Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Time-Resolved Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction Study Of The Ge(111)-C(2×8)-(1×1) Phase Transition, Xinglin Zeng, Bo Lin, Ibrahim El-Kholy, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The dynamics of the Ge(111)-c(2×8)-(1×1) phase transition is investigated by 100-ps time-resolved reflection high-energy electron diffraction. A laser pulse heats the surface while a synchronized electron pulse is used to obtain the surface diffraction pattern. Slow heating shows that the adatoms in Ge(111)-c(2×8) start to disorder at ∼510 K and are converted to a disordered adatom arrangement at 573 K. For heating with 100-ps laser pulses, the Ge(111)-c(2×8) reconstructed adatom arrangement starts to disorder at 584±16K, well above the onset temperature of ∼510 K for the disordering of Ge(111)-c(2×8) observed for slow …

Saturation In “Nonmagnetic” Stainless Steel, Christopher P. Weber, J. Fajans

Physics

Scientific equipment often uses “nonmagnetic” stainless steel, relying on the steel’s nonmagnetic behavior to leave external magnetic fields unaltered. However, stainless steel’s permeability can rise significantly when it is welded or machined, possibly perturbing an external field. Such perturbations will diminish well above the stainless steel’s saturation point. The authors measured the permeability of both welded and machined 304 stainless steel as a function of an external magnetic field, and found that both saturate at fields of approximately 0.25 T.

Low Energy Electron Gun Power Control Unit, Chad Fish, Jr Dennison

Senior Theses and Projects

Near-Earth orbiting spacecraft are subject to a variety of physical environmental elements. Of these, natural space plasma and solar radiation produce spacecraft charging. Spacecraft charging consists of surface (external) and deep (internal) dielectric charging.

Natural space plasma is composed of electrons and positively charged atoms called ions. The plasma is generated by energy from solar radiation and high energy particles emitted by geomagnetic storms. The electrons produce a negative current and the ions produce a positive current. Positive photoelectron currents produced by solar radiation of spacecraft surfaces also add to the electrical fluxesⁱ.

As spacecraft move through the …

Two-Dimensional Ferroelectric Films, Alexander V. Bune, Vladimir M. Fridkin, Stephen Ducharme, Lev M. Blinov, Serguei P. Palto, Alexander V. Sorokin, S. G. Yudin, A. Zlatkin

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Ultrathin crystalline films offer the possibility of exploring phase transitions in the crossover region between two and three dimensions. Second- order ferromagnetic phase transitions have been observed in monolayer magnetic films [1,2], where surface anisotropy energy stabilizes the two-dimensional ferromagnetic state at finite temperature [3]. Similarly, a number of magnetic materials have magnetic surface layers that show a second-order ferromagnetic–paramagnetic phase transition with an increased Curie temperature [4]. Ferroelectricity is in many ways analogous to ferromagnetism, and bulk-like ferroelectricity and finite-size modifications of it have been seen in nanocrystals as small as 250 Å in diameter [5], in perovskite films …

Suppression Of Switchable Polarization In Kdp By Ionizing Radiation, Timothy D. Usher

Physics Faculty Publications

Switching curves were obtained from KH₂PO₄ single crystals exposed to x-ray radiation for various time intervals, up to 8 h. The applied electric field was varied between 370 and 740 V/cm, as well. The temperature was held constant at 99 K. The switching curves were fit to a three-parameter nucleation and growth model based on the original works by Johnson and Mehl, and independently by Avrami. The two dynamic parameters, characteristic time t_c, and effective domain wall dimensionality n, produced values consistent with unirradiated studies, however, they did not show any clear dependancy on …

Physisorbed Co On Ionic Crystals: An Extended Beg Spin-Lattice Model Of Adsorbed Dipolar Molecules, T. E. Burns, Jr Dennison

Journal Articles

The 2D dielectric phases and phase transitions of adsorbed dipolar molecules are studied using a dilute spin-one Ising model. The spin-one formulation assigns a spin S_i = ±1 to a (up/down) dipole occupying a lattice site i adsorbed perpendicular to the substrate surface and Si = 0 to unoccupied sites. We relate the mean field expression for the spin-model interaction energy to a more detailed microscopic model involving dipolar, quadrupolar and dispersive interactions beyond nearest neighbor. Analytic solutions in the mean field approximation are discussed for dipole-orientation order-disorder transitions and ferroelectric-to-antiferroelectric transitions as a function of temperature and …

Surface Morphology Of Laser-Superheated Pb(111) And Pb(100), Z. H. Zhang, Bo Lin, X. L. Zeng, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The surface step density on the vicinal Pb(111) and the surface vacancy density on Pb(100) after laser superheating and melting are investigated using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. With ∼100-ps laser pulses, Pb(111) surface superheating does not significantly change the density of the steps and step-edge roughness. However, after laser surface melting, the average terrace width and the string length at the step edge become as large as those at room temperature. The average terrace width at 573 K changes from 38±15 to 64±19 Å after laser surface melting, while the average string length at the step edge changes from 90±14 …

Temperature Dependence Of Step Density On Vicinal Pb(111), Z. H. Zhang, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The temperature dependence of step density on the vicinal Pb(111) surface is investigated using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. When the temperature is increased from 323 to 590 K. the average terrace width and the average string length at the step edge decrease from 85±25 to 37±16 Å and from 220±33 to 25±8 Å, respectively. Thermal step collapse on the Pb(111) surface near its bulk melting temperature is not observed. Above 530±7 K, the change in the string length at the step edge with temperature becomes small, and the intensity of the (00) beam is significantly decreased. We conclude that partial …

Femtosecond Photoemission Study Of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics In Single-Crystal Au(111) Films, J. Cao, Y. Gao, H. E. Elsayed-Ali, R. J. D. Miller, D. A. Mantell

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The energy-dependent relaxation of photoexcited electrons has been measured by time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy on single-crystal Au(111) films with thickness ranging from 150 to 3000 Å. It is found that the energy-dependent relaxation does not show any significant thickness dependence, which indicates that electron transport is a much slower dynamical process in the near-surface region than expected from bulk properties. Furthermore, lifetimes of the photoexcited electrons can be fitted well by the Fermi-liquid theory with a scaling factor plus an effective upper lifetime. This observation enables separation of electron-electron scattering, and to a lesser extent electron-phonon scattering, processes from electron-transport …

Photoluminescence Properties Of Silicon Quantum-Well Layers, Peter N. Saeta, A. C. Gallagher

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Nanometer-scale crystal silicon films surrounded by SiO₂ were prepared by oxidizing silicon-on-insulator substrates prepared from SIMOX (separation by implantation of oxygen) and crystallized hydrogenated amorphous silicon films. Average silicon layer thickness was determined from reflection spectra. When sufficiently thin (<2 >nm), all layers emitted red photoluminescence under blue and UV cw excitation, with a spectrum that did not depend on the mean layer thickness. The spectrum was roughly Gaussian with a peak energy of 1.65 eV, which is lower than for most porous silicon spectra. The time scale for the luminescence decay was ~35 μs at room temperature and …

Voltage Responses To Optical Pulses Of Unbiased Normal And Superconducting Samples, D. Van Vechten, K. S. Wood, G. G. Fritz, J. S. Horitz, G. M. Daly, J. B. Thrasher, D. M. Photiadis, J. Ding, J. F. Pinto, M. G. Blamire, G. Burnell, A. L. Gyulamiryan, V. H. Vartanyan, R. B. Akopyan, Armen Gulian

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The direct transformation of the energy of an incident high-energy photon into a measurable potential difference within an absorbing metal is investigated. Experimental evidence is presented that the effect arises from the inherent energy dependence of the electronic density of states, rather than from a simple temperature excursion. The similarities between the results on Al and YBa₂Cu₃O₇ samples indicate that the effect is universal in nature. We assert it may be used as the basis of a fast, energy resolving, individual photon detector for the ultraviolet radiation and x-rays.

Femtosecond Photoemission Study Of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics On Cu(100), J. Cao, Y. Gao, R. J. D. Miller, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali, D. A. Mantell

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The energy dependence of the relaxation of photoexcited electrons in copper was measured using femtosecond time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to within 0.3 eV above the Fermi level. By performing lifetime measurements under different surface conditions, several surface dynamical processes were investigated. In particular, an anomalous long lifetime feature, which cannot be explained with Fermi-liquid theory, was observed in the lifetime-energy curve. This feature was found originating from the photoexcitation of the strongly localized Cu 3d electrons. ©1997 American Physical Society

Reflection High-Energy Electron-Diffraction Study Of Melting And Solidification Of Pb On Graphite, Z. H. Zhang, P. Kulatunga, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The melting and solidification of Pb thin films on pyrolytic graphite are investigated in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Thin films with thicknesses of 4-150 monolayers are investigated. The surface morphology of the thin films were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Superheating of the Pb thin films by 4±2 to 12±2 K is observed from diffraction intensity measurements. Upon cooling the substrate, the Pb on graphite is seen to supercool by ∼69±4 K.

Raman Spectroscopy Of Carbon Materials, Jr Dennison, Mark Holtz, Greg Swain

Journal Articles

Use of carbon materials is no longer limited to diamond jewelry or graphite pencils and lubricants. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of technological applications driven by the development of fabrication methods and the discovery of several new classes of pure carbon. Structural diversity exhibited by the carbon atoms, from local chemical order to long-range crystalline order, is key to understanding their physical and chemical properties and in future materials development. This article summarizes the use of Raman spectroscopy as a principal tool to investigate the vibrational dynamics of carbon materials and to provide indirect structural characterization of their …

Application Of (E,2e) Spectroscopy To The Electronic Structure Of Valence Electrons In Crystalline And Amorphous Solids, Jr Dennison, A. L. Ritter

Journal Articles

This review presents theoretical and experimental aspects of (e,2e) spectroscopy specific to the study of crystalline and amorphous solids. The cross section for (e,2e) scattering is proportional to the spectral momentum density of the ejected electron under certain approximations. The theoretical framework for interpreting (e,2e) measurements is summarized here and general properties of the spectral momentum density of solids are discussed. Different designs of the (e,2e) spectrometer are described and sample preparation techniques are briefly reviewed. A summary of recent (e,2e) experiments on the electronic structure of valence electrons in graphite, ion sputtered and evaporated amorphous carbon, and aluminum-aluminum oxide …

Mechanical Alloying Of Nitrogen Into Iron Powders, J. Rawers, D. Govier, D. C. Cook

Physics Faculty Publications

Mechanical alloying of nitrogen into bcc-fe powder is a very effective and efficient means of obtaining very high concentration of nitrogen in micron-size iron particles. Mechanical alloying increases the concentration of nitrogen in the iron powder far in excess of the bcc-Fe lattice low nitrogen solubility, however most of the infused nitrogen resides on the nano-size grain boundaries and in nano-size bct-fe that forms during mechanical alloying.

Measurement Of Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions Using Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Desmond C. Cook

Physics Faculty Publications

Mössbauer spectroscopy is a useful probe for investigating nuclear quadrupole interactions. It enables the magnitude, sign and asymmetry of the electric quadrupole coupling constant to be determined. It is especially important for its ability to measure these parameters for excited nuclear states. The Mössbauer effect is used to measure excited state quadrupole moments in materials whose electric field gradient (EFG) is known. More commonly however, it is used to determine the EFG from which atomic bonding and electronic structure are determined. The technique also allows temperature dependent orientation of sublattice magnetization to be measured using the direction of the electric …

Nuclear Forward-Scattering Of Synchrotron Radiation From Krypton: First Observation And Application To The Study Of Lattice Dynamics In Near-Monolayer Krypton-On-Graphite, David Eric Johnson

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Since 1985 nuclear-resonant scattering, and in particular nuclear forward-scattering, of synchrotron radiation has been observed in a select few Mossbauer isotopes including: ⁵⁷Fe, ¹¹⁹Sn, ¹⁶⁹Tm. For the first time, nuclear forward-scattering from the 9.4 keV Mossbauer level in ⁸³Kr has been observed. A large resonance effect, comparable to that in ⁵⁷Fe, has been observed in a variety of systems containing Kr including bulk crystals and physisorbed Kr-on-exfoliated graphite. Previous nuclear-resonant scattering experiments using synchrotron radiation have consisted of demonstration experiments. Nuclear forward-scattering from Kr has been applied to study the lattice dynamics of near-monolayer Kr-on-graphite …

Visible Luminescence From Single Crystal‐Silicon Quantum Wells, Peter N. Saeta, A. C. Gallagher

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Single crystal‐silicon quantum wells with SiO₂ barriers have been grown from SIMOX silicon‐on‐insulator substrates. Photoluminescence in the red and near‐infrared is observed for average well width <8 >nm, with peak signal for 2‐nm average width. The luminescence spectrum is independent of well width for SiO₂ barriers, but shifts 0.3 eV to higher energy upon removal of the upper oxide layer with HF. Both results suggest the importance of radiation from surface states.

Nonequilibrium Dynamic Conductivity Of Superconductors: An Exploitable Basis For High Energy Resolution X-Ray Detectors, Armen Gulian, D. Van Vechten

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A new design for high‐energy radiation/particle detectors is presented. The nonequilibrium response of a superconductor to the absorption of the incident quanta is sensed by electromagnetic measurements of the altered dynamic conductivity. Microwave absorption may be used to amplify the signal. Such a detector will provide better energy resolution than semiconducting charge‐collection devices once the statistical resolution limit is reached.

Characterization Of Piezoceramic Crosses With Large Range Scanning Capability And Applications For Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, J. A. Helfrich, Shireen Adenwalla, J. B. Ketterson, G. A. Zhitomirsky

Shireen Adenwalla Papers

We have developed a large amplitude piezoceramic scanner which should have numerous applications. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and other scanning probe microscopies predominantly use piezoceramics for the scanning elements. Similarly adaptive optics, high resolution lithography, and micromanipulators are other examples of research which regularly utilize piezoceramic scanners. We present a new geometry for a piezoceramic scanner which allows for both high resolution (~nanometers) and large amplitude (~400 µm) displacements. The cross-shaped geometry makes it possible to produce extremely long pieces with very high tolerances. We have shown its effectiveness by using it as the major component of a low temperature …

Compensation And Characterization Of Gallium Arsenide, Randy A. Roush

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The properties of transition metals in gallium arsenide have been previously investigated extensively with respect to activation energies, but little effort has been made to correlate processing parameters with electronic characteristics. Diffusion of copper in gallium arsenide is of technological importance due to the development of GaAs:Cu bistable photoconductive devices. Several techniques are demonstrated in this work to develop and characterize compensated gallium arsenide wafers. The material is created by the thermal diffusion of copper into silicon-doped GaAs. Transition metals generally form deep and shallow acceptors in GaAs, and therefore compensation is possible by material processing such that the shallow …

Scanning-Tunneling-Microscopy Study Of Pb On Si(111), D. Tang, H. E. Elsayed-Ali, J. Wendelken, J. Xu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Scanning-tunneling microscopy has been used to study temperature and coverage dependence of the structure of lead on the Si(111)-7×7 surface. For low Pb coverage, the Pb atoms favored the faulted sites. The ratio between the number of Pb atoms on faulted to unfaulted sites increased after sample annealing. An energy difference of 0.05 eV associated with a Pb atom on these two sites is estimated. The mobility of Pb atoms on Si(111) was observed at a temperature as low as 260°C for a coverage of 0.1 and 1 ML. © 1995 The American Physical Society.

Reflection High-Energy Electron-Diffraction Study Of Surface Disorder And Anomalous Expansion Of Pb(100), D. Tang, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The temperature-dependent surface structural behavior of Pb(100) is studied using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Anomalous surface expansion for temperatures between room temperature to about 500 K is observed. A high density of surface vacancies appears at temperatures above ~ 500 K. © 1994 The American Physical Society.

Short Terahertz Pulses From Semiconductor Surfaces: The Importance Of Bulk Difference‐Frequency Mixing, Peter N. Saeta, Benjamin I. Greene, Shun Lien Chuang

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The crystallographic orientation dependence of the far‐infrared (FIR) light generated at the (001) surface of a zincblende semiconductor is shown to derive principally from bulk difference‐frequency mixing. A strong modulation is observed for 1‐GW/cm² pulses on InP, which demonstrates that the radiated FIR wave produced by bulk optical rectification is comparable to that generated by the transport of photoinjected carriers. Using the bulk rectification light as a clock, we show that more than 95% of the light produced from an InP (111) crystal by 100‐fs, 100‐μJ pulses is generated in a time shorter than the excitation pulse.

Primary Relaxation Processes At The Band Edge Of Sio₂, Peter N. Saeta, Benjamin I. Greene

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The kinetics of photoinduced defect formation in high-purity silicas has been studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy in the visible and ultraviolet. Band edge two-photon excitation produces singlet excitons which decay in 0.25 ps into defects with the absorption spectra of nonbridging oxygen hole centers (≡Si-O⋅) and silicon E’ centers (≡Si⋅). We identify these defect pairs with the self-trapped triplet exciton and the 0.25 ps decay with the motion of the photoexcited oxygen atom. Similar results were obtained with both crystalline and amorphous silica samples.

Enhanced Retroreflection Of Light From Rough Metal Surfaces, Sivakumar Natarajan

Masters Theses

The optical constants n and k measured by Johnson and Christy (1972) for the noble metals (gold, silver and copper) are used to analyze the relationship between the surface characteristics and the peak height and half-width of the backscattering peak which is observed in the angular distribution of the intensity of diffusely reflected light at a vacuum-metal interface in a direction antiparallel to the original incident beam. Surfaces with surface roughness of heights less than 200 A to 300 A will be considered and a recently developed perturbation treatment will be used in these studies.

The backscattering of light from …

Hysteresis And Anchoring Energy In Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals, Yuri Panarin

Articles

The frequency dispersion of the coercive force of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals (FLC) cells has been detected and examined in the range of infralow (lower than 0.1 Hz) frequencies. To clarify the low-frequency dispersion, the model has been suggested, based on the arrangement of free charges and well describing the experimental curves. The method for determination of the energy of FLC anchoring at the surface, developed on the basis of the static hysteresis loop, has been proposed. The dependence of bistability and the anchoring energy upon the orientant layer thickness has experimentally been investigated.

Direct Measurements Of The Transport Of Nonequilibrium Electrons In Gold Films With Different Crystal Structures, T. Juhasz, H. E. Elsayed-Ali, G. O. Smith, C. Suárez, W. E. Bron

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The transport of femtosecond-laser-excited nonequilibrium electrons across polycrystalline and single-crystalline gold films has been investigated through time-of-flight measurements. The thicknesses of the films range from 25 to 400 nm. Ballistic electrons as well as electrons interacting with other electrons and/or with the lattice have been observed. The ballistic component dominates the transport in the thinner films, whereas the interactive transport mechanism is dominant at the upper end of the thickness range. A slower effective velocity of the interactive component is observed in the polycrystalline samples, and is assumed to arise from the presence of grain boundaries. The reflection coefficient of …

Direct Picosecond Measurement Of Photoinduced Cooper Pair Breaking In Lead, John F. Federici, Benjamin I. Greene, Peter N. Saeta, Douglas R. Dykaar, F. Sharifi, R. C. Dynes

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

We report on a direct kinetic measurement of Cooper-pair breaking in superconducting lead. A 100-fs pulse of visible light was used to excite a thin-film lead sample, while the Cooper-pair density was optically probed using an ultrashort pulse of broadband far-infrared radiation. Subsequent to the absorption of the visible light, a rapid (ps) change in the far-infrared optical transmission was observed, corresponding to the breaking of Cooper pairs and the collapse of the superconducting gap.