Due to their small size and ectothermic biology, the heat production of insects and insect larvae is hard to quantify. However, knowing the amount of heat production, as well as ammonia production of insects may be beneficial for commercial production of valuable insect species. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are of interest in the agricultural industry because they quickly consume organic waste and have high amounts of protein and fat in their bodies. It has been proposed that BSFL be used to manage livestock waste, while serving as a high-protein feed source for livestock animals. To efficiently rear BSFL, it is necessary to design rearing facilities, which maintain optimal conditions for the larvae. To design such a facility, it is necessary to know the amount of heat and ammonia that BSFL produce. A gradient calorimeter was used to measure the heat and ammonia production rates of black soldier fly larvae. The study determined that BSFL heat production changes significantly with the age and weight of the larvae. Aggregations produce the most total heat when larvae are older and larger. The study also found that larvae produce less heat per individual and per gram of body weight as they grow. Larvae also produce significantly different amounts of heat depending on the size of the groups they are in, and do not produce consistent amounts of heat per individual or per gram of body weight, even if maintained at a consistent population density. Larvae in group sizes of 100, 300, and 500 produced an average and standard deviation of 0.00107±0.000295, 0.00067±0.00014, and 0.00049±0.00020 W/larva, respectively. Likewise, larvae in groups of 100, 300 and 500 produced an average of 0.01826±0.00010, 0.01023±0.00565, and 0.00575±0.00371 W/g, respectively. The differences in heat produced per individual and per gram is troublesome when trying to estimate a total heat production for large populations. The largest heat production rate observed in this study was 0.407 W, and was produced by a group of 500 BSFL. Frass analysis indicated that between 4.80 and 7.79 lbs of ammoniacal-nitrogen is emitted for every ton of frass produced. These data could be used to estimate the total heat and ammonia produced from a larger population of BSFL being reared inside a closed facility, allowing engineers to design HVAC systems to keep the larvae at their optimal growing condition year-round. Placing BSFL rearing accommodations at livestock facilities could be beneficial to livestock, poultry, and fishery producers, because BSFL can be used to dispose of animal wastes and are also a good source of protein-rich animal feed.

Yes / Sensing concrete has the capability to sense its condition and environmental changes, including stress (or force), strain (or deformation), crack, damage, temperature and humidity through incorporating functional fillers. Sensing concrete has recently attracted major research interests, aiming to produce smart infrastructures with elegantly integrated health monitoring abilities. In addition to having highly improved mechanical properties, sensing concrete has multifunctional properties, such as improved ductility, durability, resistance to impact, and most importantly self-health monitoring due to its electrical conductivity capability, allowing damage detection without the need of an external grid of sensors. This tutorial will provide an overview of sensing concrete, with attentions to its principles, properties, and applications. It concludes with an outline of some future opportunities and challenges in the application of sensing concrete in construction industry. / National Science Foundation of China (51978127 and 51908103), the China Postdoctoral Science Fundation (2019M651116) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China (DUT18GJ203). / National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 51978127 and 51908103), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019M651116), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China (No. DUT18GJ203).

No description available.

With technology scaling, the amount of transistors on a single chip doubles itself every 18 months giving rise to increased power density levels. This has directly lead to a rapid increase of thermal induced issues on a chip and effective methodologies of removing the heat from the system has become the order of the day. Thermoelectric (TE) devices have shown promise for on-demand cooling of ICs. However, the additional energy required for cooling remains a challenge for the successful deployment of these devices. This thesis presents a closed loop control system that dynamically switches a TE module between Peltier and Seebeck modes depending on chip temperature. The autonomous system harvests energy during regular operation and uses the harvested energy to cool during high power operation. The system is demonstrated using a commercial thin-film TE device, an integrated boost regulator and few off chip components. The feasibility of the integration of the TEM and the automated mode switching within the microprocessor package is also evaluated. With continuous usage of thermoelectric modules, it starts to degrade over time due to thermal and mechanical induced stress which in turn reduces the cooling performance over time. Impact of thermal cycling on thermoelectric cooling performance over time is evaluated using the developed full chip package model.

At present, electronic devices depend upon electric charge to transfer and record information. However, such devices are approaching a scaling limit due to Joule heating. Spintronics offers a solution by exploiting the spin rather than the charge of the electron, since the propagation of spin current can in principle occur without dissipation. Immediate applications lie in magnetic random access memory and novel media for hard disk recording. Within this thesis, the Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) has been used to measure the static and dynamic magnetic properties of a number of different thin film samples that are of interest for spintronic applications. A femtosecond laser has been used to perform time-resolved MOKE (TRMOKE) and time resolved reflectivity (TRR) measurements simultaneously, which probe the spin and charge dynamics respectively. Measurements have been performed upon a continuous thin film of CrO2 that is known to be half-metallic in bulk form, and a series of YIG/Cu/Ni81Fe19 based structures that are expected to exhibit the spin Seebeck effect (SSE). Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) was used to fabricate the continuous CrO2 thin film on a (100)-oriented TiO2 substrate. Precessional magnetisation dynamics were studied by means of the TRMOKE technique. The dependence of the precession frequency and the effective damping parameter upon the static applied magnetic field were investigated. The precession frequency exhibited a minimum at the hard axis saturation field as expected. However precession was also observed for fields greater than the hard axis saturation value, perhaps suggesting the presence of a twisted magnetic state within the film. TRMOKE and TRR measurements were performed upon the YIG/Cu/Ni81Fe19 based structures for different values of the pump fluence and applied magnetic field. For fixed pump fluence and varying applied field, the frequency of precession is well described by a numerical solution of the Landau-Lifshitz equation for the Ni81Fe19 (permalloy, Py) layer. The frequency, amplitude, damping, phase and chirp of the precessional oscillations was extracted from measurements made with a field of 3 kOe applied at 2.8° from the normal to the sample plane, in a configuration designed to maximise any spin transfer torque (STT) generated by the SSE. The oscillation parameters extracted for trilayer samples and a Py reference sample were found to be very similar. Features indicative of STT predicted by simulations were not observed. This suggests that either the YIG/Cu interface was unable to efficiently transmit spin current within the samples studied here, or else that the STT generated by means of the SSE is too small to be of practical use.

In recent years, Spin Seebeck effect (SSE) emerges as one of the efficient and easiest ways to generate pure spin current for spintronics devices. In this dissertation, we have systematically studied the SSE and related phenomena like spin Hall magneto-resistance (SMR), anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in functional magnetic oxides for both fundamental understanding of their origins and practical ways to apply into technological devices. The research has been performed on three different systems of topical interest: (i) Y3Fe5O12 (YIG)/Pt and YIG/C60/Pt, (ii) CoFe2O4 (CFO)/Pt and CFO/C60/Pt, and (iii) Nd0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (NSMO). In case of the YIG/Pt structure, we have achieved a new consensus regarding the temperature dependence of the longitudinal SSE (LSSE). For the first time, we have demonstrated the temperature dependence of LSSE in association with the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (HK) and surface perpendicular magnetic anisotropy field (HKS) of YIG in the same YIG/Pt system. We show that on lowering temperature, the sharp drop in LSSE signal (VLSSE) and the sudden increases in HK and HKS at ~175 K are associated with the spin reorientation due to single ion anisotropy of Fe2+ ions. The VLSSE peak at ~75 K is attributed to the HKS and MS (saturation magnetization) whose peaks also occur at the same temperature. The effects of surface and bulk magnetic anisotropies are corroborated with those of thermally excited magnon number and magnon propagation length to satisfactorily explain the temperature dependence of LSSE in the Pt/YIG system. As a new way to reduce conductivity mismatch, promote spin transport, and tune the spin mixing conductance (G) at the YIG/Pt interface, we have deposited an organic semiconductor (OSC), C60, between ferrimagnetic material (FM) and Pt. Transverse susceptibility study on YIG/C60/Pt has shown that the deposition of C60 has reduced HKS at the surface of YIG significantly, due to the hybridization between the dz2 orbital in Fe and C atoms, leading to the overall increase in spin moments and G and consequently the LSSE. Upon lowering temperature from 300 K, we have observed an exponential increase in LSSE at low temperature (a ~800% increment at 150 K) in this system, which is attributed to the exponential increase in the spin diffusion length of C60 at low temperature. On the other hand, similar experiments on CoFe2O4 (CFO)/C60/Pt show a reduction in the LSSE signal at room temperature, due to the hybridization between the dz2 orbital in Co and C atoms that results in the increased magnetic anisotropy. Upon decreasing the temperature below 150 K, we have interestingly observed that LSSE signal from CFO/C60/Pt exceeds that of CFO/Pt and increases remarkably with temperature. This finding confirms the important role played by the spin diffusion length of C60 in enhancing the LSSE. A systematic study of SMR, SSE, and HKS on the YIG/Pt system using the same YIG single crystal has revealed a low-temperature peak at the same temperature (~75 K) for all the phenomena. Given the distinct origins of the SSE and SMR, our observation points to the difference in spin states between the bulk and surface of YIG as the main reason for such a low-temperature peak, and suggests that the ‘magnon phonon drag’ theory developed to explain the temperature-dependent SSE behavior should be adjusted to include this important effect. SSE and ANE studies on NSMO films have revealed the dominance of ANE over SSE in this class of perovskite-structured materials. The substrate-dependent study of the films shows that compressive strain developed due to the large lattice mismatch from LAO gives rise to the enhanced ANE signal. On the same substrate, ANE signal strength increases as the thickness increases. A sign change in ANE has been observed at a particular temperature, which explains that the Anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and ANE in these systems arise due to intrinsic scattering mechanisms. Overall, we have performed the SSE and related studies on the three important classes of functional magnetic oxide materials. We demonstrate the important role of magnetic anisotropy in manipulating the SSE in these systems. With this knowledge, we have been able to design the novel YIG/C60/Pt and CFO/C60/Pt heterostructures that exhibit the giant SSEs. The organic semiconductor C60 has been explored for the first time as a means of controlling pure spin current in inorganic magnetic oxide/metal heterostructures, paying the way for future spintronic materials and devices.

Irreversible thermodynamics is a widely-applicable toolset that extends thermodynamics to describe systems undergoing irreversible processes. It is particularly useful for describing macroscopic flow of system components, whether conserved (e.g., particle number) or non-conserved (e.g., spin). We give a general introduction to this toolset and calculate the entropy production due to bulk and interfacial flow. We compare the entropy production and heating rate of bulk and interfacial transport, as well as interfacial charge and spin transport. We then demonstrate the power and applicability of this toolset by applying it to three systems. We first consider metal oxide growth, and discuss inconsistency in previous theory by Mott. We show, however, that Mott's solution is the lowest order of a consistent asymptotic solution, with the ion and electron concentrations and fluxes going as power series in t^-k/2, where k = 1, 2, .... We find that this gives corrections to the "parabolic growth law" that has oxide thickness going as t^1/2; the lowest order correction is logarithmic in t. We then consider the effect on spin of electric currents crossing an interface between a ferromagnet (FM) and non-magnetic material (NM). Previous theories for electrical potential and spin accumulation neglect chemical or magnetic contributions to the energy. We apply irreversible thermodynamics to show that both contributions are pivotal in predicting the spin accumulation, particularly in the NM. We also show that charge screening, not considered in previous theories, causes spin accumulation in the FM, which may be important in ferromagnetic semiconductors. Finally, we apply irreversible thermodynamics to thermal equilibration in a thin-film FM on a substrate. Recent experiments suggest that applying a thermal gradient across the length of the system causes a spin current along the thickness; this spin current is present much farther from the heat sources than expected. We find that, although the interaction between the separate thermal equilibration processes increases the largest equilibration length, thermal equilibration does not predict a length as large as the experimentally measured length; it does predict, however, a thermal gradient along the thickness that has the shape of the measured spin current.

No description available.

Magnetic oxides have become of interest source for spin transport devices due to their high spin polarization. But the real applications of these oxides remains unsatisfactory up to date, mostly due to the change of properties as a result of nano structuring. Magnetite (Fe3O4) is one such a material. High Curie temperature and the half metallicity of Fe3O4 make it a good potential candidate for spin transport devices. Studies have shown that the nano structuring Fe3O4 changes most of it's important properties. This includes high saturation magnetization and drop of conductivity by a few orders of magnitude in Fe3O4 thin films. In this study, we have successfully grown Fe3O4 by reactive sputtering and studied the effect of transition metal buffer layers on structural, transport, and magnetic properties of Fe3O4. It is shown that the lattice strain created by different buffer layers has major impacts on the properties of Fe3O4 thin films. Also for the first time the magnetic force microscopic measurements were carried out in Fe3O4 thin films through Verwey transition. MFM data with the magnetization data have confirmed that the magnetization of Fe3O4 thin films rotate slightly out of the plane below the Verwey transition. Fe3O4 thin films were also successfully used in fabricating spin valve structures with Chromium and Permalloy. Here, the Fe3O4 was used to generated the spin polarized electrons through reflection instead of direct spin injection. This is a novel method that can be used to inject spins into materials with different conductivities, where the traditional direct spin injection fails. Also the effect of growth field on Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/Cr/Py spin valves were investigated. In Fe3O4 the growth field induced an uni-axial anisotropy while it creates a well defined parallel and anti-parallel states in spin valves. Magneto thermal phenomenon including spin dependent Seebeck effect, Planar Nernst effect, and Anomalous Nernst effect were measured in ferromagnetic thin films and spin valves. Spin dependent Seebeck effect and planar Nernst effect were directly compared with the charge counterpart anisotropic magneto resistance. All the effects exhibited similar behavior indicating the same origin, namely spin dependent scattering.

O presente trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de uma bancada didática de baixo custo para estudo dos materiais termoelétricos para a realização de ensaios de obtenção de curvas de desempenho dos módulos termoelétricos no que se refere a geração de energia pelo Efeito Seebeck e resfriamento através do Efeito Peltier de forma a difundir os conhecimentos nas áreas afim em escolas de Engenharia, refletindo na compreensão dos princípios e funcionalidades destas tecnologias. O sistema proposto permite ler simultaneamente até 3 geradores termoelétricos, e é composto por dois principais circuitos eletrônicos: sendo um estágio aquisição de dados compostos por 3 canais para leitura de tensão, 3 canais para corrente e 6 canais para aquisição do sinal dos termopares (<400°C) além de sistema térmico que terá as funções de aquecimento e resfriamento. Os dados medidos são adquiridos para um computador com um software customizado a aplicação que permite o monitoramento das grandezas envolvidas (tensão, corrente, potência e temperatura) para acompanhamento do ensaio dos materiais termoelétricos, tanto por meio de uma indicação numérica como gráfica. O sistema de aquisição de dados possui precisa o para temperatura de ±2,5%, para tensão de ±2,5% e para corrente de ±1,5%. / The present work describes the development of a low cost didactic bench for Study of thermoelectric materials for performing obtaining performance curves testing of thermoelectric modules in regard to energy generation effect Seebeck and cooling via Peltier Effect order to disseminate knowledge in areas related to engineering schools, reflecting the understanding of the principles and features of these technologies. The proposed system can be read simultaneously up to 3 thermoelectric generators, and consists of two main electronic circuits: being a stage data acquisition composed of 3 channels for reading voltage and 3 channels for current using ACS712 instrumentation amplifiers and 6 channels signal acquisition thermocouples (<400 ° C) as well as thermal system will have the heating and cooling functions. The measured data is acquired to a computer with software developed in Delphi language, which allows monitoring of the quantities involved (voltage, current, power and temperature) to monitor the testing of thermoelectric materials, either through a digital display as a graphic . The data acquisition system has a temperature accuracy to ± 2,5% to ± 2.5% voltage and current of ± 1.5%.