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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Refractive Index Chemical Sensing With Noble Metal Nanoparticles, Phillip Blake Dec 2012

Refractive Index Chemical Sensing With Noble Metal Nanoparticles, Phillip Blake

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemical sensing is a key component in modern society, especially in engineering applications. Because of their widespread impact, improvements to chemical sensors are a significant area of research. One class of sensors, plasmonic sensors, is being heavily researched because of their ability to detect low levels of analyte in near real time without destroying the analyte. This work studies a new class of plasmonic sensor that utilizes diffractive coupling to improve sensor performance. Specifically, this work outlines the first study of diffractive coupling sensors with typical nanoparticle shapes. Sensitivity of this new class of sensor is directly compared to typical …


Pulse Sharpening Effects Of Thin Film Ferroelectric Transmission Lines, Robert J. Sleezer Dec 2012

Pulse Sharpening Effects Of Thin Film Ferroelectric Transmission Lines, Robert J. Sleezer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advances in material science have resulted in the development of electrically nonlinear high dielectric thin film ferroelectrics, which have led to new opportunities for the creation of novel devices. This dissertation investigated one such device: a low voltage nonlinear transmission line (NLTL). A finite element simulation of ferroelectric transmission lines showed that NLTLs are capable of creating shockwaves. Additionally, if the losses are kept sufficiently low, it was shown that voltage gain should be possible. Furthermore, a method of accounting for material dispersion was developed. Results from simulations including material dispersion showed that temporal solitons might be possible from a …


Semiconductor Nanocrystals: From Quantum Dots To Quantum Disks, Zheng Li Aug 2012

Semiconductor Nanocrystals: From Quantum Dots To Quantum Disks, Zheng Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The bottom-up colloidal synthesis opened up the possibility of finely tuning and tailoring the semiconductor nanocrystals. Numerous recipes were developed for the preparation of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, especially the traditional quantum dots. However, due to the lack of thorough understanding to those systems, the synthesis chemistry is still on the empirical level. CdS quantum dots synthesis in non-coordinating solvent were taken as a model system to investigate its molecular mechanism and formation process, ODE was identified as the reducing agent for the preparation of CdS nanocrystals, non-injection and low-temperature synthesis methods developed. In this model system, we not only proved …


An Extension To Particle Polarizability To Predict Coupling Behavior In Periodic Nanoplasmonic Arrays, Drew Dejarnette Aug 2012

An Extension To Particle Polarizability To Predict Coupling Behavior In Periodic Nanoplasmonic Arrays, Drew Dejarnette

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plasmonic nanoparticles organized in arrays interact to create spectral patterns which are amplified by individual particle polarizability. It was hypothesized that particle polarizability could be used as a predictor of spectral behavior from far-field interactions within the array. Inter-particle coupling produced an extraordinary peak in extinction efficiency at wavelengths equal to or larger than the single particle plasmon resonance peak. Interactions that produced constructive coupling were found to mimic changes in the particle polarizability model. Testing of the hypothesis was performed using the coupled dipole approximation with parametric characterization of array geometries, giving specific particle size and lattice constant combinations …


Use Of Ultra High Vacuum Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition For Graphene Fabrication, Shannen Adcock May 2012

Use Of Ultra High Vacuum Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition For Graphene Fabrication, Shannen Adcock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graphene, what some are terming the "new silicon", has the possibility of revolutionizing technology through nanoscale design processes. Fabrication of graphene for device processing is limited largely by the temperatures used in conventional deposition. High temperatures are detrimental to device design where many different materials may be present. For this reason, graphene synthesis at low temperatures using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is the subject of much research. In this thesis, a tool for ultra-high vacuum plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (UHV-PECVD) and accompanying subsystems, such as control systems and alarms, are designed and implemented to be used in future graphene growths. …