Dynamic logic circuits are highly suitable for high-speed applications, considering the fact that they have a smaller area and faster transition. However, their application in space or other radiation-rich environments has been significantly inhibited by their susceptibility to radiation effects. This work begins with the basic operations of dynamic logic circuits, elaborates upon the physics underlying their radiation vulnerability, and evaluates three techniques that harden dynamic logic from the layout: drain extension, pulse quenching, and a proposed method. The drain extension method adds an extra drain to the sensitive node in order to improve charge sharing, the pulse quenching scheme utilizes charge sharing by duplicating a component that offsets the transient pulse, and the proposed technique takes advantage of both. Domino buffers designed using these three techniques, along with a conventional design as reference, were modeled and simulated using a 3D TCAD tool. Simulation results confirm a significant reduction of soft error rate in the proposed technique and suggest a greater reduction with angled incidence. A 130 nm chip containing designed buffer and register chains was fabricated and tested with heavy ion irradiation. According to the experiment results, the proposed design achieved 30% soft error rate reduction, with 19%, 20%, and 10% overhead in speed, power, and area, respectively.

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Concentration quenching effect in ytterbium (Yb) and neodymium (Nd) doped phosphate glasses, thulium (Tm) doped germanate glass, and praseodymium (Pr) doped tellurite glass were studied. The fluorescence and lifetime of these rare-earth doped glasses with different concentrations were measured. Ion pair and clustering are included in the model to explain the quenching effect occurring in highly doped glasses. This study will help us in designing and fabricating high unit gain optical fibers.

Investigation of the NIR cyanine dye MHI-36 shows binding affinity to charged amino acids. This cyanine dye showed aggregation and dimer formation at higher dye concentration (2.0x10-3 M) induced by lysine. When dye concentration decreased to 1.0x10-4M no strong aggregate formation was viewed. Dye shows strong binding and selectivity properties towards charged amino acids lysine and arginine, compared to neutral leucine. It’s believed the positively charged presence was able to break and disrupt the conjugated π- π bonds at lower dye concentration. Computational work showed intramolecular aggregation of the phenyl groups on the dye. These aggregates are believed to create electron rich environment suitable for lysine interaction.

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Achieving tunability of two dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) functions calls for the introduction of hybrid 2D materials by means of localized interactions with zero dimensional (0D) materials. A metal-semiconductor interface, as in gold (Au) - molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), is of great interest from the standpoint of fundamental science as it constitutes an outstanding platform to investigate optical and electronic properties due to charge transfer. The applied aspects of such systems introduce new options for electronics, photovoltaics, detectors, catalysis, and biosensing. Here in this dissertation, we study the charge transfer interaction between Au nanoparticals and MoS2 flakes and its effect on Photoluminescence and electronic transport properties. The MoS2 was mechanically exfoliated from bulk single crystal. Number of layers in the flake was identified with the help of AFM and Raman Spectra. Au was deposited by physical vapor deposition method (PVD) in multiple steps to decorate MoS2 flakes. We first study the photoluminescence of pristine and Au decorated MoS2 and shows that in the presence of Au, the photoluminescence of MoS2 quenches significantly. We infer that the PL quenching can be attributed to a change in the electronic structure of the MoS2-Au system. The difference in Fermi level of a of MoS2 and Au results in a 0.4 eV energy level offset, which causes a band bending in the MoS2-Au hybrid. Upon illumination, the electrons in the excited state of MoS2 transfer to Au, leaving a hole behind, thus cause p-doping in MoS2. As electrons from MoS2 are transferred to Au, they do not decay back to their initial ground state, leading to PL quenching in the hybrid system. To study the effect of Au deposition on electronic properties of ultra-thin and multilayers MoS2 flakes, we have fabricated MoS2 FETs from (1) ultra-thin sample (2-4 MoS2 layers) and (2) multilayers samples (more than 20 layers). After each deposition of Au, we measured the electrical characteristics of FET at room temperature. We show that the threshold voltage shifts towards the positive gate voltage as we increase the thickness of Au. This shift in threshold voltage is indicative of p doping of the MoS2. We further show that the field effect mobility of MoS2 FET decrease with Au thickness. We have quantitatively estimated the charge transferring from MoS2 to Au.

This dissertation demonstrates that substantial ductility improvement is possible for low-manganese transformation induced plasticity steel compositions through the quenching and partitioning heat treatment approach using a Gleeble thermo-mechanical simulator. Two investigated compositions had unique microstructures and mechanical behavior from an identical applied quenching and partitioning process. Electron backscattered diffraction analyses indicate that Comp-2 and Comp-5 both contained retained austenite which resulted in enhanced ductility. The face-centered cubic phase (austenite) more efficiently mitigates strain incompatibilities when located at martensitic grain boundaries known for hot spots and damage initiation. This location effect leads to enhanced ductility and improved toughness in a lean, transformation induced plasticity steel. However, the increase in ductility in Comp-2 and Comp-5 is limited; the partitioning of carbon cannot stabilize austenite to reach strength/ductility targets set by the Department of Energy. Comp-2 and Comp-5 lack sufficient manganese to stabilize austenite to a higher degree. Chem-2A will be explored to determine if the partitioning stage can stabilize austenite closer to the martensite finish temperature. Periodic intercritical annealing will be applied to Chem-1A to see if mechanical properties can be increased further than current research values. Ultimately, through literature, Manganese is proven to be a more effective austenite stabilizer than carbon, and with tailored heat-treatment, the DOE targets can be reached.

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