An on-axis, vibration insensitive, polarization Fizeau interferometer is realized through the use of a novel pixelated mask spatial carrier phase shifting technique in conjunction with a low coherence source and a polarization path matching mechanism. In this arrangement, coherence is used to effectively separate out the orthogonally polarized test and reference beam components for interference. With both the test and the reference beams on-axis, the common path cancellation advantages of the Fizeau interferometer are maintained. Microwave modulation of a high powered red laser diode is used to create a 15 mW laser source having a coherence length of 250 um with minimal sidelobe ringing. With a 15 mW source, the maximum camera shutter speed, used when measuring a 4% reflector, was 150 usec, resulting in very robust vibration insensitivity. Additionally, stray light interference is substantially reduced due to the source's short coherence, allowing the measurement of thin transparent optics. Experimental results show the performance of this new interferometer to be within the specifications of commercial phase shifting interferometers.This work starts with a basic review of interferometry, phase shifting, and polarization as a lead in to a description of the theory and operation of the pixelated mask spatial carrier phase shifting technique. An analysis of the standard Fizeau Interferometer is then given. This is followed by detailed theoretical discussion of the path matched vibration insensitive (PMVI) Fizeau, which includes a theoretical model of the effects of multiple beam return from the test surface when measuring high value reflectors. The coherence properties of laser diodes are then discussed, a theoretical model for the effects of high frequency drive current is derived, and experimental results are given. Finally, the performance of the PMVI Fizeau is experimentally analyzed, potential error sources discussed, and suggestions for improvements provided.

The effect of thermal-cycling-induced microcracking in fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites is studied. Specific attention is focused on microcrack density as a function of the number of thermal cycles, and the effect of microcracking on the dimensional stability of composite materials. Changes in laminate coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and laminate stiffness are of primary concern. Included in the study are materials containing four different Thornel fiber types: a PAN-based T50 fiber and three pitch-based fibers, P55, P75, and P120. The fiber stiffnesses range from 55 Msi to 120 Msi. The fiber CTE's range from -0.50x10⁻⁶/°F to -0.80x10⁻⁶/°F. Also included are three matrix types: Fiberite's 934 epoxy, Amoco's ERL1962 toughened epoxy, and YLA's RS3 cyanate ester. The lamination sequences of the materials considered include a cross-ply configuration, [0/90]2s, and two quasi-isotropic configurations, [0/+45/-45/90]s and [0/+45/90/-45]s. The layer thickness of the materials range from a nominal 0.001 in. to 0.005 in. In addition to the variety of materials considered, three different thermal cycling temperature ranges are considered. These temperature ranges are ±250°F, ±150°F, and ±50°F. The combination of these material and geometric parameters and temperature ranges, combined with thermal cycling to thousands of cycles, makes this one of the most comprehensive studies of thermal-cycling-induced microcracking to date. Experimental comparisons are presented by examining the effect of layer thickness, fiber type, matrix type, and thermal cycling temperature range on microcracking and its influence on the laminates. Results regarding layer thickness effects indicate that thin-layer laminates microcrack more severely than identical laminates with thick layers. For some specimens in this study, the number of microcracks in thin-layer specimens exceeds that in thick-layer specimens by more than a factor of two. Despite the higher number of microcracks in the thin-layer specimens, small changes in CTE after thousands of cycles indicate that the thin-layer specimens are relatively unaffected by the presence of these cracks compared to the thick-layer specimens. Results regarding fiber type indicate that the number of microcracks and the change in CTE after thousands of cycles in the specimens containing PAN-based fibers are less than in the specimens containing comparable stiffness pitch-based fibers. Results for specimens containing the different pitch-based fibers indicate that after thousands of cycles, the number of microcracks in the specimens does not depend on the modulus or CTE of the fiber. The change in laminate CTE does, however, depend highly on the stiffness and CTE of the fiber. Fibers with higher stiffness and more negative CTE exhibit the lowest change in laminate CTE as a result of thermal cycling. The overall CTE of these specimens is, however, more negative as a result of the more negative CTE of the fiber. Results regarding matrix type based on the ±250°F temperature range indicate that the RS3 cyanate ester resin system exhibits the greatest resistance to microcracking and the least change in CTE, particularly for cycles numbering 3000 and less. Extrapolations to higher numbers of cycles indicate, however, that the margin of increased performance is expected to decrease with additional thermal cycling. Results regarding thermal cycling temperature range depend on the matrix type considered and the layer thickness of the specimens. For the ERL1962 resin system, microcrack saturation is expected to occur in all specimens, regardless of the temperature range to which the specimens are exposed. By contrast, the RS3 resin system demonstrates a threshold effect such that cycled to less severe temperature ranges, microcracking does not occur. For the RS3 specimens with 0.005 in. layer thickness, no microcracking or changes in CTE are observed in specimens cycled between between ±150°F or ±50°F. For the RS3 specimens with 0.002 in. layer thickness, no microcracking or changes in CTE are observed in specimens cycled between ±50°F.. Results regarding laminate stiffness indicate negligible change in laminate stiffness due to thermal cycling for the materials and geometries considered in this investigation. The study includes X-ray examination of the specimens, showing that cracks observed at the edge of the specimens penetrate the entire width of the specimen. Glass transition temperatures of the specimens are measured, showing that resin chemistry is not altered as a result of thermal cycling. Results are also presented based on a one-dimensional shear lag analysis developed in the literature. The analysis requires material property information that is difficult to obtain experimentally. Using limited data from the present investigation, material properties associated with the analysis are modified to obtain reasonable agreement with measured microcrack densities. Based on these derived material properties, the analysis generally overpredicts the change in laminate CTE. Predicted changes in laminate stiffness show reasonable correlation with experimentally measured values. / Ph. D.

En cette fin d'année 2015, la construction de la 2e génération de détecteurs d'ondes gravitationnelles s'achève. Il s'agit des grands interféromètres de Michelson, dont les bras mesurent 3 km de long (Advanced Virgo) et 4 km de long (Advanced LIGO). Les ondes gravitationnelles, prédites par Einstein en 1916 dans sa théorie de la Relativité Générale n'ont pas été détectées de façon directe par la 1ère génération d'interféromètres. Mais aujourd'hui, la sensibilité a été augmentée d'un ordre de grandeur et le 100ème anniversaire de la théorie d'Einstein pourrait bien ouvrir officiellement l'ère de l'astronomie gravitationnelle. Si la sensibilité des nouveaux interféromètres est désormais exceptionnelle, c'est grâce aux avancées techniques et technologiques, et notamment grâce aux nouveaux miroirs des cavités Fabry-Pérot installés dans les bras de l'interféromètre. Cette thèse présente la conception, le développement et la caractérisation de ses miroirs aux qualités exceptionnelles. Elle s'intéresse aux pertes de lumière diffusée dans les cavités, pertes de diffusion générées par l'état de surface des miroirs et par les défauts d'uniformité des dépôts des couches minces à haute réflectivité. En étudiant la planéité des surfaces, nous verrons comment les modifications techniques du procédé de dépôt IBS ont permis d'améliorer la courbure et la planéité des surfaces. Nous verrons comment nous avons caractérisé ces surfaces avec l'interféromètre de Fizeau à décalage de longueur d'ondes. Nous montrerons enfin comment nous avons atteint les spécifications prévues lors de la conception des miroirs, diminuant les pertes de lumière diffusée dans les cavités Fabry-Pérot à un niveau encore inégalé de seulement quelques dizaines de ppm / In the year of 2015 the construction of the 2nd generation of detectors devoted to gravitational waves is going to be completed. These are large laser Michelson interferometers with arm respectively 3 km (Advanced Virgo) and 4 km (Advanced LIGO) in length. The gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein in 1916 within his theory of general relativity, have not been observed by the first generation of detectors. However, interferometers are now on the way of being ten times more sensitive than before, and so, on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of general relativity, the era of gravitational wave astronomy can start. If laser interferometer will be able to reach unprecedented sensitivity, it is thanks to new technological developments. In particular the new state of the art mirrors installed in the interferometer arms have exceptional performances. This thesis details the design, the development and the characterization of these remarkable large mirrors. My work will deal with the cavity optical loss due to the diffused light itself linked to the mirrors surface quality and to the high reflectivity coating uniformity. By studying the surface flatness, we will understand how it could be influenced by the deposition technique implemented in the coating machine. We will see also how to measure the mirror surfaces by wavelength shifting Fizeau interferometer. Finally, we will detail how we proceeded in order to reach the tight specifications for the mirrors, with in the end only tens of ppm for the cavity round trip losses

Le développement rapide de la technologie des télécommunications à entrées et à sorties multiples MIMO met la caractérisation et modélisation de canaux sans fil dans une nouvelle perspective. Des recherches additionnelles sur la caractérisation et la modélisation de canaux sont nécessaires pour les déploiements de ces systèmes MIMO. En outre, de nouvelles techniques de caractérisation et de modélisation des canaux sont nécessaires pour faciliter la recherche sur la caractérisation et modélisation du canal MIMO. Trois contributions majeures sont présentées dans cette thèse. Tout d'abord, nous proposons une représentation généralisée et systématique des systèmes et des canaux sans fil dans les domaines spatio-temporels. Celle-ci peut être interprétée comme une extension des travaux de Bello [1, 2] et une généralisation des concepts introduits dans la littérature récente sur les canaux multiples. Dans ce cadre théorique, on propose un ensemble de seize fonctions noyau (kernel) et huit fonctions système et un ensemble de huit fonctions noyau dans le contexte de systèmes pratiques : ceux-ci sont définis dans le temps, la fréquence, l'espace et le vecteur d'onde pour la caractérisation du canal et du système MIMO. L'utilisation du cadre pratique est illustrée par une série d'exemples en utilisant des mesures basées sur des signaux de télévision numérique ATSC aux fréquences UHF. Les résultats étudiés comprennent les fonctions noyau spatiales mesurées, les spectres reçus dans le vecteur d'onde pour les canaux de liaison descendante et les fonctions de corrélation spatiale pour les canaux de liaison montante Deuxièmement, une nouvelle technique de mesure du signal dans l'espace et dans le temps, ainsi qu'une technique d'estimation du spectre dans le domaine des vecteurs d'onde et en fréquence sont proposées. La technique proposée permet de caractériser un grand réseau d'antenne virtuel à partir d'un nombre limité d'éléments d'antenne en déplaçant les éléments d'antenne le long d'une trajectoire prédéfinie. Une technique d'étalonnage est également proposée pour estimer le spectre de vecteur d'onde des signaux mesurés. Le compromis de cette technique est une faible précision de l'estimation si l'étalement des angles d'arrivée est trop grande. Les performances d'estimation du spectre sont évaluées par une série de simulations. Troisièmement, une vision globale du phénomène Doppler est présentée du point de vue de la technique de caractérisation proposée. Les spectres de Doppler, provoques par la mobilité des diffuseurs sous différentes distributions de vitesse de diffuseur, sont étudiés en profondeur. Ces résultats s'appliquent au scénario sans fil fixe pour lesquel l'émetteur et le récepteur sont fixes, tandis que les diffuseurs sont mobiles. Les modèles analytiques sont comparés avec les courbes empiriques, extraites d'autres publications dans la littérature, afin de valider la méthode proposée. Les résultats obtenus montrent que notre modèle théorique, pour un distribution exponentielle de vitesse de diffuseur, suit de près les courbes mesurées dans les canaux à variations lentes. En outre, des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour les canaux à variations rapides, par exemple, lorsque les voitures en mouvement sont considérées comme des diffuseurs mobiles.

We investigate the propagation of light in different conditions that lead to exotic propagation of photons and use near-resonant light-matter interactions to enhance these effects. First, we study the propagation of light in a moving highly dispersive medium, namely rubidium atoms. Based on the special relativity the speed of light changes with the speed of the medium. However, this drag effect in a non-dispersive medium is very small and thus difficult to measure. We show that the drag effect is enhanced significantly when the moving medium is highly dispersive. Thus, with this enhancement even a slow motion can be detected. Next, we employ the large nonlinear response of rubidium atoms to accentuate the formation of optical caustics. Caustics are important as nature uses caustics to concentrate the energy of waves. Moreover, caustics can be formed in many physical systems such as water waves in oceans to amplify tsunamis or generate rogue waves. The connection of our study to these giant water waves is discussed. Finally, we explore light-matter interactions in plasmonic systems. We show that photons experience a significant phase jump as they couple into and out of a plasmonic structure. This coupling phase, also known as the scattering phase shift, is generic to all scattering events. We measure this coupling phase with a triple-slit plasmonic structure. Moreover, we use the near-field enhancement of the plasmonic structure to enhance the coupling between the slits. Consequently, the photons can take non-trivial trajectories that pass through all three slits. We measure such exotic trajectories for the first time that are seemingly in violation of the superposition principle. The application of the superposition principle and the validity of Born’s rule is discussed.