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Theses and Dissertations

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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Investigating Mechanical Properties Of Metallic Nanowires Using Molecular Dynamics, Alex Khammang Apr 2014

Investigating Mechanical Properties Of Metallic Nanowires Using Molecular Dynamics, Alex Khammang

Theses and Dissertations

Metallic nanowires have useful applications in scanning tunneling microscopes and atomic force microscopes due to their unique sensitivity to force and electricity. These unique properties arise because of the large surface area to volume ratio. One of these properties is that introducing twinning planes the mechanical properties of metallic nanowires can be altered. The effects of twinning planes on metallic nanowires were studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Silver, copper, and nickel nanowires with and without twinning planes were simulated with engineering strain until the first yielding stress was obtained. The radial simulations showed that as the radius of twinned nanowires …


Aromaticity Rules In The Development Of Negative Ions, Brandon Child Apr 2014

Aromaticity Rules In The Development Of Negative Ions, Brandon Child

Theses and Dissertations

Organic molecules are known for their stability due to aromaticity. Superhalogens, on the other hand, are highly reactive anions, whose electron affinity is larger than that of chlorine. This thesis, using first principles calculations, explores possible methods for creation of superhalogen aromatic molecules while attempting to also develop a fundamental understanding of the physical properties behind their creation. The first method studied uses anionic cyclopentadienyl and enhances its electron affinity through ligand substitution or ring annulation in combination with core substitutions. The second method studies the possibilities of using benzene, which has a negative electron affinity (EA), as a core …


Characterization Of Individual Charged Au25(Sg)18 Clusters And Their Enhancement Of Single Molecule Mass Spectrometry, Christopher Angevine Jan 2014

Characterization Of Individual Charged Au25(Sg)18 Clusters And Their Enhancement Of Single Molecule Mass Spectrometry, Christopher Angevine

Theses and Dissertations

Metallic quantum clusters are stable structures that can exhibit many useful magnetic, chemical, and optical properties. Developing clusters for specific applications requires accurate methods for characterizing their physical and chemical properties. Most cluster characterization methods are ensemble-based measurements that can only measure the average values of the cluster properties. Single cluster measurements improve upon this by yielding information about the distribution of cluster parameters. This investigation describes the initial results on a new approach to detecting and characterizing individual gold nanoclusters (Au25(SG)18) in an aqueous solution with nanopore-based resistive pulse sensing. We also present a new application where the clusters …


An Investigation Of Nurbs-Based Deformable Image Registration, Travis J. Jacobson Jan 2014

An Investigation Of Nurbs-Based Deformable Image Registration, Travis J. Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

Deformable image registration (DIR) is an essential tool in medical image processing. It provides a means to combine image datasets, allowing for intra-subject, inter-subject, multi-modality, and multi-instance analysis, as well as motion detection and compensation. One of the most popular DIR algorithms models the displacement vector field (DVF) as B-splines, a sum of piecewise polynomials with coefficients that enable local shape control. B-splines have many advantageous properties in the context of DIR, but they often struggle to adequately model steep local gradients and discontinuities. This dissertation addresses that limitation by proposing the replacement of conventional B-splines with a generalized formulation …


The Effect Of Temperature On The Electrical And Optical Properties Of P-Type Gan, Joy Mcnamara May 2013

The Effect Of Temperature On The Electrical And Optical Properties Of P-Type Gan, Joy Mcnamara

Theses and Dissertations

The development of gallium nitride (GaN) light emitting devices has reached extraordinary echelons. As such, the characterization and analysis of the behavior of GaN materials is essential to the advancement of GaN technology. In this thesis, the effect of temperature on the optical and electrical properties of p-type GaN is investigated. The GaN samples used in this work were grown by various methods and studied by Kelvin probe and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. Specifically, the surface photovoltage (SPV) behavior and PL data were analyzed at different temperatures and illumination intensities. Using the SPV results, we show that p-type GaN exhibits n-type …


Premelting Study Of Nickel Nanorod Arrays, Ebtihaj Alrashid Jr. May 2013

Premelting Study Of Nickel Nanorod Arrays, Ebtihaj Alrashid Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, samples of nanoscale structures of nickel (Ni) nanorods were prepared using the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. Annealing was done using a split- top tube furnace at high vacuum chamber pressure. The pre-melting of the nanorods was maintained at 500 °C for 30 minutes in all the samples. Using the samples with 90 minutes of GLAD time, the annealing behavior of the nanorods was studied at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C. The nanorods were then imaged using scanning electron microscopy. Using X-ray diffraction, the crystalline microstructures of the nanorods were studied. It was …


Atomic And Electronic Structure Of A Ligand-Protected Bimetallic Nanocluster, Ag4ni2(Dmsa)4, Anthony F. Pedicini May 2013

Atomic And Electronic Structure Of A Ligand-Protected Bimetallic Nanocluster, Ag4ni2(Dmsa)4, Anthony F. Pedicini

Theses and Dissertations

An important direction in nanoscale science is to synthesize materials whereby atomic clusters serve as the building blocks. Properties of these clusters can be controlled through size and composition, and such an approach offers a pathway toward designing larger, customized materials. One way to stabilize such materials is through the use of ligated clusters. Ag4Ni2(DMSA)4 is one such cluster, the first with a bimetallic core, and has been stabilized by the experimental group of A. Sen at The Pennsylvania State University. The theoretical studies undertaken in this thesis were directed toward providing information on the atomic structure, nature of electronic …


Investigating The Potential Applications Of A Raman Tweezer System, John Wray Apr 2013

Investigating The Potential Applications Of A Raman Tweezer System, John Wray

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the construction of an Optical Tweezer apparatus to be used in conjunction with a confocal Raman spectrometer. The tweezer utilizes an infrared (λ=1064 nm) laser directed into an inverted microscope with NA=1.4 oil immersion 100x objective lens that strongly focuses the laser light into a sample to function as a single-beam gradient force trap. The long term goal of this research program is to develop a single molecule Raman tweezers apparatus that allows one to control the position of a Raman nanoplasmonic amplifier. This thesis describes the construction of the Raman tweezer apparatus along with several Raman …


Analysis Of Defects In Gan Using Hybrid Density Functional Theory, Ibrahima Castillo Diallo Apr 2013

Analysis Of Defects In Gan Using Hybrid Density Functional Theory, Ibrahima Castillo Diallo

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we first present a brief overview of various theoretical approaches used to examine the electronic structure of defects in GaN. Using the recently developed hybrid density functional theory (HSE06) along with the experimental measurements, we propose a new explanation of the nature of the yellow luminescence band in carbon-doped GaN. We conduct a systematic study of electronic and optical properties of defects (Carbon, Oxygen, Silicon related) that are candidates for the origin of yellow luminescence. We show that the CN-ON complex is significantly more likely to form compared to isolated carbon configurations. In contrast to the properties …


Analysis Of Polyethylene Glycol In The Α-Hemolysin Nanopore, David M. Dancho Jan 2013

Analysis Of Polyethylene Glycol In The Α-Hemolysin Nanopore, David M. Dancho

Theses and Dissertations

Nanopores have been shown to be a useful analytical tool for single molecule detection. They have been used to study the composition of DNA and other molecules of interest. These pores are usually α-hemolysin which is a toxin from Staphylococcus aureus or more recently nanoscale synthetic solid state pores. Now we are beginning to look at other molecules or proteins by sending them into the nanopores and measuring a characteristic partial current blockade. In this thesis we look at polyethylene glycol (PEG) as it enters and blocks current through a single alpha hemolysin pore. We report the effects of ionic …


Photoluminescence From Bulk Gan Substrates, Marrwa Alrrshedan May 2012

Photoluminescence From Bulk Gan Substrates, Marrwa Alrrshedan

Theses and Dissertations

Photoluminescence (PL) has been studied from different types of bulk GaN samples grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy technique at Kyma Technologies. Point defects in bulk and at the surface affect the electrical and optical properties of GaN and could be analyzed by PL. The surface of the samples was polished with different techniques: one is chemical mechanical polish (CMP) and another is mechanical polish (MP). PL data from MP and CMP surfaces show that PL intensity from the CMP-treated surface is much higher than that from the MP-treated surface. This can be explained by defects formed during the process …


Preferentially Orienting Ag Nanoparticles Using Caf2 Nanorods, Mathias Auer May 2012

Preferentially Orienting Ag Nanoparticles Using Caf2 Nanorods, Mathias Auer

Theses and Dissertations

A study was done to examine the effect of surface orientation as well as heterogeneous epitaxy at an interface between two materials with a large lattice mismatch. Silver nanoparticles of different diameters were grown in an effort to study methods of preferentially orienting the geometry of metal nanoparticles. Arrays of calcium fluoride nanorods were grown on silicon substrates using oblique angle thermal vapor deposition. The chamber operated at an ultra high vacuum pressure of 10^-10 Torr during the deposition of the rods and an oblique angle of 75° was kept between the silicon substrate normal and the direction of incident …


Finite-Difference Time-Domain Modeling Of Nickel Nanorods, Joseph Steele Parris May 2012

Finite-Difference Time-Domain Modeling Of Nickel Nanorods, Joseph Steele Parris

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical and experimental plasmonics is a growing field as a method to create near fields at sub-wavelength distances. In this thesis, a finite-difference time-domain method is used to simulate electromagnetic waves onto a thin film that present of nickel nanorods with sharp apexes. The absorbed, transmitted, and reflected fields were shown to depend linearly on silver film thickness and nanotip length. The electric field is visualized along the tip to show strong charge density along the base of the tip’s apex and how that density changes for wavelength, metal, and source tilt. Lastly, the study shows gold film on the …


Mechanical Characterization Of Patterned Silver Columnar Nanorods With The Atomic Force Microscope., Sean Kenny Apr 2012

Mechanical Characterization Of Patterned Silver Columnar Nanorods With The Atomic Force Microscope., Sean Kenny

Theses and Dissertations

Patterned silver (Ag) columnar nanorods were prepared by the glancing angle physical vapor deposition method. The Ag columnar nanorods were grown on a Si (100) substrate patterned with posts in a square “lattice” of length 1 μm. An electron beam source was used as the evaporation method, creating the deposition flux which was oriented 85˚ from the substrate normal. A Dimension Icon with NanoScope V controller atomic force microscope was used to measure the spring constant in 10 nm increments along the long axis of five 670 nm long Ag nanorod specimens. The simple beam bending model was used to …


Fabrication Of Anisotropic Sol-Gel Materials By Photo-Crosslinking, Charles Wingfield Apr 2012

Fabrication Of Anisotropic Sol-Gel Materials By Photo-Crosslinking, Charles Wingfield

Theses and Dissertations

This is a report on the fabrication and characterization of anisotropic, porous materials: functionally graded cellular and compositionally anisotropic aerogels. This new class of materials was fabricated by photopolymerization of selected regions of a homogeneous monolith using visible light. Visible light is not significantly absorbed and not significantly scattered by organic molecules and oxide nanoparticles in wet gels and it allows fabrication of deeply penetrating, well-resolved patterns. Simple variations of the exposure geometry allowed fabrication of a wide variety of anisotropic materials without requiring layers or bonding.


Thermal Quenching Of Photoluminescence From Gan, Anita Olsen Apr 2012

Thermal Quenching Of Photoluminescence From Gan, Anita Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

GaN is a III-V semiconductor that is a promising material used in production of light emitting devices and high power/high frequency electronics. The electronic and optical properties of GaN are subdued by defects that occur during the growth processes of this material. The emitted photoluminescence (PL) from optically excited GaN gives insight into the origins and effects of point defects within the crystal lattice structure of GaN. In this study, PL spectroscopy is used to examine and analyze the point defects that occur in Zn-doped GaN. The blue luminescence band seen in undoped and Zn-doped GaN have identical fine structure …


Synthesis Of Nanocomposites By Laser Ablation, Stephen Mutisya May 2011

Synthesis Of Nanocomposites By Laser Ablation, Stephen Mutisya

Theses and Dissertations

Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-conjugated gold nanoparticles were produced via in situ conjugation of gold nanoparticles with immunoglobulin E by laser ablation of Au in a liquid solution. The colloidal stability and the size distribution of the resulting bio-nanoconjugates were examined with UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These techniques showed that the Au nanoparticles in aqueous solutions were highly monodispersed spherical particles with a very narrow size distribution. The particles net diameter using TEM, was found to be D5 =3.8±0.9nm and D10 =4.7±1.3nm while the hydrodynamic diameter obtained with DLS was found to be h5 …


Aging Effect In The Wettability Of Nickel Nanorod Arrays, Nahla Albarakati May 2011

Aging Effect In The Wettability Of Nickel Nanorod Arrays, Nahla Albarakati

Theses and Dissertations

The time-dependent wettability of nickel nanorod arrays was studied by measuring their water contact angles as a function of "aging" time in air. The nickel nanorod arrays were deposited on silicon substrates by DC magnetron sputtering using an oblique angle of 85° with respect to the substrate normal. By changing the deposition time from 10 to 90 min., the diameter, height, and separation of the nanorods were varied. The water contact angles of each sample were then periodically measured from a minimum aging time of 30 min. after deposition and exposure to air, up to a maximum aging time of …


The Effect Of Ambient On Photoluminescence From Gan, Iwona Ruchala May 2011

The Effect Of Ambient On Photoluminescence From Gan, Iwona Ruchala

Theses and Dissertations

The effect of ambient on photoluminescence (PL) from GaN was studied. We found that the PL intensity in vacuum was nearly four times higher than in air. The PL intensity also increased after etching the sample in Aqua Regia and BOE to remove the native oxide layer. After etching, the PL intensity was very stable in vacuum, but substantially degraded in air ambient. In HCl vapor (low pH), the PL intensity increased as compared to air ambient, while in NH3 vapor (high pH) it decreased. The quantum efficiency of the exciton and blue luminescence bands increased significantly with increasing excitation …


Inducing Active Sites In Clusters: Reactivity Of Al13ix- And Al14iy- (X=0-2, Y=2-4) With Methanol, Christopher Powell May 2011

Inducing Active Sites In Clusters: Reactivity Of Al13ix- And Al14iy- (X=0-2, Y=2-4) With Methanol, Christopher Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Size selective reactivity has been observed in pure aluminum cluster anions as a result of Lewis acid and base pairs. Using this a starting point, the goal of this study has been to explore how reactivity is affected with the addition of one or more ligand, which may induce active sites on the surface of the metal clusters. To study this, a theoretical investigation was undertaken on Al13Ix- and Al14Iy- (x=0-2, y=2-4) and their reactivity with methanol. The hypothesis was that iodine can induce a Lewis base site on the opposite side of the cluster, which may enhance reactivity. In …


Stability And Spectroscopic Properties Of Negative Ions, Swayamprabha Behera May 2011

Stability And Spectroscopic Properties Of Negative Ions, Swayamprabha Behera

Theses and Dissertations

Negative ions play an important role in chemistry as building blocks of salts and oxidizing agents. Halogen atoms, due to their ability to attract electrons, readily form negative ions. Considerable interest exists in the design and synthesis of new negative ions called superhaogens whose electron affinities are much higher than those of halogen atoms. This thesis deals with the design of such species. Using density functional theory I have studied two classes of superhalogens. First one involves d1 transition metal (Sc, Y, La) atoms surrounded by Cl while the second one involves simple metals (Na, Mg, Al) surrounded by pseudohalogens …


Thermodynamics Of Modified Theories Of Gravity, Aric Hackebill May 2010

Thermodynamics Of Modified Theories Of Gravity, Aric Hackebill

Theses and Dissertations

Einstein’s equations are derived by following Jacobson’s thermodynamic method. It is seen that a family of possible field equations exist which satisfy the thermodynamic argument. Modified theories of gravity are addressed as possible candidates for replacing dark matter as an explanation for anomalous cosmological phenomena. Many of the proposed modified theories are not powerful enough to explain the currently observed phenomena and are rejected as viable theories of gravity. A surviving candidate, TeVeS, is further analyzed under the aforementioned thermodynamic argument to check for its consistency with thermodynamics.


Theoretical Investigation Of The Structures And Stability Of Gas Phase Neutral And Cationic Tixoy Clusters., Baljeet Kaur May 2010

Theoretical Investigation Of The Structures And Stability Of Gas Phase Neutral And Cationic Tixoy Clusters., Baljeet Kaur

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical investigation of the structure and stability of neutral and cationic TixOy cluster series (where y =2x-1, 2x, 2x+1) have been performed. The lowest lying structures for the neutral clusters are usually found in the singlet state. Generally, in bulk and in the case of the neutral TixOy clusters, the 2x cluster series is relatively more abundant than the 2x-1 and the 2x+1 cluster series. But in the case of cationic TixOy clusters, the 2x-1 series is more abundant. To understand the origin of the stability of the TixO2x-1+ clusters, we use density functional theory within the NRLMOL set of …


Local Charging Behavior On Gan Surfaces, Josephus Ferguson Apr 2010

Local Charging Behavior On Gan Surfaces, Josephus Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

Gallium nitride is an important III-V semiconductor which is used in many optoelectronic and high-frequency devices. The nature of the GaN surface and its electrical characteristics can impact the performance of such devices. In this study, several GaN surfaces are locally charged using an atomic force microscope, and then subsequently studied by measuring the surface potential with scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). The charging and discharging behavior of the surface appears to be strongly influenced by surface preparation and the presence of a surface oxide layer. If a substantial oxide layer exists, then both positive and negative charging is possible …


Scalar Waves In An Almost Cylindrical Spacetime, Joseph Gordon Apr 2010

Scalar Waves In An Almost Cylindrical Spacetime, Joseph Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

The scalar wave equation is investigated for a scalar field propagating in a spacetime background ds²=e^{2a}(-dt²+dr²)+R(e^{-2ψ}dφ²+e^{2ψ}dz²). The metric is compactified in the radial direction. The spacetime slices of constant φ and z are foliated into outgoing null hypersurfaces by the null coordinate transformation u=t-r. The scalar field imitates the amplitude behavior of a light ray, or a gravitational wave, traveling along a null hypersurface when the area function R is a constant or is a function of u. These choices for R restrict the gravitational wave factor ψ to being an arbitrary function of u.


Development And Investigation Of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning For Four-Dimensional Anatomy, Yelin Suh May 2009

Development And Investigation Of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning For Four-Dimensional Anatomy, Yelin Suh

Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Radiotherapy is one of the main treatment modalities of lung cancer. However, the achievable accuracy of radiotherapy treatment is limited for lung-based tumors due to respiratory motion. Four-dimensional radiotherapy explicitly accounts for anatomic motion by characterizing the motion, creating a treatment plan that accounts for this motion, and delivering this plan to the moving anatomy. This thesis focuses on the current problems and solutions throughout the course of four-dimensional radiotherapy. For characterization of respiratory-induced motion, patient tumor motion data were analyzed. It is shown that tumor motion can be significant …


Density Functional Investigations Of Pure And Ligated Clusters, Kristen Casalenuovo May 2009

Density Functional Investigations Of Pure And Ligated Clusters, Kristen Casalenuovo

Theses and Dissertations

Atomic clusters are attractive candidates for building motifs for new nano-assembled materials with desirable properties. At this nano-regime of matter, the size, shape, and composition of clusters changes their electronic structure and hence their properties. Computational modeling must work hand in hand with experiment to provide robust descriptions of the geometries and energetics of atomic clusters and how they might behave in a nano-assembled material. To this end, we have investigated three distinct species as model systems: antimony oxides SbxOy (x = 1, 2; y = 0 - 3), metal ion-solvent complexes Mm(NH3)n (M = Bi, Pb; m = 1 …


Band Bending In Gan, Michael Foussekis Apr 2009

Band Bending In Gan, Michael Foussekis

Theses and Dissertations

Steady-state and transient surface photovoltages in undoped GaN are studied in various environments (air, nitrogen, oxygen, vacuum) at room temperature and 400 K with a Kelvin probe attached to an optical cryostat. The results are explained within a phenomenological model accounting for the accumulation of photo-generated holes at the surface, capture of free electrons from the bulk over the near-surface potential barrier, and emission of electrons from surface states into the bulk. Mechanisms of surface photovoltage are discussed in detail. Photoadsorption and photodesorption of negatively charged species will either increase or decrease the surface potential and thus band bending. Oxygen …


Tailoring Local Conductivity By The Formation Of Ag Nanoclusters In Sio2 Xerogel Films, Ricky Caperton Jan 2009

Tailoring Local Conductivity By The Formation Of Ag Nanoclusters In Sio2 Xerogel Films, Ricky Caperton

Theses and Dissertations

Porous silicon dioxide thin films were produced via dip-coating and doped with Ag+ by adding AgNO3 to the dipping solution. Nanoparticles were formed within the pores of these films by UV exposure. Nanoparticle formation was confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (CAFM) showed that the conductivity of the films decreased upon exposure to UV. This decrease in the conductivity is most likely due to the clustering of charge carriers. Initially, Ag+ ions are attached to negatively charged pore walls in a dense packing network. Upon UV exposure (125 mW @ 266 nm), the …


Raman Scattering In Gan And Zno, Shinobu Nagata Jan 2007

Raman Scattering In Gan And Zno, Shinobu Nagata

Theses and Dissertations

The Micro-Raman scattering technique has been used for the study of GaN and ZnO. Capabilities of the Raman technique and existing literature on Raman spectroscopy in GaN and ZnO are reviewed. About 50 GaN and ZnO samples with a wide range of properties are studied. From the analysis of positions of the E2H and A1(LO) phonon modes, biaxial stress and plasmon coupling of the Al(LO) mode are observed and compared to a bulk GaN sample. The stress-related shift rate for the AI(LO) mode in hexagonal GaN is established to be 2.7 ± 0.4 cm-1/GPa through series of GaN with low …