Die Streuung niederenergetischer Ionen zur chemischen Analyse und Strukturbestimmung von Festkörperoberflächen gehört mittlerweile zu den Standardverfahren der Oberflächenphysik. Weniger bekannt ist sicherlich, daß die Ionenstreuung auch zur Untersuchung magnetischer Oberflächen eingesetzt werden kann. Diese Methode beruht auf dem Einfang spinpolarisierter Elektronen von einer Festkörperoberfläche und trägt daher den Namen Elektroneneinfangsspektroskopie (engl.: Electron Capture Spectroscopy, ECS). Das verwendete Verfahren zum (indirekten) Nachweis einer Spinpolarisation der Oberflächenelektronen basiert auf dem Effekt, daß ein geringer Teil der Ionen nach der Wechselwirkung mit der Oberfläche ein Elektron in einen angeregten Projektilzustand eingefangen hat. Die nachfolgende Abregung kann durch die Emission polarisierter Strahlung erfolgen. Der Grad der Zirkularpolarisation hängt unter anderem vom Magnetisierungszustand der Oberfläche ab. In dieser Arbeit wurden Experimente an drei verschiedenen Systemen durchgeführt. Als Projektile dienten dabei einfach geladene Heliumionen mit Primärenergien zwischen 2 und 14 keV, die unter verschiedenen Einfallswinkeln an der Probe gestreut wurden. Die Lichtemission eines Triplett-Übergangs im sichtbaren Spektralbereich (Wellenlänge: 587.6 nm) wurde im Experiment analysiert. Zunächst wurden ECS-Messungen an einer unmagnetischen Kupfer(111)-Oberfläche durchgeführt. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, daß die Emission polarisierter Strahlung von verschiedenen experimentellen Parametern abhängt. Dazu gehört neben der Primärenergie der Projektilionen auch deren Einfallswinkel. Ein statisches Magnetfeld, das mit einem Weicheisenjoch erzeugt wird, hat keinen Einfluß auf die Lichtpolarisation bei einer unmagnetischen Probe. Die ECS-Messungen an einer amorphen ferromagnetischen Oberfläche ergaben, daß mit dieser Methode prinzipiell auch Ummagnetisierungskurven ferromagnetischer Festkörperoberflächen bestimmt werden können. Die im Vergleich zu den ebenfalls untersuchten MOKE-Hysteresen charakteristische, leicht abgerundetete Form der Kurven ist ein experimenteller Nachweis dafür, daß die Elektroneneinfangsspektroskopie eine extrem oberflächensensitive Meßmethode ist. Diese Oberflächenempfindlichkeit ist eine unmittelbare Konsequenz des Formierungsabstands des angeregten Heliumzustands. Die Messungen am System Co/Cu(111) konnten zeigen, daß die ECS-Methode prinzipiell auch bei dünnen ferromagnetischen Schichten anwendbar ist, die auf ein unmagnetisches Substratmaterial gedampft wurden. Hier ergaben sich u.a. interessante Abhängigkeiten des magnetischen Signals von der Dicke der aufgedampften Schicht, die sich erstaunlich gut mit den mikromorphologischen Eigenschaften des Kobaltfilms korrelieren ließen. Ferner wurde gezeigt, daß mit der ECS-Methode auch Hysteresen dünner ferromagnetischer Schichten gemessen werden können.

The discovery of topological quantum states of matter has required physicists to look beyond Landau’s theory of symmetry-breaking, previously the main paradigm for<br>studying states of matter. This has led also to the development of new topological theories for describing the novel properties. In this dissertation an investigation in this<br>frontier research area is presented, which looks at the interplay between the quantum geometry of these states, defects and disorder. After a brief introduction to the topological quantum states of matter considered herein, some aspects of my work in this area are described. First, the disorder-induced band structure engineering of topological insulator surface states is considered, which is possible due to their resilience from Anderson localization, and believed to be a consequence of their topological origin.<br>Next, the idiosyncratic behavior of these same surface states is considered, as observed in experiments on thin film topological insulators, in response to competition between<br>hybridization effects and an in-plane magnetic field. Then moving in a very different direction, the uncovering of topological ‘gravitational’ response is explained: the<br>topologically-protected charge response of two dimensional gapped electronic topological states to a special kind of 0-dimensional boundary – a disclination – that encodes spatial curvature. Finally, an intriguing relation between the gravitational response of quantum Hall states, and their response to an apparently unrelated perturbation – nonuniform electric fields is reported. <br>

<div>Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches (PCSS) are metal-semiconductor-metal devices used to switch an electrical signal through photoconduction. Rapidly switched PCSS under high bias voltages have shown remarkable potential for high power electronic and electromagnetic wave generation, but are dependent on precise optoelectronic material parameters such as defect ionization energy and optical absorption. These properties can be measured but are difficult to attribute definitively to specific defects and materials without the aid of high-accuracy, predictive modeling and simulation. This work combines well-established methods for first principles electronic structure calculations such as Density Functional Theory (DFT) with novel modern approaches such as Local Moment Counter Charge (LMCC) boundary conditions to adequately describe charge states and Maximally Localized Wannier Functions (MLWF) to render the summation of optical excitation paths as computationally tractable. This approach is demonstrated to overcome previous barriers to obtaining reliable qualitative or quantitative results, such as DFT band gap narrowing and the prohibitive computational cost of coupled electron-phonon processes. This work contributes electronic structure calculations of 4H-SiC doped with first-row transition metals (V through Ni) that are consistent with prior published work where applicable and add new possibilities for prospective semi-insulating metal-semiconductor systems where investigating new dopant possibilities. The results indicate a spectrum of highly localized, mid-gap, spin-dependent defect energy levels which suggest a wider range of potential amphoteric dopants suitable for producing semi-insulating material. Additionally, this work contributes MLWF-based calculations of phonon-resolved optical properties in 3C and 4H-SiC, indirect gap semiconductors, which accurately produce the expected onset of optical absorption informed by experiment. These results were further expanded upon with small V-doped cells of 4H-SiC, which while not fully converged in terms of cell size still provided a qualitative point of comparison to the ground state results for determining the true optical excitation energy required for substantial photoconductivity. The subsequent speculative analysis suggests the importance of anisotropic absorption and alternative metal defects for optimizing high current optoelectronic devices such as PCSS.</div>

No description available.

<p dir="ltr">Probabilistic computing is a novel computing scheme that offers a more efficient approach than conventional complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based logic in a variety of applications ranging from Bayesian inference to combinatorial optimization, and invertible Boolean logic. These applications, which have found use in the rapidly growing fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence, are traditionally computationally-intensive and so make the push for novel computing schemes that are intrinsically low-power and scalable all the more urgent.</p><p dir="ltr">The probabilistic bit (or p-bit, the base unit of probabilistic computing) is a naturally fluctuating entity that requires <i>tunable </i>stochasticity; low-barrier nanomagnets, in which the magnetic moment fluctuates randomly and continuously due to the presence of thermal energy, are a natural vehicle for providing the core functionality required. This dissertation describes the work done in mining the rich field of spintronics to produce devices that can act as natural hardware accelerators for probabilistic computing algorithms.</p><p dir="ltr">First, experiments exploring Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as naturally stochastic systems are presented. Using NV center measurements on an array of such nanoparticles, it is shown that they fluctuate intrinsically at GHz frequencies at room temperature; these fluctuations could be harnessed to act as a stochastic noise source, and would, in principle, enable fast computation.</p><p dir="ltr">The focus then shifts to the development of a platform that allows for easier <i>electrical</i> readout: the low-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). We show the work done in the development and characterization of these devices, how they respond to non-ideal environments, such as elevated temperatures and exposure to high-energy electromagnetic radiation, how their intrinsic stochasticity might be tuned with electrical currents and external magnetic fields, and then how these might be integrated with a simple transistor circuit to produce a compact low-energy implementation of a p-bit.</p><p dir="ltr">Next, by integrating our stochastic MTJs with 2D-MoS₂field-effect transistors (FETs), the first <i>on-chip </i>realization of a key p-bit building block, displaying voltage-controllable stochasticity, is demonstrated. This is followed by another key demonstration through the fabrication of stochastic MTJs directly on top of an integrated circuit platform, where the transistor circuitry is provided by 180nm-node CMOS technology.</p><p dir="ltr">In addition, supported by circuit simulations, this work provides a careful device-level analysis of the three transistor-one magnetic tunnel junction (3T-1MTJ) p-bit design, evaluating how the characteristics of each component can influence the overall p-bit’s output. In particular, we show that – against common wisdom – a large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) is not the best choice for p-bits; bimodal telegraphic fluctuations are highly undesirable and are a sign of a slow device; and an ideal inverter with a large gain is unsuitable for p-bit applications due to the higher likelihood of unwanted plateaus in the resulting p-bit’s output.</p><p dir="ltr">This analysis is extended to consider the impact of such non-ideal p-bits when used to construct probabilistic circuits, with the focus on the emulation of the Boolean logic AND gate through a three p-bit correlated system. It is found that a probabilistic circuit made with ideal p-bits can accurately emulate the function of an AND gate, while the non-ideal p-circuits suffer from an increased error rate in emulating the AND gate’s truth table.</p><p dir="ltr">The understanding gained at the individual device level, in what makes a good or bad MTJ, to how the different components of the 3T-1MTJ p-bit can affect its output, and subsequently how non-ideal p-bits can impact circuit performance, can be important for the future realization of scaled on-chip p-bit networks.</p>