Heteroepitaxial nanostructures have a diverse array of applications and show novel phenomena that arise from the exotic physics exhibited in reduced dimensions. We have investigated two nano-structured systems in order to gain insights into the dynamics of their nucleation, growth and have observed striking differences, due in part to a competition between lattice strain, surface and interfacial free energies. When Ag is deposited on clean, single-crystal Cu(110), it initially wets the surface with a (111) monolayer, and spontaneously nucleates nanowires as the coverage is increased. The nanowires nucleate at defects and step edges and grow aligned along the [110] direction. In the initial stages of growth, they extend from step edges onto the lower terrace but as their height increases they extend along on the upper terrace as well, growing ~10nm wide and ~2.5nm high. The growth rate for any particular nanowire is found to be nearly independent of its separation from nearby nanowires, indicating that surface diffusion is facile. At elevated temperature (T > ~700K) and in the absence of the Ag flux, the nanowires Ostwald ripen into larger nanobars with widths of 400-800nm where surface adatom diffusion results in the disappearance of smaller nanowires. Collective excitation of the electron gas within these nanowires reflects their distinct quasi-1D structural anisotropy. The dispersion of Ag plasmons has been obtained and along the nanowire axis we find that the plasmon dispersion is linear with momentum transfer and remains constant beyond 0.3/Å. No dispersion is found for the plasmon perpendicular to the nanowire axis, reminiscent of the localized Mie resonance found in clusters. In distinct contrast to Ag grown on Cu(110), where the surface free energy of Ag is smaller than that of the substrate, the structures formed when Co is grown on Ag(110) arise due to the larger surface free energy of the adsorbate. Co prefers to cluster, and grows in the form of nanodots ~0.6nm high and ~2.5nm wide, embedded in Ag to minimize its energy. Upon annealing the Co nanodots sinter and agglomerate and into super-clusters while a portion migrates into the Ag bulk.

A search for the muon neutrino magnetic moment was conducted using the Mini- BooNE low energy neutrino data. The analysis was performed by analyzing the elastic scattering interactions of muon neutrinos on electrons. The analysis looked for an excess of elastic scattering events above the Standard Model prediction from which a limit on the neutrino magnetic could be set. In this thesis, we report an excess of 15.3}6.6(stat)}4.1(syst) elastic scattering events above the expected background. At 90% C.L., we derived a limit on the muon neutrino magnetic moment of 12.7~ 10−10ÊB. The other analysis reported in this thesis is a measurement of charged current single pion production (CCpi+) to charged current quasi elastic (CCQE) interactions cross sections ratio. This measurement was performed with two different fitting algorithms and the results from both fitters are consistent with each other.

Advances in the construction of realistic internucleon interactions together with the advent of massively parallel computers have resulted in a successful utilization of the ab initio approaches to the investigation of properties of light nuclei. The no-core shell model is a prominent ab initio method that yields a good description of the low-lying states in few-nucleon systems as well as in more complex p-shell nuclei. Nevertheless, its applicability is limited by the rapid growth of the many-body basis with larger model spaces and increasing number of nucleons. To extend the scope of the ab initio no-core shell model to heavier nuclei and larger model spaces, we analyze the possibility of augmenting the spherical harmonic oscillator basis with symplectic Sp(3,R) symmetry-adapted configurations of the symplectic shell model which describe naturally the monopole-quadrupole vibrational and rotational modes, and also partially incorporate α-cluster correlations. In our study we project low-lying states of ¹²C and ¹⁶O determined by the no-core shell model with the JISP16 realistic interaction onto Sp(3,R)-symmetric model space that is free of spurious center-of-mass excitations. The eigenstates under investigation are found to project at the 85-90% level onto a few of the most deformed symplectic basis states that span only a small fraction (≈0.001%) of the full model space. The results are nearly independent of whether the bare or renormalized effective interactions are used in the analysis. The outcome of this study points to the relevance of the symplectic extension of the ab initio no-core shell model. Further, it serves to reaffirm the Elliott SU(3) model upon which the symplectic scheme is built. While extensions of this work are clearly going to be required if the theory is to become a model of choice for nuclear structure calculations, these early results seem to suggest that there may be simplicity within the complexity of nuclear structure that has heretofore not been fully appreciated. As follow-on work to what is reported in this thesis, we expect to develop a stand alone shell-model code that builds upon the underlying symmetries of the symplectic model.

Purpose: Treatment planning for x-ray activated Auger electron radiotherapy requires knowledge of the spatial distribution of Auger electron-producing target atoms in DNA; iodine is a candidate atom. Because planning uses computed tomography (CT) data to show anatomy, obtaining the target atoms' distribution with CT methods is an attractive goal. This study evaluates the ability of two available CT systems to measure the target atoms' spatial distribution. Method and Materials: A polychromatic desktop CT scanner and a synchrotron monochromatic CT system acquired images of iodine concentrations in water, ranging from 0.03-10 mg/ml. The polychromatic scanner was operated at 40 kVp while the synchrotron system was operated at 32.5 keV and 33.5 keV. Calibration curves of Hounsfield units (HU) vs. iodine concentration were obtained from each CT set, with minimum detectable iodine concentration defined as the smallest concentration distinguishable from water with contrast-to-noise ratio of 3. K-edge subtraction (KES) analysis was applied to the synchrotron CT data as another quantification method. To determine if iodine uptake could be quantified in vitro, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells grown with iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) were imaged with the synchrotron. Iodine uptake was measured with the HU calibration curve and KES. Results: The expected iodine concentration for breast cancer in vivo is estimated to be 0.06 mg/ml for IUdR. The minimum detectable iodine concentration was 0.1 mg/ml for the 40 kVp polychromatic CT data and 0.1 mg/ml for the synchrotron CT at 33.5 keV; minimum detectability using KES was 0.25 mg/ml. Thus, these current systems could not visualize the estimated target concentration. The measured iodine concentration in the cells was 0.21±0.04 mg/ml using the HU calibration curve and 0.20±0.01 mg/ml using KES, compared to an expected concentration in DNA of 0.001 mg/ml. Conclusions: Using the current acquisition methods, these CT systems proved unable to measure the expected concentration. Improvements may be possible by modifying the acquisition parameters. From the cell image results, CT imaging for treatment planning will quantify both DNA-incorporated iodine and intracellular unincorporated iodine; if the two amounts can be shown to have a stable proportion; CT quantification methods may be satisfactory for treatment planning.

LIGO hosts the worlds most sensitive GW detectors capable of detecting strain of h=10-22 at 100-200Hz. To maximize the amount of useful scientific results LIGO generates, it is necessary to operate the instrument uninterruptedly. However, for ground-based detectors, this is not possible without isolating it from the environmental disturbances, which in most cases is predominated by seismic noise. We examined the recent seismic noise records at LLO and LHO, and found the seismic noise at both sites had decreased from Oct. 1, 2003 to Oct. 1, 2006. No long term trend can be derived from the there-year data studied, however it is clear that the LLO seismic environment has been consistently noisier than that of LHO, from 0.1 to 3Hz, by a factor of 2.4 to 9.0. To cope with noisier ground conditions at LLO, an additional stage of seismic isolation system external to the LLO vacuum tanks was developed. The system is called the Hydraulic External Pre-Isolator (HEPI), which uses position and geophone sensors, ground seismometers, and hydraulic actuators to suppress payload motion. HEPI prototype was designed and tested in 2003 and installed on site in 2004. The first stage of HEPI commissioning was finished by the LLOs fifth science run (S5). The design, control strategy, performance, as well as the problems of the HEPI system at LLO are described in Chapter 3. Based on the isolation HEPI provided, we were able to achieve an operational duty factor of 66.7% and maximum detection range of 15.8Mpc for 1.4 binary neutron star inspiral at LLO in S5. While the current HEPI configuration is stable, it is by no means finalized. Several possible improvements to HEPI are introduced in Chapter 5. These enhancements require minimal to moderate addition and iteration to existing hardware and software, and should improve the isolation performance and stability of the HEPI system.

Purpose: To determine the dosimetric accuracy of a dose reconstruction method used for verification of helical tomotherapy delivery for three different clinical sites. Methods and Materials: A delivery verification and dose reconstruction method has been applied to helical tomotherapy treatment plans of three different treatment sites (head & neck, prostate and lung). Treatment plans were generated on a cylindrical measurement phantom (TomoPhantom) using contours, prescriptions and planning objectives taken from clinical patient plans of the three sites. Film and ion chamber measurements were made for each plan with and without intentional changes in the machine output [-4% to 4%] or leaf open times [-30 ms to +30 ms] to the planned delivery. A TomoTherapy delivery verification tool uses pulse-by-pulse machine CT detector and transmission ion chamber data, extracted at the conclusion of each delivery, to determine the incident energy fluence delivered for each projection. Dose reconstruction was calculated by simulating the delivered energy fluence onto the planning CT. The reconstructed doses were compared with both the measured and planned dose distributions. Results: Measured dose variations for repeated daily deliveries were small, typically within 2%. Greatest differences between the measured dose and planned dose occurred when intentional changes in leaf open times (±30 ms) were made to the delivery. Measured doses from all deliveries were well predicted by the dose reconstruction method, which demonstrated agreement for point doses to within 2%. The dose reconstruction method also demonstrated acceptable agreement with the film dose measurements for all three plans. Comparison of film versus reconstructed dose for all cases showed that over 90% of a selected region of interest had a gamma index of less than 1. Conclusion: The method of dose reconstruction based on machine detector data can account for daily variations in the delivered dose due to machine error. Dosimetric accuracy for the method is acceptable within clinical standards.

Purpose: The present work investigates the impact of intrafraction motion of the chest wall due to respiration on Post Mastectomy Radiotherapy (PMRT) with TomoTherapy. The hypothesis of this work is that the impact of intrafraction motion on TomoTherapy PMRT will be insignificant as (1) the largest intrafraction movement of the chest wall (CW) in the medial-lateral, anterior-posterior, and superior-inferior dimensions will not exceed 1 cm and (2) that 95% of in-vivo CW point doses on the patient surface will be within 5% of calculated dose and all doses within 10% of calculated dose. Methods: 4DCT scans were acquired and intrafraction motion of the CW near mastectomy scar was analyzed for 5 PMRT TomoTherapy patients. In-vivo patient CW dose measurements, acquired for clinical purpose using TLD were analyzed. Measured dose was compared to the TomoTherapy calculated dose. Daily MVCT images were collected and the correlation between the amount of air cavity between CW skin and the bolus and the dose difference between TLD measured and calculated dose was studied for each patient. Surface dose measurement using a CW anthropomorphic phantom was performed to add confidence to the patients data. Results: The maximum anterior posterior (ant-pos) CW movement of our five patients did not exceed 0.15 cm. 28% of the TLD measured doses differed from the calculated dose by more than 5%, and 2% of all data differed from the calculated dose by more than 10%. Slight positive correlation between air cavity between bolus and the CW surface and measured dose difference was observed for both patients and phantom data. Conclusions: The result of this work indicates that the impact of intrafraction motion on TomoTherapy PMRT will be insignificant. Discrepancies between TLD measured CW point dose and calculated dose, but overall, the average dose differences were within 5%. Air cavities created between the bolus and the CW may impact on cause underdosing of the CW surface.

The fields of quantum and nonlinear optics have given rise to a variety of nonclassical states of light that have been proven to surpass certain limitations set by classical physics. Namely, certain squeezed and entangled states have been shown to beat the shot-noise limit when making precision phase measurements in interferometry, as well as write lithographic patterns that are smaller than classically allowed by the Rayleigh diffraction limit. Additionally, single-photon sources and entangled photon pairs have given rise to provably secure quantum key distribution for cryptography. Producing these quantum states of light has proven a difficult task. Nonlinear crystals, when pumped by a laser, produce pairs of single photons via the process of spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC). This process is mediated by the second order nonlinear susceptibility of the material. When pumped in a high gain regime, these crystals give rise to optical parametric amplification, which is a viable source of squeezed light. The vast majority of research in this area has focused on crystals that are seeded by vacuum in their two modes. This dissertation concerns the field of quantum nonlinear optics. It is an investigation into the processes that occur when nonlinear materials interact with the electromagnetic field on the single photon level. I have focused on seeding nonlinear crystals with quantum states of light, including single photons and entangled states. This process results in various states directly applicable to interferometry, imaging, and cryptography. Another application investigated is an absolute radiance measurement via stimulated parametric down conversion resulting from non-vacuum seeding of a nonlinear crystal. Additionally, other nonlinear processes, including four-wave mixing, nonlinear magneto-optical effects and coherent population trapping in warm atomic vapor involving quantum states of light are investigated. The process of seeding third-order nonlinear interactions, such as in atomic vapors, gives rise to a variety of interesting, nonclassical phenomena such as entangled image transfer and nonlocal imaging. Strong analogies between SPDC and four-wave mixing are drawn. I also experimentally show an all optical pi-only phase shift of one light beam via another in warm Cesium vapor.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the interplay between gating window characteristics and target margin required to compensate for residual motion during the gating window. This project investigated the accuracy of ExacTrac and 4DCT imaging localizing an implanted coil at various phases of respiration. Radiochromic film measured delivered dose patterns for selected gating intervals over a variety of respiratory patterns. In order to establish accurate dosimetry, this project implemented and tested an EBT radiochromic film dosimetry system. Film testing showed that the performance of a medical grade Vidar Dosimetry Pro radiographic film scanner and an Epson V700 Photo flatbed scanner were very similar. Both scanners showed nearly the same performance in terms of measurement repeatability, noise, vertical and horizontal uniformity over a range of doses from 11.5-511.9 cGy. The Vidar was selected for these studies due to clinical availability. Even at the greatest coil velocities observed, ExacTrac coil localization agreed with calculated coil motion to within 0.8 mm. 4DCT showed errors up to 5.5 mm resolving coil position during large respiratory-induced velocities. 4DCT accurately measured the coil length within 1 mm of actual coil length at end expiration/inhalation. 4DCT can provide an accurate representation of the phantom at end-respiration for treatment planning purposes, and ExacTrac can accurately localize the coil to determine target motion in all phases For patient treatments it is suggested that target margins should be set using the residual motion during gating. For patients without implanted coils, the residual motion can be computed based on the target motion measured from 4DCT and the size of the gating window. For patients with implanted coils, the ExacTrac system can be used to directly measure residual tumor motion during gating. The hypothesis of this work was that gated delivery combined with 4DCT could limit internal margins to less than 3 mm while maintaining 95% prescription dose coverage of moving targets. The hypothesis was found to be true for gating windows of 10% and 20% for target motions up to 25 mm and was true with gating windows up to 50% for smaller motions (5 & 10 mm).

In this dissertation we begin with a brief introduction of quantum mechanics, its impact on technology in the 20th century, and the likely impact quantum optics will have on the next generation of technology. The following chapters display research performed in many of these next generation areas. In Chapter 2 we describe work performed in the area of designing quantum optical logic gates for use in quantum computing. In Chapter 3 we discuss findings made in regards to using quantum states of light for remote sensing and imaging. We move on to Fabry-Perot interferometers in Chapter 4 and show discoveries made in the differences between classical and non-classical detection schemes with non-classical states of light. Lastly, in Chapter 5 we discuss how to create photonic bandgap coatings that have unique thermal emissivity properties that could have benefits ranging from increased energy efficiency in light bulbs to better thermal management of satellites.