Liquid crystals (LCs) are an interesting class of materials that are attracting significant attention due to their ever-growing applications in a wide variety of fields such as liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, materials science and bioscience. In recent years, along with the developments of materials at the nanoscale, doping LCs with nanoparticles (NPs) has emerged as a very promising approach for improving LC properties. Nanoparticle additives can introduce novel effects on optical and electro-optical properties of nematic liquid crystals (N-LCs), such as altered molecular alignment, faster response time and increased efficiency. This thesis studies the impacts that the inclusion of metallic NPs made of gold or semiconductor CdSe quantum dots (QDs), have on optical and electro-optical properties of N-LCs. Using polarized optical microscopy and detailed capacitance and transmittance measurements of nematic mixtures in electro-optic test cells, characteristics such as optical texture, phase transition temperatures, switching voltages and dielectric anisotropy are investigated in pure as well as doped samples. Surface ligands in NPs and their chemical functionalization play an important role in the LC-NP interactions, largely by determining the dispersibility of NPs and stability of the nanocomposites. One important objective of this thesis is to investigate and prepare a series of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with specially formulated robust coatings that maximizes solubility and stability in LC medium. Silanization of NPs is developed as a method to overcome the stability challenge. The functionalization of silanized NPs with aliphatic ligands or liquid crystalline molecules, provides chemically and thermally stable NPs with hydrophobic and structurally compatible surfaces required for dispersion in N-LCs. After complete characterization the synthesized particles are used to make the new nematic nanocomposites. By analysis of the structure-property relationships governing LC-nanomaterial composites and by comparison of new results and data from previous studies on other types of NPs, this thesis will further reveal the mechanism of the interrelations between host LC molecules and NP, considering the role of variables such as core composition, size and surface chemistry of NPs (e.g. siloxane shell, aliphatic ligand vs. liquid crystalline ligand) in achieving stable LC composites with desired optical and electro-optical properties.

Rapid changes in population distribution across Canada and the introduction of new telecommunication services to the consumer market have resulted in a number of significant challenges for existing network infrastructure. Fast growing populations in metropolitan regions require high density access networks to meet the growing need for bandwidth that results. Furthermore, new services such as high definition TV, online gaming and real-time video teleconferencing are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. These services require higher bandwidth to be available to end users. Changes in the Canadian economy will soon lead to a transition in Canadian industry from manufacturing to services and exploration of natural resources. This will create opportunities for new industrial development and growth in northern regions. Expanding industrialization towards northern Canada will require deployment of reliable telecommunication infrastructure. The combination of open source software, Linux operating system and Personal Computer (PC) based hardware platform is proposed to become the foundation for low cost and flexible technology that will provide transition towards all-optical infrastructures. An innovative prototype of a low-cost optical gigabit Ethernet switch is presented and its benchmark results are discussed. Scalability of the switch and its future applications in optical networks are studied. A prototype of a software based data encapsulation system was designed and implemented in a PC based platform, and its performance was evaluated using real data that was captured in commercial LAN. Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) are studied as a building block in next generation switching devices for all-optical access networks. A prototype of an SOA-based low-cost optical switching device with implemented FPGA based controlling mechanism is presented and its characteristics are discussed. SOA is also studied as an energy efficient optical amplifier that can be deployed in end user facilities. The presented results provide proof of concept of a low cost flexible platform that can be used to design and build network devices to facilitate the transition of existing telecommunication networks towards next generation optical access infrastructure.

Le dépistage du cancer colorectal par IRM à des stades précoces exige l'obtention des images avec une résolution spatiale suffisante. L'acquisition d'images de résolution spatiale submillimétrique peut être réalisée avec des capteurs endoluminaux placés au plus proche de la zone à explorer. Les développements de ce type de capteur ont été compromis par des aspects liés à la sécurité du patient en raison des échauffements localisés qui ont lieu avec une liaison galvanique reliant le capteur au système d'imagerie. Pour pallier ces problèmes de sécurité, nous proposons de développer un capteur magnétique déporté grâce à une transmission par fibre optique. Deux points importants doivent être traités pour réaliser ce capteur : le découplage actif de la boucle endoluminale et le transport optique de l'information RMN. Un système de découplage actif optique a été réalisé puis caractérisé sur banc et en IRM (in-vitro). Les résultats montrent que le découplage optique est efficace et ses performances sont comparables avec un système de découplage conventionnel. Le transport optique du signal RMN a été réalisé en couplant un cristal Electro-Optique à la boucle résonnante endoluminale. Ce cristal permet une modulation de l'état de polarisation du faisceau optique. Les résultats de caractérisation du capteur en termes de linéarité, dynamique et sensibilité sur un banc optique montrent sa faisabilité / Detection of colorectal cancer by MRI at its early stages requires images with high spatial resolution. Submillimetric spatial resolution images can be achieved with MRI endoluminal receiver coil placed as close as possible to the region of interest. However using this type of receiver is always limited by security issues related to patient safety due to localized heating which appear with a galvanic connection between the receiver coil and the imaging system. To address this problem, we propose to develop an non-invasive optically deported characterization of NMR Radiofrequency signal. Two important points need to be addressed to achieve this receiver: active endoluminal loop decoupling and optical signal transport. A system of active optical decoupling has been achieved and characterized on bench and in MRI (in-vitro). The results show that the optical decoupling is efficient and its performance is comparable to a conventional decoupling system. The optical transmission of the NMR signal has been achieved by associating a passive Electro-Optical crystal transducer to the resonant receiver coil. This crystal allows a modulation of the polarization state of the laser probe beam. The results of sensor’s characterization on an optical bench concerning its linearity, its sensitivity and its dynamic, show the feasibility

Rapid changes in population distribution across Canada and the introduction of new telecommunication services to the consumer market have resulted in a number of significant challenges for existing network infrastructure. Fast growing populations in metropolitan regions require high density access networks to meet the growing need for bandwidth that results. Furthermore, new services such as high definition TV, online gaming and real-time video teleconferencing are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. These services require higher bandwidth to be available to end users. Changes in the Canadian economy will soon lead to a transition in Canadian industry from manufacturing to services and exploration of natural resources. This will create opportunities for new industrial development and growth in northern regions. Expanding industrialization towards northern Canada will require deployment of reliable telecommunication infrastructure. The combination of open source software, Linux operating system and Personal Computer (PC) based hardware platform is proposed to become the foundation for low cost and flexible technology that will provide transition towards all-optical infrastructures. An innovative prototype of a low-cost optical gigabit Ethernet switch is presented and its benchmark results are discussed. Scalability of the switch and its future applications in optical networks are studied. A prototype of a software based data encapsulation system was designed and implemented in a PC based platform, and its performance was evaluated using real data that was captured in commercial LAN. Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) are studied as a building block in next generation switching devices for all-optical access networks. A prototype of an SOA-based low-cost optical switching device with implemented FPGA based controlling mechanism is presented and its characteristics are discussed. SOA is also studied as an energy efficient optical amplifier that can be deployed in end user facilities. The presented results provide proof of concept of a low cost flexible platform that can be used to design and build network devices to facilitate the transition of existing telecommunication networks towards next generation optical access infrastructure.

Photovoltaics (PV) are a renewable energy technology experiencing rapidly increasing commercial adoption today. Nonetheless, many proposed PV applications still require higher efficiencies, lower costs and comparable reliability to currently available in commercial devices (typically made from silicon). To enable the rigorous study of a much wider range of materials and novel design concepts, particularly those based on compound thin films, Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV), cells with bifaciality, a comprehensive modeling framework is developed to couple photon absorption, carrier transport, photon recycling, and thermal transport in PV devices. The universality of this framework manifest itself in approaching various PV related problems as follows: 1) exploring the novel design of wide-Eg GaInP solar cells as an intermediate step to enhance the efficiency of multijunction PV devices; 2) characterizing the open-circuit voltage (VOC) degradation in thin-film vapor liquid solid (TF-VLS) grown InP solar cell through combined device and circuit model for interpreting photoluminescence (PL) image; 3) establishing optic-electric-thermal coupled framework to assess and compare the passive cooling effect for Silicon CPV devices that employ porous soda-lime glass radiative cooler and conventional copper cooler respectively; 4) Investigating and formulating the analytic solution of the optimal design that minimizes combined optical shadowing loss and electrical resistive loss for two types of bifacial PV devices: a) interdigitated back contact (IBC) Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells and b) Copper Indium Gallium DiSelenide (CIGSe) solar cell with Al2O3 passivation; and 5) Constructing an Neural Network Autoen- coder (NNA) that compresses and reconstructs the J-V characteristics obtained from TCAD simulation and literature for rapid screening and automated classification.

No description available.

No description available.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a form of local cancer treatment in which cell death is caused by photochemical reactions involving an exogenous photosensitizer. The photosensitizer, which is preferentially retained in malignant tissues, is photoactivated and cell death results from the generation of reactive products -most likely excited molecular (singlet) oxygen. The development of in vivo PDT dosimetry would be greatly aided by the ability to directly measure the local concentration of this product by non-invasive means. In condensed media singlet oxygen will, with some small probability, undergo a radiative transition to the ground state with emission at 1270 nm. This infrared phosphorescence may provide a means for monitoring the production of singlet oxygen in vivo. Unfortunately the background infrared fluorescence observed from tissue may be many times the expected magnitude of the 1270 nm phosphorescence, even within the bandwidth encompassing the peak. The principal aim of this project was the design of a system optimized for the in vivo detection of the singlet oxygen emission. The system makes use of the most sensitive commercially available detector and uses phase sensitive detection to discriminate against infrared fluorescence. The system's performance matched theoretical expectations for the photosensitizer Photofrin II in aqueous and methanol solutions. However, a discrepancy in the observed and theoretical values was noted for aluminum chlorosulphonated phthalocyanine suggesting a deviation from simple first order kinetics. Singlet oxygen phosphorescence was not observed during PDT of cell suspensions or mouse tumours even though considerable cell death and tumour necrosis were observed. The most likely explanation of this failure is that, due to quenching by biomolecules, the lifetime of singlet oxygen in cells or tissue is much lower than in solution so that the probability of emission is reduced accordingly. Quantitative calibration of the system yielded a lower limit of approximately 0.1 us on the singlet oxygen lifetime in tissue. This suggests that singlet oxygen is generated in a protein environment. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Esta pesquisa mostrou a viabilidade técnica da utilização de células de cristais líquidos nemáticos (CLNs) como elementos sensores eletro-ópticos de tensões elétricas eficazes (RMS). Duas foram as filosofias abordadas na concepção desses sensores: a modulação em amplitude da intensidade da luz polariza atuando em células transmissivas e a tensão de Freedericksz atuando em células reflexivas. Os sensores baseados na primeira filosofia foram denominados, nesta pesquisa, de sensores de escala de cinza (EC) e os segundos de sensores de gráfico de barras (GB). O sensor EC foi desenvolvido para aplicações em altas tensões. Este sensor é constituído por um divisor de tensão capacitivo, onde o braço de baixa tensão é composto por uma célula de cristal nemático torcida (CLNT). O sensor EC alia as vantagens dos tradicionais sistemas eletro-ópticos, tais como a imunidade às interferências eletromagnéticas (IEM); o alto isolamento elétrico proporcionado pela fibra óptica; com as vantagens de ser um sistema com um simples aparato óptico, então indutivo. O sensor GB mostrou-se mais versátil que o sensor EC. Neste sensor o braço de alta tensão do divisor de tensão capacitivo foi confeccionado na própria célula. Além disso, o sensor GB é menos sensível a influências térmicas, sendo neste caso mais indicado para aplicações de campo. Além das vantagens citadas acima, os sensores desenvolvidos apresentam as características de possuírem baixo custo, facilidade de instalação, versatilidade e empregarem tecnologia nacional. Também neste trabalho, foram estudados e determinados modelo físicos e elétricos que melhor representam o comportamento das células de CLNs. Os modelos físicos permitiram expandir o conhecimento sobre o comportamento de dispersão dielétrica presente nestes materiais devido ao movimento de impurezas iônicas; ao movimento molecular, e ao acúmulo de cargas espaciais nas interfaces entre as camadas de alinhamento e o cristal líquido, e também, auxiliaram na compreensão dos parâmetros físicos que influenciam no comportamento anisotrópico da permissividade dielétrica e da condutividade elétrica dos CLNs. Os modelos elétricos, além de auxiliarem na compreensão dos mecanismos físicos auxiliando com isso a proposição de modelos fenomenológicos, também mostraram-se uma poderosa ferramenta a ser aplicada na otimização de processos de fabricação e no desenvolvimento de dispositivos utilizados na confecção de mostradores de informação (LCDs). Estes modelos elétricos foram testados e utilizados em programas computacionais dedicados à simulação de circuitos elétricos, e puderam auxiliar sobremaneira no desenvolvimento do sensor GB. / In this research the technical viability of the usage of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cells as sensor elements of effective electric voltage (RMS) is presented. Two approaches were adopted for the conception of these sensors: the modulation in width of the intensity of the polarized light acting in transmissive cells and the voltage of Freedericksz acting in reflexive cells. The sensors based on the first approach were termed grayscale sensors and the second were bargraph sensors. A grayscale sensor was developed for applications in high voltage. This sensor is constituted by a capacitor voltage divider, where the low voltage arm is composed of a cell of twisted nematic liquid crystal (TNLC). The grayscale sensor combines the advantages of traditional electro-optical systems, such as immunity to the electro-magnetic-interference (EMI) and the high electric insulation provided by the optical fiber; associated to characteristics of being a simple optical apparatus and a non-inductive system. The bargraph sensor has shown to be more versatile than the grayscale sensor. In this bargraph sensor the high voltage arm of the capacitor voltage divider was built in the CLNT cell itself, facilitating its use in both high and low voltages. Besides, the bargraph sensor is less sensitive to thermal influences, being in this case more suitable to field applications. In addition to the advantages mentioned above, both sensors developed showed characteristics of low cost, installation easiness, versatility and indigenous technology. Due to the need of establishing parameters for the development of the electric voltage sensor, also in this research, physical and electric models that best represent the behavior of NLC cells were obtained. The physical models allowed expanding the knowledge about the behavior of dielectric dispersion present in these materials due to the movement of ionic impurities, molecular movement, and the accumulation of space charge in the interfaces between the alignment layers and the liquid crystal. These models have also contributed to the understanding of the physical parameters that influence the anisotropic behavior of both dielectric permittivity and electric conductivity of NLCs. Besides, the electric models helped in the understanding of the physical mechanisms aiding in the proposition of phenomenological models. They have also proved to be a powerful tool to be applied in the optimization of production processes, as well as in the development of devices used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). These electric models were tested and used in software for the simulation of electric circuits and could aid greatly in the development of bargraph sensors.

Photonic links have been proposed to transport radio frequency (RF) signals over optical fiber. External optical modulation is commonly used in high performance RF-photonic links. The practical use of optical fiber to transport RF signals is still limited due to high RF signal loss. In order to reduce the RF signal loss, highly efficient modulators are needed. For many applications, modulators with broad bandwidths are required. However, there are applications that require only a narrow bandwidth. For these narrow-band applications, the modulation efficiency can be improved through the resonant enhancement technique at the expense of reduced bandwidth. The aim of this thesis is to investigate highly efficient Mach-Zehnder optical modulators (MZMs) on Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) with resonant enhancement techniques for narrow-band RF-photonic applications. This work focuses in particular on analyzing the factors that affect the modulation efficiency through resonant enhancement so that the modulator electrode structure can be optimized for maximum modulation efficiency. A parameter study of the effects of the electrode characteristics on the modulation efficiency of resonantly enhanced modulators (RE-MZM) is provided. From this study, optimum design objectives are identified. Numerical optimization is employed to explore the design trade-offs so that optimal configurations can be found. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to assess the performance of optimal RE-MZMs with respect to the variations of fabrication conditions. The results of these investigations indicate that the RE-MZM with a large electrode gap is the optimal design since it provides high modulation efficiency although the inherent switching voltage is high, and is the most tolerant to the fabrication fluctuations. A highly efficient RE-MZM on X-cut LiNbO3 is practically demonstrated with the resonant enhancement factor of 5 dB when comparing to the unenhanced modulator with the same electrode structure and effective switching voltage of 2 V at 1.8 GHz. The performance of the RF-photonic link using the fabr icated RE-MZM is evaluated. Optimization of RE-MZMs for operating at millimeter-wave frequencies is also reported. Factors that limit the modulation efficiency of an RE-MZM at millimeter-wave frequencies are identified. Novel resonant structures that can overcome these limitations are proposed. Preliminary designs indicate that greatly improved modulation efficiency could be expected.