Resonant metamaterials for the control of Rayleigh waves

Since their emergence, locally resonant metamaterials have found several applications for the control of surface waves, from micrometer-sized electronic devices to meter-sized seismic barriers. The interaction between Rayleigh-type surface waves and resonant metamaterials has been investigated through the realization of locally resonant metasurfaces, thin elastic interfaces constituted by a cluster of resonant inclusions or oscillators embedded near the surface of an elastic waveguide. When such resonant metasurfaces are embedded in an elastic homogeneous half-space, they can filter out the propagation of Rayleigh waves, creating low-frequency bandgaps at selected frequencies. In the civil engineering context, heavy resonating masses are needed to extend the bandgap frequency width of locally resonant devices, a requirement that limits their practical implementations. In this dissertation, the wave attenuation capabilities of locally resonant metasurfaces have been enriched by proposing (i) tunable metasurfaces to open large frequency bandgaps with small effective inertia, and by developing (ii) an analytical framework aimed at studying the propagation of Rayleigh waves propagation in deep resonant waveguides. In more detail, inertial amplified resonators are exploited to design advanced metasurfaces with a prescribed static and a tunable dynamic response. The modular design of the tunable metasurfaces allows to shift and enlarge low-frequency spectral bandgaps without modifying the total inertia of the metasurface. Besides, an original dispersion law is derived to study the dispersive properties of Rayleigh waves propagating in thick resonant layers made of sub-wavelength resonators. Accordingly, a deep resonant wave barrier of mechanical resonators embedded inside the soil is designed to impede the propagation of seismic surface waves. Numerical models are developed to confirm the analytical dispersion predictions of the tunable metasurface and resonant layer. Finally, a medium-size scale resonant wave barrier is designed according to the soil stratigraphy of a real geophysical scenario to attenuate ground-borne vibration.

X-Ray studies of the physics of matter around super-massive black-holes in nearby Seyfert galaxies

Seyfert galaxies are the closest active galactic nuclei. As such, we can use them to test the physical properties of the entire class of objects. To investigate their general properties, I took advantage of different methods of data analysis. In particular I used three different samples of objects, that, despite frequent overlaps, have been chosen to best tackle different topics: the heterogeneous BeppoS AX sample was thought to be optimized to test the average hard X-ray (E above 10 keV) properties of nearby Seyfert galaxies; the X-CfA was thought the be optimized to compare the properties of low-luminosity sources to the ones of higher luminosity and, thus, it was also used to test the emission mechanism models; finally, the XMM–Newton sample was extracted from the X-CfA sample so as to ensure a truly unbiased and well defined sample of objects to define the average properties of Seyfert galaxies. Taking advantage of the broad-band coverage of the BeppoS AX MECS and PDS instruments (between ~2-100 keV), I infer the average X-ray spectral propertiesof nearby Seyfert galaxies and in particular the photon index (~1.8), the high-energy cut-off (~290 keV), and the relative amount of cold reflection (~1.0). Moreover the unified scheme for active galactic nuclei was positively tested. The distribution of isotropic indicators used here (photon index, relative amount of reflection, high-energy cut-off and narrow FeK energy centroid) are similar in type I and type II objects while the absorbing column and the iron line equivalent width significantly differ between the two classes of sources with type II objects displaying larger absorbing columns. Taking advantage of the XMM–Newton and X–CfA samples I also deduced from measurements that 30 to 50% of type II Seyfert galaxies are Compton thick. Confirming previous results, the narrow FeK line is consistent, in Seyfert 2 galaxies, with being produced in the same matter responsible for the observed obscuration. These results support the basic picture of the unified model. Moreover, the presence of a X-ray Baldwin effect in type I sources has been measured using for the first time the 20-100 keV luminosity (EW proportional to L(20-100)^(−0.22±0.05)). This finding suggests that the torus covering factor may be a function of source luminosity, thereby suggesting a refinement of the baseline version of the unifed model itself. Using the BeppoSAX sample, it has been also recorded a possible correlation between the photon index and the amount of cold reflection in both type I and II sources. At a first glance this confirms the thermal Comptonization as the most likely origin of the high energy emission for the active galactic nuclei. This relation, in fact, naturally emerges supposing that the accretion disk penetrates, depending to the accretion rate, the central corona at different depths (Merloni et al. 2006): the higher accreting systems hosting disks down to the last stable orbit while the lower accreting systems hosting truncated disks. On the contrary, the study of the well defined X–C f A sample of Seyfert galaxies has proved that the intrinsic X-ray luminosity of nearby Seyfert galaxies can span values between 10^(38−43) erg s^−1, i.e. covering a huge range of accretion rates. The less efficient systems have been supposed to host ADAF systems without accretion disk. However, the study of the X–CfA sample has also proved the existence of correlations between optical emission lines and X-ray luminosity in the entire range of L_(X) covered by the sample. These relations are similar to the ones obtained if high-L objects are considered. Thus the emission mechanism must be similar in luminous and weak systems. A possible scenario to reconcile these somehow opposite indications is assuming that the ADAF and the two phase mechanism co-exist with different relative importance moving from low-to-high accretion systems (as suggested by the Gamma vs. R relation). The present data require that no abrupt transition between the two regimes is present. As mentioned above, the possible presence of an accretion disk has been tested using samples of nearby Seyfert galaxies. Here, to deeply investigate the flow patterns close to super-massive black-holes, three case study objects for which enough counts statistics is available have been analysed using deep X-ray observations taken with XMM–Newton. The obtained results have shown that the accretion flow can significantly differ between the objects when it is analyzed with the appropriate detail. For instance the accretion disk is well established down to the last stable orbit in a Kerr system for IRAS 13197-1627 where strong light bending effect have been measured. The accretion disk seems to be formed spiraling in the inner ~10-30 gravitational radii in NGC 3783 where time dependent and recursive modulation have been measured both in the continuum emission and in the broad emission line component. Finally, the accretion disk seems to be only weakly detectable in rk 509, with its weak broad emission line component. Finally, blueshifted resonant absorption lines have been detected in all three objects. This seems to demonstrate that, around super-massive black-holes, there is matter which is not confined in the accretion disk and moves along the line of sight with velocities as large as v~0.01-0.4c (whre c is the speed of light). Wether this matter forms winds or blobs is still matter of debate together with the assessment of the real statistical significance of the measured absorption lines. Nonetheless, if confirmed, these phenomena are of outstanding interest because they offer new potential probes for the dynamics of the innermost regions of accretion flows, to tackle the formation of ejecta/jets and to place constraints on the rate of kinetic energy injected by AGNs into the ISM and IGM. Future high energy missions (such as the planned Simbol-X and IXO) will likely allow an exciting step forward in our understanding of the flow dynamics around black holes and the formation of the highest velocity outflows.

Cosmological perturbations in generalized theories of gravity

The first part of the thesis concerns the study of inflation in the context of a theory of gravity called "Induced Gravity" in which the gravitational coupling varies in time according to the dynamics of the very same scalar field (the "inflaton") driving inflation, while taking on the value measured today since the end of inflation. Through the analytical and numerical analysis of scalar and tensor cosmological perturbations we show that the model leads to consistent predictions for a broad variety of symmetry-breaking inflaton's potentials, once that a dimensionless parameter entering into the action is properly constrained. We also discuss the average expansion of the Universe after inflation (when the inflaton undergoes coherent oscillations about the minimum of its potential) and determine the effective equation of state. Finally, we analyze the resonant and perturbative decay of the inflaton during (p)reheating. The second part is devoted to the study of a proposal for a quantum theory of gravity dubbed "Horava-Lifshitz (HL) Gravity" which relies on power-counting renormalizability while explicitly breaking Lorentz invariance. We test a pair of variants of the theory ("projectable" and "non-projectable") on a cosmological background and with the inclusion of scalar field matter. By inspecting the quadratic action for the linear scalar cosmological perturbations we determine the actual number of propagating degrees of freedom and realize that the theory, being endowed with less symmetries than General Relativity, does admit an extra gravitational degree of freedom which is potentially unstable. More specifically, we conclude that in the case of projectable HL Gravity the extra mode is either a ghost or a tachyon, whereas in the case of non-projectable HL Gravity the extra mode can be made well-behaved for suitable choices of a pair of free dimensionless parameters and, moreover, turns out to decouple from the low-energy Physics.

Numerical study of graphene as a channel material for field-effect transistors

Graphene excellent properties make it a promising candidate for building future nanoelectronic devices. Nevertheless, the absence of an energy gap is an open problem for the transistor application. In this thesis, graphene nanoribbons and pattern-hydrogenated graphene, two alternatives for inducing an energy gap in graphene, are investigated by means of numerical simulations. A tight-binding NEGF code is developed for the simulation of GNR-FETs. To speed up the simulations, the non-parabolic effective mass model and the mode-space tight-binding method are developed. The code is used for simulation studies of both conventional and tunneling FETs. The simulations show the great potential of conventional narrow GNR-FETs, but highlight at the same time the leakage problems in the off-state due to various tunneling mechanisms. The leakage problems become more severe as the width of the devices is made larger, and thus the band gap smaller, resulting in a poor on/off current ratio. The tunneling FET architecture can partially solve these problems thanks to the improved subthreshold slope; however, it is also shown that edge roughness, unless well controlled, can have a detrimental effect in the off-state performance. In the second part of this thesis, pattern-hydrogenated graphene is simulated by means of a tight-binding model. A realistic model for patterned hydrogenation, including disorder, is developed. The model is validated by direct comparison of the momentum-energy resolved density of states with the experimental angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The scaling of the energy gap and the localization length on the parameters defining the pattern geometry is also presented. The results suggest that a substantial transport gap can be attainable with experimentally achievable hydrogen concentration.

Advanced SPM studies on the growth of ultrathin films of organic semiconductors at metal and dielectric interfaces

Many studies on the morphology, molecular orientation, device performance, substrate nature and growth parameter dependence have been carried out since the proposal of Sexithiophene (6T) for organic electronics [ ] However, these studies were mostly performed on films thicker than 20nm and without specifically addressing the relationship between morphology and molecular orientation within the nano and micro structures of ultrathin films of 0-3 monolayers. In 2004, the observation that in OFETs only the first few monolayers at the interface in contact with the gate insulator contribute to the charge transport [ ], underlined the importance to study submonolayer films and their evolution up to a few monolayers of thickness with appropriate experimental techniques. We present here a detailed Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy study on various substrates aiming at the investigation of growth mechanisms. Most reported similar studies are performed on ideal metals in UHV. However it is important to investigate the details of organic film growth on less ideal and even technological surfaces and device testpatterns. The present work addresses the growth of ultra thin organic films in-situ and quasi real-time by NC-AFM. An organic effusion cell is installed to evaporate the organic material directly onto the SPM sample scanning stage.

Synthesis and Supramolecular Architectures of Lipophilic Derivatives of Guanine

Self-assembly relies on the association of pre-programmed building blocks through non-covalent interactions to give complex supramolecular architectures. Previous studies provided evidence for the unique self-assembly properties of semi-synthetic lipophilic guanosine derivatives which can sequestrate ions from an aqueous phase, carry them into an organic phase where they promote the generation of well-defined supramolecular assemblies. In the presence of cations lipophilic guanosines form columnar aggregates while in their absence they generate supramolecular ribbons. The aim of this thesis has been the synthesis of guanine derivatives, in particular N9-alkylated guanines and a guanosine functionalized as a perchlorotriphenylmetil moiety (Gace-a-HPTM) in order to observe their supramolecular behaviour in the absence of sugar (ribose or deoxyribose) and in the presence of a bulky and chiral substituent respectively. By using guanine instead of guanosine, while maintaining all the hydrogen bond acceptor and donor groups required for supramolecular aggregation, the steric hindrance to supramolecular aggregation is notably reduced because (i.e. guanines with groups in N9 different from sugar are expected to have a greatest conformational freedom even in presence of bulky groups in C8). Supramolecular self-assembly of these derivatives has been accomplished in solutions by NMR and CD spectroscopy and on surface by STM technique. In analogy with other guanosine derivatives, also N9-substituted guanines and GAceHPTM form either ribbon-like aggregates or cation-templated G-quartet based columnar structures.

Nanoscale-electrical and optical properties of iii-nitrides

III-nitrides are wide-band gap materials that have applications in both electronics and optoelectronic devices. Because to their inherent strong polarization properties, thermal stability and higher breakdown voltage in Al(Ga,In)N/GaN heterostructures, they have emerged as strong candidates for high power high frequency transistors. Nonetheless, the use of (Al,In)GaN/GaN in solid state lighting has already proved its success by the commercialization of light-emitting diodes and lasers in blue to UV-range. However, devices based on these heterostructures suffer problems associated to structural defects. This thesis primarily focuses on the nanoscale electrical characterization and the identification of these defects, their physical origin and their effect on the electrical and optical properties of the material. Since, these defects are nano-sized, the thesis deals with the understanding of the results obtained by nano and micro-characterization techniques such as atomic force microscopy(AFM), current-AFM, scanning kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM), electron beam induced current (EBIC) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This allowed us to probe individual defects (dislocations and cracks) and unveil their electrical properties. Taking further advantage of these techniques,conduction mechanism in two-dimensional electron gas heterostructures was well understood and modeled. Secondarily, origin of photoluminescence was deeply investigated. Radiative transition related to confined electrons and photoexcited holes in 2DEG heterostructures was identified and many body effects in nitrides under strong optical excitations were comprehended.

Assessment of vibratory stimulation on neuromuscular system

The thesis analyze a subject of renewed interest in bioengineering, the research and analysis of exercise parameters that maximize the neuromuscular and cardiovascular involvement in vibration treatment. The research activity was inspired by the increasing use of device able to provide localized or whole body vibration (WBV). In particular, the focus was placed on the vibrating platform and the effect that the vibrations have on the neuromuscular system and cardiovascular system. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of vibration applied to the entire body, in particular, it was investigated the effect of WBV on: 1) Oxygen consumption during static and dynamic squat; 2) Resonant frequency of the muscle groups of the lower limbs; 3) Oxygen consumption and electromyographic signals during static and dynamic squat. In the first three chapters are explained the state of the art concerning vibration treatments, the effects of vibration applied to the entire body, with the explanation of the basic mechanisms (Tonic Vibration Reflex, TVR) and the neuromuscular system, with particular attention to the skeletal muscles and the stretch reflex. In the fourth chapter is illustrated the set-up used for the experiments and the software, implemented in LabWindows in order to control the platform and acquire the electromyographic signal. In the fifth chapter were exposed experiments undertaken during the PhD years. In particular, the analysis of Whole Body Vibration effect on neurological and cardiovascular systems showed interesting results. The results indicate that the static squat with WBV produced higher neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory system activation for exercise duration <60 sec. Otherwise, if the single bout duration was higher than 60 sec, the greater cardiorespiratory system activation was achieved during the dynamic squat with WBV while higher neuromuscular activation was still obtained with the static exercise.

Arbitrary Waveform Multilevel Generator for High Voltage High Frequency Plasma Actuators

This dissertation presents the theory and the conducted activity that lead to the construction of a high voltage high frequency arbitrary waveform voltage generator. The generator has been specifically designed to supply power to a wide range of plasma actuators. The system has been completely designed, manufactured and tested at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering of the University of Bologna. The generator structure is based on the single phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel topology and is comprised of 24 elementary units that are series connected in order to form the typical staircase output voltage waveform of a multilevel converter. The total number of voltage levels that can be produced by the generator is 49. Each level is 600 V making the output peak-to-peak voltage equal to 28.8 kV. The large number of levels provides high resolution with respect to the output voltage having thus the possibility to generate arbitrary waveforms. Maximum frequency of operation is 20 kHz. A study of the relevant literature shows that this is the first time that a cascaded multilevel converter of such dimensions has been constructed. Isolation and control challenges had to be solved for the realization of the system. The biggest problem of the current technology in power supplies for plasma actuators is load matching. Resonant converters are the most used power supplies and are seriously affected by this problem. The manufactured generator completely solves this issue providing consistent voltage output independently of the connected load. This fact is very important when executing tests and during the comparison of the results because all measures should be comparable and not dependent from matching issues. The use of the multilevel converter for power supplying a plasma actuator is a real technological breakthrough that has provided and will continue to provide very significant experimental results.

Non-Covalent Interaction: Revealed by Rotational Spectroscopy

The pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy have been applied to several molecular complexes involving H2O, freons, methane, carboxylic acids, and rare gas. The obtained results showcase the suitability of this technique for studying the intermolecular interactions. The rotational spectra of three water adducts of halogenated organic molecules, i.e. chlorotrifluoroethylene, isoflurane and alfa,alfa,alfa,-trifluoroanisole, have been investigated. It has been found that, the halogenation of the partner molecules definitely changes the way in which water will link to the partner molecule. Quadrupole hyperfine structures and/or the tunneling splittings have been observed in the rotational spectra of difluoromethane-dichloromethane, chlorotrifluorometane-fluoromethane, difluoromethane-formaldehyde and trifluoromethane-benzene. These features have been useful to describe their intermolecular interactions (weak hydrogen bonds or halogen bonds), and to size the potential energy surfaces of their internal motions. The rotational spectrum of pyridine-methane pointed out that methane prefers to locate above the ring and link to pyridine through a C-H•••π weak hydrogen bond, rather than the C-H•••n interaction. This behavior, typical of complexes of pyridine with rare gases, suggests classifying CH4, in relation to its ability to form molecular complexes with aromatic molecules, as a pseudo rare gas. The conformational equilibria of three bi-molecules of carboxylic acids, acrylic acid-trifluoroacetic acid, difluoroacetic acid-formic acid and acrylic acid-fluoroacetic acid have been studied. The increase of the hydrogen bond length upon H→D isotopic substitution (Ubbelohde effect) has been deduced from the elongation of the carboxylic carbons C•••C distance. The van der Waals complex tetrahydrofuran-krypton shows that the systematic doubling of the rotational lines has been attributed to the residual pseudo-rotation of tetrahydrofuran in the complex, based on the values of the Coriolis coupling constants, and on the type (mu_b) of the interstate transitions.

Design and Fabrication of Bond Wire Micro-Magnetics

This thesis presents a new approach for the design and fabrication of bond wire magnetics for power converter applications by using standard IC gold bonding wires and micro-machined magnetic cores. It shows a systematic design and characterization study for bond wire transformers with toroidal and race-track cores for both PCB and silicon substrates. Measurement results show that the use of ferrite cores increases the secondary self-inductance up to 315 µH with a Q-factor up to 24.5 at 100 kHz. Measurement results on LTCC core report an enhancement of the secondary self-inductance up to 23 µH with a Q-factor up to 10.5 at 1.4 MHz. A resonant DC-DC converter is designed in 0.32 µm BCD6s technology at STMicroelectronics with a depletion nmosfet and a bond wire micro-transformer for EH applications. Measures report that the circuit begins to oscillate from a TEG voltage of 280 mV while starts to convert from an input down to 330 mV to a rectified output of 0.8 V at an input of 400 mV. Bond wire magnetics is a cost-effective approach that enables a flexible design of inductors and transformers with high inductance and high turns ratio. Additionally, it supports the development of magnetics on top of the IC active circuitry for package and wafer level integrations, thus enabling the design of high density power components. This makes possible the evolution of PwrSiP and PwrSoC with reliable highly efficient magnetics.

Enhancement of inductive power transfer with flat spiral resonators

The aim of this thesis is to develop a depth analysis of the inductive power transfer (or wireless power transfer, WPT) along a metamaterial composed of cells arranged in a planar configuration, in order to deliver power to a receiver sliding on them. In this way, the problem of the efficiency strongly affected by the weak coupling between emitter and receiver can be obviated, and the distance of transmission can significantly be increased. This study is made using a circuital approach and the magnetoinductive wave (MIW) theory, in order to simply explain the behavior of the transmission coefficient and efficiency from the circuital and experimental point of view. Moreover, flat spiral resonators are used as metamaterial cells, particularly indicated in literature for WPT metamaterials operating at MHz frequencies (5-30 MHz). Finally, this thesis presents a complete electrical characterization of multilayer and multiturn flat spiral resonators and, in particular, it proposes a new approach for the resistance calculation through finite element simulations, in order to consider all the high frequency parasitic effects. Multilayer and multiturn flat spiral resonators are studied in order to decrease the operating frequency down to kHz, maintaining small external dimensions and allowing the metamaterials to be supplied by electronic power converters (resonant inverters).