Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 75 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The homogeneous fixed point must satisfy . The singular point is outside the domain of the reaction term, so substitution in the other equation gives the unique regular spatially homogeneous equilibriumThis is the basally forced quadratic activator-inhibitor model. The linearization of its reaction terms gives the Jacobian matrixPut , so . Its trace and determinant are and , and its eigenvalues areSince , both eigenvalues have negative real part exactly when . HenceFor the equilibrium is always strictly linearly stable. For , equality is an oscillatory threshold with ; the nonlinear qualification at this threshold is proved below.
Now insert a perturbation proportional to . The diffusion terms subtract from . With the mode trace and determinant areFor a strictly stable homogeneous state, makes for all . A nonzero Fourier mode can therefore grow only if , in which case its two real eigenvalues have opposite signs. The determinant parabola has its minimum at , and that minimum is . The two-species Turing criterion is consequently derived here asThese force , hence . Equivalently, solving for givesThus the inhibitor in a reaction-diffusion system must diffuse sufficiently fast. Inside this region, the growing wavenumbers obeyAt onset, the minimum touches zero and the two determinant roots coalesce. ThereforeHere is evaluated on the onset surface. These are the Turing threshold of a basally forced quadratic activator-inhibitor model and its continuum critical wavelength. On a finite or domain with periodic boundary conditions an admissible nonzero spatial mode must additionally fall in the stated band. Equality in the diffusion criterion is marginal onset, while is the distinct homogeneous oscillatory threshold.
For completeness, the weak focus at the Hopf threshold of a basal activator-inhibitor model resolves the nonlinear homogeneous stability when . Let , , , and set , , , . Expanding the rational reaction term to cubic order giveswhereWrite , and evaluate these homogeneous polynomials on the unit circle. If , , and , division of the radial and angular equations givesThe angular integral of is zero because it changes sign under . Iterating its quadratic term once over a full cycle contributes the square of this zero integral, so the first nonzero return map term is cubic. Using , and the corresponding sixth moments gives and . The Poincaré map isBecause , sufficiently small positive radii decrease on every return. The equilibrium at is therefore nonlinearly asymptotically stable, with weak rather than exponential attraction, despite its neutral linear eigenvalues. The strict inequalities above describe the ordinary diffusion-driven instability from a strictly linearly stable homogeneous state.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 81 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the rotation convention of part (a), so the orientation drift is . The steady gyrotactic orientation Fokker-Planck equation on the unit sphere isLet , , and introduce the rotation generator . Dividing by givesThe leading isotropic density is . At first order, writing , rotational diffusion makes no contribution because . The tangential drift is the spherical gradient of , whose divergence is . ThereforeIn the polar convention of the paper, , and . Thus, in the specified first-harmonic form,The correction integrates to zero, preserving normalization. The first correction has no dependence on because the isotropic leading density has zero spherical Laplacian; enters the next-order equations.
Spherical symmetry gives . Consequently the rapid-rotation mean gyrotactic orientation isIt is this small horizontal swimming bias, rather than a mean vertical orientation at leading order, that enters the concentration equation of part (c).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 81 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the cell number density. The steady cell conservation equation with isotropic translational diffusion isUsing the rapid-rotation mean gyrotactic orientation, put , so the swimming drift is . In the transverse plane, and . Thus andMultiplying the conservation equation by giveswith and . The base fluid velocity is tangent to the wall. Zero normal cell flux there is , orNormalization requires the cross-sectional mean of to be one.
For , set . The drift term acting on the leading constant vanishes, and the first angular harmonic satisfiesWriting turns this into the Modified Bessel differential equation of order one. Its regular solution iswhere is the Modified Bessel function of the first kind. The singular second solution is excluded at the axis, and the displayed coefficient enforces the wall boundary condition. The angular harmonic has zero area average, so the normalization is satisfied at this order.
When , the gyrotactic concentration layer at a rotating-cylinder wall has stretched coordinate . The leading radial equation is . The solution decaying into the interior is proportional to ; the wall condition fixes its coefficient to . HenceThis also follows from the large-argument asymptotic expansion of , which gives near the wall; within the layer. Its thickness is . The quoted exponential is a wall-layer approximation, not an exact solution all the way to ; the Modified Bessel function of the first kind formula supplies the regular continuation through the axis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 3 13B i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The reaction–diffusion system for amoebae contains local reproduction and density-dependent loss , giving carrying density . The term describes diffusion with coefficient one. The chemotaxis flux is , so its contribution to the conservation equation is . Attraction towards greater chemical concentration requires at the relevant positive densities; negative values would mean repulsion, and zero removes the chemotactic response.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 1 c i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use a randomized complete block design, with day as block and each biological cell as an experimental unit. Each day should contain two biological cells at each of the five dose levels. Each level then has ten replicates overall and occurs equally often in every day: the resulting block design is an orthogonal block design.
This spreads any day-to-day changes in preparation, temperature or measurement across all levels instead of confounding dose with day. Treat the zero level as a control with otherwise comparable handling. Keep the treatment-to-measurement delay standardized because the response variable is a diffusion rate measured immediately after preparation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 66 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the homogeneous equilibrium point condition . Evaluate at and abbreviateThe quantity is the chemical relaxation rate with the cell density held fixed. Derivatives of do not enter this linear stability analysis: they multiply spatial derivatives of the homogeneous background or products of perturbations. For a Fourier mode with time dependence , put and writeConsequentlyAt , the eigenvalues are and . The neutral cell-density mode reflects mass conservation, not decay of every homogeneous perturbation.
Write , , , and interpret production physically as . If , the trace-determinant stability criterion shows that an unstable nonzero wavenumber exists precisely when . The unstable band isIf , the chemical field is already unstable at zero wavenumber; arbitrarily small positive wavenumbers are unstable too. Since , this also implies . Thus, on the infinite plane, the undivided Keller--Segel aggregation threshold isFor , dividing by gives the requested formAt equality there is no strictly growing mode when ; nonzero spatial modes decay. On a finite domain, a permitted nonzero wavenumber must actually lie in the unstable band. If one allows a signed production function, the displayed matrix and trace-determinant stability criterion remain valid, but the simplification using must be revisited.
The printed hypotheses do not ensure . Positivity of the degradation rate alone is insufficient. For a concrete counterexample, take , , , and . The homogeneous equilibrium point condition holds, all rates and transport coefficients are positive, but . The printed left-hand side equals , although for . These spatial modes grow. If , the printed expression is undefined. The undivided criterion and the matrix above resolve both cases.
To find the fastest-growing Keller--Segel mode, use the larger eigenvalueFor the square root is real. Put and . Differentiation givesA positive maximizing wavenumber exists in either of two growing cases: , , or , . Equivalently, . In this range , andThus the stationary point is the unique maximum. The derivative condition yieldsSolving it, with the root that satisfies the unsquared derivative equation, givesFor , the unequal-diffusivity expression simplifies to , also agreeing with the equal-diffusivity limit. The formula maximizes the full two-field growth rate; it makes no instantaneous-chemical approximation. Every direction of with this length is equivalent by rotational symmetry.
If but , the maximum instead occurs at : the fastest mode is homogeneous, with and infinite wavelength. For , its initial derivative is . If the derivative thereafter decreases, while if it increases towards the still-negative large- limit; either way no positive- maximum is missed. At , the two eigenvalues are simply and , giving the same conclusion. In a finite box, maximize over the allowed Fourier modes; excluding the homogeneous mode can change the selected length. In a stable parameter range there is no fastest-growing mode.
The first ratio compares the positive feedback loop “more cells produce more attractant, which draws in more cells” with spreading by cell diffusion and removal of chemical perturbations. Its numerator measures chemotaxis together with attractant production; its denominator measures dispersal together with incremental degradation. This competition between directed chemotaxis and cell diffusion produces spatial aggregation. The second ratio compares the concentration dependence of chemical production, , with incremental degradation . Positive amplifies chemical fluctuations, whereas negative suppresses them. It changes the chemical relaxation available to the chemotaxis feedback loop and can itself destabilize the homogeneous chemical field. Chemical diffusion suppresses short scales and sets the selected wavelength, but does not change the infinite-plane long-wave threshold. These interpretations as ratios of stabilizing and destabilizing processes assume .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the motionless uniform layer, the heat equation reduces to . The lower temperature and upper heat-transfer condition determine the quasistatic temperature of a conductively cooled film:When , . For a varying film let its vertical velocity scale as , as required by incompressible flow. Relative to vertical thermal diffusion, horizontal thermal diffusion is smaller by , and either horizontal or vertical thermal advection is smaller by . Time variation on the film's transport timescale has the same small factor. Thus the leading heat equation is again at each when both specified dimensionless parameters are small. This argument retains the small assumption. If thickness were externally varied on a faster timescale , one would additionally need ; the spatial conditions alone do not control arbitrary rapid time dependence.
Define . The surface tension at the surface is , so the Marangoni stress is . With capillary pressure to leading order, horizontal Stokes flow in the film solves , , . HenceThe continuity equation gives the thermocapillary thin-film equationTo justify using constant surface tension in the capillary pressure, compare the two volume fluxes on horizontal scale : their magnitudes are and . When both mechanisms are retained at leading order, their balance gives . Thus replacing by in the curvature term incurs only a relative small correction. Equivalently, small ensures this if is bounded; if it were parametrically large, the extra small surface-tension-variation condition would have to be imposed separately.
The capillary pressure is higher beneath a crest than beneath a trough, so pressure-driven volume flux drains the crest and smooths thickness. The Marangoni effect acts oppositely: a thicker region has a colder surface and therefore larger surface tension. Surface velocity is pulled towards that region, supplying more liquid and amplifying the thickness variation. The arrows below represent these two mechanisms separately.
Capillary pressure drains film crests whereas cooling-induced Marangoni stress draws liquid towards them
. Details. Put and . Substitution of , , gives coefficients and . Making both equal to one yieldsIn these scales the fractional surface tension change is , making the previous approximation explicit.
The linear stability analysis about gives . For a normal mode ,Long waves with grow, decay, and are neutral. The neutral mode changes the mean film thickness. The dispersion relation is even in , with its two maxima at .
For a steady positive film with zero volume flux, divide by and integrate to obtain . Choosing as specified fixes . Multiplication by and another integration then give the zero-flux thermocapillary film profiles first integralFor , and : the unique minimum is , while and . This potential energy interpretation classifies the profiles without assuming a sinusoidal shape at finite amplitude.
For , the only profile is the uniform film . For , there are two positive turning heights and a smooth periodic film oscillates between them. Its period isFor , the maximum is and the lower endpoint is zero. A drop reaches zero thickness in finite distance, with zero limiting slope but unbounded curvature since . Its half-width isThus the formal limiting profile consists of drops of peak height and footprint width , with zero limiting contact angle. Identical drops can touch, or a zero-thickness region can separate them in the degenerate zero-flux model. These are limiting wet-region solutions, not everywhere positive twice differentiable films; the singular contact region is not resolved by lubrication theory. A useful parametric drop profile isFinally let with small positive . Writing gives and . The small-amplitude steady profile is , with period tending to . Its wavenumber tends to the neutral boundary of the unstable band, not to the fastest-growing wavenumber.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 78 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The imposed pressure gradient and Darcy's law give a linear velocity profile. Use as the mean pore velocity in the contaminant advection-diffusion equation; thenThe last conditions express zero transverse solute flux under the standard closed-layer interpretation. Transverse exchange through the layer boundaries would change this cell problem and requires additional boundary data. If the prescribed mean speed is a Darcy velocity, its corresponding pore velocity is that speed divided by porosity.
The given parameter is the ratio of transverse mixing time to travel time:Thus transverse dispersion mixes the contaminant across the layer many times during its passage along the long layer. Different fluid speeds still matter: repeated exchange between slow and fast portions produces Taylor dispersion, rather than transport solely at each parcel's original speed. The averaged description applies after and on longitudinal scales large compared with the distance travelled during that mixing time.
Write and, to leading correction order, , with . Taking in the local equation gives the cell problemWith , its solution isAveraging the local advection-diffusion equation now yields . An integration by parts in the cell problem gives . Since , the effective equation isThis is Taylor dispersion in a linear porous-layer velocity profile. For a localized pulse away from the inlet and outlet, its mean position advances at and its longitudinal variance grows as .
For the inlet step, use the semi-infinite inlet approximation , , and as at fixed . The resulting constant-concentration inlet solution isOne derivation is to Laplace transform in time: . Inverting gives the two complementary error functions. Their sum is one at ; for fixed both terms vanish as , and substitution verifies the averaged equation. Retaining only the first term gives the familiar moving error-function front far from the inlet when longitudinal advection dominates diffusion, but does not satisfy the inlet condition exactly.
For a literal finite layer , a downstream boundary condition is also needed once the outlet influences the solution. The PDF's step-inlet request specifies only the initially clean region , so the formula above is the semi-infinite/long-layer solution, not a claim of a unique finite-interval solution with unspecified outlet data.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 332 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take positive downwards from the roof. Write , , and . The cooled magma follows the decreasing liquidus from towards ; the initially superheated liquid starts at above that liquidus. The solid has zero solute concentration. At each temperature in the mushy layer, a horizontal tie line joins the pure solid to the residual liquid on the liquidus. The lever rule gives the liquid fraction from the bulk concentration. Since , this path stops before the eutectic temperature and does not cross the eutectic composition.
The porosity denotes the liquid fraction, so is the solid fraction. Equal phase mass densities remove volume-change flow; the stable density stratification suppresses convection. In the stagnant mushy-layer model, define bulk specific enthalpy and bulk solute concentration byThe arbitrary reference of specific enthalpy has been omitted. The two conservation laws in areHere is the thermal diffusivity, with the thermal conductivity. The positive term records increased specific enthalpy on melting; during freezing it supplies latent heat. In the liquid , the heat equation and solute diffusion equation arewhere is the solutal diffusivity. Neglecting solute diffusion inside the mushy layer does not permit dropping in the liquid at this stage.
Use , liquid and as , and initially , , for . These are the half-space boundary conditions appropriate before cooling reaches the bottom of the chamber. For a closed chamber of finite depth , replace the far-field conditions by the specified bottom conditions, for example at an insulated impermeable floor; the half-space similarity solution then ceases to apply when the thermal penetration depth approaches .
At , let and be the common liquid concentration and temperature, and let be the limiting porosity on the mush side. Continuity of , the Rankine-Hugoniot condition for solute, and the interfacial conservation of energy giveThe first condition has the sign of solute rejection into the liquid. For the sharp-edge stagnant mushy-layer model with nonzero liquid solutal diffusivity, close the free-boundary problem by marginal equilibrium at a mush-liquid boundary:This prevents constitutional supercooling immediately ahead of the mushy layer. A small solid fraction jump at its edge is allowed: imposing as well as these finite- conditions would generally overdetermine the reduced model. At the roof, follows from the liquidus, and no additional solute-flux boundary condition is needed in the diffusion-free mush.
To obtain the large-concentration similarity solution, putThe positive superheat specifies the physically intended liquid initial state. On a similarity solution, are constant, so every newly incorporated level leaves the same constant . Write and . Then throughout the mushy layerFor , , and , the effective heat capacity is constant to relative error . Thus setIntegration of the similarity solution ordinary differential equation gives the leading analytical profilesThe temperature is . In the mushy layer, the concentration and porosity are the displayed ; in the liquid,These retain the liquid solutal boundary layer. For completeness, finite- values of are determined analytically, to the same large- order, by settingand solvingThe solute jump gives exactly; replacing by on the right of the last equation retains that jump's next-order factor, but does not make the linearized thermal profiles exact at finite . The branch has , . All these profiles are leading asymptotic expressions, not exact solutions of the nonlinear finite- heat equation.
For at fixed positive , the complementary error function asymptotic gives , hence , , , and . The result simplifies toIn particular, and . There is no finite interfacial latent heat jump in this limit: the latent heat is released continuously throughout the mushy layer. Matching the two temperature gradients givesThe printed final equation is missing the square on in the exponential. The corrected exponent follows directly from differentiating and is consistent with . The positive root is unique: the mush-side gradient decreases from infinity to zero with , whereas increases. The zero-superheat limit is singular and is not described by a finite positive in this two-region construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 332 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose the positive direction along the background flow, so ; reverse if necessary. Let measure depth below the impermeable roof, and set . The deep ambient water has . Continuity of pressure at and hydrostatic pressure inside the buoyant CO2 giveHere is permeability of a porous medium and is dynamic viscosity. Since , the ambient return-flow correction to the imposed pressure gradient is higher order. The small aspect ratio supplies the hydrostatic pressure approximation; capillary trapping, dissolution, compressibility and dispersion are omitted in this sharp-interface model.
The depth-integrated Darcy flux is . The actual stored fluid volume is per unit horizontal area, where is the aquifer porosity. Thus the porous gravity current with background flow satisfieswith , and . Both and the later denote actual injected volume per unit transverse width. Away from injection, the equation is an advected porous medium equation. At each finite front impose and vanishing outgoing volume flux per unit width. At the injection point is continuous and . For an initially empty aquifer, . The advective speed is , not .
For a constant-flux porous gravity current, write characteristic depth and extent temporarily. At early times volume conservation gives ; gravity spreading gives . HenceBackground advection becomes comparable when , so the transition scales areFor , the leading similarity solution is symmetric:For , its model ordinary differential equation and boundary conditions areChoose the nonnegative finite-front branch, reflect evenly in , and require at the front. The factor divides the injection equally between the two halves. Integration of the ordinary differential equation gives ; the limiting front slope is . This boundary-value problem determines the initially symmetric shape without assuming an unjustified elementary formula. Independent numerical integration gives in this normalization.
For , upstream storage approaches a finite steady value. With no upstream leakage, for , giving wherever . Downstream the uniform interior carries , soThe upstream volume flux vanishes even though local Darcy velocity contributions from background flow and buoyancy cancel. The upstream stored volume is , a finite constant. The downstream plateau therefore extends a distance , and its front advances at to leading order.
The diffusive nose of an advected porous gravity current has widthIn a frame translating at , balance the time derivative against the nonlinear gravity diffusion. With and , the leading transition is , withIts finite front has as . Independent numerical integration of this boundary-value problem gives , so a more accurate leading nose position is and its local shape is . The entire transition has no elementary closed form. A useful explicit, approximate shape is the volume-preserving linear rampThis gives . Its ramp width is , and its edge obeys the exact kinematic boundary condition to the displayed order. It also has the same area as a sharp step at . This is an approximate ramp closure, not an exact solution of the nonlinear nose ordinary differential equation. A constant phase shift balances the finite upstream storage within this ramp approximation; the full solution's subleading matching may alter constant offsets.
For a rapid injection of total volume , remove the source for and introduce . The advected constant-volume porous gravity current obeys and . A similarity solution has depth proportional to and radius proportional to . Direct substitution gives the compactly supported Barenblatt solutionIndeed . Its centre translates at the pore speed , its two edges are , and its maximum depth decays as . The expression is exact for a point release within this reduced model; finite-width initial data approach this similarity solution at late times. If , the constant-rate current remains in the symmetric spreading regime and the constant-volume solution has a stationary centre.
Since the endpoints represent the same point of the tube, both density and diffusive flux must match. For a positive diffusion coefficient , the periodic boundary conditions areFor separation of variables, periodic spatial modes solve and have time factors . The constant mode has no decay. The periodic diffusion on a circle solution is thereforewhere the Fourier coefficients areThe expression for includes .
The specified profile is even, so . Its mean follows from , giving . For , two integrations by parts giveConsequentlyAll nonconstant normal modes decay for , so the density becomes uniform:The conserved total amount is . The initial cusp at zero is compatible with an L2 space solution and is immediately smoothed by diffusion. At there would be no relaxation, so positivity is needed for this long-time conclusion.
For a spherically symmetric number density, the radial Laplacian is . Applying separation of variables and choosing the separation constant givesso the ordinary differential equations areThe radial problem is an eigenvalue problem for with Dirichlet boundary conditions, hence : multiplying the radial equation by and integrating gives for a nonzero regular mode vanishing at .
To solve it explicitly, set , corresponding to the suggested power . The equation reduces to , soFiniteness at the origin forces , and the Dirichlet boundary condition at requires for an integer . The absence of interior zeros excludes , selecting the fundamental normal mode. If denotes the initial central density, the result iswhere the sine ratio is defined as at the origin. It is strictly positive in the interior for every finite time. The arbitrary positive scale cannot be fixed without additional initial data.
The spatial factor is time independent, so the density and the total neutron population have the same exponential growth rate. Thus the spherical reaction-diffusion growth threshold isAt equality the fundamental mode is stationary; below it the mode decays. For fixed , the equivalent critical-radius condition is . This is the competition between multiplication in the bulk and diffusion loss at the surface in the stated dimensionless model.
Complete the square in the Fourier transform exponent:The supplied shifted Gaussian integral therefore givesThis is the Fourier transform of a Gaussian, with angular-wavenumber convention .
Take the spatial Fourier transform of the heat equation. Two integrations by parts, with decaying fields and first derivatives at infinity, give . Thus each mode satisfies the ordinary differential equationInserting the transformed initial condition and integrating the time equation givesFinally set . The inverse Fourier transform, evaluated by the same Gaussian identity, givesEquivalently the Gaussian initial data for the heat equation evolve asThe profile broadens and its peak decreases, while its total integral remains , as required by diffusion without loss on the whole line. Direct differentiation verifies the equation and the initial limit.
A suitable donor-acceptor heterojunction provides an energetically favourable route from a bound excitation to an interfacial charge-transfer state and then separated carriers. The electron is preferentially transported in the acceptor and the hole in the donor. The interface facilitates dissociation that is inefficient in a single strongly excitonic material; it must also avoid excessive energy loss and rapid interfacial recombination.
An interpenetrating donor-acceptor structure balances short exciton travel with continuous charge-extraction paths
. Source. Details. An idealized bulk heterojunction places most generated excitons within roughly a diffusion length of an interface while maintaining continuous donor paths to the hole contact and acceptor paths to the electron contact. Domain dimensions should therefore be comparable to the material's exciton transport scale, not arbitrarily large. The total absorbing thickness should capture substantial light yet remain within the charge-collection capability set by mobility, field and recombination. Excessive mixing can impair transport or increase recombination; very coarse domains waste excitons before they reach an interface.[ref]
For radius and gold density , . The supplied Stokes model gives and at . Therefore the standard one-second diffusive rms distances are in one coordinate and in three dimensions.
Using the source's supplied shorthand literally with instead gives . That shorthand lacks the factor two in the standard long-time mean-square displacement; it should not be identified with either of the preceding standard rms conventions. None of these rms values is a cumulative path length.
An ideal drag-free fall from rest gives . Actual gravitational settling in the assumed viscous model is much smaller: , , and displacement in one second is approximately . Thus diffusion overwhelms settling, even though ideal vacuum fall exceeds the rms diffusion distance. For rarefied-gas nanoparticle drag, at a 20-nm size in argon, continuum no-slip drag may require a rarefaction/slip correction; pressure and gas mean-free-path data are absent, so these numerical transport estimates are conditional on the supplied Stokes model.
Brownian motion is the fluctuating motion of a suspended particle produced by thermal molecular collisions. Using the standard Brownian displacement conventions, in a uniform fluid without external drift, mean displacement is zero but mean-square displacement grows with time. For overdamped diffusion, in one coordinate and in three dimensions, with and Stokes friction for a no-slip sphere.
Brownian transport brings nanoparticles into encounters and allows them to explore configurations during self-assembly. Reversible interactions permit rearrangement toward low-free-energy structures; interactions that are too strong can instead trap disordered aggregates. Thermal fluctuations also oppose localization in shallow traps. The symbol avoids confusing friction with an unrelated chemical potential.
On a graph of normalized remaining thickness against , both positive photoresist curves remain near unity below and fall to zero by . Their transition widths are : decades for the lower-contrast material and decades for the higher-contrast material. The latter therefore has a much steeper transition. The curves can be aligned at a common illustrative clearing dose; their absolute horizontal placement cannot be inferred from photoresist contrast alone.
The higher-contrast material distinguishes bright and dark regions even when diffraction has reduced their intensity modulation. The lower-contrast material requires a much stronger aerial-image modulation and loses small features earlier. Finite resist thickness, standing waves, acid diffusion, development conditions and photon statistics can limit actual performance beyond this threshold model.
An ordinary capacitor stores energy by separating charge across a dielectric: and . Electronic charge redistribution is rapid, giving high specific power, but the dielectric breakdown field and modest capacitance limit specific energy. Series resistance limits pulse power and produces heating; a large nominal capacitance does not remove those losses.
A supercapacitor has a much larger interfacial area and nanometre-scale charge separation. An electric double-layer capacitor stores charge without a bulk redox transformation; pseudocapacitance adds sufficiently fast surface or near-surface redox storage. ion motion in pores, electrolyte stability and series resistance constrain its response. Its specific energy usually exceeds an ordinary capacitor's while high specific power and cycling durability remain possible.
An electric battery stores chemical free energy through coupled electrode oxidation-reduction reactions. It can store substantial energy per mass, but charge transfer, ionic transport, diffusion and heat removal constrain rapid discharge. The terminal voltage and accessible capacity depend on discharge rate and state of charge. Accordingly the plotted order follows the storage and transport mechanisms; it is not a claim that every battery has less power than every supercapacitor.
From the illuminated side downward, the p-type gallium arsenide cap provides a low-resistance route to the front metal contact. It should remain beneath the contact grid but be removed from the optical aperture to reduce parasitic absorption. The wider-band gap p-type aluminium gallium arsenide window transmits much of the useful light and reduces front-surface recombination of carriers in the adjacent absorber. The optical-window and reduced-recombination rationale has a primary experimental basis in early heteroface devices.[ref]
High-efficiency Ga1-xAlxAs-GaAs solar cells by Jerry M. Woodall and H. J. Hovel. Applied Physics Letters 21 (1972), p. 379, transparency and surface-recombination rationale; p. 380, contacts and antireflection coating
The p-type gallium arsenide emitter and n-type gallium arsenide base form the p-n junction. Absorbed photons generate electrons and electron holes; diffusion and the junction's electric field direct them toward the appropriate contacts. The n-type aluminium gallium arsenide back-surface-field layer provides a barrier to minority holes moving toward the substrate and reduces rear recombination. The n-type gallium arsenide substrate supports the epitaxial layers and conducts majority carriers to the rear contact.
The front metal must collect current with limited shading and the back metal provides the return contact. Interpreting the patterned hatched region as the optical antireflection coating, it reduces reflected light over the exposed window. Carrier selectivity, low recombination, low series resistance and low shading must work together; the equilibrium junction field alone is not a source of electrical energy.
A faceted, approximately equiaxed crystal is indicated. A truncated octahedron bounded by low-energy and facets is a plausible three-dimensional shape for an fcc metal particle; the hexagonal section alone does not uniquely distinguish it from other faceted polyhedra.
The Wulff construction minimizes at fixed particle volume. Place a plane with normal a distance from a common centre and take the inner envelope. Low-surface-energy orientations survive as large facets. Annealing permits diffusion toward this equilibrium morphology, provided the time is sufficient. For a supported or strained alloy, substrate adhesion and elastic energy modify this simple free-particle construction.




