Star
Schools: The New Millennium Oklahoma State University
This is a multi-departmental education project
directed toward improving, via distance education, the science and mathematics
preparation of in-service middle school science and mathematics teachers.
Sponsor: Department of Education
PIs: Bruce Ackerson
Center
for Sciences Literacy: Smith Holt
Arts
& Sciences Extension: Robert Brown
Microbiology
& Molecular Genetics: James Blankemeyer
Department
of Mathematics: James Choike
Department
of Chemistry: Mark Rockley
This project will determine the absorbed radiation doses to
bricks from the Semipalitinsk nuclear test site in Russia using quartz based
optically stimulated luminescence techniques. The ultimate objective is to
estimate the accumulated external doses to residents near this test site.
Sponsor: National Cancer Institute
PIs: Debabrata Banerjee, Stephen McKeever
Second
Generation Photocatalytic Oxidation Processes
This
research project is comprised of five objectives: 1) To develop granular
titanis(Pt)-silica composite catalysts that, when utilized in a packed bed
photoreactor, will provide enhanced performance over conventional catalysts; 2)
To develop porphyrin-modified catalysts capable of utilizing visible light for
photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) and for generating molecular oxygen in-situ for
use in PCO; 3) To develop a clear understanding of PCO reaction mechanisms and
rates as they apply to the primary contaminates in the NASA WRS; 4) To identify
refractory by-products within the WRX system using advanced analytical
technology; and 5) To aggressively pursue the transfer of this second
generation PCO technology to terrestrial applications through collaboration with
industry and the United States Environmental Projection Agency.
Sponsors: University of Oklahoma,
NASA, Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education
PI: H. James Harmon
A
Proposal of a Collaborative Project on the Growth and Characterization of
Photorefractive Crystals for Visible and Near-Ir Applications
The objective of
this work is to collaboratively investigate, with a group at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base, the possibility of tailoring sillenite crystals for
photorefractive applications in the near-ir and visible spectral ranges.
Sponsor: Anteon
PI: Joel Martin
This
project is to establish an Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary
Sciences at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Oklahoma State
University, Stillwater campuses. The center will bring together researchers
with unique strengths and who are in a position to make fundamental advances in
basic concepts that will have major impact on the future planning and execution
of solar system exploration. At the same time the center will act as a catalyst
in motivating students towards careers in sciences, engineering and
mathematics, and become a crucial part of the Arkansas-Oklahoma research and
teaching infrastructure.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PI: Stephen McKeever
The
aim of this project is to establish collaboration with the NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory to define the scientific and engineering constraints relating to the
development of the surface and sub-surface of Mars. The overall goal is to fly such an instrument on a Mars
lander, sometime after 2005.
Sponsors: NASA EPSCoR, University of Oklahoma
PI: Stephen McKeever
Development
of Methods and Instrumentation for In-situ Luminescence Dating of Martian
Sediment
A
research initiation grant is in place to test initial concepts for the
development of a luminescence-dating module for Martian sediments, and to
establish collaborations with NASA research centers.
Sponsor: Oklahoma NASA EPSCoR
PI: Stephen McKeever
Development
of a Pulsed Optically Stimulated Luminescence Personal Dosimetry System Based
on Aluminum Oxide
To conduct research
and development to define the parameters necessary to establish an accredited
pulsed-OSL dosimetry system, based on anion-deficient aluminum oxide.
Sponsor: Landauer, Inc.
PI: Stephen McKeever
Miniature
Age Dating/Material Characterization Instrument
This
instrument is based on integration of three of the most powerful techniques in
dosimetry namely, thermoluminescence (TL), optically stimulated luminescence
(OSL), and electron spin resonance (ESR, or electron paramagnetic resonance,
EPR), which have been utilized extensively for quaternary dating purposes on
Earth. The applicable range of our dosimetric method extends up to ~1M years
and, depending on sensitivity, as recent as 10~100 years before present. The
three techniques are used complementarily and integrated toward comprehensive
analysis of samples.
Sponsor:
Jet
Propulsion Laboratory
PI: Stephen McKeever
Monolithic
Integrated Radiation Sensor Using Stimulated Luminescence from Alumina
We propose the
use of monolithic microelectronic technology to develop a novel integrated
radiation sensor based on optically stimulated luminescence from A1203. Radiation-dosimetry-quality A1203 will
be used as a substrate for the epitaxial growth of an InGaN-based photodiode,
which will be used as a photovoltaic detector. The other side of the substrate will be intimately bonded to
InGaN-based LEDs for optical stimulation.
The radiation absorbed by the substrate will create trapped electronic
charge at defect states in the A1203.
Subsequent stimulation of the substrate with light from the LEDs (at 530
nm) will stimulate luminescence emission (at 420nm) from the substrate, which
will be detected by the photodetector.
The detected luminescence will be proportional to the absorbed
dose. The merit of using InGaN is
its narrow bandpass response without the need for additional optical
filtration. The emission and
detection wavelengths from the InGaN devices will be controlled by controlling
the In mole fraction. The device
will be low weight, with low power consumption, and of high radiation detection
efficiency. It will be suitable
for use with a variety of space flight, remote lander or micropenetrator
platforms for the remote investigation of the radiation environment on
planetary surfaces, or for use as a personal dosimeter by astronauts. Potential applications will also exist
for environmental and personal applications on Earth.
Sponsor: NASA
PI: Stephen McKeever
The intent of
this proposal is to develop a near real time, surface and/or in vivo dosimetry system for use in radiation
oncology. The accurate measurement of radiation dose during radiotherapy in the
treatment of cancer requires knowledge of the actual dose delivered to internal
organs with a high level of accuracy. In addition to enduring that the prescribed
dose has been delivered to the cancerous tissue, it is also necessary to limit
the dose burden to healthy tissue to as low as possible. The only way to ensure
that critical organs are getting the dose required is to measure the does
inside the patient (i.e. in vivo dosimetry)
during treatment. Current dosimeters systems, however, are often too large and
cannot easily be placed in or retrieved from a suitable body cavity for in
vivo applications.
Furthermore, few are able to provide the dose information to the physician in
real time and only measure the dose after it has been delivered, rather than
during delivery. The proposed system will retain, or improve, the high
sensitivity and accuracy of current dosimetry systems, but will measure the dose,
and report it to the physician, in real time. Additionally, the small size of
the proposed dosimeters may open up in vivo opportunities that do not exist with
current technology. A successful system will improve treatment, reduce costs
and reduce the number of repeat treatments required. The method is based on
innovative luminescence techniques using new technology developed at OSU, and
the project involves the development of dosimeter systems, performance testing
and clinical trials on animals.
Sponsor: Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of
Science and Technology
PI: Stephen McKeever
This project
supports advanced modeling of materials that are critical components of several
S&T mission areas involved in nanostructures and nanoscience. A major
emphasis of the project is improved first-principles modeling techniques for
carbon nanotube materials and other low-dimensional materials, electrical and
optical properties that surpass the current performance limits of rigid-rod
polymers in a number of important applications such as structural composites,
electro-optically active thin films, or advanced full-cell membranes.
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research
PI: John Mintmire
Molecular
Dynamics of Energetic and Non-Energetic Materials
This project
supports advanced modeling of materials that are critical components of several
Department of Defense (DoD) weapons and S&T mission areas. Many chemical
properties require an understanding of the atomic-scale behavior of the
reactants and products, while the increasing importance of nanostructured
materials and devices makes an understanding of atomic-scale properties
critical even for structural materials traditionally considered only at the
macroscale. The atomic-scale potentials implemented by this project can be used
to model the structural and trobological behavior of the DoD weapons systems.
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research
PI: John Mintmire
This project if
an investigation of molecular trace-gas sensing and chemical solution
absorbance measurement using light in the evanescent component of the
whispering-gallery modes (WGM) of individual fused-silica micropheres. The
objectives of this project include: 1) improve the coupling to make it more
efficient, uniform, selective, robust and practical; 2) further investigate the
measurement of next and intrinsic Q by comparing different measurement methods
and the effects of different ambient media; and 3) ruggedize the sensor, culminating
in prototypes for gas and liquid sensing.
Sponsor: Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of
Science and Technology
PI: Albert Rosenberger
This joint project
will initiate a research partnership between Oklahoma State University and
Fermi Nation Accelerator Laboratory in the area of theoretical high energy physics.
Several collaborative research projects covering a wide range of high energy physics
topics of current interest will be studied. Topics include new signals for the
Higgs boson, the physics implications of large extra compact dimensions,
collider signals for supersymmetry, physics of extra Z bosons, and new phenomena associated
with neutrino masses and oscillations. It is expected that the completion of
these projects will lead to significant progress in our understanding of
elementary particle interactions.
Sponsor: United States Department of Energy
PIs: Satyanarayan Nandi, K.S. Babu
FermiLab: Joseph
Lykken
This project
covers a wide range of topics in the theory and phenomenology of elementary
particle interactions. They fall into four broad categories: 1) physics
implications of large compact dimensions; 2) unifications, neutrino masses and
nucleon stability; 3) topics in Higgs physics; and 4) issues in supersymmetry
breaking and associated phenomenology.
The topics include: effects of Kaluza Klein excitations of the electroweak
gauge bosons and the gluon at the present and future colliders; supersymmetry
effects in theories with large extra dimensions; implications of large compact
dimensions on the Higgs boson mass and decay; Grand unified Model building in
view of the SuperKamiokande neutrino data and its implications for proton
decay; minimal models of neutrino masses which fit all the current data;
minimal supersymmetric left-right midel and its impact on CP violating
phenomena; dynamical suppression of fermion electric dipole moments in
supersymmetric models; a new mechanism to explain the problem in the context of
gauge mediated supersymmerty breaking; and phenomenological and model-building
aspects of extra Z
bosons. It is hoped that the completion of these projects will help improve our
understanding of the nature of fundamental particles and their interactions.
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
PIs: Satyanarayan Nandi, K.S. Babu
Crystal
Growth of Nonlinear Optical Materials
This project provides funding to develop growth
capability of crystalline nonlinear optical materials.
Sponsor: Center for Photonic and Electronic
Materials and Devices (NSF-EPSCoR)
PI: David Peakheart
Research
Experience for Undergraduates — Optical Materials and Lasers
This project is
a summer program providing research experience for undergraduates in the area
of optical materials and lasers. The materials to be investigated in this
program will include laser-host, electro-optic, photorefractive, and colloidal
materials with present or potential applications in optical systems. The participants
are actively involved in nine related projects involving crystal growth,
time-resolved site-selection spectroscopy, laser instabilities, optical
characterization of quantum well structures, thermal and electrical transport
properties, light scattering, and thermally and optically stimulated
luminescence.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PI: David Peakheart
Computers
as an Analytic Tool in Mathematical Physics
Personal
computers with supercomputer power and algebraic programming languages are used
to study problems that allow exact analytical or extremely accurate numerical
solutions. The results are
compared with results from brute-force numerical supercomputer calculations,
testing existing and writing new software.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Jacques Perk
Studies
of Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Models
This is a
research project for the study of exactly solvable models of statistical
mechanics, including the integrable chiral Potts model and various Ising
models. These models will be
studied by exact analytical and approximate numerical methods. By its very nature, this project also
involves several areas of mathematics.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PIs: Jacques Perk, Helen Au-Yang
Temperature
tuning of the optical whispering-gallery resonances of a fused-silica
microsphere, as demonstrated in Phase I, will be employed to produce a
temperature-tunable optical filter.
This filter will be developed into a next-generation optical spectrum
analyzer for monitoring dense-wavelength-division-multiplexed optical-fiber
networks. It will provide a novel means of real-time monitoring of
telecommunications system operation.
Sponsor: Nomadics, Inc.
(NSF Phase II SBIR)
PI: Albert T. Rosenberger
The objective of
this project is to demonstrate feasibility and begin development of a
microsphere whispering-gallery-mode laser. The gain medium will be a thin polyelectrolyte coating
containing semiconductor (HgTe) nanoparticles, optically pumped by a cw
Ti:sapphire laser. Tunable
single-mode lasing in the 1400-1700 nm range is expected, and will be coupled
out into an optical fiber.
Sponsor:
Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology
PI: Albert T. Rosenberger
Low-threshold
laser action in the whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) of fused-silica
microspheres will be investigated.
A microsphere, coated with a thin polyelectrolyte film including HgTe
nanoparticles, will be pumped in a WGM around 800 nm using a tapered optical
fiber. Lasing around 1400-1700 nm
will be coupled out of the microlaser using the same tapered fiber.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PI: Albert T. Rosenberger
Experimental
Studies of Convective Turbulence
A series of
experiments to characterize the unique features of convective turbulence in a
simple convection cell, and then adding well-controlled extra features to the
simple system in the hope of reaching an understanding of the role of the added
features in changing the measured scaling laws in velocity and temperature
statistics.
Sponsors: National Science Foundation, Oklahoma
State Regents for Higher Education
PI: Penger Tong
Studies
of Particle Sedimentation by Novel Scattering Techniques
A program of
laser light scattering experiments to study the sedimentation of heavy
colloidal particles. The objectives of the project are to develop a new
velocimetry technique that can be used aboard space shuttles, and use the
technique on the ground to study velocity fluctuations of the settling
particles. The experiments are of fundamental interest for understanding the
gravity effects on the translational and rotational motions of particles, and
they are also relevant to many practical applications. The new scattering
technique to be developed will not just benefit the present study of colloidal
sedimentation, but will also have a myriad of applications in the general area
of the microgravity fluid physics.
Sponsors: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
PIs: Penger Tong, Bruce Ackerson
Development
of a Novel Fiber-Optic Voricity Probe for Fluid Physics Experiments in
Microgravity
A novel fiber-optic laser Doppler velocimetry
(LDV) technique will be developed to measure one component of a time and space
resolved vorticity vector. With
the new LDV technique, a compact and robust fiber-optic vorticity probe
consisting of four sets of optical fibers and couplers, which can
simultaneously measure different velocity components at four closely spaced
locations in the flow can be built.
The development of the fiber-optic vorticity probe will provide a
powerful tool that can be used widely in the field of microgravity fluid
sciences.
Sponsors: NASA EPSCoR, Oklahoma State University
PIs: Penger Tong
NASA
Glenn Research Center: Gregory Zimmerli
The development of the fiber-optic laser
vorticity probe will provide a powerful tool, which can be used widely in the
general area of fluid dynamics.
With the new vorticity probe novel measurements can be conducted to
study vortex dynamics in turbulent flows and discover new insights into the
physics of turbulence.
Sponsor:
National Science
Foundation
PIs: Penger Tong, Bruce Ackerson
Density
Functional Theory of Intermolecular Forces
A theory of
intermolecular forces within the framework of an energy functional of the
electron density has been developed. A “clean separation” of classical
(electrostatic and induction) and quantum (exchange and dispersion) forces
emerges in these considerations. Computer codes to carry out the calculations
of these terms at various levels of approximations are now being developed and
tested. Long-range goals include implementing formalism and computer codes as a
general approach to calculating intermolecular forces.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Paul Westhaus
Biophotonics
Collaborative Research: Photoactivated Coupling of Nanoparticle Multilayers and
Nerve Cells
In this project, a multidisciplinary and multi-university
research team is investigating the dynamics and mechanisms of the live/lifeless
matter interaction in a model system consisting of a thin film composed of
nanoparticles and cultured nerve cells. Specifically, the objectives of the
project are the following: 1) Preparation and optimization of biocompatible
nanoparticle multilayers that can be attached to nerve cells; and 2)
Registration and characterization of the photoinduced nerve cell membrane
currents and potentials following optical excitation of the interface as
function of nanoparticle and biological structures.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PIs: James P. Wicksted
Department of
Chemistry: Nicholas A. Kotov, Warren T. Ford
Site
Dependence of the Electronic Structure of 3D Transition Row Substitutional
Impurities in Ionic Crystals
Transition
metals in general form an important class of impurities in ionic insulators and
semiconductors. The 3D substitutional impurities form deep trap levels and have
open 3D-shell configurations which are characterized by intra-center d→d optical transitions between
atomic-like core states that are berturmed by the crystalline filed arising
from the surrounding host lattice. Transition metal ions often exhibit variable
valency when acting as substitutional impurities. In chromium doped Forsterite
(Mg2SiO4:Cr), the tetrahedral sites accommodate the
chromium as Cr4+ and the octahedral sites accommodate Cr3+.
The Cr4+ has been shown to be the lasing center in this material. We
intend to use the results of Multiconfigurational SCF calculations on Cr in
Forsterite, YAG, ∞-SiO2 and BSO to study the important
differences in the electronic structure of octahedrally and tetrahedrally
bonded substitrutional Cr impurities.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Timothy Wilson
Biological
signal transduction is of paramount importance for the health of human beings.
The project is aimed to study how a receptor protein conveys external
stimulation into a molecular message in signal transduction using a bacterial
photoreceptor, photoactive yellow protein, as a model system. Experimental
methods include time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
and flash photolysis system combined with the use of isotopic labeling,
chemical modification, and site-specific mutation.
Sponsor:
Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology
PI: Aihua Xie
Picosecond
and Femtosecond Dynamics of Biological Nanosensors
Proteins
are the most diverse nano-molecules made of twenty different building blocks in
forms of linear polymers and are spontaneously folded into distinctive and
functionally active 3D structures. They perform a variety of biological
functions while using a limited number of underlying processes. This study
looks at these fundamental processes in biological nanosensors using picosecond
and femtosecond laser spectroscopic techniques in the visible and
mid-infrared. The mail goals are:
1) to develop a state-of-the-art femtosecond and picosecond two-color pump
probe system in the visible and the mid infrared; and 2) to employ this system
to study the structural dynamics and energetics of the key initial steps of the
photosensing process of the photoactive yellow protein nanosensor in the time
region from 100 femtoseconds to 100 picoseconds.
Sponsor: Oklahoma EPSCoR
PI: Aihua Xie
Picosecond
Relaxation, Heating and Ablation Dynamics of Biomolecules
The
long-term objective of this project is to investigate the structural basis and
functional roles of energy flow in proteins. The technique of subpicosecond
infrared pump probe system using tunable infrared free electron lasers is being
developed to study the rates and channels of energy flow in proteins and
nonlinear protein dynamics. Energy flow in proteins is expected to be sensitive
to structural fold and to meet the functional needs of individual proteins. A
variety of proteins, which are fold into different secondary and tertiary
structures and perform different biological functions, such as
bacteriorhodopsin, photoactive yellow protein, myoglobin, as well as amino acid
homopolymers, are being studied.
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research (ONR)
PI: Aihua Xie
The study of a
possible new superconducting state in a two-dimensional electron system in the
absence of an external magnetic field. One major goal is to establish the
physical conditions where this new superconducting state is experimentally
accessible. Researchers will use both analytic and numerical calculations to
achieve this goal.
Sponsor: U.S.
Department of Energy
PI: Xincheng Xie
Theoretical
Study of Electron Interaction and Dissipation of Semiconductor Nanostructures
A project to study theoretical aspects of
electron-electron and electron-phono interation effects on the quantum
transport properties of semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum wires and
quantum dots.
Sponsor: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
PI: Xincheng Xie
Theoretical
Study of Photoconductive Properties in GaN Systems and Semiconductor
Nanosructures
A
research project to study the photoconductive properties in GaN samples and semiconductor
nanostructures.
Sponsor: Center for Photonic and Electronic
Materials and Devices (NSF-EPSCoR)
PI: Xincheng Xie