Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Anomalous Stranski-Krastanov Growth Of (111)-Oriented Quantum Dots With Tunable Wetting Layer Thickness, Christopher F. Schuck, Simon K. Roy, Trent Garrett, Paul J. Simmonds

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Driven by tensile strain, GaAs quantum dots (QDs) self-assemble on In_0.52Al_0.48As(111)A surfaces lattice-matched to InP substrates. In this study, we show that the tensile-strained self-assembly process for these GaAs(111)A QDs unexpectedly deviates from the well-known Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode. Traditionally, QDs formed via the SK growth mode form on top of a flat wetting layer (WL) whose thickness is fixed. The inability to tune WL thickness has inhibited researchers’ attempts to fully control QD-WL interactions in these hybrid 0D-2D quantum systems. In contrast, using microscopy, spectroscopy, and computational modeling, we demonstrate that for GaAs(111)A QDs, we …

9th Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium, University Of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association

Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium Abstracts

The mission of the Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) is to provide a platform for talented postdoctoral fellows throughout the Texas Medical Center to present their work to a wider audience. The MD Anderson Postdoctoral Association convened its inaugural Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) on August 4, 2011.

The APSS provides a professional venue for postdoctoral scientists to develop, clarify, and refine their research as a result of formal reviews and critiques of faculty and other postdoctoral scientists. Additionally, attendees discuss current research on a broad range of subjects while promoting academic interactions and enrichment and developing new collaborations.

Measuring Length Of Electron Bunches With Optics In Lcls-Ii, Nathan Ahn, Alan Fisher

STAR Program Research Presentations

Since the launch of the LINAC Coherent Light Source (LCLS) in 2009, there have been over 1,000 publications enabling pioneering research across multiple fields. Advances include: harnessing the sun’s light, revealing life’s secrets and aiding drug development, developing future electronics, designing new materials and exploring fusion, customizing chemical reactions, and many more. These discoveries gathered worldwide attention, and now work has begun on a new revolutionary tool, LCLS-II. The LCLS-II will pulse at a million times a second, compared to the 120 pulses from the LCLS. Within the LCLS-II, there are two chicanes, serpentine curves. As the electron beam passes …

Single-Neutron States In Titanium Isotopes, Jessica Nebel-Crosson

Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows

Current theory regarding the collective behavior of exotic nuclei systematically over-predicts the probabilities of exciting those collective states. The theory lacks any adjustable parameters, however, the model inputs are characteristics of single particle states which we are attempting to verify through neutron transfer into a ⁵⁰Ti target.

Arduino Lab Assignments For Principles Of Physics Ii, William Baird, Jeffery Secrest

Physics and Astronomy Ancillary Materials

This set of two Arduino assignments for Principles of Physics II includes an introductory assignment in exploring the Arduino's capabilities, followed by a lab assignment on data collection using the Arduino. These assignments were created as part of a Round Twelve Textbook Transformation Grant for Principles of Physics II.

Improving 3d Printed Prosthetics With Sensors And Motors, Rachel Zarin

Honors Projects

A 3D printed hand and arm prosthetic was created from the idea of adding bionic elements while keeping the cost low. It was designed based on existing models, desired functions, and materials available. A tilt sensor keeps the hand level, two motors move the wrist in two different directions, a limit switch signals the fingers to open and close, and another motor helps open and close the fingers. All sensors and motors were built on a circuit board, programmed using an Arduino, and powered by a battery. Other supporting materials include metal brackets, screws, guitar strings, elastic bands, small clamps, …

A Survey Of Dark Matter Candidates And Relations To Particle Physics And General Relativity, Tyler Martell

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Cosmological observations of certain galaxies suggest that the amount of known, measured matter accounted for by the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) in those systems is insufficient to account for galactic mechanics (orbital paths and velocities). These observations have led physicists to believe that either General Relativity (GR) is incomplete, or that there exist new sources of yet-to-be detected matter, that may or may not be consistent with SM, called dark matter. Neither GR nor the SM can alone be considered complete theories of the universe for GR is not quantum

mechanical and the SM does not include GR. …

Specification-Based Grading Resources For Openstax College Physics (Ggc), Edward Forringer

Physics and Astronomy Ancillary Materials

This collection of ancillary materials for Introductory Biology was created under a Round Eleven Mini-Grant for Ancillary Materials Creation and Revision. Included are the following resources to assist a faculty member in implementing specification grading in an introductory physics course using OpenStax College Physics:

• Specification Grading Guide
• Specification Documents
• Quizzes
• Practice Final Exam

Author's Description:

"Rather than grading each assignment with partial credit and then taking a weighted average of your assignments to find a grade, this course uses a set of course expectations called “specifications” (spec for short). Each spec has an associated quiz. Some specifications are designated “critical.” …

Adding Student Video Projects To Physics Courses, David Abbott, Andrew Roberts, Dan L. Macisaac, Kathleen Falconer, Florian Genz, Stefan Hoffmann, Andre Bresges, Jeremias Weber

Videos for Physics Teaching

Physics students have traditionally prepared many kinds of reports—laboratory, activity, project, and even book or article reports. Smartphones and YouTube videos are familiar cultural objects to current students, and our students use smartphone cameras to include photographs of apparatus, phenomena, hand-sketched figures, graphs, and mathematical equations in their physics reports. Here we present basic techniques for physics students to use smartphones and tablets to create short (< 5 min) end-of-semester video projects. Our students mainly use Apple Computer’s iPad1 tablets, but also other tablets and various smartphones. Finally we discuss appropriate instructor expectations and grading. Similar non-physics student video reporting efforts were reported using video cameras by Kearney,2 and Hechter and Guy.3

Physics 4900, David Maughan

Physics Capstone Projects

More than a century has passed since Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity. The theory has been tested many times experimentally, primarily in the relatively weak gravitational fields of the solar system [1,2]. More recently the first experimental results from the strong gravitational fields of two black holes have been measured in the form of gravitational waves, which are another prediction of general relativity. The 2017 Nobel prize in physics was awarded to Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, and Barry Barish for their role in the detection of gravitational waves. This year we have seen the first image of …

Ordered Growth Of Ferroelectric Diisopropylammonium-Bromide Microcrystals Through Slotted-Jar Growth And Lithographically Controlled Wetting, Andrew J. Fanning

Honors Theses

Organic molecular ferroelectrics show promise for industry applications because of their switchable high spontaneous polarization value, mechanical flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Since these materials, namely diisopropylammonium bromide, exhibit ferroelectricity only in tandem with a high level of crystallinity, novel methods must be explored in order to ensure that high levels of crystallinity are achieved. This project seeked to perfect the methods of Slotted Jar Growth and Lithographically Controlled Wetting (LCW). Slotted Jar Growth uses temperature driven solution saturation to grow crystals on a desired substrate. LCW drives the growth of microscopic diisopropylammonium bromide crystals, in their ferroelectric phase, through the use …

Oscillatory Behavior Of Hollow Grid Cathode Discharges, Roman Schrittwieser, Claudia-Teodora Teodorescu-Soare, Florin Enescu, Codrina Ionita, Dan-Gheorghe Dimitriu, Silviu Gurlui, Federico Mazzanti, Stefan-Andrei Irimiciuc, Bianca Hodoroaba, Turlough O'Hara, Ovidiu Vasilovici, Lidia Amarandi

Conference Papers

Multiple complex space-charge structures in unmagnetized low-temperature plasmas arise from ionization phenomena near additional negatively or positively biased electrodes or due to local constraints. Because of their usually spherical form, such structures are called fireballs. If they appear inside hollow grids, they are called inverted fireballs or plasma bubbles. The temporal evolution of such structures is often accompanied by strong plasma instabilities. The dynamics of complex space-charge structures have been investigated by using single spherical grid cathode with an orifice. Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy were used to diagnose the structures. Measurements delivered the axial profiles of the plasma …

Full Correlation In A Multiconfigurational Study Of Bimetallic Clusters : Restricted Active Space Pair-Density Functional Theory Study Of [2fe-2s] Systems, Samuel J. Stoneburner, Davide Presti, Donald G. Truhlar, Laura Gagliardi

Educator Scholarship

Iron-sulfur clusters play a variety of important roles in protein chemistry, and understanding the energetics of their spin ladders is an important part of understanding these roles. Computational modeling can offer considerable insight into such problems; however, calculations performed thus far on systems with multiple transition metals have typically either been restricted to a single-configuration representation of the density, as in Kohn-Sham theory, or been limited to correlating excitations only within an active space, as in active-space self-consistent field methods. For greater reliability, a calculation should include full correlation, i.e., not only correlation internal to the active space but also …

Pdfs In Small Boxes, Raúl A. Briceño, Juan V. Guerrero, Maxwell T. Hansen, Christopher J. Monahan

Physics Faculty Publications

PDFs can be studied directly using lattice QCD by evaluating matrix elements of non-local operators. A number of groups are pursuing numerical calculations and investigating possible systematic uncertainties. One systematic that has received less attention is the effect of calculating in a finite spacetime volume. Here we present first attempts to assess the role of the finite volume for spatially non-local operators. We find that these matrix elements may suffer from large finite-volume artifacts and more careful investigation is needed.

Announcement: In Memory Of Yong Ho Chin, Michael Thoennessen, Debbie Brodbar, Brant Johnson, Jean Delayen, Dan Kulp, Frank Zimmermann, Maria Poko

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of Nuclear Transparency Ratios For Protons And Neutrons, M. Duer, O. Hen, E. Piasetzky, L. B. Weinstein, A. Schmidt, I. Korover, E. O. Cohen, H. Hakobyan, S. Adhikari, G. Angelini, H. Avakian, C. Ayerbe Gayoso, L. Barion, M. Battaglieri, A. Beck, I. Bedlinski, A. S. Biselli, S. Boiarinov, W. J. Briscoe, X. Zheng, Et Al., The Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

This paper presents, for the first time, measurements of neutron transparency ratios for nuclei relative to C measured using the (e, e'n) reaction, spanning measured neutron momenta of 1.4 to 2.4 GeV/c. The transparency ratios were extracted in two kinematical regions, corresponding to knockout of mean-field nucleons and to the breakup of Short-Range Correlated nucleon pairs. The extracted neutron transparency ratios are consistent with each other for the two measured kinematical regions and agree with the proton transparencies extracted from new and previous (e, e'p) measurements, including those from neutron-rich nuclei such as lead. The data also agree with and …

Spectroscopy Of Neon For The Advanced Undergraduate Laboratory, H. C. Busch, M. B. Cooper, C. I. Sukenik

Physics Faculty Publications

We describe a spectroscopy experiment, suitable for upper-division laboratory courses, that investigates saturated absorption spectroscopy and polarization spectroscopy in a neon discharge. Both experiments use nearly identical components, allowing students to explore both techniques in a single apparatus. Furthermore, because the wavelength of the laser is in the visible part of the spectrum (640 nm), the experiment is well-suited for students with limited experience in optical alignment. The labs nicely complement a course in atomic or plasma physics, provide students with the opportunity to gain important technical skills in the area of optics and lasers, and can provide an introduction …

Large Transverse Momentum In Semi-Inclusive Deeply Inelastic Scattering Beyond Lowest Order, B. Wang, J. O. Gonzalez-Hernandez, T. C. Rogers, N. Sato

Physics Faculty Publications

Motivated by recently observed tension between O(α²_s) calculations of very large transverse momentum dependence in both semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering and Drell-Yan scattering, we repeat the details of the calculation through an O(α²_s) transversely differential cross section. The results confirm earlier calculations, and provide further support to the observation that tension exists with current parton distribution and fragmentation functions.

Form Factors Of Two-Hadron States From A Covariant Finite-Volume Formalism, Alessandro Baroni, Raúl Briceño, Maxwell T. Hansen, Felipe G. Ortega-Gama

Physics Faculty Publications

In this work we develop a Lorentz-covariant version of the previously derived formalism for relating finite-volume matrix elements to 2 + J → 2 transition amplitudes. We also give various details relevant for the implementation of this formalism in a realistic numerical lattice QCD calculation. Particular focus is given to the role of single-particle form factors in disentangling finite-volume effects from the triangle diagram that arise when J couples to one of the two hadrons. This also leads to a new finite-volume function, denoted G, the numerical evaluation of which is described in detail. As an example we discuss …

Instability Of Flux Flow And Production Of Vortex-Antivortex Pairs By Current-Driven Josephson Vortices In Layered Superconductors, Ahmad Sheikhzada, Alex Gurevich

Physics Faculty Publications

We report numerical simulations of the nonlinear dynamics of Josephson vortices driven by strong dc currents in layered superconductors. Dynamic equations for interlayer phase differences in a stack of coupled superconducting layers were solved to calculate a drag coefficient η(J) of the vortex as a function of the perpendicular dc current density J. It is shown that Cherenkov radiation produced by a moving vortex causes significant radiation drag increasing η(v) at high vortex velocities v and striking instabilities of driven Josephson vortices moving faster than a terminal v_c. The steady-state flux flow breaks down at ν > v …

Charge Storage In Wo³ Polymorphs And Their Application As Supercapacitor Electrode Material, Vaibhav Lokhande, Abhishek Lokhande, Gon Namkoong, Jin Hyeok Kim, Taeksoo Ji

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Tungsten oxide is a versatile material with different applications. It has many polymorphs with varying performance in energy storage application. We report simple and facile way to synthesize four phases of tungsten oxide from same precursor materials only by changing the pH and temperature values. Monoclinic, hexagonal, orthorhombic and tetragonal phase obtained, were analyzed and tested for supercapacitor application. The electrochemical analysis of four phases indicates that the hexagonal phase is best-suited electrode material for supercapacitor. The hexagonal phase exhibits higher specific capacitance (377.5 Fg^-1 at 2 mVs^-1), higher surface capacitive contribution (75%), better stability and rate …