In this thesis, the recent development step of magnetron sputtering, termed high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) has been studied. Compared to conventional magnetron sputtering HiPIMS provides a higher plasma density which can ionise the sputtered material. The beneficial influence of the coating properties due to this ionisation has been extensively shown in academic publications. Here, industrial conditions, i.e. no substrate heating and high vacuum conditions have been used during the studies, of which one was performed in an industrial deposition system. For eight metallic targets, films were deposited with HiPIMS and conventional sputtering. The films were evaluated by Rutherford back scattering analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and profilometry. It was found that the density of the HiPIMS grown films exhibited a statistically significant higher density of approximately 5-15% in comparison to films deposited using DCMS under identical conditions. A global plasma model was employed to evaluate the degree of ionisation for some of the target materials, and process conditions used in the study. Conformity between density increase and degree of ionisation as assessed by the plasma model was confirmed. The influence of using HiPIMS during reactive sputtering of TiC was also studied. A metallic Ti target was sputtered in a gas mixture of Ar and C2H2. The coatings were evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, 4 point probe resistivity measurements, and nanoindentation. The coatings were found to be nanocomposite TiC/a-C:H. For the HiPIMS process the transition zone between metallic and compound target states was found to be significantly expanded over a wide reactive gas flow range. The implications of choice of deposition method for coating composition, chemical structure, as well as electrical and mechanical properties were evaluated for DCMS and HiPIMS. The process behaviour was suggested to be due to the pulsed nature of the HiPIMS, the high plasma density, and ion content of the particles reaching the substrate.

This thesis describes work to investigate the potential of using an ordinary mobile phone to perform chemical sensing by colorimetric analysis of reflected light. The wide availability and familiarity of mobile phones make them excellent devices for aiding consumers in making on site tests in their everyday lives. A major part of the work has been the development of the necessary software to be able to use a standard mobile phone to study diffuse reflection with the screen as illumination source and the front view camera for collection of spectral information. Java Micro Edition was used to control the hardware resources of the phone. The NetBeans 6.5 platform facilitated the design, development, testing and implementation of a dedicated Mobile Information Device  applet for performing the necessary tasks associated with controlling the screen light and recording the reflected light intensities. MATLAB was employed to extract spectral information from the recorded images. Initially, tests with a virtual sample having areas with different colors were performed. Optimization of the alignment of the sample and the distance between the camera and the sample were carried out and the influence of ambient light was investigated. The lateral resolution of the images enables optical readout of sensor arrays as well as arrays for diagnostics. The potential of using the technique for direct measurement of properties related to the quality of drinking water, food and beverages was also investigated. Liquid samples were prepared in deionized water. Colored compounds such as iron(III)chloride and humic acid in the concentration range 2-10 mg/l were classified from their reflected intensities. Colorless arsenic(III) was analyzed by its bleaching reaction with iodine/starch. An alternative arsenic detection method based on measurement of discoloration of iron containing sand was demonstrated. We have also demonstrated that mobile phones can be used for qualitative analysis of food and drink, such as cold drinks, meat,  vegetables and milk in terms of general food quality.

Wide band gap semiconductors, Zinc Oxide (ZnO), Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) have been emerged to be the most promising semiconductors for future applications in electronic, optoelectronic and power devices. They offer incredible advantages in terms of their optical properties, DC and microwave frequencies power handling capability, piezoelectric properties in building electromechanical coupled sensors and transducers, biosensors and bright light emission. For producing high quality devices, thermal treatment always plays an important role in improving material structural quality which results in improved electrical and optical properties. Similarly good quality of metal–semiconductor interface, sensitive to the semiconductor surface, is always required. In this thesis we report the study of the interface states density for Pd/Ti/Au Schottky contacts on the free-standing GaN and post fabrication annealing effects on the electrical and optical properties of ZnO/Si hetero-junction diodes. The determination of interface states density (NSS) distribution within the band gap would help in understanding the processes dominating the electrical behavior of the metal–semiconductor contacts. The study of annealing effects on photoluminescence, rectification and ideality factor of ZnO/Si hetero-junction diodes are helpful for optimization and realization to build up the confidence to commercialize devices for lightening. A comparison of device performance between the physical simulations and measured device characteristics has also been carried out for pd/ZnO Schottky diode to understand the behavior of the devices. This research work not only teaches the effective way of device fabrication, but also obtains some beneficial results in aspects of their optical and electrical properties, which builds theoretical and experimental foundation for much better and broader applications of wide band gap semiconductor devices.

Seven wetlands, constructed on agricultural land in the south of Sweden, were investigated with respect to phosphorus (P) retention. The overall aim was to increase the understanding of P retention and find possible explanations for the variations in retention that have been observed in previous studies. This was done by i) investigating P retention in wetlands receiving various water and P loads, ii) investigating the effect of variations in water flow on P transport, iii) comparing how well retention estimates based on water quality data agreed with measurements of the amount of P accumulated in the sediment. Results showed that P retention was positive in all wetlands, but it was variable (1–58 kg ha-1 yr-1) and months with negative retention were observed in nearly all wetlands. Such  monthly negative retention coincided with i) high flow periods, when particulate P was either flushed straight through the wetlands or resuspended from the bottoms, and ii) warm low flow periods, in which case dissolved P was probably released from wetland sediments due to anoxic conditions. The results from the two methods for estimating P retention differed. Based on water quality data, the total P load during four years was 65 kg ha-1 and the mean P retention 2.8 kg ha-1 yr-1, or 17% of the total P load. In contrast, the amount of P accumulated in the inlet zone alone amounted to 78% of the P load, and the P content in the upper sediment of the whole wetland area exceeded the P load with a factor four. This discrepancy showed the need to add studies of sediment accumulation to inflow-outflow estimates for an improved understanding of wetland P retention.

In this thesis work two very similar processes have been studied both involving excitations of particles during recombination of exciton complexes in quantum dots, reducing the energy of the emitted photon. Different exciton complexes are defined according to the number of electrons and holes in the quantum dot upon recombination. The neutral exciton complexes with one electron and one hole (X–) and two electrons and two (X+) holes respectively are referred to as the exciton andthe biexciton. Accordingly the charged exciton complexes consisting of two electrons and one hole (X–) and one electron and two holes (X+), respectively, are referred to as negatively- and positively charged excitons, respectively. Whenever another particle is excited during the recombination of one electron-hole pair within these complexes, the result is a weak satellite peak, spectrally redshifted with respect to the main emission peaks related to the exciton complex. In the first part of this thesis work, described in the first two papers, the exciton-LO-phonon interaction is studied with a weak redshifted satellite peak as the signature, referred to as a phonon replica. The intensity ratio between the replicas and the corresponding main emission were determined from the obtained microphotoluminescencespectra. It was found that this ratio was significantly weaker for the positively charged exciton X+ compared to the neutral exciton, X, and the negatively charged exciton, X–. This experimentally obtained result was further supported by computations. Interestingly, the computations revealed that despite that X+ displays the weakest phonon replica among the investigated complexes, it possesses the strongest Fröhlich coupling to phonons in the lattice before recombination. In addition, the spectral broadening of the phonon replicas compared to the main emission is discussed. Also, the origin of the exciton-LO-phonon coupling is concluded to be from the QD itself, based on a comparison between quantum dots with different barriers. In the last paper an additional weak redshifted satellite peak in the recombination spectra is studied. The intensity of this weak satellite peak is correlated to the peak intensity of the positively charged exciton, X+, main emission peak. In addition to this photoluminescence excitation experiments, magnetic field measurement and calculations further support our interpretation that the satellite peak is related to the shake-up of the ground-state hole in the QD that is not involved in the optical recombination. This hole is thus excited by Coulomb interaction to an excited state yielding a photon energy reduced with the difference between the ground-state and the excited state of the spectator hole.

No description available.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1932 H63

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1928 R51

During the past decade, there has been a clear recognition of the relationship between environment and development, and that it is through the process of development that environment is often negatively affected. Therefore, to minimize the destructive effect of development, planning became a necessity. However, for any management goal, there are usually several alternative ways of developing a plan. My planning process began by a general resources inventory of the Republic of Mali including soils, vegetation, surface waters, groundwaters, land use, and population. Then, based on this inventory, I chose a planning area using pre-established criteria. The area chosen was the "Inland Delta of the Niger River." The Delta, with 30,100 km², has an enormous economic potential, and livestock raising is an important component of this potential. However, four main factors are limiting the development of livestock raising in the region: Lack of an official and consistent land right, uncontrolled increase of the number of animals, uncontrolled increase of cultivated fields, and persistent drought. The objective of this dissertation was to make a preliminary investigation which would help the Government of the Republic of Mali establish a coherent and integrated plan for all economic activities in the Delta. The economic, social and environmental components of the current livestock management and two management alternatives have been analyzed, using a model planning unit and also a herd model. The first alternative consisted of changing the herd composition, and the second alternative was a combination of changing the herd composition and the use of irrigation and fertilization to grow adapted forage species. The results showed that the two alternatives are better than the current management, and that the second alternative provided the highest economic returns and stability to the region. The implementation of the proposed plan will necessitate the creation of agro-pastoral units based on soils, vegetation, and social characteristics. The Government should adopt a more coherent and coordinated policy toward the different land users of the Delta, the final objective being high stable economic returns for the population, the preservation of the basic resources, and the equilibrium among different activities.

The red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, represents an important aquaculture species responsible for over half of all commercial aquaculture profits in Louisiana. White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is highly pathogenic and induces mass mortality in crustacean aquaculture operations worldwide. Crayfish lack the adaptive ability of the vertebrate immune system, and must depend on primitive, innate immune responses to combat viral infections. This study aims to investigate the dose-response of WSSV in P. clarkii and to examine viral-host interactions by examining the biochemical and immunological changes induced by WSSV infection in this species. Viable viral particles were isolated from naturally infected P. clarkii gill tissue, quantified using a novel digital PCR approach, and inoculated into P. clarkii to determine a median lethal dose (LD50) value of WSSV particles. After estimating an LD50 value, crayfish were inoculated at this nominal concentration of viral particles, and biological tissues were sampled across time to observe physiological and immunological changes throughout the course of WSSV infection. Antioxidant activity increased over time, while immunological gene expression was downregulated in the gill tissue of WSSV-infected crayfish. Knowledge of the infectivity of WSSV in native crayfish is of critical importance to the management of the commercial aquaculture industry in Louisiana. Examination of the viral-host interactions in crayfish can be used to facilitate future investigations towards WSSV prevention and management, and serve to develop the use of P. clarkii to model innate immune responses to WSSV infection in other decapod crustaceans. This is the first study to investigate dose-response and immunological changes induced by the Louisiana strain of WSSV in native crayfish.