Piezoelectric bimorph thin films may hold solutions for many future applications, such as lightweight deployable mirrors and inflatable struts. Non-contact actuation by an electron gun has shown promise in preventing issues that arise from attaching many wire leads to a thin film surface. This study investigates piezoelectric bimorph thin film response to electron gun actuation when covered with multiple spatial regions of control. Desired parameter ranges are found that will lead to predictable control under certain circumstances. Under such circumstances, film response is influenced almost solely by the primary electrons incident on the film, and secondary electrons have negligible effect. Such information is vital before attempting closed loop control of a thin-film piezoelectric mirror with multiple electrodes.

The various electronic phenomena of electrons in the quasi-one-dimensional semiconducotor heterostructures have been largely investigated in the past research, due to its importance both on the theoretical understanding and the design of nanodevices. In particular, most research is currently based on the GaAs-AIGaAs material system with a 2-DEG interface. From the study of Hua Wu, following the Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics, energetic electrons approximately approach the classical behavior. The goal of this theoretical study is to investigate how the flow of energetic electrons may be controlled by the use of a tunable reflector. When encountering hard potential walls, energetic electrons in the nanostructure nearly follow the law of reflection. In addition, if the hard potential walls function as a reflector, the bouncing ball trajectory is also predicted. In this project, the fact that energetic electrons demonstrate semi-classical periodical flow motion is conceptually verified.The quantum wire (QW) with a tab and a notch nanostructure is selected as the practical model to achieve the project's goal. The resonant properties of the QW with a tab and the QW with a notch are individually investigated. The tight-binding recursive Green's function method is the theory underlying the numerical computation of the conductance in a nanodevice. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

Transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in high magnetic fields are used to investigate scattering processes affecting the resistivity of GaAs-GaAlAs and GaInAs-InP heterojunctions and quantum wells: especially coupling of electrons to acoustic and optic phonons; and transitions between electric subbands. The experiments fall into two groups: A systematic study of magnetophonon resonance (MPR) between 30K and 300K. Resonance positions indicate a coupling substantially below the LO phonon energy, expected from 3D measurements. GaAs-GaAlAs hetero junctions show amplitudes varying smoothly with electron density (n_s) and closely related to the 4K mobility. On rotation in magnetic field they decrease rapidly as the resonance position returns to the LO value. In modulation doped structures the damping factor is determined by remote impurity scattering. As n_s is increased in GaInAs-InP the coupling frequency decreases dramatically from the GaAs-like LO at 272cm^-1 to the InAs-like TO at 226cm^-1. At higher electric fields the 'normal' MPR maxima invert, starting at low magnetic fields, to form 'hot electron' MPR minima, with maximum amplitude at ~60K. This is the first direct observation of HEMPR in 2D and is explained in a diffusion picture. At lower electric fields, additional resonances are identified with resonant cooling by inter-subband scattering. Comparisons are made with calculations and explanations sought including consideration of interface phonons; coupled plasmon-phonon modes; and shifts of the resonance positions due to the shape of the density of states. Low temperature magnetoresistance measurements in GaAs-GaAlAs heterojunctions with more than one occupied electric subband. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in perpendicular magnetic fields contain non-additive terms at electron temperatures > 2K where acoustic phonon mediated inter-subband scattering is comparable to intra-subband scattering. Subband separations and greatly enhanced g-factors [largest for electrons in the upper subband ] are deduced from the oscillations. Damping of the oscillations in field, gives values for quantum lifetimes (τ_s), much smaller than τ_tʼ, deduced from mobility. With two subbands occupied τ_s is always largest for the upper subband, while relative sizes of τ_t depend on sample quality. Study of electron energy loss rates, from thermal damping of the oscillations, shows enhancement in the region kT_e ~ ħω_cʼ, which is evidence for cyclotron phonon emission. Depopulating subbands in parallel fields causes the resistance to drop, by up to 60%, due to suppression of inter-subband scattering. Systematic studies show this scattering rate is independent of n_s.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May, 2007." Includes bibliographical references. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Australian National University, 2006.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 188-190). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Glasgow, 2002. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, 2002. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis (M.S. in Applied Physics and M.S. in Electrical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): William B. Colson, Phillip E. Pace. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-102). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-71).

Dissertation (Ph.D.) --University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at San Antonio, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.