Publications

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Experimental data for material plasticity and failure model calibration and validation were obtained from 304L stainless steel. Model calibration data were taken from smooth tension, notched tension, and compression tests. Model validation data were provided from experiments using thin-walled tube specimens subjected to path dependent combinations of internal pressure, extension, and torsion.

Exposure of optical materials to transient-ionizing-radiation fields can give rise to transient and/or permanent photodarkening effects. In laser materials, such as YAG, such induced optical loss can result in significant degradation of the lasing characteristic of the material, making its selection for optical device applications in radiation environments unfeasible. In the present study, the effects of ionizing radiation on the optical response of undoped and 1.1% Nd-doped single-crystal and polycrystalline YAG have been investigated. In the undoped materials it is seen that both laser materials exhibit significant loss at the 1.06 ?m lasing wavelength following exposure to a 40 krad, 30 nsec pulse of gamma radiation. In the undoped single-crystal samples, the transmission loss is initially large but exhibits a rapid recovery. By contrast, the undoped polycrystalline YAG experiences an initial 100% loss in transmission, becoming totally opaque at 1.06 ?m following the radiation pulse. This loss is slow to recover and a large residual permanent photodarkening effect is observed. Nd-doping improves the optical response of the materials in that the radiation-induced optical loss is substantially smaller in both the polycrystalline and single-crystal YAG samples. Preliminary results on the radiation response of elevated-temperature samples will also be reported.

Applications requiring injection of a high-power multimode laser into multiple fibers with equal energies, or specific energy ratios, provide unique design challenges. As with most all systems, engineering trades must balance competing requirements to obtain an optimal overall design. This is particularly true when fabrication issues are considered in the design process. A few of these competing design requirements are discussed in this conceptually simple system. This fiber injection system consists of three components; a refractive beam homogenizer, a diffractive beamsplitter, and a fiber array. We show the design process, starting with first-order design, for an example fiber injection system that couples a high-power YAG laser into seven fibers. Design goals include high efficiency, good beamsplitting uniformity, compact overall size, maximum mode filling of the fibers, and low cost of fabrication and assembly.

Polysilane materials exhibit large photo-induced refractive index changes under low incident optical fluences, making them attractive candidates for applications in which rapid patterning of photonic device structures is desired immediately prior to their use. This agile fabrication strategy for integrated photonics inherently requires that optical exposure, and associated material response, occurs in nonlaboratory environments, motivating the study of environmental conditions on the photoinduced response of the material. The present work examines the impact of atmosphere on the photosensitive response of poly(methylphenylsilane) (PMPS) thin films in terms of both photoinduced absorption change and refractive index modification. Material was subjected to UV light exposure resonant with the lowest energy optical transition associated with the conjugated Si-Si backbone. Exposures were performed in both aerobic and anaerobic atmospheres (oxygen, air, nitrogen, and 5% H{sub 2}/95% N{sub 2}). The results clearly demonstrate that the photosensitive response of this model polysilane material was dramatically affected by local environment, exhibiting a photoinduced refractive index change, when exposed under an oxygen containing atmosphere, that was twice that observed under anaerobic conditions. This effect is discussed in terms of photo-oxidation processes within the polysilane structure and in the context of the need for predictable photosensitive refractive index change in varied photoimprinting environments.

The manipulation of physical interactions between structural moieties on the molecular scale is a fundamental hurdle in the realization and operation of nanostructured materials and high surface area microsystem architectures. These include such nano-interaction-based phenomena as self-assembly, fluid flow, and interfacial tribology. The proposed research utilizes photosensitive molecular structures to tune such interactions reversibly. This new material strategy provides optical actuation of nano-interactions impacting behavior on both the nano- and macroscales and with potential to impact directed nanostructure formation, microfluidic rheology, and tribological control.

The first vacuum-ultraviolet spectrum of a polysilylene (chain-type polysilane) with aromatic substituents is presented. Assignments of the absorption bands of the model compound poly(methylphenylsilylene) are based on previous experimental data and theoretical electronic band structure calculations for poly(alkylsilylenes) and on ultraviolet spectra of phenyl-containing monomers and polymers. Although aryl orbitals mix with the {sigma}-conjugated orbitals located along the catenated silicon backbone, some transitions are largely localized on the phenyl groups. These assignments elucidate the nature of the bonding in polysilylenes and should be useful in understanding photodegradation mechanisms and in the design of related new optical materials.

Changes in the cathodoluminescent (CL) brightness and in the surface chemistry of nanoparticulate SiO{sub 2}-coated and uncoated ZnS:Ag, Cl powder phosphor have been investigated using a PHI 545 scanning Auger electron spectrometer (AES), an Oriel optical spectrometer and a JEOL 6400 scanning electron microscope (SEM). The data were collected in a stainless steel UHV chamber with residual gas pressures between 1 x 10{sup -8} and 1 x 10{sup -6} Torr as measured by a Dycor LC residual gas analyzer (RGA). The primary electron current density was 272 {micro}A/cm{sup 2}, while the primary beam energy was varied bwteen 2 and 5 keV. In the presence of a 2keV primary electron beam in 1 x 10{sup -6} Torr of water for both the SiO{sub 2}-coated and the uncoated cases, the amounts of C and S on the surface decreased, that of O increased and the CL intensity decreased with electron dose. This surface chemistry change lead to the development of a surface dead layer and is explained by the electron beam stimulated surface chemical reaction model (ESSCR). The penetration range of the impinging low energy primary electrons is on the order of 10-100 nm creating a reaction region very close to the surface. The ESSCR takes this into account postulating that primary and secondary electrons dissociate physisorbed molecules to form reactive atomic species. These atomic species remove surface S as volatile SO{sub x} or H{sub 2}S. In the case of an oxidizing ambient (i.e. high partial pressure of water), a non-luminescent ZnO layer is formed. this oxide layer has been measured to be on the order of 3-30 nm. In the case where the vacuum of 1 x 10{sup -8} Torr was dominated by hydrogen and had a low water content, there was a small increase in the S signal, no rise in the O Auger signal, but the CL intensity still decreased. This is explained by the ESSCR whereby H removes S as H{sub 2}S leaving elemental Zn, which evaporates due to a high vapor pressure. In the case of ZnS:Ag,Cl coated with SiO{sub 2}, morphological changes were observed on the surface after extended electron beam exposure. Erosion of ZnS occurs more dramatically at an accelerating voltage of 5kV even at the same current density. Uncoated ZnS:Ag,Cl phosphors exhibited similar surface chemical changes to that of SiO{sub 2}-coated ZnS:Ag,Cl but did not degrade to the same extent. Also, no change in the surface morphology was observed. These SEM images as well as reaction rate data suggest that these nanometer sized SiO{sub 2} particles acted as a catalyst for decomposition of the ZnS especially in a reducing ambient (i.e. high hydrogen partial pressure). In order to reduce CL degradation of these and other phosphors, protective coatings were pulse laser deposited onto the phosphor surface. The effectiveness of these coatings was dependent upon both the thickness and the uniformity. Thicknesses of these coatings ranged from 1-5 nm and were uniform as determined using profilometry and TEM.

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