Article on the mechanism of strain release in carbon nanotubes.

A overview has been presented on the topic of alternative surface finishes for package I/Os and circuit board features. Aspects of processability and solder joint reliability were described for the following coatings: baseline hot-dipped, plated, and plated-and-fused 100Sn and Sn-Pb coatings; Ni/Au; Pd, Ni/Pd, and Ni/Pd/Au finishes; and the recently marketed immersion Ag coatings. The Ni/Au coatings appear to provide the all-around best option in terms of solderability protection and wire bondability. Nickel/Pal ftishes offer a slightly reduced level of performance in these areas that is most likely due to variable Pd surface conditions. It is necessmy to minimize dissolved Au or Pd contents in the solder material to prevent solder joint embrittlement. Ancillary aspects that included thickness measurement techniques; the importance of finish compatibility with conformal coatings and conductive adhesives; and the need for alternative finishes for the processing of non-Pb bearing solders were discussed.

Multispectral UV fluorescence measurements were made of an optically dense medium (fetal bovine serum, FBS) spiked with sodium salicylate at concentrate ions from 0.2 to 500 pg/ml . Analysis of the spectra show that, depending on experimental conditions, reasonably good estimates of concentration can be obtained across the entire range of concentrate ions. Experimental conditions required for recovering these estimates are demonstrated.

Argonne National Laboratory is developing advanced cathode and electrolyte components for the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Working in support of the MCFC developers, the goal of this effort is to extend the life of the MCFC cell and to improve its performance.

A pulsed-flow leaching test is being conducted using three EBR-II blanket fuel segments. These samples are immersed in simulated J-13 well water. The samples are kept at a constant temperature of 90 C. Leachate is exchanged weekly and analyzed for various nuclides which are of interest from a mobility and longevity point of view. Our primary interest is in the longer-lived species such as {sup 99}Tc, {sup 237}Np, and {sup 241}Am. In addition, the behavior of U, Pu, {sup 90}Sr, and {sup 137}Cs are being analyzed. During the course of this experiment, an interesting observation has been made involving one of the samples which could indicate the possible rapid ''anoxic'' oxidation of uranium metal to UO{sub 2}.

Microstructural features and magnetic behavior of epitaxially grown SmCo thin films with very high in-plane anisotropy are presented. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize the microstructure while magnetic measurements were performed using dc and SQUID magnetometers. Two substrate orientations were studied, i.e., MgO(100)/Cr(100)/SmCo(11{bar 2}0) and MgO(110)/Cr(211)/SmCo(1{bar 1}00). In the former, the SmCo(11{bar 2}0) film shows a bicrystalline microstructure, whereas in the latter, a uniaxial one is observed. Both microstructure consist of grains with a mixture of SmCo{sub 3} , Sm{sub 2}Co{sub 7} and SmCo{sub 3} polytypoids. A deviation from the c-axes was observed in the in-plane anisotropy of the SmCo(11{bar 2}0) thin film. A strong exchange interaction between the grains would, in principle, explain the observed deviation. On the other hand, both SmCo(11{bar 2}0) and (1{bar 1}00) thin films show very high coercivity values with pinning-type characteristics. Possible coercivity mechanisms related to intergranular exchange interactions and local variation in magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants are discussed.

Commercial spent fuel is being tested under oxidizing conditions at 90 C in drip tests with simulated groundwater to evaluate its long-term performance in a potential repository at Yucca Mountain [1-4]. The tests allow us to monitor the dissolution behavior of the spent fuel matrix and the release rates of individual radionuclides. This paper reports the U and Pu concentrations in the leachates of drip tests during 3.7 years of reaction. Changes in these concentrations are correlated with changes in the measured pH and the appearance of alteration products on the fuel surface. Although there is little thermodynamic information at 90 C for either uranyl or plutonium compounds, some data are available at 25 C [5-8]. The literature data for the U and Pu solubilities of U and Pu compounds were compared to the U and Pu concentrations in the leachates. We also compare Wilson's [9] U and Pu concentrations in semi-static tests at 85 C on spent fuel with our results.

A double-sided Si-strip detector system has been installed and commissioned at the focal plane of the Recoil Mass Spectrometer at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. The system can be used for heavy charged particle emission studies with half-lives as low as a few {micro}sec. In this paper the authors present identification and study of the decay properties of the five new proton emitters: {sup 140}Ho, {sup 141m}Ho, {sup 145}Tm, {sup 150m}Lu and {sup 151m}Lu.

The routing and interconnection of optical signals through narrow channels and around sharp corners is important for large-scale all-optical circuit applications. A recent computational result suggests that photonic crystals may offer a novel way of achieving this goal by providing a mechanism for guiding light that is fundamentally different from traditional index guiding. Waveguiding in a photonic crystal, and near 100% transmission of electromagnetic waves around sharp 90o corners were observed experimentally. Bend- ing radii were made smaller than one wavelength.

Discretization of optimal shape design problems leads to very large nonlinear optimization problems. For attaining maximum computational efficiency, a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm should achieve superlinear convergence while preserving sparsity and convexity of the resulting quadratic programs. Most classical SQP approaches violate at least one of the requirements. We show that, for a very large class of optimization problems, one can design SQP algorithms that satisfy all these three requirements. The improvements in computational efficiency are demonstrated for a cam design problem.

Many of the papers in this volume present detailed descriptions of the chemical analyses and methodologies that have been used to evaluate the maximum dissolved and colloid concentrations of actinides within the WIPP repository as part of the performance assessment. This paper describes the program fcm collecting experimental data and provides an overview of how the PA modeled the release of radionuclides to the accessible environment, and how volubility and colloid parameters were used by the PA models.

The Z-contrast technique represents a new approach to high-resolution electron microscopy allowing for the first time incoherent imaging of materials on the atomic scale. The key advantages of the technique, an intrinsically higher resolution limit and directly interpretable, compositionally sensitive imaging, allow a new level of insight into the atomic configurations of extended defects in silicon. This experimental technique has been combined with theoretical calculations (a combination of first principles, tight binding, and classical methods) to extend this level of insight by obtaining the energetic and electronic structure of the defects.

The daytime mixed layer results from mechanical and thermal turbulence processes driven by differences in air-surface temperature and moisture. As such, the height of the mixed layer (z{sub i}) is a measure of the effectiveness of energy transfer from the sun to the earth's surface and, in turn, to the lower atmosphere (Stun, 1989). Maximum daytime values for z{sub i} in the region of the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) vary from less than 100 m in cloudy, moist, calm, stable conditions to nearly 3 km in clear, dry, unstable conditions. The principal characteristic of the mixed layer is that scalar quantities such as moisture and temperature are mixed throughout. Thus, z{sub i} becomes one of the principal scaling parameters used to describe the structure of the lower planetary boundary layer. Normally, a stable layer (a potential temperature inversion) at the top of the mixed layer interfaces between processes in the lower atmosphere and in the free atmosphere above. The strength of this inversion limits the rate of growth of z{sub i} with time and the vertical transfer of energy and moisture. When and if z{sub i} reaches the condensation level, clouds can form; hence, cloud …

LOW-180 silicic magmas are reported from only a small number of localities (e.g., Yellowstone and Iceland), yet petrologic evidence points to upper crustal assimilation coupled with fractional crystallization (AFC) during magma genesis for nearly all silicic magmas. The rarity of 10W-l `O magmas in intracontinental caldera settings is remarkable given the evidence of intense 10W-l*O meteoric hydrothermal alteration in the subvolcanic remnants of larger caldera systems. In the Platoro caldera complex, regional ignimbrites (150-1000 km3) have plagioclase 6180 values of 6.8 + 0.1%., whereas the Middle Tuff, a small-volume (est. 50-100 km3) post-caldera collapse pyroclastic sequence, has plagioclase 8]80 values between 5.5 and 6.8%o. On average, the plagioclase phenocrysts from the Middle Tuff are depleted by only 0.3%0 relative to those in the regional tuffs. At Yellowstone, small-volume post-caldera collapse intracaldera rhyolites are up to 5.5%o depleted relative to the regional ignimbrites. Two important differences between the Middle Tuff and the Yellowstone 10W-180 rhyolites elucidate the problem. Middle Tuff magmas reached water saturation and erupted explosively, whereas most of the 10W-l 80 Yellowstone rhyolites erupted effusively as domes or flows, and are nearly devoid of hydrous phenocrysts. Comparing the two eruptive types indicates that assimilation of 10W-180 material, combined with …

Further refinements to the oxidation model of Stout et al. have been made. The present model incorporates the burnup dependence of the oxidation rate in addition to an allowance for a distribution of grain sizes. The model was tested by comparing the model results with the oxidation histories of spent fuel samples oxidized in Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) or Oven Dry-Bath (ODB) experiments. The comparison between the experimental and model results are remarkably close and confirm the assumption that grain-size distributions and activation energies are the important parameters to predicting oxidation behavior. The burnup dependence of the activation energy was shown to have a greater effect than decreasing the effective grain size in suppressing the rate of the reaction U{sub 4}O{sub 9}(rightwards arrow)U{sub 3} O{sub 4}. Model results predict that U{sub 3}O{sub 8} formation of spent fuels exposed to oxygen will be suppressed even for high burnup fuels that have undergone restructuring in the rim region, provided the repository temperature is kept sufficient.

A 2-D calculation is presented for the transport of plasma in the edge region of a divertor tokamak solving continuity, momentum, and energy balance fluid equations. The model uses anomalous radial diffusion, including perpendicular ion momentum, and classical cross-field drifts transport. Parallel and perpendicular currents yield a self-consistent electrostatic potential on both sides of the magnetic separatrix. Outside the separatrix, the simulation extends to material divertor plates where the incident plasma is recycled as neutral gas and where the plate sheath and parallel currents dominate the potential structure. Inside the separatrix, various radial current terms - from viscosity, charge-exchange and poloidal damping, inertia, and {triangledown}B - contribute to the determining the potential. The model rigorously enforces cancellation of gyro-viscous and magnetization terms from the transport equations. The results emphasize the importance of E x B particle flow under the X-point which depends on the sign of the toroidal magnetic field. Radial electric field (E{sub y}) profiles at the outer midplane are small with weak shear when high L-mode diffusion coefficients are used and are large with strong shear when smaller H-mode diffusion coefficients are used. The magnitude and shear of the electric field (E{sub y}) is larger both when the …

Significant progress has been made in the development of new modest-size compact stellarator devices that could test optimization principles for the design of a more attractive reactor. These are 3 and 4 field period low-aspect-ratio quasi-omnigenous (QO) stellarators based on an optimization method that targets improved confinement, stability, ease of coil design, low-aspect-ratio, and low bootstrap current.

The World Wide Web has become a key tool for information sharing. Engineers and scientists are finding that the web is especially suited to publishing the graphical, multi-layered information that is typical of their work. Web pages are easier to distribute than hardcopy. Web movies have become more accessible, in many offices, than videos. Good VRML viewing software, bundled with most new PCs, has sufficient power to support many engineering needs. In addition to publishing information science and engineering has an important tradition of peer and customer review. Reports, drawings and graphs are typically printed, distributed, reviewed, marked up, and returned to the author. Adding review comments to paper is easy. When, however, the information is in electronic form, this ease of review goes away. It's hard to write on videos. It's even harder to write comments on animated 3D models. These feedback limitations reduce the value of the information overall. Fortunately, the web can also be a useful tool for collecting peer and customer review information. When properly formed, web reports, movies, and 3D animations can be readily linked to review notes. This paper describes three multimedia feed-back systems that Sandia National Laboratories has developed to tap that potential. …

The technologies that are being utilized to design and build the target systems for a state-of-the-art accelerator- based neutron source, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), are discussed. Emphasis is given to the technology issues that present the greatest challenges. The present facility configuration, ongoing analysis, and planned research and development program are also described.

A liquid mercury target will be used as the neutron source for the proposed Spallation Neutron Source facility. This target is subjected to bombardment by short-pulse, high-energy proton beams. The intense thermal loads caused by interaction of the pulsed proton beam with the mercury create an enormous rate of temperature rise ({approximately}10{sup 7} K/s) during a very brief beam pulse ({approximately } 0.5 {micro}s). The resulting pressure waves in the mercury will interact with the walls of the mercury target and may lead to large stresses. To gain confidence in the mercury target design concept and to benchmark the computer design codes, we tested various electrical and optical sensors for measuring the transient strains on the walls of a mercury container and the pressures in the mercury. The sensors were attached on several sample mercury targets that were tested at various beam facilities: Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator, Los Alamos Neutron Science Center-Weapons Neutron Research, and Brookhaven National Laboratory's Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. The effects of intense background radiation on measured signals for each sensor are described and discussed. Preliminary results of limited tests at these facilities indicate that the fiber optic sensors function well in this intense radiation environment, whereas …

Texas A&M University, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory / the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, have been actively studying the delayed neutron emission characteristics of the higher actinide isotopes for several years. 1-3 Recently, a proton recoil detector system was designed, built, and characterized for use in measuring delayed neutron energy spectra following neutron induced fission. The system has been used to measure aggregate delayed neutron energy spectra from neutron induced fission of U-235 and Np-237. These spectra have also been compared to that calculated using individual precursor P, values, yields, and spectra from the ENDF/B-VI file. A proton recoil detector array consisting of three LND Model 28305 high- -pressure proton recoil detectors has been constructed at the Texas A&M University Nuclear Science Center. The array was characterized using several neutron and gamma- ray sources to check for efficiency, gamma-ray response, and reliability of the unfolding techniques. Resultant measured proton recoil distributions were unfolded using a modified version of the spectrum unfolding code PSNS (the new code was renamed SAC). SAC used response functions calculated using MCNP 4A. This feature allowed the inclusion of several inches of lead between the detector and the source to decrease the detector's …

The Department of Energy (DOE) has declared approximately 38.2 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium to be excess to the needs of national security, 14.3 tonnes of fuel- and reactor-grade plutonium excess to DOE needs, and anticipates an additional 7 tonnes to be declared excess to national security needs. Of this 59.5 tonnes, DOE anticipates that ~ 7.5 tonnes will be dispositioned as spent fuel at the Geologic Repository and ~ 2 tonnes will be declared below the safeguards termination limit and be discarded as TRU waste at WIPP. The remaining 50 tonnes of excess plutonium exists in many forms and locations around the country, and is under the control of several DOE Offices. The Materials Disposition Program (MD) will be receiving materials packaged by these other Programs to disposition in a manor that meets the �spent fuel standard.� For disposition by immobilization, the planned facilities will have only limited capabilities to remove impurities prior to blending the plutonium feedstocks to prepare feed for the plutonium immobilization ceramic formation process, Technical specifications are described here that allow potential feedstocks to be categorized as either acceptable for transfer into the MD Immobilization Process, or unacceptable without additional processing prior to transfer to MD. …

The analytical solutions of heat exchanger effectiveness for four-row crcmilow, cross-countertlow and cross-paralleltlow have been derived in the recent study. The main objective of this study is to investigate the etlkct of heat exchawger tlow conllguration on thermal performance with refrigerant mixtures. Difference of heat exchanger effectiveness for all flow arrangements relative to an analytical many-row solution has been analyzed. A comparison of four-row cross cou~ltet-ilow heat exchanger effectiveness between analytical solutions and experimental data with water, R-22, and R-4 10A is presented.

Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (SRXRD) is used to map the {alpha}{r_arrow}{beta}{r_arrow}{alpha} phase transformation in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of commercially pure titanium gas tungsten arc welds. In-situ SRXRD experiments were conducted on arc welds using a 200 pm diameter x-ray beam at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL). A map was created which identifies six HAZ microstructural regions that exist between the liquid weld pool and the base metal during welding. The first region is single phase {beta}-Ti that forms in a 2- to 3-mm band adjacent to the liquid weld pool. The second region is back transformed {alpha}-Ti that forms behind the portion of the HAZ where {beta}-Ti was once present at higher temperatures. The third region is completely recrystallized {alpha}-Ti that forms in a 2- to 3-mm band surrounding the single phase {beta}-Ti region. Recrystallized {alpha}-Ti was observed by itself and also with varying amounts of {beta}-Ti. The fourth region of the weld is the partially transformed zone where {alpha}-Ti and {beta}-Ti coexist during welding. The fifth region is directly behind the partially transformed zone and consists of a mixture of recrystallized and back transformed {alpha}-Ti The sixth region is farthest from the weld pool and consists of …