Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-97).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Wine, Paul; Committee Member: Huey, Greg; Committee Member: Nenes, Athanasios; Committee Member: Weber, Rodney; Committee Member: Whetten, Robert.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. / Morhan Srinivasarao, Committee Member ; CP Wong, Committee Member ; David M. Collard, Committee Chair ; Marcus Weck, Committee Member ; Laren Tolbert, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-188).

Orientador: Antônio Carlos Ferreira Seridônio / Resumo: Por meio da equação de Weyl que descreve o bulk de um semimetal de Weyl, inserimos duas impurezas no interior deste semimetal, com o intuito de medir a condutância desse sistema por meio de uma ponta de um microscópio de corrente de tunelamento (STM: scanning tunneling microscope), assim como exploramos teoricamente a influência que o semimetal de Dirac-Weyl causa na estrutura dos orbitais das impurezas. Verificamos que nessas condições apresentadas: (i) é possível resgatar e obter os mesmos resultados publicados por Phys. Rev. B 96, 041112(R) (2017) para um semimetal de Dirac em três dimensões; (ii) ao quebrarmos a simetria de inversão do sistema, ocorre um alargamento dos picos de ressonância, até o ponto que uma impureza deixa de sentir a presença da outra, o que caracteriza um sistema que segue o modelo de Anderson de uma impureza (SIAM: single impurity Anderson model), ao passo que, caso continuemos aumentando o valor deste parâmetro, a estrutura de bandas do material torna-se um metal; (iii) ao quebrarmos a simetria de reversão temporal nas direções dos eixos x e z, ocorre formação de um par de orbitais de ligações π para os estados ligantes e antiligantes, o que significa que os elétrons são excitados de ondas s para ondas p. / Abstract: Through the Weyl equation that describes the bulk of a Weyl semimetal, we inserted two impurities inside this semimetal, in order to measure the conductance of this system by means of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), as well as we theoretically explore the influence that Dirac-Weyl semimetal causes on the structure of the impurities orbitals. We verified that under these conditions presented: (i) it is possible to retrieve and obtain the same results published by Phys. Rev. B 96, 041112 (R) (2017) for a three-dimensional Dirac Semimetal; (ii) when we break the inversion symmetry of the system, there is a widening of the resonance peaks, to the point that one impurity cannot feel the presence of the other one, which characterizes a single impurity Anderson model (SIAM) system, whereas, if we continue increasing the value of this parameter, the bands structure of the material becomes a metal; (iii) when we break the time reversal symmetry in the x and z-axis directions, a pair of π-bond orbitals forms for the bonding and antibonding states, which means that electrons are excited from s-waves to p-waves. / Mestre

Research on two-dimensional (2D) materials currently occupies a sizeable fraction of the materials science community, which has led to the development of a comprehensive body of knowledge on such layered structures. However, the goal of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the comparatively unknown heterostructures composed of different stacked layers. First, we utilise linear-scaling density functional theory (LS-DFT) to simulate intricate interfaces between the most promising layered materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) or black phosphorus (BP) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We show that hBN can protect BP from external influences, while also preventing the band-gap reduction in BP stacks, and enabling the use of BP heterostructures as tunnelling field effect transistors. Moreover, our simulations of the electronic structure of TMDC interfaces have reproduced photoemission spectroscopy observations, and have also provided an explanation for the coexistence of commensurate and incommensurate phases within the same crystal. Secondly, we have developed new functionality to be used in the future study of 2D heterostructures, in the form of a linear-response phonon formalism for LS-DFT. As part of its implementation, we have solved multiple implementation and theoretical issues through the use of novel algorithms.

The properties of the macroscopic world around us, and of which we are a part, are largely determined by the low energy, collective behaviour of many interacting particles, including the nuclei and, especially, the electrons present. Although the fundamental laws governing the behaviour of these many-body systems are believed to be known in principle, the practical solution of the equations of quantum mechanics remains a challenging area of research. This thesis is concerned with the application of quantum Monte Carlo methods to two model systems: the spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas, and a hole-doped electron gas. Electronic structure theory is briefly reviewed before discussing in more detail the quantum Monte Carlo methods used in this thesis. A study of the three-dimensional spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas (HEG) is then reported, where the relatively new technique of twist averaging is investigated in detail and accurate energies and pair correlation functions are obtained over densities $r_s = 0.5 – 20$ a.u. and the full range of spin-polarisation, allowing comparison with the Perdew-Zunger interpolation scheme used in local spin density approximation exchange-correlation functionals. Following this, an impurity is added to the electron gas in the form of a positively charged hole, and the interaction is studied. Relaxation energies, pair correlation functions and momentum densities are reported. Trion formation is observed over a range of carrier densities and electron-hole mass ratios in agreement with experiment. Isolated trions are also studied, where the diffusion Monte Carlo method is exact. Methodological innovations developed while carrying out this work are discussed, including a variance reduction technique for twist-averaged calculations and a new trial wave function for impurity-in-HEG calculations.

No description available.

xix, 142 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors are a relatively new class of materials which show significant promise for electronic device applications. The electron mobility in these materials is at least ten times greater than that of the current dominant material for thin-film transistors: amorphous silicon. The density of states within the gap of a semiconductor largely determines the characteristics of a device fabricated from it. Thus, a fundamental understanding of the electronic structure within the mobility gap of amorphous oxides is crucial to fully developing technologies based around them. Amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) were investigated in order to determine this sub-gap structure. Junction-capacitance based methods including admittance spectroscopy and drive level capacitance profiling (DLCP) were used to find the free carrier and deep defect densities. Defects located near insulator-semiconductor interfaces were commonly observed and strongly depended on fabrication conditions. Transient photocapacitance spectroscopy (TPC) indicated broad valence band-tails for both the ZTO and IGZO samples, characterized by Urbach energies of 110±20 meV. These large band-tail widths imply that significant structural disorder exists in the atomic lattice of these materials. While such broad band-tails generally correlate with poor electronic transport properties, the density of states near the conduction band is more important for devices such as transistors. The TPC spectra also revealed an optically active defect located at the insulator-semiconductor junction. Space-charge-limited current (SCLC) measurements were attempted in order to deduce the density of states near the conduction band. While the SCLC results were promising, their interpretation was too ambiguous to obtain a detailed picture of the electronic state distribution. Another technique, modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (MPC), was then employed for this purpose. Using this method narrow conduction band-tails were determined for the ZTO samples with Urbach energies near 10 meV. Thus, by combining the results of the DLCP, TPC and MPC measurements, a quite complete picture of the density of states within the mobility gap of these amorphous oxides has emerged. The relationship of this state distribution to transistor performance is discussed as well as to the future development of device applications of these materials. / Committee in charge: Stephen Kevan, Chairperson, Physics; J David Cohen, Member, Physics; David Strom, Member, Physics; Jens Noeckel, Member, Physics; David Johnson, Outside Member, Chemistry

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:14:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4592851 bytes, checksum: 4953954b01488035e256132a9c9c39e2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work studies through first-principles method based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) implemented by computer code SIESTA, the stability of the structures and electronic properties of hybrids nanotubes containing atoms of boron, carbon and the presence of nitrogen and an electric field. We analyze the values gap energy, formation energy and the variation of the total energy with respect to the nanotubes without application of field. For the electronic structure, there is the chart analysis of LDOS and band structure of these nanotubes as well as their polarizability. / O presente trabalho busca estudar através do método de primeiros princípios baseado na Teoria do Funcional da Densidade (DFT) implementado pelo código computacional SIESTA, a estabilidade das estruturas e propriedades eletrônicas de nanotubos híbridos contendo átomos de boro, carbono e nitrogêngio na presença de um campo elétrico. Analisar valores do gap de energia, energia de formação e a variação da energia total em relação aos nanotubos sem aplicação do campo. Para a estrutura eletrônica, há a análise dos gráficos da densidade localizada de estados (LDOS) e estrutura de bandas desses nanotubos, bem como sua polarizabilidade.