AIP Advances

A phenomenological thermodynamic theory is used to investigate the effect of strain gradient on the pyroelectric effect in centrosymmetric dielectric solids. Direct pyroelectricity can exist as external mechanical stress is applied to non-pyroelectric dielectrics with shapes such as truncated pyramids, due to elastic strain gradient induced flexoelectric polarization. Effective pyroelectric coefficient was analyzed in truncated pyramids. It is found to be controlled by size, ambient temperature, stress, and aspect ratio and depends mainly on temperature sensitivity of flexoelectric coefficient (TSFC) and strain gradient of the truncated pyramids dielectric solids. These results show that the pyroelectric property of Ba0.67Sr0.33TiO3 above Tc similar to PZT and other lead-based ferroelectrics can be obtained. This feature might widely broaden the selection of materials for infrared detectors with preferable properties.

An analysis is carried out to investigate the peristaltic pumping of a non-Newtonian Ellis fluid in a planar channel. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations governing the problem are simplified under the widely used assumption of long wavelength and low Reynolds number. A semi- analytical approach is adopted to obtain the expressions for stream function, longitudinal velocity, pressure gradient and pressure rise per wavelength. The important characteristics of the peristaltic motion are explained graphically for several values of the material parameter of the Ellis fluid.

In this paper, we consider the control problem of a class of uncertain fractional-order chaotic systems preceded by unknown backlash-like hysteresis nonlinearities based on backstepping control algorithm. We model the hysteresis by using a differential equation. Based on the fractional Lyapunov stability criterion and the backstepping algorithm procedures, an adaptive neural network controller is driven. No knowledge of the upper bound of the disturbance and system uncertainty is required in our controller, and the asymptotical convergence of the tracking error can be guaranteed. Finally, we give two simulation examples to confirm our theoretical results.

A soundproof window or wall which is transparent to airflow is presented. The design is based on two wave theories: the theory of diffraction and the theory of acoustic metamaterials. It consists of a three-dimensional array of strong diffraction-type resonators with many holes centered on each individual resonator. The negative effective bulk modulus of the resonators produces evanescent wave, and at the same time the air holes with subwavelength diameter existed on the surfaces of the window for macroscopic air ventilation. The acoustic performance levels of two soundproof windows with air holes of 20mm and 50mm diameters were measured. The sound level was reduced by about 30 - 35dB in the frequency range of 400 - 5,000Hz with the 20mm window, and by about 20 - 35dB in the frequency range of 700 - 2,200Hz with the 50mm window. Multi stop-band was created by the multi-layers of the window. The attenuation length or the thickness of the window was limited by background noise. The effectiveness of the soundproof window with airflow was demonstrated by a real installation.

In this letter, tungsten films of varying thickness from ∼20 nm to ∼80 nm were prepared at different deposition temperature by Dual ion beam sputtering deposition (DIBSD) method. The influence of thickness and deposition temperature on the films phase, microstructure and Young’s modulus was studied briefly. The experiments prove that a double-layer structure, formation takes place i.e. β phase tungsten layer (low crystallinity) forms adjacent to the substrate and α tungsten phase layer (high crystallinity) forms above β phase. The increase in both the thickness and deposition temperature promotes the transformation from β phase to α phase which initiates from the interface between two phases. There is a critical thickness of ∼20 nm below which the film is a pure β phase, and the minimum thickness of forming pure α phase is affected by the deposition temperature, with 74 nm at 450°C, and 58 nm at 600°C. Furthermore, the decrease Young’s modulus of the tungsten film is ascribed to the formation of β phase which possesses low crystallinity with low density.

We have investigated the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of Ba1-xSrxFe4+O3 (x≤0.2), a series of cubic perovskites showing a field-induced transition from helical antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism. The maximum magnetic entropy change (-ΔSmax) at 50 kOe varies from ∼5.8 J kg-1K-1 (x=0) to ∼4.9 J kg-1K-1 (x=0.2), while the refrigerant capacity remains almost the same at ∼165 J kg-1. Interestingly, the temperature of -ΔSmax decreases from ∼116 K to ∼77 K with increasing x, providing this series of rare-earth-free oxides with potential as a magnetic refrigerant for the liquefaction of nitrogen and natural gas.

Preparation and characterization of polymer electrolyte films of PEO+10wt.% LiPF6 + xwt.% BMIMPF6 (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate) containing dopant salt lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) and ionic liquid (BMIMPF6) having common anion PF6- are reported. The ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte films has been found to increase with increasing concentration of BMIMPF6 in PEO+10 wt.% LiPF6 due to the plasticization effect of ionic liquid. DSC and XRD results show that the crystallinity of polymer electrolyte decreases with BMIMPF6 concentration which, in turn, is responsible for the increase in ionic conductivity. FTIR spectroscopic study shows the complexation of salt and/or ionic liquid cations with the polymer backbone. Ion dynamics behavior of PEO+LiPF6 as well as PEO+LiPF6 + BMIMPF6 polymer electrolytes was studied by frequency dependent conductivity, σ(f) measurements. The values σ(f) at various temperatures have been analyzed in terms of Jonscher power law (JPL) and scaled with respect to frequency which shows universal power law characteristics at all temperatures.

The present article is about the study of Darcy-Forchheimer flow of Maxwell nanofluid over a linear stretching surface. Effects like variable thermal conductivity, activation energy, nonlinear thermal radiation is also incorporated for the analysis of heat and mass transfer. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) with convective boundary conditions are first converted into the nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with the help of similarity transformation, and then the resulting nonlinear ODEs are solved with the help of shooting method and MATLAB built-in bvp4c solver. The impact of different physical parameters like Brownian motion, thermophoresis parameter, Reynolds number, magnetic parameter, nonlinear radiative heat flux, Prandtl number, Lewis number, reaction rate constant, activation energy and Biot number on Nusselt number, velocity, temperature and concentration profile has been discussed. It is viewed that both thermophoresis parameter and activation energy parameter has ascending effect on the concentration profile.

An optically bistable device based on a Bragg grating resonator with a nonlinear medium in metal-insulator-metal waveguides is proposed. Its properties are numerically investigated by a finite-difference time-domain method and further qualitatively analyzed by adopting Airy equation. Cavities with different Q factors are compared with respect to bi-stability. Cavities with a small Q factor lead to a high transmission and a narrow hysteresis loop. The response time of such cavities is found to be in the sub-picosecond region. Our nano-scale switching structure is comparatively easy to fabricate and integrate in plasmonic circuits and promises to be useful for future all-optical computing and communication technology.

We investigated the effect of substitution of various ions at the Fe sites on magnetic properties of strontium hexaferrite (SrFe12O19) using first principles method based on density functional theory. The site occupancies of substituted atoms were estimated by calculating the substitution energies of different configurations. The formation probabilities of configurations were used to calculate magnetic properties of substituted strontium hexaferrite. A total of 21 elements (M) were screened for their possible substitution in strontium hexaferrite, SrFe12−xMxO19 with x = 0.5. In each case the site preference of the substituted atom and the magnetic properties were calculated. We found that Bi, Sb, Sn, and Sc can effectively increase the magnetization and P, Co, Al, Ga, and Ti can enhance the anisotropy field when substituted into strontium hexaferrite.