Advances in energy technologies and electronics have typically occurred through either heightened performance or cost reduction. This dissertation explores both routes through a series of fundamental material studies that may contribute to the enabling of next generation devices. Solution based syntheses and deposition of chemical products offer a low cost...
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been used to improve both the positive and negative bias-stress stability of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) bottom gate thin film transistors (TFTs). N-hexylphosphonic acid (HPA) and fluorinated hexylphosphonic acid (FPA) SAMs adsorbed on IGZO back channel surfaces were shown to significantly reduce bias-stress turn-on...
Stratigraphy and chronology are essential to sedimentological study of Earth system histories. And, stratigraphy and chronology are often challenging and interesting problems themselves. The Quaternary (2.588 Ma - present) experienced paleoenvironmental and paleo-geomagnetic variability well outside the range of the recent instrumental record, providing the opportunity to place recent observations...
T cells are one of the key cells in the immune system. Although they are not the first line of defense against a pathogen, their functions can greatly enhance the phagocytosis and destruction of pathogens as well as the development of antibody responses. Furthermore, even when responding T cells have...
Through the trapping of sediment behind dams, the
presence of beaver in a watershed may cause substantial
changes to fluvial and geomorphic processes. In an
effort to investigate sedimentation patterns in beaver
ponds in the Oregon Coast Range, a case study was made of
the annual accumulation of sediment in...
This ethnographic research examines socioeconomic vulnerabilities to resettlement from a large hydropower dam and agricultural commodification in a Tibetan village in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. After providing an initial background on the dynamics of the research region and hydrodevelopment on its rivers, the research framework of examining vulnerability through a...
Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) nanoparticles were synthesized using ethylene glycol as a solvent via a continuous flow mesofluidic reactor. In this study reaction temperature, residence time, and precursor concentrations were used to control CZTS composition. It was found that CZTS initially forms by the nucleation of Cu₂₋ₓS with subsequent...
Due to the high cost of precursor materials, complex oxides of 4d and 5d transition metals are under-studied compared to their 3d counterparts. Recent studies have shown that oxides containing heavier transition metals can exhibit exotic electronic states due to presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. The goal of this dissertation...
The bacteria Myxococcus xanthus clusters into fruiting bodies in the absence of food. The movement of M. xanthus has three aspects: self-propulsion (run), change of direction due to collision (tumble), and Brownian fluctuations in movement. We propose a minimalist PDE model for the concentrations of left and right moving agents...
Ana1ysis of January to March samples of gaper clam larvae from Yaquina Bay, Oregon have established four hypotheses for further testing: 1) gaper clams have an approximately lunar cycle of spawning intensity with maximum production of larvae at the periods of greatest tidal amplitude, 2) the time required for development...
