<p> 1-by-N optical power splitters are primary components in the field of integrated optics and optical transmission systems. Planar waveguide optical power splitters are key devices to realize low-cost optical transmission systems through photonic integration. The goal of this thesis is to design, model and simulate a novel planar waveguide optical power splitter for optical transmission systems and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks.</p> <p> The first chapter is an introduction. This chapter gives the background of power splitter, reviews the existing devices and explains why our novel design is needed.</p> <p> The idea of this novel power splitter is presented in Chapter 2, including analytical formulations, theoretical calculations and designs. This serves as a theoretical foundation for the development and verification of different parts presented in Chapter 3. The novel power splitter design is composed of a series of waveguide lenses and waveguide phase shifts. The analytical formulations are derived and intensive numerical simulations are performed to verify and investigate this new power splitter. Also the conventional Beam Propagation Method (BPM) is studied in this chapter, which provides a numerical preparation for the device simulation and design in the subsequent chapter.</p> <p> The design results are shown in Chapter 4. The novel power splitter design predicts good performance with more compact device size, better output and smaller wavelength dependence. This chapter demonstrated the possibility of new power splitter working as a better approach to the existing MMI or other structures.</p> <p> Finally, Chapter 5 gives a conclusion to this thesis. The limitations of this work are presented and the future works are proposed.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Manipulating the flow of light is critical in the design and fabrication of light-based devices ranging from solar cells, smart cameras, liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, projectors and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Thin films configured with spatial patterns or modulations in refractive index exhibit strong and richly varied interactions with light beams. In this thesis, we show that embedding planar films with specific geometries of waveguide lattices allows precise control over the inflow and outflow of light. Specifically, we demonstrate the fabrication of a new class of waveguide-encoded polymer films that are generated through a single-step, room temperature technique. Here, waveguide encoded lattices with a range of symmetries are spontaneously inscribed in photopolymerizable resins by self-trapped beams of incandescent light. We describe the generation of lattices consisting of five intersecting arrays of waveguides, which confer a range of unprecedented properties including a large, panoramic field of view (FOV) infinite depth of field and multiple imaging functionalities including focusing and inversion. We have also fabricated lattices inspired by natural arthropodal compound eyes, which comprise a radial distribution of waveguide and in turn impart a continuous, enhanced FOV. We demonstrate the application of these films in controlling the beam profiles of LEDs including their divergence and convergence. Finally, we show that thin films patterned with a periodic array of planar waveguides serve as effective beam steering coatings, which deflect light away from the metallic front contacts of commercially available solar cells and in this way, increase their efficiency. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Underwater acoustic pressure transducers measure pressure fluctuations, a scalar parameter of the acoustic field. Acoustic vector sensors contain an omnidirectional pressure transducer (omni) and also bi- or tri-axial sensing elements that respond to either the particle velocity or pressure gradient of the acoustic field; which are vector quantities. The amplitude of the signal output of each directional channel of a vector sensor is proportional to the orientation relative to the direction of acoustic pressure propagation. The ratio of the signal amplitudes between two directional channels and the cross-spectra between the vector sensor omni and directional channels enable one to estimate the bearing to the source from a single point measurement. In order to accurately estimate the bearing across the usable frequency band of the vector sensor, the complex sensitivities of the omni and directional channels must be known. Since there is no standard directional reference transducer for a comparative calibration, the calibration must be performed in an acoustic field with a known relationship between the acoustic pressure and the acoustic particle velocity. Free-field calibrations are advantageous because this relationship is known for both planar and spherical wave fronts. However, reflections from waveguide boundaries present a practical limitation for free-field calibrations, especially at low frequencies. An alternative approach is to perform calibration measurements in a standing-wave field, where the relationship between pressure and particle velocity is also known. The calibration facility described in this thesis is composed of a laboratory-based, vertically-oriented, water-filled, elastic-walled waveguide with a piston velocity source at the bottom end and a pressure release boundary condition at the air/water interface at the top end. Some of the challenges of calibrating vector sensors in such an apparatus are discussed, including designing the waveguide to mitigate dispersion, mechanically isolating the apparatus from floor vibrations, understanding the impact of waveguide structural resonances on the acoustic field, and developing the calibration algorithms. Data from waveguide characterization experiments and calibration measurements are presented along with engineering drawings and calibration software. / text

Abstract The main objective of this thesis was to research the integration of novel materials and fabrication processes into Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) technology; enabling fabrication of Radio Frequency (RF) and microwave components with advanced performance. The research focuses on two specific integration cases, which divide the thesis into two sections: the integration of tunable dielectric structures and the integration of air filled waveguides. The first section of the thesis describes the development and characterization of low sintering temperature Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) thick film paste. Sintering temperature of BST is decreased from approximately 1350 °C down to 900 °C by lithium doping and pre-reaction of the doped composition. This allows the co-sintering of the developed BST paste with commercial LTCC materials. Additionally two integration techniques to embed tunable components in an LTCC substrate using the developed BST paste are also presented and the electrical performance of the components is evaluated. The highest measured tunability value was 44% with a bias field of 5.7 V/µm. The permittivity of the films varied between 790 and 190, and the loss tangent varied between 0.004 and 0.005, all measured unbiased at 10 kHz. The developed LTCC compatible BST paste and the presented integration techniques for tunable components have not been previously published. In the second section of the thesis, a fabrication method for the LTCC integrated air-filled rectangular waveguides with solid metallic walls is presented. The fabrication method is described in detail and implemented in a set of waveguides used for characterization. A total loss of 0.1–0.2 dB/mm was measured over a frequency band of 140–200 GHz. The electrical performance of the waveguides is evaluated and their use demonstrated in an integrated LTCC antenna operating at 160 GHz.

The characteristics of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide, including the bending loss of a multimode bent waveguide and the birefringence of a rib waveguide, are analyzed by using a finite-difference method (FDM). Based on a detailed analysis for a multimode bent waveguide, an appropriately designed multimode bent waveguide for reducing effectively the bending loss of the fundamental mode is realized. The slab height and the rib width of an SOI rib waveguide are normalized with the total height of the silicon layer and a general relation between these two normalized parameters for a nonbirefringent SOI rib waveguide is established. Using this general relation, one can easily design a nonbirefringent SOI rib waveguide. The issue of multimode effect in the SOI-based microphotonic devices such as arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWGs), etched diffraction gratings (EDGs), and multimode interference (MMI) couplers is discussed in detail. Two kinds of taper structures are proposed for reducing the multimode effects in EDGs or MMI couplers. A bi-level taper is introduced to eliminate effectively the multimode effects in an EDG or an MMI coupler. The bi-level taper is very appropriate for an EDG demultiplexer since the Si layer is etched through simultaneously for both the grating and the bottom taper structure, and thus no additional fabrication process is required. For the simulation of an AWG demultiplexer, a fast simulation method based on the Gaussian approximation is proposed and two kinds of effective and accurate three-dimensional (3D) simulation modeling are developed. The first 3D model is based on Kirchhoff-Huygens diffraction formula. To improve the computational speed, the 3D model is reduced to a two-dimensional (2D) one by integrating the corresponding field distributions in the AWG demultiplexer along the vertical direction under an assumption that the power coupled to the higher order modes in the free propagation region (FPR) is negligibly small. The equivalent 2D model has an almost the same accuracy as the original 3D model. Furthermore, a reciprocity theory is introduced for the optimal designof a special structure used for flattening the spectral response of an AWG demultiplexer. In the second 3D simulation method, we combine a beam propagation method (BPM) and the Kirchhoff-Huygens diffraction formula. In this method, a 3D BPM in a polar coordinate system is used for calculating the light propagation in the region connecting the first FPR and the arrayed waveguides, and thus the coupling coefficient of each arrayed waveguide is calculated conveniently and accurately. In the simulation of the second FPR, due to the uniform arrangement of arrayed waveguides, only several arrayed waveguides are needed in the BPM window and thus the computational efficiency is improved. / QC 20101004

Trough waveguides (TWG) have been utilized in a variety of radio frequency (RF) and other related applications including radar, the treatment of hypothermia and in the generation of plasmas. Perturbing the guided wave in these structures with blocks, rods, dielectrics, and other structures can create reconfigurable periodic line sources. These trough waveguide antennas (TWA) are then capable of providing both fixedfrequency and frequency-dependent beam steering. This was originally performed using electro-mechanical “cam-and-gear” mechanisms. Previous work related to the excitation of TWG and the performance of TWA topologies are limited when compared to more common antenna designs, yet they possess many desirable features that can be exploited in a modern system. This thesis will examines an S-band rectangular-to-trough waveguide transition and trough guide antenna that has been designed for broadband reconfigurable antenna applications considering as well the airflow characteristics for sensing applications. The design, fabrication, and electromagnetic performance (mode conversion, impedance matching, and antenna performance) are discussed, including the use of metallic cantilever perturbations placed along the troughguide sidewalls that are designed to provide improved impedance matching when steering the beam from the backward quadrant through broadside, towards the forward quadrant. Impedance matching techniques such as use of circular holes at the edge of each actuated cantilever are used to reduce power reflections and provide a low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) along the S-band. Finite element simulations will provide a demonstration of the airflow and turbulence characteristics throughout the entire structure, where the metallic cantilevers are used to manipulate the flow of air, to distribute it across the surfaces of the structure better and improve its potential for sensing operations.

In the paper, the beam propagation method is used to analyze the characteristics and the applications of nonlinear optical waveguide structures. The nonlinear optical waveguide is a medium whose refractive index changes with the electric field intensity. Based on the mode theory, the propagating envelop of optical light waves in the three-layers nonlinear waveguide with the nonlinear cladding, the nonlinear substrate and the linear guiding film can be solved. Not only the dispersion relation curve is described, but also the affection of input power to the electric field distribution is observed. In the application of nonlinear optical waveguide structure, the three-layers nonlinear waveguide structure and the local nonlinear Mach-Zehnder waveguide interferometer structure will be discussed: In the three-layers nonlinear waveguide structure, by launching the symmetric and antisymmetric modes, various characteristics of spatial optical solitons will be observed. Based on the interaction property between spatial optical solitons, a new all-optical 1¡ÑN switching device will be proposed; In the local nonlinear Mach-Zehnder waveguide interferometer structure, by fixing the input signal power and changing the control power, output signal beam will show the switching property. Besides, by changing the local nonlinear distributions, the nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer will show various logic functions. The numerical results show that the proposed structures could function as all-optical switch devices and all-optical logic gates.

This thesis analyzes different light localization phenomena in waveguide arrays. We report on the observation of quasi-Bloch oscillations, a new type of dynamic localization in the spatial evolution of light in curved, coupled optical waveguides. The delocalization and final relocalization of an optical beam in a waveguide array is shown by spatially resolving the optical intensity at various propagation distances. Through comparison to different structures, quasi-Bloch oscillations are shown to be robust beyond the nearest-neighbor tight-binding approximation.

This thesis analyzes different light localization phenomena in waveguide arrays. We report on the observation of quasi-Bloch oscillations, a new type of dynamic localization in the spatial evolution of light in curved, coupled optical waveguides. The delocalization and final relocalization of an optical beam in a waveguide array is shown by spatially resolving the optical intensity at various propagation distances. Through comparison to different structures, quasi-Bloch oscillations are shown to be robust beyond the nearest-neighbor tight-binding approximation.

Conventional rectangular waveguides are commonly used for high power and millimetre wave microwave applications. However their use at lower frequencies has been limited by their bulky nature at these frequencies. A new type of compact waveguide called a partial H-plane waveguide has previously been proposed that has only one quarter of the cross sectional area of a conventional waveguide. However, only limited information relating to the feeding of such waveguides is available. This study focuses on the development of a practical end-launched coaxial and a microstrip to partial H-plane waveguide adapters with similar or larger achievable bandwidths compared to conventional waveguide probe feed adapters. The two proposed waveguide transition geometries are investigated to determine which parameters can be used to optimise the insertion and return losses. The prototype waveguide transitions were optimised using numerous simulations and fabricated in the back-to-back configuration. Simulated single ended and back-to-back S-parameters yield good performance over the entire H-band (3.95 to 5.85 GHz, also known as G-Band). De-embedding techniques are used to measure the approximate single ended response of the two waveguide adapters based on the back-to-back measurements. The measurement and simulation results compare favourably and validate the designs. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted