Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Schrödinger-Pauli Theory Of Electrons: New Perspectives, Viraht Sahni

Publications and Research

The Schrödinger-Pauli (SP) theory of electrons in an electromagnetic field explicitly accounts for the electron spin moment. The many-electron theory is complemented via a new descriptive perspective viz. that of the individual electron via its equation of motion or ‘Quantal Newtonian’ first law. The law is in terms of ‘classical’ fields whose sources are quantum mechanical expectation values of Hermitian operators taken with respect to the system wave function. The law states that each electron experiences an external and an internal field, the sum of which vanish. The external field is the sum of the binding electrostatic and a Lorentz …

Superconducting Phase Transition In Inhomogeneous Chains Of Superconducting Islands, Eduard Ilin, Irina Burkova, Xiangyu Song, Michael V. Pak, Dmitri S. Golubev, Alexey Bezryadin

Faculty Publications

We study one-dimensional chains of superconducting islands with a particular emphasis on the regime in which every second island is switched into its normal state, thus forming a superconductor-insulator-normal metal (S-I-N) repetition pattern. As is known since Giaever tunneling experiments, tunneling charge transport between a superconductor and a normal metal becomes exponentially suppressed, and zero-bias resistance diverges, as the temperature is reduced and the energy gap of the superconductor grows larger than the thermal energy. Here we demonstrate that this physical phenomenon strongly impacts transport properties of inhomogeneous superconductors made of weakly coupled islands with fluctuating values of the critical …

Cold Sintering Diisopropylamonium Bromide To Form Organic Ceramic Pellets, Darren Armstrong

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Diisopropylamonium bromide is an organic ferroelectric compound. Standard sample preparation methods either require a powder or a single crystal. Certain measurements cannot be done on powders due to equipment limitations, and single crystals are difficult and time consuming to produce and handle. Cold sintering is a relatively new process that allows the creation of ceramics. The original cold sintering process was adapted to work for diisopropylamonium bromide. This allows the creation of ceramics with a large surface area. These pellets can achieve up to 95% of the theoretical maximum density. While the pellets are currently unsuitable for electric testing at …

Indium Segregation To The Selvedge Of In4Se3 (001), Archit Dhingra, Zoe G. Marzouk, Esha Mishra, Pavlo V. Galiy, Taras M. Nenchuk, Peter Dowben

Peter Dowben Publications

Thermal motion of the surface atoms will lead to a decrease in photoemission intensity, while surface segregation may result in an increase of some phostoemission intensities. For In4Se3(001), both effects are seen. The Debye–Waller factor plot, based on the temperature dependent X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) measurements on In4Se3(001), suggests an upper bound of 203 ± 6 K for the effective Debye temperature, based on the surface component of the In 3d5/2 core-level. Indium is found to segregate to selvedge (subsurface region) of the crystal.

Investigation Of Space-Charge-Limited Conduction Mechanisms In Fe3o4-Y-Fe2o3 Based On Sio2/N-Type Si Substrate, Nik Zumaihan Nik Nadia Aina

Student Works (2020-2029)

In this work, thin films of functionalized Fe3O4-γ-Fe2O3 NPs deposited on n-type Si substrate was formed by self-assembly. The co-precipitation method was involved to synthesis the bare iron oxide NPs and the particles were altered to optimum pH 12 by using NH4OH. Iron oxide NPs were then undergone modification process with addition of 0.4 g oleic acid and 1.63 mmol functionalization 4-pentynoic acid. For electrical characterization of self-assembled 4-pentynoic acid functionalized Fe3O4-γ-Fe2O3 NPs on SiO2/n-Si substrate, the charge conduction mechanisms were quantitatively investigated and analyzed through the oxides for different heat treatment temperatures (70-300oC). In this study, the Ohm’s Law …

Trap-Assisted Tunneling Mechanism Of Zirconium Oxynitride (Zron) Thin Film On Silicon Carbide, Krishnamoorthy Nicklaane

Student Works (2020-2029)

This research is a study on the possibilities of trap-assisted tunneling conduction mechanism in Zirconium Oxynitride (ZrON) after Zirconium (Zr) with thickness 5nm was sputtered on Silicon Carbide (SiC) substrate which then underwent simultaneous nitridation and oxidation in Nitrous Oxide (N2O) for 15 minutes in 4 different ambient temperatures of 400°C, 500°C, 700⁰C, 900°C. Electrical properties of the samples were then characterized by fabricating Al-gate MOS capacitors onto the film surface. Of all 4 samples, sample that was oxidized/nitrided at 500°C demonstrated to have the highest dielectric breakdown (EB) of 5.05 MV/cm and lowest EB was by sample that was …

Schottky And Poole-Frenkel Conduction Mechanisms In Zron/Sic System, Lusus Vanessa

Student Works (2020-2029)

In this work, the conduction mechanisms of Schottky Emission (SE) and Poole–Frenkel (PF) Emission for the ZrON/SiC system with a temperature range between 400 oC to 900 oC were analyzed. Understanding of the conduction charge mechanisms will help to estimate leakage characteristics of the ZrON/SiC system. Based on the J-E plot measured at different temperatures for 15 minutes, the obtained r2 was ranged between 0.90–0.98, which confirmed the data obtained complied with the standard SE model. Furthermore, the data plotted from the Effective Barrier Height Extracted from the SE plot showed the highest values of

Wave Propagation In Random And Topological Media, Yuhao Kang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis discusses wave propagation in two kinds of systems, random media and topological insulators. In a disordered system, the wave is randomized by multiple scattering. The scattering matrix and associated delay times are powerful tools with which to describe wave transport. We discuss the relation among the Wigner time, the transmission time, and energy density in a lossless or lossy system. We propose the zeros of the transmission matrix and show how to manipulate the zero-transmission mode in a nonunitary system. In a photonic topological insulator, we realize an edge mode and discuss its robustness in the face of …

Analysis Of Space-Charge-Limited Conduction Mechanisms In Zron/Sic System, Hasnurashid Nur Hasdyanna

Student Works (2020-2029)

In this study, current conduction mechanism by space-charge-limited conduction (SCLC) and Poole-Frenkel (PF) emission on ZrON/SiC system that was oxidized and nitrided in N2O at various temperatures (400-900˚C) were analysed. The current-voltage (I-V) measurements were performed in Al-gate metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor by sputtering of Al film on top of the film and at the back of the substrate. Then, characterization of electrical properties was done according to two types of bulk-limited conduction, which are space-charge-limited conduction and Poole-Frenkel emission conduction. Space-charge-limited conduction and Poole-Frenkel emission have been systematically evaluated through data analysis method by the fitting of linear regression according …

Control Of Molecular Energetics And Transport Via Strong Light-Matter Interaction, Rong Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Strong light-matter coupling in excitonic systems results in the formation of half-light half-matter quasiparticles called exciton polaritons. These hybrid quasiparticles take on the best of both systems, namely, the long-range propagation and coherence arising from the photonic component and the nonlinear interaction from the excitonic component. We develop methods for making high quality factor cavities and investigate the potential applications of these strongly coupled states arising specifically in organic molecular systems.

In the first project we investigate the potential of organic dye molecules to undergo condensation in an optical cavity at room temperature. The second study involves the use of …

Linear And Non-Linear Elastic Constants Of Crystalline Materials From First-Principles Calculations, David Cuffari

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Novel methods based on the use of density functional theory (DFT) calculations are developed and applied to calculate linear and non-linear elastic constants of materials at zero and finite temperature. These methods rely on finite difference techniques and are designed to be general, numerically accurate, and suitable to investigate the thermoelastic properties of anharmonic materials. A first method was developed to compute the third-order elastic constants of crystalline materials at zero temperature, a task that is numerically challenging and is currently undertaken by using approaches typically applicable to cubic and hexagonal crystalline systems. This method relies on numerical differentiation of …

The Electronic Properties Of The Quasi-One-Dimensional Transition Metal Trichalcogenides: Tis3 And Zrs3, Simeon Gilbert

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The transition metal trichalcogenides are a class of materials formed by 1D chains of covalently bound MX₃ (M=Ti, Zr, Hf, Ta, Nb; X=S, Se, Te) trigonal prisms which are held together by weak van der Waals forces to form 2D sheets. Because of their superior edge termination, these materials suppress edge scattering effects that plague other two-dimensional materials thus enabling devices scaling to widths below 10 nm. Furthermore, this quasi-one-dimensional structure results in highly anisotropic electronic and optical properties which were examined through angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning photocurrent microscopy. These measurements show that the hole carrier masses …

Emulating Condensed Matter Systems In Classical Wave Metamaterials, Matthew Weiner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

One of the best tools we have for the edification of physics is the analogy. When we take our classical set of states and dynamical variables in phase space and treat them as vectors and Hermitian operators respectively in Hilbert space through the canonical quantization, we lose out on a lot of the intuition developed with the previous classical physics. With classical physics, through our own experiences and understanding of how systems should behave, we create easy-to-understand analogies: we compare the Bohr model of the atom to the motion of the planets, we compare electrical circuits to the flow of …

Exploration Of Novel Ferroelectric Systems: Determination Of The Underlying Mechanisms, Sizhan Liu

Dissertations

Modern environmental and sustainability issues, as well as the growing demand for applications in sensing and data storage, require the discovery and development of new functional materials. Ferroelectrics and multiferroics are materials that have played a central role in this arena. Because the central function of ferroelectrics is governed by spontaneous polarization response, understanding both the electronic and atomic response to external stimuli is important. In this work, a broad set of model systems were explored to determine the fundamental mechanisms involved in the formation of the ferroelectric phase.

Understanding atomic-level changes in structure is important for improving the properties …

A Structural Study Of Correlated Materials: Incipient Mott Insulators And Low-Dimensional Systesm., Alaa Alfailakawi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current theories of high-temperature superconductivity suggest that electrons must organize into Cooper pairs in order for a material to exhibit a superconducting phase. Electrons in insulators experience significant repulsive interactions that tend to keep electrons localized at atomic positions. In contrast, electrons in metals are delocalized, interact weakly, and are free to conduct electricity. Therefore, the formation of Cooper pairs should have different mechanisms for metals compared to insulators. This contrast raises the debate about the origin of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based material, whether it depends on the strong or weak coupling. Many iron-based materials are metallic in the normal …

Electron Emission And Transport Properties Database For Spacecraft Charging Models, Phil Lundgreen

Theses and Dissertations

Modeling the rate and likelihood of spacecraft charging during spacecraft mission is critical to determine mission length, proposed spacec­raft attitude, and spacecraft design. The focus of this work is the creation and utilization of a database of secondary electron yield (SEY) measurements for a host of materials to increase accuracy in spacecraft modeling. Traditional methods of SEY data selection for input into spacecraft charging codes typically include the use of compiled materials databases incorporated in charging codes or selecting values from a specific scientific study. The SEY database allows users to select data inputs based upon the details associated with …

Heterostructure Of 2d Materials: Hfs2/Hfo2/Si, Christopher J. Robledo

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Heterostructures have been utilized in electronic devices for over 50 years with the proposal for the first heterostructure transistor in 1957. With the scaling of devices, it is necessary to create new heterostructures that will comply with Moore’s Law, as well as make devices faster and consume less power. Novel 2D materials, such as hafnium disulfide, have shown promise as an active channel layer, while hafnium dioxide is already proven to be a replacement of silicon dioxide for the gate insulating layer. However, fabrication techniques for wide-scale integration of these heterostructures have not yet been achieved. Also, the dielectric properties …

High Pressure Synchrotron Xrd, Nfs, And Nrixs Studies Of Fesb2, Melanie Alden White

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This work combines high pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear forward scattering (NFS), and nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) experiments on iron diantimonide (FeSb2), a promising thermoelectric material. NRIXS uses the interaction between excited nuclear and lattice states to directly measure the phonon density of states (PDOS) for samples containing certain Mössbauer isotopes. For our experiments, we synthesized FeSb2 enriched with the isotope 57Fe and measured the partial PDOS for 57Fe sites in the FeSb2 lattice. NFS, also known as synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy, is a sister technique to NRIXS that studies the hyperfine structure of the excited Mössbauer nuclei. …

Investigation Of Complex Refractive Index Of Grad Phene Oxide Using Polarisation Response Of Graphene Oxide-Coated Planarizeoptical Waveguide, Soon Xin Gan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Since a single atomic layer of carbon, also as known as graphene is being successfully exfoliated from 3D graphite, intense research on graphene and its derivative begins. Among them, graphene oxide (GO) is considered one of the most prominent candidates in the category of graphene derivatives for the application of electronic, optoelectronic and photonics. However, although GO has been applied in many applications like saturable absorbers of Q-switch laser and optical limiters for eye protection, its intrinsic optical properties especially complex refractive index reported so far still has a large deviation. Also, most of the optical characterization research on GO …

Brillouin Zone Center Phonon Modes In Znga2O4, Megan Stokey, Rafal Korlacki, Sean Knight, Matthew J. Hilfiker, Zbigniew Galazka, Klaus Irmscher, Vanya Darakchieva, Mathias Schubert

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Infrared-active lattice mode properties of melt-grown high-quality single bulk crystals of ZnGa₂O₄ are investigated by combined spectroscopic ellipsometry and density functional theory computation analysis. The normal spinel structure crystals are measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry at room temperature in the range of 100 cm^–1–1200 cm^–1. The complex-valued dielectric function is determined from a wavenumber-by-wavenumber approach, which is then analyzed by the four-parameter semi-quantum model dielectric function approach augmented by impurity mode contributions. We determine four infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical mode pairs, five localized impurity mode pairs, and the high frequency dielectric constant. All …