The ability to focus light through strongly scattering materials is opening up exciting new avenues in many fields, such as optics, computer vision, biology, and medicine, which utilize light delivery and imaging techniques. Efficient, high resolution wavefront shaping and optimization methods are crucial to enabling this new capability.
In this...
Mixed anion compounds that form ZrCuSiAs-type crystal structures exhibit remarkable properties such as superconductivity at low temperatures,
hole conduction with optical transparency in the visible region, and exciton absorption at room temperature. In this thesis, properties of a selected group of materials out of the very large set of mixed...
The common choice in computational approximations, from 0 K to room temperature, of solid materials is to assume the structure remains unchanged at low temperatures. Often such an approximation is a very reasonable assumption. However, this approximation is not absolute and can break down even for relatively simple materials such...
This thesis presents the results of quantum-mechanical first principles calculations
of optical, electronic and mechanical properties of organic molecules and solids, which have
diverse potential applications such as photovoltaics, flexible electronics, and mechanical
catalysts with applications in force sensors and self-healing materials.
The electronic and optoelectronic properties of organic thin...
The behavior of small atomics cluster largely depends on their geometry,
due to the high ratio of surface atoms to interior atoms. One interesting aspect
to study clusters centers around characterizing the transition behavior between
nite and bulk materials, where the ratio of surface atoms to interior atoms is
very...
This thesis presents the results from Monte Carlo calculations on classical vector spins in
face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattices. The goal of the study was to understand the effect of
interlayer coupling, dilution of magnetic atoms in the lattice, and symmetry-changing
strain.
Experimental work by T. M. Giebultowicz et al. and J....
Shrub-steppe ecosystems of western North America provide habitat for many wildlife species, are important components of public and private rangelands, and offer recreational opportunities for millions of people. They are some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the United States and have been altered by human activities such as livestock...
A shell model for ferroelectric perovskites fitted to results of first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations is strongly affected by approximations made in the exchange-correlation functional within DFT, and in general not as accurate as a shell model derived from experimental data. We have developed an isotropic shell model for...
The inhibitory effects of Corexit 9500A, Alaska North Slope Crude oil (ANSC), and mixtures of the two on the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, Nitrosomonas europaea, and the ammonia-oxidizing archaea, Nitrosopumilus maritimus, were investigated. Corexit 9500A was found to be minimally toxic to both microorganisms with concentrations of 2000 and 3000 ppm yielding...
Over the past few decades, the ratio of women to men in many traditionally maledominated fields has become much more equal. However, in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields the ratio has not improved at the same rate. In computer science the ratio is still very uneven. Today women...