The use of InGaAsP semiconductor lasers as radiation sources in gas and liquid detection is described in this thesis. Single mode operation and tunability were studied in several schemes including diode lasers with a short external cavity (SXC), diode lasers with multiple short external cavities (MSXC), and a grating external cavity (GEC) diode laser. Comparisons of SXC, MSXC and GEC lasers are given in terms of tunability, side mode suppression ratio (SMSR), stability, and ease of construction and operation. In highly sensitive gas detection, the harmonic content of residual amplitude modulation (RAM) for current modulation of the diode lasers was studied based on the concept that the light intensity rather than the electric field is directly modulated by the injection current. Formulae for RAM and the absorption signals are given for injection current modulation spectroscopy with diode lasers. Water vapour was detected by using InGaAsP SXC and DFB diode lasers, and an electronic subtracter was employed to reduce the detection noise. A sensitivity of ~ 1.6 x IO-6 in units of equivalent absorbance in an equivalent noise bandwidth of 1.25Hz was obtained. In liquid detection, InGaAsP laser diodes with multiple short external cavities (MSCX’s) were developed to provide a wide spectral coverage, up to 72nm spectral coverage was achieved. Liquid detection by MSXC diode lasers was studied in conjunction with multivariate calibration methods, i.e., principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). A sensitivity of 0.1% H2O in D2O was achieved and the limiting noise source was assessed. Three component mixtures of H2O, acetone and methanol were studied in terms of regression factors and outlier detection in the PCR and the PLS algorithms. To achieve even broader tunability by means of external cavity, work on making broad gain peak InGaAsP/InP lasers was initiated. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Fabrication process of capacitors and Schottky diodes with nanogap electrodes is explained in this Thesis. The Schottky diode is made with IGZO in the nanogap, whereas the capacitor is made with ZrO2 in the nanogap which acts as the dielectric. Moreover, the electric characterization of both the diode and capacitor was obtained for different frequencies and different diameters. The end result showed that as the frequency increases the diode performance increases, but the capacitance of the capacitors decreases. Also, the barrier height and concentration were obtained using the Mott-Schottky plot for different frequencies. The 10MHz had the highest carrier concentration (5.9E+18cm-3) and barrier height (1V).

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This thesis describes the use of short external cavity (SXC) semiconductor diode lasers as single longitudinal mode (SM) tunable sources. A SXC forces a multimode diode laser to lase on a single longitudinal mode. Various laser types were investigated in SXC configurations using both planar and spherical external mirrors. The side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) and the SM tuning range were measured with respect to the positioning of the external cavity element. With a planar mirror as the SXC element, SMSR of —33 dB and SM tuning ranges of 1 nm (110% of a mode spacing) were obtained with inverted rib waveguide (IRW) lasers. For external cavity lengths of ~ 60 um the total continuous SM tuning range summed over all modes was found to be 72 cm^-1 or 12 nm. The use of a spherical mirror improved the results. A SXC laser consisting of a spherical mirror and an IRW laser had SMSR values of —37 dB and SM tuning ranges of 1.10 nm. Power and voltage characteristics of SM SXC lasers were also examined. It was found possible to use the laser voltage and electronic feedback to control the external cavity length for optimum SM output. The external differential quantum efficiency (DQE) was found to be wavelength dependent and may be explained by the wavelength dependence of the scattering/absorption loss. One aspect of the characteristic trend of the DQE with respect to wavelength is that it offers the possibility of determining the lasing wavelength of the SM without the use of a monochromator. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

The groundwork has been completed for a large new research initiative involving the development of diode lasers for moderate power ultrashort pulse generation. This thesis reports on the status of three core areas of this initiative: InGaAsP/GaAs diode laser design and characterization, split contact device testing, and thin film interference filter deposition and characterization. Two new short wavelength diode laser designs have been realized and tested. A 980 nm laser was designed, using an InGaAsP barrier/waveguide region. This showed improved far field performance and better contact isolation as compared to an existing 980 nm laser using GaAs barriers. A laser emitting at 850 nm was also designed using GaAs quantum wells surrounded by a new quaternary waveguide region. A test arrangement was developed to facilitate the measurement of IV and LI curves for split contact lasers. Numerous lasers were tested, indicating that short absorber sections and narrow gap widths are preferable for use as saturable absorbing regions in a passively mode locked diode laser. Finally, thin film silicon oxynitride interference filters have been designed, deposited, and characterized for several antireflecting and high reflectance coatings on semiconductor laser facets. A comparison ofsingle layer AR coatings accounting for the modal reflectivity was performed. A four layer high reflectance coating with a peak broadband reflectance of over 90% was deposited on a laser facet. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

In this thesis, strong optical feedback is utilized to realize broad-band wavelength tuning and to stabilize the frequency of a semiconductor diode laser in a grating-external-cavity (GEC) configuration. To reach the regime of strong optical feedback, the laser facet through which the feedback occurs has to be antireflection (AR) coated. Multi-layer AR coatings were designed using SiO2, Si3N4, SiOxNy, and a:Si for specific laser waveguide structures, and were fabricated by an electron cyclotron resonance, plasma enhanced, chemical vapor deposition (ECR-PECVD) system. The film thickness and refractive index were monitored by in situ ellipsometry during the deposition. This scheme permitted very low reflectivities, in the order of 5 x 10-4, to be readily and reproducibly obtained. The diode laser thus obtained was used in a strong feedback configuration. Light emitted from the coated facet was collimated and fed back onto the laser cavity after being reflected off a diffraction grating. The diffraction grating provides frequency selectivity, which is a desirable feature for obtaining a stable single longitudinal mode laser. The laser in this configuration oscillated in a single mode with a greater than 30 dB side mode suppression ratio and a wide tuning range. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In developing a compact electro-optic sampling system for industrial use it is desirable to utilize a semiconductor laser diode as the light source since these devices are compact and economical. This thesis investigates several novel laser driver techniques for generating extremely short optical gain switched pulses from a semiconductor laser diode. These techniques include a novel bias control scheme in which the bias to a semiconductor laser diode, that is being driven with a step recovery diode pulse generator circuit, is turned on and off in order to switch the gain switched optical pulses on and off as desired. The second technique involves a mono-cycle scheme that allows a step recovery diode pulse generator circuit, which is customarily driven by a fixed frequency oscillator, to be driven by a mono-cycle pulse train of variable repetition rate. An equivalent circuit model of a laser diode based on the mono-mode rate equations is discussed and implemented in SPICE for the purpose of studying the interaction of the laser driver circuit electronics and the laser diode. The laser diode equivalent circuit is benchmarked against analytical solutions of the rate equations. A qualitative agreement between the measurements of the laser diode optical and terminal voltage responses and the SPICE simulations of the laser diode equivalent circuit model are demonstrated. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Yes / A compact planar inverted F antenna (PIFA) with a tuneable frequency response is presented. Tuning of the resonant frequency is realized by loading a varactor on an embedded slot of the proposed antenna structure without further optimizing other antenna geometry parameters. The antenna exhibits a wide frequency range from 1570 to 2600 MHz with a good impedance matching (S11 ≤ -10dB) covering the GPS, PCS, DCS, UMTS, WLAN and LTE systems. To validate the theoretical model and design concept, the antenna prototype was fabricated and measured. The compact size of the antenna is 15mm × 8mm × 3mm, which makes this antenna a good candidate for mobile handset and wireless communication applications.