Remarkable improvements in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been made by the introduction of mode- and current-confining oxide optical aperture now used commercially. However, the oxide aperture blocks heat flow inside the device, causing a larger thermal resistance, and the internal strain caused by the oxide can degrade device reliability, also the diffusion process used for the oxide formation can limit device uniformity and scalability. Oxide-free lithographic VCSELs are introduced to overcome these device limitations, with both the mode and current confined within the lithographically defined intracavity mesa, scaling and mass production of small size device could be possible. The 3 μm diameter lithographic VCSEL shows a threshold current of 260 μA, differential quantum efficiency of 60% and maximum output power density of 65 kW/cm2 , and shows single-mode singlepolarization operation with side-mode-suppression-ratio over 25 dB at output power up to 1 mW. The device also shows reliable operation during 1000 hours stress test with high injection current density of 142 kA/cm2 . The lithographic VCSELs have much lower thermal resistance than oxide-confined VCSELs due to elimination of the oxide aperture. The improved thermal property allows the device to have wide operating temperature range of up to 190 °C heat sink temperature, high output power density especially in small device, high rollover current density and high rollover cavity temperature. Research is still underway to reduce the operating voltage of lithographic VCSELs for high wall plug efficiency, and the voltage of 6 µm device at injection current density of 10 kA/cm2 is reduces to 1.83 V with optimized mesa and DBR mirror iv structure. The lithographic VCSELS are promising to become the next generation VCSEL technology.

In order to fully understand the third order nonlinear optical response of materials under high irradiance excitation it is necessary to study the temporal and polarization dependence of nonlinear refraction and absorption. There are several existing approaches such as Z-scan and pump-probe techniques to determine those responses. As part of this work, these approaches will be briefly outlined before presenting beam deflection, applied from photothermal beam deflection, as an alternative experimental technique to determine the nonlinear refraction with its temporal and polarization dynamics. This technique measures the angle of the probe beam deflected via the index gradient of the material induced by strong excitation beam, to determine both the sign and magnitude of the nonlinear refraction. The temporal and tensor properties of the nonlinear refractive index can be determined by introducing a delay line, and by varying the polarization of the excitation and probe beam, respectively. To demonstrate the practicality of the beam deflection technique, we performed measurements on Fused Silica, Carbon Disulfide and Zinc Oxide. Each of these samples shows quite different nonlinear responses. Amorphous fused silica exhibits nonlinear refraction purely from instantaneous electronic contribution; while Carbon Disulfide shows a much slower response, originating not only from the electronic contribution but also from non-instantaneous nuclear movements (e.g. molecular orientation). These two contributions can be separated by varying the polarization direction of the excitation and probe beam. By introducing lock-in detection technique, a sensitivity of λ/5500 can be achieved. In Zinc Oxide, a wide-bandgap semiconductor, we measure both nonlinear refraction and two-photon absorption simultaneously. Therefore the beam deflection is a sensitive technique, which can be used to measure the time and polarization dynamics of the nonlinear response of the material

The interaction between coherent waves and material systems with complex optical properties is a complicated, deterministic process. Light that scatters from such media gives rise to random fields with intricate properties. It is common perception that the randomness of these complex fields is undesired and therefore is to be removed, usually through a process of ensemble averaging. However, random fields emerging from light matter interaction contain information about the properties of the medium and a thorough analysis of the scattered light allows solving specific inverse problems. Traditional attempts to solve these kinds of inverse problems tend to rely on statistical average quantities and ignore the deterministic interaction between the optical field and the scattering structure. Thus, because ensemble averaging inherently destroys specific characteristics of random processes, one can only recover limited information about the medium. This dissertation discusses practical means that go beyond ensemble averaging to probe complex media and extract additional information about a random scattering system. The dissertation discusses cases in which media with similar average properties can be differentiated by detailed examination of fluctuations between different realizations of the random process of multiple scattering. As a different approach to this type of inverse problems, the dissertation also includes a description of how higher-order field and polarization correlations can be used to extract features of random media and complex systems from one single realization of the light- iv matter interaction. Examples include (i) determining the level of multiple scattering, (ii) identifying non-stationarities in random fields, and (iii) extracting underlying correlation lengths of random electromagnetic fields that result from basic interferences. The new approaches introduced and the demonstrations described in this dissertation represent practical means to extract important material properties or to discriminate between media with similar characteristics even in situations when experimental constraints limit the number of realizations of the complex light-matter interaction

Liquid crystal devices are attractive for many applications such as information displays, spatial light modulators and adaptive optics, because their optical properties are electrically tunable. However, response time of liquid crystal devices is a serious concern for many applications especially for those who require large phase modulation (≥2π). This is because a thick LC layer is usually needed to achieve a large phase shift while the response time of a nematic LC is highly determined by the cell gap.

Phased-array antennas are commonplace in the radiofrequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Exploitation of phasing effects between multiple antennas facilitates a wide range of applications, including synthetic-aperture radar, beam forming, and beam scanning. For the first time, the phased addition of multiple dipole antennas is demonstrated in the infrared, at a wavelength of 10.6 micrometers. Coplanar strip lines are used to interconnect the antennas, preserving the phase of the individual contributions. Several different proof-of-concept experiments are performed, using planar antennas fabricated with direct-write electron-beam lithography. Infrared-frequency currents from two dipole antennas are summed together at a common feedpoint and dissipated in a bolometric load. Angular pattern measurements show that the direction of maximum gain depends on the phase difference between the antennas. As more antennas are added together in phase, beam narrowing is observed in the angular response. Another experiment uses a two-dipole array to directly measure the magnitude of the mutual coherence function, at the plane of the antennas, of a spatially incoherent narrowband source. Measurements are also made of the broadside antenna response comparing air-side and substrate-side situations for a dipole antenna fabricated on a hemispherical immersion lens. In all cases, the measured behavior is confirmed by electromagnetic analysis.

This dissertation discusses cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) and polymers based photonic devices including one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal lasers and broadband circular polarizers. CLCs showing unique self-organized chiral structures have been widely used in bistable displays, flexible displays, and reflectors. However, the photonic band gap they exhibit opens a new way for generating laser light at the photonic band edge (PBE) or inside the band gap. When doped with an emissive laser dye, cholesteric liquid crystals provide distributed feedback so that mirrorless lasing is hence possible. Due to the limited surface anchoring, the thickness of gain medium and feedback length is tens of micrometers. Therefore lasing efficiency is quite limited and laser beam is highly divergent. To meet the challenges, we demonstrated several new methods to enhance the laser emission while reducing the beam divergence from a cholesteric liquid crystal laser. Enhanced laser emission is demonstrated by incorporating a single external CLC reflector as a polarization conserved reflector. Because the distributed feedback from the active layer is polarization selective, a CLC reflector preserves the original polarization of the reflected light and a further stimulated amplification ensues. As a result of virtually doubled feedback length, the output is dramatically enhanced in the same circular polarization state. Meanwhile, the laser beam divergence is dramatically reduced due to the increased cavity length from micrometer to millimeter scale. Enhanced laser emission is also demonstrated by the in-cell metallic reflector because the active layer is pumped twice. Unlike a CLC reflector, the output from a mirror-reflected CLC laser is linearly polarized as a result of coherent superposition of two orthogonal circular polarization states. The output linear polarization direction can be well controlled and fine tuned by varying the operating temperature and cell gap. Enhanced laser emission is further demonstrated in a hybrid photonic band edge - Fabry-Perot (FP) type structure by sandwiching the CLC active layer within a circular polarized resonator consisting of two CLC reflectors. The resonator generates multiple FP modes while preserving the PBE mode from the active layer. More importantly this band edge mode can be greatly enhanced by the external resonator under some conditions. Theoretical analysis is conducted based on 4×4 transfer matrix and scattering matrix and the results are consistent with our experimental observations. To make the CLC laser more compact and miniaturized, we have developed a flexible polymer laser using dye-doped cholesteric polymeric films. By stacking the mirror reflecting layer, the active layer and the CLC reflecting layer, enhanced laser emission was observed in opposite-handed circular polarization state, because of the light recycling effect. On the other hand, we use the stacked cholesteric liquid crystal films, or the cholesteric liquid crystals and polymer composite films to demonstrate the single film broadband circular polarizers, which are helpful for converting a randomly polarized light into linear polarization. New fabrication methods are proposed and the circular polarizers cover ~280 nm in the visible spectral range. Both theoretical simulation and experimental results are presented with a good match.

Ocular wavefront sensing is vital to improving our understanding of the human eye and to developing advanced vision correction methods, such as adaptive optics, customized contact lenses, and customized laser refractive surgery. It is also a necessary technique for high-resolution imaging of the retina. The most commonly used wavefront sensing method is based on the Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. Since Junzhong Liang's first application of Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing for the human eye in 1994, the method has quickly gained acceptance and popularity in the ophthalmic industry. Several commercial Shack-Hartmann eye aberrometers are currently available. While the existing aberrometers offer reasonable measurement accuracy and reproducibility, they do have a limited dynamic range. Although rare, highly aberrated eyes do exists (corneal transplant, keratoconus, post-lasik) that cannot be measured with the existing devices. Clinicians as well as optical engineers agree that there is room for improvement in the performance of these devices "Although the optical aberrations of normal eyes have been studied by the Shack-Hartmann technique, little is known about the optical imperfections of abnormal eyes. Furthermore, it is not obvious that current Shack-Hartmann aberrometers are robust enough to successfully measure clinically abnormal eyes of poor optical quality" Larry Thibos, School of Optometry, Indiana University. The ultimate goal for ophthalmic aberrometers and the main objective of this work is to increase the dynamic range of the wavefront sensor without sacrificing its sensitivity or accuracy. In this dissertation, we attempt to review and integrate knowledge and techniques from previous studies as well as to propose our own analytical approach to optimizing the optical design of the sensor in order to achieve the desired dynamic range. We present the underlying theory that governs the relationship between the performance metrics of the sensor: dynamic range, sensitivity, spatial resolution, and accuracy. We study the design constraints and trade-offs and present our system optimization method in detail. To validate the conceptual approach, a complex simulation model was developed. The comprehensive model was able to predict the performance of the sensor as a function of system design parameters, for a wide variety of ocular wavefronts. This simulation model did confirm the results obtained with our analytical approach. The simulator itself can now be used as a standalone tool for other Shack-Hartmann sensor designs. Finally, we were able to validate our theoretical work by designing and building an experimental prototype. We present some of the more practical design aspects, such as illumination choices and tolerance analysis methods. The prototype validated the conceptual approach used in the design and was able to demonstrate a vast increase in dynamic range while maintaining accurate and repeatable measurements.

This dissertation proposes the use of the emerging Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and agile lensing optical device technologies to design novel and powerful signal conditioning and sensing modules for advanced applications in optical communications, physical parameter sensing and RF/optical signal processing. For example, these new module designs have experimentally demonstrated exceptional features such as stable loss broadband operations and high > 60 dB optical dynamic range signal filtering capabilities. The first part of the dissertation describes the design and demonstration of digital MEMS-based signal processing modules for communication systems and sensor networks using the TI DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology. Examples of such modules include optical power splitters, narrowband and broadband variable fiber optical attenuators, spectral shapers and filters. Compared to prior works, these all-digital designs have advantages of repeatability, accuracy, and reliability that are essential for advanced communications and sensor applications. The next part of the dissertation proposes, analyzes and demonstrates the use of analog opto-fluidic agile lensing technology for sensor networks and test and measurement systems. Novel optical module designs for distance sensing, liquid level sensing, three-dimensional object shape sensing and variable photonic delay lines are presented and experimentally demonstrated. Compared to prior art module designs, the proposed analog-mode modules have exceptional performances, particularly for extreme environments (e.g., caustic liquids) where the free-space agile beam-based sensor provide remote non-contact access for physical sensing operations. The dissertation also presents novel modules involving hybrid analog-digital photonic designs that make use of the different optical device technologies to deliver the best features of both analog and digital optical device operations and controls. Digital controls are achieved through the use of the digital MEMS technology and analog controls are realized by employing opto-fluidic agile lensing technology and acousto-optic technology. For example, variable fiber-optic attenuators and spectral filters are proposed using the hybrid design. Compared to prior art module designs, these hybrid designs provide a higher module dynamic range and increased resolution that are critical in various advanced system applications. In summary, the dissertation shows the added power of hybrid optical designs using both the digital and analog photonic signal processing versus just all-digital or all-analog module designs.

With the growth of wireless communications, comes the need for engineers knowledgeable in 3D electromagnetic (EM) simulation of high-frequency circuits. To give electrical engineering students a better understanding of the behavior of electromagnetic fields, experiments including the use of 3D EM simulation software were proposed. Most students get lost in differential equations, curls, and divergences; this thesis aims to remedy that by exposing them to 3D EM simulation, which may motivate them toward further study in electromagnetics. Also, experience using EMPro is very beneficial for future RF/microwave/antenna engineers, as use of 3D EM simulation is becoming a requirement for this field. 3D EM simulators solve problems where using classical analysis techniques is impractical. Classical EM solutions to simple objects such as boxes, cylinders, and spheres, are widely known; but when the object is more complex, numerical approaches are preferred for their speed. Currently, Cal Poly does not use 3D electromagnetic simulation in any of its courses. Targeted relevant courses include EE 335/375: EM Fields & Transmission Lines, EE 402: EM Waves, EE 405/445: High-Frequency Amplifier Design, EE 425/455: Analog Filter Design, EE 502: Microwave Engineering, and EE 533: Antennas. As a starting point, EE 425/455 was targeted. In choosing which filters to investigate, simplicity and cost were the most important factors. For simplicity, transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode filters were chosen; also, using a trough design for these filters would allow for simple construction and access. Also, a circular waveguide filter was chosen as an alternative to the TEM filters, as the modes are either transverse electric or transverse magnetic. To lower costs, printed circuit board was used to construct the filters, along with brass tubing, semi-rigid coaxial cable, and copper plumbing caps. From these guidelines, three electronic bandpass filter experiments were investigated: a 1 GHz half-wave coaxial resonator filter, a 2 GHz copper end cap filter, and a tunable 1 GHz quarter-wave coaxial resonator filter. Electric and magnetic field coupling was used to excite the filters. They were then simulated using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations in Agilent EMPro. From the simulations, tradeoffs between insertion loss and bandwidth were observed. After, the filters were built and measured using a network analyzer. The quarter-wave filter was incorporated in Cal Poly’s EE 455 course during spring 2012. Students completed an EMPro tutorial, simulated the filters, and measured them using network analyzers. Student feedback was mixed, and modifications were made for future implementations.

Microwave interferometry (MI) is a Doppler based diagnostic tool used to measure the detonation velocity of explosives, which has applications to explosive safety. The geometry used in existing MI experiments is cylindrical explosives pellets layered in a cylindrical case. It is of interest to Lawrence Livermore National Labs to measure additional geometries that may be overmoded, meaning that the geometries propagate higher-order transverse electromagnetic waves. The goal of my project is to measure and analyze the input reflection from a novel structure and to find a good frequency to use in an experiment using this structure. Two methods of determining a good frequency are applied to the phase of the input reflection. The first method is R2, used to measure the linearity of input reflection phase. The second is a zero-crossing method that measures how periodic the input reflection phase is. Frequencies with R2 values higher than .995 may be usable for an experiment in the novel structure.