Terry Vockerodt

We investigate the fusion of ¹⁶O and ¹⁵⁴Sm with excited states at Coulomb energies using a theoretical dynamical model. The two-body Schrödinger equation is solved using the time-dependent wave-packet coupled-channels method. The wave function of the collective motion and excitations are visualized in both position and momentum space, providing a detailed mechanism of the reaction. We benchmark our calculations of the energy-resolved fusion transmission coefficients with those from the time-independent coupled-channels method. The present results are in good agreement with the time-independent results for a wide range of energies and angular momenta, demonstrating both the reliability of the quantum wave-packet dynamical approach for fusion and its usefulness for providing additional insights into fusion dynamics.

In this work we present silver nanowire hybrid electrodes, prepared through the addition of small quantities of pristine graphene by mechanical transfer deposition from surface-assembled Langmuir films. This technique is a fast, efficient, and facile method for modifying the opto-electronic performance of AgNW films. We demonstrate that it is possible to use this technique to perform two-step device production by selective patterning of the stamp used, leading to controlled variation in the local sheet resistance across a device. This is particularly attractive for producing extremely low-cost sensors on arbitrarily large scales. Our aim is to address some of the concerns surrounding the use of AgNW films as replacements for indium tin oxide (ITO); namely the use of scarce materials and poor stability of AgNWs against flexural and environmental degradation.