This thesis reports the development of various high performance readout and control electronics for implementing angular rate sensing systems using MEMS gyroscopes developed at METU. First, three systems with open loop sensing mechanisms are implemented, where each system has a different drive-mode automatic gain controlled (AGC) self-oscillation loop approach, including (i) square wave driving signal with DC off-set named as OLS_SquD, (ii) sinusoidal driving signal with DC off-set named as OLS_SineD, and iii) off-resonance driving signal named as OLS_OffD. A forth system is also constructed with a closed loop sensing mechanism where the drive mode automatic gain controlled (AGC) self-oscillation loop approach with square wave driving signal with DC off-set named as CLS_SquD. Sense and drive mode electronics employ transimpedance and transresistance amplifiers as readout electronics, respectively. Each of the systems is implemented with commercial discrete components on a dedicated PCB. Then, the angular rate sensing systems are tested with SOG (Silicon-on-Glass) gyroscopes that are adjusted to have two different mechanical bandwidths, more specially 100 Hz and 30 Hz. Test results of all of these cases verify the high performance of the systems. For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 4.67 &amp / #730 / /hr, an angle random walk (ARW) 0.080 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 22.6 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 5.12 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW better than 0.017 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 49.8 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SineD system shows a bias instability of 6.92 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.049 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 17.97 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_SineD system shows a bias instability of 4.51 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.030 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 43.24 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_OffD system shows a bias instability of 8.43 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.086 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 20.97 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the OLS_OffD system shows a bias instability of 5.72 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.046 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 47.26 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the CLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 6.32 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.055 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 1.79 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 30 Hz bandwidth, the CLS_SquD system shows a bias instability of 5.42 &amp / #730 / /hr, an ARW of 0.057 &amp / #730 / /&amp / #8730 / hr, and a scale factor of 1.98 mV/(&amp / #730 / /sec). For the 100 Hz bandwidth, the R2 nonlinearities of the measured scale factors of all systems are between 0.0001% and 0.0003% in the &plusmn / 100 &amp / #730 / /sec measurement range, while for the 30 Hz bandwidth the R2 nonlinearities are between 0.0002% and 0.0062% in the &plusmn / 80&amp / #730 / /sec measurement range. These performance results are the best results obtained at METU, satisfying the tactical-grade performances, and the measured bias instabilities and ARWs are comparable to the best results in the literature for a silicon micromachined vibratory gyroscope.

A combinatorial study was carried out for hydrogen storage alloys which involve processes similar to those normally used in their fabrication. The study utilized a single sample of combined elemental (or compound) powders which were milled and consolidated into a bulk form and subsequently deformed to heavy strains. Material library was obtained in a post annealing treatment carried out at elevated temperatures which brings about solid state reactions between the powders yielding equilibrium phases in the respective alloy system. A sample comprising the material library was then pulverized and screened for hydrogen storage composition. X-ray diffraction was used as a screening tool, the sample having been examined both in as-processed and hydrogenated state. The method was successfully applied to Mg-Ni, and Mg-Ni-Ti yielding the well known Mg2Ni as the storage composition. It is concluded that partitioning of the alloy system into regions of similar solidus temperature would be required to enrich the material library.

In this thesis study, an overview of MIMO radar is presented. The differences in radar cross section, channel and received signal models in different MIMO radar configurations are examined. The performance improvements that can be achieved by the use of waveform diversity in coherent MIMO radar and by the use of angular diversity in statistical MIMO radar are investigated. The optimal detector under Neyman-Pearson criterion for Coherent MIMO radar when the interfering signal is white Gaussian noise is developed. Detection performance of phased array radar, coherent MIMO radar and Statistical MIMO radar are compared through numerical simulations. A detector for MIMO radar that contains the space time codes explicitly is also examined.

Severe plastic deformation methods are of great interest in industrial forming applications, as they give rise to significant refinement in microstructures and improvements in mechanical and physical properties. In the &ldquo / Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE)&rdquo / , which is the most common method for production of ultrafine grained bulk samples, very high plastic strains are introduced into the bulk material without any change in cross section. This study is composed of two main parts. Part I focuses on the plastic deformation behavior of Al alloys by modeling ECAE with Msc. Marc finite element software. A series of numerical experiments were carried out for the die angles of 90&deg / , 120&deg / , and 150&deg / , different friction conditions, and different round corners. Besides, the effects of strain hardening characteristics of the material, strain hardening coefficient (K) and exponent (n) of Hollomon&rsquo / s law, on corner gap formation and strain homogeneity in equal channel angular pressing process were investigated quantitatively. The results were compared and verified with those of the upper bound analysis. The numerical results showed that the process performance can be improved by modifying the die corner curvature accordingly, without running time consuming simulations. On the other hand, the aim of Part 3 is to investigate the texture evolution, mechanical response and the corresponding mechanisms, in terms of the flow stress anisotropy and tension-compression asymmetry in the ZK60 Mg alloy. The alloy was processed using ECAE, with different processing routes and temperatures, in order to produce samples with a wider variety of microstructures and crystallographic textures. Several mechanical tests and microstructure examinations were carried out / and the flow stress anisotropy and tension-compression asymmetry of the as-received and processed samples were measured. It was found that the initial texture has a strong effect on the resulting textures / and the textures, combined with the microstructure effect, define the mechanical properties of processed samples. Thus, the tension-compression asymmetry and the flow stress anisotropy variations in the processed samples are attributed to the generated textures and it is possible to control these properties by controlling the processing route and temperature.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Methode der modalen Superposition als Ordnungsreduktionsverfahren in der Mikrosystemtechnik. Typische Anwendungsgebiete sind Inertialsensoren und dabei im Besonderen Drehratensensoren, für die die Simulation von zeitabhängigen Phänomenen von entscheidender Bedeutung ist. Im Rahmen der Weiterentwicklung der Ordnungsreduktion nach der Methode der modalen Superposition ist es gelungen für typische lineare Kräfte eine auf analytischen Gleichungen basierende Beschreibung im reduzierten Raum zu finden. Für die Beschreibung von nichtlinearen Kräften ist im Rahmen dieser Arbeit ein Verfahren entwickelt worden, das es erlaubt, bestehende Modelle im Finite-Elemente-Raum in der modalen Beschreibung zu nutzen. In dieser Arbeit werden die theoretischen Grundlagen zur Berücksichtigung von Einflüssen der Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik in ordnungsreduzierten Modellen dargestellt. Neben der Einkopplung äußerer Kräfte und der Veränderung der mechanischen Randbedingungen wird auch der Einfluss der Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik auf die elektrostatischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Die Parametrisierung des Verfahrens der modalen Superposition über Fit- und Interpolationsverfahren erlaubt es, parametrisierte ordnungsreduzierte Modelle für die zeitabhängige Systemsimulation zu generieren. Damit wird die Durchführung von Designoptimierung und die Berücksichtigung von Fertigungs- und Prozessschwankungen in ordnungsreduzierten Modellen auf Systemebene möglich.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dargestellt, wie sich mit Methoden der nuklearen Festkörperphysik Defekte und Deformationen selbst in kristallographisch komplexen Materialien wie den MAX-Phasen, einer Klasse von Komplexcarbiden bzw. -nitriden, in-situ nachweisen lassen. Die sensitive Messgröße bildet dabei der elektrische Feldgradient (EFG), der ein Maß für die Asymmetrie der den jeweiligen Sondenkern umgebenden Ladungsverteilung darstellt. Es werden zwei Wechselwirkungsmechanismen zwischen Defekt und EFG diskutiert: Einerseits die langreichweitigen Auswirkungen elastischer Verzerrungen, andererseits der direkte Einfluss eines Defektes auf seine lokale elektronische Umgebung. Die Bestimmung der elastischen Antwort des Feldgradienten erfolgt mittels Ab-initio-Methoden im Rahmen der Dichtefunktionaltheorie. Der dabei vorgestellte Ansatz erlaubt es, die Ursachen der Dehnungsabhängigkeit zu klären und andere, speziellere Dehnungsabhängigkeiten wie die Volumenabhängigkeit oder die Strukturabhängigkeit des Feldgradienten zu bestimmen. Die in der Umgebung bestimmter Defekte oder Deformationen auftretenden EFG-Verteilungen werden anhand der allgemeinen Dehnungsabhängigkeit mittels Monte-Carlo-Simulationen bestimmt. Die so vorhergesagten Verteilungen werden durch ein Experiment im Rahmen der gestörten $\gamma$-$\gamma$-Winkelkorrelation (PAC) sichtbar gemacht, indem polykristalline MAX-Phasen unter uniaxialer Last verformt werden. Eine quantitative Auswertung erlaubt es schließlich, Defektdichten in-situ abzuschätzen. Die lokalen Auswirkungen auf den EFG werden anhand verschiedener MAX-Phasen-Mischkristalle systematisch untersucht. Im Zuge dessen wird die Synthese eines bisher unbekannten MAX-Phasen-Mischkristalls, Ti$_2$(Al$_{0,5}$,In$_{0,5}$)C, beschrieben. Die Zugehörigen Gitterkonstanten werden mittels Röntgendiffraktometrie im Rahmen der Rietveld-Methode bestimmt.

Goal-directed behavior is based on representations of contingencies between a certain situation (S), a certain (re)action (R) and a certain outcome (O). These S-R-O representations enable flexible response selection in different situations according to the currently pursued goal. Importantly however, the successful formation of such representations is a necessary but not sufficient precondition for goal-directed behavior which additionally requires the actual usage of the contingency information for action control. The present fMRI study aimed at identifying the neural basis of each of these two aspects: representing vs. explicitly using experienced S-R-O contingencies. To this end, we created three experimental conditions: S-R-O contingency present and used for outcome-based response selection, S-R-O contingency present but not used, and S-R-O contingency absent. The comparison between conditions with and without S-R-O contingency revealed that the angular gyrus is relevant for representing S-R-O contingencies. The explicit usage of learnt S-R-O representations in turn was associated with increased functional coupling between angular gyrus and several subcortical (hippocampus, caudate head), prefrontal (lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC)) and cerebellar areas, which we suggest represent different explicit and implicit processes of goal-directed action control. Hence, we ascribe a central role to the angular gyrus in associating actions to their sensory outcomes which is used to guide behavior through coupling of the angular gyrus with multiple areas related to different aspects of action control.

The present knowledge of angular distributions of neutron-induced fission is limited to a maximal energy of 15 MeV, with large discrepancies around 14 MeV. Only 238U and 232Th have been investigated up to 100 MeV in a single experiment. The n_TOF Collaboration performed the fission cross section measurement of several actinides (232Th, 235U, 238U, 234U, 237Np) at the n_TOF facility using an experimental set-up made of Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPAC), extending the energy domain of the incident neutron above hundreds of MeV. The method based on the detection of the 2 fragments in coincidence allowed to clearly disentangle the fission reactions among other types of reactions occurring in the spallation domain. I will show the methods we used to reconstruct the full angular resolution by the tracking of fission fragments. Below 10 MeV our results are consistent with existing data. For example in the case of 232Th, below 10 MeV the results show clearly the variation occurring at the first (1 MeV) and second (7 MeV) chance fission, corresponding to transition states of given J and K (total spin and its projection on the fission axis), and a much more accurate energy dependence at the 3rd chance threshold (14 MeV) has been obtained. In the spallation domain, above 30 MeV we confirm the high anisotropy revealed in 232Th by the single existing data set. I'll discuss the implications of this finding, related to the low anisotropy exhibited in proton-induced fission. I also explore the critical experiments which is valuable checks of nuclear data. The 237Np neutron-induced fission cross section has recently been measured in a large energy range (from eV to GeV) at the n TOF facility at CERN. When compared to previous measurements, the n TOF fission cross section appears to be higher by 5-7 % beyond the fission threshold. To check the relevance of n TOF data, we simulate a criticality experiment performed at Los Alamos with a 6 kg sphere of 237Np. This sphere was surrounded by enriched uranium 235U so as to approach criticality with fast neutrons. The simulation predicts a multiplication factor keff in better agreement with the experiment (the deviation of 750 pcm is reduced to 250 pcm) when we replace the ENDF/B- VII.0 evaluation of the 237Np fission cross section by the n TOF data. We also explore the hypothesis of deficiencies of the inelastic cross section in 235U which has been invoked by some authors to explain the deviation of 750 pcm. The large distortion that should be applied to the inelastic cross sections in order to reconcile the critical experiment with its simulation is incompatible with existing measurements. Also we show that the nubar of 237Np can hardly be incriminated because of the high accuracy of the existing data. Fission rate ratios or averaged fission cross sections measured in several fast neutron fields seem to give contradictory results on the validation of the 237Np cross section but at least one of the benchmark experiments, where the active deposits have been well calibrated for the number of atoms, favors the n TOF data set. These outcomes support the hypothesis of a higher fission cross section of 237Np.

Despite the immense advances of science and medicine in recent years, several aspects regarding the physiology and the anatomy of the human brain are yet to be discovered and understood. A particularly challenging area in the study of human brain anatomy is that of brain connectivity, which describes the intricate means by which different regions of the brain interact with each other. The study of brain connectivity is deeply dependent on understanding the organization of white matter. The latter is predominantly comprised of bundles of myelinated axons, which serve as connecting pathways between approximately 10¹¹ neurons in the brain. Consequently, the delineation of fine anatomical details of white matter represents a highly challenging objective, and it is still an active area of research in the fields of neuroimaging and neuroscience, in general. Recent advances in medical imaging have resulted in a quantum leap in our understanding of brain anatomy and functionality. In particular, the advent of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has provided researchers with a non-invasive means to infer information about the connectivity of the human brain. In a nutshell, dMRI is a set of imaging tools which aim at quantifying the process of water diffusion within the human brain to delineate the complex structural configurations of the white matter. Among the existing tools of dMRI high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) offers a desirable trade-off between its reconstruction accuracy and practical feasibility. In particular, HARDI excels in its ability to delineate complex directional patterns of the neural pathways throughout the brain, while remaining feasible for many clinical applications. Unfortunately, HARDI presents a fundamental trade-off between its ability to discriminate crossings of neural fiber tracts (i.e., its angular resolution) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of its associated images. Consequently, given that the angular resolution is of fundamental importance in the context of dMRI reconstruction, there is a need for effective algorithms for de-noising HARDI data. In this regard, the most effective de-noising approaches have been observed to be those which exploit both the angular and the spatial-domain regularity of HARDI signals. Accordingly, in this thesis, we propose a formulation of the problem of reconstruction of HARDI signals which incorporates regularization assumptions on both their angular and their spatial domains, while leading to a particularly simple numerical implementation. Experimental evidence suggests that the resulting cross-domain regularization procedure outperforms many other state of the art HARDI de-noising methods. Moreover, the proposed implementation of the algorithm supersedes the original reconstruction problem by a sequence of efficient filters which can be executed in parallel, suggesting its computational advantages over alternative implementations.

We shall present a theoretical description of paraxial beams, showing the propagation modes that arise from the solution of the paraxial equation in free space. We then discuss the angular momentum carried by light beams, with its decomposition in spin and orbital angular momentum and its quantization. We present the polarization and transverse modes of a beam as potential degrees of freedom to encode information. We define the Spin-Orbit modes and explain the experimental methods to produce such modes. We then apply the Spin-Orbit modes to perform a BB84 quantum key distribution protocol without a shared reference frame.We propose a Bell-like inequality criterion as a sufficient condition for the spin-orbit non-separability of a classical laser beam. We show that the notion of separable and non-separable spin-orbit modes in classical optics builds a useful analogy with entangled quantum states, allowing for the study of some of their important mathematical properties. We present a detailed quantum optical description of the experiment in which a comprehensive range of quantum states are considered.Following the study of Bell's inequalities we consider bipartite quantum systems characterized by a continuous angular variable θ. We show how to reveal non-locality on this type of system using inequalities similar to CHSH ones, originally derived for bipartite spin 1/2 like systems. Such inequalities involve correlated measurement of continuous angular functions and are equivalent to the continuous superposition of CHSH inequalities acting on two-dimensional subspaces of the infinite dimensional Hilbert space. As an example, we discuss in detail one application of our results, which consists in measuring orientation correlations on the transverse profile of entangled photons.