Engineering Commons^™

Endless State-Of-Polarization Control For Coherent Optical Communication Systems Using Nematic Liquid Crystal, Scott H. Rumbaugh

Dissertations and Theses

One of the obstacles to coherent fiber-optic communications is the unpredictable polarization drift which necessitates the use of an active polarization controlling system to match the polarizations of the signal and local oscillator. The polarization match must be maintained during the reset of any of the finite range components to prevent loss of data. We present a novel and practical system which uses three liquid crystal devices for the polarization matching process. Also, the required reset control algorithm and its derivation are described in detail.

An Instrument For Determination Of The Polarization Of Fluorescence, George Irwin Johnston

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is concerned with the development of a compact, sensitive and reliable instrument for determination of the polarization of fluorescence of fluorescein tagged molecules in solution. The instrument as designed and constructed differs from others (2,3,4,5,6,8,9). The difference is that all of its optical system is aligned on a single axis. This was accomplished by the use of an ellipsoidal mirror positioned between the excitation source and the phototube fluorescence signal receiver. In addition, the excitation source, a 45 watt tungsten-iodide light was electronically regulated to control the intensity.

Two types of determinations were made to verify the performance …