S. C. Lin Papers, 1945-1991 (MSS 788)

Extent: 7.2 Linear feet (18 archives boxes)

Papers of Shao-Chi Lin, Professor Emeritus of Engineering at UC San Diego. Lin was an internationally renowned engineer who specialized in gas dynamics. He helped found the 21st Century China Center in the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) at UC San Diego, and served as a professor of engineering physics in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES) Department.

Shao-Chi Lin earned his undergraduate degree from National Central University in Chongqing, China in 1946. He completed postgraduate work at the Chinese Air Force Technical School in Chengdu, China, and graduated with top honors from the 17th Advanced Class in 1947. Before coming to the United States, Lin served in the Bureau of Aircraft Industry, Nanking, China, as a research engineer for the Chinese Air Force. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Cornell University in 1952, where he completed research in the fields of supersonic and hypersonic aerodynamics, gas dynamics, and the physics of high temperature gases. Lin was then appointed acting assistant professor in the Graduate School of Aeronautics, Cornell University in 1954. The following year, Lin joined the Avco-Everett Research Laboratory in Everett, Massachusetts as a principal research scientist and advisor to the director. He stayed with this laboratory for nearly a decade before being recruited to UC San Diego by Professor Sol Penner in 1964, where he joined the newly formed Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES) Department as a professor of engineering physics. In 1966, Lin became the fifth scientist to receive the Annual Research Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his "basic research in the electromagnetic properties of ionized gases, and for significant contributions in reentry physics." He also served as an associate director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences (IPAPS) at UC San Diego beginning in 1972. In 2011, Lin and his wife, Lily, helped to found the 21st Century China Center in the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) at UC San Diego, an establishment meant to "produce and disseminate impactful evidence-based research about China, and to enhance U.S.-China mutual understanding by advancing scholarly collaboration, convening policy discussions, and actively communicating with policymakers and the general public in both countries." Professor Lin passed away on October 8, 2020.

The S.C. Lin papers include a small selection of biographical files, personal and professional correspondence, Lin's writings, his teaching materials from UC San Diego's Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES) Department, grants and contracts, and supporting research.

Arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS, 4) RESEARCH, 5) TEACHING FILES, and 6) MISCELLANEOUS.

Container List

BIOGRAPHICAL

Scope and Content of Series

Series 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Includes biographical summaries, a bibliography of Lin's publications, professional appointment forms, information about Lin's professional accolades and portraits of Lin and his wife, Lily.

Box 1 Folder 1-2
Bibliography and publications lists, 1964-1990
Box 1 Folder 3-5
Biographical data and UC San Diego appointment documents, 1963-1990
Box 1 Folder 6
Family photograph/portraits, ca. 1963 and undated

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

Series 2) CORRESPONDENCE. Arranged in three subseries: A) Personal Correspondence, B) General Correspondence, and C) Research/Project Specific Correspondence. These materials are arranged chronologically and range in date between 1954 and 1993.

A) Personal Correspondence includes a small selection of letters from family from mainland China while Lin was teaching at UC San Diego.

B) General Correspondence chronicles Lin's exchanges with colleagues and other member of the scientific community.

C) Research/Project Specific Correspondence includes the bulk of Lin's professional exchanges and are filed according to project in keeping with Lin's original organization of his correspondence.

Personal Correspondence

Box 1 Folder 7-8
Letters from family from mainland China, 1979-1981
Box 1 Folder 9-10
Personal correspondence, 1975-1990

General Correspondence

Box 1 Folder 11-15
1961-1967
Box 2 Folder 1-22
1968-1993

Research/Project Correspondence

Box 3 Folder 1
Cornell appointment, 1954 June 25
Box 3 Folder 2
McGraw - Hill Book Company Inc., 1958-1959

Includes correspondence, research notes, diagrams, and photograph.

Box 3 Folder 3
Space Technology Panel of the Scientific Advisory Board, 1958
Box 3 Folder 4
University of Colorado, 1962-1963
Box 3 Folder 5
MIT Appointment, 1963-1964
Box 3 Folder 6
Book on Re-Entry Physics, 1963-1964
Box 3 Folder 7
University of Connecticut, 1963 June 7 - 11
Box 3 Folder 8
University of Florida, 1964 February 18
Box 3 Folder 9
Laboratory Facility, 1964-1972
Box 3 Folder 10
American Institute of Physics, Translation Services, 1965 October 18

Includes correspondence, reprints, and translation resources.

Box 3 Folder 11-13
AMES Seminars, 1966-1970
Box 3 Folder 14
Mixing Laser Patent Filed 1963, granted 1967, 1967-1970

Includes copy of patent.

Box 3 Folder 15
Report of Possible Patentable Invention, 1967-1989
Box 3 Folder 16
Department committees, 1967
Box 3 Folder 17
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics [AIAA] 6th Aerospace Science Meeting, 1967
Box 3 Folder 18
Princeton University - AIAA 8th Aerospace Science Meeting, 1969
Box 3 Folder 19
AMES Seminar, 1971-1979
Box 4 Folder 1-2
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) [Former name: Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)], 1971-1986
Box 4 Folder 3-4
U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) - Durham, 1971-1973
Box 4 Folder 5
Visiting Professor -V. S. Letokhov, 1978
Box 4 Folder 6-11
Visiting Scholars, 1978-1991
Box 4 Folder 12
Proposal for Coherent UV Laser Radar, 1978 February 14
Box 5 Folder 1
US Naval Research Labs, 1980-1982
Box 5 Folder 2
Ad Hoc committees, 1980-1985
Box 5 Folder 3
Professional correspondence re: conferences and publications, 1980-1988
Box 5 Folder 4
Chinese Studies, 1981-1987
Box 5 Folder 5
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1981
Box 5 Folder 6
Administrative Policies and Procedures Revisions, 1982
Box 5 Folder 7
Academic Position Requests, 1985-1991
Box 5 Folder 8
Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences [AMES] Long Range Planning Committee Draft Reports, 1985-1997
Box 5 Folder 9
Wei, Michael, 1986-1987
Box 5 Folder 10
San Diego State University Foundation - Final reports and correspondence, 1986-1990
Box 5 Folder 11
Sabbatical Leave, 1986-1990
Box 5 Folder 12
Grant material correspondence re: contracts, 1987-1989
Box 5 Folder 13
San Diego Supercomputer Center, 1989
Box 5 Folder 14
Miscellaneous correspondence, ca. 1970-1991

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 3) WRITINGS: Arranged in two subseries: A) Drafts and B) Reprints. Arranged chronologically within these subseries, these materials range in date from 1954 through 1987 and include Lin's draft writings, notes, supplementary materials and a small selection of reprints of Lin's articles on gas dynamics, laser technology, turbulence, and other topics in engineering physics.

Drafts

Box 6 Folder 1-2
Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) and super radiance material, 1954-1981

Includes related works by Lin and others, research data and notes.

Box 6 Folder 3
Slow Electron Scattering by Atomic Oxygen, The Physical Review, 1959 May 15
Box 6 Folder 4-6
Rate of Ionization Behind Shock Waves in Air. I and II, by S. C. Lin, R. A Neal and W. I. Fyfe, 1960-1962
Box 6 Folder 7
Low Density Shock Tube for Chemical Kinetic Studies, by S. C. Lin and W. I. Fyfe, 1961 February
Box 6 Folder 8
Rotating Plasma, revised manuscript, 1961 June 19
Box 6 Folder 9
Shock Tube review paper, A. R. S. Journal, 1961 August
Box 6 Folder 10
Radio Echoes from a Manned Satellite during Re-Entry, 1962
Box 6 Folder 11
Hydrodynamic Effects Produced by Pulse Microwave Discharges, S. C. Lin and George P. Theofilos, 1963
Box 6 Folder 12
A Quasi One-Dimensional Model for Chemically Reacting Turbulent Wakes, 1963
Box 6 Folder 13
A Partial-Dissipation Approximation for Chemical Reactions, 1964
Box 6 Folder 14
Detection of and Communication with Space Vehicles During Atmospheric Entry; Problems in Simulation, 1964 September
Box 7 Folder 1
A Bimodal Approximation, 1965
Box 7 Folder 2
On Cometary Impact and the Origins of Tektites. Includes correspondence with Harold Urey, 1965-1966
Box 7 Folder 3
Reply to critique by Chapman and Gault on "Cometary Impact and the Origin of Tektites", 1966-1967
Box 7 Folder 4
Measurements of Turbulent Velocity and Temperature Fluctuations, 1967
Box 7 Folder 5-6
Spectral Characterization of Plasma Density Fluctuation in Hypersonic Wakes, in A.I.A.A. Journal, 1969
Box 7 Folder 7
Chemical Kinetics in Flow Systems, 1969
Box 7 Folder 8
Laboratory Simulation of High Temperature Entrainment, includes correspondence, 1971 April 27
Box 7 Folder 9-10
The Effect of Preionization Electron Density on the Avalanche Completion Time - Collaboration with Dennis Lo, 1979-1998
Box 7 Folder 11
Recombination Experiment - Collaborations with Jing-Gong Xie, 1986 June
Box 8 Folder 1
Computer Experiments on the Cis-Trans Isomerization Reaction, Final Revision, 1986 October 10
Box 8 Folder 2
Theoretical Modeling of Microwave-Pumped, High-Pressure Gas Lasers - Drafts, Photographs of Graphs and Tables, 1987-1989
Box 8 Folder 3
Measurements of Electron-Ion Recombination Rate in the Noble Gases at High Pressure, 1987-1988
Box 8 Folder 4
Saturation Effects in High-Gain Lasers with Distributed Absorption Losses, abstract and summary, undated
Box 8 Folder 5
Small-scale Structure and Viscous Cutoff, undated
Box 8 Folder 6
Implementation of a Mobile Field Station for Remote Atmospheric Monitoring, Utilizing Raman Scattering, undated

Reprints

Box 8 Folder 7
Cylindrical Shock Waves Produced by Instantaneous Energy Release, S.C. Lin, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 25 No. 1, 1954 January
Box 8 Folder 8
AIAA Paper (Aerospace Sciences Meeting papers), Nos. 70-800, 72-119, and 72-711, 1970-1972
Box 8 Folder 9
Kinetic Processes in Noble Gas Ion Lasers: A Review, Shao-Chi Lin and Chuan-Cheng Chen, AIAA Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, 1971 January
Box 8 Folder 10
Experimental study of argon ion laser discharge at high current, C.P. Wang and Shao-Chi Lin, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 43 No. 12, 1972 December
Box 8 Folder 11
Performance of a large-bore high-power argon ion laser, C.P. Wang and Shao-Chi Lin, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 44 No. 10, 1973 October
Box 8 Folder 12
Mode structure and beam divergence of a large-bore high-power argon ion laser, C.P. Wang and Shao-Chi Lin, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 45 No. 1, 1974 January
Box 8 Folder 13
Electron-beam-controlled Discharge XeCl Excimer Laser, by Jeffrey I. Levatter, James H. Morris and Shao-Chi Lin, 1978
Box 8 Folder 14
Current Density and Pressure Dependence of XeCl Excimer Florescence and Laser Emissions Observed in a Very Small Volume Discharge, 1982 July 7
Box 8 Folder 15
Reversal of Spectral Narrowing of Xenon Chloride B2? ? X2? Emission Observed at High Gas Pressure, 1984 March 23
Box 8 Folder 16
Performance Improvement of an X-Ray Preionized XeCl Laser of Very Small Discharge Volume, 1986 June 2
Box 8 Folder 17
Attachment Kinetics and Life Time of Preionization Electrons in Rare-Gas Halogen Laser Mixtures, 1986 January 15
Box 8 Folder 18
Implementation of a Mobile Field Station for Remote Atmospheric Monitoring, Utilizing Raman Scattering, undated
Box 8 Folder 19
Intrinsic Efficiency of the Discharge-Pumped XeCl Laser at Very High Current Densities - Abstract and summary, undated
Box 8 Folder 20
Method for Determination of Co-Spectral Gain and Absorption Coefficients in High-Power Lasers, undated

RESEARCH

Scope and Content of Collection

Series 4) RESEARCH. Arranged in three subseries: A) Grants and Contracts, B) Experiments and Patents, and C) Research Materials. These materials range in date from 1949 through 1995.

A) Grants and Contracts include grant applications, contract materials, reports and correspondence primarily from granting agencies such as ARPA/DARPA, the National Science Foundation and collaborations with the San Diego State University Foundation. These materials are arranged alphabetically by agency name.

B) Experiments and Patents includes records relating to Lin's work with lasers as well as documents relating to his U.S. patents.

C) Research Materials includes a small selection of Lin's research data, including graphs, calculations, diagrams and lab notebooks.

Grants and Contracts

Box 8 Folder 21-22
ARPA Institute Review Meeting, 1966
Box 8 Folder 23
ARPA Annual Technical Reports, 1970-1971
Box 8 Folder 24-25
ARPA Proposal, 1971-1972
Box 9 Folder 1
ARPA Reports, 1971-1972
Box 9 Folder 2-3
ARPA Contracts, 1971-1973 April
Box 9 Folder 4
ARPA/STO Institute Briefing, 1972 September 28
Box 9 Folder 5
ARPA Management Report, 1972
Box 9 Folder 6
ARPA Contract, 1972-1973
Box 9 Folder 7
ARPA Research Proposal - Research in Radiation Physics and Fluid Mechanics, 1973
Box 9 Folder 8
DARPA Proposal - Research on Discharge Physics, 1979
Box 9 Folder 9
DARPA - Proposal UCSD-6554, 1984 July 23
Box 9 Folder 10
DARPA/ONR contract (N00014-76-C-0116) - Original Figures, 1975-1983
Box 9 Folder 11
DARPA/ONR contract (N00014-85-K-0285), 1983-1990
Box 9 Folder 12
DARPA Proposal, 1985-1986
Box 9 Folder 13
DARPA Proposal - Continuation Study of Avalanche Discharge Lasers, undated
Box 10 Folder 1
IPAPS/ARPA Reports and Memos, 1969-1972
Box 10 Folder 2
IPAPS Drafts, 1970-1971
Box 10 Folder 3-6
IPAPS Reports - Annual Reports and Semi-Annual Technical Status Report, 1971-1979
Box 10 Folder 7-8
IPAPS/ARPA Proposals, 1972-1973
Box 10 Folder 9
IPAPS (Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences) Research, 1979-1981
Box 11 Folder 1
IRPA Proposal, 1966-1968
Box 11 Folder 2
NSF Proposal - Study of Non-Equilibrium Energy Transfer, 1981-1984
Box 11 Folder 3
NSF Proposal UCSD - 8130, 1981-1983
Box 11 Folder 4
NSF Proposal Original Draft, ca. 1982
Box 11 Folder 5-7
NSF Grant (CPE-8219521), 1982-1990
Box 11 Folder 8-9
NSF Proposal, UCSD 9030 and 9030R, 1982-1985
Box 12 Folder 1
NSF - Research equipment proposals and grants, 1983-1986
Box 12 Folder 2
NSF Proposal - Research Equipment for the Study of High-Pressure Discharges and Lasers, 1984-1986
Box 12 Folder 3
NSF Proposal 87-5077, 1986 July 31
Box 12 Folder 4
NSF Grant Proposal (CBT-8618295), 1986-1987
Box 12 Folder 5-7
NSF Grant (CPE-8219521) - Final Project Report, 1987-1988
Box 12 Folder 8
ONR Contract #N00014-79-C-0955 - Final Report, 1978-1983
Box 12 Folder 9
ONR Contract #N00014-80-C-0355 - Final Report, 1982-1983
Box 13 Folder 1
SDSU Foundation - IPAPS Proposal, 1987-1989
Box 13 Folder 2
SDSU Foundation - NOSC Contracts, 1987-1989
Box 13 Folder 3-4
SDSU Foundation - Analytical and Experimental Studies of the Discharge-Pumped XeCl Laser, 1988
Box 13 Folder 5
SDSU Foundation - Contracts N66001-85-D-0203 and N66001-87-D-0136, 1988-1989
Box 13 Folder 6
SDSU Foundation - Contract N66001-85-D-0203 Delivery Order 0060, 1988-1990
Box 13 Folder 7
SDSU Foundation - Contract N66001-87-D-0136 Delivery Order 0024, 1988-1990
Box 13 Folder 8
SDSU Foundation - Calculations for an Excimer Optical Source - Final Technical Report, 1989
Box 13 Folder 9-10
THEMIS - Proposal, reports and budget, 1967-1982
Box 14 Folder 1-3
University of California, Berkeley - Contracts, reports, photographs and slides, 1949-1978
Box 14 Folder 4-5
Miscellaneous - New Proposals, 1985-1989

Experiments and Patents

Box 14 Folder 6
Laser work - Patent application, 1963 February 15
Box 14 Folder 7
Laser Experiment, 1969-1977
Box 14 Folder 8
Method and Apparatus for Separating Uranium Isotopes - United States Patent, 1977 June 28
Box 14 Folder 9
San Diego Supercomputer Center - Data, 1989
Box 14 Folder 10
Laser Output, 1989 June 10
Box 14 Folder 11
Laser with X-Ray Preionization and Excitation - U.S. Patent application, 1995

Research Materials

Box 15 Folder 1
Miscellaneous notes, 1956-1959
Box 15 Folder 2
Mercury re-entry data - Includes glossy prints and map, 1962
Box 15 Folder 3
A Memorandum on Hypersonic Fields and Wakes, 1967 July
Box 15 Folder 4
Notes, 1973-1989
Box 15 Folder 5
Lab notebook, ca. 1979
Box 15 Folder 6-7
Instrumentation manuals and proposals for lab equipment, 1981-1989
Box 15 Folder 8
Research materials and notes, 1985
Box 15 Folder 9
Theoretical Modeling of the Discharge-Pumped XeCL Laser. Paper by S. B. Zhu, handwritten notes by Lin, 1985
Box 15 Folder 10
Lab notebook, ca. 1988
Box 15 Folder 11
Research graphs and notes, 1988
Box 15 Folder 12
References and diagrams, undated
Box 15 Folder 13
Diagrams and negatives, undated
Box 15 Folder 14
Calculations and notes, undated
Box 15 Folder 15
Equipment specs - Double Spectrometer for Raman Spectroscopy imaging, undated

TEACHING FILES

Scope and Content of Series

Series 5) TEACHING FILES: Includes Lin's UC San Diego's Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES) Department course syllabi, lecture notes, set problems, tests and colloquium materials. Arranged by course number, these materials range in date from 1967 through 1991.

AMES courses

Box 16 Folder 1
AMES 12, 1978
Box 16 Folder 2-5
AMES 110, 1989-1991
Box 16 Folder 6
AMES 111, 1980
Box 16 Folder 7-8
AMES 149C, 1973
Box 16 Folder 9-11
AMES 212, 1975-1990
Box 16 Folder 12
AMES 220, 1977-1984
Box 16 Folder 13-15
AMES 220A, 1971-1984
Box 16 Folder 16-18
AMES 220B, 1968-1991
Box 16 Folder 19
AMES 220C, 1979-1985
Box 17 Folder 1-2
AMES 220C, 1981-1985
Box 17 Folder 3-4
AMES 226A, 1973-1981
Box 17 Folder 5
AMES 226B, 1974-1982
Box 17 Folder 6
AMES 226, 1974-1988
Box 17 Folder 7
AMES 226C, 1976-1982

Lecture and colloquium materials

Box 17 Folder 8
Lecture - The Rayleight Problem of a Hot Plasma, Seminar at Northwestern University, 1967 October
Box 17 Folder 9
Lecture - Chemical Kinetics in Flow Systems, 1968-1969
Box 17 Folder 10
Math 2DA, 1980
Box 17 Folder 11
Winter Colloquium on Quantum Electronics, 1981-1985
Box 17 Folder 12
Lecture - Derivation of the Boltzman Equation, 1989

MISCELLANEOUS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 6) MISCELLANEOUS: Includes a small selection of conference, symposium and workshop materials, and additional records of Lin's professional contributions throughout his career.

Box 18 Folder 1
Traveling-Wave Tube Amplifier Bid, 1959-1960
Box 18 Folder 2
Rarefied Gas Dynamics Symposium, 1960 August
Box 18 Folder 3
Ionized wake report, 1963
Box 18 Folder 4
Arc Jet Purchase - Includes Arc Jet literature and engineering drawings, 1963-1968
Box 18 Folder 5
Some Outstanding Problems in Re-entry Plasma Turbulence, 1966-1967
Box 18 Folder 6
3/4 Meter Czerny-Turner Spectrometer - Operating, Maintenance and Instruction Manual, 1970
Box 18 Folder 7
Security briefing memorandum, UC San Diego, 1973-1980
Box 18 Folder 8
Workshop on Plasma Dynamics and the National Energy Opportunities, 1974
Box 18 Folder 9
Notes from workshops and colloquium, 1980, 1987
Box 18 Folder 10
International Conference on LASERS, 1982
Box 18 Folder 11
International Conference on LASERS, 1985
Box 18 Folder 12
International Conference on LASERS, 1986-1989
Box 18 Folder 13
Meeting with Stuart Brown on High Rep Rate, UV Laser for Eye Surgery, 1986
Box 18 Folder 14
National Academy of Engineering - Lin Nomination, 1987, 1992
Box 18 Folder 15
Overview of Proposal for New Department of Structural Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego, 1997 September 24