INTEGRATION OF INSTRUMENTATION AND PROCESSING SOFTWARE OF A LASER SPECKLE CONTRAST IMAGING SYSTEM

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) has the potential to be a powerful tool in medicine, but more research in the field is required so it can be used properly. To help in the progression of Michigan Tech's research in the field, a graphical user interface (GUI) was designed in Matlab to control the instrumentation of the experiments as well as process the raw speckle images into contrast images while they are being acquired. The design of the system was successful and is currently being used by Michigan Tech's Biomedical Engineering department. This thesis describes the development of the LSCI GUI as well as offering a full introduction into the history, theory and applications of LSCI.

THE HOLOGRAPHIC DETECTOR FOR CLOUDS FROM TRL 5 TO TRL 8

Clouds are one of the most influential elements of weather on the earth system, yet they are also one of the least understood. Understanding their composition and behavior at small scales is critical to understanding and predicting larger scale feedbacks. Currently, the best method to study clouds on the microscale is through airborne in situ measurements using optical instruments capable of resolving clouds on the individual particle level. However, current instruments are unable to sufficiently resolve the scales important to cloud evolution and behavior. The Holodec is a new generation of optical cloud instrument which uses digital inline holography to overcome many of the limitations of conventional instruments. However, its performance and reliability was limited due to several deficiencies in its original design. These deficiencies were addressed and corrected to advance the instrument from the prototype stage to an operational instrument. In addition, the processing software used to reconstruct and analyze digitally recorded holograms was improved upon to increase robustness and ease of use.

Multi-software modeling technique for field distribution propagation through an optical vertical interconnect assembly

Embedded siloxane polymer waveguides have shown promising results for use in optical backplanes. They exhibit high temperature stability, low optical absorption, and require common processing techniques. A challenging aspect of this technology is out-of-plane coupling of the waveguides. A multi-software approach to modeling an optical vertical interconnect (via) is proposed. This approach utilizes the beam propagation method to generate varied modal field distribution structures which are then propagated through a via model using the angular spectrum propagation technique. Simulation results show average losses between 2.5 and 4.5 dB for different initial input conditions. Certain configurations show losses of less than 3 dB and it is shown that in an input/output pair of vias, average losses per via may be lower than the targeted 3 dB.