No description available.

M.Sc. (Physics) / Amorphous silicon is one of the most promising materials for large area solar cells for terestrial photovoltaic applications. Unfortunately these cells suffer from two serious problems: the efficiencies drop when laboratory processes are scaled up and the cells degrade after some exposure to sunlight. The exact causes of these two problems are still unknown. In this project some aspects of the latter problem were investigated. The photo-degradation was investigated by illuminating films of a-Si:H with simulated sunlight for different periods of time and then thermally annealing them. The change in the optical properties were investigated with the aid of optical transmission spectroscopy. The films were also characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy. The change in the electrical properties of the intrinsic films was determined as function of temperature and total photon flux. No change in the optical properties could be detected. The illumination had-no effect on the FTIR measurements. It seems as if the hydrogen is not involved in the microscopic processes leading to the Staebler-Wronski Effect (SWE). The effect of the photo-degradation manifests itself in a drop in the the dark conductivity and photoconductivity over the total temperature range that was investigated. The observed phenomena are explained in terms of photo-induced deep levels in the gap. The Fermi level shifts to the middle of the gap due to these defect states, causing a drop in the free carrier concentration and conductivity. The measurements of photoconductivity as function of photon energy show that these defect levels increase the absorption coefficient in the long wavelength region, but they also decrease the lifetime of the photo-generated carriers. The photo-induced defects were investigated with the CPM-technique. It was found that the light introduced defects deep in the band gap. The concentration of the defects increases with illumination, but saturates after about 24 hours of illumination. The defects could be annealed almost completely. The microscopic processes causing the photo-degradation of α Si:H solar cells were investigated by comparing the different theoretical models explaining the SWE with the results obtained during this project.

This project examines how the collective oscillation of electrons in optically excited metal nanoparticles ( diameter < 100 nm) is affected by the presence of different dielectric environments. When coupled with material polarization, these collective oscillations are known as a Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs), which preferentially absorb and scatter light at a specific frequency satisfying the Local Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) condition. Surface plasmons on metal nanoparticles are widely studied for use in optical labeling, ultrasensitive biodetection, and thermally activated tissue treatment. In general Mie theory can be used to accurately model the optical behavior of ideal spherical particles in a homogeneous environment. However, many experiments involving LSPRs deal with metal nanoparticles in inhomogeneous environments; a typical experimental procedure involves the deposition of a colloidal suspension of metal nanoparticles directly onto a substrate. This project explains how the LSPR of nanoparticles deposited onto planar substrates depends upon the polarization of incident radiation, and demonstrates evidence of resonance tuning by comparing the optical response in various dielectric environments.

This work describes the synthesis pathways to the development of optically and thermally responsive nanovalves with fast response times in nanoporous membranes. As an approach, we developed synthesis pathways to couple a thermally responsive polymer with metallic nanoparticles and build a nanocomposite that synergizes the capability of metallic nanoparticles to convert light into heat, and the fast thermal response exhibited by the polymeric material. In addition, we developed a technique to immobilize the synthesized nanocomposite to the surface of nanoporous membranes, which allowed building valves with light and heat triggering responses. This dissertation describes two syntheses pathways developed to produce optically and thermally responsive nanocomposites by coupling metallic nanoparticles, gold and silver, with a thermally responsive polymer, p-N-isopropyl acrylamide (PNIPAM). The coupling is achieved by using PNIPAM as a capping and nucleating agent in the in situ redox reaction of a silver salt with sodium borohydride, and using PNIPAM as a capping and stabilizing agent in the redox reaction of a gold salt with ascorbic acid. The size and shape of the nanoparticles were controlled and the synthesized nanocomposites exhibit “cocoon-like” structures due to the PNIPAM surrounding the metal nanoparticles, giving the capability to aggregate and resolubilize, through many thermal (shown for gold and silver nanocomposites) and optical (shown by exposing to 532 nm wavelength low-power lasers) cycles. The steady state and dynamic heat conduction of the heat generated from the particles was modeled and the results agreed with the observed optical switching at our experimental conditions. Finally, a method to incorporate nanocomposites into nanoporous membranes (NPM) was developed. It involved prior immobilization of PNIPAM through plasma-induced grafting, followed by a reduction in situ of a metallic salt. The composite NPMs showed thermal responses and through simulation of heat conduction within the pores using the model developed in this work we were able to conclude that the synthesized composite membranes will exhibit optical switching when exposed to focused low power lasers. The nanovalves developed in this work have potential applications as optothermally responsive valves for the spatio-temporal delivery of bioactive agents, cell array, and advanced cell culture systems. / text

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Cyanobacterial blooms are currently one of the most important issues faced by environmental agencies, water authorities and public health organizations. Remote sensing provides an advanced approach to monitor cyanobacteria by detecting and quantifying chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and phycocaynin (PC). In this thesis, an analytical bio-optical model, more typically applied to ocean waters, was modified to accommodate the complexity of inland waters. The newly developed models work well to estimate inherent optical properties, including absorption and backscattering coefficients, in eight different study sites distributed around the globe. Based on derived absorption coefficients, Chl-a and PC concentrations were accurately retrieved for data sets collected annually from 2006 to 2010, and the estimation accuracy exceeded that of currently used algorithms. An important advantage of the model is that low concentrations of Chl-a and PC can be predicted more accurately, enabling early warning of cyanobacterial blooms. In addition, the results also indicated good spatial and temporal transferability of the algorithms, since no specific calibration procedures were required for data sets collected in a different sites and seasons. The compatibility of the newly developed algorithm with MERIS spectra provides the possibility for routine surveillance of cyanobacterial growth in inland waters.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1953 W57 / Master of Science

The electronic bandstructure of solids near room temperature has been successfully explored with previous versions of modulation spectroscopy. Modulation of parameters which enter into the bandstructure produce a dielectric function variation. This changes the optical observables, such as reflectance or absorptance. Modulation resonances are observed near singularities in the joint density-of-states function. These resonances must also be detectable in the emittance, an observable which also depends on the dielectric function. Thus, this work investigates the possibility of detection of optical resonances riding on the temperature derivative of the blackbody emission from a solid at high temperature. The modulated emittance was separated from the thermal background by a detection scheme utilizing a CCD and computer. The resonances were not observed because of excessive CCD noise. The existance and magnitude of the resonances was based upon results from other modulation spectroscopies.

This thesis addresses one of the major limiting factors in the performance of photomultipliers, that is that the photocathodes employed often only absorb a small fraction, typically less than 25%, of the power in the incident light. Current photocathodes are almost exclusively planar and the starting point of the thesis is the mathematical modelling of both, semitransparent and reflective planar photocathodes. The analysis shows that the absorptance of semitransparent photocathodes increases for light incident beyond the critical angle needed for Attenuated Total Internal Reflection (ATIR). Reflective type planar photocathodes could certainly have their absorptance enhanced by use of silver rather than nickel substrates, as increases in absorptance of 2-3 times are possible for red light. The proposed method for remedying the inherent loss in sensitivity of photomultipliers caused by the non-total absorption of light in the photocathode was to employ a ridged substrate in the photocathode. The ridged substrate, glass or metal for semitransparent and reflective type photocathodes respectively, allows the light multiple interactions with the photoemissive layer. In the case of semitransparent photocathodes ATIR would mean no power is transmitted for those interactions that take place beyond the critical angle of incidence. The mathematical modelling and subsequent analysis of ridged photocathodes show enhanced absorptance (20-30 fold improvements are certainly achievable), especially for light in the red end of the operating spectral range. Further gains in quantum efficiency can follow by the reduction of the optimum photocathode thickness, resulting from the structure, while maintaining high absorptance. Some subwavelength structures are also modelled and analysed to ascertain whether this route could be used to improve the absorptance of photocathodes, the results are inconclusive but generally indicate anti-reflective, rather than absorbing properties. Finally the extremely sparse nature of published permitivity data has been rectified by our own measurements for the permitivities of certain photocathodes over a wide wavelength range.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy