In factories handling fissile materials, criticality accidents can occur. The CAAS-3S system produced by Mirion Technologies includes a range of equipment to detect these accidents and alert employees to evacuate the facility and protect their health. The system consists of four types of plastic scintillation detectors. To determine the potential locations of the detectors and to ensure that the system detects all criticality accidents, Mirion Technologies is conducting positioning studies. These studies simulate criticality accidents using the Monte Carlo based code MCNP. Mirion Technologies would like to develop an MCNP model of these probes to build a response function to predict the experimental stress of the probes. Furthermore, during a criticality accident, the ambient temperature may increase significantly and the system must be able to detect an accident during a temperature rise without generating a false alarm. The CAAS-3S system includes a temperature correction. This master thesis has demonstrated that the temperature correction was able to trigger the alarm without generating false alarms for temperatures up to 70°C. MCNP models of the four probes of the system have been designed. It appeared that the energy rate deposited in the gamma scintillator calculated numerically by MCNP allowed to predict the experimental voltage during irradiation under photon radiation. In the case of neutron irradiation it has been proven that the reaction rate (n,alpha) on lithium contained in the scintillation matrix allows to predict the experimental voltage without having to simulate the alpha particles, thus reducing the calculation time. Correlation coefficients based on experimental results and numerical simulations have been determined for several incident particle energies in order to create a probe response function. / I fabriker som hanterar klyvbart material kan kriticitetsolyckor inträffa. CAAS-3S-systemet som tillverkas av Mirion Technologies innehåller en rad olika utrustningar för att upptäcka dessa olyckor och varna de anställda så att de kan evakuera anläggningen och skydda sin hälsa. Systemet består av fyra typer av plastsintillationsdetektorer. För att fastställa de potentiella platserna för detektorerna och för att se till att systemet upptäcker alla kriticitetsolyckor genomför Mirion Technologies positioneringsstudier. I dessa studier simuleras kritiska olyckor med hjälp av den Monte Carlo-baserade koden MCNP. Mirion Technologies skulle vilja utveckla en MCNP-modell av dessa sonder för att bygga upp en responsfunktion för att förutsäga den experimentella belastningen på sonderna. Under en kritisk olycka kan dessutom omgivningstemperaturen öka avsevärt och systemet måste kunna upptäcka en olycka under en temperaturökning utan att generera ett falsklarm. CAAS-3S-systemet innehåller en temperaturkorrigering. I detta examensarbete har det visats att temperaturkorrigeringen kunde utlösa larmet utan att generera falska larm för temperaturer upp till 70 °C. MCNP-modeller av systemets fyra prober har utformats. Det visade sig att den energihastighet som deponeras i gammascintillatorn, som beräknats numeriskt med MCNP, gjorde det möjligt att förutsäga den experimentella spänningen under bestrålning med fotonstrålning. Vid neutronbestrålning gör reaktionshastigheten (n,alfa) på litium i scintillationsmatrisen det möjligt att förutsäga den experimentella spänningen utan att simulera alfapartiklarna, vilket minskar beräkningstiden. Korrelationskoefficienter baserade på experimentella resultat och numeriska simuleringar har bestämts för flera energier av infallande partiklar för att skapa en sonderesponsfunktion.

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.

The behaviour of a free-standing thin film differs from that of a film surface-bonded or embedded due to the boundary constraints. A general dearth of analytical models, in regard to prediction of the operational competence of a constrained Piezoelectric thin film, prevails. In conventional design of miniaturized thin film devices, several non classical effects, for instance the effect of boundary constraints, are not considered. To warrant the design and performance optimisation of thin film sensors, such effect must be taken into account in a forethoughtful manner. This thesis is an attempt to achieve such optimisation through modeling of thin films. The coupled problem of a film on a substrate is solved semi-analytically in theoretical cases; and by finite element analysis in realistic cases for damage identification in the host structure. We first propose a two-dimensional analytical model of a constrained Piezoelectric thin film embedded in a host. Analytical expressions of capacitance and voltage across the electrodes are obtained by assuming first order shear deformation across the film thickness. The bonding layer between the film and the substrate, which is assumed to be an equivalent single layer including electrodes, insulation layer, adhesive layer etc., is modeled by taking into account its viscoelastic property. Residual stress is incorporated in the constitutive model through equivalent residual strain. Simulations on 10 m thick PVDF and 100 mPZT films are conducted. They illustrate the dependence of voltage response and capacitance on the applied stress, as well as on the residual stress. A maximum percentage variation in capacitance, as compared to the conventional estimate, is about 2% in a PVDF film and +75% to-65% in a PZT film for various combinations of tensile stresses applied at the ends of the film. Effect of residual stress is also exemplified via comparative response of a 1 m PZT film deposited on Pt/Ti/Si(0 0 1), with and without residual stress. For this case, an almost +50% increase in the voltage and an equivalent drop in the capacitance is observed. Next, we look into the voltage response profile of this model by employing it as a sensor to identify a finite mode I and mode II sub-surface cracks in a finite size host. To model the embedded crack, additional perturbation functions in the displacement field due to linear elastic crack tips in an infinite solid under plane strain condition are introduced to accommodate the stress free conditions at its surfaces. The film model requires the interfacial displacement and traction conditions, which are obtained from the analysis of the host. The combined analysis of the film and crack models brings forth the voltage gradient along the film span as a direct indicator of the location of crack in the axial direction, whereas the voltage magnitude represents the size of the crack. Following this analysis, a quasi three-dimensional(3-D) model of a Piezoelectric thin film surface-bonded to the host structure is proposed. With due consideration of restriction on the thickness of the film, here the model is based on a reduced 3-D continuum mechanics approach. The displacement field in the film is assumed to vary according to the third-order shear deformation theory; and the electrical and mechanical boundary conditions on the surfaces of the film are accommodated in a consistent manner. The formulation yields a governing inhomogeneous system of second-order Partial Differential Equations(PDEs), which is dependent on the displacement field at the film-host interface through force terms. Semi-analytical expressions of potential difference and capacitance are obtained. This system is solved numerically for two unknown rotations about X and Y axes of the film by finite element method. A maximum variation of about 2.5% is obtained in the capacitance of a 10 m PVDF film, as compared to its conventional estimate. The operational performance of this model is assessed in terms of its voltage response over the film area for various displacement fields. Conformation of this response to the input displacement field attests to its mathematical integrity. Next, we ascertain the versatility of this model in its role as a sensor for Structural Health Monitoring. To deal with cracks in the host plate, finite size rectangular surfaces are introduced as crack faces. The film domain and the host domain are discretized with an a posteriori h-refinement strategy and compatible interfacial nodes at the film-host interface via finite element interpolation. The resulting coupled problem is solved by static finite element analysis. The nature of the voltage pattern over the film surface is peculiar to the mode of crack, and is a qualitative portrayal of its presence. To correlate the electric potential(voltage) –a distributed parameter – to the geometry and orientation of the crack, as well as to quantify it, electrostatic measures in terms of integrated potential difference and its spatial gradients on the film surface are proffered. The numerical implications of these measures are elicited through simulation results of various crack sizes in damaged and healthy hosts under identical conditions of stress and boundary. The pattern of these measures in a damaged host becomes oscillatory as compared to straight lines observed in a healthy host. Furthermore, the reduced 3-D model is extended to perform dynamic analysis with the inclusion of inertial terms in the governing equilibrium equations. Subsequently, the acceleration terms appear in the governing inhomogeneous system of PDEs in the force terms. Finite element analyses of this extended film model on an isotropic beam with surface and sub-surface cracks, and on a composite plate with delamination, are then performed in the time domain. In all cases, an excellent conformation of the voltage profile at any point in the film domain to the velocity profile at the corresponding point in the film-host interface is observed. Again, to quantify the extent of damage in the host, we proffer electrical measures based on the Lpnorm, of second order, of the voltage and its directional derivatives. We exemplify the numerical implications of these measures in the time domain through sensitivity analysis in regard to the defected areas, and their region of occurrence relative to the film sensor. The response of the film model educes that the relatively flat curves after the first incident pulse in a healthy structure shoots off to a monotonic pattern in damaged hosts. The measures depict high degree of sensitivity in regard to the variation in the area of damage of any nature. An apposition of the static and dynamic analyses is elaborated towards the end of this dissertation. It proves to be very insightful in the damage assessment of the host structure, for it shows the utility of the dynamic model to sense the location of the damage occurrence, whereas a more in-depth assessment on its nature and mode of the crack would demand a static analysis in its proximal regions. To sum up, in light of these models and the proposed measures, this thesis establishes salient justifications pertaining to their pragmatic significance. We believe that these results represent an important contribution towards the ongoing research on understanding the role of boundary constraints in mechanically thin Piezoelectric films.

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.

Les sociétés Mochica ou Moché (IIe-IXe s. apr. J.-C.) ont laissé un nombre important de sites archéologiques sur la côte nord du Pérou qui conservent des objets céramiques d’un caractère exceptionnel d’un point de vue morphologique, décoratif et technique. Ces dernières années, les céramiques Mochica ont été étudiées d’un point de vue archéologique et ethnoarchéologique. Notre étude vise à les étudier en employant les méthodes et les techniques de l’archéométrie. Nous proposons ainsi une étude croisée de sciences appliquées, d'archéologie et d’ethnoarchéologie pour tenter de répondre à des problématiques archéologiques parfaitement définies dans le temps (VIIIe-Xe s. apr. J.-C.) et dans l’espace (site archéologique Mochica San José de Moro dans la partie basse de la vallée de Jequetepeque). Nous nous interrogeons sur l’exploitation des ressources naturelles, la production et la consommation de céramiques rituelles. L’objectif de notre recherche est de discuter et de définir des choix techniques céramiques (locaux et régionaux) en définissant leurs spécificités: technologies, matières premières, importations ou productions locales. Cet apport permet de participer à la connaissance de l'histoire de cette civilisation et des civilisations contemporaines et voisines, notamment Cajamarca et Huari. Pour y parvenir, les principaux sujets de recherche qui ont été développés concernent l’étude des typo-chronologies Moché, l’étude archéologique des productions Mochica et Cajamarca, l’étude archéologique de l’exploitation des ressources en matières premières à l’échelle locale ou régionale, l’étude des procédés techniques employés dans la fabrication de céramiques découvertes à San José de Moro. Une discussion théorique est également menée sur les styles techniques des céramiques de ce site. Les résultats de nos recherches ont permis d’établir que les céramiques Mochica sont issues de processus productifs homogènes, d’affirmer que les objets à décoration polychrome ont été produits avec les mêmes matières employées pour la production des objets Mochica bichrome, et de définir que les potiers Mochica et Cajamarca n'ont pas échangé de matières premières pour la fabrication des pâtes céramiques. Enfin, l’existence des parallèles technologiques concernant les décors des céramiques entre ces deux sociétés, a été démontrée. / Mochica or Moche societies (2nd-9th c. A.D.) left a significant number of archaeological sites on the north coast of Peru which preserve ceramic objects of an exceptional character of a morphological, ornamental and technical point of view. In recent years, the Mochica ceramics have been studied by archaeological and ethnoarchaeological approaches. The first aim of our research is to study them thanks to the methods and the techniques of the archaeological sciences. In this context, we developed a crossed study of applied sciences (physico-chemical analyses of materials), archaeology and ethnoarchaeology approaches to try to answer archaeological problems perfectly defined in time (8th-10th c. A.D.) and space (archeological Mochica site of San José de Moro). The questions deal with the exploitation of raw material resources, the production, and in particular, the consumption of ritual ceramics. The major aim of our research is to discuss and define ceramic technical styles by defining technologies, raw materials, imports or local productions, in order to characterize and understand the history of this civilization and the history of contemporary and nearby civilizations (Cajamarca and Huari). The main subject in this research concerns the study of typo chronologies Moche, the archaeological study of the Mochica and Cajamarca productions, the archaeological study of the exploitation of the resources in raw materials at a local or a regional level, the study of the technical processes of ceramic productions discovered at San José of Moro. Then a theoretical discussion is carried out about the technical styles of ceramics preserved on the site. To conclude, our studies allowed, for example, to establish that Mochica ceramics were elaborated on homogeneous productive processes, to assert that Moche objects with poly-chrome decoration were produced with the same raw materials used for the production of Moche objects with bi-chrome decoration, and to define that Mochica and Cajamarca potters did not exchange raw materials for manufacturing ceramic bodies. Finally, the existence of technological parallels between these two societies, particularly as regards the decorations of ceramics, has been demostrated.

Vortex tube (VT) is a mechanical device with no moving parts. The fundamental principle of Vortex Tube is that it can split an incoming fluid flow of a constant pressure and constant temperature gas stream into two separate low pressure streams, one having higher enthalpy and the other having lower enthalpy than the inlet flow. So this device essentially works as a temperature separator. On separation from the device, a warmer flow exits through a terminal which is called the “hot end” and a low temperature stream comes out from another terminal known as the “cold end”. Just with a few bar pressure of compressed air at room temperature can produce a hot stream temperature of about 150°C and a cold stream temperature of about - 40°C. This temperature separation scheme allows us to get cooling and heating effect simultaneously using the same device which makes the Vortex tube one of the popular mechanical equipment and is used in many fields of engineering. The cooling or heating effect produced by this device is largely dependent on geometric parameters of the device itself. Since no exact theoretical correlation is there between the geometric parameters and the cooling (or heating) effect produced, VT design is solely based on empirical relations. There are quite a few geometric parameters which affect the cooling effect of this device and all the empirical correlation are needed to design the optimum VT for maximum cooling/heating effect. These relations can be derived in two ways, either by numerical methods or by experimental investigations. The first part of the thesis important geometric parameter of the VT namely the ratio of the “cold end” diameter (to the “tube diameter” , which has been numerically optimized in this work to achieve maximum temperature separation. In our efforts to design a VT based refrigeration system, optimization of the VT itself is not enough. A suitable heat exchanger (HX) which can extract the cold enthalpy from the VT also needs to be designed and cascaded with the VT to get the complete refrigeration system. The second part of the thesis is solely dedicated to the design of a suitable HX that can be used alongside a VT to produce refrigeration. The HXs design can be approached from two directions, dimensional aspect and material aspect. Rather than focusing on the dimensional aspect in this work we have concentrated of the material aspect of HX design. It is fairly obvious that the thermal conductivity (TC) of the HX material will play a crucial role on the cooling effect of the refrigeration system. Conventional metals with high TC can be used to design HXs but the downsides of using pure metals such as Copper, Iron are that they are heavy, quite expensive and highly reactive to corrosive fluids. Because of this, high TC ceramic material such as Aluminium Nitride (AlN) is quite often used to fabricate HXs and they are used for spot cooling in electronic systems. AlN has TC of 160 W/m-K which is high but not as high as of Copper or Iron. TC of AlN can be increased by mixing the right volume fraction of metal powder (such as pure Aluminium) with it to a great extent. So in a nutshell, instead of using pure AlN, if we use the particle reinforced binary composite [AlN + Al (powder)] to design a HX, we would achieve the benefits of having high TC as well as properties such as anti-corrosiveness, cost effectiveness and weight reduction. In the above context, prediction of TC of particle reinforced composite materials containing a base material of low TC and a filler material of high TC is of utmost importance. Till now a very few analytical heat transfer models are available in the literature that can accurately predict the TC value of such composites especially when high volume fraction of filler particles is added to the base material or if more than one type of filler particles are added. So in this thesis, three analytical heat transfer models have been developed that can predict the TC of binary as well as tertiary particle reinforced composites. The third and the final segment of the thesis deals with the performance study of a refrigeration system comprised of the optimized VT cascaded with a suitable HX made out of a particle reinforced composite material. The numerical results show how the HX effectiveness improves as the volume fraction of the filler particles in the composite increases. The key results of the works described in the thesis are as follows: • Through extensive numerical simulations it is shown that for = 0.5, the temperature separation in a VT is maximum. • The heat transfer models developed to predict the thermal conductivity of binary composites, shows the trend of how thermal conductivity varies with increasing volume fraction of filler. It has been shown that initially the thermal conductivity increases linearly with a small slope, then after a critical volume fraction an abrupt increment of slope is observed due to the formation of continuous heat conduction paths within the composite. Further increase in volume fraction shows linear increment of thermal conductivity with lesser slope as before. • The heat transfer model developed to predict the thermal conductivity of tertiary composites is suitable for low volume fraction (< 20 %). The model shows the addition of one component into the base matrix affects the distribution of the other component which is observed through the covariance. • The last part of the thesis shows that compared to a pure AlN heat exchanger, a heat exchanger made of AlN + 30 % volume fraction of pure Aluminium powder, has increased heat exchanger effectiveness by more than 50 %. Thesis outline is as follows: • Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to Vortex Tube. • Chapter 2 deals with the necessary literature review related to Vortex Tube as well as presently available heat transfer models that are equipped to handle composite materials to predict their TC. • Chapter 3 elaborates numerical modeling and optimization of a critical parameter ( to achieve maximum temperature separation in a VT. • Chapter 4 presents a stochastic heat transfer model to estimate the TC of Binary particle reinforced composites containing low volume fraction of filler particles. • Chapter 5 describes the development of a computational heat transfer model to predict the TC of Particle Reinforced Binary Composite materials containing high volume fraction of filler element. • Chapter 6 deals with a stochastic heat transfer model to calculate TC of Particle Reinforced Tertiary Composite materials containing low volume fractions of filler elements. • Chapter 7 consolidates all the necessary concepts and data from previous chapters to design the final cascaded VT based refrigeration system and presents a performance study. • The last chapter summarizes the entire work along with scope for future work.

Recently, efforts have been made for self-powering the batteries and portable electronic devices by piezoelectric nanogenerators. The piezoelectric nanogenerators can work as a power source for nano-systems and also as an active sensor. The piezoelectric nanogenerator is a device that converts random mechanical energy into electrical energy by utilizing the semiconducting and piezoelectric properties. Also, the mechanical energy is always available in and around us for powering these nano devices. The aim of the present thesis work is to explore 1D and 2D ZnO nanostructures (nanorods and nanosheets) on metal alloy substrates for the development of piezoelectric nanogenerators in energy harvesting and sensors applications. Hydrothermal synthesis method was adopted for the growth of ZnO nanostructures. The nanogenerators were fabricated by using the optimized synthesis parameters and subsequently studied their performance for power generation and as an active speed sensor. These 1D and 2D nanostructures based nanogenerators have opened up a new window for the energy harvesting applications and sensors development. The thesis is divided into following six chapters. Chapter 1: This chapter gives a general introduction about energy harvesting devices such as nanogenerators, available energy sources, mechanical energy harvesting, ZnO material and the details on hydrothermal synthesis process. A brief literature survey on different applications of piezoelectric nanogenerators is also included. Chapter 2: A novel flexible metal alloy (Phynox) and its properties along with its applications are discussed in this chapter. Details on the synthesis of 1D ZnO nanorods on Phynox alloy substrate by hydrothermal method are presented. Further, the optimization of parameters such as growth temperature, seed layer annealing and substrate temperature effects on the synthesis of ZnO nanorods are discussed in detail. As-synthesized ZnO nanorods have been characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, TEM and XPS. Chapter 3: It reports on the fabrication of piezoelectric nanogenerator on Phynox alloy substrate as power generating device by harvesting the mechanical energy. Initially, the performance of the nanogenerator for power generation due to finger tip impacts was studied and subsequently its switching polarity test was also carried out. Output voltage measurements were carried out using the in-house developed experimental setup. Stability test was also carried out to see the robustness of the nanogenerator. Finally, the output voltage response of the nanogenerator was studied for its use as an active speed sensor. Chapter 4: Synthesis of Al doped 2D ZnO nanorsheets on Aluminum alloy (AA-6061) substrate by hydrothermal method is reported in this chapter. The optimized parameters such as growth temperature and growth time effects on the synthesis of ZnO nanosheets are discussed. As-synthesized ZnO nanosheets were characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, TEM and XPS. The Al doping in ZnO is confirmed by EDXS and XPS analysis. Chapter 5: Cost effective fabrication of Al doped 2D ZnO nanosheets based nanogenerator for direct current (DC) power generation is reported in this chapter. The performance of the nanogenerator for DC power generation due to finger tip impacts was studied and subsequently its switching polarity test was also carried out. Output voltage measurements were carried out using the in-house developed experimental setup. Stability test was also carried out to see the robustness of the nanogenerator. Finally, the DC output voltage response of the nanogenerator was studied for its use as an active speed sensor. Chapter 6: The first section summarizes the significant features of the work presented in this thesis. In the second section the scope for carrying out the further work is given.

<div>Biological dynamics have been studied by many methods. Fluorescence dynamic microscopy and optical coherence tomography provided fundamental understandings of biological systems. However, their high NA optics only represent local characteristics. Biodynamic imaging (BDI) technique implements a low NA optics and acquires the statistical average of Doppler shifts that occurred by dynamic light scattering with biological dynamic subsystems provided globally averaged dynamic characteristics. </div><div>BDI is used for this study to investigate biomedical applications. The chemotherapy efficacy measurement by BDI demonstrated a good agreement between the Doppler spectral phenotypes and the preclinical outcomes. Also, dynamic responses of microbiomes by chemical stimuli demonstrated featured Doppler characteristics. The bacterial infection of epithelial spheroids showed consistent spectral responses and antibiotic-resistant E. coli infection treatment with a sensitive and resistive antibiotic showed a dramatic contrast. Furthermore, the phase-sensitive characteristics of BDI provided a clue to understanding the characteristics of the random process of biological systems. Levy-like heavy-tailed probability density functions are demonstrated and </div><div>the shape changed by infection will be discussed. </div>

Rare-earth ions in crystalline hosts have been identified as attractive media for quantum optical applications where record-high coherence times, quantum storage efficiency in solids, and quantum storage bandwidth have been demonstrated. Among rare-earth ions, Erbium uniquely possesses optical transitions at 1.5 micrometer region, making it suitable for integration with fiber telecommunication and silicon photonics. However, the intra-4f optical transitions are parity forbidden for rare-earth ions. Although, transitions are observed due to the interaction of the 4f valence electrons' energy levels with crystal fields or the lattice vibrations, the photon emission rate is prolonged for these ions. For example, Er³⁺ excited state lifetime for 1530nm transition is around 10 ms, which is about a million times longer than the excited state lifetime of alkali atoms like cesium and rubidium. There have been some recent works showing enhanced emission rate of erbium ions by about 10³ times by building a nano-photonic cavity to reach high Purcell factors. Our alternative approach to solving this problem is to use an ensemble of ions instead of a single ion to induce collective interactions in a suitable platform. In one experiment, we fabricated a SiN micro-ring resonator and implanted 10⁴ isotopically pure ¹⁶⁸Er ions in narrow segments located precisely in solids. The segments are typically separated by 0.962nm corresponding to multiples of the wavelength of Er emission at 1520nm. And we showed that when the lattice of ions is commensurate with the wavelength of the light, the scattering loss caused by the other ions is reduced. We have demonstrated for the first time that how designing atomic geometries in a solid-state photonic system can reduce the radiative loss due to spontaneous emission of ions into other photonic channels. This phenomenon is analogous to the Borrmann effect seen in x-ray transmissions of crystals at the Bragg angle of incidence. We have also shown how the interference between the optical cavity mode and atomic Bragg mode generates Fano-type resonance features. We performed these measurements using erbium ions in the SiN host. The limitations such as low coherence time and large inhomogeneous broadening in this platform prohibit observing cooperative and quantum behavior. To improve the optical property of erbium ions and study other cooperative effects, we engineered an effective ion array in an Er-doped Yttrium Orthosilicate crystal which can exhibit higher coherence time and narrower inhomogeneous broadening compared to SiN. So, we used the spectral hole burning technique to make an atomic grating in randomly distributed Er ions inside YSO. Two counter-propagating pump pulses created a standing wave inside the crystal, which enabled the creation of spectral holes only near the antinode locations. At the same time, atoms near nodes remain in the ground state. Such atomic population grating behaved like an atomic array. We have seen coherent backscattering up to 20% of the incident probe from this atomic grating resembling a mirror. To increase the reflection efficiency, we tried to increase the ion concentration in the YSO crystal. But, at high concentrations, the dipole-dipole interaction increases the broadening and decoherence rates of the ions. To increase the optical density without increasing the ion concentration, we fabricated long waveguides in SiN and LiNbO₃ with rare-earth ions implanted inside.As a future direction, we are trying to increase the reflection efficiency from the atomic grating to the point where we can see atomic mirror-assisted light trapping. We are also trying to see long-range co-operative behavior from rare-earth ion-doped crystals and rare-earth ions implanted inside long waveguides. This can open possibilities of new quantum photonic device engineering for applications in scalable and multiplexed quantum networks.

Calcium ions are one of the most versatile signalling molecules. They are essential tothe proper functioning of various cellular processes in many different types of cells.The calcium signals have been studied in the past using ratiometric dyes like Fura-2.We showed that the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6m displays highersignal to noise ratio than Fura Red and therefore used it to study the calcium cytosolicconcentration in MDCK II cells. We use fluorescence microscopy to record and Pythonto analyse calcium signals in individual cells. Cellpose was used for automating thesegmentation. The cells were treated with ouabain, a cardiotonic steroid shown toincrease the intercellular communication between cells through gap junctions. Thecells were also transfected with connexins 43. We showed that ouabain does nothave an impact on the number of calcium peaks. We observed higher correlationsin the calcium between adjaçent transfected cells, but the results are not statisticallysignificant. We also observed clearly defined oscillations in one low confluencerecording with a period of around two minutes. / Kalciumjonen är en av de mest mångsidiga signalmolekylerna. De är nödvändiga förfunktionen av diverse cellulära processer i mångaolika typer av celler. I projektet studerades den cytosoliska kalciumkoncentrationeni MDCK II-celler. Fluorescensmikroskopi användes för att registrera, och Python föratt analysera, kalciumsignaler i enskilda celler. Cellpose användes för att automatiserasegmenteringen. Cellerna behandlades med ouabain, en kardiotonisk steroid somvisat sig öka den intercellulära kommunikationen mellan celler genom ”gap junctions”.Cellerna transfekterades också med connexin-43. Det påvisades att ouabain intehar någon inverkan på antalet kalciumtoppar. Högre korrelationer observeradesi kalcium mellan intilliggande celler som transfekterats, men resultaten är intestatistiskt relevanta. Tydligt definierade oscillationer observerades i en inspelning medlåg konfluens i en period på cirka två minuter. Slutligen visades att GCaMP6m har etthögre signal-brusförhållande än Fura Red.