I have investigated gap plasmon mode of an eccentric coaxial waveguide structure using effective index method. The results found good agreement with fully-vectorial numerical calculation. In the eccentric structure, a strong field localization has been noticed at and around the smallest gap. Analysis showed the increase of effective index of lowest-order waveguide mode to 3.7 in the structure considered with a 2 nm minimum gap for a wavelength of 4 micrometer. In the visible regime, the effective index increases to over 10 for the same structure. Nanohole arrays, both flowover and flow-through formats, have been fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB). A 2-color LED-based nanohole sensor has been presented. The objective of the sensing platform was to register mutually opposite intensity change of transmitted light when the dielectric medium of metal-dielectric interface of the nanohole sensor undergoes a change. A number of tests with microfluidics setup demonstrated the proof-of-concept.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Oct. 22, 2009). Thesis advisor: Kate Jones. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

A Penning-type surface-plasma negative hydrogen (H^-) ion source has been delivering beam at the ISIS pulsed spallation neutron and muon facility for over thirty years. It is one of the most powerful and well-renowned H^- sources in the world. Although long-term experience has allowed the source to be operated reliably and set up in a repeatable way, it is treated as something of a 'black box': the detailed plasma physics of why it works has always been unclear. A vacuum Vessel for Extraction and Source Plasma Analyses (VESPA) has been developed to understand the ISIS ion source plasma and improve the beam extracted from it. The VESPA ion source is operated in a completely new regime whereby the analysing sector dipole magnet housed inside a refrigerated 'cold box', presently used on ISIS, is replaced by an on-axis extraction system. The new extraction system incorporates a novel einzel lens with an elliptical aperture. This is the first demonstration of an elliptical einzel being used to focus an asymmetric H^- ion beam. With the dipole magnet removed, the ion source has been shown to produce 85 mA of H^- beam current at normal settings; of which 80 mA is transported through the new einzel lens system, with a normalised RMS emittance of 0.2 π mm mrad. Optical emission spectroscopy measurements have shown a plasma density of 10¹⁹ m^–3, an H₂ dissociation rate of 70%, an almost constant electron temperature of 3.5 eV and an atomic temperature which linearly increases above the electron temperature. In support of these principal measurements, rigorous particle tracking, electrostatic and thermal simulations were performed. In addition, a suite of new equipment was manufactured by the author. This includes a fast pressure gauge, a temperature controller, a high voltage einzel lens circuit, a fast beam chopper and a caesium detection system.

Dans les nouvelles centrales nucléaires dites 4ème génération, comme d’ailleurs les anciennes, le dioxyde d’uranium devra opérer dans des milieux hostiles de températures et d’irradiation avec la présence des produits de fission (PF) et des particules alpha (α). Le fonctionnement dans ces conditions extrêmes induira des déplacements d’atomes et dégradera les propriétés thermiques et mécaniques du combustible UO2. La compréhension du comportement des défauts lacunaires, des PF et de l’hélium est cruciale pour prévoir le comportement du dioxyde d’uranium au sein de ces futures installations nucléaires. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude des défauts lacunaires induits par l’implantation de krypton et d’iode (quelques MeV) dans l’UO2 polycristallin et leurs stades de recuits. L’analyse par spectroscopie d’annihilation de positons (PAS) a permis de mettre en évidence la création de défauts de Schottky VU-2VO dans le cas des implantations iode et la formation de clusters lacunaires contenant du gaz pour les implantations krypton. L’évolution en température de ces défauts générés dépend des paramètres d’implantation (nature des ions, énergie, fluence). Cette étude a montré les rôles importants que peuvent jouer les défauts lacunaires et la présence des gaz de fission dans l’évolution du matériau UO2. Ensuite, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’étude et à la caractérisation, par PAS et les techniques d’analyse par faisceau d’ions (NRA/C et RBS/C), du comportement de l’hélium dans l’UO2. Les mesures de NRA/C et RBS/C révèlent une localisation d’une grande fraction d’hélium dans les sites interstitiels octaédriques de la matrice UO2. La localisation de l’hélium reste stable dans ces sites pour T< 600°C, évoluent légèrement entre 600 et 700°C et devient aléatoire à 800°C. Les mesures PAS mettent en évidence trois stades d’évolution des défauts lacunaires : la recombinaison par migration des interstitiels d’oxygène, l’agglomération des défauts entre 600 et 800°C et leur dissociation et élimination lorsque la température augmente. Ces résultats suggèrent que le transport d'hélium est assisté par les défauts lacunaires. / In the new fourth generation nuclear plants, as in the old ones, uranium dioxide must operate in hostile environments of temperature and irradiation with the presence of fission products (FP) and alpha particles (α). Operation in these extreme conditions will induce atoms displacements and degrade the thermal and mechanical properties of UO2 fuel. Understanding the behavior of induced vacancy defects, FP and helium is crucial to predict the uranium dioxide behavior in the future nuclear reactors. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to the study of vacancy defects induced by krypton and iodine implantation (a few MeV) in the UO2 polycrystalline and of their evolution under annealing. Analysis by positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) has highlighted the creation of Schottky defects VU-2VO in the case of iodine implantations and formation of vacancy clusters containing the gas for krypton implantation. The temperature evolution of these defects depends on the implantation parameters (nature of the ion energy, fluence). This study showed the important roles that can play vacancy defects and the presence of fission gases in the evolution of UO2 material. Then we were interested in the study of the helium behavior in UO2 its location and migration, agglomeration and interaction with vacancy defects by using PAS and ion beam analysis (NRA/C and RBS/C). The NRA/C and RBS/C characterizations showed a localization of a large helium fraction in the octahedral interstitial sites of the UO2 matrix. The helium location in these sites remains stable for T <600°C, changing slightly between 600 and 700°C and becomes random at 800°C. Positron annihilation spectroscopy reveals three stages of vacancy defects evolution : The recombination with oxygen interstitial migration, defects agglomeration between 600 and 800°C and their dissociation and elimination when the temperature increases. These results suggest that the He transport is assisted by the vacancy defects.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi estudar a viabilidade de adaptação do Implantador Iônico da Universidade de São Paulo para a técnica de Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), tendo em vista as baixas energias utilizadas por este acelerador de partículas. A técnica de AMS, amplamente utilizada para a análise de Carbono-14 no estudo de datação de fósseis, requer que algum componente do acelerador garanta a quebra de moléculas de massa 14, contaminantes no processo de medição dos átomos de carbono com massa 14. Com a utilização de energias da ordem de dezenas de keV no acelerador, o estudo do processo de quebra de moléculas para estas energias foi realizado através do projeto, construção e caracterização de um stripper gasoso. Para caracterizar o stripper implementado foram realizadas medidas de seção de choque para troca de carga do feixe e quebra molecular em função da pressão de gás injetado no stripper. Também investigou-se a influência do átomo utilizado como gás, através de três diferentes gases injetados no stripper: Hélio, Argônio e Xenônio. Alguns feixes posivos foram produzidos no Implantador para o estudo destas seções de choques: Ar+, Ar(2+), CO+, CO2(+) e O2(+). O projeto do stripper foi idealizado para minimizar a variação de pressão no interior do implantador, visando preservar as condições da fonte de íons. Curvas de perfil de pressão de gás dentro do tubo do stripper foram calculadas segundo as teorias da Tecnologia do Vácuo que permitiram tanto a estimativa desta variação quanto a quantidade de gás no interior do stripper. Também foram realizados estudos do perfil de pressão em stripper com outras geometrias (cônicas abertas e fechadas), buscando estimar a otimização da espessura do stripper em função da injeção de gás em sua base. Baseando-se nos resultados, foram apontadas mudanças necessárias no atual estágio de adaptação desse acelerador de partículas para que se torne possível a concepção de um sistema AMS em sua linha de pesquisa. / The present work aimed on studying the feasibility of adapting the Ion Implanter of University of Sao Paulo to the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry technique, taking into account the low energies employed by this type of particle accelerator. The AMS technique, largely applied to the Carbon-14 analysis for fossil dating, requires the breaking of molecules with mass 14 by some component in the accelerator, since these lead to interference on the Carbon-14 counting process. By employing energies on the level of keV in the accelerator, the study of the breaking process of the molecules for this energy was accomplished by means desiring, building and characterization of a gaseous stripper. In order to characterize the installed stripper, measurements were taken of the charge state exchange and molecular break up process as a function of the pressure of the gas injection into the stripper. The influence of the atom employed as gas was also investigated. The experiments were realized with the following different gases: Helium, Argon and Xenon. Some positive beams were produced on the implanter: Ar+, \\Ar(2+), CO+, CO2(+) and O2(+). The designed stripper was idealized to minimize the pressure variation on the inside of the implanter in order to preserve the conditions of the ion source. Pressure profiles of the gas inside the stripper were calculated according to the Vacuum Technology theory, which allowed estimating the quantity of gas inside the stripper. Studies on the pressure profile for different stripper geometries (open and closed conic forms) were also carried out to estimate the optimization of the stripper thickness as a function of the gas injection on its base. Based on the results, specifications for further work and changes on the current system were listed to make it possible to implement the AMS system.

Orientador: Fernando Alvarez / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T10:47:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ParedezAngeles_PabloJenner_D.pdf: 4194390 bytes, checksum: 8881d83ee8bcb5a5ad4bfb23b7ff1028 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Nesta tese são apresentados os efeitos nas propriedades estruturais, eletrônicas e de emissão eletrônica por efeito de campo elétrico induzidos pela incorporação de nitrogênio em nanoestruturas de carbono. As nanoestruturas de carbono contendo nitrogênio foram preparadas por pulverização catódica (sputtering) de um alvo de grafite assistido, ou não, por um feixe iônico. A técnica permite atuar sobre os parâmetros de deposição induzindo mudanças nas propriedades estruturais, eletrônicas e de emissão eletrônica por efeito de campo elétrico. O papel do hélio na formação de nanoes-truturas de carbono contendo nitrogênio foi também explorado, mostrando que o gás nobre promove maior incorporação de nitrogênio. Isto é provavelmente devido à relativa alta condutividade térmica que apresenta o hélio, propriedade que modifica a cinética do crescimento das nanoestruturas. O estudo realizado permitiu entender o mecanismo de formação das nanoestruturas, mostrando que primeiramente o carbono alcança as partículas de Ni por difusão até a saturação do metal, iniciando a formação das camadas grafíticas sobre a partícula de Ni, camadas que foram observadas por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão de alta resolução. O estudo mostra, também, que os parâmetros importantes que controlam a incorporação de nitrogênio no material são a pressão parcial de nitrogênio na câmara de deposição, assim como a energia do feixe de íons assistindo a deposição.Foram estudadas três séries de amostras preparadas em atmosferas controladas. Na primeira série foi utilizado um feixe de íons de nitrogênio como feixe de assistência, e na segunda, uma mistura composta por duas espécies iônicas, íons de nitrogênio e hidrogênio. Com o auxilio da espectroscopia de elétrons fotoemitidos por raios-X observou-se a incorporação de nitrogênio nos filmes. A microscopia de força atômica revelou a presença de estruturas do tipo domo, distribuídas de maneira uniforme na superfície das amostras, apresentando uma densidade média de ~3×10 9 domos/cm 2as da primeira série, e ~1.4×10 9 domos/cm 2as da segunda série. Tanto a distribuição como a forma seguem o padrão estabelecido pelos precursores utilizados na preparação das nanoestruturas, i.e., ilhas de níquel que agem ao mesmo tempo como catalisadores e como suporte para as nanoestruturas. Na terceira série, as nanoestruturas foram crescidas sobre um filme de nitreto de titânio, depositado sobre substratos de Si, pulverizando um alvo de grafite em atmosferas de nitrogênio e hélio-nitrogênio. A densidade dos domos encontrada para esta série foi de ~5.3×10 10 domos/cm 2 . Os espectros Raman das três séries apresentam as bandas G e D, o que indica a presença estruturas grafíticas com distorções representadas pela banda D. A incorporação de nitrogênio ocasiona o alargamento da banda G e aumento da razão das intensidades das bandas D e G, respectivamente, indicando uma redução da ordem estrutural com a incorporação de Nitrogênio. Finalmente, para as três séries de amostras, fez-se também um estudo das propriedades de emissão eletrônica por efeito de campo elétrico. A emissão é predominantemente por tunelamento quântico (as curvas de densidade de corrente vs campo elétrico seguem o modelo de Fowler-Nordheim) e dependem da concentração de nitrogênio assim como do processo usado na preparação das amostras / Abstract: The subject of this thesis is establishing a link among the synthesis, structures, and field emission properties for nanostructured carbon materials containing nitrogen. The materials were prepared by ion beam assisted deposition and ion beam sputtering. The carbon material was obtained sputtering an ultra pure graphite target by an argon ion beam. The method allows controlling the deposition parameters to induce changes in the structural, electronic, and field emission properties. Also, the role of helium on the carbon containing nitrogen nanostructures was investigated. The remarkable thermal conductance of He modifying the growing kinetics was also studied. An important goal of the work was to elucidate the mechanism of the nanostructures formation. It was found that, at first, the carbon atoms reach the Ni particles saturating the metal particle, and then, the formation of stacked graphene starts on the metal particles. The graphene layers were observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results show that mainly two parameters control the nitrogen incorporation, namely, the deposition chamber nitrogen partial pressure and the energy of the nitrogen ion beam assisting the growth. Three sample series prepared in controlled atmospheres were studied. The first series was prepared assisting the growth with a nitrogen ion beam and, the second series by a nitrogen-hydrogen ion beam. The third sample series were prepared by ion beam sputtering on silicon substrate by sequentially depositing titanium nitride thin film, nanometric nickel particles and carbon. The carbon containing nitrogen nanostructures were grown in nitrogen and helium-nitrogen atmospheres. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicates nitrogen incorporation and it depends predominantly on the ion beam energy or on the nitrogen partial pressure. Atomic force microscopy reveals dome-like structures uniformly distributed on the surface of the samples, with ~3×10 9 domes/cm 2 for the first series, ~1.4×10 9 domes/cm 2 for the second, and ~5.3×10 10 domes/cm 2 for the third. Both distribution and shape follow the Ni island pattern, i.e. the Ni islandsact both as a catalytic and uphold. The three samples series were also analyzed by Raman spectros-copy, showing a defined G bands around 1593 cm -1 indicating the presence of graphitic structures. Also, are observed D bands indicating structural disorder. The disorder increases with the augment of the nitrogen content, as is shown by the augment of the D and G intensities ratio. Finally, the field emission properties of the three series were studied and the electron emission depends on the growing conditions in general, and on the nitrogen content in particular. The results show that the emission is predominantly by quantum tunneling and the current density vs. electric field curves follow the Fowler-Nordheim model / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

Orientadores: Jacobus Willibrordus Swart, Stanislav Moshkalev / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T22:11:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Turatti_LuizGustavo_D.pdf: 35255933 bytes, checksum: dbbe11c7c0f55012ba27274415c2494d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Este é um trabalho multidisciplinar que aborda questões de química, física, engenharia elétrica (nanoengenharia) e principalmente avanços obtidos com simulações por computador. Os programas comumente utilizados para simulações de fótons/íons focalizados em outro material consomem recursos computacionais por diversas horas ou até dias, para concluir os cálculos de determinado experimento, como a simulação de um processo efetuado com o equipamento FIB/SEM (Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Miscroscopy), por exemplo. Através do uso de ambientes computacionais virtualizados, associados a programação paralela em CPU (Central Processing Unit) e GPGPU (General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit) é possível reduzir significativamente o tempo da simulação de horas para minutos, em situações de interação de partículas, que envolvem aproximação de colisões binárias (BCA, Binary Collision Approximation) e o Método de Monte Carlo (MMC), principalmente. O uso de placas gráficas (comumente utilizadas para jogos) potencializou o poder de processamento numérico para uso acadêmico a baixo custo, reduzindo o tempo para obtenção de resultados que foram comprovados experimentalmente. A utilização de programas análogos que empregam BCA e MMC, tais como TRIM/SRIM (Transport of Ions in Matter, atualizado para Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter), MCML (Monte Carlo for Multi Layered media) e CUDAMCML (Compute Unified Device Architecture, MCML) auxiliam a comparação de ganho de desempenho entre CPU e GPGPU evidenciando o melhor desempenho desta última arquitetura, com CUDA. Em simulações equivalentes com matrizes esparsas executadas em CPU e GPGPU, a redução do tempo de processamento variou entre três e quinze mil vezes, respectivamente. Com o Método de Monte Carlo, a redução foi de até cento e quarenta e uma vezes para melhores resultados. As simulações de alto desempenho e baixo custo computacional permitem antever algumas situações experimentais, diminuindo a necessidade de explorar todas as possibilidades práticas e, dessa forma, reduzindo o custo com laboratório / Abstract: This is a multidisciplinary work that addresses issues of chemistry, physics, electrical engineering (Nanoengineering) and especially advances obtained with computer simulations. Programs commonly used for simulations of photons/ions focused onto other materials consume computational resources for several hours or even days, to complete the simulations of a process performed with the equipment FIB/SEM (Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Miscroscopy), for example. Through virtualized computing environments associated with parallel programming on CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPGPU (General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit) is possible to significantly reduce the simulation total time from hours to minutes in the interactions of particles, involving binary collision approximation (BCA) and Monte Carlo method (MMC), mostly. The use of graphics cards (generaly used for games) enhanced the numerical processing power to be used in academia with low cost and reduced the time to obtain results experimentally verified. The use of similar software using BCA and MMC, such as TRIM/SRIM (Transport of Ions in Matter, upgraded to Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter), MCML (Monte Carlo for Multi Layered media) and CUDAMCML (Compute Unified Device Architecture, MCML) helped us to make a comparison of performance between CPU and GPGPU showing the best performance of the latter architecture, with CUDA. In equivalent simulations using sparse matrices in CPU and GPGPU, the time reduction of processing varied between three and fifteen thousand times, respectively. With the Monte Carlo method, reduction was up to one hundred forty one times for best results. Simulations of high performance and low computational cost allow us to predict some experimental situations, reducing the need to explore all practical possibilities and thus, reducing the lab costs / Doutorado / Eletrônica, Microeletrônica e Optoeletrônica / Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica

Cette thèse présente de nouveaux développements en détection de particules chargées et traitement tout-numérique d'impulsions pour application à l'analyse avec des faisceaux d'ions rapides (IBA). Un ensemble de 16 détecteurs gravés sur une puce de Si est mis en œuvre, ce qui fournit un angle solide de détection environ 100 fois plus grande que celle des détecteurs utilisés auparavant pour l'IBA. Seize chaines d'acquisition sont également mises en œuvre avec une approche 'tout-numérique' pour le traitement des signaux issus des détecteurs. Dans son ensemble, le système ainsi développé a une résolution en énergie équivalent à celle des détecteurs standards. La considérable quantité d'information ainsi générée est traitée de manière cohérente en ajustant des spectres en énergie simulé aux spectres mesurés grâce à un algorithme de recuit simulé, avec le NDF DataFurnace. Les grandes angles solides disponibles sont exploitées pour des études par rétrodiffusion de Rutherford (RBS) et canalisation d'ions de l'isolant topologique Bi2Se3 enrichi en fer en vue d'études de l'effet thermoélectrique, de spintronique ou encore la computation quantique, ainsi que pour des études par RBS et analyse par réactions nucléaires (NRA) de matériaux pour la photovoltaïque organique, basés sur tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene (DBP) comme photo-absorbant avec oxydes de métaux de transition pour injection de charge. / This thesis presents new developments in charged particle detection and digital pulse processing for application in analysis with fast ion beams - Ion Beam Analysis (IBA). In particular a charged particle detector array, consisting of 16 independent charged particle detectors on a single silicon chip is implemented giving an overall solid angle of detection around two orders of magnitude greater than the standard charged particle detectors used in IBA. Sixteen parallel data acquisition channels are implemented using a fully digital approach for nuclear pulse processing. The overall system has an energy resolution equivalent to that of standard detectors. The large amount of data generated is handled in a self-consistent way by spectrum fitting with a simulated annealing algorithm via the NDF DataFurnace. The large solid angles thus achieved are exploited in Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and ion channelling studies of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 enriched in Fe, in view of studies of the thermo-electric effect, spintronics and quantum computing, and in RBS and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) studies of organic photovoltaic materials based on tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene (DBP) as the photo-absorber and transition metal oxide charge injectors.

L’intercalation de métaux dans le graphite a été réalisée pour la première fois en 1926. Depuis cette découverte, de nombreux composés binaires et ternaires ont été synthétisés. Au cours de ce travail, la méthode solide-liquide en milieu alliage fondu à base d’alcalin a d’abord été utilisée afin d’intercaler l’or dans le graphite à l’aide du potassium. Puis, l’intercalation du calcium dans des matériaux B-C-N de structure graphitique a été réalisée par le biais du lithium. La diffraction des rayons X, l’analyse par faisceau d’ions, la microscopie électronique ainsi que les techniques spectroscopiques associées ont été mises en œuvre pour caractériser ces nouveaux composés. Dans le cas du système graphite-potassium-or, trois nouveaux composés ternaires de premier stade et de distances interplanaires très différentes (1311, 953 et 500 pm) ont pu être synthétisés. Le composé K1,3Au1,5C4 a été isolé de façon reproductible et présente selon l’axe c une séquence d’empilement K-Au-Au-Au-K pour l’insérat. L’étude du mécanisme d’intercalation menant à ce composé a mis en évidence un intermédiaire réactionnel de formule K1,6Au0,7C4 dont le feuillet inséré est tricouche. Le troisième composé, KAu0,7C4, constitué de deux couches mixtes or-potassium, s’est quant à lui révélé métastable. Parallèlement, l’intercalation d’un alliage Li-Ca dans le matériau B-C-N a été réalisée avec succès. L’analyse par faisceau d’ions de l’hôte a permis de doser sur un même échantillon la teneur en bore, carbone et azote, conduisant à une formule B2C5N. Les mesures effectuées sur le matériau intercalé montrent la préservation du réseau hôte et l’insertion de 0,6 atome de lithium par atome de calcium / Since the discovery in 1926 of the first graphite intercalation compounds containing alkali metals, numerous binary and ternary compounds have been synthesized. In this work, solid-liquid method in alkali metal based molten alloys has been employed to intercalate gold into graphite using potassium as an intercalation vector for opening the van der Waals’s gaps and decreasing the reaction temperature. Then, lithium has been used to assist the intercalation of calcium into B-C-N compounds. X-ray diffraction, ion beam analysis, electron microscopy and associated spectroscopy techniques have been performed to characterize the as-prepared compounds. In the case of graphite-potassium-gold system, three novel ternary first stage intercalation compounds with very different repeat distances (1311, 953 and 500 pm) have been synthesized. The K1.3Au1.5C4 compound, isolated in a reproducible fashion, presents a K-Au-Au-Au-K c-axis stacking sequence for the intercalated sheets. The study of its intercalation mechanism evidenced an intermediate product which chemical formula is K1.6Au0.7C4, with three-layered intercalated sheets. The third compound KAu0.7C4 is metastable and contains in each van der Waals‘s gap two successive layers containing a mixture of gold and potassium. Elsewhere, the intercalation of a Li-Ca alloy into B-C-N host material has been successfully carried out. The ion beam analysis of the pristine B-C-N lead to determine on a same sample the amount of boron, carbon and nitrogen with the corresponding B2C5N formula. The experiments realized on the intercalated compound showed the preservation of the host lattice and the intercalation of 0.6 lithium per calcium atom

Quantum dots (QDs) are a semiconductor nanostructure in which a small island of one type of semiconductor material is contained within a larger bulk of a different one. These structure are interesting for a wide range of applications, including highly efficient LASERs, high-density novel memory devices, quantum computing and more. In order to understand the nature of QDs, electrical characterisation techniques such as capacitance-voltage (CV) profiling and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) are used to probe the nature of the carrier capture and emission processes. This is limited, however, by the nature of QD formation which results in a spread of sizes which directly affects the energy structure of the QDs. In this work, I sought to overcome this by using Si substrates patterned with a focused ion beam (FIB) to grow an array of identically-sized Ge dots. Although I was ultimately unsuccessful, I feel this approach has great merit for future applications.In addition, this thesis describes several unusual characteristics observed in InAs QDs in a GaAs bulk (grown by molecular beam epitaxy-MBE). Using conventional and Laplace DLTS, I have been able to isolate a single emission transient. I further show an inverted relation between the emission rate and the temperature under high field (emissions increase at lower temperatures). I attribute this to a rapid capture to and emission from excited states in the QD. In addition, I examine a metastable charging effect that results from the application of a sustained reverse bias and decreases the apparent emission rate from the dots. I believe this to be the result of a GaAs defect with a metastable state which acts as a screen, inhibiting emission from the dots due to an accumulation of charge in the metastable state. These unusual characteristics of QDs require further intensive work to fully understand. In this work I have sought to describe the phenomena fully and to provide hypotheses as to their origin.