The selection and placement of actuators and sensors to control compressible viscous flows is addressed by developing a novel methodology based upon the eigensystem structural sensitivity of the linearized evolution operator appropriate for linear feedback control. Forward and adjoint global modes are used to construct a space of possible perturbations to the linearized operator, which yields a small optimization problem for selecting the parameters that best achieve the control objective, including where they should be placed. The method is demonstrated by informing actuation to suppress amplification of the instabilities in boundary layer separation in a high-subsonic diffuser. Complete stabilization is observed in the separated shear layer for short downstream distances at modest Reynolds number. Higher Reynolds numbers and longer distances are expected to be more challenging to stabilize; here the control informed by the procedure still substantively suppresses amplification of instabilities. It is also demonstrated that more complex actuator–sensor selections may not yield superior controllers.

The violent collapse of bubble clusters is thought to damage adjacent material in both engineering and biomedical applications. Yet the complexities of the root mechanisms have restricted theoretical descriptions to significantly simplified configurations. Reduced-physics models based upon either homogenization or arrays of idealized spherical bubbles do reproduce important gross cluster-scale features. However, these models neglect detailed local bubble–bubble interactions, which are expected to mediate damage mechanisms. To describe these bubble-scale interactions, we simulate the expansion and subsequent collapse of a hemispherical cluster of 50 bubbles adjacent to a plane rigid wall, explicitly representing both the asymmetric dynamics of each bubble within the cluster and the compressible-fluid mechanics of bubble–bubble interactions. Results show that the collapse propagates inward, as visualized in experiments, and that geometric focusing generates high impulsive pressures. This gross behaviour is nearly independent of the specific arrangement of bubbles within the cluster and matches predictions from the corresponding particle and homogenized models we consider. The peak pressure in the detailed simulations is associated with the centremost bubble, which causes a corresponding peak pressure on the nearby wall. However, the peak pressures in all cases are a small fraction – over a factor of ten times smaller in many cases – of those predicted in the corresponding reduced models. This is due to the enhanced focusing in the homogeneous model and the spherical constraint on each bubble in the particle models assessed. These would be important factors to consider in any subsequent predictions of wall damage based upon reduced models.

Efforts to reduce the noise from turbulent jets at fixed flow conditions, with aircraft noise as the principal technological motivation, have generally involved some degree of parametric empiricism often based upon a series of trial-and-error testing. As a result, it is unclear if the modest reductions found, in rare cases that do not greatly affect the flow field or incur prohibitive losses, are near the limit of what can be accomplished or if there are undiscovered opportunities for more substantive reductions with better designs or active control. We assess this using an adjoint-based optimization procedure in conjunction with an experimentally validated large-eddy simulation of a Mach 1.3 turbulent jet. The adjoint solution provides a definitive direction in which to adjust a model control actuation in order to reduce noise, providing guidance that seems lacking by any other current means. It is found that three conjugate-gradient iterations in the control space provide ∼3.5 dB of reduction, comparable to other reductions found empirically. The control seems to work by disrupting the coherence of acoustically efficient axisymmetric flow structures. The control and noise-reduction mechanisms are informative, but also suggest that any significantly quieter state would not be a simple perturbation from the uncontrolled jet. Additional iterations might reduce noise more significantly, but there might be only modest opportunities to reduce the sound from simple round turbulent jets without radical changes or relatively sophisticated controls. Though it is difficult to prove any behaviour in a global space of actuations, there does not seem to be a direct route based upon a local sensitivity gradient to substantially quieting a jet, even with an unrealistically flexible actuation. More complex jets or other noisy flows may be more amenable to control, in which case the adjoint-based optimization procedure demonstrated here could provide invaluable engineering guidance.

HOLZ lines formed in a CBED pattern provide the most accurate means to measure a local strain tensor with high spatial resolution over mesoscopic length scales. With the advent of energy-filtering in a field-emission TEM, the precision of this measurement increases by filtering out the inelastically scattered electrons. This paper presents an alternate approach to obtaining the same increased precision by image processing of CBED patterns formed in a conventional LaB6 microscope. This technique results in the determination of the full strain tensor within ±0.01%. It is based on developing a Wiener filter for CBED patterns, deconvoluting the point spread function of the CCD camera, using the Hough transform to measure distances between HOLZ line intersections, and subtracting out an experimentally determined projector lens distortion. The present technique has been used to measure the strain tensor for the two types of grain boundaries found in MBE grown Al thin films on Si which have the mazed bicrystal microstructure.

We present real-time measurements of stress relaxation kinetics during epitaxial growth obtained using a wafer-curvature-based technique optimized for in situ studies. Depending on the temperature and misfit strain, different mechanisms of stress relaxation are observed. In heterolayers of InGaAs grown on GaAs (001) substrates, relaxation occurs by a dislocationmediated mechanism. In SiGe layers grown on Si (001) substrates at elevated temperature, relaxation occurs by the formation of islands on the surface. These islands elastically relax misfit stress without the introduction of dislocations at the island-substrate interface.

The stability of strained quantum wires against the propagation of threading dislocations is considered, using a critical thickness criterion due to Matthews and Blakeslee that is extensively used for strained layers. Given first are results for the critical mismatch at which a buried wire of a given thickness becomes susceptible to degradation. It is found that a wire, once buried, is extremely stable, being able to support, without loss of coherency, around five times the lattice mismatch that can be supported by a buried strained layer of the same thickness. It is concluded that if a strained wire contains dislocations then those dislocations must have been introduced during its growth, when the top surface of the wire is exposed. To investigate this, the results of finite element calculations are presented that give the critical relationship between mismatch and thickness during the growth of a triangular quantum wire being deposited in a [110]-oriented V-groove in a patterned (001) substrate. The results may be approximately expressed through an expression of the same form as that derived by Matthews and Blakeslee for a strained layer, but with modified coefficients obtained via the finite element analysis. Contact is made with the limited experimental evidence available.

The lattice vibrations of crystalline solids are generally described by traveling elastic waves. However, the vibrations of fullerene solids are expected to be quite different from typical crystalline solids because of the large molecular mass. In fact, based on measurements of thermal conductivity and specific heat, it appears that the vibrations of compacted fullerene solids are best described as localized. Only below a few Kelvin has evidence for elastic waves been found in these solids where they exist along with the localized tunneling states that are characteristic of amorphous solids. In order to verify the existence of these tunneling defects, the low temperature internal friction of thin fullerene films deposited on a silicon substrate has been measured. Fullerene films were prepared under a variety of conditions with substrate temperatures ranging from 300 K to 500 K. Film grain sizes were characterized using atomic force microscopy, as well as, scanning tunneling microscopy. Grain sizes were found to range between 100 nm and 400 nm. We find that while localized tunneling defects appear to be present in these films, they do not appear to be intrinsic to the fullerene solid. Instead, the tunneling states may be the result of residual disorder that is present in the grain boundaries of the solids.

A new material for permanent electrostatic discharge (ESD) and corrosion protection has been developed. This material, called Reactive Polymer, consists of a blend of polymer resin (eg. polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, PVC) with stable solid-state additives. It can be formed into bags, tubing, sheets, bubble-pack, foam, trays, IC carriers, tape-and-reel, etc. ESD and corrosion protection is provided for components, circuit packs, assembled systems, etc. Protection from corrosion or tarnish by atmospheric H2S, COS, and HCI is provided for many forms of silver, copper, and copper alloys such as the stock metals, electrical connectors, bus bars for electric power transmission, and electroplated metals.

The glide of a threading dislocation in a strained layer may be impeded as it encounters interface misfit dislocations on intersecting glide planes. An estimate of the change in driving force on the threading dislocation during this interaction is discussed within the framework of elastic dislocation theory.

Application of the elastic continuum theory of dislocations to modeling of phenomena associated with elastic strain relaxation in strained layer epitaxial heterostructures is discussed. The concept of critical thickness for onset of strain relaxation in a strained epitaxial layer is first reviewed, and some extensions to periodic arrays of dislocations and to multiple layers are described. Then, two issues are addressed that arise when the assumptions underlying the critical thickness concept are not met. One issue concerns the nucleation of dislocations at the growth surface of an epitaxial film, particularly the influence of surface irregularities on the activation energy for surface nucleation. A second issue concerns the kinetics of glide of a threading dislocation as it lays down an interface misfit dislocation when the layer thickness exceeds the critical thickness. A generalized driving force for the glide process is defined, and a relationship between this force and the glide speed is proposed.