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The dielectric properties of polymeric thin films (100-200 nm) are hard to measure with the standard approaches as the samples aren't free standing necessitating a supporting substrate. Consequently, a planar interdigitated sample holder has been designed to hold the thin film where the polymeric capacitance was derived from the passing fringing fields. The electrodes were fabricated by creating 120 nm trenches in a SiO2/Si wafer; 20 nm Cr was deposited as an adhesion layer prior to the deposition of Cu by thermal evaporation. The electrical measurements were implemented using HP 4294A and a probe station. Devices of 20 to 70 fingers were measured and the results were compared to the analytical and finite element simulation. At 10 KHz, the total measured capacitance of a 20-finger device was about 8 pF with 3 % represented the polymeric contribution. The measurements differed from the calculations or finite modeling results by about 12%.

Nanosecond pulse electroporation of biological cells is gaining significant interest due to its ability to influence intracellular structures. In nanosecond pulse electroporation of biological cells nanosecond duration pulses with high frequency spectral content are applied to the cell. In this research we show that accurate modeling of the nanosecond pulse electroporation process requires considering the effect of the membrane dielectric relaxation on the electric potential across the membrane. We describe the dielectric relaxation of the membrane as dispersion in the time-domain and incorporate it into the nonlinear asymptotic model of electroporation. Our nonlinear dispersive model of a biological cell is solved using finite element method in 3-D space enabling arbitrary cell structures and internal organelles to be modeled. The simulation results demonstrate two essential differences between dispersive and non-dispersive membrane models: the process of electroporation occurs faster when the membrane dispersion is considered, and the minimum required electric field to electroporate the cell is significantly reduced for the dispersive model.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D) -- McMaster University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-214). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-132). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-134). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.