Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Reactions Of Oxygen And Nitric Oxide In A Microhollow Electrode Discharge, Joseph L. Desormeaux Jr.

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microhollow electrode discharges have been developed and researched in the Physical Electronics Research Institute Laboratories. This discharge typically operates in direct current mode. Microhollow electrode discharges are non-thermal discharges that produce electrons with energies greater than 10 electron volts. Passing gas mixtures through non-equilibrium discharges invokes excitation or dissociation of gas molecules.

The scope of my research was to study the effect of the discharge on the chemistry of two gases, oxygen and nitric oxide in nitrogen mixture. Initial experiments were performed in an effort to produce ozone near atmospheric pressure. This seemed possible since the discharge has a high-energy …

An Injection Modelocked Titanium-Sapphire Laser, James C. Hovater

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

I have investigated the possibility of using an injection modelocked Ti-sapphire laser as a illumination source for GaAs photocathodes. A commercial Ti-sapphire laser was modified to accept a seed pulse from a gain-switched diode laser. Modelocked operation was obtained through gain modulation within the Ti-sapphire crystal as a result of injection seeding with a modelocked pulse train from a gain-switched diode laser. The Ti-sapphire laser essentially becomes a pulse amplifier for the diode laser. Unlike conventional modelocked lasers, the pulse repetition rate of this laser can be discretely varied by setting the seed laser repetition rate equal to multiples of …

Coupled Electrodynamic-Monte Carlo Simulations Of Nanoscale Gaas Terahertz Optical Mixers, Jiang Li

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The concept of mixing or heterodyning has traditionally been used for microwaves and for radio frequency communications. However, the concept can easily be extended into the optical frequency regime. By doing so, the photomixing process can serve as a very versatile tool for both the generation of ultrahigh frequency (terahertz) and the detection of weak optical signals.

The aim of this thesis is to perform a theoretical study of the photomixing process inside GaAs devices as the non-linear elements. A coupled approach which combines the Monte Carlo simulation scheme for the carrier transport, with Maxwell's equation for the electrodynamics, has …

High Pressure Radio-Frequency Microhollow Cathode Discharges, Anja Annett Muller

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A new field of microhollow cathode discharges is represented by the RF microhollow cathode discharge. So far, the behavior and related physical processes of the RF microhollow cathode discharge are not well investigated.

RF microhollow discharges in air at high pressures were investigated under different experimental conditions. The geometry was changed by reducing the cathode hole diameter and the dielectric spacer thickness. By adding a noble gas to air, the influence of additive gases was explored. Additionally, the parallel operation of RF microhollow discharges was investigated.

It was shown that stable RF microhollow cathode discharges could only be sustained up …

Measurements Of The Δ(1232) Transition Form Factor And The Ratio Σn/Σp From Inelastic Electron-Proton And Electron-Deuteron Scattering, L M. Stuart, R S. Hicks, R A. Miskimen, Gerald Alvin Peterson, S H. Rokni

Gerald Alvin Peterson

Measurements of inclusive electron-scattering cross sections using hydrogen and deuterium targets in the region of the Δ(1232) resonance are reported. A global fit to these new data and previous data in the resonance region is also reported for the proton. Transition form factors have been extracted from the proton cross sections for this experiment over the four-momentum transfer squared range 1.64

First Observation Of The Cabibbo Suppressed Decay B+ → D̅0K+, M. Athanas, Kenneth A. Bloom, Cleo Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We have observed the decay B⁺ → D̅⁰K⁺, using 3.3 X 10⁶ BB̅ pairs collected with the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. We find the ratio of branching fractions R ≡ Ɓ(B⁺ → D̅⁰K⁺)/Ɓ(B⁺ →D̅⁰π⁺) = 0.055 ± 0.014 ± 0.005.

Charge-Correlation Effects In Calculations Of Atomic Short-Range Order In Metallic Alloys, F. J. Pinksi, J. B. Staunton, Duane D. Johnson

Duane D. Johnson

The “local” chemical environment that surrounds an atom directly influences its electronic charge density. These atomic charge correlations play an important role in describing the Coulomb and total energies for random substitutional alloys. Although the electronic structure may be well represented by a single-site theory, such as the coherent potential approximation, the electrostatic energy is not as well represented when these charge correlations are ignored. For metals, including the average effect from the charge correlation coming from only the nearest-neighbor shell has been shown to be sufficient to determine accurately the energy of formation. In this paper, we incorporate such …

The Influence Of Enhanced Surface Magnetism On Finite-Size Scaling, C. Waldfried, T. Mcavoy, D. Welipitiya, Peter A. Dowben, Elio Vescovo

Peter Dowben Publications

The thickness-dependent spin-polarized electronic structure of strained ultrathin and thin films of Gd has been investigated. The surface magnetic structure dominates the magnetic ordering of the ultrathin Gd films. With decreasing thickness some bulk bands exhibit increasingly more "passive" magnetic behavior. These bulk bands resemble a paramagnet over an increasing volume of the bulk Brillouin zone with decreasing film thickness.

H2 Formation On Interstellar Grains In Different Physical Regimes, Gianfranco Vidali, Ofer Biham, Itay Furman, N. Katz, Valerio Pirronello

Physics - All Scholarship

An analysis of the kinetics of H2 formation on interstellar dust grains is presented using rate equations. It is shown that semi-empirical expressions that appeared in the literature represent two different physical regimes. In particular, it is shown that the expression given by Hollenbach, Werner and Salpeter [ApJ, 163, 165 (1971)] applies when high flux, or high mobility, of H atoms on the surface of a grain, makes it very unlikely that H atoms evaporate before they meet each other and recombine. The expression of Pirronello et al.\ [ApJ, 483, L131 (1997)] -- deduced on the basis of accurate measurements …

Absolute Triply Differential (E, 2e) Cross Sections For He In The Intermediate Energy Region With Comparison To Theory, J. Röder, H. Ehrhardt, Cheng Pan, Anthony F. Starace, Igor Bray, Dmitry V. Fursa

Anthony F. Starace Publications

Absolute triply differential (e, 2e) cross section measurements are presented for He at incident energies E₀ = 32.6, 44.6, 64.6, and 104.6 eV with equal energy sharing and the θ₁₂ = π configuration. Results of distorted partial-wave calculations agree with the measurements; those of convergent close-coupling calculations agree with the relative angular distributions, and with absolute values after rescaling by consideration of the singly differential cross section.

Pion-Pion Scattering In Two Dimensions, Joseph Schechter, D. Delphenich, S. Vaidya

Physics - All Scholarship

Massive two-flavor QED_2 is known to have many similarities to the two-flavor QCD_4. Here we compare the \pi-\pi scattering amplitudes (actually an analog process in QED_2) of the two theories. The QED_2 amplitude is computed from the bosonized version of the model while the QCD_4 amplitude is computed from an effective low energy chiral Lagrangian. A number of interesting features are noted. For example, the contribution of the two-dimensional Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) term in QED_2 is structurally identical to the vector meson exchange contribution in QCD_4. Also it is shown that the QED_2 amplitude computed at tree level is a reasonable …

Steps Toward Determination Of The Size And Structure Of The Broad-Line Region In Active Galactic Nuclei. Xiv. Intensive Optical Spectrophotometric Observations Of Ngc 7469, S.J. Collier, Keith Horne, Shai Kaspi, Hagai Netzer, Bradley M. Peterson, I. Wanders, T. Alexander, R. Bertram, A. Comastri, C. Martin Gaskell, Yu. F. Malkov, D. Maoz, M. Mignoli, Richard William Pogge, V.I. Pronik, S.G. Sergeev, Stephanie A. Snedden, G.M. Stirpe, N.G. Bochkarev, A.N. Burenkov, A.I. Shapovalova, R.M. Wagner

C. Martin Gaskell Publications

We present results of an intensive 2 month campaign of ground-based spectrophotometric monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469, with a temporal resolution [approximately less than]1 day. The broad Hα and Hβ emission lines respond to ~35% ultraviolet continuum variations with an amplitude of ~10% and time delays of 5.6±1.3 days and 5.4±0.8 days, respectively. We interpret this as evidence of variable Balmer line gas ~5-6 light days from the central source in this object, widely believed to be a supermassive black hole. The virial mass of the central source implied by line widths and time delays is ~10 …

Renormalized Effective Hamiltonian Approach To Qcd, David G. Robertson

Physics Faculty Scholarship

Continuing our previous QCD Hamiltonian studies in the gluonic and quark sectors, we describe a new renormalization procedure which generates an effective Hamiltonian. The formulation, which is in the Coulomb gauge, provides an improved framework for investigating hadron structure.

B→Sγ Constraints On The Minimal Supergravity Model With Large Tanβ, Howard Baer, Michal Brhlik, Diego Castano, Xerxes Tata

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

In the minimal supergravity model (MSUGRA), as the parameter tanβ increases, the charged Higgs boson and light bottom squark masses decrease, which can potentially increase contributions from tH±, ̃gbj and Zibj loops in the decay →bsγ. We update a previous QCD improved →bsγ decay calculation to include in addition the effects of gluino and neutralino loops. We find that, in the MSUGRA model, loops involving charginos also increase, and dominate over tW, tH±, ̃g̃q and Zĩq contributions for tanβ≳5−10. We find for large values of tanβ∼35 that most of the parameter space of the MSUGRA model for μ<0 is ruled out due to too large a value of branching ratio B(→bsγ). For μ>0 and …

Magnetic And Structural Properties Of Prco3–XSiX Compounds, T. Matsui, R. D. Stevenson, Roger D. Kirby, David J. Sellmyer

Roger Kirby Publications

We have systematically investigated the magnetic properties of the rare-earth compounds PrCo₈Si and PrCo_3–xSi_x, the crystal structures of which are hexagonal CeNi₃-type and rhombohedral Be₃Nb-type, respectively. Sharp cusps were observed in the real and imaginary parts of the ac susceptibility at temperatures between 282 (x = .08) and 209 K (x = .23). Also observed were bifurcations of the zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization curves at the same temperatures, showing that the magnetization was irreversible below these temperatures. The effect of Si substitution for Co in this system …

Coercivity And Exchange Coupling In Prco:Co Nanocomposite Films, J. Ping Liu, Yi Liu, David J. Sellmyer

David Sellmyer Publications

Magnetic hysteresis and intergrain exchange coupling in nanostructured PrCo:Co composite films have been investigated. The composite thin films were made by multilayer sputtering and subsequent annealing. It is found that the coercivity mechanism is related to film morphology, especially the Co phase fraction. Evidence for the hard-soft-phase exchange coupling has been found and high energy products have been obtained.

Hydrogen In R2Fe17 Intermetallic Compounds: Structural, Thermodynamic, And Magnetic Properties, S. Wirth, Ralph Skomski, J.M.D. Coey

Ralph Skomski Publications

The absorption and diffusion behavior of hydrogen in iron-rich rare-earth intermetallics of the type R₂Fe₁₇ (R=Y, Sm, Gd) and the resulting changes of their magnetic properties are investigated. Intermediate hydrogen concentration indicate the solid-solution character of the hydrides. From equilibrium and nonequilibrium absorption experiments net reaction energies, bulk diffusion constants, and surface barrier energies for Sm₂Fe₁₇ are determined and discussed. The low-temperature quantum diffusion is discussed for the hydride and the corresponding nitride. The interstitial modification changes drastically the crystalline electric field in the rare-earth intermetallics. For Sm₂Fe₁₇H₄ the …

Finite Size Scaling In The Thin Film Limit, C. Waldfield, D. Welipitiya, T. Mcavoy, Peter A. Dowben, Elio Vescovo

Peter Dowben Publications

The thickness dependent spin-polarized electronic structure of strained thin and ultrathin films of Gd is characterized by a distinct change in the critical exponent λ in the formalism of finite size scaling. The reduced critical exponent in the ultrathin films can be correlated to the increased dominance of the surface magnetic structure and the increasing paramagnetic-like behavior of the bulk. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.

Strain Induced Alteration Of The Gadolinium Surface State, C. Waldfried, D.N. Mcilroy, T. Mcavoy, D. Welipitiya, Peter A. Dowben, Elio Vescovo

Peter Dowben Publications

Strain induced alteration of the gadolinium surface state The electronic structure of strained and unstrained Gd(0001) has been studied with photoemission, inverse photoemission, and spin-polarized photoemission. A shift of the occupied majority and unoccupied minority surface states has been observed as a result of the strain, consistent with the phase accumulation model. There is a strain induced shift of the minority spin surface state across the Fermi level. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.

Immobilization Diffusion In R2Fe17 Nitrides, Ralph Skomski, S. Wirth

Ralph Skomski Publications

The diffusion of nitrogen in R₂Fe₁₇ intermetallics is investigated by an approach which reconciles the solid-solution and immobilization theories of nitrogen diffusion. It turns out that two-sublattice diffusions may yield sharp concentration profiles but leave the phase structure of the nitride unchanged. Beside the reaction time and a local relaxation time there exists a global relaxation time which governs the smoothing of concentration gradients. Due to the large number of unknown energy parameters involved it is difficult to make quantitative predictions, but in general the diffusion behavior depends on factors such as the use of N_{2 …}

Finite-Temperature Behavior Of Anisotropic Two-Sublattice Magnets, Ralph Skomski

Ralph Skomski Publications

The finite-temperature magnetism of rare-earth transition-metal intermetallics is investigated by extending the n-component vector spin model to two-sublattice magnets. Mean-field analysis shows that the influence of the rare-earth anisotropy on the mean-field Curie temperature is much smaller than expected from the low-temperature rare-earth anisotropy. The use of ultraspherical polynomials yields a generalization of the famous m (m+1)/2 power-law exponent to m (m+n-2)/( n-1).

Micromagnetic Localization, Ralph Skomski

Ralph Skomski Publications

The localization of nucleation modes in inhomogeneous ferromagnets and its influence on the coercivity are investigated. From the formal analogy between quantum mechanics and micromagnetics follows that anisotropy inhomogeneities may cause localization. The nucleation modes of one-dimensional arrays, such as multilayers composed of hard and soft magnetic materials, are localized even if the superlattice exhibits a nearly ideal periodicity. Gaussian distributions of the layer thicknesses lead to Urbach tails and very low coercivities, but a maximum thickness l_m of the soft layers suppresses the Urbach tails. The related problem of magnetic viscosity leads to a supersymmetric Fokker–Planck description where …

Phase Formation And Magnetic Properties Of Co-Rare Earth Magnetic Films, Yi Liu, Richard A. Thomas, S.S. Malhotra, Z.S. Shan, Sy_Hwang Liou, David J. Sellmyer

Sy-Hwang Liou Publications

Co–Sm and Co–Pr films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy and magnetic measurement were used to study the microstructure and magnetic property relationship. The nanostructure of the as-deposited Co 19 at. % Sm films consists of two phases: the amorphous phase and the crystallite phase. Upon annealing at 600 °C, the Co₅Sm phase with the Cu₅Ca structure, having grain size of about 20 nm, is obtained along with high coercivity (45 kOe). The as-deposited Co 22 at. % Sm films also have nanostructure similar to the Co 19 at. % films except the …

Nanostructured Ndfeb Films Processed By Rapid Thermal Annealing, M. Yu, Yi Liu, Sy_Hwang Liou, David J. Sellmyer

Sy-Hwang Liou Publications

Nanostructured NdFeB films were prepared by magnetron sputtering followed by rapid thermal annealing at a ramp rate of 200 °C/s. Isotropically oriented Nd₂Fe₁₄B crystallites were formed in the films and coercivities up to 20 kOe and remanence ratios up to 0.8 were obtained. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the majority phase of the magnetic layer in the high coercivity films consists of Nd₂Fe₁₄B nanocrystallites with an average size of about 50 nm. These nanocrystallites are believed to be single-domain particles, which are responsible for the high coercivities. MFM measurements show that …

A Study Of The Knowledge Structure Of Expert, Intermediate, And Novice Subjects In The Domain Of Physics, Jennifer L. Discenna

Dissertations

The objective of this research was to investigate the knowledge structure in physics by describing the knowledge of experts, intermediates, and novices. A review of the literature on expertise, physics knowledge, and conceptual structure provided two competing representations of physics knowledge: one defined as a hierarchy of models arranged from general to specific models, the second defined by theories which link knowledge together.

In order to investigate the two representations described above, a reiterative categorization task was employed. This task resulted in a hierarchical sort with larger piles at the top of the hierarchy and smaller piles at the bottom …

General Formulation Of The Semirelativistic Approach To Atomic Sum Rules, P.T. Leung, Scott M. Cohen

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A general scheme is presented for obtaining systematic relativistic corrections to quantum-mechanical sum rules for various calculations in atomic physics. The single-particle picture and the Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation [Phys. Rev. 78, 29 (1950)] are adopted to derive such corrections. Results are obtained for the ldquogeneralized Bethe sums,rdquo which include all higher moments of the energy transfer, and explicit results are given to the lowest order of relativistic corrections.

Path Integral For The Quantum Harmonic Oscillator Using Elementary Methods, Scott M. Cohen

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a purely analytical method to calculate the propagator for the quantum harmonic oscillator using Feynman’s path integral. Though the details of the calculation are involved, the general approach uses only matrix diagonalization and well-known integrals, techniques which an advanced undergraduate should understand. The full propagator, including both the prefactor and the classical action, is obtained from a single calculation which involves the exact diagonalization of the discretized action for the system.

Semiclassical Formula For Oscillator Strengths Of Atomic Spectra In External Fields, V. Kondratovich, John B. Delos

Arts & Sciences Articles

In a previous Rapid Communication [Phys. Rev. A 56, R5 (1997)] we reported a semiclassical formula describing oscillator strengths for transitions to a high Rydberg state of a hydrogen atom in an electric field. The formula relates the oscillator strength for an atomic transition into a Rydberg state to the angular distribution of outgoing electron waves and to the density of classical tori. Here we give a derivation of that formula and we suggest some generalizations. We compare the formula with experimental measurements of the absorption spectrum of hydrogen in an electric field. This absorption spectrum consists of quasidiscrete resonances …

The Discovery Of Trapped Energetic Electrons In The Outer Cusp, R. B. Sheldon, Harlan E. Spence, J. D. Sullivan, T. A, Fritz, Jiasheng Chen

Physics & Astronomy

We report on the POLAR/CEPPAD discovery of a trapped, 60°<θ<120° pitch angle electron population in the outer cusp (7−9+ Re), whose energetic electron component extends from below 30 keV to ∼2 MeV. Because the time variability in the outer cusp precludes mapping with POLAR, we have carried out test particle simulations using the Tsyganenko 1996 model (T96) to demonstrate the trapping of these energy electrons in the outer cusp region and the resonant frequencies of its trapped motion. We discuss the boundaries and regions of the cusp trap and show that it is analogous to the dipole trap. We show that the phase space densities observed there are equal or greater than the phase space densities observed in the radiation belts at constant magnetic moment, thus allowing the possibility of diffusive filling of the radiation belts from the cusp

Possible Evidence Of Gravity Wave Coupling Into The Mid-Latitude F Region Ionosphere During The Seek Campaign, Michael J. Taylor, J. M. Jahn, S. Fukao, A. Saito

All Physics Faculty Publications

On five of eight observation nights during the 1996 SEEK (Sporadic E Experiment over Kyushu) campaign, Japan, unusual “wave‐like” structures were imaged in the 630 nm thermospheric nightglow emission. Four of these events were observed to travel towards the southwest, providing new evidence in support of recent theories describing the coupling of medium‐scale gravity waves into the mid‐latitude F region ionosphere. Available ionosonde data and the visual characteristics of the wave structures indicate no association with the occurrence of mid‐latitude spread F or F region upwellings. Instead, the data support the novel concept of feedback from the ionosphere into the …