High frequency acoustics in colloid-based meso- and nanostructures by spontaneous Brillouin light scattering

Materials that can mold the flow of elastic waves of certain energy in certain directions are called phononic materials. The present thesis deals essentially with such phononic systems, which are structured in the mesoscale (<1 µm), and with their individual components. Such systems show interesting phononic properties in the hypersonic region, i.e., at frequencies in the GHz range. It is shown that colloidal systems are excellent model systems for the realization of such phononic materials. Therefore, different structures and particle architectures are investigated by Brillouin light scattering, the inelastic scattering of light by phonons.rnThe experimental part of this work is divided into three chapters: Chapter 4 is concerned with the localized mechanical waves in the individual spherical colloidal particles, i.e., with their resonance- or eigenvibrations. The investigation of these vibrations with regard to the environment of the particles, their chemical composition, and the influence of temperature on nanoscopically structured colloids allows novel insights into the physical properties of colloids at small length scales. Furthermore, some general questions concerning light scattering on such systems, in dispute so far, are convincingly addressed.rnChapter 5 is a study of the traveling of mechanical waves in colloidal systems, consisting of ordered and disordered colloids in liquid or elastic matrix. Such systems show acoustic band gaps, which can be explained geometrically (Bragg gap) or by the interaction of the acoustic band with the eigenvibrations of the individual spheres (hybridization gap).rnWhile the latter has no analogue in photonics, the presence of strong phonon scatterers, when a large elastic mismatch between the composite components exists, can largely impact phonon propagation in analogy to strong multiple light scattering systems. The former is exemplified in silica based phononic structures that opens the door to new ways of sound propagation manipulation.rnChapter 6 describes the first measurement of the elastic moduli in newly fabricated by physical vapor deposition so-called ‘stable organic glasses’. rnIn brief, this thesis explores novel phenomena in colloid-based hypersonic phononic structures, utilizing a versatile microfabrication technique along with different colloid architectures provided by material science, and applying a non-destructive optical experimental tool to record dispersion diagrams.rn

Präparation von Bismutsulfid-Absorberschichten für Dünnschichtsolarzellen mittels physikalischer Gasphasenabscheidung

Angesichts der sich abzeichnenden Erschöpfung fossiler Ressourcen ist die Erforschung alternativer Energiequellen derzeit eines der meistbeachteten Forschungsgebiete. Durch ihr enormes Potential ist die Photovoltaik besonders im Fokus der Wissenschaft. Um großflächige Beschichtungsverfahren nutzen zu können, wird seit einigen Jahren auf dem Gebiet der Dünnschichtphotovoltaik intensiv geforscht. Jedoch sind die gegenwärtigen Solarzellenkonzepte allesamt durch die Verwendung giftiger (Cd, As) oder seltener Elemente (In, Ga) oder durch eine komplexe Phasenbildung in ihrem Potential beschränkt. Die Entwicklung alternativer Konzepte erscheint daher naheliegend.rnAufgrund dessen wurde in einem BMBF-geförderten Verbundprojekt die Abscheidung von Dünnschichten des binären Halbleiters Bi2S3 mittels physikalischer Gasphasenabscheidung mit dem Ziel der Etablierung als quasi-intrinsischer Absorber in Solarzellenstrukturen mit p-i-n-Schichtfolge hin untersucht.rnDurch sein von einem hochgradig anisotropen Bindungscharakter geprägtes Kristallwachstum war die Abscheidung glatter, einphasiger und für die Integration in eine Multischichtstruktur geeigneter Schichten mit Schichtdicken von einigen 100 nm eine der wichtigsten Herausforderungen. Die Auswirkungen der beiden Parameter Abscheidungstemperatur und Stöchiometrie wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Auswirkungen auf die relevanten Kenngrößen (wie Morphologie, Dotierungsdichte und Photolumineszenz) untersucht. Es gelang, erfolgreich polykristalline Schichten mit geeigneter Rauigkeit und einer Dotierungsdichte von n ≈ 2 1015cm-3 auf anwendungsrelevanten Substraten abzuscheiden, wobei eine besonders starke Abhängigkeit von der Gasphasenzusammensetzung ermittelt werden. Es konnten weiterhin die ersten Messungen der elektronischen Zustandsdichte unter Verwendung von Hochenergie-Photoemissionsspektroskopie durchgeführt werden, die insbesondere den Einfluss variabler Materialzusammensetzungen offenbarten.rnZum Nachweis der Eignung des Materials als Absorberschicht standen innerhalb des Projektes mit SnS, Cu2O und PbS prinzipiell geeignete p-Kontaktmaterialien zur Verfügung. Es konnten trotz der Verwendung besonders sauberer Abscheidungsmethoden im Vakuum keine funktionstüchtigen Solarzellen mit Bi2S3 deponiert werden. Jedoch war es unter Verwendung von Photoemissionspektroskopie möglich, die relevanten Grenzflächen zu spektroskopieren und die Ursachen für die Beobachtungen zu identifizieren. Zudem konnte erfolgreich die Notwendigkeit von Puffermaterialien bei der Bi2S3-Abscheidung nachgewiesen werden, um Oberflächenreaktionen zu unterbinden und die Transporteigenschaften an der Grenzfläche zu verbessern.rn

Exploring physical processes related to past climate proxies: lake sediments and stable water isotopes

Proxy data are essential for the investigation of climate variability on time scales larger than the historical meteorological observation period. The potential value of a proxy depends on our ability to understand and quantify the physical processes that relate the corresponding climate parameter and the signal in the proxy archive. These processes can be explored under present-day conditions. In this thesis, both statistical and physical models are applied for their analysis, focusing on two specific types of proxies, lake sediment data and stable water isotopes.rnIn the first part of this work, the basis is established for statistically calibrating new proxies from lake sediments in western Germany. A comprehensive meteorological and hydrological data set is compiled and statistically analyzed. In this way, meteorological times series are identified that can be applied for the calibration of various climate proxies. A particular focus is laid on the investigation of extreme weather events, which have rarely been the objective of paleoclimate reconstructions so far. Subsequently, a concrete example of a proxy calibration is presented. Maxima in the quartz grain concentration from a lake sediment core are compared to recent windstorms. The latter are identified from the meteorological data with the help of a newly developed windstorm index, combining local measurements and reanalysis data. The statistical significance of the correlation between extreme windstorms and signals in the sediment is verified with the help of a Monte Carlo method. This correlation is fundamental for employing lake sediment data as a new proxy to reconstruct windstorm records of the geological past.rnThe second part of this thesis deals with the analysis and simulation of stable water isotopes in atmospheric vapor on daily time scales. In this way, a better understanding of the physical processes determining these isotope ratios can be obtained, which is an important prerequisite for the interpretation of isotope data from ice cores and the reconstruction of past temperature. In particular, the focus here is on the deuterium excess and its relation to the environmental conditions during evaporation of water from the ocean. As a basis for the diagnostic analysis and for evaluating the simulations, isotope measurements from Rehovot (Israel) are used, provided by the Weizmann Institute of Science. First, a Lagrangian moisture source diagnostic is employed in order to establish quantitative linkages between the measurements and the evaporation conditions of the vapor (and thus to calibrate the isotope signal). A strong negative correlation between relative humidity in the source regions and measured deuterium excess is found. On the contrary, sea surface temperature in the evaporation regions does not correlate well with deuterium excess. Although requiring confirmation by isotope data from different regions and longer time scales, this weak correlation might be of major importance for the reconstruction of moisture source temperatures from ice core data. Second, the Lagrangian source diagnostic is combined with a Craig-Gordon fractionation parameterization for the identified evaporation events in order to simulate the isotope ratios at Rehovot. In this way, the Craig-Gordon model can be directly evaluated with atmospheric isotope data, and better constraints for uncertain model parameters can be obtained. A comparison of the simulated deuterium excess with the measurements reveals that a much better agreement can be achieved using a wind speed independent formulation of the non-equilibrium fractionation factor instead of the classical parameterization introduced by Merlivat and Jouzel, which is widely applied in isotope GCMs. Finally, the first steps of the implementation of water isotope physics in the limited-area COSMO model are described, and an approach is outlined that allows to compare simulated isotope ratios to measurements in an event-based manner by using a water tagging technique. The good agreement between model results from several case studies and measurements at Rehovot demonstrates the applicability of the approach. Because the model can be run with high, potentially cloud-resolving spatial resolution, and because it contains sophisticated parameterizations of many atmospheric processes, a complete implementation of isotope physics will allow detailed, process-oriented studies of the complex variability of stable isotopes in atmospheric waters in future research.rn