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The ever increasing demand for higher power devices at higher frequencies has prompted much research recently into the aluminium nitride/gallium nitride high electron mobility transistors (AlN/GaN HEMTs) in response to theoretical predictions of higher performance devices. Despite having superior material properties such as higher two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) densities and larger breakdown field as compared to the conventional aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN)/GaN HEMTs, the AlN/GaN devices suffer from surface sensitivity, high leakage currents and high Ohmic contact resistances. Having very thin AlN barrier layer of ∼ 3 nm makes the epilayers very sensitive to liquids coming in contact with the surface. Exposure to any chemical solutions during device processing degrades the surface properties, resulting in poor device performance. To overcome the problems, a protective layer is employed during fabrication of AlN/GaN-based devices. However, in the presence of the protective/passivation layers, formation of low Ohmic resistance source and drain contact becomes even more difficult. In this work, thermally grown aluminium oxide (Al2O3) was used as a gate di- electric and surface passivation for AlN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)-HEMTs. Most importantly, the Al2O3 acts as a protection layer during device processing. The developed technique allows for a simple and effective wet etching optimisation using 16H3PO4:HNO3:2H2O solution to remove Al from the Ohmic contact regions prior to the formation of Al2O3 and Ohmic metallisation. Low Ohmic contact resistance (0.76Ω.mm) as well as low sheet resistance (318Ω/square) were obtained after optimisation. Significant reduction in the gate leakage currents was observed when employing an additional layer of thermally grown Al2O3 on the mesa sidewalls, particularly in the region where the gate metallisation overlaps with the exposed channel edge. A high peak current ∼1.5 A/mm at VGS=+3 V and a current-gain cutoff frequency, fT , and maximum oscillation frequency, fMAX , of 50 GHz and 40 GHz, respectively, were obtained for a device with 0.2 μm gate length and 100 μm gate width. The measured breakdown voltage, VBR, of a two-finger MOS-HEMT with 0.5μm gate length and 100 μm gate width was 58 V. Additionally, an approach based on an accurate estimate of all the small-signal equivalent circuit elements followed by optimisation of these to get the actual element values was also developed for AlN/GaN MOS-HEMTs. The extracted element values provide feedback for further device process optimisation. The achieved results indicate the suitability of thermally grown Al2O3 for AlN/GaN-based MOS-HEMT technology for future high frequency power applications.

The work deals with the modelling and optimisation of reverse osmosis (RO) spiral wound elements. It is aimed at improving areas of uncertainty and possible limitations which remain with current published predictive schemes. These were compromised mainly by the lack of adequate experimental data representative of actual operating conditions. Two different mathematical models, termed the `Slit' and the `Spiral' model, were developed. These models differ on the geometrical idealisation of a spiral wound element as indicated by their names. The Solution Diffusion model is used to describe water and salt transport across the membrane. The differential equations governing the process were solved numerically using a finite difference method. The resulting computer programs enable concentrations, pressures and flow rates in the brine and permeate channels to be obtained at any point in the module. The investigation covered a wide range of feed conditions by using experimental data provided from two different types of commercial spiral wound modules. These were the ROGA-4160HR [29] and the Filmtec FT30SW2540 [28] modules. The former type dealt with data typical of brackish water desalination whereas the second type provided data typically encountered in sea-water desalination. The required intrinsic membrane characteristics were determined experimentally using small samples of membrane in a test cell in a closed loop system. For both models, the predictions agree very well with the experimental data over the entire range of operating conditions:- with the exception of some few cases, typical deviations were of the order of 6% for the module productivity and of about 10% for the permeate quality. In addition, parametric studies were performed to establish the programs consistency and the results were in accordance with the theory.

This thesis reports on Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs) and their use in optical communication systems; in particular improving the reach of Passive Optical Networks (PON). Following a comprehensive overview of the components of optical communication systems a PON is introduced and the standard of Gigabit-PON (GPON) explained. The concept of extending the reach of GPON through the introduction of amplification is presented and the business drivers of the telecommunication operators detailed. The physics of SOAs are described followed by the parameters used to characterise them. Carrier dynamics of SOAs are explained and the methods of measurement of the carrier dynamics are detailed including the spectrogram technique. This method simultaneously measures the gain and phase recovery which is desirable for applications in long range telecommunications which require unchirped signals with a fast response for both gain and phase. Parameters of commercially available SOAs are compared with the requirements to extend the reach of PONs. Following this the fabrication tolerances for SOAs insensitive to polarisation dependent gain (PDG) are modelled. Results from SOA modelling showed that the greatest contributing factor to PDG variation was the active region thickness error. In the context of bulk production this requires a realistic tolerance of ~10nm to maintain PDG of ~1dB. A polarisation insensitive high gain SOA is designed and experimentally measured. This SOA is measured in the context of GPON and shown to extend the reach of the current standard by a record margin of 28dB. The limitation of the improvement is attributed to gain modulation sourced intersymbol interference (the patterning effect). The patterning effect has been reported in literature to be reduced through the introduction of SOAs with an active region made from quantum dot (Qdot) material. A comparative study of the gain and phase recovery time and alpha factor of various dimensional SOAs is presented. Using the spectrogram method it is shown that reducing the power and increasing the bias of the SOA can reduce the carrier recovery time. A Qdot active region SOAs is shown to considerably reduce the gain recovery time compared to a bulk SOA of similar length. The active region of the Qdot SOA alludes to a faster carrier recovery time which could be beneficial to extend the reach of PONs without patterning. However as these are more difficult to fabricate in mass production it is unknown if they are a viable solution on a commercial scale. In the context of GPON a low alpha factor is desired for minimizing chirp and phase nonlinearities during amplification of short pulses. An alpha factor study is presented and the Qdot SOA was measured to have the lowest alpha factor which could be beneficial for reducing chirp in 10G-PON.

Flexible rotor-bearing system stability is a very important subject impacting the design, control, maintenance and operating safety. As the rotor bearing-system dynamic nonlinearities are significantly more prominent at higher rotating speeds, the demand for better performance through higher speeds has rendered the use of linear approaches for analysis both inadequate and ineffective. To address this need, it becomes important that nonlinear rotor-dynamic responses indicative of the causes of nonlinearity, along with the bifurcated dynamic states of instabilities, be fully studied. The objectives of this research are to study rotor-dynamic instabilities induced by mass unbalance and to use smart materials to stabilise the performance of the flexible rotor-system. A comprehensive mathematical model incorporating translational and rotational inertia, bending stiffness and gyroscopic moment is developed. The dynamic end conditions of the rotor comprising of the active bearing-induced axial force is modelled, the equations of motion are derived using Lagrange equations and the Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to study the basic phenomena on simple systems. In this thesis the axial force terms included in the equations of motion provide a means for axially directed harmonic force to be introduced into the system. The Method of Multiple Scales is applied to study the nonlinear equations obtained and their stabilities. The Dynamics 2 software is used to numerically explore the inception and progression of bifurcations suggestive of the changing rotor-dynamic state and impending instability. In the context of active control of flexible rotors, smart materials particularly SMAs and piezoelectric stack actuators are introduced. The application of shape memory alloy (SMA) elements integrated within glass epoxy composite plates and shells has resulted in the design of a novel smart bearing based on the principle of antagonistic action in this thesis. Previous work has shown that a single SMA/composite active bearing can be very effective in both altering the natural frequency of the fundamental whirl mode as well as the modal amplitude. The drawback with that design has been the disparity in the time constant between the relatively fast heating phase and the much slower cooling phase which is reliant on forced air, or some other form of cooling. This thesis presents a modified design which removes the aforementioned existing shortcomings. This form of design means that the cooling phase of one half, still using forced air, is significantly assisted by switching the other half into its heating phase, and vice versa, thereby equalising the time constants, and giving a faster push-pull load on the centrally located bearing; a loading which is termed ‘antagonistic’ in this present dissertation. The piezoelectric stack actuator provides an account of an investigation into possible dynamic interactions between two nonlinear systems, each possessing nonlinear characteristics in the frequency domain. Parametric excitations are deliberately introduced into a second flexible rotor system by means of a piezoelectric exciter to moderate the response of the pre-existing mass-unbalance vibration inherent to the rotor. The intended application area for this SMA/composite and piezoelectric technologies are in industrial rotor systems, in particular very high-speed plant, such as small light pumps, motor generators, and engines for aerospace and automotive application.

The current generation of wind turbines that are being deployed around the world features, almost exclusively, a three-bladed rotor with a horizontal-axis configuration. In recent years, however, a resurgence of interest in the vertical-axis wind turbine configuration has been prompted by some of its inherent advantages over horizontal-axis rotors, particularly in flow conditions that are typical of the urban environment. The accurate modelling of the aerodynamics of vertical-axis wind turbines poses a significant challenge. The cyclic motion of the turbine induces large variations in the angle of attack on the blades during each rotor revolution that result in significant unsteadiness in their aerodynamic loading. In addition, aerodynamic interactions occur between the blades of the turbine and the wake that is generated by the rotor. Interactions between the blades of the turbine and, in particular, tip vortices that were trailed in previous revolutions produce impulsive variations in the blade aerodynamic loading, but these interactions are notoriously difficult to simulate accurately. This dissertation describes the application of a simulation tool, the Vorticity Transport Model (VTM), to the prediction of the aerodynamic performance of three different vertical-axis wind turbines - one with straight blades, another with curved blades and a third with a helically twisted blade configuration - when their rotors are operated in three different conditions. These operating conditions were chosen to be representative of the flow conditions that a vertical-axis wind turbine is likely to encounter in the urban environment. Results of simulations are shown for each of the three different turbine configurations when the rotor is operated in oblique flow, in other words when the wind vector is non-perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor, and also when subjected to unsteady wind. The performance of the straight-bladed turbine when it is influenced by the wake of another rotor is also discussed. The capability of the VTM to simulate the flow surrounding vertical-axis wind turbines has been enhanced by a dynamic stall model that was implemented in the course of this research in order to account for the effects of large, transient variations of the angle of attack on the aerodynamic loading on the turbine blades. It is demonstrated that helical blade twist reduces the oscillation of the power coefficient that is an inherent feature of turbines with non-twisted blades. It is also found that the variation in the blade aerodynamic loading that is caused by the continuous variation of the angle of attack on the blades during each revolution is much larger, and thus far more significant, than that which is induced by an unsteady wind or by an interaction with the wake that is produced by another rotor. Furthermore, it is shown that a vertical-axis turbine that is operated in oblique flow can, potentially, produce a higher power coefficient compared to the operation in conditions in which the wind vector is perpendicular to the axis of rotation, when the ratio between the height of the turbine and the radius of the rotor is sufficiently low.

The lack of invariance with respect to time reversal (T) of the weak interactions has long been known. However, T violation has yet to be observed from flavor-diagonal sources, where the primary quantities of interest are electric dipole moments (EDMs). Weak T violation gives EDMs that are far too small, but strong T violation via flavor-diagonal sources could give EDMs strong enough to be detected in the near future. It is thus important to understand precisely how various quark-level sources of T violation manifest themselves in hadronic physics.A useful technique for dealing with low-energy phenomena involving nucleons, nuclei, and various mesons, is effective field theory (EFT). The formalism and methodology of EFT are presented, followed by an introduction to the construction of chiral Lagrangians.A motivation for the study of T violation beyond the weak interactions is then given, with brief introductions to the most important sources of T violation.The QCD theta term is looked at using two differentapproaches. First, enforcing vacuum stability at quark level, a series of T-violating interactions ensue. Second, enforcing vacuum stability at hadronic level via field redefinitions, spurious interactions are demonstrated to be avoidable. Both approaches involve a constraining relationship between theta-term T violation and up-down quark-mass-difference isospin violation. The quark chromo-EDMs are shown to be identical to the theta term in their chiral symmetry properties. The quark EDMs and Weinberg operator,conversely, are shown to generate new interactions in addition to those generated by the theta term, differing nucleon EDM contributions in particular.The electric dipole form factor (EDFF) of the nucleon, with a theta term source, is calculated in both leading and subleading orders in chiral perturbation theory, with the momentum dependence at both orders given entirely by contributions from the pion cloud. Theleading result is purely isovector, while an isoscalar result appears in subleading order. The isoscalar EDM is used as a lower-bound estimate of the deuteron EDM. The momentum dependence of the EDFF for small momentum transfer is related to the electromagnetic nucleonSchiff moment, which is computed to subleading order.

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