Studies of fundamental properties of rutherfordium (Element 104) using organic complexing agents (open access)

Studies of fundamental properties of rutherfordium (Element 104) using organic complexing agents

Chemical properties of rutherfordium (Rf) have been investigated with the organic ligands triisooctylamine (TIOA), tributylphosphate (TBP), and thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA). The TIOA studies showed that Rf behaves differently than Th and Eu and most similarly to Zr, only Zr and Rf extract from 12 M HCI. This result is further evidence that Rf is a Group 4 element. Studies with TBP showed that Rf chemical behavior differed from the other Group 4 elements. The extraction by TBP at different chloride concentrations showed that Rf at times behaves more like Pu{sup 4+} than Zr or Hf. At high chloride concentrations, Rf and Pu extraction decreased. Under the same conditions, Zr, Hf and Th extraction increased. In addition, Rf extraction by TBP was affected by hydrogen ion concentration, while Zr and Hf extraction was not. TTA extractions were used to determine the K{sub eq}, K{sub hyd}, and the ionic radius of Rf. The of K{sub eq} for Rf with TTA was calculated to be 3.18 {plus minus} 0.90. The first four log K{sub hyd's} for Rf are calculated to be {minus}2.6 {plus minus} 0.7, {minus}5.9 {plus minus} 1.7, {minus}10.2 {plus minus} 2.9, and {minus}14.5 {plus minus} 4.1. These hydrolysis constants indicate that Rf …
Date: April 1, 1992
Creator: Czerwinski, K. R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Production Cross Sections of the Weak Vector Bosons in Proton Antiproton Collisions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV and a Measurement of the W Boson Decay Width (open access)

The Production Cross Sections of the Weak Vector Bosons in Proton Antiproton Collisions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV and a Measurement of the W Boson Decay Width

The theory that describes the fundamental particle interactions is called the Standard Model, which is a gauge field theory that comprises the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam model [1, 2, 3] of the weak and electromagnetic interactions and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) [4, 5, 6], the theory of the strong interactions. The discovery of the W [7, 8] and Z [9, 10] bosons in 1983 by the UA1 and UA2 collaborations at the CERN p{bar p} collider provided a direct confirmation of the unification of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. Since then, many experiments have refined our understanding of the characteristics of the W and Z bosons.
Date: April 1, 2004
Creator: Varganov, Alexei Valerievich
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Search for New Physics with High Mass Tau Pairs in proton anti-proton collisions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV at CDF (open access)

A Search for New Physics with High Mass Tau Pairs in proton anti-proton collisions at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV at CDF

We present the results of a search for new particles decaying to tau pairs using the data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 195 pb{sup -1} collected from March 2002 to September 2003 with the CDF detector at the Tevatron. Hypothetical particles, such as Z' and MSSM Higgs bosons can potentially produce the tau pair final state. We discuss the method of tau identification, and show the signal acceptance versus new particle mass. The low-mass region, dominated by Z {yields} {tau}{tau}, is used as a control region. In the high-mass region, we expect 2.8 {+-} 0.5 events from known background sources, and observe 4 events in the data sample. Thus no significant excess is observed, and we set upper limits on the cross section times branching ratio as a function of the masses of heavy scalar and vector particles.
Date: April 1, 2005
Creator: Wan, Zong-ru
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Initial Conditions on the Nonlinear Evolution of Perturbed Interfaces Driven by Strong Blast Waves (open access)

The Effect of Initial Conditions on the Nonlinear Evolution of Perturbed Interfaces Driven by Strong Blast Waves

In core-collapse supernovae, strong blast waves drive interfaces susceptible to Rayleigh-Taylor (RT), Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM), and Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities. In addition, perturbation growth can result from material expansion in large-scale velocity gradients behind the shock front. Laser-driven experiments are designed to produce a strongly shocked interface whose evolution is a scaled version of the unstable hydrogen-helium interface in core-collapse supernovae such as SN 1987A. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an understanding of the effect of hydrodynamic instabilities and the resulting transition to turbulence on supernovae observables that remain as yet unexplained. In this dissertation, we present a computational study of unstable systems driven by high Mach number shock and blast waves. Using multi-physics radiation hydrodynamics codes and theoretical models, we consider the late nonlinear instability evolution of single mode, few mode, and multimode interfaces. We rely primarily on 2D calculations but present recent 3D results as well. For planar multimode systems, we show that compressibility effects preclude the emergence of a regime of self-similar instability growth independent of the initial conditions (IC's) by allowing for memory of the initial conditions to be retained in the mix-width at all times. The loss of transverse spectral information is demonstrated, …
Date: April 27, 2004
Creator: Miles, A
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for electroweak top quark production in the electron + jets channel in the D0 experiment at the Tevatron (open access)

Search for electroweak top quark production in the electron + jets channel in the D0 experiment at the Tevatron

None
Date: April 1, 2005
Creator: Busato, Emmanuel
System: The UNT Digital Library
Character and Effective Leadership of the Knowledge Worker (open access)

Character and Effective Leadership of the Knowledge Worker

Ulrich in the forward to the Zenger and Folkman (2002) book, ''The Extraordinary Leader'', wrote about the importance of character in leadership stating, ''Everything about great leaders radiates from character. Character improves the probability of exhibiting strong interpersonal skill. Some of this perceived character is innate . . . but more is driven by the leader's self-awareness and interactions with others'' (p. ix). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between leadership effectiveness and character using leader-managers of knowledge workers as the subject sample. Findings indicated that character, particularly those factors associated with honesty, setting the example, and valuing and strengthening others, were what set the most effective leader-managers apart from their peers. Technical competence and self-efficacy were found to be common characteristics of the study sample as was a drive for results. Who a leader-manager is, his/her substance, was found in this study to differentiate the ''best'' leader-managers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. By their character, leader-managers establish the environment in which knowledge workers contribute and grow. As found by Pfeiffer (2000), Leaders of companies that experience smaller gaps between what they know and what they do (to turn knowledge into action), understand that their …
Date: April 20, 2005
Creator: Khoury, A E
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microcalorimetry and the transition-edge sensor (open access)

Microcalorimetry and the transition-edge sensor

Many scientific and industrial applications call for quantum-efficient high-energy-resolution microcalorimeters for the measurement of x rays. The applications driving the development of these detectors involve the measurement of faint sources of x rays in which few photons reach the detector. Interesting astrophysical applications for these microcalorimeters include the measurement of composition and temperatures of stellar atmospheres and diffuse interstellar plasmas. Other applications of microcalorimeter technology include x-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements of industrial or scientific samples. We are attempting to develop microcalorimeters with energy resolutions of several eV because many sources (such as celestial plasmas) contain combinations of elements producing emission lines spaced only a few eV apart. Our microcalorimeters consist of a metal-film absorber (250 {micro}m x 250{micro}m x 3 {micro}m of copper) coupled to a superconducting transition-edge-sensor (TES) thermometer. This microcalorimeter demonstrated an energy resolution of 42 eV (FWHM) at 6 keV, excellent linearity, and showed no evidence of position dependent response. The response of our microcalorimeters depends both on the temperature of the microcalorimeter and on the electrical current conducted through the TES thermometer. We present a microcalorimeter model that extends previous microcalorimeter theory to include additional current dependent effects. The model makes predictions about the effects of …
Date: April 1, 2000
Creator: Lindeman, M A
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of cross-section (p anti-p --> Z0) x BF (Z0 --> tau anti-tau) at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV using the D0 detector at the Tevatron (open access)

Measurement of cross-section (p anti-p --> Z0) x BF (Z0 --> tau anti-tau) at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV using the D0 detector at the Tevatron

In this thesis the first measurement of {sigma}(p{bar p}) {yields} Z{sup 0} {yields} {tau}{bar {tau}} with the D0 detector at the Tevatron is presented. The tau pair candidates are recorded by the D0 detector using p{bar p} interactions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. Events in which one tau decays into a muon and the other tau final state is hadronic with one charged particle are selected for this analysis. The selection criteria for the hadronic tau decay are based on the tau final state, hence for two channels of one-prong taus: single charged pion ({tau}{sub {pi}}) and rho decays ({tau}{sub {rho}}). The selection is based on simple cuts on a number of discriminating variables and the cut values have been optimized for the best cross section measurement. Of hadronic tau candidates that have been reconstructed as {tau}{sub {pi}} candidates, 0.801 {+-} 0.017 {+-} 0.066 pass the selection cut; in the case of {tau}{sub {rho}} taus, the selection efficiency is 0.676 {+-} 0.009 {+-} 0.009. Of all QCD jets that are reconstructed as hadronic tau candidates, 0.0093 {+-} 0.0002 pass the {tau}{sub {pi}} selection cuts and 0.0122 {+-} 0.0002 the {tau}{sub {rho}} cuts. The cross section has been measured …
Date: April 1, 2004
Creator: Duensing, Silke & U., /Nijmegen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Top quark pair production in proton anti-proton collisions (open access)

Top quark pair production in proton anti-proton collisions

This thesis presents a measurement of the t{bar t} cross section in the all-jets channel, measured in p{bar p} collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV, using data collected with the D0 detector. The dataset used for this analysis has an integrated luminosity equivalent to L = 162.5 {+-} 10.6 pb{sup -1}. A t{bar t} cross section measurement is a test of the Standard Model predictions for heavy quark production, and the first step towards measurements of the mass and other properties of the top quark. The presented measurement of the cross section for the process p{bar p} {yields} t{bar t} uses the decay channel where both top quarks decay to quarks. The top quark first decays to a b quark and a W boson, and then, for this particular channel, the W boson decays hadronically. Hence, events with six energetic quarks are expected, which ideally leads to events with six jets. These so called all-jets events have a significantly larger branching fraction than other t{bar t} decay channels. The large branching fraction in the all-jets channel means that a significant sample of t{bar t} candidates can be extracted, which can subsequently be used for studies of …
Date: April 1, 2005
Creator: Blekman, Freya & /NIKHEF, Amsterdam
System: The UNT Digital Library
Spin distribution in preequilibrium reactions for 48Ti + n. (open access)

Spin distribution in preequilibrium reactions for 48Ti + n.

Cross section measurements were made of prompt {gamma}-ray production as a function of incident neutron energy on a {sup 48}Ti sample. Partial {gamma}-ray cross sections for transitions in {sup 45-48}Ti, {sup 44-48}Sc, and {sup 42-45}Ca have been determined. Energetic neutrons were delivered by the Los Alamos National Laboratory spallation neutron source located at the LANSCE/WNR facility. The prompt-reaction {gamma} rays were detected with the large-scale Compton-suppressed germanium array for neutron induced excitations (GEANIE). Neutron energies were determined by the time-of-flight technique. The {gamma}-ray excitation functions were converted to partial {gamma}-ray cross sections taking into account the dead-time correction, target thickness, detector efficiency and neutron flux (monitored with an in-line fission chamber). The data are presented for neutron energies E{sub n} between 1 to 200 MeV. These results are compared with model calculations which include compound nuclear and pre-equilibrium emission. The model calculations are performed using the STAPRE reaction code for E{sub n} up to 20 MeV and the GNASH reaction code for E{sub n} up to 120 MeV. Using the GNASH reaction code the effect of the spin distribution in preequilibrium reactions has been investigated. The preequilibrium reaction spin distribution was calculated using the quantum mechanical theory of Feshbach, Kerman, …
Date: April 6, 2005
Creator: Dashdorj, D
System: The UNT Digital Library
Triple-quantum filtered NMR imaging of sodium in the human brain (open access)

Triple-quantum filtered NMR imaging of sodium in the human brain

In the past multiple-quantum filtered imaging of biexponential relaxation sodium-23 nuclei in the human brain has been limited by low signal to noise ratios; this thesis demonstrates that such imaging is feasible when using a modified gradient-selected triple-quantum filter at a repetition time which maximizes the signal to noise ratio. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of biexponential relaxation sodium-23 ({sup 23}Na) nuclei in the human brain may be useful for detecting ischemia, cancer, and pathophysiology related to manic-depression. Conventional single-quantum NMR imaging of in vivo biexponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals is complicated by the presence of single-exponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals. Multiple-quantum filters may be used to selectively image biexponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals since these filters suppress single-exponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals. In this thesis, the typical repetition times (200--300 ms) used for in vivo multiple-quantum filtered {sup 23}Na experiments are shown to be approximately 5 times greater than the optimal repetition time which maximizes multiple-quantum filtered SNR. Calculations and experimental verification show that the gradient-selected triple-quantum (GS3Q) filtered SNR for {sup 23}Na in a 4% agarose gel increases by a factor of two as the repetition time decreases from 300 ms to 55 ms. The measured relaxation times of …
Date: April 1, 1993
Creator: Keltner, J. R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Theory and modelling of quench in cable-in-conduit superconducting magnets (open access)

Theory and modelling of quench in cable-in-conduit superconducting magnets

A new simple, self consistent theoretical model is presented that describes the phenomena of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit superconducting magnets. The model (Quencher) circumvents many of the difficulties associated with obtaining numerical solutions in more general existing models. Specifically, a factor of 30-50 is gained in CPU time over the general, explicit time dependent codes used to study typical quench events. The corresponding numerical implementation of the new model is described and the numerical results are shown to agree very well with those of the more general models, as well as with experimental data. Further, well justified approximations lead to the MacQuench model that is shown to be very accurate and considerably more efficient than the Quencher model. The MacQuench code is suitable for performing quench studies on a personal computer, requiring only several minutes of CPU time. In order to perform parametric studies on new conductor designs it is required to utilize a model such as MacQuench because of the high computational efficiency of this model. Finally, a set of analytic solutions for the problem of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit Conductors is presented. These analytic solutions represent the first such results that remain valid for the long time scales …
Date: April 1, 1994
Creator: Shajii, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Density functional studies: First principles and semi-emperical calculations of clusters and surfaces (open access)

Density functional studies: First principles and semi-emperical calculations of clusters and surfaces

Theoretical electronic structure techniques are used to analyze widely different systems from Si clusters to transition metal solids and surfaces. For the Si clusters, first principles density functional methods are used to investigate Si{sub N} for N=2-8. Goal is to understand the different types of bonding that can occur in such small clusters where the atomic coordination differs substantially from tetrahedral bonding; such uncoordinated structures can test approximate models of Si surfaces. For the transition metal systems, non-self-consistent electronic structure methods are used to understand the driving force for surface relaxations. In-depth analysis of results is presented and physical basis of surface relaxation within the theory is discussed. Limitations inherent in calculations of metal surface relaxation are addressed. Finally, in an effort to understand approximate methods, a novel non-self- consistent density functional electronic structure method is developed that is about 1000 times faster than more sophisticated methods; this method is tested for various systems including diatomics, mixed clusters, surfaces, and bulk lattices.
Date: April 30, 1993
Creator: Susan, S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A passively-safe fusion reactor blanket with helium coolant and steel structure (open access)

A passively-safe fusion reactor blanket with helium coolant and steel structure

Helium is attractive for use as a fusion blanket coolant for a number of reasons. It is neutronically and chemically inert, nonmagnetic, and will not change phase during any off-normal or accident condition. A significant disadvantage of helium, however, is its low density and volumetric heat capacity. This disadvantage manifests itself most clearly during undercooling accident conditions such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or a loss of flow accident (LOFA). This thesis describes a new helium-cooled tritium breeding blanket concept which performs significantly better during such accidents than current designs. The proposed blanket uses reduced-activation ferritic steel as a structural material and is designed for neutron wall loads exceeding 4 MW/m{sup 2}. The proposed geometry is based on the nested-shell concept developed by Wong, but some novel features are used to reduce the severity of the first wall temperature excursion. These features include the following: (1) A ``beryllium-joint`` concept is introduced, which allows solid beryllium slabs to be used as a thermal conduction path from the first wall to the cooler portions of the blanket. The joint concept allows for significant swelling of the beryllium (10 percent or more) without developing large stresses in the blanket structure. (2) …
Date: April 1, 1994
Creator: Crosswait, K. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of the left-right asymmetry in Z boson production by electron-positron collisions (open access)

Measurement of the left-right asymmetry in Z boson production by electron-positron collisions

None
Date: April 1, 1994
Creator: Elia, R. D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The crosswell electromagnetic response of layered media (open access)

The crosswell electromagnetic response of layered media

Crosswell electromagnetic measurements are a promising new geophysical technique for mapping subsurface electrical conductivity which can provide information about the subsurface distribution of water, oil or steam. In this work the fields from a low frequency vertical magnetic dipole have been examined from the specific point of view of their application to the determination of the conductivity of a layered medium. The source and the receiver were placed inside two separate boreholes. The range of penetration of such a crosswell system for typical earth resistivities and for currently available transmitter and receiver technologies was found to be up to 1,000 meters so problems in ground water and petroleum reservoir characteristics can be practically examined. An analysis of the behavior of the magnetic fields at the boundary between two half-spaces showed that the horizontal magnetic field component, H{rho}, and the vertical derivative of a vertical component, {delta}H{sub z}/{delta}z, are more sensitive to conductivity variations than H{sub z}. The analysis of derivatives led to the concept of measuring the conductivity directly using a second vertical derivative of H{sub z}. Conductivity profiles interpreted from field data using this technique reproduced accurately the electrical logs for a test site near Devine, Texas. It was …
Date: April 1, 1994
Creator: Deszcz-Pan, M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Behavior of the particle transport coefficients near the density limit in MTX (open access)

Behavior of the particle transport coefficients near the density limit in MTX

The perturbed particle transport coefficients were determined for a range of plasma conditions in the Alcator C tokamak, a component of the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX), from analysis of density perturbations created in gas modulation experiments. Density measurements from a 15 chord far-infrared interferometer were sufficiently detailed to allow radial profiles of the transport coefficients to be resolved. Gas modulation experiments were carried out on plasmas over a range of relatively low currents and a wide variety of line-averaged densities, including values near the Greenwald density limit. With this technique the perturbed diffusion coefficient D and the perturbed convection velocity V can be determined simultaneously. Measured profiles of D rise toward the outside of the plasma column in a manner generally similar to those determined previously for {chi}{sub e,HP} from sawtooth heat pulse propagation. Values of D are typically smaller than those of {chi}{sub e,HP} given for the same line-averaged densities by a factor of 2-5. Diffusion coefficients from a series of discharges at constant current showed little variation with density through most of the saturated ohmic confinement regime. At the Greenwald density limit threshold a dramatic increase occurred in both the perturbed convective and diffusive transport coefficients in the …
Date: April 1, 1993
Creator: Marinak, M. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Independent verification and validation of large software requirement specification databases (open access)

Independent verification and validation of large software requirement specification databases

To enhance quality, an independent verification and validation (IV&V) review is conducted as software requirements are defined. Requirements are inspected for consistency and completeness. IV&V strives to detect defects early in the software development life cycle and to prevent problems before they occur. The IV&V review process of a massive software requirements specification, the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) Functional Description (FD) is explored. Analysis of the RCAS FD error history determined that there are no predictors of errors. The size of the FD mandates electronic analysis of the databases. Software which successfully performs automated consistency and completeness checks is discussed. The process of verifying the quality of analysis software is described. The use of intuitive ad hoc techniques, in addition to the automatic analysis of the databases, is required because of the varying content of the requirements databases. The ad hoc investigation process is discussed. Case studies are provided to illustrate how the process works. This thesis demonstrates that it is possible to perform an IV&V review on a massive software requirements specification. Automatic analysis enables inspecting for completeness and consistency. The work with the RCAS FD clearly indicates that the IV&V review process is not static; it must …
Date: April 1, 1992
Creator: Twitchell, K. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic and structural properties of metallic microclusters (open access)

Electronic and structural properties of metallic microclusters

The first part of this thesis presents a first-order pseudopotential calculation at T=O of the total energy of small sodium clusters of size N<800. The calculation is based on a local-pseudopotential scheme and local-density correlation and exchange. A temperature-size (T-N) phase-diagram is then derived using the T=O results and Lindemann`s criterion for melting. The phase-diagram contains three regions of stability: (1) a liquid (jellium) phase at temperatures above the melting line T{sub M}(N) where cluster-stability occurs at electronic magic numbers: (2) a phase related to complete geometrical shells of body-centered-cubic structure at temperatures below the melting line; and (3) a close-packed structure at very low temperatures and sufficiently large N. The melting line drops to T{sub M}(N)=O for N<65, where electronic magic numbers are stable even at T=O. The phase diagram reduces asymptotically to the known phases of sodium as N{yields}{infinity}, including the known martensitic transformation at T{approximately}5 K. The second and the last part of this thesis consists of a study of small-cluster many-body systems by means of an on-site ``local`` chemical potential which allows the continuous variation of local electron-density. This method yields a criterion to distinguish particular features of a small cluster that are likely to survive …
Date: April 1, 1992
Creator: Maiti, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Crossed molecular beam studies of atmospheric chemical reaction dynamics (open access)

Crossed molecular beam studies of atmospheric chemical reaction dynamics

The dynamics of several elementary chemical reactions that are important in atmospheric chemistry are investigated. The reactive scattering of ground state chlorine or bromine atoms with ozone molecules and ground state chlorine atoms with nitrogen dioxide molecules is studied using a crossed molecular beams apparatus with a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. The Cl + O{sub 3} {yields} ClO + O{sub 2} reaction has been studied at four collision energies ranging from 6 kcal/mole to 32 kcal/mole. The derived product center-of-mass angular and translational energy distributions show that the reaction has a direct reaction mechanism and that there is a strong repulsion on the exit channel. The ClO product is sideways and forward scattered with respect to the Cl atom, and the translational energy release is large. The Cl atom is most likely to attack the terminal oxygen atom of the ozone molecule. The Br + O{sub 3} {yields} ClO + O{sub 2} reaction has been studied at five collision energies ranging from 5 kcal/mole to 26 kcal/mole. The derived product center-of-mass angular and translational energy distributions are quite similar to those in the Cl + O{sub 3} reaction. The Br + O{sub 3} reaction has a direct reaction mechanism similar …
Date: April 1, 1993
Creator: Zhang, Jingsong
System: The UNT Digital Library
Small catalytic RNA: Structure, function and application (open access)

Small catalytic RNA: Structure, function and application

We have utilized a combination of photochemical cross-linking techniques and site-directed mutagenesis to obtain secondary and tertiary structure information for the self-cleaving, self-ligating subsequence of RNA from the negative strand of Satellite Tobacco Ringspot Virus. We have found that the helical regions fold about a hinge to promoting four different possible tertiary interactions, creating a molecular of similar shape to a paperclip. A model suggesting that the ``paperclip`` and ``hammerhead`` RNAs share a similar three dimensional structure is proposed. We have used a self-cleaving RNA molecule related to a subsequence of plant viroids, a ``hammerhead,`` to study the length-dependent folding of RNA produced during transcription by RNA polymerase. We have used this method to determine the length of RNA sequestered within elongating E. coli and T7 RNA polymerase complexes. The data show that for E. coli RNA polymerase 12{plus_minus}1 nucleotides are sequestered within the ternary complex, which is consistent with the presence of an RNA-DNA hybrid within the transcription bubble, as proposed by others. The result for T7 RNA polymerase differs from E. coli RNA polymerase, with only 10{plus_minus}1 nucleotides sequestered within the ternary complex, setting a new upper limit for the minimum RNA-DNA required for a stable elongating complex. …
Date: April 1, 1991
Creator: Monforte, J. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The microstructural mechanism of electromigration failure in narrow interconnects of Al alloys (open access)

The microstructural mechanism of electromigration failure in narrow interconnects of Al alloys

This thesis reports a study of the mechanism of electromigration failure in Al-2Cu-1Si thin-film conducting lines on Si. Samples were patterned from 0.5 {mu}m thick vapor-deposited films with various mean grain sizes (G), and had lines widths (W) of 1.3, 2, 4 and 6 {mu}m. The lines were aged at various conditions to change the Cu-precipitate distribution and were tested to failure at T = 225{degrees}C and j = 2.5 {times} 10{sup 6} A/cm{sup 2}. Some samples were tested over a range of substrate temperatures, current densities and current reversal times. Aging produces an initially dense distribution of metastable {Theta}{prime} (Al{sub 2}Cu; coherent) in the grain interiors, with stable {Theta} (Al{sub 2}Cu; incoherent) at the grain boundaries. The intragranular {theta}{prime} is gradually absorbed into the grain boundary precipitates. In the wide lines the mean time to failure increases slowly and monotonically with pre-aging time and current reversal time. The failure mode is the formation and coalescence of voids that form on grain boundaries with an apparent activation energy of 0.65 eV. In the narrow lines, the lines failed by a transgranular-slit mechanism with an activation energy near 0.93 eV. The distribution of the polygranular segments and the kinetics of failure …
Date: April 1, 1993
Creator: Kim, Choongun
System: The UNT Digital Library
Support minimized inversion of acoustic and elastic wave scattering (open access)

Support minimized inversion of acoustic and elastic wave scattering

This report discusses the following topics on support minimized inversion of acoustic and elastic wave scattering: Minimum support inversion; forward modelling of elastodynamic wave scattering; minimum support linearized acoustic inversion; support minimized nonlinear acoustic inversion without absolute phase; and support minimized nonlinear elastic inversion.
Date: April 24, 1994
Creator: Safaeinili, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The mechanism of the oligomerization of thiophene-based para-quinodimethanes (open access)

The mechanism of the oligomerization of thiophene-based para-quinodimethanes

For the last decade, the Trahanovsky research group has focused on the study of various reactive molecules such as o-quinodimethanes (o-QDM`s) and p-quinodimethanes (p-QDM`s) derived from benzene, furan, and thiophene. These types of molecules are reactive and dimerize or polymerize at room temperature. One of the group`s interests is to understand the dimerization mechanism of these molecules. Paper 1 describes the preparation and dimerization product analyses of 2-ethylidene-5-methylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene. Insights provided by these results into the mechanism of the dimerization of 2,5-dimethylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene are discussed. In paper 2, a convenient synthesis of cyclooctadecane is presented.
Date: April 24, 1994
Creator: Wang, Yili
System: The UNT Digital Library