Physics Commons^™

Genetic Algorithm Design Of Photonic Crystals For Energy-Efficient Ultrafast Laser Transmitters, Troy A. Hutchins-Delgado

Shared Knowledge Conference

Photonic crystals allow light to be controlled and manipulated such that novel photonic devices can be created. We are interested in using photonic crystals to increase the energy efficiency of our semiconductor whistle-geometry ring lasers. A photonic crystal will enable us to reduce the ring size, while maintaining confinement, thereby reducing its operating power. Photonic crystals can also exhibit slow light that will increase the interaction with the material. This will increase the gain, and therefore, lower the threshold for lasing to occur. Designing a photonic crystal for a particular application can be a challenge due to its number of …

Novel Compact Narrow-Linewidth Mid-Infrared Lasers For Sensing Applications, Behsan Behzadi

Optical Science and Engineering ETDs

The mid-infrared (2-14 μm) spectral region contains the strong absorption lines of many important molecular species, which make this region crucial for several well-know applications such as spectroscopy, chemical and biochemical sensing, security, and industrial monitoring. To fully exploit this region through absorption spectroscopic techniques, compact and low-cost narrow-linewidth (NLW) mid-infrared (MIR) laser sources are of primary importance.

This thesis is focused on three novel compact NLW MIR lasers: demonstration and characterization of a new glass-based spherical microlaser, investigation of the performance of a novel fiber laser, and the design of a monolithic laser on a silicon chip. Starting with …

An Exploration Of The Optical Detection Of Ionizing Radiation Utilizing Modern Optics Technology, Sean D. Fournier, Adam Hecht, Cassiano De Oliveira, Jeffrey B. Martin, Richard K. Harrison, Charles Potter

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Modern ultraviolet (UV) cameras, when combined with UV-transmitting lenses/filter arrangements, can be used to detect radiation dose in air. Ionizing radiation excites nitrogen molecules in ambient air, the resulting decay includes weak emission of ultraviolet photons. Previous work has proven this phenomenon is detectable using highly-sensitive electronically cooled cameras traditionally used in astronomy for low-background imaging. While the ability to detect the presence of radiation (i.e. qualitative measurement) has been demonstrated at Sandia National Laboratories, there are several challenges in correlating images to known dose-fields (quantitative measurement). These challenges include: a low signal to background ratio, interferences due to electronic …