To study the combustion process of fuel in the microwave plasma torch, we designed a butane microwave plasma device exploiting a tungsten rod as an electrode. Through analysis of the image record by high-speed camera, we found that the discharge of butane microwave plasma torch is a cyclic process at atmospheric pressure at a frequency  of around 100 Hz. During the discharge, the active particles continuously diffuse from the electrode to the outside like the bloom of the flower. Then, the variation of plasma torch of jet height and temperature with microwave power is obtained. In addition, we studied the effects of different butane flow rates on the plasma torch. The results illustrate that excessive butane will lead to carbon deposition on the electrode. All in all, this work provides a new understanding of the combustion of the microwave plasma torch, which is conducive to the further development of microwave plasma in the fields of waste gas treatment, fuel combustion, and plasma engine.

As one of the most important piezoelectric materials for piezoelectricity related devices, the performance of wurtzite-type aluminum nitride (w-AlN) is still inhibited by its low piezoelectric coefficients. Herein, we have proposed a new co-alloying w-AlN system by Li+ and Ti4+ (or Zr4+) in a ratio of 1:2 and systematically compared its piezoelectric properties with state-of-the-art Sc-alloyed w-AlN via the first-principle method. It is found that the co-alloyed w-AlN shows obvious advantages over Sc-alloyed w-AlN in nearly all aspects of piezoelectric performance. The piezoelectric strain coefficient (d33) of (LiTi2)0.375Al0.625N reaches 213.25 pC/N, about 8 times and 41 times that of Sc0.375Al0.625N and pure w-AlN, respectively. Additionally, the large enhancement of piezoelectricity of co-alloyed w-AlN was successfully related to the elastic softening, the increased Born effective charge [Formula: see text], and the decreased internal strain sensitivity [Formula: see text]. This work provides a new way to enhance the performance of incumbent piezoelectric materials by accessible elements instead of Sc.

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We present a flip-flop dual model to treat quantum dynamics of relativistic particles with a rest mass and investigate the matter waves’ phase and amplitude modulations due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Their matter waves are shown to behave like a traveling wave packet accompanied by a guiding pilot wave, and the phase modulations result in mass oscillations. These effects are shown to be more prominent for light-weighted elementary particles, such as neutrinos and electrons. This mechanism is solely due to the uncertainty principle and has nothing to do with the flavor-mixing of neutrinos. Simulations using neutrinos and electrons are presented, which indicate an oscillation period on the order of ps. In this study, we primarily focus on the predicted mass oscillations induced by the uncertainty principle. A slit-type interference experiment using neutrinos and electrons from reactors is proposed to test the predicted behaviors.

We present a flip-flop dual-component model to treat quantum dynamics of relativistic particles with a rest mass and investigate the matter waves’ phase and amplitude modulations due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Their matter waves behave like a traveling Gaussian-shaped wave packet accompanied by a guiding pilot wave, and the phase modulations result in mass oscillations. These effects are more prominent for light-weighted elementary particles, such as neutrinos and electrons. This mechanism is solely due to the uncertainty principle and has nothing to do with the flavor-mixing of neutrinos. Simulations using neutrinos and electrons are presented, which indicate an oscillation period on the order of ps. This study primarily focuses on the predicted mass oscillations induced by the uncertainty principle. A slit-type interference experiment using neutrinos and electrons from reactors is proposed to test the predicted behaviors.