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Briefs: Imaging
N-Type d Doping of High-Purity Silicon Imaging Arrays
A process for n-type (electron-donor) delta (d) doping has shown promise as a means of modifying back-illuminated image detectors made from n-doped high-purity silicon to enable them to detect high-energy photons (ultraviolet and x-rays) and low-energy charged particles (electrons and ions)....
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Automated Counting of Particles To Quantify Cleanliness
A machine vision system, similar to systems used in microbiological laboratories to count cultured microbes, has been proposed for quantifying the cleanliness of nominally precisely cleaned hardware by counting residual contaminant particles. The system would include a microscope equipped with...
Briefs: Materials
Glass Frit Filters for Collecting Metal
Filter disks made of glass frit have been found to be effective as means of high throughput collection of metal oxide particles, ranging in size from a few to a few hundred nanometers, produced in gas phase condensation reactors. In a typical application, a filter is placed downstream of the reactor and a...
Briefs: Materials
Anhydrous Proton-Conducting Membranes for Fuel Cells
Polymeric electrolyte membranes that do not depend on water for conduction of protons are undergoing development for use in fuel cells. Prior polymeric electrolyte fuel-cell membranes (e.g., those that contain perfluorosulfonic acid) depend on water and must be limited to operation below a...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Shock Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate
A paper presents a theoretical study of shock waves in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC).
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Devices called “solid-state ferroelectric-based sources” (SSFBSs) are under development as sources of electrons, ions, ultraviolet light, and x-rays for diverse applications in...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
A dusty-plasma apparatus is being investigated as means of accelerating nanometer- and micrometer-sized particles. Applications for the dusty-plasma particle accelerators fall into two classes:
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Systems for identifying objects by means of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) of encased labeling elements have been developed. The XRF spectra of objects so labeled...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
A modified Penning-Malmberg trap that could store a small cloud of antiprotons for a relatively long time (weeks) has been developed. This trap is intended for use in research on the...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A method of fabricating planar, flexible microinductors that exhibit a relatively high quality factor (Q) between 1 and 10 MHz has been devised. These inductors are targeted for use in flexible,...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Automated Rapid Prototyping of 3D Ceramic Parts
An automated system of manufacturing equipment produces three-dimensional (3D) ceramic parts specified by computational models of the parts. The system implements an advanced, automated version of a generic rapid-prototyping process in which the fabrication of an object having a possibly complex 3D...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A miniature optoelectronic instrument has been invented as a nonintrusive means of measuring a velocity gradient proportional to a shear stress in a flow near a wall. The instrument,...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Pd/CeO2/SiC Chemical Sensors
The incorporation of nanostructured interfacial layers of CeO2 has been proposed to enhance the performances of Pd/SiC Schottky diodes used to sense hydrogen and hydrocarbons at high temperatures. If successful, this development could prove beneficial in numerous applications in which there are requirements to sense...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Large Fluvial Fans and Exploration for Hydrocarbons
A report discusses the geological phenomena known, variously, as modern large (or large modern) fluvial fans or large continental fans, from a perspective of exploring for hydrocarbons.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved cathode structure on a membrane/electrode assembly has been developed for a direct methanol fuel cell, in a continuing effort to realize practical power systems containing...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A modified chemical composition has been devised to improve the performance of the anode of a direct methanol fuel cell. The main feature of the modified composition is the incorporation of hydrous...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A system for collecting samples of powdered rock has been devised for use in conjunction with an ultrasonic/sonic drill/corer (USDC) — a lightweight, low-power apparatus designed to...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A computer-controlled apparatus processes batches of soybeans into one or more of a variety of food products, under conditions that can be chosen by the user and reproduced from batch to...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An advanced computer code is undergoing development for numerically simulating laser cooling and trapping of large numbers of atoms. The code is expected to be useful in...
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Briefs: Materials
Modifying Silicates for Better Dispersion in Nanocomposites
An improved chemical modification has been developed to enhance the dispersion of layered silicate particles in the formulation of a polymer/silicate nanocomposite material. The modification involves, among other things, the co-exchange of an alkyl ammonium ion and a monoprotonated diamine...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The microparticle flow sensor (MFS) is a system for identifying and counting microscopic particles entrained in a flowing liquid. The MFS includes a transparent, optoelectronically instrumented laminar-flow chamber...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Pilot scale experiments have demonstrated a method of reducing the amounts of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emitted by industrial boilers and powerplant combustors that involves (1)...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Using Laser-Induced Incandescence To Measure Soot in Exhaust
An instrumentation system exploits laser-induced incandescence (LII) to measure the concentration of soot particles in an exhaust stream from an engine, furnace, or industrial process that burns hydrocarbon fuel. In comparison with LII soot-concentration-measuring systems that have been...
Briefs: Materials
Nanocarpets — that is, carpets of carbon nanotubes — are undergoing development as means of trapping microscopic particles for scientific analysis. Examples of such particles include inorganic...
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Briefs: Materials
Precious-Metal Salt Coatings for Detecting Hydrazines
Substrates coated with a precious metal salt KAuCl4 have been found to be useful for detecting hydrazine vapors in air at and above a concentration of the order of 0.01 parts per million (ppm). Upon exposure to air containing a sufficient amount of hydrazine for a sufficient time, the coating...
Briefs: Materials
New Material for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
A chemical method of synthesis and application of coating materials that are especially suitable for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)has been developed.The purpose of this development is to facilitate the utilization of the inherently high sensitivity of SERS to detect chemicals of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed class of lightweight exoskeletal electromechanical systems would include electrically controllable actuators that would generate torques and forces that, depending on specific...
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