There is considerable evidence to indicate that most gas permeable contact lenses do not transmit sufficient oxygen to supply all the corneal oxygen requirement. This problem is further exacerbated by non-valid methods of characterizing the oxygen performance of such lenses. The current methods of using oxygen permeability (Dk) and oxygen transmissibility (Dk/L) as indices of oxygen performance of contact lenses is completely erroneous. Dk and Dk/L pertain to contact lens materials in flat sheet form having uniform thickness and equal diffusion path at all points on the surface. Finished contact lenses, of necessity, are curved surfaces and of varying thickness. Consequently the concept of Dk and Dk/L cannot be applied to contact lenses. To date there are no studies to determine the absolute oxygen tension under gas permeable contact lenses on the human eye. All attempts to quantify the oxygen tension under a lens have been by indirect methods or by predicting the p02 from Dk values, using mathematical equations. These results do not match the clinical findings. This study was done to show that oxygen flux through a contact lens, measured in vitro, is a better determinant of the in vivo oxygen performance of gas permeable contact lenses. A special cell was designed to measure the oxygen flux, in vitro under standardised conditions. Contact lens microelectrodes were designed to measure the oxygen tension in vivo. The data obtainedwas used to develop a model for the oxygen performance of rigid gas permeable lenses on the human eye. / Thesis (M.Optom.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1989.

No description available.

Zinc oxide is a II-VI semiconductor with considerable potential for optoelectronic and power-electronic applications in the UV spectrum, due to its wide direct band gap (3.35 eV at 300 K), high exciton binding energy (60 meV), high melting point, and excellent radiation hardness. A key requirement for many device applications is the consistent production of high performance Schottky contacts. Schottky contact formation to n-type ZnO was investigated via systematic studies into the relative performance of different metal and metal oxide Schottky contacts to hydrothermal and melt grown, bulk ZnO. The results of these studies can be explained by the dominating influence of two key mechanisms in the formation of high quality contacts: the removal of the natural hydroxide termination of ZnO and the associated surface accumulation layer, and the minimisation of process induced oxygen vacancies which tend to pin the barrier height of ZnO Schottky contacts in the 0.6 - 0.8 eV range. These investigations also led to the discovery of a new technique for the consistent production of high quality ZnO Schottky contacts, using the deposition of metal oxide films in reactive oxygen ambients. Specifically, silver oxide, iridium oxide, and platinum oxide films were used to consistently produce highly rectifying, very low ideality factor Schottky contacts to bulk ZnO, with figures of merit significantly better than those published in the literature. In addition, a number of previously unreported, surface polarity related effects were discovered in the electrical and optical properties of ZnO, which increase in magnitude with decreasing carrier concentration of the ZnO material. For example, metal oxide Schottky contacts fabricated on the Zn-polar surface of hydrothermal ZnO have significantly higher barrier heights than those on the O-polar surface, and low temperature (4 K) photoluminescence emission, from free excitons and excitons bound to ionised donors, is also significantly stronger from the Zn-polar face of the same material. These effects are thought to be related to the large spontaneous polarisation (-0.057 Cm-2) of ZnO, and indicate that surface polarity is an important variable when comparing experiment results with theoretical models, and in the future design of ZnO based devices.

No description available.

In this thesis we study topology of symplectic fillings of contact manifolds supported by planar open books. We obtain results regarding geography of the symplectic fillings of these contact manifolds. Specifically, we prove that if a contact manifold (M,ξ) is supported by a planar open book, then Euler characteristic and signature of any Stein filling of (M,ξ) is bounded. We also prove a similar finiteness result for contact manifolds supported by spinal open books with planar pages. Moving beyond the geography of Stein fillings, we classify fillings of some lens spaces. In addition, we classify Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds up to diffeomorphism. Some contact 3-manifolds in this family can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on (S³, ξ std) along certain Legendrian 2-bridge knots. We also classify Stein fillings, up to symplectic deformation, of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds which can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on (S³, ξ std) along certain Legendrian twist knots. As a corollary, we obtain a classification of Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact hyperbolic 3-manifolds up to symplectic deformation.

In this thesis, an adapted form of dynamic Electrostatic Force Microscopy is presented as an alternative technique for non-contact dynamic characterization of beam resonators. The actuation of the test resonant beam was accomplished by applying a modulated signal to a probe cantilever that was positioned closely above the resonant beam. The frequency response of the coupled electrostatic interaction between the conductive beams was studied close to the resonance of the test beams. Modulation of the input signal allowed the test resonator to be actuated without requiring on-chip circuitry, and the probing frequency range kept independent of the resonant frequency of the probe cantilever. The resonant response of three test cantilever beams were experimentally characterized using two softer probe cantilevers. A model was constructed to describe the coupled electrostatic interaction and simulations were performed to compare predictions from the model to experimental data. The amplitude response shape, resonant frequency and quality factor from the model fit well with experimental results, showing that the resonant response of a resonator can be characterized using this technique. However, the phase and voltage variation responses were not well characterized, indicating further work to develop the force expressions in the model is needed.

No description available.

The cathode and the anode fall of the DC arcs are measured by fast oscilloscope for Ag-CdO contacts over a range of gap-lengths from 0.05 mm to 1 mm, and currents of 4-10 Amps at atmospheric pressure, with a known electrode closing speed, using the Moving Electrode Method. It was observed that the anode fall can occur in a few places within the arc voltage waveform, and is dependent of the electrodes' surface condition. Both cathode and anode falls increase with gap-length and decrease with current. It was found that when arc length is shorter than electrode separation, discontinuity within the arc voltage waveform during closure is caused, in many cases, by vapourisation of the first point of contact or by a high electric field set up between the two electrodes. These discontinuities are named as Voltage Step Phenomena. These voltage steps are related to the cathode and anode fall voltages, and their regular occurrences are a function of surface roughness. The fluctuations in the arc voltage waveform are thought to originate mainly from the cathode. A technique has been developed to measure the temperature of the electrodes accurately by using a T-type thermocouple, 0.075 mm diameter, in conjunction with a DC amplifier with a gain of 247. The thermocouple is placed as close as possible under the electrode surface (200 µm). This enables the temperature of the contact to be measured, after breaking contact, for an arc-duration even as short as 1ms. The time-constant of the probe (contact containing the thermocouple) is measured to be approximately 18ms. With this technique the temperature of the electrodes are measured for currents and gap-lengths ranging 4-10 Amps and 0.05-1 mm respectively. The effect of contacts being new and change of polarity have been investigated. From these results it is concluded that the co-existence of layers of foreign material on one, or both, surfaces causes the temperature of the electrodes to be high for the first 50-100 operations, before reaching to steady-state conditions. Change of polarity suggests that the moving electrode, either anode or cathode, due to the effect of air movement over its surface, is cooled relative to when fixed. The power transfer to the electrodes is calculated for various currents and gap-length using thermal analogue formulae derived from the transient response of an RC circuit to a d.c. pulse. The results show that below 0.2 mm the sum of the anode and cathode power is approximately equal to the arc power, and hence losses are negligible. At around 0.125 mm, for currents of about 6A and 12A, they both receive an equal amount of power from the arc. This has been related to the thermal energy of the electrons being negligible, at such separation, at the anode end of the plasma column. The power balance equations are solved to calculate the positive ion current to the cathode, and the thermal energy of the electrons in the plasma column, under various test conditions. In the investigation of erosion, the S.E.M. studies show that most of the power dissipated on the surface of the electrodes is used in melting and evaporation. The x-ray analysis shows that the melted metal is composed mostly of Silver. To operate the test rig and collect the generated data automatically, a computerised test system, with a mini data acquisition system, has been designed and constructed here.

Micropitting is a form of surface contact fatigue encounteredin bearingsa nd gears, under lubricating conditions, which lead to their premature failure. All gears are susceptible to micropitting, including spur, helical and bevel. Micropitting can occur with all heatt reatmentsa ppliedt o gearsa nd with both, synthetica nd mineral lubricants. It can occur after a relatively short period of operation and, after a certain number of cycles,g earsn eedt o be replacedd ue to the increasedn oisea nd vibrations causedb y the deviations of the tooth profile. Continuing operation of affected gears can lead to a catastrophic type of failure (i. e., tooth breakage). These considerations explain the increasing current interest in micropitting. It has been reported that micropitting in bearings is associated with a specific microstructural transformation in steel, i. e. martensite decay. However, to the authoes knowledge, this transformation has not been reported in gears. In the present work, extensive metallurgical investigations have been carried out and they revealed that the same transformation occurs in gears. The aim of this project was to describe the mechanism of micropitting by taking into account the influence of several controlling factors such as, material, surface finish, lubricant, load, temperature,s peeda nd, slide-to-roll ratio. Their influence is assessed with a fractional factorial experimentadl esign.S everaln on-destructivete chniquesh ave been used in order to monitor the specimen condition during and after running, such as X-ray diffraction, optical profilometry, light microscopy. The mechanical properties of the products of martensite decay, known as dark etching regions, white etching bands and butterflies are highly relevant to the fatigue behaviour of the steel. Nanoindentation and AFM techniquesh aveb eenu sedt o determinet hesep roperties. A micropitting mechanism correlated with the mechanism of martensite decay in gears is suggestedb asedo n thesea nalyses.

In this thesis, an adapted form of dynamic Electrostatic Force Microscopy is presented as an alternative technique for non-contact dynamic characterization of beam resonators. The actuation of the test resonant beam was accomplished by applying a modulated signal to a probe cantilever that was positioned closely above the resonant beam. The frequency response of the coupled electrostatic interaction between the conductive beams was studied close to the resonance of the test beams. Modulation of the input signal allowed the test resonator to be actuated without requiring on-chip circuitry, and the probing frequency range kept independent of the resonant frequency of the probe cantilever. The resonant response of three test cantilever beams were experimentally characterized using two softer probe cantilevers. A model was constructed to describe the coupled electrostatic interaction and simulations were performed to compare predictions from the model to experimental data. The amplitude response shape, resonant frequency and quality factor from the model fit well with experimental results, showing that the resonant response of a resonator can be characterized using this technique. However, the phase and voltage variation responses were not well characterized, indicating further work to develop the force expressions in the model is needed.