An approach with ¡§consecutive orthogonal arrays (COA)¡¨ is proposed for solving the problems in designing power electronic circuits. This approach is conceptually based on the orthogonal array method, which has been successfully implemented in quality engineering. The circuit parameters to be determined are assigned as the controlled variables of the orthogonal arrays. Incorporating with the inferential rules, the average effects of each control variable levels are used as the indices to determine the control variable levels of the subsequent orthogonal array. By manipulating on COA, circuit parameters with the desired circuit performances can be found from an effectively reduced number of numerical calculations or experimental tests. In this dissertation, the method with COA is implemented on solving four problems often encountered in the design of power electronic circuits. The first problem one has to deal with is to find a combination with the best performance from a great number of analyzed results. The illustrative example is the design of LC passive filters. Using COA method, the desired component values of the filter can be effectively and efficiently found with far fewer calculations. The second design problem arises from the non-linearity of circuit. An experienced engineer may be able to figure out circuit parameters with satisfactory performance based on their pre-knowledge on the circuit. Nevertheless, they are always questioned whether a better choice can be made. The typical case is the self-excited resonant electronic ballast with the non-linear characteristics of the saturated transformer and the power transistor storage-time. In this case, the average effects of COA obtained from experimental tests are used as the observational indexes to search a combination of circuit parameters for the desired lamp power. The third problem is that circuit functions are mutually exclusive. The designers are greatly perplexed to decide the circuit parameters, with which all functions should be met at the same time. The method with COA is applied to design a filter circuit to achieve the goals of low EMI noise and high power factor simultaneously. Finally, one has to cope with the effects of the uncontrolled variables, such as: ambient temperature, divergence among different manufacturers, and used hours. By applying COA with inferential rules, electronic ballasts can be robustly designed to operate fluorescent lamps at satisfied performance under the influence of these uncontrolled variables.

The research presents two novel high power factor ac-to-dc resonant converters with symmetrical topologies and zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) operation. The derived circuits are obtained from the integration of a dual-switch boost-type or buck-boost-type power factor corrector (PFC) into a half-bridge resonant converter. With symmetrical topology, the circuit is simple and the voltage and current stresses on the two active power switches are identical to each other. The PFC is operated at discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to achieve unity power factor. The resonant energy tank of half-bridge resonant converter is designed to be inductive to retain ZVS operation. The design equations are derived based on fundamental approximation. Prototypes of the two proposed converters designed for 100 W and 50 W, respectively, were built and tested to verify the computer simulations and analytical predictions. Satisfactory results are obtained experimentally.

Liquefiable soils are common at ports due to the use of hydraulic fills for construction of waterfront facilities. Liquefaction-induced ground failure can result in permanent ground deformations that can cause loss of foundation support and structural damage. This can lead to substantial repair and/or replacement costs and business interruption losses that can have an adverse effect on the port and the surrounding community. Although numerous soil improvement methods exist for remediating a liquefaction-prone site, many of these methods are poorly suited for developed sites because they could damage existing infrastructure and disrupt port operations. An alternative is to use a passive remediation technique. Treating liquefiable soils with colloidal silica gel via permeation grouting has been shown to resist cyclic deformations and is a candidate to be used as a soil stabilizer in passive mitigation. The small-strain dynamic properties are essential to determine the response to seismic loading. The small-to-intermediate strain shear modulus and damping ratio of loose sand treated with colloidal silica gel was investigated and the influence of colloidal silica concentration was determined. The effect of introducing colloidal silica gel into the pore space in the initial phase of treatment results in a 10% to 12% increase in the small-strain shear modulus, depending on colloidal silica concentration. The modulus reduction curve indicates that treatment does not affect the linear threshold shear strain, however the treated samples reduce at a greater rate than the untreated samples in the intermediate-strain range above 0.01% cyclic shear strain. It was observed that the treated sand has slightly higher damping ratio in the small-strain range; however, at cyclic shear strains around 0.003% the trend reverses and the untreated sand begins to have higher damping ratio. Due to the nature of the colloidal silica gelation process, chemical bonds continue to form with time, thus the effect of aging on the dynamic properties is important. A parametric study was performed to investigate the influence of gel time on the increase in small-strain shear modulus. The effect of aging increases the small-strain shear modulus after gelling by 200 to 300% for the 40-minute-gel time samples with a distance from gelation (time after gelation normalized by gel time) of 1000 to 2000; 700% for the 2-hour-gel time sample with a distance from gelation of 1000; and 200 to 400% for the 20-hour-gel time samples with a distance from gelation of 40 to 100. The treatment of all potentially liquefiable soil at port facilities with colloidal silica would be cost prohibitive. Identifying treatment zones that would reduce the lateral pressure and resulting pile bending moments and displacements caused by liquefaction-induced lateral spreading to prevent foundation damage is an economic alternative. Colloidal silica gel treatment zones of varying size and location were evaluated by subjecting a 3-by-3 pile group in gently sloping liquefiable ground to 1-g shaking table tests. The results are compared to an untreated sample. The use of a colloidal silica treatment zone upslope of the pile group results in reduced maximum bending moments and pile displacements in the downslope row of piles when compared to an untreated sample; the presence of the treatment zone had minimal effect on the other rows of piles within the group.

Realising Si-based electrically driven light emitters in a process technology compatible with mainstream microelectronics CMOS technology is key requirement for the implementation of low-cost Si-based optoelectronics and thus one of the big challenges of semiconductor technology. This work has focused on the development of microcavity enhanced silicon LEDs (MCLEDs), including their design, fabrication, and experimental as well as theoretical analysis. As a light emitting layer the abrupt pn-junction of a Si-diode was used, which was fabricated by ion implantation of boron into n-type silicon. Such forward biased pn-junctions exhibit room-temperature EL at a wavelength of 1138 nm with a reasonably high power efficiency of 0.1% [1]. Two MCLEDs emitting light at the resonant wavelength about 1150 nm were demonstrated: a) 1 MCLED with the resonator formed by 90 nm thin metallic CoSi2 mirror at the bottom and semitranparent distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) on the top; b) 5:5 MCLED with the resonator formed by high reflecting DBR at the bottom and semitransparent top DBR. Using the appoach of the 5:5 MCLED with two DBRs the extraction efficiency is enhanced by about 65% compared to the silicon bulk pn-junction diode.

<p>In this thesis I have theoretically studied electron recombination processes with small molecular ions.</p><p>In these kind of processes resonant states are involved. To calculate the potential energy for these states as a function of internuclear distance, structure calculations and scattering calculations have to be performed.</p><p>So far I have been studying the ion-pair formation with in electron recombination with H₃⁺. The cross section for this process has been calculated using different kind of models, both a time dependent quantum mechanical and a semiclassical.</p><p>I have also studied the direct process of dissociative recombination of HF⁺. To calculate the total cross section for this process, we have performed wave packet propagation on thirty resonant states and summed up the individual cross sections for these states.</p><p>The cross sections for both these processes have a similar appearance to those measured experimentally in the ion storage ring CRYRING in Stockholm.</p>

The preliminary goal of this study is to determine the effects of processing conditions, compositions and microstructural morphologies of the constituents on the physical and thermo-mechanical properties of alumina (Al_2O_3) reinforced aluminum (Al) composites. Composites with 0, 5, 10, 20 and 25 vol% Al_2O_3 were manufactured using powder metallurgy method. The elastic properties (Young's and shear modulus) and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the composites were determined using Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS) and Thermo Mechanical Analyzer (TMA) respectively at various temperatures. Increasing compacting pressure improved relative density (or lowered porosity) of the composites. Furthermore, increasing the Al_2O_3 vol% in the composite increased the elastic moduli and reduced the CTE of the composites. Increasing the testing temperature from 25 to 450 oC, significantly reduced the elastic moduli of the composites, while the CTE of the composites changed only slightly with temperatures. Secondly, the goal of this study is to determine the effect of microstructures on the effective thermo-mechanical properties of the manufactured Al-Al_2O_3 composites using finite element (FE) method. Software OOF was used to convert the SEM micrographs of the manufactured composites to FE meshed models, which were then used to determine the effective elastic modulus and CTE. It was observed that, effective modulus dropped by 19.7% when porosity increased by 2.3%; while the effective CTE was mildly affected by the porosity. Additionally, the effect of residual stress on the effective thermo-mechanical properties was studied, and the stress free temperature of the composites was determined. Another objective of this study is to examine the stress-strain response of Al-Al_2O_3 composites due to compressive loads at various temperatures. Elastic modulus, yield stress and strain hardening parameters were determined from the stress-strain curves and their dependency on temperature, porosity and volume fraction were studied. The experimental results were compared with the numerical results. It was observed that high-localized stresses were present near the pores and at the interfaces between Al and Al_2O_3 constituents. Finally, functionally graded materials (FGMs) with varying Al_2O_3 concentration (0, 5and 10 vol%) in Al were manufactured; and their stress-strain response and CTE were determined at various temperatures.

In this thesis, a new approach for single-stage power factor correction converters is proposed to increase their power ratings to be in the multiple kilowatts levels. The proposed techniques are based on the utilization of modified three-level resonant converter topologies. These topologies provide low component stresses, high frequency operation, zero voltage switching, applicability under a wide range of input and output conditions as well as added control flexibility. The proposed control algorithms are based on a combination of variable frequency and asymmetrical pulse width modulation control or variable frequency and phase shift modulation control. In either case, the variable frequency control is used to tightly regulate the output voltage, whereas, pulse width or phase shift modulation is used to regulate the dc-bus voltage as well as the input power factor. New converter topologies, their operation and steady state and dynamic analyses are presented in details. A modelling approach based on average multiple frequency methods is also proposed. This approach leads to the development of a full order state space model with the two control variables explicitly separated allowing a better controller design. The model can be used either at high level of detail expressing the non-linearities of the system or it can readily be simplified to a linear decoupled model for approximate solutions. Finally, a discrete time controller for the proposed converters, which is suitable for FPGA implementation, is presented. Analytical, simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the proposed concepts. / Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-01-30 14:28:15.725

This dissertation research is focused on first principles studies of graphene and single organic molecules for nanoelectronics applications. These nanosized objects attracted considerable interest from the scientific community due to their promise to serve as building blocks of nanoelectronic devices with low power consumption, high stability, rich functionality, scalability, and unique potentials for device integration. Both graphene electronics and molecular electronics pursue the same goal by using two different approaches: top-down approach for graphene devices scaling to smaller and smaller dimensions, and bottom-up approach for single molecule devices. One of the goals of this PhD research is to apply first-principles density functional theory (DFT) to study graphene/metal and molecule/metal contacts at atomic level. In addition, the DFT-based approach allowed us to predict the electronic characteristics of single molecular devices. The ideal and defective graphene/metal interfaces in weak and strong coupling regimes were systematically studied to aid experimentalists in understanding graphene growth. In addition, a theory of resonant charge transport in molecular tunnel junctions has been developed. The first part of this dissertation is devoted to the study of atomic, electronic, electric, and thermal properties of molecular tunnel junctions. After describing the model and justifying the approximations that have been made, the theory of resonant charge transport is introduced to explain the nature of current rectification within a chemically asymmetric molecule. The interaction of the tunneling charges (electrons and holes) with the electron density of the metal electrodes, which in classical physics is described using the notion of an image potential, are taken into account at the quantum-mechanical level within the tight binding formalism. The amount of energy released onto a molecule by tunneling electrons and holes in the form of thermal vibration excitations is related to the reorganization energy of the molecule, which is also responsible for an effective broadening of molecular levels. It was also predicted that due to the asymmetry of electron and hole resonant energy levels with respect to the Fermi energy of the electrodes, the Joule heating released from the metallic electrodes is also non-symmetric and can be used for the experimental determination of the type of charge carriers contributing to the molecular conductance. In the second part of the dissertation research ideal and defective graphene/metal interfaces are studied in weak and strong interface coupling regimes. The theoretical predictions suggest that the interface coupling may be controlled by depositing an extra metallic layer on top of the graphene. DFT calculations were performed to evaluate the stability of a surface nickel carbide, and to study graphene/carbide phase coexistence at initial stages of graphene growth on Ni(111) substrate at low growth temperatures. Point defects in graphene were also investigated by DFT, which showed that the defect formation energy is reduced due to interfacial interactions with the substrate, the effect being more pronounced in chemisorbed graphene on Ni(111) substrate than in physisorbed graphene on Cu(111) substrate. Our findings are correlated with recent experiments that demonstrated the local etching of transfered graphene by metal substrate imperfections. Both graphene and molecular electronics components of the PhD dissertation research were conducted in close collaboration with several experimental groups at the University of South Florida, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Chicago, and Arizona State University.

<p>The role of the surroundings, or <italic> environment </italic>, is essential in understanding funda- mental quantum-mechanical concepts, such as quantum measurement and quantum entanglement. It is thought that a dissipative environment may be responsible for certain types of quantum (i.e. zero-temperature) phase transitions. We observe such a quantum phase transition in a very basic system: a resonant level coupled to a dissipative environment. Specifically, the resonant level is formed by a quantized state in a carbon nanotube, and the dissipative environment is realized in resistive leads; and we study the shape of the resonant peak by measuring the nanotube electronic conductance.</p><p>In sequential tunneling regime, we find the height of the single-electron conductance peaks increases as the temperature is lowered, although it scales more weakly than the conventional T<super>-1</super>. Moreover, the observed scaling signals a close connec- tion between fluctuations that influence tunneling phenomenon and macroscopic models of the electromagnetic environment.</p><p>In the resonant tunneling regime (temperature smaller than the intrinsic level width), we characterize the resonant conductance peak, with the expectation that the width and height of the resonant peak, both dependent on the tunneling rate, will be suppressed. The observed behavior crucially depends on the ratio of the coupling between the resonant level and the two contacts. In asymmetric barriers the peak width approaches saturation, while the peak height starts to decrease.</p><p>Overall, the peak height shows a non-monotonic temperature dependence. In sym- metric barriers case, the peak width shrinks and we find a regime where the unitary conductance limit is reached in the incoherent resonant tunneling. We interpret this behavior as a manifestation of a quantum phase transition.</p><p>Finally, our setup emulates tunneling in a Luttinger liquid (LL), an interacting one-dimensional electron system, that is distinct from the conventional Fermi liquids formed by electrons in two and three dimensions. Some of the most spectacular properties of LL are revealed in the process of electron tunneling: as a function of the applied bias or temperature the tunneling current demonstrates a non-trivial power-law suppression. Our setup allows us to address many prediction of resonant tunneling in a LL, which have not been experimentally tested yet.</p> / Dissertation

[Truncated abstract] Infrared (IR) detectors have many applications, from homeland security and defense, to medical imaging, to environmental monitoring, to astronomy, etc. Increasingly, the wave- length dependence of the IR radiation is becoming important in many applications, not just the total intensity of infrared radiation. There are many types of infrared detectors that can be broadly categorized as either photon detectors (narrow band-gap materials or quantum structures that provide the necessary energy transitions to generate free car- riers) or thermal detectors. Photon detectors generally provide the highest sensitivity, however the small transition energy of the detector also means cooling is required to limit the noise due to intrinsic thermal generation. This thesis is concerned with the tech- nique of resonant-cavity-enhancement of detectors, which is the process of placing the detector within an optically resonant cavity. Resonant-cavity-enhanced detectors have many favourable properties including a reduced detector volume, which allows improved operating temperature, or an improved signal to noise ratio (or some balance between the two), along with a narrow spectral bandwidth. ... Responsivity of another sample annealed for 20 hours at 250C in a Hg atmosphere (ex-situ) also shows resonant performance, but indicates significant shunting due the mirror layers. There is good agreement with model data, and the peak responsivity due to the absorber layer is 9.5×103 V/W for a 100 'm ×100 'm photoconductor at 80K. An effective lifetime of 50.4 ns is extracted for this responsivity measurement. The responsivity was measured as a function of varying field, and sweepout was observed for bias fields greater than 50 V/cm. The effective lifetime extracted from this measurement was 224 ns, but is an over estimate. Photodiodes were also fabricated by annealing p-type Hg(1x)Cd(x)Te for 10 hours at 250C in vacuum and type converting in a CH4/H2 reactive ion etch plasma process to form the n-p junction. There is some degradation to the mirror structure due to the anneal in vacuum, but a clear region of high reflection is observed. Measurements of current-voltage characteristics at various temperatures show diode-like characteristics with a peak R0 of 10 G measured at 80K (corresponding to an R0A of approximately 104 cm2. There was significant signal from the mirror layers, however only negligible signal from the absorber layer, and no conclusive resonant peaks.