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Our understanding of both structure and dynamics of adsorbed liquids heavily relies on the capillary wave Hamiltonian, but a thorough test of this model is still lacking. Here we study the capillary wave fluctuations of a liquid film with…
We present a new scheme to include the van der Waals (vdW) interactions in approximated Density Functional Theory (DFT) by combining the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator model with the Maximally Localized Wannier Function technique. With respect…
We consider the effect of atomic hydrogen exposure to a system of two undoped sheets of graphene grown near a silica surface (the first adsorbed to the surface and the second freestanding near the surface). In the absence of atomic hydrogen…
The integration of high-refractive-index dielectrics into scalable photonic architectures is foundational to advancing integrated circuits and augmented reality (AR) displays. Van der Waals (vdW) materials offer exceptional optical…
Van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibit a variety of states that can be switched with low power at low temperatures, offering a viable cryogenic "flash memory" required for the classical control electronics for solid-state quantum information…
Recent advancements have extended the capabilities of coherence scanning interferometry (CSI) beyond surface topography measurement to reflectivity spectrum imaging. It is commonly accepted that the one-dimensional(1-D) Fourier magnitude of…
We measure the resonance line shape of atomic vapor layers with nanoscale thickness confined between two sapphire windows. The measurement is performed by scanning a probe laser through resonance and collecting the scattered light. The line…
Interface recombination at the absorber buffer interface impedes the efficiency of a solar cell with an otherwise excellent absorber. The internal voltage or the quasi-Fermi level splitting (qFLs) measures the quality of the absorber.…
Characteristics of a diffusion-bonded sapphire cell for optical experiments with hot metal vapors were investigated. The sapphire cell consisted of sapphire-crystal plates and a borosilicate-glass tube, which were bonded to each other by…
Evidence for capillary waves at a liquid/vapor interface are presented from extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a system containing up to 1.24 million Lennard-Jones particles. Careful measurements show that the total interfacial…
The Casimir-Polder and van der Waals interactions between an atom and a flat cavity wall are investigated under the influence of real conditions including the dynamic polarizability of the atom, actual conductivity of the wall material and…
We study the van der Waals interaction of a metallic or narrow-gap semiconducting nanowire with a surface, in the regime of intermediate wire-surface distances $(v_{F}/c)L \ll d \ll L $ or $L \ll d \ll (c/v_{F})L $, where $L$ is the…
Complex oxide heterointerfaces and van der Waals heterostructures present two versatile but intrinsically different platforms for exploring emergent quantum phenomena and designing new functionalities. The rich opportunity offered by the…
The initial interaction of water with semiconductors determines the electronic structure of the solid-liquid interface. The exact nature of this interaction is, however, often unknown. Here, we study gallium phosphide-based surfaces exposed…
The crystalline and optical anisotropy of low-symmetry two-dimensional (2D) materials can enable strong dichroic responses, enhancing polarization contrast for photonic and optoelectronic devices. Here, we unveil pronounced optical and…
In the sealed-off cesium vapor cell studied in this work, a residual rubidium fraction of approximately $\sim$1\% was observed. We investigate the optical response of these trace Rb atoms in a sealed 1~cm long Cs-filled vapor cell. Despite…
Stacked van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures where semi-conducting two-dimensional (2D) materials are contacted by overlayed graphene electrodes enable atomically-thin, flexible electronics. We use first-principles quantum transport…
We designed, fabricated, and characterized the properties of a silicon-based vacuum window suitable for millimeter-wave astrophysical applications. The window, which has a diameter of 124 mm, optically active diameter of 68 mm, and…
Monolayer two-dimensional transitional metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS2, WS2 and WSe2, are direct band gap semiconductors with large exciton binding energy. They attract growing attentions for opto-electronic applications including solar…
Wide-gap Cu(In,Ga)S2 solar cells with In2O3:Sn (ITO) as transparent back contact are evaluated for the application as top cells in tandem devices. The effect of Na on the solar cell performance is investigated by supplying additional Na by…