This talk focuses on the theoretical analysis of electrical losses associated with electrically networking large numbers of TPV cells to produce high power TPV power generators.

Neutrino mass and mixing are amongst the major discoveries of recent years. From the observation of flavor change in solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments to the measurements of neutrino mixing with terrestrial neutrinos, recent experiments have provided consistent and compelling evidence for the mixing of massive neutrinos. The discoveries at Super-Kamiokande, SNO, and KamLAND have solved the long-standing solar neutrino problem and demand that we make the first significant revision of the Standard Model in decades. Searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay probe the particle nature of neutrinos and continue to place limits on the effective mass of the neutrino. Possible signs of neutrinoless double-beta decay will stimulate neutrino mass searches in the next decade and beyond. I review the recent discoveries in neutrino physics and the current evidence for massive neutrinos.

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) contain enigmatic sub-micron components called GEMS (Glass with Embedded Metal and Sulfides). The compositions and structures of GEMS indicate that they have been processed by exposure to ionizing radiation but details of the actual irradiation environment(s) have remained elusive. Here we propose a mechanism and astrophysical site for GEMS formation that explains for the first time the following key properties of GEMS; they are stoichiometrically enriched in oxygen and systematically depleted in S, Mg, Ca and Fe (relative to solar abundances), most have normal (solar) oxygen isotopic compositions, they exhibit a strikingly narrow size distribution (0.1-0.5 {micro}m diameter), and some of them contain ''relict'' crystals within their silicate glass matrices. We show that the compositions, size distribution, and survival of relict crystals are inconsistent with amorphization by particles accelerated by diffusive shock acceleration. Instead, we propose that GEMS are formed from crystalline grains that condense in stellar outflows from massive stars in OB associations, are accelerated in encounters with frequent supernova shocks inside the associated superbubble, and are implanted with atoms from the hot gas in the SB interior. We thus reverse the usual roles of target and projectile. Rather than being bombarded at rest by …

Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopy is implemented to measure the infrared spectrum of water absorbed by the Poly(t-butoxycarbonylstyrene) (tBOC) and the ketal-protected Poly(hydroxystyrene) (KRS-XE) polymer photoresists. The shape and intensity of the OH stretching band of the water spectrum is monitored in a variety of humidity conditions in order to obtain information on the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the water and the polymer chains. The band is deconvoluted into four sub-bands, which represent four types of water molecules in different environments. Because of the hydrophilicity of the polymers studied, a large portion of the sorbed water molecules is believed to be strongly bound to the polar sites of the polymer. The ratios of each type of water are found to be dependent on the humidity conditions to which the sample was exposed. At higher humidities, there is an increase in the fraction of free and weakly-bound water molecules. These findings are used to explain the humidity dependence of the deprotection reaction rates, since certain types of water may slow transport of reactive species within the polymer network.

The process of resonant wave conversion (often called linear mode conversion) has traditionally been analyzed with a spatially one-dimensional slab model, for which the rays propagate in a two-dimensional phase space. However, it has recently been shown [E.R. Tracy and A.N. Kaufman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130402 (2003)] that multidimensional rays have a helical structure for conversion in two or more spatial dimensions (if their dispersion matrix is generic). In that case, a one-dimensional model is inadequate; a correct analysis requires two spatial dimensions and, thus, four-dimensional phase space. In this paper we show that a cold plasma model will exhibit ray helicity in conversion regions where the density and magnetic field gradients are significantly non-parallel. For illustration, we examine a model of the poloidal plane of a deuterium-tritium tokamak plasma, and identify such a region. In this region, characterized by a six-sector topology, rays in the sector for incident and reflected magnetosonic waves exhibit significant helicity. We introduce a ''symmetric-wedge'' model, to develop a detailed analytic and numerical study of helical rays in this sector.

It has been shown for the first time that quasi- and deep-inelastic reactions can be successfully incorporated into the conventional Ion-Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) technique. This is of particular interest for characterizing the decay properties of refractory elements and is applied to neutron rich nuclei between Z = 20-28. As a first step of this project, the kinematics of quasi- and deep-inelastic reactions, such as {sup 197}Au({sup 65}Cu,X)Y, were studied. Based on these studies, a specialized IGISOL target chamber was designed and built. This chamber was tested in on- and off-line conditions at the Jyvaskyla IGISOL facility. Yields of radioactive, projectile-like species such as {sup 62,63}Co are about 0.8 ions/s/pnA corresponding to a total IGISOL efficiency of about 0.06%.

The standard model prediction for the {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} X{sub s,d}{gamma} decay amplitude with a right-handed photon is believed to be tiny, suppressed by m{sub s,d}/m{sub b}, compared to the amplitude with a left-handed photon. We show that this suppression is fictitious: in inclusive decays, the ratio of these two amplitudes is only suppressed by g{sub s}/(4{pi}), and in exclusive decays by {Lambda}{sub QCD}/m{sub b}. The suppression is not stronger in {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} X{sub d}{gamma} decays than it is in {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} X{sub s}{gamma}. We estimate that the time dependent CP asymmetries in B {yields} K*{gamma}, {rho}{gamma}, K{sub S}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma}, and {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} {gamma} are of order 0.1 and that they have significant uncertainties.

Advanced Concepts has focused on developing two material systems (InGaAs/InP and InGaAsSb/GaSb) over the past several years. This work summarizes a scientific evaluation of both material systems to determine which material has the greatest potential for high-efficiency (27%) and power density (0.8W/cm{sup 2}) TPV energy conversion. Lockheed Martin, KAPL Inc. and Bechtel Bettis have issued a joint recommendation to focus all diode development efforts in the future on InGaAs/InP TPV diodes, based on it's potential to acquire the required performance.

In this study, synchrotron-based x-ray absorption microspectroscopy (mu-XAS) is applied to identifying the chemical states of copper-rich clusters within a variety of silicon materials, including as-grown cast multicrystalline silicon solar cell material with high oxygen concentration and other silicon materials with varying degrees of oxygen concentration and copper contamination pathways. In all samples, copper silicide (Cu3Si) is the only phase of copper identified. It is noted from thermodynamic considerations that unlike certain metal species, copper tends to form a silicide and not an oxidized compound because of the strong silicon-oxygen bonding energy; consequently the likelihood of encountering an oxidized copper particle in silicon is small, in agreement with experimental data. In light of these results, the effectiveness of aluminum gettering for the removal of copper from bulk silicon is quantified via x-ray fluorescence microscopy (mu-XRF),and a segregation coefficient is determined from experimental data to beat least (1-2)'103. Additionally, mu-XAS data directly demonstrates that the segregation mechanism of Cu in Al is the higher solubility of Cu in the liquid phase. In light of these results, possible limitations for the complete removal of Cu from bulk mc-Si are discussed.

The impact of spectral details in the backlight of absorption spectroscopy experiments is considered. It is shown that experimentally unresolved structure in the backlight spectrum can introduce significant errors in the inferred transmission. Furthermore, it is shown that a valuable experimental procedure previously used to test the accuracy of the data fails to reveal these errors.

Optics damage under high-intensity illumination may be the direct result of laser light interaction with a contaminant on the surface. Contaminants of interest are small particles of the materials of construction of large laser systems and include aluminum, various absorbing glasses, and fused silica. In addition, once a damage site occurs and begins to grow, the ejecta from the growing damage site create contamination on nearby optic surfaces and may initiate damage on these surfaces via a process we call ''fratricide.'' We report on a number of experiments that we have performed on fused silica optics that were deliberately contaminated with materials of interest. The experiments were done using 527-nm light as well as 351-nm light. We have found that many of the contaminant particles are removed by the interaction with the laser and the likelihood of removal and/or damage is a function of both fluence and contaminant size. We have developed an empirical model for damage initiation in the presence of contaminants.

Synchrotron-based microprobe techniques have been applied to study the distribution, size, chemical state, and recombination activity of Fe clusters in two types of mc-Si materials: block cast mc-Si, and AstroPower Silicon Film(TM) sheet material. In sheet material, high concentrations of metals were found at recombination-active, micron-sized intragranular clusters consisting of micron and sub-micron sized particles. In addition, Fe nanoparticles were located in densities of {approx}2'107 cm-2 along recombination-active grain boundaries. In cast mc-Si,two types of particles were identified at grain boundaries: (1) micron-sized oxidized Fe particles accompanied by other metals (Cr, Mn, Ca, Ti), and (2) a higher number of sub-micron FeSi2 precipitates that exhibited a preferred orientation along the crystal growth direction. In both materials, it is believed that the larger Fe clusters are inclusions of foreign particles, from which Fe dissolves in the melt to form the smaller FeSi2 nanoprecipitates, which by virtue of their more homogeneous distribution are deemed more dangerous to solar cell device performance. Based on this understanding, strategies proposed to reduce the impact of Fe on mc-Si electrical properties include gettering, passivation, and limiting the dissolution of foreign Fe-rich particles in the melt.

The next generation of high-energy petawatt (HEPW)-class lasers will utilize multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings for pulse compression due to their high efficiency and high damage threshold for picosecond pulses. We have developed a short-pulse damage test station for accurate determination of the damage threshold of the optics used on future HEPW lasers. The design and performance of the damage test laser source, based on a highly stable, high-beam-quality optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier, is presented. Our short-pulse damage measurement methodology and results are discussed. The damage initiation is attributed to multiphoton-induced avalanche ionization, strongly dependent on the electric field enhancement in the grating groove structure and surface defects. Measurement results of the dependence of damage threshold on the pulse width, angular dependence of damage threshold of diffraction gratings, and an investigation of short-pulse conditioning effects are presented. We report record >4 J/cm{sup 2} right section surface damage thresholds obtained on multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings at 76.5 incidence angles for 10-ps pulses.

The probability density function for wave propagating in a straight perfect electrical conductor (PEC) rough wall tunnel is deduced from the mathematical models of the random electromagnetic fields. The field propagating in caves or tunnels is a complex-valued Gaussian random processing by the Central Limit Theorem. The probability density function for single modal field amplitude in such structure is Ricean. Since both expected value and standard deviation of this field depend only on radial position, the probability density function, which gives what is the power distribution, is a radially dependent function. The radio channel places fundamental limitations on the performance of wireless communication systems in tunnels and caves. The transmission path between the transmitter and receiver can vary from a simple direct line of sight to one that is severely obstructed by rough walls and corners. Unlike wired channels that are stationary and predictable, radio channels can be extremely random and difficult to analyze. In fact, modeling the radio channel has historically been one of the more challenging parts of any radio system design; this is often done using statistical methods. In this contribution, we present the most important statistic property, the field probability density function, of wave propagating in …

Marshall Rosenbluth's extensive contributions included seminal analysis of the inertial fusion program. Over the last decade he avidly followed the efforts of many scientists around the world who have studied Fast Ignition, an alternate form of inertial fusion. In this scheme, the fuel is first compressed by a long pulse driver and then ignited by the short pulse laser. Due to technological advances, external energy sources (such as short pulse lasers) can focus intensity equivalent to that produced by the hydrodynamic stagnation of conventional inertial fusion capsules. This review will discuss the ignition requirements and gain curves starting from simple models and then describing how these are modified, as more detailed physics understanding is included. The critical design issues revolve around two questions: How can the compressed fuel be efficiently assembled? And how can power from the driver be delivered to the ignition region? Schemes to shorten the distance between the critical surface and the ignition region will de discussed. The status of the project is compared with our requirements for success. Future research directions will be outlined.

X-ray fluorescence microscopy (mu-XRF), x-ray beam induced current (XBIC), and x-ray absorption spectromicroscopy (mu-XAS) were performed on fully-processed Bay Six cast multicrystalline silicon and aluminum-gettered AstroPower Silicon-Film(TM) sheet material. Over ten iron precipitates--predominantly of iron silicide--were identified at low lifetime regions in both materials, both at grain boundaries and intragranular defects identified by XBIC. In addition, large (micron-sized) particles containing oxidized iron and other impurities (Ca, Cr, Mn) were found in BaySix material. The smaller iron silicide precipitates were more numerous and spatially distributed than their larger oxidized iron counterparts, and thus deemed more detrimental to minority carrier diffusion length.

Synchrotron-based microprobe techniques were used to obtain precise and systematic information about the size distribution, spatial distribution, shape, electrical activity, and chemical states of iron-rich impurity clusters in multicrystalline silicon materials used for cost-effective solar cells. These experimentally observed properties of iron-rich clusters allow one to derive conclusions about the origins of iron contamination, the mechanisms for incorporating large amounts of Fe into mc-Si, quantitative information about the distribution of Fe in mc-Si and the impacts of such contamination on solar cell performance. Two distinct groups of iron-rich clusters have been identified in both materials: (a) the occasional large (diameter greater than or equal to 1 mu-m) particles, either oxidized and/or present with multiple other metal species reminiscent of stainless steels or ceramics, which are believed to originate from a foreign source such as the growth surfaces, production equipment, or feedstock, and (b) the more numerous, homogeneously distributed, and smaller iron silicide precipitates (dia. less than or equal to 800 nm, often < 100 nm), originating from a variety of possible formation mechanisms involving atomically dissolved iron in the melt or in the crystal. It was found that iron silicide nanoprecipitates account for bulk Fe concentrations as high as 1014-15cm-3 …

Perturbations on an interface driven by a strong blast wave grow in time due to a combination of Rayleigh-Taylor, Richtmyer-Meshkov, and decompression effects. In this paper, results from three-dimensional numerical simulations of such a system under drive conditions to be attainable on the National Ignition Facility [E. M. Campbell, Laser Part. Beams, 9(2), 209 (1991)] are presented. Using the multi-physics, adaptive mesh refinement, higher order Godunov Eulerian hydrocode, Raptor [L. H. Howell and J.A. Greenough, J. Comp. Phys. 184, 53 (2003)], the late nonlinear instability evolution, including transition to turbulence, is considered for various multimode perturbation spectra. The 3D post-transition state differs from the 2D result, but the process of transition proceeds similarly in both 2D and 3D. The turbulent mixing transition results in a reduction in the growth rate of the mixing layer relative to its pre-transition value and, in the case of the bubble front, relative to the 2D result. The post-transition spike front velocity is approximately the same in 2D and 3D. Implications for hydrodynamic mixing in core-collapse supernova are discussed.

The Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source (SPPS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) produces the brightest ultrafast x-ray pulses in the world, and is the first to employ compressed femtosecond electron bunches for the x-ray source. Both SPPS and future X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL's) will use precise measurements of individual electron bunches to time the arrival of x-ray pulses for time-resolved experiments. At SPPS we use electro-optic sampling (EOS) to perform these measurements. Here we present the first results using this method. An ultrafast laser pulse (135 fs) passes through an electro-optic crystal adjacent to the electron beam. The refractive index of the crystal is distorted by the strong electromagnetic fields of the ultra-relativistic electrons, and this transient birefringence is imprinted on the laser polarization. A polarizer decodes this signal, producing a time-dependent image of the compressed electron bunch. Our measurements yield the relative timing between an ultrafast optical laser and an ultrafast x-ray pulse to within 60 fs, making it possible to use the SPPS to observe atomic-scale ultrafast dynamics initiated by laser-matter interaction.

In this paper defects formed in p-doped GaN:Mg grown with Ga polarity will be discussed. The atomic structure of these characteristic defects (Mg-rich hexagonal pyramids and truncated pyramids) in bulk and thin GaN:Mg films grown with Ga polarity was determined at atomic resolution by direct reconstruction of the scattered electron wave in a transmission electron microscope. Small cavities were present inside the defects. The inside walls of the cavities were covered by GaN which grew with reverse polarity compared to the matrix. It was proposed that lateral overgrowth of the cavities restores matrix polarity on the defect base. Exchange of Ga and N sublattices within the defect compared to the matrix lead to a 0.6 {+-} 0.2 {angstrom} displacement between the Ga sublattices of these two areas. A [1{und 1}00]/3 shift with change from AB stacking in the matrix to BC within the entire pyramid is observed

Age-related deterioration of the fracture properties of bone, coupled with increased life expectancy, are responsible for increasing incidence of bone fracture in the elderly, and hence, an understanding of how its fracture properties degrade with age is essential. The present study describes ex vivo fracture experiments to quantitatively assess the effect of aging on the fracture toughness properties of human cortical bone in the longitudinal direction. Because cortical bone exhibits rising crack-growth resistance with crack extension, unlike most previous studies the toughness is evaluated in terms of resistance-curve (R-curve) behavior, measured for bone taken from wide range of age groups (34-99 years). Using this approach, both the ex vivo crack-initiation and crack-growth toughness are determined and are found to deteriorate with age; the initiation toughness decreases some 40% over six decades from 40 to 100 years, while the growth toughness is effectively eliminated over the same age range. The reduction in crack-growth toughness is considered to be associated primarily with a degradation in the degree of extrinsic toughening, in particular involving crack bridging in the wake of the crack.

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We describe a new method for quantifying the orientation of trabecular bone from three-dimensional images. Trabecular lattices from five human vertebrae were decomposed into individual trabecular elements, and the orientation, mass, and thickness of each element were recorded. Continuous functions that described the total mass (M({var_phi},{theta})) and mean thickness ({tau}({var_phi},{theta})) of all trabeculae as a function of orientation were derived. The results were compared with experimental measurements of the elastic modulus in the three principal anatomic directions. A power law scaling relationship between the anisotropies in mass and elastic modulus was observed; the scaling exponent was 1.41 (R{sup 2} = 0.88). As expected, the preponderance of trabecular mass was oriented along the cranial-caudal direction; on average, there was 3.4 times more mass oriented vertically than horizontally. Moreover, the vertical trabeculae were 30% thicker, on average, than the horizontal trabeculae. The vertical trabecular thickness was inversely related to the connectivity (R{sup 2} = 0.70; p = 0.07), suggesting a possible organization into either few, thick trabeculae or many thin trabeculae. The method, which accounts for the mechanical connectedness of the lattice, provides a rapid way to both visualize and quantify the three-dimensional organization of trabecular bone.

The accuracy in the measurement of the masses of sleptons and heavy Higgs bosons in cMSSM scenarios, compatible with the WMAP result on cold dark matter, has been re-analysed in view of the requirements for predicting this density to a few percent level from SUSY measurements at the linear collider.