The design and construction of a coincidence spectrometer and its application to the study of the decay of Os¹⁹³ are presented. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

The electronic band structure of a semiconductor is an essential property to determine most of its optical characteristics. The complexity of the energy band structure calculations makes analytical calculations impossible. Any calculation leading to electronic band structures has to utilize numerical methods. In this thesis, two solvers were developed to calculate the energy band structure of 1D Kronig-Penney lattice, 30 diamond lattice-structure and silicon lattice. In this thesis, many of the important methods of calculating the energy band structures were discussed. Through comparisons among different methods, we have determined that Self-Consistent Pseudopotential Method, SCPM, is the most suitable method for calculating the energy band structures when self-sufficiency and accuracy are of special importance. The SCPM is an iterative method which was utilized in this thesis by using efficient numerical methods. Instead of using conventional numerical methods such as Finite Difference Method or Finite Element Method which cause inefficiency, this thesis calculates the energy band structure by utilizing Orthogonal Plane-Wave expansion of the potentials. The 1D electronic band structure solver was developed as a foundation for the implementation of the 30 electronic band structure solver. It uses a minimal number of Fourier coefficients to calculate the energy band structure of the 1D Lattices without compromising accuracy. The 30 electronic band structure solver development needs multiple changes and modifications to the 1D solver. As the 30 solver is essentially made using the 10 solver platform, it is also efficient and needs a minimal number of Fourier coefficients for accurate results. The 30 solver can be used for either Nearly Free Electron Method, NFEM, or SCPM calculations. The NFEM calculations were done on the diamond lattice structure. The results were shown to be the same as the benchmarks of [28, 80]. The silicon lattice energy band structure was also calculated with the 30 solver using SCPM with LOA. The results were in the same range as the four sets of data gathered from three benchmarks [58, 81, 82], showing good agreement. Based on the two comparisons made for the 30 solver, it was shown that it is a reliable and efficient program to calculate energy band structures of the 30 lattices. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The major experimental problems involved in this investigation were two in number. The first problem was that of obtaining an accurate calibration of the electron microscope to be used for making electron micrographs. This was done by comparison with a secondary standard. A Bausch and Lomb Type ILS metalloscope, which was calibrated by use of a steel grating furnished by the manufacturer, was used as the secondary standard. The second problem was the examination of yellow iron oxide pigments manufactured by three major manufacturers for the purpose of comparing individual pigment particles and also determining particle shape and dimensions. Both problems were successfully solved and the following observations were made: 1. The magnification of the RCA Type ENC electron microscope used in the investigation is 4274. 2. The particle size and structure of yellow iron oxide paint pigments made by different manufacturers are the same, i.e., 0.5 micron by 0.1 micron and rod-like in structure. / Master of Science

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Physics / Carlos Trallero / This report presents the details of an electron time-of-flight (ETOF) spectrometer to be used for characterizing ultrafast electric field pulses. The pulses will range in pulse-duration from femtosecond to attoseconds and in wavelength from the far infrared (FIR) to the extreme ultra violet (XUV). By measuring the photoelectrons in the presence of two electric fields and their quantum interference we will be able to extract the amplitude and phase of the electric field. For XUV pulses this is the well-known streaking and Reconstruction of Attosecond Beating by Interference of Two-Photon Transition (RABITT) method. The ETOF is based on a set of tunable electrostatic lenses capable of detecting 0-150 eV electrons. In addition, we can selectively increase the photoelectron yield of the spectrum. The precise tuning of the electrostatic lens system is done with a Genetic Algorithm (GA) with an intensity fluctuation discriminator in the fitness.

Structural characterization is essential to understand the formation mechanisms of the nanostructures in thin absorber layers in third generation solar cells and amyloid protein aggregates. Since to the dimension of the precipitated structures is in nanometer scale, electron tomography technique in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been applied as a major tool to analyze the 3D order and distribution of precipitates using the electron tomography technique.  Silicon rich silicon carbide (SRSC) films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique and annealed in the nitrogen atmosphere for 1 hour at 1100 °C. The spectrum-imaging (SI) technique in Energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) imaging mode was used to develop electron tomography. From the reconstructed sub-volumes, the complex, three dimensional interfacial nanostructure between the precipitated NPs and their parental matrix was observed and explained in terms of thermodynamic concepts. Additionally, the feasibility of raw data 4D electron tomography has been demonstrated using the EFTEM SI dataset. The aggregation process of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) has a great impact on human health. In this thesis, a model system has been taken to study the ultrastructure of the hIAPP aggregates that are present in the fat body tissue surrounding the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. Electron tomography technique on TEM revealed clear crystalline structures in 3D. For the first time, the presence of a 5-fold twinned structure in biology was discovered. An intriguing finding is the filament like interconnection of hIAPP protein granules observed predominantly along the nearest neighbor directions. This suggests the existence of the directional binding forces between two nearest protein granules in addition to dipole-dipole interactions.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy