• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2013

Maintenance of adequate soil tension or content during the period of crop growth is necessary to support optimum plant growth and yields. A better understanding of soil tension and content for precision irrigation would allow optimal soil water condition to crops and minimize the adverse effects of water stress on crop growth and development. This research reports on a comparison of soil water tension and content variations in differently textured soils over time under drip irrigation using two different water management methods, i.e. pulse time and required water irrigation methods. The pulse time-based irrigation was performed by turning the solenoid valve on and off for preset times to allow the wetting front to disperse in root zone before additional water was applied. The required water estimation method was a new water control logic designed by Rural Development Administration that applies the amount of water required based on a conversion of the measured water tension into water content. The use of the pulse time irrigation method under drip irrigation at a high tension of -20 kPa and high temperatures over $30^{\circ}C$ was not successful at maintaining moisture tensions within an appropriate range of 5 kPa because the preset irrigation times used for water control could not compensate for the change in evapotranspiration during day and night. The response time and pattern of water contents for all of the tested soils measured with capacitance-based sensor probes were faster and more direct than those of water tensions measured with porous and ceramic cup-based tensiometers when water was applied, indicating water content would be a better control variable for automatic irrigation. The required water estimation-based irrigation method provided relatively stable control of moisture tension, even though somewhat lower tension values were obtained as compared to the target tension of -20 kPa, indicating that growers could expect to be effective in controlling low tensions ranging from -10 to -20 kPa with the required water estimation system.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.404-411
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• 2012

The reliability of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) particularly depends on the high quality of solid oxide electrolytes. The application of thinner electrolytes and multi electrolyte layers requires a more reliable characterization method. Most of the investigations on thin film solid electrolytes have been made for the parallel transport along the interface, which is not however directly related to the fuel cell performance of those electrolytes. In this work an array of ion-blocking metallic Ti/Au microelectrodes with about a $160{\mu}m$ diameter was applied on top of an ultrathin ($1{\mu}m$) yttria-stabilized-zirconia/gadolinium-doped-ceria (YSZ/GDC) heterolayer solid electrolyte in a micro-SOFC prepared by PLD as well as an 8-${\mu}m$ thick YSZ layer by screen printing, to study the transport characteristics in the perpendicular direction relevant for fuel cell operation. While the capacitance variation in the electrode area supported the working principle of the measurement technique, other local variations could be related to the quality of the electrolyte layers and deposited electrode points. While the small electrode size and low temperature measurements increaseed the electrolyte resistances enough for the reliable estimation, the impedance spectra appeared to consist of only a large electrode polarization. Modulus representation distinguished two high frequency responses with resistance magnitude differing by orders of magnitude, which can be ascribed to the gadolinium-doped ceria buffer electrolyte layer with a 200 nm thickness and yttria-stabilized zirconia layer of about $1{\mu}m$. The major impedance response was attributed to the resistance due to electron hole conduction in GDC due to the ion-blocking top electrodes with activation energy of 0.7 eV. The respective conductivity values were obtained by model analysis using empirical Havriliak-Negami elements and by temperature adjustments with respect to the conductivity of the YSZ layers.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.24-33
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• 2000

Switching behaviour of the ferroelectric thin film and device characteristics of the MFSFET(Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor FET) are simulated with taking into account the accumulation of oxygen vacancies near interface between the ferroelectric thin film and the bottom electrode caused by the progress of fatigue. In our switching model, relative switched charge is 0.74 nC before fatigue, but after the progress of fatigue it reduces to 0.15 nC with the generation of oxygen vacancies. It indicates that the generation of oxygen vacancies strongly suppresses polarization reversal. $C-V_G\;and\;I_D-V_G$ curves in our MFSFET device model exhibit the memory window of 2 V and show the accumulation, the depletion and the inversion regions in capacitance characteristic clearly. The difference of saturation drain current of the device before fatigue in shown by the dual threshold voltages in $I_D-V_G$ curve as 6nA/$cm^2$ and decreases as much as 50% after fatigue. Decrease of the difference of saturation drain currents by fatigue implies that the accumulation of oxygen vacancies with the fatigue should be avoided in the device application. Our simulation model is expected to play an important role in estimation of the behavior of MFSFET device with various ferroelectric thin films.