В данной работе представлена разработка схемы управления зеркальными антеннами 600 метрового радиотелескопа на основе цифровой обработки сигналов. Был произведен анализ диаграммы направленности радиотелескопа при цифровом методе формирования, а также оценено влияние фазовых ошибок на диаграмму направленности радиотелескопа, возникающих в процессе оцифровке аналогового сигнала на несущей частоте. Было произведено математическое моделирование и оценка влияния параметров цифровой элементной базы на характеристики диаграммы направленности радиотелескопа, предложено оборудование для построения диаграммообразующей схемы радиотелескопа. / This work contains the development of a control scheme for mirror antennas of a 600-meter radio telescope based on digital signal processing. An analysis was made of the radiation pattern of the radio telescope under the digital method of formation. The influence of phase errors on the radiation pattern of the radio telescope, which arise in the process of digitizing an analog signal at a carrier frequency, was estimated. Mathematical modeling and estimation of the effect of the parameters of the digital element base on the characteristics of the radiation pattern of the radio telescope were made, equipment for constructing a radio telescope was proposed.

A wide range of services and applications become possible when accurate position information for a radio terminal is available. These include: location-based services; navigation; safety and security applications. The commercial, industrial and military value of radio-location is such that considerable research effort has been directed towards developing related technologies, using satellite, cellular or local area network infrastructures or stand-alone equipment. This work studies and investigates two location techniques. The first one presents an implementation scheme for a wideband transmission and direction finding system using OFDM multi-carrier communications systems. This approach takes advantage of delay discrimination to improve angle-of-arrival estimation in a multipath channel with high levels of additive white Gaussian noise. A new methodology is interpreted over the multi carrier modulation scheme in which the simulation results of the estimated channel improves the performance of OFDM signal by mitigating the effect of frequency offset synchronization to give error-free data at the receiver, good angle of arrival accuracy and improved SNR performance. The full system simulation to explore optimum values such as channel estimation and AoA including the antenna array model and prove the operational performance of the OFDM system as implemented in MATLAB. The second technique proposes a low cost-effective method of tracking and monitoring objects (examples: patient, device, medicine, document) by employing passive radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. A multi-tag, (totalling fifty-six tags) with known ID values are attached to the whole patient’s body to achieve better tracking and monitoring precision and higher accuracy. Several tests with different positions and movements are implemented on six patients. The aim is to be able to track the patient if he/she is walking or sitting; therefore, the tests considered six possible movements for the patient including walking, standing, sitting, resting, laying on the floor and laying on the bed, these placements are important to monitor the status of the patient like if he collapsed and fall on the ground so that the help will be quick. The collected data from the RFID Reader in terms of Time Stamp, RSS, Tag ID, and a number of channels are processed using the MATLAB code.

If communicating via a teleconference phone the desired transmitted signal (speech) needs to be crystal clear so that all participants experience a good communication ability. However, there are many environmental conditions that contaminates the signal with background noise, i.e sounds not of interest for communication purposes, which impedes the ability to communicate due to interfering sounds. Noise can be removed from the signal if it is known and so this work has evaluated different ways of estimating the characteristics of the background noise. Focus was put on using speech detection to define the noise, i.e. the non-speech part of the signal, but other methods not solely reliant on speech detection but rather on characteristics of the noisy speech signal were included. The implemented techniques were compared and evaluated to the current solution utilized by the teleconference phone in two ways, firstly for their speech detection ability and secondly for their ability to correctly estimate the noise characteristics. The evaluation process was based on simulations of the methods' performance in various noise conditions, ranging from harsh to mild environments. It was shown that the proposed method showed improvement over the existing solution, as implemented in this study, in terms of speech detection ability and for the noise estimate it showed improvement in certain conditions. It was also concluded that using the proposed method would enable two sources of noise estimation compared to the current single estimation source and it was suggested to investigate how utilizing two noise estimators could affect the performance.

This work focuses on the evaluation of the feasibility to employ silicon (Si) nanowire based parallel arrays of Schottky-barrier field effect transistors (SB-FETs) as transducers for potentiometric biosensors and their overall performance as building blocks for novel functional electronics. Nanowire parallel arrays of SB-FETs were produced and electrically characterized during this work. Nominally undoped Si nanowires with mean diameter of 20nm were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) driven bottom-up growth and subsequently transferred via a printing process to Si/SiO2 chip substrates. Thereby, dense parallel aligned nanowire arrays are created. After dry oxidation of the nanowires, standard photolithography and deposition methods are employed to contact several hundred nanowires with interdigitated Ni electrodes in parallel. A silicidation step is used to produce axially intruded Ni-silicide (metallic) phases with a very abrupt interface to the Si (semiconducting) segment. Acting as front gate dielectric, the chip surface is entirely covered by an Al2O3 layer. For sensor applications, this layer further serves as electrical isolation of the electrodes and protects them from corrosion in electrolytes. Fabricated devices are part of the SOI (Si on insulator) transistor family with top (front) and back gate and exhibit ambipolar rectifying behavior. The top gate exhibits omega geometry with a 20nm thin Al2O3 dielectric, the back gate planar geometry with a 400nm thick SiO2 dielectric. The influence of both gates on the charge transport is summarized in the statistical analysis of transfer and output characteristic for 7 different lengths (for each 20 devices) of the Si conduction channel. A nonlinear scaling of on-currents and transconductance with channel length is revealed. Off-currents are influenced from both p- and n-type conduction at the same time. Increasing lateral electric fields (LEF) lead to a decline of suppression capability of both p- and n-currents by a single gate. This is reflected in a deteriorated swing and higher off-current towards decreasing channel lengths (increasing LEF). However, by individual gating of Schottky junction and channel, p- and n-type currents can be controlled individually. Both charge carrier types, p and n, can be suppressed efficiently at the same time leading to low off-currents and high on/off current ratio for all investigated channel lengths. This is achieved by a combined top and back double gate architecture, for which the back gate controls the Schottky junction resistance. It is demonstrated that a fixed high Schottky junction serial resistance, severely impairs the transconductance. However, the transconductance can be significantly increased by lowering this resistance via the back gate, enhancing the transducer performance significantly. Al2O3 covered SB-FETs were employed as pH sensors to evaluate their performance and signal to noise ratio (SNR). Current modulation per pH was observed to be directly proportional to the transconductance. The transistor related signal to noise ratio (SNR) is thus proportional to the transconductance to current noise ratio. Device noise was characterized and found to limit the SNR already below the peak transconductance regime. Statistical analysis showed that the nanowire SB-FET transconductance and noise both scale proportional with the current. Therefore, the SNR was found to be independent on the nanowire channel lengths under investigation. The high process yield of nanowire SB-FET parallel array fabrication close to hundred percent enables this platform to be used for simple logic and biosensor elements. Because of the low fabrication temperatures needed, the foundation is laid to produce complementary logic with undoped Si on flexible substrates. For previously reported results, the presence of Schottky junctions severely impaired the transconductance, restricting the applicability of SB-FETs as transducers. This work shows, that an electric decoupling of the Schottky junction can reduce these restrictions, making SB-FETs feasible for sensor applications.:Table of contents 11 List of figures 14 Abbreviations 15 Introduction 17 1 Fundamentals 23 1.1 Bottom up growth of Si nanowires 23 1.2 MOS and Schottky barrier transistor theory 25 1.2.1 MOSFET: Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor 25 1.2.2 Gate coupling 27 1.2.3 Oxide charges and flatband voltage 29 1.2.4 Charge trapping and charge-voltage hysteresis 30 1.2.5 Schottky barrier 32 1.2.6 SB-FETs 34 1.3 ISFET and BioFET technology 36 1.3.1 ISFET and BioFET working principle 37 1.3.2 Noise in ISFETs 41 2 Fabrication of Schottky barrier FET parallel arrays 43 2.1 Starting point of device fabrication 43 2.2 Parallel array transistor and sensor devices 44 2.2.1 Gold nano particle deposition 45 2.2.2 Bottom-up growth of Si nanowires 46 2.2.3 Nanowire deposition methods 48 Langmuir-Blodgett 48 Adhesion tape transfer 49 Contact printing/ smearing transfer 49 2.2.4 Nanowire oxidation 50 2.2.5 Chip design 51 2.2.6 UV lithography 53 2.2.7 Oxide removal and metal deposition 54 2.2.8 Nanowire silicidation 54 2.2.9 Ionsensitive, top gate dielectric and contact passivation 56 2.2.10 On chip reference electrode 57 3 Electrical characterization 59 3.1 Electrical characterization methods 59 3.2 Transfer characteristics 60 3.2.1 Silicidation: intruded silicide contacts 62 3.2.2 Scaling of the conduction channel length 63 3.2.3 Flatband voltage, built-in potentials, fixed and trapped oxide charge 71 3.2.4 Surface effects on the channel potential of back gated SB-FETs 72 3.3 Charge traps, hysteresis and Vth drifts 73 3.3.1 Screening of back gate fields by water molecules 74 3.3.2 Native oxides: unipolarity by water promoted charge trapping 76 3.3.3 Hysteresis for thermally grown oxide back and top gate devices 78 3.3.4 Hysteresis reduction by post anneal 79 3.4 Output characteristics 80 3.4.1 Unipolar output characteristics of nanowires with native oxide shell 80 3.4.2 Ambipolar output characteristics of nanowires with dry oxidized shell 82 3.5 Temperature dependence 84 3.6 Transistor noise 86 4 pH measurements 91 4.1 Experimental setup and data analysis method 91 4.2 Transfer function in electrolyte with liquid gate 92 4.3 Sensor response on pH 92 4.4 Sensor signal drifts 96 5 Schottky junction impact on sensitivity 97 5.1 Schottky junction electrostatic decoupling in solution 97 5.1.1 Experimental setup in solution 98 5.1.2 SU8/Al2O3 passivated junctions in electrolyte 98 5.2 Meander shaped gates without Schottky junction overlap 101 5.2.1 Separated gating of Schottky junctions and channel 102 5.2.2 Enhanced transducer performance by reduced Schottky junction resistance 104 6 Summary and Outlook 107 List of publications 111 Bibliography 126 Acknowledgements 127 / Diese Dissertation ist der Bewertung von Silizium (Si) Nanodraht basierten Parallelschaltungen von Schottky-Barrieren-Feld-Effekt-Transistoren (SB-FETs) als Wandler für potentiometrische Biosensoren und deren generelle Leistungsfähigkeit als Bauelement neuartiger funktioneller Elektronik gewidmet. In dieser Arbeit wurden Parallelschaltungen von Nanodraht SB-FETs hergestellt und elektrisch charakterisiert. Nominell undotierte Si Nanodrähte mit durchschnittlichem Durchmesser von 20nm wurden mittels chemischer Dampfphasenabscheidung (CVD) synthetisiert und anschließend durch einen Druckprozess auf ein Si/SiO2 Chip-Substrat transferiert. Damit wurden dicht gepackte, parallel ausgerichtete Nanodraht Schichten erzeugt. Nach Trockenoxidation der Nanodrähte wurden diese mit Standard Lithographie und Abscheidungsmethoden mit interdigitalen Nickel (Ni) Elektroden als Parallelschaltung kontaktiert. Durch einen Temperprozess bilden sich axial eindiffundierte metallische Ni-Silizid-Phasen, mit einer sehr abrupten Grenzfläche zum halbleitenden Si Segments des Nanodrahts. Die Chipoberfläche wird vollständig mit einer Al2O3-Schicht bedeckt, welche als Frontgate-Dielektrikum oder als elektrische Isolation und Korrosionsschutzschicht für Elektroden in Elektrolytlösungen im Falle der Sensoranwendungen dient. Die hier gezeigten Bauelemente sind Teil der SOI (Si on insulator) Transistoren-Familie mit Top- (Front) und Backgate und zeigen ein ambipolares Schaltverhalten. Die Topgates besitzen eine Omega-Geometrie mit 20nm dickem Al2O3 Dielektrikum, das Backgate eine planare Geometrie mit 400nm dickem SiO2 Dielektrikum. Der Einfluss beider Gates auf den Ladungstransport ist in einer statistischen Analyse der Transfer- und Output-Charaktersitiken für 7 unterschiedliche Si-Leitungskanallängen zusammengefasst. Eine nichtlineare Skalierung von Strom und Transkonduktanz mit Leitungskanallänge wurde aufgedeckt. Die Ströme im Aus-Zustand des Transistors sind durch das Vorhandensein gleichzeitiger p- als auch n-Typ Leitung bestimmt. Die Zunahme lateraler elektrischer Felder (LEF) führt zu einem Verlust des gleichzeitigen Ausschaltvermögens von p- und n-Strömen bei Ansteuerung mit einem einzelnen Gate. Dies äußert sich durch einen graduell verschlechterten Swing und höheren Strom im Aus-Zustand bei verringerter Leitungskanallänge (gleichbedeutend mit erhöhten LEF). Durch eine getrennte Ansteuerung von Schottky-Kontakt und Leitungskanal lassen sich p- and n-Leitung jedoch unabhängig voneinander kontrollieren. Beide Ladungsträgertypen können so simultan effizient unterdrückt werden, was zu einem geringen Strom im Aus-Zustand und einem hohen An/Aus- Stromverhältnis für alle untersuchten Kanallängen führt. Dies wird durch eine Gatearchitektur mit kombiniertem Top- und Backgate erreicht, bei der das Backgate den Ladungstransport durch den Schottky-Kontakt und dessen Serienwiderstand kontrolliert. Es wird gezeigt, dass ein konstant hoher Schottky-Kontakt bedingter Serienwiderstand die Transkonduktanz erheblich vermindert. Jedoch kann die Transkonduktanz im höchsten Maße durch eine Herabsetzung des Serienwiderstandes durch das Backgate gesteigert werden. Dies erhöht die Leistungsfähigkeit des SB-FET als Wandler deutlich. Al2O3 oberflächenbeschichtete SB-FETs wurden als pH-Sensoren erprobt, um deren Tauglichkeit und Signal-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis (SNR) zu evaluieren. Die Strommodulation pro pH-Wert konnte als direkt proportional zur Transkonduktanz bestätigt werden. Das Transistor bedingte SNR ist daher proportional zum Verhältnis von Transkonduktanz und Stromrauschen. Bei der Analyse des Transistorrauschens wurde festgestellt, dass dieses das SNR bereits bei einer niedrigeren Transkonduktanz als der maximal Möglichen limitiert. Eine statistische Auswertung zeigte, dass sowohl SB-FET Transkonduktanz als auch Stromrauschen proportional zu dem Transistorstrom skalieren. Somit ist deren Verhältnis unabhängig von der Nanodraht-Leitungskanallänge, im hier untersuchten Rahmen. Die geringe Ausschuss bei der Fabrikation der Nanodraht SB-FET-Parallelschaltungen ermöglicht eine Nutzung dieser Plattform für simple Logik und Biosensorelemente. Durch die geringen Prozesstemperaturen wurde die Grundlage geschaffen, komplementäre Logik mit undotiertem Si auf flexiblen Substraten zu fertigen. Vorangegangene Resultate zeigte eine verminderte Transkonduktanz durch die Präsenz von Schottky-Barrieren, was die Anwendbarkeit von SB-FETs als Wandler einschränkt. Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass eine elekrtische Entkopplung der Schottky-Kontakte zu einer Aufhebung dieser Beschränkung führen kann und somit den Einsatz von SB-FETs als praktikable Wandler für Sensoranwendungen zulässt.:Table of contents 11 List of figures 14 Abbreviations 15 Introduction 17 1 Fundamentals 23 1.1 Bottom up growth of Si nanowires 23 1.2 MOS and Schottky barrier transistor theory 25 1.2.1 MOSFET: Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor 25 1.2.2 Gate coupling 27 1.2.3 Oxide charges and flatband voltage 29 1.2.4 Charge trapping and charge-voltage hysteresis 30 1.2.5 Schottky barrier 32 1.2.6 SB-FETs 34 1.3 ISFET and BioFET technology 36 1.3.1 ISFET and BioFET working principle 37 1.3.2 Noise in ISFETs 41 2 Fabrication of Schottky barrier FET parallel arrays 43 2.1 Starting point of device fabrication 43 2.2 Parallel array transistor and sensor devices 44 2.2.1 Gold nano particle deposition 45 2.2.2 Bottom-up growth of Si nanowires 46 2.2.3 Nanowire deposition methods 48 Langmuir-Blodgett 48 Adhesion tape transfer 49 Contact printing/ smearing transfer 49 2.2.4 Nanowire oxidation 50 2.2.5 Chip design 51 2.2.6 UV lithography 53 2.2.7 Oxide removal and metal deposition 54 2.2.8 Nanowire silicidation 54 2.2.9 Ionsensitive, top gate dielectric and contact passivation 56 2.2.10 On chip reference electrode 57 3 Electrical characterization 59 3.1 Electrical characterization methods 59 3.2 Transfer characteristics 60 3.2.1 Silicidation: intruded silicide contacts 62 3.2.2 Scaling of the conduction channel length 63 3.2.3 Flatband voltage, built-in potentials, fixed and trapped oxide charge 71 3.2.4 Surface effects on the channel potential of back gated SB-FETs 72 3.3 Charge traps, hysteresis and Vth drifts 73 3.3.1 Screening of back gate fields by water molecules 74 3.3.2 Native oxides: unipolarity by water promoted charge trapping 76 3.3.3 Hysteresis for thermally grown oxide back and top gate devices 78 3.3.4 Hysteresis reduction by post anneal 79 3.4 Output characteristics 80 3.4.1 Unipolar output characteristics of nanowires with native oxide shell 80 3.4.2 Ambipolar output characteristics of nanowires with dry oxidized shell 82 3.5 Temperature dependence 84 3.6 Transistor noise 86 4 pH measurements 91 4.1 Experimental setup and data analysis method 91 4.2 Transfer function in electrolyte with liquid gate 92 4.3 Sensor response on pH 92 4.4 Sensor signal drifts 96 5 Schottky junction impact on sensitivity 97 5.1 Schottky junction electrostatic decoupling in solution 97 5.1.1 Experimental setup in solution 98 5.1.2 SU8/Al2O3 passivated junctions in electrolyte 98 5.2 Meander shaped gates without Schottky junction overlap 101 5.2.1 Separated gating of Schottky junctions and channel 102 5.2.2 Enhanced transducer performance by reduced Schottky junction resistance 104 6 Summary and Outlook 107 List of publications 111 Bibliography 126 Acknowledgements 127

Today’s communication systems are in need of spectrally efficient and high throughput techniques more than ever because of high data rate applications and the scarcity and expense of bandwidth. To cope with increased data rate demands, more base stations are needed which is not cost and energy efficient in cellular networks. It has been shown that wireless relay networks can provide higher network throughput and increase power efficiency with low complexity and cost. Furthermore, network resources can be utilized more efficiently by using network coding in relay networks. A wireless relay network in which multiple nodes exchange information with the help of relay node(s) is called a multi-way relay channel (MWRC). MWRCs are expected to be an integral part of next generation wireless standards. The main focus of this dissertation is the investigation of transmission schemes in an MWRC to improve the throughput and error performance. An MWRC with full data exchange is assumed in which a half-duplex relay station (RS) is the enabler of communication. One of the challenges with signal demodulation in MWRCs is the existence of ambiguous points in the received constellation. The first part of this dissertation investigates a transmission scheme for full data exchange in MWRC that benefits from these points and improves its throughput by 33% compared to traditional relaying. Then an MWRC is considered where a RS assists multiple nodes to exchange messages. A different approach is taken to avoid ambiguous points in the superposition of user symbols at the relay. This can be achieved by employing complex field network coding (CFNC) which results in full data exchange in two communication phases. CFNC may lead to small Euclidean distances between constellation points, resulting in poor error performance. To improve this performance, the optimal user precoding values are derived such that the power efficiency of the relay constellation is highest when channel state information is available at the users. The error performance of each user is then analyzed and compared with other relaying schemes. Finally, focusing on the uplink of multi-way relay systems, the performance of an MWRC is studied in which users can employ arbitrary modulation schemes and the links between the users and the relay have different gains, e.g. Rayleigh fading. Analytical expressions for the exact average pairwise error probability of these MWRCs are derived. The probability density function (PDF) and the mean of the minimum Euclidean distance of the relay constellation are closely approximated, and a tight upper bound on the symbol error probability is developed. / Graduate

Ce travail de thèse porte sur la conception, la réalisation et l’évaluation expérimentale d’ un microsystème d’analyse dont l’originalité repose sur l’intégration d’une micro antenne planaire de spectroscopie par résonance magnétique nucléaire (SRMN) sur un système micro fluidique à base d’un polymère, le Cyclique Oléfine Copolymère (COC). La détermination des caractéristiques géométriques optimales du microsystème afin d’optimiser le couplage électromagnétique entre la micro antenne de détection et l’échantillon est effectuée à l’aide d’un modèle de calcul numérique, ce qui permet l’optimisation du rapport signal sur bruit (RSB). La réalisation du microsystème avec des procédés de micro fabrication développés au laboratoire ont permis de valides son fonctionnement dans un spectromètre dont le champ magnétique statique atteint 11.74 Tesla (fréquence de Larmor du proton égale à 500MHz). Travailler dans un champ aussi intense permet d’améliorer la sensibilité de détection mais nécessite de porter une attention particulière à l’homogénéité du champ magnétique qui, dans notre cas, peut être dégradée en raison de l’introduction du microsystème dans le spectromètre. En effet, les distorsions du champ magnétique, dues aux différentes susceptibilités magnétiques des matériaux constituant la microsonde, ont un impact direct sur la résolution spectrale. C’est pourquoi, une modélisation 3D par éléments finis est proposée afin de prévoir l’influence du microsystème sur la forme des raies spectrales et donc d’en déduire la résolution spectrale pouvant être espérée. La comparaison des résultats expérimentaux et ceux issus des simulations permet de valider le modèle de calcul numérique. Il apparait cependant nécessaire d’inclure le phénomène d’amortissement radiatif afin de pouvoir rendre compte des résultats expérimentaux relatifs à la résolution spectrale effectivement observée. / The work presented in this thesis involves the design, the development and the experimental evaluation of an analysis micro system. The originality of the work lies in the integration of a planar micro coil of spectroscopy by nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) on a micro fluidic system based on a polymer, cyclo olefin copolymer (COC). The determination of the optimum geometric characteristics of the micro system to improve electromagnetic coupling between the detection micro coil and the sample is performed with the aid of a numerical model that ensures the optimization of the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Using micro fabrication techniques developed in the laboratory, the micro system was developed and its behaviour was validated in spectrometer producing a static magnetic field off 11.74 Tesla (Larmor frequency of the proton equal to 500MHz). Working in such an intense field results in improved sensitivity of detection but requires paying close attention to the homogeneity of magnetic field. In this case the homogeneity can be degraded due to the introduction of the micro system in the spectrometer. Indeed, the distortions of the magnetic field, due to the different magnetic susceptibilities of the materials constituting the microprobe, have a direct impact on the spectral resolution. As such, 3D modelling by finite elements is proposed to predict the influence of the micro system on the shape of the spectral lines and to determine the best expected spectral resolution. The comparison of the experimental results to those obtained from simulation allows the validation of the numerical model. However, it appears necessary to include the effect of the radiation damping in the model to be able to justify the experimental results relative to the spectral resolution that was observed.

Introdução: A atresia congênita de orelha constitui uma deformidade presente ao nascimento, de prevalência unilateral, decorrente da alteração no desenvolvimento das estruturas das orelhas externa e média. Geralmente, provoca perda auditiva condutiva, e pode ser acompanhada por componente sensorioneural. Dentre as formas de tratamento disponíveis, encontra-se o implante de orelha média Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB), que tem se mostrado eficaz no tratamento deste tipo de alteração. A literatura mostra melhora nos limiares tonais e nos resultados dos testes de percepção auditiva da fala, realizados com o uso do processador de fala após a cirurgia. Considerando que os indivíduos com este tipo de malformação podem passar por um período de privação sensorial auditiva anterior à reabilitação, torna-se interessante avaliar o estágio maturacional das estruturas auditivas corticais e o processamento das informações auditivas em nível central, bem como, verificar o benefício da indicação do VSB unilateral em situação de escuta difícil. Não foram encontrados estudos que abordam este aspecto e o emprego dos potenciais evocados auditivos corticais (PEAC) e do P300 em usuários de VSB. Objetivo: Analisar o impacto da perda auditiva condutiva e mista nos PEAC e P300 em usuários de VSB unilateral, com atresia de orelha bilateral, e verificar as habilidades auditivas, em situação de escuta difícil, considerando a indicação do VSB unilateral. Casuística e método: Vinte indivíduos, divididos em dois grupos, pareados em idade, sexo e grau de escolaridade. G1: dez indivíduos com perda auditiva condutiva ou mista bilateral, usuários de VSB unilateral, atendidos na Instituição de realização da pesquisa. Todos fizeram uso de aparelhos auditivos convencionais antes do VSB. G2: Dez indivíduos normo-ouvintes. Realização de audiometria em campo livre com o uso do VSB (apenas o G1), avaliação das habilidades auditivas pelo Hearing in Noise Test, pesquisa dos componentes P1, N1, P2, N2 e P300, em campo calibrado. Resultados: A média dos limiares tonais nas frequências de 500 a 3000 Hz, de 20 a 36 dB NA, mostrou que o VSB possibilitou o acesso aos sons da fala. Não foi observada diferença estatisticamente significante entre os valores de latência dos PEAC e P300 entre os grupos. Foi observada diferença estatisticamente significante entre o limiar de reconhecimento de sentenças e a relação sinal/ruído entre os grupos, sendo os melhores resultados apresentados pelo G2. Conclusão: Indivíduos com atresia de orelha e perda auditiva condutiva ou mista bilateral, quando adequadamente reabilitados, podem atingir a maturação das vias auditivas centrais e o processamento da informação auditiva em nível cortical. As habilidades de reconhecimento auditivo, sem e com ruído competitivo, mostraram-se defasadas quanto à normalidade, apontando para a indicação do VSB bilateral / Introduction: Congenital aural atresia is a congenital deformity. It is unilaterally prevalent due to alterations in the development of the external and middle ear structures. Congenital aural atresia causes conductive hearing loss and can be accompanied by sensorineural component. Among the available forms of treatment is the middle ear implant, Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB), which has been shown to be effective in treating this type of alteration. The literature shows improvement in tonal thresholds and in the results of tests of auditory perception of speech that were performed using the speech processor after surgery. Individuals with this type of malformation often experience a period of auditory sensory deprivation prior to rehabilitation. Hence, it is important to evaluate the maturation stage of the cortical auditory structures, the processing of auditory information at the central level, and to verify the benefit of unilateral VSB in difficult listening situations. There are no previous data on this aspect and with the use of cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEP) and event-related potential (P300) in users of VSB. Aim: To analyze the impact of conductive and mixed hearing loss on CAEP and P300 in unilateral VSB users with bilateral ear atresia. To verify the auditory abilities in a difficult listening situation considering the indication for unilateral VSB. Materials and methods: Twenty individuals were divided into two groups matched for age, sex, and educational level. G1 comprised ten individuals with bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss and users of unilateral VSB, who visited the research institution. All subjects used conventional hearing aids prior to VSB. G2 comprised ten normal hearing individuals. Audiometry in the free field was performed with the use of VSB (G1 only) and evaluation of hearing skills by the Hearing in Noise Test was conducted; components P1, N1, P2, N2, and P300 in a calibrated field were recorded. Results: Evaluation of the mean tonal thresholds in the frequencies between 500 and 3000 Hz, from 20 to 36 dB HL, demonstrated that VSB allowed access to speech sounds. There was no statistically significant difference in the CAEP and P300 latency values between the two groups. A statistically significant difference was observed in the sentence recognition threshold and the signal-to-noise ratio between the groups, with best results presented by G2. Conclusion: Individuals with congenital aural atresia and bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss may reach maturation of the central auditory pathway and achieve adequate processing of auditory information at the cortical level, when rehabilitated. The auditory recognition skills, with and without competitive noise, were shown to be out of phase with normality, indicating the need for a bilateral VSB

Ce manuscrit présente des expériences d’imagerie par diffraction réalisées en utilisant une source de rayonnement cohérent basée sur la génération d’harmoniques d’ordre élevé d’un laser Ti:Sa. Elles démontrent que cette source extrême-UV de laboratoire produit un nombre suffisant de photons par impulsion pour enregistrer une figure de diffraction d’objets tests en « simple tirs ». Le signal ainsi enregistré permet l’obtention d’une image de l’objet avec une résolution d’une centaine de nanomètres. Deux schémas sont utilisés pour reconstruire l’objet : le premier utilise un algorithme itératif de reconstruction de la phase perdue pendant la détection de la figure de diffraction ; le second utilise une configuration holographique par transformée de Fourier. Les travaux réalisés comportent deux parties. La première concerne l’optimisation de la source harmonique et inclut une étude expérimentale d’un dispositif de filtrage spatial du faisceau laser de génération par propagation dans une fibre creuse. La seconde partie présente les expériences d’imagerie par diffraction, et notamment une démonstration du schéma holographique HERALDO qui est une extension de l’holographie par transformée de Fourier à des références en forme de polygones. L’utilisation de ces références « étendues » a pour avantage d’optimiser l’enregistrement holographique tout en conservant une reconstruction directe et sans ambigüité de l’objet. Une analyse signal-sur-bruit ainsi qu’une comparaison des reconstructions d’hologramme pour différentes formes de références sont effectuées. / This manuscript presents diffraction imaging experiments performed using a source of coherent radiation based on high order harmonics generation of a Ti:Sa laser. They demonstrate that this laboratory size XUV source produces a number of photons per pulse sufficient to record the diffraction pattern of test objects in « single shot ». The signal thus recorded allows obtaining an image of the object with a resolution of around 100 nanometers. Two schemes are used to reconstruct the object: the first one uses an iterative algorithm to retrieve the phase lost during the detection of the diffraction pattern; the second uses a configuration of Fourier transform holography. The work presented here is separated in two parts. The first one concerns the optimization of the harmonic source, including an experimental study of a spatial filtering device for laser beams by propagation in a hollow core fiber. The second part deals with the diffraction imaging experiments. In particular, I present a demonstration of the holographic scheme HERALDO, which is an extension of the Fourier transform holography with polygonal references. The use of these « extended » references allows the optimization of the holographic recording while maintaining a direct and non-ambiguous reconstruction of the object. An analysis of signal-to-noise ratio and a comparison of hologram reconstructions for different types of references are performed.

Ce manuscrit de thèse présente l’étude des techniques de super-résolution latérale en nanoscopie optique, qui est une des nouvelles techniques d'imagerie haute résolution, aujourd'hui largement utilisée en biophysique et en imagerie médicale, pour imager et caractériser des nanostructures, tout en conservant les avantages de l'imagerie optique en champ lointain comme un vaste champ, la visualisation et l’analyse en temps réel…Un des défis futurs de la microscopie 3D super-résolue est d’éviter l’utilisation des marqueurs fluorescents. La microscopie interférométrique fait partie des techniques d’imagerie 3D sans marquage permettant la détection de nanostructures. Pour améliorer le pouvoir de détection de ce système optique, un premier protocole de traitement d’images a été développé et implémenté, permettant ainsi de révéler des structures initialement non mesurables. Puis, pour améliorer la résolution latérale du système, une nouvelle technique combinant l’interférométrie et le principe du nano-jet photonique a été développée permettant l’observation d’objets de taille inférieure à la limite de diffraction de l’instrument optique. / This manuscript presents the study of the lateral super-resolution techniques in optical nanoscopy, which is a new high-resolution imaging method now widely used in biophysics and medical imaging, to observe and measure nanostructures, with the advantages of far field optical imaging, such as a large field of view, visualization and analysis in real time…One of the future challenges of 3D super resolution microscopy is to avoid the use of fluorescent markers. Interferometric microscopy is a 3D label-free imaging technique enabling the detection of nanostructures. To improve the detection capability of this optical system, a first version of a protocol composed of image processing methods was developed and implemented, revealing structures initially unmeasurable. Then, to improve the lateral resolution of the system, a new technique combining interferometry and the principle of the photonic nano-jet has been developed, thus allowing the observation of objects of a size smaller than the diffraction limit of the optical instrument.

Early detection is vital to successfully treating breast cancer, and mammography screening is the most efficient and wide-spread method to reach this goal. Imaging low-contrast targets, while minimizing the radiation exposure to a large population is, however, a major challenge. Optimizing the image quality per unit radiation dose is therefore essential. In this thesis, two optimization schemes with respect to x-ray photon energy have been investigated: filtering the incident spectrum with refractive x-ray optics (spectral shaping), and utilizing the transmitted spectrum with energy-resolved photon-counting detectors (spectral imaging). Two types of x-ray lenses were experimentally characterized, and modeled using ray tracing, field propagation, and geometrical optics. Spectral shaping reduced dose approximately 20% compared to an absorption-filtered reference system with the same signal-to-noise ratio, scan time, and spatial resolution. In addition, a focusing pre-object collimator based on the same type of optics reduced divergence of the radiation and improved photon economy by about 50%. A photon-counting silicon detector was investigated in terms of energy resolution and its feasibility for spectral imaging. Contrast-enhanced tumor imaging with a system based on the detector was characterized and optimized with a model that took anatomical noise into account. Improvement in an ideal-observer detectability index by a factor of 2 to 8 over that obtained by conventional absorption imaging was found for different levels of anatomical noise and breast density. Increased conspicuity was confirmed by experiment. Further, the model was extended to include imaging of unenhanced lesions. Detectability of microcalcifications increased no more than a few percent, whereas the ability to detect large tumors might improve on the order of 50% despite the low attenuation difference between glandular and cancerous tissue. It is clear that inclusion of anatomical noise and imaging task in spectral optimization may yield completely different results than an analysis based solely on quantum noise. / QC 20100714