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Clemson University

Theses/Dissertations

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Articles 91 - 102 of 102

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Thermal Coulomb Drag In A Bi-Layer Semiconductor System, Florin Lung Jul 2008

Thermal Coulomb Drag In A Bi-Layer Semiconductor System, Florin Lung

All Theses

In this work, we investigate the existence of a thermoelectric effect that consists of the appearance of an electric field in one layer when a temperature gradient is applied in the other layer of a double quantum well system. This represents a generalization of the Seebeck effect to the case of two spatially separated electron systems allowed to interact only through the Coulomb repulsion. The induced electric field results from the momentum transfer between the electrons driven out of equilibrium by the temperature gradient and the electrons at rest in the passive layer, a mechanism known in the literature as …


Charge Effects In Bilayer Electric Transport, Christopher Czech Dec 2007

Charge Effects In Bilayer Electric Transport, Christopher Czech

All Theses

The mathematical isomorphism between the layer index in a bilayer system and the spin index in a spin-polarized system is used to draw an analogy between phenomena that occur in the two systems as a result of the electron-electron (e-e) interaction. First, the classical case of the Coulomb drag, a phenomenon resulting from momentum transfer through e-e collisions, is reviewed for both bilayer systems and spin-polarized systems. Then, the spin-backflow phenomenon, a result of the interaction-induced changes in the local quasiparticle energy that affects the charge transport in spin-polarized systems is presented. Finally, the iso-spin correlation is exploited to establish …


Spin Density Wave Phases In Semiconductor Superlattice, Liqiu Zheng Dec 2007

Spin Density Wave Phases In Semiconductor Superlattice, Liqiu Zheng

All Dissertations

We discuss the existence of spin instabilities and of possible ground states with broken spin symmetry in the presence of a tilted magnetic field for several semiconductor heterostructures. In each instance, the fundamental premise of our study is the existence of a spin degeneracy, controlled by tuning various experimentally controllable parameters, that permits the apparition of spin-flip processes driven entirely by the many-body Coulomb interaction. If in the case of a single quantum well, the spin instabilities trigger an abrupt paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition, we demonstrate that in superlattices, at low temperatures, a stable spin density wave ($SDW$) ground …


The Thermoelectric Properties Investigation Of Ir3Ge7 Typed Representatives, Huqin Zhang Aug 2007

The Thermoelectric Properties Investigation Of Ir3Ge7 Typed Representatives, Huqin Zhang

All Theses

Energy conversion is employed to power generation utilizing the Seebeck effect or cooling utilizing the Peltier effect. Herein, we study several Ir3Ge7 typed semiconductor materials for potential thermoelectric energy conversion. Mo3Sb7, crystallizing in Ir3Ge7 type, can be rendered semiconducting by a partial Sb-Te substitution without noticeable structure changes, resulting in Mo3Sb5Te2 with 55 valence electrons per formula unit. Meanwhile, large cubic voids in the Mo3Sb5Te2 crystal structure provide the possibility of filling the voids with small cations to decrease the …


Comparison Of Thermoelectric Properties Of Arc-Melted And Hot-Pressed Half-Heuslers, Brad Edwards Aug 2007

Comparison Of Thermoelectric Properties Of Arc-Melted And Hot-Pressed Half-Heuslers, Brad Edwards

All Theses

Relatively low thermal conductivity and great electrical properties in combination with wide tuning parameters through doping make half-Heuslers high potential thermoelectric materials. In this study we plan to investigate the effects of hot-pressing and arc-melting on the thermoelectric properties of ZrNiSn0.975Sb0.025, and Hf0.75Zr0.25NiSn0.975Sb0.025 samples. Also, the effects of electron and phonon scattering due to the insertion of small 50 nm particles within the sample were investigated in ZrNiSn0.975Sb0.025 +4% Al2O3 and Hf0.75Zr0.25NiSn0.975Sb0.025 +4% Al2O …


Comparison Between Steady State And Laser Flash Techniques, Justine Andrews Aug 2007

Comparison Between Steady State And Laser Flash Techniques, Justine Andrews

All Theses

Thermoelectrics is a promising avenue of energy conservation. A material is deemed a good thermoelectric material when it portrays certain material characteristics. These characteristics include a high thermopower and electrical conductivity and a low thermal conductivity. This thesis focuses on the methods of measuring a material's thermal conductivity.
The steady state method is a measurement technique used in the low temperature thermal conductivity measurements. This technique assures that the system and sample are at equilibrium before a measurement point is taken. As a result the measurements are both precise and accurate.
The laser flash technique measures a sample's thermal conductivity …


Carbon Nanomaterials In Biological Systems, Sijie Lin Aug 2007

Carbon Nanomaterials In Biological Systems, Sijie Lin

All Theses

ABSTRACT


This thesis intends to present, from the biophysical viewpoint, my study on understanding carbon nanomaterials in biological and environmental systems. Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes represent a major family of carbon nanoparticles which possess distinct electrical, optical and mechanical properties. However, the major hurdle for making carbon nanomaterials bioavailable lies in their tendency toward bundling, driven by hydrophobic interaction, van der Waals force, and pi-stacking. To overcome this problem, we used non-covalent binding of zwitterionic lysophopholipids (LPL) onto the external surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). This method affords superior SWNT solubility in aqueous solution. The stability of SWNT-LPL complex …


Quantitative Methods And Detection Techniques In Hyperspectral Imaging Involving Medical And Other Applications, Ankita Roy Aug 2007

Quantitative Methods And Detection Techniques In Hyperspectral Imaging Involving Medical And Other Applications, Ankita Roy

All Dissertations

This research using Hyperspectral imaging involves recognizing targets through spatial and spectral matching and spectral un-mixing of data ranging from remote sensing to medical imaging kernels for clinical studies based on Hyperspectral data-sets generated using the VFTHSI [Visible Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager], whose high resolution Si detector makes the analysis achievable. The research may be broadly classified into (I) A Physically Motivated Correlation Formalism (PMCF), which places both spatial and spectral data on an equivalent mathematical footing in the context of a specific Kernel and (II) An application in RF plasma specie detection during carbon nanotube growing process. (III) Hyperspectral …


Electronic Structure Of Mos2 Nanotubes, Lingyun Xu Aug 2007

Electronic Structure Of Mos2 Nanotubes, Lingyun Xu

All Dissertations

First-principles methods enable one to study the electronic structure of solids, surfaces, or clusters as accurately as possible with moderate computational effort.
So we used a first-principles electronic structure method to calculate the electronic structure of free-standing layer of MoS2 with ABA and ABC stacking. Our results suggest MoS2 with ABA stacking which appears as an insulator has an energy gap of 1.64 eV. The covalent bonds between molybdenum and sulfur atoms are strong enough to form this gap. The ABC stacking will break the symmetry and becomes metallic. The valance and impurities calculations show the rigid-band picture …


Raman Spectroscopic Evidence For Anharmonic Phonon Lifetimes And Blueshifts In 1d Structures, Rahul Rao May 2007

Raman Spectroscopic Evidence For Anharmonic Phonon Lifetimes And Blueshifts In 1d Structures, Rahul Rao

All Dissertations

Anharmonic effects in two different quasi-1D systems were probed via micro-Raman spectroscopy. In the first system, we observed upshifts of peaks in the Raman spectra for b-Ga2O3 nanowires grown along the [110] growth direction compared those present in bulk b-Ga2O3. Contrary to our Raman studies on -Ga2O3 nanowires, downshifts in the Raman spectrum for b-Ga2O3 nanowires grown along [401] direction has also been reported by other research groups. We attribute these Raman shifts to the growth direction-induced lattice strains (compressive and tensile) present in the nanowires, and present a model based on the quasi-harmonic density functional theory to support our …


Harmonic Detection Of Resonance In Micro- And Nano- Cantilevers, Jay Gaillard Dec 2006

Harmonic Detection Of Resonance In Micro- And Nano- Cantilevers, Jay Gaillard

All Dissertations

Over the past decade there has been an explosion in the study of cantilevered beams on the micron and submicron dimension. The applications and research that involve these structures include state-of-the-art electronic components, sensors, and more recently, studies aimed at elucidating the mechanical properties of cantilevered carbon nanotubes and semiconducting nanowires. In nanoelectro-mechanical systems (NEMS), it is desirable to develop a capacitive readout method involving only two electrodes that are fully compliant with standard CMOS technology. However, the main drawback with this method is the ability to detect resonance in the presence of parasitic capacitance, which is due to the …


Assembly And Modification Of A Hyperthermal And Low Energy Ion Beamline For Detecting Electron-Hole Pair Production In Schottky Diodes, Matthew Ray Dec 2006

Assembly And Modification Of A Hyperthermal And Low Energy Ion Beamline For Detecting Electron-Hole Pair Production In Schottky Diodes, Matthew Ray

All Theses

A hyperthermal and low energy ion beamline to measure electron-hole pair production due to ion bombardment of Schottky diodes has been modified and assembled.
A brief overview of the instrument is given and the reason for operating the ion beamline in the hyperthermal and low energy regime is discussed. The capabilities of the ion beamline are unique and provide the means to measure quantities that offer insight into various energy exchange mechanisms that occur at surfaces. Combined with the ability to accept Schottky diode samples, the beamline is capable of measuring both charge transfer and electron-hole pair production caused by …