Since the initial breakthroughs in structural quality and p-type conductivity in GaN during the late 1980s, the group-III nitride material system has attracted an enormous amount of interest because of its properties and applications in both electronics and optoelectronics. Although blue light-emitting diodes have been commercialized based on this success, much less progress has been made in ultraviolet emitters, green emitters, and photovoltaics. This lack of development has been attributed to insufficient structural and electrical material quality, which is directly linked to the growth of the material. The objective of this work is to expand the understanding of III-nitride growth towards the improvement of current device capabilities and the facilitation of novel device designs. Group-III nitride thin films are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy in a pulsed, metal-rich environment. The growths of nitride binaries and ternaries are observed in situ by transient reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) intensities, which respond to the behavior of atoms on the growing surface. By analyzing and interpreting these RHEED signatures, a comprehensive understanding of nitride thin film growth is obtained. The growth kinetics of unintentionally doped GaN by metal-rich MBE are elucidated, and a novel method of in situ growth rate measurement is discovered. This technique is expanded to InN, highlighting the similarity in molecular-beam epitaxy growth kinetics between III-nitride binaries. The growth of Mg-doped GaN is then explored to increase Mg incorporation and electrical activation. The growth of InxGa1-xN alloys are investigated with the goal of eliminating phase separation, which enables single-phase material for use in photovoltaics. Finally, the growth of unintentionally doped and Mg-doped AlGaN is investigated towards higher efficiency light emitting diodes. These advancements in the understanding of III-nitride growth will address several critical problems and enable devices relying on consistent growth in production, single-phase material, and practical hole concentrations in materials with high carrier activation energies.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the exact natural frequencies and mode shapes of multi-span uniform and multi-step Euler-Bernoulli beams with various concentrated elements (such as point masses, rotary inertias, linear springs, rotational springs, spring-mass systems, etc.) by using the matrix assembly method (MAM). To this end, the coefficient matrices for an intermediate pinned support, an intermediate concentrated elements, left-end support and right-end support of a beam are derived, first. Next, the overall coefficient matrix for the whole structural system is obtained by using the assembly technique of the finite element method. Finally, the natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of the vibrating system are determined by equating the determinant of the last overall coefficient matrix to zero and substituting the corresponding values of integration constants into the associated eigenfunctions respectively. The effects of in-span pinned supports and various concentrated elements on the free vibration characteristics of the beam are also studied.

In this study, the Dual Beam Phased Array Antenna System designed for COST260* project is upgraded to have the abilities of beam steering, tracking and direction finding by providing the necessary computer codes using C++ Programming Language. The functions of new prototype are tested to verify the operation. *COST260 project was an adaptive phased array receiving antenna system for satellite communication, which was operating at 11.49-11.678 GHz band.

In this thesis, transverse vibration of a cracked beam on an elastic foundation and the effect of crack and foundation parameters on transverse vibration natural frequencies are studied. Analytical formulations are derived for a beam with rectangular cross section. The crack is an open type edge crack placed in the medium of the beam and it is uniform along the width of the beam. The cracked beam rests on an elastic foundation. The beam is modeled by two different beam theories, which are Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and Timoshenko beam theory. The effect of the crack is considered by representing the crack by rotational springs. The compliance of the spring that represents the crack is obtained by using fracture mechanics theories. Different foundation models are discussed / these models are Winkler Foundation, Pasternak Foundation, and generalized foundation. The equations of motion are derived by applying Newton&#039 / s 2nd law on an infinitesimal beam element. Non-dimensional parameters are introduced into equations of motion. The beam is separated into pieces at the crack location. By applying the compatibility conditions at the crack location and boundary conditions, characteristic equation whose roots give the non-dimensional natural frequencies is obtained. Numerical solutions are done for a beam with square cross sectional area. The effects of crack ratio, crack location and foundation parameters on transverse vibration natural frequencies are presented. It is observed that existence of crack reduces the natural frequencies. Also the elastic foundation increases the stiffness of the system thus the natural frequencies. The natural frequencies are also affected by the location of the crack.

Oxide related research has increased as standard oxides reach their operational limits and new classes of devices are imagined that can only be realized through the use of man-made compounds. Many of these devices require high quality films in order to reach their highest potential. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is poised to become a key producer of high quality oxides. One of the most promising oxides is lithium niobate, LiNbO3, which can potentially deliver novel electronic, optic, and hybrid devices not currently possible. Growing lithium niobate using MBE is difficult. Several concepts are presented that will make this task easier. First, high temperature refractory metals can be delivered to the substrate through a novel use of low temperature chloride compounds such as niobium (V) chloride. This chloride chemistry allows low temperature sources to deliver high temperature materials to the substrate. Second, a precision, vapor-phase source and control system is prototyped for these chloride compounds achieving improved flux accuracy and expanding the capability of standard MBEs to support many sources. Chloride sources have high vapor pressures and are sensitive to temperature changes causing flux drift. The vapor-phase source removes the temperature sensitivity and eliminates thermal drifts. Third, a novel method of measuring flux with spontaneous ionzation current has been developed. This design utilizes a low noise design to measure femtoamp currents generated as an evaporant spontaneously ionizes. The measured current with additional predicted data has the potential for directly counting the atoms evaporated and controlling evaporation from a source. The design is sensitive enough to detect outgassing of the cell and cell "spitting" or other non-idealities. Monitoring these non-idealities can help improve other processes by ensuring the cell is fully outgassed and stable. Finally, a miniaturized RF induction cell prototype is shown that can eliminate the need for incandescent filaments in an oxide based MBE. The RF cell has the potential to increase reliability of MBEs for oxide work and achieve higher operating temperatures without the need for densely wound incandescent filaments or electron beam sources.

In this thesis, we introduce a new shape descriptor and a graph based matching algorithm to detect a template shape in an image that contains a single object. The shape descriptor, Generalized Beam Angle Statistics, GBAS is obtained with the generalization of the boundary based shape descriptor, Beam Angle Statistics, BAS cite{BAS}. GBAS improves BAS so that it can compute the feature vector of a boundary point without the requirement of the parametric boundary representation. This way, it can be used in matching an individual edge pixel with a boundary point of template shape, even if it is not possible to extract the shape boundary in the image with the available techniques. Given a template shape, the matching algorithm solves the correspondence problem between the sampled boundary points of the template and the edges of the query image, using the GBAS feature vectors and the spatial information of edges. The match graph represents the correspondence problem and the optimum path on this graph gives the solution of it. Optimum path is found using a polynomial time algorithm that is based on the dynamic programming approach. In the experiments, we show that the proposed shape descriptor is very powerful and the matching algorithm is capable of detecting a template shape in edge detected images under a variety of transformations and noise.

The objective of the proposed research is to establish the technology for material growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and fabrication of indium gallium nitride/gallium nitride (InxGa1-xN/GaN) heterojunction solar cells. InxGa1-xN solar cell have the potential to span 90% of the solar spectrum, however there has been no success with high indium (In) incorporation and only limited success with low In incorporation InxGa1-xN. Therefore, this present work focuses on 15 - 30% In incorporation leading to a bandgap value of 2.3 - 2.8 eV. This work will exploit the revision of the indium nitride (InN) bandgap value of 0.68 eV, which expands the range of the optical emission of nitride-based devices from ultraviolet to near infrared regions, by developing transparent InxGa1-xN solar cells outside the visible spectrum. Photovoltaic devices with a bandgap greater than 2.0 eV are attractive because over half the available power in the solar spectrum is above the photon energy of 2.0 eV. The ability of InxGa1-xN materials to optimally span the solar spectrum offers a tantalizing solution for high-efficiency photovoltaics. Using the metal modulated epitaxy (MME) technique in a new, ultra-clean refurbished MBE system, an innovative growth regime is established where In and Ga phase separation is diminished by increasing the growth rate for InxGa1-xN. The MME technique modulates the metal shutters with a fixed duty cycle while maintaining a constant nitrogen flux and proves effective for improving crystal quality and p-type doping. We demonstrate the ability to repeatedly grow high hole concentration Mg-doped GaN films using the MME technique. The highest hole concentration obtained is equal to 4.26 e19 cm-3, resistivity of 0.5 Ω-cm, and mobility of 0.28 cm2/V-s. We have achieved hole concentrations significantly higher than recorded in the literature, proving that our growth parameters and the MME technique is feasible, repeatable, and beneficial. The high hole concentration p-GaN is used as the emitter in our InxGa1-xN solar cell devices.

Spanwise nonuniformity effects are modeled in the cross-sectional analysis of beam theory. This modeling adheres to an established numerical framework on cross-sectional analysis of uniform beams with arbitrary cross-sections. This framework is based on two concepts: decomposition of the rotation tensor and the variational-asymptotic method. Allowance of arbitrary materials and geometries in the cross-section is from discretization of the warping field by finite elements. By this approach, dimensional reduction from three-dimensional elasticity is performed rigorously and the sectional strain energy is derived to be asymptotically-correct. Elastic stiffness matrices are derived for inputs into the global beam analysis. Recovery relations for the displacement, stress, and strain fields are also derived with care to be consistent with the energy. Spanwise nonuniformity effects appear in the form of pointwise and sectionwise derivatives, which are approximated by finite differences. The formulation also accounts for the effects of spanwise variations in initial twist and/or curvature. A linearly tapered isotropic strip is analyzed to demonstrate spanwise nonuniformity effects on the cross-sectional analysis. The analysis is performed analytically by the variational-asymptotic method. Results from beam theory are validated against solutions from plane stress elasticity. These results demonstrate that spanwise nonuniformity effects become significant as the rate at which the cross-sections vary increases. The modeling of transverse shear modes of deformation is accomplished by transforming the strain energy into generalized Timoshenko form. Approximations in this transformation procedure from previous works, when applied to uniform beams, are identified. The approximations are not used in the present work so as to retain more accuracy. Comparison of present results with those previously published shows that these approximations sometimes change the results measurably and thus are inappropriate. Static and dynamic results, from the global beam analysis, are calculated to show the differences between using stiffness constants from previous works and the present work. As a form of validation of the transformation procedure, calculations from the global beam analysis of initially twisted isotropic beams from using curvilinear coordinate axes featuring twist are shown to be equivalent to calculations using Cartesian coordinates.

abstract: Water affinity and condensation on Si-based surfaces is investigated to address the problem of fogging on silicone intraocular lenses (IOL) during cataract surgery, using Si(100), silica (SiO2) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone (SiOC2H6)n. Condensation is described by two step nucleation and growth where roughness controls heterogeneous nucleation of droplets followed by Ostwald ripening. Wetting on hydrophilic surfaces consists of continuous aqueous films while hydrophobic surfaces exhibit fogging with discrete droplets. Si-based surfaces with wavelength above 200 nm exhibit fogging during condensation. Below 200 nm, surfaces are found to wet during condensation. Water affinity of Si-based surfaces is quantified via the surface free energy (SFE) using Sessile drop contact angle analysis, the Young-Dupré equation, and Van Oss theory. Topography is analyzed using tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM). Polymer adsorption and ion beam modification of materials (IBMM) can modify surface topography, composition, and SFE, and alter water affinity of the Si-based surfaces we studied. Wet adsorption of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) C32H60O19 with areal densities ranging from 1018 atom/cm2 to 1019 atom/cm2 characterized via Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), allows for the substrate to adopt the topography of the HPMC film and its hydrophilic properties. The HPMC surface composition maintains a bulk stoichiometric ratio as confirmed by 4.265 MeV 12C(α, α)12C and 3.045 MeV 16O(α, α)16O, and 2.8 MeV He++ elastic recoil detection (ERD) of hydrogen. Both PIXE and RBS methods give comparable areal density results of polymer films on Si(100), silica, and PDMS silicone substrates. The SFE and topography of PDMS silicone polymers used for IOLs can also be modified by IBMM. IBMM of HPMC cellulose occurs during IBA as well. Damage curves and ERD are shown to characterize surface desorption accurately during IBMM so that ion beam damage can be accounted for during analysis of polymer areal density and composition. IBMM of Si(100)-SiO2 ordered interfaces also induces changes of SFE, as ions disorder surface atoms. The SFE converges for all surfaces, hydrophobic and hydrophilic, as ions alter electrochemical properties of the surface via atomic and electronic displacements. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2011

Les procédés de fabrication additive ont connus un fort essor dans les dernières décennies et entament aujourd'hui leur phase d'industrialisation pérenne. L'industrie, dans un souci d'améliorer sans cesse le ratio masse/rigidité des systèmes qu'elle produit (notamment l'industrie aéronautique), a pris conscience du potentiel de ces technologies à produire des structures plus complexes que les procédés classiques. Elle cherche aujourd'hui à tirer profit de ce potentiel pour alléger encore plus les pièces produites en utilisant notamment des géométries de type réseaux ou alvéolaires (Lattice en anglais). Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit ont pour but de proposer une méthodologie, des modèles et des outils permettant la conception, le dimensionnement et l'optimisation de telles structures en vue de leur fabrication par procédés additifs. Le framework proposé peut être résumé par les huit étapes ci-dessous:- Importation de l'espace de conception, comprenant également les cas de chargement.- Optimisation topologique sur l'espace de conception.- Reconstruction de la géométrie, appelée primitive, qui servira de support à l'insertion du réseau.- Calcul par éléments finis qui peut être réalisé pour s'assurer de la bonne tenue mécanique.- Définition de la topologie du réseau, par l'intermédiaire d'un graphe 3D.- Déformation du réseau et optimisation mécanique du réseau.- Reconstruction des volumes.- Préparation des fichiers de données et impression 3D. / Additive manufacturing processes have been quickly growing those past decades and are now getting to their sustainable industrial. Industry has been caring about the mass to rigidity ratio of the structures it produces (especially in aeronautics), and is now acknowledging the potential of additive processes to produce more complex shapes than classical processes. Industry is now trying to take advantage of this potential by designing highly complex structures like lattices or metal foams. The work that is presented in this document propose a methodology, models and numerical tools allowing the conception, dimensioning and optimization of such structures through additive manufacturing. The proposed framework can be describe through the height following steps:- Importing the design space and the technical requirement (load cases).- Topology optimization of the design space- Geometry reconstruction to create a primitive which will be the lattice insertion area.- Finite elements computation to ensure that the structure meets the requirements.- Lattice topology definition using 3D graphs.- Lattice deformation and optimization.- Creation of the volumes around the lattice.- Printing file creation and 3D printing.