Advances in energy technologies and electronics have typically occurred through either heightened performance or cost reduction. This dissertation explores both routes through a series of fundamental material studies that may contribute to the enabling of next generation devices. Solution based syntheses and deposition of chemical products offer a low cost...
The dissertation focuses on the engineering of light-matter interaction using plasmonic nanoparticles and metamaterials to achieve enhanced luminescence and based on which to improve the performance of biosensing and light-emitting technologies. We designed and fabricated a spectrum of nanostructures to exhibit particular dispersion relations capable of controlling the spontaneous emission...
Investigations on the application of self-assembled monolayers (SAM) to indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFT) for fabrication and channel modification are presented. The back channel of IGZO thin film transistors can be modified by the absorption of self-assembled monolayers. The electrical properties of the IGZO exposed back...
Metabolic improvements and changes in gene expression were measured in mice fed polyphenol-rich extracts derived from apples and sweet cherries, and the common phytochemicals, quercetin and ellagic acid. Polyphenol-rich extracts were produced by solid phase extraction and column chromatography. Extracts and purified compounds were mixed into a high-fat (HF, 60%...
Approximately ninety percent of urban Vietnamese households are connected to septic tanks, from which up to three-quarters of the sludge is reported to be dumped into waterways in residential areas. Vietnam has a considerable prevalence of antibiotic misuse and resultant antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the human microbiome. Due to the...
Topology optimization (TO) is a mathematical method to find the optimal size, shape and connectivity of a domain under specified conditions, and has had many applications in engineering design. However, challenges remain in realizing TO as an effective design tool for many design situations. Uncertainty is ubiquitous in nature and...
The development of solution-based methods for deposition of different thin film material is presented as an alternative to high cost vacuum-based methods. For certain materials, vacuum techniques are unsuitable for processing. Additionally, vacuum-based processes present high capital costs associated with equipment, and slow processing times. Atmospheric pressure solution based techniques...
The Asian vinegar fly Drosophila suzukii (spotted wing Drosophila [SWD]) has emerged as a major invasive insect pest of small and stone fruits in both the Americas and Europe since the late 2000s. While research efforts have rapidly progressed in Asia, North America, and Europe over the past 5 years,...
Amorphous multicomponent metals have promising applications in novel electronic devices because of their atomically smooth surface morphology and lack of grain boundaries. It is important to understand the thermal transport properties of amorphous metals and an accurate measurement of their thermal conductivity will be essential for further improvement of device...
As the number of autonomous data collection applications keep increasing, the demand for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has seen explosive growth. In this dissertation, an ultra-low-energy WSN transmitter is developed to reduce the energy consumption of sensor nodes in WSNs. With an ultra-low-energy transceiver, it is possible to eliminate the...