This thesis describes the development of a red tip/tilt and fringe detection system at the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI), modelling the instrumental performance and effects of seeing at SUSI, making observations of Mira variable stars and finally modelling the atmospheres of Mira variables with physically self-consistent models. The new SUSI tip/tilt system is based around a CCD detector and has been successfully used to both track the majority of tip/tilt power in median seeing at an R magnitude of 4.5, and to provide seeing measures for post processing. The new fringe-detection system rapidly scans 33 to 140 $\mu$m in delay and detects the fringes using two avalanche-photodiodes. It has been used to acquire fringe data, provide user feedback and to track the fringe group-delay position. The system visibility (fringe visibility for a point source) and throughput were found to be consistent with models of the SUSI optical beam train. Observations were made of a variety of sources, including the Mira variables R Car and RR Sco, which were observed in two orthogonal polarization states. These measurements were the first successful use of Optical Interferometric Polarimetry (OIP), and enabled scattered light to be separated from bright photospheric flux. Dust scattering was found to originate from a thin shell 2-3 continuum radii from these stars, with an optical depth of 0.1 to 0.2 at 900 nm. Physical models of Mira variables including dust formation were developed, providing consistent explanations for these results as well as many other photometric and interferometric observations.

This thesis describes the development of a red tip/tilt and fringe detection system at the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI), modelling the instrumental performance and effects of seeing at SUSI, making observations of Mira variable stars and finally modelling the atmospheres of Mira variables with physically self-consistent models. The new SUSI tip/tilt system is based around a CCD detector and has been successfully used to both track the majority of tip/tilt power in median seeing at an R magnitude of 4.5, and to provide seeing measures for post processing. The new fringe-detection system rapidly scans 33 to 140 $\mu$m in delay and detects the fringes using two avalanche-photodiodes. It has been used to acquire fringe data, provide user feedback and to track the fringe group-delay position. The system visibility (fringe visibility for a point source) and throughput were found to be consistent with models of the SUSI optical beam train. Observations were made of a variety of sources, including the Mira variables R Car and RR Sco, which were observed in two orthogonal polarization states. These measurements were the first successful use of Optical Interferometric Polarimetry (OIP), and enabled scattered light to be separated from bright photospheric flux. Dust scattering was found to originate from a thin shell 2-3 continuum radii from these stars, with an optical depth of 0.1 to 0.2 at 900 nm. Physical models of Mira variables including dust formation were developed, providing consistent explanations for these results as well as many other photometric and interferometric observations.

Chemical detection, including analysis of gases and liquids, is a large field in environmental research and industry. It requires sensitive, rapid, and inexpensive chemical sensors. Many industrial materials such as coatings and adhesives readily absorb chemical analytes, which may result in changes of their chemical, mechanical, and optical properties. This uptake of volatile organic compounds either from the gas phase or from an aqueous solution into a thin film is frequently accompanied by a change in material refractive index and film thickness. While the undesired swelling of thin film coatings and their refractive index changes affect their use in harsh environments, the sensitivity of some polymers to solvent vapours can also be exploited for sensing applications. In this project, a method is reported for real-time monitoring of vapour uptake by simultaneous detection of the refractive index, n, and thickness, d, of thin transparent films with a precision of 10-4 for refractive index and 100 nm for thickness. The setup combines a total internal reflection refractometer with an interferometric imaging method. Two setups using 1550 nm and 635 nm measurement wavelengths were developed, with a detection rate of 1 second per measurement. Two processing methods using a fast Fourier transform algorithm to calculate n and d are applied to the experimental results and compared. Both methods could extract n and d simultaneously from each image captured by the refractometer. The results show that the setup is capable of monitoring film RI and thickness change in real-time. The partitioning of volatile organic compound vapours into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and PDMS-polydiphenylsiloxane (PDPS) copolymers is described. The system is also suited for characterization of other solid and liquid films like SU-8 photoresist and crude oil. It shows great potential in commercial applications of thin film characterization. / Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-19 22:21:38.836

The elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime (EHD) is found in many machine elements, such as rolling element bearings, gears, cam/tappet, where a combination of hydrodynamic effect, elastic deformation of the surfaces and an increase of the lubricant’s viscosity with pressure create a continuous lubricant film which is capable of supporting pressures of the order of tens of thousands of atmospheres. One of the most important features of these films is their thickness, as this determines whether the bounding surfaces are completely separated, thus avoiding premature wear and failure of the contact. Consequently for many years scientists were interested in finding methods for measuring the lubricant film thickness in elastohydrodynamic conditions. One of the most versatile and widely used techniques for measuring lubricant film thickness in EHD contacts is the optical interferometry method. Apart from numerous advantages, this method has the limitation in the fact that one of the contacting surfaces must be transparent, usually glass or sapphire, thus it does not replicate real conditions found in machine elements contacts. On the other hand, the other group of methods used for studying the behaviour of elastohydrodynamic films includes a variety of electrical methods. Historically, these appeared before the optical methods, but gradually lost importance with the success of the later. Most capacitive, resistive, inductance methods developed so far use specially designed sensors for monitoring the lubricant film thickness. In the case of electrical techniques, both elements of the contact are metallic, which means that these can be used for measuring film thickness in real machine elements. One of the main disadvantages of electrical methods though, is the difficulty with which the calibration of various electrical quantities, against lubricant film thickness is obtained. This thesis describes the work carried out by the author on the application of a capacitive method for studying lubrication of elastohydrodynamic contacts. The novelty of the method used consists in the calibration of the capacitance of the contact with optical interferometry. This project started from the premises that a thicker Chromium layer will supply the phase change needed to precisely measure the lubricant film thickness by eliminating the fragile silica layer, and it has been shown that an increase in Cr thickness results in a increase in reflection of the glass–Cr interface making the resulting images hard to process. Modifications to the existing experimental rig were carried out in order to apply/collect an electrical signal from both the disc and the ball. Signal collection from the disc was quite straightforward and a graphite brush paired with a copper nut was used, as this is the oldest method of collecting/applying and electrical signal from a rotating element. Collecting an electrical signal from the ball presented quite a challenge as the ball is submerged in oil. A number of brushes was designed, made and tested and the one that provided the most stable results chosen. For calibration purposes a base oil and two additives were chosen, the additives were chosen in such a way that the improvement made to the lubrication process to be very different from one additive to the other. The chosen additives were a Viscosity Index Improver [VII] and an Organic Friction Modifier [OFM]. The VII is used by many researchers in order to obtain multigrade lubricants using the same base oil by varying its percentage in the mix. The OFM is used to provide protection between the two contacting bodies when EHD film fails and EHD lubrication is replaced by mixed lubrication by forming a boundary layer on the contacting surfaces. Optical measurements were carried out on the base oil and the two resulting lubricants from the additive mixes using the Ultra Thin Film Interferometry [UTFI] method. The measurements were used as a benchmark against which the capacitive measurements were calibrated. Tests were conducted in a number of controlled conditions for speed, temperature, load and sliding conditions. Results showed that the highest influence on the lubrication process was given by the speed, an increase in speed results in an increase in optically measured film thickness and a decrease in electrically measured film thickness. Phenomenon explained by a large amount of lubricant pushed into the contact. Another parameter that influenced the results quite significantly was temperature, a rise in temperature supplies a decrease in optically measured film thickness and an increase in capacitive measured film thickness which was explained by lubricant viscosity dropping with a rise in temperature. Three different sliding conditions were employed and a small drop in optically measured film thickness followed by a small rise in electrically measured film thickness was recorded due to a local increase in contact temperature when sliding was employed. The capacitive method developed in this project is precise enough to accurately measure lubricant film thickness down to 100nm; a model for thicknesses lower that 100nm was proposed Results from the optical and capacitive methods were compared and a good correlation was found, indicating that the developed capacitive method can be used as a tool for measuring metal on metal contacts without further calibration.

Malgré sa capacité unique à discerner des détails qu'aucun instrument “classique” ne peut voir, l'interférométrie optique est fortement handicapée par l'atmosphère. Celle-ci limite drastiquement les temps de pose des interféromètres au sol et les empèche d'accumuler suffisamment de photons pour observer des sources toujours plus faibles, limitant de facto l'échantillon des astres observables. Les suiveurs de franges sont des instruments développés spécifiquement dans le but de compenser ces perturbations atmosphériques, et ainsi de repousser les limites de l'univers visible par les interféromètres optiques. Le but premier de cette thèse est d'étudier et d'améliorer ces instruments, dans le contexte des technologies actuelles et des nouvelles générations d'interféromètres combinant 4 télescopes et plus. La seconde grande partie de cette thèse s'attachera quant à elle à montrer l'intérêt de l'interférométrie optique dans l'étude des binaires en interaction, astres en mesure d'apporter des réponses à un vaste panel de champs d'étude du fait de la diversité des processus physiques en jeu en leur sein. / Despite its unique ability to discern details that a “classical” instrument cannot see, optical interferometry is still strongly handicapped by the atmosphere. It drastically limits the exposure time of ground interferometers and prevents them to accumulate enough photons to observe weak sources, limiting de facto sample of observable stars. Fringe trackers are instruments developed specifically to compensate for these atmospheric disturbances, and so push the boundaries of the universe observable with optical interferometers. The primary purpose of this thesis is to study and improve these instruments in the context of the current technologies and of the new generation of interferometers combining four telescopes and more. The second major part of this thesis will show the advantages of optical interferometry in the study of interacting binary, stars able to answer to a wide range of domains because of the diversity of physical processes involved in them.

Orientador: Cláudio Kitano / Abstract: Interferometers are extremely sensitive measurement devices, which use the principle of interference between two or more sources of light to generate a pattern of constructive and destructive interference. This pattern contains information about the physical phenomenon under study, and their light intensity can be used to calculate the optical path difference traveled by the two beams. The optical path difference and light intensity relationship is given by a cosine type function. Large disturbances can change the interferometer operation point, reaching nonlinear regions of the interferometric curve and even inducing ambiguities due to the periodicity of the input/output relationship. The present work concerns with the modeling, development and application of a control strategy based on sliding mode control, in a two-beam quadrature interferometer. It was used the high gain approach, which consists in to fully compensate the phase shifts induced on the sensor arm with the control system, in such a way that the voltage control signal becomes proportional to the phase disturbances. Therefore, the demodulation process does not require phase unwrapping algorithms. This implemented system showed capability to improve dynamic range and bandwidth when compared with other control systems in literature that were based on different high gain approach topologies. Also a new method of interferometric phase demodulation is proposed allying this control strategy to a virtual emulated inte... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Resumo: Interferômetros são dispositivos de medição extremamente sensíveis, os quais utilizam o princípio de interferência entre duas ou mais fontes de luz para gerar um padrão de interferência construtiva e destrutiva. Este padrão contém informação sobre os fenômenos físicos sob estudo, e sua intensidade luminosa pode ser usada para calcular a diferença de caminho óptico acumulada pelos dois feixes de luz. A diferença de caminho óptico e a intensidade de luz são relacionadas por uma função cossenoidal. Grandes distúrbios podem alterar o ponto de operação do interferômetro, alcançando regiões não lineares da curva característica do interferômetro e até mesmo induzindo ambiguidades, devido à periodicidade da relação entrada/saída. Este trabalho preocupou-se com o modelamento, desenvolvimento e aplicação de uma estratégia de controle baseada em controle com modos deslizantes, em um interferômetro de dois feixes em quadratura. Foi utilizada a abordagem de alto ganho, a qual consiste em utilizar o sistema de controle para compensar completamente os deslocamentos de fase induzidos no braço sensor, de tal forma que o sinal de controle se relaciona com os deslocamentos de fase por uma equação de reta. Portanto o processo de demodulação não necessita de algoritmos de desdobramento de fase. O sistema implementado mostrou capacidade de melhorar a faixa dinâmica e largura de banda quando comparado com outros sistemas de controle na literatura, também baseados na abordagem de alto ganho. Destaca... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor

Abstract ¡@¡@The motion when two parting in machine into contact can combine squeeze and sliding motion. This situation does occur for example in the meshing of gear teeth and in heavily loaded rolling elements bearing etc. In this study, the experiment is used to investigate the microscopic mechanism of the oil film under the combined squeeze and sliding motion. ¡@¡@The laser optical system is employed in the starting friction tester to measure the film thickness accurately by the principle of optical interferometry. High-speed video camera with the microscope records the dynamic characteristics of lubrication in the diminutive contact region. ¡@¡@Results show that the dimple becomes deeper with increasing squeeze velocity. When sliding velocity increases, the duration of dimple becomes shorter, but when the squeeze load increases, the dimple can keep longer. Furthermore, the dimple diameter increases with increasing the curvature radius of steel ball at the same experiment condition.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-05-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:08:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 menezes_jpc_me_ilha.pdf: 3284910 bytes, checksum: c8578da11e5d14cfc4d1f4eaaafb100b (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Atuadores piezoelétricos convertem energia elétrica em energia mecânica, sendo amplamente utilizados como transdutores de deslocamento micrométricos ou sub-micrométricos de elevada precisão. Neste trabalho, atuadores piezoelétricos flextensionais (APFs), projetados pelo método de otimização topológica, são caracterizados em termos de linearidade entre a tensão de excitação e o deslocamento gerado, bem como em termos de resposta em frequência, utilizando-se um interferômetro de Michelson homódino e em malha aberta. Interferômetros homódinos não realimentados têm seu desempenho prejudicado pelo fenômeno de desvanecimento, causado por perturbações ambientais espúrias que incidem aleatoriamente entre seus braços. Nesta dissertação, enfatizam-se métodos de demodulação de fase óptica baseados em relações envolvendo as componentes espectrais do sinal de saída do interferômetro que são imunes ao problema do desvanescimento. Dentre estes, destacam-se métodos clássicos como J1... J4, J1... J4 modificado, J1... J6 neg e J1... J6 pos. Estes métodos permitem a medição direta de deslocamentos microscópicos, sem a necessidade de qualquer procedimento de calibração. Além disso, não são afetados por instabilidades da fonte óptica, da responsividade do fotodiodo e da visibilidade das franjas de interferência. Contudo, apresentam reduzidas faixas dinâmicas de demodulação de fase. A fim de superar esta deficiência, investiga-se um método adicional de detecção direta, baseado na análise do espectro do sinal fotodetectado, exibindo todas as vantagens dos demais métodos, mas que é capaz de estender a faixa dinâmica de demodulação a valores tão elevados quanto 100 rad. Simulações computacionais são executadas com este método, levando-se em consideração o efeito do desvanecimento e tensões de ruído eletrônico do tipo 1/f, evidenciando... / Piezoelectric actuators convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, being widely used as micrometric or sub-micrometric displacement transducer of high accuracy. In this work, piezoelectric flextensional actuators (PFA’s), designed by the topology optimization method, are characterized in terms of linearity between the drive voltage and the corresponding displacement, as well as in terms of frequency response, using a homodyne, open-loop, Michelson interferometer. Homodyne interferometers without feedback have their performance spoiled by signal fading, caused by spurious environmental disturbances that occur randomly between their arms. This thesis emphasizes methods of optical phase demodulation, based on relations involving the spectral components of the interferometer output signal, which are immune to signal fading. Among these methods, it is detailed here the classical ones, such as J1... J4, modified J1... J4, J1... J6 neg e J1... J6 pos. These methods allow direct measurements of microscopic displacements, free of calibration procedures. Besides, they are not affected by optical source oscillations, photodiode responsivity and interferometric fringe visibility. However, they have reduced dynamic range for phase demodulation. In order to overcome this, this work investigates an additional method for direct detection, based on spectral analysis drawback of the photodetected signal. The method has all the advantages of the others, but it is able to span its demodulation dynamic range to values as high as 100 rad. Numerical simulations are done using this method (considering the signal fading and the 1/f electronic noise voltage), showing its viability to characterize PFA’s. Experiments are performed in laboratory, involving tests with different PFA’s. The method validation is carried out with the aid of an electrooptic intensity modulator, whose phase characteristics can... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

L’interférométrie optique/IR à longue base a été récemment mise en place comme une technique capable de résoudre spatialement les étoiles et leurs environnements circumstellaires au niveau de la milliseconde d'angle (mas). Cette haute résolution ouvre toute une nouvelle fenêtre pour l'étude des systèmes astrophysiques, fournissant des informations inaccessibles par d'autres techniques. Les disques astrophysiques sont observés dans une grande variété de systèmes, de galaxies jusqu'aux anneaux planétaires, partageant communément des processus physiques similaires. Deux disques particuliers sont étudiés dans la thèse: (i) les étoiles B He-riches qui présente des champs magnétiques de l'ordre de kG et que confine leurs vents dans des structures appelées magnétosphères; et (ii) les étoiles Be, rotateurs rapides qui présentent des disques circumstellaires épisodiques. Cette étude utilise la technique interférométrique pour étudier à la fois la photosphère et l'environnement circumstellaire de ces étoiles. L'objectif est de combiner l'interférométrie avec d'autres techniques d'observation (telles que la spectroscopie et la polarimétrie) pour effectuer une description physique complète et bien contraindre ces systèmes. Cette description est acquise par l'interprétation de l'ensemble des observations par des modèles de transfert radiatif. / Optical long baseline interferometry was recently established as a technique capable of resolving stars and their circumstellar environments at the milliarcsecond (mas) resolution level. This high-resolution opens an entire new window to the study of astrophysical systems, providing information inaccessible by other techniques. Astrophysical disks are observed in a wide variety of systems, from galaxies up to planetary rings, commonly sharing similar physical processes. Two particular disk like systems are studied in the thesis: (i) B He-rich stars that exhibits magnetic fields in order of kG and that trap their winds in structures called magnetospheres; and (ii) Be stars, fast rotating stars that create circumstellar viscous disks. This study uses the interferometric technique to investigate both the photosphere proper and the circumstellar environment of these stars. The objective is to combine interferometry with other observational techniques (such as spectroscopy and polarimetry) to perform a complete and well-constrained physical description of these systems. This description is accompanied by radiative transfer models.

Le présent travail de thèse a consisté en un diagnostic d’une colonne de plasma d’un mélange d’argon et de CO2, créée par une décharge éclatant dans un réacteur cylindrique, entre deux électrodes pointues en tungstène, sous une tension d’amorçage de 10KV, un courant de 100 à 300mA, et à pression atmosphérique. Le diagnostic du plasma a été réalisé à l’aide d’un laser Hélium Néon (raie 632.8nm), d'un interféromètre de Mach-Zehnder et d’un spectromètre à fibre optique. Après calcul de la composition du mélange d’Argon et de CO2 en fonction de la température par la méthode de minimisation de l’enthalpie libre de Gibbs, on a déterminé la densité des espèces. Utilisant les propriétés des particules soumises à une onde électromagnétique, et la relation de Gladstone Dale qui lie l’indice de Réfraction d’un Gaz à sa densité et à sa température, nous avons calculé l’évolution de la réfractivité du milieu. Ensuite nous l’avons mesurée pour obtenir les profils radiaux de température par la transformée de Fourier et l’inversion d’Abel, des cartes de phase obtenues par interférométrie optique. Ce travail a été complété par une analyse par spectroscopie optique moléculaire d’émission. Utilisant le système de Swan de la molécule C2 (d3!g – a3!u) comme pyromètre, notamment les bandes 01(5635.2 Å) et 12 (5585.5 Å), nous avons déterminé les températures vibrationnelles et rotationnelles du plasma. Un programme en FORTRAN a été mis au point, pour la simulation des bandes moléculaires. Nous avons diagnostiqué la colonne de plasma sur toute sa largeur et dressé un profil de température radial. Les températures vibrationnelles et rotationnelles nous ont permis de calculer l’écart à l’équilibre thermodynamique. / This work of thesis consisted of a diagnosis of a column of plasma of a mixture of argon and CO2 created by a discharge bursting in a cylindrical engine, between two pointed tungsten electrodes, under a voltage of 10KV, a current of 100 to 300mA, at atmospheric pressure. The diagnosis of plasma was carried out using a laser Helium Neon (line 632.8nm), of an interferometer of Mach-Zehnder and a spectrometer with optical fibre. After calculation of the mix design of Argon and CO2 according to the temperature by the method of minimization of the free enthalpy of Gibbs, one determined the density of the species. Using the properties of the particles subjected to an electromagnetic wave, and the relation of Gladstone Dale which binds the index of Refraction of a Gas to its density and its temperature, we calculated the evolution of the refractivity of the medium. Then we measured it to obtain the radial profiles of temperature by the Fourier transform and the inversion of Abel, of the charts of phase obtained by optical interferometry. This work was supplemented by an analysis by molecular optical spectroscopy of emission. Using the system of Swan of the molecule C2 (d3!g – a3!u) like pyrometer, in particular the bands 01(5635.2 Å) and 12 (5585.5 Å), we determined the vibrational and rotational temperatures in the plasma. A Fortran program was developed, for the simulation of the molecular bands. We diagnosed the column of plasma over all its width and drew up a radial profile of temperature. The calculation of the vibrational and rotational temperatures enabled us to calculate the variation with thermodynamic balance.