Inelastic collisions between dipolar molecules, assumed to be trapped in a static electric field at cold (> 10−3K) temperatures, are investigated and compared with elastic collisions. For molecules with a Λ-doublet energy-level structure, a dipole moment arises because of the existence of two nearly degenerate states of opposite parity, and the collision of two such dipoles can be solved entirely analytically in the energy range of interest. Cross sections and rate constants are found to satisfy simple, universal formulas. In contrast, for molecules in a Σ electronic ground state, the static electric field induces a dipole moment in one of three rotational sublevels. Collisions between two rotor dipoles are calculated numerically; the results scale simply with molecule mass, rotational constant, dipole moment, and field strength. It might be expected that any particles interacting only under the influence of the dipole-dipole interaction would show similar behavior; however, the most important and general result of this research is that at cold temperatures inelastic rate constants and cross sections for dipoles depend strongly upon the internal structure of the molecules. The most prominent difference between the Λ-doublet and rotor molecules is variation of the inelastic cross section with applied field strength. For Λ-doublet dipoles, cross sections decrease with increasing field strength. For rotor dipoles, cross sections increase proportionally with the square of field strength. Furthermore, the rate constants of the two types of molecules depend very differently on the angular orientations of the dipoles in the electric field.

The scattering of waves by a finite thin plate in a two-dimensional wave guide and an array of finite thin plates, in the presence of subsonic mean flow, are formulated using a mode matching technique. The influence of mean flow on trapped modes in the vicinity of a finite thin plate in a two-dimensional wave guide is then investigated by putting the amplitude of the forcing term to zero in the scattering problem. The conditions for complex resonances are found, and numerical results are computed. The influence of mean flow on Rayleigh-Bloch modes is investigated by using a similar methodology. The condition for embedded trapped modes to exist is introduced next, and then numerical results for embedded trapped modes without mean flow are presented. Complex resonances without mean flow are then found by fixing the geometry of the waveguide. The influence of mean flow on complex resonances and embedded trapped modes is investigated subsequently. In addition, the investigation of scattering coefficients is discussed when the frequency of an incident wave is near the real part of the frequency of complex resonances or embedded trapped modes. Embedded trapped modes near an indentation in a strip wave guide, which may correspond to a two-dimensional acoustic wave guide or a channel of uniform water depth in water waves, are also found. Modes are sought which are either symmetric or anti-symmetric about the centreline of the guide and the centre of the indentation. In each case, a simple approximate solution is found numerically. Full solutions are then found by using a Galerkin approach in which the singularity near the indentation edge is modelled by choosing proper special functions. The final part of the thesis is devoted to spinning modes (Rayleigh-Bloch modes) in a cylindrical waveguide in the presence of radial fins. A mode matching technique is used to obtain the potential, and the coefficients in the expansion are found numerically by using an efficient Galerkin procedure. In addition, an existence proof for modes symmetric about the centre of the guide and the centre of the section with radial fins is given by applying a variational approach. The connection between Rayleigh-Bloch modes and trapped modes is discussed thereafter, and numerical results for a number of geometric configurations are presented.

Trapped cold ions are tools which we used to approach two very disparate areas of physics, strong coupling between Ba+ ions and optical resonators, and investigations of a low-energy nuclear isomer of 229-Th. The first part of this thesis describes our progress towards the integration of a miniature Paul (rf) ion trap with a high finesse (F=30000) optical cavity. Ba+ ions were trapped and cooled for long periods and a new scheme for isotope selective photoionization was developed. The second part of this thesis describes our progress towards controlled excitation of the low energy nuclear isomer of 229-Th, which may provide a bridge between the techniques of cold atomic and nuclear physics. As a step towards this goal, 232-Th3+ ions were confined in rf ions traps and cooled via collisions with a buffer gas of helium. A sophisticated scanning program was developed for controlling ion trap loading, tuning lasers, and running a CCD camera to look for fluorescence. The low-lying electronic transitions of Th3+ at 984 nm, 690 nm and 1087 nm were observed via laser fluorescence.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, School of Chemistry, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-109).

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Chemistry, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 20, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-110). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-75).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-274).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 376).

abstract: Implantable medical device technology is commonly used by doctors for disease management, aiding to improve patient quality of life. However, it is possible for these devices to be exposed to ionizing radiation during various medical therapeutic and diagnostic activities while implanted. This commands that these devices remain fully operational during, and long after, radiation exposure. Many implantable medical devices employ standard commercial complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes for integrated circuit (IC) development, which have been shown to degrade with radiation exposure. This necessitates that device manufacturers study the effects of ionizing radiation on their products, and work to mitigate those effects to maintain a high standard of reliability. Mitigation can be completed through targeted radiation hardening by design (RHBD) techniques as not to infringe on the device operational specifications. This thesis details a complete radiation analysis methodology that can be implemented to examine the effects of ionizing radiation on an IC as part of RHBD efforts. The methodology is put into practice to determine the failure mechanism in a charge pump circuit, common in many of today's implantable pacemaker designs, as a case study. Charge pump irradiation data shows a reduction of circuit output voltage with applied dose. Through testing of individual test devices, the response is identified as parasitic inter-device leakage caused by trapped oxide charge buildup in the isolation oxides. A library of compact models is generated to represent isolation oxide parasitics based on test structure data along with 2-Dimensional structure simulation results. The original charge pump schematic is then back-annotated with transistors representative of the parasitic. Inclusion of the parasitic devices in schematic allows for simulation of the entire circuit, accounting for possible parasitic devices activated by radiation exposure. By selecting a compact model for the parasitics generated at a specific dose, the compete circuit response is then simulated at the defined dose. The reduction of circuit output voltage with dose is then re-created in a radiation-enabled simulation validating the analysis methodology. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2010

Superconductivity in magnesium diboride (MgB2) was discovered in 2001. The relatively high Tc (39 K), high critical current density, long coherence length (∼6 nm), low raw material cost, lower density and relative ease of fabrication make this material an exciting choice for practical applications. Furthermore, lower anisotropy and strongly linked current flow in untextured polycrystalline samples, unlike its HTS counterparts, has enabled the development of different processing routes to fabricate MgB2 in the form of wires, tapes, thin films and bulks. Conventionally, MgB2 is synthesized by in situ sintering, where elemental Mg and B powders are reacted to produce MgB2. Although the superconducting phase can be obtained with relative ease, the resulting sample is generally only around 50% dense, due to formation of large pores inside sintered bulks arising from the volatility of magnesium and 25% volume contraction in MgB2 phase formation. Although the use of high pressure is effective to promote sintering and subsequent densification, the need to use large pressure vessels represents a significant practical limitation for the development of a practical process and of the achievable dimensions in the final MgB2 sample. As a result, the fabrication of high density, bulk MgB2 remains a challenging processing problem. This study explores the “Infiltration and Growth” (IG) technique, an established processing route for fabrication of dense ceramics/ceramic matrix composites, as a potential solution. Boron powders of varying characteristics were infiltrated with Mg(l) to obtain bulk MgB2 samples. The samples were analysed using techniques such as XRD, SEM and hardness to analyse various phases formed during the process. These samples typically contained MgB2 with minor quantities of Mg. Physical properties of superconducting MgB2, such as Tc, Jc and Hc2, were established. Furthermore, the effective current carrying cross-section was estimated from resistivity measurements using Rowel’s analysis. Continuous Mg channels were major defects in IG processed samples and their presence was found to limit long range current flow. These channels are eliminated by incorporating Mg/AlB2/MgB2 powders in the precursor to facilitate in-flux of Mg, leading to a more uniform infiltration process, thereby enabling fabrication of near-net shaped MgB2 bulk superconductors. Such samples showed an almost identical value of trapped magnetic flux at the top and bottom surfaces, suggesting a high degree of uniformity in MgB2. A careful microstructural analysis of a series of samples indicated that MgB2 phase formation in IG process occurred in three distinct stages: (1) Intermediate boride formation (2) Bulk liquid Mg infiltration and (3) MgB2 layer formation. Due to volume expansion involved in stage 1, cracks formed in the β-Boron particles and propagated radially inwards during stage 3. The growing MgB2 particles sintered simultaneously with the formation of grain boundaries during the process. Much enhanced performance of MgB2 was achieved by virtue of C-doping. Increased Jc was attributed to generation of lattice strains and loss of crystallinity in MgB2 as a result of C-doping. Finally, trapped field measurements were performed on homogeneous C-doped MgB2 bulks. The trapped field obtained (4.13 T) in five stacked of bulks is the highest obtained in MgB2 bulks synthesized under ambient pressure conditions.