Nanocomposite films consisting of gold inclusions in the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) matrix were obtained by thermal vacuum deposition. Annealing of the obtained films with different temperatures was used to measure varying of film morphologies. The dependence of optical properties of the films on their morphology was studied. It was established that absorption and profile of the nanocomposi...

Ground calibration algorithms for a Geosynchronous Imaging FTS (GIFTS) are being developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center. This development is being conducted in support of NOAA's GOES-R Risk Reduction program with a focus on the hyperspectral sounder that is anticipated to be a part of the GOES-R Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES). The near ter...

Gas flow heating using radio frequency plasmas offers the possibility of depositing power in the center of the flow rather than on the outside, as is the case with electro-thermal systems where thermal wall losses lower efficiency. Improved systems for space propulsion are one possible application and we have tested a prototype micro-thruster on a thrust balance in vacuum. For these initial tes...

Vacuum polarization in a strong field, such as Hawking radiation from black holes, is constrained by the directional metric of strong field vectors. Relative localization of the quanta and the Schwarzschild radius is examined. Concept of thermal equilibrium of excited vacuum is critically analyzed and judged as dis-equilibrium, because virtual modes or particles are mutually independent. The re...

The standard theory of ideal gases ignores the interaction of the gas particles with the thermal radiation (photon gas) that fills the otherwise vacuum space between them. This is an unphysical feature of the theory since every material in this universe, and hence also the particles of a gas, absorbs and radiates thermal energy. The interaction with the thermal radiation that is contained withi...

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We report on the design, characterization, and performance of a near-field scanning thermal microscope capable to detect thermal heat currents mediated by evanescent thermal electromagnetic fields close to the surface of a sample. The instrument operates in ultrahigh vacuum and retains its scanning tunneling microscope functionality, so that its miniature, micropipette-based thermocouple sensor...

We report the assembly and thermal transformation of linear diamondoid assemblies inside carbon nanotubes. Our calculations and observations indicate that these molecules undergo selective reactions within the narrow confining space of a carbon nanotube. Upon vacuum annealing of adamantane molecules encapsulated in a carbon nanotube, we observe a sharp Raman feature at 1857 cm(-1), which we int...