Microwave heating of alumina/silica fiber tows in a single-mode microwave cavity at 2.45 GHz have produced a surprising thermal spike behavior on the fiber bundles. During a thermal spike, a ``hot spot`` on the tow brightens rapidly, persists for a few seconds, and rapidly extinguishs. A hot spot can encompass the entire tow in the cavity or just a localized portion of the tow. Some local hot spots propagate along the fiber. Thermal spikes are triggered by relatively small (<15%) increases in power, thus having obvious implications for the development of practical microwave fiber processing systems. A tow can be heated through several successive thermal spikes, after which the tow is left substantially cooler than it was originally, although the applied microwave electric field is much larger. X-ray diffraction studies show that after each temperature spike there is a partial phase transformation of the tow material into mullite. After several excursions the tow has been largely transformed to the new, less lossy phase and is more difficult to heat. Heating experiments with Nextel 550 tows are examined for a pausible explanation of this microwave heating behavior.

Experiments on microwave sintering of ceramic fibers in a single-mode cavity have revealed the presence of thermal spikes and `hot spots` which sometimes travel along the fiber and eventually disappear. They are triggered by relatively small increases in microwave power, and thus have obvious implications for the development of practical microwave-based fiber processing systems. These hot spots are conjectured to originate at slight irregularities in the tow morphology, and propagate as the result of solid phase transitions which take place at elevated temperatures and reduce the dielectric loss coefficient {epsilon}{double_prime}. An elementary mathematical model of the heat transfer process was developed which reproduces the essential features of the observed phenomena, thus lending support to the conjecture. This model is based on the assumption of one-dimensional heat conduction along the axis of the fiber tow, and radiation losses at the surface.

Small cylinders of high-purity alumina were encased in a `casket` of low-density zirconia insulation and heated to sintering temperature in a large multi-mode microwave oven. Optical fiber sensors were used to monitor the temperature at several locations in the system. It was found that the alumina samples heat faster than the zirconia insulation at temperatures above 1000 C, and that the temperature distribution in the sample is essentially uniform during the heating process. A two-dimensional mathematical model of the heat transfer process was developed which reproduces the essential features of the observed phenomena. Literature data for all temperature-dependent properties were incorporated into the model. The model suggests that the alumina samples absorb a significant fraction of the microwave energy.

An ultra sensitive technique for the detection of fluorescent species in a flowing stream has been developed. The extension of this technique to the detection of fluorescently tagged nucleotides will be a significant benefit to one of the novel approaches for DNA sequencing being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratories. The detection scheme is based on a novel mode of operating a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) which greatly enhances the discrimination between fluorescence from the analyte and the background Raman scattering from the solvent. Register shifts between rows in the CCD are synchronized with the sample flow velocity so that fluorescence from a single species is collected in a single moving charge packet occupying an area approaching that of a single pixel while the background is spread evenly among a large number of pixels. This research has demonstrated that this technique is highly effective for the detection of fluorescently labelled latex microspheres. With additional development, the authors believe that this technique will achieve single molecule detection.