Physiological functions of a biomacromolecule seem to be closely related to its molecular conformations. The knowledge of any conformational changes due to changes in its environment may lead to a proper understanding of its functions. Hyaluronic acid, a biomacromolecule with unusually high molecular weight and some important biological functions is the subject of the present work. A temperature-dependent transition in hyaluronate solution of 120 mg/ml concentration was observed at physiological temperature. It is shown that this temperature-dependent behavior can be related to the orientational polarizability term in the Debye theory of polar molecules in liquids.

This thesis relates a technique for increasing the optical strength of NaCl and KCl single-crystal samples. The 1.06-μm pulsed laser damage thresholds were increased by factors as large as 4.6 for a bulk NaCl single-crystal sample. The bulk laser damage breakdown threshold (LDBT) of the crystal was measured prior to and after heat treatment at 800*C using a Nd:YAG laser operating at 1.06 μm. Bulk and surface LDBTs were also studied on samples annealed at 400° C. These samples showed differences in damage morphology on both cleaved and polished surfaces, and the cleaved surfaces had improved damage thresholds. However, neither the polished surfaces nor the bulk showed improved threshold at the lower annealing temperature.

Several methods have been developed and used to characterize the narrow gap semiconductors Hg^_xCdxTe (HgCdTe) (0.20<x<0.32) and InSb both in the presence of CO2 laser radiation and in the dark. The results have allowed the determination of certain band parameters including the fundamental energy bandgap Eg which is directly related to x, the mole fraction of Cd. In the dark, characterization of several different samples of HgCdTe and InSb were carried out by analyzing the temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient and the magnetic field positions of the magnetophonon extrema from which their x-values were determined. The quality of the magnetophonon spectra is also shown to be related to the inhomogeneity Ax of the HgCdTe samples. One-photon magneto-absorption (OPMA) spectra have been obtained for x ~ 0.2 samples of p-HgCdTe thin films and n-HgCdTe bulk samples. Analysis of the OPMA transition energies allows the x-value to be determined to within « ±0.001. A method is also discussed which can be used to estimate the sample inhomogeneity Ax. Nonlinear optical properties of semiconductors are not only scientifically interesting to study, but are also proving to be technologically important as various nonlinear optical devices are being developed. One of the most valuable …

The nonlinear refractive index (n2) of room temperature liquid CS2 in the wavelength range of 9 to 11 micrometers is measured. A line tunable hybrid C02 TEA laser and amplifier system is used for the experiments. In these measurements the well known photoacoustic method is utilized to observe the onset of whole beam self-focusing. The photoacoustic signal in a CS2 cell, much longer than the confocal parameter, is monitored. The departure of the acoustic signal from linear growth marks the critical power for the onset of nonlinearity. It is experimentally verified that the phenomenon is power dependent as expected from self-focusing theory. The value of n2 is then calculated from the theoretical model of self focusing. Measurements of the on-axis irradiance transmitted through the nonlinear material as well as the measurements of beam distortion are used to verify the validity of the photoacoustic method. In all the measurements the on-axis intensity was smaller than the calculated threshold intensity for stimulated Brillouin scattering. The back reflection was monitored to make sure that stimulated Brillouin scattering was not playing a role in the phenomenon.

The problem of the quadrupole interaction occurring in a vibrating-rotating C₃v symmetric top molecule has been studied in detail. The quadrupole interaction has been treated as another perturbation term to a general frequency expression accounting for the vibrating-rotating interaction of the molecule so that a complete frequency formula is obtained for both interactions, and from which hyperfine spectral components are predicted and measured. The hyperfine transitions in the ground, and v₈=1 and v₈=2 excited vibrational states of the ¹³C isotopes of methyl cyanide have been investigated in the frequency range 17-72 GHz, primarily in the low J transitions (0≤J≤3). The study of the ground state of isotope i3CH3i3CN, and the v₈=1, v₈=2 excited vibrational states for all the isotopes have been conducted here for the first time. A substantial perturbation has been discovered and discussed at the ΔJ=3→4 transitions within the Kl=1 sets in the v₈=1 mode for isotopes ¹³CH₃CN and CH₃¹³CN. A total of 716 hyperfine transitions have been assigned from measurements, only 7 of which have been measured previously. A total of 84 molecular constants have been reported; 70 of these constants are derived for the first time from microwave data.