Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Material Characterization And Comparison Of Sol-Gel Deposited And Rf Magnetron Deposited Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films, Katherine Lynne Miles

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been a material of interest for sensor, actuator, and transducer applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This is due to their favorable piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties. While various methods are available to deposit PZT thin films, radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was selected to provide high quality PZT films with the added capability of batch processing. These sputter deposited PZT films were characterized to determine their internal film stress, Young’s modulus, composition, and structure. After characterization, the sputtered PZT samples were poled using corona poling and direct poling methods. As a means of comparison, commercially …

Synthesis, Self-Assembly And High-Pressure Properties Of Nanoparticles And Hybrid Nanocomposites, Lingyao Meng

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Nanoparticles have gained significant scientific interests owing to their unique structural dimensions, size- and shape-tunable properties, and numerous fascinating applications, from opto-electronics, sensor devices, to energy, environmental, and medical fields. Furthermore, the synergistic integration of other materials, including organic polymers, with nanoparticles provides new opportunities and strategies to obtain nanocomposites with superior properties and functionalities. While there is already significant research on the synthesis and characterizations of nanoparticles and hybrid nanocomposites, some research questions, such as how to design and control the interfacial morphology in polymer/nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites, how to synthesize metal- organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles in well-defined and uniform …

From Flasks To Applications: Design And Optimization Of Giant Quantum Dots Using Traditional And Automated Synthetic Methods, Christina J. Hanson

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Semiconducting nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots (QDs), that emit light with near-unity quantum yield and are extremely photostable are attractive options as down-conversion and direct electricity-to-light materials for a variety of applications including solid-state lighting, display technologies, bio-imaging and optical tracking. Standard QDs with a core/thin shell structure display fluorescence intermittency (blinking) and photobleaching when exposed to prolonged room temperature excitation for single dot measurements, as well as significant reabsorption and energy transfer when densely packed into polymers or at high solution concentrations.

We have developed thick shell “giant” QDs (gQDs), ultra-stable photon sources both at the ensemble and …

Nanowire-Based Light-Emitting Diodes: A New Path Towards High-Speed Visible Light Communication, Mohsen Nami

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Nano-scale optoelectronic devices have gained significant attention in recent years. Among these devices are semiconductor nanowires, whose dimeters range from 100 to 200 nm. Semiconductor nanowires can be utilized in many different applications including light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. Higher surface to volume ratio makes nanowire-based structures potential candidates for the next generation of photodetectors, sensors, and solar cells. Core-shell light-emitting diodes based on selective-area growth of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires provide a wide range of advantages. Among these advantages are access to non-polar m-plane sidewalls, higher active region area compared to conventional planar structures, and reduction of threading …