Previous studies have demonstrated the sensitivity of the amplitude of the microwave radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations to the microwave polarization. These studies have also shown that there exists a phase shift in the linear polarization angle dependence. But the physical origin of this phase shift is still unclear. Therefore, the first part of this dissertation analyzes the phase shift by averaging over other small contributions, when those contributions are smaller than experimental uncertainties. The analysis indicates nontrivial frequency dependence of the phase shift. The second part of the dissertation continues the study of the phase shift and the results suggest that the specimen exhibits only one preferred radiation orientation for different Hall-bar sections. The third part of the dissertation summarizes our study of the Hall and longitudinal resistance oscillations induced by microwave frequency and dc bias at low filling factors. Here, the phase of these resistance oscillations depends on the contact pair on the device, and the period of oscillations appears to be inversely proportional to radiation frequency.

Le carbure de silicium est un matériau semi-conducteur à grande bande d’énergie interdite possédant des propriétés exceptionnelles en termes de tenue en température, de résistance aux radiations, de stabilité chimique. En particulier il pourrait permettre la réalisation de détecteurs ultra-violet fonctionnant en environnement extrême (fortes températures et niveaux de radiations élevés) tels les environnements spatiaux. Le polytype 3C, avec un gap intermédiaire pourrait également être utilisé dans le domaine photovoltaïque. Le présent travail propose d’étudier le carbure de silicium à la fois sous l’aspect composant et sous l’aspect matériau. Une étude de la réponse spectrale de photodiodes UV (de type pn et Schottky) en fonction de la température et de l’irradiation est présentée. Un nouveau type de cellules solaires à hétérojonctions 3C-SiC/Si est étudié. Enfin, un système de mesure de la durée de vie des porteurs minoritaires dans le SiC-4H est réalisé et les résultats commentés. / Silicon carbide is a large bandgap semiconductor presenting outstanding properties in terms of temperature, radiations and chemical hardness. In particular it could allow the fabrication of ultra-violet detectors, able to work in harsh environments such as for space aplications. The 3C polytype , with it’s intermediate bandgap, could also be used in the photovoltaic field. The present work aims to study both the material and the application aspects of silicon carbide. A study of the spectral response of both pn and Schottky photodiodes with respect to the temperature and irradiation is presented. A new type of 3C-SiC/Si heterojunction solar cell is studied. Finally, a minority carrier lifetime measurement system is realised ant the results presented.

Neste trabalho, medimos o perfil 3D de superfícies (microtopografia) utilizando uma técnica de interferometria óptica: Phase-Shi,ftzng (Deslocamento de Fase). Utilizamos um interferômetro do tipo Twyman-Green para produzir fi.guras de interferência da superfície analisada. Essas imagens foram armazenadas usando-se uma câmera CCD ligada à um microcomputador. Para obter a microtopografia, calculamos o Mapa de Fase a partir das imagens digitalizadas usando um programa de microcomputador. Posteriormente um outro programa removeu a ambiguidade da função tangente (unwrapping), pela Técnica do Autômato Celular, usada no cáiculo do Mapa de Fase. Então efetuamos os cálculos para determinar a microtopografia da superfície. Depois fizemos a análise da microtopografia, levantando informações relevantes para a sua caracterização. Analisamos objetos com alta refletividade (espelhos planos e redes de Ronchi) e obtivemos bons resultados. Também comparamos alguns dos resultados obtidos com a técnica de Deslocamento de Fase com os resultados obtidos pela análise de Franjas de Igual Espessura. / In this work we measured the 3D profile of surfaces (microtopography) using a optical interferometric technique: Phase-Shifting. We used a interferometer of type Twyman-Green to produce interferograms from analyzed surface. These images was captured using a CCD camera that was linked to a microcomputer. To obtain a microtopography, we calculated the Phase Map using the digitalized images and a software of microcomputer. Then another program removed the wrapping of tangent fuction, using the Cellular-Automata Technique, that was used to calculate the Phase Map. So we calculated the microtopography of the surface. After we did the analyses of the microtopography, find out some important informations of its description. We studied objects with high reflectivity (plane mirrors and Ronchi ruting) and we obtained good results. Also we compared some results with that obtained by analyses of Fringes of Equal Thickness\'

[pt] Este trabalho propõe uma técnica do tipo rotação de fase para migração em profundidade de dados sísmicos para meios com simetria polar local (localmente transversalmente isotrópicos, LTI), nos quais a direção do eixo de simetria varia continuamente ao longo das camadas. São testadas, através de simulações numéricas de levantamentos sísmicos, a precisão e a estabilidade do método, em função da variação do eixo de simetria. Para a realização das simulações, desenvolveu-se um método a partir da solução da equação elástica da onda usando-se a técnica das diferenças finitas, que possibilita a modelagem em meios LTI, onde cada ponto da malha tem suas características definidas pelas velocidades de fase P e SV, parâmetros de Thomsen, densidade e inclinação do eixo de simetria. Na separação dos modos de onda qP e qSV dos sismogramas, implementou-se um algoritmo baseado na solução da equação de Christoffel para determinar os operadores de separação. A migração para cada família de tiro comum é realizada por soluções da equação da onda usando somente técnicas de rotações de fase. De fato, tanto a depropagação do campo registrado quanto a geração das matrizes de tempo utilizadas na condição de imageamento, são realizadas por soluções que envolvem rotações de fase para cada conjunto de parâmetros, em cada nível de profundidade. Nos resultados das migrações usando reflexões dos tipos qP-qP, e qP-qSV, os horizontes foram localizados precisamente e verificou-se que o processo é estável em relação à variação do eixo de simetria. Vale ressaltar que o método não está restrito a aquisições sísmicas multicomponentes, podendo ser aplicado em dados sísmicos marítimos convencionais, como também em dados provenientes de aquisições do tipo OBC (Ocean Bottom Cable) e com cabo vertical. Como o método proposto se baseia em algoritmos que utilizam técnicas de rotação de fase, a sua implementação conta com o beneficio de ser altamente paralelizável. / [en] This work proposes a technique based on the phase-shift method to implement pre-stack depth migration on locally transverse isotropic media (LTI), in which the direction of the symmetry axis varies continually along the layers. Through numerical seismic data simulations the methods robustness and stability were tested in relation to the axis symmetry variations. For seismic modeling, a generalization of the finite differences method for the solution of the elastic wave equation was used. With this procedure, it was possible to accommodate seismic modeling on LTI media defined by six parameters at each grid point, i.e., density, P and S wave propagation velocities along the local symmetry axis, Thomsen parameters and, the direction of the local symmetry axis itself. In order to separate from the seismograms the qP and qSV wavefields, an algorithm based on the Christoffel equation was implemented. The migration for each common shot gather is implemented solely by phase-shift based algorithms, which means that not only the depropagation of the registered wavefield, but also the generation of the time matrices involved in the imaging condition were obtained in this manner for each set of parameters at each depth level. The migration results using qP-qP and qP-qSV reflections show that the horizons were located precisely, and that the process is stable in relation to the symmetry axis variations. The proposed method is not restricted to multicomponent seismic acquisitions, but it can be applied to marine seismic data using streamers, or Ocean Bottom Cables or vertical cables. Since the proposed method uses phaseshift algorithms, its parallel implementation can be highly efficient.

Certaines missions d'astrophysique embarquent des détecteurs infrarouges ou X qui sont refroidis à des températures subkelvin via un système cryogénique qui comporte soit un bain d'hélium (comme pour Herschel), soit un réfrigérateur Joule-Thomson (comme pour Planck) pour le pré-refroidissement de l'étage subkelvin. Un doigt froid à tube à gaz pulsé ayant les mêmes performances qu'un Joule-Thomson pourrait offrir un certain nombre d'avantages pour les futures chaines cryogéniques (pas de pré-refroidissement nécessaire, simplicité d'intégration, fiabilité accrue).L'objectif de cette thèse concerne l'étude et la réalisation d'un doigt froid à tube à gaz pulsé 4K qui pourrait remplacer une machine Joule-Thomson. Deux principaux axes d'étude ont été menés parallèlement : des études sur les matériaux régénérateur et des études de performances. Des développements technologiques portant sur le régénérateur (étude et mise en forme de différents matériaux ayant des anomalies de chaleur spécifique à basse température) ont été menés afin d'améliorer les performances d'un doigt froid à tube à gaz pulsé haute fréquence (30Hz) travaillant avec de l'hélium 4.Cette thèse a permis d'obtenir la meilleure performance mondiale en terme de température limite en utilisant de l'hélium 4 et avec un pré-refroidissement à 20K. Une température limite de 3,86K a été obtenue et une puissance froide de 25mW est disponible à 5K. Cette thèse a également permis d'étudier l'effet du gaz réel sur le comportement de la machine, en particulier grâce à des mesures de profils de température du régénérateur. Cinq configurations différentes de régénérateur (variation de la répartition de chaleur spécifique le long du régénérateur froid) ont été testées. Elles ont permis de mieux comprendre le rôle de la répartition de la chaleur spécifique dans le régénérateur. Ces différentes mesures ont été complétées avec des études de fluctuations de températures pariétales réalisées à l'aide d'une centrale d'acquisition rapide (toutes les millisecondes). / Some astrophysics missions embark infrared or X detectors which are cooled down to subkelvin temperatures using a cryogenic cooling system that features helium bath (like for the Herschel satellite) or a Joule-Thomson cryocooler (like for the Planck satellite) for the precooling of the subkelvin cooling stage. A pulse tube cold finger which would have the same performances as a Joule-Thomson cryocooler could offer some advantages for future cryogenic chains (no need of precooling, simplicity of integration, increased reliability).The goal of this PhD is the making and the study of a pulse tube cold finger working at temperature around 4K which could replace a Joule-Thomson cryocooler. Two main lines have been worked on simultaneously : studies on materials for the cold regenerator and studies on the cold finger performances. Technological developments on the cold regenerator (including study and shaping of different materials with specific heat anomalies at low temperature) have been performed to enhance the performances of a cold finger working at high frequency (30Hz) with helium 4.The work done during this PhD led to the best no-load temperature never achieved using helium 4 and with a precooling of 20K. A no-load temperature of 3.86K has been obtained and 25mW of cooling power are available at 5K. In addition the effect of real gas on the cryorefrigerator operation has been studied in particular thanks to the measurement of regenerator thermal profiles. Five configurations with different regenerator fillings (variation of the distribution of the specific heat along the cold regenerator) have been tested. These five tests led to a better understanding of the role of the distribution of the specific heat in the regenerator. These measurements have been completed with studies of regenerator wall temperature fluctuations recorded thanks to a fast data acquisition system (each millisecond).

<p>The family of Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes is a strong candidate to be used as Forward Error Correction (FEC) in future communication systems due to its strong error correction capability. Most LDPC decoders use the Message Passing algorithm for decoding, which is an iterative algorithm that passes messages between its variable nodes and check nodes. It is not until recently that computation power has become strong enough to make Message Passing on LDPC codes feasible. Although locally simple, the LDPC codes are usually large, which increases the required computation power. Earlier work on LDPC codes has been concentrated on the binary Galois Field, GF(2), but it has been shown that codes from higher order fields have better error correction capability. However, the most efficient LDPC decoder, the Belief Propagation Decoder, has a squared complexity increase when moving to higher order Galois Fields. Transmission over a channel with M-PSK signalling is a common technique to increase spectral efficiency. The information is transmitted as the phase angle of the signal.</p><p>The focus in this Master’s Thesis is on simplifying the Message Passing decoding when having inputs from M-PSK signals transmitted over an AWGN channel. Symbols from higher order Galois Fields were mapped to M-PSK signals, since M-PSK is very bandwidth efficient and the information can be found in the angle of the signal. Several simplifications of the Belief Propagation has been developed and tested. The most promising is the Table Vector Decoder, which is a Message Passing Decoder that uses a table lookup technique for check node operations and vector summation as variable node operations. The table lookup is used to approximate the check node operation in a Belief Propagation decoder. Vector summation is used as an equivalent operation to the variable node operation. Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the Table Vector Decoder can achieve a performance close to the Belief Propagation. The capability of the Table Vector Decoder depends on the number of reconstruction points and the placement of them. The main advantage of the Table Vector Decoder is that its complexity is unaffected by the Galois Field used. Instead, there will be a memory space requirement which depends on the desired number of reconstruction points.</p>

The family of Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes is a strong candidate to be used as Forward Error Correction (FEC) in future communication systems due to its strong error correction capability. Most LDPC decoders use the Message Passing algorithm for decoding, which is an iterative algorithm that passes messages between its variable nodes and check nodes. It is not until recently that computation power has become strong enough to make Message Passing on LDPC codes feasible. Although locally simple, the LDPC codes are usually large, which increases the required computation power. Earlier work on LDPC codes has been concentrated on the binary Galois Field, GF(2), but it has been shown that codes from higher order fields have better error correction capability. However, the most efficient LDPC decoder, the Belief Propagation Decoder, has a squared complexity increase when moving to higher order Galois Fields. Transmission over a channel with M-PSK signalling is a common technique to increase spectral efficiency. The information is transmitted as the phase angle of the signal. The focus in this Master’s Thesis is on simplifying the Message Passing decoding when having inputs from M-PSK signals transmitted over an AWGN channel. Symbols from higher order Galois Fields were mapped to M-PSK signals, since M-PSK is very bandwidth efficient and the information can be found in the angle of the signal. Several simplifications of the Belief Propagation has been developed and tested. The most promising is the Table Vector Decoder, which is a Message Passing Decoder that uses a table lookup technique for check node operations and vector summation as variable node operations. The table lookup is used to approximate the check node operation in a Belief Propagation decoder. Vector summation is used as an equivalent operation to the variable node operation. Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the Table Vector Decoder can achieve a performance close to the Belief Propagation. The capability of the Table Vector Decoder depends on the number of reconstruction points and the placement of them. The main advantage of the Table Vector Decoder is that its complexity is unaffected by the Galois Field used. Instead, there will be a memory space requirement which depends on the desired number of reconstruction points.

Today's state-of-the-art rate vibratory gyroscopes use a large proof mass that vibrates at a low resonance frequency (3-30 kHz), a condition that creates a performance tradeoff in which the gyroscope can either offer large bandwidth or high resolution, but not both. This tradeoff led to the development of the capacitive bulk acoustic wave (BAW) silicon disk gyroscope, a new class of micromachined rate vibratory gyroscopes operating in the frequency range of 1-10MHz with high device bandwidth and shock/vibration tolerance. By scaling the frequency, BAW gyroscopes can provide low mechanical noise without sacrificing the high bandwidth performance needed for most commercial applications. The drive loop of the BAW gyroscope can also be exploited as a timing device that can be integrated in existing commercial systems to provide competitive clock performance to the state-of-the-art using less area and power. This dissertation discusses the design and implementation of a CMOS ASIC architecture that interfaces with a high-Q, wide-bandwidth BAW gyroscope and the challenges associated with optimizing the noise performance to achieve navigation-grade levels of sensitivity as the frequency is scaled into the MHz regime. Mathematical models are derived to describe the operation of the sensor and are used to generate equivalent electrical circuit models of the gyroscope. A design strategy is then outlined for the ASIC to optimize the drive loop and sense channel for power and noise, and steps toward reducing this noise as the system is pushed to navigation-grade performance are presented that maintain optimum system power consumption. After analyzing the BAW gyroscope and identifying a strategy for developing the drive and sense interface circuitry, a complete fully-differential ASIC is designed in 0.18μm CMOS to interface with a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) disk gyroscope. As an oscillator, the gyroscope provides an uncompensated clock signal at ~9.64 MHz with a temperature sensitivity of -27 ppm/°C and phase noise of -104 dBc at 1 kHz from carrier. When the complete ASIC is interfaced with the gyroscope, the sensor shows a measured rate sensitivity of 1.15 mV/o/s with an open-loop bandwidth of 280 Hz and a bias instability of 0.095 o/s, suitable for the rate-grade performance commonly required for commercial and consumer electronics applications. The system is recorded to have a total power of 1.6 mW and a total area of 0.64 mm2. Following the design of the interface ASIC, this dissertation investigates in further detail the requirements for designing and optimizing charge pumps for capacitive MEMS devices. Basic charge pump design is outlined, followed by an overview of techniques that can be used to generate larger polarization voltages from the ASIC. Lastly, an alternate measurement technique for measuring the rotation rate of the gyroscope is discussed. This technique is based on the phase-shift modulation of the gyroscope output signal when the device is driven with two orthogonal signal inputs and can be easily modified to provide either linear scale factor measurement or a linear calibration curve that can be used to track and adjust the variation of the sensor scale factor over time.

<p>Most of today’s microwave circuits are designed for specific function and specialneed. There is a growing trend to have flexible and reconfigurable circuits. Circuitsthat can be digitally programmed to achieve various functions based on specific needs. Realization of high frequency circuit blocks that can be dynamically reconfigured toachieve the desired performance seems to be challenging. However, with recentadvances in many areas of technology these demands can now be met.</p><p>Two concepts have been investigated in this thesis. The initial part presents thefeasibility of a flexible and programmable circuit (PROMFA) that can be utilized formultifunctional systems operating at microwave frequencies. Design details andPROMFA implementation is presented. This concept is based on an array of genericcells, which consists of a matrix of analog building blocks that can be dynamicallyreconfigured. Either each matrix element can be programmed independently or severalelements can be programmed collectively to achieve a specific function. The PROMFA circuit can therefore realize more complex functions, such as filters oroscillators. Realization of a flexible RF circuit based on generic cells is a new concept.In order to validate the idea, a test chip has been fabricated in a 0.2μm GaAs process, ED02AH from OMMIC^TM. Simulated and measured results are presented along withsome key applications like implementation of a widely tunable band pass filter and anactive corporate feed network.</p><p>The later part of the thesis covers the design and implementation of tunable andwideband highly linear LNAs that can be very useful for multistandard terminals suchas software defined radio (SDR). One of the key components in the design of a flexibleradio is low noise amplifier (LNA). Considering a multimode and multiband radiofront end, the LNA must provide adequate performance within a large frequency band.Optimization of LNA performance for a single frequency band is not suitable for thisapplication. There are two possible solutions for multiband and multimode radio frontends (a) Narrowband tunable LNAs (b) Wideband highly linear LNAs. A dual bandtunable LNA MMIC has been fabricated in 0.2μm GaAs process. A self tuningtechnique has also been proposed for the optimization of this LNA. This thesis alsopresents the design of a novel highly linear current mode LNA that can be used forwideband RF front ends for multistandard applications. Technology process for thiscircuit is 90nm CMOS.</p>

Demonstration of ultrafast all-optical signal processing (AOSP) using silicon as the active material has been limited by large two-photon absorption loss and long lifetimes of the resulting free carriers. For AOSP at speeds in the terahertz, an order of magnitude faster than that the fastest current electronic counterpart, a class of π-conjugated organic molecules called polymethines provides a promising alternative to silicon as they possess large third-order nonlinearities, and ultrafast polarization response to an incident field. The challenge in the application of polymethines as active nonlinear optical materials for AOSP is in translating their promising molecular properties into bulk material properties. The large linear polarizability and charged nature of the polymethines molecules strongly promote aggregation and phase-separation in solid blends, offsetting their advantageous molecular optical properties. In this work, polymethines’ resistance to deleterious spontaneous symmetry breaking and aggregation was enhanced by substitutions of metal- and chalcogen- containing terminal groups, and rigid steric groups above and below the π-conjugated plane of polymethine chain. The resulting polymethines/amorphous polycarbonate (APC) blend films demonstrated an unprecedentedly high two-photon figure-of-merit, |Re(χ(3))/Im(χ(3))| and low linear loss. The optical quality of the polymethines/APC films was also improved by replacing the commonly-used alkyl ammonium counterions with more polarizable aryl phosphonium counterions with moderate ground state dipole moment. The resulting dye-polymer blend films showed an enhanced near-infrared transparency while its magnitude of the third-order susceptibility, |χ(3)|, showed a good agreement with that extrapolated from the molecular third-order polarizability, γ. For facile integration of these promising organic materials into SOH, the substrate surface was functionalized using silane coupling chemistry for the reduction of surface energy mismatch between the polymer films and the waveguide containing substrates. The optical and SEM micrographs showed vastly improved coverage and infiltration of the microfeatures. Furthermore, to enable the precise engineering of waveguide cross-sectional dimensions for single-mode propagation in the organic cladding, the dispersion curves of the polymethines/polymer blends were generated using prism coupling and ellipsometry. The combined efforts in the development of molecules and materials discussed in the thesis have culminated into a successful identification and optimization of the polymethines dyes and their polymer blends for imminent demonstrations of on-chip AOSP at terahertz speed.