The study of rare earth magnetic properties is undertaken to further the understanding of critical phenomena and the mechanism of magnetic ordering in solids. There is a great variety of magnetic ordering observed in the rare earth compounds, thus providing an insight to phenomena such as heat capacity, magnetostriction and crystal fields. Studies began on the magnetic properties of the rare earths and their compounds in the 1950`s.

It is possible to produce alumina-zirconia ceramic samples through existing solidification techniques. The resulting microstructures typically consist of rods of zirconia in an alumina matrix, although a lamellar structure has been noted in some cases. In nearly all cases, colony growth was present which may possibly result from grain size, repeated nucleation events, and lamellar oscillations. In the same vein, it appears that the amount of impurities within the system might be the underlying cause for the colony growth. Colony growth was diminished through impurity control as the higher purity samples exhibited colony free behavior. In addition to colony formations, faceted alumina dendrites or nonfaceted zirconia dendrites may result in the ceramic if the sample is solidified out of the coupled zone. In all cases, for larger-sized Bridgman samples, a lower limit in the eutectic spacing was noted. The solidification model which includes the kinetic effect has been developed, although the effect appears to be negligible under present experimental conditions. A spacing limit might also occur due to the result of heat flow problems. Heat flow out of the ceramic is difficult to control, often causing radial and not axial growth. This behavior is exaggerated in the presence of impurities. …

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has emerged as one of the most versatile separation methods. However, efficient separation is not sufficient unless coupled to adequate detection. The narrow inner diameter (I.D.) of the capillary column raises a big challenge to detection methods. For UV-vis absorption detection, the concentration sensitivity is only at the {mu}M level. Most commercial CE instruments are equipped with incoherent UV-vis lamps. Low-brightness, instability and inefficient coupling of the light source with the capillary limit the further improvement of UV-vis absorption detection in CE. The goals of this research have been to show the utility of laser-based absorption detection. The approaches involve: on-column double-beam laser absorption detection and its application to the detection of small ions and proteins, and absorption detection with the bubble-shaped flow cell.

This dissertation includes three different topics: general introduction of capillary electrophoresis (CE); gradient in CE and CE in biological separations; and capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) for DNA separation. Factors such as temperature, viscosity, pH, and the surface of capillary walls affecting the separation performance are demonstrated. A pH gradient between 3.0 and 5.2 is useful to improve the resolution among eight different organic acids. A flow gradient due to the change in the concentration of surfactant, which is able to coat to the capillary wall to change the flow rate and its direction, is also shown as a good way to improve the resolution for organic compounds. A temperature gradient caused by joule heat is shown by voltage programming to enhance the resolution and shorten the separation time for several phenolic compounds. The author also shows that self-regulating dynamic control of electroosmotic flow in CE by simply running separation in different concentrations of surfactant has less matrix effect on the separation performance. One of the most important demonstrations in this dissertation is that the author proposes on-column reaction which gives several advantages including the use of a small amount of sample, low risk of contamination, and time saving and kinetic …

The electronic and structural properties of the ({radical}3 {times} {radical}3) R30{degrees} Ag/Si(111) and ({radical}3 {times} {radical}3) R30{degrees} Au/Si(111) surfaces are investigated using first principles total energy calculations. We have tested almost all experimentally proposed structural models for both surfaces and found the energetically most favorable model for each of them. The lowest energy model structure of the ({radical}3 {times} {radical}3) R30{degrees} Ag/Si(111) surface consists of a top layer of Ag atoms arranged as ``honeycomb-chained-trimers`` lying above a distorted ``missing top layer`` Si(111) substrate. The coverage of Ag is 1 monolayer (ML). We find that the honeycomb structure observed in STM images arise from the electronic charge densities of an empty surface band near the Fermi level. The electronic density of states of this model gives a ``pseudo-gap`` around the Fermi level, which is consistent with experimental results. The lowest energy model for the ({radical}3 {times} {radical}3) R30{degrees} Au/Si(111) surface is a conjugate honeycomb-chained-trimer (CHCT-1) configuration which consists of a top layer of trimers formed by 1 ML Au atoms lying above a ``missing top layer`` Si(111) substrate with a honeycomb-chained-trimer structure for its first layer. The structures of Au and Ag are in fact quite similar and belong to the …

This research shows that selenophene transition metal complexes have a chemistry that is similar to their thiophene analogs. Selenophene coordination has been demonstrated and confirmed by molecular structure in both the {eta}{sup 5}- and the {eta}{sup 1}(Se)-coordination modes. The reaction chemistry of selenophene complexes closely resembles that of the analogous thiophene complexes. One major difference, however, is that selenophene is a better donor ligand than thiophene making the selenophene complexes more stable than the corresponding thiophene complexes. The {sup 77}Se NMR chemical shift values for selenophene complexes fall within distinct regions primarily depending on the coordination mode of the selenophene ligand. In the final paper, the C-H bond activation of {eta}{sup 1}(S)-bound thiophenes, {eta}{sup 1}(S)-benzothiophene and {eta}{sup 1}(Se)-bound selenophenes has been demonstrated. The deprotonation and rearrangement of the {eta}{sup 1}(E)-bound ligand to the carbon bound L-yl complex readily occurs in the presence of base. Reprotonation with a strong acid gives a carbene complex that is unreactive towards nucleophilic attack at the carbene carbon and is stable towards exposure to air. The molecular structure of [Cp(NO)(PPh{sub 3})Re(2-benzothioenylcarbene)]O{sub 3}SCF{sub 3} was determined and contains a Re-C bond with substantial double bond character. Methyl substitution for the thienylcarbene or selenylcarbene gives a carbene …

This thesis contains the results of organometallic studies of thiophene and selenophene coordination in transition metal complexes. Chromium tricarbonyl complexes of thiophene, selenophene, and their alkyl-substituted derivatives were prepared and variable-temperature {sup 13}C NMR spectra of these complexes were recorded in dimethyl ether. Bandshape analyses of these spectra yielded activation parameters for restricted rotation of the thiophene and selenophene ligands in these complexes. Extended Hueckel molecular orbital calculations (EHMO) of the free thiophene and selenophene ligands and selected chromium tricarbonyl thiophene complexes were performed to better explain the activation barriers of these complexes. The structure of Cr(CO){sub 3}({eta}{sup 5}-2,5-dimethylthiophene) was established by a single crystal X-ray diffraction study.

This report discusses the following topics: Bloch oscillations and other dynamical phenomena of electrons in semiconductor superlattices; solvable dynamical model of an electron in a one-dimensional aperiodic lattice subject to a uniform electric field; and quantum dynamical phenomena of electrons in aperiodic semiconductor superlattices.

The dynamics of S({sup 3}P{sub 2,1,0}, {sup 1}D{sub 2}) production from the 193 nm photodissociation of CH{sub 3}SCH{sub 3}, H{sub 2}S and CH{sub 3}SH have been studied using 2 + 1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) techniques. The 193 nm photodissociation cross sections for the formation of S from CH{sub 3}S and HS initially prepared in the photodissociation of CH{sub 3}SCH{sub 3} and H{sub 2}S are estimated to be 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}18} and 1.1 {times} 10{sup {minus}18} cm{sup 2}, respectively. The dominant product from CH{sub 3}S is S({sup 1}D), while that from SH is S({sup 3}P). Possible potential energy surfaces involved in the 193 nm photodissociation of CH{sub 3}S({tilde X}) and SH(X) have been also examined. Threshold photoelectron (PE) spectra for SH and CH{sub 3}S formed in the ultraviolet photodissociation of H{sub 2}S and CH{sub 3}SH, respectively, have been measured using the nonresonant two-photon pulsed field ionization (N2P-PFI) technique. The rotationally resolved N2P-PFI-PE spectrum obtained for SH indicates that photoionization dynamics favors the rotational angular momentum change {Delta}N < 0 with the {Delta}N value up to {minus}3, an observation similar to that found in the PFI-PE spectra of OH (OD) and NO. The ionization energies for SH(X{sup 2}{product}{sub 3,2}) and …

Since its development, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been a widely used analytical technique. ICP-MS offers low detection limits, easy determination of isotope ratios, and simple mass spectra from analyte elements. ICP-MS has been successfully employed for many applications including geological, environmental, biological, metallurgical, food, medical, and industrial. One specific application important to many areas of study involves elemental speciation by using ICP-MS as an element specific detector interfaced to liquid chromatography. Elemental speciation information is important and cannot be obtained by atomic spectrometric methods alone which measure only the total concentration of the element present. Part 1 of this study describes the speciation of selenium in human serum by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and detection by ICP-MS. Although ICP-MS has been widely sued, room for improvement still exists. Difficulties in ICP-MS include noise in the background, matrix effects, clogging of the sampling orifice with deposited solids, and spectral interference caused by polyatomic ions. Previous work has shown that the addition of xenon into the central channel of the ICP decreases polyatomic ion levels. In Part 2 of this work, a fundamental study involving the measurement of the excitation temperature is carried out to further understand xenon`s role …

The N-body problem is to simulate the motion of N particles under the influence of mutual force fields based on an inverse square law. The problem has applications in several domains including astrophysics, molecular dynamics, fluid dynamics, radiosity methods in computer graphics and numerical complex analysis. Research efforts have focused on reducing the O(N{sup 2}) time per iteration required by the naive algorithm of computing each pairwise interaction. Widely respected among these are the Barnes-Hut and Greengard methods. Greengard claims his algorithm reduces the complexity to O(N) time per iteration. Throughout this thesis, we concentrate on rigorous, distribution-independent, worst-case analysis of the N-body methods. We show that Greengard`s algorithm is not O(N), as claimed. Both Barnes-Hut and Greengard`s methods depend on the same data structure, which we show is distribution-dependent. For the distribution that results in the smallest running time, we show that Greengard`s algorithm is {Omega}(N log{sup 2} N) in two dimensions and {Omega}(N log{sup 4} N) in three dimensions. We have designed a hierarchical data structure whose size depends entirely upon the number of particles and is independent of the distribution of the particles. We show that both Greengard`s and Barnes-Hut algorithms can be used in conjunction with …

Senior colloquium written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing Greek sculpture and architecture as filtered through the Fauve, Constructivist, Dada, and Pop artistic movements. The author takes examples of Grecian sculpture, recreates them in each of the other styles, and discusses the results.

The research in this thesis explores the separation capabilities of a new technique termed electrochemically-modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC). The thesis begins with a general introduction section which provides a literature review of this technique as well as a brief background discussion of the two research projects in each of the next two chapters. The two papers which follow investigate the application of EMLC to the separation of a mixture of aromatic amino acids and of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The last section presents general conclusions and summarizes the thesis. References are compiled in the reference section of each chapter. The two papers have been removed for separate processing.

Previous research into the alkali-metal-gallium systems has revealed a large variety of networked gallium deltahedra. The clusters are analogues to borane clusters and follow the same electronic requirements of 2n+2 skeletal electrons for closo-deltahedra. This work has focused on compounds that do not follow the typical electron counting rules. The first isolated gallium cluster was found in Cs{sub 8}Ga{sub 11}. The geometry of the Ga{sub 11}{sup 7{minus}} unit is not deltahedral but can be described as a penta-capped trigonal prism. The reduction of the charge from a closo-Ga{sub 11}{sup 13{minus}} to Ga{sub 11}{sup 7{minus}} is believed to be the driving force of the distortion. The compound is paramagnetic because of an extra electron but incorporation of a halide atom into the structure captures the unpaired electron and forms a diamagnetic compound. A second isolated cluster has been found in Na{sub 10}Ga{sub 10}Ni where the tetra-capped trigonal prismatic gallium is centered by nickel. Stabilization of the cluster occurs through Ni-Ga bonding. A simple two-dimensional network occurs in the binary K{sub 2}Ga{sub 3} Octahedra are connected through four waist atoms to form a layered structure with the potassium atoms sitting between the layers. Na{sub 30.5}Ga{sub 60{minus}x}Ag{sub x} is nonstoichiometric and needs only …

NMR experiments are reported for Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}, HgBa{sub 2}CuO{sub 4+d}, YNi{sub 2}B{sub 2}C and YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7}. NMR studies typify three different aspects of microscopic properties of HTSC. In non-superconducting antiferromagnetic (AF) prototype Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}, we used NMR to investigate Cu{sup 2+} correlated spin dynamics and AF phase transition in CuO2 layers. In the superconductors, we used NMR both to investigate the electronic properties of the Fermi-liquid in normal and superconducting states and to investigate flux lattice and flux-line dynamics in the superconducting state in presence of magnetic field. A summary of each study is given: {sup 35}Cl NMR was measured in Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} single crystals with T{sub N}=257K. {sub 35}Cl NMR relaxation rates showed crossover of Cu{sup 2+} spin dynamics from Heisenberg to XY-like correlation at 290 K well above T{sub N}. A field-dependent T{sub N} for H{perpendicular}c was observed and explained by a field-induced Ising-like anisotropy in ab plane. {sup 199}Hg NMR was measured in HgBa{sub 2}CuO{sub 4+d}. Properties of the Fermi-liquid are characterized by a single-spin fluid picture and opening of a spin pseudo-gap at q=0 above {Tc}. Below {Tc}, spin component of Knight shift decreases rapidly in agreement with …