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Full-Text Articles in Optics

Formulation And Characterization Of Fast-Curing Plastic Scintillators With High-Z Loading, Theodore W. Stephens Mar 2022

Formulation And Characterization Of Fast-Curing Plastic Scintillators With High-Z Loading, Theodore W. Stephens

Theses and Dissertations

Development of novel fast-curing plastic scintillators is highly advantageous due to their potential to be manufactured via 3D printing. Several formulations were developed that exhibit enhanced photon sensitivity, producing modest but discernible photopeaks at an incident gamma energy of 122 keV. The photon sensitivity is achieved via bismuth high-Z loading; however, this practice typically results in diminished light yields. Subsequent formulations, which varied the photoinitiator concentration and curing time, demonstrated successful curing with sufficient plastic hardness, reduced purple discoloration, reduced heat buildup during curing, and resulted in less cracking during the curing process, all of which were correlated with lower …


Nonlinear Characterizing Of A New Titanium Nitride On Aluminum Oxide Metalens, Michael A. Cumming Oct 2019

Nonlinear Characterizing Of A New Titanium Nitride On Aluminum Oxide Metalens, Michael A. Cumming

Theses and Dissertations

A sample metalens generated from Titanium Nitride deposited onto Aluminum Oxide was designed to focus at 10 microns with a beam centered at 800nm, and when analyzed with high intensity illumination was found to have a focal length of 9.650 ±.003µm at an intensity of 16.93[MW/cm2 ]. Analyzing this change by comparing it to a Fresnel Lens’ physics shows that for this lens, the effective nonlinear index of refraction is certainly greater than the nonlinear index of just Titanium Nitride itself, at −1.6239 × 10−15[m2/W] compared to the materials −1.3 × 10−15[m2 …


Scaling Film Cooling Adiabatic Effectiveness With Mass Transfer And Thermal Experimental Techniques, Luke J. Mcnamara Mar 2019

Scaling Film Cooling Adiabatic Effectiveness With Mass Transfer And Thermal Experimental Techniques, Luke J. Mcnamara

Theses and Dissertations

With increasing engine temperatures, it is becoming more important to design effective film cooling schemes. Low temperature, large scale tests are often implemented in the design process to reduce cost and complexity. A nondimensional adiabatic effectiveness can be used as an indication of the performance of a film cooling scheme. However, the coolant flow rate must be properly scaled between the low temperature tests and engine temperatures to accurately predict film cooling effectiveness. This process is complicated by gas property variation with temperature. Tests are commonly conducted using thermal measurement techniques with infrared thermography (IR), but the use of pressure …


Optical And Electrical Characterization Of Bulk Grown Indium-Gallium-Arsenide Alloys, Austin C. Bergstrom Mar 2010

Optical And Electrical Characterization Of Bulk Grown Indium-Gallium-Arsenide Alloys, Austin C. Bergstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in crystal growth techniques have allowed increased quality in growth of bulk ternary InxGa1-xAs. Here, the optical and electrical properties of samples grown through the vertical Bridgman (or multi-component zone melting growth) method have been investigated through photoluminescence spectroscopy and Hall effect measurements. Indium mole fractions varied from 0.75 for 1. Hall effect measurements at temperatures ranging from 10 to 300 K revealed moderate n-type doping with carrier concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 9.6×1016 cm-3 at 10 to 15 K. Carriers from deep donor levels became appreciable between 50 and 100 K. Hall …


Rubidium Recycling In A High Intensity Short Duration Pulsed Alkali Laser, Wooddy S. Miller Mar 2010

Rubidium Recycling In A High Intensity Short Duration Pulsed Alkali Laser, Wooddy S. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Laser induced fluorescence was used to study how pump pulse duration and alkali recycle time effects maximum power output in a Diode Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) system. A high intensity short pulsed pump source was used to excited rubidium atoms inside a DPAL-type laser. The maximum output power of the laser showed a strong dependence upon the temporal width of the pump pulse in addition to the input pump intensity. A linear relationship was observed between the maximum output power and the pulse width due to the effective lifetime of the excited state, defined as the time it takes for …


Afm-Patterned 2-D Thin-Film Photonic Crystal Analyzed By Complete Angle Scatter, Nicholas C. Herr Mar 2010

Afm-Patterned 2-D Thin-Film Photonic Crystal Analyzed By Complete Angle Scatter, Nicholas C. Herr

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to use an atomic force microscope (AFM) to generate a 2-D square array of sub-wavelength surface features from a single material over a region large enough to permit optical characterization. This work is an extension of previous AFIT nano-patterning work and is in response to the small subunit sizes demanded for the production of optical metamaterials and photonic crystals. A diamond nano-indentation AFM probe was used to produce a 325-μm by 200-μm array of indentations in a 120-nm thick polystyrene film deposited on silicon. Indentation spacing of 400 nm produced well-defined surface features with …


A Comparative Study Of The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Of Several Surfaces As A Mid-Wave Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Standard, Bradley Balling Mar 2009

A Comparative Study Of The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Of Several Surfaces As A Mid-Wave Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Standard, Bradley Balling

Theses and Dissertations

The Bi-Directional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) has a well defined diffuse measurement standard in the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared (NIR), Spectralon(trade name). It is predictable, stable, repeatable, and has low surface variation because it is a bulk scatterer. In the mid-wave IR (MWIR) and long-wave IR (LWIR), there is not such a well-defined standard. There are well-defined directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR) standards, but the process of integrating BRDF measurements into DHR for the purpose of calibration is problematic, at best. Direct BRDF measurement standards are needed. This study use current calibration techniques to ensure valid measurements and then systematically …


Analysis And Application Of The Bi-Directional Scatter Distribution Function Of Photonic Crystals, Robert B. Lamott Mar 2009

Analysis And Application Of The Bi-Directional Scatter Distribution Function Of Photonic Crystals, Robert B. Lamott

Theses and Dissertations

Photonic crystals (PCs) are periodic structures built from materials with different refractive indices repeated at sub-wavelength intervals, which results in unusual optical characteristics, including narrowband laser protection, and zero reflectance and high absorption anomalies. Most of the research into the optical properties of PCs has concentrated only on the small range of wavelengths and angles where these effects occur. To better understand where all light leaving a PC is scattered, a Complete Angle Scatter Instrument was used to analyze the scatter from three Guided Mode Resonance Filters designed for laser protection. In the plane of incidence, measurements of the scatter …


Wave Optics Simulation Of Optically Augmented Retroreflections For Monostatic/Bistatic Detection, John J. Tatar Iii Mar 2009

Wave Optics Simulation Of Optically Augmented Retroreflections For Monostatic/Bistatic Detection, John J. Tatar Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Optical devices interrogated with a laser in the appropriate band can exhibit strong, deterministic reflections of the incident beam. This characteristic could be exploited for optical target detection and identification. The distribution of reflected power is strongly dependent on the geometry of the interrogation scenario, atmospheric conditions, and the cross section of the target optical device. Previous work on laser interrogation systems in this area has focused on analytic models or testing. To the best of my knowledge, I am presenting for the first time an approach to predict reflected power for a variety of interrogation configurations, targets, and propagation …


Investigation Of Electrical And Optical Properties Of Bulk Iii-V Ternary Semiconductors, Travis C. Gomez Mar 2009

Investigation Of Electrical And Optical Properties Of Bulk Iii-V Ternary Semiconductors, Travis C. Gomez

Theses and Dissertations

Bulk grown III-V ternary semiconductors of In0.08Ga0.92Sb and In0.15Ga0.85As were investigated through Hall-effect and photoluminescence measurements to determine carrier concentration, mobility, sheet resistivity, and luminescence spectrum. In the past, epitaxial layers of ternary compounds have been grown on binary compound substrates, and thus very limited lattice matched ternary alloys were available. Recently, bulk grown ternary substrates have been developed, and it has presented a renewed interest in using these substrates to grow high quality ternary compounds for use in many next generation optoelectronic devices. The results of photoluminescence (PL) study for the …


Characteristics Of Two-Dimensional Triangular And Three-Dimensional Face-Centered-Cubic Photonic Crystals, Jeffery D. Clark Mar 2006

Characteristics Of Two-Dimensional Triangular And Three-Dimensional Face-Centered-Cubic Photonic Crystals, Jeffery D. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The fabrication of photonic crystals (PhC) with photonic band gaps (PBG) in the visible range is a difficult task due to the small structural feature sizes of the PhC. The particular type of PhC examined is a two-dimensional (2-D) triangular structure with a PBG designed for visible wavelengths with applications in visible integrated photonic systems. This work examines the processes involved and viability of fabricating 2-D triangular PhC's by a variety of techniques: focused ion beam, electron lithography and holographic photo-polymerization/lithography. The design of the PhC was based on a program created to display gap maps for triangular structures. The …


Smart Structures For Control Of Optical Surfaces, D. Michael Sobers Jr. Mar 2002

Smart Structures For Control Of Optical Surfaces, D. Michael Sobers Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The development of lightweight, large-aperture optics is of vital importance to the Department of Defense and the US Air Force for advancing remote sensing applications and improving current capabilities. Synthetic polymer optics offer weight and flexibility advantages over current generation glass mirrors, but require active control to maintain tight surface figure tolerances. This research explores the feasibility of using imbedded piezoelectric materials to control optical surfaces. Membrane-based and stiff piezo-controlled mirrors were constructed to develop and validate control techniques. Test results verified that surface control on the order of tens of wavelengths is possible using these systems.


Photoluminescence Of Single Quantum Well Structures In Gallium Arsenide, Christian A. Bartholomew Mar 2001

Photoluminescence Of Single Quantum Well Structures In Gallium Arsenide, Christian A. Bartholomew

Theses and Dissertations

The continued development of state-of the-art semiconductor technologies and devices by the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense requires accurate and efficient techniques to evaluate and model these new materials. Of particular interest to the Air Force are quantum well structures which can be used for small-scale laser sources in fly-by-light applications, as efficient infrared countermeasures to heat-seeking missiles, or as advanced seekers in optically guided missiles. This thesis provides the initial experimental procedures and data necessary to begin producing accurate yet robust models. Although carrier effective masses could not be evaluated using hot-electron photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation …


Numerical Study Of Optical Delay In Semiconductor Multilayer Distributed Bragg Reflector And Tunable Microcavity Structures, Michael I. K. Etan Mar 2001

Numerical Study Of Optical Delay In Semiconductor Multilayer Distributed Bragg Reflector And Tunable Microcavity Structures, Michael I. K. Etan

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has a growing need for the greater bandwidth, speed, and flexibility offered by optical communication links. Future space systems and airborne platforms will most likely use optical signals for efficient power transmission and to minimize the possibility of spoofing and eavesdropping. Tunable optical delays play an important role in the implementation of free space optical communication links. The primary challenge in implementing these systems is the active maintenance of coherent wave fronts across the system's optical aperture. For space applications, this aperture may he hundreds of meters in diameter. Spatial segmentation of a large aperture into smaller …


Investigation Of The Optical Properties Of Ordered Semiconductor Materials, Jack E. Mccrae Jr. Jan 1997

Investigation Of The Optical Properties Of Ordered Semiconductor Materials, Jack E. Mccrae Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Optical studies have been conducted upon CdGeAs2 and ZnGeP2, two of the most promising semiconductors being developed for mid-infrared non-linear optics applications. These experiments included photoluminescence (PL) studies of both compounds as well as photoreflectance (PR) measurements upon CdGeAs2. In addition, Hall effect measurements were carried out upon CdGeAs2, to aid in interpretation of the optical data. PL was measured as a function of laser power, sample temperature, and crystal orientation for CdGeAs2. One broad weak peak near 0.38 eV, and another somewhat narrower and often far brighter peak near 0.57 …


Design Of Gradient Index Optical Thin Films, Jeffrey J. Druessel Jun 1996

Design Of Gradient Index Optical Thin Films, Jeffrey J. Druessel

Theses and Dissertations

Gradient index thin films provide greater flexibility for the design of optical coatings than the more conventional 'layer' films. In addition, gradient index films have higher damage thresholds and better adhesion properties. This dissertation presents an enhancement to the existing inverse Fourier transform gradient index design method, and develops a new optimal design method for gradient index films using a generalized Fourier series approach. The inverse Fourier transform method is modified to include use of the phase of the index profile as a variable in rugate filter design. Use of an optimal phase function in Fourier-based filter designs reduces the …


The Excitation Mechanism Of Praseodymium-Doped Semiconductors, Paul L. Thee Jun 1994

The Excitation Mechanism Of Praseodymium-Doped Semiconductors, Paul L. Thee

Theses and Dissertations

This study on praseodymium Pr luminescence in AlxGa1-xAs was conducted to enhance the understanding of the excitation mechanism. Pr was implanted at 390 keV with doses from 5 x 1012 to 5 x 1013 sq cm into AlxGa1-xAs x0.0 to 0.50 wafers which were annealed using the rapid thermal annealing RTA method. Low temperature photoluminescence PL was conducted using an Ar-ion laser and Ge detector. PL emissions of Pr from all hosts include peaks near 1.3 and 1.6 µm which are assigned to the intra-4f transitions of 1G4 yielding 3H5 …