This dissertation work is a study of the growth kinematics, synthesis strategies and intrinsic properties of InSb nanowires (NWs). The highlights of this work include a study of the effect of the growth parameters on the composition and crystallinity of NWs. A change in the temperature ramp-up rate as the substrate was heated to reach the NW growth temperature resulted in NWs that were either crystalline or amorphous. The as-grown NWs were found to have very different optical and electrical properties. The growth mechanism for crystalline NWs is the standard vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. This work proposes two possible growth mechanisms for amorphous NWs. The amorphous InSb NWs were found to be very sensitive to laser radiation and to heat treatment. Raman spectroscopy measurements on these NWs showed that intense laser light induced localized crystallization, most likely due to radiation induced annealing of defects in the region hit by the laser beam. Electron transport measurements revealed non-linear current-voltage characteristics that could not be explained by a Schottky diode behavior. Analysis of the experimental data showed that electrical conduction in this material is governed by space charge limited current (SCLC) in the high bias-field region and by Ohm's law in the low bias region. Temperature dependent conductivity measurements on these NWs revealed that conduction follows Mott variable range hopping mechanism at low temperatures and near neighbor hopping mechanism at high temperature. Low-temperature annealing of the amorphous NWs in an inert environment was found to induce a phase transformation of the NWs, causing their crystallinity to be enhanced. This thesis also proposes a new and low-cost strategy to grow p-type InSb NWs on InSb films grown on glass substrate. The high quality polycrystalline InSb film was used as the host on which the NWs were grown. The NWs with an average diameter of 150 nm and length of 20 μm were shown to have hole concentration of about 1017 cm-3 and mobility of about 1000 cm2V-1s-1. This thesis also proposes a strategy for the fabrication of metal-semiconductor nanocomposites. InSb NWs grown by electrochemical deposition were decorated with nanometer sized Au and Ag nanoparticles to form the nanocomposite.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is characterized by a bulge in the abdominal aorta. AAA development is mostly asymptomatic, but such a bulge may suddenly rupture, which is associated with a high mortality rate. Unfortunately, there is no medication that can prevent AAA from expanding or rupturing. Therefore, patients with detected AAA are monitored until treatment indication, such as maximum AAA diameter of 55 mm or expansion rate of 1 cm/year. Models of AAA development may help to understand the disease progression and to inform decision-making on a patient-specific basis. AAA growth and remodeling (G&amp;R) models are rather complex, and before the challenge is undertaken, sound clinical validation is required. In Paper A, an existing thick-walled model of growth and remodeling of one layer of an AAA slice has been extended to a two-layered model, which better reflects the layered structure of the vessel wall. A parameter study was performed to investigate the influence of mechanical properties and G&amp;R parameters of such a model on the aneurysm growth. In Paper B, the model from Paper A was extended to an organ level model of AAA growth. Furthermore, the model was incorporated into a Fluid-Solid-Growth (FSG) framework. A patient-specific geometry of the abdominal aorta is used to illustrate the model capabilities. In Paper C, the evolution of the patient-specific biomechanical characteristics of the AAA was investigated. Four patients with five to eight Computed Tomography-Angiography (CT-A) scans at different time points were analyzed. Several non-trivial statistical correlations were found between the analyzed parameters. In Paper D, the effect of different growth kinematics on AAA growth was investigated. The transverse isotropic in-thickness growth was the most suitable AAA growth assumption, while fully isotropic growth and transverse isotropic in-plane growth produced unrealistic results. In addition, modeling of the tissue volume change improved the wall thickness prediction, but still overestimated thinning of the wall during aneurysm expansion. / Bukaortaaneurysm (AAA) kännetecknas av en utbuktning hos aortaväggen i buken. Tillväxt av en AAA är oftast asymtomatisk, men en sådan utbuktning kan plö̈tsligt brista, vilket har hög dödlighet. Tyvärr finns det inga mediciner som kan förhindra AAA från att expandera eller brista. Patienter med upptä̈ckt AAA hålls därför under uppsikt tills operationskrav är uppnådda, såsom maximal AAA-diameter på 55 mm eller expansionstakt på 1 cm/år. Modeller för AAA-tillväxt kan bidra till att öka förståelsen för sjukdomsförloppet och till att förbättra beslutsunderlaget på en patientspecifik basis. AAA modeller för tillväxt och strukturförändring (G&amp;R) är ganska komplicerade och innan man tar sig an denna utmaning krävs de god klinisk validering. I Artikel A har en befintlig tjockväggig modell för tillväxt av ett skikt av en AAA-skiva utö̈kats till en två-skiktsmodell. Denna modell återspeglar bättre den skiktade strukturen hos kärlväggen. Genom en parameterstudie undersö̈ktes påverkan av mekaniska egenskaper och G&amp;R-parametrar hos en sådan modell för AAA-tillväxt. I Artikel B utvidgades modellen från Artikel A till en organnivå-modell för AAA-tillväxt. Vidare inkorporerades modellen i ett “Fluid–Solid–Growth” (FSG) ramverk. En patientspecifik geometri hos bukaortan användes för att illustrera möjligheterna med modellen. I Artikel C undersöktes utvecklingen av patientspecifika biomekaniska egenskaper hos AAA. Fyra patienter som skannats fem till åtta gånger med “Computed Tomography-Angiography” (CT-A) vid olika tillfällen analyserades. Flera icke triviala statistiska samband konstaterades mellan de analyserade parametrarna. I Artikel D undersöktes effekten av olika tillväxt-kinematik för AAA tillväxt. En modell med transversellt-isotrop-i-tjockleken-tillväxt var den bäst lämpade för AAA tillväxt, medans antagandet om fullt-isotrop-tillväxt och transversellt-isotrop-i-planet-tillväxt producerade orimliga resultat. Dessutom gav modellering av vävnadsvolymsförändring ett förbättrat väggtjockleks resultat men en fortsatt överskattning av väggförtunningen under AAA-expansionen. / <p>QC 20161201</p>