Pete Schwartz

California Polytechnic State University | Cal Poly · Department of Physics

Using a combination of custom computer code and commercially available ray-tracing software, we explore variations of concentrator geometries where sunlight is first incident onto a stationary primary mirror of circular cross section. The reflected radiation is incident onto a smaller, secondary moveable mirror, which focuses the radiation onto a s...

We are exploring a collaborative development model where US students study in a developing country with local students, in this case in San Pablo, Guatemala—a village of 800 at elevation 3000 m near the Mexican Boarder. The Cal Poly summer study abroad program “Guateca”, to commence July 1, 2011, was jointly conceived with San Pablo leadership on A...

We compare the lifecycle costs of an electric car to a similar gasoline-powered vehicle under different scenarios of required driving range and cost of gasoline. An electric car is cost competitive for a significant portion of the scenarios: for cars of lower range and for higher gasoline prices. Electric cars with ~150Â km range are a technologica...

The energy density of batteries is two orders of magnitude below that of liquid fuels. However, this information alone cannot be used to compare batteries to liquid fuels for automobile energy storage media. Because electric motors have a higher energy conversion efficiency and lower mass than combustion engines, they can provide a higher deliverab...

If solar energy is to become a practical alternative to fossil fuels, we must have efficient ways to convert photons into electricity, fuel, and heat. The need for better conversion technologies is a driving force behind many recent developments in biology, materials, and especially nanoscience.

Writing optimization code for commercially available ray-tracing software, we explore variations of concentrator geometry where sunlight is first incident onto a stationary primary mirror of circular cross section. The reflected light is incident onto a smaller, secondary moveable mirror which focuses the light onto a target. Simulations show conce...

In this paper, we have used several basic atmospheric–physics models to show that additional carbon dioxide will warm the surface of Earth. We also show that observed solar variations cannot account for observed global temperature increase.

Dodecane is deposited at submonolayer coverages onto an Au(111) surface forming two-dimensional (2-D) islands. The islands sublimate to a 2-D gas at higher substrate temperatures. We observe island formation and subsequent 2-D sublimation between substrate temperatures of 40 and 350 K, using low-energy helium reflectivity. A computer model of the s...

The directed three-dimensional self-assembly of microstructures and nanostructures through the selective hybridization of DNA is the focus of great interest toward the fabrication of new materials. Single-stranded DNA is covalently attached to polystyrene latex microspheres. Single-stranded DNA can function as a sequence-selective Velcro by only bo...

The directed three dimensional self-assembly of microstructures and nanostructures through the selective hybridization of DNA is the focus of great interest toward the fabrication of new materials. Single stranded DNA is covalently attached to polystyrene latex microspheres and functions as a ``smart Velcro'' by only bonding to another strand of DN...

To better understand the process of Probe Mediated Deposition (PMD), or Dip-Pen Nanolithography (DPN), we have studied the transport of an amphiphilic molecule, mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHA), from the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) onto a gold substrate. The process was studied as a function of relative humidity (RH), total elapsed patte...

Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), the direct transport of a “molecular ink” onto a substrate from an AFM tip, is of interest both as a potential industrial patterning tool and as a means to study molecular behavior. We investigated DPN for the patterning of both octadecanethiol (ODT) and mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHA). The molecular transport of ODT...

Thiol-modified DNA is patterned with an atomic force microscope (AFM) on a resist-covered gold surface with line widths as small as 15 nm at speeds as high as 320 μm/s. In meniscus force nanografting, a drop of patterning solution simultaneously wets a hydrophilic resist on gold and an AFM tip. The surface tension supplies enough normal force for t...