The electronic structure of Nb＿3Al/Nb＿3Sn, a new test case for flat/steep band model of superconductivity

In this work, we choose Nb3Al/Nb3Sn as a new test case for flat/steep band model of superconductivity. Based on the density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation, the electronic structure of Nb3Al/ Nb3Sn has been studied. The obtained results agree well with those of the earlier studies and show clearly fiat bands around the Fermi level. The steep bands as characterized in this work locate around the M point in the first Brillouin zone. The obtained results reveal that Nb3Al/Nb3Sn fits more to the ＂Flat/steep＂ band model than to the van-Hove singularity scenario. The fiat/steep band condition for superconductivity implies a different thermodynamic behavior of superconductors other than that predicted from the conventional BCS theory. This observation sets up an indicator for selecting a suitable superconductor when its large-scale industrial use is needed, for example, in superconducting maglev system or ITER project.

Self-absorption effects of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy under different gases and gas pressures

The self-absorption effect is one of the main factors affecting the quantitative analysis accuracy of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.In this paper,the self-absorption effects of laserinduced 7050 Al alloy plasma under different pressures in air,Ar,and N2have been studied.Compared with air and N2,Ar significantly enhances the spectral signal.Furthermore,the spectral self-absorption coefficient is calculated to quantify the degree of self-absorption,and the influences of gas species and gas pressure on self-absorption are analyzed.In addition,it is found that the spectral intensity fluctuates with the change of pressure of three gases.It can also be seen that the fluctuation of spectral intensity with pressure is eliminated after correcting,which indicates that the self-absorption leads to the fluctuation of spectral intensity under different pressures.The analysis shows that the evolution of optical thin spectral lines with pressure in different gases is mainly determined by the gas properties and the competition between plasma confinement and Rayleigh–Taylor instability.

Transport properties and microstructure of La_(0.7)Sr_(0.3)MnO_3 nanocrystalline thin films grown by polymer-assisted chemical solution deposition

Perovskite-based materials can be widely used in the aerospace and transportation field. Perovskite man-ganese oxides La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 （LSMO） thin films were grown on LaAlO3 （100） and Si （100） single crystal sub-strates by the polymer-assisted chemical solution deposi-tion （PACSD） method. Electronic transport behavior, microstructure, and magnetoresistance （MR） of LSMO thin films on different substrates were investigated. The resis-tance of LSMO films fabricated on LaAlO3 substrates is smaller than that on the Si substrates. The magnetic field reduces resistance of LSMO films both on Si and LAO in the wide temperature region, when the insulator-metal transition temperature shifts to higher temperature. The low-field magnetoresistance of LSMO films on Si in low temperature range at 1 T is larger than that of LSMO films on LAO. However, the MR of LSMO film on LAO films at room-temperature is about 5.17%. The thin films are smooth and dense with uniform nanocrystal size grain. These results demonstrate that PACSD is an effective technique for producing high quality LSMO films, which is significant to improve the magnetic properties and the application of automotive sensor.

The preparation process and feature of the topological insulator Bi_2Te_3

Topological insulators are insulating in the bulkbut have metallic surface states. Its unique physicochemicalproperties can find numerous applications in electronics,spintronics, photonics, the energy sciences, and thesignal control of transportation. We report an experimentalapproach to synthesize the high-quality single crystal oftopological insulator Bi2Te3 by using self-flux method. Weobtained the optimal preparation conditions by adjustingthe parameters of heat treatment, and successfully preparedthe single-crystal Bi2Te3 sample. The as-grown sampleshave a surface with bright metallic luster and are soft andfragile. Furthermore, Bi2Te3 has the obvious layer structurefrom SEM results. The data of X-ray diffraction andscanning electron microscope show that Bi2Te3 singlecrystal grows along the c-axis with the order of Te（1）–Bi–Te（2）–Bi–Te（1） and crystallizes in the hexagonal systemwith space group of R/3 m. The q–T curve shows that qdecreases with temperature, showing metallic behaviorover the whole temperature range.

Structure and properties of CIGS films based on one-stage RF-sputtering process at low substrate temperature

Currently, Nanjing South Railway Stationplanning to implement slate roof renovation is integratingsolar cell modules into traditional roof materials to generateclean energy. Copper–indium–gallium diselenide（CuIn1-xGaxSe2, CIGS） is one of the most promisingmaterials for thin film solar cells. Cu（In1-xGax）Se2 filmswere deposited by a one-step radio frequency magnetronsputtering process at low substrate temperature. X-raydiffraction, Raman, scanning electron microscopy, energydispersiveX-ray spectroscopy, and electrical and opticalmeasurements were carried out to investigate the depositedfilms. The results reveal that a temperature of 320 C iscritical for near-stoichiometric CIGS films with uniformsurface morphology. Cu-rich phase particulates are foundat less than this temperature. The sample deposited at380 C gives well-crystalline single-phase CIGS film.Furthermore, the electrical and optical performances of theabsorber layer are improved significantly with theincreasing substrate temperature.

The time and space characteristics of magnetomotive force in the cascaded linear induction motor

To choose a reasonable mode of three-phase winding for the improvement of the operating efficiency of cascaded linear induction motor, the time and space characteristics of magnetomotive force were investigated. The ideal model of the cascaded linear induction motor was built, in which the B and C-phase windings are respectively separated from the A-phase winding by a distance of d and e slots pitch and not overlapped. By changing the values of d and e from 1 to 5, we can obtain 20 different modes of three-phase winding with the different combinations of d and e. Then, the air-gap magnetomotive forces of A-, B-, and C-phase windings were calculated by the magnetomotive force theory. According to the transient superposition of magnetomotive forces of A-, B-, and C-phase windings, the theoretical and simulated synthetic fundamental magnetomotive forces under 20 different arrangement modes were obtained. The results show that the synthetic magnetomotive force with d = 2 and e = 4 is close to forward sinusoidal traveling wave and the synthetic magnetomotive force with d = 4 and e = 2 is close to backward sinusoidal traveling wave, and their amplitudes and wave velocities are approximately constant and equal. In both cases, the motor could work normally with ahigh efficiency, but under other 18 arrangement modes （d= 1, e=2; d= 1, e=3; d= 1, e=4;...）, the synthetic magnetomotive force presents obvious pulse vibration and moves with variable velocity, which means that the motor did not work normally and had high energy loss.

Synthesis and photoelectrical performance of nanoscale PbS and Bi2S3 co-sensitized on TiO2 nanotube arrays

TiO2 films have been widely applied in photo- voltaic conversion techniques. TiO2 nanotube arrays （TiO2 NAs） can be grown directly on the surface of metal Ti by the anodic oxidation method. Bi2S3 and PbS nanoparticles （NPs） were firstly co-sensitized on TiOa NAs （denoted as PbS/Bi2S3（n）/TiO2 NAs） by a two-step process containing hydrothermal and sonication-assisted SILAR method. When the concentration of Bi3＋ is 5 mmol/L, the best photoelectrical performance was obtained under simulated solar irradiation. The short-circuit photocurrent （Jsc） and photoconversion efficiency （η） of PbS/Bi2S3（5）/TiO2 NAs electrode were 4.70 mA/cm and 1.13 %, respectively.

Preparation of Nb3Al superconductor by powder metallurgy and effect of mechanical alloying on the phase formation

Adoption of powder-in-tube method to fabricatesuperconducting wire can realize a large application ofNb3Al prepared by powder metallurgy. Powder metallurgywas used to synthesize Nb3Al under various heat-treatmentconditions, annealing temperature was varied from 700 to1,000 C and heating time was varied from 10 to 50 h.X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that a reaction between Nband Al took place and formed NbAl3 phase. Under currentheat-treatment conditions （annealing temperature wasvaried from 700 to 1,000 C and heating time was variedfrom 10 to 50 h）, NbAl3 was so stable that it did not furtherreact with the unreacted Nb and was not sensitive to theheat-treatment condition. By mechanical alloying, adoptionof high-energy ball milling significantly decreases particlesize and enhances surface free energy, which promotes theformation of Nb3Al phase. X-ray diffraction patternsindicate that relatively pure Nb3Al phase was obtainedunder the same heat-treatment condition. Energy-dispersiveX-ray analysis measurement demonstrates that theobtained samples were close to the right stoichiometry ofA15 structure Nb3Al.

DC and AC transport properties on La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)MnO_3

Magnetoresistive sensor can be widely used in modem transportation field, such as the vehicle positioning and navigation system, vehicle detection system, and intelligent transportation system. In order to improve the efficiency of magnetoresistive sensor, we synthesized Lao.sSro.2MnO3 polycrystalline bulks at different sintering temperatures and investigated their DC and AC transport properties in this work. As a result, all samples showed insulator-metal （I-M） phase transition, and the transition temperature （TI-M） shifted to higher temperature with the increase of sintering temperature. The TI-M measured at different AC frequencies was smaller than that measured at DC condition, which implied that the I-M phase transition was suppressed at AC frequencies. The resistivity mea- sured at high AC frequencies was larger than that measured at low AC frequencies, which could be attributed to the change of the magnetic penetration depth （6）. However, the room-temperature AC-magnetoresistance （MR） at low frequencies was much larger than that at high frequencies and room-temperature DC-MR. These findings demon- strate that reducing the AC frequency is an effective way for enhancing the room-temperature MR, which can be used to promote the efficiency of magnetoresistive sensor.

Aerodynamic simulation of evacuated tube maglev trains with different streamlined designs

Based on the Navier-Stokes （N-S） equations of incompressible viscous fluids and the standard k-ε turbu- lence model with assumptions of steady state and two dimensional conditions, a simulation of the aerodynamic drag on a maglev train in an evacuated tube was made with ANSYS/FLOTRAN software under different vacuum pressures, blockage ratios, and shapes of train head and tail. The pressure flow fields of the evacuated tube maglev train under different vacuum pressures were analyzed, and then compared under the same blockage ratio condition. The results show that the environmental pressure of 1 000 Pa in the tube is the best to achieve the effect of aerodynamic drag reduction, and there are no obvious differences in the aerodynamic drag reduction among different streamline head shapes. Overall, the blunt-shape tail and the blockage ratio of 0.25 are more efficient for drag reduction of the train at the tube pressure of 1 000 Pa.

The approach to calculate the aerodynamic drag of maglev train in the evacuated tube

In order to study the relationships between the aerodynamic drag of maglev and other factors in the evacuated tube, the formula of aerodynamic drag was deduced based on the basic equations of aerodynamics and then the calculated result was confirmed at a low speed on an experimental system developed by Superconductivity and New Energy R＆D Center of South Jiaotong University. With regard to this system a high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation vehicle was motivated by a linear induction motor （LIM） fixed on the permanent magnetic guideway. When the vehicle reached an expected speed, the LIM was stopped. Then the damped speed was recorded and used to calculate the experimental drag. The two results show the approximately same relationship between the aerodynamic drag on the maglev and the other factors such as the pressure in the tube, the velocity of the maglev and the blockage ratio. Thus, the pressure, the velocity, and the blockage ratio are viewed as the three important factors that contribute to the energy loss in the evacuated tube transportation.

Design consideration of a super-high speed high temperature superconductor maglev evacuated tube transport (I)

The super-high speed high temperature superconductor （HTS） maglev evacuated tube transport （ETT） is a promising transport mode for the future. As a key component of the HTS maglev vehicle, the permanent magnet guide- ways （PMGs） with different geometrical configurations and iron yoke widths are analyzed by finite element method （FEM）. The levitation force of a single onboard HTS maglev device over the designed PMG at different field cooling heights （FCH） is measured by magnetic levitation measurement system. Based on the designed PMG and experimental results, a preliminary scheme of subterranean super-high speed HTS maglev ETT is described in this paper. The HTS maglev ETT is mainly composed of an evacuated tube, HTS maglev vehicle, PMG, propulsion system, station, emergency rescue system, etc. In addition, a subterranean tube that consists of foundation tube and vacuum airproof layer is introduced. In order to convert the stress caused by the air pressure difference between inside and outside of the vehicle, a multi-circular vehicle body is designed. The vehicle is driven by a linear motor propulsion system under the control of a ground controlling system. The scheme of long-distance super-high speed passenger transportation is accomplished by the connection of different vehicles.

Synthesis of Size-Controllable NiCo2S4 Hollow Nanospheres Toward Enhanced Electrochemical Performance

Although the synthesis of novel nanostructured metal sulfides has been well established,further size-controllable optimization is still valuable to enhance their performance for various applications.Herein,a self-template method to size-controllably synthesize the hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres is reported.Uniformly monodisperse Ni Co precursors with diameter widely ranging from 97 to 550 nm are controllably synthesized and subsequently transformed into hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres through in situ sulfidation.Smaller nanoparticles’diameter results in the hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres larger surface area and thinner shell thickness and hence provides much more electrochemical active sites as well as facilitate the ion and electron transfer.Consequently,the hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres—used as the electrode materials in supercapacitors—achieve 19%enhancement of specific capacity from 484.8 to 575.1 C g-1 through lowering the 42.5%diameter of hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres from 407 to 234 nm.Moreover,the hollow NiCo2S4 nanospheres with 234 nm diameter exhibit superior rate capacity indicated by 49%capacity retention from 1 to 50 A g-1 and excellent cycling stability(77%after 2000 cycles).Furthermore,this method is a potentially general strategy in the size-controllable synthesis of the metal sulfides hollow nanostructures and results in the remarkable electrochemical applications.

A novel method to calculate the thrust of linear induction motor based on instantaneous current value

Because of the end effect, a linear induction motor （LIM） runs in an asymmetrical state even though the winding of each phase is symmetric. Based on the basic principle of the LIM, a new approach was proposed to calculate the thrust of the LIM using the instantaneous current value. A three-phase LIM model with 12 slots and a singlelayer winding was designed to validate this method. The experiments show that when the current is small, the calculated results basically agree with the experiments. The agreement becomes worse with the increase of the current because of the saturation of the primary iron core. The proposed formula is suitable when the iron core of the LIM primary is in an unsaturated state.

Vibration characteristics of a multi-block high-temperature superconducting maglev system

The multi-block high-temperature superconducting （HTS） maglev system has more complicated dynamic characteristics than the single-block HTS maglev system. To study its vibration characteristics, we designed a maglev measurement system. The system responses at the excitation frequencies of 2, 3 and 15 Hz were examined. Results show that the responses under excitation frequencies of 2 and 3 Hz include a 6 Hz component, which means that the maglev system is a critical nonlinear system. Moreover, the 6 Hz component is much stronger than the 2 Hz or 3 Hz components in the response spectra. There is the interaction between excitation and response. Under an excitation frequency of 15 Hz, intensified low-frequency perturbations were observed.

Stability of concentration-related self-interstitial atoms in fusion material tungsten

Based on the density functional theory, we calculated the structures of the two main possible self-interstitial atoms（SIAs） as well as the migration energy of tungsten（W） atoms. It was found that the difference of the 110 and 111 formation energies is 0.05–0.3 e V. Further analysis indicated that the stability of SIAs is closely related to the concentration of the defect. When the concentration of the point defect is high, 110 SIAs are more likely to exist, 111 SIAs are the opposite. In addition, the vacancy migration probability and self-recovery zones for these SIAs were researched by making a detailed comparison. The calculation provided a new viewpoint about the stability of point defects for selfinterstitial configurations and would benefit the understanding of the control mechanism of defect behavior for this novel fusion material.

Magnetic levitation performance of high-temperature superconductor over three magnetic hills of permanent magnet guideway with iron shims of different thicknesses

Superconducting magnetic levitation performance, including levitation force and guidance force, is important for the application of high-temperature super- conducting maglev. Both of them are not only affected by different arrays of superconductors and magnets, but also by the thickness of the iron shim between permanent magnets. In order to obtain the best levitation performance, the magnetic field distribution, levitation force, and guidance force of a new type of three magnetic hills of permanent magnet guideway with iron shim of different thicknesses （4, 6, and 8 mm） are discussed in this paper. Simulation analysis and experiment results show that the guideway with iron shim of 8 mm thickness possesses the strongest magnetic field and levitation performance when the suspension gap is larger than 10 mm. However, with the decreasing of suspension gap, the guideway with iron shim of 4 mm thickness possesses the best levitation performance. The phenomena can be attributed to the density distribution of flux and magnetization of iron shim.

Fe-doped epitaxial YBCO films prepared by chemical solution deposition

YBa2Cu3O7-d （YBCO）-coated conductors havewide-ranging potential in large-scale applications such assuperconducting maglev trains and superconducting electriccables, but low current carrying capability restrains thepractical application of YBCO-coated conductors at hightemperatures and high magnetic fields. It is crucial todevelop YBCO-coated conductors with high critical currentdensity. In this paper, epitaxial, dense, smooth, andcrack-free Fe-doped YBCO films were prepared on aLaAlO3 single crystal substrate via a fluorine-free polymerassistedmetal organic deposition method. The effects ofthe dilute Fe doping on microstructure and superconductingcharacter of YBCO films were investigated. The criticaltemperature for superconducting of the Fe-dopedYBCO films decreases slightly. However, the in-fieldcritical current density of YBCO films improves with diluteFe doping of amounts less than x = 0.005, compared to thepure YBCO film. Therefore, the current carrying capabilityof YBCO film can improve by doping with appropriateamounts of Fe. This means that dilute Fe doping in YBCOfilms may be a feasible way to prepare high-performancecoated conductors.

A multi-scale point of view on the structure–property relationships of A15 superconductors

Nb3Sn and other A15 members have been widely applied in nuclear power, nuclear magnetic resonance, and high-energy particle accelerators for their high critical current density （Jc） and upper critical field （Bc2）. There have been comprehensive and intensive studies on the applications, the fundamental lattice dynamic and electronic properties, etc., of A15 superconductors. Various reviews on the preparations, structures, and properties have already been written in the last few years. Nevertheless, on account of the large amount of existing facts and views, a coherent view on the relations between the structures and properties has not appeared to unify the facts. This article sketches a multi-scale point of view on the relations between the multi- scale structures and the corresponding properties.

Structural model for the first wall W-based material in ITER project

The preparation, characterization, and test of the first wall materials designed to be used in the fusion reactor have remained challenging problems in the material science. This work uses the firstprinciples method as implemented in the CASTEP package to study the influ ences of the doped titanium carbide on the structural sta bility of the WTiC material. The calculated total energy and enthalpy have been used as criteria to judge the structural models built with consideration of symmetry. Our simulation indicates that the doped TiC tends to form its own domain up to the investigated nanoscale, which implies a possible phase separation. This result reveals the intrinsic reason for the composite nature of the WTiC material and provides an explanation for the experimen tally observed phase separation at the nanoscale. Our approach also sheds a light on explaining the enhancing effects of doped components on the durability, reliability, corrosion resistance, etc., in many special steels.