Physics Commons^™

Thorium-Based Thin Films As Highly Reflective Mirrors In The Euv, David D. Allred, William R. Evans, Jed E. Johnson, Richard L. Sandberg, R. Steven Turley

Faculty Publications

As applications for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation have been identified, the demand for better optics has also increased. Thorium and thorium oxide thin films (19 to 61 nm thick) were RF-sputtered and characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), spectroscopic ellipsometry, low-angle x-ray diffraction (LAXRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) in order to assess their capability as EUV reflectors. Their reflectance and absorption at different energies were also measured and analyzed at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley. The reflectance of oxidized thorium is reported between 2 and 32 nm at 5, 10, and 15 …

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix, Kenneth Czerwinski

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

This project examines inert fuels containing ZrO₂ and MgO as the inert matrix, with the relative amount of MgO varied from 30% to 70% in ZrO₂. Reactor physics calculations are used to examine suitable quantities of burnable poisons from the candidate elements Gd, Er, or Hf with reactor grade Pu providing the fissile component, with up to 10% of ²³⁹Pu. Ceramics are synthesized and characterized based on the reactor physics results. The solubility of the fuel ceramics, in reactor conditions, reprocessing conditions, and repository conditions, are investigated in a manner to provide thermodynamic data necessary for …

Friedel Oscillations In A Fermi Liquid, G. E. Simion, G. F. Giuliani

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The problem of the Friedel oscillations in two- and three-dimensional electron Fermi liquids is examined by means of the many-body local fields theory as aided by the most recent results of accurate numerical studies based on the quantum Monte Carlo method. Within linear response, an exact answer is obtained for the amplitude of the electron density distortion due to both short- and long-ranged impurity potentials. It is discussed how a measurement of the local environment of an impurity embedded in an otherwise homogeneous electron liquid can be used to characterize the systems as a Fermi liquid as well as to …

The Effects Of Electrode Geometry On Current Pulse Caused By Electrical Discharge Over An Ultra-Fast Laser Filament, Matthew Bubelnik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The time-resolved electrical conductivity of a short-pulse generated plasma filament in air was studied. Close-coupled metal electrodes were used to discharge the stored energy of a high-voltage capacitor and the resulting microsecond-scale electrical discharge was measured using fast current sensors. Significant differences in the time dependence of the current were seen with the two electrode geometries used. Using sharp-tipped electrodes additional peaks in the time-resolved conductivity were seen, relative to the single peak seen with spherical electrodes. We attribute these additional features to secondary electron collisional ionization brought about by field enhancement at the tips. Additional discrepancies in the currents …

Inclusive And Exclusive Compton Processes In Quantum Chromodynamics, A. Psaker

Physics Theses & Dissertations

In our work, we describe two types of Compton processes. As an example of an inclusive process, we consider the high-energy photoproduction of massive muon pairs off the nucleon. We analyze the process in the framework of the QCD parton model, in which the usual parton distributions emerge as a tool to describe the nucleon in terms of quark and gluonic degrees of freedom. To study its exclusive version, a new class of phenomenological functions is required, namely, generalized parton distributions. They can be considered as a generalization of the usual parton distributions measured in deeply inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering. Generalized …

A New Hybrid Diffractive Photo-Mask Technology, Jin Won Sung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the field of photolithography for micro-chip manufacturing, the photo-mask is used to print desired patterns on a proper photo-resist on wafer. The most common type of photo-mask is binary amplitude mask made an opaque layer of chrome. The principle and potential application of hybrid photo-mask with diffractive phase element and binary amplitude is presented in this dissertation paper from both numerical modeling and experimental research. The first important application is the characterization of aberration in the stepper system using hybrid diffractive photo-mask. By utilizing multiple diffractive illumination conditions, it is possible to characterize Zernike wave front aberration coefficients up …

Simulation Studies Of Self-Assembly And Phase Diagram Of Amphiphilic Molecules, Geuorgui Kostadinov Bourov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate self-assembled structures and the phase diagram of amphiphilic molecules of diverse geometric shapes using a number of different computer simulation methods. The semi-realistic coarse-grained model, used extensively for simulation of polymers and surfactant molecules, is adopted in an off-lattice approach to study how the geometric structure of amphiphiles affects the aggregation properties. The results of simulations show that the model system behavior is consistent with theoretical predictions, experiments and lattice simulation models. We demonstrate that by modifying the geometry of the molecules, self-assembled aggregates are altered in a way close to theoretical …

Spectral Signature Modification By Application Of Infrared Frequency-Selective Surfaces, Brian Monacelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is desirable to modify the spectral signature of a surface, particularly in the infrared (IR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. To alter the surface signature in the IR, two methods are investigated: thin film application and antenna array application. The former approach is a common and straightforward incorporation of optically-thin film coatings on the surface designated for signature modification. The latter technique requires the complex design of a periodic array of passive microantenna elements to cover the surface in order to modify its signature. This technology is known as frequency selective surface (FSS) technology and is established in the …

Liquid Crystal Optics For Communications, Signal Processing And 3-D Microscopic Imaging, Sajjad Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes, studies and experimentally demonstrates novel liquid crystal (LC) optics to solve challenging problems in RF and photonic signal processing, freespace and fiber optic communications and microscopic imaging. These include free-space optical scanners for military and optical wireless applications, variable fiber-optic attenuators for optical communications, photonic control techniques for phased array antennas and radar, and 3-D microscopic imaging. At the heart of the applications demonstrated in this thesis are LC devices that are non-pixelated and can be controlled either electrically or optically. Instead of the typical pixel-by-pixel control as is custom in LC devices, the phase profile across …

Pre- And Post-Selection Paradoxes And Contextuality In Quantum Mechanics, Matthew S. Leifer, Robert W. Spekkens

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Many seemingly paradoxical effects are known in the predictions for outcomes of intermediate measurements made on pre- and post-selected quantum systems. Despite appearances, these effects do not demonstrate the impossibility of a noncontextual hidden variable theory, since an explanation in terms of measurement disturbance is possible. Nonetheless, we show that for every paradoxical effect wherein all the pre- and post-selected probabilities are 0 or 1 and the pre- and post-selected states are nonorthogonal, there is an associated proof of the impossibility of a noncontextual hidden variable theory. This proof is obtained by considering all the measurements involved in the paradoxical …

Interference Effects For Low-Energy Electron-Impact Ionization Of Nitrogen Molecules, Junfang Gao, Don H. Madison, Jerry Peacher

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Young's double slit interference effects for low incident energy 75.6 eV electron impact ionization of N2 are investigated using the distorted-wave impulse approximation (DWIA) for both coplanar symmetric and asymmetric scattering. Although the DWIA does not predict observable interference effects for the coplanar symmetric case, it predicts some strong Young's double-slit-type interference effects for the highly asymmetric scattering case. These effects are strong enough that they should be experimentally observable if one can make measurements in the backscattering region.

The Effect Of Cu-Doping On The Magnetic And Transport Properties Of La₀.₇Sr₀.₃Mno₃, M. S. Kim, Jinbo Yang, Qingsheng Cai, X.-D. Zhou, William B. Yelon, Paul Ernest Parris, William Joseph James

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effects of Cu-doping on the structural, magnetic, and transport properties of La0.7Sr0.3Mn1xCuxO3 (0<=x<=0.20) have been studied using neutron diffraction, magnetization, and magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. All samples show the rhombohedral structure with the R[overline 3]c space-group from 10 K to room temperature (RT). Neutron diffraction data suggest that some of the Cu ions have a Cu3+ state in these compounds. The substitution of Mn by Cu affects the MnO bond length and Mn-O-Mn bond angle resulting from the minimization of the distortion of the MnO6 octahedron. Resistivity measurements show that a metal to insulator transition occurs for the x>=0.15 samples. The x=0.15 sample shows the highest MR([approximate]80%), which might result from the co-existence of Cu3-Cu2+ and the dilution effect of Cu-doping on the double exchange interaction

Infrared Response Of Charge-Coupled Devices, Matthias Loch, Ralf Widenhorn, Erik Bodegom

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

With a band gap of silicon of 1.1eV, the largest wavelength that can excite electrons from the valence to the conduction band is roughly 1100nm. As a consequence, in, for instance, a charge-coupled device, the quantum efficiency (QE) for wavelengths larger than 1100nm is assumed to be zero. We found that there is a response at those longer wavelengths and that the response decreases with increasing wavelength. The QE increases with increasing chip temperature which suggests a thermally activated process. Impurities in the silicon provide the energy levels in the band gap, from which electrons can be excited either thermally …

Making Sense Of Nanocrystal Lattice Fringes, P. Fraundorf, Wentao Qin, Peter Moeck, Eric Mandell

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The orientation dependence of thin-crystal lattice fringes can be gracefully quantified using fringe-visibility maps, a direct-space analog of Kikuchi maps [Nishikawa and Kikuchi, Nature (London) 121, 1019 (1928)]. As in navigation of reciprocal space with the aid of Kikuchi lines, fringe-visibility maps facilitate acquisition of crystallographic information from lattice images. In particular, these maps can help researchers to determine the three-dimensional lattice of individual nanocrystals, to 'fringe-fingerprint' collections of randomly oriented particles, and to measure local specimen thickness with only a modest tilt. Since the number of fringes in an image increases with maximum spatial-frequency squared, these strategies (with help …

Kinetic Parameters Of Glass Transition In Glassy Se_{1 - X}Sb_X Alloys, R. S. Tiwari, N. Mehta, R. K. Shukla, A. Kumar

Turkish Journal of Physics

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is performed at different heating rates under non-isothermal conditions to study the glass transition kinetics of glassy Se_{1 - x}Sb_x (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.10) alloys. The activation energy of glass transition E_t has been calculated using the two different non-isothermal methods. One of the two methods is based on the theory of glass transition kinetics and structural relaxation as developed by Moynihan and other workers, while the other relation is well-known Kissinger's relation. The results show that the values of E_t determined from both the methods are in good agreement with one …

Air Moisture Sensing Properties Of Zncr_2o_4--K_2cro_4 Composites, Neşe Kavasoğlu, Murat Bayhan

Turkish Journal of Physics

Crystalline structure, surface morphology and the response to air moisture of ceramic system of composition ZnCr_2O_4 - K_rCrO_4 formed by solid state reaction at elevated temperatures were investigated. The fired ceramic body, which proved to be mainly constructed from about 1 \mu m sized ZnCr_2O_4 spinel grains, was found to be porous. The humidity sensing behaviour of the sensors reveals that the electrical conduction is protonic and is controlled through the thin layers of water adsorbed on the surface of the grains, with charge transfer to the electrodes. Only the material containing 20\% K_2CrO_4 in ZnCr_2O_4 exhibited an exponential behaviour …

Crystalline Textures On The Al-Ni-Co Quasicrystal Surface, Mehmet Erbudak, Jean-Nicolas Longchamp, Yves Weisskopf

Turkish Journal of Physics

We have generated cubic Al alloys as commensurate single crystals on the tenfold-symmetry surface of the quasicrystalline Al-Ni-Co alloy by ion bombarding its surface. We find that the crystal-quasicrystal interface contains several alignments of mutual high-symmetry directions and planes. In order to explore the structural matching conditions at the crystal-quasicrystal interface, we have grown Al films on the decagonal surface of Al-Ni-Co by vapor deposition. The initial growth mode of Al is commensurate. As the coverage is increased, Al starts to grow in cubic textures breaking into multi-twinned, few-nanometer- large domains. The symmetry of the substrate determines thereby the orientation …

Unsteady Couette Flow With Heat Transfer Considering Ion-Slip, Hazem Ali Attia

Turkish Journal of Physics

The unsteady Couette flow of an electrically conducting, viscous, incompressible fluid bounded by two parallel non-conducting porous plates is studied with heat transfer taking ion-slip into consideration. An external uniform magnetic field and a uniform suction and injection are applied perpendicular to the plates while the fluid motion is subjected to a constant pressure gradient. The two plates are kept at different but constant temperatures while the Joule and viscous dissipations are included in the energy equation. The effect of ion-slip an uniform suction and injection on both the velocity and temperature distributions is examined.

Evidence For Alignment Of The Rotation And Velocity Vectors In Pulsars, Simon Johnston, G. Hobbs, S. Vigeland, M. Kramer, J. M. Weisberg, A. G. Lyne

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Work

We review our case for strong observational evidence for a relationship between the direction of a pulsar’s motion and its rotation axis. The information comes from calibrated polarization data for 20 pulsars which display linearly polarized emission from the pulse longitude at closest approach to the magnetic pole. Of these 20 pulsars, 10 show an offset in the angle between the velocity vector and the polarisation position angle which is either less than 10◦ or more than 80◦ , a fraction which is very unlikely by random chance. We believe that the bimodal nature of the distribution arises from the …

Coarse-Grained Entropy Decrease And Phase-Space Focusing In Hamiltonian Dynamics, Arjendu K. Pattanayak, Daniel W. C. Brooks, Anton De La Fuente, Lawrence Uricchio, Edward Holby, Daniel Krawisz, Jorge I. Silva

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Work

We analyze the behavior of the coarse-grained entropy for classical probabilities in nonlinear Hamiltonians. We focus on the result that if the trajectory dynamics are integrable, the probability ensemble shows transient increases in the coherence, corresponding to an increase in localization of the ensemble and hence the phasespace density of the ensemble. We discuss the connection of these dynamics to the problem of cooling in atomic ensembles. We show how these dynamics can be understood in terms of the behavior of individual trajectories, allowing us to manipulate ensembles to create “cold” dense final ensembles. We illustrate these results with an …

Low-Temperature Glassy Response Of Ultrathin La0.8ca0.2mn03 Films To Electric And Magnetic Fields, A. Bhattacharya, Melissa Eblen-Zayas,, N. E. Staley, A. L. Kobrinskii, A. M. Goldman

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Work

The glassy response of ultrathin films of La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 in the mixed phase to external magnetic and gated electro-static fields have been studied at low temperatures. The response of the resistance to external fields provides direct evidence for a hierarchical energy landscape, with strong cross-couplings between spin and charge. Magnetic coercivity measurements indicate that strong magnetic disorder accompanies the mixed phase in these films. This magnetic disorder, and the resultant coercivity, can be decreased by cooling in a large magnetic field or by electrostatic gating.

The Personalized System Of Instruction (Psi), Or Keller Plan, Thirty Years Later, Robert Fuller, David Winch

Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), or Keller Plan, Materials

• What Are the Essential Features of PSI ?
• Spread of PSI in Physics
• Was PSI any good?
• Why has it disappeared from physics?
• Message for today

Calculus-Based Physics Modules, Authors And Anecdotes, Robert Fuller, David Winch

Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), or Keller Plan, Materials

Fifteen experienced Keller Plan physicists gathered on the University of Colorado Boulder campus in the summer of 1975 to create a complete Keller Plan course for calculus-based physics. After three weeks, the original drafts, almost 1100 pages, were completed and the authors scattered to their places of employment. This poster tells stories about these module authors since 1975 and how the calculus-based physics modules were used.

Psi Presentation Abstracts, 2005, Robert Fuller, David Winch

Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), or Keller Plan, Materials

The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), or Keller Plan – Thirty Years Later

In the early 1970s a mastery-oriented, self-paced style of instruction, called the Personalized System of Instruction, or Keller Plan, came into physics courses. For a few years the Keller Plan flourished and reached an apex in physics with the publication of a complete set of Keller Plan materials for the calculus-based physics course in 1975. By 1980 it had all but disappeared from physics courses. This presentation will discuss the features of the Keller Plan, the explanations of why it disappeared and what are some attributes of …

The Reno Aerosol Optics Study: An Evaluation Of Aerosol Absorption Measurement Methods, Patrick J. Sheridan, W. Patrick Arnott, John A. Ogren, Elisabeth Andrews, Dean B. Atkinson, David S. Covert, Hans Moosmüller, Andreas Petzold, Beat Schmid, Anthony W. Strawa, Ravi Varma, Aki Virkkula

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Reno Aerosol Optics Study (RAOS) was designed and conducted to compare the performance of many existing and new instruments for the in situ measurement of aerosol optical properties with a focus on the determination of aerosol light absorption. For this study, simple test aerosols of black and white particles were generated and combined in external mixtures under low relative humidity conditions and delivered to each measurement system. The aerosol mixing and delivery system was constantly monitored using particle counters and nephelometers to ensure that the same aerosol number concentration and amount reached the different instruments. The aerosol light-scattering measurements …

Upper Limits On Gravitational Wave Bursts In Ligo’S Second Science Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We perform a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the second science run of the LIGO detectors, using a method based on a wavelet time-frequency decomposition. This search is sensitive to bursts of duration much less than a second and with frequency content in the 100–1100 Hz range. It features significant improvements in the instrument sensitivity and in the analysis pipeline with respect to the burst search previously reported by LIGO. Improvements in the search method allow exploring weaker signals, relative to the detector noise floor, while maintaining a low false alarm rate, O ( 0.1 ) μ …

Upper Limits From The Ligo And Tama Detectors On The Rate Of Gravitational-Wave Bursts, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report on the first joint search for gravitational waves by the TAMA and LIGO collaborations. We looked for millisecond-duration unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts in 473 hr of coincident data collected during early 2003. No candidate signals were found. We set an upper limit of 0.12 events per day on the rate of detectable gravitational-wave bursts, at 90% confidence level. From software simulations, we estimate that our detector network was sensitive to bursts with root-sum-square strain amplitude above approximately 1–3×10−19  Hz−1/2 in the frequency band 700-2000 Hz. We describe the details of this collaborative search, with particular emphasis on its advantages …

Search For Gravitational Waves Associated With The Gamma Ray Burst Grb030329 Using The Ligo Detectors, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We have performed a search for bursts of gravitational waves associated with the very bright gamma ray burst GRB030329, using the two detectors at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. Our search covered the most sensitive frequency range of the LIGO detectors (approximately 80–−2048   Hz), and we specifically targeted signals shorter than ≃150  ms. Our search algorithm looks for excess correlated power between the two interferometers and thus makes minimal assumptions about the gravitational waveform. We observed no candidates with gravitational-wave signal strength larger than a predetermined threshold. We report frequency-dependent upper limits on the strength of the gravitational waves associated with …

Response Of Test Masses To Gravitational Waves In The Local Lorentz Gauge, Malik Rakhmanov

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The local Lorentz gauge represents a natural coordinate frame for an observer to analyze the effect of gravitational waves on detectors, and has been widely used to describe the response of resonant bars. Its application to laser interferometers has thus far been restricted to the long-wavelength regime, in which the separation between the test masses is much less than the wavelength of the gravitational waves. In this paper we show that the local Lorentz gauge can be used for calculations of geodesic deviations of the masses even when their separation is comparable to or greater than the wavelength of the …

Limits On Gravitational-Wave Emission From Selected Pulsars Using Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We place direct upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28 isolated radio pulsars by a coherent multidetector analysis of the data collected during the second science run of the LIGO interferometric detectors. These are the first direct upper limits for 26 of the 28 pulsars. We use coordinated radio observations for the first time to build radio-guided phase templates for the expected gravitational-wave signals. The unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors allows us to set strain upper limits as low as a few times 10−24. These strain limits translate into limits on the equatorial ellipticities of the pulsars, …