Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Commons^™

Textured Heterogeneity In Square Artificial Spin Ice, J. C.T. Lee, S. K. Mishra, V. S. Bhat, R. Streubel, B. Farmer, X. Shi, L. E. De Long, I. Mcnulty, P. Fischer, S. D. Kevan, S. Roy

Robert Streubel Papers

We report evidence of spontaneous formation of a heterogeneous network of superdomains in two-dimensional square artificial spin ice nanostructures in externally applied magnetic fields. Coherent resonant soft-x-ray scattering from such textures gives rise to unique internal structure in Bragg peaks. The magnetic heterogeneity is locally disordered but has a zigzag texture at longer length scales. Our result suggests that the macroscopic magnetic texture is derived from the microscopic structure of the Dirac strings.

Boundary Conditions And Berry Phase In Magnetic Nanostructures, A. Ullah, B. Balamurugan, W. Zhang, D. J. Sellmyer, R. Skomski

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The effect of micromagnetic boundary conditions on the Berry curvature and topological Hall effect in granular nanostructures is investi- gated by model calculations. Both free surfaces and grain boundaries between interacting particles or grains affect the spin structure. The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions yield corrections to the Erdmann-Weierstrass boundary conditions, but the Berry curvature remains an exclusive functional of the local spin structure, which greatly simplifies the treatment of nanostructures. An explicit example is a model nanostructure with cylindrical symmetry whose spin structure is described by Bessel function and which yields a mean-field-type Hall-effect contribution that can be related to magnetic-force-microscopy images.

Crystal Structure And Dzyaloshinski–Moriya Micromagnetics, Ahsan Ullah, B. Balamurugan, Wuzhang Fang, Shah R. Valloppilly, Xingzhong Li, Rabindra Pahari, Lanping Yue, Andrei Sokolov, David J. Sellmyer, Ralph Skomski

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The relationship between atomic-scale and micromagnetic Dzyaloshinski–Moriya (DM) interactions has been investigated. By analyzing the Lifshitz invariants for different point groups, we have found that there is no unique link between the absence of inversion symmetry and DM interactions. The absence of inversion symmetry is a necessary condition for a net DM interaction in crystals, but several noncentrosymmetric point groups have zero DM interactions. In many cases, the key consideration is whether the crystals are polar and/or chiral. For example, MnSi-type spin spirals, which violate helical spin symmetry, are caused by the insertion of chiral atomic-scale building blocks into an …

Developments Towards High-Flux Silica Nanosphere Substrates To Support Conforming Self-Assembled Gold Nanoparticle Monolayers For Applications In Size-Selective Filtration, Ryan Baker Vincent

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Hydrophobic thiol coated gold nanoparticles have recently been investigated for their ability to self-assemble into robust, ultra-thin, porous membranes at a liquid-vapor interface. Due to the well-ordered, hexagonal close-packed nanoparticle arrays formed during the self-assembly process, these 2-dimensional sheets have very well-defined pore structures and have been shown to span gaps of several microns under ideal conditions. While these self-assembled nanoparticle monolayers have very promising applications in the field of size-selective filtration due to their well-defined pore structure, they need to be supported by a rigid substrate with a large amount of open area. Here, tightly packed arrays of silica …

Medium-Dependent Antibacterial Properties And Bacterial Filtration Ability Of Reduced Graphene Oxide, Alexander Gusev, Olga Zakharova, Dmitry S. Muratov, Nataliia S. Vorobeva, Mamun Sarker, Iaroslav Rybkin, Daniil Bratashov, Evgeny Kolesnikov, Aleš Lapanje, Denis V. Kuznetsov, Alexander Sinitskii

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Toxicity of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been a topic of multiple studies and was shown to depend on a variety of characteristics of rGO and biological objects of interest. In this paper, we demonstrate that when studying the same dispersions of rGO and fluorescent Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, the outcome of nanotoxicity experiments also depends on the type of culture medium. We show that rGO inhibits the growth of bacteria in a nutrition medium but shows little effect on the behavior of E. coli in a physiological saline solution. The observed effects of rGO on E. …

Nonvolatile Voltage Controlled Molecular Spin State Switching, G. Hao, A. Mosey, X. Jiang, A. J. Yost, K. R. Sapkota, G. T. Wang, X. Zhang, J. Zhang, A. T. N'Diaye, R. Cheng, X. Xu, P. A. Dowben

Xiaoshan Xu Papers

Voltage-controlled room temperature isothermal reversible spin crossover switching of [Fe{H₂B(pz)₂}₂(bipy)] thin films is demonstrated. This isothermal switching is evident in thin film bilayer structures where the molecular spin crossover film is adjacent to a molecular ferroelectric. The adjacent molecular ferroelectric, either polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene or croconic acid (C₅H₂O₅), appears to lock the spin crossover [Fe{H₂B(pz)₂}₂(bipy)] molecular complex largely in the low or high spin state depending on the direction of ferroelectric polarization. In both a planar two terminal diode structure and a …

Proximitized Materials, Igor Žutić, Alex Matos-Abiague, Benedikt Scharf, Hanan Dery, Kirill Belashchenko

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

Advances in scaling down heterostructures and having an improved interface quality together with atomically thin two-dimensional materials suggest a novel approach to systematically design materials. A given material can be transformed through proximity effects whereby it acquires properties of its neighbors, for example, becoming superconducting, magnetic, topologically nontrivial, or with an enhanced spin–orbit coupling. Such proximity effects not only complement the conventional methods of designing materials by doping or functionalization but also can overcome their various limitations. In proximitized materials, it is possible to realize properties that are not present in any constituent region of the considered heterostructure. While the …

Coupling Of Light's Orbital Angular Momentum To A Quantum Dot Ensemble, Alaa A. Bahamran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the transfer of orbital angular momentum from light to an ensemble of semiconductor-based nanostructures composed of lead sulfide quantum dots. Using an ensemble of quantum dots offers a higher cross-section and more absorption of twisted light fields compared to experimentally challenging single-nanostructure measurements. However, each quantum dot (except for on-center) sees a displaced light beam parallel to its own axis of symmetry. The transition matrix elements for the light-matter interaction are calculated by expressing the displaced light beam in terms of the appropriate light field centered on the nanoparticles. The resulting transition rate induced by …

Nanoscale Thermal Transport In Thermally Isolated Nanostructures, Brian G. Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Experiments with nanoscale structures, designed to measure some of their thermal and optical properties, are the subjects of this dissertation. We studied the transport of thermal energy in systems of nanoparticles, and used the method of transient thermoreflectance to monitor those dynamics, and assess whether thermal transport features special to nanoscale systems emerged. This same method was also used to study the thermal transport of a single system of layered membranes. Optical properties were investigated using computational simulations of a nanoparticle system, using the method of finite-difference time-domain simulation.

In nanoparticle studies, there are two features of interest special to …

Giardia Lamblia Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins, Katherine Deheer, Kelly Dubois

Summer Research

Giardia are parasitic single-cell eukaryotes. While mostly known for causing giardiasis in humans, we are studying Giardia because they are evolutionarily close to the last common eukaryotic ancestor, so understanding their genome gives us information about all eukaryotic evolution. This project is looking at the specific proteins that are in the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) of Giardia. These pores are what allow transport of biomolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm. Though the architecture of NPCs is similar between eukaryotes, the specific gene sequences are highly divergent.

Controlling The Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy Of E-Fe2o3, Imran Ahamed, Ralph Skomski, Arti Kashyap

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of pristine and Co-substituted ε-Fe₂O₃ is investigated by density functional calculations. The epsilon-iron oxide is the only polymorph of Fe₂O₃ magnetoelectric in its antiferromagnetic ground states other crystalline forms being α-Fe₂O₃ (hematite), β-Fe₂O₃, and γ-Fe₂O₃ (maghemite). The magnetizations of the four iron sublattices are antiferromagnetically aligned with slightly different magnetic moments resulting in a ferrimagnetic structure. Compared to the naturally occurring hematite and maghemite, bulk ε-Fe₂O₃ is difficult to prepare, but ε-Fe₂O₃ nanomaterials of different …

Drift Chamber Calibration And Particle Identification In The P-349 Experiment, D. Alfs, A. Asaturyan, M. Carmignotto, M. Diermaier, W. Eyrich, B. Glowacz, D. Grzonka, Florian Hauenstein, T. Horn, K. Kilian, D. Lersch, S. Malbrunot-Ettenauer, A. Mkrtchyan, H. Mkrtchyan, P. Moskal, P. Nadel-Turonski, W. Oelert, J. Ritman, T. Sefzick, V. Tadevosyan, E. Widmann, M. Wolke, S. Zhamkochyan, M. Zieliński, A. Zink, J. Zmeskal

Physics Faculty Publications

The goal of the P-349 experiment is to test whether 3.5 GeV/c antiprotons produced in high-energy proton-proton collisions are polarized in view of the preparation of a polarized antiproton beam. In this article, we present the details of the ongoing analysis focused on the drift chambers calibration and particle identification with DIRC.

High Energy Product Of Mnbi By Field Annealing And Sn Alloying, Wenyong Zhang, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Parashu Kharel, Rabindra Pahari, Shah R. Valloppilly, Xingzhong Li, Lanping Yue, Ralph Skomski, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Permanent-magnet materials are one cornerstone of today’s technology, abundant in disk drives, motors, medical equipment, wind gen- erators, and cars. A continuing challenge has been to reconcile high permanent-magnet performance with low raw-material costs. This work reports a Mn-Bi-Sn alloy exclusively made from inexpensive elements, exhibiting high values of Curie-temperature, magnetization, anisotropy, coercivity, and energy product. The samples are produced by field annealing of rapidly quenched Sn-containing MnBi alloys, where the improvement of the magnetic properties is caused by the substitutional occupancy of the 2c sites in the hexagonal NiAs structure by Sn. The substitution modifies the electronic structure of …

High Energy Product Of Mnbi By Field Annealing And Sn Alloying, Wenyong Zhang, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Parashu Kharel, Rabindra Pahari, Shah R. Valloppilly, Xingzhong Li, Lanping Yue, Ralph Skomski, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Permanent-magnet materials are one cornerstone of today’s technology, abundant in disk drives, motors, medical equipment, wind generators, and cars. A continuing challenge has been to reconcile high permanent-magnet performance with low raw-material costs. This work reports a Mn-Bi-Sn alloy exclusively made from inexpensive elements, exhibiting high values of Curie-temperature, magnetization, anisotropy, coercivity, and energy product. The samples are produced by field annealing of rapidly quenched Sn-containing MnBi alloys, where the improvement of the magnetic properties is caused by the substitutional occupancy of the 2c sites in the hexagonal NiAs structure by Sn. The substitution modifies the electronic structure of the …

Comparative Study Of Topological Hall Effect And Skyrmions In Nimnin And Nimnga, Wenyong Zhang, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Ahsan Ullah, Rabindra Pahari, Xingzhong Li, Lanping Yue, Shah R. Valloppilly, Andrei Sokolov, Ralph Skomski, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

A nonequilibrium rapid-quenching method has been used to fabricate NiMnIn and NiMnGa alloys that are chemically and morphologically similar but crystallographically and physically very different. NiMnGa crystallizes in a Ni2In-type hexagonal structure, whereas NiMnIn is a cubic Heusler alloy. Both alloys yield a topological Hall effect contribution corresponding to bubble-type skyrmion spin structures, but it occurs in much lower magnetic fields in NiMnIn as compared to NiMnGa. The effect is unrelated to net Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which are absent in both alloys due to their inversion-symmetric crystal structures. Based on magnetic-force microscopy, we explain the difference between the two alloys by …

Structure And Magnetism Of Co2ge Nanoparticles, Onur Tosun, Frank M. Abel, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Ralph Skomski, David J. Sellmyer, George C. Hadjipanayis

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The structural and magnetic properties of Co₂Ge nanoparticles (NPs) prepared by the cluster-beam deposition (CBD) technique have been investigated. As-made particles with an average size of 5.5 nm exhibit a mixture of hexagonal and orthorhombic crystal structures. Thermomagnetic measurements showed that the as-made particles are superparamagnetic at room temperature with a blocking temperature (T_B) of 20 K. When the particles are annealed at 823 K for 12 h, their size is increased to 13 nm and they develop a new orthorhombic crystal structure, with a Curie temperature (T_C) of 815 K. This …

Radiation Tolerance In Nano-Structured Crystalline Fe(Cr)/Amorphous Sioc Composite, Qing Su, Tianyao Wang, Lin Shao, Michael Nastasi

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The management of irradiation defects is one of key challenges for structural materials in current and future reactor systems. To develop radiation tolerant alloys for service in extreme irradiation environments, the Fe self-ion radiation response of nanocomposites composed of amorphous silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) and crystalline Fe(Cr) were examined at 10, 20, and 50 displacements per atom damage levels. Grain growth in width direction was observed to increase with increasing irradiation dose in both Fe(Cr) films and Fe(Cr) layers in the nanocomposite after irradiation at room temperature. However, compared to the Fe(Cr) film, the Fe(Cr) layers in the nanocomposite exhibited ~50% …

Magnetic And Magnetocaloric Properties Of Pr2-Xndxfe17 Ribbons, Bishnu Dahal, Parashu Kharel, Thomas Ott, Wenyong Zhang, Shah R. Valloppilly, Ralph Skomski, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Fe deficient Pr_2-xNd_xFe₁₇ (x = 0.5, 0.7) alloys prepared by arc-melting and melt- spinning have been investigated. The room temperature x-ray diffraction patterns show that the samples are nearly single-phase and crystallize in the rhombohedral Th₂Zn₁₇-type crystal structure. The Curie temperatures determined from the thermomagnetic curves are 302 K and 307 K for Pr_1.5Nd_0.5Fe₁₇ and Pr_1.3Nd_0.7Fe₁₇, respectively. The peak magnetic entropy change and the relative cooling power at field change of 50 kOe …

Quantum Phase Transition And Ferromagnetism In Co1+XSn, Rabindra Pahari, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Rohit Pathak, Manh Coung Nguyen, Shah R. Valloppilly, Ralph Skomski, Arti Kashyap, Cai-Zhuang Wang, Kai-Ming Ho, George C. Hadjipanayis, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The onset of ferromagnetism in cobalt-tin alloys is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The Co₁₊xSn alloys were prepared by rapid quenching from the melt and form a modified hexagonal NiAs-type crystal structure for 0.45 ≤ x ≤ 1. The magnetic behavior is described analytically and by density-functional theory using supercells and the coherent-potential approximation. The excess of Co concentration x, which enters the interstitial 2d sites in the hypothetical NiAs-ordered parent alloy CoSn, yields a Griffiths-like phase and, above a quantum critical point (x_c ≈ 0.65), a quantum phase …

Expansion Of An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Yin Li

Honors Theses

Ultracold neutral plasmas (UNP) exhibit interesting behavior and are more feasible to control than hot plasmas. Physicists would like to lower the temperature of a UNP to achieve a higher Coulomb coupling parameter, Γ for both electrons and ions. However, the three body recombination (TBR) between ions and electrons produces Rydberg atoms and heats up the plasma electrons, thereby ionizing them to Γe < 0.2. Adding Rydberg atoms to the plasma will reduce the temperature of a UNP in certain situations. In this honors project, we tried to achieve a Γe value greater than 0.5 by embedding Rydberg atoms multiple times in the plasma. We did extensive numerical simulations, but we were unable to replicate previous results from another group which obtained Γe = 0.5 in the first 1 µ s of plasma evolution. However, we were able to use the simulation results to test various different experiment scenarios. For experiments, we created a UNP of Rubidium atoms in the magneto-optical trap by laser cooling and photoionization. We figured out a nice way to zero the electric field within the field meshes by looking at the plasma expansion very late in its evolution through the micro-channel plate. We set the voltage and delay on the field mesh bias to find expansion velocity of the plasma for time t > 50 µs, and we used different methods to deduce the expansion velocity from the ion time of flight signals. However, we found that there was no relation of Γe at 1 µ s and the expansion velocity …