Design of antenna-coupled lumped-element titanium nitride KIDs for long-wavelength multi-band continuum imaging

Many applications in cosmology and astrophysics at millimeter wavelengths including CMB polarization, studies of galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE), and studies of star formation at high redshift and in our local universe and our galaxy, require large-format arrays of millimeter-wave detectors. Feedhorn and phased-array antenna architectures for receiving mm-wave light present numerous advantages for control of systematics, for simultaneous coverage of both polarizations and/or multiple spectral bands, and for preserving the coherent nature of the incoming light. This enables the application of many traditional "RF" structures such as hybrids, switches, and lumped-element or microstrip band-defining filters.

Simultaneously, kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) using high-resistivity materials like titanium nitride are an attractive sensor option for large-format arrays because they are highly multiplexable and because they can have sensitivities reaching the condition of background-limited detection. A KID is a LC resonator. Its inductance includes the geometric inductance and kinetic inductance of the inductor in the superconducting phase. A photon absorbed by the superconductor breaks a Cooper pair into normal-state electrons and perturbs its kinetic inductance, rendering it a detector of light. The responsivity of KID is given by the fractional frequency shift of the LC resonator per unit optical power.

However, coupling these types of optical reception elements to KIDs is a challenge because of the impedance mismatch between the microstrip transmission line exiting these architectures and the high resistivity of titanium nitride. Mitigating direct absorption of light through free space coupling to the inductor of KID is another challenge. We present a detailed titanium nitride KID design that addresses these challenges. The KID inductor is capacitively coupled to the microstrip in such a way as to form a lossy termination without creating an impedance mismatch. A parallel plate capacitor design mitigates direct absorption, uses hydrogenated amorphous silicon, and yields acceptable noise. We show that the optimized design can yield expected sensitivities very close to the fundamental limit for a long wavelength imager (LWCam) that covers six spectral bands from 90 to 400 GHz for SZE studies.

Excess phase (frequency) noise has been observed in KID and is very likely caused by two-level systems (TLS) in dielectric materials. The TLS hypothesis is supported by the measured dependence of the noise on resonator internal power and temperature. However, there is still a lack of a unified microscopic theory which can quantitatively model the properties of the TLS noise. In this thesis we derive the noise power spectral density due to the coupling of TLS with phonon bath based on an existing model and compare the theoretical predictions about power and temperature dependences with experimental data. We discuss the limitation of such a model and propose the direction for future study.

Instrumentation for Kinetic-Inductance-Detector-Based Submillimeter Radio Astronomy

A substantial amount of important scientific information is contained within astronomical data at the submillimeter and far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths, including information regarding dusty galaxies, galaxy clusters, and star-forming regions; however, these wavelengths are among the least-explored fields in astronomy because of the technological difficulties involved in such research. Over the past 20 years, considerable efforts have been devoted to developing submillimeter- and millimeter-wavelength astronomical instruments and telescopes.

The number of detectors is an important property of such instruments and is the subject of the current study. Future telescopes will require as many as hundreds of thousands of detectors to meet the necessary requirements in terms of the field of view, scan speed, and resolution. A large pixel count is one benefit of the development of multiplexable detectors that use kinetic inductance detector (KID) technology.

This dissertation presents the development of a KID-based instrument including a portion of the millimeter-wave bandpass filters and all aspects of the readout electronics, which together enabled one of the largest detector counts achieved to date in submillimeter-/millimeter-wavelength imaging arrays: a total of 2304 detectors. The work presented in this dissertation has been implemented in the MUltiwavelength Submillimeter Inductance Camera (MUSIC), a new instrument for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO).

Diseño de un detector para una red de vigilancia radiológica ambiental

[ES]El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el montaje de un contador proporcional de radiación para su uso en una red de vigilancia radiológica ambiental desde su diseño básico hasta su puesta en marcha. Se realizará un análisis de las razones que nos han llevado a elegir este tipo de contadores de ionización gaseosa (frente a otros tipos), para llegar a la conclusión de que son los más adecuados para la vigilancia radiológica ambiental. Este análisis describirá la solución a la que se ha llegado para construir un contador con los medios al alcance y el porqué de su diseño concreto, así como la metodología de trabajo que se ha seguido para la obtención del mismo. Basándonos en suposiciones teóricas derivadas del análisis geométrico de la instrumentación para la obtención de resultados previsibles, se realizará una verificación mediante ensayos técnicos en el laboratorio. Se presupuestará el material utilizado y las horas requeridas, para llevar una cuenta de lo que le ha costado al departamento y lo que le habría costado en caso de no poseer la instrumentación utilizada. Después de realizar diversos test relacionados con la instrumentación electrónica, se procederá a obtener unas conclusiones derivadas de los ensayos en el laboratorio para su posterior comparación con las estimaciones teóricas. En el anexo I se encuentran los planos de diseño que se han realizado y en el anexo II los resultados finales obtenidos de los ensayos.

I. Nuclear spin-internal-rotation-coupling. II. Fluorine spin-rotation interaction and magnetic shielding in fluorobenzene

Part I.

The interaction of a nuclear magnetic moment situated on an internal top with the magnetic fields produced by the internal as well as overall molecular rotation has been derived following the method of Van Vleck for the spin-rotation interaction in rigid molecules. It is shown that the Hamiltonian for this problem may be written

H_SR = Ῑ · M · Ĵ + Ῑ · M” · Ĵ”

Where the first term is the ordinary spin-rotation interaction and the second term arises from the spin-internal-rotation coupling.

The F¹⁹ nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time (T₁) of benzotrifluoride and several chemically substituted benzotrifluorides, have been measured both neat and in solution, at room temperature by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance. From these experimental results it is concluded that in benzotrifluoride the internal rotation is crucial to the spin relaxation of the fluorines and that the dominant relaxation mechanism is the fluctuating spin-internal-rotation interaction.

Part II.

The radiofrequency spectrum corresponding to the reorientation of the F¹⁹ nuclear moment in flurobenzene has been studied by the molecular beam magnetic resonance method. A molecular beam apparatus with an electron bombardment detector was used in the experiments. The F¹⁹ resonance is a composite spectrum with contributions from many rotational states and is not resolved. A detailed analysis of the resonance line shape and width by the method of moments led to the following diagonal components of the fluorine spin-rotational tensor in the principal inertial axis system of the molecule:

F/Caa = -1.0 ± 0.5 kHz

F/Cbb = -2.7 ± 0.2 kHz

F/Ccc = -1.9 ± 0.1 kHz

From these interaction constants, the paramagnetic contribution to the F¹⁹ nuclear shielding in C₆H₅F was determined to be -284 ± ppm. It was further concluded that the F¹⁹ nucleus in this molecule is more shielded when the applied magnetic field is directed along the C-F bond axis. The anisotropy of the magnetic shielding tensor, σ_” - σ_⊥, is +160 ± 30 ppm.

Double-line-density gratings structure for compression and generation of double femtosecond laser pulses

Grating pairs are widely used for pulse compression and stretching. Normally, the two gratings are identical. We propose a very simple structure with double-line-density reflective gratings for pulse compression and generation of double pulses, which has the advantages of no material dispersion, compact in volume, simple in structure, etc. The use of reflective Dammann gratings fully demonstrated the principle of this structure. The output pulses are well verified by a standard frequency-resolved optical gating apparatus. This structure will be highly interesting in ultrashort pulse compression and other more practical applications of femtosecond laser pulses. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Effects of atmosphere visibility on performances of non-line-of-sight ultraviolet communication systems

Dependence of performances of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) communication systems on atmosphere visibility is investigated numerically by correlating the propagation of UV radiation with the visibility. A simplified solar-blind UV atmospheric propagation model is introduced, and the NLOS UV communication system model is constituted based on the single scattering assumption. Using the model, numerical simulation is conducted for two typical geometry configurations and different modulation formats. The results indicate that the performance of the NLOS UV communication system is insensitive to variation of visibility in quite a large range, and deteriorates significantly only in very low-visibility weather, and is also dependent on the geometry configuration of the system. The results also show that the pulse position modulation (PPM) is preferable due to its high-power efficiency to improve the system performance. (c) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Generation of double pulses in-line by using reflective Dammann gratings

Doubled femtosecond laser pulses in-line are needed in the collinear pump-probe technique, collinear second harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating (SHG FROG) and the spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER), etc. Normally, it is generated by using a Michelson's structure. In this paper, we proposed a novel structure with two-layered reflective Dammann gratings and the reflective mirrors to generate doubled femtosecond laser pulses in line without transmission optical elements. Angular dispersion and spectral spatial walk-off are both compensated. In addition, this structure can also compress the positive chirped pulse, which cannot be realized with a Michelson's structure. By adopting triangular grating and blazed gratings, the efficiency of the system would in principle be increased as the Michelson's scheme. Experiments demonstrated that this method should be an alternative approach for generation of the double compressed pulses of femtosecond laser for practical applications. (c) 2006 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Split-aperture laser pulse compressor design tolerant to alignment and line-density differences

We introduce a four-pass laser pulse compressor design based on two grating apertures with two gratings per aperture that is tolerant to some alignment errors and, importantly, to grating-to-grating period variations. Each half-beam samples each grating in a diamond-shaped compressor that is symmetric about a central bisecting plane. For any given grating, the two half-beams impinge on opposite sides of its surface normal. It is shown that the two split beams have no pointing difference from paired gratings with different periods. Furthermore, no phase shift between half-beams is incurred as long as the planes containing a grating line and the surface normal for each grating of the pair are parallel. For grating pairs satisfying this condition, gratings surfaces need not be on the same plane, as changes in the gap between the two can compensate to bring the beams back in phase. © 2008 Optical Society of America.