BIPOLAR PULSED PECVD OF ALUMINA HARD COATINGS

In the last years a variety of plasma sources have been developed for filmdeposition by plasma activated deposition techniques. In addition to RF- and DC-sources, pulsedplasma sources are gaining increased attention. This interest is driven by the wish of depositingcoatings with superior properties as compared to those deposited by conventional techniques. Oneprominent example of coatings that are significantly enhanced by the usage of pulsed plasmas isalumina. Although crystalline o-alumina can be deposited by thermal CVD at temperatures above 1000deg C for two decades, no process for the deposition of crystalline alumina on heat sensitivesubstrates like tempered steels at low temperatures is commercially available up to now. In thispaper, the deposition of alumina films from gaseous mixtures of AlCl_3-N_2-H_2-Ar in a bipolarpulsed glow discharge at about 500 deg C is reported. Special attention was paid on the correlationbetween plasma characteristics and film properties. The measurements revealed that the properties ofthe resulting coatings were significantly influenced by the characteristics of the power supply.Depending on the gas composition and the plasma parameters, alumina films with high hardness andgood adhesion were deposited.

Depolarization field in relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals under one-cycle bipolar pulse drive

The [001]c-polarized(1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3(PMN-PT) single crystals are widely used in ultrasonic detection transducers and underwater acoustic sensors. However, the relatively small coercive field( 2 kV/cm) of such crystals restricts their application at high frequencies because the driving field will exceed the coercive field. The depolarization field can be considerably larger in an antiparallel direction than in a parallel direction with respect to polarization when the bipolar driving cycle starts. Thus, if the direction of the sine wave signal in the first half cycle is opposite to the polarization direction, then the depolarized domains can be repolarized in the second half of the sine cycle. However, if the direction of the sine wave signal in the first half of the cycle is along the polarization direction, then the change is negligible,and the domains switched in the second half of the sine cycle cannot be recovered. The design of electric driving method needs to allow the use of a large applied field to emit strong enough signals and produce good images. This phenomenon combined with the coercive field increases with the driving frequency, thereby making the PMN-PT single crystals usable for high-frequency applications. As such, the applied field can be considerably larger than the conventionally defined coercive field.

Discharge Characteristics of Series Surface/Packed-Bed Discharge Reactor Diven by Bipolar Pulsed Power

The discharge characteristics of the series surface/packed-bed discharge （SSPBD） reactor driven by bipolar pulse power were systemically investigated in this study. In order to evaluate the advantages of the SSPBD reactor, it was compared with traditional surface discharge （SD） reactor and packed-bed discharge （PBD） reactor in terms of the discharge voltage, discharge current, and ozone formation. The SSPBD reactor exhibited a faster rising time and lower tail voltage than the SD and PBD reactors. The distribution of the active species generated in differ- ent discharge regions of the SSPBD reactor was analyzed by optical emission spectra and ozone analysis. It was found that the packed-bed discharge region （3.5 mg/L）, rather than the surface discharge region （1.3 mg/L） in the SSPBD reactor played a more important role in ozone gener- ation. The optical emission spectroscopy analysis indicated that more intense peaks of the active species （e.g. N2 and OI） in the optical emission spectra were observed in the packed-bed region.

Degradation of phenol using a combination of granular activated carbon adsorption and bipolar pulse dielectric barrier discharge plasma regeneration

A combined method of granular activated carbon（GAC） adsorption and bipolar pulse dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） plasma regeneration was employed to degrade phenol in water.After being saturated with phenol,the GAC was filled into the DBD reactor driven by bipolar pulse power for regeneration under various operating parameters.The results showed that different peak voltages,air flow rates,and GAC content can affect phenol decomposition and its major degradation intermediates,such as catechol,hydroquinone,and benzoquinone.The higher voltage and air support were conducive to the removal of phenol,and the proper water moisture of the GAC was 20%.The amount of H2 O2 on the GAC was quantitatively determined,and its laws of production were similar to phenol elimination.Under the optimized conditions,the elimination of phenol on the GAC was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,and the total removal of organic carbons achieved 50.4%.Also,a possible degradation mechanism was proposed based on the HPLC analysis.Meanwhile,the regeneration efficiency of the GAC was improved with the discharge treatment time,which attained 88.5% after 100 min of DBD processing.

Spectral Calculation of the Output Voltage of an Inverter with Bipolar Pulse Width Modulation

Converters with pulse width modulation are used for connections between the direct current （DC） and alternating current （AC） networks, e.g., in uninterrupted power supply systems, AC electromotor drives, for powering induction furnaces, in audio technique. Spectrum of signals sampled by pulse amplitude modulation and output voltage spectrum of the converter with pulse width modulation have similar properties. Spectrum of signals sampled by pulse amplitude modulation contains a harmonic of frequency equal to the frequency of the modulating signal and the harmonics of frequencies equal to the sum of frequency of the modulating signal and multiples of the sampling frequency. The output voltage spectrum of the converter with bipolar pulse width modulation contains harmonic of frequency equal to the frequency of the modulating signal and harmonics of frequencies equal to sum of the frequency of the modulating signal and multiples of the frequency of the carrier signal. It also contains harmonics of frequencies equal to the sum of the multiples of the frequency of the modulating signal and the multiples of the carrier signal. The comparison analysis was carried out for the harmonics of the output voltage of the converter with bipolar pulse width modulation in time domain. The dependency of the amplitudes and frequency spectrum on the wave forms of the carrier signal and modulating signal was shown. Similarity of the output voltage spectrum of the converter and signal spectrum sampled by the pulse width modulation was also shown. Key words： Output voltage converter with bipolar pulse width modulation, spectral analysis, Fourier series, carrier signal, reference signal.

Research on Bipolar Pulse Current Electroforming in Precision Molds and Dies

Electroforming is a specialised electroplating process for the manufacture of precision metal parts and mold tooling. Because it can simplify technical process and shorten molding cycles, electroforming is also a rapid manufacturing technology. Compared with direct and unipolar pulse current, bipolar pulse current in electroforming can obtain fine structure and grain size as well as surface leveling, resulting in better precision and surface finish. In this paper, bipolar pulse current electroforming is introduced. The influencing parameters such as electrolyte parameter, additives, current density, pH, temperature, and pulse parameters have been studied by experiments. Experiments on nickel electroforming in molds and dies have been done. The results indicated that bipolar pulse current electroforming could improve the quality and precision further, while reducing internal stress.

Comparison of performance between bipolar and unipolar double-frequency sinusoidal pulse width modulation in a digitally controlled H-bridge inverter system

By deriving the discrete-time models of a digitally controlled H-bridge inverter system modulated by bipolar sinu- soidal pulse width modulation （BSPWM） and unipolar double-frequency sinusoidal pulse width modulation （UDFSPWM） respectively, the performances of the two modulation strategies are analyzed in detail. The circuit parameters, used in this paper, are fixed. When the systems, modulated by BSPWM and UDFSPWM, have the same switching frequency, the stabil- ity boundaries of the two systems are the same. However, when the equivalent switching frequencies of the two systems are the same, the BSPWM modulated system is more stable than the UDFSPWM modulated system. In addition, a convenient method of establishing the discrete-time model of piecewise smooth system is presented. Finally, the analytical results are confirmed by circuit simulations and experimental measurements.

Numerical Study of Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge at Atmospheric Pressure Under the Needle-Plate Electrode Configuration

In this paper, we study the characteristics of atmospheric-pressure pulsed dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） under the needle-plate electrode configuration using a one-dimensional self-consistent fluid model. The results show that, the DBDs driven by positive pulse, negative pulse and bipolar pulse possess different behaviors. Moreover, the two discharges appearing at the rising and the falling phases of per voltage pulse also have different discharge regimes. For the case of the positive pulse, the breakdown field is much lower than that of the negative pulse, and its propagation characteristic is different from the negative pulse DBD. When the DBD is driven by a bipolar pulse voltage, there exists the interaction between the positive and negative pulses, resulting in the decrease of the breakdown field of the negative pulse DBD and causing the change of the discharge behaviors. In addition, the effects of the discharge parameters on the behaviors of pulsed DBD in the needle-plate electrode configuration are also studied.

Study on Stability and Efficiency of High-Power Ultrawideband Radiation Source

Investigations are directed to the development of high-power sources ofUWB （ultrawideband） radiation based on excitation of anterma arrays with bipolar voltage pulses. In the previously designed high-power UWB sources only one bipolar pulse former and different feeder systems for pulse distribution through the array elements were used. By means of this approach, a number of UWB sources were created with the bipolar voltage pulse length ranging from 0.2 to 2 ns and effective potential of radiation ranging from 0.4 to 3 MV. The approach has got a restriction related to the electrical breakdown in a bipolar voltage pulse former. A new approach to the creation of high-power UWB sources based on a multicharmel bipolar pulse former is suggested： the number of bipolar pulse formers is equal to the number of antennas in the array. The main problem in realization of this approach is a stable operation of bipolar pulse formers in order to ensure a coherent summation of radiated pulses in the far-field zone. The result of this work is the instability of-150 ps at the pulse length of 3 ns obtained in a one-channel bipolar pulse former indicating that the suggested approach is realizable.

Reduction of muscle contraction and pain in electroporation-based treatments:An overview

BACKGROUND In the first studies of electrochemotherapy(ECT),small cutaneous metastases were treated and only mild or moderate pain was observed;therefore,pain was not considered a significant issue.As the procedure began to be applied to larger cutaneous metastases,pain was reported more frequently.For that reason,reduction of both muscle contractions and pain have been investigated over the years.AIM To present an overview of different protocols described in literature that aim to reduce muscle contractions and pain caused by the electroporation(EP)effect in both ECT and irreversible EP treatments.METHODS Thirty-three studies published between January 1999 and November 2020 were included.Different protocol designs and electrode geometries that reduce patient pain and the number of muscle contractions and their intensity were analysed.RESULTS The analysis showed that both high frequency and bipolar/biphasic pulses can be used to reduce pain and muscle contractions in patients who undergo EP treatments.Moreover,adequate electrode design can decrease EP-related morbidity.Particularly,needle length,diameter and configuration of the distance between the needles can be optimised so that the muscle volume crossed by the current is reduced as much as possible.Bipolar/biphasic pulses with an inadequate pulse length seem to have a less evident effect on the membrane permeability compared with the standard pulse protocol.For that reason,the number of pulses and the voltage amplitude,as well as the pulse duration and frequency,must be chosen so that the dose of delivered energy guarantees EP efficacy.CONCLUSION Pain reduction in EP-based treatments can be achieved by appropriately defining the protocol parameters and electrode design.Most results can be achieved with high frequency and/or bipolar/biphasic pulses.However,the efficacy of these alternative protocols remains a crucial point to be assessed further.

Experimental and simulation studies of single-event transient in partially depleted SOI MOSFET

In this study, we investigate the single-event transient（SET） characteristics of a partially depleted silicon-on-insulator（PDSOI） metal-oxide-semiconductor（MOS） device induced by a pulsed laser.We measure and analyze the drain transient current at the wafer level. The results indicate that the body-drain junction and its vicinity are more SET sensitive than the other regions in PD-SOI devices.We use ISE 3D simulation tools to analyze the SET response when different regions of the device are hit. Then, we discuss in detail the characteristics of transient currents and the electrostatic potential distribution change in devices after irradiation. Finally, we analyze the parasitic bipolar junction transistor（p-BJT） effect by performing both a laser test and simulations.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE PULSES OF RADIATED FIELDS FROM CLOUD FLASH DISCHARGES

Observations show that the sequences of microsecond-scale pulses are produced in cloud flash discharge processes.In the present work we report on measurements of larger bipolar pulses (LBP)of the radiation fields which are classified into four types according to their waveshapes and polarities of initial peak.Either positive or negative pulse contains two kinds of waveshapes:one with a smooth rise and the other with 2 or 3 fast-rising pulse superimposed on the initial half cycle. The pulse waveshape characteristics in both time and frequency domains are as follows.Among 2908 samples there are 45% of the positive polarity and 55% of the negative polarity.The positive pulses tend to have distinctly smaller values than negative pulses in rise time,half width and zero- crossing time of the initial peak.The peaks of positive pulse spectra tend to occur at a higher frequency than those of negative pulses.Despite differences above,positive and negative pulses have a similar total duration.