Hafnium Oxide thin films has had growing attention due hafnium oxide being used as a gate dielectric for MOSFET transistors and a potential next generation photoresist for sub 20 nm patterns. Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography has been identified as the primary candidate technology for generation of sub-20 nm patterns. Current...
This thesis presents an experimental study of radial porosity in a manually filled cylindrical container with glass spheres. The symmetric distribution of bead diameter allowed for normalization of container properties and porosity models. The aspect ratio of the container was approximately 3.9, with tube-to-particle-diameter ratio λ ≈ 24.6 and height-to-particle-diameter...
In recent years, model-free Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) has become an increasingly popular alternative to more traditional model-based or optimization-based control methods in solving robotic legged locomotion. However, deploying RL in the real world can be a significant undertaking. Constructing reward functions which compel controllers to learn the desired behavior...
Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) is a potential solar material for thin film solar cells according to its suitable band gap in the visible light range, high absorption coefficient, low toxicity, good photostability and relative earth abundance of component elements. However, the production cost of this solar thin film material...
Burnout is a state of physical or emotional exhaustion and disconnectedness induced by continuous stress that affects various aspects of an individual’s life. Physicians experience burnout at a higher rate than other professions due to the highly stressful nature of their work. Consequently, physicians are at a higher risk of...
To address several challenges faced in healthcare, the Triple Aim (3A) was targeted by institutions to improve health outcomes and patient experience while reducing the costs of health. Process improvement techniques in manufacturing, such as Lean systems, were applied as tools to achieve the 3A framework. Unfortunately, the high level...
The need for less toxic quantum dots (QDs) has led to a significant number of investigations related to copper indium sulfide (CIS) QDs. Lower toxicity and broad band absorbance width makes CIS QDs appealing for light emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, sensors, bio-imaging, solar cells, and computing. The optical and electronic...
Boiling heat transfer is studied for its ability to dissipate high fluxes and achieve heat transfer coefficients two orders of magnitude greater than single-phase heat transfer systems. Heater surface enhancement with increased surface area, varied geometry, wettability contrast and micro/nano-structures can further enhance boiling heat transfer performance through bubble nucleation...
Many projects fail because employees and managers have different understandings of project "success" or "value". Other projects fail because managers are unable to effectively align organizational values with those of their employees. This problem is widely understood, but there is little empirical research that specifies the nature and effect of...
Population growth driven sustainability issues, including the food resource issue, are pressing problems in need of attention. The goal of the present thesis is to examine the ability of an electric non-thermal plasma based microreactor to destroy ethylene, a known plant hormone responsible for losses in the range of 20%...