Engineering Physics Commons^™

Design And Fabrication Of A Trapped Ion Quantum Computing Testbed, Christopher A. Caron

Masters Theses

Here we present the design, assembly and successful ion trapping of a room-temperature ion trap system with a custom designed and fabricated surface electrode ion trap, which allows for rapid prototyping of novel trap designs such that new chips can be installed and reach UHV in under 2 days. The system has demonstrated success at trapping and maintaining both single ions and cold crystals of ions. We achieve this by fabricating our own custom surface Paul traps in the UMass Amherst cleanroom facilities, which are then argon ion milled, diced, mounted and wire bonded to an interposer which is placed …

Improving 3d Printed Prosthetics With Sensors And Motors, Rachel Zarin

Honors Projects

A 3D printed hand and arm prosthetic was created from the idea of adding bionic elements while keeping the cost low. It was designed based on existing models, desired functions, and materials available. A tilt sensor keeps the hand level, two motors move the wrist in two different directions, a limit switch signals the fingers to open and close, and another motor helps open and close the fingers. All sensors and motors were built on a circuit board, programmed using an Arduino, and powered by a battery. Other supporting materials include metal brackets, screws, guitar strings, elastic bands, small clamps, …

Exploring The Electrical Properties Of Twisted Bilayer Graphene, William Shannon

Senior Theses

Two-dimensional materials exhibit properties unlike anything else seen in conventional substances. Electrons in these materials are confined to move only in the plane. In order to explore the effects of these materials, we have built apparatus and refined procedures with which to create two-dimensional structures. Two-dimensional devices have been made using exfoliated graphene and placed on gold contacts. Their topography has been observed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) confirming samples with monolayer, bilayer, and twisted bilayer structure. Relative work functions of each have been measured using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) showing that twisted bilayer graphene has a surface potential …

Manufacturing And Testing The Permanent Magnet Linear Motor, Renjie Kang

Senior Theses

Controlled mechanical motion is vital in many useful applications in technology. Among them, linear motors have advantages over traditional rotating motors. In this work, we built a permanent magnet linear motor to test and measure its energy efficiency. A maximum 29% total energy efficiency, and 67% energy transfer rate, were detected. In addition, a C-shape support structure was added to the moving part in order to increase the moving accuracy. The tests show that, with the support structure, the fluctuation in the vertical direction decreases significantly, but the friction of the system slightly increases.

Charge Storage In Wo³ Polymorphs And Their Application As Supercapacitor Electrode Material, Vaibhav Lokhande, Abhishek Lokhande, Gon Namkoong, Jin Hyeok Kim, Taeksoo Ji

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Tungsten oxide is a versatile material with different applications. It has many polymorphs with varying performance in energy storage application. We report simple and facile way to synthesize four phases of tungsten oxide from same precursor materials only by changing the pH and temperature values. Monoclinic, hexagonal, orthorhombic and tetragonal phase obtained, were analyzed and tested for supercapacitor application. The electrochemical analysis of four phases indicates that the hexagonal phase is best-suited electrode material for supercapacitor. The hexagonal phase exhibits higher specific capacitance (377.5 Fg^-1 at 2 mVs^-1), higher surface capacitive contribution (75%), better stability and rate …

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge …

Increasing The Longevity Of Tungsten Filaments In A Zone Refiner, Byron D. Greenlee

Senior Theses

Zone refining is used for its ability to purify material and grow single crystals. To produce these single crystals, a suspended molten zone, generated by electron bombardment, passes along the polycrystalline stock. During a zone refining run, the filaments that produce the electron bombardment can fail. In this project, the longevity of tungsten filaments in a zone refiner was investigated. A new bombardment geometry was constructed to attempt to increase the longevity of the filaments. The new geometry had a shield machined into it to prevent line-of-sight impurities originating in the molten zone from striking the filaments. It was found …

Measuring The Double Layer Capacitance Of Electrolytes With Varied Concentrations, Geoffrey Rath

Senior Theses

When electric potentials are applied from an electrolytic fluid to a metal, a double layer capacitor, C_dl, develops at the interface. The layer directly at the interface is called the Stern layer and has a thickness equal to roughly the size of the ions in the fluid. The next layer, the diffuse layer, arises from the gathering of like charges in the Stern layer. This layer is the distance needed for ionic charges to return to equilibrium. This distance, called the Debye length, λ, depends on the square root of the electrolyte concentration. To study the properties of …

Operating Temperature Of A Solar Thermal Stirling Engine, Spencer Beck

Senior Theses

This paper explores the relationship between the operating temperature and electricity production of a simple heat engine. A Stirling engine was designed and constructed which runs on solar thermal energy collected by a Fresnel lens. The surface area of the solar collector was varied. This manipulated the operating temperature of the Stirling engine in order to measure power output. The mechanical energy from the engine was converted to electricity using a DC motor running in reverse, acting like a generator, in conjunction with an Arduino for data collection. Although adjustments must be made in order to improve the efficiency of …

Are Solar Panels A Viable Power Source For A Green Energy Vehicle?, Mason C. Adams

Senior Theses

A solar cell powered go-kart has been built and tested. The result shows using solar energy alone cannot meet the requirement of running a regular passenger car. This is due to the limited surface area of the passenger car. This thesis also discusses the operating principles of solar panels, the physics of P type and N type semiconductors, and the formation of the PN junction, as well as the solar current. Modifications of an existing go-kart are described in detail in this thesis. Suggestions for making green vehicles are discussed as well.

Hardware Design Theory (Using Raspberry Pi), Anthony Kelly, Thomas Blum Dr.

Undergraduate Research

The concept for this research proposal is focused on achieving three main objectives:

1) To understand the logic and design behind the Raspberry Pi (RbP) mini-computer model, including: all hardware components and their functions, the capabilities [and limits] of the RbP, and the circuit engineering for these components.

2) To be able to, using the Python high-level language, duplicate, manipulate, and create RbP projects ranging from basic user-input and response systems to the theories behind more intricate and complicated observatory sensors.

3) Simultaneously, in order to combine a mutual shared interest of History and to blend in work done within …