Ce travail présente la synthèse et l’étude d’une nouvelle famille de composés photochromes de type di(hétéroaryl)éthène ainsi que leur utilisation comme ligand pontant en chimie de coordination dans le but d’élaborer des matériaux moléculaires à propriétés photomodulables. Depuis ces dernières années, le photochromisme occupe une place prépondérante dans le développement de nouveaux matériaux photosensible.Ainsi, de nouveaux di(hétéroaryl)éthènes, dérivés de terarylènes, ont été synthétisés et leurs propriétés photochromes ont été étudiées en détail. Ces nouveaux systèmes, baptisés tétrarylènes, ont également permis l’obtention de composés dissymétriques présentant un biphotochromisme exclusif. Enfin, ces tétrarylènes ont pu être utilisés pour la synthèse de complexes mono- et di-nucléaires de Cu(II). Certains cas ont alors révélé l’éjection réversible du métal de la cavité chélatante par étude RPE.Mots clés : photochromisme, diaryléthènes, terarylènes, commutation, Absorption transitoire, chimie de coordination, RPE / This work deals with the synthesis and study of a new family of photochromic di(heteroaryl)ethenes as well as their use as bridging ligand in coordination chemistry in order to design photo-switchable molecular materials. Over the past few years, the interest of the scientific world to photochromism is growing for its potential use in optical memory devices, optoelectronic or any others photonic devices.Thus, new di(heteroaryl)ethenes, structurally close from terarylenes, have been synthesized and their photochromic properties have been studied in depth. These new systems, called tetrarylènes, enable us to obtain biphotochromic compounds, introducing dissymmetry in the structure. Synthesis of mono- and di-nuclear copper(II) complexes can be performed using these tetrarylenes. Some cases revealed, by EPR study, the reversible release and uptake of the metal ion in solution upon irradiation.Key-words : photochromism, diarylethenes, terarylenes, switches, transitory absorption, Coordination chemistry, EPR

De nos jours, pour accroître le potentiel applicatif des machines de hautes puissances pulsées, il est nécessaire de développer des modulateurs compacts capables de délivrer des impulsions de l’ordre de plusieurs Mégawatts de durée pouvant atteindre plusieurs centaines de microsecondes. Cette amélioration requiert le développement de structures innovantes dont le but est de produire aussi bien des puissances moyennes que des puissances crêtes importantes. Les modulateurs étudiés dans ce mémoire sont basés sur l’utilisation de divers transformateurs pour la génération d’impulsions de très forte puissance. Le projet AGIR (acronyme de « Architecture pour la Génération d’Impulsions Rectangulaires de forte de puissance ») est réalisé dans le cadre d’un RAPID (Régime d’Appui Pour l’Innovation Duale) financé par la Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA). Le projet est une collaboration avec EFFITECH, une entreprise spécialisée dans les puissances pulsées. L’objectif est de développer deux générateurs pour deux gammes de puissance crête (jusqu’à 10MW pour l’un et 1GW pour l’autre). Le premier modulateur « AGIR1 » repose sur l’association d’un convertisseur AC-DC et de 12 convertisseurs résonants DC-DC qui permettent la génération de plusieurs types d’impulsions (fort courant ou forte tension) en fonction de la configuration choisie. Le second modulateur repose sur le développement d’un transformateur impulsionnel à quatre primaires synchronisés. Chaque primaire est relié à un système de mise en forme de type Blumlein dont le déclenchement est assuré par un éclateur pressurisé à trois électrodes. La synchronisation des quatre éclateurs est assurée par un générateur impulsionnel innovant à faible gigue. La principale difficulté du travail effectué au laboratoire réside dans l’étude des différents transformateurs haute-tension utilisés (résonant ou impulsionnel) et du système de synchronisation des éclateurs. Chaque élément constituant le système est étudié et simulé de manière électrostatique, électromagnétique ou électrique avant d’être réalisé et assemblé. Des essais ponctue l’étude afin de valider le fonctionnement en récurrent avec un système de dissipation thermique adapté. / Nowadays, to increase the application potential of high power pulsed machines, it is necessary to develop compact modulators able to deliver pulses in the range of several megawatts with duration of up to several hundred microseconds. This improvement requires the development of innovative structures whose purpose is to produce both average power and large peak power. Modulators studied in this thesis are based on the use of various transformers for the generation of very high power pulses. The AGIR project (French acronym for "Architecture for Rectangular High Pulse power generation") is achieved within the framework of a RAPID (Dual Innovation Support Regime) funded by the French Defense (DGA). The project is carried on by a collaboration with EFFITECH, a company specialized in pulsed powers. The goal is to develop two generators for two peak power ranges (up to 10MW for one and 1GW for the other). The first modulator "AGIR1" is based on the association of an AC-DC converter and 12 DC-DC resonant converters allowing the generation of several types of pulses (high current or high voltage) depending on the chosen configuration. The second modulator is based on the development of a four synchronized primary pulse transformer. Each primary is connected to a Blumlein pulse forming line triggered by a three-electrode pressurized spark gap. The synchronization of the four spark gaps is ensured by an innovative pulse generator with low jitter. The main difficulty of the work which was completed in the laboratory relies in the study of the different high-voltage transformers used (resonant or pulse) and the spark gap synchronization system. Each element constituting the system is studied and simulated electrostatically, electromagnetically or electrically before being realized and assembled. Trials punctuate the study to validate the recurrent operation with a suitable heat dissipation system.

Nesta dissertação, os principais conceitos de MEMS, suas aplicações, processos de fabricação, componentes e sistemas são abordados. O objetivo desta dissertação é o estudo detalhado de chaves MEMS para aplicações em RF, que apresentam bom comportamento em altas freqüências e com potencial de melhoria em sua banda de operação. Em particular, aprofundou-se o estudo para o caso de uma chave MEMS de membrana capacitiva paralela sobre um guia de onda coplanar ou CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. O objetivo foi o de ampliar sua banda de operação, mantendo-se outras especificações inalteradas. Partindo-se de uma chave com banda de operação nula para critérios de perda de retorno e isolação mínimas iguais a 20 dB, com alteração na geometria da chave foi possível obter-se uma banda de 28 GHz e posteriormente ampliá-la para 31 GHz, praticamente sem alteração nas demais características elétricas. / In this thesis, the main concepts of MEMS, their application, fabrication processes, components and systems are addressed. The objective of the thesis is a detailed study of MEMS switches for RF applications, that present good performance at high frequencies and with a potential for bandwidth improvement. More specifically, the study was deeply conducted for shunt capacitive membrane MEMS switches over CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. In this case, the objective was to enlarge the operation bandwidth, keeping the other specifications unchanged. Starting with a switch with null operational bandwidth for criteria of minimum return loss and isolation of 20 dB, after a modification in the switch geometry, it was possible to obtain an operational bandwidth of 28 GHz and then to enlarge it to 31 GHz, keeping almost unchanged the other electric characteristics.

Compte tenu de la multiplication des standards dans le domaine des télécommunications,l’accordabilité au sein des systèmes est devenue une priorité en termes d’intégration et de coût.Un seul circuit accordable doit ainsi permettre d’adresser plusieurs normes. Dans la gamme deshyperfréquences, en technologie planaire, la fonction accordable (filtre ou antenne) estactuellement un dispositif passif distribué sur lequel sont reportés un ou plusieurs élémentsd’accords. Il est ainsi possible de faire varier au moins une des caractéristiques du dispositif(fréquence centrale et/ou bande passante pour les filtres et fréquence de résonance, diagrammede rayonnement ou mode de polarisation pour les antennes). Le circuit passif étant distribué, pourassurer la propagation de l’onde, un matériau diélectrique faible pertes est généralement utilisé.Cependant, l’ajout d’éléments d’accord engendre des pertes et des perturbations liées au report ducomposant (éléments parasites au niveau de l’interconnexion et des discontinuités composantd’accord-dispositif passif, et de la mise en boitier du composant reporté). Enfin, cette manière deréaliser des fonctions accordables rend peu flexible la conception (dimensions et localisation ducomposant d’accord) et la fabrication (perçage et métallisation pour les vias).Dans ce contexte, nous proposons de co-concevoir des fonctions hyperfréquences accordablessur un substrat semi-conducteur sur lequel il est à la fois possible de réaliser le composantd’accord et le dispositif passif distribué. Cette co-conception du circuit passif et de son élémentd’accord permet d’éliminer toutes les contraintes liées au report de composant, au perçage de viamétallique et apporte une grande flexibilité au niveau du dimensionnement de la zone dopée. Eneffet, elles peuvent être soit localisées soit distribuées. Toutefois, ce concept nécessite que lesupport semi-conducteur soit à la fois compatible à la propagation de l’onde et à la réalisation del’élément d’accord. Ces travaux de thèse ont permis de lever ce verrou en proposant descompromis permettant la réalisation de composants accordables validés par des démonstrateurssur technologie silicium.Au cours de ces travaux, une ligne de transmission micro-ruban et un composant d’accord de typeswitch ont été co-conçus. De très bonnes performances, validées par la mesure, ont été obtenues.De plus, une démarche de co-simulation a été proposée pour prendre en compte les effets semiconducteursdans la simulation électromagnétique.Le concept ayant été validé, il a été ensuite appliqué à des dispositifs accordables relativementsimples afin de montrer le potentiel de cette démarche (en termes de performances et de flexibilitéde conception), tels que des filtres accordables, des guides d’ondes de type SIW (SubstrateIntegrated Waveguide) reconfigurables ou encore des antennes accordables en fréquence. Cestravaux font également apparaître de nombreuses perspectives pour la réalisation de nouvellestopologies de filtres accordables (filtres SIW, interdigités…), d’antennes accordables (enfréquence, en diagramme de rayonnement…) ou de déphaseurs. Enfin, un potentiel a été identifiépour de nouvelles topologies de fonctions accordables en continu à base de jonction de typediodes varactors (composants à capacités variables). / Given the proliferation of standards in telecommunication systems, tunability is becoming a priorityboth in terms of integration and cost. A single tunable circuit needs to be able to work according toseveral different standards. Nowadays, a tunable function (filter or antenna) in planar technology isa passive distributed device to which some active tuning elements are soldered. At least onecharacteristic of the device can therefore be varied (the central frequency and/or the bandwidth inthe case of a filter; or the resonant frequency, radiating pattern or polarization mode in the case ofan antenna). Because passive devices are distributed in order to propagate the electromagneticwave, they are often designed on a dielectric substrate to minimize losses. However, the additionof tuning elements causes some additional losses and disturbances (some parasitic effects canarise due to the packaging or the interconnection and discontinuities between active and passiveparts). Finally, these tunable functions reduce the flexibility of the design (due to the size andlocalization of the active tuning elements) and manufacturing (due to drilling and via metallization).In this context, we propose to co-design tunable microwave functions on a semiconductorsubstrate on which it is possible to build both the tunable element and the passive distributedcomponent. This co-design between the passive and active parts removes the constraints relatedto the tuning elements and drilling of via holes. The concept offers a greater flexibility with regard tothe size of doped areas, allowing them to be either localized or distributed. However, this approachrequires the substrate to be compatible with the propagation of the electromagnetic field and withthe design of the tunable element. The work of this thesis makes it possible to overcome suchobstacles by proposing some tradeoffs allowing the design and the manufacture of tunablemicrowave components in silicon technology, which have been validated by demonstrator circuits.During this work, a microstrip transmission line and a switch were co-designed. Goodperformances were obtained both in simulations and measurements. Moreover, a co-simulationapproach is proposed to take into account the semiconductor effects in electromagneticsimulations.Once validated, this concept was applied to other relatively simple tunable devices to show thepotential of this approach (in terms of performances and design flexibility). Applications includedtunable filters, reconfigurable waveguides (such as SIW: Substrate Integrated Waveguides) andfrequency-tunable antennas. This study showed promising results for the design of new tunablefilter topologies (SIW filters, coupled-line filters), tunable antennas (in resonant frequency orradiation pattern) and phase shifters. Finally, the approach shows potential for continuous tunablefunctions based on varactor diodes (with capacitance variation).

From 2000 to 2015, the cost of operation and maintenance (including reinvestment) and traffic control has increased from approximately three billion to over nine billion Swedish kronor annually. By making more frequent measurements of track irregularities and identifying trends earlier, accurate and effective maintenance can be performed. Therefore, in the industry and academy, different measurement solutions are tested to measure the state of railroad tracks in a simple and more frequent manner. One of the solutions is to use measuring systems mounted on trains in regular traffic. By using regular scheduled services, a higher cost effectiveness regarding inspection frequency can be achieved. When the measuring equipment is mounted on freight trains, a measurement with considerably higher axle load can also be performed. In the course of this work, a literature study have been conducted and a number of scientific articles and reports have been studied at depth. There is a number of different systems that have been manufactured to be mounted on rolling stock in regular service. Different solutions are applied to perform the measurements. Acceleration sensors are robust and reliable, which is necessary because they will be mounted in an exposed environment. A difference that has been identified is the installation of accelerometer sensors that are either mounted before or after the primary suspension. Before suspension the sensors are mounted on the axle box and, after suspension the sensors are mounted on the train bogie. The engineering company Damill is working within monitoring solutions and has developed equipment for mounting on trains in regular traffic called Tracklogger. Earlier evaluations of the equipment have been made with focus on comparison with machine inspections. There is a difference between the technology used in track recording vehicles and the technology that Tracklogger uses, such comparison is not entirely appropriate. In discussion with Damill the focus of this work has been to see if recordings of switches can be linked to maintenance actions. Since the equipment is in the development stage it is important that the measurement data collected is critically reviewed with regard to what information it delivers. The measurements have been carried out on switches in the main train track on track number 119 between Luleå and Boden and the mining company LKAB's ore wagon has been a tool carrier.  Five out of eight cases, a maintenance action can be linked to reduced measured values of switches with fixed crossing points. In one case, maintenance action has increased the measured value. In two cases, there is no signifcant difference in the measured value associated with maintenance actions. In previous evaluation, it was determined that it is good repeatability in the measured position, but not as high repeatability in the measured size. A number of switches have been studied to check the repeatability of the measurement. As the train runs in acircle run in Luleå harbor, there will be a limited number of occasions the equipment is running in the same direction in combination with the sensors on the same axle in the bogie, which may effect the measurement results. When analyzing the repeatability of five passages where the direction of travel is not taken into account, it is determined that three out of five passages show a good repeatability. The repeatability of the measurement is suspected of being related to the condition, as significantly greater differences in the measured signal are obtained just before a maintenance action has been taken.

Routers have to be fast enough to keep pace with increasing traffic data rate because of the increasing need for network bandwidth and processing. The switch fabric component of a router is a combination of hardware and software which moves the incoming packets to the outgoing ports. The access of the input ports to the switch fabric is controlled by a scheduler which affects the overall performance together with the fabric design. In this thesis we investigate two switch fabric and scheduler architectures, the well-known iSlip fabric scheduler and the Byte-Focal switch. We observe that these two architectures have different behaviors under different input traffic load ranges. The novel contribution of this thesis is a combined switch architecture which is composed of these two architectures that are implemented and run in parallel to selectively forward the packets with lower delay to the outputs to achieve an overall lower average delay. The design of the combined switch is carried out on FPGA and simulated. Our results show that the combined architecture has 100% throughput and a lower average delay compared to the Byte-Focal switch and the input-queued switch with iSlip. On the other hand, our combined switch uses more resources in FPGA than individual iSlip and Byte-Focal switch.

Data traffic has emerged as a big challenge for the standardization of traffic management mechanisms in ATM networks. In April 1996 the ATM Forum published the first version of the Available Bit Rate Service Category (ABR) to give support to this kind of traffic. ABR was designed with ambitious objectives: high network efficiency, fairness and inter-operability of different ABR switch mechanisms.The major part of this PhD Thesis has been devoted to ABR. Instead of focusing on one aspect of ABR, the main research topics involved in ABR have been covered, namely: (i) switching mechanisms, (ii) conformance definition, (iii) charging, (iv) ABR support to TCP traffic. In the following the main conclusions are summarized. Maybe, switch algorithms have been the most investigated topic of ABR. This has happened because the specification of ABR given by the ATM Forum allows a diversity of switch algorithms to be implemented. These range from the simplest binary switches to the more complex ER switches. In the PhD Thesis three of these switch algorithms are analyzed by means of simulation, showing the different degree of performance and complexity that can be achieved. The behavior of ER switches is also analyzed by means of real traces obtained with a commercial ER switch. The conformance definition is the formalism established to decide whether the source transmits according to the traffic contract. The conformance algorithm standardized for ABR is the Dynamic Generic Cell Rate Algorithm (DGCRA). The PhD Thesis gives a detailed description of the DGCRA. Furthermore, traces obtained by simulation are depicted showing that the algorithm given by the ATM Forum has a decreasing accuracy of the rate conformance with increasing feedback delay. A "UPC based on the CCR" is proposed to solve this drawback. The parameter dimensioning of the DGCRA is addressed in the PhD Thesis by means of two analytical approaches. Numerical results calculated with the analytical models are also obtained by simulation for validation. The analytical approaches are based on a novel queuing model of the DGCRA. The first analytical approach is based on a renewal assumption of the cell inter-arrival process at the UPC. This approach gives a simple but coarse approximation of the cell rejection probability at the UPC. The second analytical method consists of a Markov chain that accurately describes the stochastic variables involved in the queuing model of the DGCRA. The Markov chain is solved applying the matrix geometric technique. The complexity of this mathematical approach only allows investigating a simple network topology. However, the accuracy of the model allows taking into account the influence of the delay bounds that are negotiated with the DGCRA. This study shows that a major degradation of the cell rejection probability may be obtained if these delay bounds are not properly set. Another issue investigated in the PhD Thesis is the charging of ABR. Charging may have a decisive impact on the deployment, success and growth of a network. In fact, the research community has paid a great attention to this topic in recent years. Furthermore, pricing may be an essential condition for the users when submitting traffic. Some authors have used this fact to propose congestion control mechanisms based on a dynamic pricing. In such schemes, prices vary according to the demand of network resources by the sources. New prices are conveyed to the sources by means of a feedback mechanism. This charging scheme seems to fit well with ABR, since the RM-cells can be used to dynamically communicate the prices. In the PhD Thesis a dynamic pricing scheme is proposed and an analytical model is used to find out the evolution of the prices. Additionally, several charging schemes are confronted by simulation. This comparison shows that the dynamic pricing gives the best expected charging. Finally, the support of ABR to the traffic generated with the TCP protocol used in the Internet is investigated by simulation. Currently, the data communications are dominated by the Internet traffic transported by a variety of networks. The deployment of ATM technology has been located in the backbone networks and the end-to-end ATM systems appear remote. In fact, it is not clear whether the universal multi-service network will be built on the Internet rather than the B-ISDN. Simulations performed in the PhD Thesis confront the transport of TCP traffic in different scenarios using ABR and the simpler UBR Service Category. The main conclusion is that ABR can solve the severe fairness problems that can arise using UBR.

The scalability and cost of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) optical switches are now the important factors driving the development of MEMS optical switches technology. The employment of MEMS in the design and fabrication of optical switches through the use of micromachining fabricated micromirrors expands the capability and integrity of optical backbone networks. The focus of this dissertation is on the design, fabrication, and implementation of a new type of MEMS optical switch that combines the advantages of both 2-D and 3-D MEMS switch architectures. This research presents a new digital MEMS switch architecture for 1×N and N×N optical switches. The architecture is based on a new microassembled smart 3-D rotating inclined micromirror (3DRIM). The 3DRIM is the key device in the new switch architectures. The 3DRIM was constructed through a microassembly process using a passive microgripper, key, and inter-lock (PMKIL) assembly system. An electrostatic micromotor was chosen as the actuator for the 3DRIM since it offers continuous rotation as well as small, precise step motions with excellent repeatability that can achieve repeatable alignment with minimum optical insertion loss between the input and output ports of the switch. In the first 3DRIM prototype, a 200×280 microns micromirror was assembled on the top of the electrostatic micromotor and was supported through two vertical support posts. The assembly technique was then modified so that the second prototype can support micromirrors with dimensions up to 400×400 microns. Both prototypes of the 3DRIM are rigid and stable during operation. Also, rotor pole shaping (RPS) design technique was introduced to optimally reshape the physical dimensions of the rotor pole in order to maximize the generated motive torque of the micromotor and minimize the required driving voltage signal. The targeted performance of the 3DRIM was achieved after several PolyMUMPs fabrication runs. The new switch architecture is neither 2-D nor 3-D. Since it is composed of two layers, it can be considered 2.5-D. The new switch overcomes many of the limitations of current traditional 2-D MEMS switches, such as limited scalability and large variations in the insertion loss across output ports. The 1×N MEMS switch fabric has the advantage of being digitally operated. It uses only one 3DRIM to switch the light signal from the input port to any output port. The symmetry employed in the switch design gives it the ability to incorporate a large number of output ports with uniform insertion losses over all output channels, which is not possible with any available 2-D or 3-D MEMS switch architectures. The second switch that employs the 3DRIM is an N×N optical cross-connect (OXC) switch. The design of an N×N OXC uses only 2N of the 3DRIM, which is significantly smaller than the N×N switching micromirrors used in 2-D MEMS architecture. The new N×N architecture is useful for a medium-sized OXC and is simpler than 3-D architecture. A natural extension of the 3DRIM will be to extend its application into more complex optical signal processing, i.e., wavelength-selective switch. A grating structures have been selected to explore the selectivity of the switch. For this reason, we proposed that the surface of the micromirror being replaced by a suitable gratings instead of the flat reflective surface. Thus, this research has developed a rigorous formulation of the electromagnetic scattered near-field from a general-shaped finite gratings in a perfect conducting plane. The formulation utilizes a Fourier-transform representation of the scattered field for the rapid convergence in the upper half-space and the staircase approximation to represent the field in the general-shaped groove. This method provides a solution for the scattered near-field from the groove and hence is considered an essential design tool for near-field manipulation in optical devices. Furthermore, it is applicable for multiple grooves with different profiles and different spacings. Each groove can be filled with an arbitrary material and can take any cross-sectional profile, yet the solution is rigorous because of the rigorous formulations of the fields in the upper-half space and the groove reigns. The efficient formulation of the coefficient matrix results in a banded-matrix form for an efficient and time-saving solution.

The scalability and cost of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) optical switches are now the important factors driving the development of MEMS optical switches technology. The employment of MEMS in the design and fabrication of optical switches through the use of micromachining fabricated micromirrors expands the capability and integrity of optical backbone networks. The focus of this dissertation is on the design, fabrication, and implementation of a new type of MEMS optical switch that combines the advantages of both 2-D and 3-D MEMS switch architectures. This research presents a new digital MEMS switch architecture for 1×N and N×N optical switches. The architecture is based on a new microassembled smart 3-D rotating inclined micromirror (3DRIM). The 3DRIM is the key device in the new switch architectures. The 3DRIM was constructed through a microassembly process using a passive microgripper, key, and inter-lock (PMKIL) assembly system. An electrostatic micromotor was chosen as the actuator for the 3DRIM since it offers continuous rotation as well as small, precise step motions with excellent repeatability that can achieve repeatable alignment with minimum optical insertion loss between the input and output ports of the switch. In the first 3DRIM prototype, a 200×280 microns micromirror was assembled on the top of the electrostatic micromotor and was supported through two vertical support posts. The assembly technique was then modified so that the second prototype can support micromirrors with dimensions up to 400×400 microns. Both prototypes of the 3DRIM are rigid and stable during operation. Also, rotor pole shaping (RPS) design technique was introduced to optimally reshape the physical dimensions of the rotor pole in order to maximize the generated motive torque of the micromotor and minimize the required driving voltage signal. The targeted performance of the 3DRIM was achieved after several PolyMUMPs fabrication runs. The new switch architecture is neither 2-D nor 3-D. Since it is composed of two layers, it can be considered 2.5-D. The new switch overcomes many of the limitations of current traditional 2-D MEMS switches, such as limited scalability and large variations in the insertion loss across output ports. The 1×N MEMS switch fabric has the advantage of being digitally operated. It uses only one 3DRIM to switch the light signal from the input port to any output port. The symmetry employed in the switch design gives it the ability to incorporate a large number of output ports with uniform insertion losses over all output channels, which is not possible with any available 2-D or 3-D MEMS switch architectures. The second switch that employs the 3DRIM is an N×N optical cross-connect (OXC) switch. The design of an N×N OXC uses only 2N of the 3DRIM, which is significantly smaller than the N×N switching micromirrors used in 2-D MEMS architecture. The new N×N architecture is useful for a medium-sized OXC and is simpler than 3-D architecture. A natural extension of the 3DRIM will be to extend its application into more complex optical signal processing, i.e., wavelength-selective switch. A grating structures have been selected to explore the selectivity of the switch. For this reason, we proposed that the surface of the micromirror being replaced by a suitable gratings instead of the flat reflective surface. Thus, this research has developed a rigorous formulation of the electromagnetic scattered near-field from a general-shaped finite gratings in a perfect conducting plane. The formulation utilizes a Fourier-transform representation of the scattered field for the rapid convergence in the upper half-space and the staircase approximation to represent the field in the general-shaped groove. This method provides a solution for the scattered near-field from the groove and hence is considered an essential design tool for near-field manipulation in optical devices. Furthermore, it is applicable for multiple grooves with different profiles and different spacings. Each groove can be filled with an arbitrary material and can take any cross-sectional profile, yet the solution is rigorous because of the rigorous formulations of the fields in the upper-half space and the groove reigns. The efficient formulation of the coefficient matrix results in a banded-matrix form for an efficient and time-saving solution.

The objective of this research is to demonstrate the feasibility of the implementation of low-cost, small-size, and high power RF front ends using CMOS technology which has been known not to be suitable for high-power applications due to its material characteristic. One part of this research focuses on developing GaAs switches for multi band and multi mode high power applications. The development of RF front end switches for high power applications using CMOS technology is very challenging in that the characteristics of CMOS technology such as low breakdown voltages, slow electron mobility and existence of substrate junction diodes are limiting power handling capability of CMOS technology. Various topologies of CMOS switches have been employed in implementing high power RF front end CMOS switches in order to overcome material limitations of CMOS technology in high power applications. Based on measurement data such as power handling capability and S-parameters of fabricated CMOS switches, the feasibility of use of CMOS technology in high power RF antenna switch design has been studied, and novel methods of designing CMOS switches to improve the power handling capability without compensating S-parameter performance are proposed. As a part of this research, multi-band and multi-mode power switches using GaAs technology are fabricated and tested for use of the commercial applications such as handsets covering GSM, PCS/DCS, and UMTS bands. Current commercial RF switch products demand small size, low cost and low voltage control as the number of wireless standards integrated in a single application increases. This research provides a solution for commercial products which can meet all the specifications as well as needs required in the wireless market.