An RFI plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system and a large-scale RF plasma source immersion ion implantation (PSII) system were designed and built to study two forms of 3-D surface processing, PECVD and PSII. Using the RFI PECVD system, Ti-6Al-4V substrates were coated with diamond-like carbon films with excellent tribological and optical properties. as an innovation, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) was successfully applied for non-destructive, 3-D, large-area tribological coatings quality investigation.;Based on the experience with the RFI PECVD system, a large-scale RFICP source was designed and built for the PSIL Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy studies indicated that the RFI source produced stable, uniform, and clean plasma. MAGIC code was for the first time used to model PSII process, addressing different target geometries and boundaries, materials, plasma parameters, illustrated sheath formation and evolution, field distribution, ion and electron trajectories, ion incident angles, and dose distributions, which are critical for PSII design and understanding.;The RF PSII system was developed into a versatile large-area, uniform, 3-D surface processing apparatus, capable of PSII, PVD, PECVD, and in situ surface cleaning and interface properties modification, for multilayer, multi-step, and high performance surface engineering. Using the RFI PSII system, for the first time, PSII was studied as a mask-based surface layer conversion technique, for pattern writing by implantation as an alternative to current deposition-based and ink-based direct write technologies. It operates at low substrate temperature, keeps the original surface finish and dimensions, and avoids adhesion problem. A different operating mode of the RF source was discovered to perform biased sputtering of high purity quartz, which turned the RFI PSII system into a novel integrated RF PSII/PVD system for large-area, uniform, nitrogen-doped, and hydrogen-free SiO2 films deposition at low substrate temperatures. Nitrogen-doped SiO2 films with excellent optical properties were deposited on semiconductor, metal, and polymer substrates with excellent adhesion. Ellipsometry was used again for non-destructive SiO2 coatings investigation. FEL test electrodes processed by PSII/PVD showed suppressed field emission. A group of transition metals and an FEL test electrode were also implanted by nitrogen using the PSII mode and analyzed.

Ultrashort pulsed lasers have become critical to understanding light-matter interactions in new regimes such as generation of attosecond pulses, laser filamentation, and intense relativistic processes. Development of more powerful and energetic ultrafast lasers is required for advancing these fields of study. Several petawatt class systems now exist with more in development to further scale peak power and extend the frontier of ultrafast laser technology. Another relevant solution to the scaling of energy and power of ultrashort pulses is coherent beam combining (CBC). CBC is useful for not only scaling of laser parameters but also to mitigate parasitic nonlinear processes associated with high-intensity ultrashort pulses. In addition CBC is flexible and can be implemented as part of other techniques for ultrashort pulse amplification such as optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA). In this thesis, CBC of ultrashort laser pulses is investigated based upon the method known as divided-pulse amplification (DPA). Active, passive and hybrid DPA have been achieved in a flashlamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser seeded from a Ti:sapphire mode-locked laser. Picosecond pulses at a repetition rate of 2.5 Hz were amplified and combined to record energy of 216 mJ with a combination efficiency of 80%. Engineering of the Nd:YAG amplifier chain for high-efficiency energy extraction is presented. In addition, phasing of actively divided pulses with a CW pilot laser co-propagating with the pulsed beam is also demonstrated. Analysis of multiple DPA configurations shows the viability of the method for a variety of different laser architectures including discussion of design restrictions.

The pyrolysis mechanics of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablators (PICA) makes it a valued material for use in thermal protection systems for spacecraft atmospheric re-entry. The present study of the interaction of pyrolysis gases and char with plasma gases in the boundary layer over PICA and its substrate, FiberForm, extends previous work on this topic that has been done in the UVM 30 kW Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Torch Facility. Exposure of these material samples separately to argon, nitrogen, oxygen, air, and carbon dioxide plasmas, and combinations of said test gases provides insight into the evolution of the pyrolysis gases as they react with the different environments. Measurements done to date include time-resolved absolute emission spectroscopy, location-based temperature response, flow characterization of temperature, enthalpy, and enthalpy flux, and more recently, spatially resolved and high-resolution emission spectroscopy, all of which provide measure of the characteristics of the pyrolysis chemistry and material response. Flow characterization tests construct an general knowledge of the test condition temperature, composition, and enthalpy. Tests with relatively inert argon plasmas established a baseline for the pyrolysis gases that leave the material. Key pyrolysis species such as CN Violet bands, NH, OH and Hydrogen Alpha (Hα) lines were seen with relative repeatability in temporal, spectral, and intensity values. Tests with incremental addition, and static mixtures, of reactive plasmas provided a preliminary image of how the gases interacted with atmospheric flows and other pyrolysis gases. Evidence of a temporal relationship between NH and Hα relating to nitrogen addition is seen, as well as a similar relationship between OH and Hα in oxygen based environments. Temperature analysis highlighted the reaction of the material to various flow conditions and displayed the in depth material response to argon and air/argon plasmas. The development of spatial emission analysis has been started with the hope of better resolving the previously seen pyrolysis behavior in time and space.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a unique class of smart materials exhibiting extraordinary properties with a wide range of applications in engineering, biomedical, and aerospace technologies. In this study, an advanced, efficient, low-cost, and highly scalable laser-assisted imprinting method with low environmental impact to create thermally controllable surface patterns is reported. Two different imprinting methods were carried out mainly on Ni50Ti50 (at. %) SMAs by using a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm wavelength and 10 Hz frequency. First, laser pulses at selected fluences were directly focused on the NiTi surface, which generated pressure pulses of up to a few gigapascal (GPa), and thus created micro-indents. Second, a suitable transparent overlay serving as a confining medium, a sacrificial layer, and a mesh grid was placed on the NiTi sample, whereafter the laser was focused through the confinement medium, ablating the sacrificial layer to create plasma and pressure, and thus pushing and transferring the grid pattern onto the sample. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and laser profiler images show that surface patterns with tailorable sizes and high fidelity could be obtained. The depth of the patterns was shown to increase and later level off with the increase in laser power and irradiation time. Upon heating, the depth profile of the imprinted SMA surfaces changed where the maximum depth recovery ratio of 30 % was observed. Recovery ratio decreased and saturated at about 15 % when the number of pulses were increased. A numerical simulation of the laser irradiation process was performed showing that considerably high pressure and temperature could be generated depending on the laser fluence. The stress wave closely followed the rise time of the laser pulse to its peak value and followed by the rapid attenuation and dispersion of the stress through the sample.

A code that solves the coupled electron drift kinetic and temperature equations has been written to study the effects of collisionality and particle trapping on temperature equilibration along magnetic field lines. A Chapman-Enskog-like approach is adopted with the time-dependent distribution function written as the sum of a dynamic Maxwellian and a kinetic distortion expanded in Legendre polynomials. The drift kinetic equation is solved on a discrete grid in normalized speed, and an FFT algorithm is used to treat the onedimensional spatial domain along the magnetic field. The dependence of the steady-state temperature on collisionality and magnetic well depths is discussed in detail. As collisionality decreases (increasing background temperature), temperature variations decrease. As magnetic well depth increases (at fixed collisionality), temperature variations along the field line increase.

Electron orbital theory was applied to the design of the geometrical structure of an electron multiplier for an image intensifier. A special structure satisfying production requirements was studied. Electron optical calculations consisted of determining the potential distribution and tracing the electron trajectories. Liebmann’s procedure was used to solve Laplace’s equation with constant potentials on the multiplier electrodes as boundary conditions. The trajectories were determined by solving the equation of motion in an electrostatic field using a Runge-Kutta procedure. The initial conditions for the trajectories were the initial energies, initial positions, and the initial directions of the secondary electrons. The plotted trajectories indicated the feasibility of an electron multiplier of the type studied.

Often electron micrographs exhibit a repeating structure. Sometimes this repeating structure satisfies the definition of a crystal in that it has a three dimensional repeating structure. If the unit cell structure of this repeating structure can be determined it can be used to help categorize different sections of a particular sample. In some cases, the use of optical diffraction analysis of electron micrographs with repeating structure is a method of determining the unit cell structure. Samples of β-Lactoglobulin were prepared for viewing in the electron microscope using both the crystalline material and carbon replicas of the crystal surface. Because the crystalline material was very unstable in the electron beam, images adequate for use as diffraction gratings could not be obtained. Electron images from the replicas were used to generate the optical diffraction patterns in this paper. The structure of β-Lactoglobulin has been determined previously by X-ray diffraction analysis. This information was used to assist in the interpretation of the optical diffraction patterns. Electron micrographs and optical diffraction patterns were recorded which were found to be consistent with the structure of β-Lactoglobulin which were found to be consistent with the structure of β-Lactoglobulin as determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The unit cell dimensions were determined to be a = 58±4Å, b = 59±3Å and c = 102±12Å.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether it is feasible to use Langmuir probes on pico-satellites flying in low Earth orbit over mid- to low-latitude geographic regions. Following chapters on the expected ionospheric conditions and an overview of Langmuir probe theory, a chapter addressing the difficulties involved with pico-satellite Langmuir probes is presented. Also, the necessary satellite-to-probe surface area requirements in order to achieve confidence in pico-satellite Langmuir probe data, for the orbital regions of interest to this thesis, are stated.

The path explored in this thesis is testing a plasma temperature measurement approach that accounts for interference in a spectrum. The Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES) technique used is called Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and involves focusing a laser pulse to a high irradiance onto a sample to induced a plasma. Spectrally analyzing the plasma light provides a "finger print" or spectrum of the sample. Unfortunately, spectral line broadening is a type of interference encountered in a LIBS spectrum because it blends possible ionic or atomic transitions that occur in plasma. To make use of the information or transitions not resolved in a LIBS spectrum, a plasma temperature method is developed. The basic theory of a LIBS plasma, broadening mechanisms, thermal equilibrium and distribution laws, and plasma temperature methods are discussed as background support for the plasma temperature method tested in this thesis. In summary, the plasma temperature method analyzes the Full Width at Half the Maximum (FWHM) of each spectral line for transitions provided from a database and uses them for temperature measurements. The first implementation of the temperature method was for simulated spectra and the results are compared to other conventional temperature measurement techniques. The temporal evolution of experimental spectra are also taken as a function of time to observe if the newly developed temperature technique can perform temporal measurements. Lastly, the temperature method is tested for a simulated, single element spectrum when considering interferences from all the elements provided in an atomic database. From stimulated and experimental spectra analysis to a global database consideration, the advantages and disadvantages of the temperature method are discussed.

For certain nonlinear Schroedinger equations there exist solutions which are called solitary waves. Addition of a potential $V$ changes the dynamics, but for small enough $||V||_{L^\infty}$ we can still obtain stability (and approximately Newtonian motion of the solitary wave's center of mass) for soliton-like solutions up to a finite time that depends on the size and scale of the potential $V$. Our method is an adaptation of the well-known Lyapunov method. For the sake of completeness, we also prove long-time stability of traveling solitons in the case $V=0$.