The 21st century marks the defining point of human history in terms of technological advancement. In 2014, we were at the edge of acquiring a complete understanding of the fundamental construct to all life forms. The capability to manipulate and recreate lives as desired will soon be at our hands and will eventually lead to the redefinition of life and humanity. This brave new world, for better or worse, will be stitched together by scientific breakthroughs in many disciplines. Nanopore fluidic system – and microfluidic in general – might be one of the key puzzles towards the future. It is seen as a likely candidate for the next generation of rapid and low-cost genetic sequencing technology, which will allow us to gain thorough insight into the genetic code of every living organism on earth. It can also have the capability to individually detect and manipulate virtually any biological molecules, possibly allowing it to be a universal diagnostic tool or a bio-molecule synthesiser. The future of nanopore fluidic system is prosperous, but the difficulties are equally challenging. Currently, both biological and solid-state nanopores are non-trivial to create. For instance, a small solid-state nanopore can only be fabricated with expansive machinery in a low-yield, low-throughput manner. To overcome this challenge, a new set of methods involving high electric field to fabricate and enlarge a solid-state nanopore has been developed. It was found that a nanopore, when subjected to a high electric field, can be enlarged in angstrom increments and cleared of unidentified obstructions that cause low-frequency ionic current fluctuations. It was also found that an intact solid-state membrane, when subjected to a high electric field for a period of time, can leave a single nanopore imprinted onto it. The process of creation is best describe as a dielectric breakdown event and can be modeled by the percolation theory for dielectric breakdown. The resulting nanopores are cylindrical in shape and are shown to be equally capable of single molecule sensing compare to pores created by other methods. To accommodate future nanopore designs and applications and to examine the scope of applicability of the new fabrication approach, more advanced nanopore devices were created on some dual-layer solid-state membranes comprising of a metallic and a dielectric layer. Experiments indicated that the method could indeed create nanopore on such advanced membranes. It was further shown that the metallic layer receded further than the dielectric layer, forming a hollow conical shape at the opening of the dielectric nanopore. Such metalized bi-layer nanopore system was found to interact strongly with short single stranded DNA molecules, resulting in prolonged DNA translocation time. A simple picture of the mechanism was proposed to explain the observation. Lastly, to extend the limit of the new fabrication approach, I attempted to fabricate nanopore on complex multi-layer membranes involving a graphene film sandwiched in several dielectric materials. It was found that the quality of the graphene film and the transfer method were vital to the success of this project. Nevertheless, preliminary results indicated that the new method could create a nanopore through this complex multi-layer membrane. The new method to fabricate and tune both simple and complex nanopores is amongst the simplest, the least costly and the most efficient one that one can imagine. The research work has already sparked a dramatic increase in scientific throughput in our laboratory and other laboratories we had collaboration with. It fueled more than a dozen projects and involved close to a thousand nanopores in total. Such projects are far from possible if they were to rely on conventional fabrication methods. However, these are insignificant if we consider the new method is simple enough that, for the very first time, general public can easily access nanofabrication and single-molecule manipulation technology. The liberation of nanotechnology to the general public symbolically marks the beginning of a brave new world.

Ester liquids including both natural ester and synthetic ester are being considered as potential alternatives to mineral oil, due to their better environmental performance and for some liquids their higher fire point. Although these liquids have been widely used in distribution and traction transformers, it is still a significant step to adopt ester liquids in high-voltage power transformers because the high cost and severe consequence of a factory test failure and the high level of safety and reliability required in service for these units, tend to lead to a cautious approach to any step change in technology. Lightning impulse strength as basic insulation level is of importance for insulation design of power transformers and lightning impulse test is commonly required in the factory routine tests for high-voltage power transformers, so this thesis is aimed to investigate the electrical performances including pre-breakdown and breakdown of natural ester and synthetic ester under impulse voltage. Two types of field geometry were considered in the study, one is sphere-sphere configuration which represents the quasi-uniform fields inside a transformer and another is strongly non-uniform point-plane configuration which represents the situation of a defect or a source of discharge. In quasi-uniform field study, standard breakdown tests were carried out under negative lightning and switching impulse voltages. Influence of various testing methods on the measured lightning breakdown voltage was studied and the 1% lightning withstand voltage was obtained based on Weibull distribution fitting on the cumulative probability plot built up using the approximately 1000 impulse shots. As for strongly non-uniform field study, streamer propagation and breakdown event in ester liquids either with or without pressboard interface were investigated at various gap distances under both positive and negative lightning impulse voltages. A relationship between the results under lightning impulse and previously published results under step voltage was built up to predict the lightning breakdown voltage of ester liquids at very large gaps. The results indicated that impulse strengths of ester liquids for both breakdown and withstand in a quasi-uniform field, are comparable to those of mineral oil. In a strongly non-uniform field, streamers in ester liquids propagate faster and further, than in mineral oil at the same voltage level. Thus breakdown voltages of ester liquids are generally lower than those of mineral oil, which could be as low as 40% at a large gap distance of approximately 1000 mm. Introduction of parallel pressboard interface has no influence on the streamer propagation and thus does not weaken the breakdown voltage, but it tends to reduce the acceleration voltage particularly for mineral oil under positive polarity. Last but not least, a unique phenomenon of secondary reverse streamer (SRS) was observed in ester liquids, which occurs subsequently and well after the extinction of the primary streamer (PS) propagation within a single shot of impulse voltage and has the reverse polarity to the PS. The formation mechanism of SRS is explained mainly due to the reverse electric field induced by the residual space charges left by the PS.

The concept of More Electric Aircraft, where is to utilize the electrical power to drive more or all aircraft subsystem instead of conventional combination of pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical and electrical power, can be recalled to World War II. It has been proven to have more advantages for decades in terms of energy efficiency, environmental issues, logistics and operational maintenance. It can also enhance aircraft weight, volume and battle damage reconfigurability.Thanks to the new electronics technologies and the emergence of new materials, It becomes feasible for high power density electrical power components to drive the majority of aircraft subsystem. However, sustaining the transmission of hundreds of kilowatts of electrical power at low voltages is not feasible owing to the penalties incurred due to high cable weights and voltage drop may become critical. It is very easy to come up with the solution of the increase of voltage. However, higher voltage will introduce other problems such as the reliability of insulation coordination on the aircraft due to the increased probability of electrical discharge. For aircraft designers, it is very important to understand the rules of insulation coordination on the aircraft including determining clearance and creepage distances, and also have a clear investigation of the phenomena and mechanism of electrical discharges. Past research has identified a number of the concerns of operating electrical systems at higher voltages in an aerospace environment, especially for dimensioning of clearances. However, there is little study on dimensioning of creepage distances and relevantly flashover and electrical tracking on solid insulating material surfaces. This thesis firstly discusses the rules for determining clearances and creepage distances. The experimental validation work was done for breakdown in air gap and on the solid insulating material surfaces under dry condition so that some standard recommended values can be evaluated not only with theoretical values such Paschen's law. Suggestions of application of those standards were provided. Secondly, the complex electrical discharge under wet condition on solid insulating material surfaces was discussed. A mathematical model to predict this type of electrical failure -electrical tracking (the electrical discharges on solid insulation materials which will lead to physical damage in the materials) with the consideration of different environmental conditions including air pressure, ambient temperature, and pollution degrees was developed. A series of electrical tracking tests were carried out on organic materials to find out the mechanism of electrical tracking and validate the finding by the mathematic model. Finite element analysis simulations were also conducted to find out the background thermal transfer mechanism to support our explanation of those phenomena of electrical tracking. Different test techniques have ben developed for specific impact factors. Finally, the suggestions for utilization of the standards and feasible test techniques for electrical tracking under wet conditions were provided.

Que ce soit dans l‟étude du claquage sous vide ou dans les sources d‟électrons par effet de champ, l‟émission électronique est un phénomène physique essentiel qui a lieu et devient dominante à la cathode sous haute tension. Dans le cas du claquage sous vide, la première étape de ce mécanisme est l‟émission d‟électrons au sommet de rugosités présentes sur la surface. Celles-ci peuvent être représentées sous la forme de pointes. Dans le cas des sources d‟électrons, l‟émission des électrons peut se faire au niveau d‟émetteurs qui eux aussi peuvent être décrits sous la forme de « pointes » distribués de manière ordonnée sur la surface. Un modèle numérique décrivant l‟émission thermo-ionique assistée par effet de champ a été développé dans le cas d‟une pointe axisymétrique et dont le traitement peut être réduit en 2D.Il s‟agit là d‟un problème multi-physique couplé nécessitant la résolution de problèmes de différentes natures : quantiques, électrostatique, électrocinétique et thermique. A partir de ce modèle, l‟étude de l‟émission et du claquage au sommet d‟une pointe soumise à une pulse électrique de l‟ordre de la nanoseconde a été étudiée. L‟étude de l‟émission électronique sur une cathode soumise à la haute tension et illuminé par un laser picoseconde a ensuite été faite en développant un modèle qui décrit notamment le chauffage du métal en régime hors équilibre. Enfin, dans le cas du claquage sous vide, la modélisation de l‟interaction entre des microparticules, présente dans l‟espace inter-électrodes,et de l‟émission électronique provenant du sommet d‟une rugosité a été realisée. Différents régimes de trajectoires de la microparticules ont été observée suivant le courant appliqué au sommet de la rugosité. / Electron emission in vacuum from a cathode at high voltage is an important physical phenomenon for the study of vacuum breakdown or electron sources. In the vacuum breakdown, the first step of this mechanism is electron emission at the top of the microprotrusions on the surface. Microprotrusions or emitters in electron sources have the shape of a tip. A numerical model describing the thermo-field emission has been developed for a 2D axisymmetric tip. The problem is multi-physical and it is necessary to solve problems of different natures: quantum mechanics, electrostatic, electric current and thermal heating. With this model, it is possibleto study electron emission and vacuumbreakdown when nanosecond high voltage pulses are applied. Furthermore, the study of electron emission when a picosecond pulsed laser illuminates a high voltage cathode has been performed. A new model has been developped to describe the photo-electric effect and a two-temperature model has been implemented to describe the heating of the cathode in a non-equilibrium regime. Finally, the modeling of the interaction between microparticles and electron emission from microprotusions has been realised, in order to study the breakdown voltage. Different trajectories of microparticles have been identified based on the results, depending on the electron emission current.

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Táto diplomová práca sa zaoberá klasifikáciou kovov pomocou spektroskopie laserom indukovanej plazmy (LIBS) a chemometrických metód. Práca poskytuje prehľad o štúdiách na danú tému. Sú vybrané tri široko používané chemometrické klasifikačné metódy: "Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy" (SIMCA), "Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis" (PLS-DA) a variácia umelých neurónových sietí (ANN), "Feedforward Multilayer Perceptron". Rôzne prístupy k prieskumovej analýze su tiež preskúmané. Metódy sú stručne opísané. Následne sú klasifikátory experimentálne porovnané.

Submitted work concerns with the theoretical and practical requirements for an automatic characterization of samples by means of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Theoretical aspects of laser-matter interaction, plasma expansion, and plasma emission are described theoretically within this work. The description of the plasma emission is enhanced with the spectral detection systems and statistical properties of the plasma. The principle of the automatic characterization is based on the multivariate data analysis theoretical background, which presents recent trend and fundamental approach for automatic spectra analysis in LIBS. Theoretical knowledge is manifested in six applications, which are presented as a comment to published manuscripts. These publications push the frontiers of automatic spectra processing in LIBS.

Abstract (example) This thesis is a minor part of the overall project on the establishment of a general methodology of calculation of the cost of rescuing a lorry. It deals with legislation related to goods vehicle extrication, analysis of costs and costs as a result of exhausts for selected special equipment after an accident. The work is a guide for experts from the Institute of forensic engineering, on the basis of who can more easily establish a procedure and the unit price recovery work after the accident. Then speeds up determining the prices for example during the court proceedings and the payment of the profits of a business.

This thesis is a minor part of the overall project on the establishment of a general methodology of calculation of the cost of rescuing a lorry. It deals with legislation related to goods vehicle extrication, analysis of costs and costs as a result of exhausts for selected special equipment after an accident. The work is a guide for experts from the Institute of forensic engineering, on the basis of who can more easily establish a procedure and the unit price recovery work after the accident. Then speeds up determining the prices for example during the court proceedings and the payment of the profits of a business.

The aim of the submitted work is a comparison of methods of quantitative analysis used in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The principles of LIBS method are explained at first, followed by a research of the most often used methods of quantitative analysis. The next part provides their description enabling a better comprehension and an eventual use of the methods in practice. Finally, the chosen methods are used to process data from the real experiment and the results are compared.