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We have investigated phase relationships of the sesquisilicide alloys in the Ru-Mn-Si system. A series of chimney–ladder phases Ru1xMnxSiy (0.14 £ x £ 0.97, 1.584 £ y £ 1.741) are formed over a wide compositional range between Ru2Si3 and Mn4Si7. We also investigated thermoelectric properties of the directionally solidified Ru1xMnxSiy alloys as a function of Mn content and temperature. The dimensionless figure of merit ZT for alloys with high Mn content (x ‡ 0.75) increases as the Mn content increases. The alloy with x = 0.90 exhibits ZT as high as 0.76 at 874 K.

Phase relationships of manganese-substituted ruthenium sesquisilicide alloys have been investigated by using X-ray powder diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A series of chimney–ladder phases Ru1−xMnxSiy (0.14 less-than-or-equals, slant x less-than-or-equals, slant 0.97, 1.584 less-than-or-equals, slant y less-than-or-equals, slant 1.741) are formed over a wide compositional range between Ru2Si3 and Mn4Si7. The compositions of these chimney–ladder compounds deviate slightly from the composition line connecting Ru2Si3 and Mn4Si7, which corresponds to the ideal composition line satisfying VEC (valence electron counting) = 14 rule. The occurrence of this compositional deviation is discussed in terms of the VEC rule and the atomic packing. The thermoelectric properties of the directionally solidified Ru1−xMnxSiy alloys (0.55 less-than-or-equals, slant x less-than-or-equals, slant 0.90) have also been investigated as a function of the Mn content and temperature. The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) for those alloys with a high Mn content (x greater-or-equal, slanted 0.75) increased with the increase in Mn content. The ZT value for a crystal with x = 0.90 was as high as 0.76 at 874 K.

Manganese-alloyed Ru2Si3-based alloys with various alloy compositions have been prepared and the phase relationships of these alloys have been investigated as a function of the Mn concentration using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A series of Ru1-xMnxSiy chimney-ladder phases is confirmed to be formed over a wide compositional range (x ≥0.12). These chimney-ladder phases are considered to be formed to stabilize the HT-Ru2Si3 chimney-ladder phase through the substitution of Ru with Mn. The compositions of the chimney-ladder phases are, however, significantly deviated from the idealized composition satisfying the valence electron concentration rule: VEC=14.

In the present paper, a newly developed ultrasonic brake is proposed. The ultrasonic brake can solve problems of conventional passive elements, such as time delay, instability, and large size, by using unique characteristics of ultrasonic motor, as fast response, silent motion, and non-magnetic feature. It can also be designed to be smaller than conventional elements due to its simple structure. The brake locks or releases the rotor by use of ultrasonic levitation phenomenon. First, we have designed the structure of the ultrasonic brake using an equation of ultrasonic levitation phenomenon, results from structural analysis and finite element (FE) analysis of piezoelectric material of the vibrator. Then we have manufactured the ultrasonic brake and have conducted a driving experiment. Finally, we have demonstrated that the maximum levitation force is around 40 N and the friction torque of the ultrasonic brake is up to 0.38 Nm. Moreover, we have confirmed that both response time and torque/inertia ratio of the ultrasonic brake are much more superior to the conventional ones.

Directionally solidified alloys in the Ru-Mn-Si system exhibit a particular microstructure including columnar compositional variation due to the formation of many different chimney-ladder phases along the growth direction. Despite the existence of the compositional variation, the crystal orientations of the neighboring chimney-ladder phases are preserved. Over the compositional interfaces, the metal sublattice is considered to be continuous while the Si sublattice is not. Heat treatment of the directionally solidified alloy with the nominal composition of Ru0.10Mn0.90Si1.732 at 1100°C coarsens the compositional domains so as to reduce the density of the compositional interfaces. The values of the thermal conductivity increase with the decrease in the density of the compositional interfaces whereas those of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity are almost unchanged after the heat treatment. It is considered that the thermoelectric properties of the chimney-ladder compounds in the Ru-Mn-Si system can be enhanced by introducing a high density of the compositional interfaces.

Chimney-ladder compounds with the general chemical formula of Mn X2n-m (n, m: integers) possess tetragonal crystal structures which consist of two types of subcells; one composed of transition metal atoms (M) with the γÀ-Sn structure and the other composed of group 13 or 14 atoms (X) with a helical arrangement along the tetragonal c-axis. Since the chimney-ladder compounds generally exhibit very low thermal conductivity, presumably due to its long periodicity along the c-axis, they have been extensively investigated as promising thermoelectric materials. The high-temperature (HT) phase of Ru2Si3 is one of the chimney-ladder compounds with n=2 and m=1. Recently we have found that the HT-Ru2Si3 phase is stabilized by substituting Ru with Re so as to exist even at low temperatures in a wide compositional range of the Re content (Re: 14 to 73%), and that the thermoelectric power factor for alloys with high Re contents increases with the Re content and the highest value was obtained for the alloy with the highest Re content (73%), which is the solubility limit of Re in the chimney-ladder phase. In order to further enhance the thermoelectric properties, another ternary element which extends the solid solubility region of the HT-Ru2Si3 phase is favorable. We have chosen Mn as the ternary element because Mn4Si7 with the chimney-ladder structure exists as a counterpart of HT-Ru2Si3 in the Ru2Si3 -Mn4Si7 pseudo-binary system so that the solid solubility region of the chimney-ladder phase is anticipated to extend in a wider composition range than the Re case. Our study, in fact, shows that the Mn-substitution stabilizes the HT-Ru2Si3 phase in a wide compositional range of the Mn content; 12 to 100%. Compositional analyses indicate that the Si/M ratio gradually increases as the Mn content increases. This is considered to be due to the addition of Si atoms in the Si subcell in order to compensate the decrease in the valence electron concentrations (VEC) per M atom by the substitution of Ru (group 8) with Mn (group 7) with fewer valence electrons. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of the Mn-substituted Ru2Si3 are explained in terms of the VEC deviation from the idealized value, 14, which is expected for intrinsic semiconductors with the chimney-ladder structure. The highest dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT=0.76) is obtained for 90%Mn-substituted alloy. The relationships between the microstructure and thermoelectric properties will be discussed.

The effect of the probe arrangement on the reproducibility of topographic images of the concentration changes in oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin is evaluated by a virtual head phantom. A virtual head phantom consists of five types of tissue the 3D structure of which is based on a magnetic resonance imaging scan of an adult head. Localized and broadened brain activation is assumed in a virtual head phantom. The topographic images are obtained from the reflectance detected by the standard probe arrangement and the double-density probe arrangement. The uneven thickness of the superficial layer, which cannot be evaluated by the previous slab model, affects the distribution of measured activation in the topographic image, and this reduces the position reproducibility of near-infrared (NIR) topography with the standard probe arrangement. The overlapping measurements by the double-density probe arrangement can improve the reproducibility of the image obtained by NIR topography.

The light propagation in the head model with low-scattering CSF layer is analysed by the FEM. The error is less than 8 % when transport scattering coefficient of the CSF is greater than 0.2 mm-1

The authors have presented a new sensing device that employs a piezoelectric thickness vibrator operating in a trapped-energy mode for detecting slight variation in liquid level. To simulate its sensor operation, the device should be expressed by an equivalent electric network. In this study, the sensor is modeled by modifying an equivalent electric network representing the propagation of a thickness-vibration mode along the piezoelectric plate, and thereby its operation is simulated. The variation in G with the liquid level has been computed using this network model, and the feasibility of the model is confirmed.

In the present paper, a newly developed ultrasonic clutch is proposed. The ultrasonic clutch can solve problems of conventional passive elements, such as time delay, instability, and large size, by using unique characteristics of ultrasonic motor, as fast response, silent motion, and non-magnetic feature. It can also be designed to be smaller than conventional elements due to its simple structure. The clutch locks or releases the rotor by use of ultrasonic levitation phenomenon. First, we have designed the structure of the ultrasonic clutch using an equation of ultrasonic levitation phenomenon, results from structural analysis and finite element (FE) analysis of piezoelectric material of the vibrator. Then we have manufactured the ultrasonic clutch and have conducted a driving experiment. Finally, we have demonstrated that the maximum levitation force is around 20 N and the static friction torque of the ultrasonic clutch is up to 0.14 Nm.