ALBERT

Notes: The rate constant of a bimolecular gas-phase chemical reaction is determined by the energy distribution of the reactants and the cross section for the reaction. Systems in which photolysis and other nonequilibrium processes occur may have energy distributions which differ significantly from the equilibrium distribution. Analytical solutions are derived for the rate constant as a function of temperature for certain systems in which nonequilibium processes occur. The analytical solutions are compared with the numerical solutions and the agreement is found to be excellent, confirming the validity of the approximations that were made. Chemical reactions are simulated with the Monte Carlo method and the results again confirm the validity of the analytical solutions. Under certain nonequilibrium conditions, it is shown that the complex expression for the rate constant as a function of temperature reduces to a simple form, which resembles the Arrhenius equation. In this special case, the dependence of the results on the shape of the reaction cross section is investigated.

Notes: The feasibility of using a photoionized, low-ionization potential organic seed gas to initiate a high pressure plasma discharge is examined and compared to radio frequency breakdown of high pressure argon alone. The seed gas, tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene, which has an ionization potential of 6.1 eV is ionized by an ultraviolet laser through 6.4 eV photon absorption, and forms a plasma column inside a vacuum chamber. The plasma absorbs additional power through inductive coupling of 13.56 MHz helical antenna radio frequency wave fields to the plasma through electron acceleration, ionization, and collisional damping. Laser initiation of 2–6 mTorr of the seed gas in 1–150 Torr of argon is accomplished and produces steady-state line-average plasma densities of ne(approximate)4×1012 cm−3 in a volume of 300 cm3. The two-body recombination coefficient of the organic seed gas and its optimum partial pressure when mixed with argon are experimentally determined and analyzed. Particle loss and power requirements for maintaining the discharge are evaluated by examining ionization, diffusion, and recombination processes. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A pulsed, 193 nm excimer laser is utilized to photoionize the organic gas tetrakis- dimethylamino-ethylene (TMAE). The laser ionizes a plasma sheet with a width of 7.8 cm and an adjustable thickness of 0.7–1.4 cm. The axial scale length of the plasma density is a function of TMAE neutral pressure and is typically 50 cm. X-band (10 GHz) microwaves are incident on the plasma with the electric field polarized parallel to the laser beam axis. The power reflection coefficient and the phase of the reflected signal are studied as a function of time. A monostatic homodyne detection system with a response time of 10 ns is utilized to determine the amplitude and phase of the reflected wave. The peak plasma density is ne(approximate)4×1013 cm−3, sufficiently above the critical density (ncrit=1.2×1012 cm−3) to produce reflections comparable to a conducting sheet placed in the same position as the plasma. A computer model is developed to interpret and optimize the plasma conditions which provide the highest backscatter and phase-stable reflection coefficient for the longest period of time. The presence of axial density gradients causes the reflected wave to be scattered through a wide angle. As the gradients relax, the backscatter reflection coefficient increases to a value of nearly 100%. The plasma density and two-body recombination coefficient are measured by means of microwave backscatter plasma reflectivity and Langmuir probes. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The performances of a rising-plate meter and a single-probe electronic capacitance meter were compared for estimating the herbage mass of irrigated pastures both before and after grazing by dairy cows. Mean CV for the rising plate meter and the single-probe meter were 12.7% and 13.3% respectively when herbage mass was measured before grazing, and 21.8% and 15.4% respectively immediately after grazing. These coefficients of variation indicate that while the performance of the two meters was similar when herbage mass was measured before grazing, the single-probe meter was a more precise instrument for estimating herbage mass after grazing.Trampling of herbage prior to measurement had a major effect on the regressions of both meters; the regression intercept was increased by 2800 kg dry matter (DM) ha−1 for the rising-plate meter and by 2580 kg DM ha−1 for the single-probe meter. The slopes of the graphs, however, remained unchanged.It was concluded that while the single-probe meter performed better than the rising-plate meter for estimating the mass of post-grazing herbage when trampling was negligible, the large effect that trampling had on the post-grazing calibration regressions precluded both instruments from general use in dairy cattle research. This indicates that another technique is required in circumstances in which pastures are heavily trampled.

Notes: The objectives were to compare the effects of two plastic film systems [perforated (PP) and complete-cover (CC) systems] on the yield and quality of forage maize, and to study the effects of seeding rate on maize grown with, and without, plastic film. Between 1995 and 1998 (Experiments 1 and 2), comparisons were made of maize without plastic film systems (NP), sown through clear plastic film (PP) and covered with clear plastic film (CC). In the CC system, the plastic was removed manually from the crop. Two dates of removal (CC1 and CC2) were compared in 1995, while four removal dates (CC1, CC2, CC3 and CC4) were examined in 1996–98. In 1996–98, three sowing dates (early, mid-April; mid, early-May; late, mid-May) were also examined. Four seeding rates (78 200, 93 900, 107 000 and 126 000 seeds ha−1) were examined in two experiments (Experiment 3 in 1996 and Experiment 4 in 1996–98). No plastic was used in Experiment 3, while three plastic treatments (NP, PP and CC) were examined in Experiment 4. In the CC treatment, the plastic film was removed at the six- to eight-leaf stage.In Experiment 1, the PP treatment gave lower DM yields than the NP treatment due to frost damage which killed 0·30 of the plants in the PP treatment. Plants were undamaged by frost in both CC treatments, and the CC2 treatment (plastic removal at the six-leaf stage) gave significant increases in DM and grain yields. In Experiment 2, averaged over years and sowing dates, DM yields were significantly increased by all plastic film treatments except CC4. All plastic film treatments gave significantly earlier tassel emergence than the NP treatment, and significantly increased grain yields and contents of DM and grain. The highest yields of DM and grain were obtained from the PP system. Within the CC treatments, leaving the plastic film intact until the ten-leaf stage (CC4) gave lower yields of DM and grain than removing the plastic film at an earlier stage. Averaged over years, the largest DM yields were obtained from the CC system with early-sown material, while the yield differences between treatments with late-sown crops under this system were not significant. Highest DM and grain yields were obtained with early sowing, while late sowing gave lower contents of DM and grain, and later tassel emergence.In Experiments 3 and 4, DM and grain yields increased as seeding rate increased up to 126 000 seeds ha−1 with NP and CC plastic treatments. With the PP treatment, DM yield reached a plateau at 107 000 seeds ha−1. Seeding rate did not significantly affect DM content in either experiments but grain content declined in both experiments as seeding rate increased.

Notes: A 193 nm excimer laser and a custom fabricated cylindrical lens system is used to produce a plasma sheet of 8 cm×30 cm×0.4 cm in tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TMAE), a low ionization energy organic gas. Plasma density variation due to photon absorption is studied by scanning the filling pressure of TMAE between 12 and 150 mTorr. A high density (n≥2.0×1013 cm−3), low temperature (Te≈0.8 eV) plasma sheet of 4 mm thickness is obtained with less than 50% spatial density variation over the 30 cm axial length. Charge recombination is found to be the dominant process for t≤1.2 μs with the plasma diffusion playing a perturbational role. A one-dimensional plasma model is utilized to model the experimental plasma data by treating the diffusion as a perturbation. This study shows that the recombination coefficient is 1.8±0.1×10−7 cm3 s−1 and the diffusion coefficient is 2.8±0.4×104 cm2 s−1. The plasma sheet has attractive properties for a microwave agile mirror. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.