Miniature pressure sensors which can endure harsh environments are a highly sought after goal in industrial, medical and research fields. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are the current methods to fabricate such small sensors. However, they suffer from low sensitivity and poor mechanical properties. To fulfill the need for robust and reliable miniature pressure sensors that can operate under high temperatures, a novel type of optical fiber tip sensor only 125μm in diameter is presented in this thesis. The essential element is a piece of hollow fiber which connects the fiber end and a diaphragm to form a Fabry-Pérot cavity. The all-fused-silica structure fabricated directly on a fiber tip has little temperature dependence and can function very well with high resolution and accuracy at temperatures up to 600 °C. In addition to its miniature size, its advantages include superior mechanical properties, biocompatibility, immunity to electromagnetic interference, disposability and cost-effective fabrication. The principle of operation, design analysis, fabrication implementation and performance evaluation of the sensor are discussed in detail in the following chapters. / Master of Science

Persistent Scatterer Interferometric techniques are very powerful geodetic tools for land deformation monitoring that offer the typical advantages of the satellite remote sensing SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems : a wide coverage at a relatively high resolution. Those techniques are based on the analysis of a set of SAR images acquired over a given area. They overcome the decorrelation problem by identifying elements (in resolution cells) with a high quality returned SAR signal which remains stable in a series of interferograms. These techniques have been useful for the analysis of urban areas, where man-made objects produce good reflections that dominate over the background scattering, as well as in field areas where the density of infrastructures is more limited. Typically, PSI technique requires an approximate a priori temporal model for the detection of the deformation, even though characterizing the temporal evolution of a deformation is commonly one of the objectives of any study.This work is focused on a particular PSI technique, which is named Stable Point Network (SPN) and that it has been completely developed by Altamira Information in 2003. The work concisely outlines the main characteristics of this technique, and describes its main products: average deformation maps, deformation time series of the measured points, and the so-called maps of the residual topographic error, which are used to precisely geocode the PSI products. The main objectives of this PhD are the identification and analysis of the drawbacks of this processing chain, and the development of new tools and methodologies in order to overcome them. First, the performances of the SPN technique are examined and illustrated by means of practical cases (based on real test sites made with data coming from different sensors) and simulated scenarios.Thus, the main drawbacks of the technique are identified and discussed, such as the lack of automatic quality control parameters, the evaluation of the input data quality, the selection of good points for the measurements and the use of a functional model to unwrap the phases based on a linear deformation trend in time. Then, different enhancements are proposed. In particular, the automatic quality control of the coregistration procedure has been introduced through the analysis of the inter-pixel position of some natural point targets-like pixels identified within the images. The enhancements in the selection of the final points of measurements (the final PSI map) come by means of the analysis of the SAR signal signature of the strong targets presented within the image, in order to select only the center of the main lobe as point of measurement. The introduction of robustness within some critical steps of the technique is done by means of the analysis of the rotational of the estimates in close loops within a network of relative measurements, and by means of the implementation of a different integration methodology, which can be ran in parallel in order to compare it with the classical one. Finally, the main drawback of the technique, the use of a linear model for the detection of ground deformations, is addressed with the development of a new fitting methodology which allows possible change of trends within the analyzed time span. All those enhancements are evaluated with the use of real examples of applications and with simulated data. In particular, the new methodology for detecting non-linear ground deformations has been tested in the city of Paris, where a large stacking of ERS1/2 and ENVISAT SAR images are available. Those images are covering a very large time period of analysis at where some known non-linear ground deformations where occurring

There has been widespread interest in corneal biomechanics over recent years, driven largely by the advancements in, and the popularity of refractive surgery techniques and subsequent concerns over their safety. Lately there has been interest into whether crosslinking, which is currently used for the treatment of keratoconus, could be developed as a minimally invasive technique to change the refractive power of the cornea by selectively changing the corneal biomechanics in specific regions to induce a shape change. Successful application of this technique requires a detailed understanding of corneal biomechanics and so far, little is known about the biomechanics of this complex tissue. The current lack of understanding can be mostly attributed to the absence of a suitable measurement technique capable of examining the dynamic behaviour of the cornea under physiological loading conditions. This thesis describes the development of a novel full-field, ex vivo, measurement method incorporating speckle interferometric techniques, to examine the biomechanics of the cornea before and after crosslinking in response to hydrostatic pressure fluctuations representative of those that occur in vivo during the cardiac cycle. The eventual measurement system used for the experiments detailed in this thesis incorporated; an Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer (ESPI), a Lateral Shearing Interferometer (LSI) and a fringe projection shape measurement system. The combination of these systems enabled the 3-dimensional components of surface displacement and the 1st derivative of surface displacement to be determined in response to small pressure fluctuations up to 1 mmHg in magnitude. The use of both ESPI and LSI together also enabled the applicability of LSI for measurement of non-flat surfaces to be assessed, and limitations and error sources to be identified throughout this work. To enable the measurement of corneal biomechanics, part of this thesis was concerned with the design of a bespoke loading rig. A chamber was designed that could accommodate tissue of both porcine and human origin. This chamber was linked to a hydraulic loading rig, whereby the cornea could be held at a baseline pressure representative of normal intraocular pressure and small pressure variations could be introduced by the automated vertical movement of the reservoir supplying the chamber. Experiments were conducted on a range of non-biological samples with both flat and curved surface topography, and both uniform and non-uniform mechanical properties, to determine if the measurement configuration was giving the expected measurement data and the loading rig was stable and repeatable. Following experiments on non-biological samples, a range of experiments were conducted on porcine corneas to develop a suitable testing methodology and address some of the challenges associated with corneal measurement, including transparency and hydration instability. During these investigations, a suitable surface coating was identified to generate an adequate return signal from the corneal surface, while not interfering with the response. Alongside this, the natural variation in the response of the cornea was investigated over the total experimental time, and a range of data was presented on corneas before and after crosslinking, which confirmed the suitability of the measurement methods for the assessment of crosslinking. Ultimately, a small sample size of six human corneas were investigated before and after crosslinking in specific topographic locations. From the experiments on human and porcine corneas, full-field maps of surface deformation have been presented, and a compliant region incorporating the peripheral and limbal areas has been identified as being fundamental to the response of the cornea to small pressure fluctuations. In addition to this, the regional effects of crosslinking in four different topographic locations on corneal biomechanics have been evaluated. From this, it has been demonstrated that crosslinking in specific regions in isolation can influence the way the cornea deforms to physiological-scale fluctuations in hydrostatic pressure and this could have implications for refractive correction.

The study presented in this dissertation concerns the evaporation, in normal ambient conditions, of sessile droplets (pinned and freely receding) of various HFE liquids (instead of the widely used water), which are considered so far as environmentally friendly and are often used as heat-transfer fluids in thermal management applications. They are pure perfectly-wetting and volatile liquids with low thermal conductivity and high vapor density. These properties affect in their own way many aspects concerning droplet evaporation such as the evaporation-induced contact angles, evaporation rate of a droplet, contact line pinning and Marangoni flow, all of which are treated in the present dissertation.<p>In general, the thesis starts with a general introduction including but not limited to sessile droplets (Chapter 1). In Chapter 2 we provide a general overview of capillarity-related concepts. Then, in Chapter 3 we present the interferometric setup, along with the liquids and the substrate that is used in the experiments, and also explain the reasons why this particular method is chosen. In Chapter 4 we address, among others, the issue of evaporation-induced contact angles under complete wetting conditions. The behavior of the global evaporation rate is also examined here, whereas in Chapter 5 we discuss the influence of thermocapillary stresses on the shape of strongly evaporating droplets. Finally, before concluding in Chapter 7, we address in Chapter 6 the still open question of the influence of non-equilibrium effects, such as evaporation, on the contact-line pinning at a sharp edge, a phenomenon usually described in the framework of equilibrium thermodynamics. The experimental results obtained are also compared with the predictions of existing theoretical models giving rise to interesting conclusions and promising perspectives for future research.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This diploma thesis deals with uncertainties of interferometric measurements and methods for their evaluation. In the theoretical part of the thesis, are described interferometers and interferometric measurement techniques. Furthermore, there is presented process of determining the measurement uncertainty using methods GUM and Monte Carlo. In the practical part of the thesis, there are these two methods are used for qualification of measurement uncertainty calculated for the specific interferometer.

In this thesis high-statistics π⁻π⁻ and π⁺π⁺ femtoscopy data are presented for Au+Au collisions at √sNN =2.4 GeV, measured with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer HADES located at the heavy-ion synchrotron SIS18 at GSI.Due to space-momentum correlations the technique of intensity interferometry allows only to measure regions of homogeneity where pairs of particles with certain momentum origin. The determination of the space-time extent of the corresponding emission sources is then only possible via a comparison to models.The purpose of this thesis is to provide a multi-differential data set as input for such models and calculations, to draw conclusions from the total spatial and temporal extension of the pion emitting source. More than two billion events of the 45 % most central collisions are analysed. A complex data-driven pair cut is established to account for the close-track deficits in the non-trivial hexagonal geometry of the HADES setup. The correlation function is studied in the longitudinally co-moving system using the Bertsch-Pratt parametrisation. The region of homogeneity, parametrised as three-dimensional Gaussian distribution, is studied in dependence on pair transverse momentum, rapidity, azimuthal emission angle with respect to the event plane, collision centrality, and beam energy. For all centralities and transverse momenta, a geometrical distribution of ellipsoidal shape is found in the plane perpendicular to the beam direction with the larger extension perpendicular to the reaction plane. For large transverse momenta, the corresponding eccentricity approaches the initial eccentricity. The eccentricity is smallest for most central collisions, where the shape is almost circular.Furthermore, a tilt of the source w.r.t. the beam axis is found.The magnitude of the tilt angle of the emission ellipsoid in the reaction plane decreases with increasing centrality and increasing transverse momentum. All source radii increase with centrality, largely exhibiting a linear rise with the cubic root of the number of participants. A substantial charge-sign difference of the source radii is found, appearing most pronounced at low transverse momentum, which is addressed to the central Coulomb potential generated by the electrical charge of the participating nucleons in the collision. The extracted source parameters agree well with a smooth extrapolation of the center-of-mass energy dependence established at higher energies, extending the corresponding excitation functions down towards a very low energy. / In dieser Arbeit werden femtoskopische π⁻π⁻- und π⁺π⁺-Daten mit hoher Statistik präsentiert, welche in Kollisionen von Au+Au bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von √sNN =2.4 GeV pro Nukleonpaar mithilfe von HADES (Zwei-Elektronen Spektrometer mit hoher Akzeptanz) am Schwerionen-Synchrotron an der GSI gemessen wurden. Aufgrund von Orts-Impuls-Korrelationen können mittels der Methode der Intensitäts-Interferometry nur Homogenitätsbereiche gemessen werden, aus welchen Teilchenpaare mit bestimmten Impuls entspringen. Die Bestimmung der raum-zeitlichen Ausdehnung der entsprechenden Emissionsquelle ist dann nur über die Hinzunahme von Modellvergleichen möglich. Die Absicht dieser Arbeit ist es, einen multi-differenziellen Daten-Satz zur Verfügung zustellen, welcher als Eingabe für solche Modelle und Rechnungen genutzt werden kann, um dann Rückschlüsse auf die absolute räumliche und zeitliche Ausdehnung der Pionen-emittierenden Quelle ziehen zu können. Mehr als zwei Milliarden Ereignisse der 45 % zentralsten Kollisionen werden analysiert. Eine komplexe Daten-basierende Paarselektion wird eingeführt, um die Verluste nah beieinander verlaufender Teilchenspuren innerhalb des nicht-trivialen hexa-geometrischen HADES-Aufbaus zu berücksichtigen. Die Korrelationsfunktion wird im longitudinal mitbewegten Inertialsystem in Bertsch-Pratt-Parametrisierung untersucht. Der als dreidimensionales Ellipsoid parametrisierte Homogenitätsbereich wird in Abhängigkeit von Transversalimpuls, azimuthalem Emissionswinkel relativ zur Reaktionsebene und Rapidität des Paares sowie Zentralität der Kollision und der Strahlenergie untersucht. In allen Zentralitäts- und Transversalimpulsbereichen wird eine geometrische Verteilung mit elliptischer Form innerhalb der auf die Strahlachse bezogenen transversalen Ebene beobachtet, wobei die größte Ausdehnung senkrecht zur Reaktionsebene zeigt. Für große Transversalimpulse stimmt die zugehörige Exzentrizität mit derjenigen der initialen Nukleonenverteilung überein. Die Exzentrizität ist am kleinsten für die zentralsten Kollisionen, bei denen eine fast kreisrunde Form beobachtet wird. Des Weiteren ist eine Neigung der Emissionsquelle relativ zur Strahlachse feststellbar. Der Wert des Neigungswinkels des Ellipsoids innerhalb der Reaktionsebene verringert sich mit zunehmend zentraleren Kollisionen und steigendem Transversalimpuls. Alle Quellradien werden größer mit zunehmender Zentralität und zeigen einen nahezu linearen Anstieg mit der Kubikwurzel der Anzahl der Partizipanten. Ein beträchtlicher Unterschied der Quellradien bezogen auf das Ladungsvorzeichen der Pionen wird beobachtet, welcher am prägnantesten bei kleinen Transversalim\-pulsen auftritt. Dieser wird dem zentralem Coulomb-Potential zugeschrieben, welches durch die elektrische Ladung der an der Kollision teilnehmenden Nukleonen generiert wird. Die extrahierten Quellparameter stimmen gut mit glatten Extrapolationen der Schwerpunktsenergie-Abhängigkeit überein, welche bei höheren Strahlenergien fixiert wurden, und erweitern diese hinab bis zu sehr kleinen Energien.

L'utilisation de franges d'interférence en lumière blanche comme une sonde optique en microscopie interférométrique est d'une importance croissante dans la caractérisation des matériaux, la métrologie de surface et de l'imagerie médicale. L'Interférométrie en lumière blanche est une technique basée sur la détection de l'enveloppe de franges d'interférence. Il a été démontré antérieurement, la capacité des approches 2D à rivaliser avec certaines méthodes classiques utilisées dans le domaine de l'interférométrie, en termes de robustesse et de temps de calcul. En outre, alors que la plupart des méthodes tiennent compte seulement des données 1 D, il semblerait avantageux de prendre en compte le voisinage spatial utilisant des approches multidimensionnelles (2D/3D), y compris le paramètre de temps afin d'améliorer les mesures. Le but de ce projet de thèse est de développer de nouvelles approches n-D qui sont appropriées pour une meilleure caractérisation des surfaces plus complexes et des couches transparentes. / The use of white light interference fringes as an optical probe in microscopy is of growing importance in materials characterization, surface metrology and medical imaging. Coherence Scanning Interferometry (CSI, also known as White Light Scanning Interferometry, WSLI) is well known for surface roughness and topology measurement [1]. Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography (FF-OCT) is the version used for the tomographic analysis of complex transparent layers. Both techniques generally make use of some sort of fringe scanning along the optical axis and the acquisition of a stack of xyz images. Image processing is then used to identify the fringe envelopes along z at each pixel in order to measure the positions of either a single surface or of multiple scattering objects within a layer.In CSI, the measurement of surface shape generally requires peak or phase extraction of the mono dimensional fringe signal. Most of the methods are based on an AM-FM signal model, which represents the variation in light intensity measured along the optical axis of an interference microscope [2]. We have demonstrated earlier [3, 4] the ability of 2D approaches to compete with some classical methods used in the field of interferometry, in terms of robustness and computing time. In addition, whereas most methods only take into account the 1D data, it would seem advantageous to take into account the spatial neighborhood using multidimensional approaches (2D, 3D, 4D), including the time parameter in order to improve the measurements.The purpose of this PhD project is to develop new n-D approaches that are suitable for improved characterization of more complex surfaces and transparent layers. In addition, we will enrich the field of study by means of heterogeneous image processing from multiple sensor sources (heterogeneous data fusion). Applications considered will be in the fields of materials metrology, biomaterials and medical imaging.

Membranproteine spielen eine wichtige Rolle in vielen biochemischen Prozessen der Zelle, wie zum Beispiel der Signaltransduktion, der Zelladhesion oder auch der Erkennung von Krankheitserregern. Viele dieser Proteine sind von Bedeutung für die Entwicklung neuer innovativer Medikamente. Somit hat auch die Entwicklung von Sensoren, die die Untersuchung von Membranproteinen in ihrer natürlichen Umgebung erlauben an Bedeutung gewonnen [1]. Thema dieser Doktorarbeit war die Entwicklung von Analysekonzepten die es ermöglichen unterschiedliche Aspekte von Membraninteraktionen zu untersuchen und zu quantifizieren. Als Analysemethode wurde dafür reflektometrische Interferenz Spektroskopie (RIfS) eine markierungsfreie, optische Methode verwendet. RIfS erlaubt es die Höhe dünner transparenter Filme zu bestimmen, indem das Weißlicht-Reflexionspektrum eines solchen Films aufgezeichnet wird. Durch die Überlagerung der in dem Film mehrfach reflektierten Teilstrahlen entsteht ein Interferenzmuster im Reflexionsspektrum, welches Aufschluß gibt über die Schichtdicke und den Brechungsindex des transparenten Films. Es wurde bereits gezeigt, dass RIfS eine geeignete Methode zur Untersuchung von Protein-ProteinWechselwirkungen ist [2]. Aus diesem Grund wurde RIfS als Detektionsverfahren für die Entwicklung eines Membransensors gewählt. Im Laufe dieser Arbeit entstanden zwei Aufbauten für reflektometrische Messungen. Ein Standard RIfS Aufbau und ein Instrument das die Methode mit Fluoreszenz-Mikroskopie kombiniert. Um dieWechselwirkung von Proteinen selbst und Proteinen mit Membranbestandteilen wie Lipiden zu untersuchen, wurde ein Konzept basierend auf festkörperunterstützten Membranen entwickelt. Dieses Experiment erlaubt es die Wechselwirkungen auf artifiziellen Membranen, sowie auf rekonstituierten Zellmembranen zu untersuchen. Zudem wurde ein Analysekonzept mit Nano-BLMs entwickelt, dass es erlaubt den simultanen Transport von Molekülen in ein membranverschlossenes Kompartiment hinein als auch heraus zu beobachten. Neben diesen membranbasierten Experimenten wurde auch ein Konzept entwickelt, welches es erlaubt die molekulare Erkennungsreaktion von sehr kleiner Analyten direkt zu messen. Dieses Messkonzept erlaubt es die Bindung von Molekülen mit sehr kleinem Molekulargewicht an einen auf dem Sensor immobilisierten Partner direkt zu quantifizieren.

This thesis describes methods for using spectral interferometry for the complete space-time characterisation of few-cycle near-infrared femtosecond pulses and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulses produced via high harmonic generation (HHG). Few-cycle pulses tend to exhibit one or more of the following: (1) an octave-spanning bandwidth, (2) a highly modulated spectrum and (3) space-time coupling. These characteristics, coupled with the desire to measure them in a single-shot (to characterise shot-to-shot fluctuations) and in real-time (for online optimisation and control) causes problems for conventional characterisation techniques. The first half of this thesis describes a method, based on a spatially encoded arrangement for spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SEA-SPIDER). SEA-SPIDER is demonstrated for sub-10fs pulses with a central wavelength near 800nm, a bandwidth over 350nm, and a pulse energy of several nano-Joules. In addition, the pulses exhibit a modulated spectrum and space-time coupling. The spatially-dependent temporal intensity of the pulse is reconstructed and compared to other techniques: interferometric frequency-resolved optical gating (IFROG) and spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER). SEA-SPIDER will prove useful in both femtoscience, which requires accurate knowledge of the space-time character of few-cycle pulses, and in HHG, which requires the precise knowledge of the driving pulse for seeding into simulations and controlling the generation process itself. Pulses arising from HHG are known to exhibit significant space-time coupling. The second half of this thesis describes how spectral interferometry may be performed to obtain the complete space-time nature of these fields via the use of lateral shearing interferometry. Finally, it is shown, via numerical simulations, how to extend the SPIDER technique for temporal characterisation of XUV pulses from HHG by driving the process with two spectrally-sheared driving pulses. Different experimental configurations and their applicability to different laser systems are discussed. This method recovers the space-time nature of the harmonics in a single shot, thus reducing the stability constraint currently required for photoelectron based techniques and may serve as a complimentary method for studying interactions of XUV attosecond pulses with matter.

Les techniques d'interférométrie sur réflecteurs persistants, ou points stables (PSI), sont des outils particulièrement efficaces pour le suivi des déformations du sol et offrent les avantages typiques des systèmes de télédétection radar à synthèse d'ouverture (RSO) : une large couverture spatiale combinée à une résolution relativement élevée. Ces techniques sont basées sur l'analyse d'un jeu d'images RSO acquises sur une zone donnée. Elles permettent de régler le problème de décorrélation grâce à l'identification d'éléments particuliers (au sein de la cellule de résolution) dont la rétrodiffusion radar est de haute qualité et stable sur toute une série d'interférogrammes. Ces techniques sont fort efficaces (utiles ?) pour l'analyse de zones urbaines où les constructions constituent de bons réflecteurs avec une réflexion supérieure à celle du sol ; il en va de même pour des zones de campagne où la densité d'infrastructures est plus limitée. La technique PSI requiert un modèle temporel approximatif a priori pour la détection des déformations, bien que la caractérisation de l'évolution temporelle de la déformation soit communément l'un des objectifs des études. Le travail réalisé porte sur une technique PSI particulière, appelée Stable Point Network (SPN), Réseau de Points Stables, qui a été totalement développée par Altamira Information en 2003. Le travail présente de manière concise les caractéristiques de la technique et décrit les principaux produits générés : carte moyenne de déformation, séries temporelles de déformation des points mesurés, et les cartes de résidu d'erreur topographique utilisées pour géocoder de façon précise les produits PSI. Le principal objectif de cette thèse est l'identification et l'analyse des points faibles de la chaîne de traitement SPN et le développement de nouveaux outils et méthodologies pour résoudre les problèmes identifiés. Dans un premier temps, les performances de la technique SPN sont examinées et illustrées sur des cas pratiques (basés sur des sites test réels et à partir de données provenant de différents capteurs) et à l'aide de simulations. Les principaux points faibles de la technique sont identifiés et commentés, notamment le manque de paramètres automatiques de contrôle qualité, l'évaluation de la qualité des données d'entrée, la sélection de bons points pour la mesure ainsi que l'utilisation d'un modèle fonctionnel pour le déroulement de phase (franges interferometriques) basé sur une tendance linéaire de la déformation dans le temps. Différentes solutions sont ensuite envisagées. Nous nous intéressons tout particulièrement au contrôle qualité automatique dans la procédure de coregistration, en utilisant l'analyse du positionnement inter-pixel de certains points naturels, comme par exemple des pixels identifiés dans les images. L'amélioration de la sélection finale des points de mesure (carte PSI) s'obtient grâce à l'analyse de la signature du signal radar des cibles les plus puissantes présentes au sein de l'image, afin de sélectionner uniquement le centre du lobe principal du point de mesure. D'autres développements apportent plus de robustesse dans des étapes clefs, ainsi l'analyse du rotationel des estimations en lien étroit avec un réseau de mesures relatives, ou l'implémentation d'une méthodologie différente pour l'intégration qui peut être lancée en parallèle afin d'être comparée avec l'intégration classique. Enfin le principal inconvénient de la technique, c'est-à-dire l'utilisation d'un modèle linéaire de détection des déformations du sol fait l'objet d'un développement d'une nouvelle méthode d'ajustement qui permet des changements de tendance durant la période de temps considérée(...) / Persistent Scatterer Interferometric techniques are very powerful geodetic tools for land deformation monitoring that offer the typical advantages of the satellite remote sensing SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems : a wide coverage at a relatively high resolution. Those techniques are based on the analysis of a set of SAR images acquired over a given area. They overcome the decorrelation problem by identifying elements (in resolution cells) with a high quality returned SAR signal which remains stable in a series of interferograms. These techniques have been useful for the analysis of urban areas, where man-made objects produce good reflections that dominate over the background scattering, as well as in field areas where the density of infrastructures is more limited. Typically, PSI technique requires an approximate a priori temporal model for the detection of the deformation, even though characterizing the temporal evolution of a deformation is commonly one of the objectives of any study.This work is focused on a particular PSI technique, which is named Stable Point Network (SPN) and that it has been completely developed by Altamira Information in 2003. The work concisely outlines the main characteristics of this technique, and describes its main products: average deformation maps, deformation time series of the measured points, and the so-called maps of the residual topographic error, which are used to precisely geocode the PSI products. The main objectives of this PhD are the identification and analysis of the drawbacks of this processing chain, and the development of new tools and methodologies in order to overcome them. First, the performances of the SPN technique are examined and illustrated by means of practical cases (based on real test sites made with data coming from different sensors) and simulated scenarios.Thus, the main drawbacks of the technique are identified and discussed, such as the lack of automatic quality control parameters, the evaluation of the input data quality, the selection of good points for the measurements and the use of a functional model to unwrap the phases based on a linear deformation trend in time. Then, different enhancements are proposed. In particular, the automatic quality control of the coregistration procedure has been introduced through the analysis of the inter-pixel position of some natural point targets-like pixels identified within the images. The enhancements in the selection of the final points of measurements (the final PSI map) come by means of the analysis of the SAR signal signature of the strong targets presented within the image, in order to select only the center of the main lobe as point of measurement. The introduction of robustness within some critical steps of the technique is done by means of the analysis of the rotational of the estimates in close loops within a network of relative measurements, and by means of the implementation of a different integration methodology, which can be ran in parallel in order to compare it with the classical one. Finally, the main drawback of the technique, the use of a linear model for the detection of ground deformations, is addressed with the development of a new fitting methodology which allows possible change of trends within the analyzed time span. All those enhancements are evaluated with the use of real examples of applications and with simulated data. In particular, the new methodology for detecting non-linear ground deformations has been tested in the city of Paris, where a large stacking of ERS1/2 and ENVISAT SAR images are available. Those images are covering a very large time period of analysis at where some known non-linear ground deformations where occurring