No / Near field imaging using microwaves in medical applications has gained much attention recently as various researchers have shown its capability and accuracy in identifying features of interest compared to well-known screening tools. This paper documents microwave imaging experiments for breast cancer detection. A simple phantom consisting of a plastic container with a low dielectric material imitating fatty tissue and a high dielectric constant object emulating tumor is scanned with a UWB microstrip antenna between 4 to 8 GHz. The measured results indicate that the prototype is a good candidate for imaging application.

Microwave near-field probes (MNPs) confine evanescent fields to regions that are substantially smaller than the wavelength at the operation frequency. Such probes are able to resolve subwavelength features, thus providing resolution much higher than the classical Abb?? limit. These abilities of MNPs are primarily due to the evanescent nature of the field generated at the tip of the probes. In the past, MNPs with ultra-high resolution were designed by tapering a resonant opening to provide high field concentration and high sensitivity. The limitations of these MNPs were subject to low surface roughness and practical realization challenges due to their geometrical features and vibration control constraints. Metamaterials with their ability to enhance evanescent fields, lead to the speculation that they could potentially increase the sensitivity of near-field probe. Periodically arranged metamaterial unit elements such as split-ring-resonators (SRRs) can create negative permeability media. Placing such material layer in the proximity of a probe leads to enhancement of the evanescent waves. Guided by this remarkable feature of metamaterials, I proposed an MNP consisting of a wire loop concentric with a single SRR. The evanescent field behavior of the probe is analyzed using Fourier analysis revealing substantial enhancement of the evanescent field consistent with metamaterial theory predictions. The resolution of the probe is studied to especially determine its ability for sub-surface detection of media buried in biological tissues. The underlying physics governing the probe is analyzed. Variations of the probe are developed by placement of lumped impedance loads. To further increase the field confinement to smaller region, a miniaturized probe design is proposed. This new probe consists of two printed loops whose resonance is tunable by a capacitor loaded in the inner loop. The sensing region is decreased from ??/20 to ??/55, where ?? is the wavelength of the probe???s unloaded frequency. The magnetic-sensitive nature of the new probe makes it suitable for sensing localized magnetostatic surface resonance (LMSR) occurring in electrically very small particles. Therefore, I proposed a sensing methodology for detecting localized magnetostatic surface (LMS) resonant particles. In this methodology, an LMS resonant sphere is placed concentrically with the loops. A circuit model is developed to predict the performance of the probe in the presence of a magnetic sphere having Lorentz dispersion. Full-wave simulations are carried out to verify the circuit model predictions, and preliminary experimental results are demonstrated. The Lorentzian fit in this work implies that the physical nature of LMSR may originate from spin movement of charged particle whose contribution to effective permeability may be analogous to that of bound electron movement to effective permittivity in electrostatic resonance. Detection of LMSR can have strong impact on marker-based sensing applications in biomedicine and bioengineering.

This thesis presents a practical approach to reduce the overall testing time in a spherical near-field (SNF) antenna measurement environment. The premise of this work is that the acquisition time is mostly dominated by the mechanical movement and the processing electronic. Moreover, it is assumed that the transformation time to go from the near-field domain to the far-field domain (NF-FF transform) is small compared to the acquisition time. Thus this operation can be done repeatedly while the acquisition is on-going without significantly affecting the overall test time. This situation allows to continuously evaluate the far-field (FF) of the antenna under test (AUT), so that certain decision functions based on the radiation pattern of the antenna can be monitored. Such decision functions are based on the antenna specification, such as the gain, the side lobe level, etc. We do not proceed with a complete scan of the measurement sphere but effectively allow the probe to follow a directed path under control of an acquisition rule, so that the sampled near-field (NF) datapoints constitute an acquisition map on the sphere. The acquisition can then be terminated based on decision function values, allowing the smallest amount of data needed to ensure accurate determination of the AUT performance measures.

This thesis presents a practical approach to reduce the overall testing time in a spherical near-field (SNF) antenna measurement environment. The premise of this work is that the acquisition time is mostly dominated by the mechanical movement and the processing electronic. Moreover, it is assumed that the transformation time to go from the near-field domain to the far-field domain (NF-FF transform) is small compared to the acquisition time. Thus this operation can be done repeatedly while the acquisition is on-going without significantly affecting the overall test time. This situation allows to continuously evaluate the far-field (FF) of the antenna under test (AUT), so that certain decision functions based on the radiation pattern of the antenna can be monitored. Such decision functions are based on the antenna specification, such as the gain, the side lobe level, etc. We do not proceed with a complete scan of the measurement sphere but effectively allow the probe to follow a directed path under control of an acquisition rule, so that the sampled near-field (NF) datapoints constitute an acquisition map on the sphere. The acquisition can then be terminated based on decision function values, allowing the smallest amount of data needed to ensure accurate determination of the AUT performance measures.

Ce travail de thèse a permis de développer un système de microscopie en champ proche terahertz en régime continu. Deux principales configurations ont été étudiée, l'un utilisant un sonde à ouverture et l'autre utilisant une pointe. Lors du développement de ce système, l'utilisation de guides d'onde de surface cylindriques (modes de Sommerfeld) a été nécessaire et une étude de ces modes a été faite tant sur le plan théorique qu'expérimental. / We developed two configurations of terahertz near field microscope. Th first one use an aperture and the other use a tip. We studied Sommerfeld wire waves.

The wireless industry is such that suppliers of antennas have to adapt their designs to requirement changes over a period of just a few months. In these short design cycles time is crucial. Radiation pattern testing of the antennas at various points in this design cycle are nowadays mostly done using spherical near-field techniques, where the tangential electric field is acquired over an imaginary sphere close to, and surrounding, the antenna under test, and this data then transformed into a far-zone radiation pattern. There are some applications where acquisition over a rotationally symmetric surface other than a spherical one would not only reduce test times, but allow equipment cost reductions as well. However, near-field to far-field transformations for finite non-spherical measurement surface shapes are not available. Such a transformation is proposed, implemented and validated in this thesis. It uses the method of moments, customized to a rotationally symmetric surface (body of revolution) to effect this transformation.

This report investigates the technical and economic viability of introducing a Near Field Communication (NFC) client system in a gym environment. The system aims to aid the customers with logging their workout, retrieving information regarding exercises as well as enhancing the attendance control for both staff and customers. To identify what information to be presented, the most important quality factors and what functionalities are most desired, an exploratory case study was conducted. The study showed that there is a discrepancy between the desire to log ones workout and actually doing it. Most people want to keep track of how they workout, but despite the wide variety of workout applications on the market, they choose not to use them. The main concern expressed was that the logging needs to be fast and easy, indicating that the existing apps do not fulfill the ease of use desired. The system presented in this report is coupled to the gym where NFC tags pair an exercise to its corresponding logger and information in the application. The ability for the gym to track its customers’ workout habits is a rare feature that provides several economic benefits such as targeted advertisement, better maintenance control and new customer services analyzing their workout. For the system to be effective the customers need to use the system and log their workout, therefore it needs to be supported by the major mobile platforms. To accommodate this a hybrid platform approach using PhoneGap was used. This approach allows for development in one language that translates into native embedded web applications. At the time of writing Apple’s latest models do include the hardware for NFC communication. However, it is not possible to develop a custom NFC application for iPhone yet. By adopting the hybrid approach there is no need to create a whole new app when they do release the rights to do so. In conclusion, the technical viability of the NFC based system comes with the tradeoffs of dealing with the lack of standards of a new technology and being early on the market with a new feature. This calls for some custom solutions, since each platform adopts their own way of NFC implementation, but is manageable. The economic aspects are tied to the use of the system where the ease of use is the key factor for the customers. The end user tests indicate that NFC provides that small advantage over traditional workout applications needed to make logging attractive.

In this work a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation is employed to explore local field enhancement, plasmonic coupling, and charge distribution patterns. This 3D simulation calculates the magnetic and electric field components in a large matrix of Yee cells using Maxwell’s equations. An absorbing boundary condition is included to eliminate reflection back into the simulation chamber, and a sample system of cells is checked for convergence. In the specific simulations considered here, a laser pulse of single wavelength is incident on a silicon substrate, travels through an embedded ZnO nanowire (NW) waveguide only (due to an Ag filter), then incites plasmonic coupling at the gap between an Au nanoparticle tip and an Au substrate, an Au nanoparticle (NP), or a trio of Au nanoparticles incident on an angled Si substrate. The angle between the axis of the NW and the normal of the substrate is varied from 0-60°. The NP perpendicular deflection with respect to the NW axis is also varied from -115 - 75 nm. The enhancement patterns reveal superior signal to noise ratio compared to Near Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), three times smaller than the NP diameter 100 nm, as well as resolution and spot size of less than 50 nm. This method of Apertureless NSOM (ANSOM) using a NW waveguide grown on a transparent microcantilever therefore shows promise for imaging of single molecules incident on a substrate and NP-labeled cell membrane. / text

This thesis discusses the design and construction of a Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM). Basic principles of operation, the characteristics of the hardware components, and the control software are discussed. A unique method of controlling the position of the probe is developed, and scans of a diffraction grating are presented. We show the influence that the surface topology and reflectivity and the interference of direct and reflected light have on the images. A second design of the instrument, for use in a vacuum chamber and with a flexure stage for lateral motion, is accomplished. / text

Negatively buoyant jets are turbulent flows that are frequently employed by the desalination industry to disperse reject brines into oceanic environments. Although such brines are characterised by elevated concentrations of the same elemental components as the discharge environment contains, there is significant potential for marine ecosystem damage if this waste is not diluted properly. Numerous workers have analysed the dilution and spatial characteristics of negatively buoyant jets, but published data demonstrates notable inconsistencies. An important reason for these discrepancies is the variety of bottom-boundary conditions employed. This complicates comparison with predictions by integral models typically employed for discharge design, as these generally have not been developed with consideration to boundary interaction. In the present study, negatively buoyant jet experimental data is collected where bottom boundary distances are sufficiently large to avoid boundary influence at the point where the discharge returns to its source height (the return point). Near-field centreline dilution data is measured under still ambient conditions, for the source inclinations of 15–75°. Considerable attention is paid to experimental data quality, and all relevant issues are mitigated where possible. In order to ensure the boundary has no influence, source heights in this study range between 2.33 d F0 and 8.07 d F0. A variety of time-averaged and temporal statistics are calculated, and these statistics are compared with published experimental data and predictions by integral models. Normalised trajectory and dilution data from the source through to the return point collapses well at each inclination. The attention to signal quality and the self-consistency of derived experimental results in this study suggest a high level of accuracy, and large distances to the bottom boundary ensure that results are not confused by boundary interaction. Data for dilution rate at the return point supports the use of higher source inclinations (60° and 75°) to maximise dilution capability. A new ‘forced jet’ model is developed that incorporates the concept of a reducing buoyancy flux as the flow rises to maximum height. While this model is not applicable above source inclinations of 60°, predictions at other inclinations are reasonable. Dilution predictions are notably improved when compared to those from existing integral models. Finally, CFD simulations of negatively buoyant jets are conducted using the k-ε turbulence model. Despite the sophistication of this model, the quality of spatial and dilution bulk flow predictions at the centreline maximum height are no better than those obtained from the forced jet model or analytical solutions of Kikkert et al. (2007).