With the rise of capillary HPLC systems, open tubular liquid chromatography (OTLC) has been garnering more attention due to the possible fundamental advantages of open tubular systems over conventional packed or monolithic systems. Performance has yet to reach its potential due in part to a variety of technical challenges, resulting in the need for very small injection volumes and sensitive detection. In this work, we have shown that with modern HPLC sample introduction and detection systems, along with careful fabrication of polymer stationary phases, that reverse phase open tubular liquid chromatography may be within reach. We have shown that, with small diameter (i.d. 30m) open tubular columns, complex multi-component mixtures (EPA 610, in-house drug mixture) can be separated. We have also shown that these columns are robust and can function over a wide range of flow rates (200-1000 nl/min), and may be useful for general reverse phase separation in the future. However, currently, more stationary phase development and procedure refinement is needed. Microstructured fibres (MSFs), a relatively new class of optical fibre which confine light within fibres through a refractive index change caused by the use of parallel air channels running throughout the length of the fibre, are explored as a new support material for open tubular liquid chromatography. The fine channel structures of MSFs enable reasonable sample volumes to be used compared to conventional open tubular systems, while offering a similar plug-like flow profile through the fibre. With current sample introduction and flow technologies, we have shown that the potential advantages of MSF columns is great even when simple C18 stationary phases are used; this was able to separate a four PAH mixture. However, a distribution in channel sizes caused by current manufacturing standards and a limited ability to evenly deposit polymer stationary phases in the fibres has kept MSF columns from reaching their full potential. / Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-14 11:52:41.23

Dans le cadre d'un contrat CIFRE entre la société Thales L.A.S. France et le laboratoire XLIM (UMR 7252 du CNRS et de l'Université de Limoges), mon projet de thèse consiste à développer des architectures de fibres optiques dopées aux ions d'ytterbium pour l'amplification d'impulsions avec une haute puissance crête à 1 µm dans l'optique de réaliser une combinaison cohérente de faisceau afin d'obtenir une source laser avec une très haute puissance crête et une haute cadence de répétition. Basé sur un design de fibres à large cœur appelées FA-LPF, deux axes de développement sont abordés. Le premier concerne l'amélioration des tolérances à une courbure externe appliquée sur les FA-LPFs. A l'aide d'une étude numérique, une stratégie novatrice est mise en place pour mitigé les effets d'une courbure. L'architecture est alors dénommée FA-LPF assistée par saut d'indice. Une émission laser monomode en régime continu d'une puissance optique de 65 W est démontrée avec un rayon de courbure de 60 cm pour un diamètre de mode de 47 µm. Le second axe est l'implémentation du contrôle de la polarisation dans les FA-LPFs. L'objectif est d'obtenir un signal linéairement polarisé. Plusieurs architectures testées numériquement permettent une propagation à polarisation linéaire unique dans des structures passives sur un large spectre optique, avec notamment une propagation monomode à polarisation unique à 1400 nm pour un diamètre de cœur de 140 µm. La meilleure des quatre, appelée FA-LPF 4+2 SAP, est fabriquée avec des dopants actifs d'ytterbium. En raison de défauts de fabrication, les fibres obtenues sont à maintien de polarisation. Un ratio de polarisation de 17 dB est obtenu en configuration amplification en régime continu avec un gain de 24 dB (une puissance émise de 50 W). / As part of a CIFRE contract between Thales L.A.S. France and the XLIM laboratory (UMR 7252 of the CNRS and the University of Limoges), my thesis project consists in the development of ytterbium-doped optical fiber architectures for pulses amplification with high peak power at a wavelength of 1 µm in order to achieve a coherent beam combination to obtain a laser source with both a very high peak power and a high repetition rate. Based on a large-core fibre design called FA-LPF, two development axes are addressed. The first one concerns the tolerances improvement to an external bending applied on the FA-LPF. With the help of a numerical study, an innovative strategy is implemented to mitigate the effects of bending. The architecture is then called step-index assisted FA-LPF. A single a singlemode laser emission in continuous regime with an optical power of 65 W is demonstrated with a 60 cm bending radius for a 47 µm mode field diameter. The second axis is the implementation of the polarisation control in FA-LPFs. The goal is to obtain a linearly polarised signal. Several numerically tested architectures allow single linear polarisation propagation in passive structures over a broadband optical spectrum, including a singlemode single-polarisation propagation at 1400nm for a core diameter of 140 µm. The best architecture, called FA-LPF 4+2 SAP, is fabricated with active ytterbium dopants. Due to manufacturing defects, the obtained fibres act as polarisation maintaining fibres. A polarisation extinction ratio of 17 dB is obtained in an amplification configuration in continuous regime with 24 dB of gain (an emitted power of 50 W).