We present the results of a numerical simulation tool for modeling the second-harmonic generation (SHG) interaction experienced by a diffracting beam. This code is used to study the simultaneous frequency and spatial profile conversion of a truncated Bessel beam that closely resembles a higher-order mode (HOM) of an optical fiber. SHG with Bessel beams has been investigated in the past and was determined have limited value because it is less efficient than SHG with a Gaussian beam in the undepleted pump regime. This thesis considers, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, whether most of the power from a Bessel-like beam could be converted into a second-harmonic beam (full depletion), as is the case with a Gaussian beam. We study this problem because using HOMs for fiber lasers and amplifiers allows reduced optical intensities, which mitigates nonlinearities, and is one possible way to increase the available output powers of fiber laser systems. The chief disadvantage of using HOM fiber amplifiers is the spatial profile of the output, but this can be transformed as part of the SHG interaction, most notably to a quasi-Gaussian profile when the phase mismatch meets the noncollinear criteria. We predict, based on numerical simulation, that noncollinear SHG (NC-SHG) can simultaneously perform highly efficient (90%) wavelength conversion from 1064 nm to 532 nm, as well as concurrent mode transformation from a truncated Bessel beam to a Gaussian-like beam (94% overlap with a Gaussian) at modest input powers (250 W, peak power or continuous-wave operation). These simulated results reveal two attractive features – the feasibility of efficiently converting HOMs of fibers into Gaussian-like beams, and the ability to simultaneously perform frequency conversion. Combining the high powers that are possible with HOM fiber amplifiers with access to non-traditional wavelengths may offer significant advantages over the state of the art for many important applications, including underwater communications, laser guide stars, and theater projectors.

Noncollinear (NC) magnetism is common in nature, especially when there exist geometrical frustration and chemical imparity in the system. In this work we studied the NC magnetism and the response to external magnetic fields in surfaces and interfaces of transition metals by using an semi-empirical tight-binding (TB) method that parameterized to the ab initio TB-LMTO calculations. We implemented this method to study two systems. The first one is the system of 6 Mn monolayers on Fe(001) substrate. Due to the complex structure and magnetic properties of Mn, we found 23 collinear magnetic configurations but only one NC configuration. The collinear ground state has a layered antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling which agrees with previous experiments and calculations. In the NC configuration the local AFM coupling in the Mn layers is preserved, but the surface is 90 degree coupled to the substrate. Similar to the experiment in CdCr2O4, we obtained a collinear plateau in the NC evolution of the average magnetic moment in Mn slab under external magnetic fields. Another is the system of a Cr monolayer on a stepped Fe(001) substrate. As expected, the local AFM coupling in the interface of Cr and Fe are preserved. However, the edge Cr atoms is about 90 degree coupled to their nearest Fe neighbors. We also simulated the procedure of adding more Cr coverages gradually to a Cr bilayer coverage. As coverages increase, the magnetic moments in the Cr interface reduce, and the collinear plateau becomes wider as coverages increase. However, the saturation fields in both the two systems are extremely high, around 10 kT.We expect that when the effect of temperature is taken into account, and in some proper systems, the saturation fields could be largely reduced to the scale that can be implemented in experiment, and our study may shed light on information storage devices with ultrahigh storage density.

<p>This thesis is divided in three parts. In the first part, a study of materials aimed for spintronics applications is presented. More specifically, calculations of the critical temperature in diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) and half-metallic ferromagnets are presented using a combination of electronic structure and statistical methods. It is shown that disorder and randomness of the magnetic atoms in DMS materials play a very important role in the determination of the critical temperature.</p><p>The second part treats materials in reduced dimensions. Studies of multilayer and trilayer systems are presented. A theoretical model that incorporates interdiffusion in a multilayer is developed that gives better agreement with experimental observations. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the observed magnetic properties in the trilayer system Ni/Cu/Co at finite temperatures are qualitatively reproduced.</p><p>In the third part, electronic structure calculations of complex Mn-based compounds displaying noncollinear magnetism are presented. The calculations reproduce with high accuracy the observed magnetic properties in these compounds. Furthermore, a model based on the electronic structure of the necessary conditions for noncollinear magnetism is presented.</p>

This thesis is divided in three parts. In the first part, a study of materials aimed for spintronics applications is presented. More specifically, calculations of the critical temperature in diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) and half-metallic ferromagnets are presented using a combination of electronic structure and statistical methods. It is shown that disorder and randomness of the magnetic atoms in DMS materials play a very important role in the determination of the critical temperature. The second part treats materials in reduced dimensions. Studies of multilayer and trilayer systems are presented. A theoretical model that incorporates interdiffusion in a multilayer is developed that gives better agreement with experimental observations. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the observed magnetic properties in the trilayer system Ni/Cu/Co at finite temperatures are qualitatively reproduced. In the third part, electronic structure calculations of complex Mn-based compounds displaying noncollinear magnetism are presented. The calculations reproduce with high accuracy the observed magnetic properties in these compounds. Furthermore, a model based on the electronic structure of the necessary conditions for noncollinear magnetism is presented.

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is the temperature change in a magnetic material due to a change in an applied magnetic field. How the MCE behaves in different magnetic materials and at different phase transitions is fundamental to understand. The driver of the MCE is a change in entropy which has multiple contributions: magnetic, lattice, and electron. In this thesis the MCE is studied in a simple antiferromagnetic (AFM) model andin a realistic noncollinear spin glass Neodymium model using Monte Carlo and Atomistic Spin Dynamics simulations. For the simple AFM system, no clear results were achieved, indicating that MCE in AFM materials is not due to a change solely in the magnetic entropy. For the complex magnetic material Nd, a more clear result is seen, indicating that frustration in the system might be important to the MCE in noncollinear materials. Nd results also signify more phase transitions than previously reported.

No description available.

Interfaces play a crucial role in the exchange of energy and matter in various physical, chemical and biological systems. A particular interest has been to study interfaces between aqueous phases and various minerals because of their importance in understanding geochemical phenomena as well as for applications such as enhanced oil recovery. The nonlinear optical technique of vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, introduced over 20 years ago, has become a powerful tool to investigate various surfaces, in particular, mineral-water interfaces. One of the challenges of the SFG spectroscopy of aqueous surfaces is the need to tune the central frequency of relatively narrowband IR lasers through the broad range of the OH-stretch frequencies of water molecules (3000 - 4000 cm-1). We have developed a novel ultrabroadband IR laser source that generates infrared pulses in the ~2800-6000 cm-1 range (lambda~3300-1800 nm) with bandwidths Delta(nu)&gt;1000 cm-1, and bandwidths &gt;2000 cm-1 in the near-IR range (lambda~1000-2000 nm). Pulse front tilt of signal pulse has been corrected allowing for compression of signal pulses down to 25 fsec. Such ultrabroadband IR pulses allow us to perform SFG spectroscopy of aqueous surfaces over the entire frequency range of water molecule spectrum (extending from ~2900 cm -1 to ~3800 cm -1) simultaneously, without tuning the laser ("in one shot"). We have used this novel ultrabroadband IR source to investigate the vibrational SFG spectra of silica/water interfaces. The high signal-to-noise ratio of our spectroscopic setup has allowed us to study low-intensity features that were not studied in detail, or recognized previously in the SFG-spectroscopy investigations, including: 1) non-hydrogen bonded OH vibrations at hydrophilic silica/water interfaces; 2) combination [stretch+bend] bands of water at the silica surface appearing at ~5000-5200 cm -1. 3) Overtones of water stretching modes at silica/water interfaces. The most important conclusions from these studies are outlined below. 1. Non-hydrogen bonded hydroxyls at silica/water interface. Typically SFG-studies of mineral/water interfaces (in particular, silica/water) have focused on the most pronounced features - peaks of H-bonded hydroxyls at ~3150 and ~3450 cm -1. We have been able to systematically observe and study a weaker peak at ~3670 - 3700 cm -1. This peak becomes more pronounced as the pH of aqueous phase decreases, as well as the ionic strength increases, indicating that the hydroxyls corresponding to this spectral feature are situated in a very close proximity to the surface. Isotopic dilution experiments indicate that the 3700 cm -1 feature is not due to asymmetric OH stretches as was suggested before. Based on our results, we suggest that this spectral feature corresponds to hydroxyls of water molecules at the silica surface that cannot hydrogen bond with silanol groups because of the lower density of silanols compared to H2O. We believe this to be the first surface-specific study of non-hydrogen bonded hydroxyls at silica, a surface widely accepted as hydrophilic. 2. SFG spectroscopy of [ν(OH)+δ(HOH)] combination bands of water at silica surface. We have extended SFG spectroscopy of the interfacial hydroxyls at mineral/water surfaces into the near-IR frequency range. The studies of overtones of interfacial OH(OD) groups will provide information on the anharmonicity of such species, and thus on the energy of dissociation. In addition, the positions of the overtone frequencies of the hydroxyls are more sensitive to interactions with the environment than the fundamental stretch frequencies. Our particular focus has been to study the stretch+bend combination band nu comb nu;(OH)+delta;(HOH) of liquid water which occurs in the near-IR spectral range at ~5000-5200 cm -1. It is typically much weaker in the FTIR absorption spectra than the fundamental transitions of the OH stretches or HOH bending, similar to overtones of these modes. We have performed, what we believe to be, the first surface-specific vibrational SFG spectroscopic measurements of combination bands of water molecules at silica surfaces. SFG spectroscopy of water combination band allows access to the water bending mode (delta~1600 cm -1), which still has not been observed in sum-frequency. / Chemistry

In our pursuit of ever smaller transistors, with greater computational throughput, many questions arise about how material properties change with size, and how these properties may be modelled more accurately. Metallic nanocontacts, especially those for which magnetic properties are important, are of great interest due to their potential spintronic applications. Yet, serious challenges remain from the standpoint of theoretical and computational modelling, particularly with respect to the coupling of the spin and lattice degrees of freedom in ferromagnetic nanocontacts in emerging spintronic technologies. In this thesis, an extended method is developed, and applied for the first time, to model the interplay between magnetism and atomic structure in transition metal nanocontacts. The dynamic evolution of the model contacts emulates the experimental approaches used in scanning tunnelling microscopy and mechanically controllable break junctions, and is realised in this work by classical molecular dynamics and, for the first time, spin-lattice dynamics. The electronic structure of the model contacts is calculated via plane-wave and local-atomic orbital density functional theory, at the scalar- and vector-relativistic level of sophistication. The effects of scalar-relativistic and/or spin-orbit coupling on a number of emergent properties exhibited by transition metal nanocontacts, in experimental measurements of conductance, are elucidated by non-equilibrium Green’s Function quantum transport calculations. The impact of relativistic effects during contact formation in non-magnetic gold is quantified, and it is found that scalar-relativistic effects enhance the force of attraction between gold atoms much more than between between atoms which do not have significant relativistic effects, such as silver atoms. The role of non-collinear magnetism in the electronic transport of iron and nickel nanocontacts is clarified, and it is found that the most-likely conductance values reported for these metals, at first- and lastcontact, are determined by geometrical factors, such as the degree of covalent bonding in iron, and the preference of a certain crystallographic orientation in nickel. / Physics / Ph. D. (Physics)