Physics Commons^™

Characteristics Of Methyl Cellulose-Nh4no3-Peg Electrolyte And Application In Fuel Cells, Siti Rohana Majid, Shuhaimi N. E. A., Alias N. A., Kufian M. Z., Arof A. K.

Siti Rohana Majid

We report the viability of methyl cellulose (MC) as a membrane in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Methyl cellulose serves as the polymer host, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) as the doping salt and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as plasticizer. Conductivity measurement was carried out using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The room temperature conductivity of pure MC film is is (3.08 +/- 0.63) x 10(-11)S cm(-1). The conductivity increased to (2.10 +/- 0.37) x 10(-6)S cm(-1) on addition of 25 wt.% NH4NO3. By adding 15 wt.% of PEG 200 to the highest conducting sample in the MC-NH4NO3 system, the conductivity was further …

Characterization Of Inert Gas Rf Plasma-Treated Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films Deposited Via Pulsed Dc Magnetron Sputtering, Amber Nicole Reed

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this work, the effects of a post-deposition RF plasma treatment on indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films prepared with pulsed DC magnetron sputtering in argon were investigated. The parameters of the post-deposition were studied to determine what RF power and gas pressure resulted in the greatest reduction in resistivity in the films while producing the smallest increase in substrate temperature for treatments with both argon and oxygen plasmas. The as-deposited (untreated) films and the treated films were characterized using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to determine the effects of the post-deposition treatment on the degree of film crystallization. XPS …

Surface Aided Polarization Reversal In Small Ferroelectric Particles, Chew Khian Hooi, Shin F. G., Chan H. L. W., Osman J., Stamps R. L., Tilley D. R.

Chew Khian Hooi

Polarization reversal in ferroelectric particles driven by a pulsed electric field is examined theoretically using Landau-Devonshire-Khalatnikov theory. A significant reduction in reversal times is shown to be possible if certain surface properties and size criteria are met. The surface properties are also shown to control the magnitude of the applied field needed for irreversible switching. An interesting signature of surface effects is found in the switching current. The theory predicts that the switching current for small ferroelectric particles can exhibit double peaks as a function of time. The size and relative times of the peaks provide specific information on the …

Calorimetric Study Of Nematic Prewetting, Xuewu Liu, David W. Allender, D. Finotello

David W Allender

We report specific-heat measurements for a series of liquid crystals imbedded in a porous cylindrical geometry. Above the nematic-to-isotropic transition and dependent on nematic width (or chain length), the specific heat shows a small peak. In analogy to known ellipsometry results, the peak is believed to be the signature of a nematic prewetting transition.

Electrical Conductivity And Thermopower Of Cu–Sio[Sub 2] Nanogranular Films., W. Chen, J. Lin, X. Zhang, H. Shin, Jeffrey Dyck, C. Uher

Jeffrey Dyck

We have measured the thermopower S and electrical conductivity σ in a series of Cu[sub x](SiO[sub 2])[sub 1-x] nanogranular films between 2 and 300 K with Cu volume fraction x varying from 0.43 up to 1.0. At low temperatures, disorder-enhanced electron-electron interaction effects dictate the behavior of σ. A crossover of the temperature dependence from σ∝ √T to σ∝ T[sup 1/3] is observed as x is lowered and the metal-insulator transition is approached. S is small, shows linear temperature dependence, and is rather insensitive to the change of x. Effects of annealing are also discussed.

Three-Dimensional Dye Distribution In Photo-Oriented Liquid-Crystal Alignment Layers, S. Bardon, D. Coleman, N. A. Clark, T. Kosa, H. Yuan, Peter Palffy-Muhoray

Peter Palffy-Muhoray

The three-dimensional optical anisotropy of photo-buffed dye-doped polymer films and the resulting orientation imparted to a liquid crystal in contact are probed using total internal reflection. Although the linearly polarized writing light generates a uniaxial distribution of dye molecules, the polymer films are biaxial, a result of symmetry breaking by the film surface.

Optical And Magneto-Optical Properties Of Mnpt3 Films (Abstract), Segate Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa, J. N. Hilfiker, Renat F. Sabirianov, Sitaram S. Jaswal, Roger D. Kirby, John A. Woollam

Physics Faculty Publications

Optically thick films of MnPt₃ were prepared by magnetron sputtering onto quartz substrates. Postdeposition annealing at 850 °C resulted in highly textured (111) films with the L1₂ (Cu₃Au) structure. MnPt₃ films are ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of 380 °C, and they show large magneto-optical effects in the visible.^1,2 These films also show a high degree of long-range order. The diagonal components of the dielectric tensor were determined using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements over the spectral range 1.2–2.4 eV. Magneto-optic Kerr rotation and ellipticity measurements were made at near normal incidence over the …

Low Pressure Synthesis Of Bulk, Polycrystalline Gallium Nitride, Alberto Argoitia, Cliff C. Hayman, John C. Angus, Long Wang, Jeffrey S. Dyck, Kathleen Kash

Jeffrey Dyck

Thick films of polycrystalline GaN were grown at low pressures by direct reaction of atomic nitrogen with liquid Ga without the presence of a substrate. The crystals were confirmed to be wurtzitic GaN by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Photoluminescence spectra showed near band edge peaks and broad yellow band emission at both 298 and 10 K. The results show that atomic nitrogen is an attractive alternative to high pressure N2 for the saturation of liquid gallium with nitrogen for the synthesis of bulk GaN.

All‐Optical Light Modulation In Bacteriorhodopsin Films, F. J. Aranda, R. Garimella, N. F. Mccarthy, D. Narayana Rao, D.V.G.L.N. Rao, Z. Chen, J. A. Akkar, D. L. Kaplan

Physics Faculty Publications

We report a convenient method to obtain all‐optical light modulation in bacteriorhodopsin films using a degenerate four‐wave mixing geometry. Chemically stabilized films of bacteriorhodopsin in a polymer matrix for which the lifetime of the excited M state is tens of seconds were used to demonstrate all‐optical light intensity modulation. The films are observed to be stable over a period of 4 years. Due to the sensitivity of the films, small intensities of order microwatt/ cm² are required in the modulation experiments. Furthermore the fast photochemical transition from M to B permit reasonably fast modulation speeds independent of the slow …

X-Ray Studies Of Bond-Orientational Order In Liquid-Crystalline Orthogonal Hexatic-B Phase, E. Gorecka, Li Chen, Oleg Lavrentovich, W. Pyzuk

Oleg Lavrentovich

X-ray scattering measurements have been carried out for free-standing, thick . monodomain films of the orthogonal hexatic-B phase. From Fourier analysis of X-scans, 6n-fold-symmetry order parameters were determined and proved to fulfill the scaling relation C6n = C6n+lambdan(n-1). The temperature behavior of C6 and lambda was found nonuniversal when comparing homologues, PIR5 and PIR7, differing in their range of the hexatic phase. The hexatic order parameter varies with the critical exponents 0.25, 0.20 (+/- 0.03), respectively. For comparison results for compound RFL6, of other homologue series, are presented.

Anneal Induced Changes In Amorphous Semiconductor Multilayers, David D. Allred, Jesus González-Hernández, O. V. Nguyen

Faculty Publications

We have prepared, heat treated and characterized various amorphous semiconductor periodic multilayers and ultrathin films. These were prepared by several vapor deposition techniques at substrate temperatures ranging from 25°C to 300°C and possessed periodicities from 22 to 400Å. Films were subjected to isochronal thermal treatments at progressively higher temperatures. Two effects were observed: enhanced diffusion and retarded crystallization. Interdiffusion, at rates which are many orders of magnitude higher than those anticipated from crystalline data, was observed in a-Si/a-Ge multilayers. Crystallization of germanium, the more readily crystallized member of the couple, is retarded; the extent depends on the thickness of the …

(E,2e) Spectroscopic Investigations Of The Spectral Momentum Densities Of Thin Carbon Films, John Robert Dennison

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An (e,2e) electron scattering spectrometer has been constructed and used for the first time to investigate the spectral momentum density of the valence bands of a solid target. This technique provides fundamental information about the electronic structure of both crystalline and amorphous solids. The three fundamental quantities, the band structure, electron density of states, and electron momentum distribution can be simultaneously derived from the measured (e,2e) cross section.

A review of single electron and (e,2e) scattering theory is given with an emphasis on scattering from solids. The effects of multiple scattering are discussed and a method of deconvoluting those effects …