Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate is important for high yield and good quality of potato tubers. In this dissertation, I seek to study the response of different potato cultivars under different N fertilizer rates and how that can impact tuber quality, examine the performance of active optical sensors in improving a potato yield prediction algorithm, and evaluate the ability of active optical sensors (GreenSeeker (GS) and Crop Circle (CC)) to optimize a N recommendation algorithm that can be used by potato growers in Maine. This research was conducted at 11 sites over a period of two years (2018–2019) in Aroostook County, Maine; all sites depended on a rainfed system. Three potato cultivars, Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody, were planted under six rates of N (0-280 kg ha-1), ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, and were applied in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Active optical sensor readings (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were collected weekly after the fourth leaf stage began. The coefficient of determination (R2) between soil organic matter (OM) content and total tuber yield for all sites combined was 0.78**. Sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of soil OM produced higher total tuber yield, marketable yield, and tuber weight per plant (39.45%, 45.22%, and 54.94%, respectively) than sites with ≤ 30 g kg-1 of OM. Specific gravity increased by 0.18% in the sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of OM. The total tuber yield for the three cultivars was maximized at 168 kg N ha-1. Vegetation indices measurements obtained at stages of 16 or 20 fully expanded leaves were significantly correlated with tuber yield, which can be used in the yield prediction model. Sensor measurements obtained at the 20th leaf stage were significantly correlated with tuber yield, with the exponential model showing the best fit for the regression curve. The recommended N rate calculated based on in-season sensor readings was reduced by approximately 12–14% compared to the total N rate that growers currently apply based on the conventional approach.
The nonlinear optical properties response of nematic liquid crystal (6CHBT) and the impact of doping with two kinds of nanoparticles; Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles and SbSI ferroelectric nanoparticles have been studied using the non-linear dynamic method through z-scan measurement technique. This was achieved utilizing CW He-Ne laser. The pure LC and magnetic LC nanoparticle composite samples had a maximum absorption while the ferroelectric LC nanoparticle composite had a minimum absorption of the incident light. The nonlinear refractive index was positive for the pure LC and the rod-like ferronematic LC composite samples, while it was negative for the ferroelectric LC composite. The studying of the nonlinear optical
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Aluminum doped zinc selenide ZnSe/n-Si thin films of (250∓20 nm) thickness with (0.01, 0.02 and 0.03), are depositing on the two type of substrate (glass and n-Si) to manufacture (ZnSe/n-Si) solar cell through using thermal vacuum evaporation procedure. physical and optoelectronic properties were examined for the samples. X-Ray and AFM techniques are using to study the structure properties. The energy band gap of as-deposited ZnSe thin films for changed dopant ratio were ranging from (2.6-2.68 eV). The results of Hall effect show that pure and doping films were (p-type), and the concentration carriers and the carriers mobility increases with increase Al-dopant ratio. The (C-V) have shown that the heterojunction were of abrupt type. In add
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The effect of thermal treatment on optical constants of pure PMMA and with addition (15 and 35) ml of coumarin at different temperatures (100, 110 and 120) C0 for 1 hour were investigated. Cast method used to prepares films of pure PMMA and PMMA with (15 and 35) of coumarin. UV/VIS spectrometer technique used to measure the absorption spectra for these films. The optical constant (absorption spectra and absorption coefficient) don’t changes after applied temperatures in pure PMMA film but the optical constant (absorption spectra and absorption coefficient) in PMMA with (15 and 35) ml of coumarin increased with applied temperatures. The optical energy gap of pure PMMA and PMMA with (15 and 35) ml of coumarin sl
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In this paper, a miniaturized 2 × 2 electro-optic plasmonic Mach– Zehnder switch (MZS) based on metal–polymer–silicon hybrid waveguide is presented. Adiabatic tapers are designed to couple the light between the plasmonic phase shifter, implemented in each of the MZS arms, and the 3-dB input/output directional couplers. For 6 µm-long hybrid plasmonic waveguide supported by JRD1 polymer (r33= 390 pm/V), a π-phase shift voltage of 2 V is obtained. The switch is designed for 1550 nm operation wavelength using COMSOL software and characterizes by 2.3 dB insertion loss, 9.9 fJ/bit power consumption, and 640 GHz operation bandwidth
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Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films of different thickness were prepared
on ultrasonically cleaned corning glass substrate, by pulsed laser
deposition technique (PLD) at room temperature. Since most
application of ZnO thin film are certainly related to its optical
properties, so the optical properties of ZnO thin film in the
wavelength range (300-1100) nm were studied, it was observed that
all ZnO films have high transmittance (˃ 80 %) in the wavelength
region (400-1100) nm and it increase as the film thickness increase,
using the optical transmittance to calculate optical energy gap (Eg
opt)
show that (Eg
opt) of a direct allowed transition and its value nearly
constant (~ 3.2 eV) for all film thickness (150
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It is shown that pure and 3% boron doped a-Si0.1Ge0.9:H and a-Si0.1Ge0.9:N thin films
could be prepared by flash evaporation processes. The hydrogenation and nitrogenation
are very successful in situ after depositing the films. The FT-IR analysis gave all the
known absorbing bonds of hydrogen and nitrogen with Si and Ge.
Our data showed a considerable effect of annealing temperature on the structural and
optical properties of the prepared films. The optical energy gap (Eopt.) of a-Si0.1Ge0.9
samples showed to have significant increase with annealing temperature (Ta) also the
refractive index and the real part of dielectric constant increases with Ta, however the
extinction coefficient and imaginary part of dielect