The feasibility of geothermal energy use at naval installations in Norfolk, VA, Jacksonville, FL, and Charleston, SC was assessed. Geophysical and geological studies of the above areas were performed. Engineering and economic factors, affecting potential energy use, were evaluated. The Norfolk and Jacksonville facilities are identified as candidates for geothermal systems. System costs are predicted. Economic benefits of the proposed geothermal systems are forecast, using the net present value method of predicting future income.

This report summarizes the research of the Principal Investigator, his postdoctoral research associates, and his students during the period of the award. The majority of the work concerns the behavior of hadrons containing strange, charm, bottom and top quarks, with a particular focus on the extraction of Cabibbo--Kobayashi--Maskawa matrix elements from experiments performed on such systems.

A careful study of a specially formed thin silicon layer on TiB/sub 2/-coated sapphire reveals that the interaction layer of TiSi/sub 2/ is composed of larger grains. Processing steps were developed which lead closer to the goal of fabricating polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic devices completely by vacuum deposition. Both n-type and p-type silicon are now being deposited. New deposition masks were made for depositing the n-regions upon the p-layers. New electrode deposition masks were also made for a direct electroding process to replace the photolithographic process used previously. The TiB/sub 2/ bottom electrode fabrication has been achieved in a single vacuum chamber. Reaction constants and activation energy for TiB/sub 2/ layer formation were determined to be less than those reported by other authors for bulk material. Studies of crystallite growth and interfacial interactions have continued. Major sources of undesirable impurities have been identified and removed from the vacuum chambers. The changes made this quarter have not been incorporated into a completed photovoltaic device.