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Rack, Philip D

Publications and source records attributed to Rack, Philip D.

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Direct Observation of Infrared Plasmonic Fano Antiresonances by a Nanoscale Electron Probe

In this report, we exploit recent breakthroughs in monochromated aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to resolve infrared plasmonic Fano antiresonances in individual nanofabricated disk-rod dimers. Using a combination of electron energy-loss spectroscopy and theoretical modeling, we investigate and characterize a subspace of the weak coupling regime between quasi-discrete and quasi-continuum localized surface plasmon resonances where infrared plasmonic Fano antiresonances appear. Our research illustrates the capability of STEM instrumentation to experimentally observe nanoscale plasmonic responses that were previously the domain only of higher-resolution infrared spectroscopies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coexistence of spinodal instability and thermal nucleation in thin-film rupture:Insights from molecular levels

Despite extensive investigation using hydrodynamic models and experiments over the past decades, there remain open questions regarding the origin of the initial rupture of thin liquid films. One of the reasons that makes it difficult to identify the rupture origin is the coexistence of two dewettingmechanisms, namely, thermal nucleation and spinodal instability, as observed in many experimental studies. Using a coarse-grained model and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we are able to characterize the very early stage of dewetting in nanometer-thick liquid-metal films wetting a solid substrate. We observe the features characteristic of both spinodal instability and thermal nucleation in the spontaneously dewetting films and show that these two macroscopic mechanisms share a common origin at molecular levels.

Nguyen, Trung D↗
DOE OSTI2012

Fundamental Proximity Effects in Focused electron Beam Induced Deposition

Fundamental proximity effects for electron beam induced deposition processes on nonflat surfaces were studied experimentally and via simulation. Two specific effects were elucidated and exploited to considerably increase the volumetric growth rate of this nanoscale direct write method: (1) increasing the scanning electron pitch to the scale of the lateral electron straggle increased the volumetric growth rate by 250% by enhancing the effective forward scattered, backscattered, and secondary electron coefficients as well as by strong recollection effects of adjacent features; and (2) strategic patterning sequences are introduced to reduce precursor depletion effects which increase volumetric growth rates by more than 90%, demonstrating the strong influence of patterning parameters on the final performance of this powerful direct write technique.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Toward Active-Matrix Lab-On-A-Chip: Programmable Electrofluidic control Enaled by Arrayed Oxide Thin Film Transistors

Agile micro- and nano-fluidic control is critical to numerous life science and chemical science synthesis as well as kinetic and thermodynamic studies. To this end, we have demonstrated the use of thin film transistor arrays as an active matrix addressing method to control an electrofluidic array. Because the active matrix method minimizes the number of control lines necessary (m + n lines for the m x n element array), the active matrix addressing method integrated with an electrofluidic platform can be a significant breakthrough for complex electrofluidic arrays (increased size or resolution) with enhanced function, agility and programmability. An amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) semiconductor active layer is used because of its high mobility of 1-15 cm{sup 2} V{sup -1} s{sup -1}, low-temperature processing and transparency for potential spectroscopy and imaging. Several electrofluidic functionalities are demonstrated using a simple 2 x 5 electrode array connected to a 2 x 5 IGZO thin film transistor array with the semiconductor channel width of 50 {mu}m and mobility of 6.3 cm{sup 2} V{sup -1} s{sup -1}. Additionally, using the TFT device characteristics, active matrix addressing schemes are discussed as the geometry of the electrode array can be tailored to act as a storage capacitor element. Finally, requisite material and device parameters are discussed in context with a VGA scale active matrix addressed electrofluidic platform.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

An Evaluation of Molecular Dynamics Performance on the Hybrid Cray XK6 Supercomputer

For many years, the drive towards computational physics studies that match the size and time-scales of experiment has been fueled by increases in processor and interconnect performance that could be exploited with relatively little modification to existing codes. Engineering and electrical power constraints have disrupted this trend, requiring more drastic changes to both hardware and software solutions. Here, we present details of the Cray XK6 architecture that achieves increased performance with the use of GPU accelerators. We review software development efforts in the LAMMPS molecular dynamics package that have been implemented in order to utilize hybrid high performance computers. We present benchmark results for solid-state, biological, and mesoscopic systems and discuss some challenges for utilizing hybrid systems. We present some early work in improving application performance on the XK6 and performance results for the simulation of liquid copper nanostructures with the embedded atom method.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗