Free-space Characterization Research Articles

Millimeter-Wave Permittivity Variations of an HR Silicon Substrate from the Photoconductive Effect.

The photoinduced microwave complex permittivity of a highly resistive single-crystal silicon wafer was extracted from a bistatic free-space characterization test bench operating in the 26.5–40 GHz frequency band under CW optical illumination at wavelengths of 806 and 971 nm. Significant variations in the real and imaginary parts of the substrate’s permittivity induced by direct photoconductivity are reported, with an optical power density dependence, in agreement with the theoretical predictions. These experimental results open the route to ultrafast system reconfiguration of microwave devices in integrated technology by an external EMI-protected and contactless control with unprecedented performance.

Calibration of free-space and fiber-coupled single-photon detectors**This is a contribution of NIST, an agency of the U.S. government, not subject to copyright.

We measure the detection efficiency of single-photon detectors at wavelengths near 851 nm and 1533.6 nm. We investigate the spatial uniformity of one free-space-coupled single-photon avalanche diode and present a comparison between fusion-spliced and connectorized fiber-coupled single-photon detectors. We find that our expanded relative uncertainty for a single measurement of the detection efficiency is as low as 0.70% for fiber-coupled measurements at 1533.6 nm and as high as 1.78% for our free-space characterization at 851.7 nm. The detection-efficiency determination includes corrections for afterpulsing, dark count, and count-rate effects of the single-photon detector with the detection efficiency interpolated to operation at a specified detected count rate.

Poisson distributions in disordered metamaterials absorbers

The absorption mechanisms of Poisson-distributed disordered Metal-Insulator-Metal structures are investigated theoretically and numerically. In particular, from the Poisson point process, Slivnyak–Mecke integrals are used to predict the number of isolated particles and majority clusters as a function of the particle density z. Then, the impact of these numbers on peak, mean, and bandwidth absorbance is calculated by full-wave electromagnetic analysis. It is shown that the peak absorbance reaches a maximum value of higher than 0.9 for a particle density of 0.6 cm−2 originating from main contributions of monomers and dimers whereas trimers represent less than 6% of the total number of particles. The conclusions of these studies are experimentally confirmed by means of free-space characterization.

Free-Space Characterization of Magneto-Optical Hexaferrites in the Submillimeter-Wave Range

We present the quasi-optical free-space characterization of magneto-optical hexagonal ferrites—crystalline BaFe $_{12}$ O $_{19}$ and both ceramic and crystalline SrFe $_{12}$ O $_{19}$ —in the range between 325 and 500 GHz using a vector network analyzer. This method provides us the full complex spectrum of the 2 $\times$ 2 S -matrix element of the sample. Transmission through free air and reflection of a perfect mirror have been used as references. We determined the complex optical indices, permittivities, and permeabilities of all samples by fitting a calculated model to the measured data. The perturbing effects of multiple reflections between setup components were filtered out by inverse fast Fourier transform of the measured signal and subsequent time gating in the obtained time-domain signal. The results presented in this paper show that this processing method reliably deals with all perturbing effects in free-space measurement and therefore can be applied for characterization of various types of magneto-optical samples with different sizes and significant surface roughness as well. Furthermore, it provides convincing indications regarding the usefulness of the different types of hexaferrites for nonreciprocal devices (such as isolators) for submillimeter applications.

Broadband characterization of congruent lithium niobate from mHz to optical frequencies

Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is a well known uniaxial ferroelectric material. Using impedance measurement, quasi-optical free-space characterization, THz time domain spectroscopy (THz–TDS) and ellipsometry, its dielectric permittivity/refractive index was characterized depending on the crystal orientation over a broad frequency range: 1 mHz to 1 PHz ( nm). Three different frequency ranges, separated by well identified resonances, are observed: low frequency ‘free-piezoelectric’ response, intermediate frequency ‘clamped-ionic’ response and high frequency ‘electronic’ response. These features are discussed with an emphasis on the role of the crystallographic structure and piezoelectric response.

Porous Silicon Gradient Refractive Index Micro-Optics.

The emergence and growth of transformation optics over the past decade has revitalized interest in how a gradient refractive index (GRIN) can be used to control light propagation. Two-dimensional demonstrations with lithographically defined silicon (Si) have displayed the power of GRIN optics and also represent a promising opportunity for integrating compact optical elements within Si photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of three-dimensional Si-based GRIN micro-optics through the shape-defined formation of porous Si (PSi). Conventional microfabrication creates Si square microcolumns (SMCs) that can be electrochemically etched into PSi elements with nanoscale porosity along the shape-defined etching pathway, which imparts the geometry with structural birefringence. Free-space characterization of the transmitted intensity distribution through a homogeneously etched PSi SMC exhibits polarization splitting behavior resembling that of dielectric metasurfaces that require considerably more laborious fabrication. Coupled birefringence/GRIN effects are studied by way of PSi SMCs etched with a linear (increasing from edge to center) GRIN profile. The transmitted intensity distribution shows polarization-selective focusing behavior with one polarization focused to a diffraction-limited spot and the orthogonal polarization focused into two laterally displaced foci. Optical thickness-based analysis readily predicts the experimentally observed phenomena, which strongly match finite-element electromagnetic simulations.

UWB Free-Space Characterization and Shape Recognition of Dielectric Objects Using Statistical Methods

This paper presents a novel method for the free-space characterization and shape recognition of dielectric objects using multivariate calibration methods and linear discriminant analysis. The dimensions of the variously shaped objects are comparable with some of the transmitted wavelengths of the ultra-wideband (UWB) time-domain pulses used. A system illuminating the objects under test by a subnanosecond UWB pulse has been built. An array of receiving antennas receives the scattered pulses that contain information about the shape, the size, and the dielectric or related material properties of the objects. Multivariate analysis is applied to separate geometric effects from those due to the dielectric properties. Results are shown for two measurement series determining the amount of carbon and weight or the dielectric constant of the objects under test, independent of their shape, size, and orientation. Furthermore, a classification algorithm is applied, separating the objects into geometrical classes independent of all other varied parameters.

Design and Measurement of Reconfigurable Millimeter Wave Reflectarray Cells With Nematic Liquid Crystal

Numerical simulations are used to study the electromagnetic scattering from phase agile microstrip reflectarray cells which exploit the voltage controlled dielectric anisotropy property of nematic state liquid crystals (LCs). In the computer model two arrays of equal size elements constructed on a 15 mum thick tuneable LC layer were designed to operate at center frequencies of 102 GHz and 130 GHz. Micromachining processes based on the metallization of quartz/silicon wafers and an industry compatible LCD packaging technique were employed to fabricate the grounded periodic structures. The loss and the phase of the reflected signals were measured using a quasi-optical test bench with the reflectarray inserted at the beam waist of the imaged Gaussian beam, thus eliminating some of the major problems associated with traditional free-space characterization at these frequencies. By applying a low frequency AC bias voltage of 10 V, a 165deg phase shift with a loss 4.5-6.4 dB at 102 GHz and 130deg phase shift with a loss variation between 4.3-7 dB at 130 GHz was obtained. The experimental results are shown to be in close agreement with the computer model.

Radar cross section of complex objects

Radar cross section of complex objects