The Antennae (22 Mpc) is one of the most well-known mergers in the nearby Universe. Its distance allow us to observe and study the gas at the scales of stellar cluster formation. It is an ideal source to understand how the galaxy dynamics in mergers trigger the formation of stars. Most of the stars in the Antennae are formed in compact and massive stellar clusters, dubbed super-star clusters (SSCs). The most massive (>106 M⊙) and youngest (<6 Myr) SSCs are located in the overlap region, where the two galaxies collide, and are associated with massive (several 108 M⊙) and super-giant (few hundred of pc) molecular complexes (SGMCs). The formation of SSCs must involve a complex interplay of merger-driven gas dynamics, turbulence fed by the galaxy interaction, and dissipation of the kinetic energy of the gas. Within SGMCs, a hierarchy of structures must be produced, including dense and compact concentrations of molecular gas massive enough to form SSCs, pre-cluster clouds (PCCs). For star formation to occur, the mechanical energy of PCCs must be radiated away to allow their self-gravity to locally win over their turbulent gas pressure. Specific tracers of turbulent dissipation are therefore key inputs to test the validity of this theoretical scenario. In my thesis, I studied the Antennae overlap region. My work is based on observations with the SINFONI spectro-imager at the VLT, which includes H2 rovibrational and Brγ line emission, and with ALMA, which includes the CO(3-2) line and dust continuum emission. Both data-sets have the needed sub-arcsecond angular resolution to resolve the scales of SSC formation. The spectral resolutions are enough to resolve motions within SGMCs. Combining CO and H2 line emission is key in my PhD work. I use CO as a tracer of the distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas, and H2 as a tracer of the rate at which the gas mechanical energy is dissipated.My thesis focuses on diverse sources in the Antennae overlap region which trace different stages of star formation: the gathering of mass necessary to form SGMCs, the formation of PCCs within SGMCs and the disruption of a parent cloud by a newly formed SSC. I show that at each stage turbulence plays a key role. I found that the kinetic energy of the galaxies is not thermalized in large scale shocks, it drives the turbulence in the molecular ISM at a much higher level than what is observed in the Milky Way. Near-IR spectral diagnostics show that, outside of SSCs embedded in their parent clouds, the H2 line emission is powered by shocks and traces the dissipation of the gas turbulent kinetic energy. I relate the H2 emission to the loss of kinetic energy required to form gravitationally bound clouds. This interpretation is supported by the discovery of a compact, bright H2 source not associated with any known SSC. It has the largest H2/CO emission ratio and is located where the data show the largest velocity gradient in the interaction region. To our knowledge, this is the first time that an extragalactic source with such characteristics is identified. We would be witnessing the formation of a cloud massive enough to form a SSC. The data also allow us to study the disruption of a parent molecular cloud by an embedded SSC. Its matter is loosely bound and its gravity would be supported by turbulence, which makes it easier for feedback to disrupt the parent cloud. I end my manuscript presenting two projects. I propose to establish additional energy dissipation tracers observable with ALMA, which gives us the high spatial and spectral resolution needed to isolate scales at which clusters form. This is a Cycle 1 proposal accepted in first priority. I also plan to expand my work to other nearby extragalactic sources by investigating the turbulence-driven formation of stars in different extragalactic sources by combining near-IR and submillimeter observations.

We study a simple extension of the decoupling limit of boundary effctive actions for the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, by covariantizing the π lagrangian and coupling to gravity in the usual way. This extension agrees with DGP to leading order in Mpl^−1 , and simplifies the cosmological analysis. It is also shown to softly break the shift symmetry, while still being consistent with solar system observations. The generally covariant equations of motion for π and the metric are derived, then the cosmology is developed under the Cosmological Principle. Three analytic solutions are found and their stability is studied. Interesting DGP phenomenology is reproduced, and we consider one of the stable solutions. The cosmological analogue of the Vainshtein effect is reproduced and the effective equation of state, w_π, is shown to be bounded by −1 from above. This solution is additionally shown to be an attractor solution in an expanding universe. We evolve π numerically and reproduce these properties, and show that the universe will go through a contraction phase, due to this π field. We then place a constraint on r_c ≥ 10^29 cm, given recent WMAP5 data. This lower bound on r_c gives an upper bound on the anomalous perihelion precession of the moon ∼ 1 × 10^−13, 2 orders of magnitude below current experimental precision.

In this master thesis the possibility of detecting and tracking objects in multispectral infrared video sequences is investigated. The current method  with fix-sized rectangles have significant disadvantages. These disadvantages will be solved using image segmentation to estimate the shape of the object. The result of the image segmentation is used to determine the infrared contrast of the object. Our results show how some objects will give very good segmentation, tracking as well as shape detection. The objects that perform best are the flares and countermeasures. But especially helicopters seen from the side, with significant movements, is better detected with our method. The motion of the object is very important since movement is the main component in successful shape detection. This is so because helicopters are much colder than flares and engines. Detecting the presence and position of moving objects is easier and can be done quite successfully even with helicopters. But using structure tensors we can also detect the presence and estimate the position for stationary objects. / I detta examensarbete undersöks möjligheterna att detektera och spåra intressanta objekt i multispektrala infraröda videosekvenser. Den nuvarande metoden, som använder sig av rektanglar med fix storlek, har sina nackdelar. Dessa nackdelar kommer att lösas med hjälp av bildsegmentering för att uppskatta formen på önskade mål.Utöver detektering och spårning försöker vi också att hitta formen och konturen för intressanta objekt för att kunna använda den exaktare passformen vid kontrastberäkningar. Denna framsegmenterade kontur ersätter de gamla fixa rektanglarna som använts tidigare för att beräkna intensitetskontrasten för objekt i de infraröda våglängderna. Resultaten som presenteras visar att det för vissa objekt, som motmedel och facklor, är lättare att få fram en bra kontur samt målföljning än vad det är med helikoptrar, som var en annan önskad måltyp. De svårigheter som uppkommer med helikoptrar beror till stor del på att de är mycket svalare vilket gör att delar av helikoptern kan helt döljas i bruset från bildsensorn. För att kompensera för detta används metoder som utgår ifrån att objektet rör sig mycket i videon så att rörelsen kan användas som detekteringsparameter. Detta ger bra resultat för de videosekvenser där målet rör sig mycket i förhållande till sin storlek.

In this study silicon-germanium quantum dots grown on silicon have been investigated. The aim of the work was to find quantum dots suitable for use as a thermistor material. The quantum dots were produced at KTH, Stockholm, using a RPCVD reactor that is designed for industrial production. The techniques used to study the quantum dots were: HRSEM, AFM, HRXRD, FTPL, and Raman spectroscopy. Quantum dots have been produced in single and multilayer structures. As a result of this work a multilayer structure with 5 layers of quantum dots was produced with a theoretical temperature coefficient of resistance of 4.1 %/K.

A Laser Music System has been created, that combines a laser and light sensor system with an infrared distance sensing system that detects the position of a user’s hand when it intersects one or more of the individual laser beam. The laser beams, which are made visible by a small amount of smoke in a dark room, provide visual guidance to the user to reduce the difficulty of using a non-contact instrument as well as enhancing an appealing optical effect for the user. The system uses a number of Sharp distance sensors to map the position of the user’s hand to a variable like pitch. The user should move their hand to different heights to achieve a desired pitch. The laser beam should be broken to trigger the desired note.

The target tracking system of an IR (InfraRed) guided missile is constantly subjected to disturbances due to the linear and angular motion of the missile. To diminish these LOS (Line Of Sight) disturbances the seeker of the missile can be built from a free gyroscope mounted in a very low friction suspension. The ability of the spinning gyroscope to maintain its direction relative to an inertial frame is used to stabilize the seeker LOS while tracking a target. The tracking velocity of the seeker, i.e. its angular velocity, is controlled by a feedback control unit where the signal from the IR detector is used as input. The electrical driven actuator consists of a set of coils and a magnet on the gyroscope. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a real-time model of the seeker gyroscope in an existing IR MANPAD (MAN Portable Air Defense) missile. The aim is a model that is able to simulate the real system with consideration to the tracking velocity. The model should also be integrated into a hybrid simulator environment. With relatively good knowledge of the system and its subsystems an initial physical modelling approach was used where elementary equations and accepted relations were assembled to describe the mechanism of the subsystems. This formed the framework of the model and gave a good foundation for further modelling. By using experimentation and more detailed system knowledge the initial approach could be developed and modified. Necessary approximations were made and unknown parameters were determined through system identification methods. The model was implemented in MATLAB Simulink. To make it suitable for real-time operation Real-Time Workshop was used. The model design was evaluated in simulations where the tracking performance could be tested for different positions of the gyroscope. The results where satisfying and showed that the model was able to reproduce the output of the system well considering the speed of the model and the approximations made. One important reason that good results can be achieved with a relatively simple model is that the seeker is limited to small rotations. The model can be tuned to operate in a smaller range and the complexity can be kept low. A weakness of the model is that the output error increases for wide angles.

We study a simple extension of the decoupling limit of boundary effctive actions for the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, by covariantizing the π lagrangian and coupling to gravity in the usual way. This extension agrees with DGP to leading order in Mpl^−1 , and simplifies the cosmological analysis. It is also shown to softly break the shift symmetry, while still being consistent with solar system observations. The generally covariant equations of motion for π and the metric are derived, then the cosmology is developed under the Cosmological Principle. Three analytic solutions are found and their stability is studied. Interesting DGP phenomenology is reproduced, and we consider one of the stable solutions. The cosmological analogue of the Vainshtein effect is reproduced and the effective equation of state, w_π, is shown to be bounded by −1 from above. This solution is additionally shown to be an attractor solution in an expanding universe. We evolve π numerically and reproduce these properties, and show that the universe will go through a contraction phase, due to this π field. We then place a constraint on r_c ≥ 10^29 cm, given recent WMAP5 data. This lower bound on r_c gives an upper bound on the anomalous perihelion precession of the moon ∼ 1 × 10^−13, 2 orders of magnitude below current experimental precision.

The imperfections in the semiconductor fabrication process and uncertainty in operating environment of VLSI circuits have emerged as critical challenges for the semiconductor industry. These are generally termed as process and environment variations, which lead to uncertainty in performance and unreliable operation of the circuits. These problems have been further aggravated in scaled nanometer technologies due to increased process variations and reduced operating voltage. Several techniques have been proposed recently for designing digital VLSI circuits under variability. However, most of them have targeted ASICs and custom designs. The flexibility of reconfiguration and unknown end application in FPGAs make design under variability different for FPGAs compared to ASICs and custom designs, and the techniques proposed for ASICs and custom designs cannot be directly applied to FPGAs. An important design consideration is to minimize the modifications in architecture and circuit to reduce the cost of changing the existing FPGA architecture and circuit. The focus of this work can be divided into three principal categories, which are, improving timing yield under process variations, improving power yield under process variations and improving the voltage profile in the FPGA power grid. The work on timing yield improvement proposes routing architecture enhancements along with CAD techniques to improve the timing yield of FPGA designs. The work on power yield improvement for FPGAs selects a low power dual-Vdd FPGA design as the baseline FPGA architecture for developing power yield enhancement techniques. It proposes CAD techniques to improve the power yield of FPGAs. A mathematical programming technique is proposed to determine the parameters of the buffers in the interconnect such as the sizes of the transistors and threshold voltage of the transistors, all within constraints, such that the leakage variability is minimized under delay constraints. Two CAD techniques are investigated and proposed to improve the supply voltage profile of the power grids in FPGAs. The first technique is a place and route technique and the second technique is a logic clustering technique to reduce IR-drops and spatial variation of supply voltage in the power grid.

Infrared (IR) imaging is a key technology in a variety of military and civilian applications, especially for night vision and remote sensing. Compared with cryogenically cooled IR sensors, uncooled infrared imaging devices have the advantages of being low cost, light weight, and superior reliability. The electro-thermal analysis of a microbolometer pixel is critical to determine both device performance and reliability. To date, most microbolometer analysis research has focused on performance optimization and computation of thermal conductance directly from the geometry. However, modeling of the thermal distribution across the microbolometer pixel is critical for the comprehensive analysis of system performance and reliability. Therefore, this thesis investigates the electro-thermo-mechanical characteristics of a microbolometer pixel considering the effects of joule heating and incoming IR energy. The contributions of the present research include the electro-thermal models for microbolometer and methods of validating thermal distribution using experimental results. The electro-thermal models explain the effect of microbolometer material properties and geometry on device performance and reliability. The research also contributes methods of estimating the thermal conductivity of microbolometer, which take into account different heat transfer mechanisms, including radiation and convection. Previous approaches for estimating the thermal conductance of uncooled microbolometer consider heat conduction via legs from the geometry of the pixel structure and material properties [2]. This approach assumes linear temperature distribution in the pixel legs structure. It also leaves out the various electro-thermal effects existing for multilayer structures. In the present research, a different approach is used to develop the thermal conductance of microbolometer pixel structure. The temperature distribution in the pixel is computed from an electro-thermal model. Then, the average temperature in the pixel microplate and the total heat energy generated by joule heating is utilized to compute the thermal conductance of the structure. The thesis discusses electro-thermal and thermo-mechanical modeling, simulation and testing of Polysilicon Multi-User MEMS Process (PolyMUMPs®) test devices as the groundwork for the investigation of microbolometer performance and reliability in space applications. An electro-thermal analytical and numerical model was developed to predict the temperature distribution across the microbolometer pixel by solving the second order differential heat equation. To provide a qualitative insight of the effect of different parameters in the thermal distribution, including material properties and device geometry, first an explicit formulation for the solution of the electro-thermal coupling is obtained using the analytical method. In addition, the electro-thermal model, which accounts for the effect of IR energy and radiation heat transfer, spreading resistance and transient conditions, was studied using numerical methods. In addition, an analytical model has been developed to compute the IR absorption coefficient of a Thin Single Stage (TSS) microbolometer pixel. The simulation result of this model was used to compute absorbed IR energy for the numerical model. Subsequently, the temperature distribution calculated from the analytical model is used to obtain the deflections that the structure undergoes, which will be fundamental for the reliability analysis of the device. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been simulated for the selected device using commercial software, ANSYS® multiphysics. Finite element simulation shows that the electro-thermal models predict the temperature distribution across a microbolometer pixel at steady-state conditions within 2.3% difference from the analytical model. The analytical and numerical models are also simulated and results for a temperature distribution within 1.6% difference. In addition, to validate the analytical and numerical electro-thermal and thermo-mechanical models, a PolyMUMPs® test device has been used. The test results showed a close agreement with the FEM simulation deflection of the test device.

Today approximately 10 % of fermented milk products stick to the packaging material inner surface, and therefore it is not possible to pour all of the dairy product from the package. This is both an economical and environmental issue. The product loss is expensive for consumer and makes recycling of package less effective. As they do not yet exist the development of packaging materials to which fermented milk products stick less, it would make it possible to both save money and protect our environment. The aim of this work was to provide knowledge and understanding of the important factors involved in the phenomenon when fermented milk products adhere to the inner surface of a packaging material. Studies were done on materials having different surface properties, such as polarity and relative oxidation. They were incubated in fermented milk and other dairy products varying in fat concentration and protein type up to 168 h. The systems were investigated gravimetrically, with Fourier Transform Infra Red/Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Contact Angle measurements. Fermented milk contains amphiphilic components and therefore can interact both with polar and non-polar surfaces, such that the relative oxidation of the surface does not contribute to the adhesion. The adhesion of fermented milk is an equilibrium reaction, which depend on the fat concentration before equilibrium as well as the protein concentration after equilibrium. The adhesion seems to follows the Vroman effect, with smaller molecules associating faster and thereby adhering to the surface initially, but are displaced by larger molecules that associates slower as times passes.