Catalytic hydrogenation for improvement of GaAs/Ge solar cell efficiency

Hydrogen passivation on MOCVD grown p-GaAs epilayers on Ge substrate have been studied by plasma and catalytic hydrogenation and the results were compared. The conversion efficiency of the GaAs/Ge solar cells was found to increase by 10% after catalytic hydrogenation at AM1.5. This increase in efficiency is probably due to passivation of surface dangling bonds.     

Excess coffee consumption in simulated complex work settings: detriment or facilitation of performance?

Twenty-four managers who normally consume between 400 and 1,000 mg of caffeine per day participated in all-day quasi-experimental simulations. In a crossover, doubleblind design, they made complex managerial decisions either on treatment with their typical daily dose of caffeine or on treatment with 400 mg of caffeine in excess of daily consumption. The effect of caffeine treatment on various validated performance indicators was investigated. The impact of excess caffeine consumption was mild. Increased caffeine facilitated speed of response to incoming information but decreased utilization of opportunity. No significance was obtained for other measures of managerial effectiveness (such as activity, breadth, strategy, and emergency response).     

Structures and Images of Novel Derivatives of Carbon Nanotubes, Fullerenes and Related New Carbon Forms

In the light of the finding that carbon nanotubes get functionalized on reaction with acid and other oxidizing agents, the structures and shapes of nanotube derivatives resulting from possible reaction between functionalized nanotubes, are obtained by an energy minimization procedure and the structures, so obtained, are compared with the observed microscopic images. The shapes of fullerene -like and nanotupe - like structures containing seven - membered rings, in addition to six and five - membered rings, are depicted along with the structures of bent nanotubes containing similar ring systems. Diamond - graphite hybrid structures which constitute an important class of carbon materials are also investigated.     

Influence of polymer viscosity on the morphological and opto‐electronic behavior of polysiloxane dispersed ferroelectric liquid crystal composite thin films

Poly(dimethyl)siloxanes of different viscosity have been synthesized by hydrolytic condensation of dimethyldichloro silane. Polysiloxane dispersed ferroelectric liquid crystal (PDFLC) composite films were prepared simultaneously by solvent induced and polymer induced phase separation techniques (SIPS and PIPS, respectively). These composite films were prepared by mixing polymer and ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture in diethyl ether and then adding 0.2% of room temperature vulcanizer for crosslinking. Film morphology, droplet size, and electro‐optic parameters of PDFLC systems have been studied by using polysiloxanes of different viscosity. We show that the polymer viscosity affects the droplet size, morphological uniformity, electro‐optic properties, and also the extent to which the phase separation is complete. These composite systems show the switching time of few microseconds. Structure‐property correlation in these materials have been studied and explained on the basis of polysiloxane viscosity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 159–166, 2004     

Influence of different polyesters and their molecular weight on the textural and electrooptical behavior of polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals

The textural and electrooptical behavior of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) dispersed in a flexible and rigid polyester was studied. The dispersion of LC in the polymer matrix and light transmission through the polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is governed by the nature of the polymer, its molecular weight, and the applied voltage. It was observed that the transmission of light and the dispersion of LC maximizes their respective values at the minimum molecular weight irrespective of the nature of the polymer and at the maximum voltage. The reason is the predominance of chain alignment over entanglement at the minimum molecular weight. As molecular weight increases, the transmission of light as well as the dispersion of LC in the polymer may increase or decrease depending on the predominance of chain entanglement or chain alignment. The alignment of LC droplets in the direction of the applied voltage is increased by an increase in the applied voltage, causing enhancement of the light transmission. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 284–289, 2003     

Orifice compensated multirecess hydrostatic/hybrid journal bearing system of various geometric shapes of recess operating with micropolar lubricant

The objective of the present paper is to study analytically the performance of four-pocket orifice compensated hydrostatic/hybrid journal bearing system of various geometric shapes of recess operating with micropolar lubricant. The modified Reynolds equation for micropolar lubricant is solved using FEM and the Newton-Raphson method along with appropriate boundary conditions. The results suggest that the influence of micropolar effect of lubricant on bearing performance is predominantly affected by the geometric shape of recess and restrictor design parameter. Therefore, the bearing designer must judiciously choose an appropriate geometric shape of recess in order to get an overall enhanced bearing performance.     

Analysis of Dielectric and Electro-optic Responses of Nanomaterials Doped Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Mixture

Dielectric and rotational viscosity measurements of a multi-component ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture were performed by adding a small concentration (0.01 wt%) of silica and multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Liquid crystals turn out to be outstanding hosts for nanomaterials. A remarkable increase in the rotational viscosity was noticed in CNT doped system as compared to silica doped same liquid crystal system. Comparison of dielectric studies shows higher value of permittivity and dielectric losses for silica-doped sample than those of CNT doped sample. The results have been interpreted both experimentally and theoretically.     

Conservation v. generation: The significance of Demand-Side Management (DSM), its tools and techniques

A balance between electricity supply and demand is needed at all times to ensure a stable and reliable market. This can be done in two ways, either by Supply-side Management by adding supply when demand is high or by Demand-Side Management (DSM) by curtailing the system demand when supply availability is less. Satish Saini explores the benefits of DSM as a solution to supply shortage and alternative to new plant build.     

Transformation of c-oriented nanowall network to a flat morphology in GaN films on c-plane sapphire

The work significantly optimizes growth parameters for nanostructured and flat GaN film in the 480–830 °C temperature range. The growth of ordered, high quality GaN nanowall hexagonal honeycomb like network on c-plane sapphire under nitrogen rich (N/Ga ratio of 100) conditions at temperatures below 700 °C is demonstrated. The walls are c-oriented wurtzite structures 200 nm wide at base and taper to 10 nm at apex, manifesting electron confinement effects to tune optoelectronic properties. For substrate temperatures above 700 °C the nanowalls thicken to a flat morphology with a dislocation density of 10¹⁰/cm². The role of misfit dislocations in the GaN overlayer evolution is discussed in terms of growth kinetics being influenced by adatom diffusion, interactions and bonding at different temperatures. The GaN films are characterized by reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), field emission scanning electron (FESEM), high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and cathodoluminescence (CL).