The size-dependent optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystals have drawn much attention in the past decade, and have been very well understood for spherical ones. The advent of the synthetic methods to make rod-like CdSe nanocrystals with wurtzite structure has offered us a new opportunity to study their properties as functions of their shape. This dissertation includes three main parts: synthesis of CdSe nanorods with tightly controlled widths and lengths, their optical and dielectric properties, and their large-scale assembly, all of which are either directly or indirectly caused by the uniaxial crystallographic structure of wurtzite CdSe. The hexagonal wurtzite structure is believed to be the primary reason for the growth of CdSe nanorods. It represents itself in the kinetic stabilization of the rod-like particles over the spherical ones in the presence of phosphonic acids. By varying the composition of the surfactant mixture used for synthesis we have achieved tight control of the widths and lengths of the nanorods. The synthesis of monodisperse CdSe nanorods enables us to systematically study their size-dependent properties. For example, room temperature single particle fluorescence spectroscopy has shown that nanorods emit linearly polarized photoluminescence. Theoretical calculations have shown that it is due to the crossing …

One of the goals of nanotechnology is to enable programmed self-assembly of patterns made of various materials with nanometer-sized control. This dissertation describes the results of experiments templating arrangements of gold and semiconductor nanocrystals using 2'-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Previously, simple DNA-templated linear arrangements of two and three nanocrystals structures have been made.[1] Here, we have sought to assemble larger and more complex nanostructures. Gold-DNA conjugates with 50 to 100 bases self-assembled into planned arrangements using strands of DNA containing complementary base sequences. We used two methods to increase the complexity of the arrangements: using branched synthetic doublers within the DNA covalent backbone to create discrete nanocrystal groupings, and incorporating the nanocrystals into a previously developed DNA lattice structure [2][3] that self-assembles from tiles made of DNA double-crossover molecules to create ordered nanoparticle arrays. In the first project, the introduction of a covalently-branched synthetic doubler reagent into the backbone of DNA strands created a branched DNA ''trimer.'' This DNA trimer templated various structures that contained groupings of three and four gold nanoparticles, giving promising, but inconclusive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results. Due to the presence of a variety of possible structures in the reaction mixtures, and due to the difficulty of …

The mechanisms by which transparent dielectrics damage when exposed to high power laser radiation has been of scientific and technological interest since the invention of the laser. In this work, a set of three experiments are presented which provide insight into the damage initiation mechanisms and the processes involved in laser-induced damage. Using an OPO (optical parametric oscillator) laser, we have measured the damage thresholds of deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate (DKDP) from the near ultraviolet into the visible. Distinct steps, whose width is of order K{sub b}T, are observed in the damage threshold at photon energies associated with the number of photons (3{yields}2 or 4{yields}3) needed to promote a ground state electron across the energy gap. The wavelength dependence of the damage threshold suggests that a primary mechanism for damage initiation in DKDP is a multi-photon process in which the order is reduced through excited defect state absorption. In-situ fluorescence microscopy, in conjunction with theoretical calculations by Liu et al., has been used to establish that hydrogen displacement defects are potentially responsible for the reduction in the multi-photon cross-section. During the damage process, the material absorbs energy from the laser pulse and produces an ionized region that gives rise to …

A search for directly produced Supersymmetric Higgs Bosons has been performed in the di-tau decay channel in 86.3 {+-} 3.5 pb{sup -1} of data collected by CDF during Run1b at the Tevatron. They search for events where one tau decays to an electron and the other tau decays hadronically. They perform a counting experiment and set limits on the cross section for Higgs production in the high tan {beta} region of the m{sub A}-tan {beta} plane. For a benchmark parameter space point where m{sub A} = 100 and tan {beta} = 50, they set a 95% confidence level upper limit at 891 pb compared to the theoretically predicted cross section of 122 pb. For events where the tau candidates are not back-to-back, they utilize a di-tau mass reconstruction technique for the first time on hadron collider data. Limits based on a likelihood binned in di-tau mass from non-back-to-back events alone are weaker than the limits obtained from the counting experiment using the full di-tau sample.

A description of the development of the mc{_}runjob software package used to manage large scale computing tasks for the D0 Experiment at Fermilab is presented, along with a review of the Digital Front End Trigger electronics and the software used to control them. A tracking study is performed on detector data to determine that the D0 Experiment can detect charged B mesons, and that these results are in accordance with current results. B mesons are found by searching for the decay channel B{sup {+-}} {yields} J/{psi}K{sup {+-}}.

The behavior of nanocrystals under extreme pressure was investigated using synchrotron x-ray diffraction. A major part of this investigation was the testing of a prototype synchrotron endstation on a bend magnet beamline at the Advanced Light Source for high pressure work using a diamond anvil cell. The experiments conducted and documented here helped to determine issues of efficiency and accuracy that had to be resolved before the construction of a dedicated ''super-bend'' beamline and endstation. The major conclusions were the need for a cryo-cooled monochromator and a fully remote-controllable pressurization system which would decrease the time to change pressure and greatly reduce the error created by the re-placement of the diamond anvil cell after each pressure change. Two very different types of nanocrystal systems were studied, colloidal iron oxide (Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) and thin film TiN/BN. Iron oxide nanocrystals were found to have a transition from the {gamma} to the {alpha} structure at a pressure strongly dependent on the size of the nanocrystals, ranging from 26 GPa for 7.2 nm nanocrystals to 37 GPa for 3.6 nm nanocrystals. All nanocrystals were found to remain in the {alpha} structure even after release of pressure. The transition pressure was also found, for …

Air quality planning in Central California is complicated and controversial despite millions of dollars invested to improve scientific understanding. This research describes and critiques the use of photochemical air quality simulation modeling studies in planning to attain standards for ground-level ozone in the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley during the 1990's. Data are gathered through documents and interviews with planners, modelers, and policy-makers at public agencies and with representatives from the regulated and environmental communities. Interactions amongst organizations are diagramed to identify significant nodes of interaction. Dominant policy coalitions are described through narratives distinguished by their uses of and responses to uncertainty, their exposures to risks, and their responses to the principles of conservatism, civil duty, and caution. Policy narratives are delineated using aggregated respondent statements to describe and understand advocacy coalitions. I found that models impacted the planning process significantly, but were used not purely for their scientific capabilities. Modeling results provided justification for decisions based on other constraints and political considerations. Uncertainties were utilized opportunistically by stakeholders instead of managed explicitly. Ultimately, the process supported the partisan views of those in control of the modeling. Based on these findings, as well as a review …