Metal organic frameworks(MOFs) are a class of crystalline materials utilized in gas storage, chemicalsensing, and other engineering applications. Recently chemists have begun synthesizing MOFs withmoving parts in order to further these applications. A wide array of dynamic MOFs have been created andtheorized. Among them is the interlocking of a ring...
Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) is used to characterize amorphous and crystalline thin films of TiO2. Amorphous precursor films of TiO2 are deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on fused silica and silicon substrates. Annealing the amorphous precursor films induces them to crystallize into either pure or mixed phases of the three...
Exciton-polaritons are a form of light-matter coupling that have potential applications as photonic transistors and logic gates. In order for a photonic transistor or logic gate to be integrated with room temperature fiber-optic technology, excitons-polaritons need to be stable at room temperature and compatible with the red and near-infrared wavelengths...
As responsible energy usage is becoming more and more a part of the public conscience, a key practice of this idea emerges. Specifically, using the energy we do have with maximum efficiency. While the laws of thermodynamics remain a limiting factor, research has been done to show that properties of...
Slow magnetosonic shock fronts are unstable to changes made to their shape, a phenomenon known as corrugation instability. The computational models studied considers a system where plasma travels across a shock front. Using the code Linogen, the corrugation instability of a shock front can be theoretically modeled. The results show...
This work aims to broaden use of the organic semiconductor pentacene (Pn) by means of improving its oxidation and photodimerization stability. In particular, we study the photophysical properties of functionalized Pn derivatives with side groups R in amorphous thin film, referred to as Pn-R-F8 when fluorinated. Using the optics experiments...
Nuclear fusion has the potential to meet the energy needs of our civilization for centuries to come and does not produce harmful greenhouse gasses or produce long-lasting radioactive waste. A fusion reaction can be readily demonstrated in a confinement scheme known as inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion. In this work,...
Hume’s division of truth into agreement with matters of fact or relations of ideas casts doubt on our capacity to have moral knowledge, as moral propositions do not seem to fall obviously into either category. This thesis looks at how two views, ‘descriptive moral functionalism’ and ‘moral concept essentialism’, try...
I construct and examine the properties of Lie and Clifford algebras which are used to describe certain types of particles. These algebras are then related to the traditional theory of division algebras. Quaternions are applied to these algebras and their properties are exploited to model physical properties of particles. The...
We explore the interactions between charge transfer exciton states (CTEs) and an optical microcavity by testing the effects that cavity resonance has on the CTEs and if CTEs can be coupled with a photon to create quasiparticles known as polaritons. Exciton polaritonics is becoming a booming area of research mainly...
Standard quantum mechanics makes foundational assumptions to describe the measurement process. Upon interaction with a “classical measurement apparatus”, a quantum system is subjected to postulated “state collapse” dynamics. We show that framing measurement around state collapse and ill-defined classical observers leads to interpretational issues, and artificially limits the scope of...
The electrical properties of amorphous and crystalline titanium dioxide polymorphs are reported. Titanium dioxide is a widely used transparent semiconductor and it is a useful oxide model. Using variable temperature transport measurements of thin films, it was possible to establish the activation energy barrier for conduction. This was accomplished using...
The spalting fungus Scytalidium cuboideum secretes a red pigment that produces naphthoquinonic crystals that are a photonic material candidate. The molecule can pack together in different configurations resulting in amazingly different optical properties. I developed a procedure (slowly evaporating the solvent) to preferentially grow two of these configurations, which have...
In industry, there is considerable interest in finding sustainable, renewable materials for use in electronic devices. Pigments derived from spalting fungi are of particular interest due to their longevity in diverse environmental conditions. The focus of my project was to characterizethe properties of a novel, fungi-derived pigment, and to discover...
Monte Carlo methods are used to explore vapor-liquid phase transitions. However, current models are computationally expensive when identifying these phase transitions. Traditionally, Monte Carlo simulations are run across a range of temperatures at a fixed number of atoms/molecules. The Number Monte Carlo method (NMC), our proposed Monte Carlo method, runs...
Multiple earthquake events have been recorded off the coast of Oregon, yet their locations have great uncertainty. The largest source of uncertainty is the simple models of the crust that are used to interpret seismic recordings. Because the relationship between earthquake locations and crust are diagnostic of tectonic activity, it...
Microelectrode array (MEA) dissolved-oxygen (DO) sensors were built and electrochemically tested in a solution of potassium ferricyanide. MEAs are becoming more popular as DO sensors because of their small size and capacity for simultaneous measurements with multiple recording sites. The ability to measure DO with multiple recording sites is useful...
Units and dimensions are seldom addressed formally in science classrooms, despite being one of the most fundamental and ubiquitous tools available to scientists. Even worse, science and engineering graduates are often moving into careers without fundamentally understanding units and their importance, leading to struggles in developing scientific literacy and to...
The standard interpretation of quantum mechanics (known as the Copenhagen interpretation) divides the world into quantum phenomena and classical observers that perform measurements upon the phenomena. This provides a quite functional framework for calculating probabilities of measurement outcomes, but it lacks the generality necessary for such things as retrodiction, and...
Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy provides insight into electron dynamics in semiconductor heterostructures. High-field THz spectroscopy probes the excitonic nonlinear response of GaAs quantum well (QW) systems and enables the measurement of its coherent dynamics in the time-domain. Consequently, THz spectroscopy allows one to explore the fundamental properties of many-body interactions...