Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:15:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5177.pdf: 16843754 bytes, checksum: 0b2e8c0ee3f79df315d62b9151b7e100 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-12 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Avalanches are sudden dramatic phenomena that occur in nature. The technique of magneto-optical imaging (MOI) has allowed us to observe abrupt flux entrances in superconductors, the so-called ux avalanches, due to thermomagnetic instabilities in the vortex matter. Their morphology is fascinating, especially in superconducting thin films, where they develop in dendritic patterns. From a practical point of view, the flux avalanches undermine applications of superconducting thin films. In the last years, however, several steps have been reached to fully understand the fundamental physics of the phenomenon and also on how to suppress their occurrence. The present thesis deals with the study of flux avalanches in structured superconducting thin films. We have studied crystalline Nb and amorphous Mo79Ge21 thin films decorated with arrays of antidots (ADs or holes) produced by electron beam lithography. The magnetic response of these specimens has been investigated by means of MOI, dc magnetization and ac susceptibility. Firstly, we have established a link among those three techniques in the regime dominated by flux avalanches. We have observed that the reentrant behavior in the ac susceptibility at low temperatures occurs as a consequence of flux avalanches. Essentially, there is reuse of the channels created by the first ac cycle in a regime where the signal is weakly dependent on the temperature. Our results show that measurements of ac susceptibility versus ac field amplitude can be used to detect flux avalanches, since the signature of the flux avalanches appears as noisy curves of both ac susceptibility components. As a consequence, the critical current density as a function of temperature [Jc.T ] obtained by using the Bean model whose validity is assured by Cole-Cole plots is smooth for higher temperatures and, below a certain temperature onset, a non-smooth and noisy behavior takes place due to the avalanches. The temperature dependence of Jc.T,H was determined for different values of the applied magnetic field. The stability/instability frontier was then identified as the limiting temperature below which the curve Jc.T,H becomes noisy, indicating the occurrence of avalanches. Associated with this limiting temperature, the threshold critical current density to trigger avalanches is essentially independent of the magnetic field. This frontier corresponds to the upper threshold limit for the occurrence of avalanches. The effect in a thin film of a graded distribution of ADs which follows nearly the flux profile described by the Bean model has been studied. Compared to the uniform distribution, there is an increase of the critical current density at low fields. Moreover, viii the flux avalanches, highly induced by the presence of an array of ADs, have their activity reduced in temperature and magnetic field. For the first time, flux avalanches have been visualized in amorphous Mo79Ge21 thin film, both in plain and decorated thin films. Finally, we have investigated the influence of the lattice symmetry and AD geometry on the flux avalanche morphology. We have observed avalanches with the habit of forming trees where the trunk is parallel to the main axis of the square lattice and the branches form angles of 45 degrees. In addition to that, we have found an anisotropic penetration in a Nb thin film decorated with a square lattice of triangular ADs. Besides that, a sample having one half of the ADs in the form of squares, and the other half being circles, has been observed to present avalanches of different morphologies on each of its halves. We have also studied an a-MoGe thin film with a centered rectangular 2D Bravais lattice with square ADs which shows penetrations with different angles depending on the edge. The overall features of the avalanches, and in particular the 45-degree direction of the branches, have been confirmed by numerical simulations using the thermomagnetic model. Superconductivity, structured thin films, flux avalanches, magneto-optical imaging. / Avalanches são eventos repentinos e dramáticos que ocorrem na natureza. A técnica de imageamento por magneto-ótica (MOI) tem permitido visualizar a penetração abrupta de fluxo em supercondutores, as chamadas avalanches de fluxo, que ocorrem devido a instabilidades termomagnéticas na matéria de vórtices. A morfologia dessas avalanches de fluxo em filmes finos supercondutores prístinos é singular e se desenvolve de maneira dendrítica, isto é, com ramificações. Do ponto de vista prático, as avalanches de fluxo são prejudiciais para aplicações dos filmes finos supercondutores. Nos últimos anos, no entanto, tem-se alcançado um bom entendimento da física básica do fenômeno, bem como maneiras para suprimir essas avalanches. Esta tese trata do estudo de avalanches de fluxo em filmes finos com uma estrutura de defeitos. Para tal, usamos filmes finos cristalinos de Nb e amorfos da liga Mo79Ge21 decorados com arranjos de antidots (ADs), ou buracos, produzidos por litografia por feixe de elétrons. A resposta magnética desses filmes foi investigada através de MOI, magnetização dc e suscetibilidade ac. Na primeira parte dos resultados, uma conexão entre essas técnicas foi estabelecida no regime de avalanches de fluxo. Foi observado que o comportamento reentrante da suscetibilidade ac em baixas temperaturas ocorre devido `as avalanches de fluxo. Essencialmente, há o reuso dos caminhos ou canais criados pelo primeiro ciclo ac em um regime em que o sinal é fracamente dependente da temperatura. Esses resultados também mostraram que a suscetibilidade ac pode ser usada para detectar avalanches de fluxo, seja pela construção da curva de corrente critica dependente da temperatura Jc.T ou monitorando o ruído nas curvas do tipo Cole-Cole. Assim, a fronteira de instabilidades termomagnéticas/estabilidade foi construída variando-se o campo dc aplicado, tendo sido obtido, um limiar constante de Jc.T para o disparo das avalanches. Essa observação está de acordo com o modelo termomagnético e refere-se ao limite superior da ocorrência das avalanches de fluxo. Também foi estudado o efeito da inserção de um arranjo de antidots distribuídos de maneira gradiente, que segue aproximadamente a distribuição de fluxo descrita pelo Modelo de Bean. Comparada com uma distribuição uniforme, um aumento da densidade de corrente crítica foi observada para a região de baixos campos. Além disso, as avalanches de fluxo, que são altamente induzidas pela presença de ADs, apresentaram uma redução em sua ocorrência, tanto em magnitude do campo magnético aplicado quanto em temperatura. Pela primeira vez, foram observadas avalanches de fluxo em filmes finos amorfos de Mo79Ge21 com e sem uma rede de ADs. x Por fim, a influência da simetria da rede e da geometria do antidot na morfologia das avalanches de fluxo foi investigada. Para filmes finos decorados com uma rede quadrada de ADs quadrados, as avalanches têm o tronco paralelo ao eixo principal da rede de ADs, com ramificações em ângulos de 45 graus como em uma árvore de Natal. Além disso, penetrações abruptas anisotrópicas foram vistas em um filme fino de Nb decorado com uma rede quadrada de ADs triangulares. Uma mudança na morfologia das avalanches também foi observada em um filme com metade dos ADs quadrados e a outra metade circular. Também foram observadas penetrações com diferentes ângulos em uma rede retangular centrada de ADs quadrados dependendo da borda. Por fim, as características gerais das avalanches, em particular a de ramificações em 45 graus, foram confirmadas por simulações numéricas usando o modelo termomagnético.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Currently, several research groups have been devoted to the production of superconducting films. This interest lies on the facility of their manipulation, on the understanding of basic concepts of the superconductivity and, especially, in the possibility of reducing them to dimensions compatible to their application as devices. Therefore, there is a great technological and academic interest in this issue. The most used material in superconducting devices is the niobium (Nb) and its alloys. Although Nb has been known as superconductor since 1930, the interest in excellent films of this material still remains. In this work, using a DC magnetron sputtering technique, we have developed an experimental method that allows one to produce superconducting Nb films of good quality - transition temperature of 9.1 K and transition width of 0.2 K. Therefore, we performed a systematic study of the setup parameters that influences the structural and superconducting properties of the films. In particular, we have analyzed the evolution of the lattice parameter, average grain size crystalline and critical temperature. Such values have been compared in a diagram. Nb films exhibit flux avalanches at certain values of field and temperature. We have detected and visualized the occurrence of avalanches of magnetic flux in Nb films and, in order to suppress the abrupt flux penetration, we have coupled to the films of thickness of 200 nm, thick metal layers of aluminum, silver and copper of different thicknesses, so called hybrid systems - Superconductor/Normal Metal. In this work piece, two experimental techniques have been employed: magnetometry and magneto-optical imaging. A partial suppression of avalanches in the hybrid systems has been observed. / Atualmente, diversos grupos de pesquisa têm se dedicado à fabricação de filmes supercondutores. O interesse reside na facilidade de manipulação, no entendimento de conceitos básicos do fenômeno da supercondutividade e, principalmente, na possibilidade de reduzi-los a dimensões compatíveis à aplicação como dispositivos. Portanto, há um grande interesse acadêmico e tecnológico nesta área. O material mais utilizado na construção de dispositivos supercondutores é o nióbio (Nb) e suas ligas. Apesar do Nb ser conhecido como supercondutor desde 1930, o interesse em excelentes filmes desse material ainda persiste. Neste trabalho, utilizamos a técnica de magnetron sputtering DC, com a qual estabelecemos uma rotina experimental que possibilitou produzir filmes supercondutores de Nb de boa qualidade - temperatura crítica de 9,1 K e largura de transição de 0,2 K. Para tanto, realizamos um estudo sistemático de como os valores dos parâmetros experimentais influenciam nas propriedades estruturais e supercondutoras dos filmes. Em particular, analisamos a evolução do parâmetro de rede, do tamanho médio dos grãos cristalinos e da temperatura crítica com os valores das variáveis de deposição e, por conseguinte, comparamos esses valores em um diagrama. Filmes de Nb exibem avalanches de fluxo magnético quando submetidos a certos valores de campo e temperatura. Detectamos e visualizamos a ocorrência de avalanches de fluxo magnético nos filmes de Nb produzidos e, com o intuito de suprimir as penetrações abruptas de fluxo, acoplamos a filmes de 200 nm de espessura camadas metálicas de alumínio, prata e cobre de diferentes espessuras, denominados sistemas híbridos - Supercondutor/Metal Normal. Este estudo foi conduzido por meio de duas técnicas experimentais: magnetometria volumétrica e imageameto magneto-ótico. Observamos uma supressão parcial das avalanches de fluxo magnético nos sistemas híbridos.

Cette thèse présente plusieurs aspects de la physique des systèmes élastiques désordonnés et des méthodes analytiques utilisées pour les étudier. On s’intéressera d’une part aux propriétés universelles des processus d’avalanches statiques et dynamiques (à la transition de dépiégeage) d’interfaces élastiques de dimension arbitraire en milieu aléatoire à température nulle. Pour étudier ces questions nous utiliserons le groupe de renormalisation fonctionnel. Après une revue de ces aspects,nous présenterons plus particulièrement les résultats obtenus pendant la thèse sur (i) la structure spatiale des avalanches et (ii) les corrélations entre avalanches.On s’intéressera d’autre part aux propriétés statiques à température finie de polymères dirigés en dimension 1+1, et en particulier aux observables liées à la classe d’universalité KPZ. Dans ce contexte l’étude de modèles exactement solubles a récemment permis de grands progrès. Après une revue de ces aspects, nous nous intéresserons plus particulièrement aux modèles exactement solubles de polymère dirigé sur le réseau carré, et présenterons les résultats obtenus pendantla thèse dans cette voie: (i) classification des modèles à température finie sur le réseau carré exactement solubles par ansatz de Bethe; (ii) universalité KPZ pour les modèles Log-Gamma et Inverse-Beta; (iii) universalité et nonuniversalitéKPZ pour le modèle Beta; (iv) mesures stationnaires du modèle Inverse-Beta et des modèles à température nulle associés. / This thesis presents several aspects of the physics of disordered elastic systems and of the analytical methods used for their study.On one hand we will be interested in universal properties of avalanche processes in the statics and dynamics (at the depinning transition) of elastic interfaces of arbitrary dimension in disordered media at zero temperature. To study these questions we will use the functional renormalization group. After a review of these aspects we will more particularly present the results obtained during the thesis on (i) the spatial structure of avalanches and (ii) the correlations between avalanches.On the other hand we will be interested in static properties of directed polymers in 1+1 dimension, and in particular in observables related to the KPZ universality class. In this context the study of exactly solvable models has recently led to important progress. After a review of these aspects we will be more particularly interested in exactly solvable models of directed polymer on the square lattice and present the results obtained during the thesis in this direction: (i) classification ofBethe ansatz exactly solvable models of directed polymer at finite temperature on the square lattice; (ii) KPZ universality for the Log-Gamma and Inverse-Beta models; (iii) KPZ universality and non-universality for the Beta model; (iv) stationary measures of the Inverse- Beta model and of related zero temperature models.

published_or_final_version / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

The West Elk Breccia has been studied since the late 1800’s with many interpretations regarding its origin. One unrecognized possibility is that parts of it are debris-avalanche deposits. This study has recognized evidence for this interpretation at three scales: volcano scale, outcrop scale, and intra-outcrop scale. At the volcano scale, a scarp in the old volcano reveals underlying Mesozoic bedrock, suggesting sector collapse. At the outcrop scale, megablocks of the original edifice, up to hundreds of meters in length, have atypical orientations and are surrounded by a gravel matrix. At the intra-outcrop scale, jigsaw-fit fracturing and rip-up clasts are common in distal deposits, which are documented in analogous debris-avalanche deposits. Similar to the debris-avalanche deposit at Mt. Shasta, medial-to-distal-matrix volcaniclast content decreases by 23%; Paleozoic and Mesozoic clasts increase by 5%; and the size of megablocks decreases. The geochemical and petrographic signatures reveal breccia blocks composed of pyroxene-andesite, a more silicic matrix facies, and the andesitic-to-dacitic East Elk Creek Tuff, all compositions that corroborate previous work on this northern extension of the San Juan volcanic field. Measured sections in the 100-km² study area allow for an estimation of total formation volume of approximately 8.5 km3.

In November 2006 a Pineapple Express rainstorm moved through the Pacific Northwest generating record precipitation, 22 to 50 cm in the two-day event on Mt. Rainier. Copeland (2009) and Legg (2013) identified debris flows in seven drainages in 2006; Inter Fork, Kautz, Ohanapecosh, Pyramid, Tahoma, Van Trump, and West Fork of the White River. This study identified seven more drainages: Carbon, Fryingpan, Muddy Fork Cowlitz, North Puyallup, South Mowich, South Puyallup, and White Rivers. Twenty-nine characteristics, or attributes, associated with the drainages around the mountain were collected. Thirteen were used in a regression analysis in order to develop a susceptibility map for debris flows on Mt. Rainier: Percent vegetation, percent steep slopes, gradient, Melton's Ruggedness Number, height, area, percent bedrock, percent surficial, percent glacier, stream has direct connection with a glacier, average annual precipitation, event precipitation, and peak precipitation. All variables used in the regression were measured in the upper basin. Two models, both with 91% accuracy, were generated for the mountain. Model 1 determined gradient of the upper basin, upper basin area, and percent bedrock to be the most significant variables. This model predicted 10 drainages with high potential for failure: Carbon, Fryingpan, Kautz, Nisqually, North Mowich, South Mowich, South Puyallup, Tahoma, West Fork of the White, and White Rivers. Of the remaining drainages 5 are moderate, 10 are low, and 9 are very low. Model 2 found MRN (Melton's Ruggedness Number) and percent bedrock to be the most significant. This model predicted 10 drainages with high potential for failure during future similar events: Fryingpan, Kautz, Nisqually, North Mowich, Pyramid, South Mowich, South Puyallup, Tahoma, Van Trump, and White Rivers. Of the remaining drainages, 6 are moderate, 9 are low, and 9 are very low. The two models are very similar. Initiation site elevations range from 1442 m to 2448 m. Six of the thirteen initiation sites are above 2000 m. Proglacial gully erosion initiated debris flows seem to occur at all elevations. Those debris flows initiated partially by landslides occur between 1400 and about 1800 m. The combined regression analysis model for the Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams raised the predictive accuracy from 69% (Olson, 2012) to 77%. This model determined that percent glacier/ice and percent vegetation were the most significant.

Landslides represent a serious hazard to people and property in the Pacific Northwest. Currently, the factors leading to sudden catastrophic failure vs. gradual slow creeping are not well understood. Utilizing high-resolution monitoring techniques at a sub-annual temporal scale can help researchers better understand the mechanics of mass wasting processes and possibly lead to better mitigation of their danger. This research used historical imagery analysis, precipitation data, aerial lidar analysis, Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and hydrologic measurements to monitor displacement of the Silt Creek Landslide in the western Cascade Mountain Range in Linn County, Oregon. This landslide complex is ~4 km long by ~400 m wide. The lower portion of the landslide reactivated following failure of an internal scarp in June 2014. Precipitation was measured on site and historical precipitation data was determined from a nearby SNOTEL site. Analysis of aerial lidar data found that the internal scarp failure deposited around 1.00x106 m3 of material over an area of 1.20x105 m2 at the uppermost portion of the reactivated slide. Aerial lidar analysis also found that displacement rates on the slide surface were as high as 3 m/yr during the 2015 water year, which was the year immediately following the failure. At the beginning of the 2016 water year, very low altitude aerial images were collected and used to produce point cloud data, via SfM, of a deformed gravel road which spans a portion of the reactivated slide. The SfM data were complimentary to the aerial and TLS scans. The SfM point cloud had an average point density of >7500 points per square meter. The resulting cloud was manipulated in 3D software to produce a model of the road prior to deformation. This was then compared to the original deformed model. Average displacement found in the deformed gravel road was 7.5 m over the 17 months between the scarp failure and the collection of the images, or ~3 m/yr. TLS point clouds were collected quarterly over the course of the 2016 water year at six locations along the eastern margin of the reactivated portion of the landslide. These 3D point cloud models of the landslide surface had an average density of 175 points per square meter. Scans were georeferenced to UTM coordinates and relative alignment of the scans was accomplished by first using the iterative closest point algorithm to align stable, off-slide terrain, and then applying the same rigid body translation to the entire scan. This was repeated for each scan at each location. Landmarks, such as tree trunks, were then manually selected at each location and their coordinates were recorded from the initial scan and each successive scan to measure displacement vectors. Average annual displacement for the 2016 water year ranged from a maximum of 0.92 m/yr in the uppermost studied area of the slide, to a low of 0.1 m/yr at the toe. Average standard deviation of the vectors of features on stable areas was 0.039 m, corresponding to a minimum detectable displacement of about ±4 cm. Displacement totals decreased with increasing distance downslope from the internal scarp failure. Additionally, displacement tended to increase with increasing distance laterally onto the slide body away from the right margin at all locations except the uppermost, where displacement rates were relatively uniform for all landmarks. Volumetric discharge measurements were collected for Silt Creek in 2016 using salt dilution gauging and found that discharge in the upslope portion of the study area was ~1 m3/s and increased to ~1.6 m3/s in the downslope portion. Landslide displacement rates were found to be much lower during the 2016 water year than during the 2015 water year, despite higher precipitation. This suggests that the over-all displacement trend was decoupled from precipitation values. Displacement rates at all locations on the slide decreased with each successive scan period with some portions of the landslide stopping by autumn of 2016, suggesting the study captured the slide as it returned to a state of stability. The spatial and temporal pattern of displacement is consistent with the interpretation that the landslide reactivation was a response to the undrained load applied by the internal scarp failure. This finding highlights the importance of detailed landslide monitoring to improve hazard estimation and quantification of landslide mechanics. This study provides new evidence that supports previous research showing that internal processes within landslide complexes can have feedback relationships, combines several existing 3D measurement tools to develop a detailed landslide monitoring methodology, uses a novel approach to landslide surface deformation measurements using SfM, and suggests that landslide initiation models which rely heavily on precipitation values may not account for other sources of landslide activation.

Les connaissances spatiales sont définies a partir d'une classification qui met en évidence l'importance de la topologie. L'examen d'applications différentes montre que le raisonnement spatial revêt souvent trois formes particulières non exclusives les unes des autres: la construction de topologies, l'inférence de propriétés spatiales et la localisation d'objets. Les données et les mécanismes d'inférence qui sont utilises peuvent être introduits dans des systèmes a base de connaissances qui servent alors de support au raisonnement spatial. Son graphe de dépendances possède, par ailleurs, des particularités qu'il est intéressant et, parfois, nécessaire d'exploiter pour gérer la dynamique de ces bases de connaissances spatiales. Les résultats d'inférences doivent en particulier être enregistres et le maintien de la vérité qu'exige cet enregistrement peut être facilite en exploitant une forme de localité au sein de ce graphe. Ces considérations prennent appui sur l'expérience du développement du système Elsa, destine a l'analyse de sites avalancheux. D'autres utilisations des bases de connaissances spatiales ont également été étudiées: modélisation symbolique de phénomènes spatiaux, environnements de resolution de problèmes et bases de connaissances géographiques. Elsa utilise une représentation de connaissances par objets, qui se révèle bien adaptée même si des extensions apparaissent utiles; il s'agit notamment de la prise en compte, au sein du modèle de représentation, des relations entre objets, de l'insertion d'un filtrage constructif et d'une ouverture plus grande du langage de requête. Le fait que ces extensions ne soient pas propres a l'espace et qu'elles puissent concerner d'autres types de connaissances suggère que le raisonnement sur l'espace, a défaut d'être spécifique, apparait comme un révélateur des besoins du raisonnement en général

Debris flows in at least 529 Grand Canyon tributaries transport poorly-sorted clayto boulder-sized sediment into the Colorado River, and are initiated by failures in weathered bedrock, the "fire-hose effect," and classic soil-slips often following periods of intense rainfall coincident with multi-day storms. Recent debris flows had peak-discharges from about 100-300 m3/s. Twentieth-century debris flows occurred from once every 10-15 years in eastern tributaries, to once in over a century in western drainage areas. Systemwide, debris flows likely recur about every 30-50 years, and the largest recent flows were initiated during Pacific-Ocean storms in autumn and winter. Three idealized hydrographs are inferred for recent debris flows based on deposits and flow evidence: Type I, has a single debris-flow peak followed by a decayed recessional streamflow; Type II, has multiple, decreasing debris-flow peaks with intervening flow transformations between debris flow and non-debris flow phases; and Type III, may have either a simple or complex debris-flow phase (begin as either Type I or II), followed by a larger streamflow peak that reworks or buries debris-flow deposits under streamflow gravel deposits. From 1987 through 1995, at least 25 debris flows constricted the Colorado River, creating 2 rapids and enlarging at least 9 riffles or rapids. In March-April, 1996, reworking effects of a 7-day controlled flood release (peak = 1,300 m³/s) on 18 aggraded debris fans in Grand Canyon were studied. Large changes occurred at the most-recent deposits (1994-1995), but several other older deposits (1987-1993) changed little. On the most-recent fan deposits, distal margins became armored with cobbles and boulders, while river constriction, flow velocity, and streampower were decreased. Partial armoring of fan margins by relatively-low mainstem flows since the debris flows occurred, was an important factor limiting fan reworking because particles became interlocked and imbricated, allowing them to resist transport during the flood. Similar future floods will accomplish variable degrees of fan reworking, depending on the extent that matrix-supported sediments are winnowed by preceding mainstem flows.

Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-185). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.