Physics Commons^™

Trapping And Cooling Of Ca+ For Cold Ion-Radical Collisions, Bernardo Gutierrez

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Free radicals are molecules that contain an unpaired valence electron which induces high reactivity. Ion radical reactions are typically exothermic and have low (or zero) activation energy. It is for these reasons that ion-radical reactions are believed to dominate in interstellar clouds where temperatures hover around 3-10K. State-to-state measurements require precision control of both reactants.

Dispersion In High Temperature Superconductors, Lazar Novakovic

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Superconductors are used in many different industries: Efficient power transmission, Maglev train, MRIs

Dicationic Stilbazolium Salts: Structural, Thermal, Optical, And Ionic Conduction Properties, Pradip K. Bhowmik, Jung J. Koh, David King, Haesook Han, Benoît Heinrich, Bertrand Donnio, Daniel Zaton, Alfonso Martinez-Felipe

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Two series of new dicationic stilbazolium salts containing tosylate and triflimide counterions, respectively, were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques and elemental analysis. Despite of their promesogenic structures, none of these salts are mesomorphous, and instead they solely exhibit crystalline polymorphism, as deduced from differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy and variable temperature X-ray measurements. These salts were also found to be highly thermally stable with decomposition temperatures occurring well above 300 °C, and up to 367 °C for the triflimide salts, as determined by thermogravimetric analysis. UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescent properties were examined in both solution and in the …

Response Of The Mode Grüneisen Parameters With Anisotropic Compression: A Pressure And Temperature Dependent Raman Study Of Β-Sn, Jasmine K. Hinton, Christian Childs, Dean Smith, Paul B. Ellison, Keith V. Lawler, Ashkan Salamat

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The lattice dynamic response of body-centered tetragonal β−Sn (I41/amd) under high pressure and -temperature conditions is determined using experimental optical vibration modes. Raman scattering is used to map the phase stability region of β−Sn to perform mode Grüneisen analysis, and we demonstrate the necessity of an optical intensity calibration for Raman thermometry. The Grüneisen tensor is evaluated along a set of isotherms to address shortcomings of single-mode Grüneisen parameters with respect to anisotropic deformations of this tetragonal structured soft metal. The changes observed here in the Grüneisen tensor as a function of temperature are related to anharmonicity and denote potential …

Toughening A Superstrong Carbon Crystal: Sequential Bond-Breaking Mechanisms, Hui Liang, Hefei Li, Quan Li, Changfeng Chen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

A complex orthorhombic carbon allotrope in Pbam symmetry with 32 atoms in its unit cell, thus termed Pbam-32 carbon, was recently predicted [C. Y. He et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 175701 (2018)]. Its crystal structure comprises alternating fivefold, sixfold, and sevenfold carbon rings and exhibits reduced bonding anisotropy compared to diamond, raising the prospects of finding a superstrong material with distinct and favorable mechanical properties. Here we report findings from first-principles calculations that reveal peculiar stress-strain relations in Pbam-32 carbon. The obtained stress responses under various tensile and shear strains display outstanding characteristics contrasting those of traditional superhard materials …

The Breakup Of A Helium Cluster After Removing Attractive Interaction Among A Significant Number Of Atoms In The Cluster, Tao Pang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The breakup of a quantum liquid droplet is examined through a 4He cluster by removing the attractive tail in the interaction between some of the atoms in the system with the diffusion quantum Monte Carlo simulation. The ground-state energy, kinetic energy, cluster size, and density profile of the cluster are evaluated against the percentage of the atoms without the attractive tail. The condition for the cluster to lose its ability to form a quantum liquid droplet at zero temperature is found and analyzed. The cluster is no longer able to form a quantum liquid droplet when about two-thirds of pairs …

Smooth Flow In Diamond: Atomistic Ductility And Electronic Conductivity, Chang Liu, Xianqi Song, Quan Li, Yanming Ma, Changfeng Chen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Diamond is the quintessential superhard material widely known for its stiff and brittle nature and large electronic band gap. In stark contrast to these established benchmarks, our first-principles studies unveil surprising intrinsic structural ductility and electronic conductivity in diamond under coexisting large shear and compressive strains. These complex loading conditions impede brittle fracture modes and promote atomistic ductility, triggering rare smooth plastic flow in the normally rigid diamond crystal. This extraordinary structural change induces a concomitant band gap closure, enabling smooth charge flow in deformation created conducting channels. These startling soft-and-conducting modes reveal unprecedented fundamental characteristics of diamond, with profound …

Gamma-Ray Bursts Induced By Turbulent Reconnection, A. Lazarian, Bing Zhang, Siyao Xu

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

We revisit the Internal-Collision-induced MAgnetic Reconnection and Turbulence model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in view of the advances made in understanding of both relativistic magnetic turbulence and relativistic turbulent magnetic reconnection. We identify the kink instability as the most natural way of changing the magnetic configuration to release the magnetic free energy through magnetic reconnection, as well as driving turbulence that enables fast turbulent reconnection. We show that this double role of the kink instability is important for explaining the prompt emission of GRBs. Our study confirms the critical role that turbulence plays in boosting reconnection efficiency in GRBs and …

Rotational Quenching Of Hd Induced By Collisions With H2 Molecules, Yier Wan, Nadulvalath Balakrishnan, B. H. Yang, R. C. Forrey, P. C. Stancil

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Rate coefficients for rotational transitions in HD induced by H2 impact for rotational levels of HD j ≤ 8 and temperatures 10 K ≤ T ≤ 5000 K are reported. The quantum mechanical close-coupling (CC) method and the coupled-states (CS) decoupling approximation are used to obtain the cross-sections employing the most recent highly accurate H2–H2 potential energy surface (PES). Our results are in good agreement with previous calculations for low-lying rotational transitions The cooling efficiency of HD compared with H2 and astrophysical applications are briefly discussed.

The Purported Square Ice In Bilayer Graphene In A Nanoscale, Monolayer Object, Tod A. Pascal, Craig P. Schwartz, Keith V. Lawler, David Prendergast

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

The phase diagram of water is complex, and interfacial effects can stabilize unusual structures at the nanoscale. Here, we employ bond order accelerated molecular dynamics simulations to show that upon encapsulation within bilayer graphene, water can spontaneously adopt a two-dimensional (monomolecular) layer of “square ice” at ambient conditions, instead of an encapsulated water droplet. Free energy calculations show that this motif is thermodynamically stable up to diameters of approximately 15 nm due to enhanced hydrogen bonding and favorable binding to the graphene sheets. Entropic losses due to solidification and reduced graphene–graphene binding enthalpy are opposing thermodynamic forces that conspire to …

Controlling The Stereodynamics Of Cold Molecular Collisions, Balakrishnan Naduvalath, J. F. E. Croft, Meng Huang, Hua Guo

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

We report numerically-exact quantum scattering calculations for low-energy collisions of quantum-state prepared HD with H2. Excellent agreement is obtained with recent measurements of Perreault et al. for the angular distribution of scattered HD at a collision energy of 1 K. By state-preparation of the HD molecules, control of the angular distribution of scattered HD was demonstrated. The stereo-dynamic control is achieved by the ability to choose a single or a coherent superposition of quantum states. We present a first-principles simulation of the experiment which enables us to attribute the main features of the observed angular distribution to a single L …

Kondo Signatures Of A Quantum Magnetic Impurity In Topological Superconductors, Rui Wang, Wei-Yi Su, Jian-Xin Zhu, Chin-Sen Ting, Hai Li, Changfeng Chen, Baigeng Wang, Xiaoqun Wang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

We study the Kondo physics of a quantum magnetic impurity in two-dimensional topological superconductors (TSCs), either intrinsic or induced on the surface of a bulk topological insulator, using a numerical renormalization group technique. We show that, despite sharing the p+ip pairing symmetry, intrinsic and extrinsic TSCs host different physical processes that produce distinct Kondo signatures. Extrinsic TSCs harbor an unusual screening mechanism involving both electron and orbital degrees of freedom that produces rich and prominent Kondo phenomena, especially an intriguing pseudospin Kondo singlet state in the superconducting gap and a spatially anisotropic spin correlation. In sharp contrast, intrinsic TSCs support …

Optimization Of Useful Hard X-Ray Photochemistry, David Lewis Goldberger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

X-ray induced damage is generally considered a nuisance, but in the field of Useful Hard X-ray Photochemistry we harness the highly ionizing and penetrating properties of hard X-rays (> 7 keV) to initiate novel photochemical decomposition and synthesis at ambient and extreme conditions. Preliminary experiments suggest that the energy of irradiating photons and the sample pressure play roles in determining the nature of X-ray induced damage. Here, we present the X-ray energy dependence of damage induced in strontium oxalate, strontium nitrate, and barium nitrate, as well as the pressure dependence of X-ray induced damage of strontium oxalate. Our results indicate …

Pressure Effect On The Antiferromagnetic Compound Ce2ni3ge5, Jun Gouchi, Yuki Nakamura, Miho Nakashima, Tasushi Amako, Ravhi Kumar, Yoshiya Uwatoko

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

In this study, the electrical resistivity and magnetization of a single crystal of Ce2Ni3Ge5 heavy fermion compound were performed under pressure. The resistivity and magnetization showed two antiferromagnetic transitions at ambient pressure. On applying pressure, the transitions merged at 1 GPa. At higher pressures, the antiferromagnetic transition temperature decreases, and disappears. It is suggesting that the critical pressure of Ce2Ni3Ge5 was 4.1 GPa.

A Case For Chiral Contributions To Nondipole Effects In Photoionization Using Linearly Polarized Soft X-Rays, Kyle Patrick Bowen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Modelling angular distributions of photoelectrons requires making accurate approximations of both the incoming light and the behavior of bound electrons. The experimental determination of photoelectron angular distributions is crucial to the development of accurate theoretical models governing the light-matter interaction. To date, many models have relied upon the dipole approximation, which assumes a constant electric field as the source of ionization. Despite knowing that the dipole approximation would break down as photon energy increased, the precise limit was unclear. Over the past two decades, a strong case has been made that corrections to the dipole approximation are necessary for accurately …

Li+ Ion Transport In Select Lithium-Rich Antiperovskites, John William Howard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lithium-Rich Antiperovskites (LiRAPs) have been shown to possess relatively high ionic conductivity at room temperature, and become superionic conductors at elevated temperatures. These materials generally have a stoichiometry Li3BX, where B is a doubly deficient anion, and X is a monovalent anion. Ideally they belong to the high symmetry space group Pm-3m where lithium atoms occupy octahedral corners, B anions occupy octahedral centers, and X anions occupy the interstitial centers between the octahedra. LiRAPs were synthesized using several different methods and characterized by XRD, EIS, DSC, TGA, FTIR, and INS techniques. Chemical analyses were performed to determine the stoichiometries of …

Transparent Actuator Made With Few Layer Graphene Electrode And Dielectric Elastomer, For Variable Focus Lens, Taeseon Hwang, Hyeok-Yong Kwon, Joon-Suk Oh, Jung-Pyo Hong, Seung-Chul Hong, Youngkwan Lee, Hyouk Ryeo Choi, Kwang J. Kim, Mainul Hossain Bhuiya, Jae Do Nam

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

A transparent dielectric elastomer actuator driven by few-layer-graphene (FLG) electrode was experimentally investigated. The electrodes were made of graphene, which was dispersed inN-methyl-pyrrolidone. The transparent actuator was fabricated from developed FLG electrodes.The FLG electrode with its sheet resistance of 0.45 kΩ/sq (80 nm thick) was implemented to mask silicone elastomer. The developed FLG-driven actuator exhibited an optical transparency of over 57% at a wavenumber of 600 nm and produced bending displacement performance ranging from 29 to 946 μm as functions of frequency and voltage. The focus variation was clearly demonstrated under actuation to study its application-feasibility in …

A Gauge Theoretic Treatment Of Rovibrational Motion In Diatoms, Gregory Colarch

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Born-Oppenheimer approximation has long been the standard approach to solving the Schrödinger equation for diatomic molecules. In it, nuclear and electronic motions are separated into "slow" and "fast" degrees of freedom and couplings between the two are ignored. The neglect of non-adiabatic couplings leads to an incomplete description of diatomic motion, and in a more refined approach, non-adiabatic couplings are uncoupled by transforming the angular momentum of the molecule and electrons into the body-fixed frame.

In this thesis we examine a "modern" form of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation by exploiting a gauge theoretic approach in a description of molecular motion. …

Hybrid Plasmonic Nanoantennas: Fabrication, Characterization, And Application, Shengjie Zhai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As optical counterpart of microwave antennas, plasmonic nanoantennas are important nanoscale devices for converting propagating optical radiation into confined/enhanced electromagnetic fields. Presently, nanoantennas, with a typical size of 200-500 nm, have found their applications in bio-sensing, bio-imaging, energy harvesting, and disease cure and prevention. With the device feature size of next generation IC goes down to 22 nm or smaller, and biological/chemical sensing reaches the Gene’s level, the sizes of the corresponding nanoantennas have to be scaled down to sub-100nm level. In the literature, these sub-100nm nanoantennas are referred as deep subwavelength nanoantennas as size of such miniaturized nanoantennas is …

Measured Rates Of D2 Abstraction In H2o+ , D2 Substitution In H2do+ And Charge Transfer Of He2+ With Noble And Other Gases At <1ev, Chrysanthos Kyriakides

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Experimental determination of the rate coefficient values of deuterium abstraction in water ions and deuterium substitution in hydronium ions can improve the understanding of D/H in water at planetary atmospheres, cometary atmospheres, and interstellar medium. Using a cylindrical ion trap, (CIT) and time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, a number of measurements at energies below 1 eV have been performed. The deuterium abstraction rate coefficient in water ions, H₂O⁺, and an upper limit for the hydrogen-deuterium substitution rate coefficient in monodeuterated hydronium ion, H₂DO⁺, have been measured. Both the abstraction and substitution …

K-Shell X-Ray Spectroscopy Of Atomic Nitrogen, M. M. Sant'anna, Gunnar Ohrwall, Wayne C. Stolte, Alfred S. Schlachter, Dennis W. Lindle, B. M. Mclaughlin

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Absolute K-shell photoionization cross sections for atomic nitrogen have been obtained from both experiment and state-of-the-art theoretical techniques. Because of the difficulty of creating a target of neutral atomic nitrogen, no high-resolution K-edge spectroscopy measurements have been reported for this important atom. Interplay between theory and experiment enabled identification and characterization of the strong 1s → np resonance features throughout the threshold region. An experimental value of 409.64 ± 0.02 eV was determined for the K-shell binding energy.

The Unlv Xps Facility – Research Opportunities, Allen L. Johnson

NSTec UNLV Symposium

XPS Outline

•XPS – what is it?

•How is it done?

•What are its limitations?

•Future direction – radioactive samples

–Sample containment and transport
–Sputter controls
–Radiation limits

•Summary

Pmts And Radiation/Particle Detection Technologies, Brent Davis

NSTec UNLV Symposium

Describes technical standards for equipment in the field of Nuclear and Optical Physics.

High Pressure Study Of 1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethene With Raman Spectroscopy, Jack Brangham, Michael Pravica, Martin Galley

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The goal of this experiment is to better understand the reasons for Fox-7s insensitivity and high performance. It is very similar to other explosives in composition but different in structure. This different structure is believed to be the reason for Fox-7s unique characteristics. Using Raman spectroscopy along with high pressure techniques we hope to better understand this molecule and how it handles extreme conditions.

Second Hyperpolarizability Of Carbon Tetrachloride, Phillip C. Lotshaw, Anna M. Smith, David P. Shelton

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Although present theories of nonlinear optics agree with observed behavior in simple atoms such as helium, more complex molecules containing many electrons, such as carbon tetrachloride (CCI4), cannot consistently be described by theory. Through experimental analysis of nonlinear materials, a new, more sophisticated model for describing their properties could be realized. The purpose of our experiment was to measure the nonlinear behavior of the second harmonic signal generated from CCI4 and to compare the results with the prediction by the CCSD(T) molecular model.

Crystal Structural Behavior Of Cocu₂O₃ At High Temperatures, April Jeffries, Ravhi S. Kumar, Andrew L. Cornelius

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

High temperature structure of CoCu₂O₃ The spin ladder compounds have received much attention recently due to their relation to the high transition temperature superconductivity. Also the study of spin ladder compounds is of great interest to explore the specific characteristics that result in their behavior. The CoCu₂O₃ spin ladder crystal structure is similar to SrCu₂O₃, which is apparent composition for many high temperature superconductors. The effects of temperature on structural change are investigated for this system. High temperature x-ray diffraction patterns were collected up to 1000⁰C and the variation of lattice parameters as a function of temperature up to decomposition …

Investigation Of Raman Active Modes Of Mgxzn1-Xcr2o4, Nichollas Macholl, Tyler Mosher

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Using Raman spectroscopy, vibrational modes of the spinel structure MgxZn1-xCr2O4 were experimentally examined. The spinel compounds were synthesized by producing solid solutions via combustion method, of MgxZn1-xCr2O4 in the range x=0 to x=1 in 0.1 intervals. The purpose of which was to experimentally verify gradual shifts of Raman peaks as the samples transitioned between the two different compounds and gain information about the dependencies of the lattice vibrations on the tetrahedral and octahedral cations. X-ray diffraction was also used to verify spinel structure, and track the changes in lattice parameter of the samples.

New Cross Sections For H On H2 Collisional Transitions, Qianxia Zou

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The cross section for H on H₂ collisions is important for astrophysics as well as our understanding of the simple chemical systems. This is the simplest atom-molecule cross section. With a new H₃ potential surface by Mielke et al., we have modified the ABC code by Skouteris, Castillo and Manolopoulos to calculate new cross sections. These cross sections are compared to previous cross section calculations.

Dispersion Of The Hyperpolarizability Of The Carbon Tetrachloride Molecule, Scott Wilde

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The second hyperpolarizability of a molecule is the microscopic version of the third order susceptibility. Direct measurements of the ratio of the second hyperpolarizability of carbon tetrachloride to diatomic nitrogen are made possible through electric field induced second harmonic generation. Whenever the dispersion of the second hyperpolarizability is not negligible, there should be deviations from Kleinman symmetry. Previous experimental data for second hyperpolarizability of this molecule have only been at two frequencies and theory predicts the zero frequency value. In order to provide for a better extrapolation to zero frequency, additional gas phase measurements of this ratio at optical frequencies …

Structure Studies On Lanthanide Technetium Pyrochlores As Prospective Host Phases To Immobilize 99- Technetium And Fission Lanthanides From Effluents Of Reprocessed Used Nuclear Fuels, Thomas Hartmann, Ariana Alaniz

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

We performed a systematic investigation of the incorporation of 99Tc into pyrochlore oxide structures, Ln2Tc2O7, where Ln represents trivalent lanthanide Ln3+ cations, while 99Tc is atetravalent, Tc4+, metal cation. Pyrochlore compounds are high-melting temperature oxides and are recognized for their durability. Our goal in this preliminary study is to characterize and quantify the range of stability of the lanthanum technetium pyrochlore oxide phase. Hereby, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld analysis were used to determine and characterize the crystalline phase content with high accuracy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the microstructure and homogeneity of the synthesized …