Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Cyclotron Resonance In Graphene Heterostructurescyclotron Resonance In Graphene Heterostructures, Billy Jordan Russell

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We present observations of cyclotron resonance in graphene Van der Waals heterostructure devices. Such devices provide dramatic improvements in sample quality and allow for ad- vanced electronic control, opening windows on previously inaccessible physics. The design and construction of a dedicated system for the measurement of electronic transport and infrared magnetospectroscopy in microscopic samples of atomically thin materials at cryogenic temperatures is presented. In high-mobility encapsulated monolayer graphene, electron- electron interaction effects are unambiguously observed to impact the interband cyclotron resonance as the Landau level filling factor is varied in a quantizing magnetic field. Additionally, a splitting of transitions involving …

Characterization Of Argon And Ar/Cl2 Plasmas Used For The Processing Of Niobium Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavities, Jeremy J. Peshl

Physics Theses & Dissertations

The plasma processing of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities has shown significant promise as a complementary or possible replacement for the current wet etch processes. Empirical relationships between the user-controlled external parameters and the effectiveness of Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) for the removal of surface layers of bulk niobium have been previously established. However, a lack of a physical description of the etching discharge, particularly as the external parameters are varied, limits the development of this technology. A full understanding of how these external parameters affect both the amount of material removed and the physical properties of the plasma would aid …

A Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer For Raman Imaging And Remote Spectroscopy, Ashley Nicole Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Raman and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) are optical techniques that provide information about the chemical makeup of a sample without any preparation or physical contact with it. For this reason, Raman and LIBS spectrometers are among the instruments selected for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission and are being considered for future missions to the Jovian moons, asteroids and comets. Such future missions will require smaller, more ruggedized Raman and LIBS spectrometers, and the new type of spectrometers discussed here, the spatial heterodyne Raman and LIBS spectrometers are being developed for this purpose. The SHS is a wide-field, Fourier transform, stationary …

Organic/Inorganic Interfacial Interactions Affecting Metal Reactivity: Water Treatment And Sensor Applications, Mohamed Nabil Shaikh

Civil Engineering ETDs

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the interactions occurring at the organic – inorganic interface between solid media and aqueous contaminants for water treatment and sensor applications. The gaps in current literature on these interfacial organic-inorganic interactions must be bridged in order to develop advanced water treatment and monitoring technologies for improving water quality and thus, restore and protect the contaminated water resources. As a part of this dissertation, manganese oxides-based composites and electrospun polymer mats were developed and investigated for gaining mechanistic insights of organic (bisphenol A and acetaminophen) and inorganic (uranium) contaminants removal, respectively. These reactions …

Light Scattering In Diffraction Limit Infrared Imaging, Ghazal Azarfar

Theses and Dissertations

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy is a noninvasive technique for chemical imaging of micrometer size samples. Employing an infrared microscope, an infrared source and FTIR spectrometer coupled to a microscope with an array of detectors (128 x 128 detectors), enables collecting combined spectral and spatial information simultaneously. Wavelength dependent images are collected, that reveal biochemical signatures of disease pathology and cell cycle. Single cell biochemistry can be evaluated with this technique, since the wavelength of light is comparable to the size of the objects of interest, which leads to additional spectral and spatial effects disturb biological signatures and can confound …

Scattering In Infrared Microspectroscopy, Alex James Schofield

Theses and Dissertations

Mid-infrared absorbance spectra obtained from spatially inhomogeneous and finite samples often contain scattering effects that undermine the Beer-Lambert law assumption. Such spectra contain generally non-linear contributions from the scattering material’s complex refractive index, which may result in derivative-like bands with shifted peak positions. It is first shown using Mie theory for spherical scatterers, that these band distortions may be interpreted and accurately modeled by Fano theory when the imaginary part of its complex dielectric function is small and Lorentzian in nature—as is the case for many biological media. By fitting Fano line shapes to isolated absorbance bands, recovery of the …

Development Of A Ground-Based Aerial-Tracking Instrument For Open-Path Spectroscopy To Monitor Atmospheric Constituents, Haden Hodges

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A ground-based aerial-tracking instrument, known as the Ground Tracker, designed to provide spectral data to quantify greenhouse gases is under development. The Ground Tracker includes an Optical System including a high power rifle scope, video camera, and spectrometer used to locate an active light source from the Emitter, and collect spectral data by utilizing an actuating mirror. The implementation of this instrument could be made low cost by utilizing existing weather balloon infrastructure to allow the Emitter to be placed into the lower stratosphere. The recovery of the emitter will be possible by tracking the GPS coordinates. Weather balloon instrument …

Proof Of Concept And Experimental Design For Remote Laser Evaporative Molecular Absorption Spectroscopy Sensor System (R-Lema), Amber Jessica Sucich

Physics

As the Earth’s resources are diminishing, it has become clear that the human race needs to find alternative resources and replenish the Earth’s natural reservoir. One way to do this is to consider interstellar objects. Interstellar objects, such as asteroids, offer mineral and other resources with great potential for mining. Before considering mining a rocky body, it is imperative to first know the complete composition of an object. Using the method of traveling to the objects, drilling into them, and bringing back samples is impractical, inefficient, and expensive. This method is also limiting, as only certain target areas of the …

The Forensic Analysis Of Adult Temporary Tattoos, Paige Cooper

Student Theses

Adult temporary tattoos have become more popular, yet there is very little research on them, especially regarding their use in forensics. This poses a problem because forensic investigators may not be able to distinguish a temporary tattoo from a real tattoo, possibly hindering their investigation. In this study, various types of adult temporary tattoos were examined and analyzed in attempts to identify and distinguish them, both from each other and from permanent tattoos. Infrared spectroscopy, specifically attenuated total reflection (ATR), proved to be more useful than ultra-violet visible light spectroscopy in terms of analyzing the samples. The natural adult temporary …

Non-Traditional Metallation Of Metallothioneins With Xenobiotic Therapeutic Metals, Daisy L. Wong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The rise of the Anthropocene has seen more global pollution than before in history. With the explosion of consumer electronics in the last half century, the rise of metal pollution from their extraction and disposal results in the unnatural introduction of heavy and rare metals into the ecosystem. Organisms have a metal defense protein, metallothionein, which has multiple roles in essential metal regulation and protection against minimal toxic metal exposure. However, these modern heavy metals prominent in electronics are not found biologically and their interactions in the body are generally unknown. Some of these metals are employed as therapeutic agents …

Optical Memory Behavior, Metallophilic Luminescence, And Chemical Sensing Ability Of Inorganic And Organometallic Complexes: Development Of Optoelectronic Materials, Aaron D. Nicholas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is divided into three sections: (1) optical memory, (2) metallophilic-based luminescence, and (3) chemical sensors. (1) Optical memory behavior of d¹⁰metal Cu(I) thiocyanate salts are investigated to explore their potential use in the development of digital data storage devices. From this study we have discovered a new class of CuSCN(3-BrPy)₂optical memory material which undergo a reduction in emission intensity upon laser irradiation. This loss of emission intensity can be reversed simply by heating the sample to room temperature. The mechanism by which this emission loss occurs has been studied, revealing a migrating Br atom …

A Robust And Automated Deconvolution Algorithm Of Peaks In Spectroscopic Data, William Johan Burke Iv

Theses and Dissertations

The huge amount of spectroscopic data in use in metabolomic experiments requires an algorithm that can process the data in an autonomous fashion while providing quality of analysis comparable to manual methods. Scientists need an algorithm that effectively deconvolutes spectroscopic peaks automatically and is resilient to the presence of noise in the data. The algorithm must also provide a simple measure of quality of the deconvolution. The deconvolution algorithm presented in this thesis consists of preprocessing steps, noise removal, peak detection, and function fitting. Both a Fourier Transform and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) method of noise removal were investigated. The …

Optical Excitation Of Metastable Krypton And Photoassociative Spectroscopy Of Ultracold Rbar, Grady R. White

Physics Theses & Dissertations

In this presentation, we discuss results from two separate bodies of work. In the first, we investigate all-optical excitation methods to produce metastable-state krypton. The high energies required to excite rare gases out of their ground state present a unique challenge in the context of laser experiments. Laser physics work with rare gases often relies on excitation within an RF discharge. All-optical excitation is a promising replacement for RF discharges, avoids problems caused by ion production and may eventually allow for higher efficiencies. We examine three separate methods of all-optical metastable-state production: using an ArF excimer laser, using the third …

Multidimensional Spectroscopy Of Mixed-Cation Perovskite Thin Films, Geoffrey Michael Diederich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metal halide perovskite (MHP) thin films are currently undergoing an intense re- search thrust due to the excellent performance of MHP based photovoltaic (PV) devices, which have the potential to revolutionize the worlds energy production via a unique combination of low-cost fabrication and high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the vast majority of research is currently aimed at incremental improvements in device PCE, resulting in a body of work without the foundational understanding of the charge-carrier dynamics of the system upon photoexcitation.

This thesis begins with the development of a phase-modulated multidimensional coherent spectroscopy (PM-MDCS) experiment. PM-MDCS is an ultrafast …

Evaluation Of X-Ray Spectroscopic Techniques For Determining Temperature And Density In Plasmas, Theodore Scott Lane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Temperature and density measurements of plasmas are important for understanding various phenomena. For example, equations of state, most scaling arguments for Inertial Confinement Fusion and laboratory astrophysics all rely upon accurate knowledge of temperature and density. Spectroscopy is a non-invasive technique to measure these quantities. In this work we establish a new spectroscopic technique by using it to determine temperature. We also compare and contrast the capability of two codes, PrismSPECT and ATOMIC, to infer electron density from experimentally acquired spectra via Stark broadening.

We compare and contrast the capability of isoelectronic line ratios and inter-stage line ratios in an …

Chemical Kinetics Using A Smartphone Spectrometer, Mary Greggila

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In a time where many high school science classes are lacking in quality laboratory education, there is a need for accessible chemical equipment that enhance teaching fundamental concepts of chemistry with ease and at a low cost. The DualSpec handheld smartphone spectrometer aims to be a quality open-source spectroscopic instrument that can easily be made and used at home by people of any scientific level. This research sought to show that the DualSpec could be used to teach higher level spectroscopic concepts such as those used in chemical kinetics. The DualSpec was compared to a commercial spectrometer using the commonly …

Development And Demonstration Of Sampling Techniques For A Chirped Pulse Fourier Transform Microwave Spectrometer, Frank Edward Marshall

Doctoral Dissertations

"With the introduction of the Chirped Pulse-Fourier Transform Microwave Spectrometer in the past decade, it has become possible to rapidly study the rotational spectra of molecules in the gas phase. It is possible to study molecules that are not normally in the gas phase through the use of various sourcing techniques. The development of both the heated nozzle and the laser ablation sourcing techniques allow for the study of liquids and solids, respectively. The design and performance of these sources will be presented in detail and discussed. Additionally, the development of a Multi-Antennae detection scheme, useful in improving overall sensitivity …