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Cheese products are manufactured more consistently and with better quality if the curd cutting time can be consistently selected. An optical sensor that accurately predicts cutting time has been developed for large cheese vats, but the initial cost of these sensors makes them uneconomical for small artisan cheese manufacturers. The small artisan cheese vats require an inexpensive sensor technology that can be implemented simply. The initial cost of purchasing a sensor and installing these sensors plus the need for a computational program for implementing the algorithm make this technology excessively expensive for these smaller cheese manufacturers. The objective of this research was to develop a simpler sensor technology that can be implemented inexpensively by artisan cheese makers. A prototype sensor has been developed and shown to measure the coagulation of milk in initial experiments. This sensor uses the same concepts for estimating cutting time and much of the same technology as the light backscatter technology; however, it is considerably more cost effective than a light backscatter sensor welded permanently into a vat. The results will show the unique and novel design and characterize its performance on unhomogenized milk.

This design covers the design of an integrated circuit (IC) in support of the active contact lens project at Cal Poly. The project aims to monitor intraocular eye pressure (IOP) to help diagnose and treat glaucoma, which is expected affect 6.3 million Americans by 2050. The IC is designed using IBM’s 130 nm 8RF process, is powered by an on-lens thin film 3.8 V rechargeable battery, and will be fabricated at no cost through MOSIS. The IC features a low-power linear regulator that powers a current-starved voltage-controlled oscillator (CSVCO) used for establishing a backscatter communication link. Additional circuitry is included to regulate power to and from the battery. An undervoltage lockout circuit protects the battery from deep discharge damage. When recharging, a rectifier and a voltage regulator provides overvoltage protection. These circuit blocks are biased primarily using a 696 mV subthreshold voltage reference that consumes 110.5 nA.

Theoretical formulations of secondary electron emission over the past 20 years have exceeded the confirming ability of available measurements. An instrument has been developed and tested for the purpose of obtaining simultaneous angle- and energy-resolved (AER) secondary and backscattered electron measurements for energetic electrons incident on conducting surfaces. The instrument is found to be in good working order and the data quality found to be excellent for nearly all angles and energies investigated. A representative set of AER measurements has been acquired for 1500 e V electrons normally incident on polycrystalline gold. The data have been used to construct angle-resolved (AR) spectra and energy-resolved (ER) angular distributions, which have been examined both as surface plots and cross sections. Analysis of the measurements strongly suggests that secondary electrons comprise the bulk of emitted electrons at energies much greater than the traditionally accepted maximum secondary electron energy of 50 eV. Additional evidence suggests the ability to investigate dominant secondary and backscattered electron production mechanisms in several energy domains.

Secondary electron emission (SEE) and incident-particle backscattering are important processes accompanying the impact of energetic electrons and ions on surfaces. The phenomena play a key role in the buildup of electrical charge on spacecraft surfaces, and are therefore of particular interest to scientists attempting to model spacecraft charging. In response to a demonstrated need for data, techniques for determining total secondary electron (SE) and backscatter (BS) yields (del) and (neu), and associated scattering-angle-resolved,scattering-energy-resolved, and simultaneous angle-energy-resolved yields have been developed. Further, an apparatus capable of making the necessary measurements for experimental determination of these quantities---for conducting materials in an ultra-high vacuum environment-has been designed, constructed, and partially tested. The apparatus is found to be in working order, though in need of fine-tuning, and the measurement technique successful. Investigations using a 1-3 Kev beam of monoenergetic electrons normally incident on bulk AI have been undertaken with the new apparatus. Electron-stimulated desorption of surface contaminants has been observed, as has been beam-induced carbon deposition, and an empirical model describing the resulting dynamic evolution of (del)is presented. Totalb and 11 values obtained in the present investigation are found to be in qualitative agreement with the results of previously reported investigations, though quantitative disagreement of b-values is substantial. Specifically, evidence is presented suggesting that previously reported SE yields for clean AI under electron bombardment (in the 1-3 Kev energy range) are in error by as much as 30 %.

Radar observations of the ocean surface are becoming increasingly important. Common applications are wind retrieval and global weather forecasting and characterization. Because of the common use of ocean radar measurements, it is important to understand the sensitivity of the backscatter to both radar parameters and surface parameters. At near-normal incidence angles, it has been assumed that the radar backscatter exhibits little or no azimuth dependence (Colton, 1989). However, recent data taken by the BYU YSCAT radar system suggests that this is not the case. At an incidence angle of 10°, the YSCAT radar data shows from a fraction of a decibel to up to 10 decibels of azimuth modulation, depending on the surface conditions. In this thesis, a physical optics approach is used with a two-dimensional surface model to derive the electromagnetic backscatter from the ocean surface. If the waves on the ocean surface are directed, azimuth modulation is predicted at near-normal incidence angles. The effects of surface and radar parameters on the azimuth modulation are studied, and the results are compared to data taken by the YSCAT radar system. It is shown that the theory correctly predicts of the shape of the curve when the normalized radar cross-section is plotted as a function of azimuth angle. The theory also predicts the correct trend of the modulation magnitude as function the surface roughness. However, the simplifications in the model limit its prediction of the frequency dependence of the modulation. Relaxing some of the assumptions of the model is likely to correct this problem.

Molecular breast imaging (MBI) is a relatively new clinical breast imaging modality, which has the potential to have a significant impact in breast cancer screening and perioperative breast imaging for women with high risk factors for developing breast cancer. Two objectives were proposed in this thesis to increase the use of MBI. First, a magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible gamma camera was developed for combined molecular/MR breast imaging. MBI is a functional imaging technique with high specificity and sensitivity but could benefit from the addition of anatomical information from breast MRI for lesion localization, cancer staging, treatment planning and monitoring. A small area (8cm x 8cm) cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) based gamma camera was developed and tested for MR compatibility in both sequential and simultaneous imaging conditions. Results indicated that the gamma camera was minimally affected during both sequential and simultaneous imaging with a gradient echo (GRE) and spoiled gradient echo (GRE) sequence. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) degradation was observed in the MR images but no geometric distortions were observed. Simultaneous imaging is feasible, but a reassessment of the RF shielding would be required to minimize the noise contribution degrading image quality. Second, backscatter photons were investigated as a potential dose reduction technique for MBI. While the effective dose from MBI is relatively low in comparison to other nuclear medicine procedures, the dose is considered high in relation to mammography and in order to increase acceptance as an alternative breast imaging method, dose reduction is an important objective. Backscatter photons have the same spatial information as primary photons but are typically discarded along with other scattered photons. A scatter compensation method called the triple energy window (TEW) was used to extract backscatter photons from the Compton scattering spectrum and added to the primary photons, increasing count sensitivity by 6%. The noise level matched the increase in contrast leading to negligible change in lesion contrast to noise ratio (CNR). Dose reduction is not justified with this particular technique because of the elevated noise level, but the use of backcsatter photons show potential with improved contrast. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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