Doctoral Degrees (Physics)

Resonant ionization spectroscopy for laser isotope separation of zinc isotopes

De Bruyn, Andre (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The vast zinc (Zn) reserves in South Africa are currently being underutilized, as the Zn ore refinement and isotope enrichment occurs abroad. The enrichment process most commonly used thus relies only ...

The Structure of 33Si,35S and the magicity of the N = 20 gap at Z = 14; 16

Jongile, Sandile (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nuclei along N = 20 provide an excellent region to investigate nuclear structure and interactions, with their evolution from the doubly magic nucleus 40Ca through the Z = 16 and Z = 14 nuclei 36S and ...

Vibrational spectroscopy for characterisation of a cyclic antimicrobial peptide

Pfukwa, Ngaatendwe Buhle Cathrine (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In order to understand antimicrobial peptide action towards membrane surfaces it is imperative to first understand the structure and conformational behaviour of the antimicrobial in solution environments ...

Single-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering combining polarization shaping with spectral focusing

Viljoen, Ruan (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Single-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SB-CARS is a compact approach to CARS which employs a single broadband laser source to probe molecular vibrations. A variety of light sources can be used, ...

The development of a β-decay tape station and the search for vibrations in Ruthenium isotopes

Makhathini, Lucky Maxwell (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This work gives details of the new facility that is introduced to iThemba LABS for nuclear structure studies, called the tape station. The technical description of this device is presented along with ...

Cross section measurement of light ions using (p,xp) and (p,xn) reactions

Kenfack Jiotsa, Doris Carole (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The production cross section of light neutron-rich nuclei obtained from a proton induced reaction using light stable nuclei was extracted. The relevancy of such study, away from the valley of stability ...

Evaluation of the dynamic fracture characteristics of shaped-charge jets at different strain-rates and known initial LINER and EXPLOSIVE MICROSTRUCTURES

Majiet, Fakhree (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the pursuit of continuous improvement within the realm of shaped-charge design, it is the objective of the design to ultimately delay the break-up-time of the produced jets and hence improve the ...

Implementation of an Ytterbium 171 Trapped Ion Qubit

Matjelo, Naleli Jubert (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis presents the work done in developing an ion trap lab at Stellenbosch University. A linear Paul trap was assembled under a microscope and geometrically veriﬁed using a laserbeam and a translational ...

A ghostly tail of the Hoyle state and its breathing-mode excitation

Li, Kevin Ching Wei (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 12C is almost exclusively produced in stars from a combination of 4He and unstable 8Be which form an excited three-alpha resonance named the Hoyle state, located just above the 3α separation energy at Ex ...

Design, construction and characterisation of a low-level radioactivity counting system based on gamma-ray spectrometry with LaBr3:Ce scintillator detectors

Bashir, Munirat (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The activity concentrations in naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) samples are conventionally measured using a gamma-ray spectrometer with a single detector (mostly HPGe or NaI:Tl) enclosed ...

Spectroscopy of 22Mg relevant to explosive nucleosynthesis in classical novae and X-ray bursts

Brummer, Johann Wiggert (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis discusses the spectroscopy of 22Mg. This was done by performing the 24Mg(p,t) 22Mg reaction at iThemba LABS using the K600 magnetic spectrometer in coincidence with the CAKE silicon-detector ...

Lorentz symmetry in non-commutative field theories : commutative/non-commutative dualities and manifest covariance

Williams, Paul Henry (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We cover two approaches to building Lorentz invariant non-commutative ﬁeld theories. First we construct dualities between commutative and non-commutative ﬁeld theories. This construction exploits a ...

Construction of a spectroscopic terahertz time-domain ellipsometer

Smith, Shane Raymond (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Please refer to full text for abstract.

Development of a multimodal nonlinear imaging system for biophotonic applications

Dwapanyin, George Okyere (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Multiphoton microscopy techniques have gained wide prominence in biophotonics imaging applications since their inventions. Compared to conventional optical imaging, these nonlinear optical microscopy ...

Structure of excited states Seen in double beta decay investigated with the 148Nd(3He, nγ)150Sm and 98Mo(3He, nγ)100Ru two proton stripping reactions.

Vymers, Preston (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The two proton transfer reaction (3He, nγ) has been measured on two targets 98Mo and 148Nd. High resolution data were taken using the neutron time of flight method and a wall of six NE102A plastic ...