Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Highly Transparent, Self-Cleaning, And Antireflective Nanoparticle Coatings, Corey Seth Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current solar panel technologies require a sheet of glass to serve as both mechanical support and to protect the cells from the environment. The reflection from the glass sheet can reflect up to 8% of the incident light, reducing the power output of the panel. Antireflective coatings can be used to allow more light to enter the panel to be converted into usable electricity. However, no solid thin film materials exhibit a low enough index of refraction to serve as antireflective coatings for common solar glass. The main goal of this research was to investigate the self-cleaning, antifogging, and antireflective …

Gesn Light-Emitting Devices, Yiyin Zhou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Silicon based optoelectronic devices have been investigated for decades. However, due to the indirect band gap nature of Si and Ge, developing of efficient light-emitting source on Si is still a challenging topic. GeSn based optoelectronic devices have the great potential to overcome this deficiency for several reasons. By adding more fraction of Sn into Ge, GeSn band gap could be reduced. The narrowed band gap could be developed for near to mid infrared applications. The alloy can even become the direct band gap material with a large Sn composition (beyond 8%). This feature could enhance the light emission from …

Development Of A High Precision Quantum Dot Synthesis Method Utilizing A Microfluidic Reactor And In-Line Fluorescence Flow Cell, William Henry Lafferty

Master's Theses

Quantum dots show great potential for use as spectral converters in solar cells, lighting applications, and biological imaging. These applications require precise control of quantum dot size to maximize performance. The quality, size, and fluorescence of quantum dots depend on parameters that are difficult to control using traditional batch synthesis processes. An alternative, high precision process was developed for the synthesis of cadmium-selenide quantum dots using a microfluidic reactor and fluorescence flow cell. The process required creating separate cadmium and selenium precursors that were then mixed in a nitrogen environment at 17°C. Using an NE-300^® syringe pump, the solution …

Investigation Of The Dynamics Of Photocarriers During Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting By Combination Of Photoelectrochemistry And Transient Absorption Spectroscopy, Wen-Hua Leng

Journal of Electrochemistry

Semiconductor photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is an important and promising technology for utilizing solar energy. The efficiency of hydrogen production depends on the efficiencies of separation and transport of photo-generated carriers. A deep understanding of the behavior of these processes has guiding significance for designing efficient solar hydrogen device. photoelectrochemical and transient absorption spectroscopy methods are powerful tool for studying the microscopic dynamics and mechanism of photocatalytic reaction. This review describes the part of the latest results of the author regarding the semiconductor photoelectrochemical hydrogen production obtained by these methods,and the problems and future research priorities in this field are proposed.

Effects Of Thermal Boundary Conditions During Finite Element Modeling Of Physical Vapor Transport, Wade Luhman

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Physical vapor transport (PVT) is a material processing method commonly used to produce different types of semiconductor materials. Computer modeling of PVT is important to understand the fundamentals of the processing method. Due to the large amount of computer processing power and storage needed to solve the computer models many of the previously solved simulations have been simplified to efficiently utilize computer usage. Previous PVT computer simulations of mercurous chloride (Hg2Cl2) have assumed constant temperature profiles on the source and crystal substrate for simplicity. These simulations were performed using the FIDAP computational fluid dynamics software package. In this research the …

Single Cuo Nanowires Electrical Properties And Application On Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting, Junnan Wu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Charge transport in single crystal, p type copper oxide (CuO) nanowires (NWs) was studied through temperature based (120 K – 400 K) current-voltage (I-V) measurements of 2-terminal single NW devices. Individual CuO NWs with an average diameter of 220 nm were attached to Au electrodes 2.5 µm apart, using a dielectrophoresis method. I-V curves showed a transition from linear behavior at low bias to strong power law dependence (I ~ V^a) at high bias, which can be attributed to space charge limited current (SCLC) mechanism. At low electrical fields (< 0.89 × 10³ V·cm^-1), the number of …

Three Dimensional Transient Asymmetric Flowfields In Physical Vapor Transport, Joseph Dobmeier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Physical Vapor Transport is a manufacturing process used to produce single crystals of semiconductor materials such as mercurous chloride (Hg2Cl2). In the past this time-varying process has been studied with numerical simulation by considering three dimensional flow using an axi-symmetric two dimensional model or by restricting the simulation to asymmetric two dimensional flow and dropping the assumption of axi-symmetry from the model. It is generally agreed that neither of these methods accurately represent the true behavior of the process. The purpose of this research was to extend the asymmetric two dimensional model to three dimensions thereby obtaining a solution which …

Polymer-Based Thermoelectric Devices, Stuart W. Hilsmier, Edward P. Tomlinson, Bryan Boudouris

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Currently, over 50% of all energy generated in the US is lost as waste heat, and thermoelectric generators offer a promising means to recoup some of this energy, if their efficiency is improved. While organic thermoelectric materials lack the efficiency of their inorganic counterparts, they are composed of highly abundant resources and have low temperature processing conditions. Recently, a new class of redox-active polymers, radical polymers, has exhibited high electrical conductivity in an entirely amorphous medium. In addition, these radical polymers have a simple synthetic scheme and can be highly tunable to provide desired electrical properties. In this study, the …

Development Of A Nanomanufacturing Process To Produce Atomically Thin Black Phosphorus, Andrew Stephens, Zhe Luo, Xianfan Xu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Atomically thin black phosphorus (phosphorene) has both unique and desirable properties that differ from bulk black phosphorus. Unlike graphene, phosphorene has a bandgap, which makes it potentially useful for applications in the next generation of transistors. Large-scale applications of phosphorene, like other 2D materials, are limited by current production methods. The most common method of making phosphorene is mechanical exfoliation, which can only produce small and irregular quantities. In this work we investigate a top-down method of producing phosphorene by using a scanning ultrafast laser to thin black phosphorus flakes. Because the bandgap of phosphorene increases as layers are removed, …

Micro-Mechanics Simulation Tool Optimization, Ruixuan Ren, Marisol Koslowski

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Crystalline films grown epitaxially on substrates consisting of a different crystalline material are of considerable interest in optoelectronic devices and the semiconductor industry. One way to progress in this field is to develop simulation tools based on specially designed numerical method. A nanoHUB simulation tool was developed based on the phase field theory, which considers the propagation of dislocations inside the crystalline film. However, the current tool needs several improvements to be more realistic and user-friendly. First, the inputs of the simulation tool are adjusted so that the user can use this tool directly without any additional calculation. The output …

Implementing The ‘Frozen Potential’ Approach On Adept To Analyze Thin Film Solar Cells, Abhirit Kanti, Raghu Vamsi Krishna Chavali, Mark S. Lundstrom Phd, Muhammad A. Alam Phd

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Thin film solar cells have higher absorption coefficients than traditional Silicon solar cells. This means that lesser material is required to produce the same power output for a given intensity of solar illumination. As a result, they are less expensive, easier to install and have a wider range of applications. Analyzing the performance of cells requires separating the current into the photocurrent and the injection current based on the ‘Superposition Principle’. For thin film solar cells, this cannot be done using the conventional method. This is because these components are interdependent, and so modeling one’s behavior requires understanding the other. …

Development Of A Silicon Nanowire Mask Using Scanning Probe Microscopy, Ross Gregoriev

Master's Theses

Scanning probe microscopy techniques were used to investigate the desorption of hydrogen passivated silicon to form SiO2 etch masks The application of the etch masks were planned on being used to manufacture silicon nanowires. Low concentration hydrofluoric acid was used to passivate the surface. The surface was selectively depassivated by SPM techniques. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to create the masks. The STM system used was found to desorb hydrogen from the surface faster than the STM could image and was considered incapable in the configuration investigated. This led to the use of atomic …

Interfacial Interactions Between Carbon Nanoparticles And Conjugated Polymers, Yanqi Luo

Master's Theses

Conjugated polymer based electronics, a type of flexible electronic devices, can be produced from solution by traditional printing and coating processes in a roll-to-roll format such as papers and graphic films. This shows great promise for the emerging energy generation and conversion. The device performance of polymer electronics is largely dependent of crystalline structures and morphology of photoactive layers. However, the solution crystallization kinetics of conjugated polymers in the presence of electron acceptor nanoparticles has not been fully understood yet. In this study, solution crystallization kinetics of poly (3-hexylthiophene) in the presence of carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide has been …

Effects Of Nanoholes Grown By Molecular Beam Droplet Epitaxy On Electrical Properties Of Two Dimensional Electron Gas, Yusuke Hirono

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of nanoholes, grown by molecular beam droplet epitaxy, on the electrical properties of quantum well (QW) heterostructures are reported. To investigate how the depth of nanoholes affect the electrical properties of the QW heterostructures, the growth conditions for nanoholes were optimized with respect to their depth and density. Using the results of the optimization of the nanohole growth, three InGaAs pseudomorphic quantum wells with nanoholes were investigated with varied depth and a constant density. A QW heterostructure without nanoholes was grown as a reference structure. For all the samples, temperature dependent Hall effect measurements, noise studies as a …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Cdse/Zns Core/Shell Quantum Dot Sensitized Pcpdtbt-P3ht:Pcbm Organic Photovoltaics, Buddy J. Bump

Master's Theses

Durable, cheap, and lightweight polymer based solar cells are needed, if simply to meet the demand for decentralized electrical power production in traditionally “off-grid” areas. Using a blend of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), and the low band-gap polymer Poly[2,6-(4,4-bis-(2- ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT), we have fabricated devices with a wide spectral response and 3% power conversion efficiency in AM 1.5 conditions; however, this thin film system exhibits only 0.43 optical density at 500 nm. To improve the performance of this polymer blend photovoltaic, we aim to increase absorption by adding CdSe(ZnS) core (shell) quantum dots. Four groups of …

Effects Of Conformational Transformations On Electronic Transport Properties Of Optical Molecular Switches: An Ab Initio Study, Yuan-Yuan He, Jian-Wei Zhao

Journal of Electrochemistry

A series of model molecules with 4 kinds of conformational transformations have been investigated as optical molecular switches by using density functional theory combined with nonequilibrium Green’s function method. The theoretical calculations show that molecules after conformational transformations have photoswitching characteristics. We find that the photochromic molecules with the same conformational transformation usually have a similar current on/off state when they are applied as photoshwitches. Among these transformations, the molecular switch with E(“trans”)/Z(“cis”)-isomerisation of the NN double bond has the highest current on-off ratio. The influences of the energy gap (HLG) between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the …

Developent Of A Phospholipid Encapsulation Process For Quantum Dots To Be Used In Biologic Applications, Logan Grimes

Master's Theses

The American Cancer Society predicts that 1,665,540 people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 585,720 people will die from cancer in 2014. One of the most common types of cancer in the United States is skin cancer. Melanoma alone is predicted to account for 10,000 of the cancer related deaths in 2014. As a highly mobile and aggressive form of cancer, melanoma is difficult to fight once it has metastasized through the body. Early detection in such varieties of cancer is critical in improving survival rates in afflicted patients. Present methods of detection rely on visual examination of suspicious regions …

Design, Implementation, And Test Of A Micro Force Displacement System, Evan Derek Cate

Master's Theses

The design and implementation of a micro-force displacement system was completed to test the force-displacement characteristics of square silicon diaphragms with side lengths of 4mm, 5mm, and 7mm with a thickness of 10um. The system utilizes a World Precision Instruments Fort 10g force transducer attached to a World Precession Instruments TBM4M amplifier. A Keithley 2400 source meter provided data acquisition of the force component of the system. A micro prober tip was utilized as the testing probe attached to the force transducer with a tip radius of 5um. The displacement of samples was measured using a Newport M433 linear stage …

Development Of Low Temperature, Aqueous Synthesis Method Of Lead Sulfide Quantum Dots, Albert Nakao, Colin Yee

Materials Engineering

Quantum dots have become an active area of research in the past decade due to their unique properties. Quantum confinement effects allow for efficient spectral conversion and size tunable fluorescence and absorption peaks. Near infrared spectral converting lead sulfide quantum dots have potential applications in solar power, biological imaging and communications technology. However at Cal Poly, lead sulfide dots have not been synthesized. The quantum dot synthesis currently adapted at Cal Poly encompasses organometallic precursors at high reaction temperatures, producing cadmium selenium dots. The organometallic approach has been found to produce nanocrystals with high quality photoluminescence, but due to its …

Copper Doping Of Zno Crystals By Transmutation Of 64Zn To 65Cu: An Electron Paramagnetic Resonance And Gamma Spectroscopy Study, Matthew C. Recker, John W. Mcclory, Maurio S. Holston, Eric M. Golden, Nancy C. Giles, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

Transmutation of ⁶⁴Zn to ⁶⁵Cu has been observed in a ZnO crystal irradiated with neutrons. The crystal was characterized with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) before and after the irradiation and with gamma spectroscopy after the irradiation. Major features in the gamma spectrum of the neutron-irradiated crystal included the primary 1115.5 keV gamma ray from the ⁶⁵Zn decay and the positron annihilation peak at 511 keV. Their presence confirmed the successful transmutation of ⁶⁴Zn nuclei to ⁶⁵Cu. Additional direct evidence for transmutation was obtained from the EPR of Cu²⁺ ions (where ⁶³Cu and ^{65 …}

Low Noise, High Detectivity Photodetectors Based On Organic Materials, Fawen Guo

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Organic photodetectors (OPDs) are potentially useful in many applications because of their light weight, flexibility and good form factors. Despite the high detectivities that have been frequently reported for OPDs recently, the application of these OPDs for weak light detection has been rarely demonstrated.

In this thesis, low noise, high gain photodetectors based on organic and ZnO nanoparticles were proposed and demonstrated for highly sensitive UV light detection. The nanocomposite photodetector works in a hybrid mode of photodiode and photoconductor with the transition controlled by the UV light illumination. The nanocomposite detector shows two orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than …

Design And Fabrication Of Electrostatically Actuated Serpentine-Hinged Nickel-Phosphorous Micromirror Devices, Nicholas A. Wiswell

Master's Theses

A process for micromachining of micro-mirror devices from silicon-on-insulator wafers was proposed and implemented. Test methods and force applicators for these devices were developed. Following successful fabrication of these devices, a novel process for fabrication of devices out of the plane of the silicon wafer was proposed, so that the devices could be actuated electrostatically. In particular, the process makes use of thick photoresist layers as a sacrificial mold into which an amorphous nickel-phosphorous alloy may be deposited. Ideal design of the electrostatically actuated micro-mirrors was investigated, and a final design was selected and modeled using FEA software, which found …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Edge-Emitting Semiconductor Lasers, Junyeob Song

Graduate Theses - Physics and Optical Engineering

The semiconductor laser was invented in 1962, and has recently become ubiquitous in modern life. This thesis focuses on the development of a semiconductor laser fabricating process which utilizes semiconductor manufacturing technology in a cleanroom environment including photolithography, etching, deposition, and bonding processes. A photomask for patterning is designed, recipes of photolithography process and etching process are developed with experiments. This work gives how to develop the process of fabrication and determine the parameters for each processes. A series of semiconductor laser devices are then fabricated using the developed process and characterization is performed to assess device performance with industrial …

Calculation And Experimental Verification Of Longitudinal Spatial Hole Burning In High-Power Semiconductor Lasers, Ting Hao

Graduate Theses - Physics and Optical Engineering

Longitudinal spatial hole burning (LSHB) is believed to be one of the limiting factors in scaling the output power of high-power semiconductor lasers. In this work, a self-consistent simulation of LSHB was performed to investigate the non-uniform longitudinal photon density distribution, carrier density distribution, and gain distribution in a high-power semiconductor laser. The calculation is based on a modification to the semiconductor laser rate equations and solved using a finite difference approach, with Newton’s method employed to numerically solve the differential equations. The impact of LSHB on output power was analyzed with different parameters, including injection current, cavity length, and …

A Comparison Of Pressure-Less Silver Sintering Materials With Conventional Electronic Die Attach Practices, Ross M. Liederbach

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis contains information on an experiment which validates silver sintering paste manufacturer’s die attach processes and examines feasibility for use in commercial products. Four silver pastes were used in constructing die attach samples, which were then void and shear tested. The silver sintering materials that are investigated in this work are compared with manufacturer data and also with data from conventional attaches such as conductive epoxy and solder. In addition, materials demonstrating the highest shear strength were down-selected and processed to compare thermal characteristics with solder and conductive epoxy. Under theoretical analysis, the characteristics of silver provide the most …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Copper Indium Sulfide And Cadmium Selenide Nanocrystals And Their Applications In Photodetectors, Zachary T. Bever

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Semiconductor nanocrystals are a topic of much interest in electrical engineering. Their use has been explored for many applications. This paper investigates the synthesis and characterization of CuInS2 and CdSe nanocrystals. As the nanocrystals were left in reaction for increasing amounts of time, the bandgap of the material decreased as the nanocrystal size increased due to the quantum confinement effect. The CdSe nanocrystals were then investigated in a photodetector application which achieved a detectivity on the order of 10^9 cmHz^(1/2)W^(-1).

Fabrication And Characterization Of Amorphous/Nanocrystalline Thin Film Composite, Benjamin Seth Newton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Combining the absorption abilities of amorphous silicon and the electron transport capabilities of crystalline silicon would be a great advantage to not only solar cells but other semiconductor devices. In this work composite films were created using molecular beam epitaxy and electron beam deposition interchangeably as a method to create metallic precursors. Aluminum induced crystallization techniques were used to convert an amorphous silicon film with a capping layer of aluminum nanodots into a film composed of a mixture of amorphous silicon and nanocrystalline silicon. This layer was grown into the amorphous layer by cannibalizing a portion of the amorphous silicon …

Design Of A Uv Curing Cartridge For 3d Inkjet Printing, Richard Wiswell

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

In printing multi-layer electronic circuits, each layer must be formed as a continuous pattern in high resolution from ink jetted liquid droplets and be in precise alignment with the other layers, precluding substrate removal for UV curing. This research seeks to determine the optimal method for in-situ UV curing of the ink jetted material in a single pass. The inkjet replacement cartridge designed for this purpose was constructed of aluminum, fit into the printer head assembly in good alignment with the other ink cartridges, and contained a UV LED for in-situ curing and a cooling fan to maintain safe operating …

Hydrothermal Crystal Growth Of Lithium Tetraborate And Lithium 𝛾-Metaborate, Jeffrey J. Graham

Theses and Dissertations

Growth of lithium tetraborate by the hydrothermal method was attempted in 10^-6 M LiOH, both by spontaneous nucleation and transport growth. Tetraborate grew out of the first spontaneous nucleation reaction, while the seed dissolved and lithium gamma-metaborate formed during the transport growth reactions. A species thermodynamic stability study showed gamma-metaborate formed exclusively from 350°C to 550°C, and Li₃B₅O₈(OH)₂ was observed at 250°C; tetraborate was not observed. A solubility study on lithium tetraborate did not achieve equilibrium conditions, but did demonstrate that gamma-metaborate is significantly more thermodynamically stable than tetraborate under the tested …

Triplet Ground State Of The Neutral Oxygen-Vacancy Donor In Rutile Tio2, A. T. Brant, Eric M. Golden, Nancy C. Giles, Shan Yang, M. A. R. Sarker, S. Watauchi, M. Nagao, I. Tanaka, D. A. Tryk, A. Manivannan, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is used to investigate the triplet (S = 1) ground state of the neutral oxygen vacancy in bulk rutile TiO₂ crystals. This shallow donor consists of an oxygen vacancy with two nearest-neighbor, exchange-coupled ³⁺ ions located along the [001] direction and equidistant from the vacancy. The spins of the two trapped electrons, one at each ³⁺ ion, align parallel to give the S = 1 state. These neutral oxygen vacancies are formed near 25 K in as-grown oxidized TiO₂ crystals by illuminating with sub-band-gap 442 nm laser light. The angular dependence of the EPR …