Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Fabrication Of Metal-Silicon Nanostructures By Reactive Laser Ablation In Liquid, Eric J. Broadhead

Theses and Dissertations

Metal-silicon nanostructures are a growing area of research due to their applications in multiple fields such as biosensing and catalysis. In addition, silicon can provide strong support effects to metal nanoparticles while being more cost effective than traditionally used supports, like titania. Traditional wet-chemical methods are capable of synthesizing metal-silicon nanostructures with a variety of composition and nanoparticle shapes, but they often require high temperatures, toxic solvents, strong reducing agents, or need capping agents added to stabilize the nanoparticles. Laser processing is an emerging technique capable of synthesizing metal-silicon composite surfaces that offers a faster, simpler, and greener synthesis route …

On Characterizing Quantum Processes And Detectors, Kevin Valson Jacob

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In 2009, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado, Boulder developed what could arguable be called the first rudimentary quantum computer [1]. The past decade has seen unprecedented improvements in quantum information science culminating in the demonstration of quantum supremacy --- that quantum computers can solve problems that are impractical to be solved on the best supercomputers [2]. This remarkable progress necessitates the development of techniques to characterize the quantum devices that are being developed. In my thesis, I will focus on such devices that manipulate and detect light.

In Chapter 1, I will introduce the …

Modeling And Characterization Of A Ring-Resonator Based Silicon Photonic Sensor On Silicon-On-Insulator (Soi), Gwangho Choi

Graduate Theses - Physics and Optical Engineering

The purpose of this work is to build silicon photonic devices and verify their functionalities. In particular, the structure of a ring resonator (RR) is analyzed and applied to various silicon photonic application in sensing. Silicon waveguides, grating couplers, directional couplers, and RRs are fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Geometrical parameters and optical properties of the silicon devices are studied and also applied to the design of the aforementioned devices. The waveguide dimensions and, optical properties of the silicon waveguide such as dispersion and effective-index are examined. The RRs are made of a series of straight and bent waveguides …

Telescope Assembly Alignment Simulator Performance Optimization, Joshua G. Thompson, Brian Eney, Zaheer Ali, Bob Thompson

STAR Program Research Presentations

The Telescope Assembly Alignment Simulator (TAAS) calibrates scientific instruments (SI’s) that are installed on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). An SI’s accuracy is directly dependent on the consistent performance of the TAAS, which has never been fully characterized. After designing various thermal and optical experiments to identify the current unknowns of TAAS, we now have a far better grasp on how the equipment behaves.