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...
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...
The motor protein dynein is responsible for cellular processes such as axonal transport and cell division by delivering vital information along the microtubule track. A failed delivery can cause severe damage to the cell’s functionality and lead to neurological diseases. Despite dynein’s rich history in cellular research, the mechanism of...
Dynein is a motor protein which transports cargo along tracks inside the cell. Like related motor proteins kinesin and myosin, dynein uses cellular energy to take steps with its two foot domains. Unlike kinesin or myosin, dynein’s stepping pattern is highly varied: it can take steps between zero and 60nm...
Gravitational waves (GWs) are disturbances in spacetime that can be caused by events such as black hole mergers and supernovae, as well as continuous sources such as binary star systems. GWs offer a new avenue of astrophysical research and can reveal information about the early universe. GW detection can be...
Motivated by the Navier-Stokes equations, which are a set of unsolved equations related to fluid motion in R^3, we explored the incompressibility condition and the Neumann boundary problem. After exploring, we noticed that using iterated Riesz transforms of the boundary data could be used to get information about the velocity...
Semiconducting materials are of immense importance due to their presence in almost all modern devices. It is possible that the surface physics of semiconductors could be used to control the nanoscale topography and properties of these materials, ultimately creating new options for device fabrication. This could result in profound implications...
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...
Organic photovoltaics are being explored as the next generation material for semiconducting and optoelectronic devices but are limited by their stability and efficiency. One new candidate is crystallized Anthradithiophene (ADT), which is a promising photo-voltaic material due to its high quantum yield and adjustable side groups. The side derivatives TES-F,...
Organic semiconducting materials have emerged in the last few decades as viable alternatives to inorganics in broad applications from field effect transistors to LEDs to solar cells. Organics provide many benefits over inorganics such as flexibility, sustainability, and reduced cost. However, these materials are more susceptible to degradation in the...
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,...
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...
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...
The equation of state for a fluid described by the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) potential was solved to determine at what pressures and temperatures the fluid will theoretically freeze. A Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm was used to sample a system of 256 spheres for a set of thermodynamic averages to locate and...
Electrostatic gating of nanomaterials allows researchers to control carrier density and shape potential barriers that confine carriers. Lithographic patterning followed by metal deposition is the standard technique to define electrostatic gates; however, the methods of fabricating these devices often involve harsh processing. For example, taking a material to high temperatures...
Since the advent of graphene, research on 2D materials has exploded. Countless experiments have uncovered novel properties that emerge when different layered crystals are cleaved down to only a few atomic layers in thickness. The most popular of these non-graphene 2D materials is MoS2, a semiconductor which has been of...
Using a plastic bottle, we explore the capabilities of a reflective phase-only Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) in removing wavefront aberrations using a Zernike polynomial phase mask, with the modulators phase depth limited to 0.8π radians. Wavefront aberrations, which can be modeled with Zernike polynomials, distort image transmission through various optical...
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...
Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy is a key ingredient in confirming Einstein’s theory of General Relativity and showing how the universe sends ripples through spacetime, distorting distances between two points. The confirmation of high-frequency GWs observed by The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 was a breakthrough in our understanding...
The dynein molecule is a peculiar motor protein recognized for its unique stepping behavior. Sometimes it steps forwards. Other times it steps backwards. It has even been observed to occasionally shuffle by beginning a step with the same domain many times in row. These motions make dynein an interesting object...