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Air Force Institute of Technology

2021

Articles 1 - 25 of 25

Full-Text Articles in Optics

Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith Dec 2021

Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith

AFIT Patents

A passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) sensor an optical fiber a three-dimensional microscopic optical structure formed on a cleaved tip of an optical fighter that reflects a light signal back through the optical fiber. The reflected light is altered by refractive index changes in the three-dimensional structure that is subject to at least one of: (i) thermal radiation; and (ii) volatile organic compounds.


Characterization Of Infrared Metasurface Optics With An Optical Scatterometer, Matthew R. Miller Dec 2021

Characterization Of Infrared Metasurface Optics With An Optical Scatterometer, Matthew R. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

An optical scatterometer is used to characterize the infrared scatter of a dielectric metasurface cylindrical lens and two variants of that design. The design uses dielectric nanopillars to create the parabolic phase delay required for lensing; the variants change the length of the nanopillars from the design length of 4 microns to 0.9 and 5.2 microns. Scatter measurements were made at the design wavelength of 4 microns, and at 3.39 and 5 microns. These measurements showed wide-angle scatter greater than that measured for a conventional refractive optic, and that these metasurfaces perform their optical function best at the design wavelength …


Uncertainty Analysis For Ccd-Augmented Casi® Brdf Measurement System, Todd V. Small, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak Nov 2021

Uncertainty Analysis For Ccd-Augmented Casi® Brdf Measurement System, Todd V. Small, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak

Faculty Publications

This work presents a measurement uncertainty analysis for a system designed to simultaneously capture specular in-plane and out-of-plane bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) data with high spatial resolution by augmenting the Complete Angle Scatter Instrument (CASI®) with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. Various scatter flux, incident flux, scatter angle, and detector solid angle uncertainty contributions are considered and evaluated based on imperfectly known system parameters. In particular, incident flux temporal fluctuation, detector noise and non-linearity, and out-of-plane aperture misalignment considerations each require significant adjustment from original CASI® uncertainty analysis, and expressions for neutral density (ND) filter, scatter angle, and solid …


Spatiotemporal Non-Uniformly Correlated Beams, Milo W. Hyde Iv Nov 2021

Spatiotemporal Non-Uniformly Correlated Beams, Milo W. Hyde Iv

Faculty Publications

We present a new partially coherent source with spatiotemporal coupling. The stochastic light, which we call a spatiotemporal (ST) non-uniformly correlated (NUC) beam, combines space and time in an inhomogeneous (shift- or space-variant) correlation function. This results in a source that self-focuses at a controllable location in space-time, making these beams potentially useful in applications such as optical trapping, optical tweezing, and particle manipulation. We begin by developing the mutual coherence function for an ST NUC beam. We then examine its free-space propagation characteristics by deriving an expression for the mean intensity at any plane z ≥ 0. To validate …


Method Of Making Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith Oct 2021

Method Of Making Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith

AFIT Patents

A method of making passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) sensor includes forming a three-dimensional microscopic optical structure on a cleaved tip of an optical fiber that reflects a light signal back through the optical fiber. The reflected light is altered by refractive index changes in the three-dimensional structure that is subject to at least one of: (i) thermal radiation; and (ii) volatile organic compounds.


Solar Cell Brdf Measurement And Modeling With Out-Of-Plane Data, Todd V. Small, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak Oct 2021

Solar Cell Brdf Measurement And Modeling With Out-Of-Plane Data, Todd V. Small, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak

Faculty Publications

In this work, a CCD-augmented complete angle scatter instrument (CASI) with a visible red laser source was used to measure the BRDF of a commercially available solar cell designed for small satellites, simultaneously capturing both in-plane and out-of-plane data with high angular resolution surrounding the specular direction. The measurements exhibited three distinct scatter features: a central specular peak, an offset specular peak, and a diffraction pattern. The two peaks were caused by different material surfaces with slightly different normal directions, and the diffraction pattern arose from periodically-spaced metal conducting bars running in one direction across the solar cell surface. The …


Analysis Of Space To Ground Ladar Performance With Non-Traditional Optics, Prayant P.S. Hanjra Sep 2021

Analysis Of Space To Ground Ladar Performance With Non-Traditional Optics, Prayant P.S. Hanjra

Theses and Dissertations

Two major obstacles to space-based LADAR systems are low power returns from targets and limitations on size and weight for transporting large optics into orbit. Signals incur significant losses during roundtrip propagation through the atmosphere and from diffuse scattering off of targets. Models, such as the Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR) simulator and High Energy Laser End to End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS) can predict these losses due to the atmosphere and optical components for a variety of atmospheric and environmental conditions across the globe. A transmissometer is used to validate these models. These losses are used to determine …


Improved Out-Of-Plane Brdf Measurement And Modeling, Todd V. Small Sep 2021

Improved Out-Of-Plane Brdf Measurement And Modeling, Todd V. Small

Theses and Dissertations

The bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) describes the directional (spatial) nature of light’s reflectance from a material surface. When incident light of a particular wavelength strikes a material surface from a particular direction, portions of that incident light will be reflected into various directions in various amounts, depending on the material’s surface characteristics. Historically, the vast majority of BRDF measurement and modeling research has focused on reflection within the plane-of incidence (in-plane) and dealt primarily with simplified isotropic BRDFs. Remote sensing applications, such as satellite light curve analysis, typically rely on closed-form microfacet models for efficiency. There are many factors, …


Robust Method Of Determining Microfacet Brdf Parameters In The Presence Of Noise Via Recursive Optimization, Michael W. Bishop, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak Sep 2021

Robust Method Of Determining Microfacet Brdf Parameters In The Presence Of Noise Via Recursive Optimization, Michael W. Bishop, Samuel D. Butler, Michael A. Marciniak

Faculty Publications

Accurate bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) models are essential for computer graphics and remote sensing performance. The popular microfacet class of BRDF models is geometric-optics-based and computationally inexpensive. Fitting microfacet models to scatterometry measurements is a common yet challenging requirement that can result in a model being fit as one of several unique local minima. Final model fit accuracy is therefore largely based on the quality of the initial parameter estimate. This makes for widely varying material parameter estimates and causes inconsistent performance comparisons across microfacet models, as will be shown with synthetic data. We proposed a recursive optimization method …


Data-Driven Algorithm To Classify The Degree Of Isotropy In The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function, Anne W. Werkley, Samuel D. Butler, Todd V. Small, Michael A. Marciniak Sep 2021

Data-Driven Algorithm To Classify The Degree Of Isotropy In The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function, Anne W. Werkley, Samuel D. Butler, Todd V. Small, Michael A. Marciniak

Faculty Publications

The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) is used to describe reflectances of materials by calculating the ratio of the reflected radiance to the incident irradiance. While it was found that the isotropic models maintained symmetry about ϕs  =  π, such symmetry was not maintained about the θs  =  θi axis, except for close to the specular peak. This led to the development of a data-driven metric for how isotropic a BRDF measurement is. Research efforts centered around developing an algorithm that could determine material anisotropy without having to fit to models. This algorithm was tested using high …


Re-Visiting Acoustic Sounding To Advance The Measurement Of Optical Turbulence, Steven T. Fiorino, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Kevin J. Keefer Aug 2021

Re-Visiting Acoustic Sounding To Advance The Measurement Of Optical Turbulence, Steven T. Fiorino, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Kevin J. Keefer

Faculty Publications

Optical turbulence, as determined by the widely accepted practice of profiling the temperature structure constant, C2T, via the measurement of ambient atmospheric temperature gradients, can be found to differ quite significantly when characterizing such gradients via thermal-couple differential temperature sensors as compared to doing so with acoustic probes such as those commonly used in sonic anemometry. Similar inconsistencies are observed when comparing optical turbulence strength derived via C2T as compared to those through direct optical or imaging measurements of small fluctuations of the index of refraction of air (i.e., scintillation). These irregularities are especially apparent …


Multi-Gaussian Random Variables For Modeling Optical Phenomena, Olga Korotkova, Milo W. Hyde Iv Aug 2021

Multi-Gaussian Random Variables For Modeling Optical Phenomena, Olga Korotkova, Milo W. Hyde Iv

Faculty Publications

A generalization of the classic Gaussian random variable to the family of multi-Gaussian (MG) random variables characterized by shape parameter M > 0, in addition to the mean and the standard deviation, is introduced. The probability density function (PDF) of the MG family members is an alternating series of Gaussian functions with suitably chosen heights and widths. In particular, for integer values of M, the series has a finite number of terms and leads to flattened profiles, while reducing to the classic Gaussian PDF for M = 1. For non-integer, positive values of M, a convergent infinite series of …


Zernike Integrated Partial Phase Error Reduction Algorithm, Stephen C. Cain Aug 2021

Zernike Integrated Partial Phase Error Reduction Algorithm, Stephen C. Cain

Faculty Publications

A modification to the error reduction algorithm is reported in this paper for determining the prescription of an imaging system in terms of Zernike polynomials. The technique estimates the Zernike coefficients of the optical prescription as part of a modified Gerchberg-Saxton iteration combined with a new gradient-based phase unwrapping algorithm. Zernike coefficients are updated gradually as the error reduction algorithm converges by recovering the partial pupil phase that differed from the last known pupil phase estimate. In this way the wrapped phase emerging during each iteration of the error reduction algorithm does not represent the entire wrapped phase of the …


Beam Formation And Vernier Steering Off Of A Rough Surface, Eric K. Nagamine, Kenneth W. Burgi, Samuel D. Butler Aug 2021

Beam Formation And Vernier Steering Off Of A Rough Surface, Eric K. Nagamine, Kenneth W. Burgi, Samuel D. Butler

Faculty Publications

Wavefront shaping can refocus light after it reflects from an optically rough surface. One proposed use case of this effect is in indirect imaging; if any rough surface could be turned into an illumination source, objects out of the direct line of sight could be illuminated. In this paper, we demonstrate the superior performance of a genetic algorithm compared to other iterative feedback-based wavefront shaping algorithms in achieving reflective inverse diffusion for a focal plane system. Next, the ability to control the pointing direction of the refocused beam with high precision over a narrow angular range is demonstrated, though the …


Estimating Turbulence Distribution Over A Heterogeneous Path Using Time‐Lapse Imagery From Dual Cameras, Benjamin Wilson, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae, Kevin J. Keefer, Steven T. Fiorino Jul 2021

Estimating Turbulence Distribution Over A Heterogeneous Path Using Time‐Lapse Imagery From Dual Cameras, Benjamin Wilson, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae, Kevin J. Keefer, Steven T. Fiorino

Faculty Publications

Knowledge of turbulence distribution along an experimental path can help in effective turbulence compensation and mitigation. Although scintillometers are traditionally used to measure the strength of turbulence, they provide a path-integrated measurement and have limited operational ranges. A technique to profile turbulence using time-lapse imagery of a distant target from spatially separated cameras is presented here. The method uses the turbulence induced differential motion between pairs of point features on a target, sensed at a single camera and between cameras to extract turbulence distribution along the path. The method is successfully demonstrated on a 511 m almost horizontal path going …


Twisted Spatiotemporal Optical Vortex Random Fields, Milo W. Hyde Iv Apr 2021

Twisted Spatiotemporal Optical Vortex Random Fields, Milo W. Hyde Iv

Faculty Publications

We present twisted spatiotemporal optical vortex (STOV) beams, which are partially coherent light sources that possess a coherent optical vortex and a random twist coupling their space and time dimensions. These beams have controllable partial coherence and transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM), which distinguishes them from the more common spatial vortex and twisted beams (known to carry longitudinal OAM) in the literature and should ultimately make them useful in applications such as optical communications and optical tweezing. We present the mathematical analysis of twisted STOV beams, deriving the mutual coherence function and linear and angular momentum densities. We simulate the …


Achieving The Shot-Noise Limit Using Experimental Multi-Shot Digital Holography Data, Douglas E. Thornton, Cameron J. Radosevich, Samuel Horst, Mark F. Spencer Mar 2021

Achieving The Shot-Noise Limit Using Experimental Multi-Shot Digital Holography Data, Douglas E. Thornton, Cameron J. Radosevich, Samuel Horst, Mark F. Spencer

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we achieve the shot-noise limit using straightforward image-post-processing techniques with experimental multi-shot digital holography data (i.e., off-axis data composed of multiple noise and speckle realizations). First, we quantify the effects of frame subtraction (of the mean reference-only frame and the mean signal-only frame from the digital-hologram frames), which boosts the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the baseline dataset with a gain of 2.4 dB. Next, we quantify the effects of frame averaging, both with and without the frame subtraction. We show that even though the frame averaging boosts the SNR by itself, the frame subtraction and the stability …


Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith Mar 2021

Temperature-Immune Self-Referencing Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensors, Hengky Chandrahalim, Jonathan W. Smith

AFIT Patents

A passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) sensor an optical fiber a three-dimensional microscopic optical structure formed on a cleaved tip of an optical fighter that reflects a light signal back through the optical fiber. The reflected light is altered by refractive index changes in the three-dimensional structure that is subject to at least one of: (i) thermal radiation; and (ii) volatile organic compounds.


Optical Study Of 2-D Detonation Wave Stability, Eulaine T. Grodner Mar 2021

Optical Study Of 2-D Detonation Wave Stability, Eulaine T. Grodner

Theses and Dissertations

Fundamental optical detonation study of detonations constricted to a 2-d plane propagation, and detonations propagating around a curve. All images were processed using modern image processing techniques. The optical techniques used were shadowgraph, Schlieren, and chemiluminescence. In the 2-Dstraight channels, it was determined wave stability was a factor of cell size. It was also determined the detonation wave thickness (area between the combustion and shockwave) was a factor of how much heat available for the detonation. For the detonations propagating around a curve, it was determined the three main classifications of wave stability were stable, unstable, and detonation wave restart. …


Examination Of A Lenseless Setup For Reflective Inverse Diffusion Of Light, John Nguyen Mar 2021

Examination Of A Lenseless Setup For Reflective Inverse Diffusion Of Light, John Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Reflective inverse diffusion uses spatial light modulators to shape an incident wavefront so that when the wavefront interacts with some diffuse scattering sample, the reflected light will constructively interfere at a single focus. This thesisexamines the efficacy of using a lensless setup against a focal plane setup in achieving reflective inverse diffusion while simultaneously beamsteering. The lensless setup outperformed its counterpart by being able to focus more energy in a region, but failed to achieve the same beamsteering capabilities as the focal plane system. Understanding the flaws behind the lensless setup will be instrumental in creating a setup that can …


Dynamic Holography In Resonant Nonlinear Media: Theory And Application, Jonathan E. Slagle Mar 2021

Dynamic Holography In Resonant Nonlinear Media: Theory And Application, Jonathan E. Slagle

Theses and Dissertations

Two beam coupling (TBC) is a coherent interaction in which energy is transferred from one laser beam to another and has promising applications in real-time holography and coherent beam combing. We have recently shown efficient degenerate frequency TBC for counter-propagation geometries in isotropic two-photon absorbing media pumped with a nanosecond pulsed laser. When an interference pattern is generated in this media, single and two photon absorption initiates a population redistribution resulting in a holographic grating with the same modulation period and phase initially. However, due to temporal convolution of self- and cross-phase modulation, the grating will begin to shift in …


Neuromorphic Vision Sensors For Space-Based Applications, Jessica L. Horn Mar 2021

Neuromorphic Vision Sensors For Space-Based Applications, Jessica L. Horn

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the viability of event-based vision (neuromorphic) sensors for future use on satellites. Outputting single pixel events only when a change in intensity is detected, event-based vision sensors offer a potential low power, low latency, high temporal resolution, and high dynamic range solution as compared to traditional CCD or CMOS camera technology. The commercial off-the-shelf DVS240C sensor, is analyzed to determine if operability is affected by launch conditions and the low Earth space environment through vacuum, thermal vacuum, and vibration tests. No appreciable changes in sensor operation was observed throughout testing. Additionally, the sensor was able to detect …


A Comparative Evaluation Of The Fast Optical Pulse Response Of Event-Based Cameras, Tyler J. Brewer Mar 2021

A Comparative Evaluation Of The Fast Optical Pulse Response Of Event-Based Cameras, Tyler J. Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

Event cameras use biologically inspired readout circuit architecture to offer a faster and more efficient method of imaging than traditional frame-based detectors. The asynchronous event reporting circuit timestamps events to 1 microsecond resolution, but latency increases when many pixels are stimulated simultaneously. To characterize this variability, the DAVIS240, DAVIS346, DVXPlorer, and Prophesee Gen3M VGA-CD 1.1 cameras were exposed to single step-function flashes with amplitudes from 9.3-771cd/m2, stimulating from 0.0042-100 of pixels. The Median Absolute Deviation of pixel response times ranged between 0 and 6086µs, increasing with the percent of pixels stimulated (PSP). The number of events generated per …


Independently Controlling Stochastic Field Realization Magnitude And Phase Statistics For The Construction Of Novel Partially Coherent Sources, Milo W. Hyde Iv Feb 2021

Independently Controlling Stochastic Field Realization Magnitude And Phase Statistics For The Construction Of Novel Partially Coherent Sources, Milo W. Hyde Iv

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we present a method to independently control the field and irradiance statistics of a partially coherent beam. Prior techniques focus on generating optical field realizations whose ensemble-averaged autocorrelation matches a specified second-order field moment known as the cross-spectral density (CSD) function. Since optical field realizations are assumed to obey Gaussian statistics, these methods do not consider the irradiance moments, as they, by the Gaussian moment theorem, are completely determined by the field’s first and second moments. Our work, by including control over the irradiance statistics (in addition to the CSD function), expands existing synthesis approaches and allows …


On-Chip Silicon Photonic Controllable 2 × 2 Four-Mode Waveguide Switch, Cao Dung Truong, Duy Nguyen Thi Hang, Hengky Chandrahalim, Minh Tuan Trinh Jan 2021

On-Chip Silicon Photonic Controllable 2 × 2 Four-Mode Waveguide Switch, Cao Dung Truong, Duy Nguyen Thi Hang, Hengky Chandrahalim, Minh Tuan Trinh

Faculty Publications

Multimode optical switch is a key component of mode division multiplexing in modern high-speed optical signal processing. In this paper, we introduce for the first time a novel 2 × 2 multimode switch design and demonstrate in the proof-of-concept. The device composes of four Y-multijunctions and 2 × 2 multimode interference coupler using silicon-on-insulator material with four controllable phase shifters. The shifters operate using thermo-optic effects utilizing Ti heaters enabling simultaneous switching of the optical signal between the output ports on four quasi-transverse electric modes with the electric power consumption is in order of 22.5 mW and the switching time …