Filter-free spectral tunable photodetectors (PDs) are critical for a plethora of applications in imaging, indoor light fidelity (Li-Fi), and light communications. The present band-selective light detection is realized by incorporating different optical filters with broadband inorganic semiconductor-based PDs. However, the use of the optical filters reduces the overall performance of these PDs and is not appliable in the emerging flexible and wearable applications. The rapid advancement of the organic semiconductors offers an exciting opportunity for the development of high-performance filter-free spectral tunable organic photodetectors (OPDs). The development of OPDs has attracted tremendous interests because of the tailored optoelectronic properties of the π-conjugated organic semiconductors and the solution fabrication process of the OPDs. Apart from the rapid progresses made in improving the responsivity and detectivity of OPDs, the spectral properties of OPDs also receive intense attention. This Ph.D. research work has been focused on developing a universal strategy to achieve high-performance filter-free band-selective and spectral tunable OPDs. The correlation between the optical profile and responsivity spectrum of the novel OPDs with a bilayer photoactive layer has been investigated. It suggests that the responsivity spectrum of the OPDs can be effectively modulated by managing the optical profile in the bilayer and multilayer photoactive layer. A filter-free band-selective OPD model, comprising a bilayer shorter-wavelength light depletion layer/longer-wavelength light-absorbing layer architecture photoactive layer, has been developed. The depletion layer in the filter-free OPDs has a dual-function serving as a shorter-wavelength light-absorbing layer and a hole-transporting layer. The photodetection spectrum window of the filter-free band-selective OPDs, defined by the difference in wavelengths between the transmission cutoff of the shorter-wavelength light depletion layer and the absorption edge of the longer-wavelength light-absorbing layer, can then be tuned over the different wavelength ranges by using an appropriate combination of the shorter-wavelength light depletion layer and the longer-wavelength light-absorbing layer. A dual-mode OPD, having a trilayer visible light absorber/optical spacer/near-infrared (NIR) light absorber configuration photoactive layer, has been proposed. The dual-mode OPD exhibits electrically switchable NIR response operated under a reverse bias and visible light response operated under a forward bias. In the presence of NIR light, the trap-assisted charge-injection behavior at the organic/cathode interface in the OPDs operated under a reverse bias. The photocurrent is produced in the visible light-absorbing layer, enabled by the trap-assisted charge injection at the anode/organic interface under a forward bias. The developed filter-free band-selective OPDs and electrically switchable dual-mode OPDs provided an attractive alternative optical detection technology to the conventional panchromatic and single-mode OPDs. The spectral tunable photodetection thus demonstrated offers a promising option for new OPD applications.

A system has been developed to accurately detect phase produced in optical interferometric sensors. The system employs optical heterodyning and synchronously detects optical phase by feeding back an error signal to a phase modulator in the reference leg of the interferometer. This system is seen to have properties similar to a phase-locked loop used for the demodulation of FM signals. The system is modeled and found to be of second order and nonlinear. A linear approximation to the original model serves to accurately describe the system in synchronous operation and is corroborated with well matched empirical data. The nonlinear model is simulated via computer techniques and is used to describe the system's parameters that lead to loss and reacquisition of synchronization.

Since the recent discovery of a new class of high critical temperature superconductors (HTS), much interest has been shown in their potential use as optical detectors. The purpose of this research was to test thin film samples of the HTS Y1Ba2Cu3O7-delta as detectors and investigate any response to optical radiation. A laboratory test facility was designed and built for this purpose. The experimental results exhibit a variety of optical responses that are dependent upon the physical characteristics of each HTS thin film. Polycrystalline films exhibited a different detection mode than did epitaxial films. This research demonstrates that HTS thin films are viable optical detectors and have the potential to become competitive high-performance detectors as the new technology continues to emerge.

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A theoretical study of an electrically passive, loss-compensated, optical position sensor is the goal of this project. Optical fiber sensors exploit light as the information carrier. Fiber-optic sensors consist of a constant light source launched into an optical fiber and transmitted to another point at which a measurement is made.In the proposed optical position sensor, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) produces a constant beam of light, which is channeled through an optical fiber to a Graded Index (GRIN) lens. This lens makes all the light rays parallel to one another, a process called collimation. The light then enters a polarizer which is a lens that further orders the light rays in a process called polarization.Then the light enters a chamber in which a doubly refracting (birefringent) crystal is situated. The crystal is a wedge, and thus has a varying thickness throughout its length. The light beam strikes the crystal, sending a spectrum, or spectral signature, that is distinct to the particular thickness of the crystal. That signature goes directly from the chamber housing the crystal into a lens called an analyzer which orders the light again through polarization. Then the light goes into another GRIN lens, and this GRIN lens focuses the light onto an optical fiber, which transmits the particular spectral signature of this light to an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). The OSA uses a Photodiode Array to accept the incoming light, a device that takes in light and redistributes it to a monitor for display by the user. Such a device is called a detector. The thickness of the crystal that the light travels through is determined by the crystal's position.If the crystal rests on a platform which is connected to an object whose position must always be monitored, then the crystal will move as the object moves. The different spectral signatures shown on a monitor reveal different thicknesses of the crystal, which reveal different positions of the monitored object. The object whose position is measured is the measurand.The selected crystal is quartz. It has a 12.5-mm length, a width of 10.8-mm at its thinnest end, and a taper angle to the thickest end of only 0.008 degrees, which corresponds to a 0.17-micron difference between the two. This angle is called the polishing angle of the quartz. The quartz itself is called the active cell. The Photodiode Array Detector receives the spectral signature from the optical fiber, and that signature is projected on an OSA, which is software built-in to the computer. A mathematical program is used to evaluate the signature, and the position of the measurand is thereby revealed. How accurate the measurement is can be revealed by use of a control device. If the quartz crystal is moved by a measuring device, such as a micrometer, the distance that the crystal moved may be measured by the micrometer, as well as by the OSA. By comparing the two, the accuracy of the spectrograph, and the position it reveals, can be known. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Australian National University, 2005.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-83).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also in a digital version from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.