Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Physical Analysis Of Vo2 Films Grown By Atomic Layer Deposition And Rf Magnetron Sputtering, Madhavi Tangirala, Kai Zhang, David Nminibapiel, Venkateswara Pallem, Christian Dussarrat, Wei Cao, Thomas N. Adam, Corbet S. Johnson, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali, Helmut Baumgart

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Among the many vanadium suboxides and different stoichiometries, VO₂ has received considerable attention due to its remarkable metal-insulator transition (MIT) behavior, which causes a significant reversible change in its electrical and optical properties occurring across the phase transition at 67°C. The initially amorphous VO₂ thin films were fabricated by the emerging, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique with (tetrakis[ethylmethylamino]vanadium) {V(NEtMe)₄} as precursor and H₂O vapor as oxidation agent. For benchmarking we have also used the RF Magnetron Sputtering technique to deposit metallic vanadium thin films, which were later oxidized during furnace annealing. Post annealing of …

Large Scale Anisotropy Of Cosmic Rays And Directional Neutrino Signals From Galactic Sources, Luis A. Anchordoqui, Haim Goldberg, Angela V. Olinto, Thomas C. Paul, Brian J. Vlcek, Thomas J. Weiler

Publications and Research

We investigate the neutrino cosmic ray connection for sources in the Galaxy in terms of two observables: the shape of the energy spectrum and the distribution of arrival directions. We also study the associated gamma ray emission from these sources.

Search For Gravitational Wave Ringdowns From Perturbed Intermediate Mass Black Holes In Ligo-Virgo Data From 2005–2010, J. Aasi, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, H. Daveloza, Mario C. Diaz, S. R. Morriss, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, O. Puncken, Malik Rakhmanov, K. E. Ramirez, Robert Stone, Cristina V. Torres, G. Valdes

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report results from a search for gravitational waves produced by perturbed intermediate mass black holes (IMBH) in data collected by LIGO and Virgo between 2005 and 2010. The search was sensitive to astrophysical sources that produced damped sinusoid gravitational wave signals, also known as ringdowns, with frequency 50 ≤ f0=Hz ≤ 2000 and decay timescale 0.0001 ≲ τ=s ≲ 0.1 characteristic of those produced in mergers of IMBH pairs. No significant gravitational wave candidate was detected. We report upper limits on the astrophysical coalescence rates of IMBHs with total binary mass 50 ≤ M=M⊙ ≤ 450 and component mass …

Speciation Dynamics Of An Agent-Based Evolution Model In Phenotype Space, Adam David Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation is an exploration of phase transition behavior and clustering of populations of organisms in an agent-based model of evolutionary dynamics. The agents in the model are organisms, described as branching-coalescing random walkers, which are characterized by their coordinates in a two-dimensional phenotype space. Neutral evolutionary conditions are assumed, such that no organism has a fitness advantage regardless of its phenotype location. Lineages of organisms evolve by limiting the maximum possible offspring distance from their parent(s) (mutability, which is the only heritable trait) along each coordinate in phenotype space. As mutability is varied, a non-equilibrium phase transition is shown …

The Synthesis Of A Bisbenzothiophene (Bbt) Based Organic Semiconductor With Increased Function And Increased Solubility, Mary England

Senior Honors Theses

Organic semiconductors are growing in applications for use in modern technology.¹ The main interest in these molecules can be attributed to their low cost (compared to silicon) and their ability to be used on flexible substrates. There are four features that make a good organic semiconductor. First, the molecule should be conjugated, having alternating single and double bonds (lone electron pairs act similarly to double bonds). Secondly, the molecule should be planar, or flat, in shape. Thirdly, the molecule should have a narrow band gap to increase the overall conductivity. Lastly, the molecule should be soluble to ease application. …

Middle Atmospheric Changes Caused By The January And March 2012 Solar Proton Events, C. H. Jackman, C. E. Randall, V. L. Harvey, S. Wang, E. L. Fleming, M. López-Puertas, B. Funke, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The recent 23-30 January and 7-11 March 2012 solar proton event (SPE) periods were substantial and caused significant impacts on the middle atmosphere. These were the two largest SPE periods of solar cycle 24 so far. The highly energetic solar protons produced considerable ionization of the neutral atmosphere as well as HOx (H, OH, HO2) and NOx (N, NO, NO2). We compute a NOx production of 1.9 and 2.1 Gigamoles due to these SPE periods in January and March 2012, respectively, which places these SPE periods among the 12 largest in the past 50 yr. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) …

Drift Corrected Trends And Periodic Variations In Mipas Imk/Iaa Ozone Measurements, E. Eckert, T. Von Clarmann, M. Kiefer, G. P. Stiller, S. Lossow, N. Glatthor, D. A. Degenstein, L. Froidevaux, S. Godin-Beekmann, T. Leblanc, S. Mcdermid, M. Pastel, W. Steinbrcht, D.P.J. Swart, K. A. Walker, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Drifts, trends and periodic variations were calculated from monthly zonally averaged ozone profiles. The ozone profiles were derived from level-1b data of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) by means of the scientific level-2 processor run by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK). All trend and drift analyses were performed using a multilinear parametric trend model which includes a linear term, several harmonics with period lengths from 3 to 24 months and the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Drifts at 2-sigma significance level were mainly negative for ozone relative to Aura MLS and …

Spectrometric Monitoring Of Atmospheric Carbon Tetrafluoride (Cf4) Above The Jungfraujoch Station Since 1989: Evidence Of Continued Increase But At A Slowing Rate, E. Mahieu, R. Zander, G. C. Toon, M. K. Vollmer, S. Reimann, J. Muhle, W. Bader, B. Bovy, B. Lejune, C. Servais, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The long-term evolution of the vertical column abundance of carbon tetrafluoride (CF₄) above the high-altitude Jungfraujoch station (Swiss Alps, 46.5 ° N, 8.0 ° E, 3580 ma.s.l.) has been derived from the spectrometric analysis of Fourier transform infrared solar spectra recorded at that site between 1989 and 2012. The investigation is based on a multi-microwindow approach, two encompassing pairs of absorption lines belonging to the R-branch of the strong ν₃ band of CF₄ centered at 1283 cm^-1, and two additional ones to optimally account for weak but overlapping HNO₃ interferences. The analysis reveals …

Validation Of Mipas Imk/Iaa V5r_O3_224 Ozone Profiles, A. Laeng, U. Grabowski, T. Von Clarmann, G. Stiller, N. Glatthor, M. Höpfner, S. Kellmann, M. Kiefer, A. Linden, S. Lossow, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We present the results of an extensive validation program of the most recent version of ozone vertical profiles retrieved with the IMK/IAA (Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research/Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia) MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) research level 2 processor from version 5 spectral level 1 data. The time period covered corresponds to the reduced spectral resolution period of the MIPAS instrument, i.e., January 2005-April 2012. The comparison with satellite instruments includes all post-2005 satellite limb and occultation sensors that have measured the vertical profiles of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone: ACE-FTS, GOMOS, HALOE, HIRDLS, MLS, OSIRIS, POAM, …

Thermal Properties Of Magnetic Nanoparticles In External Ac Magnetic Field, Anna Beata Lukawska

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This work studies thermal properties of magnetic nanoparticles in an external ac magnetic field. Dried iron and cobalt nanoparticles were prepared by thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)5) and dicobalt octacarbonyl (Co2(CO)8), triscobalt nona(carbonyl)chloride (Co3(CO)9Cl), or tetracaobalt dodecacarbonyl (Co4(CO)12) [1]. The samples had different mean diameters: 5.6 - 21.4 nm for iron and 6.5 - 19.4 nm for cobalt. Each sample was exposed to ac magnetic field and the increase in temperature of the sample was measured. Results were analyzed to find the critical diameters for the transitions from multi-domain to single-domain and from single-domain to superparamagnetic regime. The nanoparticles …

Thin Film Growth Of Dielectric Materials By Pulsed Laser Deposition, Jason Christopher Anders

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Thin films of Sr_yCa_1-yZr_1-xTi_xO₃ (SCZT) with x = 0.8, y = 0.01, CaHf_1-xTi_xO₃ (CHT) with x = 0.8, and _xBiScO₃ - (1-x) BaTiO₃ with x = 0.36 (BSBT(36/64)) showing a high permittivity are useful both in capacitor applications. These dielectric thin films with a SrRuO₃ (SRO) conductive bottom electrodes were prepared by using pulsed laser deposition on <100< La_0.3Sr_0.7Al_0.65Ta_0.35O₃ (LSAT) single crystal substrates. In a search of optimal conditions to achieve epitaxially grown SCZT, CHT, …

Ultraviolet Rayleigh Scatter Imaging For Spatial Temperature Profiles In Atmospheric Microdischarges, James E. Caplinger

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Spatially resolved temperature measurements within a microdischarge in atmospheric pressure air have been conducted using Rayleigh scattering of a pulsed ultraviolet laser. Scattering intensity images were used to generate a radial profile of translational temperature, with the analysis based on the ideal gas inverse relationship of temperature and gas density. Rayleigh scattering results were compared to standard optical emission spectral analyses of N2(C3Πu - B3Πg) bands, where the calculated rotational temperatures from emission were in reasonable agreement with the Rayleigh translational temperature profiles.

Curie Temperature Measurement Of Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles By Using Calorimetry, Xing Zhao

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This Thesis studies the relationship between diameter (size) of ferromagnetic nanoparticles and Curie temperature. Iron nanoparticles with different diameters from 5.9 nm to 21.4 nm were prepared by thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl in the presence of oleic acid/octyl ether at Cambridge University, United Kingdom. Heating response of these ferromagnetic nanoparticles suspended in water were measured experimentally during which the same amount of iron nanoparticles and di-ionized water were subjected to an alternating magnetic field and the increase in temperature of these samples was measured. Heating performance of nanoparticles was described by Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Heating and cooling rate …

Chemical Analysis Of Exhaled Breath By Means Of Terahertz Rotational Spectroscopy, Tianle Guo

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Terahertz spectroscopy, due to the high sensitivity and specificity that it affords, has been incorporated in many fields to aid in the chemical analysis of gases. One potential application is to detect bio-markers in human breath for early diagnosis. Our current aim of our research is to establish a relationship between several chemicals and the glucose levels from human exhaled breath. 20 chemical including Acetone, Carbon monoxide (CO), Methanol were studied. Volunteers' breath samples were processed through a pre-concentration system before being injected into the spectrometer. Initially, a commercial preconcentration system, Entech 7100A, was used. However, due to the limitations …

Effective Thermoelectric Power Generation In An Insulated Compartment, Harkirat S. Mann, Yosep Schwab, Brian N. Lang, Jarrett L. Lancaster, Ronald J. Parise, Giovanna Scarel

Department of Physics and Astronomy - Faculty Scholarship

The Seebeck coefficient S is a temperature- and material-dependent property, which linearly and causally relates the temperature difference ΔT between the “hot” and “cold” junctions of a thermoelectric power generator (TEC-PG) to the voltage difference ΔV . This phenomenon is the Seebeck effect (SE), and can be used to convert waste heat into usable energy. This work investigates the trends of the effective voltage output ΔV (t ) and effective Seebeck coefficient S′(t ) versus several hours of activity of a solid state TEC-PG device. The effective Seebeck coefficient S′(t ) here …

Bio-Inspired Surface Engineering For Hydrophobicity, Hua Guo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Highly evolved, efficient and sophisticated biological systems can be used as models for scientific innovations. This research explored specific surface structures on plant leaves with respect to their hydrophobicity in the context of the often arid Australian climate. The relationships between leaf surface structures and their hydrophobicity could inform the making of artificial surfaces with specially designed hydrophobicity.

Moderate hydrophobicity and strong surface adhesion were discovered on many study plant leaves. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that their surface morphologies could be categorized into four groups while their water-repellent mechanisms were considered at an individual species level. Specifically, physical models …

Collision And Diffusion In Microwave Breakdown Of Nitrogen Gas In And Around Microgaps, J. D. Campbell, A. Bowman Iii, G. T. Lenters, Stephen K. Remillard

Faculty Publications

The microwave induced breakdown of N-2 gas in microgaps was modeled using the collision frequency between electrons and neutral molecules and the effective electric field concept. Low pressure breakdown at the threshold electric field occurs outside the gap, but at high pressures it is found to occur inside the microgap with a large threshold breakdown electric field corresponding to a very large electron oscillation amplitude. Three distinct pressure regimes are apparent in the microgap breakdown: a low pressure multipactor branch, a mid-pressure Paschen branch, both of which occur in the space outside the microgap, and a high pressure diffusion-drift branch, …

Dynamic Analysis Of Dna Nanoparticle Immobilization To Model Biomaterial Substrates Using Combinatorial Spectroscopic Ellipsometry And Quartz Crystal Microbalance With Dissipation, Tadas Kasputis, Alex Pieper, Mathias Schubert, Angela K. Pannier

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Gene expression within cells can be altered through gene delivery approaches, which have tremendous potential for gene therapy, tissue engineering, and diagnostics. Substrate-mediated gene delivery describes the delivery of plasmid DNA or DNA complexed with nonviral vectors to cells from a surface, with the DNA immobilized to a substrate through specific or nonspecific interactions. In this work, DNA-nanoparticle (DNA–NP) adsorption to substrates is evaluated using combinatorial, in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (SE/QCM-D), to evaluate the basic dynamic processes involved in the adsorption and immobilization of DNA–NP complexes to substrates. The concentration of DNA–NP solutions influences …

Forcing Mutual Coherence In Diode Laser Stacks, Jonathan R. Wurtz

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper will discuss both theoretical and experimental attempts to improve the spatial beam quality of diode laser stacks using an external optical system. An overview and derivation of the mathematics of both the optical system and diode lasers will be discussed. The experimental setup will be presented, as well as the fundamental theoretical and experimental results that suggest the external optical system used for this thesis fails to improve the beam quality of a diode laser stack.

Tight Knot Spectrum In Qcd, Roman V. Buniy, Jason Cantarella, Thomas W. Kephart, Eric Rawdon

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We model the observed J(++) mesonic mass spectrum in terms of energies for tightly knotted and linked chromoelectric QCD flux tubes. The data is fit with one- and two-parameter models. We predict a possible new state at approximately 1190 MeV and a plethora of new states above 1690 MeV.

Observation Of A Quantum Cheshire Cat In A Matter-Wave Interferometer Experiment, Tobias Denkmayr, Hermann Geppert, Stephan Sponar, Hartmut Lemmel, Alexandre Matzkin, Jeff Tollaksen, Yuji Hasegawa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

From its very beginning, quantum theory has been revealing extraordinary and counter-intuitive phenomena, such as wave-particle duality, Schrodinger cats and quantum non-locality. Another paradoxical phenomenon found within the framework of quantum mechanics is the 'quantum Cheshire Cat': if a quantum system is subject to a certain pre- and postselection, it can behave as if a particle and its property are spatially separated. It has been suggested to employ weak measurements in order to explore the Cheshire Cat's nature. Here we report an experiment in which we send neutrons through a perfect silicon crystal interferometer and perform weak measurements to probe …

Ψ-Epistemic Models Are Exponentially Bad At Explaining The Distinguishability Of Quantum States, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The status of the quantum state is perhaps the most controversial issue in the foundations of quantum theory. Is it an epistemic state (state of knowledge) or an ontic state (state of reality)? In realist models of quantum theory, the epistemic view asserts that nonorthogonal quantum states correspond to overlapping probability measures over the true ontic states. This naturally accounts for a large number of otherwise puzzling quantum phenomena. For example, the indistinguishability of nonorthogonal states is explained by the fact that the ontic state sometimes lies in the overlap region, in which case there is nothing in reality that …

Time Required For A Sphere To Fall Through A Funnel, J. Sridharan, Brett Altschul, S. Crittenden

Faculty Publications

We experimentally test a recently proposed theory of the behavior of a single frictional, inelastic, spherical particle falling under gravity through a symmetric funnel. We find that, while many qualitative results of the theory are supported by the data, the quantitative behavior of a real sphere falling through a real funnel differs from the predictions. The behavior above a 45◦ funnel angle, the duration, and the dependence of the duration on the initial horizontal position all show significant deviations from the predicted results. In particular, for drop positions near the gap, the duration of the fall is often significantly less …

From Quanta To Qualia: How A Paradigm Shift Turns Into Science. Philosophy Study Vol. 4, Deepak Chopra, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Ever since the development of quantum mechanics in the first part of the 20th century, a new world view has emerged. Today, the physicalist objective assumption that objects exist independently of acts of observation has been challenged. The repercussions of this radical challenge to our common-sense perception of the world are far-reaching, although not yet generally realized. Here we argue that there is a complementary view to the way science which is being practiced, and that consciousness itself is primary and qualia form the foundation of experience. We outline the arguments of why the new science of qualia will tie …

Detector Characterization Analysis Of The Initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca), Daniel Duddleston

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate transient noise events in data from the initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and to test detector characterization software developed by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Detector characterization is the process of identifying and removing noise that corrupts the data stream of the LIGO detectors. This is vital to improving the sensitivity of the LIGO interferometer and increasing the probability of detecting gravitational waves of astrophysical origin. The data analyzed in this thesis were collected in 2010 during the S6 (Enhanced LIGO) science run. Two software tools, PCAT and Omega Scans, were …

Long-Range Propagation, Interaction, And Dissipation Of Small-Scale Gravity Waves In The Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere, Christopher J. Heale

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A 2-D nonlinear, compressible numerical model [Snively and Pasko, 2008] is used in conjunction with ray-theory to investigate the long-range propagation, dissipation and interaction of small-scale gravity waves in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region. The research in this thesis is made up of three distinct studies which build upon each other. The first investigates the thermospheric dissipation of three gravity wave packets representing: (1) A quasi-monochromatic packet, (2) A monochromatic, steady state wave, and (3) A spectrally broad packet, as well as an initial condition specified packet. It is found that dissipation due to molecular viscosity and …

Quantum Non-Locality Vs. Quasi-Local Measurement In The Conditions Of The Aharonov-Bohm Effect, Armen Gulian

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Theoretical explanation of the Meissner effect involves proportionality between current density and vector potential, which has many deep consequences. As noticed by de Gennes, superconductors in a magnetic field "find an equilibrium state where the sum of kinetic and magnetic energies is minimum" and this state "corresponds to the expulsion of the magnetic field". This statement still leaves an open question: from which source is the superconducting current acquiring its kinetic energy? A naïve answer, perhaps, is from the energy of the magnetic field. However, one can consider situations (Aharonov-Bohm effect), where the classical magnetic field is locally absent in …

Carrier Lifetime Enhancement In A Tellurium Nanowire/Pedot:Pss Nanocomposite By Sulfur Passivation, James Heyman, Ayaskanta Sahu, Nelson Coates, Brittany Ehmann, Jeffery Urban

James Heyman

No abstract provided.

X-Ray Structure, Thermodynamics, Elastic Properties And Mdsimulations Of Cardiolipin/Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine Mixedmembranes, Alex Boscia, Bradley Treece, Dariush Mohammadyani, Judith Klein-Seetharaman, Anthony Braun, Beate Kloesgen, Tsjerk Wassenaar, Stephanie Tristram-Nagle

Prof. Stephanie Tristram-Nagle Ph.D.

tCardiolipins (CLs) are important biologically for their unique role in biomembranes that couple phos-phorylation and electron transport like bacterial plasma membranes, chromatophores, chloroplasts andmitochondria. CLs are often tightly coupled to proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation. The firststep in understanding the interaction of CL with proteins is to obtain the pure CL structure, and the struc-ture of mixtures of CL with other lipids. In this work we use a variety of techniques to characterize the fluidphase structure, material properties and thermodynamics of mixtures of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine(DMPC) with tetramyristoylcardiolipin (TMCL), both with 14-carbon chains, at several mole percentages.X-ray diffuse scattering was used to …

Terahertz And Infrared Transmission Of An Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Thermoelectronic Material, James Heyman, B. Alebachew, Z. Kaminski, M. Nguyen, N. Coates, J. Urban

James Heyman

No abstract provided.