Micrometre-scale analytical devices are more attractive than their macroscale counterparts for various reasons. For example, they use smaller volumes of reagents and are therefore cheaper, quicker and less hazardous to use, and more environmentally appealing. Scaling laws compare the relative performance of a system as the dimensions of the system change, and can predict the operational success of miniaturized chemical separation, reaction and detection devices before they are fabricated. Some devices designed using basic principles of scaling are now commercially available, and opportunities for miniaturizing new and challenging analytical systems continue to arise.

/pdf/scaling-and-the-design-of-miniaturized-chemical-analysis-4zrbk9l3kk.pdf

Gas Discharges II. Vol. 22 of Handbuch der Physik

Scaling and the design of miniaturized chemical-analysis systems

The occurrence of luminous pulses accompanied by ionization of gases and traveling at speeds approaching that of light has long been known. As highresolution devices for studying such phenomena have been developed in recent years, more manifestations of such pulses in all gases over a wide range of pressures, as well as in liquids, have been discovered under diverse circumstances. In this article an attempt is made to collect these diverse observations under the general descriptive term "ionizing waves of potential gradient." When they are thus viewed under a unifying heading, the common circumstances causing their appearance and the relations involved in their propagation become clear. Collected and discussed here are numerous recently discovered examples of such phenomena, observed in this laboratory and elsewhere, some of which are just being reported in print.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/148/3676/1417.full.pdf

Ionizing Waves of Potential Gradient: Luminous pulses in electrical breakdown, with velocities a third that of light, have a common basis.

The particle-in-cell method with Monte Carlo collisions is frequently used when a detailed kinetic simulation of a weakly collisional plasma is required. In such cases, one usually desires, inter alia, an accurate calculation of the particle distribution functions in velocity space. However, velocity space diffusion affects most, perhaps all, kinetic simulations to some degree, leading to numerical thermalization (i.e., relaxation of the velocity distribution toward a Maxwellian), and consequently distortion of the true velocity distribution functions, among other undesirable effects. The rate of such thermalization can be considered a figure of merit for kinetic simulations. This article shows that, contrary to previous assumption, the addition of Monte Carlo collisions to a one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation seriously degrades certain properties of the simulation. In particular, the thermalization time can be reduced by as much as three orders of magnitude. This effect makes obtaining strictly converged simulation results difficult in many cases of practical interest.

/pdf/kinetic-properties-of-particle-in-cell-simulations-e8cmk1faet.pdf

Gas Discharges II. Vol. 22 of Handbuch der Physik

Citations

Scaling and the design of miniaturized chemical-analysis systems

Ionizing Waves of Potential Gradient: Luminous pulses in electrical breakdown, with velocities a third that of light, have a common basis.

Kinetic properties of particle-in-cell simulations compromised by Monte Carlo collisions

Excitation in radio-frequency discharges

On the Electric Field-change due to the Leader Processes and Some of Their Discharge Mechanism: Study of Lightning Discharge (I)

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