Optical frequency comb spectroscopy (OFCS) combines two previously exclusive features, i.e., wide optical bandwidth and high spectral resolution, enabling precise measurements of entire molecular bands and simultaneous monitoring of multiple gas species in a short measurement time. Moreover, the equidistant mode structure of frequency combs enables efficient coupling of the comb power to enhancement resonant cavities, yielding high detection sensitivities. Different broadband detection methods have been developed to exploit the full potential of frequency combs in spectroscopy, based either on Fourier transform spectroscopy or on dispersive elements.There have been two main aims of the research presented in this thesis. The first has been to improve the performance of mechanical Fourier transform spectrometers (FTS) based on frequency combs in terms of sensitivity, resolution and spectral coverage. In pursuit of this aim, we have developed a new spectroscopic technique, so-called noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy (NICE-OFCS), and achieved a shot-noise-limited sensitivity and low ppb (parts-per-billion, 10−9) CO2 concentration detection limit in the near-infrared range using commercially available components. We have also realized a novel method for acquisition and analysis of comb-based FTS spectra, a so-called sub-nominal resolution method, which provides ultra-high spectral resolution and frequency accuracy (both in kHz range, limited only by the stability of the comb) over the broadband spectral range of the frequency comb. Finally, we have developed an optical parametric oscillator generating a frequency comb in the mid-infrared range, where the strongest ro-vibrational molecular absorption lines reside. Using this mid-infrared comb and an FTS, we have demonstrated, for the first time, comb spectroscopy above 5 μm, measured broadband spectra of several species and reached low ppb detection limits for CH4, NO and CO in 1 s.The second aim has been more application-oriented, focused on frequency comb spectroscopy in combustion environments and under atmospheric conditions for fast and sensitive multispecies detection. We have demonstrated, for the first time, cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy in a flame, detected broadband high temperature H2O and OH spectra using the FTS in the near-infrared range and showed the potential of the technique for flame thermometry. For applications demanding a short measurement time and high sensitivity under atmospheric pressure conditions, we have implemented continuous-filtering Vernier spectroscopy, a dispersion-based spectroscopic technique, for the first time in the mid-infrared range. The spectrometer was sensitive, fast, robust, and capable of multispecies detection with 2 ppb detection limit for CH4 in 25 ms. / Optisk frekvenskamspektroskopi (OFCS) kombinerar två tidigare icke förenliga egenskaper, dvs. ett brett optiskt frekvensområde med en hög spektral upplösning, vilket möjliggör noggranna mätningar av hela molekylära absorptionsband och detektion av flera gaser samtidigt med en kort mättid. Eftersom frekvenskammar har en regelbunden struktur med jämnt separerade laser moder kan man effektivt koppla kammen till en optisk kavitet och därmed möjliggöra frekvenskamsdetektion med hög känslighet. Olika metoder har utvecklats för att utnyttja frekvenskammarnas fulla potential för spektroskopi, baserad på antingen Fouriertransform-spektroskopi eller dispersiva element.Forskningen som presenteras i denna avhandling har haft två huvudmål. Det första har varit att förbättra prestandan hos mekaniska Fourier-transformspektrometrar (FTS) baserat på frekvenskammar med avseende på känslighet, upplösning och spektral täckning. I strävan efter detta har vi utvecklat en ny spektroskopisk teknik, benämnd brusimmun kavitetsförstärkt optisk frekvenskamspektroskopi (NICE-OFCS), och uppnått en hagelbrusbegränsad känslighet och detektionsgränser ner till låga ppb koncentrationer (miljarddelar, 10−9) för CO2 i det när-infraröda frekvensområdet enbart med användning av kommersiellt tillgängliga komponenter. Vi har också utvecklat en ny metod för insamling och analys av kambaserade FTS-spektra, som betecknas ha sub-nominell upplösning. Metoden gör det möjligt att uppnå ultrahög spektral upplösning och hög frekvensnoggrannhet (båda i kHz-området, endast begränsad av kammens stabilitet) över kammens hela frekvensområde. Slutligen har vi utvecklat en optisk parametrisk oscillator som genererar en frekvenskam i det mid-infraröda frekvensområdet, där de starkaste rotations-vibrationsmolekylära absorptionslinjerna finns. Med hjälp av denna kam och en FTS har vi för första gången demonstrerat frekvenskamspektroskopi över 5 μm. Vi har detekterat bredbandsspektra av flera molekylära gaser och har, för mättider på 1 s, uppnått detektionsgränser ner till låga ppb halter för CH4, NO och CO.Det andra syftet har varit mer applikationsorienterat: att använda frekvenskamspektroskopi i förbränningsmiljö och under atmosfäriska förhållanden för snabb och känslig multiämnesdetektion. Vi har för första gången demonstrerat kavitetsförstärkt optisk frekvenskamspektroskopi i en flamma, där vi har detekterat högtemperaturspektra av H2O och OH i det när-infraröda området med användning av FTS och visat teknikens potential för termometrisk karakterisering av flammor. För applikationer som kräver en kort mättid och hög känslighet under atmosfäriska förhållanden har vi utvecklat ett detektionssystem baserat på Vernier-spektroskopi med kontinuerlig filtrering, vilket är en dispersionsbaserad teknik, för första gången i det mid-infraröda frekvensområdet. Det befanns att spektrometern var känslig, snabb, robust och kapabel till multiämnesdetektion med en detektionsgräns på 2 ppb för CH4 för korta mättider (25 ms).

The Optical Frequency Comb Spectroscopy (OFCS) Group at the Department of Physics at Umeå University develops new techniques for extremely high sensitivity trace gas detection, non invasive temperature measurements, and other applications of OFCS. Their setup used primarily for trace gas detection contains several components that have been developed in-house, including a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and an auto-balancing detector. This is the one used in this thesis work and it includes a high frequency data acquisition card (DAC) recording interferograms in excess of 10^7 double-precision floating point samples per sweep of the FTS's retarder. For acquisition and analysis to be possible in both directions of the retarder the interferograms needs to be analysed in a sub-second timeframe, something not possible with the present software. The aim of this thesis work has thus been to develop a system with optimized analysis implementations in MATLAB. The latter was a prerequisite from the group to ensure maintainability, as all members are well acquainted with it.Fulfilling its primary purpose MATLAB performs vector and matrix computations quite efficiently, has mostly fully mutable datatypes, and with recent just-in-time (JIT) compilation optimizations vector resizing performance has improved to what in many instances is perceived as equivalent to preallocated variables. This memory management abstraction, however, also means that explicit control of when arguments are passed by value or by reference to a function is not officially supported. The following performance ramifications naturally increase with the size of the data sets (N) passed as arguments and become quite noticeable even at moderate values of N when dealing with data visualization, a key function in system. To circumvent these problems explicit data references were implemented using some of the undocumented functions of MATLAB's libmx library together with a custom data visualization function.The main parts of the near real time interferogram analysis are resampling and a Fourier transformation, both of which had functionally complete but not optimized implementations. The minimal requirement for the reimplementation of these were simply to improve efficiency while maintaining output precision.On experimentally obtained data the new system's (DAQS) resampling implementation increased sample throughput by a factor of 19 which in the setup used corresponds to 10^8 samples per second. Memory usage was decreased by 72% or in terms of the theoretical minimum from a factor 7.1 to 2.0. Due to structural changes in the sequence of execution DAQS has no corresponding implementation of the reference FFT function as the computations performed in it have been parallelized and/or are only executed on demand, their combined CPU-time can however in a worst-case scenario reach 75% of that of the reference. The data visualization performance increase (compared to MATLAB's own, as the old system used LabVIEW) depends on the size in pixels of the surface it is visualized on and N, decreasing with the former and increasing with the latter. In the baseline case of a default surface size of 434x342 pixels and N corresponding to one full sweep of the FTS's retarder DAQS offers a 100x speed-up to the Windows 7 version of MATLAB R2014b's plot.In addition to acquiring and analyzing interferograms the primary objectives of the work included tools to configure the DAC and controlling the FTS's retarder motor, both implemented in DAQS.Secondary to the above was the implementation of acquisition and analysis for both directions of the retarder, a HITRAN reference spectra generator, and functionality to improve the user experience (UX). The first, though computation time allows for it, has not been implemented due to a delay in the DAC-driver. To provide a generic implementation of the second, the HITRAN database was converted from the text-based format it is distributed in to a MySQL database, a wrapper class providing frequency-span selection and the absorption spectra generation was developed together with a graphical front-end. Finally the improved UX functionality mainly focused on providing easy-access documentation of the properties of the DAC.In summation, though the primary objectives of optimizing the data analysis functions were reached, the end product still requires a new driver for the DAC to provide the full functionality of the reference implementation as the existing one is simply too slow. Many of DAQS' components can however be used as stand-alone classes and functions until a new driver is available. It is also worth mentioning that National Instruments (NI), the DAC vendor, has according to their technical support no plans to develop native MATLAB drivers as MathWorks will not sell them licenses.

Die Reduzierung des Ressourcenverbrauchs und der Lärm- und Schadstoffemissionen von technischen Strömungsprozessen wie Verbrennungs- und Einspritzvorgängen ist von hoher gesellschaftlicher Bedeutung und erfordert ein tieferes Verständnis der auftretenden Strömungsphänomene. Hierfür ist die messtechnische Erfassung der Strömungen notwendig, wobei insbesondere die Strömungsgeschwindigkeit von hohem Interesse ist. Strömungsgeschwindigkeitsmessungen in dynamischen oder reaktiven Fluiden stellen jedoch hohe Anforderungen an die eingesetzte Messtechnik. Um Strömungsoszillationen und instationäre Phänomene mit kurzen Zeitskalen erfassen zu können, muss eine Messung simultan dreikomponentig und mit einer hohen Messrate von 100 kHz oder mehr erfolgen. Zur Analyse komplexer und kleinskaliger Geschwindigkeitsfelder ist eine bildgebende oder volumetrische Messung mit einer hohen örtlichen Auflösung wünschenswert. Momentan verfügbare Messsysteme genügen bisher nicht allen genannten Anforderungen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist daher die Entwicklung, Charakterisierung und Qualifizierung eines geeigneten Systems zur zeitaufgelösten Erfassung instationärer Strömungsprozesse in hochdynamischen und reaktiven Fluiden. Einen für diese Zwecke vielversprechenden Ansatz stellt die Doppler-Global-Velozimetrie (FM-DGV) dar, da diese eine berührungslose Messung mit hoher Messrate gestattet und prinzipiell auch dreikomponentige und volumetrische Messungen ermöglicht. Daher erfolgte die Entwicklung und Realisierung eines simultan dreikomponentigen FM-DGV-Systems und eines FM-DGV-Systems zur bildgebenden und volumetrischen Messung. Die aufgebauten Systeme wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Geschwindigkeitsmessunsicherheit charakterisiert. Hierbei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die resultierenden Messunsicherheiten hinreichend klein sind und der Einfluss von Brechungsindexfluktuationen auf die Messunsicherheit vernachlässigt werden kann. Die Analyse der Messunsicherheiten aufgrund von Strömungsgeschwindigkeits- und Streulichtleistungsfluktuationen erfolgte mittels eines modellbasierten Ansatzes. Dabei wurde gezeigt, dass Streulichtleistungsfluktuationen einen dominanten Beitrag zum Messunsicherheitsbudget leisten können. Um die Eignung für die simultan dreikomponentige Messung mit hoher Messrate zu demonstrieren, wurden Messungen an einem Bias-Flow-Liner (BFL) durchgeführt. Dabei gelang erstmals an einem BFL die Untersuchung des Leistungsdichtespektrums in kartesischen Koordinaten und der Nachweis eines breitbandigen Energietransfers von Energie der Schallanregung hin zur kinetischen Energie der Strömung. Zur Demonstration der Messung in reaktiven Fluiden wurde ein drallstabilisierter Gasbrenner untersucht, wie er in stationären Gasturbinen und Flugzeugtriebwerken eingesetzt wird. Hierbei konnte eine thermo-akustische Wechselwirkung zwischen der Wärmefreisetzungsrate und dem Druck nachgewiesen werden und es zeigte sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen den lokalen Geschwindigkeitsoszillationen innerhalb der Flamme und den globalen Schalldruckemissionen. Durch die bildgebende, zeit- und ortsaufgelöste Messung mit hoher Messrate konnten zudem erstmals instationäre Phänomene der Strömungsgeschwindigkeit im düsennahen Bereich einer Hochdruck-Einspritzdüse ohne Seedingzufuhr vermessen werden. Diese Entwicklungen ermöglichen weitere Untersuchungen zum stabileren Betrieb von Gasbrennern mit mageren Gemischen, ein tieferes Verständnis der Dämpfungsmechanismen an BFL und die Optimierung des Einspritzvorganges in Motoren. Somit kann perspektivisch ein Beitrag zum ressourcenschonenden, umweltfreundlichen und leisen Betrieb von technischen Strömungsmaschinen wie Flugzeugtriebwerken, stationären Gasturbinen und Verbrennungsmotoren geleistet werden. / The reduction of the consumption of resources and the noise and polluting emissions of technical flow processes such as combustion and injection processes is of high social relevance and requires a deeper understanding of the occurring flow phenomena. For this purpose the metrological acquisition of the flows is necessary, whereat especially the flow velocity is of high interest. However, flow velocity measurements in dynamic or reactive fluids make great demands on the engaged measurement techniques. In order to resolve velocity oscillations or unsteady phenomena with short timescales a simultaneous three component measurement with a high measurement rate of 100 kHz or more is required. To analyze complex and small-scale velocity fields an imaging or volumetric measurement with a high spatial resolution is desired. Currently available measurement systems do not fulfill all these requirements. Hence, the goal of this work is the development, characterization and qualification of a measurement system suitable for the temporally resolved acquisition of unsteady flow processes in highly dynamic and reactive fluids. For this purpose the Doppler global velocimetry with laser frequency modulation (FM-DGV) represents a promising approach, since it allows a contactless measurement with high measurement rate and in principle enables simultaneous three component and volumetric measurements. Hence, as a first step a simultaneous three component FM-DGV system and a FM-DGV system for imaging and volumetric measurements were developed. Subsequently, the realized systems were characterized regarding their velocity measurement uncertainty. It was shown, that the resulting measurement uncertainty is sufficiently small and that the influence of fluctuations of the refractive index on the measurement uncertainty can be neglected. The analysis of the measurement uncertainty due to fluctuations of the flow velocity and the scattered light power was conducted using a model-based approach. It was thereby shown, that fluctuations of the scattered light power can lead to a dominant term of the uncertainty budget. In order to demonstrate the suitability for simultaneous three component measurement with high measurement rate, measurements at a bias flow liner (BFL) were conducted. Thereby for the first time at a BFL it was possible to determine the power spectral density in Cartesian coordinates and to show the broadband energy transfer from the energy of the sound excitation to the kinetic energy of the flow. To demonstrate the measurement in reactive flows, a swirl-stabilized burner was investigated, as it is used in stationary gas turbines and airplane engines. It was possible to prove a thermo-acoustic interaction between the heat release rate and the pressure and to show a correlation between the local velocity oscillations within the flame and the global sound pressure emissions. By means of the imaging, temporally and spatially resolved measurement with high measurement rate it was furthermore possible to resolve unsteady phenomena in the near-nozzle region of a high-pressure injection nozzle without the addition of tracer particles. These developments allow further investigations regarding the stable operation of gas burners with lean mixtures, a deeper understanding of the damping effects at BFL and the optimization of injection processes in engines. Consequently, it is perspectively possible to contribute to the resource-efficient, environment-friendly and quiet operation of technical flow machines as aircraft engines, stationary gas turbines and combustion engines.

Die Reduzierung des Ressourcenverbrauchs und der Lärm- und Schadstoffemissionen von technischen Strömungsprozessen wie Verbrennungs- und Einspritzvorgängen ist von hoher gesellschaftlicher Bedeutung und erfordert ein tieferes Verständnis der auftretenden Strömungsphänomene. Hierfür ist die messtechnische Erfassung der Strömungen notwendig, wobei insbesondere die Strömungsgeschwindigkeit von hohem Interesse ist. Strömungsgeschwindigkeitsmessungen in dynamischen oder reaktiven Fluiden stellen jedoch hohe Anforderungen an die eingesetzte Messtechnik. Um Strömungsoszillationen und instationäre Phänomene mit kurzen Zeitskalen erfassen zu können, muss eine Messung simultan dreikomponentig und mit einer hohen Messrate von 100 kHz oder mehr erfolgen. Zur Analyse komplexer und kleinskaliger Geschwindigkeitsfelder ist eine bildgebende oder volumetrische Messung mit einer hohen örtlichen Auflösung wünschenswert. Momentan verfügbare Messsysteme genügen bisher nicht allen genannten Anforderungen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist daher die Entwicklung, Charakterisierung und Qualifizierung eines geeigneten Systems zur zeitaufgelösten Erfassung instationärer Strömungsprozesse in hochdynamischen und reaktiven Fluiden. Einen für diese Zwecke vielversprechenden Ansatz stellt die Doppler-Global-Velozimetrie (FM-DGV) dar, da diese eine berührungslose Messung mit hoher Messrate gestattet und prinzipiell auch dreikomponentige und volumetrische Messungen ermöglicht. Daher erfolgte die Entwicklung und Realisierung eines simultan dreikomponentigen FM-DGV-Systems und eines FM-DGV-Systems zur bildgebenden und volumetrischen Messung. Die aufgebauten Systeme wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Geschwindigkeitsmessunsicherheit charakterisiert. Hierbei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die resultierenden Messunsicherheiten hinreichend klein sind und der Einfluss von Brechungsindexfluktuationen auf die Messunsicherheit vernachlässigt werden kann. Die Analyse der Messunsicherheiten aufgrund von Strömungsgeschwindigkeits- und Streulichtleistungsfluktuationen erfolgte mittels eines modellbasierten Ansatzes. Dabei wurde gezeigt, dass Streulichtleistungsfluktuationen einen dominanten Beitrag zum Messunsicherheitsbudget leisten können. Um die Eignung für die simultan dreikomponentige Messung mit hoher Messrate zu demonstrieren, wurden Messungen an einem Bias-Flow-Liner (BFL) durchgeführt. Dabei gelang erstmals an einem BFL die Untersuchung des Leistungsdichtespektrums in kartesischen Koordinaten und der Nachweis eines breitbandigen Energietransfers von Energie der Schallanregung hin zur kinetischen Energie der Strömung. Zur Demonstration der Messung in reaktiven Fluiden wurde ein drallstabilisierter Gasbrenner untersucht, wie er in stationären Gasturbinen und Flugzeugtriebwerken eingesetzt wird. Hierbei konnte eine thermo-akustische Wechselwirkung zwischen der Wärmefreisetzungsrate und dem Druck nachgewiesen werden und es zeigte sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen den lokalen Geschwindigkeitsoszillationen innerhalb der Flamme und den globalen Schalldruckemissionen. Durch die bildgebende, zeit- und ortsaufgelöste Messung mit hoher Messrate konnten zudem erstmals instationäre Phänomene der Strömungsgeschwindigkeit im düsennahen Bereich einer Hochdruck-Einspritzdüse ohne Seedingzufuhr vermessen werden. Diese Entwicklungen ermöglichen weitere Untersuchungen zum stabileren Betrieb von Gasbrennern mit mageren Gemischen, ein tieferes Verständnis der Dämpfungsmechanismen an BFL und die Optimierung des Einspritzvorganges in Motoren. Somit kann perspektivisch ein Beitrag zum ressourcenschonenden, umweltfreundlichen und leisen Betrieb von technischen Strömungsmaschinen wie Flugzeugtriebwerken, stationären Gasturbinen und Verbrennungsmotoren geleistet werden. / The reduction of the consumption of resources and the noise and polluting emissions of technical flow processes such as combustion and injection processes is of high social relevance and requires a deeper understanding of the occurring flow phenomena. For this purpose the metrological acquisition of the flows is necessary, whereat especially the flow velocity is of high interest. However, flow velocity measurements in dynamic or reactive fluids make great demands on the engaged measurement techniques. In order to resolve velocity oscillations or unsteady phenomena with short timescales a simultaneous three component measurement with a high measurement rate of 100 kHz or more is required. To analyze complex and small-scale velocity fields an imaging or volumetric measurement with a high spatial resolution is desired. Currently available measurement systems do not fulfill all these requirements. Hence, the goal of this work is the development, characterization and qualification of a measurement system suitable for the temporally resolved acquisition of unsteady flow processes in highly dynamic and reactive fluids. For this purpose the Doppler global velocimetry with laser frequency modulation (FM-DGV) represents a promising approach, since it allows a contactless measurement with high measurement rate and in principle enables simultaneous three component and volumetric measurements. Hence, as a first step a simultaneous three component FM-DGV system and a FM-DGV system for imaging and volumetric measurements were developed. Subsequently, the realized systems were characterized regarding their velocity measurement uncertainty. It was shown, that the resulting measurement uncertainty is sufficiently small and that the influence of fluctuations of the refractive index on the measurement uncertainty can be neglected. The analysis of the measurement uncertainty due to fluctuations of the flow velocity and the scattered light power was conducted using a model-based approach. It was thereby shown, that fluctuations of the scattered light power can lead to a dominant term of the uncertainty budget. In order to demonstrate the suitability for simultaneous three component measurement with high measurement rate, measurements at a bias flow liner (BFL) were conducted. Thereby for the first time at a BFL it was possible to determine the power spectral density in Cartesian coordinates and to show the broadband energy transfer from the energy of the sound excitation to the kinetic energy of the flow. To demonstrate the measurement in reactive flows, a swirl-stabilized burner was investigated, as it is used in stationary gas turbines and airplane engines. It was possible to prove a thermo-acoustic interaction between the heat release rate and the pressure and to show a correlation between the local velocity oscillations within the flame and the global sound pressure emissions. By means of the imaging, temporally and spatially resolved measurement with high measurement rate it was furthermore possible to resolve unsteady phenomena in the near-nozzle region of a high-pressure injection nozzle without the addition of tracer particles. These developments allow further investigations regarding the stable operation of gas burners with lean mixtures, a deeper understanding of the damping effects at BFL and the optimization of injection processes in engines. Consequently, it is perspectively possible to contribute to the resource-efficient, environment-friendly and quiet operation of technical flow machines as aircraft engines, stationary gas turbines and combustion engines.

Aus der Einleitung: "Qualität nimmt als Wettbewerbsfaktor eine immer größere Rolle ein. Damit wächst auch der Bedarf an schneller Messtechnik zur präzisen geometrischen Erfassung unterschiedlicher Werkstücke. Ein weiterer Grund für diesen steigenden Bedarf sind der zunehmende Automatisierungsgrad und die Fertigungsgeschwindigkeit in der Produktion (Pfeifer 1998). Der Vorteil der optischen 3D-Messung gegenüber konventioneller Koordinatenmesstechnik besteht vor allem in der höheren Erfassungsgeschwindigkeit. Taktile Messgeräte können im Vergleich nur sehr wenige Messpunkte in einer bestimmten Zeit digitalisieren, optische Messgeräte hingegen große Flächen in wenigen Sekunden (Berndt 2008). Des Weiteren ist die optische Messung im Gegensatz zur taktilen Messung berührungslos, wodurch Schäden am Werkstück oder direkte Einflüsse des Werkstücks (weiche Oberflächen) auf die Messergebnisse vermieden werden. In der Fertigungsmesstechnik kommen optische Verfahren vorwiegend zur Bestimmung geometrischer Kenngrößen wie Abstand, Form, Profil oder Oberflächenstruktur zum Einsatz (Pfeifer 1998). So können z. B. in der Automobilindustrie Blechbauteile auf Ihre Maßhaltigkeit hin untersucht werden."

The goal of this thesis is to, on behalf of JB Eco Tech, investigate a novel method of interconnecting photovoltaic (PV) modules. The principle is to stick the interconnecting strings on the cells with a transparent tape instead of soldering. As a part of the assembly process, the module is laminated under heat which makes the strings stick to the PV cell. The method is going to reduce one step in the production process, replacing the soldering procedure with the lamination of the strings onto the cells. Also, the replacement of lead and silver will spare costs and the environment. To analyse the effects of the novel method on the performance of the cell, the optical properties of the module were investigated by mathematical models and Light Beam Induced Current (LBIC). Also, the electrical properties were compared to the conventional method of soldering by analysing the I-V characteristics. The experiments were done on mini modules. Although the mini module displayed a reflectance of about 5.7 – 6.0% the contribution of the tape only accounted for a maximum of 0.5%. Since the tape only covers a fraction of the cell, this reflectance is negligible. Only 3 modules were successfully analysed, and the electrical properties of the novel method did not differ from the conventional method. To solidify the later a claim a more extensive rapport has to be made. The thesis opens up a new research area where improvements to the novel method can be done. / Det här examensarbetet är gjort på uppdrag av JB Eco Tech. De har utvecklat en ny metod i produktionen av solcells moduler. Syftet med studien är att undersöka metoden som baseras på att fästa transparant tejp med en belagd koppartråd på solcellerna istället för den konventionella metoden som använder sig av lödning. Metoden kommer att reducera ett steg i produktionskedjan genom att utesluta lödningsprocessen. Processen kommer också bidra till en minskning i användandet av silver och bly vilket bidrar till en reducerad kostnad och en minskad miljöpåverkan. För att analysera effekterna av prestandan till följd av den nya metoden så analyserades de optiska egenskaperna med hjälp av matematiska modeller och Light Beam Induced Current (LBIC). De elektriska egenskaperna hos solcells modulerna jämfördes med den konventionella metoden som involverar lödning genom att analysera I-V karakteristiken för de båda metoderna. De ovannämnda experimenten utfördes på miniatyr moduler. Resultaten som erhållits visade på att modulerna hade en reflektans av 5.7 – 6.0% och att tejpen endast stod för max 0.5%. Tejpen täcker endast en bråkdel av cellen därför går det att konstatera att reflektansen som härstammar från tejpen är försumbar. Det innebar att de optiska egenskaperna inte bidrog till en signifikant påverkan på prestandan av modulerna. De elektriska egenskaperna av modulerna påvisade ingen signifikant skillnad mellan de två olika metoderna. För att säkerställa det senare antagandet krävs en utökad studie inom området. Studien har öppnat upp för nya rön som grundas på den nya metoden där det finns utrymme för förbättringar av tejpen.

This thesis presents the synthesis methods and the characterizations of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, silica spheres with Fe3O4 nanoparticles embedded, and three dimensional magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs) prepared from the spheres. The structure, material composition, magnetic and optical properties, photonic band gaps (PBGs), as well as how these properties depend on the concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles, are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), Faraday rotation (FR) and optical spectrophotometers. Well-organized, face center cubic (fcc)-structured, super-paramagnetic 3D MPCs have been obtained and their PBGs are investigated through optical spectra. Fe3O4 nanoparticles are synthesized by standard co-precipitation method and a rapid mixing co-precipitation method with particle size varied from 6.6 nm to 15.0 nm at different synthesis temperature (0°C ~ 100°C). The obtained Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which show crystalline structure with superparamagnetic property, are embedded into silica spheres prepared at room temperature through a sol-gel method using the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in a base solution with different concentrations. By controlling the synthesis conditions (e.g., chemicals, the ratio of chemicals and stirring time), different size of MPC spheres in range of 75 nm to 680 nm has been obtained in a narrow distribution. The sphere suspensions in ethanol are dropped on glass substrate in the permanent magnetic field to achieve well organized 3D MPCs with (111) triangular close packed crystal plane of fcc structure parallel to the surface of substrate. From the transmission & forward scattering spectra (TF), five PBGs have been distinguished for these MPCs and they are defined as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th PBGs according to the order of peaks that appear in mathematic fitting analysis. The positions (peak wavelengths) of PBGs show sphere size dependence: with the increase of the sphere size, they increase linearly. Comparing with pure SiO2 PCs at certain sphere size, the positions of PBGs for MPCs containing moderate Fe3O4 conc. (4.3 wt. %) are at longer wavelengths. On increasing the Fe3O4 conc., however, the PBGs shift back to shorter wavelength. The PBGs shift to longer or shorter wavelength is due to the combined effect of refractive index n increasing, as well as the increase of refractive index difference Δn, which are caused by the embedded Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The transmission spectra (T) with varied incidence angle of p- and s- polarized light are studied, obtaining angular dependent and polarization sensitive PBGs. It is found that with the increase of the incidence angle, the 1st PBGs shift to shorter wavelength while the 3rd ones shift to longer wavelength. High Fe3O4 conc. MPCs (6.4 wt. %) show enhancement of this angular dependence. It is also found that the PBGs show dependence on the polarize direction of incident light. Normally, at a certain incidence angle the PBGs sift more for p- polarized incident light than for s-polarized light with respect to normal incidence. This polarized dependence can also be enhanced for high Fe3O4 conc. MPCs. With a high concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the polarization sensitivity of p- and s- increased. These PBG properties indicate applications of 3D MPCs as functional optical materials, coatings, wavelength and polarization fibers for fiber optical communications devices and dielectric sensors of magnetic field, etc.. / QC 20110224

When a nuclear explosion occurs certain radionuclides are emitted, notably xenon. Due to the fact that xenon is a noble gas, it is hard to contain and can therefore be detected far from the explosion site. There are four isotopes of xenon that are of interest in the detection of a nuclear explosion: 131mXe, 133mXe, 133Xe and 135Xe. By constantly measuring the amount of these isotopes in the air, changes in the concentration in an indication that a nuclear explosion has occurred. In this thesis a detector was modelled in GEANT4 and focuses on one kind of noble gas detector: SAUNA - the Swedish Automatic Unit for Noble gas Acquisition. SAUNA uses the coincidence technique in order to determine the concentration of xenon there is in the air. By using the coincidence technique, it is possible to reduce the impact of the background radiation and therefore increase the efficiency of the detector. 133Xe has a coincidence when it first undergoes beta decay, with an endpoint energy of 346 keV, and then emits a 80 keV gamma particle. 135Xe has also a dual coincidence, a beta decay with an endpoint energy of 910 keV together with a 250 keV gamma-ray. However both these isotopes have a triple coincidence decay that also can be exploited: for 133Xe, a beta particle with endpoint energy of 346 keV, a 30 keV X-ray and a 45 keV conversion electron, while for 135Xe there is instead of the gamma particle a 30 keV X-ray and a 214keV conversion electron that can be emitted together with the beta particle. The 30 keV X-ray together with the beta particle for 133Xe can also be used as a dual coincidence, in that case the conversion electron is ignored. For 133Xe, when a beta particle, a 45 keV conversion electron, and a 30 keV X-ray are emitted, the model was able to detect all three particles in 69.2% ± 0.1 of the cases. However, when only the particles with a detected energy within a 5 keV interval of their generated energies are considered to be in coincidence, then for 133Xe triple coincidence occurs in 22.9% ± 0.2 of the cases. For 135Xe the model was able to detect the triple coincidence (between a beta, 214 keV CE and 30 keV X-ray) in 63.5% ± 0.1 of the cases. This work shows that adding another particle in a coincidence reduces the chance to detect the coincidence. The positive effect of adding another particle in a coincidence is that the minimum detectable concentration of xenon should be smaller. The goal for future detectors should be to make it possible for the detector to take advantage of the triple coincidences but at the same time be also able to use the dual coincidences.

One of the major challenges hindering advancement of quantum computing is the sensitive nature of the physical systems used to build a quantum computer. One suggestion for improving reliability is a particular type of logic gates, based on Berry's geometric phase, showing improved robustness to external disturbance of the quantum system over the course of a calculation. Such logic gates have previously been shown for the smallest possible two-level qubits. Using the method of adiabatic shortcut we endevour to discover similarly realistic and robust logic gates for units of quantum information in higher dimensions. The example shown in this paper discusses three-level qutrits, but is expected to apply to theoretically unlimited higher dimensions since new geometric complications are expected to arise primarily when moving from a two-level to a multi-level problem.  We here present a set of primitive single-qutrit gates able to perform universal quantum computations if supplemented by a two-qutrit gate. We also present a set of condensed single-qutrit gates for commonly needed operations. By detailing the underlying mathematical framework, relying on the multi-dimensional generalisation of Berry's phase describing the time evolution of degenerate quantum states, we also suggest an easily scalable geometric interpretation of quantum gates in higher dimensions along with visual representation of logic gates using parameters of the physical system to sequentially unlock and manipulate subspaces of the quantum information unit.

Deformable mirrors are the standard adaptive optical elements for aberration correction in confocal microscopy. Their usage leads to increased contrast and resolution. However, these improvements are achieved at the cost of bulky optical setups. Since spherical aberrations are the dominating aberrations in confocal microscopy, it is not required to employ all degrees of freedom commonly offered by deformable mirrors. In this contribution, we present an alternative approach for aberration correction in confocal microscopy based on a novel adaptive lens with two degrees of freedom. These lenses enable both axial scanning and aberration correction, keeping the setup simple and compact. Using digital holography, we characterize the tuning range of the focal length and the spherical aberration correction ability of the adaptive lens. The operation at fixed trajectories in terms of focal length and spherical aberrations is demonstrated and investigated in terms of reproducibility. First results indicate that such adaptive lenses are a promising approach towards high-resolution, high-speed three-dimensional microscopy.