Advances in the field of semiconductor physics have allowed for rapid development of new, more powerful devices. The new fabrication techniques allow for reductions in device geometry, increasing the possible wafer packing density. The increased output power comes with the price of excessive heat generation, the removal of which proves problematic at such scales for conventional cooling systems. Consequently, there is a rising demand for new cooling systems, preferably those that do not add large amount of additional bulk to the system. One promising system is the thermoelectric (TE) cooler which is small enough to be integrated onto the device wafer. Unlike more traditional gas and liquid coolers, TE coolers do not require moving parts or external liquid reservoirs, relying only on the flow of electrons to transport heat energy away from the device. Although TE cooling provides a neat solution for the extraction of heat from micron scale devices, it can normally only produce small amounts of cooling of 1-2 Kelvin, limiting its application to low power devices. This research aimed to find ways to enhance the performance of the TE cooler using detailed simulation analysis. For this, a self consistent, semi-classical, ensemble Monte Carlo model was designed to investigate the operation of the TE cooler at a higher level than would be possible with experimental measurements alone. As part of its development, the model was validated on a variety of devices including a Gunn diode and two micro-cooler designs from the literature, one which had been previously simulated and another which had been experimentally analysed. When applied to the TE cooler of focus, novel operational data was obtained and signification improvements in cooling power were found with only minor alterations to the device structure and without need for an increase in volume.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Statistics and Actuarial Science / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

In metrology, measurement uncertainty is understood as a range in which the true value of the measurement is likely to fall in. The recent years have seen a rapid development in evaluation of measurement uncertainty. ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM 1995) is the primary guiding document for measurement uncertainty. More recently, the Supplement 1 to the "Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement" – Propagation of distributions using a Monte Carlo method (GUM SP1) was published in November 2008. A number of software tools for measurement uncertainty have been developed and made available based on these two documents. The current software tools are mainly desktop applications utilising numeric computation with limited mathematical model handling capacity. A novel and generic web-based application, web-based Knowledge-Based Decision Support System (KB-DSS), has been proposed and developed in this research for measurement uncertainty evaluation. A Model-View-Controller architecture pattern is used for the proposed system. Under this general architecture, a web-based KB-DSS is developed based on an integration of the Expert System and Decision Support System approach. In the proposed uncertainty evaluation system, three knowledge bases as sub-systems are developed to implement the evaluation for measurement uncertainty. The first sub-system, the Measurement Modelling Knowledge Base (MMKB), assists the user in establishing the appropriate mathematical model for the measurand, a critical process for uncertainty evaluation. The second sub-system, GUM Framework Knowledge Base, carries out the uncertainty evaluation process based on the GUM Uncertainty Framework using symbolic computation, whilst the third sub-system, GUM SP1 MCM Framework Knowledge Base, conducts the uncertainty calculation according to the GUM SP1 Framework numerically based on Monte Carlo Method. The design and implementation of the proposed system and sub-systems are discussed in the thesis, supported by elaboration of the implementation steps and examples. Discussions and justifications on the technologies and approaches used for the sub-systems and their components are also presented. These include Drools, Oracle database, Java, JSP, Java Transfer Object, AJAX and Matlab. The proposed web-based KB-DSS has been evaluated through case studies and the performance of the system has been validated by the example results. As an established methodology and practical tool, the research will make valuable contributions to the field of measurement uncertainty evaluation.

No description available.

This research examines how the Targeted Separation Incentive Program, currently underway by the Navy, is being administered to bring about the voluntary separations of junior officers to meet the requirements of the Navyâ s most recent force reduction. This study evaluates the effects of past separation incentive programs as well as the current compensation package that the service-member may receive which is outlined in the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. In addition, an analysis was conducted of the costs associated with retaining the service-member versus the personal costs of that individual of leaving. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the Department of the Navyâ s (DoN) Targeted Separation Incentive Program in order to see if this program can adequately meet the goals of the current force reduction and whether or not savings can be realized through alternative separation programs.

This course project is made up of two parts. Part one is an investigation and implementation of pricing of financial derivatives using numerical methods for the solution of partial differential equations. Part two is an introduction of Monte Carlo methods in financial engineering. The name of course is MA573:Computational Methods in Financial Mathematics, spring 2009, given by Professor Marcel Blais.