Oxford-Google Digitization Project reaches milestone

This summer will see the completion of the first phase of the Oxford-Google Digitization Partnership project at the Bodleian Library. For the first time a large proportion of Oxford’s 19th century out-of-copyright holdings will be made easily accessible to a new generation of readers around the globe.

The Library’s partnership with Google started in 2004, making Oxford the first European partner in this mass-digitisation project. The initiative is part of the Libraries’ ongoing commitment to enhance access to their vast and unique collections for the researchers at all levels worldwide. The Oxford-Google partnership aims to make available many hundreds of thousands of books from the Bodleian and other Oxford libraries, representing a major contribution to the public domain content available through Google Book Search.

The works digitised include titles in English, German, Spanish French, and many other languages – from classic literature to scientific volumes in fields such as Geography, Philosophy, and Anthropology. Examples of works now available through Book Search include: the first English translation of Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy from 1729, the first edition of Jane Austen's Emma, John Cassell's Illustrated History of England and Charles Darwin’s first edition of On the Origin of Species.

The full text of these works can be searched and read on Google Book Search, and readers can download and print a copy in PDF format, where local copyright laws permit.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090327.html
http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley
http://books.google.com/

Nanocomposites

Next month Oxford engineers will start investigating what kind of composite materials would make for stronger, stealthier and more durable submarines.

Composites are already being used in warships because they can be made stronger and lighter than metal parts and are less susceptible to corrosion. They have also been shown to resist the forces unleashed in an explosion better than metal.

As reported in The Engineer the Oxford team will begin their EPSRC-funded project by testing how composites submerged in water respond to a shockwave generated by a metal projectile. High-speed cameras will capture how the materials deform under the pressure.

Testing and modelling is vital to determine what the best structure for a submarine composite would be – many composites, for instance, are made out of a ‘sandwich’ of different materials – as well as how composites fare after being submerged in water for a long time.

Vito Tagarielli, one of the Oxford team led by Nik Petrinic, told The Engineer: ‘We hope to reduce the weight of the submarine so there is less inertia and it can have higher acceleration and easier manoeuvrability.’

‘[Also] If a submarine is made of composite it makes it invisible to modern sea mines that detonate when they recognise a specific magnetic or acoustic signature.’

The project runs for five years and involves a host of industrial partners alongside the Ministry of Defence.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/science_blog/



“Nanomanufacturing” has been declared one of the keys to future product innovations in a broad range of industries from pharmaceuticals to semiconductors. Generally, the term nanomanufacturing has been applied to the production of materials where control of a single dimension on the order of 100 nm or less is vital to the performance of the product. The everyday production of large area coatings for improved energy performance of architectural and automotive glazings by magnetron sputtering is rarely considered to be part of nanomanufacturing, let alone on the cutting edge of this technology.This paper will demonstrate how the development of more complex multilayer energy control coatings has gone hand in hand with the development of capabilities to control deposition uniformity on 10-20 m2 substrates to nanomanufacturing tolerances that express the limits of today’s technologies. The development from simple solar control and single silver layer low-emissivity coatings, through double, and in the last year, triple silver layer low-E, has come with ability to control deposition uniformity to nanometer precision over large areas...
The link to the technical article:
http://www.glassfiles.com/library/article1171.htm



Advances in Research

Values of the key glazing performance parameters: total solar energy transmittance, g, overall heat loss coefficient (thermal transmittance) U, and visible transmittance, Tv, are given. Solar transmittance and thermal emissivity values are also given. Emissivity values refer to the coated or uncoated surface of the glazing category and not the double glazed unit (DGU). Values are representative only and will vary dependent on glass type and thickness, gap dimensions and coating structure. Total thickness is an essential parameter for use of modern glazing in existing frames of older buildings. Edge-seal and edge spacer thermal transmittance are dominant parameters for the effective thermal transmission of a glazing unit.
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/eesd/docs/indicators_55_glazing.pdf


























http://www.metalprices.com/pubcharts/Public/Indium_Price_Charts.asp

See your name at the heart of Ashmolean

The Ashmolean has launched a public fundraising appeal in the final phase of its major redevelopment. With a donation of £50 or more, you will be able to see your name or dedication inscribed on the Benefactors Bridge, linking the galleries at the heart of the Ashmolean’s new building.

This groundbreaking project, the largest museum development in the country, is transforming the Ashmolean for the twenty-first century, building on its historic position as a world-class museum of art and archaeology.

Rick Mather, the award-winning architect, has designed a scheme to provide the Ashmolean with 100 percent more display space. Located to the north of the original Museum, designed by Charles Cockerell in 1845, the new building will comprise 35 new galleries featuring the redisplay of the rich and varied permanent collections. It will introduce 4 large temporary exhibition galleries, a new education centre with additional study rooms, new conservation studios, a walkthrough between the Museum and the Cast Gallery and Oxford’s first rooftop café.

One of the most remarkable features of the building’s modern interior will be elegant foot-bridges, including the Benefactors Bridge, connecting the new galleries. By supporting the Ashmolean appeal, you can have your name inscribed on the Bridge and become part of the Museum’s fabric for years to come. Alternatively, dedicate a message on the Bridge in memory of a loved one or to mark a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary.

Opening in November, the new Ashmolean will be more than ever a museum for the people of Oxford. With state-of-the-art facilities and free admission to the inventive and engaging new displays, the Museum can build upon the position it occupies at the heart of the city’s life.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Linbury Trust, and a number of generous individuals and other charitable trusts, have already given their support to the campaign. Nearly eighty per cent of the £61 million target has been raised.

Christopher Brown, Director of the Ashmolean Museum, said: ‘With the public’s support we can reach our target to complete this historic expansion. I am frequently touched by the depth of fondness for and commitment to the Ashmolean among local people – feelings to which I am certain the new Museum will do justice. I look forward to seeing you in November, if not before, at what I really hope you will agree is your Ashmolean.’

To celebrate the launch of the appeal, three new photographs from the campaign My Ashmolean My Museum have been produced. Featuring the actor, Sir Ben Kingsley, Rick Mather, and 8 year-old Oxfordshire resident, Freya Darius-Nobes, their portraits represent themes from the new displays, the building of the new Ashmolean, and the joy of discovering new stories about the collections.

Sir Ben Kingsley said: ‘This is such an exciting time at the Ashmolean. I am really pleased to have been asked to get involved. I am lucky enough to live close by to what is a truly world-class museum, looking after treasures from across the globe. My photograph illustrates West meets East – one of the themes of the new galleries and a story very close to my own heart. I can’t wait to see it on display.’

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090318_2.html

Electronagativity, polarisability and band gap in Oxides

The earliest studies of conjugated molecular materials established that the mechanism behind electroluminescence was recombination of electron-hole pairs in a radiative process. This provided evidence for the existence of a band-gap within these materials, allowing comparison with inorganic semiconductors studied in the well understood eld of solid state physics. More recently, the possibility of controlling the band-gap of organic semiconductors has allowed the use of a variety of conjugated polymers in many applications, including highly sensitive chemical sensors, eld-eect transistors (OFETs), solar cells (OPVs) and high effciency organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).


Patric Wallace Parkinson, (Brasenose College), Ultrafast Electronic Processes at
Nanoscale Organic-Inorganic Semiconductor Interfaces, Michaelmas 2008, Doctrola Thesis

Electronagativity, polarisability and band gap in Oxides

Electronegativity, polarisability and band gap in oxides Oxygen in the oxidation state of -2 exists in oxides and oxidic compounds where the bonding is ionic, covalent or metallic. In these different types of bonding situations it has distinctly different parameters which relate to electronegativity, polarisability, etc. No other element exhibits such versatile behaviour(3,4) and it is this behaviour that imparts many of the properties to oxidic glasses. It arises, in a crude way, from oxygen being able to exist not only as bridging or nonbridging but also to exist with a degree of negative charge which can be varied, for example, by adjusting the glass composition. This negative charge should not be thought of as static but fluctuating depending on movement relative to the silicon atoms to which it is linked, and also on the proximity, movement and nature of constituent metal ions.

XA-XB=(Q/n)½

where n is the number of bonds. (For oxides, 1·1 eV must be added for each oxygen in order to correct for the double bond in the O2 molecule.)

Calculations show that in covalent oxides such as P2O5, xO is 3·5. This is the usual value quoted for oxygen in textbooks. However, for oxides where there is appreciable ionicity, there is a fall in xO. Indeed, for Cs2O, xO has fallen to 2·2. The important point that should be noted is that the oxygen atom (or rather oxide ion) has less attraction for the negative charge in the bonding as its own negative charge increases. Bearing in mind that in glass the negative charge on nonbridging oxygen atoms is greater than for bridging, it follows that there would be a decrease in oxygen electronegativity, on average throughout the network, as the proportion of basic oxide in the glass is increased.

If there is a similar trend for the band gap electronegativity, X*opt, then the smaller value of X*opt that results would have the effect of raising the top of the
valence band and this would account for the lower frequency onset of ultraviolet absorption for glasses, e.g. soda–lime–silica glasses compared with vitreous
silica.

Duffy J A, Ultraviolet transparency of glass: a chemical approach in terms of band theory, polarisability and electronegativity, Phys. Chem. Glasses, 2001, 42 (3), 151–7

Sputtering yields

Sputtering systems are generaly calibrated to estimate the deposition rate under the given condition, however yield data of the type described are often used to estimate rate changes when changing coating materials and in estimating the amount of materials removed during sputter cleaning and bias sputtering.

The erosion rate is given by:

R = 6.23 J S Ma / δ (nm/min)

J is ion current density in mA/cm2
S is sputteirng yields in atoms/ion
Ma is atomic weight in grams
δ density of the target material in g/cm3

Sputtering rates in planar diode systems: inelastic charge exchange collisions between accelerated ions and neutral sputtering gas species affect the average energy of ions striking the target as:

E = e Vt

Vt is applied target potential




The handbook of Sputtering
http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3lm17uW7TF0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA249&dq=Thornton+J+A+1978+J.+Vac.+Sci.+Technol.+15+171%E2%80%937&ots=TtAZfsgElo&sig=J6e5wV8Fuiu3ExGB_dwMNsTsovo#PPA262,M1



Bohr knew that a photon's energy was equal to Planck's constant times its frequency (this formula was discovered by Einstein during his work on the photoelectric effect).

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/quantumzone/balmer2.html