With the rapid growth of worldwide internet traffic in data centers and clouds, silicon photonics has been utilized to provide enormous data bandwidth and outstanding energy efficiency over electronics. Computing servers and storage servers that are connected by communication links are relying more on optical rather than electrical means mainly...
We measure the thermal conductivities of nano-grained strontium titanate (ng-SrTiO₃) films deposited on sapphire substrates via time-domain thermoreflectance. The 170 nm thick oxide films of varying grain-size were prepared from a chemical solution deposition process. We find that the thermal conductivity of ng-SrTiO₃ decreases with decreasing average grain size and attribute...
DNA has a well-defined structural transition-the denaturation of its double-stranded form into two single strands-that strongly affects its thermal transport properties. We show that, according to a widely implemented model for DNA denaturation, one can engineer DNA 'heattronic' devices that have a rapidly increasing thermal conductance over a narrow temperature...
Nano fish bone (NFB) was prepared using high-energy wet media milling. The characteristics of NFB including particle size distribution, morphology, elemental composition, ZETA potential, calcium ion concentration and chemical structure were investigated. The suitable operational parameters of milling were determined to be 0.5 mm diameter bead, agitation speed at 3,000...
We demonstrate remarkably strong nonlinear terahertz (THz) effects in an intrinsic GaAs wafer patterned with a nanometer-width slot antenna array. The antenna near-field reaches 20 MV/cm due to the huge field enhancement in the plasmonic nano-structure (field enhancement factor, α ≅ 50). The THz fields are strong enough to generate high density...
The focus of this study is to develop a general and low-cost solution-based
process to fabricate micro- and nano-structured semiconductors that are suitable
for electronics. This process uses simple metal halide precursors dissolved in a
solvent (organic or aqueous) and is capable of forming uniform and continuous
thin films via...
Droplet and spray impingement cooling are typically used in high heat flux
thermal management. In this thesis, droplet impingement and evaporation heat transfer
characteristics are determined from measured spatially- and temporally- varying fluid
and surface temperatures. Unique to this study is the documentation of the effects of
using a nanofluid...
An 89 mm-diameter vertical tubular-flow reactor was used to study the kinetics of nano-sized silicon nitride powder synthesis via the animonolysis of SiO vapor at temperatures ranging from 1300°C to 1400°C. The SiO generation rate was controlled by adjusting the mass of SiO particles initially charged in the SiO generator,...
This dissertation concerns a broad range of unique phenomena related to the light propagation at nano- and micro-scales. To access the nano-domain, we introduce anisotropy-based waveguides with positive- and negative-index modes. These novel structures allow energy propagation in subwavelength regions and, in contrast to surface waves, have the mode structure...
Nanotechnologies continue to permeate a multitude of industries, with diverse applications ranging from pesticides to fuel additives. The unusual behavior of nanomaterials that drives their innovation also complicates the job of toxicologists tasked with assessing their potential environmental and public health impacts. This dissertation investigates the underlying reasons for uncertainty...