thicknesses and deposition fluxes. The generated insight of the Ag system on the Si(111) is then applied to generate novel methods of nanostructuring and nanowire growth. I then extend our expertise to the Au system on the Ag-Si(111) to gain insight into Au-Si eutectic silicide formation. Finally we explore behavior and growth modes of an organic molecule on the Ag-Si interface.

A document on the Indiana Fine Arts Diagnostic Achievement Tests, The Getty Center for Education in the Arts Student Assessment Meeting. The Indiana Fine Arts Diagnostic Achievement Testing program began in 1987 as a means to provide art teachers with new tools from which to measure student achievement in visual arts, music, theatre/creative drama and dance/creative movement. The purpose of the testing program is also to create / develop new tools to diagnose student and class strengths or needs.

Investigations of ternary mixed early transition metal-rich sulfide and phosphide systems resulted in the discovery of new structures and new phases. A new series of Zr and Hf - group V transition metal - sulfur K-phases was synthesized and crystallographically characterized. When the group V transition metal was Nb or Ta, the unit cell volume was larger than any previously reported K-phase. The presence of adventitious oxygen was determined in two K-phases through a combination of neutron scattering and X-ray diffraction experiments. A compound Hf{sub 10}Ta{sub 3}S{sub 3} was found to crystallize in a new-structure type similar to the known gamma brasses. This structure is unique in that it is the only reported {open_quotes}stuffed{close_quotes} gamma-brass type structure. The metal components, Hf and Ta, are larger in size and more electropositive than the metals found in normal gamma brasses (e.g. Cu and Zn) and because of the larger metallic radii, sulfur can be incorporated into the structure where it plays an integral role in stabilizing this phase relative to others. X-ray single-crystal, X-ray powder and neutron powder refinements were performed on this structure. A new structure was found in the ternary Nb-Zr-P system which has characteristics in common with many known …

A methodology for the production of deformation processed metal metal matrix composites from hyper-eutectic copper-chromium alloys was developed. This methodology was derived from a basic study of the precipitation phenomena in these alloys encompassing evaluation of microstructural, electrical, and mechanical properties. The methodology developed produces material with a superior combination of electrical and mechanical properties compared to those presently available in commercial alloys. New and novel alloying procedures were investigated to extend the range of production methods available for these material. These studies focused on the use of High Pressure Gas Atomization and the development of new containment technologies for the liquid alloy. This allowed the production of alloys with a much more refined starting microstructure and lower contamination than available by other methods. The knowledge gained in the previous studies was used to develop two completely new families of deformation processed metal metal matrix composites. These composites are based on immissible alloys with yttrium and magnesium matrices and refractory metal reinforcement. This work extends the physical property range available in deformation processed metal metal matrix composites. Additionally, it also represents new ways to apply these metals in engineering applications.

Experiments and direct numerical simulations (DNS) have been performed to examine the effects of initial conditions on the dynamics of a Rayleigh-Taylor unstable mixing layer. Experiments were performed on a water channel facility to measure the interfacial and velocity perturbations initially present at the two-fluid interface in a small Atwood number mixing layer. The experimental measurements have been parameterized for use in numerical simulations of the experiment. Two- and three-dimensional DNS of the experiment have been performed using the parameterized initial conditions. It is shown that simulations implemented with initial velocity and density perturbations, rather than density perturbations alone, are required to match experimentally-measured statistics and spectra. Data acquired from both the experiment and numerical simulations are used to examine the role of initial conditions on the evolution of integral-scale, turbulence, and mixing statistics. Early-time turbulence and mixing statistics are shown to be strongly-dependent upon the early-time transition of the initial perturbation from a weakly-nonlinear to a strongly-nonlinear flow.

The {eta}'(958) meson has been studied in the reaction K{sup -}p {yields} {Lambda}{eta}', with K{sup -} beam momenta ranging from 1.70 to 2.65 Gev/c. The Dalitz plots of {eta}' decay into {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{eta} and {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{gamma} have been examined, and from them we have determined that the most likely quantum numbers of the {eta}' are I{sup G}J{sup P} = 0{sup +}0{sup -}, although J{sup P} = 2{sup -} cannot be completely ruled out. They have also shown that the decay into {pi}{sup +}{sup -}{gamma} is mediated by the decay {eta}' {yields} {rho}{sup o}{gamma}. An examination of the production process has yielded further evidence for the J{sup P} = 0{sup -} assignment and suggested that the process takes place via K*(891) exchange in the t channel. Branching fractions and cross sections have been determined, and finally a search for a negatively charged {eta}' in the deuterium reaction K{sup -}d {yields} p{Lambda}{eta}' has confirmed the I = 0 assignment for the {eta}'.

The development of new odd-Z-projectile reactions leading to the production of transactinide elements is described. The cross section of the even-Z-projectile 208Pb(64Ni, n)271Ds reaction was measured at two new energies using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. In total, seven decay chains attributable to 271Ds were observed. These data, combined with previous results, establish an excitation function for the production of 271Ds. The maximum cross section was 20 +15 -11 pb at a center-of-target energy of 311.5 MeV in the laboratory frame.The data from the 271Ds experiments were used to estimate the optimum beam energy for the new odd-Z-projectile 208Pb(65Cu, n)272-111 reaction using the Fusion by Diffusion theory proposed by Swiatecki, Siwek-Wilczynska, and Wilczynski. A cross section for this reaction was measured for the first time, at a center-of-target energy of 321.1 MeV in the laboratory frame. The excitation energy f or compound nuclei formed at the target center was 13.2 MeV. One decay chain was observed, resulting in a measured cross section of 1.7 +3.9 -1.4 pb. This decay chain is in good agreement with previously published data on the decay of 272-111.The new odd-Z-projectile 208Pb(55Mn, n)262Bh reaction was studied at three different …