Thesis (M.A.)--Washington State University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62) and filmography (p. 63-64). Also available in an online multimedia version.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-131). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

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Passive intrinsic bistability is of great interest. Our Fabry-Perot interference filters exhibit bistability due to a temperature dependent refractive index. Operating across the entire viable spectrum permits wide application to the demonstration and development of concepts for optical computing. Thermal evaporation of zinc sulfide and chiolite is used to produce Fabry-Perot interference filters. The effect of the thickness of the spacer, and reflectivities of the mirrors, on the nonlinear characteristics of these devices is investigated. The mathematic description of these etalon's linear, as well as their nonlinear, behavior is presented. The experimental apparatus is described. Measured values of the minimum critical detuning and minimum observed power are presented.

3He-4He mixture films adsorbed on graphite were studied down to temperatures below 1 mK using heat capacity and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to probe the system. This work represents the first measurements in this temperature range of the various systems studied. The work focused on two types of mixtures, 3He °He mixtures within the second layer, and 'He floating on three layers of 4He. For mixtures within the layer, a homogeneous mixed phase was observed, followed by a phase interpreted as a Fermi liquid of 'He quasiparticle excitations tunneling within a solid 'He lattice. For the second type of mixture, the expected occupancy of the first excited surface normal state was observed. This is accompanied by anomalous behaviour at low temperatures (T < 10 mK) which arises due to a low concentration of 3He atoms being pushed into the third superfluid 4He layer. An NMR spectrometer utilising a cooled differential preamplifier operating at 4K was developed and used to measure the magnetic properties of helium mixtures. However, its signal to noise ratio was too low to provide the required accuracy in the measurements. An automated computer controlled data acquisition system was also developed to measure heat capacity and magnetic properties of the mixtures. The accompanying software required to process the data collected from both types of measurements was also developed and used successfully to obtain the data presented in this thesis

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published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy