RSS 1.0Electronic Dissertations and Theses - Physics and Astronomy
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This collection contains theses and dissertations by students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Washington State University.
Recent Submissions
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A study of convex hull optimization and null-stream-based chi squared discrimination statistics for gravitational-wave signal analysis
(2019)We develop data analysis methods to improve the sensitivity of searches for gravitational-wave signals from compact object binaries in networks of ground-based detectors, such as LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA. These are targeted ... -
Nonlinear dynamics and shock structures in elongated Bose-Einstein condensates
(2019)Dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates are ultracold quantum gases that display many peculiar hydrodynamic properties, such as superfluidity, i.e. dissipation-less flow, a variety of solitonic textures and quantized vortex ... -
ANALYTIC RELATIONS BETWEEN CLASSICAL ORBITS IN CHAOTIC SYSTEMS, AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR QUANTUM CHAOS
(2018)Rare sets of classical orbits, such as the heteroclinic and periodic orbits, play central roles in various semiclassical sum rules, in which they sum up in interference-like ways to determine spectral quantities of quantum ... -
Application-driven studies of photomechanical materials
(2018)Deep brain stimulation therapy is a well-established medical procedure with well-documented benefits, but this procedure would be enhanced by a flexible therapy device that could bend when photoactivated. To this end, two ... -
ELECTRICAL AND THERMOELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF VAN DER WAALS HETEROSTRUCTURES
(2018)Two-dimensional (2D) layered semiconductors, particularly the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), have been extensively explored as the material of choice for applications in electronics and optics. However, the ... -
CVD GROWTH AND RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY STUDY OF VAN DER WAALS IN2SE3
(2018)Using micro-Raman spectroscopy and finite-element simulations, we determine the in-plane thermal conductivity of suspended two-dimensional single-crystal In2Se3 grown by chemical vapor deposition. The thermal conductivity ... -
Solute-solute interactions in intermetallic compounds studied using perturbed angular correlation of gamma rays
(2017-05)Interactions between pairs of solute atoms dissolved in a binary intermetallic compound were studied. Perturbed angular correlation of gamma rays (PAC) was used to detect solute atoms next to impurity PAC probe atoms in ... -
Dispersion Engineering of Bose-Einstein Condensates
(2017)The subject of this dissertation is engineering the dispersion relation for dilute Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). When a BEC is immersed into suitably tailored laser fields its dispersion can be strongly modified. ... -
Nonlinear optics near the fundamental limits
(2017)The nonlinear optical response of materials on the fastest time scale is ultimately determined by the quantum mechanical properties of the material's electronic configuration. This response is limited by the amount of ... -
Helically-Supported Capillary Channels as Liquid Acquisition Devices in Microgravity
(2016)Fluid-filled springs are capillary channels that can be used as liquid acquisition devices to passively separate two-phase systems in microgravity. However, these channels must be primed and connected to a pressure reservoir ... -
Persistant Photoconductivity of Strontium Titanate
(2016)Strontium titanate (SrTiO$_3$) is a transparent conducting oxide with a range of interesting properties, including a large, temperature-dependent dielectric constant and superconductivity at low temperatures. It has a wide ... -
Electrical and Optoelectronic Properties of Two-Dimensional Materials
(2016)Electrical and optoelectronic properties of bulk semiconductor materials have been extensively explored in last century. However, when reduced to one-dimensional and two-dimensional, many semiconductors start to show unique ... -
Pressure-Induced Phase Transitions of Indium Selenide
(2016)In2Se3 has potential as a phase-change material for memory applications. Understand- ing its phase diagram is important to achieve controlled switching between phases. Pressure-dependent phase transitions of In2Se3 bulk ... -
INVESTIGATING [X/FE], IMF AND COMPOSITENESS IN INTEGRATED MODELS
(2015)This dissertation explores several existing challenges of evolutionarystellar population synthesis models in integrated light:age-metallicity degeneracy, initial mass function (IMF), elementalabundances, and compositeness. ... -
Understanding Molecular Machines: Theoretical and Experimental Approaches
(2015)This dissertation concerns the study of two classes of molecular machines from a physical perspective: enzymes and membrane proteins. Though the functions of these classes of proteins are different, they each represent ... -
ULTRAFAST CARRIER DYNAMICS IN THIN FILM HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS SILICON AND SILICON-GERMANIUM ALLOYS
(2015)This dissertation presents an investigation of the ultrafast carrier dynamics in thin film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and silicon germanium alloys (a-Si_(1-x) Ge_x:H). These materials have attracted considerable ... -
ULTRACOLD FERMIONIC FEW-BODY SYSTEMS IN REDUCED DIMENSIONS: STATIC AND DYNAMIC PROPERTIES
(2015)Much progress has been made in the preparation and manipulation of tunable ultracold atomic samples over the last three decades.Small samples of ultracold $^6$Li atoms, e.g., have beenprepared experimentally in effectively ... -
Neutrinos in Mergers of Neutron Stars with Black Holes
(2015)Mergers of a neutron star and a black hole are interesting because of the dual complexity of the black hole's strong gravity and the neutron star's nuclear-density fluid. Mergers can yield short-lived nuclear accretion ... -
Donors and defects characterization in ZnO by luminescence techniques
(2015)ZnO has attracted great interest for the past decade as it is a very promising material for semiconductor device applications. It has a direct band gap of 3.34eV, large exciton binding energy of 60meV and same wurtzite ... -
Universal and non-universal properties of ultracold few-atom systems
(2015)Ultracold atomic systems have been of great theoretical and experimental interest in the past few decades. They provide ideal paradigms to study quantum phenomena, simulate condensed matter systems, and could potentially ...