Physics Commons^™

Surface Treatments' Effects On The Capacitor's Dielectric Performance Under Electro-Thermal Stresses, Haider. M. Umran, Feipeng Wang

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Biaxial-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films are characterized by unfavorable aging behavior because of their poor susceptibility to high temperatures, humidity, and high electric fields. This makes them unqualified to withstand harsh operating conditions, such as in capacitor applications. This study investigates the impact of annealing BOPP samples at 100 °C for five hours after fluorination at different times (15, 30, and 60 minutes) on their electrical and mechanical performance under electro-thermal stresses. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images confirm that there is an increase in surface roughness and the formation of a dense layer of fluorine-containing groups monotonically with fluorination time. So, …

Low Cost Magnetometer Calibration And Distributed Simultaneous Multipoint Ionospheric Measurements From A Sounding Rocket Platform, Joshua W. Milford

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up …

Effect Of Fabrication Parameters On The Ferroelectricity Of Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Films: A Statistical Study, Guillermo A. Salcedo, Ahmad E. Islam, Elizabeth Reichley, Michael Dietz, Christine M. Schubert Kabban, Kevin D. Leedy, Tyson C. Back, Weison Wang, Andrew Green, Timothy S. Wolfe, James M. Sattler

Faculty Publications

Ferroelectricity in hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf_1−xZr_xO₂) and the factors that impact it have been a popular research topic since its discovery in 2011. Although the general trends are known, the interactions between fabrication parameters and their effect on the ferroelectricity of Hf_1−xZr_xO₂ require further investigation. In this paper, we present a statistical study and a model that relates Zr concentration (x), film thickness (t_f), and annealing temperature (T_a) with the remanent polarization (P_r) in tungsten (W)-capped Hf_1−xZr_xO₂. …

Investigation Of Gas Dynamics In Water And Oil-Based Muds Using Das, Dts, And Dss Measurements, Temitayo S. Adeyemi

LSU Master's Theses

Reliable prediction of gas migration velocity, void fraction, and length of gas-affected region in water and oil-based muds is essential for effective planning, control, and optimization of drilling operations. However, there is a gap in our understanding of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based muds. This is a consequence of the use of experimental systems that are not representative of field-scale conditions. This study seeks to bridge the gap via the well-scale deployment of distributed fiber-optic sensors for real-time monitoring of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based mud. The aforementioned parameters were estimated in real-time using …

6d Single-Fluorogen Orientation-Localization Microscopy For Elucidating The Architecture Of Beta-Sheet Assemblies And Biomolecular Condensates, Tingting Wu, Weiyan Zhou, Jai S. Rudra, Rohit V. Pappu, Matthew D. Lew

Electrical & Systems Engineering Publications and Presentations

We develop six-dimensional single-molecule orientation-localization microscopy (SMOLM) to measure the 3D positions and 3D orientations simultaneously of single fluorophores. We show how careful optimization of phase and polarization modulation components can encode phase, polarization, and angular spectrum information from each fluorescence photon into a microscope’s dipole-spread function. We used the transient binding and blinking of Nile red (NR) to characterize the helical structure of fibrils formed by designed amphipathic peptides, KFE8^L and KFE8^D, and the pathological amyloid-beta peptide Aβ42. We also deployed merocyanine 540 to uncover the interfacial architectures of biomolecular condensates.

Disaggregating Longer-Term Trends From Seasonal Variations In Measured Pv System Performance, Chibuisi Chinasaokwu Okorieimoh, Brian Norton, Michael Conlon

Articles

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are widely adopted for renewable energy generation, but their performance is influenced by complex interactions between longer-term trends and seasonal variations. This study aims to remove these factors and provide valuable insights for optimising PV system operation. We employ comprehensive datasets of measured PV system performance over five years, focusing on identifying the distinct contributions of longer-term trends and seasonal effects. To achieve this, we develop a novel analytical framework that combines time series and statistical analytical techniques. By applying this framework to the extensive performance data, we successfully break down the overall PV system output into …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Controlled Manipulation And Transport By Microswimmers In Stokes Flows, Jake Buzhardt

All Dissertations

Remotely actuated microscale swimming robots have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of biomedicine. However, for the longterm goals of this field of research to be achievable, it is necessary to develop modelling, simulation, and control strategies which effectively and efficiently account for not only the motion of individual swimmers, but also the complex interactions of such swimmers with their environment including other nearby swimmers, boundaries, other cargo and passive particles, and the fluid medium itself. The aim of this thesis is to study these problems in simulation from the perspective of controls and dynamical systems, with a particular focus …

Directional Microwave Emission From Femtosecond-Laser Illuminated Linear Arrays Of Superconducting Rings, Thomas J. Bullard, Kyle Frische, Charlie Ebbing, Stephen J. Hageman, John Morrison, John Bulmer, Enam A. Chowdury, Michael L. Dexter, Timothy J. Haugan, Anil K. Patniak

Faculty Publications

We examine the electromagnetic emission from two photo-illuminated linear arrays composed of inductively charged superconducting ring elements. The arrays are illuminated by an ultrafast infrared laser that triggers microwave broadband emission detected in the 1–26 GHz range. Based on constructive interference from the arrays a narrowing of the forward radiation lobe is observed with increasing element count and frequency demonstrating directed GHz emission. Results suggest that higher frequencies and a larger number of elements are achievable leading to a unique pulsed array emitter concept that can span frequencies from the microwave to the terahertz (THz) regime.

System-Level Noise Performance Of Coherent Imaging Systems, Derek J. Burrell, Joshua H. Follansbee, Mark F. Spencer, Ronald G. Driggers

Faculty Publications

We provide an in-depth analysis of noise considerations in coherent imaging, accounting for speckle and scintillation in addition to “conventional” image noise. Specifically, we formulate closed-form expressions for total effective noise in the presence of speckle only, scintillation only, and speckle combined with scintillation. We find analytically that photon shot noise is uncorrelated with both speckle and weak-to-moderate scintillation, despite their shared dependence on the mean signal. Furthermore, unmitigated speckle and scintillation noise tends to dominate coherent-imaging performance due to a squared mean-signal dependence. Strong coupling occurs between speckle and scintillation when both are present, and we characterize this behavior …

Impact Of Silicon Ion Irradiation On Aluminum Nitride-Transduced Microelectromechanical Resonators, David D. Lynes, Joshua Young, Eric Lang, Hengky Chandrahalim

Faculty Publications

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators use is widespread, from electronic filters and oscillators to physical sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes. These devices' ubiquity, small size, and low power consumption make them ideal for use in systems such as CubeSats, micro aerial vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, and micro-robots operating in radiation environments. Radiation's interaction with materials manifests as atomic displacement and ionization, resulting in mechanical and electronic property changes, photocurrents, and charge buildup. This study examines silicon (Si) ion irradiation's interaction with piezoelectrically transduced MEMS resonators. Furthermore, the effect of adding a dielectric silicon oxide (SiO₂) thin film is …

Fortifying Iot Against Crimpling Cyber-Attacks: A Systematic Review, Usman Tariq, Irfan Ahmed, Muhammad Attique Khan, Ali Kashif Bashir

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The rapid growth and increasing demand for Internet of Things (IoT) devices in our everyday lives create exciting opportunities for human involvement, data integration, and seamless automation. This fully interconnected ecosystem considerably impacts crucial aspects of our lives, such as transportation, healthcare, energy management, and urban infrastructure. However, alongside the immense benefits, the widespread adoption of IoT also brings a complex web of security threats that can influence society, policy, and infrastructure conditions. IoT devices are particularly vulnerable to security violations, and industrial routines face potentially damaging vulnerabilities. To ensure a trustworthy and robust security framework, it is crucial to …

Optics Studies For Multipass Energy Recovery At Cebaf: Er@Cebaf, Isurumali Neththikumara

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Energy recovery linacs (ERLs), focus on recycling the kinetic energy of electron beam for the purpose of accelerating a newly injected beam within the same accelerating structure. The rising developments in the super conducting radio frequency technology, ERL technology has achieved several noteworthy milestones over the past few decades. In year 2003, Jefferson Lab has successfully demonstrated a single pass energy recovery at the CEBAF accelerator. Furthermore, they conducted successful experiments with IR-FEL demo and upgrades, as well as the UV FEL driver. This multi-pass, multi-GeV range energy recovery demonstration proposed to be carried out at CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson …

Trumpet Directivity From A Rotating Semicircular Array, Samuel D. Bellows, Joseph E. Avila, Timothy W. Leishman

Directivity

The directivity function of a played musical instrument describes the angular dependence of its acoustic radiation and diffraction about the instrument, musician, and musician’s chair. Directivity influences sound in rehearsal, performance, and recording environments and signals in audio systems. Because high-resolution, spherically comprehensive measurements of played musical instruments have been unavailable in the past, the authors have undertaken research to produce and share such data for studies of musical instruments, simulations of acoustical environments, optimizations of microphone placements, and other applications. The authors acquired the data from repeated chromatic scales produced by a trumpet played at mezzo-forte in an anechoic …

Exploring Topological Phonons In Different Length Scales: Microtubules And Acoustic Metamaterials, Ssu-Ying Chen

Dissertations

The topological concepts of electronic states have been extended to phononic systems, leading to the prediction of topological phonons in a variety of materials. These phonons play a crucial role in determining material properties such as thermal conductivity, thermoelectricity, superconductivity, and specific heat. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the role of topological phonons at different length scales.

Firstly, the acoustic resonator properties of tubulin proteins, which form microtubules, will be explored The microtubule has been proposed as an analog of a topological phononic insulator due to its unique properties. One key characteristic of topological materials is the …

Boundary Integral Equation Methods For Superhydrophobic Flow And Integrated Photonics, Kosuke Sugita

Dissertations

This dissertation presents fast integral equation methods (FIEMs) for solving two important problems encountered in practical engineering applications.

The first problem involves the mixed boundary value problem in two-dimensional Stokes flow, which appears commonly in computational fluid mechanics. This problem is particularly relevant to the design of microfluidic devices, especially those involving superhydrophobic (SH) flows over surfaces made of composite solid materials with alternating solid portions, grooves, or air pockets, leading to enhanced slip.

The second problem addresses waveguide devices in two dimensions, governed by the Helmholtz equation with Dirichlet conditions imposed on the boundary. This problem serves as a …

Theoretical Analysis Of Charge Conduction And Rectification In Self-Assembled-Monolayers In Molecular Junctions, Francis Adoah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

As electrical devices shrink to the atomic scale, it is expected that Moore's law will soon be obsolete for semiconductor devices. In 1974, Avriam and Ratner predicted that organic devices could replace semiconductor technology, leading to extensive research on molecular-based organic devices. This dissertation delves into the theoretical frameworks used to examine the transport in molecular junctions and aims to enhance our comprehension of charge transport and conduction properties. The studies presented in this thesis illustrates that a molecule's alteration by just a single atom can change it from an insulator to a conductor, and also that, by fine-tuning the …

Design And Fabrication Of A Trapped Ion Quantum Computing Testbed, Christopher A. Caron

Masters Theses

Here we present the design, assembly and successful ion trapping of a room-temperature ion trap system with a custom designed and fabricated surface electrode ion trap, which allows for rapid prototyping of novel trap designs such that new chips can be installed and reach UHV in under 2 days. The system has demonstrated success at trapping and maintaining both single ions and cold crystals of ions. We achieve this by fabricating our own custom surface Paul traps in the UMass Amherst cleanroom facilities, which are then argon ion milled, diced, mounted and wire bonded to an interposer which is placed …

Spectral Broadening Effects On Pulsed-Source Digital Holography, Steven A. Owens, Mark F. Spencer, Glen P. Perram

Faculty Publications

Using a pulsed configuration, a digital-holographic system is setup in the off-axis image plane recording geometry, and spectral broadening via pseudo-random bit sequence is used to degrade the temporal coherence of the master-oscillator laser. The associated effects on the signal-to-noise ratio are then measured in terms of the ambiguity and coherence efficiencies. It is found that the ambiguity efficiency, which is a function of signal-reference pulse overlap, is not affected by the effects of spectral broadening. The coherence efficiency, on the other hand, is affected. As a result, the coherence efficiency, which is a function of effective fringe visibility, is …

Study Of Radiation Effects In Gan-Based Devices, Han Gao

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Radiation tolerance of wide-bandgap Gallium Nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) has been studied, including X-ray-induced TID effects, heavy-ion-induced single event effects, and neutron-induced single event effects. Threshold voltage shift is observed in X-ray irradiation experiments, which recovers over time, indicating no permanent damage formed inside the device. Heavy-ion radiation effects in GaN HEMTs have been studied as a function of bias voltage, ion LET, radiation flux, and total fluence. A statistically significant amount of heavy-ion-induced gate dielectric degradation was observed, which consisted of hard breakdown and soft breakdown. Specific critical injection level experiments were designed and carried out to explore …

Adaptive Plasmonic Metasurfaces For Radiative Cooling And Passive Thermoregulation, Azadeh Didari-Bader, Nooshin M. Estakhri, Nasim Mohammadi Estrakhri

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

In this work, we investigate a class of planar photonic structures operating as passive thermoregulators. The radiative cooling process is adjusted through the incorporation of a phase change material (Vanadium Dioxide, VO₂) in conjunction with a layer of transparent conductive oxide (Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide, AZO). VO₂ is known to undergo a phase transition from the “dielectric” phase to the “plasmonic” or “metallic” phase at a critical temperature close to 68°C. In addition, AZO shows plasmonic properties at the long-wave infrared spectrum, which, combined with VO₂, provides a rich platform to achieve low reflections across the …

Method Of Evanescently Coupling Whispering Gallery Mode Optical Resonators Using Liquids, Hengky Chandrahalim, Kyle T. Bodily

AFIT Patents

The present invention relates to evanescently coupling whispering gallery mode optical resonators having a liquid coupling as well as methods of making and using same. The aforementioned evanescently coupling whispering gallery mode optical resonators having a liquid couplings provide increased tunability and sensing selectivity over current same. The aforementioned. Applicants’ method of making evanescent-wave coupled optical resonators can be achieved while having coupling gap dimensions that can be fabricated using standard photolithography. Thus economic, rapid, and mass production of coupled WGM resonators-based lasers, sensors, and signal processors for a broad range of applications can be realized.

The Future Is Now In Twisted Coil Polymer Actuators (Tcpa), Ryan Ronquillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aimed to fabricate and test twisted coiled polymer actuators (TCPA) to understand the mechanical and thermal aspects of this artificial muscle fiber. The purpose of this thesis was to find a linear relationship using the LVDT sensor, fabricating TCPA fibers, and interpreting the data. The project tested whether nylon/polymer could be used as a better artificial muscle fiber.

This research accomplished three goals: (1) designing and fabricating a system capable of creating supercoiled muscle fibers consistently, (2) calibrating the Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) and Core, and (3) analyzing/interpreting the data of the Twisted Coiled Polymer Actuators (TCPA) …

Measurements Of Magnetic Field Penetration Of Materials For Superconducting Radiofrequency Cavities, Iresha Harshani Senevirathne

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators are typically formed from or coated with superconducting materials. Currently high purity niobium is the material of choice for SRF cavities which have been optimized to operate near their theoretical field limits. This brings about the need for significant R&D efforts to develop next generation superconducting materials which could outperform Nb and keep up with the demands of new accelerator facilities. To achieve high quality factors and accelerating gradients, the cavity material should be able to remain in the superconducting Meissner state under high RF magnetic field without penetration of quantized …

Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Future assembly technologies will involve higher levels of automation in order to satisfy increased microscale or nanoscale precision requirements. Traditionally, assembly using a top-down robotic approach has been well-studied and applied to the microelectronics and MEMS industries, but less so in nanotechnology. With the boom of nanotechnology since the 1990s, newly designed products with new materials, coatings, and nanoparticles are gradually entering everyone’s lives, while the industry has grown into a billion-dollar volume worldwide. Traditionally, nanotechnology products are assembled using bottom-up methods, such as self-assembly, rather than top-down robotic assembly. This is due to considerations of volume handling of large …

Fabrication Of Black Phosphorus Terahertz Photoconductive Antennas, Nathan Tanner Sawyers

Physics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Terahertz (THz) photoconductive antennas (PCAs) using 40nm thin-film flakes of black phosphorus (BP) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have been shown computationally to be capable of THz emission comparable to those based on GaAs [2]. In this paper, I briefly describe the scientific and practical interest in THz emissions and explain what warrants research into black phosphorus as a photoconductive semiconductor in THz devices. Furthermore, I outline the basic principle of how these antennas work and mention alternative designs produced by other researchers in the past. Finally, I summarize the fabrication process of these antennas, as well as the measurements …

Effect On Focusing Fields By Ferromagnetic Cell Cores In Linear Induction Accelerators, Cooper Guillaume

Senior Honors Theses

In the Los Alamos National Laboratories DARHT facility, there are two perpendicular linear induction accelerators, LIAs. The LIAs’ solenoids produce magnetic fields which focus the electron beam. Simultaneously, the accelerating pulse creates a magnetic field. These two field intensities act upon a ferromagnetic material in the cells to enhance magnetic flux density. Due to the nonlinearity of the material, this flux density will reach a saturation point. In turn, the magnetic field intensity of the axial solenoidal magnetic field will be affected and slightly altered. The width of the electron beam will increase, causing a decrease in effectiveness. Through simulation, …

Computational Design Of Fiber-Optic Probes For Biosensing, Suwarna Karna

Electrical Engineering Theses

This thesis presents a study on the optical characteristics of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs) with a band gap cladding structure and their applications in optical fiber sensing. This 800B HC-PCF exhibited excellent optical properties and has a flexible structure, which makes them suitable for a wide range of industrial applications. Finite element simulations and structural optimization designs were conducted using the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique to determine the optimal performance parameters of the 800B HC-PCF. The fiber was further modified using the SPR technique to improve its practical detection capabilities. The performance of the modified fiber was observed …

Utilizing Inverse Design To Create Plasmonic Waveguide Devices, Michael Efseaff, Kyle Wynne, Mark C. Harrison

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

In modern communications networks, data is transmitted over long distances using optical fibers. At nodes in the network, the data is converted to an electrical signal to be processed, and then converted back into an optical signal to be sent over fiber optics. This process results in higher power consumption and adds to transmission time. However, by processing the data optically, we can begin to alleviate these issues and surpass systems which rely on electronics. One promising approach for this is plasmonic devices. Plasmonic waveguide devices have smaller footprints than silicon photonics for more compact photonic integrated circuits, although they …

Electromagnetic Theory And Applications, Nicholas Madamopoulos, George Kliros

Open Educational Resources

This book intends to provide both the fundamentals of Electromagnetics but also some practical applications of the concepts covered. Having taught electromagnetics for several years, the authors feel that many times the field of electromagnetics comes as “old” and often times students do not appreciate the concepts and their importance in everyday applications. The authors intend to accompany the EM concepts with life applications. Hence, students may see the direct impact of the knowledge they acquire through the study of the field of electromagnetics and better appreciate the field.