Electric potential

About: Electric potential is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13853 publications have been published within this topic receiving 199555 citations. The topic is also known as: electric field potential & electrostatic potential.

A quantitative model for the potential resulting from reconnection with an arbitrary interplanetary magnetic field

Abstract: A quantitative three-dimensional model is proposed for the electric potential arising from magnetopause reconnection, in which several approximations are made concerning configuration of the magnetosheath flow, limitations on the magnitude of the reconnection speed, and the geometry of the problem. These approximations are such that the model yields an upper limit for the potential. The magnitude of the polar cap ionospheric electric field computed from this model is larger than that measured on balloons by an average factor of about 3, and the model reproduces the temporal variations of the experimental data. It is concluded that magnetopause reconnection is a highly efficient process that is probably the dominant mechanism driving polar cap convection and supplying energy to the magnetosphere. It seems that the most efficient way for the solar wind to pass the magnetospheric obstacle is by magnetopause reconnection.

Charged particle fluxes from planar magnetron sputtering sources

Abstract: We have investigated the charged particle fluxes from circular planar magnetrons with different magnetic field configurations and report measurements of the currents to earthed substrates, the substrate self‐biasing voltages, the ion currents to substrates at −100 V, and deposition rates as functions of axial and radial positions with respect to the target. The magnetrons fall into two classes, whose characteristics are explained in terms of electron motion in inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Both low and high electron/ion bombardment of the growing film can be achieved by small alterations to the magnetic field configuration.

Implicit self-consistent electrolyte model in plane-wave density-functional theory

Abstract: The ab initio computational treatment of electrochemical systems requires an appropriate treatment of the solid/liquid interfaces. A fully quantum mechanical treatment of the interface is computationally demanding due to the large number of degrees of freedom involved. In this work, we develop a computationally efficient model where the electrode part of the interface is described at the density-functional theory (DFT) level, and the electrolyte part is represented through an implicit solvation model based on the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. We describe the implementation of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation into the Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package, a widely used DFT code, followed by validation and benchmarking of the method. To demonstrate the utility of the implicit electrolyte model, we apply it to study the surface energy of Cu crystal facets in an aqueous electrolyte as a function of applied electric potential. We show that the applied potential enables the control of the shape of nanocrystals from an octahedral to a truncated octahedral morphology with increasing potential.

Capacitance, admittance, and rectification properties of small conductors

Abstract: We formulate microscopic expressions for capacitances, admittances and the rectification properties for small phase-coherent samples consisting of a number of metallic layers separated by insulators. The electric potential in such a structure is discussed with the help of characteristic functions which determine the variation of the microscopic potential inside the sample in response to an increase of the electro-chemical potential at a contact. An electrochemical capacitance matrix is derived which allows for field penetration into the conductor. We discuss the admittance matrix for conductors with nearby capacitors (gates) and analyse its magnetic field symmetry. We use the characteristic potentials to discuss the rectification properties of a conduction channel in the presence of nearby capacitors.

Generation of large-scale regions of auroral currents, electric potentials, and precipitation by the divergence of the convection electric field

Abstract: It is shown that discontinuities in the magnetospheric convection electric field E with ▽ · E <0 can generate large-scale regions (of the order of 100 km in width) of magnetic field-aligned currents with associated field-aligned electric potential differences and electron precipitation of the magnitudes and widths observed in auroral regions. Such an electric field discontinuity is known to exist along the evening boundary between sunward and antisunward convection. In addition, such discontinuities may also exist over the polar cap, on account of inhomogeneities in the magnetosheath flow and in regions, such as the Alfven layer, where drifting trapped particles charge separate. The present analysis assumes that the field-aligned current is governed by the free particle motion in dc electric and magnetic fields, and nothing is assumed to inhibit this free particle motion.