ALBERT

Notes: The fabrication of molecular beam "skimmers" from electrical discharge machining (EDM) graphite is reported. EDM graphite is highly refractory and is easily machined using conventional cutting and grinding techniques. In its most fine-grained form, EDM graphite can be machined free-standing to a knife-edge lip radius of ∼1 μm, providing excellent skimmer aerodynamics. Being refractory, such EDM skimmers are of particular interest in sampling or collimating high-temperature plasma discharges. Our explicit application is in skimming an electrical discharge supersonic free-jet of molecular nitrogen, forming a molecular beam of A 3Σu+ metastable N2 to be used in the heteroepitaxial growth of III–N wide-band-gap semiconductors. In view of the their economy, ease of manufacture, and excellent aerodynamics, the skimmers may also find use in skimming conventional, nondischarge supersonic free-jets. The performance of the EDM skimmers was tested in a conventional helium supersonic free-jet expansion, measuring the time-of-flight distribution and beam intensity as a function of nozzle pressure and nozzle-skimmer separation. Direct comparison with commercial nickel and copper skimmers showed the EDM graphite skimmers to perform nearly as well as the best commercial metal skimmers. The refractory properties of the skimmers were tested in a high-temperature arc-discharge supersonic free-jet expansion of 10% nitrogen in argon. Exposure to a plasma plume of ∼7500 K for over 6 h produced only relatively minor deterioration of the EDM graphite skimmer. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The wavelet transform has emerged as an important tool for the analysis of intermittent and nonstationary signals. This article addresses implementation issues of a digital continuous wavelet transform that is sufficiently general that any continuous wavelet can be used. Working equations are derived for wavelet sampling, aliasing, and scale population by using the band-pass filter interpretation of wavelet functions. The implementation procedure is applied to the Morlet wavelet in detail as an example. Finally, the Morlet wavelet is applied to velocity fluctuations measured in a subsonic wake undergoing transition to turbulence. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A corona discharge supersonic free-jet is shown to be a nearly pure source of A 3Σu+ metastable molecular nitrogen, an electronically excited and chemically active form of N2 that is ideally suited to nitride semiconductor growth. Optical emission spectroscopy at various distances downstream of the supersonic nozzle reveals a cascade through the excited state manifold of N2 triplet states to populate the A 3Σu+ state. Appearance potential spectroscopy (mass spectrometer electron bombardment ionization yield, measured as a function of electron impact energy) delivers the composition of the terminal molecular beam. A 3Σu+ molecules are the dominant activated species in the beam, which otherwise contains only nonreactive X 1Σg+ ground state nitrogen molecules plus a minor amount of 4S0 nitrogen atoms. Up to 1.56% number fraction of the beam is A 3Σu+, providing 1.0×1017 metastables sr−1 s−1. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: High quality epitaxial III-N semiconductor films, ranging in thickness from 300 to 900 Å, have been grown using A3Σu+ metastable nitrogen molecules. The work employed a corona discharge supersonic free-jet to generate a molecular beam containing exclusively the A3Σu+ activation state in an otherwise ground state N2 beam. AlN films were grown on 6H–SiC(0001) and Si(001) substrates. GaN films were grown on the same substrates and on buffer layers of AlN deposited in situ on 6H–SiC(0001). The N-atom incorporation efficiency (the number of N atoms attaching to a III–N surface per incident A3Σu+ molecule) approached 100% and was independent of substrate temperature from 600 to 900 °C, implying direct molecular chemisorption of the A3Σu+. These measurements support theoretical predictions that A3Σu+ is an ideal precursor for III–N growth. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The barbel was originally a fish with a relatively restricted range in the British Isles. However, despite the general environmental degradation of many British rivers, and in contrast with some native freshwater fishes, the barbel is now more widely distributed than it was a century ago. It may even be more abundant numerically.

Notes: Light harvesting and utilization by chloroplasts located near the adaxial vs the abaxial surface of sun and shade leaves were examined by fluorometry in two herbaceous perennials that differed in their anatomy and leaf inclination. Leaves of Thermopsis montana had well-developed palisade and spongy mesophyll whereas the photosynthetic tissue of Smilacina stellata consisted of spongy mesophyll only. Leaf orientation depended upon the irradiance during leaf development. When grown under low-light levels, leaves of S. stellata and T. montana were nearly horizontal, whereas under high-light levels, S. stellata leaves and T. montana leaves were inclined 600 and 300, respectively. Leaf inclination increased the amount of light that was intercepted by the lower leaf surfaces and affected the photosynthetic properties of the chloroplasts located near the abaxial leaf surface. The slowest rates of quinone pool reduction and reoxidation were found in chloroplasts located near the adaxial leaf surface of T. montana plants grown under high light, indicating large quinone pools in these chloroplasts. Chloroplasts near the abaxial surface of low-light leaves had lower light utilization capacities as shown by photochemical quenching measurements. The amount of photosystem II (PSII) down regulation, measured from each leaf surface, was also found to be influenced by irradiance and leaf inclination. The greatest difference between down regulation monitored from the adaxial vs abaxial surfaces was found in plants with horizontal leaves. Different energy dissipation mechanisms may be employed by the two species. Values for down regulation in S. stellata were 2–3 times higher than those in T. montana, while the portion of the PSII population which was found to be QB nonreducing was 4–6 times lower in high light S. stellata leaves than in T. montana. All values of Stern-Volmer type nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) from S. stellata leaves were similar when quenching analysis was performed at actinic irradiances that were higher than the irradiance to which the leaf surface was exposed during growth. In contrast, with T. montana, NPQ values from the abaxial leaf surface were up to 45% higher than those from the adaxial leaf surface regardless of growth conditions. The observed differences in chloroplast properties between species and between the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces may depend upon a complex interaction among light, leaf anatomy and leaf inclination.