Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ordering Of Glass Rods In Nematic And Cholesteric Liquid Crystals, A. T. Juhl, Deng-Ke Yang, V. P. Tondiglia, L. V. Natarajan, Timothy J. White, Timothy J. Bunning

Deng-Ke Yang

The orientational assembly of glass rods (3 x similar to 15 mu m) in nematic, twisted nematic, and cholesteric liquid crystal cells was observed and quantified with optical microscopy. At this size, the rods were affected strongly by gravity and sedimented to the bottom of the cells. Temporal visualization of the sedimentation process (induced by flipping the cell over) shed insight into the effect the liquid crystal order had on the glass rod orientation. For nematic and twisted nematic geometries, the glass rods were aligned parallel to the local director orientation. Control experiments indicate that the rod alignment is not …

A Benchmark Study On The Thermal Conductivity Of Nanofluids, Jacopo Buongiomo, David C. Venerus, Naveen Prabhat, Thomas Mckrell, Jessica Townsend, Rebecca Christianson, Yuriv V. Tolmachev, Pawel Keblinski, Lin-Wen Hu, Jorge L. Alvarado, In Cheol Bang, Sandra W. Bishnoi, Marco Bonetti, Anselmo Cecere, Yun Chang, Gang Chen, Haisheng Chen, Sung Jae Chung, Minking K. Chyu, Sarit K. Das, Roberto Di Paola, Yulong Ding, Frank Dubois, Grzegorz Dzido, Jacob Eapen, Denis Funfschilling, Quentin Galand, Jinwei Gao, Patricia E. Gharagozloo, Kenneth E. Goodson, Jorge Gustavo Gutierrez, Haiping Hong, Mark Horton, Kyo Sik Hwang, Carlo S. Iorio, Seok Pil Jang, Andrzej B. Jarzebski, Yiran Jiang, Stephan Kabelac, Liwen Jin, Aravind Kamath, Chongyoup Kim, Ji-Hyun Kim, Seokwon Kim, Seung Hyun Lee, Kai Choong Leong, Indranil Manna, Rui Ni, Hrishikesh E. Patel, Cecil Reynaud, Raffaele Savino, Pawan K. Singh, Pengxiang Song, Thirumalachari Sundararajan, Alekzandr N. Turanov, Stefan Van Vaerenbergh, Dongsheng Wen, Sanjeeva Witharana, Chun Yang, Wei-Hsun Yeh, Xiao-Zheng Zhao, Sheng-Qi Zhou

Rebecca J. Christianson

This article reports on the International Nanofluid Property Benchmark Exercise, or INPBE, in which the thermal conductivity of identical samples of colloidally stable dispersions of nanoparticles or “nanofluids,” was measured by over 30 organizations worldwide, using a variety of experimental approaches, including the transient hot wire method, steady-state methods, and optical methods. The nanofluids tested in the exercise were comprised of aqueous and nonaqueous basefluids, metal and metal oxide particles, near-spherical and elongated particles, at low and high particle concentrations. The data analysis reveals that the data from most organizations lie within a relatively narrow band (±10% or less) about …

Optimization Of The Nanolens Consisting Of Coupled Metal Nanoparticles: An Analytical Approach, Greg Sun, Jacob B. Khurgin

Physics Faculty Publications

Using a simple and intuitive analytical approach, we perform optimization of a nanolens composed of coupled metal nanoparticles capable of subwavelength focusing of light inside the narrow gap separating the particles. Specifically, we optimize the structure of two nanospheres of different sizes to achieve maximum field enhancement at an off-center position in the gap. We demonstrate that the nanolens of two or more spheres acts simultaneously as an efficient antenna with large dipole and an efficient cavity with small effective volume.

Theory Of Optical Emission Enhancement By Coupled Metal Nanoparticles: An Analytical Approach, Greg Sun, Jacob B. Khurgin

Physics Faculty Publications

We present an analytical “coupled mode” model explaining enhancement of emission by an emitter placed within complexes of metal nanoparticles and apply it for an important case of an emitter placed inside the gap of two coupled Au nanospheres. This approach has dual advantages of exposing the underling physics of the enhancement and revealing a straightforward path toward optimization.

Analysis Of Interband, Intraband, And Plasmon Polariton Transitions In Silver Nanoparticle Films Via In Situ Real-Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, S. A. Little, R. W. Collins, S. Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The dielectric function of Ag nanoparticle films, deduced from an analysis of in situ real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) measurements, is found to evolve with time during deposition in close consistency with the film structure, deduced in the same RTSE analysis. In the nucleation regime, the intraband dielectric function component is absent and plasmon polariton behavior dominates. Only at nuclei contact, does the intraband amplitude appear, increasing above zero. Both intraband and plasmon amplitudes coexist during surface smoothening associated with coalescence. The intraband relaxation time increases rapidly after surface smoothening is complete, also in consistency with the thin film structural evolution.

Generation Of Isolated Attosecond Extreme Ultraviolet Pulses: Optimization Of Coupled Ellipsoids, Sarah L. Stebbings, F. Süßmann, Y-Y Yang, A. Scrinzi, Maxim Durach, Anastasia Rusina, Mark I. Stockman, Matthias F. Kling

Maxim Durach

The production of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation via nanoplasmonic field-enhanced high-harmonic generation (HHG) in gold nanostructures at MHz repetition rates is investigated theoretically in this paper. Analytical and numerical calculations are employed and compared in order to determine the plasmonic fields in gold ellipsoidal nanoparticles. The comparison indicates that numerical calculations can accurately predict the field enhancement and plasmonic decay, but may encounter difficulties when attempting to predict the oscillatory behavior of the plasmonic field. Numerical calculations for coupled symmetric and asymmetric ellipsoids for different carrier-envelope phases (CEPs) of the driving laser field are combined with time-dependent Schrödinger equation simulations …

Metals And Metal Oxides Particles Produced By Pulsed Laser Ablation Under High Vacuum, Khurram Siraj, Yasir Sohail, Aasma Tabassum

Turkish Journal of Physics

A pulsed KrF Excimer laser (248 nm, 15 mJ) was utilized to synthesize different particles on (111) Si substrate under vacuum \sim 10^{-6} torr using Aluminum (Al), Platinum (Pt), Tungsten (W), Molybdenum (Mo), Cadmium Oxide (CdO), and Yttrium Oxide (Y_2O_3) targets. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to study particle size distribution on silicon substrate. The size of individual metal particles was found to be ranging from 71 nm to 2 \mu m whereas metal oxides particles were found in the range of 71 nm to 1.1 \mu m. The particles below 100 nm are formed by gas phase condensation …

Optical Characterization Of Fe^{3+} Doped Cds Nanoparticles Synthesized By Wet-Chemical Route, Seyed Mohammad Taheri Otaqsara, Mohammad Hassan Yousefi, Ali Azam Khosravi

Turkish Journal of Physics

Fe^{3+} doped CdS nanoparticles using Mercaptoethanol as a capping agent were prepared by colloidal wet-chemical method. UV-VIS spectra show that Fe-doping can effectively tune energy band structure, i.e. a large blue shift (\sim 30 nm) with increasing Fe concentration. PL measurement of doped CdS nanoparticles shows an additional emission band at \sim 532 nm, which can be due to radiative transition of dopant level to ground state. X-ray diffraction patterns studies revealed cubic crystal phase. TEM micrographs show a spherical shape and nearly well distribution with an average particle size of \sim 4 nm.

Metal Blacks As Scattering Centers To Increase The Efficiency Of Thin Film Solar Cells, Deep R. Panjwani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metal nano particles are investigated as scattering centers on front surface of thin-film solar cells to improve efficiency. The principle is that scattering, which is enhanced near the plasmon resonance frequency of the particle and depends on particle size, increases the effective optical path length of incident light, leading to more light absorption in active layer of thin film solar cell. The particular types of particles investigated here are known as "metal-black", well known as an IR absorber for bolometric infrared detectors. Gold-black was deposited on commercial thin-film solar cells using a thermal evaporator in a nitrogen ambient at pressures …

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Of Single Silver Nanoparticles Studied By Dark-Field Optical Microscopy And Spectroscopy, Wei Cao, Tao Huang, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with different shapes and disk-shaped Ag NP pairs with varying interparticle distance is studied using dark-field optical microscopy and spectroscopy (DFOMS). Disk-, square-, and triangular-shaped Ag NPs were fabricated on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrates by electron beam lithography. The LSPR spectra collected from single Ag NPs within 5×5 arrays using DFOMS exhibited pronounced redshifts as the NP shape changed from disk to square and to triangular. The shape-dependent experimental LSPR spectra are in good agreement with simulations using the discrete dipole approximation model, although there are small deviations in the …

Novel Magnetic Materials For Sensing And Cooling Applications, Anurag Chaturvedi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overall goals of the present PhD research are to explore the giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) and giant magnetocaloric (GMC) effects in functional magnetic materials and provide guidance on the optimization of the material properties for use in advanced magnetic sensor and refrigeration applications.

GMI has attracted growing interest due to its promising applications in high-performance magnetic sensors. Research in this field is focused on the development of new materials with properties appropriate for practical GMI sensor applications. In this project, we have successfully set up a new magneto-impedance measurement system in the Functional Materials Laboratory at USF. We have established, …