Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-303). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Universität Karlsruhe (TH), Diss., 2008.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2003. / Advisor: Natalia Georgieva. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Eng.)(Mechanical)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

In this thesis, the work focuses on developing distributed optical fiber vibration sensors based on phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR). Three works have been accomplished to improve the performances of Φ-OTDR for distributed vibration sensing. Firstly, Φ-OTDR based on a polarization diversity scheme is demonstrated to mitigate the polarization mismatch effect occurring in traditional systems. A theoretical analysis is performed in different polarization cases corresponding to coherent and polarization diversity detection. Φ-OTDR based polarization diversity shows a great potential in the multi-events sensing application. Two vibration events are simultaneously detected and their signal to noise ratios are improved by 10.9 dB and 8.65 dB, respectively, compared to the results obtained by a conventional coherent scheme. Intensity fluctuation in a phase-sensitive optical-time domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) system caused by stochastic characteristics of Rayleigh backscattering has limited relative vibration strength measurement, which is proportional to dynamic strain. A trace-to-trace correlation coefficient is thus proposed to quantify the Φ-OTDR system stability and a novel approach of measuring the dynamic strain induced by various driving voltages of lead zicronate titanate (PZT) is demonstrated. Piezoelectric vibration signals are evaluated through analyzing peak values of the fast Fourier transform spectra at fundamental frequency and high-order harmonics based on Bessel functions. Experimental results show high correlation coefficients and good stability of our Φ-OTDR system, as well as the small measurement uncertainty of measured peak values. To reduce the intra-band noise caused by the finite extinction ratio of optical pulses, Φ-OTDR based on high extinction ratio generation is studied. Two methods are developed for achieving high extinction ratio of optical pulse generation. One of the approaches is to synchronize two cascaded electro-optic modulators to achieve high extinction ratio operation. The other one is to use the nonlinear optical fiber loop mirror as an optical switch to suppress the continuous wave portion of optical pulse. The sensing range of 1.8 km and 8.4 km with corresponding spatial resolution of 0.5 m and 2 m have been demonstrated based on cascaded two electro-optic modulators and nonlinear optical fiber loop mirror setup, respectively.

This thesis presents the research made on signal and data processing for THz imaging, with emphasis in noise analysis and tomography in amplitude contrast using a THz time-domain spectrometry system. A THz computerized tomography system was built, tested and characterized. The system is controlled from a personal computer using a program developed ad hoc. Detail is given on the operating principles of the system’s numerous optical and THz components, the design of a computer-based fast lock-in amplifier, the proposal of a local apodization method for reducing spurious oscillations in a THz spectrum, and the use of a parabolic interpolation of integrated signals as a method for estimating THz pulse delay. It is shown that our system can achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 60 dB in spectrometry tests and 47 dB in tomography tests. Styrofoam phantoms of different shapes and up to 50x60 mm is size are used for analysis. Tomographic images are reconstructed at different frequencies from 0.2 THz to 2.5 THz, showing that volume scattering and edge contrast increase with wavelength. Evidence is given that refractive losses and surface scattering are responsible of high edge contrast in THz tomography images reconstructed in amplitude contrast. A modified Rayleigh roughness factor is proposed to model surface transmission scattering. It is also shown that volume scattering can be modelled by the material’s attenuation coefficient. The use of 4 mm apertures as spatial filters is compared against full beam imaging, and the limitations of Raleigh range are also addressed. It was estimated that for some frequencies between 0.5 THz and 1 THz the Rayleigh range is enough for the tested phantoms. Results on the influence of attenuation and scattering at different THz frequencies can be applied to the development of THz CW imaging systems and as a point of departure for the development of more complex scattering models.

Terahertz (THz) reflection and transmission spectroscopy is a promising new field with applications in imaging and illicit material detection. One particularly useful application is for the detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which is a favorite weapon of global terrorists. Explosive materials have been shown to have a unique spectral signature in the THz band which can be used to identify the explosives. However, the initial measurements performed on the explosive samples do not account for the modulation of the spectral features by random scattering that will be prevalent with actual samples encountered in applications. The intent of this work is to characterize and quantify the effects of random scattering that may alter the spectral features. Specifically, the effect that a randomly rough surface and granular scattering has on the scattered THz wave (T-Rays) will be investigated and characterized using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulation method. The FDTD method is a natural choice for this work as it can handle complicated geometries (i.e., multiple scatterers, arbitrarily rough interfaces, etc.) arbitrary materials (i.e., dispersive media, etc.) and provides broadband frequency data with one simulation pass. First, the effect that the randomly rough surface of the sample explosive has on the extracted spectral signature will be studied using a Monte-Carlo analysis. Then the effect of the complex structure inside the explosive material (the granular scatterers) will be considered. Next, when the physics of the rough surface and granular scattering are understood, a robust method to extract the spectral signature from the reflected T-rays will be developed.

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Microwave circuits play an important role in wireless communications. Microwave circuits are made up of many components, including passive devices. Passive devices include resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers. These passive devices are used to help lower noise and to allow signals to pass effectively though the circuit. The Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method is a powerful tool used to analyze the electromagnetic properties of objects. FDTD can be used to model the electromagnetic behavior of microwave circuits. Important electromagnetic properties such as S-parameters, effective dielectric constant, phase constant, and the movement of the electric and magnetic fields through the circuit can be extracted from a single FDTD simulation. Also of particular interest is the frequency response of a circuit, which can be determined by taking the Fourier transform of the time-domain results. FDTD is an efficient way to determine many electromagnetic characteristics of a microwave circuit. FDTD offers a programmer much freedom in assigning the shape, properties, and size of a structure that is to be analyzed. Also, FDTD is more robust than other electromagnetic analysis methods due to the algorithm it uses in finding the electric and magnetic fields. These useful aspects of FDTD make it the top choice in analyzing passive devices in microwave circuits. The thesis involves the electromagnetic analysis of passive structures that are used in RF IC's. Circuits that will be analyzed include a low-pass filter, antenna, and coplanar waveguides. This leads to the ultimate goal of the thesis, the analysis of a spiral inductor that is to be used in an RF IC. Spiral inductors are used as passive devices in planar microwave circuits. Spiral inductors can take on several shapes, with the square being the shape of interest in this thesis. FDTD will be used to analyze the electromagnetic properties of the spiral inductor, with the inductance being extracted from the values of the electromagnetic variables calculated during the simulation. Two types of spiral inductors will be analyzed; a three-turn spiral inductor and an eight-turn spiral inductor. Both types of spiral inductor will be analyzed on silicon and gallium arsenide dielectric substrates. The inductance values extracted from the spiral inductor can be used to determine how the inductor will behave as part of a microwave circuit. Inductor behavior is critical in that the performance of an RF IC will be affected if inductors are not performing optimally.