@phdthesis{Willig2019, author = {Willig, Lisa}, title = {Ultrafast magneto-optical studies of remagnetisation dynamics in transition metals}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-44194}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-441942}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XIV, 113, XVII}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Ultrafast magnetisation dynamics have been investigated intensely for two decades. The recovery process after demagnetisation, however, was rarely studied experimentally and discussed in detail. The focus of this work lies on the investigation of the magnetisation on long timescales after laser excitation. It combines two ultrafast time resolved methods to study the relaxation of the magnetic and lattice system after excitation with a high fluence ultrashort laser pulse. The magnetic system is investigated by time resolved measurements of the magneto-optical Kerr effect. The experimental setup has been implemented in the scope of this work. The lattice dynamics were obtained with ultrafast X-ray diffraction. The combination of both techniques leads to a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in magnetisation recovery from a non-equilibrium condition. Three different groups of samples are investigated in this work: Thin Nickel layers capped with nonmagnetic materials, a continuous sample of the ordered L10 phase of Iron Platinum and a sample consisting of Iron Platinum nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix. The study of the remagnetisation reveals a general trend for all of the samples: The remagnetisation process can be described by two time dependences. A first exponential recovery that slows down with an increasing amount of energy absorbed in the system until an approximately linear time dependence is observed. This is followed by a second exponential recovery. In case of low fluence excitation, the first recovery is faster than the second. With increasing fluence the first recovery is slowed down and can be described as a linear function. If the pump-induced temperature increase in the sample is sufficiently high, a phase transition to a paramagnetic state is observed. In the remagnetisation process, the transition into the ferromagnetic state is characterised by a distinct transition between the linear and exponential recovery. From the combination of the transient lattice temperature Tp(t) obtained from ultrafast X-ray measurements and magnetisation M(t) gained from magneto-optical measurements we construct the transient magnetisation versus temperature relations M(Tp). If the lattice temperature remains below the Curie temperature the remagnetisation curve M(Tp) is linear and stays below the M(T) curve in equilibrium in the continuous transition metal layers. When the sample is heated above phase transition, the remagnetisation converges towards the static temperature dependence. For the granular Iron Platinum sample the M(Tp) curves for different fluences coincide, i.e. the remagnetisation follows a similar path irrespective of the initial laser-induced temperature jump.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Damle2023, author = {Damle, Mitali}, title = {Gas distribution around galaxies in cosmological simulations}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-59054}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-590543}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {ii, xii, 146}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The evolution of a galaxy is pivotally governed by its pattern of star formation over a given period of time. The star formation rate at any given time is strongly dependent on the amount of cold gas available in the galaxy. Accretion of pristine gas from the Intergalactic medium (IGM) is thought to be one of the primary sources for star-forming gas. This gas first passes through the virial regions of the galaxy before reaching the Interstellar medium (ISM), the hub of star formation. On the other hand, owing to the evolutionary course of young and massive stars, energetic winds are ejected from the ISM to the virial regions of the galaxy. A bunch of interlinked, complex astrophysical processes, arising from the concurrent presence of both infalling as well as outbound gas, play out over a range of timescales in the halo region or the Circumgalactic medium (CGM) of a galaxy. It would not be incorrect to say that the CGM has a stronghold over the gas reserves of a galaxy and thus, plays a backhand, yet, rather pivotal role in shaping many galactic properties, some of which are also readily observable. Observing the multi-phase CGM (via spectral-line ion measurements), however, remains a non-trivial effort even today. Low particle densities as well as the CGM's vast spatial extent, coupled with likely deviations from a spherical distribution, marr the possibility of obtaining complete, unbiased, high-quality spectral information tracing the full extent of the gaseous halo. This often incomplete information leads to multiple inferences about the CGM properties that give rise to multiple contradicting models. In this regard, computer simulations offer a neat solution towards testing and, subsequently, falsifying many of these existing CGM models. Thanks to their controlled environments, simulations are able to not only effortlessly transcend several orders of magnitude in time and space, but also get around many of the observational limitations and provide some unique views on many CGM properties. In this thesis, I focus on effectively using different computer simulations to understand the role of CGM in various astrophysical contexts, namely, the effect of Local Group (LG) environment, major merger events and satellite galaxies. In Chapter 2, I discuss the approach used for modeling various phases of the simulated z = 0 LG CGM in Hestia constrained simulations. Each of the three realizations contain a Milky Way (MW)-Andromeda (M31) galaxy pair, along with their corresponding sets of satellite galaxies, all embedded within the larger cosmological context. For characterizing the different temperature-density phases within the CGM, I model five tracer ions with cloudy ionization modeling. The cold and cool-ionized CGM (H i and Si iii respectively) in Hestia is very clumpy and distributed close to the galactic centers, while the warm-hot and hot CGM (O vi, O vii and O viii) is tenuous and volume-filling. On comparing the H i and Si iii column densities for the simulated M31 with observational measurements from Project AMIGA survey and other low-z galaxies, I found that Hestia galaxies produced less gas in the outer CGM, unlike observations. My carefully designed observational bias model subsequently revealed the possibility that some MW gas clouds might be incorrectly associated with the M31 CGM in observations, and hence, may be partly responsible for giving rise to the detected mismatch between simulated data and observations. In Chapter 3, I present results from four zoom-in, major merger, gas-rich simulations and the subsequent role of the gas, originally situated in the CGM, in influencing some of the galactic observables. The progenitor parameters are selected such that the post-merger remnants are MW-mass galaxies. We generally see a very clear gas bridge joining the merging galaxies in case of multiple passage mergers while such a bridge is mostly absent when a direct collision occurs. On the basis of particle-to-galaxy distance computations and tracer particle analysis, I found that about 33-48 percent of the cold gas contributing to the merger-induced star formation in the bridge originated from the CGM regions. In Chapter 4, I used a sample of 234 MW-mass, L* galaxies from the TNG50 cosmological simulations, with an aim of characterizing the impact of their global satellite populations on the extended cold CGM properties of their host L* halos. On the basis of halo mass and number of satellite galaxies (N_sats ), I categorized the sample into low and high mass bins, and subsequently into bottom, inter and top quartiles respectively. After confirming that satellites indeed influence the extended cold halo gas density profiles of the host galaxies, I investigated the effects of different satellite population parameters on the host halo cold CGMs. My analysis showed that there is hardly any cold gas associated with the satellite population of the lowest mass halos. The stellar mass of the most massive satellite (M_*mms ) impacted the cold gas in low mass bin halos the most, while N_sats (followed by M_*mms ) was the most influential factor for the high mass halos. In any case, how easily cold gas was stripped off the most massive satellite did not play much role. The number of massive (Stellar mass, M* > 10^8 M_solar) satellites as well as the M_*mms associated with a galaxy are two of the most crucial parameters determining how much cold gas ultimately finds its way from the satellites to the host halo. Low mass galaxies are found rather lacking on both these fronts unlike their high mass counterparts. This work highlights some aspects of the complex gas physics that constitute the basic essence of a low-z CGM. My analysis proved the importance of a cosmological environment, local surroundings and merger history in defining some key observable properties of a galactic CGM. Furthermore, I found that different satellite properties were responsible for affecting the cold-dense CGM of the low and high-mass parent galaxies. Finally, the LG emerged as an exciting prospect for testing and pinning down several intricate details about the CGM.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Aseev2020, author = {Aseev, Nikita}, title = {Modeling and understanding dynamics of charged particles in the Earth's inner magnetosphere}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-47921}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-479211}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xxii, 154}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The Earth's inner magnetosphere is a very dynamic system, mostly driven by the external solar wind forcing exerted upon the magnetic field of our planet. Disturbances in the solar wind, such as coronal mass ejections and co-rotating interaction regions, cause geomagnetic storms, which lead to prominent changes in charged particle populations of the inner magnetosphere - the plasmasphere, ring current, and radiation belts. Satellites operating in the regions of elevated energetic and relativistic electron fluxes can be damaged by deep dielectric or surface charging during severe space weather events. Predicting the dynamics of the charged particles and mitigating their effects on the infrastructure is of particular importance, due to our increasing reliance on space technologies. The dynamics of particles in the plasmasphere, ring current, and radiation belts are strongly coupled by means of collisions and collisionless interactions with electromagnetic fields induced by the motion of charged particles. Multidimensional numerical models simplify the treatment of transport, acceleration, and loss processes of these particles, and allow us to predict how the near-Earth space environment responds to solar storms. The models inevitably rely on a number of simplifications and assumptions that affect model accuracy and complicate the interpretation of the results. In this dissertation, we quantify the processes that control electron dynamics in the inner magnetosphere, paying particular attention to the uncertainties of the employed numerical codes and tools. We use a set of convenient analytical solutions for advection and diffusion equations to test the accuracy and stability of the four-dimensional Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB-4D) code. We show that numerical schemes implemented in the code converge to the analytical solutions and that the VERB-4D code demonstrates stable behavior independent of the assumed time step. The order of the numerical scheme for the convection equation is demonstrated to affect results of ring current and radiation belt simulations, and it is crucially important to use high-order numerical schemes to decrease numerical errors in the model. Using the thoroughly tested VERB-4D code, we model the dynamics of the ring current electrons during the 17 March 2013 storm. The discrepancies between the model and observations above 4.5 Earth's radii can be explained by uncertainties in the outer boundary conditions. Simulation results indicate that the electrons were transported from the geostationary orbit towards the Earth by the global-scale electric and magnetic fields. We investigate how simulation results depend on the input models and parameters. The model is shown to be particularly sensitive to the global electric field and electron lifetimes below 4.5 Earth's radii. The effects of radial diffusion and subauroral polarization streams are also quantified. We developed a data-assimilative code that blends together a convection model of energetic electron transport and loss and Van Allen Probes satellite data by means of the Kalman filter. We show that the Kalman filter can correct model uncertainties in the convection electric field, electron lifetimes, and boundary conditions. It is also demonstrated how the innovation vector - the difference between observations and model prediction - can be used to identify physical processes missing in the model of energetic electron dynamics. We computed radial profiles of phase space density of ultrarelativistic electrons, using Van Allen Probes measurements. We analyze the shape of the profiles during geomagnetically quiet and disturbed times and show that the formation of new local minimums in the radial profiles coincides with the ground observations of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron (EMIC) waves. This correlation indicates that EMIC waves are responsible for the loss of ultrarelativistic electrons from the heart of the outer radiation belt into the Earth's atmosphere.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Matuschek2015, author = {Matuschek, Hannes}, title = {Applications of reproducing Kernel Hilbert spaces and their approximations}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {83}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{RodriguezZuluaga2020, author = {Rodriguez Zuluaga, Juan}, title = {Electric and magnetic characteristics of equatorial plasma depletions}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-44587}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-445873}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xvi, 87}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Near-Earth space represents a significant scientific and technological challenge. Particularly at magnetic low-latitudes, the horizontal magnetic field geometry at the dip equator and its closed field-lines support the existence of a distinct electric current system, abrupt electric field variations and the development of plasma irregularities. Of particular interest are small-scale irregularities associated with equatorial plasma depletions (EPDs). They are responsible for the disruption of trans-ionospheric radio waves used for navigation, communication, and Earth observation. The fast increase of satellite missions makes it imperative to study the near-Earth space, especially the phenomena known to harm space technology or disrupt their signals. EPDs correspond to the large-scale structure (i.e., tens to hundreds of kilometers) of topside F region irregularities commonly known as Spread F. They are observed as depleted-plasma density channels aligned with the ambient magnetic field in the post-sunset low-latitude ionosphere. Although the climatological variability of their occurrence in terms of season, longitude, local time and solar flux is well-known, their day to day variability is not. The sparse observations from ground-based instruments like radars and the few simultaneous measurements of ionospheric parameters by space-based instruments have left gaps in the knowledge of EPDs essential to comprehend their variability. In this dissertation, I profited from the unique observations of the ESA's Swarm constellation mission launched in November 2013 to tackle three issues that revealed novel and significant results on the current knowledge of EPDs. I used Swarm's measurements of the electron density, magnetic, and electric fields to answer, (1.) what is the direction of propagation of the electromagnetic energy associated with EPDs?, (2.) what are the spatial and temporal characteristics of the electric currents (field-aligned and diamagnetic currents) related to EPDs, i.e., seasonal/geographical, and local time dependencies?, and (3.) under what conditions does the balance between magnetic and plasma pressure across EPDs occur? The results indicate that: (1.) The electromagnetic energy associated with EPDs presents a preference for interhemispheric flows; that is, the related Poynting flux directs from one magnetic hemisphere to the other and varies with longitude and season. (2.) The field-aligned currents at the edges of EPDs are interhemispheric. They generally close in the hemisphere with the highest Pedersen conductance. Such hemispherical preference presents a seasonal/longitudinal dependence. The diamagnetic currents increase or decrease the magnetic pressure inside EPDs. These two effects rely on variations of the plasma temperature inside the EPDs that depend on longitude and local time. (3.) EPDs present lower or higher plasma pressure than the ambient. For low-pressure EPDs the plasma pressure gradients are mostly dominated by variations of the plasma density so that variations of the temperature are negligible. High-pressure EPDs suggest significant temperature variations with magnitudes of approximately twice the ambient. Since their occurrence is more frequent in the vicinity of the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly, such high temperatures are suggested to be due to particle precipitation. In a broader context, this dissertation shows how dedicated satellite missions with high-resolution capabilities improve the specification of the low-latitude ionospheric electrodynamics and expand knowledge on EPDs which is valuable for current and future communication, navigation, and Earth-observing missions. The contributions of this investigation represent several 'firsts' in the study of EPDs: (1.) The first observational evidence of interhemispheric electromagnetic energy flux and field-aligned currents. (2.) The first spatial and temporal characterization of EPDs based on their associated field-aligned and diamagnetic currents. (3.) The first evidence of high plasma pressure in regions of depleted plasma density in the ionosphere. These findings provide new insights that promise to advance our current knowledge of not only EPDs but the low-latitude post-sunset ionosphere environment.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bojahr2016, author = {Bojahr, Andre}, title = {Hypersound interaction studied by time-resolved inelastic light and x-ray scattering}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93860}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xxiii, 201}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This publications-based thesis summarizes my contribution to the scientific field of ultrafast structural dynamics. It consists of 16 publications, about the generation, detection and coupling of coherent gigahertz longitudinal acoustic phonons, also called hypersonic waves. To generate such high frequency phonons, femtosecond near infrared laser pulses were used to heat nanostructures composed of perovskite oxides on an ultrashort timescale. As a consequence the heated regions of such a nanostructure expand and a high frequency acoustic phonon pulse is generated. To detect such coherent acoustic sound pulses I use ultrafast variants of optical Brillouin and x-ray scattering. Here an incident optical or x-ray photon is scattered by the excited sound wave in the sample. The scattered light intensity measures the occupation of the phonon modes. The central part of this work is the investigation of coherent high amplitude phonon wave packets which can behave nonlinearly, quite similar to shallow water waves which show a steepening of wave fronts or solitons well known as tsunamis. Due to the high amplitude of the acoustic wave packets in the solid, the acoustic properties can change significantly in the vicinity of the sound pulse. This may lead to a shape change of the pulse. I have observed by time-resolved Brillouin scattering, that a single cycle hypersound pulse shows a wavefront steepening. I excited hypersound pulses with strain amplitudes until 1\% which I have calibrated by ultrafast x-ray diffraction (UXRD). On the basis of this first experiment we developed the idea of the nonlinear mixing of narrowband phonon wave packets which we call "nonlinear phononics" in analogy with the nonlinear optics, which summarizes a kaleidoscope of surprising optical phenomena showing up at very high electric fields. Such phenomena are for instance Second Harmonic Generation, four-wave-mixing or solitons. But in case of excited coherent phonons the wave packets have usually very broad spectra which make it nearly impossible to look at elementary scattering processes between phonons with certain momentum and energy. For that purpose I tested different techniques to excite narrowband phonon wave packets which mainly consist of phonons with a certain momentum and frequency. To this end epitaxially grown metal films on a dielectric substrate were excited with a train of laser pulses. These excitation pulses drive the metal film to oscillate with the frequency given by their inverse temporal displacement and send a hypersonic wave of this frequency into the substrate. The monochromaticity of these wave packets was proven by ultrafast optical Brillouin and x-ray scattering. Using the excitation of such narrowband phonon wave packets I was able to observe the Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) of coherent phonons as a first example of nonlinear wave mixing of nanometric phonon wave packets.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Maerten2015, author = {Maerten, Lena}, title = {Spectroscopic perspectives on ultrafast coupling phenomena in perovskite oxides}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-77623}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2015}, abstract = {In this thesis, I study ultrafast dynamics in perovskite oxides using time resolved broadband spectroscopy. I focus on the observation of coherent phonon propagation by time resolved Brillouin scattering: following the excition of metal transducer films with a femtosecond infrared pump pulse, coherent phonon dynamics in the GHz frequency range are triggered. Their propagation is monitored using a delayed white light probe pulse. The technique is illustrated on various thin films and multilayered samples. I apply the technique to investigate the linear and nonlinear acoustic response in bulk SrTiO_3, which displays a ferroelastic phase transition from a cubic to a tetragonal structural phase at T_a=105 K. In the linear regime, I observe a coupling of the observed acoustic phonon mode to the softening optic modes describing the phase transition. In the nonlinear regime, I find a giant slowing down of the sound velocity in the low temperature phase that is only observable for a strain amplitude exceeding the tetragonality of the material. It is attributed to a coupling of the high frequency phonons to ferroelastic domain walls in the material. I propose a new mechanism for the coupling of strain waves to the domain walls that is only effective for high amplitude strain. A detailed study of the phonon attenuation across a wide temperature range shows that the phonon attenuation at low temperatures is influenced by the domain configuration, which is determined by interface strain. Preliminary measurements on magnetic-ferroelectric multilayers reveal that the excitation fluence needs to be carefully controlled when dynamics at phase transitions are studied.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schick2013, author = {Schick, Daniel}, title = {Ultrafast lattice dynamics in photoexcited nanostructures : femtosecond X-ray diffraction with optimized evaluation schemes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-68827}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Within the course of this thesis, I have investigated the complex interplay between electron and lattice dynamics in nanostructures of perovskite oxides. Femtosecond hard X-ray pulses were utilized to probe the evolution of atomic rearrangement directly, which is driven by ultrafast optical excitation of electrons. The physics of complex materials with a large number of degrees of freedom can be interpreted once the exact fingerprint of ultrafast lattice dynamics in time-resolved X-ray diffraction experiments for a simple model system is well known. The motion of atoms in a crystal can be probed directly and in real-time by femtosecond pulses of hard X-ray radiation in a pump-probe scheme. In order to provide such ultrashort X-ray pulses, I have built up a laser-driven plasma X-ray source. The setup was extended by a stable goniometer, a two-dimensional X-ray detector and a cryogen-free cryostat. The data acquisition routines of the diffractometer for these ultrafast X-ray diffraction experiments were further improved in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and angular resolution. The implementation of a high-speed reciprocal-space mapping technique allowed for a two-dimensional structural analysis with femtosecond temporal resolution. I have studied the ultrafast lattice dynamics, namely the excitation and propagation of coherent phonons, in photoexcited thin films and superlattice structures of the metallic perovskite SrRuO3. Due to the quasi-instantaneous coupling of the lattice to the optically excited electrons in this material a spatially and temporally well-defined thermal stress profile is generated in SrRuO3. This enables understanding the effect of the resulting coherent lattice dynamics in time-resolved X-ray diffraction data in great detail, e.g. the appearance of a transient Bragg peak splitting in both thin films and superlattice structures of SrRuO3. In addition, a comprehensive simulation toolbox to calculate the ultrafast lattice dynamics and the resulting X-ray diffraction response in photoexcited one-dimensional crystalline structures was developed in this thesis work. With the powerful experimental and theoretical framework at hand, I have studied the excitation and propagation of coherent phonons in more complex material systems. In particular, I have revealed strongly localized charge carriers after above-bandgap femtosecond photoexcitation of the prototypical multiferroic BiFeO3, which are the origin of a quasi-instantaneous and spatially inhomogeneous stress that drives coherent phonons in a thin film of the multiferroic. In a structurally imperfect thin film of the ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3, the ultrafast reciprocal-space mapping technique was applied to follow a purely strain-induced change of mosaicity on a picosecond time scale. These results point to a strong coupling of in- and out-of-plane atomic motion exclusively mediated by structural defects.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Haseeb2023, author = {Haseeb, Haider}, title = {Charge and heat transport across interfaces in nanostructured porous silicon}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-61122}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-611224}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {84}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This thesis discusses heat and charge transport phenomena in single-crystalline Silicon penetrated by nanometer-sized pores, known as mesoporous Silicon (pSi). Despite the extensive attention given to it as a thermoelectric material of interest, studies on microscopic thermal and electronic transport beyond its macroscopic characterizations are rarely reported. In contrast, this work reports the interplay of both. PSi samples synthesized by electrochemical anodization display a temperature dependence of specific heat 𝐢𝑝 that deviates from the characteristic 𝑇^3 behaviour (at 𝑇<50𝐾). A thorough analysis reveals that both 3D and 2D Einstein and Debye modes contribute to this specific heat. Additional 2D Einstein modes (~3 π‘šπ‘’π‘‰) agree reasonably well with the boson peak of SiO2 in pSi pore walls. 2D Debye modes are proposed to account for surface acoustic modes causing a significant deviation from the well-known 𝑇^3 dependence of 𝐢𝑝 at 𝑇<50𝐾. A novel theoretical model gives insights into the thermal conductivity of pSi in terms of porosity and phonon scattering on the nanoscale. The thermal conductivity analysis utilizes the peculiarities of the pSi phonon dispersion probed by the inelastic neutron scattering experiments. A phonon mean-free path of around 10 π‘›π‘š extracted from the presented model is proposed to cause the reduced thermal conductivity of pSi by two orders of magnitude compared to p-doped bulk Silicon. Detailed analysis indicates that compound averaging may cause a further 10-50\% reduction. The percolation threshold of 65\% for thermal conductivity of pSi samples is subsequently determined by employing theoretical effective medium models. Temperature-dependent electrical conductivity measurements reveal a thermally activated transport process. A detailed analysis of the activation energy 𝐸𝐴𝜎 in the thermally activated transport exhibits a Meyer Neldel compensation rule between different samples that originates in multi-phonon absorption upon carrier transport. Activation energies 𝐸𝐴𝑆 obtained from temperature-dependent thermopower measurements provide further evidence for multi-phonon assisted hopping between localized states as a dominant charge transport mechanism in pSi, as they systematically differ from the determined 𝐸𝐴𝜎 values.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{TchoumbaKwamen2018, author = {Tchoumba Kwamen, Christelle Larodia}, title = {Investigating the dynamics of polarization reversal in ferroelectric thin films by time-resolved X-ray diffraction}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42781}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-427815}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xvii, 126, xxiii}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Ferroic materials have attracted a lot of attention over the years due to their wide range of applications in sensors, actuators, and memory devices. Their technological applications originate from their unique properties such as ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity. In order to optimize these materials, it is necessary to understand the coupling between their nanoscale structure and transient response, which are related to the atomic structure of the unit cell. In this thesis, synchrotron X-ray diffraction is used to investigate the structure of ferroelectric thin film capacitors during application of a periodic electric field. Combining electrical measurements with time-resolved X-ray diffraction on a working device allows for visualization of the interplay between charge flow and structural motion. This constitutes the core of this work. The first part of this thesis discusses the electrical and structural dynamics of a ferroelectric Pt/Pb(Zr0.2,Ti0.8)O3/SrRuO3 heterostructure during charging, discharging, and polarization reversal. After polarization reversal a non-linear piezoelectric response develops on a much longer time scale than the RC time constant of the device. The reversal process is inhomogeneous and induces a transient disordered domain state. The structural dynamics under sub-coercive field conditions show that this disordered domain state can be remanent and can be erased with an appropriate voltage pulse sequence. The frequency-dependent dynamic characterization of a Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3 layer, at the morphotropic phase boundary, shows that at high frequency, the limited domain wall velocity causes a phase lag between the applied field and both the structural and electrical responses. An external modification of the RC time constant of the measurement delays the switching current and widens the electromechanical hysteresis loop while achieving a higher compressive piezoelectric strain within the crystal. In the second part of this thesis, time-resolved reciprocal space maps of multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films were measured to identify the domain structure and investigate the development of an inhomogeneous piezoelectric response during the polarization reversal. The presence of 109Β° domains is evidenced by the splitting of the Bragg peak. The last part of this work investigates the effect of an optically excited ultrafast strain or heat pulse propagating through a ferroelectric BaTiO3 layer, where we observed an additional current response due to the laser pulse excitation of the metallic bottom electrode of the heterostructure.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Jay2020, author = {Jay, Raphael Martin}, title = {Principles of charge distribution and separation}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xi, 162}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The electronic charge distributions of transition metal complexes fundamentally determine their chemical reactivity. Experimental access to the local valence electronic structure is therefore crucial in order to determine how frontier orbitals are delocalized between different atomic sites and electronic charge is spread throughout the transition metal complex. To that end, X-ray spectroscopies are employed in this thesis to study a series of solution-phase iron complexes with respect to the response of their local electronic charge distributions to different external influences. Using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the iron L-edge, changes in local charge densities are investigated at the iron center depending on different ligand cages as well as solvent environments. A varying degree of charge delocalization from the metal center onto the ligands is observed, which is governed by the capabilities of the ligands to accept charge density into their unoccupied orbitals. Specific solvents are furthermore shown to amplify this process. Solvent molecules of strong Lewis-acids withdraw charge from the ligand allowing in turn for more metal charge to be delocalized onto the ligand. The resulting local charge deficiencies at the metal center are, however, counteracted by competing electron-donation channels from the ligand towards the iron, which are additionally revealed. This is interpreted as a compensating effect which strives to maintain local charge densities at the iron center. This mechanism of charge density preservation is found to be of general nature. Using time-resolved RIXS and XAS at the iron L-edge, an analogous interplay of electron donation and back-donation channels is also revealed for the case of charge-transfer excited states. In such transient configurations, the electronic occupation of iron-centered frontier orbitals has been altered by an optical excitation. Changes in local charge densities that are expected to follow an increased or decreased population of iron-centered orbitals are, however, again counteracted. By scaling the degree of electron donation from the ligand onto the metal, local charge densities at the iron center can be efficiently maintained. Since charge-transfer excitations, however, often constitute the initial step in many electron transfer processes, these findings challenge common notions of charge-separation in transition metal dyes.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{PerdigonToro2022, author = {Perdig{\Β΄o}n-Toro, Lorena}, title = {On the Generation and Fate of Free Carriers in Non-Fullerene Acceptor Organic Solar Cells}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-55807}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-558072}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {ix, 191}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Organic solar cells offer an efficient and cost-effective alternative for solar energy harvesting. This type of photovoltaic cell typically consists of a blend of two organic semiconductors, an electron donating polymer and a low molecular weight electron acceptor to create what is known as a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology. Traditionally, fullerene-based acceptors have been used for this purpose. In recent years, the development of new acceptor molecules, so-called non-fullerene acceptors (NFA), has breathed new life into organic solar cell research, enabling record efficiencies close to 19\%. Today, NFA-based solar cells are approaching their inorganic competitors in terms of photocurrent generation, but lag in terms of open circuit voltage (V_OC). Interestingly, the V_OC of these cells benefits from small offsets of orbital energies at the donor-NFA interface, although previous knowledge considered large energy offsets to be critical for efficient charge carrier generation. In addition, there are several other electronic and structural features that distinguish NFAs from fullerenes. My thesis focuses on understanding the interplay between the unique attributes of NFAs and the physical processes occurring in solar cells. By combining various experimental techniques with drift-diffusion simulations, the generation of free charge carriers as well as their recombination in state-of-the-art NFA-based solar cells is characterized. For this purpose, solar cells based on the donor polymer PM6 and the NFA Y6 have been investigated. The generation of free charge carriers in PM6:Y6 is efficient and independent of electric field and excitation energy. Temperature-dependent measurements show a very low activation energy for photocurrent generation (about 6 meV), indicating barrierless charge carrier separation. Theoretical modeling suggests that Y6 molecules have large quadrupole moments, leading to band bending at the donor-acceptor interface and thereby reducing the electrostatic Coulomb dissociation barrier. In this regard, this work identifies poor extraction of free charges in competition with nongeminate recombination as a dominant loss process in PM6:Y6 devices. Subsequently, the spectral characteristics of PM6:Y6 solar cells were investigated with respect to the dominant process of charge carrier recombination. It was found that the photon emission under open-circuit conditions can be almost entirely attributed to the occupation and recombination of Y6 singlet excitons. Nevertheless, the recombination pathway via the singlet state contributes only 1\% to the total recombination, which is dominated by the charge transfer state (CT-state) at the donor-acceptor interface. Further V_OC gains can therefore only be expected if the density and/or recombination rate of these CT-states can be significantly reduced. Finally, the role of energetic disorder in NFA solar cells is investigated by comparing Y6 with a structurally related derivative, named N4. Layer morphology studies combined with temperature-dependent charge transport experiments show significantly lower structural and energetic disorder in the case of the PM6:Y6 blend. For both PM6:Y6 and PM6:N4, disorder determines the maximum achievable V_OC, with PM6:Y6 benefiting from improved morphological order. Overall, the obtained findings point to avenues for the realization of NFA-based solar cells with even smaller V_OC losses. Further reduction of nongeminate recombination and energetic disorder should result in organic solar cells with efficiencies above 20\% in the future.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Koehler2020, author = {K{\"o}hler, Raphael}, title = {Towards seasonal prediction: stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the atmospheric model ICON-NWP}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-48723}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-487231}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {viii, 119}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Stratospheric variability is one of the main potential sources for sub-seasonal to seasonal predictability in mid-latitudes in winter. Stratospheric pathways play an important role for long-range teleconnections between tropical phenomena, such as the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and El Ni{\~n}o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the mid-latitudes on the one hand, and linkages between Arctic climate change and the mid-latitudes on the other hand. In order to move forward in the field of extratropical seasonal predictions, it is essential that an atmospheric model is able to realistically simulate the stratospheric circulation and variability. The numerical weather prediction (NWP) configuration of the ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic atmosphere model ICON is currently being used by the German Meteorological Service for the regular weather forecast, and is intended to produce seasonal predictions in future. This thesis represents the first extensive evaluation of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric winter circulation in ICON-NWP by analysing a large set of seasonal ensemble experiments. An ICON control climatology simulated with a default setup is able to reproduce the basic behaviour of the stratospheric polar vortex. However, stratospheric westerlies are significantly too weak and major stratospheric warmings too frequent, especially in January. The weak stratospheric polar vortex in ICON is furthermore connected to a mean sea level pressure (MSLP) bias pattern resembling the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO). Since a good representation of the drag exerted by gravity waves is crucial for a realistic simulation of the stratosphere, three sensitivity experiments with reduced gravity wave drag are performed. Both a reduction of the non-orographic and orographic gravity wave drag respectively, lead to a strengthening of the stratospheric vortex and thus a bias reduction in winter, in particular in January. However, the effect of the non-orographic gravity wave drag on the stratosphere is stronger. A third experiment, combining a reduced orographic and non-orographic drag, exhibits the largest stratospheric bias reductions. The analysis of stratosphere-troposphere coupling based on an index of the Northern Annular Mode demonstrates that ICON realistically represents downward coupling. This coupling is intensified and more realistic in experiments with a reduced gravity wave drag, in particular with reduced non-orographic drag. Tropospheric circulation is also affected by the reduced gravity wave drag, especially in January, when the strongly improved stratospheric circulation reduces biases in the MSLP patterns. Moreover, a retuning of the subgrid-scale orography parameterisations leads to a significant error reduction in the MSLP in all months. In conclusion, the combination of these adjusted parameterisations is recommended as a current optimal setup for seasonal simulations with ICON. Additionally, this thesis discusses further possible influences on the stratospheric polar vortex, including the influence of tropical phenomena, such as QBO and ENSO, as well as the influence of a rapidly warming Arctic. ICON does not simulate the quasi-oscillatory behaviour of the QBO and favours weak easterlies in the tropical stratosphere. A comparison with a reanalysis composite of the easterly QBO phase reveals, that the shift towards the easterly QBO in ICON further weakens the stratospheric polar vortex. On the other hand, the stratospheric reaction to ENSO events in ICON is realistic. ICON and the reanalysis exhibit a weakened stratospheric vortex in warm ENSO years. Furthermore, in particular in winter, warm ENSO events favour the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, whereas cold events favour the positive phase. The ICON simulations also suggest a significant effect of ENSO on the Atlantic-European sector in late winter. To investigate the influence of Arctic climate change on mid-latitude circulation changes, two differing approaches with transient and fixed sea ice conditions are chosen. Neither ICON approach exhibits the mid-latitude tropospheric negative Arctic Oscillation circulation response to amplified Arctic warming, as it is discussed on the basis of observational evidence. Nevertheless, adding a new model to the current and active discussion on Arctic-midlatitude linkages, further contributes to the understanding of divergent conclusions between model and observational studies.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Reppert2021, author = {Reppert, Alexander von}, title = {Magnetic strain contributions in laser-excited metals studied by time-resolved X-ray diffraction}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-53558}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-535582}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XV, 311}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In this work I explore the impact of magnetic order on the laser-induced ultrafast strain response of metals. Few experiments with femto- or picosecond time-resolution have so far investigated magnetic stresses. This is contrasted by the industrial usage of magnetic invar materials or magnetostrictive transducers for ultrasound generation, which already utilize magnetostrictive stresses in the low frequency regime. In the reported experiments I investigate how the energy deposition by the absorption of femtosecond laser pulses in thin metal films leads to an ultrafast stress generation. I utilize that this stress drives an expansion that emits nanoscopic strain pulses, so called hypersound, into adjacent layers. Both the expansion and the strain pulses change the average inter-atomic distance in the sample, which can be tracked with sub-picosecond time resolution using an X-ray diffraction setup at a laser-driven Plasma X-ray source. Ultrafast X-ray diffraction can also be applied to buried layers within heterostructures that cannot be accessed by optical methods, which exhibit a limited penetration into metals. The reconstruction of the initial energy transfer processes from the shape of the strain pulse in buried detection layers represents a contribution of this work to the field of picosecond ultrasonics. A central point for the analysis of the experiments is the direct link between the deposited energy density in the nano-structures and the resulting stress on the crystal lattice. The underlying thermodynamical concept of a Gr{\"u}neisen parameter provides the theoretical framework for my work. I demonstrate how the Gr{\"u}neisen principle can be used for the interpretation of the strain response on ultrafast timescales in various materials and that it can be extended to describe magnetic stresses. The class of heavy rare-earth elements exhibits especially large magnetostriction effects, which can even lead to an unconventional contraction of the laser-excited transducer material. Such a dominant contribution of the magnetic stress to the motion of atoms has not been demonstrated previously. The observed rise time of the magnetic stress contribution in Dysprosium is identical to the decrease in the helical spin-order, that has been found previously using time-resolved resonant X-ray diffraction. This indicates that the strength of the magnetic stress can be used as a proxy of the underlying magnetic order. Such magnetostriction measurements are applicable even in case of antiparallel or non-collinear alignment of the magnetic moments and a vanishing magnetization. The strain response of metal films is usually determined by the pressure of electrons and lattice vibrations. I have developed a versatile two-pulse excitation routine that can be used to extract the magnetic contribution to the strain response even if systematic measurements above and below the magnetic ordering temperature are not feasible. A first laser pulse leads to a partial ultrafast demagnetization so that the amplitude and shape of the strain response triggered by the second pulse depends on the remaining magnetic order. With this method I could identify a strongly anisotropic magnetic stress contribution in the magnetic data storage material iron-platinum and identify the recovery of the magnetic order by the variation of the pulse-to-pulse delay. The stark contrast of the expansion of iron-platinum nanograins and thin films shows that the different constraints for the in-plane expansion have a strong influence on the out-of-plane expansion, due to the Poisson effect. I show how such transverse strain contributions need to be accounted for when interpreting the ultrafast out-of-plane strain response using thermal expansion coefficients obtained in near equilibrium conditions. This work contributes an investigation of magnetostriction on ultrafast timescales to the literature of magnetic effects in materials. It develops a method to extract spatial and temporal varying stress contributions based on a model for the amplitude and shape of the emitted strain pulses. Energy transfer processes result in a change of the stress profile with respect to the initial absorption of the laser pulses. One interesting example occurs in nanoscopic gold-nickel heterostructures, where excited electrons rapidly transport energy into a distant nickel layer, that takes up much more energy and expands faster and stronger than the laser-excited gold capping layer. Magnetic excitations in rare earth materials represent a large energy reservoir that delays the energy transfer into adjacent layers. Such magneto-caloric effects are known in thermodynamics but not extensively covered on ultrafast timescales. The combination of ultrafast X-ray diffraction and time-resolved techniques with direct access to the magnetization has a large potential to uncover and quantify such energy transfer processes.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zeitz2022, author = {Zeitz, Maria}, title = {Modeling the future resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-56883}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-568839}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {x, 189}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second-largest mass of ice on Earth. Being almost 2000 km long, more than 700 km wide, and more than 3 km thick at the summit, it holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 7m if melted completely. Despite its massive size, it is particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change: temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet have increased by more than 2.7β—¦C in the past 30 years, twice as much as the global mean temperature. Consequently, the ice sheet has been significantly losing mass since the 1980s and the rate of loss has increased sixfold since then. Moreover, it is one of the potential tipping elements of the Earth System, which might undergo irreversible change once a warming threshold is exceeded. This thesis aims at extending the understanding of the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming by analyzing processes and feedbacks relevant to its centennial to multi-millennial stability using ice sheet modeling. One of these feedbacks, the melt-elevation-feedback is driven by the temperature rise with decreasing altitudes: As the ice sheet melts, its thickness and surface elevation decrease, exposing the ice surface to warmer air and thus increasing the melt rates even further. The glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) can partly mitigate this melt-elevation feedback as the bedrock lifts in response to an ice load decrease, forming the negative GIA feedback. In my thesis, I show that the interaction between these two competing feedbacks can lead to qualitatively different dynamical responses of the Greenland Ice Sheet to warming - from permanent loss to incomplete recovery, depending on the feedback parameters. My research shows that the interaction of those feedbacks can initiate self-sustained oscillations of the ice volume while the climate forcing remains constant. Furthermore, the increased surface melt changes the optical properties of the snow or ice surface, e.g. by lowering their albedo, which in turn enhances melt rates - a process known as the melt-albedo feedback. Process-based ice sheet models often neglect this melt-albedo feedback. To close this gap, I implemented a simplified version of the diurnal Energy Balance Model, a computationally efficient approach that can capture the first-order effects of the melt-albedo feedback, into the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Using the coupled model, I show in warming experiments that the melt-albedo feedback almost doubles the ice loss until the year 2300 under the low greenhouse gas emission scenario RCP2.6, compared to simulations where the melt-albedo feedback is neglected, and adds up to 58\% additional ice loss under the high emission scenario RCP8.5. Moreover, I find that the melt-albedo feedback dominates the ice loss until 2300, compared to the melt-elevation feedback. Another process that could influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet is the warming induced softening of the ice and the resulting increase in flow. In my thesis, I show with PISM how the uncertainty in Glen's flow law impacts the simulated response to warming. In a flow line setup at fixed climatic mass balance, the uncertainty in flow parameters leads to a range of ice loss comparable to the range caused by different warming levels. While I focus on fundamental processes, feedbacks, and their interactions in the first three projects of my thesis, I also explore the impact of specific climate scenarios on the sea level rise contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet. To increase the carbon budget flexibility, some warming scenarios - while still staying within the limits of the Paris Agreement - include a temporal overshoot of global warming. I show that an overshoot by 0.4β—¦C increases the short-term and long-term ice loss from Greenland by several centimeters. The long-term increase is driven by the warming at high latitudes, which persists even when global warming is reversed. This leads to a substantial long-term commitment of the sea level rise contribution from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Overall, in my thesis I show that the melt-albedo feedback is most relevant for the ice loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet on centennial timescales. In contrast, the melt-elevation feedback and its interplay with the GIA feedback become increasingly relevant on millennial timescales. All of these influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming, in the near future and on the long term.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schlemm2022, author = {Schlemm, Tanja}, title = {The marine ice cliff instability of the Antarctic ice sheet}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-58633}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-586333}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {107}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest freshwater reservoir worldwide. If it were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise by about 58 m. Calculation of projections of the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise under global warming conditions is an ongoing effort which yields large ranges in predictions. Among the reasons for this are uncertainties related to the physics of ice sheet modeling. These uncertainties include two processes that could lead to runaway ice retreat: the Marine Ice Sheet Instability (MISI), which causes rapid grounding line retreat on retrograde bedrock, and the Marine Ice Cliff Instability (MICI), in which tall ice cliffs become unstable and calve off, exposing even taller ice cliffs. In my thesis, I investigated both marine instabilities (MISI and MICI) using the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM), with a focus on MICI.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kuhla2022, author = {Kuhla, Kilian}, title = {Impact, distribution, and adaptation}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-55266}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-552668}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {vii, 309}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Weather extremes pose a persistent threat to society on multiple layers. Besides an average of ~37,000 deaths per year, climate-related disasters cause destroyed properties and impaired economic activities, eroding people's livelihoods and prosperity. While global temperature rises - caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions - the direct impacts of climatic extreme events increase and will further intensify without proper adaptation measures. Additionally, weather extremes do not only have local direct effects. Resulting economic repercussions can propagate either upstream or downstream along trade chains causing indirect effects. One approach to analyze these indirect effects within the complex global supply network is the agent-based model Acclimate. Using and extending this loss-propagation model, I focus in this thesis on three aspects of the relation between weather extremes and economic repercussions. First, extreme weather events cause direct impacts on local economic performance. I compute daily local direct output loss time series of heat stress, river floods, tropical cyclones, and their consecutive occurrence using (near-future) climate projection ensembles. These regional impacts are estimated based on physical drivers and local productivity distribution. Direct effects of the aforementioned disaster categories are widely heterogeneous concerning regional and temporal distribution. As well, their intensity changes differently under future warming. Focusing on the hurricane-impacted capital, I find that long-term growth losses increase with higher heterogeneity of a shock ensemble. Second, repercussions are sectorally and regionally distributed via economic ripples within the trading network, causing higher-order effects. I use Acclimate to identify three phases of those economic ripples. Furthermore, I compute indirect impacts and analyze overall regional and global production and consumption changes. Regarding heat stress, global consumer losses double while direct output losses increase by a factor 1.5 between 2000 - 2039. In my research I identify the effect of economic ripple resonance and introduce it to climate impact research. This effect occurs if economic ripples of consecutive disasters overlap, which increases economic responses such as an enhancement of consumption losses. These loss enhancements can even be more amplified with increasing direct output losses, e.g. caused by climate crises. Transport disruptions can cause economic repercussions as well. For this, I extend the model Acclimate with a geographical transportation route and expand the decision horizon of economic agents. Using this, I show that policy-induced sudden trade restrictions (e.g. a no-deal Brexit) can significantly reduce the longer-term economic prosperity of affected regions. Analyses of transportation disruptions in typhoon seasons indicate that severely affected regions must reduce production as demand falls during a storm. Substituting suppliers may compensate for fluctuations at the beginning of the storm, which fails for prolonged disruptions. Third, possible coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies arise from direct and indirect economic responses to weather extremes. Analyzing annual trade changes due to typhoon-induced transport disruptions depict that overall exports rise. This trade resilience increases with higher network node diversification. Further, my research shows that a basic insurance scheme may diminish hurricane-induced long-term growth losses due to faster reconstruction in disasters aftermaths. I find that insurance coverage could be an economically reasonable coping scheme towards higher losses caused by the climate crisis. Indirect effects within the global economic network from weather extremes indicate further adaptation possibilities. For one, diversifying linkages reduce the hazard of sharp price increases. Next to this, close economic interconnections with regions that do not share the same extreme weather season can be economically beneficial in the medium run. Furthermore, economic ripple resonance effects should be considered while computing costs. Overall, an increase in local adaptation measures reduces economic ripples within the trade network and possible losses elsewhere. In conclusion, adaptation measures are necessary and potential present, but it seems rather not possible to avoid all direct or indirect losses. As I show in this thesis, dynamical modeling gives valuable insights into how direct and indirect economic impacts arise from different categories of weather extremes. Further, it highlights the importance of resolving individual extremes and reflecting amplifying effects caused by incomplete recovery or consecutive disasters.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bastian2023, author = {Bastian, Martin}, title = {An emergent machine learning approach for seasonal cyclone activity forecasts}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {135}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Seasonal forecasts are of great interest in many areas. Knowing the amount of precipitation for the upcoming season in regions of water scarcity would facilitate a better water management. If farmers knew the weather conditions of the upcoming summer at sowing time, they could select those cereal species that are best adapted to these conditions. This would allow farmers to improve the harvest and potentially even reduce the amount of pesticides used. However, the undoubted advantages of seasonal forecasts are often opposed by their high degree of uncertainty. The great challenge of generating seasonal forecasts with lead times of several months mainly originates from the chaotic nature of the earth system. In a chaotic system, even tiny differences in the initial conditions can lead to strong deviations in the system's state in the long run. In this dissertation we propose an emergent machine learning approach for seasonal forecasting, called the AnlgModel. The AnlgModel combines the analogue method with myopic feature selection and bootstrapping. To benchmark the abilities of the AnlgModel we apply it to seasonal cyclone activity forecasts in the North Atlantic and Northwest Pacific. The AnlgModel demonstrates competitive hindcast skills with two operational forecasts and even outperforms these for long lead times. In the second chapter we comprehend the forecasting strategy of the Anlg-Model. We thereby analyse the analogue selection process for the 2017 North Atlantic and the 2018 Northwest Pacific seasonal cyclone activity. The analysis shows that those climate indices which are known to influence the seasonal cyclone activity, such as the Ni{\~n}o 3.4 SST, are correctly represented among the selected analogues. Furthermore the selected analogues reflect large-scale climate patterns that were identified by expert reports as being determinative for these particular seasons. In the third chapter we analyse the features that are used by the AnlgModel for its predictions. We therefore inspect the feature relevance (FR). The FR patterns learned by the AnlgModel show a high congruence with the predictor regions used by the operational forecasts. However, the AnlgModel also discovered new features, such as the SST anomaly in the Gulf of Guinea during November. This SST pattern exhibits a remarkably high predictive potential for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane activity. In the final chapter we investigate potential mechanisms, that link two of these regions with high feature relevance to the Atlantic hurricane activity. We mainly focus on ocean surface transport. The ocean surface flow paths are calculated using Lagrangian particle analysis. We demonstrate that the FR patterns in the region of the Canary islands do not correspond with ocean surface transport. It is instead likely that these FR patterns fingerprint a wind transport of latent heat. The second region to be studied is situated in the Gulf of Guinea. Our analysis shows that the FR patterns seen there do fingerprint ocean surface transport. However, our simulations also show that at least one other mechanism is involved in linking the Gulf of Guinea SST anomaly in November to the hurricane activity of the upcoming season. In this work the AnlgModel does not only demonstrate its outstanding forecast skills but also shows its capabilities as research tool for detecting oceanic and atmospheric mechanisms.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Khosravi2023, author = {Khosravi, Sara}, title = {The effect of new turbulence parameterizations for the stable surface layer on simulations of the Arctic climate}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-64352}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-643520}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XIV, 119}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Arctic climate change is marked by intensified warming compared to global trends and a significant reduction in Arctic sea ice which can intricately influence mid-latitude atmospheric circulation through tropo- and stratospheric pathways. Achieving accurate simulations of current and future climate demands a realistic representation of Arctic climate processes in numerical climate models, which remains challenging. Model deficiencies in replicating observed Arctic climate processes often arise due to inadequacies in representing turbulent boundary layer interactions that determine the interactions between the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. Many current climate models rely on parameterizations developed for mid-latitude conditions to handle Arctic turbulent boundary layer processes. This thesis focuses on modified representation of the Arctic atmospheric processes and understanding their resulting impact on large-scale mid-latitude atmospheric circulation within climate models. The improved turbulence parameterizations, recently developed based on Arctic measurements, were implemented in the global atmospheric circulation model ECHAM6. This involved modifying the stability functions over sea ice and ocean for stable stratification and changing the roughness length over sea ice for all stratification conditions. Comprehensive analyses are conducted to assess the impacts of these modifications on ECHAM6's simulations of the Arctic boundary layer, overall atmospheric circulation, and the dynamical pathways between the Arctic and mid-latitudes. Through a step-wise implementation of the mentioned parameterizations into ECHAM6, a series of sensitivity experiments revealed that the combined impacts of the reduced roughness length and the modified stability functions are non-linear. Nevertheless, it is evident that both modifications consistently lead to a general decrease in the heat transfer coefficient, being in close agreement with the observations. Additionally, compared to the reference observations, the ECHAM6 model falls short in accurately representing unstable and strongly stable conditions. The less frequent occurrence of strong stability restricts the influence of the modified stability functions by reducing the affected sample size. However, when focusing solely on the specific instances of a strongly stable atmosphere, the sensible heat flux approaches near-zero values, which is in line with the observations. Models employing commonly used surface turbulence parameterizations were shown to have difficulties replicating the near-zero sensible heat flux in strongly stable stratification. I also found that these limited changes in surface layer turbulence parameterizations have a statistically significant impact on the temperature and wind patterns across multiple pressure levels, including the stratosphere, in both the Arctic and mid-latitudes. These significant signals vary in strength, extent, and direction depending on the specific month or year, indicating a strong reliance on the background state. Furthermore, this research investigates how the modified surface turbulence parameterizations may influence the response of both stratospheric and tropospheric circulation to Arctic sea ice loss. The most suitable parameterizations for accurately representing Arctic boundary layer turbulence were identified from the sensitivity experiments. Subsequently, the model's response to sea ice loss is evaluated through extended ECHAM6 simulations with different prescribed sea ice conditions. The simulation with adjusted surface turbulence parameterizations better reproduced the observed Arctic tropospheric warming in vertical extent, demonstrating improved alignment with the reanalysis data. Additionally, unlike the control experiments, this simulation successfully reproduced specific circulation patterns linked to the stratospheric pathway for Arctic-mid-latitude linkages. Specifically, an increased occurrence of the Scandinavian-Ural blocking regime (negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation) in early (late) winter is observed. Overall, it can be inferred that improving turbulence parameterizations at the surface layer can improve the ECHAM6's response to sea ice loss.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Damseaux2024, author = {Damseaux, Adrien}, title = {Improving permafrost dynamics in land surface models: insights from dual sensitivity experiments}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-63945}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-639450}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xiii, 143}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The thawing of permafrost and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases constitute one of the most significant and uncertain positive feedback loops in the context of climate change, making predictions regarding changes in permafrost coverage of paramount importance. To address these critical questions, climate scientists have developed Land Surface Models (LSMs) that encompass a multitude of physical soil processes. This thesis is committed to advancing our understanding and refining precise representations of permafrost dynamics within LSMs, with a specific focus on the accurate modeling of heat fluxes, an essential component for simulating permafrost physics. The first research question overviews fundamental model prerequisites for the representation of permafrost soils within land surface modeling. It includes a first-of-its-kind comparison between LSMs in CMIP6 to reveal their differences and shortcomings in key permafrost physics parameters. Overall, each of these LSMs represents a unique approach to simulating soil processes and their interactions with the climate system. Choosing the most appropriate model for a particular application depends on factors such as the spatial and temporal scale of the simulation, the specific research question, and available computational resources. The second research question evaluates the performance of the state-of-the-art Community Land Model (CLM5) in simulating Arctic permafrost regions. Our approach overcomes traditional evaluation limitations by individually addressing depth, seasonality, and regional variations, providing a comprehensive assessment of permafrost and soil temperature dynamics. I compare CLM5's results with three extensive datasets: (1) soil temperatures from 295 borehole stations, (2) active layer thickness (ALT) data from the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring Network (CALM), and (3) soil temperatures, ALT, and permafrost extent from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI). The results show that CLM5 aligns well with ESA-CCI and CALM for permafrost extent and ALT but reveals a significant global cold temperature bias, notably over Siberia. These results echo a persistent challenge identified in numerous studies: the existence of a systematic 'cold bias' in soil temperature over permafrost regions. To address this challenge, the following research questions propose dual sensitivity experiments. The third research question represents the first study to apply a Plant Functional Type (PFT)-based approach to derive soil texture and soil organic matter (SOM), departing from the conventional use of coarse-resolution global data in LSMs. This novel method results in a more uniform distribution of soil organic matter density (OMD) across the domain, characterized by reduced OMD values in most regions. However, changes in soil texture exhibit a more intricate spatial pattern. Comparing the results to observations reveals a significant reduction in the cold bias observed in the control run. This method shows noticeable improvements in permafrost extent, but at the cost of an overestimation in ALT. These findings emphasize the model's high sensitivity to variations in soil texture and SOM content, highlighting the crucial role of soil composition in governing heat transfer processes and shaping the seasonal variation of soil temperatures in permafrost regions. Expanding upon a site experiment conducted in Trail Valley Creek by \citet{dutch_impact_2022}, the fourth research question extends the application of the snow scheme proposed by \citet{sturm_thermal_1997} to cover the entire Arctic domain. By employing a snow scheme better suited to the snow density profile observed over permafrost regions, this thesis seeks to assess its influence on simulated soil temperatures. Comparing this method to observational datasets reveals a significant reduction in the cold bias that was present in the control run. In most regions, the Sturm run exhibits a substantial decrease in the cold bias. However, there is a distinctive overshoot with a warm bias observed in mountainous areas. The Sturm experiment effectively addressed the overestimation of permafrost extent in the control run, albeit resulting in a substantial reduction in permafrost extent over mountainous areas. ALT results remain relatively consistent compared to the control run. These outcomes align with our initial hypothesis, which anticipated that the reduced snow insulation in the Sturm run would lead to higher winter soil temperatures and a more accurate representation of permafrost physics. In summary, this thesis demonstrates significant advancements in understanding permafrost dynamics and its integration into LSMs. It has meticulously unraveled the intricacies involved in the interplay between heat transfer, soil properties, and snow dynamics in permafrost regions. These insights offer novel perspectives on model representation and performance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Born2021, author = {Born, Artur}, title = {Electronic structure, quasi-particle interaction and relaxation in 3d-elements from X-ray spectroscopy}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {123}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Any physical system can be described on the level of interacting particles, thus it is of fundamental importance to improve the scientific understanding of interacting many-body systems. This thesis experimentally addresses specific quasi-particle interactions, namely interactions be- tween electrons and between electrons and phonons. It describes the consequential effects of those processes on the electronic structure and the core-hole relaxation pathways in 3d metals. Despite the great amount of experimental and theoretical studies of these interactions and their impact on the behavior of solid-state matter, there are still open questions concerning the cor- responding physical, chemical and mechanical properties of solid-state matter. Especially, the study of 3d metals and their compounds is a great experimental challenge, since those exhibit a variety of spectral features originating from many-body effects such as multiplet splitting, shake up/off satellites, vibrationally excited states or more complex effects like superconductivity and ultrafast demagnetization. In X-ray spectroscopy, these effects often produce overlapping fea- tures, complicating the analysis and limiting the understanding. In this thesis, to overcome the limitations set by conventional X-ray spectroscopy, two different experimental approaches were successfully refined, namely Auger electron photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy (APECS) and temperature-dependent X-ray emission spectroscopy (tXES), which enabled the separation of different core-hole relaxation pathways and the isolation of the impact of specific many-body interactions in the experimental spectra. APECS was utilized at the new Coincidence electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (Co- ESCA) station at BESSY II to study the core-hole decay and electron-correlation effects in single- crystal Ni, Cu and Co. The observation of photoelectrons in coincidence with Auger electrons allows for the separation of the initial and final state effects in the Auger electron spectra. The results show that a Cu LV V Auger spectrum can be represented by broadened atomic multiplets confirming the localized nature of the intermediate core-hole states. In contrast, the Co LV V Auger spectrum is band-like and can be represented by the self-convolution of the valence band. Ni behaves mixed, localized and itinerant. Thus, the Ni Auger spectrum can only be represented by a mixture of atomic multiplet peaks and the self-convoluted valence band. In the case of Ni, the LV V Auger electrons in coincidence with the 6 eV satellite photoelectrons were also stud- ied. Utilizing the core-hole clock method, the lifetime of the localized double-hole intermediate 2 p53d9 states of 1.8 fs could be determined. However, a fraction of these states delocalizes before the Auger decay contributing to the main peak. A similar delocalization was observed for the double-hole states produced by the L2L3M4,5 Coster-Kronig process. Additionally, the influence of surface oxidation on the Ni(111) 3p levels was studied with APECS. The Ni 3p PES spectrum is broad and featureless, due to overlapping many-body effects and gives little chance for exact analysis using conventional photoelectron spectroscopy. Utilizing APECS or precisely the final state selectivity of the method, the spectral width of the 3p levels could be narrowed and their positions and the spin-orbit splitting were determined. Moreover, due to the surface sensitivity of the method, the chemically shifted 3p photoelectron peaks originating from the oxidized surface and the bulk Ni were disentangled. For the study of the atomic electron-phonon spin-flip scattering in 3d metals as a spin-relaxation channel, the tXES method at the SolidFlexRIXS station was developed. The atomic spin-flip scat- tering was studied in single-crystal Ni, Cu, Co and in FeNi alloys, which show considerable dif- ferences in their behavior. The scattering rate in Ni increases with temperature, whereas the rate in Cu and Co remains constant within the measured temperature range up to 1000 K. In FeNi alloys, our results reveal that the spin-flip scattering is restricted by sublattice exchange energies J. The electron-phonon scattering driven spin-flips only appear in the case where the thermal energy ex- ceeds the exchange energy kT > J. This thresholding is an important microscopic process for the description of the sublattice dynamics in alloys, but as shown also relevant for elemental magnetic systems. Overall, the results strongly indicate that the spin-flip probability is correlated with the exchange energy, which might become an important parameter in the ultrafast demagnetization debate. Taken together, the applied experimental approaches allowed to study complex many-body effects in 3d metals. The results show that utilizing APECS enabled the distinction and clear assignment of otherwise overlapping features in AES or PES spectra of Ni, Cu, Co and NiO. This is of fundamental importance for the basic understanding of photoionization and core-hole decay processes but also for the chemical analysis in applied science. The measurement of the atomic electron-phonon spin-flip scattering rate utilizing tXES shows that the electron-phonon spin-flip scattering is a relevant atomic process for the macroscopic demagnetization process. Additionally, a temperature-dependent thresholding mechanism was discovered, which introduces an important dynamic factor into the electron-phonon spin-flip model.}, language = {en} }