Recent advancements in nanotechnology create a need for a better understanding of the underlying physical processes that lead to the different behavior of nanoscale structures in comparison to bulk materials. The influence of the surrounding environment on the physical and optical properties of nanoscale objects embedded inside them is of particular interest. This research is focused on the optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots which are zero-dimensional nanostructures. There are many investigation techniques for measuring the local parameters and structural characteristics of Quantum Dot structures. They include X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy, etc. However, none of these is suitable for the study of large areas of quantum dots matrices and substrates. The existence of spatial inhomogeneity in the quantum dots allows for a deeper and better understanding of underlying physical processes responsible in part icular for the observed changes in photoluminescence (PL) characteristics. Spectroscopic PL mapping can reveal areas of improved laser performance of InAs/InGaAs quantum dots structures. Establishing physical mechanisms responsible for two different types of spatial PL inhomogeneity in InAs/InGaAs quantum dots structures for laser applications was the first objective of this research. Most of the bio-applications of semiconductor quantum dots utilize their superior optical properties over organic fluorophores. Therefore, optimization of QD labeling performance with biomolecule attachment was another focus of this research. Semiconductor quantum dots suspended in liquids were investigated, especially the influence of surrounding molecules that may be attached or bio-conjugated to the quantum dots for specific use in biological reactions on the photoluminescence spectrum. Provision of underlying physical mechanisms of optical property instability of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots used for biologi cal applications was in the scope of this research. Bioconjugationand functionalization are the fundamental issues for bio-marker tagging application of semiconductor quantum dots. It was discovered that spatially resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and PL photo-degradation kinetics can confirm the bioconjugation. Development of a methodology that will allow the spectroscopic confirmation of bio-conjugation of quantum dot fluorescent tags and optimization of their performance was the final goal for this research project.

Not available / text

Not available / text

Not available / text

Not available / text

Some semiconductor devices such as lasers have long had critical dimensions on the nanoscale where quantum effects are critical. Others such as MOSFETs are now being scaled to within this regime. Quantum effects neglected in semiclassical models become increasing important at the nanoscale. Meanwhile, scattering remains important even in MOSFETs of 10 nm and below. Therefore, accurate quantum transport simulators with scattering are needed to explore the essential device physics at the nanoscale. The work of this dissertation is aimed at developing accurate quantum transport simulation tools for deep submicron device modeling, as well as utilizing these simulation tools to study the quantum transport and scattering effects in the nano-scale semiconductor devices. The basic quantum transport method "Schrödinger Equation Monte Carlo" (SEMC) provides a physically rigorous treatment of quantum transport and phasebreaking inelastic scattering (in 3D) via real (actual) scattering processes such as optical and acoustic phonon scattering. The SEMC method has been used previously to simulate carrier transport in nano-scaled devices in order to gauge the potential reliability of semiclassical models, phase-coherent quantum transport, and other limiting models as the transition from classical to quantum transport is approached. In this work, SEMC-1D and SEMC-2D versions with long range polar optical scattering processes have been developed and used to simulate quantum transport in tunnel injection lasers and nanoscaled III-V MOSFETs. Simulation results serve not only to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed quantum transport simulators, but also to illuminate the importance of physically accurate simulation of scattering for the predictive modeling of transport in nano-scaled devices.

An outstanding challenge in modern medicine is the safe and efficient delivery of drugs. One approach to improve drug delivery yield and increase specificity towards diseased cells, is to employ a drug carrier to facilitate transport. Promising steps towards developing such a carrier have been taken by the nascent field of nanomedicine: nanometer-sized particles designed to evade premature excretion, non-specific absorption, and the body’s immune response, can reduce undesired drug loss, while also increasing specific drug uptake into diseased cells through targeting surface modifications. However, progress is limited by incomplete knowledge of the ‘ideal’ nanoparticle design as well as a lack of appropriate high resolution construction methods for its implementation. DNA origami, a modular, nanometer-precise assembly method that would enable the rapid testing of particle properties as well as massively parallel fabrication, could provide an avenue to address these needs. In this thesis, I employed the DNA origami method to investigate how nanoscale shape and ligand functionalization affect nanoparticle uptake into cultured endothelial cells. In the first part, I evaluated the uptake yield of a series of eight shapes that ranged from 7.5 nm to 400 nm in their individual dimensions. The best performing shape of that study, a 15 × 100 nm DNA origami nanocylinder, was internalized 18-fold better than a dsDNA control of the same molecular weight. In a follow up study, I decorated this nanocylinder with integrin-targeting cyclic RGD peptides. This surface functionalization increased cellular uptake another 13-fold. In addition, uptake yield and the ratio of internalized versus surface-bound particles depended on the number of ligands present on the nanoparticle surface. This work represents a significant first step towards attaining the ability to design and implement an 'ideal' nanoparticle drug carrier. In the future, the DNA origami method can be used as a platform technology to further expand our understanding of transport properties of drug carriers and achieve safer and more efficient drug delivery.

This thesis describes the development of hyperpolarized silicon particles as a new type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agent. Silicon particles are inexpensive, non-toxic, biodegradable, targetable, and have unique physical properties that lead to extremely long nuclear polarization times. The \(^{29}Si\) nuclei are hyperpolarized by low temperature dynamic nuclear polarization using naturally occurring defects at the particle surface and directly imaged using \(^{29}Si\) MRI. The imaging window achievable is several orders of magnitude longer than other hyperpolarized imaging agents. The technique requires no additional imaging agent to be incorporated into the silicon, and so toxicity complications are reduced. The construction of a system for low temperature dynamic nuclear polarization and a NMR spectrometer for studying the nuclear polarization dynamics in silicon particles is described. Room temperature nuclear spin relaxation \((T_1)\) times are investigated for a variety of silicon particles spanning five orders of magnitude in mean diameter, from 10nm nanoparticles to mm-scale granules. The nuclear \(T_1\) times of all Si particles are found to be long, ranging from many minutes to several hours at room temperature. \(T_1\) is found to be a function of particle size, dopant concentration, synthesis method and crystallinity. A core-shell model to describe the electron and nuclear spin dynamics in the particles is developed. The decay in nuclear hyperpolarization is studied as a function of ambient magnetic field and temperature, demonstrating that the long spin relaxation times persist despite changing environmental conditions. A new technique is reported for enhancing the dynamic nuclear polarization in silicon particles using modulated microwave irradiation. A theoretical model for understanding this enhanced polarization process is developed. As well as providing an efficient mechanism for polarizing the \(^{29}Si\) nuclei within the particle, the surface defects are also found to be efficient at polarizing \(^1H\) nuclei in frozen solutions surrounding the particles. Several in-vivo applications of hyperpolarized \(^{29}Si\) MRI are demonstrated, including gastrointestinal imaging, intravenous imaging and mapping blood flow in a tumor. The spin relaxation rates are found to be unaffected by surface functionalization, the particles tumbling in solution, or the in-vivo environment. / Engineering and Applied Sciences

Conventional image sensors achieve color imaging using absorptive organic dye filters. These face considerable challenges however in the trend toward ever higher pixel densities and advanced imaging methods such as multispectral imaging and polarization-resolved imaging. In this dissertation, we investigate the optical properties of vertical silicon nanowires with the goal of image sensor applications. First, we demonstrate a multispectral imaging system that uses a novel filter that consists of vertical silicon nanowires embedded in a transparent medium. Second, we demonstrate pixels consisting of vertical silicon nanowires with integrated photodetectors. We show that their spectral sensitivities are governed by nanowire radius, and perform color imaging. In addition, we demonstrate polarization-resolving photodetectors consisting of silicon nanowires with elliptical cross sections. Finally, we discuss a dual detector device. Each pixel consists of vertical silicon nanowires (incorporating photodetectors) formed above a silicon substrate (that also incorporates a photodetector). Our method is very practical from a manufacturing standpoint because all filter functions are defined at the same time through a single lithography step. In addition, our approach is conceptually different from current filter-based methods, as absorbed light in our device is converted to photocurrent, rather than discarded. This ultimately presents the opportunity for very high photon efficiency. / Engineering and Applied Sciences

Conventional CMOS (the current dominant technology for VLSI) implemented with ever smaller transistors is expected to encounter serious problems in the near future with the need for difficult fabrication technologies. The most important problem is heat generation. The desire for device density, power dissipation and performance improvement necessitates new technologies that will provide innovative solutions to integration and computations. Nanotechnology, especially Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) provides new possibilities for computing owing to its unique properties. Numerous nanoelectronic devices are being investigated and many experimental devices have been developed. Thus, high level circuit design is needed to keep pace with changing physical studies. The circuit design aspects of QCA have not been studied much because of its novelty. Arithmetic units, especially multipliers and dividers play an important role in the design of digital processors and application specific systems. Therefore, designs for parallel multipliers and dividers are presented using this technology. Optimal design of parallel multipliers for Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata is explored in this dissertation. As a main basic element to build multipliers, adders are implemented and compared their performances with previous adders. And two different layout schemes that single layer and multi-layer wire crossings are compared and analyzed. This dissertation proposes three kinds of multipliers. Wallace and Dadda parallel multipliers, quasi-modular multipliers, and array multipliers are designed and simulated with several different operand sizes. Also array multipliers that are well suited in QCA are constructed and formed by a regular lattice of identical functional units so that the structure is conformable to QCA technology without extra wire delay. All these designs are constructed using coplanar layouts and compared with other QCA multipliers. The delay, area and complexity are compared for several different operand sizes. This research also studies divider designs for quantum-dot cellular automata. A digit recurrence restoring binary divider is a conventional design that serves as a baseline. By using controlled full subtractor cell units, a relatively simple and efficient implementation is realized. The Goldschmidt divider using the new architecture (data tag method) to control the various elements of the divider is compared for the performance. / text