Effect of parallel resonance on the electron energy distribution function in a 60 MHz capacitively coupled plasma

In general,as the radio frequency(RF)power increases in a capacitively coupled plasma(CCP),the power transfer efficiency decreases because the resistance of the CCP decreases.In this work,a parallel resonance circuit is applied to improve the power transfer efficiency at high RF power,and the effect of the parallel resonance on the electron energy distribution function(EEDF)is investigated in a 60 MHz CCP.The CCP consists of a power feed line,the electrodes,and plasma.The reactance of the CCP is positive at 60 MHz and acts like an inductive load.A vacuum variable capacitor(VVC)is connected in parallel with the inductive load,and then the parallel resonance between the VVC and the inductive load can be achieved.As the capacitance of the VVC approaches the parallel resonance condition,the equivalent resistance of the parallel circuit is considerably larger than that without the VVC,and the current flowing through the matching network is greatly reduced.Therefore,the power transfer efficiency of the discharge is improved from 76%,70%,and 68%to 81%,77%,and 76%at RF powers of 100 W,150 W,and 200 W,respectively.At parallel resonance conditions,the electron heating in bulk plasma is enhanced,which cannot be achieved without the VVC even at the higher RF powers.This enhancement of electron heating results in the evolution of the shape of the EEDF from a biMaxwellian distribution to a distribution with the smaller temperature difference between high-energy electrons and low-energy electrons.Due to the parallel resonance effect,the electron density increases by approximately 4%,18%,and 21%at RF powers of 100 W,150 W,and 200 W,respectively.

Estimation of Turbulent Sensible Heat and Momentum Fluxes over a Heterogeneous Urban Area Using a Large Aperture Scintillometer

The accurate determination of surface-layer turbulent fluxes over urban areas is critical to understanding urban boundary layer （UBL） evolution. In this study, a remote-sensing technique using a large aperture scintillometer （LAS） was investigated to estimate surface-layer turbulent fluxes over a highly heterogeneous urban area. The LAS system, with an optical path length of 2.1 km, was deployed in an urban area characterized by a complicated land-use mix （residential houses, water body, bare ground, etc.）. The turbulent sensible heat （QH） and momentum fluxes （z） were estimated from the scintillation measurements obtained from the LAS system during the cold season. Three-dimensional LAS footprint modeling was introduced to identify the source areas （＂footprint＂） of the estimated turbulent fluxes. The analysis results showed that the LAS-derived turbulent fluxes for the highly heterogeneous urban area revealed reasonable temporal variation during daytime on clear days, in comparison to the land-surface process-resolving numerical modeling. A series of sensitivity tests indicated that the overall uncertainty in the LAS-derived daytime QH was within 20%-30% in terms of the influence of input parameters and the non- dimensional similarity function for the temperature structure function parameter, while the estimation errors in z were less sensitive to the factors of influence, except aerodynamic roughness length. The 3D LAS footprint modeling characterized the source areas of the LAS-derived turbulent fluxes in the heterogeneous urban area, revealing that the representative spatial scales of the LAS system deployed with the 2.1 km optical path distance ranged from 0.2 to 2 km2 （a ＂micro-a scale＂）, depending on local meteorological conditions.

On the Dynamical Analysis in Aftershock Networks

We investigate the dynamical behavior of aftershocks in earthquake networks, and the earthquake network calculated from a time series is constructed by contemplating cell resolution and temporal causality. We attempt to connect an earthquake network using relationship between one main earthquake and its aftershocks from seismic data of California. We mainly examine some topological properties of the earthquake such as the degree distribution, the characteristic path length, the clustering coefficient, and the global efficiency. Our result cannot presently determine the universal scaling exponents in statistical quantities, but the topological properties may be inferred to advance and improve by implementing the method and its technique of networks. Particularly, it may be dealt with a network issue of convenience and of importance in the case how large networks construct in time to proceed on earthquake systems.

A Study on the Levitation Control of the Multi-degrees-of-Freedom Rotational Machine Supported by Magnetic Bearings Using Flux Feedback

This paper deals with an open-loop characteristic of a magnetically levitated system including flux feedback. In order to design a controller to obtain a good disturbance rejection and to be insensitive to parameter variations, it might be useful to employ a flux feedback loop. The air gap flux which can be sensed by a proper sensor has linear relationship with respect to the change of the current and the air gap. This linear property decreases the inherent nonlinearity of the magnetic suspension system that is caused by the coupling between the electrical actuator and the mechanical plant. Simulation results achieved from a multi-degree-of-freedom numerical model show that the flux feedback loop makes an improvement of the performance of the magnetic suspension system against the load variations.

An Apparatus Design for the Vehicle Control Scheme in Personal Rapid Transit System

A new transportation technology known as personal rapid transit （PRT） is being developed by multiple different companies around the world, and one system is under commercial operations in the United Kingdom. Each design is different, but they all share a need to operate many automated transit vehicles at very close headways. Safe operation will require a level of control an order of magnitude above any current transit system. As a result, new techniques will be needed for the development and testing of the mechanical and control systems. In this paper an apparatus for developing and testing a PRT vehicle control scheme is demonstrated. This system is composed of independent modules that represent virtual vehicles, a central control system, a man-machine interface and a monitoring device. It can be used to implement and to evaluate the designed vehicle control algorithm. The vehicle control algorithm is designed and simulated in a combined simulation platform that consists of Matlab/Simulink and Labview Simulation Interface Toolkit. Simple operational scenarios are proposed for the testing of the proposed vehicle control apparatus.

Interactive effect of dietary vitamin E and inorganic mercury on growth performance and bioaccumulation of mercury in juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus treated with mercuric chloride

A 6-week feeding trial was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary vitamin E(DL-a-tocopheryl acetate, TA) on growth and mercury(Hg) accumulation in juvenile olive flounder(Paralichthys olivaceus)treated with mercuric chloride(HgCl_2). Vitamin E and HgCl_2 were added to the semi-purified basal diet.Six semi-purified diets in a 2 × 3 factorial design were formulated to contain 2 levels of Hg(0 or 20 mg HgCl_2/kg diet) and 3 levels of vitamin E(0, 100, or 200 mg TA/kg diet). Experimental fish(n = 360,9.99 ± 0.15 g) were randomly allocated into 30-L tanks at a density of 20 fish per tank with 3 replicates in each treatment and were fed twice a day. At the end of the feeding trial, dietary Hg depressed the growth performances in terms of weight gain(WG), specific growth rate(SGR), feed efficiency(FE) and protein efficiency ratio(PER) in fish, while fish fed the diets supplemented with vitamin E showed significant growth improvement in both presence and absence of HgCl_2 in the diets(P < 0.05). Survival rate was not affected in fish fed the experimental diets. Whole body compositions of fish such as lipid and moisture contents were influenced by dietary vitamin E supplementation. Total Hg contents of muscle, liver and kidney tissues were significantly reduced in fish fed diets supplemented with vitamin E(P< 0.05), while the two-way ANOVA showed that increasing Hg concentration has resulted in a reduction in vitamin E.Whole body fatty acids of fish like eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) contents were decreased by dietary Hg. However, supplementation of dietary vitamin E improved the a-linolenic acid(ALA) and EPA contents in fish. Our results suggest that dietary supplementation of vitamin E has potential effects on growth improvement and ameliorating inorganic Hg bioaccumulation in juvenile olive flounder.