Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Carbon, magnesium implantation and proton irradiation on pulsed laser deposited thermochromic thin film of VO2
(University of Western Cape, 2020)When the spacecrafts orbit in space, it is subjected to significant thermal cycling variation. Thermal regulation of the spacecraft temperature is required to ensure a good operation of the small crafts such as CubeSats ... -
A study of the nearby interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512/1510
(University of Western Cape, 2020)This work focuses on generating a new dynamical model of the nearby (9.5 Mpc) interacting galaxy system NGC 1512/1510. Neutral hydrogen (H i ) observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) are used to ... -
Hydrogen storage capacity of the Ti-Pd multilayer systems
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)Hydrogen has high energy density and it is regarded as the future energy carrier. Hydrogen can be stored as a gas in high-pressure cylinders, as a liquid in cryogenic tanks and as a solid in metal hydrides. The storage of ... -
Metal oxide nanocrystalline thin films as buffer layers in organic/ hybrid solar cells
(University of Western Cape, 2019)Without reverting to encapsulation, organic bulk - heterojunction solar cells can be protected from the oxidation of the highly reactive low work function cathode metal electrode, by the deposition of metal oxide buffer ... -
Computational modelling of a hot-wire chemical vapour deposition reactor chamber
(University of Western Cape, 2020)In this thesis, I explore the subjects of fluid dynamics and the Hot-Wire Chemical Vapour Deposition (HWCVD) process. HWCVD, in its simplicity, is one of the more powerful and elegant deposition techniques available in ... -
Mock HI spectral line stacking experiments for large galaxy surveys
(University of Western Cape, 2019)The study of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) plays a vital role in improving the knowledge about galaxy evolution since HI serves as the raw fuel for star formation. However, the current knowledge about it is limited to the ... -
Modelling and measurement of radon diffusion through soil application on mine tailings dams.
(University of Western Cape, 2004)Radon (222Rn) has been identified as an important factor that could result in a health hazard by studies all around the world. The health risks can be minimised by preventive measures where radon is highly concentrated as ... -
Determination of the Spectroscopic Quadrupole moment of the first 2+ excited state in 32S
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)In this work we have determined the spectroscopic or static quadrupole moment of the rst excited state (QS (2+1) lying at 2230.6 keV in 32S using the reorientation e ect. The Coulomb-excitation experiment at safe ... -
Structural properties and optical modelling of SiC thin films
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)Amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) is a versatile material due to its interesting mechanical, chemical and optical properties that make it a candidate for application in solar cell technology. As a-SiC stoichiometry can be ... -
The effects on student knowledge and engagement when using a culturally responsive framework to teach ASTR 101
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)The U.S. has a problem: it is not effectively utilizing all the bright young minds available to its science & engineering workforce. In 2012 the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reported ... -
Radiometric investigation of soil and beach sand in Zanzibar
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)This study presents the results of radiometric investigation of soil and beach sand in Zanzibar. The activity concentration of natural radionuclides (40K, and 232Th and 238U decay products) in beach sand and soil samples ... -
Cosmology with HI intensity mapping: effect of higher order corrections
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)One of the main challenges of cosmology is to unveil the nature of dark energy and dark matter. They can be constrained with baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) and redshift space distortions, amongst others. Both have ... -
Reconstruction of the ionization history from 21cm maps with deep learning
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)Upcoming and ongoing 21cm surveys, such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) and Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), will enable imaging of the neutral hydrogen distribution on ... -
A large-scale clustering analysis of radio galaxies
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The distribution of the visible structure in the Universe is in part dependent on the in uence of the dark matter structure. Measurements of large-scale structure can therefore be related to the dark matter distribution ... -
A study of SiC thin film layers for electrically conductive diffusion barrier application in Si thin film solar cells.
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)Semiconductor silicon carbide (SiC) thin films of different thicknesses were deposited by electron beam physical vapour deposition (EBPVD) for application as diffusion barrier application to guard against metal contaminants ... -
High resolution gamma-spectroscopy of environmental samples
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)In this study, a comparison has been made between the available commercial software package Genie 2000 developed by Canberra and Virtual Gamma Spectroscopy Laboratory (VGSL) developed by the Radionuclide Development Unit ... -
Probing the primordial Universe using the SKA in combination with other cosmological surveys
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)Next-generation surveys of the large-scale structure of the Universe will be of great importance in allowing us to extract invaluable information about the nature of the Universe and the physical laws that govern it, at ... -
Detecting Baryon Acoustic Oscillations with HI Intensity Mapping using MeerKAT
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)Future radio surveys as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and its precursor, the "Meer" Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT), will map the Neutral Hydrogen (HI) in large areas of the sky using the intensity mapping (IM). HI ... -
Cosmology with next generation radio telescopes
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)The next generation of radio telescopes will revolutionize cosmology by providing large three-dimensional surveys of the universe. This work presents forecasts using the technique 21cm intensity mapping (IM) combined ... -
Determining the spectroscopic quadrupole moment of the first 2+ state in 36Ar
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)A series of reorientation-effect Coulomb-excitation experiments were carried out at iThemba LABS from April to May 2016. Enriched ion beams of Ar, Ar and S were bombarded at safe energies, well below the ...