Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-91).

No description available.

This study addressed the problem of water vapor production and distribution in comet P/Halley, based upon interpretation of observational data obtained during the recent 1985-86 apparition. The data was acquired using the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory charge-coupled device (CCD) on the 154-cm Catalina telescope of the University of Arizona Observatories. Our data acquisition system was employed in two modes. The long-slit (∼200") spectroscopy mode covered the wavelength range 5200-10400 Å at a spectral resolution ∼14 Å. The narrow band filter imaging mode allowed two-dimensional mapping of selected cometary emission features, as well as the continuum, with a field of view of roughly 10 arc-min. Both neutral and ionized (H₂O⁺) water species were studied, with emphasis on the ion distribution. This involved comparing long-slit spatial profiles obtained ∼UT 1986 March 05.5, as well as cuts across filter images (∼ March 06.5) centered on the H₂O⁺ 0,8,0-band emission, with the Vega-1 spacecraft in situ ion density measurements (∼ March 06.3). Our March 05 spectroscopic data revealed a central dip, of order 30% relative to the profile peak, in H₂O⁺ column density in the inner coma (inside ∼ 2 x 10⁴ km from the nucleus), which filled in farther tailward. Similarly the BD - 3 plasma detector aboard Vega-1 measured a decrease in local ion density, of roughly 60% at the closest approach distance (∼ 9000 km sunward of the nucleus), relative to the inbound maximum density at R ≃ 12000 km from the nucleus. These results suggest a bimodal flow of ions out of the coma and/or an extended region over which the H₂0 molecules were being ionized. Our imaging data showed that, while the falloff in ion density was relatively rapid sunward of the nucleus, it was much more gradual in the anti-solar direction. This is due to the solar wind sweeping ions from the head of the comet into the plasma tail, whose width was of order 10⁵ km in the inner coma, diverging slowly and breaking up into a ray pattern farther tailward. The distribution of neutral water was mapped out using the [O I] λ6300 emission as diagnostic probe. In contrast to the ions, the H₂0 molecules were mainly confined to the inner few x 10⁴ km of the coma, and exhibited a much more symmetrical distribution. Integration of the [O I] slit profiles, assuming azimuthal symmetry, allowed calculation of the H₂0 production rate, which ranged from ∼ 10²⁸ molecules s⁻¹, when Halley was at a distance r≳ 2 AU from the sun, to a value of ∼ 1.5 x 10³⁰ molecules s⁻¹ for 1986 March 05 (r ≃ 0.78 AU). Using the latter production rate, and assuming a 100/1 production ratio of H₂0/ H₂O⁺, a spatially-averaged, tailward flow speed of ions out of the inner coma, < v⁺ > ≃ 16 km s⁻¹, was derived by integrating our March 05 H₂O⁺ profile, for which the slit was oriented across the coma, just tailward of the nucleus.

Vita. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-130). Also available via the Internet.

No description available.

The investigators do not preclude the possibility that there could be designed and built a water injection device that would operate under the conditions which were imposed on the Briggs' Vapor Jet for the purpose of this investigation. If, however, such a device be built, it is felt that it must be subject to controls of many kinds based on all the variables that affect the highly critical vapor injection problem. The complex nature of such a device makes it highly unlikely that it could find commercial use in the private automobile field. Water injection itself is apparently not more than just barely effective at the compression ratios now being used in passenger car engines. That, considered from both the viewpoint of increasing; the engine's power and performance and from the standpoint of economy, is largely responsible for the ineffectiveness of this Jet. The fact that this device can be mounted on any stock model car with a minimum of work, and that it will produce some results from an economic standpoint may justify its installation in cases where its effect on over-all engine operation and power are not too important. / M.S.

The high balance-of-system costs of photovoltaic installations indicate that reductions in absorber cost alone are likely insufficient for photovoltaic electricity to reach grid parity unless energy conversion efficiency is also increased. Technologies which both yield high-efficiency cells (>25%) and maintain low costs are needed. GaAs and related III-V semiconductors are used in the highest-efficiency single- and multi-junction photovoltaics, but the technology is too expensive for non-concentrated terrestrial applications. This is due in part to the limited scalability of traditional syntheses, which rely on expensive reactors and employ toxic and pyrophoric gas-phase precursors such as arsine and trimethyl gallium. This work describes GaAs films made by close-spaced vapor transport, a potentially scalable technique which is carried out at atmospheric pressure and requires only bulk GaAs, water vapor, and a temperature gradient to deposit crystalline films with similar electronic properties to GaAs prepared using traditional syntheses. Although close-spaced vapor transport of GaAs was first developed in 1963, there were few examples of GaAs photovoltaic devices made using this method in the literature at the onset of this project. Furthermore, it was unclear whether close-spaced vapor transport could produce GaAs films appropriate for use in photovoltaics. The goal of this project was to create and study GaAs devices made using close-spaced vapor transport and determine whether the technique could be used for production of grid-connected GaAs photovoltaics. In Chapter I the design of the vapor transport reactor, the chemistry of crystal growth, and optoelectronic characterization techniques are discussed. Chapter II focuses on compositional measurements, doping, and improved electronic quality in CSVT GaAs. Chapter III describes several aspects of the interplay between structure and electronic properties of photoelectrochemical devices. Chapter IV addresses heteroepitaxial growth of GaAs on "virtual" Ge-on-Si substrates. This is a topic of importance for the broader III-V community as well as the photovoltaic community, as Si is the substrate of choice in many areas of industry. This dissertation includes unpublished and previously published co-authored material.

Thesis (M.S. - Hydrology and Water Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-273).

Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) is a leading thin film photovoltaic (PV) material due to its near ideal bandgap of 1.45 eV and its high optical absorption coefficient. Advancements in efficiencies of CdTe/CdS solar cells over the past few decades have come from improving the short circuit current (JSC) and Fill Factor (FF) but the Open Circuit Voltage (VOC) has been stagnant. Further improvements in efficiencies should come from increased VOC’s. VOC’s can be improved by increasing the acceptor concentration and minority carrier lifetime. Both these parameters can be controlled by manipulating the native defect concentration in CdTe which can be achieved by varying CdTe stoichiometry. In this study, a deposition system called Elemental Vapor Transport was used to vary the CdTe stoichiometry with an intent to change the native defect concentration and therefore pave way to increase acceptor concentration and lifetimes. Elemental cadmium and tellurium were heated in dedicated zones and their vapors were transported to the substrate using a carrier gas. By varying the temperatures and flowrates of the carrier gas through the zones, the gas phase Cd/Te ratio was varied to deposit Cd-rich, Te-rich and stoichiometric films. Structural properties were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (EDS). Electrical characterization of completed devices was carried out by Current-Voltage (J-V), Capacitance-Voltage (C-V), and Spectral Response (SR) and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. Cd-rich films showed smaller grain sizes and lesser degree of preferential orientation. Te-rich films showed increased acceptor concentration and carrier lifetimes and solar cells fabricated using these films showed higher VOC’s compared to Cd-rich and stoichiometric films .Higher degree of CdTe-CdS mixing was observed at the interface for films deposited at increased substrate temperatures.