Physics Commons^™

Software And Hardware Improvements For Digital Solar Magnetograph System, Shu Yang

Dissertations

Digital solar imaging systems have been widely used in solar observations. Their high resolution, high rate of image acquisition and convenience for off-line image processing have provided significant improvements to solar physics research. In this project, two digital magnetograph systems established at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have been described. One is used to provide a high frame rate magnetogram system, and the other provides a real-time image alignment, i.e., a correlation tracker system.

The developed correlation tracker system consists of a high-speed 64x64 CCD camera, an EDT image grabbing board, an agile mirror, a D/A board and a Sun …

Time Domain Measurement Of The Nonlinear Refractive Index In Optical Fibers And Semiconductor Film, Hernando Garcia

Dissertations

A new technique to measure the nonlinear refractive index n₂ in optical fibers and semiconductor films has been developed. It is based on the time delay two-beam coupling of very intense picosecond laser pulses that have been self-phase modulated in the nonlinear optical medium. The two beams are coupled in a slow responding medium that is sensitive to time dependent phase distortions. We determine that the amount of phase distortion experienced by the pulse is proportional to the nonlinear refractive index of the medium, This time domain approach can also be applied to optical fiber amplifiers in the presence …

Modeling, Design And Fabrication Of Thin-Film Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells, Wei Chen

Dissertations

The modeling, design and fabrication of low-cost thin-film microcrystalline silicon(µcSi) solar cells is studied in this thesis. The cell, considered in this investigation, utilizes low-cost glass as the substrate and microcrystalline Si (µc-Si) as the active layer. A comprehensive refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) model of silicon as function of doping, temperature and wavelength is developed to assist the optical design of the cell. In order to obtain acceptable short circuit current density (Jsc) from the cell, it is found that the thickness of the silicon thin film should be more than 10µm. To get the best light …

Testing Of The New Usgs K Index Algorithm At Bear Lake Observatory, Ariel O. Acebal

Theses and Dissertations

The K index was developed by Bartels in 1939 as an estimate of the level of geomagnetic activity caused by the Sun. This index was computed manually every three hours at geomagnetic observatories using the magnetic traces of the surface planetary magnetic field. In 1991, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy approved four additional methods to compute the K index; all of them were computer algorithms. One of the approved methods, the Wilson code, recently underwent some modifications. The new algorithm is now part of a Windows-based computer program being developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). After …

Experimental And Phenomenological Study Of Persistent Photoconductivity In Yba2cu3o6 Thin Films, Daniel-Dennis Mcalevy Bubb

Dissertations

Persistent Photoconductivity in YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x thin films is studied by means of infrared photoconductivity measurements after the films have been illuminated with visible light at low temperature. Experimentally, the effect is characterized by the samples' electrical response to infrared light, either causing the resistance to decrease or increase.

A cellular automata model is proposed in explanation of these results and is shown to be consistent with current experimental understanding of this unusual effect, both our results and those of others. The cellular automata model may have application to other unusual optical phenomena exhibited by YBa_{2 …}

Production Of Pulsed Low Energy Electron Beams, Shyam Das

Theses

In this thesis, an experimental setup for the production of low energy electron beams based on Explosive Electron Emission (EEE) is used to study the transmission of pulsed low energy electron beams through silicon nitride foils. The electron beam density before and after the foil are measured. The experimental values fully agree with the theoretical estimates. Work done in this thesis is a judicious combination of vacuum technology, pulsing of high voltage sources, thermal physics and electronics. Dia rams and -photo uaphs of the experimental setup arl-I presented. A paper was 9 presented at the American Vacuum Society (AVS) symposium …

Emissivity Measurements And Modeling Of Silicon Related Materials And Structures, Sufian Abedrabbo

Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the major issues concerning applications of pyrometry for applications in rapid thermal processing (RTP) of silicon related materials. The research highlights of this work are:

Establishment of spectral ernissometry as a novel, reliable and reproducible technique for:

Determination of wavelength and temperature dependent reflectivity, transmissivity, emissivity and temperature, simultaneously, of silicon related materials and structures. The emissometer operates in the wavelength range of 1-20mm and temperature range of 300-1200K. The analysis of the influence of morphological effects on the radiative properties by measurement of (a) front-smooth incidence versus backside-rough incidence of singleside …

Displacement Of The Earth's Bow Shock And Magnetopause Due To An Impinging Interplanetary Shock Wave, William A. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Interplanetary shock waves (ISWs) propagating through the solar wind can collide with the earth's bow shock, resulting in a series of new shocks, contact discontinuities, and rarefaction waves which interact to effectively move the bow shock and magnetopause toward the earth. A one dimensional MacCormack predictor corrector algorithm with Flux Corrected Transport (FCT) was developed to model the ISW bow shock and magnetopause interactions, and to numerically predict their propagation speeds after collision. Analytic relationships for the Mach numbers and propagation speeds of the generated shock waves and contact discontinuities were used to validate the model and to compare numerical …

Surface Phenomena On The Tin-Dioxide Polycrystalline Layers, Andrei A. Fluerasu

Theses

Polycrystalline tin-dioxide is widely used in the detection of reducing gases (such as H₂, CO, CH₄, C₂H₅OH,...) in air by measuring its conductivity changes. The advantage of gas sensors based on such sensing devices is low cost and high sensitivity. In contrast to their widespread applications and to their successful empirical research and development work, the present understanding of the chemical sensing mechanisms is still immature.

In this thesis, for gas sensors based on thick and porous tin-dioxide layers, a study of the response function upon variation of the partial pressure of …

Degradation And Breakdown In Ultra-Thin Silicon Oxides, Christopher Franck

Theses

Emerging trends in the semiconductor device industry call for detailed knowledge of the properties of devices whose dimensions are small enough to exploit Quantum Mechanical effects. This thesis presents a complete picture of oxide degradation in MOS direct tunnel diodes (t0 <3.4 nm). It is demonstrated that for structures fabricated at different facilities and stressed with either gate or substrate injection, a universal degradation mode is revealed which is manifested as the build up of positive charge in the oxide. The data gathered demonstrates that the positive charging phenomena in sub-3.5 nm oxides is independent of oxide thickness, and is characterized by a voltage threshold and two-regime temperature dependence. Further, the catastrophic failure, or breakdown, of these oxides was studied and the strongest evidence to date is presented which links the positive charging phenomena to the oxide breakdown. This thesis concludes with the presentation of a novel device design which can exploit the properties of degradation and breakdown, in thin oxides, to achieve an EEPROM memory cell of superior endurance.

Design And Fabrication Of A Miniature Pressure Sensor Head Using Direct Bonded Ultra-Thin Silicon Wafers, Chad Eugene Statler

Theses

A miniature pressure sensor head is designed and fabricated using an ultra-thin silicon membrane directly bonded to an excimer laser micromachined substrate. The pressure sensor head has its intended implementation as part of an optically interrogated device with sensitivity to pressures ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 MPa. The pressure range design is shown to be easily adjusted by tailoring the thickness of the membrane wafer. The fabrication process features numerous advantages over existing pressure sensor construction technology including a maskless procedure and no chemical etching or mechanical thinning necessary to form the membrane after bonding. An optic lever is constructed …

Investigation Of Potential Oxygen Defect Mechanism Of Persistent Photoconductivity And Photoinduced Superconductivity In Yba2cu3ox, Denise Catherine Chew

Theses

In this thesis work, we conclude that oxygen vacancy defects play a fundamental role in the PPC/PISC mechanism and identify the oxygen defects as F centers (an oxygen vacancy which traps two electrons) or F⁺ centers. Also, the correlation between the peaks observed in the luminescence spectra and those observed in the wavelength dependence of PPC suggest that the photogeneration of charges and their annihilation via luminescent recombination occur in the same level (Cu-O chains) of the YBa₂Cu₃O_x crystal. Previous models had assigned the peaks in the PPC excitation spectrum to charge transfer in …

A High Temperature Pressure Sensor Based On Magnetic Coupling And Silicon Wafer Bonding, Deguang Zhu

Theses

In this thesis, the design and fabrication of a bulk micromachined and wafer bonded pressure sensor for high temperature applications is described. The device design is based on the magnetic coupling principle as described by the Biot-Savart law. By combining the mechanical properties of single crystal silicon with magnetic coupling, the designed sensor can be operated up to 600°C. The key components within the sensor are two inductive coils, a silicon diaphragm and a hermetic vacuum cavity.

The modeling based on a nine-turn single level coil device and a 300 μm x 300 diaphragm indicates an output rms voltage range …

Silicon Optical Fiber Pressure Sensor, Jian Pan

Theses

A novel optical fiber pressure sensor based on a micromachined thin silicon diaphragm is proposed. Detail descriptions of the sensor structure, modulation principle and fabrication process are given.

The device operates on the following principle: Pressure deflects a silicon diaphragm which moves the output end of a light source fiber. The emitted light intensity is picked up and shared by two receiving fibers placed side by side. The variation of the intensity ratio in the receiving fibers caused by the relative motion of the emitting fiber can be easily converted to a linear signal versus the deflection of the silicon …

Microaccelerometer With Mechanically-Latched Memory, Zhenyu Ma

Theses

A new mechanically-latching micromachined accelerometer is designed in this thesis based on the large deflection of a microcantilever beam. This surface micromachined device moves in the plane of the substrate surface. This device is surface micromachined with no backside etching needed. The interaction of the friction tether and the dimensions of the cantilever beam have been modeled and calculated. The design acceleration sensitivity range is from 100G to 1000G. The photomask set has been designed by using the Mentor Graphics system. The dimension of individual accelerometers ranges from 100 to 1000 micrometers in length to tens of micrometers in width. …

Ultra-Thin Silicon Wafer Bonding, Diyu Yan

Theses

In this thesis the history and recent developments on the silicon direct bonding technique are reviewed. The growing applications of this technique in SOI, SOS and MEMS areas, difficulties and disadvantages of various bonding processes are discussed. A direct bonding procedure for attaching ultra-thin wafers less than 200 μm thick to substrate wafers is developed and described in detail. Difficulties in handling, aligning and annealing ultra-thin wafers are reported. Wafers of different doping concentration, thickness, surface roughness and chemical characteristics are tested for bondability. Methods to minimize voids and other failure mechanisms are proposed. A photodetector is designed based on …

Subthreshold Channel Leakage Current In Gaas Mesfet's, Wei Long

Theses

In this thesis, a physical model including the subthreshold conpensation properties is presented. The Poisson equation is solved analytically in one dimension for GaAs MESFET's with undoped substrates in the subthreshold region. The solution is then used to derive expressions for subthreshold drain current and subshreshold swing in MESFET's with undoped substrates. Very good agreement between experimental and analytical results is achieved.

Two key parameters (Nilo and Iso) that determine the subthreshold Characteristics have been analyzed as a function of residual acceptor concentration Na, deep level EL2 concentration Nt, channel doping concentration Nd and threshold voltage Vt. It is shown …

Mbe Growth Of Inxga1-Xas/Gaas/Si Heterostructure System, Jun Liu

Theses

In this work, we grew the In_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs/Si (GaAs as buffer layer) by MBE technique. The surface of the buffer layer became microscopically rough as the thickness of the buffer layer increased and the growth mode of GaAs on Si underwent a change from three-dimensional to two-dimensional during the initial growth stage as indicated on the Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED) screen. The Scattering Electron Microscopy (SEM) observation of the etched surface of GaAs on Si showed that the structure of the buffer layer tended to be poly-crystalline and it was possible that a predominant orientation …

Measurement Of The Hall Coefficient And Electron Mobility Using Van Der Pauw Type Hall Effect Measurements, Hong-Sheng Luo

Theses

Hall effect measurement in the electrical characterization of semiconductor materials is very important. We set up the Hall effect measurement system and examined the system with a standard sample. The experimental results show that this Hall measurement system worked as well as expected. We also used this system to study the GaAs/GaAs and InGaAs/GaAs which grown by MBE. Finally, we disscussed and consided some common problems of Hall measurement. Some useful formulas and plots are presented.

Low Temperature Performance Of Field Effect Transistors, Wei Zhu

Theses

The low temperature static characteristics of silicon junction field-effecttransistors (JFETs) have been investigated and analysed. The followingchanges were observed after cooling down the transistors: pinch-offvoltage and transconductance increases; and drain current is changedas a function of the drain-source voltage. It was found that there wasan increase in the amplifying properties and a reduction in noise voltageof cooled transistors. In addition, the temperature and voltage dependenceof leakage current have been studied. Temperatures below 77K are ofinterest in evaluating effects of impurity freezeout and temperatureabove 77K are important since actual device temperature will be aboutthe ambient. Operation of FET circuits at liquid …

Nmr Computer Simulation Of Glassy And Powdered Samples : Application To Studies Of Sodium Borovanadate Glasses, Xian-Quan Zhang

Theses

A computer program is devised to simulate the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra observed in powdered and glassy samples in the presence of both nuclear quadrupole and anisotropic chemical shift interactions. This method is performed for the central transition of NMR spectra of nuclei with half-integral spin I. Typical theoretical behavior of the powder pattern is discussed and the "noise" and "error" in the simulated spectra are analyzed. The computer simulation method is applied to the studies of 11B NMR spectra of the sodium borovanadate glass system for which a structural model is presented in the range for which glasses …

External Cavity Laser Power Stabilizer, Jie Ding

Theses

In this thesis, we want to design a stabilizer which does not depend on laser source--with external cavity.

In the first part of the thesis ( Chapter 2 and 3 ), we discuss the wave propagation in crystals and the modulation of optical radiation. From the main two types electro-optic modulations, Phase Modulation and Transverse Modulation, we know that the transverse modulation shows an increase in the frequency limit or useful crystal length of (1-c0/ncm)^-1, and we will use this type modulation in this thesis.

The second part of the thesis is the procedure of design and experiment. …

A Theoretical Study Of The Semiconductor Laser Structures With Lateral Discontinuity In The Optical Cavity, Yi Cai

Theses

A theoretical study of the semiconductor laser structures with lateral discontinuity in the optical resonant cavity is presented in this thesis. Specifically, the lateral discontinuity is referred to the lateral expansion structure newly invented for increasing the power output of semiconductor lasers while keeping single mode operation.

In the first part of the thesis (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3), an explicit expression for calculating the lateral discontinuity problems is formulated by the incorporation of mode-matching method. Our approach is based on the mode expansion theory developed for lossless micro-wave and optical fiber waveguides, but the effect of gain in active …

Calibration Of Photoluminescence Experiment, Chihchuan Daniel Lee

Theses

Photoluminescence in a semiconductor at room temperature is quite difficult to distinguish from the many nonlasing optical lines from the laser, therefore, a blank test is very important. In so doing, the noises of the detector has to be taken into account. The calibration, however, mainly depends on the detector and is less dependent on other components. Instead of using black-body radiation light source and pyroelectric detector, we use globar lamp and PbS detector; because of the difficulty in the former case in doing alignment of optical path (invisible) and operating at a lower signal level from the detector. The …

Photoluminescence Study Of Gallium Arsenide, Aluminum Gallium Arsenide, And Gallium Antimonide Thin Films Grown By Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition, John Mark Koons

Theses

The photoluminescence produced by four MOCVD grown epitaxial thin film samples was studied to give insight into sample quality. The four samples under this study were GaAs on a GaAs substrate, Al_.25Ga_.75As on a GaAs substrate, Al_.30Ga_.7OAs on a GaAs substrate, and GaSb on a GaSb substrate. Excitation was achieved through the use of the 514.0 nm line of an argon ion laser, and sample cooling was attained by use of a cryostat cooler using helium gas to attain a low temperature limit of 10°K. The GaAs and Al_.30Ga_{.7O …}

A Thermoelastic Model Applied To Stress Control In Laser Heating Of Ceramics, Jeff Alexander Wagner

Theses

Localized laser heating is widely used in materials processing. In extending these techniques to materials with relatively low thermal conductivities and ductilities such as ceramics and glasses, existing methods must be modified to control the high thermal stresses which are associated with the localized heating of these materials. Thermal profiles must be designed to minimize damage to regions adjacent to the processed area. To achieve this with single beam sources the power and radius can be varied in time, or the beam can be moved across the surface in a programmed pattern to achieve the desired thermal profile.

In this …

Far Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy Using Ring Interferometer, Changqing Qiu

Theses

A circular mirror interferometer named ring interferometer, which was designed by Dr. K.D. Moller, was built and set up for far-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The ring interferometer has ten circular mirrors with the same area. By applying Fraunhofer diffraction theory, the calculation shows that the ring interferometer will have large diffraction angle range compared with lamellar grating interferometer which has rectangular mirrors with same width. Therefore the ring interferometer will be more efficient than lamellar grating in far-infrared spectroscopy. The experimental results show that this ring interferometer will work as expected.

In addition, a "home made" helium cooled detector was …

Non-Contact Measurement For Thermal Conductivity Of Diamond-Like And Hard Carbon Thin Films, Ganming Qin

Theses

In this research work, non-contact temperature measurement was applied to determine the thermal conductivity of diamond-like and hard carbon thin films. Dielectric materials widely used as thin films in device manufacturing are SiO₂, Si₃N₄, polymer, and etc. However, their heat dissipating capacity is not good for power devices. It is necessary to develop a new material for this purpose. Diamond crystal is a high quality dielectric material. It has the highest room-temperature thermal conductivity [k=20W (cm · K) at 20°C] among all materials. In addition, it has high electrical resistivity ( >10¹⁶ Ω …

A Theoretical Model For Biased Superlattice Devices, Michael Ferner

Theses

A model describing the subband structures and tunneling characteristics of superlattices is presented. The model solves the envelope function equations by the transfer matrix technique. The results are codified in a Fortran program, and the model is applied to several structures.

Superlattice have been studied extensively, however many new structures await investigation.

This model is presented as a preliminary design tool. The program allows a designer to do preliminary calculations. This type of investigation guides a designer toward a goal by making possible a large number of calculations on many different structures.

Quantitative Measurement Of Pyrolysis And Combustion Species Concentration By Molecular-Beam-Sampling-Mass-Spectrometry, Xian Zhong

Theses

A molecular-beam-sampling apparatus utilizing both a time-of-flight mass spectrometer with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization and a quadrupole mass spectrometer with electron impact ionization is described. These systems are used to analyze reactants and products, as well as reactive intermediates, from flow tube experiments at reduced pressures and elevated temperatures. It is shown that the quadrupole signal sensitivity can be predicted using literature cross sections which are based upon the atom hybridization within the various molecules. Measurements of the VUV photoionization sensitivity for stable species led to development of a group additivity approach to predict cross sections. This approach was extended …