In this project we measure the neutron capture cross section of ²⁰⁸Pb. We began by calibrating our silicon detector with ²⁰⁴Tl. Two experiments were then performed, the first in December of 1999 and the second in March of 2000. Both experiments were performed in the nuclear reactor of the Radiation...
This project calculates the value of β for ice particles based on wavelength dependent values of their refractive and absorptive indices. β is the ratio of the force due to radiation to the force due to gravity acting on a particle in the solar system. This parameter can later be...
The optical characterization of transparent conductive thin films is demonstrated. The basics of transparency and conductivity, as they relate to transparent conductor research, are explained. A functional model of the reflectance and transmittance of a sample film, including interference fringes, is derived from the Fresnel electric field amplitude coefficients. The...
One method of fabricating intermetallic nickel-aluminum MECS devices involves diffusion bonding together pre-patterned elemental foils of nickel and aluminum. This process shows good potential for the mass-production of NiAl devices, but several quality issues remain. Of large concern is the deformation of internal features during the bonding process. This research...
A series of seven magnesium-doped copper scandium oxide films were made by radio frequency sputtering, and intercalated at various oxygen pressures to create different oxygen concentrations in each film. The objectives of this study were to verify the p-type nature of these transparent conductive thin films, to determine the correlation...
When a nucleus is in an excited state, it will decay to lower energy by emitting photons. Often there are several intermediate stages in a decay cascade. Occasionally the photons in a cascade will be emitted in coincidence. This will be resolved by the detector not as two distinct photons,...
Impedance spectroscopy is a method of modeling materials with equivalent circuits to determine electrical properties, such as the resistivity and the dielectric constant. We explore impedance spectroscopy, both theoretically and experimentally through applying the method to samples of BaCuS1-xSexF. Grain boundary effects were dominant in the results, and although they...
We consider development of sand ripples in shallow water flows which do not reach an equilibrium height but have a time-varying ripple height that slowly reaches a maximum value and then is quickly destroyed by the fluid. A simple scenario to explain the time periodic behavior of the sand ripples...
The large population of 2r>100m near earth objects (NEOs) presents a certain hazard to life on earth. It has been proposed that a nuclear device may be used to alter the course of such objects, thereby averting a catastrophic collision with the earth. The asteroid interdiction problem includes a number...
The LIGO interferometers have reached their designed sensitivity level which is greater than any other interferometer ever built. At this point, it is important to have a proper understanding of small perturbations that might still exist (until now these issues did not come to the forefront because other more critical...
Our research was focused mainly on the field of plasma physics and the creation of plasmas in a laboratory environment. We first began our project with the goal to develop a tabletop Tokamak, a doughnut shaped device that magnetically confines plasmas at pressures greater than one atmosphere. After researching this...
Knowledge concerning trade wind cumulus, one of the most dominant cloud types
on the planet, has become increasingly important when considering global issues such as climate change due to their potential influence on the Earth’s energy budget. In this project, using data from the Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean...
Consider a simple Markov process on [0,T]. The occupation times were extensively studied in the case of T increasing to infinity. Here we develop a method of computing the distribution for occupation times when T is small via integral equations and integral transforms.
The aim of this Physics Education Research project was to implement a modified version
of Calibrated Peer Review and measure the impacts in junior-level students' scientific
writing. The project developed and implemented a set of guiding questions, instructor
written examples, and a rubric which were implemented in a multi-staged process,...
Future satellite missions like NASA’s upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are targeting reconnection diffusion regions at the Earth’s magnetopause. These diffusion regions are small compared to the total surface area of the magnetopause. Furthermore, the location of the diffusion region depends on external parameters such as the current state of...
Research was conducted to determine the thermoelectric behavior of Co₉S₈, Co₉Se₈, CoSe, CoTe₂, CoSbSexSl-x (x=O, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0), CoSbTe, AuTe₂, AuTe₁.₉₀Sb₀.₁₀, Au₀.₉₅Pt₀.₀₅Te₂, Au₀.₉₅Ag₀.₀₅Te₂, MnTe₂, MnTe₁.₉₅Sb₀.₀₅, MnTe₁.₉₀Sb₀.₁₀, CoSb₂, and Co₀.₉₅Fe₀.₀₅Sb₂. Recently discovered sodium cobalt oxide compounds have been found to have large Seebeck coefficients coupled with favorable thermal and electrical...
Pulsed laser deposition was used to create 0.1-Bi(Zn₀.₅ Ti₀.₅)O₃-0.9-BaTiO₃ (BZT-BT) thin films to examine the effects of laser energy (2.25 or 2.5 J/cm²) , pulse frequency (2 Hz or 5 Hz), and deposition temperature (550, 600, 650, and 700°C) on the electrical properties of the films. These effects were analyzed...
Optical tweezers are capable of trapping micron sized particles through the transfer of
the momentum of light. These capabilities are expanded through the use of computer
controlled holograms for beam shaping. This hologram creation is facilitated through the use of
a spatial light modulator, which is a liquid crystal device...
The neutron capture cross sections of ¹⁰⁶Cd, ¹⁰⁸Cd, ¹¹⁰Cd, ¹¹²Cd, ¹¹⁴Cd and ¹¹⁶Cd
were determined in the present project. Four different OSU TRIGA reactor facilities were
used to produce redundancy in the results and to measure the thermal cross section and
resonance integral separately. When the present values were compared...
Improvements on the charge control measurements of the torsion pendulum, electron gun, and autocollimator system were conducted at the University of Washington in preparation for the fabrication of the final prototype of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational wave detector for NASA. One main cause of transient forces on...