Charge-carriers propagating in superlattices exhibit the related phenomena known as negative differential conductivity and Bloch oscillation. This behaviour may be utilised for the generation of tunable electromagnetic radiation. In this work, the dependence of the drift velocity and displacement of charge-carriers on external, applied electric fields is investigated. The theory is extended to incorporate a different miniband structure, with the aim of modelling a superlattice made from graphene. I predict that, for a chosen set of electric field parameters, a semiconductor superlattice will emit radiation in the terahertz range. I create an original mathematical framework within which to calculate the charge-carrier behaviour in a triangular miniband structure, while incorporating an arbitrary variable to account for the effects of corrugation or disorder, and predict the appearance of conductivity multistability. This may be of interest to further work done on the use of graphene for superlattice device construction.

Field-effect transistors (FET) based on graphene as channel has extraordinaryproperties in terms of charge mobility, charge carrier density etc. However, there aremany challenges to graphene based FET due to the fact graphene is a monolayer ofatoms in 2-dimentional space that is strongly influenced by the operating conditions.One issue is that the Dirac point, or K-point, shifts to higher gate voltage whengraphene is exposed to atmosphere. In this study graphene field-effect transistors(GFET) based on commercially available CVD graphene are electrically characterizedthrough field effect gated measurements. The Dirac point is initially unobservable andlocated at higher gate voltages (>+42 V), indicating high p-doping in graphene.Different treatments are tried to enhance the properties of GFET devices, such astransconductance, mobility and a decrease of the Dirac point to lower voltages, thatincludes current annealing, vacuum annealing, hot plate annealing, ionized water bathand UV-ozone cleaning. Vacuum annealing and annealing on a hot plate affect thegated response; they might have decreased the overall p-doping, but also introducedDirac points and non-linear features. These are thought to be explained by localp-doping of the graphene under the electrodes. Thus the Dirac point of CVDgraphene is still at higher gate voltages. Finally, the charge carrier mobility decreasedin all treatments except current – and hot plate annealing, and it is also observed that charge carrier mobilities after fabrication are lower than the manufacturer estimatesfor raw graphene on SiO2/Si substrate.

This thesis studies two important carbon structures, graphene and carbon nanotubes, with the purpose of understanding how their three-dimensional electron density distribution affects the way fast ions interact with them. <br /><br /> A brief introduction to research in pure carbon structures is made. We then use different models to calculate the equilibrium electron density distribution in graphene and carbon nanotubes. <br /><br /> In the second part of the thesis we investigate fast ions moving parallel to a graphene sheet and experiencing forces due to the dynamic polarization of carbon valence electrons. Using the three-dimensional electron density distribution of graphene, we calculate the force directly opposing the ion's motion (stopping force), as well as the force which bends the ion's trajectory towards the sheet (image force). It is our purpose to compare these results with those based on a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of graphene, which approximates the electron distribution of graphene by a charged fluid confined to the two-dimensional plane of the sheet. <br /><br /> The results obtained for interactions of ions with a single graphene sheet should be useful for a further analysis of ion channeling through carbon nanostructures.

Graphene is a one-atom thick sheet of graphite which made of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons can be viewed as single molecules in nanometer scale. Carbon nanotubes are usually labeled in terms of the chiral vectors which are also the directions that graphene sheets are rolled up. Due to their small scale and special structures, carbon nanotubes present interesting electrical, optical, mechanical, thermal, and toxic properties. Graphene nanoribbons can be viewed as strips cut from infinite graphene. Graphene nanoribbons can be either metallic or semiconducting depending on their edge structures. These are robust materials with excellent electrical conduction properties and have the potential for device applications. In this research project, we present a theoretical study of electrical properties of the carbon structures. Electronic band structures, density of states, and conductance are calculated. The theoretical models include a tight-binding model, a Green’s function methodology, and the Landauer formalism. We have investigated the effects of vacancy and weak disorder on the conductance of zigzag carbon nanoribbons. The resulting local density of states (LDOS) and conductance bands show that electron transport has interesting behavior in the presence of any disorder. In general, the presence of any disorder in the GNRs causes a decrease in conductance. In the presence of a vacancy at the edge site, a maximum decrease in conductance has been observed which is due to the presence of quasi-localized states. / Theory -- Band structure and density of states of carbon nanotubes -- Band structure and density of states of graphene nanoribbons -- Quantum conductance of zigzag graphene nanoribbons -- Quantum conductance of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon with defects. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

In this thesis investigations into chemically modified graphene structures are presented. Chemical functionalization of graphene is the chemical attachment of molecules or atoms to the graphene surface via covalent or Van der Waals bonds, this process offers a unique way to tailor the properties of graphene to make it useful for a wide range of device applications. One type of chemical functionalization presented in this thesis is fluorination of graphene which is the covalent attachment of fluorine to the carbon atoms of graphene and the resultant material is fluorographene which is a wide band-gap semiconductor. For low fluorine coverage the low temperature electron transport is through localized states due to the presence of disorder induced sub-gap states. For high fluorine coverage the electron transport can be explained by a lightly doped semiconductor model where transport is through thermal activation across an energy gap between an impurity and conduction bands. On the other hand, at low temperatures the disorder induced sub-gap density of states dominates the electrical properties, and the conduction takes place via hopping through these localized states. In this thesis it is also shown that electron beam irradiation can be used to tune the coverage of fluorine adatoms and therefore control energy gap between the impurity and conduction bands. Futhermore, electron beam irradiation also offers a valuable way to pattern conductive structures in fluorinated graphene \textit{via} the irradiation-induced dissociation of fluorine from the fluorinated graphene. This technique can be extended to the patterning of semiconducting nano-ribbons in fluorinated graphene where the spatial localization of electrons is just a few nm. The second type of chemical functionalization presented in this thesis is the intercalation of few layer graphene with ferric chloride which greatly enhances the electrical conductivity of few layer graphene materials making them the best known transparent conductors.

We explore the effects of surface plasmon hybridization in graphene nanostructures and silver nanoparticles as applied to novel plasmonic phenomena. The analysis is based on the theory of surface plasmon hybridization under the boundary charges method. This method, which is based in the electrostatic approximation, has been largely used to predict the resonant frequencies in strongly coupled nanoparticle clusters. Here, we extend this formalism to analyze novel plasmonic phenomena such as the blueshift of modes in graphene plasmonics, near-field radiation, thermal transport and plasmon-induced hot carrier generation in silver nanoparticles. Furthermore, we develop analytical solutions for graphene nanodisks and metallic spheres that allow for fast and accurate modeling. The analytic models provide the basis to derive a large number of results, including prediction of hybrid eigenmodes and bandstructures, far-field response, and near-field response under thermally induced fluctuations. We predict that the strong near-filed coupling in graphene nanodisk stacks can induce a blueshift in the resonant frequencies up to the near-infrared part of the spectrum. We find that the strong near-filed coupling between disks can also lead to large values of radiative thermal conductance when thermally induced fluctuations are included. In this regard, an enhancement over the blackbody limit of up to two and four orders of magnitude was observed for co-planar and co-axial disk configurations. The strong coupling between coplanar disks was also explored for the development of plasmonic waveguides by considering long co-planar disk arrays. It was observed that the array posseses great potential for plasmonic waveguiding, with a strong degree of confinement for disks smaller than 200 nm. Thermal activation of the guided modes showed a thermal conductivity of up to 4.5 W/m K and thermal diffusivity of up to 1:4 x 10-3 m2/s. The large values of thermal diffusivity suggest the potential of graphene disk waveguides for thermotronic interconnects. The plasmon-induced hot carrier generation in silver nanosphere dimers was also studied. The modeling considered analytical solution for metallic nanospheres, from which the electrostatic potential of each sphere was obtained. Using these results, the hot carrier generation was explored under the basis of the Fermi golden rule. The results show a large number of hot carriers at the low frequency modes. This values exceed the number of generated hot carriers on a single sphere. The energy distribution of photogenerated electrons and holes showed a large energy gap that can be explored in photocatalysis and photovoltaic energy conversion.

No description available.

Solid catalyst supports of SiOx-RGO (Reduced Graphene Oxide) and UiO-67 (Universitet i Oslo) have been successfully synthesized and were loaded with palladium nanoparticles to test for a series of heterogeneous reactions. The SiOx/RGO catalysts were synthesized through laser ablation of silicon and graphite oxide micron powder and UiO-67 metal-organic framework (MOF) was synthesized through mixing of precursors with DMF/HCl solution and washing the resultant powder from impurities. The SiOx/RGO supports were later impregnated with palladium precursors which were then subject to Microwave Irradiation (MWI). The UiO-67 framework was impregnated with palladium precursors and was irradiated with pulsed Nd:YAG 532 nm laser and was purified through washing and centrifugation. The resulting catalyst supports were characterized with UV-Vis, FTIR, Raman, XRD and XPS techniques and the UiO-67 framework was subject to Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area measurements before and after the catalytic reactions. The catalytic activity of palladium nanoparticles supported on SiOx/RGO and UiO-67 framework was tested in carbon cross-coupling reactions of Suzuki-Miyaura, Sonogashira reactions and oxidation of benzyl alcohol respectively. The catalysts have demonstrated excellent performance and have yielded a promising future for the catalytic supports in the previously stated reactions.

This thesis is devoted to quantum confinement effects in low-dimensional Dirac materials. We propose a variety of schemes in which massless Dirac fermions, which are notoriously diffcult to manipulate, can be trapped in a bound state. Primarily we appeal for the use of external electromagnetic fields. As a consequence of this endeavor, we find several interesting condensed matter analogues to effects from relativistic quantum mechanics, as well as entirely new effects and a possible novel state of matter. For example, in our study of the effective Coulomb interaction in one dimension, we demonstrate how atomic collapse may arise in carbon nanotubes or graphene nanoribbons, and describe the critical importance of the size of the band gap. Meanwhile, inspired by groundbreaking experiments investigating the effects of strain, we propose how to confine the elusive charge carriers in so-called velocity barriers, which arise due to a spatially inhomogeneous Fermi velocity triggered by a strained lattice. We also present a new and beautiful quasi-exactly solvable model of quantum mechanics, showing the possibilities for confinement in magnetic quantum dots are not as stringent as previously thought. We also reveal that Klein tunnelling is not as pernicious as widely believed, as we show bound states can arise from purely electrostatic means at the Dirac point energy. Finally, we show from an analytical solution to the quasi-relativistic two-body problem, how an exotic same-particle paring can occur and speculate on its implications if found in the laboratory.

This thesis explores the expansive world of General Relativity, and its role to play in modern cosmology and quantum field theory. We begin with a pedagogical approach to relativity, in particular, highlighting upon the ambiguity that arises with the conventions used in different textbooks. A brief introduction to tensor calculus has also been provided in the appendix. The preliminary chapters are also complimented with examples of numerical relativity via simulation. We then move on to discuss examples of non-linear systems, and their exact solutions. Such systems will be analogous to those we shall encounter later, upon considering scalar field theories as a means of modelling dark energy. We shall introduce the axion as our highly motivated dark matter candidate, since this will ultimately determine the behaviour of the scalar field. Coupled to a scaling factor across the spatial domain, it is found that this scalar field will ultimately determine the evolution of our universe. The key result of this thesis has been the possibility to screen both the cosmological constant, and flatness of the universe, to within observable parameters. These results will be explicitly derived from first principles. Also included is a tentative approach to holographic theory, in which strongly correlated systems may be modelled within the asymptotic domain of Anti-de Sitter (AdS) space. Ultimately, our aspirations are to bridge the gap with condensed matter theory, in particular with the publications included within the latter appendices. These publications discuss graphene as a revolutionary new material, for inclusion in both transistor-based and optoelectronic devices.