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Full-Text Articles in Electromagnetics and Photonics

Infrared Antenna-Coupled Phased-Array, Christopher Middlebrook Jan 2007

Infrared Antenna-Coupled Phased-Array, Christopher Middlebrook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phased-array antennas are commonplace in the radiofrequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Exploitation of phasing effects between multiple antennas facilitates a wide range of applications, including synthetic-aperture radar, beam forming, and beam scanning. For the first time, the phased addition of multiple dipole antennas is demonstrated in the infrared, at a wavelength of 10.6 micrometers. Coplanar strip lines are used to interconnect the antennas, preserving the phase of the individual contributions. Several different proof-of-concept experiments are performed, using planar antennas fabricated with direct-write electron-beam lithography. Infrared-frequency currents from two dipole antennas are summed together at a common feedpoint and dissipated …


High-Speed Modelocked Semiconductor Lasers And Applications In Coherent Photonic Systems, Wangkuen Lee Jan 2007

High-Speed Modelocked Semiconductor Lasers And Applications In Coherent Photonic Systems, Wangkuen Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

1.55-µm high-speed modelocked semiconductor lasers are theoretically and experimentally studied for various coherent photonic system applications. The modelocked semiconductor lasers (MSLs) are designed with high-speed (>5 GHz) external cavity configurations utilizing monolithic two-section curved semiconductor optical amplifiers. By exploiting the saturable absorber section of the monolithic device, passive or hybrid mode-locking techniques are used to generate short optical pulses with broadband optical frequency combs. Laser frequency stability is improved by applying the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) frequency stabilization technique to the MSLs. The improved laser performance after the frequency stabilization (a frequency drifting of less than 350 MHz), is extensively studied …


Scalable Volumetric Three-Dimensional Up-Conversion Display Medium, Jung-Hyun Cho Jan 2007

Scalable Volumetric Three-Dimensional Up-Conversion Display Medium, Jung-Hyun Cho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many different techniques to display 3D information. However, not many of them are able to provide sufficient depth cues to the observers to sense or feel the images as real three-dimensional objects. Volumetric three-dimensional displays generate images within a real 3D space, so they provide most of the depth cues automatically. This thesis discusses the basic notions required to understand three-dimensional displays. Also discussed are different techniques used to display 3D information and their advantages and disadvantages as well as their current limitations. Several rare-earth doped fluoride crystals that are excited to emit visible light by sequential two …


All-Optical Regeneration For Phase-Shift Keyed Optical Communication Systems, Kevin Croussore Jan 2007

All-Optical Regeneration For Phase-Shift Keyed Optical Communication Systems, Kevin Croussore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All-optical signal processing techniques for phase-shift keyed (PSK) systems were developed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. Nonlinear optical effects in fibers, in particular four-wave mixing (FWM) that occurs via the ultra-fast Kerr nonlinearity, offer a flexible framework within which numerous signal processing functions can be accomplished. This research has focused on the regenerative capabilities of various FWM configurations in the context of processing PSK signals. Phase-preserving amplitude regeneration, phase regeneration, and phase-regenerative wavelength conversion are analyzed and demonstrated experimentally. The single-pump phase-conjugation process was used to regenerate RZ-DPSK pulse amplitudes with different input noise distributions, and the impact on output phase …


Rigorous Analysis Of Wave Guiding And Diffractive Integrated Optical Structures, Andrew Greenwell Jan 2007

Rigorous Analysis Of Wave Guiding And Diffractive Integrated Optical Structures, Andrew Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The realization of wavelength scale and sub-wavelength scale fabrication of integrated optical devices has led to a concurrent need for computational design tools that can accurately model electromagnetic phenomena on these length scales. This dissertation describes the physical, analytical, numerical, and software developments utilized for practical implementation of two particular frequency domain design tools: the modal method for multilayer waveguides and one-dimensional lamellar gratings and the Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) for 1D, 2D, and 3D periodic optical structures and integrated optical devices. These design tools, including some novel numerical and programming extensions developed during the course of this work, …


Micro-Optic-Spectral-Spatial-Elements (Mosse), Alok Ajay Mehta Jan 2007

Micro-Optic-Spectral-Spatial-Elements (Mosse), Alok Ajay Mehta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over a wide range of applications, optical systems have utilized conventional optics in order to provide the ability to engineer the properties of incident infra-red fields in terms of the transmitted field spectral, spatial, amplitude, phase, and polarization characteristics. These micro/nano-optical elements that provide specific optical functionality can be categorized into subcategories of refractive, diffractive, multi-layer thin film dichroics, 3-D photonic crystals, and polarization gratings. The feasibility of fabrication, functionality, and level of integration which these elements can be used in an optical system differentiate which elements are more compatible with certain systems than others. With enabling technologies emerging allowing …


Effects Of Polarization And Coherence On The Propagation And The Detection Of Stochastic Electromagnetic Beams, Mohamed Fouad Salem Jan 2007

Effects Of Polarization And Coherence On The Propagation And The Detection Of Stochastic Electromagnetic Beams, Mohamed Fouad Salem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most of the physically realizable optical sources are radiating in a random manner given the random nature of the radiation of a large number of atoms that constitute the source. Besides, a lot of natural and synthetic materials are fluctuating randomly. Hence, the optical fields that one encounters, in most of the applications are fluctuating and must be treated using random or stochastic functions. Within the framework of the scalar-coherence theory, one can describe changes of the properties of any stochastic field such as the spectral density and the spectral degree of coherence on propagation in any linear medium, deterministic …


Three-Dimensional Micron-Scale Metal Photonic Crystals Via Multi-Photon Direct Laser Writing And Electroless Metal Deposition, Amir Tal Jan 2007

Three-Dimensional Micron-Scale Metal Photonic Crystals Via Multi-Photon Direct Laser Writing And Electroless Metal Deposition, Amir Tal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three-dimensional (3D) metal photonic crystals (MPCs) can exhibit interesting electromagnetic properties such as ultra-wide photonic or "plasmonic" band gaps, selectively tailored thermal emission, extrinsically modified absorption, and negative refractive index. Yet, optical-wavelength 3D MPCs remain relatively unexplored due to the challenges posed by their fabrication. This work explores the use of multi-photon direct laser writing (DLW) coupled with electroless metallization as a means for preparing MPCs. Multi-photon DLW was used to prepare polymeric photonic crystal (PC) templates having a targeted micron-scale structure and form. MPCs were then created by metallizing the polymeric PCs via wet-chemical electroless deposition. The electromagnetic properties …


Hybrid Photonic Signal Processing, Farzan Naseer Ghauri Jan 2007

Hybrid Photonic Signal Processing, Farzan Naseer Ghauri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes research of novel hybrid photonic signal processing systems in the areas of optical communications, test and measurement, RF signal processing and extreme environment optical sensors. It will be shown that use of innovative hybrid techniques allows design of photonic signal processing systems with superior performance parameters and enhanced capabilities. These applications can be divided into domains of analog-digital hybrid signal processing applications and free-space--fiber-coupled hybrid optical sensors. The analog-digital hybrid signal processing applications include a high-performance analog-digital hybrid MEMS variable optical attenuator that can simultaneously provide high dynamic range as well as high resolution attenuation controls; an …


Optimization Of Zonal Wavefront Estimation And Curvature Measurements, Weiyao Zou Jan 2007

Optimization Of Zonal Wavefront Estimation And Curvature Measurements, Weiyao Zou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optical testing in adverse environments, ophthalmology and applications where characterization by curvature is leveraged all have a common goal: accurately estimate wavefront shape. This dissertation investigates wavefront sensing techniques as applied to optical testing based on gradient and curvature measurements. Wavefront sensing involves the ability to accurately estimate shape over any aperture geometry, which requires establishing a sampling grid and estimation scheme, quantifying estimation errors caused by measurement noise propagation, and designing an instrument with sufficient accuracy and sensitivity for the application. Starting with gradient-based wavefront sensing, a zonal least-squares wavefront estimation algorithm for any irregular pupil shape and size …


Two-Dimensional Guided Mode Resonant Structures For Spectral Filtering Applications, Sakoolkan Boonruang Jan 2007

Two-Dimensional Guided Mode Resonant Structures For Spectral Filtering Applications, Sakoolkan Boonruang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Guided mode resonant (GMR) structures are optical devices that consist of a planar waveguide with a periodic structure either imbedded in or on the surface of the structure. The resonance anomaly in GMR structures has many applications as dielectric mirrors, tunable devices, sensors,and narrow spectral band reflection filters. A desirable response from a resonant grating filter normally includes a nearly 100% narrowband resonant spectral reflection (transmission), and a broad angular acceptance at either normal incidence or an oblique angle of incidence. This dissertation is a detailed study of the unique nature of the resonance anomaly in GMR structures with two-dimensional …


High Birefringence Liquid Crystals For Optical Communications, Amanda Jane Parish Jan 2007

High Birefringence Liquid Crystals For Optical Communications, Amanda Jane Parish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High birefringence (Δn > 0.4) nematic liquid crystals are particularly attractive for infrared applications because they enable a thinner cell gap to be used for achieving fast response time and improved diffraction efficiency. In this thesis, the mesomorphic and electro‐optic properties of several new fluorinated isothiocyanate (NCS) terphenyl and phenyl tolane single compounds and mixtures are reported. The single compounds demonstrated Δn~0.35‐0.52 in the visible spectral region at room temperature and exhibit relatively low viscosity. It was found that lateral fluorine substitutions and short alkyl chains eliminate smectic phase and lower the melting temperature of the single compounds. However, the consequence …


Discrete Surface Solitons, Sergiy Suntsov Jan 2007

Discrete Surface Solitons, Sergiy Suntsov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surface waves exist along the interfaces between two different media and are known to display properties that have no analogue in continuous systems. In years past, they have been the subject of many studies in a diverse collection of scientific disciplines. In optics, one of the mechanisms through which optical surface waves can exist is material nonlinearity. Until recently, most of the activity in this area was focused on interfaces between continuous media but no successful experiments have been reported. However, the growing interest that nonlinear discrete optics has attracted in the last two decades has raised the question of …


Design And Demonstration Of Meanderline Retarders At Infrared Frequencies, Jeffrey Scott Tharp Jan 2007

Design And Demonstration Of Meanderline Retarders At Infrared Frequencies, Jeffrey Scott Tharp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meanderline structures are widely used as engineered birefringent materials for waveplates and retarders at radiofrequencies, and have been previously demonstrated at frequencies up to 90 GHz in the millimeter-wave band. In this dissertation, we present results related to the modeling, fabrication, and experimental characterization of meanderlines across the range from 30 to 100 THz, in the long-wave and mid-wave infrared bands. Specific issues addressed in these new designs include spectral dispersion and angular dependence of the retardance, as well as axial ratio and throughput. The impact resulting from the infrared properties of the metals and dielectrics is explicitly included throughout. …


Polarimetry Of Random Fields, Jeremy Ellis Jan 2006

Polarimetry Of Random Fields, Jeremy Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On temporal, spatial and spectral scales which are small enough, all fields are fully polarized. In the optical regime, however, instantaneous fields can rarely be examined, and, instead, only average quantities are accessible. The study of polarimetry is concerned with both the description of electromagnetic fields and the characterization of media a field has interacted with. The polarimetric information is conventionally presented in terms of second order field correlations which are averaged over the ensemble of field realizations. Motivated by the deficiencies of classical polarimetry in dealing with specific practical situations, this dissertation expands the traditional polarimetric approaches to include …


Molecular Structure-Nonlinear Optical Property Relationships For A Series Of Polymethine And Squaraine Molecules, Jie Fu Jan 2006

Molecular Structure-Nonlinear Optical Property Relationships For A Series Of Polymethine And Squaraine Molecules, Jie Fu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports on the investigation of the relationships between molecular structure and two-photon absorption (2PA) properties for a series of polymethine and squaraine molecules. Current and emerging applications exploiting the quadratic dependence upon laser intensity, such as two-photon fluorescence imaging, three-dimensional microfabrication, optical data storage and optical limiting, have motivated researchers to find novel materials exhibiting strong 2PA. Organic materials are promising candidates because their linear and nonlinear optical properties can be optimized for applications by changing their structures through molecular engineering. Polymethine and squaraine dyes are particularly interesting because they are fluorescent and showing large 2PA. We used …


Radiation Studies Of The Tin-Doped Microscopic Droplet Laser Plasma Light Source Specific To Euv Lithography, Chiew-Seng Koay Jan 2006

Radiation Studies Of The Tin-Doped Microscopic Droplet Laser Plasma Light Source Specific To Euv Lithography, Chiew-Seng Koay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extreme ultraviolet lithography(EUVL) is being developed worldwide as the next generation technology to be inserted in ~ 2009 for the mass production of IC chips with feature sizes <35 nm. One major challenge to its implementation is the development of a 13.5 nm EUV source of radiation that meets the requirements of current roadmap designs of the source of illumination in commercial EUVL scanners. The light source must be debris-free, in a free-space environment with the imaging EUV optics that must provide sufficient, narrow spectral band EUV power to print 100 wafers/hr. To meet this need, extensive studies on emission from a laser plasma source utilizing tin-doped droplet target was conducted. Presented in this work, are the many optical techniques such as spectroscopy, radiometry, and imaging, that were employed to characterize and optimize emission from the laser plasma source State of the art EUV spectrographs were employed to observe the source's spectrum under various laser irradiation conditions. Comparing the experimental spectra to those from theory, has allowed the determination of the Sn ion stages responsible for emitting into the useful EUV bandwidth. Experimental results were compared to spectral simulations obtained using Collisional-Radiative Equilibrium (CRE) model, as well. Moreover, extensive measurements surveying source emission from 2 nm to 30 nm, which is the region of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as EUV, was accomplished. Absolutely calibrated metrology was employed with the Flying Circus instrument from which the source's conversion efficiency (CE)--from laser to the useful EUV energy--was characterized under various laser irradiation conditions. Hydrodynamic simulations of the plasma expansion together with the CRE model predicted the condition at which optimum conversion could be attained. The condition was demonstrated experimentally, with the highest CE to be slightly above 2%, which is the highest value among all EUV source contenders. In addition to laser intensity, the CE was found to depend on the laser wavelength. For better understanding, this observation is compared to results from simulations. Through a novel approach in imaging, the size of the plasma was characterized by recording images of the plasma within a narrow band, around 13.5 nm. The size, approximately 100 ìm, is safely within the etendue limit set by the optical elements in the EUV scanner. Finally, the notion of irradiating the target with multiple laser beams was explored for the possibility of improving the source's conversion efficiency.


Fast Response Liquid Crystal Devices, Yung-Hsun Wu Jan 2006

Fast Response Liquid Crystal Devices, Yung-Hsun Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liquid crystal (LC) has been widely used for displays, spatial light modulators, variable optical attenuators (VOAs) and other tunable photonic devices. The response time of these devices is mainly determined by the employed liquid crystal material. How to obtain fast response for the LC devices is a fundamentally important and technically challenging task. In this dissertation, we investigate several methods to improve liquid crystal response time, for examples, using dual-frequency liquid crystals, polymer stabilized liquid crystals, and sheared polymer network liquid crystals. We discover a new class of material, denoted as sheared polymer network liquid crystal (SPNLC) which exhibits a …


Integrated Wavelength Stabilization Of Broad Area Semiconductor Lasers Using A Dual Grating Reflector, Jason O'Daniel Jan 2006

Integrated Wavelength Stabilization Of Broad Area Semiconductor Lasers Using A Dual Grating Reflector, Jason O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A new fully integrated wavelength stabilization scheme based on grating-coupled surface-emitting lasers is explored. This wavelength stabilization scheme relies on two gratings. The first grating is fabricated on the p-side of the semiconductor laser in close proximity to the laser waveguide such that it couples light out of the guided mode of the waveguide into a propagating mode in the substrate; this grating is known as the grating coupler. The second grating is fabricated on the n-side of the substrate such that for the stabilization wavelength, this second grating operates in the Littrow condition and is known as the feedback …


Polarization-Independent Liquid Crystal Devices, Yi-Hsin Lin Jan 2006

Polarization-Independent Liquid Crystal Devices, Yi-Hsin Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liquid crystal (LC) devices can be operated as amplitude modulators and phase modulators. LC amplitude modulation is commonly used in liquid crystal display (LCD) while phase-only modulation is useful for laser beam steering, tunable grating, prism, lens, and other photonic devices. Most LC devices are polarization dependent and require at least one polarizer. As a result, the optical efficiency is low. To enhance display brightness, a power hungry backlight has to be used leading to a high power consumption and short battery life. In a LC phase modulator, the polarization dependent property complicates the laser beam steering system. It is …


Propagation Effect In Inhomogeneous Media, Including Media With Light-Induced And Fixed Gratings, Chang-Ching Tsai Jan 2006

Propagation Effect In Inhomogeneous Media, Including Media With Light-Induced And Fixed Gratings, Chang-Ching Tsai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optical waves propagation in various types of volume gratings, materials with constant impendence and optical fibers are studied. Instability of cross–phase modulation and of Energy transfer via GRON-type (Grating-type Orientational Nonlinearity in Liquid Crystal) Stimulated Scattering is numerically observed. Two diffractive optical elements made of volume gratings are suggested and analyzed. A transmission hologram based on the analogy with Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP) in nonlinear optics is proposed. This transmission hologram demonstrates high diffraction efficiency and low sensitivity to polarization and hologram strength. The other is a reflection hologram with two crossed-gratings. It features good angular selectivity in comparison …


All-Semiconductor High Power Mode-Locked Laser System, Kyungbum Kim Jan 2006

All-Semiconductor High Power Mode-Locked Laser System, Kyungbum Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All-optical synchronization and its application in advanced optical communications have been investigated in this dissertation. Dynamics of all-optical timing synchronization (clock recovery) using multi-section gain-coupled distributed-feedback (MS-GC DFB) lasers are discussed. A record speed of 180-GHz timing synchronization has been demonstrated using this device. An all-optical carrier synchronization (phase and polarization recovery) scheme from PSK (phase shift keying) data is proposed and demonstrated for the first time. As an application of all-optical synchronization, the characterization of advanced modulation formats using a linear optical sampling technique was studied. The full characterization of 10-Gb/s RZ-BPSK (return-to-zero binary PSK) data has been demonstrated. …


On The Use Of Variable Coherence In Inverse Scattering Problems, Erwan Baleine Jan 2006

On The Use Of Variable Coherence In Inverse Scattering Problems, Erwan Baleine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Even though most of the properties of optical fields, such as wavelength, polarization, wavefront curvature or angular spectrum, have been commonly manipulated in a variety of remote sensing procedures, controlling the degree of coherence of light did not find wide applications until recently. Since the emergence of optical coherence tomography, a growing number of scattering techniques have relied on temporal coherence gating which provides efficient target selectivity in a way achieved only by bulky short pulse measurements. The spatial counterpart of temporal coherence, however, has barely been exploited in sensing applications. This dissertation examines, in different scattering regimes, a variety …


Applications Of Linear And Nonlinear Optical Effects In Liquid Crystals, Hakob Sarkissian Jan 2006

Applications Of Linear And Nonlinear Optical Effects In Liquid Crystals, Hakob Sarkissian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liquid crystals have been a major subject of research for the past decades. Aside from the variety of structures they can form, they exhibit a vast range of optical phenomena. Many of these phenomena found applications in technology and became an essential part of it. In this dissertation thesis we continue the line to propose a number of new applications of optical effects in liquid crystals and develop their theoretical framework. One such application is the possibility of beam combining using Orientational Stimulated Scattering in a nematic liquid crystal cell. Our numerical study of the OSS process shows that normally …


Experimental Techniques For Nonlinear Material Characterization: A Nonlinear Spectrometer Using A White-Light Continuum Z-Scan, Mihaela Balu Jan 2006

Experimental Techniques For Nonlinear Material Characterization: A Nonlinear Spectrometer Using A White-Light Continuum Z-Scan, Mihaela Balu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this dissertation is to introduce and demonstrate a new method for the rapid determination of the nonlinear absorption spectra and the dispersion of the nonlinear refraction of optical materials in the visible and near IR spectral regions. However, conventional methods like, white-light continuum pump-probe and Z-scan techniques were used to measure the peak 2PA cross-sections for a number of commercially available photoinitiators. In the new method mentioned above, a high energy, broadband femtosecond white-light continuum is used to replace the single wavelength source conventionally used in a Z-scan experiment. In a Z-scan experiment, the transmittance of …


Additive Lithography Fabrication And Integration Of Micro Optics, Mahesh Pitchumani Jan 2006

Additive Lithography Fabrication And Integration Of Micro Optics, Mahesh Pitchumani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optical elements are the fundamental components in photonic systems and are used to transform an input optical beam into a desired beam profile or to couple the input beam into waveguides, fibers, or other optical systems or devices. Macroscopic optical elements are easily fabricated using grinding and polishing techniques, but few methods exist for inexpensive fabrication of micro optical elements. In this work we present an innovative technique termed Additive Lithography that makes use of binary masks and controlled partial exposures to sculpt photoresist into the desired optical surface relief profile. We explore various masking schemes for fabricating a variety …


Up-Conversion In Rare-Earth Doped Micro-Particles Applied To New Emissive 2d Dislays, Anne Milliez Jan 2006

Up-Conversion In Rare-Earth Doped Micro-Particles Applied To New Emissive 2d Dislays, Anne Milliez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Up-conversion (UC) in rare-earth co-doped fluorides to convert diode laser light in the near infrared to red, green and blue visible light is applied to make possible high performance emissive displays. The infrared-to-visible UC in the materials we study is a sequential form of non-linear two photon absorption in which a strong absorbing constituent absorbs two low energy photons and transfers this energy to another constituent which emits visible light. Some of the UC emitters' most appealing characteristics for displays are: a wide color gamut with very saturated colors, very high brightness operation without damage to the emitters, long lifetimes …


Synchronization In Advanced Optical Communications, Inwoong Kim Jan 2006

Synchronization In Advanced Optical Communications, Inwoong Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to generate high power ultrashort optical pulses from an all-semiconductor mode-locked laser system. The limitations of semiconductor optical amplifier in high energy, ultrashort pulse amplification are reviewed. A method to overcome the fundamental limit of small stored energy inside semiconductor optical amplifier called "eXtreme Chirped Pulse Amplification (X-CPA)" is proposed and studied theoretically and experimentally. The key benefits of the concept of X-CPA are addressed. Based on theoretical and experimental study, an all-semiconductor mode-locked X-CPA system consisting of a mode-locked master oscillator, an optical pulse pre-stretcher, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) pulse picker, an …


Direct Nonlinear Optics Measurements Of Raman Gain In Bulk Glasses And Estimates Of Fiber Performance, Robert Stegeman Jan 2006

Direct Nonlinear Optics Measurements Of Raman Gain In Bulk Glasses And Estimates Of Fiber Performance, Robert Stegeman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The need for more bandwidth in communications has stimulated the search for new fiberizable materials with properties superior to fused silica which is the current state-of-the-art. One of the key properties is Raman gain by which a pump beam amplifies a signal beam of longer wavelength. An apparatus capable of directly measuring the spectral dependence and absolute magnitude of the material Raman gain coefficient using nonlinear optics techniques has been built. Using radiation from a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser as the pump and from a tunable Optical Parametric Generator and Amplifier as the signal, the Raman gain spectrum was measured …


Antenna-Coupled Infrared And Millimeter-Wave Detectors: Fabrication, Measurement And Optimization, Charles Middleton Jan 2006

Antenna-Coupled Infrared And Millimeter-Wave Detectors: Fabrication, Measurement And Optimization, Charles Middleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Antenna-coupled detectors provide uncooled, cost-effective solutions for infrared and millimeter-wave imaging. This work describes the design, fabrication, measurement, and optimization of several types of antenna-coupled detectors for LWIR (8 - 12 µm) and 94 GHz radiation. Two types of millimeter-wave antenna-coupled detectors were fabricated and tested: a slot antenna coupled to a bolometer, and a patch antenna coupled to a SiC Schottky diode. Electromagnetic modeling of the antennas helped guide the design of antennas with better impedance matching to the detectors. Schottky diodes are discussed as detectors for millimeter-wave and infrared radiation, with the goal of increasing the cutoff frequency …