Design methodology and performance analysis of a wideband 90° phase switch for radiometer applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Villa, Enrique, E-mail: villae@unican.es; Aja, Beatriz; Cagigas, Jaime

2013-12-15

This paper presents the analysis, design, and characterization of a wideband 90° phase switch in Ka-band. The phase switch is based on two microstrip bandpass filters in which the commutation is performed by a novel single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch. The analysis of π-network bandpass filters is provided, obtaining the phase difference and amplitude imbalance between filters and their scattering parameters; tested results show an average phase difference of 88.9° ± 5° and an amplitude imbalance of 0.15 dB from 24 to 37 GHz. The new broadband SPDT switch is based on a coplanar waveguide-to-slotline-to-microstrip structure, which enables a full planarmore » integration with shifting branches. PIN diodes are used to perform the switching between outputs. The SPDT shows isolation better than 19 dB, insertion loss of around 1.8 dB, and return loss better than 15 dB. The full integration of the phase switch achieves a return loss better than 11 dB and insertion loss of around 4 dB over the band 26–36 GHz, with an average phase difference of 87.1° ± 4° and an average amplitude imbalance of 0.3 dB. It provides an excellent performance for this frequency range, suitable for radio-astronomy receivers.« less

30/20 GHz spacecraft GaAs FET solid state transmitter for trunking and customer-premise-service application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saunier, P.; Nelson, S.

1983-01-01

Sixteen 30 dB 0.5 W amplifier modules were combined to satisfy the requirement for a graceful degradation. If one module fails, the output power drops by only 0.43 dB. Also, by incorporating all the gain stages within the combiner the overall combining efficiency is maximized. A 16 way waveguide divider combiner was developed to minimize the insertion loss associated with such a large corporate feed structure. Tests showed that the 16 way insertion loss was less than 0.5 dB. To minimize loss, a direct transition from waveguide to microstrip, using a finline on duroid substrate, was developed. The FETs fabricated on MBE grown material, demonstrated superior performances. For example, a 600 micrometer device was capable of 320 mW output power with 5 dB gain and 26.6% efficiency at 21 GHz. The 16 module amplifier gave 8.95 W saturated output power with 30 dB gain. The overall efficiency was 9%. The 3 dB bandwidth was 2.5 GHz. At 17.7 GHz the amplifier had 5 W output power and at 20.2 GHz it still had 4.4 W.

A Ka-Band Wide-Bandgap Solid-State Power Amplifier: Architecture Performance Estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Epp, L.; Khan, P.; Silva, A.

2005-01-01

Motivated by recent advances in wide-bandgap (WBG) gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology, there is considerable interest in developing efficient solidstate power amplifiers (SSPAs) as an alternative to the traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA) for space applications. This article documents the results of a study to investigate power-combining technology and SSPA architectures that can enable a 120-W, 40 percent power-added efficiency (PAE) SSPA. Results of the study indicate that architectures based on at least three power combiner designs are likely to enable the target SSPA. The proposed architectures can power combine 16 to 32 individual monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) with >80 percent combining efficiency. This corresponds to MMIC requirements of 5- to 10-W output power and >48 percent PAE. For the three proposed architectures [1], detailed analysis and design of the power combiner are presented. The first architecture studied is based on a 16-way septum combiner that offers low loss and high isolation over the design band of 31 to 36 GHz. Analysis of a 2-way prototype septum combiner had an input match >25 dB, output match >30 dB, insertion loss <0.02 dB, and isolation >30 dB over the design band. A 16-way design, based on cascading this combiner in a binary fashion, is documented. The second architecture is based on a 24-way waveguide radial combiner. A prototype 24-way radial base was analyzed to have an input match >30 dB (under equal excitation of all input ports). The match of the mode transducer that forms the output of a radial combiner was found to be >27 dB. The functional bandwidth of the radial base and mode transducer, which together will form a radial combiner/divider, exceeded the design band. The third architecture employs a 32-way, parallel-plate radial combiner. Simulation results indicated an input match >24 dB, output match >22 dB, insertion loss <0.23 dB, and adjacent port isolation >20 dB over the design band. All three architectures utilize a low-loss MMIC amplifier module based on commercial MMIC packaging and a custom microstrip-to-rectangular-waveguide transition. The insertion loss of the module is expected to be 0.45 dB over the design band.

Low-profile fiber connector for co-packaged optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brusberg, Lars; DeJong, Michael; Butler, Douglas L.; Clark, Jeffrey S.; Sutton, Clifford G.

2018-02-01

We developed a small form factor connector that can be assembled on all four sides of a high-data switch package for fiber connectivity. This paper discusses a novel connector approach that has the potential to meet all co-packaging requirements including solder-reflow-compatibility, de-mateability, low insertion loss and state-of-the art FAU attach. The connector was attached to the PIC for performance evaluation. The average insertion loss across all eight fibers of the assembly was 1.77 dB, including the three optical interfaces: (1) MT-to-MT between connector and receptacle, (2) receptacle-to-PLC and (3) PIC-to-FAU. Also included is the propagation loss of the PIC waveguide. Optical return loss was measured to be -55 dB or lower.

A Plasmonic based Ultracompact Polarization Beam Splitter on Silicon-on-Insulator Waveguides

PubMed Central

Tan, Qilong; Huang, Xuguang; Zhou, Wen; Yang, Kun

2013-01-01

An ultracompact polarization beam splitter (PBS) is designed on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform based on the localized surface plasmons (LSPs) excited by particular polarization light. The device uses nanoscale silver cylinders as the polarization selection between two silicon waveguides of a directional coupler. The transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization light excites localized surface plasmons and is coupled into the cross port of the directional coupler with a low insert loss, while the transverse-electric (TE) polarization light is under restriction. The PBS has a coupling layer with 50 nm width and 1.1 μm length supporting broadband operation. The simulation calculations show that 22.06dB and 23.06dB of extinction ratios for the TE and TM polarizations were obtained, together with insertion losses of 0.09dB and 0.40dB. PMID:23856635

Highly Compact Circulators in Square-Lattice Photonic Crystal Waveguides

PubMed Central

Jin, Xin; Ouyang, Zhengbiao; Wang, Qiong; Lin, Mi; Wen, Guohua; Wang, Jingjing

2014-01-01

We propose, demonstrate and investigate highly compact circulators with ultra-low insertion loss in square-lattice- square-rod-photonic-crystal waveguides. Only a single magneto- optical square rod is required to be inserted into the cross center of waveguides, making the structure very compact and ultra efficient. The square rods around the center defect rod are replaced by several right-angled-triangle rods, reducing the insertion loss further and promoting the isolations as well. By choosing a linear-dispersion region and considering the mode patterns in the square magneto-optical rod, the operating mechanism of the circulator is analyzed. By applying the finite-element method together with the Nelder-Mead optimization method, an extremely low insertion loss of 0.02 dB for the transmitted wave and ultra high isolation of 46 dB∼48 dB for the isolated port are obtained. The idea presented can be applied to build circulators in different wavebands, e.g., microwave or Tera-Hertz. PMID:25415417

Highly compact circulators in square-lattice photonic crystal waveguides.

PubMed

Jin, Xin; Ouyang, Zhengbiao; Wang, Qiong; Lin, Mi; Wen, Guohua; Wang, Jingjing

2014-01-01

We propose, demonstrate and investigate highly compact circulators with ultra-low insertion loss in square-lattice- square-rod-photonic-crystal waveguides. Only a single magneto- optical square rod is required to be inserted into the cross center of waveguides, making the structure very compact and ultra efficient. The square rods around the center defect rod are replaced by several right-angled-triangle rods, reducing the insertion loss further and promoting the isolations as well. By choosing a linear-dispersion region and considering the mode patterns in the square magneto-optical rod, the operating mechanism of the circulator is analyzed. By applying the finite-element method together with the Nelder-Mead optimization method, an extremely low insertion loss of 0.02 dB for the transmitted wave and ultra high isolation of 46 dB∼48 dB for the isolated port are obtained. The idea presented can be applied to build circulators in different wavebands, e.g., microwave or Tera-Hertz.

Performance of a high T (sub c) superconducting ultra-low loss microwave stripline filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bautista, J. J.; Ortiz, G.; Zahopoulos, C.; Sridhar, S.; Lanagan, M.

1991-01-01

Discussed here is the successful fabrication of a five-pole interdigital stripline filter made of the 93 K superconductor (Y1Ba2Cu3O sub y) coated on a silver substrate, with center frequency of 8.5 GHz and an extremely high rejection ratio of 80 dB. The lowest injection loss measured was 0.1 dB at 12 K, with a return loss of better than 16 dB, representing a significant improvement over a similar copper filter, and is comparable to low critical temperature filters. The insertion loss appears to be limited by extrinsic factors, such as tuning mismatch and joint losses, and not by superconducting material losses.

Experimental study of noise transmission into a general aviation aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaicaitis, R.; Bofilios, D. A.; Eisler, R.

1984-01-01

The effect of add-on treatments on noise transmission into a cabin of a light aircraft was studied under laboratory conditions for diffuse and localized noise inputs. Results indicate that stiffening skin panels with honeycomb would provide on the average 3dB to 7 dB insertion loss over the most of selected frequency range H1 to 1000 Hz. Addition of damping tape on top of the honeycomb treatment increases insertion loss by 2dB to 3dB. Porous acoustic blankets show no attenuation of transmitted noise for frequencies below 300 Hz. Insertion of impervious vinyl septa between the layers of porous acoustic blankets do not provide additional noise reduction for frequencies up to about 500 Hz. Similar behavior was observed for noise barriers composed of urethane elastomer, decoupler foam and acoustic foam. A treatment composed from several layers of acoustic foams does not increase noise attenuation for the entire frequency range studied. An acoustic treatment composed of honeycomb panels, constrained layer damping tape, 2 to 3 inches of porous acoustic blankets, and limptrim which is isolated from the vibrations of the main fuselage structure seems to provide the best option for noise control.

Mass-spring matching layers for high-frequency ultrasound transducers: a new technique using vacuum deposition.

PubMed

Brown, Jeremy; Sharma, Srikanta; Leadbetter, Jeff; Cochran, Sandy; Adamson, Rob

2014-11-01

We have developed a technique of applying multiple matching layers to high-frequency (>30 MHz) imaging transducers, by using carefully controlled vacuum deposition alone. This technique uses a thin mass-spring matching layer approach that was previously described in a low-frequency (1 to 10 MHz) transducer design with epoxied layers. This mass- spring approach is more suitable to vacuum deposition in highfrequency transducers over the conventional quarter-wavelength resonant cavity approach, because thinner layers and more versatile material selection can be used, the difficulty in precisely lapping quarter-wavelength matching layers is avoided, the layers are less attenuating, and the layers can be applied to a curved surface. Two different 3-mm-diameter 45-MHz planar lithium niobate transducers and one geometrically curved 3-mm lithium niobate transducer were designed and fabricated using this matching layer approach with copper as the mass layer and parylene as the spring layer. The first planar lithium niobate transducer used a single mass-spring matching network, and the second planar lithium niobate transducer used a single mass-spring network to approximate the first layer in a dual quarter-wavelength matching layer system in addition to a conventional quarter-wavelength layer as the second matching layer. The curved lithium niobate transducer was press focused and used a similar mass-spring plus quarter-wavelength matching layer network. These transducers were then compared with identical transducers with no matching layers and the performance improvement was quantified. The bandwidth of the lithium niobate transducer with the single mass-spring layer was measured to be 46% and the insertion loss was measured to be -21.9 dB. The bandwidth and insertion loss of the lithium niobate transducer with the mass-spring network plus quarter-wavelength matching were measured to be 59% and -18.2 dB, respectively. These values were compared with the unmatched transducer, which had a bandwidth of 28% and insertion loss of -34.1 dB. The bandwidth and insertion loss of the curved lithium niobate transducer with the mass-spring plus quarter-wavelength matching layer combination were measured to be 68% and -26 dB, respectively; this compared with the measured unmatched bandwidth and insertion loss of 35% and -37 dB. All experimentally measured values were in excellent agreement with theoretical Krimholtz-Leedom-Matthaei (KLM) model predictions.

Design and fabrication of pHEMT MMIC switches for IEEE 802.11.a/b/g WLAN applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mun, Jae Kyoung; Ji, Hong Gu; Ahn, Hyokyun; Kim, Haecheon; Park, Chong-Ook

2005-08-01

In this paper, we propose a channel structure for a promising switch pHEMT with excellent isolation characteristics based on the distribution of electric field intensity beneath the Schottky contact in the transistor. Using the proposed device channel structure, SPST and SPDT switches were designed and fabricated, applicable to 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz WLAN systems. We discuss the relationship between dc characteristics and switch parameters in this paper in detail. The developed SPST switch exhibits a low insertion loss of 0.26 dB and a high isolation of 34.3 dB with a control voltage of 0 V/-3 V at 5.8 GHz. The SPDT also shows a good performance of 0.85 dB insertion loss and 31.5 dB isolation under the same conditions. The measured power-handling capability at 2.4 GHz reveals that the SPDT has an output power of 27 dBm at the 1 dB compression point and a third-order intercept point of more than 46 dBm.

Design and analysis of O-S-C triple band wavelength division demultiplexer using cascaded MMI couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chack, Devendra; Kumar, V.; Raghuwanshi, Sanjeev Kumar; Singh, Dev Prakash

2017-01-01

Compact triple O-S-C band wavelength demultiplexer, which consists of series cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers has been carried out in this paper. The MMI coupler has been used to drop the wavelengths of 1510 nm and 1550 nm at bar port while the wavelength 1300 nm into the cross port. Then another MMI coupler has been designed to separate the wavelength 1510 nminto one port and wavelength 1550 nm into another port. The triple wavelength demultiplexer function has been performed by choosing a suitable refractive index of the guiding region and geometrical parameters such as the width and length of MMI coupler. Numerical simulation with finite difference beam propagation method (BPM) has been utilized to design and optimize the operation of the proposed triple wavelength demultiplexer. The simulation results show that insertion losses of wavelength O, S and C, bands are 1.884 dB, 1.452 dB and 2.568 dB, respectively, with isolations for each output waveguide ranging from 10 dB to 28.72 dB. The 3-dB bandwidth of insertion loss for 1300 nm, 1510 nm and 1550 nm are 80 nm, 20 nm and 10 nm, respectively.

Low-Power Consumption InGaAs PIN Diode Switches for V-band Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Volker; Berg, Michael; Tobler, Hans; Woelk, Claus; Deufel, Reinhard; Trasser, Andreas; Schumacher, Hermann; Alekseev, Egor; Pavlidis, Dimitris; Dickmann, Juergen

1999-02-01

In this paper, we present the measurement results of two InP-based coplanar SPST (single pole single throw) PIN diode switches operating at V-band frequencies. The switches show excellent mm-wave performance combined with a very low DC-power consumption. The SPST with on-chip biasing and DC-blocking capacitors demonstrates an insertion loss as low as 0.84 dB and a high isolation value of 21.8 dB at a center frequency of 53 GHz with only 0.8 mW of DC-power consumption. A more simple SPST exhibits under equivalent conditions (0.9 mW) an excellent insertion loss of 0.52 dB and an isolation of 21.7 dB. Furthermore the power-handling capability of the InGaAs PIN diodes, which are used as active switching elements, is investigated in this paper and found to exceed 25 dBm at a reverse voltage of -5 V.

Full scale model investigation on the acoustical protection of a balcony-like façade device (L).

PubMed

Tong, Y G; Tang, S K; Yeung, M K L

2011-08-01

The acoustical insertion losses produced by a balcony-like structure in front of a window are examined experimentally. The results suggest that the balcony ceiling is the most appropriate location for the installation of artificial sound absorption for the purpose of improving the broadband insertion loss, while the side walls are found to be the second best. Results also indicate that the acoustic modes of the balcony opening and the balcony cavity resonance in a direction normal to the window could have a great impact on the one-third octave band insertion losses. The maximum broadband road traffic noise insertion loss achieved is about 7 dB.

Response Changes During Insertion of a Cochlear Implant Using Extracochlear Electrocochleography.

PubMed

Giardina, Christopher K; Khan, Tatyana E; Pulver, Stephen H; Adunka, Oliver F; Buchman, Craig A; Brown, Kevin D; Pillsbury, Harold C; Fitzpatrick, Douglas C

2018-03-16

Electrocochleography is increasingly being utilized as an intraoperative monitor of cochlear function during cochlear implantation (CI). Intracochlear recordings from the advancing electrode can be obtained through the device by on-board capabilities. However, such recordings may not be ideal as a monitor because the recording electrode moves in relation to the neural and hair cell generators producing the responses. The purposes of this study were to compare two extracochlear recording locations in terms of signal strength and feasibility as intraoperative monitoring sites and to characterize changes in cochlear physiology during CI insertion. In 83 human subjects, responses to 90 dB nHL tone bursts were recorded both at the round window (RW) and then at an extracochlear position-either adjacent to the stapes or on the promontory just superior to the RW. Recording from the fixed, extracochlear position continued during insertion of the CI in 63 cases. Before CI insertion, responses to low-frequency tones at the RW were roughly 6 dB larger than when recording at either extracochlear site, but the two extracochlear sites did not differ from one another. During CI insertion, response losses from the promontory or adjacent to the stapes stayed within 5 dB in ≈61% (38/63) of cases, presumably indicating atraumatic insertions. Among responses which dropped more than 5 dB at any time during CI insertion, 12 subjects showed no response recovery, while in 13, the drop was followed by partial or complete response recovery by the end of CI insertion. In cases with recovery, the drop in response occurred relatively early (<15 mm insertion) compared to those where there was no recovery. Changes in response phase during the insertion occurred in some cases; these may indicate a change in the distributions of generators contributing to the response. Monitoring the electrocochleography during CI insertion from an extracochlear site reveals insertions that are potentially atraumatic show interaction with cochlear structures followed by response recovery or show interactions such that response losses persist to the end of recording.

YBCO High-Temperature Superconducting Filters on M-Plane Sapphire Substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sabataitis, J. C.; Mueller, C. H.; Miranda, F. A.; Warner, J.; Bhasin, K. B.

1996-01-01

Since the discovery of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) in 1986, microwave circuits have been demonstrated using HTS films on various substrates. These HTS-based circuits have proven to operate with less power loss than their metallic film counterparts at 77 K. This translates into smaller and lighter microwave circuits for space communication systems such as multiplexer filter banks. High quality HTS films have conventionally been deposited on lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) substrates. However, LaAlO3 has a relative dielectric constant (epsilon(sub r)) of 24. With a epsilon(sub r) approx. 9.4-11.6, sapphire (Al2O3) would be a preferable substrate for the fabrication of HTS-based components since the lower dielectric constant would permit wider microstrip lines to be used in filter design, since the lower dielectric constant would permit wider microstrip lines to be used for a given characteristic impedance (Z(sub 0)), thus lowering the insertion losses and increasing the power handling capabilities of the devices. We report on the fabrication and characterization of YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) (YBCO) on M-plane sapphire bandpass filters at 4.0 GHz. For a YBCO 'hairpin' filter, a minimum insertion loss of 0.5 dB was measured at 77 K as compared with 1.4 dB for its gold counterpart. In an 'edge-coupled' configuration, the insertion loss went down from 0.9 dB for the gold film to 0.8 dB for the YBCO film at the same temperature.

A low insertion loss GaAs pHEMT switch utilizing dual n +-doping AlAs etching stop layers design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chien, Feng-Tso; Lin, Da-Wei; Yang, Chih-Wei; Fu, Jeffrey S.; Chiu, Hsien-Chin

2010-03-01

A low insertion loss single-pole-single-throw (SPST) pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) switch utilizing the n +-type doping in AlAs etching stop layer was fabricated and investigated. This novel design reduces device sheet resistance resulting in an improvement of dc and rf power performance. In addition, the gate recess selectivity for GaAs/AlAs interface was not sacrificed after highly n +-type doping in AlAs etching stop layer. The pHEMT with n +-AlAs etching stop layer, also named Modified pHEMT (M-pHEMT), demonstrated a lower sheet resistance ( Rsh) of 65.9 Ω/γ, a higher maximum drain-to-source current ( Idmax) of 317.8 mA/mm and a higher peak transconductance ( gm) of 259.3 mS/mm which are superior to standard pHEMT performance with values of 71.9 Ω/γ, 290.3 mA/mm and 252.1 mS/mm, respectively. Due to a significant sheet resistance improvement from this novel epitaxial design, an SPST pHEMT switch was realized to manifest its industrial application potential. The results achieved an on-state insertion loss of 1.42 dB, an off-state isolation of 13.02 dB at 0.9 GHz, which were superior to traditional pHEMT switch under same condition of operation with values of 1.68 dB and 11.42 dB, respectively. It is proved that dual n +-doping AlAs etching stop layers scheme is beneficial for low loss microwave switches applications.

Ka-Band, RF MEMS Switches on CMOS Grade Silicon with a Polyimide Interface Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ponchak, George E.; Varaljay, Nicholas C.; Papapolymerou, John

2003-01-01

For the first time, RF MEMS switcbes on CMOS grade Si witb a polyimide interface layer are fabricated and characterized. At Ka-Band (36.6 GHz), an insertion loss of 0.52 dB and an isolation of 20 dB is obtained.

Micro-device for coupling, multiplexing and demultiplexing using elliptical-core two-mode fiber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, A.; Murphy, K. A.; Wang, G. Z.; Vengsarkar, A. M.; Claus, R. O.

1990-01-01

We propose and demonstrate experimentally a fiber optic micro-device that is capable of tunably splitting, multiplexing, and demultiplexing optical signals using elliptical-core two-mode optical fiber. A crosstalk of 15 dB with an insertion loss of 1.2 dB was obtained.

LP01 to LP0m mode converters using all-fiber two-stage tapers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellah, Hakim; Zhang, Xiupu; Shen, Dongya

2015-11-01

A mode converter between LP01 and LP0m modes is proposed using two stages of tapers. The first stage is formed by an adiabatically tapering a circular fiber to excite the desirable LP0m mode. The second stage is formed by inserting an inner core (tapered from both sides) with a refractive index smaller than the original core. This second stage is used to obtain low insertion loss and high extinction ratio of the desired LP0m mode. Three converters between LP01 and LP0m, m=2, 3, and 4, are designed for C-band, and simulation results show that less than 0.24, 0.54 and 0.7 dB insertion loss and higher than 15, 16, and 17.5 dB extinction ratio over the entire band were obtained for the three converters, respectively.

Fabry-Perot resonators with transverse coupling on SOI using loop mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saber, Md Ghulam; Abadía, Nicolás; Wang, Yun; Plant, David V.

2018-05-01

A novel integrated transversely coupled Fabry-Perot resonator using loop mirrors as the end reflectors are demonstrated via simulations and experiments on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. The resonator is formed by connecting two loop mirrors to the two output ports of a directional coupler to form the resonant cavity and utilizing the other two ports as the input and the output. Depending on which two ports of the directional coupler are mirrored, two configurations of the resonator can be achieved. The impacts of varying the cavity length and the coupling coefficient of the directional coupler on the output characteristics of the resonators are analyzed. A Q-factor of 28086 and an extinction ratio of 10.04 dB with an insertion loss of 1.9 dB is achieved experimentally for a 1038 μm cavity length and an extinction ratio of 18.14 dB and a Q-factor of 5120 with an insertion loss of 2.12 dB is obtained for a cavity length of 376 μm. The reported resonator offers additional freedom to tune the spectral characteristics.

A Compact Low-loss Magic-T using Microstrip-Slotline Transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

U-yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward J.; Moseley, Samuel H.; Papapolymerou, John; Laskar, Joy

2007-01-01

The design of a compact low-loss magic-T is proposed. The planar magic-T incorporates the compact microstrip-slotline tee junction and small microstrip-slotline transition area to reduce slotline radiation. The experimental results show that the magic-T produces broadband in-phase and out-of-phase power combiner/divider responses, has an average in-band insertion loss of 0.3 dB and small in-band phase and amplitude imbalance of less than plus or minus 1.6 deg. and plus or minus 0.3 dB, respectively.

Packaging of microwave integrated circuits operating beyond 100 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samoska, L.; Daniel, E.; Sokolov, V.; Sommerfeldt, S.; Bublitz, J.; Olson, K.; Gilbert, B.; Chow, D.

2002-01-01

Several methods of packaging high speed (75-330 GHz) InP HEMT MMIC devices are discussed. Coplanar wirebonding is presented with measured insertion loss of less than 0.5dB and return loss better than -17 dB from DC to 110 GHz. A motherboard/daughterboard packaging scheme is presented which supports minimum loss chains of MMICs using this coplanar wirebonding method. Split waveguide block packaging approaches are presented in G-band (140-220 GHz) with two types of MMIC-waveguide transitions: E-plane probe andantipodal finline.

Analysis and Optimization of Thin Film Ferroelectric Phase Shifters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Romanofsky, Robert R.; VanKeuls, Fred W.; Warner, Joseph D.; Mueller, Carl H.; Alterovitz, Samuel A.; Miranda, Felix A.; Qureshi, A. Haq; Romanofsky, Robert R. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Microwave phase shifters have been fabricated from (YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) or Au)/SrTiO3 and Au/Ba(x)Sr(1-x)TiO3 films on LaAlO3 and MgO substrates. These coupled microstrip devices rival the performance of their semiconductor counter-parts parts at Ku- and K-band frequencies. Typical insertion loss for room temperature ferroelectric phase shifters at K-band is approximately equal 5 dB. An experimental and theoretical investigation of these novel devices explains the role of the ferroelectric film in overall device performance. A roadmap to the development of a 3 dB insertion loss phase shifter that would enable a new type of phased array antenna is discussed.

Ultra-wide bandpass filter based on long-period fiber gratings and the evanescent field coupling between two fibers.

PubMed

Kim, Myoung Jin; Jung, Yong Min; Kim, Bok Hyeon; Han, Won-Taek; Lee, Byeong Ha

2007-08-20

We demonstrate a fiber-based bandpass filter with an ultra-wide spectral bandwidth. The ultra-wide band feature is achieved by inscribing a long-period fiber grating (LPG) in a specially-designed low index core single mode fiber. To get the bandpass function, the evanescent field coupling between two attached fibers is utilized. By applying strain, the spectral shape of the pass-band is adjusted to flat-top and Gaussian shapes. For the flat-top case, the bandwidth is obtained ~ 160 nm with an insertion loss of ~ 2 dB. With strain, the spectral shape is switched into a Gaussian one, which has ~ 120 nm FWHM and ~ 4.18 dB insertion loss at the peak.

Optical modulation in silicon-vanadium dioxide photonic structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Kevin J.; Hallman, Kent A.; Haglund, Richard F.; Weiss, Sharon M.

2017-08-01

All-optical modulators are likely to play an important role in future chip-scale information processing systems. In this work, through simulations, we investigate the potential of a recently reported vanadium dioxide (VO2) embedded silicon waveguide structure for ultrafast all-optical signal modulation. With a VO2 length of only 200 nm, finite-differencetime- domain simulations suggest broadband (200 nm) operation with a modulation greater than 12 dB and an insertion loss of less than 3 dB. Predicted performance metrics, including modulation speed, modulation depth, optical bandwidth, insertion loss, device footprint, and energy consumption of the proposed Si-VO2 all-optical modulator are benchmarked against those of current state-of-the-art all-optical modulators with in-plane optical excitation.

Compact, low-loss and low-power 8×8 broadband silicon optical switch.

PubMed

Chen, Long; Chen, Young-kai

2012-08-13

We demonstrated a 8×8 broadband optical switch on silicon for transverse-electrical polarization using a switch-and-selector architecture. The switch has a footprint of only 8 mm × 8 mm, minimum on-chip loss of about 4 dB, and a port-to-port insertion loss variation of only 0.8 dB near some spectral regions. The port-to-port isolation is above 30 dB over the entire 80-nm-wide spectral range or above 45 dB near the central 30 nm. We also demonstrated a switching power of less than 1.5 mW per element and a speed of 2 kHz, and estimated the upper bound of total power consumption to be less than 70 mW even without optimization of the default state of the individual switch elements.

High-performance and power-efficient 2×2 optical switch on Silicon-on-Insulator.

PubMed

Han, Zheng; Moille, Grégory; Checoury, Xavier; Bourderionnet, Jérôme; Boucaud, Philippe; De Rossi, Alfredo; Combrié, Sylvain

2015-09-21

A compact (15µm × 15µm) and highly-optimized 2×2 optical switch is demonstrated on a CMOS-compatible photonic crystal technology. On-chip insertion loss are below 1 dB, static and dynamic contrast are 40 dB and >20 dB respectively. Owing to efficient thermo-optic design, the power consumption is below 3 mW while the switching time is 1 µs.

Ultralow loss, high Q, four port resonant couplers for quantum optics and photonics.

PubMed

Rokhsari, H; Vahala, K J

2004-06-25

We demonstrate a low-loss, optical four port resonant coupler (add-drop geometry), using ultrahigh Q (>10(8)) toroidal microcavities. Different regimes of operation are investigated by variation of coupling between resonator and fiber taper waveguides. As a result, waveguide-to-waveguide power transfer efficiency of 93% (0.3 dB loss) and nonresonant insertion loss of 0.02% (<0.001 dB) for narrow bandwidth (57 MHz) four port couplers are achieved in this work. The combination of low-loss, fiber compatibility, and wafer-scale design would be suitable for a variety of applications ranging from quantum optics to photonic networks.

A MEMS disk resonator-based band pass filter electrical equivalent circuit simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sundaram, G. M.; Angira, Mahesh; Gupta, Navneet

In this paper, coupled beam bandpass Disk filter is designed for 1 MHz bandwidth. Filter electrical equivalent circuit simulation is performed using circuit simulators. Important filter parameters such as insertion loss, shape factor and Q factor aresetimated using coventorware simulation. Disk resonator based radial contour mode filter provides 1.5 MHz bandwidth and unloaded quality factor of resonator and filter as 233480, 21797 respectively. From the simulation result it’s found that insertion loss minimum is 151.49 dB, insertion loss maximum is 213.94 dB, and 40 dB shape factor is 4.17.

MPI investigation for 40G NRZ link with low-RL cable assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satake, Toshiaki; Berdinskikh, Tatiana; Thongdaeng, Rutsuda; Faysanyo, Pitak; Gurreri, Michael

2017-01-01

Bit Error Ratio (BER) dependence on received power was studied for 40Gb/s NRZ short optical fiber transmission, including a series of four low return loss (RL 21dB) and low insertion loss (IL 0.1dB) connections. The calculated power penalty (PP) was 0.15dB for BER 10-11. Although the fiber length was within DFB laser's coherent length of 100m and the multi path interference (MPI) value was 34.3dB, no PP of BER was observed. There was no PP due to low MPI probably because the polarization of the signal pulses were not aligned for optical interference, indicating that NRZ systems have a high resistance to MPI.

Multiport optical circulator by using polarizing beam splitter cubes as spatial walk-off polarizers.

PubMed

Chen, Jing-Heng; Chen, Kun-Huang; Lin, Jiun-You; Hsieh, Hsiang-Yung

2010-03-10

Optical circulators are necessary passive devices applied in optical communication systems. In the design of optical circulators, the implementation of the function of spatial walk-off polarizers is a key technique that significantly influences the performance and cost of a device. This paper proposes a design of a multiport optical circulator by using polarizing beam splitter cubes as spatial walk-off polarizers. To show the feasibility of the design, a prototype of a six-port optical circulator was fabricated. The insertion losses are 0.94-1.49 dB, the isolations are 25-51 dB, and return losses are 27.72 dB.

Design and analysis of a high Q MEMS passive RF filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rathee, Vishal; Pande, Rajesh

2016-04-01

Over the past few years, significant growth has been observed in using MEMS based passive components in the RF microelectronics domain, especially in transceiver system. This is due to some excellent properties of the MEMS devices like low loss, low cost and excellent isolation. This paper presents a design of high performance MEMS passive band pass filter, consisting of L and C with improved quality factor and insertion loss less than the reported filters. In this paper we have presented a design of 2nd order band pass filter with 2.4GHz centre frequency and 83MHz bandwidth for Bluetooth application. The simulation results showed improved Q-factor of 34 and Insertion loss of 1.7dB to 1.9dB. The simulation results needs to be validated by fabricating the device, fabrication flow of which is also presented in the paper.

Total internal reflection-evanescent coupler for fiber-to-waveguide integration of planar optoelectric devices.

PubMed

Lu, Zhaolin; Prather, Dennis W

2004-08-01

We present a method for parallel coupling from a single-mode fiber, or fiber ribbon, into a silicon-on-insulator waveguide for integration with silicon optoelectronic circuits. The coupler incorporates the advantages of the vertically tapered waveguides and prism couplers, yet offers the flexibility of planar integration. The coupler can be fabricated by use of either wafer polishing technology or gray-scale photolithography. When optimal coupling is achieved in our experimental setup, the coupler can be packaged by epoxy bonding to form a fiber-waveguide parallel coupler or connector. Two-dimensional electromagnetic calculation predicts a coupling efficiency of 77% (- 1.14-dB insertion loss) for a silicon-to-silicon coupler with a uniform tunnel layer. The coupling efficiency is experimentally achieved to be 46% (-3.4-dB insertion loss), excluding the loss in silicon and the reflections from the input surface and the output facet.

Electro-optical full-adder/full-subtractor based on graphene-silicon switches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zivarian, Hossein; Zarifkar, Abbas; Miri, Mehdi

2018-01-01

A compact footprint, low-power consumption, and high-speed operation electro-optical full-adder/full-subtractor based on graphene-silicon electro-optical switches is demonstrated. Each switch consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in which few-layer graphene is embedded in a silicon slot waveguide to construct phase shifters. The presented structure can be used as full-adder and full-subtractor simultaneously. The analysis of various factors such as extinction ratio, power consumption, and operation speed has been presented. As will be shown, the proposed electro-optical switch has a minimum extinction ratio of 36.21 dB, maximum insertion loss about 0.18 dB, high operation speed of 180 GHz, and is able to work with a low applied voltage about 1.4 V. Also, the extinction ratio and insertion loss of the full-adder/full-subtractor are about 30 and 1.5 dB, respectively, for transfer electric modes at telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 μm.

Broadband transverse magnetic pass polarizer with low insertion loss based on silicon nitride waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Tarun Kumar; Ranganath, Praveen; Nambiar, Siddharth; Selvaraja, Shankar Kumar

2018-03-01

A horizontally asymmetric transverse magnetic (TM) pass polarizer is presented. The device passes only TM mode and rejects transverse electric (TE) mode. The proposed device has an asymmetricity in the horizontal direction comprising a direction coupler region with a silicon waveguide, silicon nitride waveguide, and an air gap, all residing on silica. Between three equal width Si waveguides, we have one region filled with air and the other with SiN with unequal optimized widths. The device with its optimal dimensions yields an extremely low insertion loss (IL) of 0.16 dB for TM→TM, while TE is rejected by an IL of >48 dB. The proposed polarizer is operated between C&L bands with a high extinction ratio and broadband width of about 110 nm.

Multistage Polymeric Lens Structures Integrated into Silica Waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tate, Atsushi; Suzuki, Takanori; Tsuda, Hiroyuki

2006-08-01

A waveguide lens, composed of multistage polymer-filled thin grooves in a silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) is proposed and a low-loss structure has been designed. A waveguide lens in a silica slab waveguide has been fabricated using reactive ion etching (RIE) and formed by filling with polymer. Both an imagding optical system and a Fourier-transform optical system can be configured in a PLC using a waveguide lens. It renders the PLC functional and its design flexible. To obtain a shorter focal length with a low insertion loss, it is more effective to use a multistage lens structure. An imaging optical system and a Fourier-transform optical system with a focal length of less than 1000 μm were fabricated in silica waveguides using a multistage lens structure. The lens imaging waveguides incorporate a 16-24-stage lens, with insertion losses of 4-7 dB. A 4 × 4 optical coupler, using a Fourier-transform optical system, utilizes a 6-stage lens with losses of 2-4 dB.

Fusion splice between tapered inhibited coupling hypocycloid-core Kagome fiber and SMF.

PubMed

Zheng, Ximeng; Debord, Benoît; Vincetti, Luca; Beaudou, Benoît; Gérôme, Frédéric; Benabid, Fetah

2016-06-27

We report for the first time on tapering inhibited coupling (IC) hypocycloid-core shape Kagome hollow-core photonic crystal fibers whilst maintaining their delicate core-contour negative curvature with a down-ratio as large as 2.4. The transmission loss of down-tapered sections reaches a figure as low as 0.07 dB at 1550 nm. The tapered IC fibers are also spliced to standard SMF with a total insertion loss of 0.48 dB. These results show that all-fiber photonic microcells with the ultra-low loss hypocycloid core-contour Kagome fibers is now possible.

Racetrack resonator as a loss measurement platform for photonic components.

PubMed

Jones, Adam M; DeRose, Christopher T; Lentine, Anthony L; Starbuck, Andrew; Pomerene, Andrew T S; Norwood, Robert A

2015-11-02

This work represents the first complete analysis of the use of a racetrack resonator to measure the insertion loss of efficient, compact photonic components. Beginning with an in-depth analysis of potential error sources and a discussion of the calibration procedure, the technique is used to estimate the insertion loss of waveguide width tapers of varying geometry with a resulting 95% confidence interval of 0.007 dB. The work concludes with a performance comparison of the analyzed tapers with results presented for four taper profiles and three taper lengths.

Increase in transmission loss of single panels by addition of mass inclusions to a poro-elastic layer: Experimental investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kidner, M. R. F.; Fuller, C. R.; Gardner, B.

2006-06-01

The insertion loss of standard acoustic blankets can be significantly improved at low frequencies by the addition of randomly placed mass inclusions to the poro-elastic layers. The improvement is much greater than that due to the mass effect alone. The mass inclusions act as resonant systems and so increase the structure impedance. This paper reports the results of experimental investigations into this phenomenon. Increases in insertion loss of 15 dB in the 100 Hz third octave band are reported.

Racetrack resonator as a loss measurement platform for photonic components

DOE PAGES

Jones, Adam M.; Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; DeRose, Christopher T.; ...

2015-10-27

This work represents the first complete analysis of the use of a racetrack resonator to measure the insertion loss of efficient, compact photonic components. Beginning with an in-depth analysis of potential error sources and a discussion of the calibration procedure, the technique is used to estimate the insertion loss of waveguide width tapers of varying geometry with a resulting 95% confidence interval of 0.007 dB. Furthermore, the work concludes with a performance comparison of the analyzed tapers with results presented for four taper profiles and three taper lengths.

Flexible microwave PIN diodes and switches employing transferrable single-crystal Si nanomembranes on plastic substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Guoxuan; Yuan, Hao-Chih; Celler, George K.; Zhou, Weidong; Ma, Zhenqiang

2009-12-01

This paper reports the realization of flexible RF/microwave PIN diodes and switches using transferrable single-crystal Si nanomembranes (SiNM) that are monolithically integrated on low-cost, flexible plastic substrates. High frequency response is obtained through the realization of low parasitic resistance achieved with heavy ion implantation before nanomembrane release and transfer. The flexible lateral SiNM PIN diodes exhibit typical rectifying characteristics with insertion loss and isolation better than 0.9 dB and 19.6 dB, respectively, from DC to 5 GHz, as well as power handling up to 22.5 dBm without gain compression. A single-pole single-throw (SPST) flexible RF switch employing shunt-series PIN diode configuration has achieved insertion loss and isolation better than 0.6 dB and 22.9 dB, respectively, from DC to 5 GHz. Furthermore, the SPST microwave switch shows performance improvement and robustness under mechanical deformation conditions. The study demonstrates the considerable potential of using properly processed transferrable SiNM for microwave passive components. Future investigations on transferrable SiNMs will lead to eventual realization of monolithic microwave integrated systems on low-cost flexible substrates.

A novel micro/nano 1 × 4 mechanical optical switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Wu-Lang; Fan, Kuang-Chao; Chiang, Li-Hung; Yang, Yao-Joe; Kuo, Wen-Cheng; Chung, Tien-Tung

2006-07-01

This paper presents the design, fabrication and testing of a novel 1 × 4 mechanical optical switch, whose components are fabricated by precision machining and MEMS technologies. The switch uses two relays as the two actuators whose switching direction is perpendicular to each other by an orthogonal arrangement. We adopt a direct fiber-to-fiber principle that aligns the input fiber directly to four output fibers. This configuration eliminates the use of traditional parts such as collimators, turning mirrors or prisms. In addition, due to the use of a fiber holder, the fiber position errors could be reduced to less than 0.27 µm using the two-stage geometry error reduction principle. We have successfully developed a simple and low-cost switch, which performs like most of the 1 × 4 mechanical optical switches that dominate the optics communications market. The advantages of our switch are a small size (20 × 20 × 25 mm3), low cost, high reliability, and the latching function does not need external force for maintaining the state. The experimental results showed that the insertion losses of the four channels are ch1: 0.68 dB, ch2: 1.49 dB, ch3: 0.71 dB and ch4: 0.97 dB. The switching time is 5 ms, the crosstalk <=80 dB. The reliability tests of the insertion loss after 10 000 cycles in four channels yield ch1: 1.67 dB, ch2: 1.63 dB, ch3: 0.75 dB and ch4: 0.98 dB. The size and the cost of our 1 × 4 mechanical optical switch are only about 1/5-1/10 and 1/10 of the series-connect-type and prism-type switches, respectively.

Ku to V-band 4-bit MEMS phase shifter bank using high isolation SP4T switches and DMTL structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dey, Sukomal; Koul, Shiban K.; Poddar, Ajay K.; Rohde, Ulrich L.

2017-10-01

This work presents a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based on a wide-band 4-bit phase shifter using two back-to-back single-pole-four-throw (SP4T) switches and four different distributed MEMS transmission line (DMTL) structures that are implemented on 635 µm alumina substrate using surface micromachining process. An SP4T switch is designed with a series-shunt configuration and it demonstrates an average return loss of  >17 dB, an insertion loss of  <1.97 dB and maximum isolation of  >28 dB up to 60 GHz. A maximum area of the SP4T switch is ~0.76 mm2. Single-pole-single-throw and SP4T switches are capable of handling 1 W of radio frequency (RF) power up to  >100 million cycles at 25° C; they can even sustained up to  >70 million cycles with 1 W at 85 °C. The proposed wide-band phase shifter works at 17 GHz (Ku-band), 25 GHz (K-band), 35 GHz (Ka-band) and 60 GHz (V-band) frequencies. Finally,a 4-bit phase shifter demonstrates an average insertion loss of  <6 dB, return loss of  >10 dB and maximum phase error of ~3.8° at 60 GHz frequency over 500 MHz bandwidth. Total area of the fabricated device is ~11 mm2. In addition, the proposed device works well up to  >107 cycles with 1 W of RF power. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the best reported wide-band MEMS 4-bit phase shifter in the literature that works with a constant resolution.

New coplanar waveguide to rectangular waveguide end launcher

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, R. N.; Taub, S. R.

1992-01-01

A new coplanar waveguide to rectangular waveguide end launcher is experimentally demonstrated. The end launcher operates over the Ka-band frequencies that are designated for the NASA Advanced Communication Technology Satellite uplink. The measured insertion loss and return loss are better than 0.5 and -10 dB, respectively.

Compact and low cross-talk silicon-on-insulator crossing using a periodic dielectric waveguide.

PubMed

Feng, Junbo; Li, Qunqing; Fan, Shoushan

2010-12-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a compact, highly efficient, and negligible cross-talk silicon-on-insulator crossing using a periodic dielectric waveguide. The crossing occupies a footprint of less than 4 μm × 4 μm. Around 0.7 dB insertion loss and lower than -40 dB, cross talk was achieved experimentally over a broad wavelength range.

Measurement of impulse peak insertion loss from two acoustic test fixtures and four hearing protector conditions with an acoustic shock tube

PubMed Central

Murphy, William J.; Fackler, Cameron J.; Berger, Elliott H.; Shaw, Peter B.; Stergar, Mike

2015-01-01

Impulse peak insertion loss (IPIL) was studied with two acoustic test fixtures and four hearing protector conditions at the E-A-RCAL Laboratory. IPIL is the difference between the maximum estimated pressure for the open-ear condition and the maximum pressure measured when a hearing protector is placed on an acoustic test fixture (ATF). Two models of an ATF manufactured by the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) were evaluated with high-level acoustic impulses created by an acoustic shock tube at levels of 134 decibels (dB), 150 dB, and 168 dB. The fixtures were identical except that the E-A-RCAL ISL fixture had ear canals that were 3 mm longer than the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ISL fixture. Four hearing protection conditions were tested: Combat Arms earplug with the valve open, ETYPlugs® earplug, TacticalPro headset, and a dual-protector ETYPlugs earplug with TacticalPro earmuff. The IPILs measured for the E-A-RCAL fixture were 1.4 dB greater than the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ISL ATF. For the E-A-RCAL ISL ATF, the left ear IPIL was 2.0 dB greater than the right ear IPIL. For the NIOSH ATF, the right ear IPIL was 0.3 dB greater than the left ear IPIL. PMID:26356380

Silicon-based highly-efficient fiber-to-waveguide coupler for high index contrast systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Victor; Montalbo, Trisha; Manolatou, Christina; Agarwal, Anu; Hong, Ching-yin; Yasaitis, John; Kimerling, L. C.; Michel, Jurgen

2006-02-01

A coupler to efficiently transfer broadband light from a single-mode optical fiber to a single-mode high-index contrast waveguide has been fabricated on a silicon substrate. We utilized a novel coupling scheme, with a vertically asymmetric design consisting of a stepwise parabolic graded index profile combined with a horizontal taper, to simultaneously confine light in both directions. Coupling efficiency has been measured as a function of the device dimensions. The optimal coupling efficiency is achieved for structures whose length equals the focal distance of the graded index and whose input width is close to the mode field diameter of the fiber. The fabricated structure is compact, robust and highly efficient, with an insertion loss of 2.2dB at 1550nm. The coupler exhibits less than 1dB variation in coupling efficiency in the measured spectral range from 1520nmto1620nm. The lowest insertion loss of 1.9dB is measured at 1540nm. The coupler design offers highly efficient coupling for single mode waveguides of core indices up to 2.2.

Optimization of figure of merit in magnetoplasmonic waveguides with Fe/Au multilayer for optical isolator based on nonreciprocal coupling on Si waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Hiromasa; Shimodaira, Takahiro

2018-04-01

We report on magnetoplasmonic Si waveguides with a ferromagnetic Fe/conductive metal Au multilayer for realizing a sizable magnetooptic effect with a low propagation loss for integrated optical isolators. By combining the ferromagnetic metal Fe with a highly conductive Au layer, the largest nonreciprocal differences in effective index were estimated for propagation lengths of 1-20 µm. Mode analysis with and without a Au layer clarified that the insertion of a Au layer on an Fe layer improves the optical confinement in the Fe layer with reduced propagation loss and is effective in enlarging the magnetooptic effect for the same propagation length. On the basis of the optimized Fe/Au multilayer structure, we designed waveguide optical isolators based on nonreciprocal coupling by the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. We estimated an optical isolation of 10.8 dB with a forward insertion loss of 13.4 dB in a 34-µm-long nonreciprocal directional coupler.

Fabrication and demonstration of 1 × 8 silicon-silica multi-chip switch based on optical phased array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katayose, Satomi; Hashizume, Yasuaki; Itoh, Mikitaka

2016-08-01

We experimentally demonstrated a 1 × 8 silicon-silica hybrid thermo-optic switch based on an optical phased array using a multi-chip integration technique. The switch consists of a silicon chip with optical phase shifters and two silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) chips composed of optical couplers and fiber connections. We adopted a rib waveguide as the silicon waveguide to reduce the coupling loss and increase the alignment tolerance for coupling between silicon and silica waveguides. As a result, we achieved a fast switching response of 81 µs, a high extinction ratio of over 18 dB and a low insertion loss of 4.9-8.1 dB including a silicon-silica coupling loss of 0.5 ± 0.3 dB at a wavelength of 1.55 µm.

Amplification and noise properties of an erbium-doped multicore fiber amplifier.

PubMed

Abedin, K S; Taunay, T F; Fishteyn, M; Yan, M F; Zhu, B; Fini, J M; Monberg, E M; Dimarcello, F V; Wisk, P W

2011-08-15

A multicore erbium-doped fiber (MC-EDF) amplifier for simultaneous amplification in the 7-cores has been developed, and the gain and noise properties of individual cores have been studied. The pump and signal radiation were coupled to individual cores of MC-EDF using two tapered fiber bundled (TFB) couplers with low insertion loss. For a pump power of 146 mW, the average gain achieved in the MC-EDF fiber was 30 dB, and noise figure was less than 4 dB. The net useful gain from the multicore-amplifier, after taking into consideration of all the passive losses, was about 23-27 dB. Pump induced ASE noise transfer between the neighboring channel was negligible. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Hyperbolic-cosine waveguide tapers and oversize rectangular waveguide for reduced broadband insertion loss in W-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. II. Broadband characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sidabras, Jason W.; Anderson, James R.; Mainali, Laxman

Experimental results have been reported on an oversize rectangular waveguide assembly operating nominally at 94 GHz. It was formed using commercially available WR28 waveguide as well as a pair of specially designed tapers with a hyperbolic-cosine shape from WR28 to WR10 waveguide [R. R. Mett et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 074704 (2011)]. The oversize section reduces broadband insertion loss for an Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) probe placed in a 3.36 T magnet. Hyperbolic-cosine tapers minimize reflection of the main mode and the excitation of unwanted propagating waveguide modes. Oversize waveguide is distinguished from corrugated waveguide, overmoded waveguide, or quasi-opticmore » techniques by minimal coupling to higher-order modes. Only the TE{sub 10} mode of the parent WR10 waveguide is propagated. In the present work, a new oversize assembly with a gradual 90° twist was implemented. Microwave power measurements show that the twisted oversize waveguide assembly reduces the power loss in the observe and pump arms of a W-band bridge by an average of 2.35 dB and 2.41 dB, respectively, over a measured 1.25 GHz bandwidth relative to a straight length of WR10 waveguide. Network analyzer measurements confirm a decrease in insertion loss of 2.37 dB over a 4 GHz bandwidth and show minimal amplitude distortion of approximately 0.15 dB. Continuous wave EPR experiments confirm these results. The measured phase variations of the twisted oversize waveguide assembly, relative to an ideal distortionless transmission line, are reduced by a factor of two compared to a straight length of WR10 waveguide. Oversize waveguide with proper transitions is demonstrated as an effective way to increase incident power and the return signal for broadband EPR experiments. Detailed performance characteristics, including continuous wave experiment using 1 μM 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl in aqueous solution, provided here serve as a benchmark for other broadband low-loss probes in millimeter-wave EPR bridges.« less

Acrylic and metal based Y-branch plastic optical fiber splitter with optical NOA63 polymer waveguide taper region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ehsan, Abang Annuar; Shaari, Sahbudin; Rahman, Mohd Kamil Abd.

2011-01-01

We proposed a simple low-cost acrylic and metal-based Y-branch plastic optical fiber (POF) splitter which utilizes a low cost optical polymer glue NOA63 as the main waveguiding medium at the waveguide taper region. The device is composed of three sections: an input POF waveguide, a middle waveguide taper region and output POF waveguides. A desktop high speed CNC engraver is utilized to produce the mold inserts used for the optical devices. Short POF fibers are inserted into the engraved slots at the input and output ports. UV curable optical polymer glue NOA63 is injected into the waveguide taper region and cured. The assembling is completed when the top plate is positioned to enclose the device structure and connecting screws are secured. Both POF splitters have an average insertion loss of 7.8 dB, coupling ratio of 55: 45 and 57: 43 for the acrylic and metal-based splitters respectively. The devices have excess loss of 4.82 and 4.73 dB for the acrylic and metal-based splitters respectively.

High-contrast grating hollow-core waveguide splitter applied to optical phased array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Che; Xue, Ping; Zhang, Hanxing; Chen, Te; Peng, Chao; Hu, Weiwei

2014-11-01

A novel hollow-core (HW) Y-branch waveguide splitter based on high-contrast grating (HCG) is presented. We calculated and designed the HCG-HW splitter using Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA). Finite-different timedomain (FDTD) simulation shows that the splitter has a broad bandwidth and the branching loss is as low as 0.23 dB. Fabrication is accomplished with standard Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) process. The experimental measurement results indicate its good performance on beam splitting near the central wavelength λ = 1550 nm with a total insertion loss of 7.0 dB.

Fiber-optic coupling based on nonimaging expanded-beam optics.

PubMed

Moslehi, B; Ng, J; Kasimoff, I; Jannson, T

1989-12-01

We have fabricated and experimentally tested low-cost and mass-producible multimode fiber-optic couplers and connectors based on nonimaging beam-expanding optics and Liouville's theorem. Analysis indicates that a pair coupling loss of -0.25 dB can be achieved. Experimentally, we measured insertion losses as low as -0.38 dB. The beam expanders can be mass produced owing to the use of plastic injection-molding fabrication techniques and packaged in standard connector housings. This design is compatible with the fiber geometry and can yield highly stable coupling owing to its high tolerance for misalignments.

Visible optical isolator using ZnSe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wunderlich, J. A.; Deshazer, L. G.

1977-01-01

A compact Faraday effect optical isolator was constructed for visible wavelengths and tested at 5145 A. The nonreciprocal element of the isolator was polycrystalline zinc selenide placed in the magnetic field of a permanent magnet. For 5145 A the isolator had a 2.06-dB insertion loss and a 25.5-dB isolation. Indices of refraction and Verdet constants were measured for zinc selenide in the wavelength region from 4700 to 6300 A.

Design of Compact Wilkinson Power Divider with Harmonic Suppression using T-Shaped Resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siahkamari, Hesam; Yasoubi, Zahra; Jahanbakhshi, Maryam; Mousavi, Seyed Mohammad Hadi; Siahkamari, Payam; Nouri, Mohammad Ehsan; Azami, Sajad; Azadi, Rasoul

2018-04-01

A novel scheme of a shrunken Wilkinson power divider with harmonic suppression, using two identical resonators in the conventional Wilkinson power divider is designed. Moreover, the LC equivalent circuit and its relevant formulas are provided. To substantiate the functionality and soundness of design, a microstrip implementation of this design operating at 1 GHz with the second to eighth harmonic suppression, is developed. The proposed circuit is relatively smaller than the conventional circuit, (roughly 55% of the conventional circuit). Simulation and measurement results for the proposed scheme, which are highly consistent with one another, indicate a good insertion loss about 3.1 dB, input return loss of 20 dB and isolation of 20 dB, while sustaining high-power handling capability over the Wilkinson power divider.

New fabrication of high-frequency (100-MHz) ultrasound PZT film kerfless linear array.

PubMed

Zhu, Benpeng; Chan, Ngai Yui; Dai, Jiyan; Shung, K Kirk; Takeuchi, Shinichi; Zhou, Qifa

2013-04-01

The paper describes the design, fabrication, and measurements of a high-frequency ultrasound kerfless linear array prepared from hydrothermal lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thick film. The 15-μm hydrothermal PZT thick film with an area of 1 × 1 cm, obtained through a self-separation process from Ti substrate, was used to fabricate a 32-element 100-MHz kerfless linear array with photolithography. The bandwidth at -6 dB without matching layer, insertion loss around center frequency, and crosstalk between adjacent elements were measured to be 39%, -30 dB, and -15 dB, respectively.

Micromachined 1-3 composites for ultrasonic air transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haller, M. I.; Khuri-Yakub, B. T.

1994-06-01

Airborne ultrasound has many applications, such as robotic sensing, NDE, and gas flow measurements. Coupling of ultrasound into air from plane piston piezoelectric transducers is inefficient because of the large impedance mismatch between the piezoelectric and air, and the lack of appropriate matching materials. Standard design practice requires the use of a matching layer material with an acoustic impedance of approximately 0.02 MRayls and a thickness of a quarter-wavelength. Such materials are not readily available. A method to manufacture low impedance materials using micromachining techniques for matching piezoelectrics into air are presented here. These materials are capped 1-3 composites of air and Kapton(R). The acoustic effect of the cap is significant and necessitates a modified design technique. This technique involves the use of two matching layers with inverted acoustic impedances. Using the new fabrication technology and the new design technique, an 860-kHz transducer was fabricated with a one-way insertion loss of 17 dB and a fractional 3 dB bandwidth of 6%. It is believed that, using this technology, a transducer with a one-way insertion loss of 10 dB and a fractional bandwidth of 10% is possible.

General multimode polarization splitter design in uniaxial media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teixeira, Poliane A.; Silva, Daniely G.; Gabrielli, Lucas H.; Spadoti, Danilo H.; Junqueira, Mateus A. F. C.

2018-03-01

Quasiconformal transformation optics is used to design two-dimensional polarization beam splitters. The resulting media present inhomogeneous uniaxial permittivity and nonmagnetic response. The compact devices are theoretically designed and investigated for symmetrical and asymmetrical geometries, with footprint of 64 and 110 μm2, respectively. The polarization splitter performance is evaluated for the fundamental mode and third mode, exhibiting an insertion loss closer to 0 dB and extinction ratio above 40 dB over a broad wavelength range.

Impulse Noise: Measurement Techniques and Hearing Protector Performance. Report on Scientific Exchange at the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-01

jusqu’à 160 dB) ou d’une sonde profilée (au-dessus de 190 dB) et d’un appareil d’essai acoustique (ATF). L’ATF est constitué d’une tête artificielle ...in terms of insertion loss (alone and in combination with other headgear), speech intelligibility and sound localization. However, when using human

Reliability enhancement of Ohmic RF MEMS switches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurth, Steffen; Leidich, Stefan; Bertz, Andreas; Nowack, Markus; Frömel, Jörg; Kaufmann, Christian; Faust, Wolfgang; Gessner, Thomas; Akiba, Akira; Ikeda, Koichi

2011-02-01

This contribution deals with capacitively actuated Ohmic switches in series single pole single throw (SPST) configuration for DC up to 4 GHz signal frequency (<0.5 dB insertion loss, 35 dB isolation) and in shunt switch SPST configuration for a frequency range from DC up to 80 GHz (<1.2 dB insertion loss, 18 dB isolation at 60 GHz). A novel high aspect ratio MEMS fabrication sequence in combination with wafer level packaging is applied for fabrication of the samples and allows for a relatively large actuation electrode area, and for high actuation force resulting in fast onresponse time of 10 μs and off-response time of 6 μs at less than 5 V actuation voltage. Large actuation electrode area and a particular design feature for electrode over travel and dynamic contact separation lead to high contact force in the closed state and to high force for contact separation to overcome sticking. The switch contacts, which are consisting of noble metal, are made in one of the latest process steps. This minimizes contamination of the contact surfaces by fabrication sequence residuals. A life time of 1 Billion switch cycles has been achieved. This paper covers design for reliability issues and reliability test methods using accelerated life time test. Different test methods are combined to examine electric and mechanical motion parameters as well as RF performance.

Cross-guide Moreno directional coupler in empty substrate integrated waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miralles, E.; Belenguer, A.; Esteban, H.; Boria, V.

2017-05-01

Substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) combine the advantages of rectangular waveguides (low losses) and planar circuits (low cost and low profile). Empty substrate integrated waveguide (ESIW) has been proposed as a novel configuration in SIWs recently. This technology significantly reduces the losses of conventional SIW by removing its inner dielectric. The cross-guide directional coupler is a well-known low-profile design for having a broadband waveguide coupler. In this paper a cross-guide coupler with ESIW technique is proposed. In such a manner, the device can be integrated with microwave circuits and other printed circuit board components. It is the first time that a cross-guide coupler is implemented in ESIW technology. The designed, fabricated, and measured device presents good results as a matter of insertion loss of 1 dB (including transitions), reflection under 20 dB, coupling between 19.5 and 21.5 dB, and directivity higher than 15 dB over targeted frequency range from 12.4 GHz to 18 GHz. The coupler implemented in ESIW improves the directivity when compared to similar solutions in other empty substrate integrated waveguide solutions.

Design and analysis of a low-loss linear analog phase modulator for deep space spacecraft X-band transponder applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, N. R.; Mueller, R. O.

1991-01-01

This article summarizes the design concepts, analyses, and development of an X-band (8145 MHz) transponder low-loss linear phase modulator for deep space spacecraft applications. A single-section breadboard circulator-coupled reflection phase modulator has been analyzed, fabricated, and evaluated. A linear phase deviation of 92 deg with a linearity tolerance of +/- 8 percent was measured for this modulator from 8257 MHz to 8634 MHz over the temperature range -20 to 75 C. The measured insertion loss and the static delay variation with temperature were 2 +/- 0.3 dB and 0.16 psec/ C, respectively. Based on this design, cascaded sections have been modeled, and simulations were performed to provide an X-band deep space transponder (DST) phase modulator with +/- 2.5 radians (+/- 143 deg) of peak phase deviation to accommodate downlink signal modulation with composite telemetry data and ranging, with a deviation linearity tolerance of +/- 8 percent and insertion loss of less than 10 +/- 0.5 dB. A two-section phase modulator using constant gamma hyperabrupt varactors and an efficient modulator driver circuit was breadboarded. The measured results satisfy the DST phase-modulator requirements and show excellent agreement with the predicted results.

Measurements by a Vector Network Analyzer at 325 to 508 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fung, King Man; Samoska, Lorene; Chattopadhyay, Goutam; Gaier, Todd; Kangaslahti, Pekka; Pukala, David; Lau, Yuenie; Oleson, Charles; Denning, Anthony

2008-01-01

Recent experiments were performed in which return loss and insertion loss of waveguide test assemblies in the frequency range from 325 to 508 GHz were measured by use of a swept-frequency two-port vector network analyzer (VNA) test set. The experiments were part of a continuing effort to develop means of characterizing passive and active electronic components and systems operating at ever increasing frequencies. The waveguide test assemblies comprised WR-2.2 end sections collinear with WR-3.3 middle sections. The test set, assembled from commercially available components, included a 50-GHz VNA scattering- parameter test set and external signal synthesizers, augmented with recently developed frequency extenders, and further augmented with attenuators and amplifiers as needed to adjust radiofrequency and intermediate-frequency power levels between the aforementioned components. The tests included line-reflect-line calibration procedures, using WR-2.2 waveguide shims as the "line" standards and waveguide flange short circuits as the "reflect" standards. Calibrated dynamic ranges somewhat greater than about 20 dB for return loss and 35 dB for insertion loss were achieved. The measurement data of the test assemblies were found to substantially agree with results of computational simulations.

Surface acoustic wave unidirectional transducers for quantum applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekström, Maria K.; Aref, Thomas; Runeson, Johan; Björck, Johan; Boström, Isac; Delsing, Per

2017-02-01

The conversion efficiency of electric microwave signals into surface acoustic waves in different types of superconducting transducers is studied with the aim of quantum applications. We compare delay lines containing either conventional symmetric transducers (IDTs) or unidirectional transducers (UDTs) at 2.3 GHz and 10 mK. The UDT delay lines improve the insertion loss with 4.7 dB and a directivity of 22 dB is found for each UDT, indicating that 99.4% of the acoustic power goes in the desired direction. The power lost in the undesired direction accounts for more than 90% of the total loss in IDT delay lines, but only ˜3% of the total loss in the floating electrode unidirectional transducer delay lines.

Polymer waveguide based hybrid opto-electric integration technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Jinbin; Deng, Lingling; Jiang, Xiyan; Ren, Rong; Zhai, Yumeng; Wang, Jin

2014-10-01

While monolithic integration especially based on InP appears to be quite an expensive solution for optical devices, hybrid integration solutions using cheaper material platforms are considered powerful competitors because of the high freedom of design, yield optimization and relative cost-efficiency. Among them, the polymer planar-lightwave circuit (PLC) technology is regarded attractive as polymer offers the potential of fairly simple and low-cost fabrication, and of low-cost packaging. In our work, polymer PLC was fabricated by using the standard reactive ion etching (RIE) technique, while other active and passive devices can be integrated on the polymer PLC platform. Exemplary polymer waveguide devices was a 13-channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) chip, where the central channel cross-talk was below -30dB and the polarization dependent frequency shift was mitigated by inserting a half wave plate. An optical 900 hybrid was also realized with one 2×4 multi-mode interferometer (MMI). The excess insertion losses are below 4dB for the C-band, while the transmission imbalance is below 1.2dB. When such an optical hybrid was integrated vertically with mesa-type photodiodes, the responsivity of the individual PD was around 0.06 A/W, while the 3 dB bandwidth reaches 24 ~ 27 GHz, which is sufficient for 100Gbit/s receivers. Another example of the hybrid integration was to couple the polymer waveguides to fiber by applying fiber grooves, whose typical loss value was 0.2 dB per-facet over a broad spectral range from 1200-1600 nm.

Very high frequency (beyond 100 MHz) PZT kerfless linear arrays.

PubMed

Wu, Da-Wei; Zhou, Qifa; Geng, Xuecang; Liu, Chang-Geng; Djuth, Frank; Shung, K Kirk

2009-10-01

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and measurements of very high frequency kerfless linear arrays prepared from PZT film and PZT bulk material. A 12-microm PZT thick film fabricated from PZT-5H powder/solution composite and a piece of 15-microm PZT-5H sheet were used to fabricate 32-element kerfless high-frequency linear arrays with photolithography. The PZT thick film was prepared by spin-coating of PZT sol-gel composite solution. The thin PZT-5H sheet sample was prepared by lapping a PZT-5H ceramic with a precision lapping machine. The measured results of the 2 arrays were compared. The PZT film array had a center frequency of 120 MHz, a bandwidth of 60% with a parylene matching layer, and an insertion loss of 41 dB. The PZT ceramic sheet array was found to have a center frequency of 128 MHz with a poorer bandwidth (40% with a parylene matching layer) but a better sensitivity (28 dB insertion loss).

Very High Frequency (Beyond 100 MHz) PZT Kerfless Linear Arrays

PubMed Central

Wu, Da-Wei; Zhou, Qifa; Geng, Xuecang; Liu, Chang-Geng; Djuth, Frank; Shung, K. Kirk

2010-01-01

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and measurements of very high frequency kerfless linear arrays prepared from PZT film and PZT bulk material. A 12-µm PZT thick film fabricated from PZT-5H powder/solution composite and a piece of 15-µm PZT-5H sheet were used to fabricate 32-element kerfless high-frequency linear arrays with photolithography. The PZT thick film was prepared by spin-coating of PZT sol-gel composite solution. The thin PZT-5H sheet sample was prepared by lapping a PZT-5H ceramic with a precision lapping machine. The measured results of the 2 arrays were compared. The PZT film array had a center frequency of 120 MHz, a bandwidth of 60% with a parylene matching layer, and an insertion loss of 41 dB. The PZT ceramic sheet array was found to have a center frequency of 128 MHz with a poorer bandwidth (40% with a parylene matching layer) but a better sensitivity (28 dB insertion loss). PMID:19942516

Efficient generation and characterization of spectrally factorable biphotons.

PubMed

Chen, Changchen; Bo, Cao; Niu, Murphy Yuezhen; Xu, Feihu; Zhang, Zheshen; Shapiro, Jeffrey H; Wong, Franco N C

2017-04-03

Spectrally unentangled biphotons with high single-spatiotemporal-mode purity are highly desirable for many quantum information processing tasks. We generate biphotons with an inferred heralded-state spectral purity of 99%, the highest to date without any spectral filtering, by pulsed spontaneous parametric downconversion in a custom-fabricated periodically-poled KTiOPO₄ crystal under extended Gaussian phase-matching conditions. To efficiently characterize the joint spectral intensity of the generated biphotons at high spectral resolution, we employ a commercially available dispersion compensation module (DCM) with a dispersion equivalent to 100 km of standard optical fiber and with an insertion loss of only 2.8 dB. Compared with the typical method of using two temperature-stabilized equal-length fibers that incurs an insertion loss of 20 dB per fiber, the DCM approach achieves high spectral resolution in a much shorter measurement time. Because the dispersion amount and center wavelengths of DCMs can be easily customized, spectral characterization in a wide range of quantum photonic applications should benefit significantly from this technique.

Optimised process for fabricating tapered long period gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mullaney, K.; Staines, S. E.; James, S. W.; Tatam, R. P.

2017-04-01

The process of fabricating tapered long period gratings (TLPGs) using a CO2 laser is described. TLPGs with a period spacing of 378 μm, were fabricated by optimization of the taper waist diameter and careful control of the duty-cycle and its uniformity along the length of the grating. The 6-period TLPGs exhibited a pass-band insertion loss of 0.6 dB, resonance band extinction values of 3 dB and had a physical length of 2.27 mm.

A two-in-one Faraday rotator mirror exempt of active optical alignment.

PubMed

Wan, Qiong; Wan, Zhujun; Liu, Hai; Liu, Deming

2014-02-10

A two-in-one Faraday rotator mirror was presented, which functions as two independent Faraday rotation mirrors with a single device. With the introduction of a reflection lens as substitution of the mirror in traditional structure, this device is characterized by exemption of active optical alignment for the designers and manufacturers of Faraday rotator mirrors. A sample was fabricated by passive mechanical assembly. The insertion loss was measured as 0.46 dB/0.50 dB for the two independent ports, respectively.

X-band T/R switch with body-floating multi-gate PDSOI NMOS transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Mingyo; Min, Byung-Wook

2018-03-01

This paper presents an X-band transmit/receive switch using multi-gate NMOS transistors in a silicon-on-insulator CMOS process. For low loss and high power handling capability, floating body multi-gate NMOS transistors are adopted instead of conventional stacked NMOS transistors, resulting in 53% reduction of transistor area. Comparing to the stacked NMOS transistors, the multi gate transistor shares the source and drain region between stacked transistors, resulting in reduced chip area and parasitics. The impedance between bodies of gates in multi-gate NMOS transistors is assumed to be very large during design and confirmed after measurement. The measured input 1 dB compression point is 34 dBm. The measured insertion losses of TX and RX modes are respectively 1.7 dB and 2.0 dB at 11 GHz, and the measured isolations of TX and RX modes are >27 dB and >20 dB in X-band, respectively. The chip size is 0.086 mm2 without pads, which is 25% smaller than the T/R switch with stacked transistors.

Magnetostatic wave tunable resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castera, J.-P.; Hartemann, P.

1983-06-01

Theoretical principles and techniques for the implementation of magnetostatic surface wave and volume wave resonators in high frequency oscillators are discussed. Magnetostatic waves are magnetic waves that propagate in materials exposed to a polarized magnetic field. The propagation speed ranges from 3-300 km/sec for wavelengths between 1 micron and 10 mm, in the presence of lags from 10-1000 nsec/ cm. Tunable resonators in the 1-20 GHz frequency range have been manufactured with YIG using liquid phase epitaxy for deposition on gadolinium and gallium substrates. Distributed-mirror Fabry-Perot cavity resonators are described and performance tests results are reported, including losses of 8 dB, a quality coefficient under voltage of 450, and frequency rejection outside of resonance better than 10 dB. However, saturation occurs at low power levels at frequencies lower than 4.2 GHz, a feature overcome with forward volume magnetostatic wave generators, which have a quality factor of 500, an insertion loss of 22 dB, and rejection around 15 dB.

Performance of high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters with high selectivity for base transceiver applications of digital cellular communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwak, J. S.; Lee, J. H.; Kim, C. O.; Hong, J. P.; Han, S. K.; Char, K.

2002-07-01

Highly selective high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters based on spiral meander line structures have been developed for base transceiver station applications of digital cellular communication systems. The filter comprised 12-pole microstrip line resonators with a circuit size of 0.5 × 17 × 41 mm3. The filter was designed to have a bandwidth of 25 MHz at a centre frequency of 834 MHz. Particularly, the physical size of each resonator was chosen not only to reduce far-field radiation, but also to have reasonable tunability in the filter. Device characteristics exhibited a low insertion loss of 0.4 dB with a 0.2 dB ripple and a return loss better than 10 dB in the pass-band at 65 K. The out-of-band signals were attenuated better than 60 dB at about 3.5 MHz from the lower band edge, and 3.8 MHz from the higher band edge.

Microdroplet-etched highly birefringent low-loss fiber tapers.

PubMed

Mikkelsen, Jared C; Poon, Joyce K S

2012-07-01

We use hydrofluoric acid microdroplets to directly etch highly birefringent biconical fiber tapers from standard single-mode fibers. The fiber tapers have micrometer-sized cross sections, which are controlled by the etching condition. The characteristic teardrop cross section leads to a high group birefringence of B(G)≈0.017 and insertion losses <0.7 dB over waist lengths of about 2.1 mm.

Microstrip Butler matrix design and realization for 7 T MRI.

PubMed

Yazdanbakhsh, Pedram; Solbach, Klaus

2011-07-01

This article presents the design and realization of 8 × 8 and 16 × 16 Butler matrices for 7 T MRI systems. With the focus on low insertion loss and high amplitude/phase accuracy, the microstrip line integration technology (microwave-integrated circuit) was chosen for the realization. Laminate material of high permittivity (ε(r) = 11) and large thickness (h = 3.2 mm) is shown to allow the best trade-off of circuit board size versus insertion loss, saving circuit area by extensive folding of branch-line coupler topology and meandering phase shifter and connecting strip lines and reducing mutual coupling of neighboring strip lines by shield structures between strip lines. With this approach, 8 × 8 Butler matrices were produced in single boards of 310 mm × 530 mm, whereas the 16 × 16 Butler matrices combined two submatrices of 8 × 8 with two smaller boards. Insertion loss was found at 0.73 and 1.1 dB for an 8 × 8 matrix and 16 × 16 matrix, respectively. Measured amplitude and phase errors are shown to represent highly pure mode excitation with unwanted modes suppressed by 40 and 35 dB, respectively. Both types of matrices were implemented with a 7 T MRI system and 8- and 16-element coil arrays for RF mode shimming experiments and operated successfully with 8 kW of RF power. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Measurement of impulse peak insertion loss for four hearing protection devices in field conditions

PubMed Central

Murphy, William J.; Flamme, Gregory A.; Meinke, Deanna K.; Sondergaard, Jacob; Finan, Donald S.; Lankford, James E.; Khan, Amir; Vernon, Julia; Stewart, Michael

2015-01-01

Objective In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed an impulse noise reduction rating (NRR) for hearing protection devices based upon the impulse peak insertion loss (IPIL) methods in the ANSI S12.42-2010 standard. This study tests the ANSI S12.42 methods with a range of hearing protection devices measured in field conditions. Design The method utilizes an acoustic test fixture and three ranges for impulse levels: 130–134, 148–152, and 166–170 dB peak SPL. For this study, four different models of hearing protectors were tested: Bilsom 707 Impact II electronic earmuff, E·A·R Pod Express, E·A·R Combat Arms version 4, and the Etymotic Research, Inc. Electronic BlastPLG™ EB1. Study sample Five samples of each protector were fitted on the fixture or inserted in the fixture's ear canal five times for each impulse level. Impulses were generated by a 0.223 caliber rifle. Results The average IPILs increased with peak pressure and ranged between 20 and 38 dB. For some protectors, significant differences were observed across protector examples of the same model, and across insertions. Conclusions The EPA's proposed methods provide consistent and reproducible results. The proposed impulse NRR rating should utilize the minimum and maximum protection percentiles as determined by the ANSI S12.42-2010 methods. PMID:22176308

A wideband superconducting filter at Ku-band based on interdigital coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Ying; Wei, Bin; Cao, Bisong; Li, Qirong; Guo, Xubo; Jiang, Linan; Song, Xiaoke; Wang, Xiang

2018-04-01

In this paper, an interdigital-type resonator with strong electric coupling is proposed for the wideband high-frequency (>10 GHz) filter design. The proposed microstrip resonator consists of an H-shaped main line part with its both ends installed with interdigital finger parts. Strong electric coupling is achieved between adjacent resonators. A six-pole high-temperature superconducting filter at Ku-band using this resonator is designed and fabricated. The filter has a center frequency of 15.11 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 30%. The insertion loss of the passband is less than 0.3 dB, and the return loss is greater than 14 dB without any tuning.

Ultra-high-speed graphene optical modulator design based on tight field confinement in a slot waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovacevic, Goran; Phare, Christopher; Set, Sze Y.; Lipson, Michal; Yamashita, Shinji

2018-06-01

We present a design of an ultra-fast in-line graphene optical modulator on a silicon waveguide with a bandwidth exceeding 100 GHz, very small power consumption below 15 fJ/bit, and insertion loss of 1.5 dB. This is achieved by utilizing the transverse-electric-mode silicon slot to tailor the overlap of graphene electrodes, thus significantly reducing the capacitance of the device while maintaining a low insertion loss and using conservative estimates of the graphene resistance. Our design is substantiated by comprehensive finite-element-method simulations and RC circuit characterization, as well as fabrication feasibility discussion.

Effects of doping concentration ratio on electrical characterization in pseudomorphic HEMT-based MMIC switches for ICT system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mun, Jae-Kyoung; Oh, Jung-Hun; Sung, Ho-Kun; Wang, Cong

2015-12-01

The effects of the doping concentration ratios between upper and lower silicon planar-doping layers on the DC and RF characteristics of the double planar doped pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (pHEMTs) are investigated. From the device simulation, an increase of maximum extrinsic transconductance and a decrease of total on- and off-state capacitances are observed, as well as an increase of the upper to lower planar-doping concentration ratios (UTLPDR), which give rise to an enhancement of the switching speed and isolation characteristics. On the basis of simulation results, two types of pHEMTs are fabricated with two different UTLPDRs of 4:1 and 1:2. After applying these two types' pHEMTs, single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) transmitter/receiver monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) switches are also designed and fabricated. The SPDT MMIC switch with a 4:1 UTLPDR shows an insertion loss of 0.58 dB, isolation of 40.2 dB, and switching speed of 100 ns, respectively, which correspondingly indicate a 0.23 dB lower insertion loss, 2.90 dB higher isolation and 2.5 times faster switching speed than those of 1:2 UTLPDR at frequency range of 2-6 GHz. From the simulation results and comparative studies, we propose that the UTLPDR must be greater than 4:1 for the best switching performance. With the abovementioned excellent performances, the proposed switch would be quite promising in the application of information and communications technology system.

Hands-on work fine-tunes X-band PIN-diode duplexer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, P.

1985-06-01

Computer-aided design (CAD) programs for fabricating PIN-diode duplexers are useful in avoiding time-consuming cut-and-try techniques. Nevertheless, to attain minimum insertion loss, only experimentation yields the optimum microstrip circuitry. A PIN-diode duplexer, consisting of two SPST PIN-diode switches and a pair of 3-dB Lange microstrip couplers, designed for an X-band transmit/receive module exemplifies what is possible when computer-derived designs and experimentation are used together. Differences between the measured and computer-generated figures for insertion loss can be attributed to several factors not included in the CAD program - for example, radiation and connector losses. Mechanical tolerances of the microstrip PC board and variations in the SMA connector-to-microstrip transition contribute to the discrepancy.

16 × 16 non-blocking silicon optical switch based on electro-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

PubMed

Lu, Liangjun; Zhao, Shuoyi; Zhou, Linjie; Li, Dong; Li, Zuxiang; Wang, Minjuan; Li, Xinwan; Chen, Jianping

2016-05-02

We experimentally demonstrate a 16 × 16 non-blocking optical switch fabric with a footprint of 10.7 × 4.4 mm². The switch fabric is composed of 56 2 × 2 silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), with each integrated with a pair of TiN resistive micro-heaters and a p-i-n diode. The average on-chip insertion loss at 1560 nm wavelength is ~6.7 dB and ~14 dB for the "all-cross" and "all-bar" states, respectively, with a loss variation of ± 1 dB over all routing paths. The measured rise/fall time of the switch upon electrical tuning is 3.2/2.5 ns. The switching functionality is verified by transmission of 20 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK) and 50 Gb/s quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) optical signals.

An MMI-based demultiplexer with reduced cross-talk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Yueyu; He, Sailing

2005-03-01

The crosstalk of a multimode interference (MMI)-based demultiplexer is reduced by connecting appropriately designed cascaded MMI filters of high-order. Numerical results show that the designed demultiplexer greatly improves the bandwidth of 20 dB cross-talk loss and has an excellent performance in terms of the insertion loss and chromatic dispersion. Formed with commonly used MMI couplers, the present structure is much easier to implement than other structures.

Easy and safe coated optical fiber direct connection without handling bare optical fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Kotaro; Kihara, Mitsuru; Shimizu, Tomoya; Kurashima, Toshio

2015-06-01

We propose a novel field installable splicing technique for the direct connection of 250 μm diameter coated optical fiber that does not require bare optical fiber to be handled. Our proposed technique can realize a low insertion loss over a wide field installation temperature range of -10-40 °C. The keys to coated optical fiber direct connection are a cleaving technique and a technique for removing coated optical fiber. As the cleaving technique, we employed a method where the fiber is stretched and then a blade is pushed perpendicularly against the stretched fiber. As a result we confirmed that fiber endfaces cleaved at -10-40 °C were all mirror endfaces. With the removal technique, the coating is removed inside the connecting component by incorporating a circular cone shaped coating removal part. A mechanical splice based on these techniques successfully achieved a low insertion loss of less than 0.11 dB and a return loss of more than 50 dB at -10, 20, and 40 °C. In addition, the temperature cycle characteristics were stable over a wide temperature range of -40-75 °C.

Radio Frequency (RF) Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) Switches for Space Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Rainee N.; Ponchak, George E.; Scardelletti, Maximillian C.; Varaljay, Nicholas C.

2000-01-01

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) is an emerging technology for radio frequency (RF) systems because it has the potential to dramatically decrease loss and improve efficiency. In this paper, we address the design and fabrication of novel MEMS switches being developed at NASA Glenn Research Center. Two types of switches are being developed: a microstrip series single pole single throw (SPST) switch and a coplanar waveguide (CPW) series SPST and single pole double throw (SPDT) switches. These are being fabricated as an integral part of 50 Ohm microstrip and CPW RF integrated circuits using microfabrication techniques. The construction of the switch relies on a cantilever beam that is partially supported by a dielectric post. The cantilever beam is electro-magnetically actuated. To decrease stiction, a Si3N4 thin film is deposited over the contact area. Thus, when the switch is closed, the ON-state insertion loss is governed by the parallel plate capacitance formed by the two contacts. The isolation in the OFF-state is governed by the parasitic capacitance when the cantilever is in the up position. RF MEMS switches have been demonstrated with 80% lower insertion loss than conventional solid state devices (GaAs Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MESFETs) and Silicon PIN diodes) based switches. For example, a conventional GaAs five-bit phase shifter which is required for beam steering in a phased array antenna has approximately 7 dB of insertion loss at 26.5 GHz where as a comparable MEMS based phase shifter is expected to have only 2 dB of insertion loss. This translates into 56% lower power dissipation and therefore decreases the thermal load on the spacecraft and also reduces the power amplifier requirements. These benefits will enable NASA to build the next generation of deep space science crafts and micro/nano satellites.

Monolithic control components for high power mm-waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, A.; Goodrich, J.; Moroney, W.; Wheeler, D.

1985-09-01

Monolithic PIN diode arrays are shown to provide significant advances in switching ratios, bandwidth, and high-power capability for millimeter control applications The PIN diodes are arranged in a series/parallel configuration and form an electronically controlled window for switching RF power by applying DC voltage. At Ka band, an SPST switch using the window array (WINAR) design typically has 0.6 dB insertion loss and 22 dB isolation over the 26.5 to 40.0 GHz band. The switch has over 500 W peak power and 25 W average power capability.

Measurements of propeller noise in a light turboprop airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilby, J. F.; Wilby, E. G.

1987-01-01

In-flight acoustic measurements have been made on the exterior and interior of a twin-engined turboprop airplane under controlled conditions to study data repeatability. It is found that the variability of the harmonic sound pressure levels in the cabin is greater than that for the exterior sound pressure levels, typical values for the standard deviation being +2.0 dB and -4.2 dB for the interior, versus +1.4 dB and -2.3 dB for the exterior. When insertion losses are determined for acoustic treatments in the cabin, the standard deviations of the data are typically + or - 6.5 dB. It is concluded that additional factors, such as accurate and repeatable selection of relative phase between propellers, controlled cabin-air-temperatures, installation of baseline acoustic absorption, and measurement of aircraft attitude, should be considered in order to reduce uncertainty in the measured data.

Integrated optical refractometer based on bend waveguide with air trench structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryu, Jin Hwa; Park, Jaehoon; Kang, Chan-mo; Son, Youngdal; Do, Lee-Mi; Baek, Kyu-Ha

2015-07-01

This study proposed a novel optical sensor based on a refractometer integrating a bend waveguide and a trench structure. The optical sensor is a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) device involving a bend waveguide with maximum optical loss. A trench structure was aligned with the partially exposed core layer's sidewall of the bend waveguide, providing a quantitative measurement condition. The insertion losses of the proposed 1 x 2 single-mode optical splitter-type sensor were 4.38 dB and 8.67 dB for the reference waveguide and sensing waveguide, respectively, at a wavelength of 1,550 nm. The optical loss of the sensing waveguide depends on the change in the refractive index of the material in contact with the trench, but the reference waveguide had stable optical propagating characteristic regardless of the variations of the refractive index.

Compact polarizing beam splitter based on a metal-insulator-metal inserted into multimode interference coupler.

PubMed

Chheang, Vuthy; Lee, Tae-Kyeong; Oh, Geum-Yoon; Kim, Hong-Seung; Lee, Byeong-Hyeon; Kim, Doo Gun; Choi, Young-Wan

2013-09-09

We propose and analyze a compact polarizing beam splitter (PBS) based on a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure inserted into a multimode interference coupler (MMI). Owing to the MIM structure, the TE polarized state is reflected by the cut-off condition while the TM polarized state is transmitted by the surface plasmon polariton, and the two polarized states can thus be separated. In this paper, the dependence of the reflected TE and transmitted TM field intensities on the MIM length and the gap thickness has been studied systematically. The proposed PBS structure, with a total size of 4 × 0.7 × 44 µm(3) is designed with MIM length, gap thickness, and metal thickness of 0.6 µm, 0.5 µm, and 0.05 µm, respectively. In the designed PBS, the transmittance for the TM polarized light, reflectance for the TE polarized light, extinction ratio, and insertion losses of the TE and TM modes are obtained using a 3D finite-difference time-domain method to be 0.9, 0.88, 12.55 dB, and 1.1 dB and 0.9 dB, respectively. The designed PBS has a much shorter length, 44 µm, compared to previous PBS devices.

Flip-chip integration of tilted VCSELs onto a silicon photonic integrated circuit.

PubMed

Lu, Huihui; Lee, Jun Su; Zhao, Yan; Scarcella, Carmelo; Cardile, Paolo; Daly, Aidan; Ortsiefer, Markus; Carroll, Lee; O'Brien, Peter

2016-07-25

In this article we describe a cost-effective approach for hybrid laser integration, in which vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are passively-aligned and flip-chip bonded to a Si photonic integrated circuit (PIC), with a tilt-angle optimized for optical-insertion into standard grating-couplers. A tilt-angle of 10° is achieved by controlling the reflow of the solder ball deposition used for the electrical-contacting and mechanical-bonding of the VCSEL to the PIC. After flip-chip integration, the VCSEL-to-PIC insertion loss is -11.8 dB, indicating an excess coupling penalty of -5.9 dB, compared to Fibre-to-PIC coupling. Finite difference time domain simulations indicate that the penalty arises from the relatively poor match between the VCSEL mode and the grating-coupler.

Performance tradeoff between lateral and interdigitated doping patterns for high speed carrier-depletion based silicon modulators.

PubMed

Yu, Hui; Pantouvaki, Marianna; Van Campenhout, Joris; Korn, Dietmar; Komorowska, Katarzyna; Dumon, Pieter; Li, Yanlu; Verheyen, Peter; Absil, Philippe; Alloatti, Luca; Hillerkuss, David; Leuthold, Juerg; Baets, Roel; Bogaerts, Wim

2012-06-04

Carrier-depletion based silicon modulators with lateral and interdigitated PN junctions are compared systematically on the same fabrication platform. The interdigitated diode is shown to outperform the lateral diode in achieving a low VπLπ of 0.62 V∙cm with comparable propagation loss at the expense of a higher depletion capacitance. The low VπLπ of the interdigitated PN junction is employed to demonstrate 10 Gbit/s modulation with 7.5 dB extinction ration from a 500 µm long device whose static insertion loss is 2.8 dB. In addition, up to 40 Gbit/s modulation is demonstrated for a 3 mm long device comprising a lateral diode and a co-designed traveling wave electrode.

W-Band Circularly Polarized TE11 Mode Transducer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, Mingzhou; He, Wangdong; Wang, Lei

2018-06-01

This paper presents a balanced sidewall exciting approach to realize the circularly polarized TE11 mode transducer. We used a voltage vector transfer matrix to establish the relationship between input and output vectors, then we analyzed amplitude and phase errors to estimate the isolation of degenerate mode. A mode transducer with a sidewall exciter was designed based on the results. In the 88-100 GHz frequency range, the simulated axial ratio is less than 1.05 and the isolation of linearly polarization TE11 mode is higher than 30 dBc. In back-to-back measurements, the return loss is generally greater than 20 dB with a typical insertion loss of 1.2 dB. Back-to-back transmission measurements are in excellent agreement with simulations.

W-Band Circularly Polarized TE11 Mode Transducer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, Mingzhou; He, Wangdong; Wang, Lei

2018-04-01

This paper presents a balanced sidewall exciting approach to realize the circularly polarized TE11 mode transducer. We used a voltage vector transfer matrix to establish the relationship between input and output vectors, then we analyzed amplitude and phase errors to estimate the isolation of degenerate mode. A mode transducer with a sidewall exciter was designed based on the results. In the 88-100 GHz frequency range, the simulated axial ratio is less than 1.05 and the isolation of linearly polarization TE11 mode is higher than 30 dBc. In back-to-back measurements, the return loss is generally greater than 20 dB with a typical insertion loss of 1.2 dB. Back-to-back transmission measurements are in excellent agreement with simulations.

Characterization of a piezoelectric MEMS actuator surface toward motion-enabled reconfigurable RF circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellers, M. C.; Pulskamp, J. S.; Bedair, S. S.; Rudy, R. Q.; Kierzewski, I. M.; Polcawich, R. G.; Bergbreiter, S. E.

2018-03-01

As an alternative to highly constrained hard-wired reconfigurable RF circuits, a motion-enabled reconfigurable circuit (MERC) offers freedom from transmission line losses and homogeneous materials selection. The creation of a successful MERC requires a precise mechanical mechanism for relocating components. In this work, a piezoelectric MEMS actuator array is modeled and experimentally characterized to assess its viability as a solution to the MERC concept. Actuation and design parameters are evaluated, and the repeatability of high quality on-axis motion at greater than 1 mm s-1 is demonstrated with little positional error. Finally, an initial proof-of-concept circuit reconfiguration has been demonstrated using off-the-shelf RF filter components. Although initial feasibility tests show filter performance degradation with an additional insertion loss of 0.3 dB per contact, out-of-band rejection degradation as high as 10 dB, and ripple performance reduction from 0.25 dB to 1.5 dB, MERC is proven here as an alternative to traditional approaches used in reconfigurable RF circuit applications.

A High Isolation Series-Shunt RF MEMS Switch

PubMed Central

Yu, Yuan-Wei; Zhu, Jian; Jia, Shi-Xing; Shi, Yi

2009-01-01

This paper presents a wide band compact high isolation microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switch implemented on a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with three ohmic switch cells, which is based on the series-shunt switch design. The ohmic switch shows a low intrinsic loss of 0.1 dB and an isolation of 24.8 dB at 6 GHz. The measured average pull-in voltage is 28 V and switching time is 47 μs. In order to shorten design period of the high isolation switch, a structure-based small-signal model for the 3-port ohmic MEMS switch is developed and parameters are extracted from the measured results. Then a high isolation switch has been developed where each 3-port ohmic MEMS switch is closely located. The agreement of the measured and modeled radio frequency (RF) performance demonstrates the validity of the electrical equivalent model. Measurements of the series-shunt switch indicate an outstanding isolation of more than 40 dB and a low insertion loss of 0.35 dB from DC to 12 GHz with total chip size of 1 mm × 1.2 mm. PMID:22408535

Backplane photonic interconnect modules with optical jumpers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glebov, Alexei L.; Lee, Michael G.; Yokouchi, Kishio

2005-03-01

Prototypes of optical interconnect (OI) modules for backplane applications are presented. The transceivers attached to the linecards E/O convert the signals that are passed to and from the backplane by optical jumpers terminated with MTP-type connectors. The connectors plug into adaptors attached to the backplane and the microlens arrays mounted in the adaptors couple the light between the fibers and waveguides. Planar polymer channel waveguides with 30-50 μm cross-sections route the optical signals across the board with propagation losses as low as 0.05 dB/cm @ 850 nm. The 45¦-tapered integrated micromirrors reflect the light in and out of the waveguide plane with the loss of 0.8 dB per mirror. The connector displacement measurements indicate that the adaptor lateral assembly accuracy can be at least +/-10 μm for the excess loss not exceeding 1 dB. Insertion losses of the test modules with integrated waveguides, 45¦ mirrors, and pluggable optical jumper connectors are about 5 dB. Eye diagrams at 10.7 Gb/s have typical width and height of 70 ps and 400 mV, respectively, and jitter of about 20 ps.

Low-loss curved subwavelength grating waveguide based on index engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zheng; Xu, Xiaochuan; Fan, D. L.; Wang, Yaoguo; Chen, Ray T.

2016-03-01

Subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide is an intriguing alternative to conventional optical waveguides due to its freedom to tune a few important waveguide properties such as dispersion and refractive index. Devices based on SWG waveguide have demonstrated impressive performances compared to those of conventional waveguides. However, the large loss of SWG waveguide bends jeopardizes their applications in integrated photonics circuits. In this work, we propose that a predistorted refractive index distribution in SWG waveguide bends can effectively decrease the mode mismatch noise and radiation loss simultaneously, and thus significantly reduce the bend loss. Here, we achieved the pre-distortion refractive index distribution by using trapezoidal silicon pillars. This geometry tuning approach is numerically optimized and experimentally demonstrated. The average insertion loss of a 5 μm SWG waveguide bend can be reduced drastically from 5.58 dB to 1.37 dB per 90° bend for quasi-TE polarization. In the future, the proposed approach can be readily adopted to enhance performance of an array of SWG waveguide-based photonics devices.

Experimental demonstration of a broadband two-mode multi/demultiplexer based on asymmetric Y-junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Haiqin; Wang, Pengjun; Yang, Tianjun; Dai, Tingge; Wang, Gencheng; Li, Shiqi; Chen, Weiwei; Yang, Jianyi

2018-03-01

A broadband two-mode multi/demultiplexer using asymmetric Y-junctions is designed and experimentally demonstrated on a silicon-on-insulator platform for on-chip mode-division multiplexing applications. Within a bandwidth from 1513 to 1619 nm, the fabricated device, which consists of a two-mode multiplexer, a multimode straight waveguide, and a two-mode demultiplexer, exhibits demultiplexing crosstalk of less than -9.1 dB. The demultiplexing crosstalk as low as -42.1 dB, lower than -12.8 dB over the C band can be obtained. The measured insertion loss varies from 0.40 to 0.56 dB at a wavelength of 1550 nm. A transmission experiment of 10 Gbit/s electrical signals carried on TE0 and TE1 modes is successfully achieved with open and clear eye diagrams.

On-chip broadband silicon thermo-optic 2☓2 four-mode optical switch for optical space and local mode switching.

PubMed

Zhou, Ting; Jia, Hao; Ding, Jianfeng; Zhang, Lei; Fu, Xin; Yang, Lin

2018-04-02

We present a silicon thermo-optic 2☓2 four-mode optical switch optimized for optical space switching plus local optical mode switching. Four asymmetric directional couplers are utilized for mode multiplexing and de-multiplexing. Sixteen 2☓2 single-mode optical switches based on balanced thermally tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometers are exploited for switching function. The measured insertion losses are 8.0~12.2 dB and the optical signal-to-noise ratios are larger than 11.2 dB in the wavelength range of 1525~1565 nm. The optical links in "all-bar" and "all-cross" states exhibit less than 2.0 dB and 1.4 dB power penalties respectively below 10 -9 bit error rates for 40 Gbps data transmission.

A compact thermo-optical multimode-interference silicon-based 1 × 4 nano-photonic switch.

PubMed

Zhou, Haifeng; Song, Junfeng; Chee, Edward K S; Li, Chao; Zhang, Huijuan; Lo, Guoqiang

2013-09-09

An ultra-compact multimode-interference (MMI)-based 1 × 4 nano-photonic switch is demonstrated by employing silicon thermo-optical effect on SOI platform. The device performance is systematically characterized by comprehensively investigating the constituent building blocks, including 1 × 4 power splitter, 4 × 4 MMI coupler and groove-isolated thermo-optical heaters. An instructive model is established to statistically estimate the required power consumption and investigate the influence of the power imbalance of the 4 × 4 MMI coupler on the switching performance. At the designed wavelength of 1550 nm, the average insertion loss of different switching states is 1.7 dB, and the transmission imbalance is 1.05 dB. The worst extinction ratio and crosstalk of all the output ports reach 11.48 dB and -11.38 dB, respectively.

Micromachined High Frequency PMN-PT/Epoxy 1-3 Composite Ultrasonic Annular Array

PubMed Central

Liu, Changgeng; Djuth, Frank; Li, Xiang; Chen, Ruimin; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk

2013-01-01

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and performance of miniature micromachined high frequency PMN-PT/epoxy 1-3 composite ultrasonic annular arrays. The PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composites were made with micromachining techniques. The area of a single crystal pillar was 9 μm × 9 μm. The width of the kerf among pillars was ~ 5 μm and the kerfs were filled with a polymer. The composite thickness was 25 μm. A six-element annular transducer of equal element area of 0.2 mm2 with 16 μm kerf widths between annuli was produced. The aperture size the array transducer is about 1.5 mm in diameter. A novel electrical interconnection strategy for high density array elements was implemented. After the transducer was attached to the electric connection board and packaged, the array transducer was tested in a pulse/echo arrangement, whereby the center frequency, bandwidth, two-way insertion loss (IL), and cross talk between adjacent elements were measured for each annulus. The center frequency was 50 MHz and -6 dB bandwidth was 90%. The average insertion loss was 19.5 dB at 50 MHz and the crosstalk between adjacent elements was about -35 dB. The micromachining techniques described in this paper are promising for the fabrication of other types of high frequency transducers e.g. 1D and 2D arrays. PMID:22119324

Improvement of insertion loss and quality factor of flexural plate-wave-based alpha-fetoprotein biosensor using groove-type reflective grating structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Chang-Yu; Huang, I.-Yu; Lan, Je-Wei

2013-01-01

Conventional flexural plate-wave (FPW) transducers have limited applications in biomedical sensing due to their disadvantages such as high insertion loss and low quality factor. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose a FPW transducer on a low phase velocity insulator membrane (5-μm-thick SiO2) with a novel groove-type reflective grating structure design. Additionally, a cystamine self-assembly monolayer and a glutaraldehyde cross-linking layer are implemented on the backside of the FPW device to immobilize alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) antibody. A FPW-based AFP biosensor with low detection limit (5 ng/mL) can be achieved and used to measure the extreme low concentration of AFP antigen in human serum for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. The proposed FPW-based AFP biosensor also demonstrates a very high quality factor (206), low insertion loss (-40.854 dB), low operating frequency (6.388 MHz), and high sensing linearity (90.7%).

Realization of an ultra-compact polarization beam splitter using asymmetric MMI based on silicon nitride / silicon-on-insulator platform.

PubMed

Sun, Xiao; Aitchison, J Stewart; Mojahedi, Mo

2017-04-03

We have experimentally demonstrated a compact polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on the silicon nitride/silicon-on-insulator platform using the recently proposed augmented-low-index-guiding (ALIG) waveguide structure. The two orthogonal polarizations are split in an asymmetric multimode interference (MMI) section, which was 1.6 μm wide and 4.8 μm long. The device works well over the entire C-band wavelength range and has a measured low insertion loss of less than 1 dB. The polarization extinction ratio at the Bar Port is approximately 17 dB and at the Cross Port is approximately 25 dB. The design of the device is robust and has a good fabrication tolerance.

Switchable multi-wavelength fiber laser based on modal interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Lin; Jiang, Sun; Qi, Yan-Hui; Kang, Ze-Xin; Jian, Shui-Sheng

2015-08-01

A comb fiber filter based on modal interference is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. Here two cascaded up-tapers are used to excite the cladding mode, and a core-offset jointing point is used to act as an interference component. Experimental results show that this kind of structure possesses a comb filter property in a range of the C-band. The measured extinction ratio is better than 12 dB with an insertion loss of about 11 dB. A switchable multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser based on this novel comb filter is demonstrated. By adjusting the polarization controller, the output laser can be switched among single-, dual-, and three-wavelengths with a side mode suppression ratio of better than 45 dB.

Grommets (ventilation tubes) for hearing loss associated with otitis media with effusion in children.

PubMed

Lous, J; Burton, M J; Felding, J U; Ovesen, T; Rovers, M M; Williamson, I

2005-01-25

Otitis media with effusion (OME), or 'glue ear', is very common in children, especially between the ages of one and three years with a prevalence of 10% to 30% and a cumulative incidence of 80% at the age of four years. OME is defined as middle ear effusion without signs or symptoms of an acute infection. OME may occur as a primary disorder or as a sequel to acute otitis media. The functional effect of OME is a conductive hearing level of about 25 to 30 dB associated with fluid in the middle ear. Both the high incidence and the high rate of spontaneous resolution suggest that the presence of OME is a natural phenomenon, its presence at some stage in childhood being a normal finding. Notwithstanding this, some children with OME may go on to develop chronic otitis media with structural changes (tympanic membrane retraction pockets, erosion of portions of the ossicular chain and cholesteatoma), language delays and behavioural problems. It remains uncertain whether or not any of these findings are direct consequences of OME. The most common medical treatment options include the use of decongestants, mucolytics, steroids, antihistamines and antibiotics. The effectiveness of these therapies has not been established. Surgical treatment options include grommet (ventilation or tympanostomy tube) insertion, adenoidectomy or both. Opinions regarding the risks and benefits of grommet insertion vary greatly. The management of OME therefore remains controversial. To assess the effectiveness of grommet insertion compared with myringotomy or non-surgical treatment in children with OME. The outcomes studied were (i) hearing level, (ii) duration of middle ear effusion, (iii) well-being (quality of life) and (iv) prevention of developmental sequelae possibly attributable to the hearing loss (for example, impairment in impressive and expressive language development (measured using standardised tests), verbal intelligence, and behaviour). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2003), MEDLINE (1966 to 2003), EMBASE (1973 to 2003) and reference lists of all identified studies. The date of the last systematic search was March 2003, and personal non-systematic searches have been performed up to August 2004. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of grommets on hearing, duration of effusion, development of language, cognition, behaviour or quality of life. Only studies using common types of grommets (mean function time of 6 to 12 months) were included. Data from studies were extracted by two reviewers and checked by the other reviewers. Children treated with grommets spent 32% less time (95% confidence interval (CI) 17% to 48%) with effusion during the first year of follow-up. Treatment with grommets improved hearing levels, especially during the first six months. In the randomised controlled trials that studied the effect of grommet insertion alone, the mean hearing levels improved by around 9 dB (95% CI 4 dB to 14 dB) after the first six months, and 6 dB (95% CI 3 dB to 9 dB) after 12 months. In the randomised controlled trials that studied the combined effect of grommets and adenoidectomy, the additional effect of the grommets on hearing levels was improvement by 3 to 4 dB (95% CI 2 dB to 5 dB) at six months and about 1 to 2 dB (95% CI 0 dB to 3 dB) at 12 months. Ears treated with grommets had an additional risk for tympanosclerosis of 0.33 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.45) one to five years later. In otherwise healthy children with long-standing OME and hearing loss, early insertion of grommets had no effect on language development or cognition. One randomised controlled trial in children with OME more than nine months, hearing loss and disruptions to speech, language, learning or behaviour showed a very marginal effect of grommets on comprehensive language. The benefits of grommets in children appear small. The effect of grommets on hearing diminished during the first year. Potentially adverse effects on the tympanic membrane are common after grommet insertion. Therefore an initial period of watchful waiting seems to be an appropriate management strategy for most children with OME. As no evidence is yet available for the subgroups of children with speech or language delays, behavioural and learning problems or children with defined clinical syndromes (generally excluded from the primary studies included in this review), the clinician will need to make decisions regarding treatment for such children based on other evidence and indications of disability related to hearing impairment. This review does not resolve the discrepancy between parental and clinical observation of a beneficial treatment effect and the results in the reviewed RCT showing only a short-term effect on hearing and virtually no effect on development. Is the perceived, often dramatic, effect of grommets only a short-term one? Are some children more sensitive to OME-related hearing loss than others? If so, how do we identify them?Further research should focus upon indications. Studies should use sufficiently large sample sizes to show significant interactions. There is a need to determine the most suitable variables and appropriate "softer" outcomes to be the subject of these interaction tests. Interesting options include measures of speech-in-noise and binaural hearing. The generally modest results in the trials which are included in this review should make it easier to justify randomisation of more severely affected and higher-risk children in appropriately constructed trials. Randomised controlled trials are necessary in these children before more detailed conclusions about the effectiveness of grommets can be drawn.

Low-loss single mode light waveguides in polymer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieber, Heinrich; Boehm, Hans-Jürgen; Hollenbach, Uwe; Mohr, Jürgen; Ostrzinski, Ute; Pfeiffer, Karl; Szczurowski, Marcin; Urbanczyk, Waclaw

2012-06-01

We report on the development of a UV-lithography manufacturing process for low loss single mode light waveguides in a novel polymer and the characterization of the fabricated components in a broad wavelength range from 808 nm to 1550 nm. The main focus of this work lies in providing a quick and cost efficient production technique for single mode waveguides and low loss integrated optical circuits. To achieve this goal we chose a novel photo-structurable polymer host-guest-system consisting of SU8 and a low refractive dopant monomer. Near and far-field measurements at different wavelengths show that the mode propagating within a well designed integrated waveguide structure and the mode of a standard fiber can exhibit a mode overlap value of approximately 1 and suffer only very low coupling losses. We demonstrate excess loss of 0.14 dB/cm for 808 nm, 0.33 dB/cm for 1310 nm and 2.86 dB/cm for 1550 nm. Typical insertion loss values of straight waveguides with a length of 36 mm are 0.9 dB for 808 nm, 1.5 dB for 1310 nm and 10.4 dB for 1550 nm. Polarization dependent loss was found to be less than 0.2 dB on sets of test structures of 36 mm length. We measured material attenuation in the novel polymer material before cross-linking of approximately 0.04 dB/cm for 808 nm and around 0.20 dB/cm for 1310 nm respectively. The presented production technique is suitable to provide low loss and low cost integrated optical circuits for sensor and communication applications in a broad wavelength range.

Direct laser written polymer waveguides with out of plane couplers for optical chips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landowski, Alexander; Zepp, Dominik; Wingerter, Sebastian; von Freymann, Georg; Widera, Artur

2017-10-01

Optical technologies call for waveguide networks featuring high integration densities, low losses, and simple operation. Here, we present polymer waveguides fabricated from a negative tone photoresist via two-photon-lithography in direct laser writing, and show a detailed parameter study of their performance. Specifically, we produce waveguides featuring bend radii down to 40 μ m, insertion losses of the order of 10 dB, and loss coefficients smaller than 0.81 dB mm-1, facilitating high integration densities in writing fields of 300 μ m×300 μ m. A novel three-dimensional coupler design allows for coupling control as well as direct observation of outputs in a single field of view through a microscope objective. Finally, we present beam-splitting devices to construct larger optical networks, and we show that the waveguide material is compatible with the integration of quantum emitters.

Low loss millimeter-wave switches based on the Vanadium Dioxide Metal - Insulator - Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, Mark; Hillman, Christopher; Stupar, Philip; Griffith, Zachary; Rodwell, Mark

2014-03-01

A new ultra-low-loss and broad band millimeter wave switch technology based on the reversible metal / insulator phase transition of vanadium dioxide has been developed. We report having fabricated series configured, single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches having measured S-parameters from DC to 110 GHz. The on-state insertion loss is 0.2 dB and off-state isolation is 21 dB at 50 GHz. The resulting impedance contrast ratio, ZOFF / ZON, is greater than 500:1 at 50 GHz (i.e. cut-off frequency fc ~ 40 THz). As a demonstration of the technology's utility, we also present the results of a 2-bit real time delay phase shifter incorporating a pair of VO2 SP4T switches. This switch technology's high impedance contrast ratio combined with its compactness, ease of integration, and low voltage operation make it an enabler of previously unachievable high-performance millimeter wave FPGAs.

A 30-MHz piezo-composite ultrasound array for medical imaging applications.

PubMed

Ritter, Timothy A; Shrout, Thomas R; Tutwiler, Rick; Shung, K Kirk

2002-02-01

Ultrasound imaging at frequencies above 20 MHz is capable of achieving improved resolution in clinical applications requiring limited penetration depth. High frequency arrays that allow real-time imaging are desired for these applications but are not yet currently available. In this work, a method for fabricating fine-scale 2-2 composites suitable for 30-MHz linear array transducers was successfully demonstrated. High thickness coupling, low mechanical loss, and moderate electrical loss were achieved. This piezo-composite was incorporated into a 30-MHz array that included acoustic matching, an elevation focusing lens, electrical matching, and an air-filled kerf between elements. Bandwidths near 60%, 15-dB insertion loss, and crosstalk less than -30 dB were measured. Images of both a phantom and an ex vivo human eye were acquired using a synthetic aperture reconstruction method, resulting in measured lateral and axial resolutions of approximately 100 microm.

Design of Dual Band Microstrip Patch Antenna using Metamaterial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafiqul Islam, Md; Alsaleh Adel, A. A.; Mimi, Aminah W. N.; Yasmin, M. Sarah; Norun, Farihah A. M.

2017-11-01

Metamaterial has received great attention due to their novel electromagnetic properties. It consists of artificial metallic structures with negative permittivity (ɛ) and permeability (µ). The average cell size of metamaterial must be less than a quarter of wavelength, hence, size reduction for the metamaterial antenna is possible. In addition, metamaterial can be used to enhance the low gain and efficiency in conventional patch antenna, which is important in wireless communication. In this paper, dual band microstrip patch antenna design using metamaterial for mobile GSM and WiMax application is introduced. The antenna structure consists of microstrip feed line connected to a rectangular patch. An array of five split ring resonators (SRRs) unit cells is inserted under the patch. The presented antenna resonates at 1.8 GHz for mobile GSM and 2.4 GHz for WIMAX applications. The return loss in the FR4 antenna at 1.8 GHz is -22.5 dB. Using metamaterial the return loss has improved to -25 dB at 2.4 GHz and -23.5 dB at 1.8 GHz. A conventional microstrip patch antenna using pair of slots is also designed which resonates at 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz. The return loss at 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz were -12.1 dB and -21.8 dB respectively. The metamaterial antenna achieved results with major size reduction of 45%, better bandwidth and better returns loss if it is compared to the pair of slots antenna. The software used to design, simulate and optimize is CST microwave studio.

Multimode optical fibers: steady state mode exciter.

PubMed

Ikeda, M; Sugimura, A; Ikegami, T

1976-09-01

The steady state mode power distribution of the multimode graded index fiber was measured. A simple and effective steady state mode exciter was fabricated by an etching technique. Its insertion loss was 0.5 dB for an injection laser. Deviation in transmission characteristics of multimode graded index fibers can be avoided by using the steady state mode exciter.

Optical isolators for 2-micron fibre lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Gary; Legg, Thomas H.; Shardlow, Peter

2015-02-01

We report on the development and testing of optical isolators for use in 2-micron fiber laser systems. A variety of potential Faraday rotator materials were characterised to identify the most suitable materials for use in the 1700-2100nm wavelength range. Isolators based on the three best performing materials were then developed and packaged as fiber-in, fiber-out and fiber-in, beam-out devices. The isolators were then tested in CW, pulsed and ultrafast laser systems. The three different designs produced different performance characteristics, but all designs demonstrated isolation >25dB and insertion losses of <1.2 dB.

Silicon-on-insulator polarization splitting and rotating device for polarization diversity circuits.

PubMed

Liu, Liu; Ding, Yunhong; Yvind, Kresten; Hvam, Jørn M

2011-06-20

A compact and efficient polarization splitting and rotating device built on the silicon-on-insulator platform is introduced, which can be readily used for the interface section of a polarization diversity circuit. The device is compact, with a total length of a few tens of microns. It is also simple, consisting of only two parallel silicon-on-insulator wire waveguides with different widths, and thus requiring no additional and nonstandard fabrication steps. A total insertion loss of -0.6 dB and an extinction ratio of 12 dB have been obtained experimentally in the whole C-band.

Carbon Nanotube Switches for Communication and Memory Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaul, Anupama B.; Epp, Larry; Wong, Eric W.; Kowalczyk, Robert

2008-01-01

Lateral CNT Switches: a) dc CNT switches were demonstrated to operate at low voltages, low powers and high speeds. b) RF simulations of switch in series configuration with metallized tube yielded good RF performance 1) Isolation simulated to be approx. 20 dB at 100 GHz. 2) Insertion loss simulated to be < 0.5 dB at 100 GHz. Vertical CNT Switches: a) Thermal CVD was used to mechanically constrain tubes in nanopockets; tubes not self-supporting. b) Demonstrated growth of vertically aligned arrays and single-few MWNTs using dc PECVD with Ni catalyst using optical lithography.

Strongly-guided indium phosphide/indium gallium arsenic phosphide Mach-Zehnder modulator for optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Betty, Ian Brian

2006-12-01

The development of strongly-guided InP/In1-x GaxAsyP 1-y based Mach-Zehnder optical modulators for 10Gb/s telecommunications is detailed. The modulators have insertion losses including coupling as low as 4.5dB, due to the incorporation of monolithically integrated optical mode spot-size converters (SSC's). The modulators are optimized to produce system performance that is independent of optical coupling alignment and for wavelength operation between 1525nm and 1565nm. A negatively chirped Mach-Zehnder modulator design is demonstrated, giving optimal dispersion-limited reach for 10Gb/s ON/OFF-keying modulation. It is shown that the optical system performance for this design can be determined from purely DC based optical measurements. A Mach-Zehnder modulator design invoking nearly no transient frequency shifts under intensity modulation is also presented, for the first time, using phase-shifter implementations based on the Quantum-Confined-Stark-Effect (QCSE). The performance impact on the modulator from the higher-order vertical and lateral waveguide modes found in strongly-guided waveguides has been determined. The impact of these higher-order modes has been minimized using the design of the waveguide bends, MMI structures, and doping profiles. The fabrication process and optical design for the spot-size mode converters are also thoroughly explored. The SSC structures are based on butt-joined vertically tapered passive waveguide cores within laterally flared strongly-guided ridges, making them compatible with any strong-guiding waveguide structure. The flexibility of the SSC process is demonstrated by the superior performance it has also enabled in a 40Gb/s electro-absorption modulator. The presented electro-absorption modulator has 3.6dB fiber-to-fiber insertion loss, polarization dependent loss (PDL) of only 0.3dB over 15dB extinction, and low absolute chirp (|alpha H| < 0.6) over the full dynamic range.

Millimeter-wave pseudomorphic HEMT MMIC phased array components for space communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lan, G. L.; Pao, C. K.; Wu, C. S.; Mandolia, G.; Hu, M.; Yuan, S.; Leonard, Regis

1991-01-01

Recent advances in pseudomorphic HEMT MMIC (PMHEMT/MMIC) technology have made it the preferred candidate for high performance millimeter-wave components for phased array applications. This paper describes the development of PMHEMT/MMIC components at Ka-band and V-band. Specifically, the following PMHEMT/MMIC components will be described: power amplifiers at Ka-band; power amplifiers at V-band; and four-bit phase shifters at V-band. For the Ka-band amplifier, 125 mW output power with 5.5 dB gain and 21 percent power added efficiency at 2 dB compression point has been achieved. For the V-band amplifier, 112 mW output power with 6 dB gain and 26 percent power added efficiency has been achieved. And, for the V-band phase shifter, four-bit (45 deg steps) phase shifters with less than 8 dB insertion loss from 61 GHz to 63 GHz will be described.

NittanySat Final Report for University Nanosatellite-5 Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-12

Figures 9 through 12 and tabulated in Table 2. Figure 9 – 14-MHz BPF . Figure 10 – 21-MHz BPF .   Page 13   Figure 11 – 28-MHz BPF ...Figure 12 – 50-MHz BPF . Table 2 - Narrow Band-pass Filter Parameters Frequency Band [MHz] Bandwidth Range [MHz] Insertion Loss [dB] Return Loss...surface area, and surface properties (e.g., absorptivity, emissivity) of the various components. In order to make predictions and guide design choices, an

Suspended Integrated Strip-line Transition Design for Highly Integrated Radar Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

RF Circuit Design,” Second Edition, Pearson Education, 2009. 3. B. Ma, A. Chousseaud, and S . Toutain, “A new design of compact planar microstrip...technology. The measured results show good correlation to the simulated results with a return loss and insertion loss of less than 10 dB and greater...1) where is the cavity width, is the thickness of substrate 3, is the cavity height, and is the dielectric constant of substrate 3, and m/ s

Fabrication of a novel RF switch device with high performance using In0.4Ga0.6As MOSFET technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiahui, Zhou; Hudong, Chang; Xufang, Zhang; Jingzhi, Yang; Guiming, Liu; Haiou, Li; Honggang, Liu

2016-02-01

A novel radio frequency (RF) switch device has been successfully fabricated using InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) technology. The device showed drain saturation currents of 250 mA/mm, a maximum transconductance of 370 mS/mm, a turn-on resistance of 0.72 mω·mm2 and a drain current on-off (Ion/Ioff) ratio of 1 × 106. The maximum handling power of on-state of 533 mW/mm and off-state of 3667 mW/mm is obtained. The proposed In0.4Ga0.6 As MOSFET RF switch showed an insertion loss of less than 1.8 dB and an isolation of better than 20 dB in the frequency range from 0.1 to 7.5 GHz. The lowest insertion loss and the highest isolation can reach 0.27 dB and more than 68 dB respectively. This study demonstrates that the InGaAs MOSFET technology has a great potential for RF switch application. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61274077, 61474031), the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (No. 2013GXNSFGA019003), the Guangxi Department of Education Project (No. 201202ZD041), the Guilin City Technology Bureau (Nos. 20120104-8, 20130107-4), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (Nos. 2012M521127, 2013T60566), the National Basic Research Program of China (Nos. 2011CBA00605, 2010CB327501), the Innovation Project of GUET Graduate Education (Nos. GDYCSZ201448, GDYCSZ201449), the State key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, UESTC (No. KFJJ201205), and the Guilin City Science and Technology Development Project (Nos. 20130107-4, 20120104-8).

Optimized optical devices for edge-coupling-enabled silicon photonics platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Png, Ching Eng; Ang, Thomas Y. L.; Ong, Jun Rong; Lim, Soon Thor; Sahin, Ezgi; Chen, G. F. R.; Tan, D. T. H.; Guo, Tina X.; Wang, Hong

2018-02-01

We present a library of high-performance passive and active silicon photonic devices at the C-band that is specifically designed and optimized for edge-coupling-enabled silicon photonics platform. These devices meet the broadband (100 nm), low-loss (< 2dB per device), high speed (>= 25 Gb/s), and polarization diversity requirements (TE and TM polarization extinction ratio <= 25 dB) for optical communication applications. Ultra-low loss edge couplers, broadband directional couplers, high-extinction ratio polarization beam splitters (PBSs), and high-speed modulators are some of the devices within our library. In particular, we have designed and fabricated inverse taper fiber-to-waveguide edge couplers of tip widths ranging from 120 nm to 200 nm, and we obtained a low coupling loss of 1.80+/-0.28 dB for 160 nm tip width. To achieve polarization diversity operation for inverse tapers, we have experimentally realized different designs of polarization beam splitters (PBS). Our optimized PBS has a measured extinction ratio of <= 25 dB for both the quasiTE modes, and quasi-TM modes. Additionally, a broadband (100 nm) directional coupler with a 50/50 power splitting ratio was experimentally realized on a small footprint of 20×3 μm2 . Last but not least, high-speed silicon modulators with a range of carrier doping concentrations and offset of the PN junction can be used to optimise the modulation efficiency, and insertion losses for operation at 25 GHz.

Terahertz polarizing beam splitter based on copper grating on polyimide substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Mengen; Li, Xiangjun; Wang, Wentao; Liu, Jianjun; Hong, Zhi

2012-12-01

A terahertz polarizing beam splitter, based on a copper grating on polyimide (PI) substrate, was fabricated by the way of laser induced and non-electrolytic plating. The good polarization characteristics of the splitter in the range of 0°-180°polarization are verified experimentally using backward wave oscillator at fixed frequency of 300GHz, and the insertion losses of 0.13dB and 0.32dB are measured for the transmitted and reflected beams, respectively. The broadband transmission of TM wave of the splitter was also measured by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, and the extinction ratio larger than 22dB is obtained in the frequency range of 0.2-1.5THz. The experiment results are in good agreement with finite element simulation results.

Micro-machined high-frequency (80 MHz) PZT thick film linear arrays.

PubMed

Zhou, Qifa; Wu, Dawei; Liu, Changgeng; Zhu, Benpeng; Djuth, Frank; Shung, K

2010-10-01

This paper presents the development of a micromachined high-frequency linear array using PZT piezoelectric thick films. The linear array has 32 elements with an element width of 24 μm and an element length of 4 mm. Array elements were fabricated by deep reactive ion etching of PZT thick films, which were prepared from spin-coating of PZT sol-gel composite. Detailed fabrication processes, especially PZT thick film etching conditions and a novel transferring-and-etching method, are presented and discussed. Array designs were evaluated by simulation. Experimental measurements show that the array had a center frequency of 80 MHz and a fractional bandwidth (-6 dB) of 60%. An insertion loss of -41 dB and adjacent element crosstalk of -21 dB were found at the center frequency.

Dynamic optical coupled system employing Dammann gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di, Caihui; Zhou, Changhe; Ru, Huayi

2004-10-01

With the increasing of the number of users in optical fiber communications, fiber-to-home project has a larger market value. Then the need of dynamic optical couplers, especially of N broad-band couplers, becomes greater. Though some advanced fiber fusion techniques have been developed, they still have many shortcomings. In this paper we propose a dynamic optical coupled system employing even-numbered Dammann gratings, which have the characteristic that the phase distribution in the first half-period accurately equals to that in the second-period with π phase inversion. In our experiment, we divide a conventional even-numbered Dammann grating into two identical gratings. The system can achieve the beam splitter and combiner as the switch between them according to the relative shift between two complementary gratings. When there is no shift between the gratings, the demonstrated 1×8 dynamic optical coupler achieves good uniformity of 0.06 and insertion loss of around 10.8 dB for each channel as a splitter. When the two gratings have an accurate shift of a half-period between them, our system has a low insertion loss of 0.46 dB as a combiner at a wavelength of 1550 nm.

A low-loss, single-pole, four-throw RF MEMS switch driven by a double stop comb drive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, S.; Kim, H. C.; Chun, K.

2009-03-01

Our goal was to develop a single-pole four-throw (SP4T) radio frequency microelectromechanical system (RF MEMS) switch for band selection in a multi-band, multi-mode, front-end module of a wireless transceiver system. The SP4T RF MEMS switch was based on an arrangement of four single-pole single-throw (SPST) RF MEMS switches. The SP4T RF MEMS switch was driven by a double stop (DS) comb drive, with a lateral resistive contact, and composed of single crystalline silicon (SCS) on glass. A large contact force at a low-drive voltage was achieved by electrostatic actuation of the DS comb drive. Good RF characteristics were achieved by the large contact force and the lateral resistive Au-to-Au contact. Mechanical reliability was achieved by using SCS which has no residual stress as a structure material. The developed SP4T RF MEMS switch has a drive voltage of 15 V, an insertion loss below 0.31 dB at 6 GHz after more than one million cycles under a 10 mW signal, a return loss above 20 dB and an isolation value above 36 dB.

Cochlear Implant Electrode Array From Partial to Full Insertion in Non-Human Primate Model.

PubMed

Manrique-Huarte, Raquel; Calavia, Diego; Gallego, Maria Antonia; Manrique, Manuel

2018-04-01

To determine the feasibility of progressive insertion (two sequential surgeries: partial to full insertion) of an electrode array and to compare functional outcomes. 8 normal-hearing animals (Macaca fascicularis (MF)) were included. A 14 contact electrode array, which is suitably sized for the MF cochlea was partially inserted (PI) in 16 ears. After 3 months of follow-up revision surgery the electrode was advanced to a full insertion (FI) in 8 ears. Radiological examination and auditory testing was performed monthly for 6 months. In order to compare the values a two way repeated measures ANOVA was used. A p-value below 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. IBM SPSS Statistics V20 was used. Surgical procedure was completed in all cases with no complications. Mean auditory threshold shift (ABR click tones) after 6 months follow-up is 19 dB and 27 dB for PI and FI group. For frequencies 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16 kHz in the FI group, tone burst auditory thresholds increased after the revision surgery showing no recovery thereafter. Mean threshold shift at 6 months of follow- up is 19.8 dB ranging from 2 to 36dB for PI group and 33.14dB ranging from 8 to 48dB for FI group. Statistical analysis yields no significant differences between groups. It is feasible to perform a partial insertion of an electrode array and progress on a second surgical time to a full insertion (up to 270º). Hearing preservation is feasible for both procedures. Note that a minimal threshold deterioration is depicted among full insertion group, especially among high frequencies, with no statistical differences.

Miniaturized Wilkinson Power Dividers Utilizing Capacitive Loading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scardelletti, Maximilian C.; Ponchak, George E.; Weller, Thomas M.

2001-01-01

This letter reports the miniaturization of a planar Wilkinson power divider by capacitive loading of the quarter wave transmission lines employed in conventional Wilkinson power dividers. Reduction of the transmission line segments from lambda/4 to between lambda/5 and lambda/12 are reported here. The input and output lines at the three ports and the lines comprising the divider itself are coplanar waveguide (CPW) and asymmetric coplanar stripline (ACPS), respectively. The 10 GHZ power dividers are fabricated on high resistivity silicon (HRS) and alumina wafers. These miniaturized dividers are 74% smaller than conventional Wilkinson power dividers, and have a return loss better than +30 dB and an insertion loss less than 0.55 dB. Design equations and a discussion about the effect of parasitic reactance on the isolation are presented for the first time.

MO detector (MOD): a dual-function optical modulator-detector for on-chip communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shuai; Zhang, Ruoyu; Peng, Jiaxin; Narayana, Vikram K.; Dalir, Hamed; El-Ghazawi, Tarek; Sorger, Volker J.

2018-04-01

Physical challenges at the device and interconnect level limit both network and computing energy efficiency. While photonics is being considered to address interconnect bottlenecks, optical routing is still limited by electronic circuitry, requiring substantial overhead for optical-electrical-optical conversion. Here we show a novel design of an integrated broadband photonic-plasmonic hybrid device termed MODetector featuring dual light modulation and detection function to act as an optical transceiver in the photonic network-on-chip. With over 10 dB extinction ratio and 0.8 dB insertion loss at the modulation state, this MODetector provides 0.7 W/A responsivity in the detection state with 36 ps response time. This multi-functional device: (i) eliminates OEO conversion, (ii) reduces optical losses from photodetectors when not needed, and (iii) enables cognitive routing strategies for network-on-chips.

Multi/demulti-plexer based on transverse mode conversion in photonic crystal waveguides.

PubMed

Zhou, Wen; Zhuang, Yuyang; Ji, Ke; Chen, He-ming

2015-09-21

A novel mode multiplexer and demultiplexer (MMUX/DEMMUX) based on 2-D photonic crystal (PC) at 1550 nm is proposed. The PC-based mode MMUX/DEMMUX including mode conversion function with a single-mode and multi-mode waveguides can be realized by quasi phase-matching TE(0) & TE(1) modes of two waveguides. 2DFinite-Difference-Time-Domain and beam propagation methods are used for simulation. The results show that PC-based mode MMUX/DEMMUX has the potential for high-capacity MDM optical communication systems with a low insertion loss (<0.36dB), low mode crosstalk (< -20.9 dB) and wide bandwidth (~100 nm).

Coax-to-channelised coplanar waveguide in-phase N-way, radial power divider

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, R. N.; Ponchak, G. E.

1990-01-01

A novel nonplanar, wideband power divider which makes use of a coax-to-CCPW transition is demonstrated. The transition utilizes a coaxial transformer whose outer conductor is slotted along the length for RF power division and also for exciting the CCPWs in equal amplitude and phase at the radial junction. The measured (8-16 GHz) excess insertion loss at the output ports is 0.5 dB for a four-way divider. The amplitude and phase balance are within 0.5 dB and 5 deg, respectively. The power divider should find applications in the feed network of phased arrays.

Miniaturized LTCC elliptic-function lowpass filters with side stopbands

DOE PAGES

Hsieh, Lung -Hwa; Dai, Steve Xunhu

2015-05-28

A compact, high-selectivity, and wide stopband lowpass filter is highly demanded in wireless communication systems to suppress adjacent harmonics and unwanted signals. In this letter, a new miniaturized lowpass filter with elliptic-function frequency response is introduced. The filter is fabricated in multilayer low temperature cofired ceramics. The size of the miniaturized filter is 5.5 × 3.9 × 1.72 mm3. As a result, the measured insertion loss of the filter is better than 0.37 dB from DC to 1.28 GHz and the measured stopband of the filter is great than 22 dB from 2.3 to 7.5 GHz.

Design and simulation of RF MEMS SPST shunt and SPDT shunt-shunt switches for X-band and Ku-band applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lenka, Manas K.; Sharma, Amit; Sharma, Jaibir; DasGupta, Amitava

2012-10-01

This paper describes the design and simulation of RF MEMS SPST shunt and SPDT shunt-shunt switches with modified coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration for X-band and Ku-band applications exhibiting high isolation and low insertion loss. By modifying the basic CPW structure for a six-strip membrane having length 720 μm, the resonant frequency can be reduced from 33.5 GHz to 13.5 GHz with isolation as high as -30 dB(-63 dB at resonant frequency) in Ku-band. Similar results are also found in case SPST and SPDT switches with other membrane types.

An X-Band SOS Resistive Gate-Insulator-Semiconductor /RIS/ switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwok, S. P.

1980-02-01

The new X-Band Resistive Gate-Insulator-Semiconductor (RIS) switch has been fabricated on silicon-on-sapphire, and its equivalent circuit model characterized. An RIS SPST switch with 20-dB on/off isolation, 1.2-dB insertion loss, and power handling capacity in excess of 20-W peak has been achieved at X band. The device switching time is on the order of 600 ns, and it requires negligible control holding current in both on and off states. The device is compatible with monolithic integrated-circuit technology and thus is suitable for integration into low-cost monolithic phase shifters or other microwave integrated circuits.

16-channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) demultiplexer design on SOI wafer for application in CWDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juhari, Nurjuliana; Menon, P. Susthitha; Ehsan, Abang Annuar; Shaari, Sahbudin

2015-01-01

Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) functioning as a demultiplexer is designed on SOI platform with rib waveguide structure to be utilized in coarse wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical network (CWDM-PON) systems. Two design approaches; conventional and tapered configuration of AWG was developed with channel spacing of 20 nm that covers the standard transmission spectrum of CWDM ranging from 1311 nm to 1611 nm. The performance of insertion loss for tapered configuration offered the lowest insertion loss of 0.77 dB but the adjacent crosstalk gave non-significant relation for both designs. With average channel spacing of 20.4 nm, the nominal central wavelength of this design is close to the standard CWDM wavelength grid over 484 nm free spectrum range (FSR).

Fibre optic connectors with high-return-loss performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knott, Michael P.; Johnson, R.; Cooke, K.; Longhurst, P. C.

1990-09-01

This paper describes the development of a single mode fibre optic connector with high return loss performance without the use of index matching. Partial reflection of incident light at a fibre optic connector interface is a recognised problem where the result can be increased noise and waveform distortion. This is particularly important for video transmission in subscriber networks which requires a high signal to noise ratio. A number of methods can be used to improve the return loss. The method described here uses a process which angles the connector endfaces. Measurements show typical return losses of -55dB can be achieved for an end angle of 6 degrees. Insertion loss results are also presented.

Polarization preserving single mode fiber optic coupler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, M. D.; Goss, W. C.

1982-01-01

A technique is described for fabrication of etched single mode fiber optical waveguide couplers which preserve the polarization state to within 0.0001. The coupling ratio is tunable over a broad range (0-9 percent) during fabrication. Back-coupling is less than 0.001, insertion loss is less than 1.5 dB, and coupling ratio thermal coefficient is about 1 percent per degree C.

Terahertz isolator based on nonreciprocal magneto-metasurface.

PubMed

Chen, Sai; Fan, Fei; Wang, Xianghui; Wu, Pengfei; Zhang, Hui; Chang, Shengjiang

2015-01-26

A magneto-metasurface with nonreciprocal terahertz (THz) transmission has been proposed to form a THz isolator. Importantly, we have discussed the two necessary conditions for THz nonreciprocal transmission in the metasurface: (1) There should be magneto-optical responses for THz waves in the metasurface; (2) The transmission system of the metasurface needs to be asymmetric for forward and backward waves. These two conditions lead to the time reversal symmetry breaking of system, and the magnetoplasmon mode splitting and nonreciprocal resonance enhancement can be observed in the asymmetry magneto-metasurface. Moreover, the isolation dependences and tunability on the external magnetic field and temperature have also been investigated, which shows that the best operating state with a high isolation can be designed. The numerical simulations show a maximum isolation of 43 dB and a 10 dB operating bandwidth of 20 GHz under an external magnetic field of 0.3 T, and the insertion loss is smaller than 1.79 dB. This low-loss, high isolation, easy coupling THz isolator has broadly potentials for THz application systems.

An improved ultra-wideband bandpass filter design using split ring resonator with coupled microstrip line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umeshkumar, Dubey Suhmita; Kumar, Manish

2018-04-01

This paper incorporates an improved design of Ultra Wideband Bandpass filter by using split ring resonators (SRR) along with the coupled microstrip lines. The use of split ring resonators and shunt step impedance open circuit stub enhances the stability due to transmission zeroes at the ends. The designing of filter and simulation of parameters is carried out using Ansoft's HFSS 13.0 software on RT/Duroid 6002 as a substrate with dielectric constant of 2.94. The design utilizes a frequency band from 22GHz to 29GHz. This band is reserved for Automotive Radar system and sensors as per FCC specifications. The proposed design demonstrates insertion loss less than 0.6dB and return loss better than 12dB at mid frequency i.e. 24.4GHz. The reflection coefficient shows high stability of about 12.47dB at mid frequency. The fractional bandwidth of the proposed filter is about 28.7% and size of filter design is small due to thickness of 0.127mm.

An ultra-compact and low loss passive beam-forming network integrated on chip with off chip linear array

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lepkowski, Stefan Mark

2015-05-01

The work here presents a review of beam forming architectures. As an example, the author presents an 8x8 Butler Matrix passive beam forming network including the schematic, design/modeling, operation, and simulated results. The limiting factor in traditional beam formers has been the large size dictated by transmission line based couplers. By replacing these couplers with transformer-based couplers, the matrix size is reduced substantially allowing for on chip compact integration. In the example presented, the core area, including the antenna crossover, measures 0.82mm×0.39mm (0.48% the size of a branch line coupler at the same frequency). The simulated beam forming achieves amore » peak PNR of 17.1 dB and 15dB from 57 to 63GHz. At the 60GHz center frequency the average insertion loss is simulated to be 3.26dB. The 8x8 Butler Matrix feeds into an 8-element antenna array to show the array patterns with single beam and adjacent beam isolation.« less

Design and Analysis of a Micromachined LC Low Pass Filter For 2.4GHz Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saroj, Samruddhi R.; Rathee, Vishal R.; Pande, Rajesh S.

2018-02-01

This paper reports design and analysis of a passive low pass filter with cut-off frequency of 2.4 GHz using MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology. The passive components such as suspended spiral inductors and metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor are arranged in T network form to implement LC low pass filter design. This design employs a simple approach of suspension thereby reducing parasitic losses to eliminate the performance degrading effects caused by integrating an off-chip inductor in the filter circuit proposed to be developed on a low cost silicon substrate using RF-MEMS components. The filter occupies only 2.1 mm x 0.66 mm die area and is designed using micro-strip transmission line placed on a silicon substrate. The design is implemented in High Frequency Structural Simulator (HFSS) software and fabrication flow is proposed for its implementation. The simulated results show that the design has an insertion loss of -4.98 dB and return loss of -2.60dB.

Micro-Machined High-Frequency (80 MHz) PZT Thick Film Linear Arrays

PubMed Central

Zhou, Qifa; Wu, Dawei; Liu, Changgeng; Zhu, Benpeng; Djuth, Frank; Shung, K. Kirk

2010-01-01

This paper presents the development of a micro-machined high-frequency linear array using PZT piezoelectric thick films. The linear array has 32 elements with an element width of 24 μm and an element length of 4 mm. Array elements were fabricated by deep reactive ion etching of PZT thick films, which were prepared from spin-coating of PZT solgel composite. Detailed fabrication processes, especially PZT thick film etching conditions and a novel transferring-and-etching method, are presented and discussed. Array designs were evaluated by simulation. Experimental measurements show that the array had a center frequency of 80 MHz and a fractional bandwidth (−6 dB) of 60%. An insertion loss of −41 dB and adjacent element crosstalk of −21 dB were found at the center frequency. PMID:20889407

Two-mode PLC-based mode multi/demultiplexer for mode and wavelength division multiplexed transmission.

PubMed

Hanzawa, Nobutomo; Saitoh, Kuimasa; Sakamoto, Taiji; Matsui, Takashi; Tsujikawa, Kyozo; Koshiba, Masanori; Yamamoto, Fumihiko

2013-11-04

We proposed a PLC-based mode multi/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) with an asymmetric parallel waveguide for mode division multiplexed (MDM) transmission. The mode MUX/DEMUX including a mode conversion function with an asymmetric parallel waveguide can be realized by matching the effective indices of the LP(01) and LP(11) modes of two waveguides. We report the design of a mode MUX/DEMUX that can support C-band WDM-MDM transmission. The fabricated mode MUX/DEMUX realized a low insertion loss of less than 1.3 dB and high a mode extinction ratio that exceeded 15 dB. We used the fabricated mode MUX/DEMUX to achieve a successful 2 mode x 4 wavelength x 10 Gbps transmission over a 9 km two-mode fiber with a penalty of less than 1 dB.

Thin-film magnetless Faraday rotators for compact heterogeneous integrated optical isolators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karki, Dolendra; Stenger, Vincent; Pollick, Andrea; Levy, Miguel

2017-06-01

This report describes the fabrication, characterization, and transfer of ultra-compact thin-film magnetless Faraday rotators to silicon photonic substrates. Thin films of magnetization latching bismuth-substituted rare-earth iron garnets were produced from commercially available materials by mechanical lapping, dice polishing, and crystal-ion-slicing. Eleven- μ m -thick films were shown to retain the 45 ° Faraday rotation of the bulk material to within 2 ° at 1.55 μ m wavelength without re-poling. Anti-reflection coated films evince 0.09 dB insertion loses and better than -20 dB extinction ratios. Lower extinction ratios than the bulk are ascribed to multimode propagation. Significantly larger extinction ratios are predicted for single-mode waveguides. Faraday rotation, extinction ratios, and insertion loss tests on He-ion implanted slab waveguides of the same material yielded similar results. The work culminated with bond alignment and transfer of 7 μ m -thick crystal-ion-sliced 50 × 480 μ m 2 films onto silicon photonic substrates.

Design and RF measurements of a 5 GHz 500 kW window for the ITER LHCD system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillairet, J.; Achard, J.; Bae, Y. S.; Bernard, J. M.; Dechambre, N.; Delpech, L.; Ekedahl, A.; Faure, N.; Goniche, M.; Kim, J.; Larroque, S.; Magne, R.; Marfisi, L.; Namkung, W.; Park, H.; Park, S.; Poli, S.; Vulliez, K.

2014-02-01

CEA/IRFM is conducting R&D efforts in order to validate the critical RF components of the 5 GHz ITER LHCD system, which is expected to transmit 20 MW of RF power to the plasma. Two 5 GHz 500 kW BeO pill-box type window prototypes have been manufactured in 2012 by the PMB Company, in close collaboration with CEA/IRFM. Both windows have been validated at low power, showing good agreement between measured and modeling, with a return loss better than 32 dB and an insertion loss below 0.05 dB. This paper reports on the window RF design and the low power measurements. The high power tests up to 500kW have been carried out in March 2013 in collaboration with NFRI. Results of these tests are also reported.

Circulation of spoof surface plasmon polaritons: Implementation and verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Junwei; Wang, Jiafu; Qiu, Tianshuo; Pang, Yongqiang; Li, Yongfeng; Zhang, Jieqiu; Qu, Shaobo

2018-05-01

In this letter, we are dedicated to implementation and experimental verification of broadband circulator for spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs). For the ease of fabrication, a circulator operating in X band was firstly designed. The comb-like transmission lines (CL-TLs), a typical SSPP structure, are adopted as the three branches of the Y-junction. To enable broadband coupling of SSPP, a transition section is added on each end of the CL-TLs. Through such a design, the circulator can operate under the sub-wavelength SSPP mode in a broad band. The simulation results show that the insertion loss is less than 0.5dB while the isolation and return loss are higher than 20dB in 9.4-12.0GHz. A prototype was fabricated and measured. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation results and verify the broadband circulation performance in X band.

High-efficiency W-band hybrid integrated photoreceiver module using UTC-PD and pHEMT amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umezawa, T.; Katshima, K.; Kanno, A.; Akahane, K.; Matsumoto, A.; Yamamoto, N.; Kawanishi, T.

2016-02-01

A 100-GHz narrowband photoreceiver module integrated with a zero-bias operational uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) and a GaAs-based pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) amplifier was fabricated and characterized. Both devices exhibited flat frequency response and outstanding overall performance. The UTC-PD showed a 3-dB bandwidth beyond 110 GHz while the pHEMT amplifier featured low power consumption and a gain of 24 dB over the 85-100 GHz range. A butterfly metal package equipped with a 1.0 mm (W) coaxial connector and a microstrip-coplanar waveguide conversion substrate was designed for low insertion loss and low return loss. The fabricated photoreceiver module demonstrated high conversion gain, a maximum output power of +9.5 dBm at 96 GHz, and DC-power consumption of 0.21 W.

RF-MEMS tunable interdigitated capacitor and fixed spiral inductor for band pass filter applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bade, Ladon Ahmed; Dennis, John Ojur; Khir, M. Haris Md; Wen, Wong Peng

2016-11-01

This research presents the tunable Radio Frequency Micro Electromechanical Systems (RF-MEMS) coupled band-pass filter (BPF), which possess a wide tuning range and constructed by using the Chebyshev fourth degree equivalent circuit consisting of fixed inductors and interdigitated tunable capacitors. The suggested method was authenticated by designing a new tunable BPF with a 100% tuning range from 3.1 GHz to 4.9 GHz. The Metal Multi-User MEMS Process (Metal MUMPs) was involved in the process of design of this band-pass filter. It aimed to achieve the reconfiguration of frequencies and show high efficiency of RF in the applications that using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) such as wireless sensor networks. The RF performance of this filter was found to be very satisfactory due to its simple fabrication. Moreover, it showed less insertion loss of around 4 dB and high return loss of around 20 dB.

Non-duplicate polarization-diversity 8 × 8 Si-wire PILOSS switch integrated with polarization splitter-rotators.

PubMed

Tanizawa, Ken; Suzuki, Keijiro; Ikeda, Kazuhiro; Namiki, Shu; Kawashima, Hitoshi

2017-05-15

We demonstrate a fully integrated polarization-diversity 8 × 8 thermo-optic Si-wire switch that uses only a single path-independent insertion loss (PILOSS) switch matrix. All input/output ports of the PILOSS switch matrix are uniquely assigned for polarization diversity without switch duplication. To integrate polarization splitter-rotators on a chip, we propose a compact path-length-equalized polarization-diversity switch configuration. Polarization-dependent loss (PDL) and differential group delay (DGD) are minimized. The 8 × 8 switch is fabricated by the CMOS-compatible fabrication process on 300-mm diameter wafer and additional etching of upper cladding after dicing. The chip size is 7 × 10.5 mm 2 . A PDL of 2 dB and a DGD of 1.5 ps are achieved. The crosstalk in the worst-case scenario is -20 dB in the full C-band.

Ultra-compact 32 × 32 strictly-non-blocking Si-wire optical switch with fan-out LGA interposer.

PubMed

Tanizawa, Ken; Suzuki, Keijiro; Toyama, Munehiro; Ohtsuka, Minoru; Yokoyama, Nobuyuki; Matsumaro, Kazuyuki; Seki, Miyoshi; Koshino, Keiji; Sugaya, Toshio; Suda, Satoshi; Cong, Guangwei; Kimura, Toshio; Ikeda, Kazuhiro; Namiki, Shu; Kawashima, Hitoshi

2015-06-29

We demonstrate a 32 × 32 path-independent-insertion-loss optical path switch that integrates 1024 thermooptic Mach-Zehnder switches and 961 intersections on a small, 11 × 25 mm2 die. The switch is fabricated on a 300-mm-diameter silicon-on-insulator wafer by a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible process with advanced ArF immersion lithography. For reliable electrical packaging, the switch chip is flip-chip bonded to a ceramic interposer that arranges the electrodes in a 0.5-mm pitch land grid array. The on-chip loss is measured to be 15.8 ± 1.0 dB, and successful switching is demonstrated for digital-coherent 43-Gb/s QPSK signals. The total crosstalk of the switch is estimated to be less than -20 dB at the center wavelength of 1545 nm. The bandwidth narrowing caused by dimensional errors that arise during fabrication is discussed.

Analysis of in-flight acoustic data for a twin-engined turboprop airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilby, J. F.; Wilby, E. G.

1988-01-01

Acoustic measurements were made on the exterior and interior of a general aviation turboprop airplane during four flight tests. The test conditions were carefully controlled and repeated for each flight in order to determine data variability. For the first three flights the cabin was untreated and for the fourth flight the fuselage was treated with glass fiber batts. On the exterior, measured propeller harmonic sound pressure levels showed typical standard deviations of +1.4 dB, -2.3 dB, and turbulent boundary layer pressure levels, +1.2 dB, -1.6. Propeller harmonic levels in the cabin showed greater variability, with typical standard deviations of +2.0 dB, -4.2 dB. When interior sound pressure levels from different flights with different cabin treatments were used to evaluate insertion loss, the standard deviations were typically plus or minus 6.5 dB. This is due in part to the variability of the sound pressure level measurements, but probably is also influenced by changes in the model characteristics of the cabin. Recommendations are made for the planning and performance of future flight tests to measure interior noise of propeller-driven aircraft, either high-speed advanced turboprop or general aviation propellers.

An on-chip silicon compact triplexer based on cascaded tilted multimode interference couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jingye; Liu, Penghao; Shi, Yaocheng

2018-03-01

An on-chip triplexer based on cascaded tilted multimode interference (MMI) couplers has been demonstrated to separate the 1310 nm wavelength band into one port and 1490 nm and 1550 nm wavelength bands into the other two ports respectively. By utilizing the dispersive self-imaging and pseudo self-imaging, the device length is not critically determined by the common multiple of beat lengths for different wavelengths. The total device size can be reduced to ∼450 μm, which is half of the butterfly structure reported. The whole device, fabricated with only one fully-etching step, is characterized with <-15 dB low crosstalk (CT) and ∼1 dB insertion loss (IL).

Flexible radio-frequency single-crystal germanium switch on plastic substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Guoxuan; Cai, Tianhao; Yuan, Hao-Chih; Seo, Jung-Hun; Ma, Jianguo; Ma, Zhenqiang

2014-04-01

This Letter presents the realization and characterizations of the flexible radio-frequency (RF)/microwave switches on plastic substrates employing single-crystal germanium (Ge) nanomembranes. The fabricated flexible Ge single-pole, single-throw (SPST) switches display high frequency responses (e.g., insertion loss of <1.3 dB at up to 30 GHz and isolation >10 dB at up to ˜13 GHz). RF performance tradeoff exists for the flexible Ge switches and the major affecting parameters are determined. The flexible Ge SPST switch shows better RF property to that of the flexible Si SPST switch. Underlying mechanism is investigated by theoretical analysis and modeling of switches with different structures.

128×128 three-dimensional MEMS optical switch module with simultaneous optical path connection for optical cross-connect systems.

PubMed

Mizukami, Masato; Yamaguchi, Joji; Nemoto, Naru; Kawajiri, Yuko; Hirata, Hirooki; Uchiyama, Shingo; Makihara, Mitsuhiro; Sakata, Tomomi; Shimoyama, Nobuhiro; Oda, Kazuhiro

2011-07-20

A 128×128 three-dimensional MEMS optical switch module and a switching-control algorithm for high-speed connection and optical power stabilization are described. A prototype switch module enables the simultaneous switching of all optical paths. The insertion loss is less than 4.6 dB and is 2.3 dB on average. The switching time is less than 38 ms and is 8 ms on average. We confirmed that the maximum optical power can be obtained and optical power stabilization control is possible. The results confirm that the module is suitable for practical use in optical cross-connect systems. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Demonstration of Efficient Nonreciprocity in a Microwave Optomechanical Circuit*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, G. A.; Lecocq, F.; Cicak, K.; Simmonds, R. W.; Aumentado, J.; Teufel, J. D.

2017-07-01

The ability to engineer nonreciprocal interactions is an essential tool in modern communication technology as well as a powerful resource for building quantum networks. Aside from large reverse isolation, a nonreciprocal device suitable for applications must also have high efficiency (low insertion loss) and low output noise. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have shown that nonreciprocal behavior can be achieved in optomechanical systems, but performance in these last two attributes has been limited. Here, we demonstrate an efficient, frequency-converting microwave isolator based on the optomechanical interactions between electromagnetic fields and a mechanically compliant vacuum-gap capacitor. We achieve simultaneous reverse isolation of more than 20 dB and insertion loss less than 1.5 dB. We characterize the nonreciprocal noise performance of the device, observing that the residual thermal noise from the mechanical environments is routed solely to the input of the isolator. Our measurements show quantitative agreement with a general coupled-mode theory. Unlike conventional isolators and circulators, these compact nonreciprocal devices do not require a static magnetic field, and they allow for dynamic control of the direction of isolation. With these advantages, similar devices could enable programmable, high-efficiency connections between disparate nodes of quantum networks, even efficiently bridging the microwave and optical domains.

A novel wavelength multiplexer/demutiplexer based on side-port multimode interference coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Shile; Jian, Wu; Zhao, Lingjuan; Qiu, Jifang; Yin, Zuoshan; Hui, Rongqing

2014-05-01

Based on side-port multimode interference coupler, a novel design of 1.31/1.55-μm wavelength multiplexer/demutiplexer on SOI platform with conventional channel waveguides is proposed and analyzed by using wide-angle beam propagation method. With a 25.9μm long ultra-short MMI section, nearly an order of magnitude shorter than that of the previously reported 1.31/1.55-μm wavelength MMI splitters on SOI, simulation results exhibit contrasts of 28dB and 25dB at wavelength 1.31 and 1.55 μm, respectively, and the insertion losses are both below 0.55dB. Meanwhile, the analysis shows that the proposed structure has larger fabrication tolerances than restricted MMI based structures and the present design methodology also applies to split other wavelengths and in different material platforms, such as InP, GaAs and PLC guides, etc.

Topology-optimized silicon photonic wire mode (de)multiplexer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frellsen, Louise F.; Frandsen, Lars H.; Ding, Yunhong; Elesin, Yuriy; Sigmund, Ole; Yvind, Kresten

2015-02-01

We have designed and for the first time experimentally verified a topology optimized mode (de)multiplexer, which demultiplexes the fundamental and the first order mode of a double mode photonic wire to two separate single mode waveguides (and multiplexes vice versa). The device has a footprint of ~4.4 μm x ~2.8 μm and was fabricated for different design resolutions and design threshold values to verify the robustness of the structure to fabrication tolerances. The multiplexing functionality was confirmed by recording mode profiles using an infrared camera and vertical grating couplers. All structures were experimentally found to maintain functionality throughout a 100 nm wavelength range limited by available laser sources and insertion losses were generally lower than 1.3 dB. The cross talk was around -12 dB and the extinction ratio was measured to be better than 8 dB.

Electro-optical logic gates based on graphene-silicon waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weiwei; Yang, Longzhi; Wang, Pengjun; Zhang, Yawei; Zhou, Liqiang; Yang, Tianjun; Wang, Yang; Yang, Jianyi

2016-08-01

In this paper, designs of electro-optical AND/NAND, OR/ NOR, XOR/XNOR logic gates based on cascaded silicon graphene switches and regular 2×1 multimode interference combiners are presented. Each switch consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in which silicon slot waveguides embedded with graphene flakes are designed for phase shifters. High-speed switching function is achieved by applying an electrical signal to tune the Fermi levels of graphene flakes causing the variation of modal effective index. Calculation results show the crosstalk in the proposed optical switch is lower than -22.9 dB within a bandwidth from 1510 nm to 1600 nm. The designed six electro-optical logic gates with the operation speed of 10 Gbit/s have a minimum extinction ratio of 35.6 dB and a maximum insertion loss of 0.21 dB for transverse electric modes at 1.55 μm.

Magneto-optical non-reciprocal devices in silicon photonics

PubMed Central

Shoji, Yuya; Mizumoto, Tetsuya

2014-01-01

Silicon waveguide optical non-reciprocal devices based on the magneto-optical effect are reviewed. The non-reciprocal phase shift caused by the first-order magneto-optical effect is effective in realizing optical non-reciprocal devices in silicon waveguide platforms. In a silicon-on-insulator waveguide, the low refractive index of the buried oxide layer enhances the magneto-optical phase shift, which reduces the device footprints. A surface activated direct bonding technique was developed to integrate a magneto-optical garnet crystal on the silicon waveguides. A silicon waveguide optical isolator based on the magneto-optical phase shift was demonstrated with an optical isolation of 30 dB and insertion loss of 13 dB at a wavelength of 1548 nm. Furthermore, a four port optical circulator was demonstrated with maximum isolations of 15.3 and 9.3 dB in cross and bar ports, respectively, at a wavelength of 1531 nm. PMID:27877640

Numerical investigation of polarization insensitive two-mode division (De)multiplexer based on an asymmetric directional coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truong, Cao Dung; Trinh, M. Tuan; Dang, Hoai Bac; Nguyen, Van Tho

2017-02-01

We propose a polarization insensitive two-mode division (de)multiplexer based on a silicon-on-insulator platform operating with a broadband, low insertion and scattering loss, and small crosstalk. By using an asymmetric directional coupler, two-mode (de)multiplexing functions for both polarization TE and TM states can be realized by the numerical simulation. Simulated results using a three dimensional beam propagation method (3D-BPM) incorporated with an effective index method (EIM) show high performance of the device with an operation efficiency above 81.2% (i.e., insertion loss is less than 0.9 dB) in the range of ±5 nm around the central wavelength of 1550 nm. Fabrication tolerances also have proved suitability to current manufacture technologies for the planar waveguides. Besides a low scattering loss of the sidewall roughness and a little influence of dispersion, a small footprint can bring the device to applications of high bitrate and compact on-chip silicon photonic integrated circuits.

Examination of Insert Ear Interaural Attenuation (IA)Values in Audiological Evaluations.

PubMed

Gumus, Nebi M; Gumus, Merve; Unsal, Selim; Yuksel, Mustafa; Gunduz, Mehmet

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Interaural Attenuation (IA) in frequency base in the insert earphones that are used in audiological assessments. Thirty healthy subjects between 18-65 years of age (14 female and 16 male) participated in our study. Otoscopic examination was performed on all participants. Audiological evaluations were performed using the Interacoustics AC40 clinical audiometer and ER-3A insert earphones. IA value was calculated by subtracting good ear bone conduction hearing thresholds of the worst airway hearing threshold. In our measuring for 0.125-8.0 kHz frequency were performed in our audiometry device separately for each frequency. IA amount in the results we found in 1000 Hz and below frequencies about 75-110 dB range avarage is 89±5dB, in above 1000 Hz frequencies in 50-95 dB range and avarage it is changed to 69±5dB. According to the obtained findings the quantity of melting in the transition between the ears are increasing with the insert earphones. The insert earphone should be beside supraaural earphone that is routinely used in clinics. Difficult masking applications due to the increase in the value of IA can be easily done with insert earphones.

Large core plastic planar optical splitter fabricated by 3D printing technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prajzler, Václav; Kulha, Pavel; Knietel, Marian; Enser, Herbert

2017-10-01

We report on the design, fabrication and optical properties of large core multimode optical polymer splitter fabricated using fill up core polymer in substrate that was made by 3D printing technology. The splitter was designed by the beam propagation method intended for assembling large core waveguide fibers with 735 μm diameter. Waveguide core layers were made of optically clear liquid adhesive, and Veroclear polymer was used as substrate and cover layers. Measurement of optical losses proved that the insertion optical loss was lower than 6.8 dB in the visible spectrum.

[Magnetic resonance imaging study and cochlear implantation in post-meningitic deaf patients].

PubMed

Liu, Xiuli; Yao, Yiwen; He, Guili; Zhai, Lijie

2004-07-01

To investigate the clinical application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in post-meningitic patients and its impact on surgical decision. The pre-operative MRI data and auditory brainstem response (ABR) examination of five post-meningitic patients were studied. They were implanted with cochleas. The interval between the onset of bacterial meningitis and the hearing loss was (15.8 +/- 15.0)d and it was longer in children than adults. Five ears showed membranous cochlear labyrinth abnormality; 3 ears had vestibule vestibule abnormality; 8 ears demonstrated semicircular canal abnormality on MRI examinations in totally 10 ears. The mean hearing threshold of 10 ears was (102.0 +/- 7.1)dB HL,that of the operated ears was (98.0 +/- 5.7)dB HL and that of the un-operated ears was (106.0 +/- 6.5)dB HL. It was (15.8 +/- 15.0)d from the bacterial meningitis onset to hearing loss. The interval is longer in children than adults. There were 3 ears that electrodes could not be inserted completely. The bacterial meningitis may cause the abnormalities of inner ears and the MRI before surgery is essential for the pre-operative planning of cochlear implant.

Design of High Performance Microstrip LPF with Analytical Transfer Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mousavi, Seyed Mohammad Hadi; Raziani, Saeed; Falihi, Ali

2017-12-01

By exploiting butterfly and T-shaped resonators, a new design of microstrip lowpass filter (LPF) is proposed and analyzed. The LPF is investigated in four sections. Analyzing initial resonator and its equation in detail, providing a sharp skirt by using series configuration, suppressing in middle frequencies and suppressing in high frequencies are focused in each section, respectively. To present a theoretical design, LC equivalent circuit and transfer function are precisely calculated. The measured insertion loss of the LPF is less that 0.4 dB in frequency range from DC up to 1.25 GHz, and the return loss is better than 16 dB. A narrow transition band of 217 MHz and a roll-off rate of 170.5 dB /GHz are indicative of a sharp skirt. By utilizing T-shaped and modified T-shaped resonators in the third and fourth sections, respectively, a relative stopband bandwidth (RSB) of 166 % is obtained. Furthermore, the proposed LPF occupies a small circuit of 0.116{λ _g} × 0.141{λ _g}, where {λ _g} is the guided wavelength at cut-off frequency (1.495 GHz). Finally, the proposed LPF is fabricated and the measured results agree well with the simulated ones.

Silicon photonics plasma-modulators with advanced transmission line design.

PubMed

Merget, Florian; Azadeh, Saeed Sharif; Mueller, Juliana; Shen, Bin; Nezhad, Maziar P; Hauck, Johannes; Witzens, Jeremy

2013-08-26

We have investigated two novel concepts for the design of transmission lines in travelling wave Mach-Zehnder interferometer based Silicon Photonics depletion modulators overcoming the analog bandwidth limitations arising from cross-talk between signal lines in push-pull modulators and reducing the linear losses of the transmission lines. We experimentally validate the concepts and demonstrate an E/O -3 dBe bandwidth of 16 GHz with a 4V drive voltage (in dual drive configuration) and 8.8 dB on-chip insertion losses. Significant bandwidth improvements result from suppression of cross-talk. An additional bandwidth enhancement of ~11% results from a reduction of resistive transmission line losses. Frequency dependent loss models for loaded transmission lines and E/O bandwidth modeling are fully verified.

Optical interconnection for a polymeric PLC device using simple positional alignment.

PubMed

Ryu, Jin Hwa; Kim, Po Jin; Cho, Cheon Soo; Lee, El-Hang; Kim, Chang-Seok; Jeong, Myung Yung

2011-04-25

This study proposes a simple cost-effective method of optical interconnection between a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) device chip and an optical fiber. It was conducted to minimize and overcome the coupling loss caused by lateral offset which is due to the process tolerance and the dimensional limitation existing between PLC device chips and fiber array blocks with groove structures. A PLC device chip and a fiber array block were simultaneously fabricated in a series of polymer replication processes using the original master. The dimensions (i.e., width and thickness) of the under-clad of the PLC device chip were identical to those of the fiber array block. The PLC device chip and optical fiber were aligned by simple positional control for the vertical direction of the PLC device chip under a particular condition. The insertion loss of the proposed 1 x 2 multimode optical splitter device interconnection was 4.0 dB at 850 nm and the coupling loss was below 0.1 dB compared with single-fiber based active alignment.

Surface trimming of silicon photonics devices using controlled reactive ion etching chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, S.; Das, B. K.

2015-06-01

Surface trimming of rib waveguides fabricated in 5-μm SOI substrate has been carried out successfully without any significant increase of propagation losses. A reactive ion etching chemistry has been optimized for trimming and an empirical model has been developed to obtain the resulting waveguide geometries. This technique has been used to demonstrate smaller footprint devices like multimode interference based power splitters and ring resonators after defining them photolithographically with relatively large cross-section rib waveguides. We have been also successful to fabricate 2D tapered spot-size converter useful for monolithic integration of waveguides with varying heights and widths. The taper length is again precisely controlled by photolithographic definition. Minimum insertion loss of such a spot-size converter integrated between waveguides with 3-μm height difference has been recorded to be ∼2 dB. It has been also shown that the overall fiber-to-chip coupling loss can be reduced by >3 dB by using such spot-size converters at the input/output side of the waveguides.

An easy packaging hybrid optical element in grating based WDM application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Hsiao-Chin; Cheng, Chao-Chia; Wang, Chih-Ming; Chang, Jenq-Yang

2005-08-01

We developed a new optical element which integrates an off-axis diffractive grating and an on-axis refractive lens surface in a prism. With this optical element, the alignment tolerance can be improved by manufacturing technology of the grating based WDM device and is practicable for mass production. An 100-GHz 16-channel DWDM device which includes this optical element has been designed. Ray tracing and beam propagation method (BPM) simulations showed good performance on the insertion loss of 2.91+/-0.53dB and the adjacent cross talk of 58.02dB. The tolerance discussion for this DWDM device shows that this optical element could be practically achieved by either injection molding or the hot embossing method.

Design and Simulation of Microstrip Hairpin Bandpass Filter with Open Stub and Defected Ground Structure (DGS) at X-Band Frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hariyadi, T.; Mulyasari, S.; Mukhidin

2018-02-01

In this paper we have designed and simulated a Band Pass Filter (BPF) at X-band frequency. This filter is designed for X-band weather radar application with 9500 MHz center frequency and bandwidth -3 dB is 120 MHz. The filter design was performed using a hairpin microstrip combined with an open stub and defected ground structure (DGS). The substrate used is Rogers RT5880 with a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a thickness of 1.575 mm. Based on the simulation results, it is found that the filter works on frequency 9,44 - 9,56 GHz with insertion loss value at pass band is -1,57 dB.

Wavelength selection by dielectric-loaded plasmonic components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmgaard, Tobias; Chen, Zhuo; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.; Markey, Laurent; Dereux, Alain; Krasavin, Alexey V.; Zayats, Anatoly V.

2009-02-01

Fabrication, characterization, and modeling of waveguide-ring resonators and in-line Bragg gratings for wavelength selection in the telecommunication range are reported utilizing dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides. The devices were fabricated by depositing subwavelength-sized polymer ridges on a smooth gold film using industrially compatible large-scale UV photolithography. We demonstrate efficient and compact wavelength-selective filters, including waveguide-ring resonators with an insertion loss of ˜2 dB and a footprint of only 150 μm2 featuring narrow bandwidth (˜20 nm) and high contrast (˜13 dB) features in the transmission spectrum. The performance of the components is found in good agreement with the results obtained by full vectorial three-dimensional finite element simulations.

A passively mode locked thulium doped fiber laser using bismuth telluride deposited multimode interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, M.; Lee, J.; Song, W.; Lee, Y. L.; Lee, J. H.; Shin, W.

2016-05-01

We proposed a multimode interference (MMI) fiber based saturable absorber using bismuth telluride at  ∼2 μm region. Our MMI based saturable absorber was fabricated by fusion splicing with single mode fiber and null core fiber. The MMI functioned as both wavelength fixed filter and saturable absorber. The 3 dB bandwidth and insertion loss of MMI were 42 nm and 3.4 dB at wavelength of 1958 nm, respectively. We have also reported a passively mode locked thulium doped fiber laser operating at a wavelength of 1958 nm using a multimode interference. A temporal bandwidth of  ∼46 ps was experimentally obtained at a repetition rate of 8.58 MHz.

A Novel Nanoionics-Based Switch for Microwave Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nessel, James A.; Lee, Richard Q.; Mueller, Carl H.; Kozicki, Michael N.; Ren, Minghan; Morse, Jacki

2008-01-01

This paper reports the development and characterization of a novel switching device for use in microwave systems. The device utilizes a switching mechanism based on nanoionics, in which mobile ions within a solid electrolyte undergo an electrochemical process to form and remove a conductive metallic "bridge" to define the change of state. The nanoionics-based switch has demonstrated an insertion loss of approx.0.5dB, isolation of >30dB, low voltage operation (1V), low power (approx. micro-W) and low energy (approx. nJ) consumption, and excellent linearity up to 6 GHz. The switch requires fewer bias operations (due to non-volatile nature) and has a simple planar geometry allowing for novel device structures and easy integration into microwave power distribution circuits.

Cmos spdt switch for wlan applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhuiyan, M. A. S.; Reaz, M. B. I.; Rahman, L. F.; Minhad, K. N.

2015-04-01

WLAN has become an essential part of our today's life. The advancement of CMOS technology let the researchers contribute low power, size and cost effective WLAN devices. This paper proposes a single pole double through transmit/receive (T/R) switch for WLAN applications in 0.13 μm CMOS technology. The proposed switch exhibit 1.36 dB insertion loss, 25.3 dB isolation and 24.3 dBm power handling capacity. Moreover, it only dissipates 786.7 nW power per cycle. The switch utilizes only transistor aspect ratio optimization and resistive body floating technique to achieve such desired performance. In this design the use of bulky inductor and capacitor is avoided to evade imposition of unwanted nonlinearities to the communication signal.

Advanced large scale GaAs monolithic IF switch matrix subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ch'en, D. R.; Petersen, W. C.; Kiba, W. M.

1992-01-01

Attention is given to a novel chip design and packaging technique to overcome the limitations due to the high signal isolation requirements of advanced communications systems. A hermetically sealed 6 x 6 monolithic GaAs switch matrix subsystem with integral control electronics based on this technique is presented. An 0-dB insertion loss and 60-dB crosspoint isolation over a 3.5-to-6-GHz band were achieved. The internal controller portion of the switching subsystem provides crosspoint control via a standard RS-232 computer interface and can be synchronized with an external systems control computer. The measured performance of this advanced switching subsystem is fully compatible with relatively static 'switchboard' as well as dynamic TDMA modes of operation.

Two microstrip arrays for interferometric SAR applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, J.

1993-01-01

Two types of C-band aircraft interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) are being developed at JPL to measure the ocean wave characteristics. Each type requires two identical antennas with each having a long rectangular aperture to radiate fan-shaped beam(s). One type of these radars requires each of its antennas to radiate a broadside beam that will measure the target's cross-track velocity. The other type, having each of its antennas to radiate two off-broadside pointed beams, will allow the measurement of both the cross-track and the along-track velocities of the target. Because flush mounting of the antenna on the aircraft fuselage is desirable, microstrip patch array is selected for these interferometric SAR antennas. To meet the radar system requirement, each array needs a total of 76 microstrip patches which are arranged in a 38 x 2 rectangular aperture with a physical size of 1.6m x 16.5cm. To minimize the insertion loss and physical real estate of this relatively long array, a combined series/parallel feed technique is used. Techniques to suppress cross-pol radiation and to effectively utilize the RF power are also implemented. Cross-pol level of lower than -30 dB from the co-pol peak and low insertion loss of 0.36 dB have been achieved for both types of arrays. For the type of radar that requires two off-braodside pointed beams, a simple phasing technique is used to achieve this dual-beam capability with adequate antenna gain (20 dBi) and sidelobe level (-14 dB). Both radar arrays have been flight tested on aircraft with excellent antenna performance demonstrated.

A fully wafer-level packaged RF MEMS switch with low actuation voltage using a piezoelectric actuator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Jae-Hyoung; Lee, Hee-Chul; Park, Yong-Hee; Kim, Yong-Dae; Ji, Chang-Hyeon; Bu, Jonguk; Nam, Hyo-Jin

2006-11-01

In this paper, a fully wafer-level packaged RF MEMS switch has been demonstrated, which has low operation voltage, using a piezoelectric actuator. The piezoelectric actuator was designed to operate at low actuation voltage for application to advanced mobile handsets. The dc contact type RF switch was packaged using the wafer-level bonding process. The CPW transmission lines and piezoelectric actuators have been fabricated on separate wafers and assembled together by the wafer-level eutectic bonding process. A gold and tin composite was used for eutectic bonding at a low temperature of 300 °C. Via holes interconnecting the electrical contact pads through the wafer were filled completely with electroplated copper. The fully wafer-level packaged RF MEMS switch showed an insertion loss of 0.63 dB and an isolation of 26.4 dB at 5 GHz. The actuation voltage of the switch was 5 V. The resonant frequency of the piezoelectric actuator was 38.4 kHz and the spring constant of the actuator was calculated to be 9.6 N m-1. The size of the packaged SPST (single-pole single-through) switch was 1.2 mm × 1.2 mm including the packaging sealing rim. The effect of the proposed package structure on the RF performance was characterized with a device having CPW through lines and vertical feed lines excluding the RF switches. The measured packaging loss was 0.2 dB and the return loss was 33.6 dB at 5 GHz.

Ultrashort broadband polarization beam splitter based on a combined hybrid plasmonic waveguide.

PubMed

Chang, Ken-Wei; Huang, Chia-Chien

2016-01-20

We propose an ultracompact broadband polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on a combined hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW). The proposed PBS separates transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) modes using a bent lower HPW with vertical nanoscale gaps and a straight upper HPW with a horizontal nanoscale gap, respectively, without relying on an additional coupling region. This design considerably reduces the length of the PBS to the submicron scale (920 nm, the shortest PBS reported to date) while offering polarization extinction ratios (PERs) of ~19 dB (~18 dB) and insertion losses (ILs) of ~0.6 dB (~0.3 dB) for the TE (TM) mode over an extremely broad band of 400 nm (from λ = 1300 nm to 1700 nm, covering entirely second and third telecom windows). The length of the designed PBS can be reduced further to 620 nm while still offering PERs of 15 dB, realizing a densely photonic integrated circuit. Considering the fabrication tolerance, the designed PBS allows for large geometrical deviations of ± 20 nm while restricting PER variations to within 1 dB, except for those in the nanoscale gaps smaller than 10nm. Additionally, we also address the input and ouput coupling efficiencies of the proposed PBS.

Coupling analysis of non-circular-symmetric modes and design of orientation-insensitive few-mode fiber couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiaxiong; Du, Jiangbing; Ma, Lin; Li, Ming-Jun; Jiang, Shoulin; Xu, Xiao; He, Zuyuan

2017-01-01

We study the coupling between two identical weakly-coupled few-mode fibers based on coupled-mode theory. The coupling behavior of non-circular-symmetric modes, such as LP11 and LP21, is investigated analytically and numerically. By carefully choosing the fiber core separation and coupler length, we can design orientation-insensitive fiber couplers for non-circular-symmetric modes at arbitrary coupling ratios. Based on the design method, we propose an orientation-insensitive two-mode fiber coupler at 850 nm working as a mode multiplexer/demultiplexer for two-mode transmission using standard single-mode fiber. Within the band from 845 to 855 nm, the insertion losses of LP01 and LP11 modes are less than 0.03 dB and 0.24 dB, respectively. When the two-mode fiber coupler is used as mode demultiplexer, the LP01/LP11 and LP11/LP01 extinction ratios in the separated branches are respectively above 12.6 dB and 21.2 dB. Our design method can be extended to two-mode communication or sensing systems at other wavelengths.

High-frequency acoustic spectrum analyzer based on polymer integrated optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yacoubian, Araz

This dissertation presents an acoustic spectrum analyzer based on nonlinear polymer-integrated optics. The device is used in a scanning heterodyne geometry by zero biasing a Michelson interferometer. It is capable of detecting vibrations from DC to the GHz range. Initial low frequency experiments show that the device is an effective tool for analyzing an acoustic spectrum even in noisy environments. Three generations of integrated sensors are presented, starting with a very lossy (86 dB total insertion loss) initial device that detects vibrations as low as λ/10, and second and third generation improvements with a final device of 44 dB total insertion loss. The sensor was further tested for detecting a pulsed laser-excited vibration and resonances due to the structure of the sample. The data are compared to the acoustic spectrum measured using a low loss passive fiber interferometer detection scheme which utilizes a high speed detector. The peaks present in the passive detection scheme are clearly visible with our sensor data, which have a lower noise floor. Hybrid integration of GHz electronics is also investigated in this dissertation. A voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is integrated on a polymer device using a new approach. The VCO is shown to operate as specified by the manufacturer, and the RF signal is efficiently launched onto the micro-strip line used for EO modulation. In the future this technology can be used in conjunction with the presented sensor to produce a fully integrated device containing high frequency drive electronics controlled by low DC voltage. Issues related to device fabrication, loss analysis, RF power delivery to drive circuitry, efficient poling of large area samples, and optimizing poling conditions are also discussed throughout the text.

Improved silica-PLC Mach-Zehnder interferometer type optical switches with error dependence compensation of directional coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Yi, Jia; Guo, Lijun; Liu, Peng; Hall, Trevor J.; Sun, DeGui

2017-03-01

For the most popular structure of planer lightwave circuit (PLC) 2×2 thermo-optic switches, Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), a full range of splitting ratio errors of directional coupler (DC) are investigated. All the parameters determining the splitting ratio are the dimensions and the refractive indices of the waveguide core and cladding layers. In this work, the coherent relationships between the waveguide size and the refractive indices are analyzed and then the error compensation between the width and the refractive index of waveguide core, and the controllable effect of over clad layer refractive index error upon the MZI-type optical switch are all discovered with numerical calculation and BPM simulations. Then, an MZI-type 2×2 thermo-optic switch having a higher error tolerance is established with the efficient optimizations of all the 3 dB-DC parameters. As a result, for the symmetric MZI switch, an insertion loss of 1.5 dB and optical extinction ratio of over 20 dB are realized for the average tolerance of±5.0%. An asymmetric arm optical phase and unequal arm lengths is also employed to improve the uniformities of insertion loss. The agreements between the designs and the experiments are recognized, leading to a wide adoption of practical silica-PLC optical switch products.

Design of efficient, broadband single-element (20-80 MHz) ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging applications.

PubMed

Cannata, Jonathan M; Ritter, Timothy A; Chen, Wo-Hsing; Silverman, Ronald H; Shung, K Kirk

2003-11-01

This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and testing of sensitive broadband lithium niobate (LiNbO3) single-element ultrasonic transducers in the 20-80 MHz frequency range. Transducers of varying dimensions were built for an f# range of 2.0-3.1. The desired focal depths were achieved by either casting an acoustic lens on the transducer face or press-focusing the piezoelectric into a spherical curvature. For designs that required electrical impedance matching, a low impedance transmission line coaxial cable was used. All transducers were tested in a pulse-echo arrangement, whereby the center frequency, bandwidth, insertion loss, and focal depth were measured. Several transducers were fabricated with center frequencies in the 20-80 MHz range with the measured -6 dB bandwidths and two-way insertion loss values ranging from 57 to 74% and 9.6 to 21.3 dB, respectively. Both transducer focusing techniques proved successful in producing highly sensitive, high-frequency, single-element, ultrasonic-imaging transducers. In vivo and in vitro ultrasonic backscatter microscope (UBM) images of human eyes were obtained with the 50 MHz transducers. The high sensitivity of these devices could possibly allow for an increase in depth of penetration, higher image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and improved image contrast at high frequencies when compared to previously reported results.

Spectro-temporal characteristics of speech at high frequencies, and the potential for restoration of audibility to people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

PubMed

Moore, Brian C J; Stone, Michael A; Füllgrabe, Christian; Glasberg, Brian R; Puria, Sunil

2008-12-01

It is possible for auditory prostheses to provide amplification for frequencies above 6 kHz. However, most current hearing-aid fitting procedures do not give recommended gains for such high frequencies. This study was intended to provide information that could be useful in quantifying appropriate high-frequency gains, and in establishing the population of hearing-impaired people who might benefit from such amplification. The study had two parts. In the first part, wide-bandwidth recordings of normal conversational speech were obtained from a sample of male and female talkers. The recordings were used to determine the mean spectral shape over a wide frequency range, and to determine the distribution of levels (the speech dynamic range) as a function of center frequency. In the second part, audiometric thresholds were measured for frequencies of 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.5 kHz for both ears of 31 people selected to have mild or moderate cochlear hearing loss. The hearing loss was never greater than 70 dB for any frequency up to 4 kHz. The mean spectrum level of the speech fell progressively with increasing center frequency above about 0.5 kHz. For speech with an overall level of 65 dB SPL, the mean 1/3-octave level was 49 and 37 dB SPL for center frequencies of 1 and 10 kHz, respectively. The dynamic range of the speech was similar for center frequencies of 1 and 10 kHz. The part of the dynamic range below the root-mean-square level was larger than reported in previous studies. The mean audiometric thresholds at high frequencies (10 and 12.5 kHz) were relatively high (69 and 77 dB HL, respectively), even though the mean thresholds for frequencies below 4 kHz were 41 dB HL or better. To partially restore audibility for a hearing loss of 65 dB at 10 kHz would require an effective insertion gain of about 36 dB at 10 kHz. With this gain, audibility could be (partly) restored for 25 of the 62 ears assessed.

Dual-Polarized Antenna Arrays with CMOS Power Amplifiers for SiP Integration at W-Band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giese, Malte; Vehring, Sönke; Böck, Georg; Jacob, Arne F.

2017-09-01

This paper presents requirements and front-end solutions for low-cost communication systems with data rates of 100 Gbit/s. Link budget analyses in different mass-market applications are conducted for that purpose. It proposes an implementation of the front-end as an active antenna array with support for beam steering and polarization multiplexing over the full W-band. The critical system components are investigated and presented. This applies to a transformer coupled power amplifier (PA) in 40 nm bulk CMOS. It shows saturated output power of more than 10 dBm and power-added-efficiency of more than 10 % over the full W-band. Furthermore, the performance of microstrip-to-waveguide transitions is shown exemplarily as an important part of the active antenna as it interfaces active circuitry and antenna in a polymer-and-metal process. The transition test design shows less than 0.9 dB insertion loss and more than 12 dB return loss for the differential transition over the full W-band.

Full Ka Band Waveguide-to-Microstrip Inline Transition Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jianxing; Li, Lei; Qiao, Yu; Chen, Juan; Chen, Jianzhong; Zhang, Anxue

2018-05-01

In this paper, a compact and broadband inline waveguide-to-microstrip transition is proposed to cover the full Ka band. The transition can be segmented from the electric point of view into three building blocks, comprising a microstrip line to rectangular coaxial line, a wedged rectangular coaxial line to ridged waveguide, and a final tapered ridged waveguide impedance transformer to standard waveguide. Both good electrical performance and simple modular assembly without any soldering have been simultaneously obtained. The validation of the design concept has been conducted by numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The experimental results of a fabricated back-to-back transition prototype coincide with the simulated results. It shows that the proposed transition achieves good return loss of lower than 15.5 dB and low insertion loss with a fluctuation between 0.23 to 0.60 dB across the entire Ka band. Details of design considerations and operation mechanism as well as simulation and measurement results are presented.

Epitaxial VO2 thin-film-based radio-frequency switches with electrical activation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jaeseong; Lee, Daesu; Cho, Sang June; Seo, Jung-Hun; Liu, Dong; Eom, Chang-Beom; Ma, Zhenqiang

2017-09-01

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a correlated material exhibiting a sharp insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) caused by temperature change and/or bias voltage. We report on the demonstration of electrically triggered radio-frequency (RF) switches based on epitaxial VO2 thin films. The highly epitaxial VO2 and SnO2 template layer was grown on a (001) TiO2 substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). A resistance change of the VO2 thin films of four orders of magnitude was achieved with a relatively low threshold voltage, as low as 13 V, for an IMT phase transition. VO2 RF switches also showed high-frequency responses of insertion losses of -3 dB at the on-state and return losses of -4.3 dB at the off-state over 27 GHz. Furthermore, an intrinsic cutoff frequency of 17.4 THz was estimated for the RF switches. The study on electrical IMT dynamics revealed a phase transition time of 840 ns.

The Fiber Optic Subsystem Components on Express Logistics Carrier for International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ott, Melanie N.; Switzer, Robert; Thomes, William Joe; Chuska, Richard; LaRocca, Frank; Day, Lance

2009-01-01

ISS SSP 50184 HRDL optical fiber communication subsystem, has system level requirements that were changed to accommodate large loss optical fiber links previously installed. SSQ22680 design is difficult to implement, no metal shell over socket/pin combination to protect the weak part of the pin. Additions to ISS are planned for the future. AVIM still used for interconnection in space flight applications without incident. Thermal cycling resulted in less than 0.25 dB max change in Insertion Loss for all types during cycling, nominal as compared to the AVIM. Vibration testing results conclusion; no significant changes, nominal as compared to AVIM.

Space-multiplexed optical scanner.

PubMed

Riza, Nabeel A; Yaqoob, Zahid

2004-05-01

A low-loss two-dimensional optical beam scanner that is capable of delivering large (e.g., > 10 degrees) angular scans along the elevation as well as the azimuthal direction is presented. The proposed scanner is based on a space-switched parallel-serial architecture that employs a coarse-scanner module and a fine-scanner module that produce an ultrahigh scan space-fill factor, e.g., 900 x 900 distinguishable beams in a 10 degrees (elevation) x 10 degrees (azimuth) scan space. The experimentally demonstrated one-dimensional version of the proposed scanner has a supercontinuous scan, 100 distinguishable beam spots in a 2.29 degrees total scan range, and 1.5-dB optical insertion loss.

Cascaded Mach-Zehnder wavelength filters in silicon photonics for low loss and flat pass-band WDM (de-)multiplexing.

PubMed

Horst, Folkert; Green, William M J; Assefa, Solomon; Shank, Steven M; Vlasov, Yurii A; Offrein, Bert Jan

2013-05-20

We present 1-to-8 wavelength (de-)multiplexer devices based on a binary tree of cascaded Mach-Zehnder-like lattice filters, and manufactured using a 90 nm CMOS-integrated silicon photonics technology. We demonstrate that these devices combine a flat pass-band over more than 50% of the channel spacing with low insertion loss of less than 1.6 dB, and have a small device size of approximately 500 × 400 µm. This makes this type of filters well suited for application as WDM (de-)multiplexer in silicon photonics transceivers for optical data communication in large scale computer systems.

Fiber-coupled dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguides.

PubMed

Gosciniak, Jacek; Volkov, Valentyn S; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I; Markey, Laurent; Massenot, Sébastien; Dereux, Alain

2010-03-01

Fiber in- and out-coupling of radiation guided by dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides (DLSPPWs) is realized using intermediate tapered dielectric waveguides. The waveguide structures fabricated by large-scale UV-lithography consist of 1-microm-thick polymer ridges tapered from 10-microm-wide ridges deposited directly on a magnesium fluoride substrate to 1-microm-wide ridges placed on a 50-nm-thick and 100-microm-wide gold stripe. Using fiber-to-fiber transmission measurements at telecom wavelengths, the performance of straight and bent DLSPPWs is characterized demonstrating the overall insertion loss below 24 dB, half of which is attributed to the DLSPPW loss of propagation over the 100-microm-long distance.

MPO-type single-mode multi-fiber connector: Low-loss and high-return-loss intermateability of APC-MPO connectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satake, Toshiaki; Nagasawa, Shinji; Hughes, Mike; Lutz, Sharon

2011-01-01

The electrical communication laboratory of NTT started the research of MT (Mechanically Transferable) connector in early 1980s. The initial goal was to realize a multi-fiber connector which can repeat low loss, stable, reliable and low-cost connections of subscriber optical fiber cable networks for more than 20 years period in the field. We review the multi-fiber alignment design with two guide pins, and following several technical improvements toward the final MT connector used in the commercial telecommunication networks. And then, we review development histories to reach to the low-loss, high-return-loss and reliable APC-MPO (Angled Physical Contact Multi-fiber Push On) connectors introduced in NTT COs and in Verizon's FTTH (Fiber To The Home) networks. In the latter half, we propose the low-loss intermateability design for connectors made by different suppliers in order to enable mass introductions into large scale systems. In addition we also describe an accurate connector loss presumption method for different lots' ferrules based on the MT ferrule dimension data before assembling the connectors. We believe with a wide intermateability of APC-MPO connector will increase its use in the fields. The APC-MPO connector manufactured based on the proposed design had low insertion losses of less than 0.25 dB at the same level of simplex connectors and the higher level of return losses higher than 65 dB.

Design and application of 8-channel SOI-based AWG demultiplexer for CWDM-system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Juhari, Nurjuliana; Menon, P. Susthitha; Ehsan, Abang Annuar

2015-04-24

Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) serving as a demultiplexer (demux) has been designed on SOI platform and was utilized in a Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) system ranging from 1471 nm to 1611 nm. The investigation was carried out at device and system levels. At device level, 20 nm (∼ 2500 GHz) channel spacing was successfully simulated using beam propagation method (BPM) under TE mode polarization with a unique double S-shape pattern at arrays region. The performance of optical properties gave the low values of 0.96 dB dB for insertion loss and – 22.38 dB for optical crosstalk. AWG device wasmore » then successfully used as demultiplexer in CWDM system when 10 Gb/s data rate was applied in the system. Limitation of signal power due to attenuation and fiber dispersion detected by BER analyzer =10{sup −9} of the system was compared with theoretical value. Hence, the maximum distance of optical fiber can be achieved.« less

Channel add-drop filter based on dual photonic crystal cavities in push-pull mode.

PubMed

Poulton, Christopher V; Zeng, Xiaoge; Wade, Mark T; Popović, Miloš A

2015-09-15

We demonstrate an add-drop filter based on a dual photonic crystal nanobeam cavity system that emulates the operation of a traveling wave resonator, and, thus, provides separation of the through and drop port transmission from the input port. The device is on a 3×3  mm chip fabricated in an advanced microelectronics silicon-on-insulator complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (SOI CMOS) process (IBM 45 nm SOI) without any foundry process modifications. The filter shows 1 dB of insertion loss in the drop port with a 3 dB bandwidth of 64 GHz, and 16 dB extinction in the through port. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a port-separating, add-drop filter based on standing wave cavities coupled to conventional waveguides, and demonstrates a performance that suggests potential for photonic crystal devices within optical immersion lithography-based advanced CMOS electronics-photonics integration.

Analysis and Design of a Novel W-band SPST Switch by Employing Full-Wave EM Simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhengbin; Guo, Jian; Qian, Cheng; Dou, Wenbin

2011-12-01

In this paper, a W-band single pole single throw (SPST) switch based on a novel PIN diode model is presented. The PIN diode is modeled using a full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulator and its parasitic parameters under both forward and reverse bias states are described by a T-network. By this approach, the measurement-based model, which is usually a must for high performance switch design, is no longer necessary. A compensation structure is optimized to obtain a high isolation of the switch. Accordingly, a W-band SPST switch is designed using a full wave EM simulator. Measurement results agree very well with simulated ones. Our measurements show that the developed switch has less than 1.5 dB insertion loss under the `on' state from 88 GHz to 98 GHz. Isolation greater than 30 dB over 2 GHz bandwidth and greater than 20 dB over 5 GHz bandwidth can be achieved at the center frequency of 94 GHz under the `off' state.

30GHz Ge electro-absorption modulator integrated with 3 μm silicon-on-insulator waveguide.

PubMed

Feng, Ning-Ning; Feng, Dazeng; Liao, Shirong; Wang, Xin; Dong, Po; Liang, Hong; Kung, Cheng-Chih; Qian, Wei; Fong, Joan; Shafiiha, Roshanak; Luo, Ying; Cunningham, Jack; Krishnamoorthy, Ashok V; Asghari, Mehdi

2011-04-11

We demonstrate a compact waveguide-based high-speed Ge electro-absorption (EA) modulator integrated with a single mode 3 µm silicon-on-isolator (SOI) waveguide. The Ge EA modulator is based on a horizontally-oriented p-i-n structure butt-coupled with a deep-etched silicon waveguide, which transitions adiabatically to a shallow-etched single mode large core SOI waveguide. The demonstrated device has a compact active region of 1.0 × 45 µm(2), a total insertion loss of 2.5-5 dB and an extinction ratio of 4-7.5 dB over a wavelength range of 1610-1640 nm with -4V(pp) bias. The estimated Δα/α value is in the range of 2-3.3. The 3 dB bandwidth measurements show that the device is capable of operating at more than 30 GHz. Clear eye-diagram openings at 12.5 Gbps demonstrates large signal modulation at high transmission rate. © 2011 Optical Society of America

N× N optical switch based on cascaded microring resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing-sen; Lu, Huan-yu; Zhao, Yu-lin

2018-05-01

An N×N optical switch based on cascaded microring resonators on chip is proposed. As an example, the 4×4 optical switch is further investigated. It is successfully demonstrated that its insertion loss is relatively low as 2.2 dB, the crosstalk is negligible, and the extinction ratio ( ER) is as large as 130 dB. Thermal tuning is employed to make the microrings be in resonance or not, which leads to a response time of several hundred microseconds. Alternatively, doping the desired waveguide regions with p-type or n-type dopants is able to achieve a better response time of several nanoseconds. The proposed design is easily integrated to a large scale with less microring resonators, which ensures the compact size and the low power consumption.

A linear-to-circular polarization converter based on a second-order band-pass frequency selective surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Baoqin; Wu, Jia-liang; Da, Xin-yu; Li, Wei; Ma, Jia-jun

2017-01-01

In this work, we propose a linear-to-circular transmission polarization converter based on a second-order band-pass frequency selective surface (FSS). The FSS is composed of a three-layer aperture-coupled-patch structure, it can be interpreted as an array of antenna-filter-antenna modules, wherein the antenna is just a circularly polarized corner-truncated square microstrip antenna. A prototype of the proposed polarization converter is analyzed, fabricated and tested. Both simulation and experimental results show that the 3-dB axial ratio relative bandwidth of the polarization converter is over 30%, and the maximum insertion loss is only 1.87 dB; in addition, it can maintain good performance over a wide angular bandwidth at TE incidence.

Construction of large scale switch matrix by interconnecting integrated optical switch chips with EDFAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Mingle; Wu, Baojian; Hou, Jianhong; Qiu, Kun

2018-03-01

Large scale optical switches are essential components in optical communication network. We aim to build up a large scale optical switch matrix by the interconnection of silicon-based optical switch chips using 3-stage CLOS structure, where EDFAs are needed to compensate for the insertion loss of the chips. The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) performance of the resulting large scale optical switch matrix is investigated for TE-mode light and the experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical analysis. We build up a 64 ×64 switch matrix by use of 16 ×16 optical switch chips and the OSNR and receiver sensibility can respectively be improved by 0.6 dB and 0.2 dB by optimizing the gain configuration of the EDFAs.

On-chip switch for reconfigurable mode-multiplexing optical network.

PubMed

Sun, Chunlei; Yu, Yu; Chen, Guanyu; Zhang, Xinliang

2016-09-19

The switching and routing is essential for an advanced and reconfigurable optical network, and great efforts have been done for traditional single-mode system. We propose and demonstrate an on-chip switch compatible with mode-division multiplexing system. By controlling the induced phase difference, the functionalities of dynamically routing data channels can be achieved. The proposed switch is experimentally demonstrated with low insertion loss of ~1 dB and high extinction ratio of ~20 dB over the C-band for OFF-ON switchover. For further demonstration, the non-return-to-zero on-off keying signals at 10 Gb/s carried on the two spatial modes are successfully processed. Open and clear eye diagrams can be observed and the bit error rate measurements indicate a good data routing performance.

Microwave Ablation With a Triaxial Antenna: Results in ex vivo Bovine Liver

PubMed Central

Brace, Christopher L.; Laeseke, Paul F.; van der Weide, Daniel W.; Lee, Fred T.

2007-01-01

We apply a new triaxial antenna for microwave ablation procedures to an ex vivo bovine liver. The antenna consists of a coaxial monopole inserted through a biopsy needle positioned one quarter-wavelength from the antenna base. The insertion needle creates a triaxial structure, which enhances return loss more than 10 dB, maximizing energy transfer to the tissue while minimizing feed cable heating and invasiveness. Numerical electromagnetic and thermal simulations are used to optimize the antenna design and predict heating patterns. Numerical and ex vivo experimental results show that the lesion size depends strongly on ablation time and average input power, but not on peak power. Pulsing algorithms are also explored. We were able to measure a 3.8-cm lesion using 50 W for 7 min, which we believe to be the largest lesion reported thus far using a 17-gauge insertion needle. PMID:18079981

Wideband bandpass filters employing broadside-coupled microstrip lines for MIC and MMIC applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tran, M.; Nguyen, C.

1994-01-01

Wideband bandpass filters employing half-wavelength broadside-coupled microstrip lines suitable for microwave and mm-wave integrated monolithic integrated circuits (MIC and MMIC) are presented. Several filters have been developed at X-band (8 to 12 GHz) with 1 dB insertion loss. Fair agreement between the measured and calculated results has been observed. The analysis of the broadside-coupled microstrip lines used in the filters, based on the quasi-static spectral domain technique, is also described.

Mid-IR fused fiber couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, G.; Woodbridge, T.

2016-03-01

We present results from our recent efforts on developing single-mode fused couplers in ZBLAN fibre. We have developed a custom fusion workstation for working with lower melting temperature fibres, such as ZBLAN and chalcogenide fibres. Our workstation uses a precisely controlled electrical heater designed to operate at temperatures between 100 - 250°C as our heat source. The heated region of the fibers was also placed in an inert atmosphere to avoid the formation of microcrystal inclusions during fusion. We firstly developed a process for pulling adiabatic tapers in 6/125 μm ZBLAN fibre. The tapers were measured actively during manufacture using a 2000 nm source. The process was automated so that the heater temperature and motor speed automatically adjusted to pull the taper at constant tension. This process was then further developed so that we could fuse and draw two parallel 6/125 μm ZBLAN fibres, forming a single-mode coupler. Low ratio couplers (1-10%) that could be used as power monitors were manufactured that had an excess loss of 0.76 dB. We have also manufactured 50/50 splitters and wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs). However, the excess loss of these devices was typically 2 - 3 dB. The increased losses were due to localised necking and surface defects forming as the tapers were pulled further to achieve a greater coupling ratio. Initial experiments with chalcogenide fibre have shown that our process can be readily adapted for chalcogenide fibres. A 5% coupler with 1.5 dB insertion loss was manufactured using commercial of the shelf (COTS) fibres.

Design and fabrication of a variable optical attenuator based on polymer-dispersed liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

She, Jun; Xu, Su; Tao, Tao; Wang, Qian

2005-02-01

In order to obtain a low polarization dependent loss (PDL) and a large attenuation range simultaneously, an optimal design and fabrication of a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) based variable optical attenuator (VOA) is presented. First, an optimal diameter of the liquid crystal droplets is determined by the anomalous diffraction approach (ADA). This optimal diameter gives maximal scattering and thus a large attenuation range is achieved with a relatively thin liquid crystal cell. Secondly, the fabrication of PDLC cell is carried out. The influence of the ultraviolet (UV) curing condition on the morphology of the LC droplets is investigated. For a given liquid crystal concentration, the optimal UV curing power is obtained after a series of statistically designed experiments. Finally, an optical configuration of the PDLC based VOA is presented. Measurements of the attenuation and the PDL are carried out with this configuration. The measured results show that the device has a typical attenuation range of 25dB. The corresponding PDL is nearly 1dB and the insertion loss is 1.8dB. The threshold voltage is 8Vrms and the saturation voltage is 40Vrms. From these measured results, one can see that the fabricated VOA based on PDLC is much more practical for optical communications as compared to the existing ones.

Noise Exposure of Teachers in Nursery Schools—Evaluation of Measures for Noise Reduction When Dropping DUPLO Toy Bricks into Storage Cases by Sound Analyses

PubMed Central

Gebauer, Konstanze; Scharf, Thomas; Baumann, Uwe; Groneberg, David A.; Bundschuh, Matthias

2016-01-01

Background: Although noise is one of the leading work-related health risk factors for teachers, many nursery schools lack sufficient noise reduction measures. Methods: This intervention study evaluated the noise exposure of nursery school teachers when dropping DUPLO toy bricks into storage cases. Sound analyses of the impact included assessment of the maximum sound pressure level (LAFmax) as well as frequency analyses with 1/3 octave band filter. For the purpose of standardization, a customized gadget was developed. Recordings were performed in 11 cases of different materials and designs to assess the impact on sound level reduction. Thereby, the acoustic effects of three damping materials (foam rubber, carpet, and PU-foam) were investigated. Results: The lowest LAFmax was measured in cases consisting of “metal grid” (90.71 dB) or of a woven willow “basket” (91.61 dB), whereas a case of “aluminium” (103.34 dB) generated the highest impact LAFmax. The frequency analyses determined especially low LAFmax in the frequency bands between 80 and 2500 Hz in cases designs “metal grid” and “basket”. The insertion of PU-foam achieved the most significant attenuation of LAFmax (−13.88 dB) and, in the frequency analyses, the best sound damping. Conclusion: The dropping of DUPLO bricks in cases contributes to the high noise level in nursery schools, but measured LAFmax show no evidence for the danger of acute hearing loss. However, continuous exposure may lead to functional impairment of the hair cells and trigger stress reactions. We recommend noise reduction by utilizing cases of woven “basket” with an insert of PU-foam. PMID:27384575

Noise Exposure of Teachers in Nursery Schools-Evaluation of Measures for Noise Reduction When Dropping DUPLO Toy Bricks into Storage Cases by Sound Analyses.

PubMed

Gebauer, Konstanze; Scharf, Thomas; Baumann, Uwe; Groneberg, David A; Bundschuh, Matthias

2016-07-04

Although noise is one of the leading work-related health risk factors for teachers, many nursery schools lack sufficient noise reduction measures. This intervention study evaluated the noise exposure of nursery school teachers when dropping DUPLO toy bricks into storage cases. Sound analyses of the impact included assessment of the maximum sound pressure level (LAFmax) as well as frequency analyses with 1/3 octave band filter. For the purpose of standardization, a customized gadget was developed. Recordings were performed in 11 cases of different materials and designs to assess the impact on sound level reduction. Thereby, the acoustic effects of three damping materials (foam rubber, carpet, and PU-foam) were investigated. The lowest LAFmax was measured in cases consisting of "metal grid" (90.71 dB) or of a woven willow "basket" (91.61 dB), whereas a case of "aluminium" (103.34 dB) generated the highest impact LAFmax. The frequency analyses determined especially low LAFmax in the frequency bands between 80 and 2500 Hz in cases designs "metal grid" and "basket". The insertion of PU-foam achieved the most significant attenuation of LAFmax (-13.88 dB) and, in the frequency analyses, the best sound damping. The dropping of DUPLO bricks in cases contributes to the high noise level in nursery schools, but measured LAFmax show no evidence for the danger of acute hearing loss. However, continuous exposure may lead to functional impairment of the hair cells and trigger stress reactions. We recommend noise reduction by utilizing cases of woven "basket" with an insert of PU-foam.

Integrated five-port non-blocking optical router based on mode-selective property

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Hao; Zhou, Ting; Fu, Xin; Ding, Jianfeng; Zhang, Lei; Yang, Lin

2018-05-01

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a five-port optical router based on mode-selective property. It utilizes different combinations of four spatial modes at input and output ports as labels to distinguish its 20 routing paths. It can direct signals from the source port to the destination port intelligently without power consumption and additional switching time to realize various path steering. The proposed architecture is constructed by asymmetric directional coupler based mode-multiplexers/de-multiplexers, multimode interference based waveguide crossings and single-mode interconnect waveguides. The broad optical bandwidths of these constituents make the device suitable to combine with wavelength division multiplexing signal transmission, which can effectively increase the data throughput. Measurement results show that the insertion loss of its 20 routing paths are lower than 8.5 dB and the optical signal-to-noise ratios are larger than 16.3 dB at 1525-1565 nm. To characterize its routing functionality, a 40-Gbps data transmission with bit-error-rate (BER) measurement is implemented. The power penalties for the error-free switching (BER<10-9) are 1.0 dB and 0.8 dB at 1545 nm and 1565 nm, respectively.

Broadband silicon polarization beam splitter with a high extinction ratio using a triple-bent-waveguide directional coupler.

PubMed

Ong, Jun Rong; Ang, Thomas Y L; Sahin, Ezgi; Pawlina, Bryan; Chen, G F R; Tan, D T H; Lim, Soon Thor; Png, Ching Eng

2017-11-01

We report on the design and experimental demonstration of a broadband silicon polarization beam splitter (PBS) with a high extinction ratio (ER)≥30  dB. This was achieved using triple-bent-waveguide directional coupling in a single PBS, and cascaded PBS topology. For the single PBS, the bandwidths for an ER≥30  dB are 20 nm for the quasi-TE mode, and 70 nm for the quasi-TM mode when a broadband light source (1520-1610 nm) was employed. The insertion loss (IL) varies from 0.2 to 1 dB for the quasi-TE mode and 0.2-2 dB for the quasi-TM mode. The cascaded PBS improved the bandwidth of the quasi-TE mode for an ER≥30  dB to 90 nm, with a low IL of 0.2-2 dB. To the best of our knowledge, our PBS system is one of the best broadband PBSs with an ER as high as ∼42  dB and a low IL below 1 dB around the central wavelength, and experimentally demonstrated using edge-coupling.

Design of an S band narrow-band bandpass BAW filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yang; Zhao, Kun-li; Han, Chao

2017-11-01

An S band narrowband bandpass filter BAW with center frequency 2.460 GHz, bandwidth 41MHz, band insertion loss - 1.154 dB, the passband ripple 0.9 dB, the out of band rejection about -42.5dB@2.385 GHz; -45.5dB@2.506 GHz was designed for potential UAV measurement and control applications. According to the design specifications, the design is as follows: each FBAR's stack was designed in BAW filter by using Mason model. Each FBAR's shape was designed with the method of apodization electrode. The layout of BAW filter was designed. The acoustic-electromagnetic cosimulation model was built to validate the performance of the designed BAW filter. The presented design procedure is a common one, and there are two characteristics: 1) an A and EM co-simulation method is used for the final BAW filter performance validation in the design stage, thus ensures over-optimistic designs by the bare 1D Mason model are found and rejected in time; 2) An in-house developed auto-layout method is used to get compact BAW filter layout, which simplifies iterative error-and-try work here and output necessary in-plane geometry information to the A and EM cosimulation model.

Terahertz modulation based on surface plasmon resonance by self-gated graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Zhenhai; Yang, Dongxiao; Wang, Wei

2018-05-01

We theoretically and numerically investigate the extraordinary optical transmission through a terahertz metamaterial composed of metallic ring aperture arrays. The physical mechanism of different transmission peaks is elucidated to be magnetic polaritons or propagation surface plasmons with the help of surface current and electromagnetic field distributions at respective resonance frequencies. Then, we propose a high performance terahertz modulator based on the unique PSP resonance and combined with the metallic ring aperture arrays and a self-gated parallel-plate graphene capacitor. Because, to date, few researches have exhibited gate-controlled graphene modulation in terahertz region with low insertion losses, high modulation depth and low control voltage at room temperature. Here, we propose a 96% amplitude modulation with 0.7 dB insertion losses and ∼5.5 V gate voltage. Besides, we further study the absorption spectra of the modulator. When the transmission of modulator is very low, a 91% absorption can be achieved for avoiding damaging the source devices.

Electrical switching dynamics and broadband microwave characteristics of VO2 radio frequency devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Sieu D.; Zhou, You; Fisher, Christopher J.; Ramanathan, Shriram; Treadway, Jacob P.

2013-05-01

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a correlated electron system that features a metal-insulator phase transition (MIT) above room temperature and is of interest in high speed switching devices. Here, we integrate VO2 into two-terminal coplanar waveguides and demonstrate a large resistance modulation of the same magnitude (>103) in both electrically (i.e., by bias voltage, referred to as E-MIT) and thermally (T-MIT) driven transitions. We examine transient switching characteristics of the E-MIT and observe two distinguishable time scales for switching. We find an abrupt jump in conductivity with a rise time of the order of 10 ns followed by an oscillatory damping to steady state on the order of several μs. We characterize the RF power response in the On state and find that high RF input power drives VO2 further into the metallic phase, indicating that electromagnetic radiation-switching of the phase transition may be possible. We measure S-parameter RF properties up to 13.5 GHz. Insertion loss is markedly flat at 2.95 dB across the frequency range in the On state, and sufficient isolation of over 25 dB is observed in the Off state. We are able to simulate the RF response accurately using both lumped element and 3D electromagnetic models. Extrapolation of our results suggests that optimizing device geometry can reduce insertion loss further and maintain broadband flatness up to 40 GHz.

Nanoionics-Based Switches for Radio-Frequency Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nessel, James; Lee, Richard

2010-01-01

Nanoionics-based devices have shown promise as alternatives to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and semiconductor diode devices for switching radio-frequency (RF) signals in diverse systems. Examples of systems that utilize RF switches include phase shifters for electronically steerable phased-array antennas, multiplexers, cellular telephones and other radio transceivers, and other portable electronic devices. Semiconductor diode switches can operate at low potentials (about 1 to 3 V) and high speeds (switching times of the order of nanoseconds) but are characterized by significant insertion loss, high DC power consumption, low isolation, and generation of third-order harmonics and intermodulation distortion (IMD). MEMS-based switches feature low insertion loss (of the order of 0.2 dB), low DC power consumption (picowatts), high isolation (>30 dB), and low IMD, but contain moving parts, are not highly reliable, and must be operated at high actuation potentials (20 to 60 V) generated and applied by use of complex circuitry. In addition, fabrication of MEMS is complex, involving many processing steps. Nanoionics-based switches offer the superior RF performance and low power consumption of MEMS switches, without need for the high potentials and complex circuitry necessary for operation of MEMS switches. At the same time, nanoionics-based switches offer the high switching speed of semiconductor devices. Also, like semiconductor devices, nanoionics-based switches can be fabricated relatively inexpensively by use of conventional integrated-circuit fabrication techniques. More over, nanoionics-based switches have simple planar structures that can easily be integrated into RF power-distribution circuits.

Low Insertion Loss and Highly Sensitive SH-SAW Sensors Based on 36° YX LiTaO 3 Through the Incorporation of Filled Microcavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richardson, Mandek; Sankaranarayanan, Subramanian K. R. S.; Bhethanabotla, Venkat R.

2015-02-01

Reduction in power consumption and improvement in mass sensitivity are important considerations for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices used in various sensing applications. Detection of minute quantities of a particular species (clinical sensing) and power requirements (wireless sensing) are two key metrics that must be optimized. In this paper, a 3-D finite element model (FEM) was employed to compare insertion loss (IL) and mass sensitivity of SAW sensors having microcavities filled with ZnO and nanocrystalline diamond to a standard two-port SAW design. Initial simulation results show that ZnO filled cavities (depth = 5 mu m) were most effective at reducingmore » power loss Delta IL = (6.03 dB) by increasing particle displacement (acousto-electric to mechanical transduction) at the output transducer. A 100-pg/cm(2) load was applied to the sensing area of each device to evaluate mass sensitivity. Our simulations suggest that ZnO filled cavities with shallow depth (2.5 mu m) have the greatest sensitivity. The FEM simulations are used to understand the acoustic wave propagation in microcavity-based SAW sensors. The observed enhancement in mass sensitivity and power transfer is attributed to waveguiding effects and constructive interference of the scattered acoustic waves from the microcavities. Devices fabricated with microcavities similar to 1 mu m deep decreased IL by 3.306 dB compared with a standard SAW device. Additional simulations were conducted for each device configuration using the same depth in order to make a direct comparison between measured and simulated results. Our findings offer encouraging prospects for designing low IL highly sensitive microcavity-based SAW biosensors.« less

A study of resonant-cavity and fiberglass-filled parallel baffles as duct silencers. [for wind tunnels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soderman, P. T.

1982-01-01

Acoustical performance and pressure drop were measured for two types of splitters designed to attenuate sound propagating in ducts - resonant-cavity baffles and fiberglass-filled baffles. Arrays of four baffles were evaluated in the 7- by 10-foot wind tunnel number 1 at Ames Research Center at flow speeds from 0 to 41 m/sec. The baffles were 2.1 m high, 305 to 406 mm thick, and 3.1 to 4.4 m long. Emphasis was on measurements of silencer insertion loss as affected by variations of such parameters as baffle length, baffle thickness, perforated skin geometry, cavity size and shape, cavity damping, wind speed, and acoustic field directivity. An analytical method for predicting silencer performance is described and compared with measurements. With the addition of cavity damping in the form of 25-mm foam linings, the insertion loss above 250 Hz of the resonant-cavity baffles was improved 2 to 7 db compared with the undamped baffles; the loss became equal to or greater than the insertion loss of comparable size fiberglass baffles at frequencies above 250 Hz. Variations of cavity size and shape showed that a series of cavities with triangular cross-sections (i.e., variable depth) were superior to cavities with rectangular cross sections (i.e., constant depth). In wind, the undamped, resonant-cavity baffles generated loud cavity-resonance tones; the tones could be eliminated by cavity damping.

Low-chirp high-extinction-ratio modulator based on graphene-silicon waveguide.

PubMed

Yang, Longzhi; Hu, Ting; Hao, Ran; Qiu, Chen; Xu, Chao; Yu, Hui; Xu, Yang; Jiang, Xiaoqing; Li, Yubo; Yang, Jianyi

2013-07-15

We present a hybrid graphene-silicon waveguide, which consists of a lateral slot waveguide with three layers of graphene flakes inside. Through a theoretical analysis, an effective index variation for about 0.05 is found in the waveguide by applying a voltage on the graphene. We designed a Mach-Zehnder modulator based on this waveguide and demonstrated it can process signals nearly chirp-free. The calculation shows that the driving voltage is only 1 V even if the length of the arm is shortened to be 43.54 μm. An extinction up to 34.7 dB and a minimum chirp parameter of -0.006 are obtained. Its insertion loss is roughly -1.37 dB. This modulator consumes low power and has a small footprint. It can potentially be ultrafast as well as CMOS compatible.

Enhancement of coupling ratios in SOI based asymmetrical optical directional couplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pendam, Nagaraju; Vardhani, Chunduru Parvatha

2017-11-01

A novel design of slab structured asymmetrical optical directional coupler with S-bend waveguides on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform has been designed by using R-Soft CAD tool. Beam propagation method (BPM) is used for light propagation analysis. The simulation results of asymmetrical optical directional couplers are reported. We find that the asymmetrical directional coupler has lower coupling ratios and higher extinction ratios with waveguide parameters such as width, wavelength, waveguide spacing, and coupling length. Simulation results designate that the coupling efficiency for transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes can reach about more than 95% and extinction ratio about 6 dB when the coupling length is 6 mm for both the polarization modes and insertion loss is 17 dB with same coupling length 6 mm at central wavelength 1550 nm.

Ultracompact photonic crystal polarization beam splitter based on multimode interference.

PubMed

Lu, Ming-Feng; Liao, Shan-Mei; Huang, Yang-Tung

2010-02-01

We propose a theoretical design for a compact photonic crystal (PC) polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on the multimode interference (MMI) effect. The size of a conventional MMI device designed by the self-imaging principle is not compact enough; therefore, we design a compact PC PBS based on the difference of the interference effect between TE and TM modes. Within the MMI coupler, the dependence of interference of modes on propagation distance is weak for a TE wave and strong for a TM wave; as a result, the length of the MMI section can be only seven lattice constants. Simulation results show that the insertion losses are 0.32 and 0.89 dB, and the extinction ratios are 14.4 and 17.5 dB for Port 1 (TE mode) and Port 2 (TM mode), respectively.

Widely Tunable On-Chip Microwave Circulator for Superconducting Quantum Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, Benjamin J.; Rosenthal, Eric I.; Kerckhoff, Joseph; Moores, Bradley A.; Vale, Leila R.; Mates, J. A. B.; Hilton, Gene C.; Lalumière, Kevin; Blais, Alexandre; Lehnert, K. W.

2017-10-01

We report on the design and performance of an on-chip microwave circulator with a widely (GHz) tunable operation frequency. Nonreciprocity is created with a combination of frequency conversion and delay, and requires neither permanent magnets nor microwave bias tones, allowing on-chip integration with other superconducting circuits without the need for high-bandwidth control lines. Isolation in the device exceeds 20 dB over a bandwidth of tens of MHz, and its insertion loss is small, reaching as low as 0.9 dB at select operation frequencies. Furthermore, the device is linear with respect to input power for signal powers up to hundreds of fW (≈103 circulating photons), and the direction of circulation can be dynamically reconfigured. We demonstrate its operation at a selection of frequencies between 4 and 6 GHz.

High performance millimeter-wave microstrip circulators and isolators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shih, Ming; Pan, J. J.

1990-01-01

Millimeter wave systems, phased array antennas, and high performance components all require wideband circulators (and isolators) to perform diplexing and switching, to improve isolation and Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), and to construct IMPATT diode reflection amplifiers. Presently, most of the millimeter-wave circulators and isolators are available in the configurations of waveguide or stripline, both of which suffer from the shortcomings of bulky size/weight, narrow bandwidth, and poor compatibility with monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits (MMIC). MMW microstrip circulators/isolators can eliminate or improve these shortcomings. Stub-tuned microstrip circulator configuration were developed utilizing the electromagnetic fields perturbation technique, the adhesion problems of microstrip metallization on new ferrite substrate were overcome, the fabrication, assembly, packaging techniques were improved, and then successfully designed, fabricated a Ka band circulator which has isolation and return loss of greater than 16dB, insertion loss less than 0.7dB. To assess the steady and reliable performance of the circulator, a temperature cycling test was done over the range of -20 to +50 C for 3 continuous cycles and found no significant impact or variation of circulator performance.

FIBER AND INTEGRATED OPTICS: Matching of fiber and strip optical waveguides by graded-index optical matching components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shmal'ko, A. V.; Gordova, M. R.; Lamekin, V. F.; Nikolaev, I. V.; Sakharov, V. V.; Smirnov, V. L.; Polyantsev, A. S.

1990-01-01

A method for selection and calculation of the parameters of axisymmetric and anamorphic graded-index lenses for optical matching devices is developed and tested. These devices are intended for detachable connectors joining single-mode fibers to strip optical waveguides and are characterized by a greater tolerance to a mismatch between these waveguides. An experimental study is reported of a prototype of an optical matching device based on graded-index lenses characterized by insertion losses from 1-3 dB.

Low-temperature DC-contact piezoelectric switch operable in high magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaltenbacher, Thomas; Caspers, Fritz; Doser, Michael; Kellerbauer, Alban; Pribyl, Wolfgang

2013-11-01

A piezoelectric single-pole single-throw (SPST) switch has been developed, since there is no satisfying commercial low-resistance, high current DC-contact RF switch available which is operable at 4.2 K and in a high magnetic field of at least 0.5 T. This piezoelectric switch shows very low insertion loss of less than -0.1 dB within a bandwidth of 100 MHz when operated at 4.2 K. The switch could also be used to mechanically disconnect and connect electrodes or electrical circuits from one another.

Design of an electro-optic-polymer-based Mach-Zehnder modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haugen, Chris J.; DeCorby, Ray G.; McMullin, James N.; Pulikkaseril, C.

2000-12-01

A novel structure for an electro-optic (e-o) polymer based Mach-Zehnder modulator is proposed and its anticipated device performance is detailed. The modulator is designed using commercially available materials and makes usc of wellcharacterized electrical and optical structures. The modulator is designed to be competitive with the pertrmance of LiNbO based modulators. The results of the analysis predict a bandwidth of 20 GHz, V of 8-10 V, optical insertion loss of S d13, and a contrast ratio of approximately 13 dB.

Board-level optical clock signal distribution using Si CMOS-compatible polyimide-based 1- to 48-fanout H-tree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Linghui; Bihari, Bipin; Gan, Jianhua; Chen, Ray T.; Tang, Suning

1998-08-01

Si-CMOS compatible polymer-based waveguides for optoelectronic interconnects and packaging have been fabricated and characterized. A 1-to-48 fanout optoelectronic interconnection layer (OIL) structure based on Ultradel 9120/9020 for the high-speed massive clock signal distribution for a Cray T-90 supercomputer board has been constructed. The OIL employs multimode polymeric channel waveguides in conjunction with surface-normal waveguide output coupler and 1-to-2 splitter. A total insertion loss of 7.98 dB at 850 nm was measured experimentally.

Demonstration of Compact and Low-Loss Athermal Arrayed-Waveguide Grating Module Based on 2.5%-Δ Silica-Based Waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maru, Koichi; Abe, Yukio; Uetsuka, Hisato

2008-10-01

We demonstrated a compact and low-loss athermal arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) module utilizing silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. Spot-size converters based on a vertical ridge-waveguide taper were integrated with a 2.5%-Δ athermal AWG to reduce the loss at chip-to-fiber interface. Spot-size converters based on a segmented core were formed around resin-filled trenches for athermalization formed in the slab to reduce the diffraction loss at the trenches. A 16-channel athermal AWG module with 100-GHz channel spacing was fabricated. The use of a 2.5%-Δ athermal chip with a single-side fiber array enabled a compact package of the size of 41.6×16.6×4.5 mm3. Athermal characteristics and a small insertion loss of 3.5-3.8 dB were obtained by virtue of low fiber-to-chip coupling loss and athermalization with low excess loss.

High-performance and high-reliability SOT-6 packaged diplexer based on advanced IPD fabrication techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiang, Tian; Wang, Cong; Kim, Nam-Young

2017-08-01

A diplexer offering the advantages of compact size, high performance, and high reliability is proposed on the basis of advanced integrated passive device (IPD) fabrication techniques. The proposed diplexer is developed by combining a third-order low-pass filter (LPF) and a third-order high-pass filter (HPF), which are designed on the basis of the elliptic function prototype low-pass filter. Primary components, such as inductors and capacitors, are designed and fabricated with high Q-factor and appropriate values, and they are subsequently used to construct a compact diplexer having a chip area of 900 μm × 1100 μm (0.009 λ0 × 0.011 λ0, where λ0 is the guided wavelength). In addition, a small-outline transistor (SOT-6) packaging method is adopted, and reliability tests (including temperature, humidity, vibration, and pressure) are conducted to guarantee long-term stability and commercial success. The packaged measurement results indicate excellent RF performance with insertion losses of 1.39 dB and 0.75 dB at operation bands of 0.9 GHz and 1.8 GHz, respectively. The return loss is lower than 10 dB from 0.5 GHz to 4.0 GHz, while the isolation is higher than 15 dB from 0.5 GHz to 3.0 GHz. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed SOT-6 packaged diplexer is a promising candidate for GSM/CDMA applications. Synthetic solution of diplexer design, RF performance optimization, fabrication process, packaging, RF response measurement, and reliability test is particularly explained and analyzed in this work.

Optical modulation from an electro-optic polymer based hybrid Fabry-Perot etalon using transparent conducting oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, Haiyong; Zhang, Hongxi; DeRose, Christopher T.; Norwood, Robert A.; Fallahi, Mahmoud; Luo, Jingdong; Jen, Alex K.-Y.; Liu, Boyang; Ho, Seng-Tiong; Peyghambarian, Nasser

2007-02-01

Fabry-Perot etalons using electro-optic (EO) organic materials can be used for devices such as tunable filters and spatial light modulators (SLM's) for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communication systems 1-5 and ultrafast imaging systems. For these applications the SLM's need to have: (i) low insertion loss, (ii) high speed operation, and (iii) large modulation depth with low drive voltage. Recently, there have been three developments which together can enhance the SLM performance to a higher level. First, low loss distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors are now used in SLM's to replace thin metal mirrors, resulting in reduced transmission loss, high reflectivity (>99%) and high finesse. Second, EO polymer materials have shown excellent properties for wide bandwidth optical modulation for information technology due to their fabrication flexibility, compatibility with high speed operation, and large EO coefficients at telecommunication wavelengths. For instance, the EO polymer AJL8/APC (AJL8: nonlinear optical chromophore, and APC: amorphous polycarbonate has recently been incorporated into waveguide modulators and achieved good performance for optical modulation. Finally, very low loss transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes have drawn increasing attention for applications in optoelectronic devices. Here we will address how the low loss indium oxide (In IIO 3) electrodes with an absorption coefficient ~1000/cm and conductivity ~204 S/cm can help improve the modulation performance of EO polymer Fabry-Pérot étalons using the advanced electro-optic (EO) polymer material (AJL8/APC). A hybrid etalon structure with one highly conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode outside the etalon cavity and one low-absorption In IIO 3 electrode inside etalon cavity has been demonstrated. High finesse (~234), improved effective applied voltage ratio (~0.25), and low insertion loss (~4 dB) have been obtained. A 10 dB isolation ratio and ~10% modulation depth at 200 kHz with only 5 V applied voltage have been achieved. These results indicate that such etalons are very promising candidates for ultrafast spatial light modulation in information technology.

Hybrid feedforward-feedback active noise reduction for hearing protection and communication.

PubMed

Ray, Laura R; Solbeck, Jason A; Streeter, Alexander D; Collier, Robert D

2006-10-01

A hybrid active noise reduction (ANR) architecture is presented and validated for a circumaural earcup and a communication earplug. The hybrid system combines source-independent feedback ANR with a Lyapunov-tuned leaky LMS filter (LyLMS) improving gain stability margins over feedforward ANR alone. In flat plate testing, the earcup demonstrates an overall C-weighted total noise reduction of 40 dB and 30-32 dB, respectively, for 50-800 Hz sum-of-tones noise and for aircraft or helicopter cockpit noise, improving low frequency (<100 Hz) performance by up to 15 dB over either control component acting individually. For the earplug, a filtered-X implementation of the LyLMS accommodates its nonconstant cancellation path gain. A fast time-domain identification method provides a high-fidelity, computationally efficient, infinite impulse response cancellation path model, which is used for both the filtered-X implementation and communication feedthrough. Insertion loss measurements made with a manikin show overall C-weighted total noise reduction provided by the ANR earplug of 46-48 dB for sum-of-tones 80-2000 Hz and 40-41 dB from 63 to 3000 Hz for UH-60 helicopter noise, with negligible degradation in attenuation during speech communication. For both hearing protectors, a stability metric improves by a factor of 2 to several orders of magnitude through hybrid ANR.

Ultra-wideband ladder filter using SH(0) plate wave in thin LiNbO(3) plate and its application to tunable filter.

PubMed

Kadota, Michio; Tanaka, Shuji

2015-05-01

A cognitive radio terminal using vacant frequency bands of digital TV (DTV) channels, i.e., TV white space, strongly requires a compact tunable filter covering a wide frequency range of the DTV band (470 to 710 MHz in Japan). In this study, a T-type ladder filter using ultra-wideband shear horizontal mode plate wave resonators was fabricated, and a low peak insertion loss of 0.8 dB and an ultra-large 6 dB bandwidth of 240 MHz (41%) were measured in the DTV band. In addition, bandpass filters with different center frequencies of 502 and 653 MHz at 6 dB attenuation were numerically synthesized based on the same T-type ladder filter in conjunction with band rejection filters with different frequencies. The results suggest that the combination of the wideband T-type ladder filter and the band rejection filters connected with variable capacitors enables a tunable filter with large tunability of frequency and bandwidth as well as large rejection at the adjacent channels of an available TV white space.

Proposal for fabrication-tolerant SOI polarization splitter-rotator based on cascaded MMI couplers and an assisted bi-level taper

PubMed Central

Wang, Jing; Qi, Minghao; Xuan, Yi; Huang, Haiyang; Li, You; Li, Ming; Chen, Xin; Jia, Qi; Sheng, Zhen; Wu, Aimin; Li, Wei; Wang, Xi; Zou, Shichang; Gan, Fuwan

2014-01-01

A novel silicon-on-insulator (SOI) polarization splitter-rotator (PSR) with a large fabrication tolerance is proposed based on cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers and an assisted mode-evolution taper. The tapers are designed to adiabatically convert the input TM0 mode into the TE1 mode, which will output as the TE0 mode after processed by the subsequent MMI mode converter, 90-degree phase shifter (PS) and MMI 3 dB coupler. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed device has a < 0.5 dB insertion loss with < −17 dB crosstalk in C optical communication band. Fabrication tolerance analysis is also performed with respect to the deviations of MMI coupler width, PS width, slab height and upper-cladding refractive index, showing that this device could work well even when affected by considerable fabrication errors. With such a robust performance with a large bandwidth, this device offers potential applications for CMOS-compatible polarization diversity, especially in the booming 100 Gb/s coherent optical communications based on silicon photonics technology. PMID:25402029

Proposal for fabrication-tolerant SOI polarization splitter-rotator based on cascaded MMI couplers and an assisted bi-level taper.

PubMed

Wang, Jing; Qi, Minghao; Xuan, Yi; Huang, Haiyang; Li, You; Li, Ming; Chen, Xin; Jia, Qi; Sheng, Zhen; Wu, Aimin; Li, Wei; Wang, Xi; Zou, Shichang; Gan, Fuwan

2014-11-17

A novel silicon-on-insulator (SOI) polarization splitter-rotator (PSR) with a large fabrication tolerance is proposed based on cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers and an assisted mode-evolution taper. The tapers are designed to adiabatically convert the input TM(0) mode into the TE(1) mode, which will output as the TE(0) mode after processed by the subsequent MMI mode converter, 90-degree phase shifter (PS) and MMI 3 dB coupler. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed device has a < 0.5 dB insertion loss with < -17 dB crosstalk in C optical communication band. Fabrication tolerance analysis is also performed with respect to the deviations of MMI coupler width, PS width, slab height and upper-cladding refractive index, showing that this device could work well even when affected by considerable fabrication errors. With such a robust performance with a large bandwidth, this device offers potential applications for CMOS-compatible polarization diversity, especially in the booming 100 Gb/s coherent optical communications based on silicon photonics technology.

An absorptive single-pole four-throw switch using multiple-contact MEMS switches and its application to a monolithic millimeter-wave beam-forming network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sanghyo; Kim, Jong-Man; Kim, Yong-Kweon; Kwon, Youngwoo

2009-01-01

In this paper, a new absorptive single-pole four-throw (SP4T) switch based on multiple-contact switching is proposed and integrated with a Butler matrix to demonstrate a monolithic beam-forming network at millimeter waves (mm waves). In order to simplify the switching driving circuit and reduce the number of unit switches in an absorptive SP4T switch, the individual switches were replaced with long-span multiple-contact switches using stress-free single-crystalline-silicon MEMS technology. This approach improves the mechanical stability as well as the manufacturing yield, thereby allowing successful integration into a monolithic beam former. The fabricated absorptive SP4T MEMS switch shows insertion loss less than 1.3 dB, return losses better than 11 dB at 30 GHz and wideband isolation performance higher than 39 dB from 20 to 40 GHz. The absorptive SP4T MEMS switch is integrated with a 4 × 4 Butler matrix on a single chip to implement a monolithic beam-forming network, directing beam into four distinct angles. Array factors from the measured data show that the proposed absorptive SPnT MEMS switch can be effectively used for high-performance mm-wave beam-switching systems. This work corresponds to the first demonstration of a monolithic beam-forming network using switched beams.

Characterization and optimization of an eight-channel time-multiplexed pulse-shaping system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dorrer, Christophe; Bittle, Wade A.; Cuffney, Robert

High-performance optical pulse shaping is paramount to photonics and lasers applications for which high-resolution optical waveforms must be generated. We investigate the design and performance of a time-multiplexed pulse shaping (TMPS) system in which optical waveforms from a single pulse-shaping unit are demultiplexed and retimed before being sent to different optical systems. This architecture has the advantages of low cost and low relative jitter between optical waveforms because a single pulse-shaping system, e.g., a high-performance arbitrary waveform generator driving a Mach-Zehnder modulator, generates all the waveforms. We demonstrate an eight-channel TMPS system based on a 1 × 8 LiNbO 3more » demultiplexer composed of four stages of 1 × 2 Δβ phase-reversal switches that allow for demultiplexing and extinction enhancement via application of a control voltage modifying the propagation constant difference between adjacent waveguides. It is shown that optimal demultiplexing, i.e. low insertion loss and high extinction ratio between channels, requires optimization in dynamic operation because of the slow component of the switches’ response. Lastly, we demonstrate losses lower than 5 dB, extinction ratios of the order of 70 dB for a four-channel system and 50 dB for an eight-channel system, and jitter added by the demultiplexer smaller than 0.1 ps.« less

Characterization and optimization of an eight-channel time-multiplexed pulse-shaping system

DOE PAGES

Dorrer, Christophe; Bittle, Wade A.; Cuffney, Robert; ...

2016-12-06

High-performance optical pulse shaping is paramount to photonics and lasers applications for which high-resolution optical waveforms must be generated. We investigate the design and performance of a time-multiplexed pulse shaping (TMPS) system in which optical waveforms from a single pulse-shaping unit are demultiplexed and retimed before being sent to different optical systems. This architecture has the advantages of low cost and low relative jitter between optical waveforms because a single pulse-shaping system, e.g., a high-performance arbitrary waveform generator driving a Mach-Zehnder modulator, generates all the waveforms. We demonstrate an eight-channel TMPS system based on a 1 × 8 LiNbO 3more » demultiplexer composed of four stages of 1 × 2 Δβ phase-reversal switches that allow for demultiplexing and extinction enhancement via application of a control voltage modifying the propagation constant difference between adjacent waveguides. It is shown that optimal demultiplexing, i.e. low insertion loss and high extinction ratio between channels, requires optimization in dynamic operation because of the slow component of the switches’ response. Lastly, we demonstrate losses lower than 5 dB, extinction ratios of the order of 70 dB for a four-channel system and 50 dB for an eight-channel system, and jitter added by the demultiplexer smaller than 0.1 ps.« less

High-performance 16-way Ku-band radial power combiner based on the TE01-circular waveguide mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montejo-Garai, José R.; Saracho-Pantoja, Irene O.; Ruiz-Cruz, Jorge A.; Rebollar, Jesús M.

2018-03-01

This work presents a 16-way Ku-band radial power combiner for high power and high frequency applications, using the very low loss TE01 circular waveguide mode. The accomplished design shows an excellent performance: the experimental prototype has a return loss better than 30 dB, with a balance for the amplitudes of (±0.15 dB) and (±2.5°) for the phases, in a 16.7% fractional bandwidth (2 GHz centered at 12 GHz). For obtaining these outstanding specifications, required, for instance, in high-frequency amplification or on plasma systems, a rigorous step-by-step procedure is presented. First, a high-purity mode transducer has been designed, from the TE10 mode in the rectangular waveguide to the TE01 mode in the circular waveguide, with very high attenuation (>50 dB) for the other propagating and evanescent modes in the circular waveguide. This transducer has been manufactured and measured in a back-to-back configuration, validating the design process. Second, an E-plane 16-way radial power divider has been designed, where the power is coupled from the 16 non-reduced-height radial standard waveguides into the TE01 circular waveguide mode, improving the insertion loss response and removing the usual tapered transformers of previous designs limiting the power handling. Finally, both the transducer and the divider have been assembled to make the final radial combiner. The prototype has been carefully manufactured, showing very good agreement between the measurements and the full-wave simulations.

Toward athermal silicon-on-insulator (de)multiplexers in the O-band.

PubMed

Hassan, Karim; Sciancalepore, Corrado; Harduin, Julie; Ferrotti, Thomas; Menezo, Sylvie; Ben Bakir, Badhise

2015-06-01

We report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 1×4 silicon-on-insulator (SOI) demultiplexer exhibiting a significant reduction of its thermo-optical sensitivity in the O-band. The optical filtering is achieved by cascading several Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) fabricated on a 300-nm-thick SOI platform. Owing to an asymmetric design of the confinement for each MZIs, we found an athermal criterium that satisfies the spectral requirements. The thermal sensitivity of the structure is analyzed by a semi-analytical model in order to create an athermal multiplexer. Fiber-to-fiber thermo-optical testing reveals a thermal sensitivity of around 17  pm/°C reduced by 75% compared to the standard devices with promising performances for both the crosstalk (15 dB), the insertion losses (4 dB), and absolute lambda registration (<0.25  nm).

Thermal-Independent Properties of PIN-PMN-PT Single-Crystal Linear-Array Ultrasonic Transducers

PubMed Central

Chen, Ruimin; Wu, Jinchuan; Lam, Kwok Ho; Yao, Liheng; Zhou, Qifa; Tian, Jian; Han, Pengdi; Shung, K. Kirk

2013-01-01

In this paper, low-frequency 32-element linear-array ultrasonic transducers were designed and fabricated using both ternary Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)–Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)–PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT) and binary Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)–PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single crystals. Performance of the array transducers was characterized as a function of temperature ranging from room temperature to 160°C. It was found that the array transducers fabricated using the PIN-PMN-PT single crystal were capable of satisfactory performance at 160°C, having a −6-dB bandwidth of 66% and an insertion loss of 37 dB. The results suggest that the potential of PIN-PMN-PT linear-array ultrasonic transducers for high-temperature ultrasonic transducer applications is promising. PMID:23221227

Development of a 35-MHz piezo-composite ultrasound array for medical imaging.

PubMed

Cannata, Jonathan M; Williams, Jay A; Zhou, Qifa; Ritter, Timothy A; Shung, K Kirk

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the development of a 64-element 35-MHz composite ultrasonic array. This array was designed primarily for ocular imaging applications, and features 2-2 composite elements mechanically diced out of a fine-grain high-density Navy Type VI ceramic. Array elements were spaced at a 50-micron pitch, interconnected via a custom flexible circuit and matched to the 50-ohm system electronics via a 75-ohm transmission line coaxial cable. Elevation focusing was achieved using a cylindrically shaped epoxy lens. One functional 64-element array was fabricated and tested. Bandwidths averaging 55%, 23-dB insertion loss, and crosstalk less than -24 dB were measured. An image of a tungsten wire target phantom was acquired using a synthetic aperture reconstruction algorithm. The results from this imaging test demonstrate resolution exceeding 50 microm axially and 100 microm laterally.

PMN-PT-PZT composite films for high frequency ultrasonic transducer applications.

PubMed

Hsu, Hsiu-Sheng; Benjauthrit, Vatcharee; Zheng, Fan; Chen, Rumin; Huang, Yuhong; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K Kirk

2012-06-01

We have successfully fabricated x (0.65PMN-0.35PT)-(1 - x )PZT ( x PMN-PT-(1 - x )PZT), where x is 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9, thick films with a thickness of approximately 9 µm on platinized silicon substrate by employing a composite sol-gel technique. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that these films are dense and creak-free with well-crystallized perovskite phase in the whole composition range. The dielectric constant can be controllably adjusted by using different compositions. Higher PZT content of x PMN-PT-(1 - x )PZT films show better ferroelectric properties. A representative 0.9PMN-PT-0.1PZT thick film transducer is built. It has 200 MHz center frequency with a -6 dB bandwidth of 38% (76 MHz). The measured two-way insertion loss is 65 dB.

PMN-PT–PZT composite films for high frequency ultrasonic transducer applications

PubMed Central

Hsu, Hsiu-Sheng; Benjauthrit, Vatcharee; Zheng, Fan; Chen, Rumin; Huang, Yuhong; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk

2013-01-01

We have successfully fabricated x(0.65PMN-0.35PT)–(1 − x)PZT (xPMN-PT–(1 − x)PZT), where x is 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9, thick films with a thickness of approximately 9 µm on platinized silicon substrate by employing a composite sol–gel technique. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that these films are dense and creak-free with well-crystallized perovskite phase in the whole composition range. The dielectric constant can be controllably adjusted by using different compositions. Higher PZT content of xPMN-PT–(1 − x)PZT films show better ferroelectric properties. A representative 0.9PMN-PT–0.1PZT thick film transducer is built. It has 200 MHz center frequency with a −6 dB bandwidth of 38% (76 MHz). The measured two-way insertion loss is 65 dB. PMID:23750072

Low voltage driven RF MEMS capacitive switch using reinforcement for reduced buckling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Deepak; Bajpai, Anuroop; Kumar, Prem; Kaur, Maninder; Kumar, Amit; Chandran, Achu; Rangra, Kamaljit

2017-02-01

Variation in actuation voltage for RF MEMS switches is observed as a result of stress-generated buckling of MEMS structures. Large voltage driven RF-MEMS switches are a major concern in space bound communication applications. In this paper, we propose a low voltage driven RF MEMS capacitive switch with the introduction of perforations and reinforcement. The performance of the fabricated switch is compared with conventional capacitive RF MEMS switches. The pull-in voltage of the switch is reduced from 70 V to 16.2 V and the magnitude of deformation is reduced from 8 µm to 1 µm. The design of the reinforcement frame enhances the structural stiffness by 46 % without affecting the high frequency response of the switch. The measured isolation and insertion loss of the reinforced switch is more than 20 dB and 0.4 dB over the X band range.

Flip-chip integrated silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with a 28nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS driver.

PubMed

Yong, Zheng; Shopov, Stefan; Mikkelsen, Jared C; Mallard, Robert; Mak, Jason C C; Voinigescu, Sorin P; Poon, Joyce K S

2017-03-20

We present a silicon electro-optic transmitter consisting of a 28nm ultra-thin body and buried oxide fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (UTBB FD-SOI) CMOS driver flip-chip integrated onto a Mach-Zehnder modulator. The Mach-Zehnder silicon optical modulator was optimized to have a 3dB bandwidth of around 25 GHz at -1V bias and a 50 Ω impedance. The UTBB FD-SOI CMOS driver provided a large output voltage swing around 5 V_pp to enable a high dynamic extinction ratio and a low device insertion loss. At 44 Gbps, the transmitter achieved a high extinction ratio of 6.4 dB at the modulator quadrature operation point. This result shows open eye diagrams at the highest bit rates and with the largest extinction ratios for silicon electro-optic transmitter using a CMOS driver.

Multiplexed displacement fiber sensor using thin core fiber exciter.

PubMed

Chen, Zhen; Hefferman, Gerald; Wei, Tao

2015-06-01

This letter reports a multiplexed optical displacement sensor using a thin core fiber (TCF) exciter. The TCF exciter is followed by a stripped single mode optical fiber. A small section of buffer is used as the movable component along the single mode fiber. Ultra-weak cladding mode reflection (< - 75 dB) was employed to probe the refractive index discontinuity between the air and buffer coating boundary. The position change of the movable buffer segment results in a delay change of the cladding mode reflection. Thus, it is a measure of the displacement of the buffer segment with respect to the glass fiber. The insertion loss of one sensor was measured to be less than 3 dB. A linear relationship was evaluated between the measurement position and absolute position of the moving actuator. Multiplexed capability was demonstrated and no cross talk was found between the sensors.

Substrate integrated waveguide filter showing improved stopband performance and fractional bandwidth using different input/output topologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumari, Puja; Mudiganti, Jagadish Chandra

2017-11-01

In this work bandpass filter based on SIW technology with an adequate fractional bandwidth as well as refinement in the stopband performance is presented. Its application lies with the receiver filter working in the Ka band used mainly in the ground terminal for satellite communication. Additionally analysis of divergent input/output arrangement is also demonstrated. Three SIW filter having a varying passband from 19.2GHz -21.2GHz depending on the input/output are synthesized on a planar substrate having height of 0.508mm RT/duroid 6002 using periodically arranged metal via holes through a regulated PCB process. Simulated outputs has a in-band insertion loss 0.9dB and the improved stopband attenuation within the frequency range of 29.5GHz - 31GHz is around 45 dB. It is observed that the experimented results coincide completely with the results simulated in HFSS/CST.

High-power microstrip RF switch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, S. D.

1971-01-01

A microstrip-type single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch whose RF and bias portions contain only a metallized alumina substrate and two PIN diodes has been developed. A technique developed to eliminate the dc blocking capacitors needed for biasing the diodes is described. These capacitors are extra components and could lower the reliability significantly. An SPDT switch fabricated on a 5.08 x 5.08 x 0.127-cm (2 x 2 x 0.050-in.) substrate has demonstrated an RF power-handling capability greater than 50 W at S-band. The insertion loss is less than 0.25 db and the input-to-off port isolation is greater than 36 db over a bandwidth larger than 30 MHz. The input voltage standing-wave ratio is lower than 1.07 over the same bandwidth. Theoretical development of the switch characteristics and experimental results, which are in good agreement with theory, are presented.

Design and analysis of low-loss linear analog phase modulator for deep space spacecraft X-band transponder (DST) application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, Narayan R.; Mueller, Robert O.

1991-01-01

This paper summarizes the design concepts, analyses, and the development of an X-band transponder low-loss linear phase modulator for deep space spacecraft applications. A single section breadboard circulator-coupled reflection phase modulator has been analyzed, fabricated, and evaluated. Two- and three-cascaded sections have been modeled and simulations performed to provide an X-band DST phase modulator with +/- 2.5 radians of peak phase deviation to accommodate down-link signal modulation with composite telemetry data and ranging with a deviation linearity tolerance +/- 8 percent and insertion loss of less than 10 +/- 0.5 dB. A two-section phase modulator using constant gamma hyperabrupt varactors and an efficient modulator driver circuit was breadboarded. The measured results satisfy the DST phase modulator requirements, and excellent agreement with the predicted results.

A Design of Terahertz Parallel Plate Dielectric Waveguide with Signal Line inserted for Ballistic Deflection Transistor Travelling Wave Amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H.; Knepper, R.; Hossain, N.; Marthi, P.; Milithaler, J.-F.; Margala, M.

2017-10-01

In this paper a new waveguide design is proposed to be implemented as part of Ballistic Deflection Transistor (BDT) Traveling Wave Amplifier Design. The BDT is designed to be operated in the Terahertz regime. Due to its relatively low transconductance (gm=200µA/V), the entire structure will consist of ten stages, with 15 BDTs/stage, to reach a total gain of 30mA/V. In this case, the total length of the transmission line will be more than 400µm. We did the investigation for different structures and materials of the transmission line. For our Parallel Plate Dielectric Waveguide with Signal Line inserted (PPDWS) design, we are able to get an average loss of 0.46dB/mm at 0.8-1.4THz from ANSYS HFSS simulation. The return loss for input and output are better than -20dB at 0.8-1.7THz. Although it is designed for our future travelling wave amplifier, it can also be used for various other THz frequency applications.

Mid-infrared refractive index sensing using optimized slotted photonic crystal waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassa-Baghdouche, Lazhar; Cassan, Eric

2018-02-01

Slotted photonic crystal waveguides (SPCWs) were designed to act as refractive index sensing devices at mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths around λ = 3.6 μm. In particular, effort was made to engineer the input and output slot waveguide interfaces in order to increase the effective sensitivity through resonant tapering. A slotted PhC waveguide immersed in air and liquid cladding layers was considered. To determine the performance of the sensor, the sensitivity of the device was estimated by calculating the shift in the upper band edge of the output transmission spectrum. The results showed that the sensitivity of a conventionally designed SPCW followed by modifications in the structure parameter yielded a 510 nm shift in the wavelength position of the upper band edge, indicating a sensitivity of more than 1150 nm per refractive index unit (RIU) with an insertion loss level of -0.3 dB. This work demonstrates the viability of photonic crystal waveguide high sensitivity devices in the Mid-IR, following a transposition of the concepts inherited from the telecom band and an optimization of the design, in particular a minimization of photonic device insertion losses.

Development of a 20-MHz wide-bandwidth PMN-PT single crystal phased-array ultrasound transducer.

PubMed

Wong, Chi-Man; Chen, Yan; Luo, Haosu; Dai, Jiyan; Lam, Kwok-Ho; Chan, Helen Lai-Wa

2017-01-01

In this study, a 20-MHz 64-element phased-array ultrasound transducer with a one-wavelength pitch is developed using a PMN-30%PT single crystal and double-matching layer scheme. High piezoelectric (d 33 >1000pC/N) and electromechanical coupling (k 33 >0.8) properties of the single crystal with an optimized fabrication process involving the photolithography technique have been demonstrated to be suitable for wide-bandwidth (⩾70%) and high-sensitivity (insertion loss ⩽30dB) phased-array transducer application. A -6dBbandwidth of 91% and an insertion loss of 29dBfor the 20-MHz 64-element phased-array transducer were achieved. This result shows that the bandwidth is improved comparing with the investigated high-frequency (⩾20MHz) ultrasound transducers using piezoelectric ceramic and single crystal materials. It shows that this phased-array transducer has potential to improve the resolution of biomedical imaging, theoretically. Based on the hypothesis of resolution improvement, this phased-array transducer is capable for small animal (i.e. mouse and zebrafish) studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Silicon optical modulators for optical digital and analog communications (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lin; Ding, Jianfeng; Zhang, Lei; Shao, Sizu

2017-02-01

Silicon photonics is considered as a promising technology to overcome the difficulties of the existing digital and analog optical communication systems, such as low integration, high cost, and high power consumption. Silicon optical modulator, as a component to transfer data from electronic domain to optical one, has attracted extensive attentions in the past decade. In this paper, we review the statuses of the silicon optical modulators for digital and analog optical communications and introduce our efforts on these topics. We analyze the relationship between the performance and the structural parameters of the silicon optical modulator and present how to optimize its performance including electro-optical bandwidth, modulation efficiency, optical bandwidth and insertion loss. The fabricated silicon optical modulator has an electro-optical bandwidth of 30 GHz. Its extinction ratios are 14.0 dB, 11.2 dB and 9.0 dB at the speeds of 40 Gbps, 50 Gbps and 64 Gbps for OOK modulation. The high extinction ratio of the silicon optical modulator at the high speed makes it very appropriate for the application of optical coherent modulation, such as QPSK and 16-QAM. The fabricated silicon optical modulator also can be utilized for analog optical communication. With respect to a noise floor of -165 dBc, the dynamic ranges for the second-order harmonic and the third-order intermodulation distortion are 90.8 dB and 110.5 dB respectively. By adopting a differential driving structure, the dynamic range for the second-order harmonic can be further improved to 100.0 dB while the third-order intermodulation distortion remains the same level.

Laminated NbTi-on-Kapton Microstrip Cables for Flexible Sub-Kelvin RF Electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Alex B.; Bockstiegel, Clinton; Mazin, Benjamin A.; Daal, Miguel

2017-11-01

Large arrays of superconducting devices such as microwave kinetic inductance detectors require high density interconnects from higher temperatures with minimal heat load, low loss, and negligible crosstalk capable of carrying large and overlapping bandwidth signals. We report the fabrication of superconducting 53 wt% Nb-47 wt% Ti (Nb-47Ti) microstrip transmission lines laminated onto flexible polyimide substrates with lengths up to 40 cm and up to ten traces. The 50 Ω traces terminate in G3PO coaxial push-on connectors. We found transmission losses of 2.5 dB and a nearest-neighbor forward crosstalk of -25 dB at 8 GHz on a typical 5 trace, 1.8-cm-wide, 0.198-mm-thick, 22-cm-long flex cable at 30 mK. A simple two-port analytical model and subsequent Sonnet simulations indicate that this loss is mainly due to a complex impedance mismatch from wirebonds at the end connector without which the insertion loss would be < 2.7 dB/m. This is about six times worse than the transmission measured in Coax Company, Ltd.'s smallest ( 0.86 mm) Nb-47Ti coaxial cables, possibly from differences in the low temperature loss properties of polyimide laminates versus PTFE or from unaccounted resistive losses in the copper adapter coaxes of our tested device. Heat flow calculations from literature data show that the 0.198-mm-thick flex cables tested have roughly equivalent thermal conductance per trace below 4 K compared to the 0.86 mm Nb-47Ti coaxial cables.

Performance Enhancement of Tunable Bandpass Filters Using Selective Etched Ferroelectric Thin Films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miranda, Felix A.; Mueller, Carl H.; VanKeuls, Fred W.; Subramanyam, Guru; Vignesparamoorthy, Sivaruban

2003-01-01

The inclusion of voltage-tunable barium strontium titanate (BSTO) thin films into planar band pass filters offers tremendous potential to increase their versatility. The ability to tune the passband so as to correct for minor deviations in manufacturing tolerances, or to completely reconfigure the operating frequencies of a microwave communication system, are highly sought-after goals. However, use of ferroelectric films in these devices results in higher dielectric losses, which in turn increase the insertion loss and decrease the quality factors of the filters. This study explores the use of patterned ferroelectric layers to minimize dielectric losses without degrading tunability. Patterning the ferroelectric layers enables us to constrict the width of the ferroelectric layers between the coupled microstrip lines, and minimize losses due to ferroelectric layers. Coupled one-pole microstrip bandpass filters with fundamental resonances at approx. 7.2 GHz and well defined harmonic resonances at approx. 14.4 and approx. 21.6 GHz, were designed, simulated and tested. For one of the filters, experimental results verified that its center frequency was tunable by 528 MHz at a center frequency of 21.957 GHz, with insertion losses varying from 4.3 to 2.5 dB, at 0 and 3.5 V/micron, respectively. These data demonstrate that the tuning-to-loss figure of merit of tunable microstrip filters can be greatly improved using patterned ferroelectric thin films as the tuning element, and tuning can be controlled by engineering the ferroelectric constriction in the coupled sections.

Microwave Bandpass Filter Based on Mie-Resonance Extraordinary Transmission

PubMed Central

Pan, Xiaolong; Wang, Haiyan; Zhang, Dezhao; Xun, Shuang; Ouyang, Mengzhu; Fan, Wentao; Guo, Yunsheng; Wu, Ye; Huang, Shanguo; Bi, Ke; Lei, Ming

2016-01-01

Microwave bandpass filter structure has been designed and fabricated by filling the periodically metallic apertures with dielectric particles. The microwave cannot transmit through the metallic subwavelength apertures. By filling the metallic apertures with dielectric particles, a transmission passband with insertion loss 2 dB appears at the frequency of 10–12 GHz. Both simulated and experimental results show that the passband is induced by the Mie resonance of the dielectric particles. In addition, the passband frequency can be tuned by the size and the permittivity of the dielectric particles. This approach is suitable to fabricate the microwave bandpass filters. PMID:27992440

Image Steganography In Securing Sound File Using Arithmetic Coding Algorithm, Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) and Modified Least Significant Bit (MLSB)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasution, A. B.; Efendi, S.; Suwilo, S.

2018-04-01

The amount of data inserted in the form of audio samples that use 8 bits with LSB algorithm, affect the value of PSNR which resulted in changes in image quality of the insertion (fidelity). So in this research will be inserted audio samples using 5 bits with MLSB algorithm to reduce the number of data insertion where previously the audio sample will be compressed with Arithmetic Coding algorithm to reduce file size. In this research will also be encryption using Triple DES algorithm to better secure audio samples. The result of this research is the value of PSNR more than 50dB so it can be concluded that the image quality is still good because the value of PSNR has exceeded 40dB.

Prevalence of Hearing Loss by Severity in the United States.

PubMed

Goman, Adele M; Lin, Frank R

2016-10-01

To estimate the age- and severity-specific prevalence of hearing impairment in the United States. We conducted cross-sectional analyses of 2001 through 2010 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 9648 individuals aged 12 years or older. Hearing loss was defined as mild (> 25 dB through 40 dB), moderate (> 40 dB through 60 dB), severe (> 60 dB through 80 dB), or profound (> 80 dB). An estimated 25.4 million, 10.7 million, 1.8 million, and 0.4 million US residents aged 12 years or older, respectively, have mild, moderate, severe, and profound better-ear hearing loss. Older individuals displayed a higher prevalence of hearing loss and more severe levels of loss. Across most ages, the prevalence was higher among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Whites than among non-Hispanic Blacks and was higher among men than women. Hearing loss directly affects 23% of Americans aged 12 years or older. The majority of these individuals have mild hearing loss; however, moderate loss is more prevalent than mild loss among individuals aged 80 years or older. Our estimates can inform national public health initiatives on hearing loss and help guide policy recommendations currently being discussed at the Institute of Medicine and the White House.

Low-cost fused taper polymer optical fiber (LFT-POF) splitters for environmental and home-networking solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Supian, L. S.; Ab-Rahman, Mohammad Syuhaimi; Harun, Mohd Hazwan; Gunab, Hadi; Sulaiman, Malik; Naim, Nani Fadzlina

2017-08-01

In visible optical communication over the multimode PMMA fibers, the overall cost of optical network can be reduced by deploying economical splitters for distributing the optical data signals from a point to multipoint in transmission network. The low-cost splitters shall have two main characteristics; good uniformity and high power efficiency. The most cost-effective and environmental friendly optical splitter having those characteristics have been developed. The device material is 100% purely based on the multimode step-index PMMA Polymer Optical Fiber (POF). The region which all fibers merged as single fiber is called as fused-taper POF. This ensures that all fibers are melted and fused properly. The results for uniformity and power efficiency of all splitters have been revealed by injecting red LED transmitter with 650 nm wavelength into input port while each end of output fibers measured by optical power meter. Final analysis shows our fused-taper splitter has low excess loss 0.53 dB and each of the output port has low insertion loss, which the average value is below 7 dB. In addition, the splitter has good uniformity that is 32:37:31% in which it is suitably used for demultiplexer fabrication.

Silicon-based horizontal nanoplasmonic slot waveguides for on-chip integration.

PubMed

Zhu, Shiyang; Liow, T Y; Lo, G Q; Kwong, D L

2011-04-25

Horizontal metal/insulator/Si/insulator/metal nanoplasmonic slot waveguide (PWG), which is inserted in a conventional Si wire waveguide, is fabricated using the standard Si-CMOS technology. A thin insulator between the metal and the Si core plays a key role: it not only increases the propagation distance as the theoretical prediction, but also prevents metal diffusion and/or metal-Si reaction. Cu-PWGs with the Si core width of ~134-21 nm and ~12-nm-thick SiO2 on each side exhibit a relatively low propagation loss of ~0.37-0.63 dB/µm around the telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm, which is ~2.6 times smaller than the Al-counterparts. A simple tapered coupler can provide an effective coupling between the PWG and the conventional Si wire waveguide. The coupling efficiency as high as ~0.1-0.4 dB per facet is measured. The PWG allows a sharp bending. The pure bending loss of a Cu-PWG direct 90° bend is measured to be ~0.6-1.0 dB. These results indicate the potential for seamless integration of various functional nanoplasmonic devices in existing Si electronic photonic integrated circuits (Si-EPICs).

Prediction of matching condition for a microstrip subsystem using artificial neural network and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salehi, Mohammad Reza; Noori, Leila; Abiri, Ebrahim

2016-11-01

In this paper, a subsystem consisting of a microstrip bandpass filter and a microstrip low noise amplifier (LNA) is designed for WLAN applications. The proposed filter has a small implementation area (49 mm2), small insertion loss (0.08 dB) and wide fractional bandwidth (FBW) (61%). To design the proposed LNA, the compact microstrip cells, an field effect transistor, and only a lumped capacitor are used. It has a low supply voltage and a low return loss (-40 dB) at the operation frequency. The matching condition of the proposed subsystem is predicted using subsystem analysis, artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). To design the proposed filter, the transmission matrix of the proposed resonator is obtained and analysed. The performance of the proposed ANN and ANFIS models is tested using the numerical data by four performance measures, namely the correlation coefficient (CC), the mean absolute error (MAE), the average percentage error (APE) and the root mean square error (RMSE). The obtained results show that these models are in good agreement with the numerical data, and a small error between the predicted values and numerical solution is obtained.

System Architecture of Small Unmanned Aerial System for Flight Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-17

Signal Strength PT = Transmitter Power GT = Transmitter antenna gain LT = Transmitter loss Lp = Propagation loss GR = Receiver antenna...gain (dBi) LR(db) = Receiver losses (dB) 15 Lm = Link margin (dB) PT = Transmitter Power (dBm) GT = Transmitter antenna gain (dBi) LT... Transmitter loss (dB) The maximum range is determined by four components, 1) Transmission, 2) Propagation, 3) Reception and 4) Link Margin

General method for eliminating wave reflection in 2D photonic crystal waveguides by introducing extra scatterers based on interference cancellation of waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Hao; Ouyang, Zhengbiao

2018-01-01

We propose a general method for eliminating the reflection of waves in 2 dimensional photonic crystal waveguides (2D-PCWs), a kind of 2D material, by introducing extra scatterers inside the 2D-PCWs. The intrinsic reflection in 2D-PCWs is compensated by the backward-scattered waves from these scatterers, so that the overall reflection is greatly reduced and the insertion loss is improved accordingly. We first present the basic theory for the compensation method. Then, as a demonstration, we give four examples of extremely-low-reflection and high-transmission 90°bent 2D-PCWs created according to the method proposed. In the four examples, it is demonstrated by plane-wave expansion method and finite-difference time-domain method that the 90°bent 2D-PCWs can have high transmission ratio greater than 90% in a wide range of operating frequency, and the highest transmission ratio can be greater than 99.95% with a return loss higher than 43 dB, better than that in other typical 90°bent 2D-PCWs. With our method, the bent 2D-PCWs can be optimized to obtain high transmission ratio at different operating wavelengths. As a further application of this method, a waveguide-based optical bridge for light crossing is presented, showing an optimum return loss of 46.85 dB, transmission ratio of 99.95%, and isolation rates greater than 41.77 dB. The method proposed provides also a useful way for improving conventional waveguides made of cables, fibers, or metal walls in the optical, infrared, terahertz, and microwave bands.

Shear horizontal surface acoustic wave microsensor for Class A viral and bacterial detection.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Branch, Darren W.; Huber, Dale L.; Brozik, Susan Marie

The rapid autonomous detection of pathogenic microorganisms and bioagents by field deployable platforms is critical to human health and safety. To achieve a high level of sensitivity for fluidic detection applications, we have developed a 330 MHz Love wave acoustic biosensor on 36{sup o} YX Lithium Tantalate (LTO). Each die has four delay-line detection channels, permitting simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes or for parallel detection of single analyte containing samples. Crucial to our biosensor was the development of a transducer that excites the shear horizontal (SH) mode, through optimization of the transducer, minimizing propagation losses and reducing undesirable modes. Detectionmore » was achieved by comparing the reference phase of an input signal to the phase shift from the biosensor using an integrated electronic multi-readout system connected to a laptop computer or PDA. The Love wave acoustic arrays were centered at 330 MHz, shifting to 325-328 MHz after application of the silicon dioxide waveguides. The insertion loss was -6 dB with an out-of-band rejection of 35 dB. The amplitude and phase ripple were 2.5 dB p-p and 2-3{sup o} p-p, respectively. Time-domain gating confirmed propagation of the SH mode while showing suppression of the triple transit. Antigen capture and mass detection experiments demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.19 {+-} 0.74{sup o} mm{sup 2}/ng with a detection limit of 6.7 {+-} 0.40 pg/mm{sup 2} for each channel.« less

Optomechanical design of a buckling cavity in a low-cost high-performance ferruleless field-installable single-mode fiber connector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebraert, Evert; Van Erps, Jürgen; Beri, Stefano; Watté, Jan; Thienpont, Hugo

2014-10-01

To boost the deployment of fiber-to-the-home networks in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth, there is a strong need for single-mode fiber (SMF) connectors which combine low insertion loss with field installability. Shifting from ferrule-based to ferruleless connectors can reduce average insertion losses appreciably and minimize modal noise interference. We propose a ferruleless connector and adaptor in which physical contact between two inline fibers is ensured by at least one fiber being in a buckled state. To this end, we design a buckling cavity in which the SMF can buckle in a controlled way to ensure good optical performance as well as mechanical stability. This design is based on both mechanical and optical considerations. Finite element analysis suggests that mechanically a minimal buckling cavity length of 17 mm is required, while the height of the cavity should be chosen such that the buckled SMF is not mechanically confined to ensure buckling in a first-order mode. The optical bending loss in the buckled SMF is calculated using a fully vectorial mode solver, showing that a minimal buckling cavity length of 20 mm is necessary to keep the excess optical loss from bending below 0.1 dB. Both our optical and mechanical simulation results are experimentally verified.

High Frequency Ultrasound Array Designed for Ultrasound Guided Breast Biopsy

PubMed Central

Cummins, Thomas; Eliahoo, Payam; Shung, K. Kirk

2016-01-01

This paper describes the development of a miniaturized high frequency linear array that can be integrated within a core biopsy needle to improve tissue sampling accuracy during breast cancer biopsy procedures. The 64 element linear array has an element width of 14 μm, kerf width of 6 μm, element length of 1 mm and element thickness of 24 μm. The 2–2 array composite was fabricated using deep reactive ion etching of PMN-PT single crystal material. The array composite fabrication process as well as a novel high density electrical interconnect solution are presented and discussed. Array performance measurements show that the array had a center frequency and fractional bandwidth (−6 dB) of 59.1 MHz and 29.4%, respectively. Insertion loss and adjacent element cross talk at the center frequency were −41.0 dB and −23.7 dB, respectively. A B-mode image of a tungsten wire target phantom was captured using a synthetic aperture imaging system and the imaging test results demonstrate axial and lateral resolutions of 33.2 μm and 115.6 um, respectively. PMID:27046895

Optical signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanderlugt, A.

1993-07-01

A quasi-realtime adaptive processing system was used to correct the multipath distortion found in wideband digital radios. The measured power spectral density of the input signal was used to adaptively select one of eight equalization filters which reduce the residual distortion to less than 3.6 dB even for the most severe channel distortion. A related adaptive system was used for signal excision in which we removed narrowband interference from wideband signals with minimum signal distortion. An 8x8 acousto-optic switch in a multimode fiber-optic system was built. Insertion loss is approximately 2-4 dB, signal-to-crosstalk ratio is better than 25 dB, and the reconfiguration time is 880 nsec. Short pulses were detected by using the Fresnel transform. Pulses as short as the theoretical limit of 20 nanoseconds were detected for this system, and separated by as little as 60 nanoseconds or by as much as 17 nanoseconds. All possible acousto-optic scanning configurations were considered and classified into four basic types. A consistent set of design relationships for each of the scanning configurations was developed and presented in both tabular and graphic forms from which a preliminary design is obtained.

Area-Efficient 60 GHz +18.9 dBm Power Amplifier with On-Chip Four-Way Parallel Power Combiner in 65-nm CMOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farahabadi, Payam Masoumi; Basaligheh, Ali; Saffari, Parvaneh; Moez, Kambiz

2017-06-01

This paper presents a compact 60-GHz power amplifier utilizing a four-way on-chip parallel power combiner and splitter. The proposed topology provides the capability of combining the output power of four individual power amplifier cores in a compact die area. Each power amplifier core consists of a three-stage common-source amplifier with transformer-coupled impedance matching networks. Fabricated in 65-nm CMOS process, the measured gain of the 0.19-mm2 power amplifier at 60 GHz is 18.8 and 15 dB utilizing 1.4 and 1.0 V supply. Three-decibel band width of 4 GHz and P1dB of 16.9 dBm is measured while consuming 424 mW from a 1.4-V supply. A maximum saturated output power of 18.3 dBm is measured with the 15.9% peak power added efficiency at 60 GHz. The measured insertion loss is 1.9 dB at 60 GHz. The proposed power amplifier achieves the highest power density (power/area) compared to the reported 60-GHz CMOS power amplifiers in 65 nm or older CMOS technologies.

Optical switch based on thermocapillarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakata, Tomomi; Makihara, Mitsuhiro; Togo, Hiroyoshi; Shimokawa, Fusao; Kaneko, Kazumasa

2001-11-01

Space-division optical switches are essential for the protection, optical cross-connects (OXCs), and optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs) needed in future fiber-optic communication networks. For applications in these areas, we proposed a thermocapillarity switch called oil-latching interfacial-tension variation effect (OLIVE) switch. An OLIVE switch is a micro-mechanical optical switch fabricated on planar lightwave circuits (PLC) using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. It consists of a crossing waveguide that has a groove at each crossing point and a pair of microheaters. The groove is partially filled with the refractive-index-matching liquid, and optical signals are switched according to the liquid's position in the groove, i.e., whether it is passing straight through the groove or reflecting at the sidewall of the groove. The liquid is driven by thermocapillarity and latched by capillarity. Using the total internal reflection to switch the optical path, the OLIVE switch exhibits excellent optical characteristics, such as high transparency (insertion loss: < 2 dB), high extinction ratio (> 50 dB), and low crosstalk (< -50 dB). Moreover, since this switch has a simple structure and bi-stability, it has wide variety of applications in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks.

Compact optical switch based on 2D photonic crystal and magneto-optical cavity.

PubMed

Dmitriev, Victor; Kawakatsu, Marcelo N; Portela, Gianni

2013-04-01

A compact optical switch based on a 2D photonic crystal (PhC) and a magneto-optical cavity is suggested and analyzed. The cavity is coupled to two parallel and misaligned PC waveguides and operates with dipole mode. When the cavity is nonmagnetized, the dipole mode excited by a signal in the input waveguide has a node in the output waveguide. Therefore, the input signal is reflected from the cavity. This corresponds to the state off of the switch. Normal to the plane of the PhC magnetization by a dc magnetic field produces a rotation of the dipole pattern in the cavity providing equal amplitudes of the electromagnetic fields in the input and the output waveguides. This corresponds to the state on with high transmission of the input signal. Numerical calculations show that at the 1.55 μm wavelength the device has the insertion loss -0.42 dB in the on state, the isolation -19 dB in the off state and the switch off and on ratio P(on)/P(off) about 72. The frequency band at the level of -15 dB of the resonance curve in off state is about 160 GHz.

Micromachined mirrors for raster-scanning displays and optical fiber switches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagelin, Paul Merritt

Micromachines and micro-optics have the potential to shrink the size and cost of free-space optical systems, enabling a new generation of high-performance, compact projection displays and telecommunications equipment. In raster-scanning displays and optical fiber switches, a free-space optical beam can interact with multiple tilt- up micromirrors fabricated on a single substrate. The size, rotation angle, and flatness of the mirror surfaces determine the number of pixels in a raster-display or ports in an optical switch. Single-chip and two-chip optical raster display systems demonstrate static mirror curvature correction, an integrated electronic driver board, and dynamic micromirror performance. Correction for curvature caused by a stress gradient in the micromirror leads to resolution of 102 by 119 pixels in the single-chip display. The optical design of the two-chip display features in-situ mirror curvature measurement and adjustable image magnification with a single output lens. An electronic driver board synchronizes modulation of the optical source with micromirror actuation for the display of images. Dynamic off-axis mirror motion is shown to have minimal influence on resolution. The confocal switch, a free-space optical fiber cross- connect, incorporates micromirrors having a design similar to the image-refresh scanner. Two micromirror arrays redirect optical beams from an input fiber array to the output fibers. The switch architecture supports simultaneous switching of multiple wavelength channels. A 2x2 switch configuration, using single-mode optical fiber at 1550 mn, is demonstrated with insertion loss of -4.2 dB and cross-talk of -50.5 dB. The micromirrors have sufficient size and angular range for scaling to a 32x32 cross-connect switch that has low insertion-loss and low cross-talk.

Multiwaveguide implantable probe for light delivery to sets of distributed brain targets.

PubMed

Zorzos, Anthony N; Boyden, Edward S; Fonstad, Clifton G

2010-12-15

Optical fibers are commonly inserted into living tissues such as the brain in order to deliver light to deep targets for neuroscientific and neuroengineering applications such as optogenetics, in which light is used to activate or silence neurons expressing specific photosensitive proteins. However, an optical fiber is limited to delivering light to a single target within the three-dimensional structure of the brain. We here demonstrate a multiwaveguide probe capable of independently delivering light to multiple targets along the probe axis, thus enabling versatile optical control of sets of distributed brain targets. The 1.45-cm-long probe is microfabricated in the form of a 360-μm-wide array of 12 parallel silicon oxynitride (SiON) multimode waveguides clad with SiO(2) and coated with aluminum; probes of custom dimensions are easily created as well. The waveguide array accepts light from a set of sources at the input end and guides the light down each waveguide to an aluminum corner mirror that efficiently deflects light away from the probe axis. Light losses at each stage are small (input coupling loss, 0.4 ± 0.3 dB; bend loss, negligible; propagation loss, 3.1 ± 1 dB/cm using the outscattering method and 3.2 ± 0.4 dB/cm using the cutback method; corner mirror loss, 1.5 ± 0.4 dB); a waveguide coupled, for example, to a 5 mW source will deliver over 1.5 mW to a target at a depth of 1 cm.

Pseudo-orthogonal frequency coded wireless SAW RFID temperature sensor tags.

PubMed

Saldanha, Nancy; Malocha, Donald C

2012-08-01

SAW sensors are ideal for various wireless, passive multi-sensor applications because they are small, rugged, radiation hard, and offer a wide range of material choices for operation over broad temperature ranges. The readable distance of a tag in a multi-sensor environment is dependent on the insertion loss of the device and the processing gain of the system. Single-frequency code division multiple access (CDMA) tags that are used in high-volume commercial applications must have universal coding schemes and large numbers of codes. The use of a large number of bits at the common center frequency to achieve sufficient code diversity in CDMA tags necessitates reflector banks with >30 dB loss. Orthogonal frequency coding is a spread-spectrum approach that employs frequency and time diversity to achieve enhanced tag properties. The use of orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW tags reduces adjacent reflector interactions for low insertion loss, increased range, complex coding, and system processing gain. This work describes a SAW tag-sensor platform that reduces device loss by implementing long reflector banks with optimized spectral coding. This new pseudo-OFC (POFC) coding is defined and contrasted with the previously defined OFC coding scheme. Auto- and cross-correlation properties of the chips and their relation to reflectivity per strip and reflector length are discussed. Results at 250 MHz of 8-chip OFC and POFC SAW tags will be compared. The key parameters of insertion loss, cross-correlation, and autocorrelation of the two types of frequency-coded tags will be analyzed, contrasted, and discussed. It is shown that coded reflector banks can be achieved with near-zero loss and still maintain good coding properties. Experimental results and results predicted by the coupling of modes model are presented for varying reflector designs and codes. A prototype 915-MHz POFC sensor tag is used as a wireless temperature sensor and the results are shown.

24-ch microlens-integrated no-polish connector for optical interconnection with polymer waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiraishi, Takashi; Yagisawa, Takatoshi; Ikeuchi, Tadashi; Daikuhara, Osamu; Tanaka, Kazuhiro

2013-02-01

We successfully developed a new 24-ch optical connector for polymer waveguides. The connector consists of a transparent thermoplastic resin that has two rectangular slits on one side for alignment of the waveguide films and integrated microlens arrays on the other side for coupling to the MT connector. Two 12-ch waveguide films were cut to a 3-mm width. The thickness of each waveguide film was controlled at 100 μm. The waveguide films were inserted into the slits until they touched the bottom face of the slit. Ultraviolet curing adhesive was used to achieve a short hardening process. The expanded beam in the transparent material is focused by the microlens arrays formed on the connector surface. This lens structure enables assembly without the need for a polishing process. We designed the lens for coupling between a step-index 40-μm rectangular waveguide and a graded-index 50-μm fiber. We achieved low-loss optical coupling by designing a method of providing asymmetric magnification between the horizontal and vertical directions in order to compensate for the asymmetric numerical aperture of the waveguide. The typical measured coupling losses from/to the waveguide to/from the fiber were 1.2 dB and 0.6 dB, respectively. The total coupling loss was as small as that of a physical contact connection.

The effect of noise-induced hearing loss on the intelligibility of speech in noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smoorenburg, G. F.; Delaat, J. A. P. M.; Plomp, R.

1981-06-01

Speech reception thresholds, both in quiet and in noise, and tone audiograms were measured for 14 normal ears (7 subjects) and 44 ears (22 subjects) with noise-induced hearing loss. Maximum hearing loss in the 4-6 kHz region equalled 40 to 90 dB (losses exceeded by 90% and 10%, respectively). Hearing loss for speech in quiet measured with respect to the median speech reception threshold for normal ears ranged from 1.8 dB to 13.4 dB. For speech in noise the numbers are 1.2 dB to 7.0 dB which means that the subjects with noise-induced hearing loss need a 1.2 to 7.0 dB higher signal-to-noise ratio than normal to understand sentences equally well. A hearing loss for speech of 1 dB corresponds to a decrease in sentence intelligibility of 15 to 20%. The relation between hearing handicap conceived as a reduced ability to understand speech and tone audiogram is discussed. The higher signal-to-noise ratio needed by people with noise-induced hearing loss to understand speech in noisy environments is shown to be due partly to the decreased bandwidth of their hearing caused by the noise dip.

Low loss photonic components in high index bismuth borate glass by femtosecond laser direct writing.

PubMed

Yang, Weijia; Corbari, Costantino; Kazansky, Peter G; Sakaguchi, Koichi; Carvalho, Isabel C S

2008-09-29

Single mode, low loss waveguides were fabricated in high index bismuth borate glass by femtosecond laser direct writing. A specific set of writing parameters leading to waveguides perfectly mode matched to standard single-mode fibers at 1.55 microm with an overall insertion loss of approximately 1 dB and with propagation loss below 0.2 dB/cm was identified. Photonic components such as Y-splitters and directional couplers were also demonstrated. A close agreement between their performances and theoretical predictions based upon the characterization of the waveguide properties is shown. Finally, the nonlinear refractive index of the waveguides has been measured to be 6.6 x 10(-15) cm(2)/W by analyzing self-phase modulation of the propagating femtosecond laser pulse at the wavelength of 1.46 microm. Broadening of the transmitted light source as large as 500 nm was demonstrated through a waveguide with the length of 1.8 cm.

Design and fabrication of embedded micro-mirror inserts for out-of-plane coupling in PCB-level optical interconnections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Erps, Jurgen; Hendrickx, Nina; Bosman, Erwin; Van Daele, Peter; Debaes, Christof; Thienpont, Hugo

2010-05-01

Optical interconnections have gained interest over the last years, and several approaches have been presented for the integration of optics to the printed circuit board (PCB)-level. The use of a polymer optical waveguide layer appears to be the prevailing solution to route optical signals on the PCB. The most difficult issue is the efficient out-of-plane coupling of light between surface-normal optoelectronic devices (lasers and photodetectors) and PCB-integrated waveguides. The most common approach consists of using 45° reflecting micro-mirrors. The micro-mirror performance significantly affects the total insertion loss of the optical interconnect system, and hence has a crucial role on the system's bit error rate (BER) characteristics. Several technologies have been proposed for the fabrication of 45° reflector micro-mirrors directly into waveguides. Alternatively, it is possible to make use of discrete coupling components which have to be inserted into cavities formed in the PCB-integrated waveguides. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach where we try to combine the advantages of integrated and discrete coupling mirrors, i.e. low coupling loss and maintenance of the planararity of the top surface of the optical layer, allowing the lamination of additional layers or the mounting of optoelectronic devices. The micro-mirror inserts are designed through non-sequential ray tracing simulations, including a tolerance analysis, and subsequently prototyped with Deep Proton Writing (DPW). The DPW prototypes are compatible with mass fabrication at low cost in a wide variety of high-tech plastics. The DPW micro-mirror insert is metallized and inserted in a laser ablated cavity in the optical layer and in a next step covered with cladding material. Surface roughness measurements confirm the excellent quality of the mirror facet. An average mirror loss of 0.35-dB was measured in a receiver scheme, which is the most stringent configuration. Finally, the configuration is robust, since the mirror is embedded and thus protected from environmental contamination, like dust or moisture adsorption, which makes them interesting candidates for out-of-plane coupling in high-end boards.

Initial Operative Experience and Short Term Hearing Preservation Results with a Mid-Scala Cochlear Implant Electrode Array

PubMed Central

Svrakic, Maja; Roland, J. Thomas; McMenomey, Sean O.; Svirsky, Mario A.

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE To describe our initial operative experience and hearing preservation results with the Advanced Bionics (AB) Mid Scala Electrode (MSE) STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Sixty-three MSE implants in pediatric and adult patients were compared to age- and gender-matched 1j electrode implants from the same manufacturer. All patients were severe to profoundly deaf. INTERVENTION Cochlear implantation with either the AB 1j electrode or the AB MSE. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The MSE and 1j electrode were compared in their angular depth of insertion (aDOI) and pre- to post-operative change in hearing thresholds. Hearing preservation was analyzed as a function of aDOI. Secondary outcome measures included operative time, incidence of abnormal intraoperative impedance and telemetry values, and incidence of postsurgical complications. RESULTS Depth of insertion was similar for both electrodes, but was more consistent for the MSE array and more variable for the 1j array. Patients with MSE electrodes had better hearing preservation. Thresholds shifts at four audiometric frequencies ranging from 250 to 2,000 Hz were 10 dB, 7 dB, 2 dB and 6 dB smaller for the MSE electrode than for the 1j (p<0.05). Hearing preservation at low frequencies was worse with deeper insertion, regardless of array. Secondary outcome measures were similar for both electrodes. CONCLUSIONS The MSE electrode resulted in more consistent insertion depth and somewhat better hearing preservation than the 1j electrode. Differences in other surgical outcome measures were small or unlikely to have a meaningful effect. PMID:27755356

The 20 GHz GaAs monolithic power amplifier module development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The development of a 20 GHz GaAs FET monlithic power amplifier module for advanced communication applications is described. Four-way power combing of four 0.6 W amplifier modules is used as the baseline approach. For this purpose, a monolithic four-way traveling-wave power divider/combiner was developed. Over a 20 GHz bandwidth (10 to 30 GHz), an insertion loss of no more than 1.2 dB was measured for a pair of back-to-back connected divider/combiners. Isolation between output ports is better than 20 dB, and VSWRs are better than 21:1. A distributed amplifier with six 300 micron gate width FETs and gate and drain transmission line tapers has been designed, fabricated, and evaluated for use as an 0.6 W module. This amplifier has achieved state-of-the-art results of 0.5 W output power with at least 4 dB gain across the entire 2 to 21 GHz frequency range. An output power of 2 W was achieved at a measurement frequency of 18 GHz when four distributed amplifiers were power-combined using a pair of traveling-wave divider/combiners. Another approach is the direct common-source cascading of three power FET stages. An output power of up to 2W with 12 dB gain and 20% power-added efficiency has been achieved with this approach (at 17 GHz). The linear gain was 14 dB at 1 W output. The first two stages of the three-stage amplifier have achieved an output power of 1.6 W with 9 dB gain and 26% power-added efficiency at 16 GHz.

Fiber-based three-dimensional multi-mode interference device as efficient power divider and vector curvature sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ziyang; Fiebrandt, Julia; Haynes, Dionne; Sun, Kai; Madhav, Kalaga; Stoll, Andreas; Makan, Kirill; Makan, Vadim; Roth, Martin

2018-03-01

Three-dimensional multi-mode interference devices are demonstrated using a single-mode fiber (SMF) center-spliced to a section of polygon-shaped core multimode fiber (MMF). This simple structure can effectively generate well-localized self-focusing spots that match to the layout of a chosen multi-core fiber (MCF) as a launcher device. An optimized hexagon-core MMF can provide efficient coupling from a SMF to a 7-core MCF with an insertion loss of 0.6 dB and a power imbalance of 0.5 dB, while a square-core MMF can form a self-imaging pattern with symmetrically distributed 2 × 2, 3 × 3 or 4 × 4 spots. These spots can be directly received by a two-dimensional detector array. The device can work as a vector curvature sensor by comparing the relative power among the spots with a resolution of ∼0.1° over a 1.8 mm-long MMF.

Manufacture of radio frequency micromachined switches with annealing.

PubMed

Lin, Cheng-Yang; Dai, Ching-Liang

2014-01-17

The fabrication and characterization of a radio frequency (RF) micromachined switch with annealing were presented. The structure of the RF switch consists of a membrane, coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines, and eight springs. The RF switch is manufactured using the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The switch requires a post-process to release the membrane and springs. The post-process uses a wet etching to remove the sacrificial silicon dioxide layer, and to obtain the suspended structures of the switch. In order to improve the residual stress of the switch, an annealing process is applied to the switch, and the membrane obtains an excellent flatness. The finite element method (FEM) software CoventorWare is utilized to simulate the stress and displacement of the RF switch. Experimental results show that the RF switch has an insertion loss of 0.9 dB at 35 GHz and an isolation of 21 dB at 39 GHz. The actuation voltage of the switch is 14 V.

Manufacture of Radio Frequency Micromachined Switches with Annealing

PubMed Central

Lin, Cheng-Yang; Dai, Ching-Liang

2014-01-01

The fabrication and characterization of a radio frequency (RF) micromachined switch with annealing were presented. The structure of the RF switch consists of a membrane, coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines, and eight springs. The RF switch is manufactured using the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The switch requires a post-process to release the membrane and springs. The post-process uses a wet etching to remove the sacrificial silicon dioxide layer, and to obtain the suspended structures of the switch. In order to improve the residual stress of the switch, an annealing process is applied to the switch, and the membrane obtains an excellent flatness. The finite element method (FEM) software CoventorWare is utilized to simulate the stress and displacement of the RF switch. Experimental results show that the RF switch has an insertion loss of 0.9 dB at 35 GHz and an isolation of 21 dB at 39 GHz. The actuation voltage of the switch is 14 V. PMID:24445415

PMN-PT Single-Crystal High-Frequency Kerfless Phased Array

PubMed Central

Chen, Ruimin; Cabrera-Munoz, Nestor E.; Lam, Kwok Ho; Hsu, Hsiu-sheng; Zheng, Fan; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk

2015-01-01

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of a miniature high-frequency kerfless phased array prepared from a PMN-PT single crystal for forward-looking intravascular or endoscopic imaging applications. After lapping down to around 40 μm, the PMN-PT material was utilized to fabricate 32-element kerfless phased arrays using micromachining techniques. The aperture size of the active area was only 1.0 × 1.0 mm. The measured results showed that the array had a center frequency of 40 MHz, a bandwidth of 34% at −6 dB with a polymer matching layer, and an insertion loss of 20 dB at the center frequency. Phantom images were acquired and compared with simulated images. The results suggest that the feasibility of developing a phased array mounted at the tip of a forward-looking intravascular catheter or endoscope. The fabricated array exhibits much higher sensitivity than PZT ceramic-based arrays and demonstrates that PMN-PT is well suited for this application. PMID:24859667

Experimental study of noise sources and acoustic propagation in a turbofan model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewy, S.; Canard-Caruana, S.; Julliard, J.

1990-10-01

Experimental studies of the acoustic radiation of subsonic fans mainly due to blade and vane presure fluctuations were performed in the SNECMA 5C2 compressor anechoic facility. A brief description of the test rig is presented noting that the CA5 turbojet engine model fan has a diameter of 47 cm, 48 blades, and a nominal rotation speed of 12,600 rpm. The two chief experiments discussed are the measurement of blade and vane pressure fluctuations by thin-film transducers and the spinning mode analysis of the sound field propagating in the intake duct. Several examples of applications are discussed, and it is shown that an inflow control device, as expected, reduces the aerodynamic disturbances by about 10 dB. Rotor-stator interaction tones are determined by the modal analysis, and it is found that a duct lining with a length of one duct radius could give an insertion loss up to 20 dB in flight.

Flexible Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Filters toward Radiofrequency Wireless Communication.

PubMed

Jiang, Yuan; Zhao, Yuan; Zhang, Lin; Liu, Bohua; Li, Quanning; Zhang, Menglun; Pang, Wei

2018-03-30

This paper presents a flexible radiofrequency filter with a central frequency of 2.4 GHz based on film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs). The flexible filter consists of five air-gap type FBARs, each comprised of an aluminum nitride piezoelectric thin film sandwiched between two thin-film electrodes. By transfer printing the inorganic film structure from a silicon wafer to an ultrathin polyimide substrate, high electrical performance and mechanical flexibility are achieved. The filter has a peak insertion loss of -1.14 dB, a 3 dB bandwidth of 107 MHz, and a temperature coefficient of frequency of -27 ppm °C -1 . The passband and roll-off characteristics of the flexible filter are comparable with silicon-based commercial products. No electrical performance degradation and mechanical failure occur under bending tests with a bending radius of 2.5 mm or after 100 bending cycles. The flexible FBAR filters are believed to be promising candidates for future flexible wireless communication systems. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fabrication and Performance of Endoscopic Ultrasound Radial Arrays Based on PMN-PT Single Crystal/Epoxy 1-3 Composite

PubMed Central

Zhou, Dan; Cheung, Kwok Fung; Chen, Yan; Lau, Sien Ting; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk; Luo, Hao Su; Dai, Jiyan; Chan, Helen Lai Wa

2011-01-01

In this paper, 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single crystal/epoxy 1–3 composite was used as the active material of the endoscopic ultrasonic radial array transducer, because this composite exhibited ultrahigh electromechanical coupling coefficient (kt = 0.81%), very low mechanical quality factor (Qm = 11) and relatively low acoustic impedance (Zt = 12 MRayls). A 6.91 MHz PMN-PT/epoxy 1–3 composite radial array transducer with 64 elements was tested in a pulse-echo response measurement. The −6-dB bandwidth of the composite array transducer was 102%, which was ~30% larger than that of traditional lead zirconate titanate array transducer. The two-way insertion loss was found to be −32.3 dB. The obtained results show that this broadband array transducer is promising for acquiring high-resolution endoscopic ultrasonic images in many clinical applications. PMID:21342833

Analysis and optimal design of moisture sensor for rice grain moisture measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Sweety; Mishra, Pankaj Kumar; Thakare, Vandana Vikas

2018-04-01

The analysis and design of a microstrip sensor for accurate determination of moisture content (MC) in rice grains based on oven drying technique, this technique is easy, fast and less time-consuming to other techniques. The sensor is designed with low insertion loss, reflection coefficient and maximum gain is -35dB and 5.88dB at 2.68GHz as well as discussed all the parameters such as axial ratio, maximum gain, smith chart etc, which is helpful for analysis the moisture measurement. The variation in percentage of moisture measurement with magnitude and phase of transmission coefficient is investigated at selected frequencies. The microstrip moisture sensor consists of one layer: substrate FR4, thickness 1.638 is simulated by computer simulated technology microwave studio (CST MWS). It is concluded that the proposed sensor is suitable for development as a complete sensor and to estimate the optimum moisture content of rice grains with accurately, sensitivity, compact, versatile and suitable for determining the moisture content of other crops and agriculture products.

Fabrication and analysis of radiofrequency MEMS series capacitive single-pole double-throw switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Deepak; Bajpai, Anuroop; Kumar, Prem; Kaur, Maninder; Rangra, Kamaljit

2016-10-01

A compact radiofrequency (RF) MEMS single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch based on series capacitive configuration is proposed. The critical process parameters are analyzed to improve the fabrication process. A technique of cold-hot thermal shock for lift-off method is explored. The residual stress in the structure is quantified by lancet test structures that come out to be 51 MPa. Effect of residual stress on actuation voltage is explored, which changes its value from 24 to 22 V. Resonance frequency and switching speed of the switch are 11 kHz and 44 μs, respectively, measured using laser Doppler vibrometer. Measured bandwidth of the SPDT switch is 20 GHz (5 to 25 GHz), which is verified with finite element method simulations in high frequency structure simulator©; and an equivalent LCR circuit in advanced design system©;. Insertion loss of the switch lies in -0.1 to -0.5 dB with isolation better than -20 dB for the above-mentioned bandwidth.

Design and fabrication of PZN-7%PT single crystal high frequency angled needle ultrasound transducers.

PubMed

Zhou, Qifa; Wu, Dawei; Jin, Jing; Hu, Chang-hong; Xu, Xiaochen; Williams, Jay; Cannata, Jonathan M; Lim, Leongchew; Shung, K Kirk

2008-01-01

A high-frequency angled needle ultrasound transducer with an aperture size of 0.4 x 0.56 mm2 was fabricated using a lead zinc niobate-lead titanate (PZN- 7%PT) single crystal as the active piezoelectric material. The single crystal was bonded to a conductive silver particle matching layer and a conductive epoxy backing material through direct contact curing. A parylene outer matching layer was formed by vapor deposition. Angled needle probe configuration was achieved by dicing at 45 degrees to the single crystal poling direction to satisfy a clinical request for blood flow measurement in the posterior portion of the eye. The electrical impedance magnitude and phase of the transducer were 42 Omega and -63 degrees , respectively. The measured center frequency and the fractional bandwidth at -6 dB were 43 MHz and 45%, respectively. The two-way insertion loss was approximately 17 dB. Wire phantom imaging using fabricated PZN-7%PT single crystal transducers was obtained and spatial resolutions were assessed.

PMN-PT single crystal, high-frequency ultrasonic needle transducers for pulsed-wave Doppler application.

PubMed

Zhou, Qifa; Xu, Xiaochen; Gottlieb, Emanuel J; Sun, Lei; Cannata, Jonathan M; Ameri, Hossein; Humayun, Mark S; Han, Pengdi; Shung, K Kirk

2007-03-01

High-frequency needle ultrasound transducers with an aperture size of 0.4 mm were fabricated using lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-33% PT) as the active piezoelectric material. The active element was bonded to a conductive silver particle matching layer and a conductive epoxy backing through direct contact curing. An outer matching layer of parylene was formed by vapor deposition. The active element was housed within a polyimide tube and a 20-gauge needle housing. The magnitude and phase of the electrical impedance of the transducer were 47 omega and -38 degrees, respectively. The measured center frequency and -6 dB fractional bandwidth of the PMN-PT needle transducer were 44 MHz and 45%, respectively. The two-way insertion loss was approximately 15 dB. In vivo high-frequency, pulsed-wave Doppler patterns of blood flow in the posterior portion and in vitro ultrasonic backscatter microscope (UBM) images of the rabbit eye were obtained with the 44-MHz needle transducer.

All-optical gain-clamped wideband serial EDFA with ring-shaped laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yung-Hsin; Chi, Sien

2004-01-01

We experimentally investigate the static and dynamic properties of all-optical gain-clamped wideband (1530-1600 nm) serial erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a single ring-shaped laser, which consists of a circulator and a fiber Bragg grating at the output end. The lasing light passing through the second stage is intentionally blocked at the output end by a C/L-band wavelength division multiplexer owning the huge insertion loss, and thus, the copropagating ring-laser light is formed by the first stage. This design can simultaneously clamp the gains of 1547 and 1584 nm probes near 14 dB and shows the same dynamic range of input power up to -4 dBm for conventional band and long-wavelength band. Furthermore, the transient responses of 1551 and 1596 nm surviving channels exhibit small power excursions (<0.54 dB) as the total saturating tone with -2 dBm is modulated on and off at 270 Hz.

Performance interface document for the S-band diplexer for space users of NASA networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Line, L. G.

1985-01-01

This report discusses the test results and interfacing information of the S-band diplexer development program supported by RTOP 310 funding. The program was implemented to reduce the S-band transponder noise figure by minimizing the receive channel insertion loss and to also provide Space Transportation System (STS) compatibility by providing 70-db rejection up to 16 GHz in the receive channel. This compatibility includes rejection of signals from the Shuttle S-band Data Link, the K-band Data Link, and the K-band Rendezvous Radar. The first of many projects to benefit from this accomplishment was the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS).

Acoustic interference suppression of quartz crystal microbalance sensor arrays utilizing phononic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yung-Yu; Huang, Li-Chung; Wang, Wei-Shan; Lin, Yu-Ching; Wu, Tsung-Tsong; Sun, Jia-Hong; Esashi, Masayoshi

2013-04-01

Acoustic interference suppression of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor arrays utilizing phononic crystals is investigated in this paper. A square-lattice phononic crystal structure is designed to have a complete band gap covering the QCM's resonance frequency. The monolithic sensor array consisting of two QCMs separated by phononic crystals is fabricated by micromachining processes. As a result, 12 rows of phononic crystals with band gap boost insertion loss between the two QCMs by 20 dB and also reduce spurious modes. Accordingly, the phononic crystal is verified to be capable of suppressing the acoustic interference between adjacent QCMs in a sensor array.

Use of the 'real-ear to dial difference' to derive real-ear SPL from hearing level obtained with insert earphones.

PubMed

Munro, K J; Lazenby, A

2001-10-01

The electroacoustic characteristics of a hearing instrument are normally selected for individuals using data obtained during audiological assessment. The precise inter-relationship between the electroacoustic and audiometric variables is most readily appreciated when they have been measured at the same reference point, such as the tympanic membrane. However, it is not always possible to obtain the real-ear sound pressure level (SPL) directly if this is below the noise floor of the probe-tube microphone system or if the subject is unco-operative. The real-ear SPL may be derived by adding the subject's real-ear to dial difference (REDD) acoustic transform to the audiometer dial setting. The aim of the present study was to confirm the validity of the Audioscan RM500 to measure the REDD with the ER-3A insert earphone. A probe-tube microphone was used to measure the real-ear SPL and REDD from the right ears of 16 adult subjects ranging in age from 22 to 41 years (mean age 27 years). Measurements were made from 0.25 kHz to 6 kHz at a dial setting of 70 dB with an ER-3A insert earphone and two earmould configurations: the EAR-LINK foam ear-tip and the subjects' customized skeleton earmoulds. Mean REDD varied as a function of frequency but was typically approximately 12 dB with a standard deviation (SD) of +/- 1.7 dB and +/- 2.7 dB for the foam ear-tip and customized earmould, respectively. The mean test-retest difference of the REDD varied with frequency but was typically 0.5 dB (SD 1 dB). Over the frequency range 0.5-4 kHz, the derived values were found to be within 5 dB of the measured values in 95% of subjects when using the EAR-LINK foam ear-tip and within 4 dB when using the skeleton earmould. The individually measured REDD transform can be used in clinical practice to derive a valid estimate of real-ear SPL when it has not been possible to measure this directly.

Polymer electro-optic waveguide devices: Low-loss etchless fabrication techniques and passive-to-active integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geary, Kevin

The development of high-frequency polymer electro-optic modulators has seen steady and significant progress in recent years, yet applications of these promising materials to more complicated integrated optic structures and arrays of devices have been limited primarily due to high optical waveguide loss characteristics. This is unfortunate since a major advantage of polymers as photonic materials is their compatibility with photolithographic processing of large components. In this Dissertation, etchless waveguide writing techniques are presented in order to improve the overall optical insertion loss of electro-optic polymer waveguide devices. These techniques include poling-induced writing, stress-induced waveguide writing, and photobleaching. Using these waveguide writing mechanisms, we have demonstrated straight waveguides, phase modulators, Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators, variable optical attenuators, and multimode interference (MMI) power splitters, all with improved loss characteristics over their etched rib waveguide counterparts. Ultimately, the insertion loss of an integrated optic device is limited by the actual material loss of the core waveguide material. In this Dissertation, passive-to-active polymer waveguide transitions are proposed to circumvent this problem. These transitions are compact, in-plane, self-aligned, and require no tapering of any physical dimensions of the waveguides. By utilizing both the time-dependent and intensity-dependent photobleaching characteristics of electro-optic polymer materials, adiabatic refractive index tapers can be seamlessly coupled to in-plane butt couple transitions, resulting in losses as low as 0.1 dB per interface. By integrating passive polymer planar lightwave circuits with the high-speed phase shifting capability of electro-optic polymers, active wideband photonic devices of increased size and complexity can be realized. Optical fiber-to-device coupling can also result in significant contributions to the overall insertion loss of an integrated electro-optic polymer device. In this Dissertation, we leverage the photobleached refractive index taper component of our proposed passive-to-active polymer waveguide transitions in order to realize a two-dimensional optical mode transformer for improved overall fiber-to-device coupling of electro-optic polymer waveguide devices.

LED backlight system with fiber-optic red, green, blue to white color combiner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hye R.; Jeong, Yunsong; Lee, Jhang-Woo; Oh, Kyunghwan

2006-09-01

As an application in the backlight system of small LCD display, we realized a pure white light source by mixing red, green, blue (RGB) lights using a 3 X 3 Hard Plastic Cladding Fiber (HPCF) coupler. We also proposed the 0.44 inch LED backlight system with these fiber-optic pure white sources and characterized its illumination characteristics. Using optimized fusion-tapering technique, we fabricated HPCF coupler which combines three input lights over the circularly formed waist. HPCF has the core diameter of 200 μm and clad diameter of 230 μm. The fabricated 3 X 3 HPCF coupler has the perfect uniformity of about 0.3 dB, low insertion loss of 5.5 dB, and low excess loss of 0.8 dB, which shows excellent uniform power splitting ratio. In order to improve the transmission performance, The RGB chip LEDs were butt-coupled directly to the ferruled input ports of the coupler and packaged by TO46-can type. In the produced white color by HPCF coupler, the photometric brightness at the circular endface of outputs of HPCF coupler was in a rage of 10062 ~ 10094 cd/m2. The fiber optic white color combiner provides tunable white sources excluding heat source and having thickness of 200 μm. We also proposed a 0.44 inch LED backlight system with these fiber-optic pure white sources. With the proposed device, we obtain the improved uniformity in luminance distribution and wide color gamut by using the white light mixing red, green and blue lights.

Novel power MOSFET-based expander for high frequency ultrasound systems.

PubMed

Choi, Hojong; Shung, K Kirk

2014-01-01

The function of an expander is to obstruct the noise signal transmitted by the pulser so that it does not pass into the transducer or receive electronics, where it can produce undesirable ring-down in an ultrasound imaging application. The most common type is a diode-based expander, which is essentially a simple diode-pair, is widely used in pulse-echo measurements and imaging applications because of its simple architecture. However, diode-based expanders may degrade the performance of ultrasonic transducers and electronic components on the receiving and transmitting sides of the ultrasound systems, respectively. Since they are non-linear devices, they cause excessive signal attenuation and noise at higher frequencies and voltages. In this paper, a new type of expander that utilizes power MOSFET components, which we call a power MOSFET-based expander, is introduced and evaluated for use in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. The performance of a power MOSFET-based expander was evaluated relative to a diode-based expander by comparing the noise figure (NF), insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD), response time (RT), electrical impedance (EI) and dynamic power consumption (DPC). The results showed that the power MOSFET-based expander provided better NF (0.76 dB), IL (-0.3 dB) and THD (-62.9 dB), and faster RT (82 ns) than did the diode-based expander (NF (2.6 dB), IL (-1.4 dB), THD (-56.0 dB) and RT (119 ns)) at 70 MHz. The -6 dB bandwidth and the peak-to-peak voltage of the echo signal received by the transducer using the power MOSFET-based expander improved by 17.4% and 240% compared to the diode-based expander, respectively. The new power MOSFET-based expander was shown to yield lower NF, IL and THD, faster RT and lower ring down than the diode-based expander at the expense of higher dynamic power consumption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel Power MOSFET-Based Expander for High Frequency Ultrasound Systems

PubMed Central

Choi, Hojong; Shung, K. Kirk

2014-01-01

The function of an expander is to obstruct the noise signal transmitted by the pulser so that it does not pass into the transducer or receive electronics, where it can produce undesirable ring-down in an ultrasound imaging application. The most common type is a diode-based expander, which is essentially a simple diode-pair, is widely used in pulse-echo measurements and imaging applications because of its simple architecture. However, diode-based expanders may degrade the performance of ultrasonic transducers and electronic components on the receiving and transmitting sides of the ultrasound systems, respectively. Since they are non-linear devices, they cause excessive signal attenuation and noise at higher frequencies and voltages. In this paper, a new type of expander that utilizes power MOSFET components, which we call a power MOSFET-based expander, is introduced and evaluated for use in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. The performance of a power MOSFET-based expander was evaluated relative to a diode-based expander by comparing the noise figure (NF), insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD), response time (RT), electrical impedance (EI) and dynamic power consumption (DPC). The results showed that the power MOSFET-based expander provided better NF (0.76 dB), IL (-0.3 dB) and THD (-62.9 dB), and faster RT (82 ns) than did the diode-based expander (NF (2.6 dB), IL (-1.4 dB), THD (-56.0 dB) and RT (119 ns)) at 70 MHz. The -6 dB bandwidth and the peak-to-peak voltage of the echo signal received by the transducer using the power MOSFET-based expander improved by 17.4 % and 240 % compared to the diode-based expander, respectively. The new power MOSFET-based expander was shown to yield lower NF, IL and THD, faster RT and lower ring down than the diode-based expander at the expense of higher dynamic power consumption. PMID:23835308

The rational for a mid-scala electrode array.

PubMed

Boyle, P J

2016-06-01

Today increasing numbers of cochlear implant candidates have residual hearing that can be aided and hence is worth trying to preserve. This means that surgical technique and electrode array design must be adapted to minimize trauma. Wide opening of the round window is often preferred to reduce drill related trauma and to avoid pressure spikes during electrode array insertion. A recent meta-analysis suggested that there is no significant correlation between hearing preservation and either insertion depth or scala position. However, a slow insertion speed of at least 30seconds was associated with better hearing preservation. An electrode design is proposed that targets the middle of the scala tympani. This minimizes frictional forces from either lateral or medial wall during insertion and imposes less static pressure on cochlear structures following insertion. The flexibility to insert via the round window requires a 0.7-mm maximum dimension at the proximal end of the array. Micro-anatomical analysis by micro-CT indicated that a 420-degree insertion depth was optimal between cochlear coverage and available space within the scala tympani. Physical measurements showed that mean insertion forces remained below 10mN during insertion. A series of 20 human temporal bone insertions found a mean insertion depth of 400 degrees with no scala dislocations. Six clinical series, in total 94 cases, found postoperative hearing in 81% of cases with a mean loss of 12dB compared to preoperative levels. Speech understanding out to one year post-fitting trended better for a mid-scala design group than for a straight electrode array group; although the differences were not statistically significant. A mid-scala array design appears able to be inserted with minimal trauma, to return a predictable insertion depth across various sizes of cochleae and to support reasonable levels of speech understanding without relying on residual hearing. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Polymer taper bridge for silicon waveguide to single mode waveguide coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruse, Kevin; Middlebrook, Christopher T.

2016-03-01

Coupling of optical power from high-density silicon waveguides to silica optical fibers for signal routing can incur high losses and often requires complex end-face preparation/processing. Novel coupling device taper structures are proposed for low coupling loss between silicon photonic waveguides and single mode fibers are proposed and devices are fabricated and measured in terms of performance. Theoretical mode conversion models for waveguide tapers are derived for optimal device structure design and performance. Commercially viable vertical and multi-layer taper designs using polymer waveguide materials are proposed as innovative, cost-efficient, and mass-manufacturable optical coupling devices. The coupling efficiency for both designs is determined to evaluate optimal device dimensions and alignment tolerances with both silicon rib waveguides and silicon nanowire waveguides. Propagation loss as a function of waveguide roughness and metallic loss are determined and correlated to waveguide dimensions to obtain total insertion loss for the proposed taper designs. Multi-layer tapers on gold-sputtered substrates are fabricated through photolithography as proof-of-concept devices and evaluated for device loss optimization. Tapered waveguide coupling loss with Si WGs (2.74 dB) was experimentally measured with high correlation to theoretical results.

Bipolar-power-transistor-based limiter for high frequency ultrasound imaging systems.

PubMed

Choi, Hojong; Yang, Hao-Chung; Shung, K Kirk

2014-03-01

High performance limiters are described in this paper for applications in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. Limiters protect the ultrasound receiver from the high voltage (HV) spikes produced by the transmitter. We present a new bipolar power transistor (BPT) configuration and compare its design and performance to a diode limiter used in traditional ultrasound research and one commercially available limiter. Limiter performance depends greatly on the insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD) and response time (RT), each of which will be evaluated in all the limiters. The results indicated that, compared with commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter had less IL (-7.7 dB), THD (-74.6 dB) and lower RT (43 ns) at 100 MHz. To evaluate the capability of these limiters, they were connected to a 100 MHz single element transducer and a two-way pulse-echo test was performed. It was found that the -6 dB bandwidth and sensitivity of the transducer using BPT-based limiter were better than those of the commercial limiter by 22% and 140%, respectively. Compared to the commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter is shown to be capable of minimizing signal attenuation, RT and THD at high frequencies and is thus suited for high frequency ultrasound applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A High-Frequency Annular-Array Transducer Using an Interdigital Bonded 1-3 Composite

PubMed Central

Chabok, Hamid Reza; Cannata, Jonathan M.; Kim, Hyung Ham; Williams, Jay A.; Park, Jinhyoung; Shung, K. Kirk

2011-01-01

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 1–3 composite annular-array transducer. An interdigital bonded (IB) 1–3 composite was prepared using two IB operations on a fine-grain piezoelectric ceramic. The final composite had 19-μm-wide posts separated by 6-μm-wide polymer kerfs. A novel method to remove metal electrodes from polymer portions of the 1–3 composite was established to eliminate the need for patterning and aligning the electrode on the composite to the electrodes on a flexible circuit. Unloaded epoxy was used for both the matching and backing layers and a flexible circuit was used for interconnect. A prototype array was successfully fabricated and tested. The results were in reasonable agreement with those predicted by a circuit-analogous model. The average center frequency estimated from the measured pulse-echo responses of array elements was 33.5 MHz and the −6-dB fractional bandwidth was 57%. The average insertion loss recorded was 14.3 dB, and the maximum crosstalk between the nearest-neighbor elements was less than −37 dB. Images of a wire phantom and excised porcine eye were obtained to show the capabilities of the array for high-frequency ultrasound imaging. PMID:21244988

An Intrinsically Switchable Ladder-Type Ferroelectric BST-on-Si Composite FBAR Filter.

PubMed

Lee, Seungku; Mortazawi, Amir

2016-03-01

This paper presents a ladder-type bulk acoustic wave (BAW) intrinsically switchable filter based on ferroelectric thin-film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs). The switchable filter can be turned on and off by the application of an external bias voltage due to the electrostrictive effect in thin-film ferroelectrics. In this paper, Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) is used as the ferroelectric material. A systematic design approach for switchable ladder-type ferroelectric filters is provided based on required filter specifications. A switchable filter is implemented in the form of a BST-on-Si composite structure to control the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient of FBARs. As an experimental verification, a 2.5-stage intrinsically switchable BST-on-Si composite FBAR filter is designed, fabricated, and measured. Measurement results for a typical BST-on-Si composite FBAR show a resonator mechanical quality factor (Q(m)) of 971, as well as a (Q(m)) × f of 2423 GHz. The filter presented here provides a measured insertion loss of 7.8 dB, out-of-band rejection of 26 dB, and fractional bandwidth of 0.33% at 2.5827 GHz when the filter is in the on state at a dc bias of 40 V. In its off state, the filter exhibits an isolation of 31 dB.

Dielectric loaded surface plasmon waveguides for datacom applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weeber, J.-C.; Hassan, K.; Nielsen, M. G.; Pitilakis, A.; Tsilipakos, O.; Kriezis, E. E.; Fatome, J.; Finot, C.; Markey, L.; Albrektsen, O.; Bozhevolnyi, S. I.; Dereux, A.

2012-04-01

We rst report on design, fabrication and characterizations of thermally-controlled plasmonic routers relying on the interference of a plasmonic and a photonic mode supported by wide enough dielectric loaded waveguides. We show that, by owing a current through the gold lm on which the dielectric waveguides are deposited, the length of the beating created by the interference of the two modes can be controlled accurately. By operating such a plasmonic dual-mode interferometer switch, symmetric extinction ratio of 7dB are obtained at the output ports of a 2x2 router. Next, we demonstrate ber-to-ber characterizations of stand-alone dielectric loaded surface plasmon waveguide (DLSPPW) devices by using grating couplers. The couplers are comprised of dielectric loaded gratings with carefully chosen periods and duty-cycles close to 0.5. We show that insertion loss below 10dB per coupler can be achieved with optimized gratings. This coupling scheme is used to operate Bit-Error-Rate (BER) measurements for the transmission of a 10Gbits/s signal along a stand-alone straight DLSPPW. We show in particular that these waveguides introduce a rather small BER power penalty (below 1dB) demonstrating the suitability of this plasmonic waveguiding platform for high-bit rate transmission.

A high-frequency annular-array transducer using an interdigital bonded 1-3 composite.

PubMed

Chabok, Hamid Reza; Cannata, Jonathan M; Kim, Hyung Ham; Williams, Jay A; Park, Jinhyoung; Shung, K Kirk

2011-01-01

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 1-3 composite annular-array transducer. An interdigital bonded (IB) 1-3 composite was prepared using two IB operations on a fine-grain piezoelectric ceramic. The final composite had 19-μm-wide posts separated by 6-μm-wide polymer kerfs. A novel method to remove metal electrodes from polymer portions of the 1-3 composite was established to eliminate the need for patterning and aligning the electrode on the composite to the electrodes on a flexible circuit. Unloaded epoxy was used for both the matching and backing layers and a flexible circuit was used for interconnect. A prototype array was successfully fabricated and tested. The results were in reasonable agreement with those predicted by a circuit-analogous model. The average center frequency estimated from the measured pulse-echo responses of array elements was 33.5 MHz and the -6-dB fractional bandwidth was 57%. The average insertion loss recorded was 14.3 dB, and the maximum crosstalk between the nearest-neighbor elements was less than -37 dB. Images of a wire phantom and excised porcine eye were obtained to show the capabilities of the array for high-frequency ultrasound imaging.

Switchable multiwavelength thulium-doped fiber ring lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Shui; Lu, Ping; Liu, Deming; Zhang, Jiangshan

2013-08-01

Two kinds of thulium-doped fiber ring lasers based on a spatial mode beating filter and comb filtering effect are presented and experimentally demonstrated, which all show multiwavelength laser spectrum around 2 μm. In the implementation of the first type of experiment configuration by the use of a piece of multimode fiber (MMF) as a spatial mode beating filter, dual-,triple-, and quadruple-wavelengths appeared whose extinction noise ratio is 25 dB by adjusting the angle of polarization controller. Different wavelength spaces are obtained by inserting different lengths of MMF. The second type is achieved by inserting a Sagnac loop mirror, which was constructed by a 3-dB coupler and a piece of polarization maintaining fiber. Seven stable wavelengths with channel spacing of 0.65 nm and an extinction ratio of 35 dB was achieved. These systems are simple and easy to construct, which can be useful for 2 μm wavelength-division-multiplexed applications.

Key kinematic parameters in a low-loss power splitter written by femtosecond laser micromachining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peyton, R.; Guarepi, V.; Videla, F.; Torchia, G. A.

2018-05-01

In this work we design, fabricate and characterize a 1  ×  2 Y-branch power splitter based on simplified coherent coupling. This device was constructed by type II waveguide structures inscribed by a direct femtosecond laser writing technique in x-cut lithium niobate crystal. First of all, a theoretical study that links the kinematic and writing fluence of the process is developed, which allows us to establish the design trade-off and justify the best geometry chosen. Then, the design was optimized and tested by using commercial software, resulting in a compact and low-loss photonic circuit. The efficiency of the proposed device is compared with two others: a curved and a straight splitter. Finally, the experimental results were compared with simulations and then a statistical analysis of multiple comparisons was also conducted, obtaining 3.7 dB  ±  0.1 dB insertion losses and 4.5% of the unbalanced coupling ratio.

Safety and efficacy of ebselen for the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial.

PubMed

Kil, Jonathan; Lobarinas, Edward; Spankovich, Christopher; Griffiths, Scott K; Antonelli, Patrick J; Lynch, Eric D; Le Prell, Colleen G

2017-09-02

Noise-induced hearing loss is a leading cause of occupational and recreational injury and disease, and a major determinant of age-related hearing loss. No therapeutic agent has been approved for the prevention or treatment of this disorder. In animal models, glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) activity is reduced after acute noise exposure. Ebselen, a novel GPx1 mimic, has been shown to reduce both temporary and permanent noise-induced hearing loss in preclinical studies. We assessed the safety and efficacy of ebselen for the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss in young adults in a phase 2 clinical trial. In this single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial, healthy adults aged 18-31 years were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) at the University of Florida (Gainsville, FL, USA) to receive ebselen 200 mg, 400 mg, or 600 mg, or placebo orally twice daily for 4 days, beginning 2 days before a calibrated sound challenge (4 h of pre-recorded music delivered by insert earphones). Randomisation was done with an allocation sequence generated by an independent third party. The primary outcome was mean temporary threshold shift (TTS) at 4 kHz measured 15 min after the calibrated sound challenge by pure tone audiometry; a reduction of 50% in an ebselen dose group compared with the placebo group was judged to be clinically relevant. All participants who received the calibrated sound challenge and at least one dose of study drug were included in the efficacy analysis. All randomly assigned patients were included in the safety analysis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01444846. Between Jan 11, 2013, and March 24, 2014, 83 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive ebselen 200 mg (n=22), 400 mg (n=20), or 600 mg (n=21), or placebo (n=20). Two participants in the 200 mg ebselen group were discontinued from the study before the calibrated sound challenge because they no longer met the inclusion criteria; these participants were excluded from the efficacy analysis. Mean TTS at 4 kHz was 1·32 dB (SE 0·91) in the 400 mg ebselen group compared with 4·07 dB (0·90) in the placebo group, representing a significant reduction of 68% (difference -2·75 dB, 95% CI -4·54 to -0·97; p=0·0025). Compared with placebo, TTS at 4 kHz was non-significantly reduced by 21% in the 200 mg ebselen group (3·23 dB [SE 0·91] vs 4·07 dB [0·90] in the placebo group; difference -0·84 dB, 95% CI -2·63 to 0·94; p=0·3542) and by 7% in the 600 mg ebselen group (3·81 dB [0·90] vs 4·07 dB [0·90] in the placebo group; difference -0·27, 95% CI -2·03 to 1·50; p=0·7659). Ebselen treatment was well tolerated across all doses and no significant differences were seen in any haematological, serum chemistry, or radiological assessments between the ebselen groups and the placebo group. Treatment with ebselen was safe and effective at a dose of 400 mg twice daily in preventing a noise-induced TTS. These data lend support to a role of GPx1 activity in acute noise-induced hearing loss. Sound Pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Photonic 1 × 4 Power Splitter Based on Multimode Interference in Silicon-Gallium-Nitride Slot Waveguide Structures.

PubMed

Malka, Dror; Danan, Yossef; Ramon, Yehonatan; Zalevsky, Zeev

2016-06-25

In this paper, a design for a 1 × 4 optical power splitter based on the multimode interference (MMI) coupler in a silicon (Si)-gallium nitride (GaN) slot waveguide structure is presented-to our knowledge, for the first time. Si and GaN were found as suitable materials for the slot waveguide structure. Numerical optimizations were carried out on the device parameters using the full vectorial-beam propagation method (FV-BPM). Simulation results show that the proposed device can be useful to divide optical signal energy uniformly in the C-band range (1530-1565 nm) into four output ports with low insertion losses (0.07 dB).

All-optical switch consisting of two-stage interferometers controlled by using saturable absorption of monolayer graphene.

PubMed

Oya, Masayuki; Kishikawa, Hiroki; Goto, Nobuo; Yanagiya, Shin-ichiro

2012-11-19

At routing nodes in future photonic networks, pico-second switching will be a key function. We propose an all-optical switch consisting of two-stage Mach-Zehnder interferometers, whose arms contain graphene saturable absorption films. Optical amplitudes along the interferometers are controlled to perform switching between two output ports instead of phase control used in conventional switches. Since only absorption is used for realizing complete switching, insertion loss of 10.2 dB is accompanied in switching. Picosecond response can be expected because of the fast response of saturable absorption of graphene. The switching characteristics are theoretically analyzed and numerically simulated by the finite-difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM).

Experimental investigation of the noise reduction of supersonic exhaust jets with fluidic inserts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powers, Russell William Walter

The noise produced by the supersonic, high temperature jets that exhaust from military aircraft is becoming a hazard to naval personnel and a disturbance to communities near military bases. Methods to reduce the noise produced from these jets in a practical full-scale environment are difficult. The development and analysis of distributed nozzle blowing for the reduction of radiated noise from supersonic jets is described. Model scale experiments of jets that simulate the exhaust jets from typical low-bypass ratio military jet aircraft engines during takeoff are performed. Fluidic inserts are created that use distributed blowing in the divergent section of the nozzle to simulate mechanical, hardwall corrugations, while having the advantage of being an active control method. This research focuses on model scale experiments to better understand the fluidic insert noise reduction method. Distributed blowing within the divergent section of the military-style convergent divergent nozzle alters the shock structure of the jet in addition to creating streamwise vorticity for the reduction of mixing noise. Enhancements to the fluidic insert design have been performed along with experiments over a large number of injection parameters and core jet conditions. Primarily military-style round nozzles have been used, with preliminary measurements of hardwall corrugations and fluidic inserts in rectangular nozzle geometries also performed. It has been shown that the noise reduction of the fluidic inserts is most heavily dependent upon the momentum flux ratio between the injector and core jet. Maximum reductions of approximately 5.5 dB OASPL have been observed with practical mass flow rates and injection pressures. The first measurements with fluidic inserts in the presence of a forward flight stream have been performed. Optimal noise reduction occurs at similar injector parameters in the presence of forward flight. Fluidic inserts in the presence of a forward flight stream were observed to reduce the peak mixing noise below the already reduced levels by nearly 4 dB OASP and the broadband shock-associated noise by nearly 3 dB OASP. Unsteady velocity measurements are used to complement acoustic results of jets with fluidic inserts. Measured axial turbulence intensities and mean axial velocity are examined to illuminate the differences in the flow field from jets with fluidic inserts. Comparisons of laser Doppler measurements with RANS CFD simulations are shown with good agreement. Analysis of the effect of spatial turbulence on the measured quantities is performed. Experimental model scale measurements of jets with and without fluidic inserts over a simulated carrier deck are presented. The model carrier environment consists of a ground plane of adjustable distance below the jet, and a simulated jet blast deflector similar to those found in practice. Measurements are performed with far-field microphones, near-field microphones, and unsteady pressure sensors. The constructive and destructive interference that results from the interaction of the direct and reflected sound waves is observed and compared with results from free jets. The noise reduction of fluidic inserts in a realistic carrier deck environment with steering of the "quiet planes" is examined. The overall sound pressure level in heat-simulated jets is reduced by 3-5 dB depending on the specific angle and ground plane height. Jets impinging upon a modeled jet blast deflector are tested in addition to jets solely in the presence of the carrier deck. Observed modifications to the acoustic field from the presence of the jet blast deflector include downstream acoustic shielding and low frequency augmentation. The region of maximum noise radiation for heat-simulated jets from nozzles with fluidic inserts impinging on the jet blast deflector is reduced in overall sound pressure level by 4-7 dB. This region includes areas where aircraft carrier personnel are located. iv.

Low-loss lateral-extensional piezoelectric filters on ultrananocrystalline diamond.

PubMed

Fatemi, Hediyeh; Abdolvand, Reza

2013-09-01

In this work, lateral-extensional thin-film piezoelectric- on-diamond (TPoD) filters with very low insertion loss (IL) values (<4 dB) are reported. Two different lateral-extensional modes of a resonant structure are coupled together to realize a two-pole filter. The filters of this work exhibit low IL values, with fractional bandwidth between 0.08% and 0.2%, and have a very small footprint. This paper reports on the lowest IL in the literature for lateral-extensional thin-film piezoelectric filters with 50 Ω terminations in the GSM frequency band (~900 MHz). The narrow-band filters of this work are fabricated on three ultrananocrystalline diamond substrates to achieve higher frequencies without excessive reduction in the feature size. The paper also thoroughly studies the parameters that affect the performance of such filters and then discussions are evaluated by the statistical data collected from the fabricated wafers.

Two Ears and Two (or More?) Devices: A Pediatric Case Study of Bilateral Profound Hearing Loss

PubMed Central

Uchanski, Rosalie M.; Davidson, Lisa S.; Quadrizius, Sharon; Reeder, Ruth; Cadieux, Jamie; Kettel, Jerrica; Chole, Richard A.

2009-01-01

Advances in technology and expanding candidacy guidelines have motivated many clinics to consider children with precipitously sloping high-frequency hearing loss as candidates for cochlear implants (CIs). A case study is presented of a pediatric CI patient whose hearing thresholds were preserved within 10 dB of preimplant levels (125–750 Hz) after receiving a fully inserted 31.5-mm electrode array at one ear. The primary goal of this study was to explore the possible benefit of using both a hearing aid (HA) and a CI at one ear while using a HA at the opposite ear. The authors find that although the use of bilateral hearing aids with a CI may only provide a slight benefit, careful attention must be paid to the coordinated fitting of devices, especially at the ear with two devices. PMID:19447765

Two ears and two (or more?) devices: a pediatric case study of bilateral profound hearing loss.

PubMed

Uchanski, Rosalie M; Davidson, Lisa S; Quadrizius, Sharon; Reeder, Ruth; Cadieux, Jamie; Kettel, Jerrica; Chole, Richard A

2009-06-01

Advances in technology and expanding candidacy guidelines have motivated many clinics to consider children with precipitously sloping high-frequency hearing loss as candidates for cochlear implants (CIs). A case study is presented of a pediatric CI patient whose hearing thresholds were preserved within 10 dB of preimplant levels (125-750 Hz) after receiving a fully inserted 31.5-mm electrode array at one ear. The primary goal of this study was to explore the possible benefit of using both a hearing aid (HA) and a CI at one ear while using a HA at the opposite ear. The authors find that although the use of bilateral hearing aids with a CI may only provide a slight benefit, careful attention must be paid to the coordinated fitting of devices, especially at the ear with two devices.

The effects of experimentally induced conductive hearing loss on spectral and temporal aspects of sound transmission through the ear

PubMed Central

Lupo, J. Eric; Koka, Kanthaiah; Thornton, Jennifer L.; Tollin, Daniel J.

2010-01-01

Conductive hearing loss (CHL) is known to produce hearing deficits, including deficits in sound localization ability. The differences in sound intensities and timing experienced between the two tympanic membranes are important cues to sound localization (ILD and ITD, respectively). Although much is known about the effect of CHL on hearing levels, little investigation has been conducted into the actual impact of CHL on sound location cues. This study investigated effects of CHL induced by earplugs on cochlear microphonic (CM) amplitude and timing and their corresponding effect on the ILD and ITD location cues. Acoustic and CM measurements were made in 5 chinchillas before and after earplug insertion, and again after earplug removal using pure tones (500 Hz to 24 kHz). ILDs in the unoccluded condition demonstrated position and frequency dependence where peak far-lateral ILDs approached 30 dB for high frequencies. Unoccluded ear ITD cues demonstrated positional and frequency dependence with increased ITD cue for both decreasing frequency (± 420 µs at 500 Hz, ± 310 µs for 1–4 kHz ) and increasingly lateral sound source locations. Occlusion of the ear canal with foam plugs resulted in a mild, frequency-dependent conductive hearing loss of 10–38 dB (mean 31 ± 3.9 dB) leading to a concomitant frequency dependent increase in ILDs at all source locations. The effective ITDs increased in a frequency dependent manner with ear occlusion as a direct result of the acoustic properties of the plugging material, the latter confirmed via acoustical measurements using a model ear canal with varying volumes of acoustic foam. Upon ear plugging with acoustic foam, a mild CHL is induced. Furthermore, the CHL induced by acoustic foam results in substantial changes in the magnitudes of both the ITD and ILD cues to sound location. PMID:21073935

Broadband Via-Less Microwave Crossover Using Microstrip-CPW Transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevenson, Thomas; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward; Moseley, Samuel; Hsieh, Wen-Ting

2011-01-01

The front-to-back interface between microstrip and CPW (coplanar waveguide) typically requires complex fabrication or has high radiation loss. The microwave crossover typically requires a complex fabrication step. The prior art in microstrip-CPW transition requires a physical vias connection between the microstrip and CPW line on a separate layer. The via-less version of this transition was designed empirically and does not have a close form solution. The prior art of the micro wave crossover requires either additional substrate or wire bond as an air bridge to isolate two microwave lines at the crossing junction. The disadvantages are high radiation loss, no analytical solution to the problem, lengthy simulation time, and complex fabrication procedures to generate air bridges or via. The disadvantage of the prior crossover is a complex fabrication procedure, which also affects the device reliability and yield. This microstrip-CPW transition is visualized as two microstrip-slotline transitions combined in a way that the radiation from two slotlines cancels each other out. The invention is designed based on analytical methods; thus, it significantly reduces the development time. The crossover requires no extra layer to cross two microwave signals and has low radiation loss. The invention is simple to fabricate and design. It produces low radiation loss and can be designed with low insertion loss, with some tradeoff with signal isolation. The microstrip-CPW transition is used as an interface to connect between the device and the circuit outside the package. The via-less microwave crossover is used to allow two signals to cross without using an extra layer or fabrication processing step to enable this function. This design allows the solution to be determined entirely though analytical techniques. In addition, a planar via-less microwave crossover using this technique was proposed. The experimental results show that the proposed crossover at 5 GHz has a minimum isolation of 32 dB. It also has low in-band insertion loss and return loss of 1.2 dB and 18 dB, respectively, over more than 44 percent of bandwidth at room temperature. This microstrip-CPW transition requires the microstrip line to be split into two sections. Each section is connected to a microstrip quarter-wavelength openended stub. A slotline is also placed perpendicular to the microstrip section. The slot is connected to a grounded-end quarter-wavelength slotline and generates a microstrip-slotline transition. When two of these sections are placed in parallel and with the microstrip section combined at transition, a microstrip- CPW transition is formed. The slotline radiation is suppressed as two slots are excited with the electric field in an opposite direction, which cancels the radiation in far field. The invention on the crossover consists of the invented microstrip-CPW transitions combined back-to-back and a microstrip low-pass filter. One signal is crossed through to the microstrip layer, while the other signal is crossed through the CPW line located on the ground plane of the microstrip line. The microstrip low-pass filter produces a narrow line at the crossing point to enhance the system isolation. It also produces broadband response in the operating frequency band. The microstrip-CPW transition allows a microwave signal to travel from microstrip line to CPW line with low radiation loss. The crossover allows two microwave signals to cross with minimal parasitic coupling.

Viterbi decoder node synchronization losses in the Reed-Solomon/Veterbi concatenated channel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deutsch, L. J.; Miller, R. L.

1982-01-01

The Viterbi decoders currently used by the Deep Space Network (DSN) employ an algorithm for maintaining node synchronization that significantly degrades at bit signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of below 2.0 dB. In a recent report by the authors, it was shown that the telemetry receiving system, which uses a convolutionally encoded downlink, will suffer losses of 0.85 dB and 1.25 dB respectively at Voyager 2 Uranus and Neptune encounters. This report extends the results of that study to a concatenated (255,223) Reed-Solomon/(7, 1/2) convolutionally coded channel, by developing a new radio loss model for the concatenated channel. It is shown here that losses due to improper node synchronization of 0.57 dB at Uranus and 1.0 dB at Neptune can be expected if concatenated coding is used along with an array of one 64-meter and three 34-meter antennas.

Satellite sound broadcast propagation measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogel, Wolfhard J.; Torrence, Geoffrey W.

1991-01-01

Power transmitted from atop a 17.9 m tower in simulation of a satellite signal, emitted by a tone generator sweeping from 700 to 1800 MHz, was received using a 90 deg beamwidth linearly scanning antenna at many locations inside six buildings of solid brick, corrugated sheet-metal, wood-frame, mobile home, and concrete wall construction. The signal levels are found to have much structure in the spatial and frequency domain but were relatively stable in time. Typically, people moving nearby produced less than 0.5 dB variations, whereas a person blocking the transmission path produces 6 to 10 dB fades. Losses, which at an average position in a room increased from 6 to 12 dB over 750 to 1750 MHz, could be mitigated to 2 to 6 dB by moving the antenna typically less than 30 cm. Severe losses (17.5 dB, mitigated to 12.5 dB) were observed in a concrete wall building, which also exhibited the longest multipath delays (greater than 100 ns). Losses inside a mobile home were even larger (greater than 20 dB) and independent of antenna orientation. The losses showed a clear frequency dependence.

Self-focused ZnO transducers for ultrasonic biomicroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannata, J. M.; Williams, J. A.; Zhou, Q. F.; Sun, L.; Shung, K. K.; Yu, H.; Kim, E. S.

2008-04-01

A simple fabrication technique was developed to produce high frequency (100MHz) self-focused single element transducers with sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) crystal films. This technique requires the sputtering of a ZnO film directly onto a curved backing substrate. Transducers were fabricated by sputtering an 18μm thick ZnO layer on 2mm diameter aluminum rods with ends shaped and polished to produce a 2mm focus or f-number equal to one. The aluminum rod served a dual purpose as the backing layer and positive electrode for the resultant transducers. A 4μm Parylene matching layer was deposited on the transducers after housing and interconnect. This matching layer was used to protect the substrate and condition the transfer of acoustic energy between the ZnO film and the load medium. The pulse-echo response for a representative transducer was centered at 101MHz with a -6dB bandwidth of 49%. The measured two way insertion loss was 44dB. A tungsten wire phantom and an adult zebrafish eye were imaged to show the capability of these transducers.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphisms and hypertension in occupational noise exposure in Egypt

PubMed Central

Zawilla, Nermin; Shaker, Dalia; Abdelaal, Amaal; Aref, Wael

2014-01-01

Background: The gene–environment interaction in the pathogenesis of hypertension has not been extensively studied in occupational noise. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between noise and hypertension in Egyptian workers, the interaction of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms as modifiers, and the possible relationship between noise hearing impairment and hypertension. Methods: Study subjects were divided into two groups depending on noise exposure level. The control group (n = 161) was exposed to noise intensity <85 dB and the exposed group (n = 217) was exposed to noise intensity ≧85 dB. A polymerase chain reaction was used to differentiate the various genotypes of ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) and ACE G2350A. Results: Noise significantly increased the likelihood of hypertension. Carriers of the genotypes AG, GG, and DD were vulnerable to hypertension on noise exposure. No association between hypertension and hearing impairment or noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) was found. Conclusion: Our results support the association between ACE gene polymorphisms and occurrence of hypertension in noise-exposed workers. PMID:25000107

Reconfigurable optical multiplexer based on liquid crystals for polymer optical fiber networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lallana, P. C.; Vázquez, C.; Pena, J. M. S.; Vergaz, R.

2006-12-01

In this work, different novel 3×1 multiplexer structures for being used in polymer optical fiber networks are proposed. Designs are compact, scalable, and of low consumption, capable of operating in a large wavelength range simultaneously 660, 850, and 1300 nm, due to the use of nematic liquid crystal cells. Light that comes from each input port is handled independently and eight operation modes are possible. Control electronics has been made using a programmable integrated circuit. Electronic system makes available the managing of the optical stage using a computer. An additional four optical sensors have been included for allowing the optical status checking. Finally, a polarization independent multiplexer has been implemented and tested. Insertion losses less than 4 dB and isolation better than 23 dB have been measured. In addition, 30-ms and 15-ms setup and rise times have been obtained. The proposed multiplexer can be used in any polymer optical fiber network, even in perfluorinated graded index one, and it can be specially useful in optical sensor networks, or in coarse wavelength division multiplexing networks.

A Novel Symmetrical Split Ring Resonator Based on Microstrip for Microwave Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alahnomi, Rammah A.; Zakaria, Z.; Ruslan, E.; Bahar, Amyrul Azuan Mohd

2016-02-01

In this paper, novel symmetrical split ring resonator (SSRR) is proposed as a suitable component for performance enhancement of microwave sensors. SSRR has been employed for enhancing the insertion loss of the microwave sensors. Using the same device area, we can achieve a high Q-factor of 141.54 from the periphery enhancement using Quasi-linear coupling SSRR, whereas loose coupling SSRR can achieve a Q-factor of 33.98 only. Using Quasi-linear coupling SSRR, the Q-factor is enhanced 4.16 times the loose coupling SSRR using the same device area. After the optimization was made, the SSRR sensor with loose coupling scheme has achieved a very high Qfactor value around 407.34 while quasi-linear scheme has achieved high Q-factor value of 278.78 at the same operating frequency with smaller insertion loss. Spurious passbands at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonics have been completely suppressed well above -20 dB rejection level without visible changes in the passband filter characteristics. The most significant of using SSRR is to be used for various industrial applications such as food industry, quality control, bio-sensing medicine and pharmacy. The simulation result that Quasi-linear coupling SSRR is a viable candidate for the performance enhancement of microwave sensors has been verified.

Sound Absorption of a 2DOF Resonant Liner with Negative Bias Flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahuja, K. K.; Cataldi, P.; Gaeta, R. J., Jr.

2000-01-01

This report describes an experimental study conducted to determine the effect of negative bias flow on the sound absorption of a two degree-of-freedom liner. The backwall for the liner was designed to act as a double-Helmholtz resonator so as to act as a hard wall at all frequencies except at its resonant frequencies. The effect of bias flow is investigated for a buried septum porosity of 2% and 19.5% for bias flow orifice Mach numbers up to 0.311. The bias flow appears to modify the resistance and reactance of the backwall alone at lower frequencies up to about 2 kHz, with marginal effects at higher frequencies. Absorption coefficients close to unity are achieved for a frequency range of 500 - 4000 Hz for the overall liner for a septum porosity of 2% and orifice Mach number of 0.128. Insertion loss tests performed in a flow duct facility for grazing flow Mach numbers up to 0.2 and septum Mach numbers up to 0.15 showed that negative bias flow can increase insertion loss by as much as 10 dB at frequencies in the range of 500 D 1400 Hz compared to no grazing flow. The effectiveness of the negative bias flow is diminished as the grazing flow velocity is increased.

Intelligent switches of integrated lightwave circuits with core telecommunication functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izhaky, Nahum; Duer, Reuven; Berns, Neil; Tal, Eran; Vinikman, Shirly; Schoenwald, Jeffrey S.; Shani, Yosi

2001-05-01

We present a brief overview of a promising switching technology based on Silica on Silicon thermo-optic integrated circuits. This is basically a 2D solid-state optical device capable of non-blocking switching operation. Except of its excellent performance (insertion loss<5dB, switching time<2ms...), the switch enables additional important build-in functionalities. It enables single-to- single channel switching and single-to-multiple channel multicasting/broadcasting. In addition, it has the capability of channel weighting and variable output power control (attenuation), for instance, to equalize signal levels and compensate for unbalanced different optical input powers, or to equalize unbalanced EDFA gain curve. We examine the market segments appropriate for the switch size and technology, followed by a discussion of the basic features of the technology. The discussion is focused on important requirements from the switch and the technology (e.g., insertion loss, power consumption, channel isolation, extinction ratio, switching time, and heat dissipation). The mechanical design is also considered. It must take into account integration of optical fiber, optical planar wafer, analog electronics and digital microprocessor controls, embedded software, and heating power dissipation. The Lynx Photon.8x8 switch is compared to competing technologies, in terms of typical market performance requirements.

40 Gbit/s low-loss silicon optical modulator based on a pipin diode.

PubMed

Ziebell, Melissa; Marris-Morini, Delphine; Rasigade, Gilles; Fédéli, Jean-Marc; Crozat, Paul; Cassan, Eric; Bouville, David; Vivien, Laurent

2012-05-07

40 Gbit/s low-loss silicon optical modulators are demonstrated. The devices are based on the carrier depletion effect in a pipin diode to generate a good compromise between high efficiency, speed and low optical loss. The diode is embedded in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and a self-aligned fabrication process was used to obtain precise localization of the active p-doped region in the middle of the waveguide. Using a 4.7 mm (resp. 0.95 mm) long phase shifter, the modulator exhibits an extinction ratio of 6.6 dB (resp. 3.2 dB), simultaneously with an optical loss of 6 dB (resp. 4.5 dB) at the same operating point.

Effect of infrasound on cochlear damage from exposure to a 4 kHz octave band of noise.

PubMed

Harding, Gary W; Bohne, Barbara A; Lee, Steve C; Salt, Alec N

2007-03-01

Infrasound (i.e., <20 Hz for humans; <100 Hz for chinchillas) is not audible, but exposure to high-levels of infrasound will produce large movements of cochlear fluids. We speculated that high-level infrasound might bias the basilar membrane and perhaps be able to minimize noise-induced hearing loss. Chinchillas were simultaneously exposed to a 30 Hz tone at 100 dB SPL and a 4 kHz OBN at either 108 dB SPL for 1.75 h or 86 dB SPL for 24h. For each animal, the tympanic membrane (TM) in one ear was perforated ( approximately 1 mm(2)) prior to exposure to attenuate infrasound transmission to that cochlea by about 50 dB SPL. Controls included animals that were exposed to the infrasound only or the 4 kHz OBN only. ABR threshold shifts (TSs) and DPOAE level shifts (LSs) were determined pre- and post-TM-perforation and immediately post-exposure, just before cochlear fixation. The cochleae were dehydrated, embedded in plastic, and dissected into flat preparations of the organ of Corti (OC). Each dissected segment was evaluated for losses of inner hair cells (IHCs) and outer hair cells (OHCs). For each chinchilla, the magnitude and pattern of functional and hair cell losses were compared between their right and left cochleae. The TM perforation produced no ABR TS across frequency but did produce a 10-21 dB DPOAE LS from 0.6 to 2 kHz. The infrasound exposure alone resulted in a 10-20 dB ABR TS at and below 2 kHz, no DPOAE LS and no IHC or OHC losses. Exposure to the 4 kHz OBN alone at 108 dB produced a 10-50 dB ABR TS for 0.5-12 kHz, a 10-60 dB DPOAE LS for 0.6-16 kHz and severe OHC loss in the middle of the first turn. When infrasound was present during exposure to the 4 kHz OBN at 108 dB, the functional losses and OHC losses extended much further toward the apical and basal tips of the OC than in cochleae exposed to the 4 kHz OBN alone. Exposure to only the 4 kHz OBN at 86 dB produces a 10-40 dB ABR TS for 3-12 kHz and 10-30 dB DPOAE LS for 3-8 kHz but little or no OHC loss in the middle of the first turn. No differences were found in the functional and hair-cell losses from exposure to the 4 kHz OBN at 86 dB in the presence or absence of infrasound. We hypothesize that exposure to infrasound and an intense 4 kHz OBN increases cochlear damage because the large fluid movements from infrasound cause more intermixing of cochlear fluids through the damaged reticular lamina. Simultaneous infrasound and a moderate 4 kHz OBN did not increase cochlear damage because the reticular lamina rarely breaks down during this moderate level exposure.

Effect of infrasound on cochlear damage from exposure to a 4-kHz octave band of noise

PubMed Central

Harding, Gary W.; Bohne, Barbara A.; Lee, Steve C.; Salt, Alec N.

2008-01-01

Infrasound (i.e., < 20 Hz for humans; < 100 Hz for chinchillas) is not audible, but exposure to high levels of infrasound will produce large movements of cochlear fluids. We speculated that high-level infrasound might bias the basilar membrane and perhaps be able to minimize noise-induced hearing loss. Chinchillas were simultaneously exposed to a 30 Hz tone at 100 dB SPL and a 4-kHz OBN at either 108 dB SPL for 1.75 h or 86 dB SPL for 24 h. For each animal, the tympanic membrane (TM) in one ear was perforated (~1 mm2) prior to exposure to attenuate infrasound transmission to that cochlea by about 50 dB SPL. Controls included animals that were exposed to the infrasound only or the 4-kHz OBN only. ABR threshold shifts (TSs) and DPOAE level shifts (LSs) were determined pre- and post-TM-perforation and immediately post-exposure, just before cochlear fixation. The cochleae were dehydrated, embedded in plastic, and dissected into flat preparations of the organ of Corti (OC). Each dissected segment was evaluated for losses of inner hair cells (IHCs) and outer hair cells (OHCs). For each chinchilla, the magnitude and pattern of functional and hair cell losses were compared between their right and left cochleae. The TM perforation produced no ABR TS across frequency but did produce a 10–21 dB DPOAE LS from 0.6–2 kHz. The infrasound exposure alone resulted in a 10–20 dB ABR TS at and below 2 kHz, no DPOAE LS and no IHC or OHC losses. Exposure to the 4-kHz OBN alone at 108 dB produced a 10–50 dB ABR TS for 0.5–12 kHz, a 10–60 dB DPOAE LS for 0.6–16 kHz and severe OHC loss in the middle of the first turn. When infrasound was present during exposure to the 4-kHz OBN at 108 dB, the functional losses and OHC losses extended much further toward the apical and basal tips of the OC than in cochleae exposed to the 4-kHz OBN alone. Exposure to only the 4-kHz OBN at 86 dB produces a 10–40 dB ABR TS for 3–12 kHz and 10–30 dB DPOAE LS for 3–8 kHz but little or no OHC loss in the middle of the first turn. No differences were found in the functional and hair-cell losses from exposure to the 4-kHz OBN at 86 dB in the presence or absence of infrasound. We hypothesize that exposure to infrasound and an intense 4-kHz OBN increases cochlear damage because the large fluid movements from infrasound cause more intermixing of cochlear fluids through the damaged reticular lamina. Simultaneous infrasound and a moderate 4-kHz OBN did not increase cochlear damage because the reticular lamina rarely breaks down during this moderate level exposure. PMID:17300889

Design of a compact and integrated TM-rotated/TE-through polarization beam splitter for silicon-based slot waveguides.

PubMed

Xu, Yin; Xiao, Jinbiao

2016-01-20

A compact and integrated TM-rotated/TE-through polarization beam splitter for silicon-based slot waveguides is proposed and characterized. For the input TM mode, it is first transferred into the cross strip waveguide using a tapered directional coupler (DC), and then efficiently rotated to the corresponding TE mode using an L-shaped bending polarization rotator (PR). Finally, the TE mode for slot waveguide at the output end is obtained with the help of a strip-to-slot mode converter. By contrast, for the input TE mode, it almost passes through the slot waveguide directly and outputs at the bar end with nearly neglected coupling due to a large mode mismatch. Moreover, an additional S-bend connecting the tapered DC and bending PR is used to enhance the performance. Results show that a total device length of 19.6 μm is achieved, where the crosstalk (CT) and polarization conversion loss are, respectively -26.09 and 0.54 dB, for the TM mode, and the CT and insertion loss are, respectively, -22.21 and 0.41 dB, for the TE mode, both at 1.55 μm. The optical bandwidth is approximately 50 nm with a CT<-20  dB. In addition, fabrication tolerances and field evolution are also presented.

A Comparison of Presentation Levels to Maximize Word Recognition Scores

PubMed Central

Guthrie, Leslie A.; Mackersie, Carol L.

2010-01-01

Background While testing suprathreshold word recognition at multiple levels is considered best practice, studies on practice patterns do not suggest that this is common practice. Audiologists often test at a presentation level intended to maximize recognition scores, but methods for selecting this level are not well established for a wide range of hearing losses. Purpose To determine the presentation level methods that resulted in maximum suprathreshold phoneme-recognition scores while avoiding loudness discomfort. Research Design Performance-intensity functions were obtained for 40 participants with sensorineural hearing loss using the Computer-Assisted Speech Perception Assessment. Participants had either gradually sloping (mild, moderate, moderately severe/severe) or steeply sloping losses. Performance-intensity functions were obtained at presentation levels ranging from 10 dB above the SRT to 5 dB below the UCL (uncomfortable level). In addition, categorical loudness ratings were obtained across a range of intensities using speech stimuli. Scores obtained at UCL – 5 dB (maximum level below loudness discomfort) were compared to four alternative presentation-level methods. The alternative presentation-level methods included sensation level (SL; 2 kHz reference, SRT reference), a fixed-level (95 dB SPL) method, and the most comfortable loudness level (MCL). For the SL methods, scores used in the analysis were selected separately for the SRT and 2 kHz references based on several criteria. The general goal was to choose levels that represented asymptotic performance while avoiding loudness discomfort. The selection of SLs varied across the range of hearing losses. Results Scores obtained using the different presentation-level methods were compared to scores obtained using UCL – 5 dB. For the mild hearing loss group, the mean phoneme scores were similar for all presentation levels. For the moderately severe/severe group, the highest mean score was obtained using UCL - 5 dB. For the moderate and steeply sloping groups, the mean scores obtained using 2 kHz SL were equivalent to UCL - 5 dB, whereas scores obtained using the SRT SL were significantly lower than those obtained using UCL - 5 dB. The mean scores corresponding to MCL and 95 dB SPL were significantly lower than scores for UCL - 5 dB for the moderate and the moderately severe/severe group. Conclusions For participants with mild to moderate gradually sloping losses and for those with steeply sloping losses, the UCL – 5 dB and the 2 kHz SL methods resulted in the highest scores without exceeding listeners' UCLs. For participants with moderately severe/severe losses, the UCL - 5 dB method resulted in the highest phoneme recognition scores. PMID:19594086

Development of lead-free single-element ultrahigh frequency (170 – 320 MHz) ultrasonic transducers

PubMed Central

Lam, Kwok Ho; Ji, Hong Fen; Zheng, Fan; Ren, Wei; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk

2013-01-01

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization of single-element ultrahigh frequency (UHF) ultrasonic transducers in which the center frequency ranged from 170 to 320 MHz. The center frequency of > 300 MHz is the highest value of lead-free ceramic ultrasonic transducers ever reported. With concern in the environmental pollution of lead-based materials, the transducer elements presented in this work were lead-free K0.5Na0.5NbO3/Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (KNN/BNT) composite thick films. All transducers were evaluated in a pulse-echo arrangement. The measured −6 dB bandwidth of the transducers ranged from 35 to 64 %. With the optimized piezoelectric properties of the composite film, the insertion loss of the UHF transducers was measured and determined to range from −50 to −60 dB. In addition to the pulse-echo measurement, a 6-μm tungsten wire phantom was also imaged with a 205 MHz transducer to demonstrate the imaging capability. The measured −6 dB axial and lateral resolutions were found to be 12 μm and 50 μm, respectively. The transducer performance presented in this work is shown to be better or comparable to previously reported results even though the frequency is much higher. PMID:23485349

Asymmetric hearing loss in a random population of patients with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

PubMed

Segal, Nili; Shkolnik, Mark; Kochba, Anat; Segal, Avichai; Kraus, Mordechai

2007-01-01

We evaluated the correlation of asymmetric hearing loss, in a random population of patients with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss, to several clinical factors such as age, sex, handedness, and noise exposure. We randomly selected, from 8 hearing institutes in Israel, 429 patients with sensorineural hearing loss of at least 30 dB at one frequency and a speech reception threshold not exceeding 30 dB. Patients with middle ear disease or retrocochlear disorders were excluded. The results of audiometric examinations were compared binaurally and in relation to the selected factors. The left ear's hearing threshold level was significantly higher than that of the right ear at all frequencies except 1.0 kHz (p < .05). One hundred fifty patients (35%) had asymmetric hearing loss (more than 10 dB difference between ears). In most of the patients (85%) the binaural difference in hearing threshold level, at any frequency, was less than 20 dB. Age, handedness, and sex were not found to be correlated to asymmetric hearing loss. Noise exposure was found to be correlated to asymmetric hearing loss.

Sniffing lung cancer related biomarkers using an oxidized graphene SAW sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xin-Fang; Zhang, Zheng-Wei; He, Yan-Lan; Liu, Yi-Xing; Li, Shuang; Fang, Jing-Yue; Zhang, Xue-Ao; Peng, Gang

2016-04-01

Decane is one of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath. Successful detection of decane in human breath has vast prospects for early lung cancer diagnosis. In this paper, a novel detecting device based on a filter surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas sensor is presented. SAW sensors coated with a thin oxidized graphene film were used to detect decane in parts per million (ppm) concentrations. Control and signal detection circuits were designed using a vector network analyzer with a detection resolution of insertion loss down to 0.0001 dB. The results showed that the SAW sensor could respond quickly with great sensitivity when exposed to 0.2 ppm decane. This device shows tremendous potential in medical diagnosis and environmental assessment.

Waveguide-coupled resonator filters on AlN on silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liaw, H. M.; Cameron, T. P.; Hunt, W. D.; Hickernell, F. S.

1994-01-01

In the effort to continually reduce the size and cost of wireless communications products the level of integration has improved dramatically in recent years. In order to reduce future generations of wireless systems to single chip form, there is a need for on-chip filtering capabilities. In this paper, the first report of an experimental waveguide-coupled resonator filter for cellular radio applications is presented. Measured results indicate a typical insertion loss of 26 dB at a center frequency of 132 MHz using a 2 um AlN film on (001) less than 110 greater than Si. In addition, a laser probe analysis has been conducted and a theoretical analysis of the first order reflection coefficients is presented.

A compact 10 kW solid-state RF power amplifier at 352 MHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dancila, Dragos; Hoang Duc, Long; Jobs, Magnus; Holmberg, Måns; Hjort, Adam; Rydberg, Anders; Ruber, Roger

2017-07-01

A compact 10 kW RF power amplifier at 352 MHz was developed at FREIA for the European Spallation Source, ESS. The specifications of ESS for the conception of amplifiers are related to its pulsed operation: 3.5 ms pulse length and a duty cycle of 5%. The realized amplifier is composed of eight kilowatt level modules, combined using a planar Gysel 8-way combiner. The combiner has a low insertion loss of only 0.2 dB, measured at 10 kW peak power. Each module is built around a commercially available LDMOS transistor in a singleended architecture. During the final tests, a total output peak power of 10.5 kW was measured.

A Photonic 1 × 4 Power Splitter Based on Multimode Interference in Silicon–Gallium-Nitride Slot Waveguide Structures

PubMed Central

Malka, Dror; Danan, Yossef; Ramon, Yehonatan; Zalevsky, Zeev

2016-01-01

In this paper, a design for a 1 × 4 optical power splitter based on the multimode interference (MMI) coupler in a silicon (Si)–gallium nitride (GaN) slot waveguide structure is presented—to our knowledge, for the first time. Si and GaN were found as suitable materials for the slot waveguide structure. Numerical optimizations were carried out on the device parameters using the full vectorial-beam propagation method (FV-BPM). Simulation results show that the proposed device can be useful to divide optical signal energy uniformly in the C-band range (1530–1565 nm) into four output ports with low insertion losses (0.07 dB). PMID:28773638

Temperature-tuned erbium-doped fiber ring laser with Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on two quasi-abrupt tapered fiber sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selvas-Aguilar, R.; Martínez-Rios, A.; Anzueto-Sánchez, G.; Castillo-Guzmán, A.; Hernández-Luna, M. C.; Robledo-Fava, R.

2014-10-01

We present a wavelength tuning of an Erbium-Doped Fiber Ring Laser (EDFRL) based in a Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometer (MZFI) that consists on two tapers fabricated on commercial SMF28 from Corning as an intracavity filter. The MZFI spectral interference pattern is modified by external refractive index changes that alter the light transmission characteristics. In this work, the fiber device is immersed into a glycerol solution with higher dispersion in its refractive index in relation with temperature. Since the temperature sensitiveness of the glycerol is much higher than that of the fiber in a temperature range from 25-110 °C, therefore, the spectral changes are mainly due to the dispersion of glycerol refractive index when heat increases. Also, when this device is inserted into the EDFRL cavity, the gain spectrum of the EDF is modified accordingly and the changes, which can be controlled in an electrical heater, allow the tuning of the laser wavelength determined by the interference fringes. A wavelength shift as high as 180 pm/°C and a tunable range of 12 nm are obtained. The side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of the fiber laser is around 25-30 dB depending on the notch filtering position. The insertion losses of the filter are below 0.3 dB and the measured wavelength shift has a quasilinear dependence as a function of temperature in the 80-110 °C. This method is very simple, portable and inexpensive over traditional methods to tune a fiber laser.

Low-loss polarization-maintaining fusion splicing of single-mode fibers and hollow-core photonic crystal fibers, relevant for monolithic fiber laser pulse compression.

PubMed

Kristensen, Jesper T; Houmann, Andreas; Liu, Xiaomin; Turchinovich, Dmitry

2008-06-23

We report on highly reproducible low-loss fusion splicing of polarization-maintaining single-mode fibers (PM-SMFs) and hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs). The PM-SMF-to-HC-PCF splices are characterized by the loss of 0.62 +/- 0.24 dB, and polarization extinction ratio of 19 +/- 0.68 dB. The reciprocal HC-PCF-to-PM-SMF splice loss is found to be 2.19 +/- 0.33 dB, which is caused by the mode evolution in HC-PCF. The return loss in both cases was measured to be -14 dB. We show that a splice defect is caused by the HC-PCF cleave defect, and the lossy splice can be predicted at an early stage of the splicing process. We also demonstrate that the higher splice loss compromises the PM properties of the splice. Our splicing technique was successfully applied to the realization of a low-loss, environmentally stable monolithic PM fiber laser pulse compressor, enabling direct end-of-the-fiber femtosecond pulse delivery.

Low-loss ultracompact optical power splitter using a multistep structure.

PubMed

Huang, Zhe; Chan, Hau Ping; Afsar Uddin, Mohammad

2010-04-01

We propose a low-loss ultracompact optical power splitter for broadband passive optical network applications. The design is based on a multistep structure involving a two-material (core/cladding) system. The performance of the proposed device was evaluated through the three-dimensional finite-difference beam propagation method. By using the proposed design, an excess loss of 0.4 dB was achieved at a full branching angle of 24 degrees. The wavelength-dependent loss was found to be less than 0.3 dB, and the polarization-dependent loss was less than 0.05 dB from O to L bands. The device offers the potential of being mass-produced using low-cost polymer-based embossing techniques.

Oligonol, a Low-Molecular Weight Polyphenol Derived from Lychee, Alleviates Muscle Loss in Diabetes by Suppressing Atrogin-1 and MuRF1.

PubMed

Liu, Hung-Wen; Chen, Yen-Ju; Chang, Yun-Ching; Chang, Sue-Joan

2017-09-20

Stimulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway-especially E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin-1 and MuRF1-is associated with muscle loss in diabetes. Elevated lipid metabolites impair myogenesis. Oligonol, a low molecular weight polyphenol derived from lychee, exhibited anti-diabetic and anti-obesity properties, suggesting it could be a proper supplement for attenuating muscle loss. Dietary (10 weeks) oligonol supplementation (20 or 200 mg/kg diet) on the skeletal muscle loss was investigated in diabetic db/db mice. Transcription factors NF-κB and FoxO3a involved in regulation of Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 were also investigated. Attenuation of muscle loss by oligonol (both doses) was associated with down-regulation of Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 gene expression. Oligonol supplementation decreased NF-κB expression in the nuclear fraction compared with db/db mice without oligonol supplement. Upregulation of sirtuin1 (SIRT1) expression prevented FoxO3a nuclear localization in db/db mice supplemented with oligonol. Marked increases in AMPKα activity and Ppara mRNA expression leading to lower lipid accumulation by oligonol provided additional benefits for attenuating muscle loss. Oligonol limited palmitate-induced senescent phenotype and cell cycle arrest and suppressed Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 mRNA expression in palmitate-treated C2C12 muscle cells, thus contributing to improving the impaired myotube formation. In conclusion, oligonol-mediated downregulation of Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 gene expression alleviates muscle loss and improves the impaired myotube formation, indicating that oligonol supplementation may be useful for the attenuation of myotube loss.

Tapered waveguides for guided wave optics.

PubMed

Campbell, J C

1979-03-15

Strip waveguides having half-paraboloid shaped tapers that permit efficient fiber to waveguide coupling have been fabricated by Ag ion exchange in soda-lime glass. A reduction in the input coupling loss has been accomplished by tailoring the diffusion to provide a gradual transition from a single-mode waveguide to a multimode waveguide having cross-sectional dimensions comparable to the core diameter of a single-mode fiber. Waveguides without tapers exhibit an attenuation of 1.0 dB/cm and an input coupling loss of 0.6 dB. The additional loss introduced by the tapered region is 0.5 dB. By way of contrast, an input coupling loss of 2.4 dB is obtained by coupling directly to a single-mode waveguide, indicating a net improvement of 1.3 dB for the tapered waveguides.

Development of Balanced SIS Mixers for ALMA Band-10

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shitov, Sergey V.; Koryukin, Oleg V.; Uzawa, Yoshinory; Noguchi, Takashi; Uvarov, Andrey V.; Cohn, Ilya A.

2006-05-01

A few concepts of a wide-band balanced SIS mixer employing submicron-sized SIS junctions are under development for 787-950 GHz frequency range. A quasioptical DSB balanced mixer with integrated cross-slot antenna is considered as the less laborious and cheaper option. The silicon lens-antenna beam efficiency is expected above 80 % across the whole band with first-order sidelobe below -16 dB. To use the conservative horn antenna solution, a single chamber waveguide DSB balanced mixer is developed. Two equal probe-type SIS chips are inserted into a full-height waveguide through its opposite broad walls; these two mixers are driven by the signal waveguide in series. The LO current is transferred to the mixers in parallel via a capacitive probe inserted through the narrow wall of the signal waveguide from the neighboring LO waveguide. The HFSS model demonstrated the LO power coupling efficiency above -3 dB, almost perfect signal transfer and the LO cross talk below -30 dB that take into account misalignment (misbalance) of the chips. It is demonstrated numerically using Tucker's 3-port model that unequal pump of junctions of a twin-SIS mixer can lead, in spite of the perfect signal coupling, to degradation of the gain performance up to -3 dB, especially at the top of the ALMA Band-10.

Comparison of self-written waveguide techniques and bulk index matching for low-loss polymer waveguide interconnects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burrell, Derek; Middlebrook, Christopher

2016-03-01

Polymer waveguides (PWGs) are used within photonic interconnects as inexpensive and versatile substitutes for traditional optical fibers. The PWGs are typically aligned to silica-based optical fibers for coupling. An epoxide elastomer is then applied and cured at the interface for index matching and rigid attachment. Self-written waveguides (SWWs) are proposed as an alternative to further reduce connection insertion loss (IL) and alleviate marginal misalignment issues. Elastomer material is deposited after the initial alignment, and SWWs are formed by injecting ultraviolet (UV) light into the fiber or waveguide. The coupled UV light cures a channel between the two differing structures. A suitable cladding layer can be applied after development. Such factors as longitudinal gap distance, UV cure time, input power level, polymer material selection and choice of solvent affect the resulting SWWs. Experimental data are compared between purely index-matched samples and those with SWWs at the fiber-PWG interface. It is shown that < 1 dB IL per connection can be achieved by either method and results indicate lowest potential losses associated with a fine-tuned self-writing process. Successfully fabricated SWWs reduce overall processing time and enable an effectively continuous low-loss rigid interconnect.

A noise control package for vibrating screens1),2)

PubMed Central

Lowe, M. Jenae; Yantek, David S.; Yang, Junyi; Schuster, Kevin C.; Mechling, Jessie J.

2015-01-01

Hearing loss was the second-most common illness reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in 2009. Furthermore, between 2000 and 2010, 30% of all noise-related injury complaints reported to MSHA were for coal preparation plant employees. Previous National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) studies have shown that vibrating screens are key noise sources to address in order to reduce coal preparation plant noise. In response, NIOSH researchers have developed a suite of noise controls for vibrating screens consisting of constrained layer damping (CLD) treatments, a tuned mechanism suspension, an acoustic enclosure, and spring inserts. Laboratory testing demonstrates that this noise control suite reduces the A-weighted sound power level of the vibrating screen by 6 dB. To provide a comparison to laboratory results and prove durability, field testing of two noise controls was performed on a vibrating screen in a working coal preparation plant. The spring inserts and CLD treatments were selected due to their ease of installation and practicability. Field testing of these controls yielded reductions that were comparable to laboratory results. PMID:26257468

Do you hear the noise? The German matrix sentence test with a fixed noise level in subjects with normal hearing and hearing impairment.

PubMed

Wardenga, Nina; Batsoulis, Cornelia; Wagener, Kirsten C; Brand, Thomas; Lenarz, Thomas; Maier, Hannes

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between hearing loss and speech reception threshold (SRT) in a fixed noise condition using the German Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA). After training with two easily-audible lists of the OLSA, SRTs were determined monaurally with headphones at a fixed noise level of 65 dB SPL using a standard adaptive procedure, converging to 50% speech intelligibility. Data was obtained from 315 ears of 177 subjects with hearing losses ranging from -5 to 90 dB HL pure-tone average (PTA, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 kHz). Two domains were identified with a linear dependence of SRT on PTA. The SRT increased with a slope of 0.094 ± 0.006 dB SNR/dB HL (standard deviation (SD) of residuals = 1.17 dB) for PTAs < 47 dB HL and with a slope of 0.811 ± 0.049 dB SNR/dB HL (SD of residuals = 5.54 dB) for higher PTAs. The OLSA can be applied to subjects with a wide range of hearing losses. With 65 dB SPL fixed noise presentation level the SRT is determined by listening in noise for PTAs < ∼47 dB HL, and above it is determined by listening in quiet.

High-fat, carbohydrate-free diet markedly aggravates obesity but prevents beta-cell loss and diabetes in the obese, diabetes-susceptible db/db strain.

PubMed

Mirhashemi, Farshad; Kluth, Oliver; Scherneck, Stephan; Vogel, Heike; Kluge, Reinhart; Schurmann, Annette; Joost, Hans-Georg; Neschen, Susanne

2008-01-01

We have previously reported that a high-fat, carbohydrate-free diet prevents diabetes and beta-cell destruction in the New Zealand Obese (NZO) mouse strain. Here we investigated the effect of diets with and without carbohydrates on obesity and development of beta-cell failure in a second mouse model of type 2 diabetes, the db/db mouse. When kept on a carbohydrate-containing standard (SD; with (w/w) 5.1, 58.3, and 17.6% fat, carbohydrates and protein, respectively) or high-fat diet (HFD; 14.6, 46.7 and 17.1%), db/db mice developed severe diabetes (blood glucose >20 mmol/l, weight loss, polydipsia and polyurea) associated with a selective loss of pancreatic beta-cells, reduced GLUT2 expression in the remaining beta-cells, and reduced plasma insulin levels. In contrast, db/db mice kept on a high-fat, carbohydrate-free diet (CFD; with 30.2 and 26.4% (w/w) fat or protein) did not develop diabetes and exhibited near-normal, hyperplastic islets in spite of a morbid obesity (fat content >60%) associated with hyperinsulinaemia. These data indicate that in genetically different mouse models of obesity-associated diabetes, obesity and dietary fat are not sufficient, and dietary carbohydrates are required, for beta-cell destruction.

Firefighters' hearing: a comparison with population databases from the International Standards Organization.

PubMed

Kales, S N; Freyman, R L; Hill, J M; Polyhronopoulos, G N; Aldrich, J M; Christiani, D C

2001-07-01

We investigated firefighters' hearing relative to general population data to adjust for age-expected hearing loss. For five groups of male firefighters with increasing mean ages, we compared their hearing thresholds at the 50th and 90th percentiles with normative and age- and sex-matched hearing data from the International Standards Organization (databases A and B). At the 50th percentile, from a mean age of 28 to a mean age of 53 years, relative to databases A and B, the firefighters lost an excess of 19 to 23 dB, 20 to 23 dB, and 16 to 19 dB at 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz, respectively. At the 90th percentile, from a mean age of 28 to a mean age of 53 years, relative to databases A and B, the firefighters lost an excess of 12 to 20 dB, 38 to 44 dB, 41 to 45 dB, and 22 to 28 dB at 2000, 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz, respectively. The results are consistent with accelerated hearing loss in excess of age-expected loss among the firefighters, especially at or above the 90th percentile.

Measurement of characteristic parameters of 10 Gb/s bidirectional optical amplifier for XG-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rakkammee, Suchaj; Boriboon, Budsara; Worasucheep, Duang-rudee; Wada, Naoya

2018-03-01

This research experimentally measured the characteristic parameters of 10 Gb/s bidirectional optical amplifier: (1) operating wavelength range, (2) small signal gain, (3) Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL), and (4) power consumption. Bidirectional amplifiers are the key component to extend coverage area as well as increase a number of users in Passive Optical Networks (PON). According to 10-Gigabit-capable PON or XG-PON standard, the downstream and upstream wavelengths are 1577 nm and 1270 nm respectively. Thus, our bidirectional amplifier consists of an Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) and a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) for downstream and upstream wavelength transmissions respectively. The operating wavelengths of EDFA and SOA are measured to be from 1570 nm to 1588 nm and 1263 nm to 1280 nm respectively. To measure gain, the input wavelengths of EDFA and SOA were fixed at 1577 nm and 1271 nm respectively, while their input powers were reduced by a variable optical attenuator. The small signal gain of EDFA is 22.5 dB at 0.15 Ampere pump current, whereas the small signal gain of SOA is 7.06 dB at 0.325 Ampere pump current. To measure PDL, which is a difference in output powers at various State of Polarization (SoP) of input signal, a polarization controller was inserted before amplifier to alter input SoP. The measured PDL of EDFA is insignificant with less than 0.1 dB. In contrast, the measured PDL of SOA is as large as 33 dB, indicating its strong polarization dependence. The total power consumptions were measured to be 1.5675 Watt.

On-chip broadband ultra-compact optical couplers and polarization splitters based on off-centered and non-symmetric slotted Si-wire waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haldar, Raktim; Mishra, V.; Dutt, Avik; Varshney, Shailendra K.

2016-10-01

In this work, we propose novel schemes to design on-chip ultra-compact optical directional couplers (DC) and broadband polarization beam splitters (PBS) based on off-centered and asymmetric dielectric slot waveguides, respectively. Slot dimensions and positions are optimized to achieve maximum coupling coefficients between two symmetric and non-symmetric slotted Si wire waveguides through overlap integral method. We observe >88% of enhancement in the coupling coefficients when the size-optimized slots are placed in optimal positions, with respect to the same waveguides with no slot. When the waveguides are parallel, in that case, a coupling length as short as 1.73 μm is accomplished for TM mode with the off-centered and optimized slots. This scheme enables us to design optical DC with very small footprint, L c ∼ 0.9 μm in the presence of S-bends. We also report a compact (L c ∼ 1.1 μm) on-chip broadband PBS with hybrid slots. Extinction ratios of 13 dB and 22.3 dB are realized with very low insertion loss (0.055 dB and 0.008 dB) for TM and TE modes at 1.55 μm, respectively. The designed PBS exhibits a bandwidth of 78 nm for the TM mode (C-and partial L-bands) and >100 nm for the TE mode (S + C + L wavelength bands). Such on-chip devices can be used to design compact photonic interconnects and quantum information processing units efficiently. We have also investigated the fabrication tolerances of the proposed devices and described the fabrication steps to realize such hybrid devices. Our results are in good agreement with 3D FDTD simulations.

Active control of noise on the source side of a partition to increase its sound isolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarabini, Marco; Roure, Alain; Pinhede, Cedric

2009-03-01

This paper describes a local active noise control system that virtually increases the sound isolation of a dividing wall by means of a secondary source array. With the proposed method, sound pressure on the source side of the partition is reduced using an array of loudspeakers that generates destructive interference on the wall surface, where an array of error microphones is placed. The reduction of sound pressure on the incident side of the wall is expected to decrease the sound radiated into the contiguous room. The method efficiency was experimentally verified by checking the insertion loss of the active noise control system; in order to investigate the possibility of using a large number of actuators, a decentralized FXLMS control algorithm was used. Active control performances and stability were tested with different array configurations, loudspeaker directivities and enclosure characteristics (sound source position and absorption coefficient). The influence of all these parameters was investigated with the factorial design of experiments. The main outcome of the experimental campaign was that the insertion loss produced by the secondary source array, in the 50-300 Hz frequency range, was close to 10 dB. In addition, the analysis of variance showed that the active noise control performance can be optimized with a proper choice of the directional characteristics of the secondary source and the distance between loudspeakers and error microphones.

Systematic control of optical features in aluminosilicate glass waveguides using direct femtosecond laser writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babu, B. Hari; Niu, Mengsi; Yang, Xiaoyu; Wang, Yanbo; Feng, Lin; Qin, Wei; Hao, Xiao-Tao

2017-10-01

Low loss optical waveguides inside aluminosilicate glasses have been successfully fabricated using direct femtosecond laser writing. To establish the influence of pulse energy and host variations on the optical waveguides have been tentatively explored and systematically studied with the help of different spectroscopic techniques. Isochronal annealing treatment effectively reduces the insertion losses to 1.01 ± 0.28 dB at 632.8 nm. A red shift of the Raman band has been observed with increasing Al2O3 content due to the bond angle variations. The point defects such as non-bridging oxygen hole centers have been corroborated by the photoluminescence studies and significant red-shift has also been documented with increasing Al2O3 content. In addition, there is no NBOHC defects perceived after isochronal annealing treatment inside the glass waveguides. Our results envisage that the present glass waveguides should be promising and potential for applications in passive waveguides and integrated photonic devices.

An efficient self-collimating photonic crystal coupling technique in the RF regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabas, Jerico N.; Mirza, Iftekhar O.; Shi, Shouyuan; Prather, Dennis W.

2010-02-01

In this paper, we present both numerical and experimental results for the waveguiding of light using a low-index-contrast (LIC) self-collimating photonic crystal (SCPhC) in the RF frequency regime. This waveguiding structure utilizes the unique interactions of light with the periodic structure of the photonic crystal (PhC) to propagate a beam of light without divergence. This design also employs materials with a low index contrast (LIC), which reduces the electromagnetic signature of the PhC. This SCPhC was designed by extracting its dispersion contours and numerically simulating it using HFSS, a commercial 3-D, full-wave FEM software. In particular, we addressed the issue of coupling the PhC to a coaxial medium by designing an input/output (I/O) coupler consisting of a coaxial-to-waveguide transition, a rectangular waveguide and a tapered dielectric transition. We fabricated the SCPhC with a rigid polyurethane foam slab and Rexolite polystyrene rods using an automated CNC router to drill the periodic lattice in the slab. We also fabricated the dielectric segments of the I/O couplers with Rexolite slabs using an automated milling machine. Using these I/O couplers and SCPhC slab, we simulated and subsequently measured experimentally an insertion loss, for the entire system, of -3.3 dB through a 24" PhC slab, and a coupling loss of -0.95 dB at each coupler-PhC interface.

PLZT Electrooptic Ceramic Photonic Devices for Surface-Normal Operation in Trenches Cut Across Arrays of Optical Fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirabayashi, Katsuhiko

2005-03-01

Simple Pb_1-x La_x(Zr_y Ti_z)_1-x/4 O3 (PLZT) electrooptic ceramic photonic device arrays for surface-normal operation have been developed for application to polarization-controller arrays and Fabry-Pérot tunable filter arrays. These arrays are inserted in trenches cut across fiber arrays. Each element of the arrayed structure corresponds to one optical beam and takes the form of a cell. Each sidewall of the cell (width: 50-80 μm) is coated to form an electrode. The arrays have 16 elements at a pitch of 250 μm. The phase modulator has about 1 dB of loss and a half-wavelength voltage of 120 V. A cascade of two PLZT phase modulators (thickness: 300 μm), with each attached to a polyimide lambda/2 plate (thickness:15 μm), is capable of converting an arbitrary polarization to the transverse-electric (TE) or transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization. The response time is 1 μs. The Fabry-Pérot tunable filters have a thickness of 50 μm . The front and back surfaces of each cell are coated by 99%-reflective mirror. The free spectral range (FSR) of the filters is about 10 nm, tunable range is about 10 nm, loss is 2.2 dB, and finesse is 150. The tuning speed of these devices is high, taking only 1 μs.

Electrode-shaping for the excitation and detection of permitted arbitrary modes in arbitrary geometries in piezoelectric resonators.

PubMed

Pulskamp, Jeffrey S; Bedair, Sarah S; Polcawich, Ronald G; Smith, Gabriel L; Martin, Joel; Power, Brian; Bhave, Sunil A

2012-05-01

This paper reports theoretical analysis and experimental results on a numerical electrode shaping design technique that permits the excitation of arbitrary modes in arbitrary geometries for piezoelectric resonators, for those modes permitted to exist by the nonzero piezoelectric coefficients and electrode configuration. The technique directly determines optimal electrode shapes by assessing the local suitability of excitation and detection electrode placement on two-port resonators without the need for iterative numerical techniques. The technique is demonstrated in 61 different electrode designs in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film on silicon RF micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) plate, beam, ring, and disc resonators for out-of-plane flexural and various contour modes up to 200 MHz. The average squared effective electromechanical coupling factor for the designs was 0.54%, approximately equivalent to the theoretical maximum value of 0.53% for a fully electroded length-extensional mode beam resonator comprised of the same composite. The average improvement in S(21) for the electrode-shaped designs was 14.6 dB with a maximum improvement of 44.3 dB. Through this piezoelectric electrodeshaping technique, 95% of the designs showed a reduction in insertion loss.

Frequency response improvement of a two-port surface acoustic wave device based on epitaxial AlN thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Junning; Hao, Zhibiao; Luo, Yi; Li, Guoqiang

2018-01-01

This paper presents an exploration on improving the frequency response of the symmetrical two-port AlN surface acoustic wave (SAW) device, using epitaxial AlN thin film on (0001) sapphire as the piezoelectric substrate. The devices were fabricated by lift-off processes with Ti/Al composite electrodes as interleaved digital transducers (IDT). The impact of DL and the number of the IDT finger pairs on the frequency response was carefully investigated. The overall properties of the device are found to be greatly improved with DL elongation, indicated by the reduced pass band ripple and increased stop band rejection ratio. The rejection increases by 8.3 dB when DL elongates from 15.5λ to 55.5λ and 4.4 dB further accompanying another 50λ elongation. This is because larger DL repels the stray acoustic energy out of the propagation path and provides a cleaner traveling channel for functional SAW, and at the same time restrains electromagnetic feedthrough. It is also found that proper addition of the IDT finger pairs is beneficial for the device response, indicated by the ripple reduction and the insertion loss drop.

Numerical Simulation of Liquid Metal RF MEMS Switch Based on EWOD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tingting; Gao, Yang; Yang, Tao; Guo, Huihui

2018-03-01

Conventional RF MEMS switches rely on metal-to-dielectric or metal-to-metal contacts. Some problems in the “solid-solid” contact, such as contact degradation, signal bounce and poor reliability, can be solved by using “liquid-solid” contact. The RF MEMS switch based on liquid metal is characterized by small contact resistance, no moving parts, high reliability and long life. Using electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) way to control the movement of liquid metal in the RF MEMS switch, to achieve the “on” and “off” of the switch. In this paper, the electrical characteristics and RF characteristics of RF MEMS switches are simulated by fluid mechanics software FLUENT and electromagnetic simulation software HFSS. The effects of driving voltage, switching time, dielectric layer, hydrophobic layer material and thickness, switching channel height on the RF characteristics are studied. The results show that to increase the external voltage to the threshold voltage of 58V, the liquid metal began to move, and the switching time from “off” state to “on” state is 16ms. In the 0~20GHz frequency range, the switch insertion loss is less than 0.28dB, isolation is better than 23.32dB.

Modeling and design of a capacitive microwave power sensor for X-band applications based on GaAs technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yan; Liao, Xiaoping

2012-05-01

In the work, modeling and design of a capacitive microwave power sensor employing the MEMS plate with clamped-clamped and free-free edges are presented. A novel analytical model of the sensor is established in detail. Through the function of mode shapes presented, the natural frequency can be solved by the Rayleigh-Ritz method. And based on the generalized coordinate introduced, the displacement of the plate with the irradiation of microwave power can be solved. Furthermore, the sensitivity for the power is also derived. Then the detailed consideration of the design and simulation of the microwave characteristic of the sensor are also presented. The linearly graded ground planar in the coplanar waveguide is employed to avoid step discontinuity. The fabrication process is compatible with GaAs MMIC technology completely, also described in detail. The measurement of the proposed sensor indicates a sensitivity of 7.2 fF W-1 and superior return and insertion losses (S11 and S21), less than -22.16 dB and -0.25 dB, respectively, up to 12 GHz, suggesting that it can be available for microwave power detecting in the X-band frequency range.

The 20 GHz spacecraft IMPATT solid state transmitter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Best, T.; Ngan, Y. C.

1986-01-01

The engineering development of a solid-state transmitter amplifier operating in the 20-GHz frequency range is described. This effort involved a multitude of disciplines including IMPATT device development, circulator design, multiple-diode circuit design, and amplifier integration and test. The objective was to develop a transmitter amplifier demonstrating the feasibility of providing an efficient, reliable, lightweight solid-state transmitter to be flown on a 30 to 20 GHz communication demonstration satellite. The work was done under contract from NASA/Lewis Research Center for a period of three years. The result was the development of a GaAs IMPACT diode amplifier capable of an 11-W CW output power and a 2-dB bandwidth of 300 MHz. GaAs IMPATT diodes incorporating diamond heatsink and double-Read doping profile capable of 5.3-W CW oscillator output power and 15.5% efficiency were developed. Up to 19% efficiency was also observed for an output power level of 4.4 W. High performance circulators with a 0.2 dB inserting loss and bandwidth of 5 GHz have also been developed. These represent a significant advance in both device and power combiner circuit technologies in K-band frequencies.

Blood-brain barrier breakdown promotes macrophage infiltration and cognitive impairment in leptin receptor-deficient mice.

PubMed

Stranahan, Alexis M; Hao, Shuai; Dey, Aditi; Yu, Xiaolin; Baban, Babak

2016-12-01

Accumulating evidence indicates that obesity accelerates the onset of cognitive decline. While mechanisms are still being identified, obesity promotes peripheral inflammation and increases blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. However, no studies have manipulated vascular permeability in obesity to determine whether BBB breakdown underlies memory deficits. Protein kinase Cβ (PKCβ) activation destabilizes the BBB, and we used a PKCβ inhibitor (Enzastaurin) to block BBB leakiness in leptin receptor-deficient (db/db) mice. Enzastaurin reversed BBB breakdown in db/db mice and normalized hippocampal function without affecting obesity or metabolism. Flow cytometric analysis of forebrain mononuclear cells (FMCs) from db/db mice revealed macrophage infiltration and induction of the activation marker MHCII in microglia and macrophages. Enzastaurin eliminated macrophage infiltration and MHCII induction, and protein array profiling revealed parallel reductions in IL1β, IL6, MCP1, and TNFα. To investigate whether these signals attract peripheral monocytes, FMCs from Wt and db/db mice were plated below migration inserts containing peritoneal macrophages. Peritoneal macrophages from db/db mice exhibit increases in transmigration that were blocked by recombinant IL1RA. These studies indicate that BBB breakdown impairs cognition in obesity and diabetes by allowing macrophage infiltration, with a potential role for IL1β in trafficking of peripheral monocytes into the brain. © The Author(s) 2016.

Design for beam splitting components employing silicon-on-insulator rib waveguide structures.

PubMed

Hsiao, C S; Wang, Likarn

2005-12-01

We present a new design for beam splitting components employing a silicon-on-insulator rib waveguide structures. In the new design, a high-index thin-film layer is deposited in the rib section to reduce the wave field dispersive tails in the slab section and accordingly render the mode field a confined spot. This in turn improves the beam splitting performance of some conventional waveguide components such as y branches and multimode interference couplers (MMICs), in terms of the excess loss, fiber coupling loss, and compactness of these components. For a 1 x 2 y-branch beam splitter, the excess loss can be as small as 0.43 dB in the new design, which is much lower than that for a conventional rib waveguide structure (which is 1.28 dB). For a 1 x 2 MMIC in our example, the new rib waveguide structure presents an excess loss of 0.064 dB for the TE mode and 0.046 dB for the TM mode, with negligible nonuniformity in dimensions of 30 microm x 1040 microm, whereas its counterpart (i.e., the one with the same dimensions but without a thin-film layer) presents an excess loss of approximately 0.86 dB for both modes. A conventional MMIC must have dimensions larger than 70 microm x 5650 microm to maintain almost the same low excess loss.

Electromagnetic characterization of photo-definable ferrite loaded polymers and their applications in micro-rectangular coaxial phase shifters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sholiyi, Olusegun Samuel

As the demand for smaller size, lighter weight, lower loss and cost of communications transmit and receive (T/R) modules increases, there is an urgent need to focus investigation to the major subsystem or components that can improve these parameters. Phase shifters contribute greatly to the cost of T/R modules, and thus this research investigation examines a new way to reduce the weight and cost by miniaturizing the phaser design. Characterization of hexaferrite powders compatible with the sequential multilayer micro-fabrication technology and numerical simulations of a novel rectangular micro-coaxial phase shifter are investigated. This effort aims to integrate ferrite material into a rectangular micro-coaxial waveguide at Ka-band using electromagnetic finite element numerical tools. The proposed technique exploits rectangular coaxial waveguide with a symmetrically placed inner signal conductor inside an outer conductor connected to the ground. Strontium ferrite-SU8 composite is used as an anisotropic material of choice in the modelled design. Numerical modeling is employed using High Frequency Structure Simulator, HFSS, a 3-D full wave electromagnetic solver for analyzing the performance of the device. Two model structures were designed for reciprocal and non-reciprocal applications. The first model (Model A) produced a tunable phase shift of almost 60 degrees /cm across 0 to 400 kA/m applied field and at 1800 Gauss. In model B, a non-reciprocal phase shift performance of 20 degrees /cm from a reference phase of 24 degrees at 0 A/m was realized at the same saturation magnetization. A return loss better than 20 dB and an insertion loss less than 1.5 dB were obtained for both models.

Occupational noise-induced hearing loss in auto part factory workers in welding units in Thailand.

PubMed

Sriopas, Apiradee; Chapman, Robert S; Sutammasa, Saravudh; Siriwong, Wattasit

2017-01-24

Most workers in auto part factories in Thailand are usually exposed to excessive noise in their workplace. This study aimed to assess the level of occupational noise-induced hearing loss and investigate risk factors causing hearing loss in auto part factory workers in the welding units in Thailand. This was a cross-sectional study. One hundred eighty subjects were recruited from 356 workers in the welding unit of three factories. Sixty eligible subjects in each factory were selected by systemic random sampling. The subjects were interviewed using a face-to-face questionnaire. Noise exposure levels and audiograms were measured by a noise dosimeter and an audiometer, respectively. The findings confirmed that noise exposure levels of 86-90 dB (A) and exceeding 90 dB (A) significantly increased the risk of hearing loss in either ear. A noise exposure level exceeding 90 dB (A) significantly increased the prevalence of hearing loss in both ears. Regarding, a 10-pack-year smoking history increased the prevalence of hearing loss in either ear or both ears. In addition, subjects with employment duration exceeding 10 years significantly developed hearing loss in either ear. The engineering control or personal control by wearing hearing protection device should be used to decrease noise exposure levels lower than 85 dB (A) for 8 h. Moreover, if the exposure level reaches 85 dB (A) for 8 h, the employer needs to implement a hearing conservation program in the workplace.

Performance of ultracompact copper-capped silicon hybrid plasmonic waveguide-ring resonators at telecom wavelengths.

PubMed

Zhu, Shiyang; Lo, G Q; Kwong, D L

2012-07-02

Ultracompact Cu-capped Si hybrid plasmonic waveguide-ring resonators (WRRs) with ring radii of 1.09-2.59 μm are fabricated on silicon on insulator substrates using standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology and characterized over the telecom wavelength range of 1.52-1.62 μm. The dependence of the spectral characteristics on the key structural parameters such as the Si core width, the ring radius, the separation gap between the ring and bus waveguides, and the ring configuration is systematically studied. A WRR with 2.59-μm radius and 0.250-μm nominal gap exhibits good performances such as normalized insertion loss of ~0.1 dB, extinction ratio of ~12.8 dB, free spectral range of ~47 nm, and quality factor of ~275. The resonance wavelength is redshifted by ~4.6 nm and an extinction ratio of ~7.5 dB is achieved with temperature increasing from 27 to 82°C. The corresponding effective thermo-optical coefficient (dn(g)/dT) is estimated to be ~1.6 × 10(-4) K(-1), which is contributed by the thermo-optical effect of both the Si core and the Cu cap, as revealed by numerical simulations. Combined with the compact size and the high thermal conductivity of Cu, various effective thermo-optical devices based on these Cu-capped plasmonic WRRs could be realized for seamless integration in existing Si electronic-photonic integrated circuits.

Polishing parameter optimization for end-surface of chalcogenide glass fiber connector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Fangxia; Dai, Shixun; Tang, Junzhou; Wang, Xunsi; Li, Xing; Xu, Yinsheng; Wu, Yuehao; Liu, Zijun

2017-11-01

We have investigated the optimization parameters for polishing end-surface of chalcogenide glass fiber connector in the paper. Six SiC abrasive particles of different sizes were used to polish the fiber in order of size from large to small. We analyzed the effects of polishing parameters such as particle sizes, grinding speeds and polishing durations on the quality of the fiber end surface and determined the optimized polishing parameters. We found that, high-quality fiber end surface can be achieved using only three different SiC abrasives. The surface roughness of the final ChG fiber end surface is about 48 nm without any scratches, spots and cracks. Such polishing processes could reduce the average insertion loss of the connector to about 3.4 dB.

Polarization-independent rapidly tunable optical add-drop multiplexer utilizing non-polarizing beam splitters in Ti:LiNbO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Yong-Wook; Sung, Won Ju; Eknoyan, O.; Madsen, C. K.; Taylor, H. F.

2012-04-01

A polarization-independent four-port wavelength-tunable optical add drop multiplexer (OADM) that utilizes non-polarizing relaxed beam splitters has been analyzed and demonstrated in Ti:LiNbO3 at the 1530 nm wavelength regime. The design utilizes an asymmetric interferometer configuration with strain induced index grating for polarization coupling along its arms that are shifted in position relative to each other. Experimental results of the filter response agree with theoretical predictions. Electrooptic tuning over a range of 15.7 nm at a rate of 0.08 nm/V has been measured. A temporal response < 46 ns to a 20 V step change in tuning voltage has been demonstrated. Fiber-to-fiber insertion loss is ~ 6.5 dB.

Broadband notch filter design for millimeter-wave plasma diagnostics.

PubMed

Furtula, V; Michelsen, P K; Leipold, F; Salewski, M; Korsholm, S B; Meo, F; Nielsen, S K; Stejner, M; Moseev, D; Johansen, T

2010-10-01

Notch filters are integrated in plasma diagnostic systems to protect millimeter-wave receivers from intensive stray radiation. Here we present a design of a notch filter with a center frequency of 140 GHz, a rejection bandwidth of ∼900 MHz, and a typical insertion loss below 2 dB in the passband of ±9 GHz. The design is based on a fundamental rectangular waveguide with eight cylindrical cavities coupled by T-junction apertures formed as thin slits. Parameters that affect the notch performance such as physical lengths and conductor materials are discussed. The excited resonance mode in the cylindrical cavities is the fundamental TE(11). The performance of the constructed filter is measured using a vector network analyzer monitoring a total bandwidth of 30 GHz. We compare the measurements with numerical simulations.

Effect of Selectively Etched Ferroelectric Thin-Film Layer on the Performance of a Tunable Bandpass Filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Subramanyam, Guru; Vignesparamoorthy, Sivaruban; Mueller, Carl; VanKeuls, Fred; Warner, Joseph; Miranda, Felix A.

2001-01-01

The main purpose of this work is to study the effect of a selectively etched ferroelectric thin film layer on the performance of an electrically tunable filter. An X-band tunable filter was designed, fabricated and tested on a selectively etched Barium Strontium Titanate (BSTO) ferroelectric thin film layer. Tunable filters with varying lengths of BSTO thin-film in the input and output coupling gaps were modeled, as well as experimentally tested. Experimental results showed that filters with coupling gaps partially filled with BSTO maintained frequency tunability and improved the insertion loss by approx. 2dB. To the best of our knowledge, these results represent the first experimental demonstration of the advantages of selective etching in the performance of thin film ferroelectric-based tunable microwave components.

Channel Modeling of Miniaturized Battery-Powered Capacitive Human Body Communication Systems.

PubMed

Park, Jiwoong; Garudadri, Harinath; Mercier, Patrick P

2017-02-01

The purpose of this contribution is to estimate the path loss of capacitive human body communication (HBC) systems under practical conditions. Most prior work utilizes large grounded instruments to perform path loss measurements, resulting in overly optimistic path loss estimates for wearable HBC devices. In this paper, small battery-powered transmitter and receiver devices are implemented to measure path loss under realistic assumptions. A hybrid electrostatic finite element method simulation model is presented that validates measurements and enables rapid and accurate characterization of future capacitive HBC systems. Measurements from form-factor-accurate prototypes reveal path loss results between 31.7 and 42.2 dB from 20 to 150 MHz. Simulation results matched measurements within 2.5 dB. Comeasurements using large grounded benchtop vector network analyzer (VNA) and large battery-powered spectrum analyzer (SA) underestimate path loss by up to 33.6 and 8.2 dB, respectively. Measurements utilizing a VNA with baluns, or large battery-powered SAs with baluns still underestimate path loss by up to 24.3 and 6.7 dB, respectively. Measurements of path loss in capacitive HBC systems strongly depend on instrumentation configurations. It is thus imperative to simulate or measure path loss in capacitive HBC systems utilizing realistic geometries and grounding configurations. HBC has a great potential for many emerging wearable devices and applications; accurate path loss estimation will improve system-level design leading to viable products.

Relationship among visual field, blood flow, and neural structure measurements in glaucoma.

PubMed

Hwang, John C; Konduru, Ranjith; Zhang, Xinbo; Tan, Ou; Francis, Brian A; Varma, Rohit; Sehi, Mitra; Greenfield, David S; Sadda, Srinivas R; Huang, David

2012-05-17

To determine the relationship among visual field, neural structural, and blood flow measurements in glaucoma. Case-control study. Forty-seven eyes of 42 patients with perimetric glaucoma were age-matched with 27 normal eyes of 27 patients. All patients underwent Doppler Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography to measure retinal blood flow and standard glaucoma evaluation with visual field testing and quantitative structural imaging. Linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the relationship among visual field, blood flow, and structure, after all variables were converted to logarithmic decibel scale. Retinal blood flow was reduced in glaucoma eyes compared to normal eyes (P < 0.001). Visual field loss was correlated with both reduced retinal blood flow and structural loss of rim area and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). There was no correlation or paradoxical correlation between blood flow and structure. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that reduced blood flow and structural loss are independent predictors of visual field loss. Each dB decrease in blood flow was associated with at least 1.62 dB loss in mean deviation (P ≤ 0.001), whereas each dB decrease in rim area and RNFL was associated with 1.15 dB and 2.56 dB loss in mean deviation, respectively (P ≤ 0.03). There is a close link between reduced retinal blood flow and visual field loss in glaucoma that is largely independent of structural loss. Further studies are needed to elucidate the causes of the vascular dysfunction and potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. Blood flow measurement may be useful as an independent assessment of glaucoma severity.

Coupling losses between standard single-mode fibers and rectangular waveguides for integrated optics.

PubMed

Lierstuen, L O; Sudbø, A S

1995-02-20

The butt-coupling loss between different tapered rectangular waveguides and a standard single-mode optical fiber has been calculated. Losses as low as 0.16 dB can be reached for waveguides with a refractive-index contrast in the range of 0.5% to 1.96%. The fabrication tolerances are such that practical devices with coupling losses below 0.25 dB are feasible.

Land-mobile satellite excess path loss measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hess, G. C.

1980-05-01

An experiment conducted with the ATS-6 satellite to determine the additional path loss over free-space loss experienced by land-mobile communication links is described. This excess path loss is measured as a function of 1) local environment, 2) vehicle heading, 3) link frequency, 4) satellite elevation angle, and 5) street side. A statistical description of excess loss developed from the data shows that the first two parameters dominate. Excess path loss on the order of 25 dB is typical in urban situations, but decreases to under 10 dB in suburban/rural areas. Spaced antenna selection diversity is found to provide only a slight decrease (4 dB, typically) in the urban excess path loss observed. Level crossing rates are depressed in satellite links relative to those of Rayleigh-faded terrestrial links, but increases in average fade durations tend to offset that advantage. The measurements show that the excess path loss difference between 860-MHz links and 1550-MHz links is generally negligible.

Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss.

PubMed

Tikka, Christina; Verbeek, Jos H; Kateman, Erik; Morata, Thais C; Dreschler, Wouter A; Ferrite, Silvia

2017-07-07

This is the second update of a Cochrane Review originally published in 2009. Millions of workers worldwide are exposed to noise levels that increase their risk of hearing disorders. There is uncertainty about the effectiveness of hearing loss prevention interventions. To assess the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions for preventing occupational noise exposure or occupational hearing loss compared to no intervention or alternative interventions. We searched the CENTRAL; PubMed; Embase; CINAHL; Web of Science; BIOSIS Previews; Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; and OSH UPDATE to 3 October 2016. We included randomised controlled trials (RCT), controlled before-after studies (CBA) and interrupted time-series (ITS) of non-clinical interventions under field conditions among workers to prevent or reduce noise exposure and hearing loss. We also collected uncontrolled case studies of engineering controls about the effect on noise exposure. Two authors independently assessed study eligibility and risk of bias and extracted data. We categorised interventions as engineering controls, administrative controls, personal hearing protection devices, and hearing surveillance. We included 29 studies. One study evaluated legislation to reduce noise exposure in a 12-year time-series analysis but there were no controlled studies on engineering controls for noise exposure. Eleven studies with 3725 participants evaluated effects of personal hearing protection devices and 17 studies with 84,028 participants evaluated effects of hearing loss prevention programmes (HLPPs). Effects on noise exposure Engineering interventions following legislationOne ITS study found that new legislation in the mining industry reduced the median personal noise exposure dose in underground coal mining by 27.7 percentage points (95% confidence interval (CI) -36.1 to -19.3 percentage points) immediately after the implementation of stricter legislation. This roughly translates to a 4.5 dB(A) decrease in noise level. The intervention was associated with a favourable but statistically non-significant downward trend in time of the noise dose of -2.1 percentage points per year (95% CI -4.9 to 0.7, 4 year follow-up, very low-quality evidence). Engineering intervention case studiesWe found 12 studies that described 107 uncontrolled case studies of immediate reductions in noise levels of machinery ranging from 11.1 to 19.7 dB(A) as a result of purchasing new equipment, segregating noise sources or installing panels or curtains around sources. However, the studies lacked long-term follow-up and dose measurements of workers, and we did not use these studies for our conclusions. Hearing protection devicesIn general hearing protection devices reduced noise exposure on average by about 20 dB(A) in one RCT and three CBAs (57 participants, low-quality evidence). Two RCTs showed that, with instructions for insertion, the attenuation of noise by earplugs was 8.59 dB better (95% CI 6.92 dB to 10.25 dB) compared to no instruction (2 RCTs, 140 participants, moderate-quality evidence). Administrative controls: information and noise exposure feedbackOn-site training sessions did not have an effect on personal noise-exposure levels compared to information only in one cluster-RCT after four months' follow-up (mean difference (MD) 0.14 dB; 95% CI -2.66 to 2.38). Another arm of the same study found that personal noise exposure information had no effect on noise levels (MD 0.30 dB(A), 95% CI -2.31 to 2.91) compared to no such information (176 participants, low-quality evidence). Effects on hearing loss Hearing protection devicesIn two studies the authors compared the effect of different devices on temporary threshold shifts at short-term follow-up but reported insufficient data for analysis. In two CBA studies the authors found no difference in hearing loss from noise exposure above 89 dB(A) between muffs and earplugs at long-term follow-up (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.03 ), very low-quality evidence). Authors of another CBA study found that wearing hearing protection more often resulted in less hearing loss at very long-term follow-up (very low-quality evidence). Combination of interventions: hearing loss prevention programmesOne cluster-RCT found no difference in hearing loss at three- or 16-year follow-up between an intensive HLPP for agricultural students and audiometry only. One CBA study found no reduction of the rate of hearing loss (MD -0.82 dB per year (95% CI -1.86 to 0.22) for a HLPP that provided regular personal noise exposure information compared to a programme without this information.There was very-low-quality evidence in four very long-term studies, that better use of hearing protection devices as part of a HLPP decreased the risk of hearing loss compared to less well used hearing protection in HLPPs (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.69). Other aspects of the HLPP such as training and education of workers or engineering controls did not show a similar effect.In three long-term CBA studies, workers in a HLPP had a statistically non-significant 1.8 dB (95% CI -0.6 to 4.2) greater hearing loss at 4 kHz than non-exposed workers and the confidence interval includes the 4.2 dB which is the level of hearing loss resulting from 5 years of exposure to 85 dB(A). In addition, of three other CBA studies that could not be included in the meta-analysis, two showed an increased risk of hearing loss in spite of the protection of a HLPP compared to non-exposed workers and one CBA did not. There is very low-quality evidence that implementation of stricter legislation can reduce noise levels in workplaces. Controlled studies of other engineering control interventions in the field have not been conducted. There is moderate-quality evidence that training of proper insertion of earplugs significantly reduces noise exposure at short-term follow-up but long-term follow-up is still needed.There is very low-quality evidence that the better use of hearing protection devices as part of HLPPs reduces the risk of hearing loss, whereas for other programme components of HLPPs we did not find such an effect. The absence of conclusive evidence should not be interpreted as evidence of lack of effectiveness. Rather, it means that further research is very likely to have an important impact.

Low-Power Testing of Losses in Millimeter-Wave Transmission Lines for High-Power Applications

PubMed Central

Han, S. T.; Comfoltey, E. N.; Shapiro, M. A.; Sirigiri, J. R.; Tax, D. S.; Temkin, R. J.; Woskov, P. P.; Rasmussen, D. A.

2008-01-01

We report the measurement of small losses in transmission line (TL) components intended for high-power millimeter-wave applications. Measurements were made using two different low-power techniques: a coherent technique using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and an incoherent technique using a radiometer. The measured loss in a 140 GHz 12.7 mm diameter TL system, consisting of 1.7 m of circular corrugated waveguide and three miter bends, is dominated by the miter bend loss. The measured loss was 0.3±0.1 dB per miter bend using a VNA; and 0.22±0.1 dB per miter bend using a radiometer. Good agreement between the two measurement techniques implies that both are useful for measuring small losses. To verify the methodology, the VNA technique was employed to measure the extremely small transmission loss in a 170 GHz ITER prototype TL system consisting of three lengths of 1 m, 63.5 mm diameter, circular corrugated waveguide and two miter bends. The measured loss of 0.05±0.02 dB per miter bend may be compared with the theoretical loss of 0.027 dB per miter bend. These results suggest that low-power testing of TL losses, utilizing a small, simple TL system and a VNA, is a reliable method for evaluating performance of low-loss millimeter-wave TL components intended for use in high-power applications. PMID:19081774

Loss-tolerant quantum secure positioning with weak laser sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Xu, Feihu; Siopsis, George; Chitambar, Eric; Evans, Philip G.; Qi, Bing

2016-09-01

Quantum position verification (QPV) is the art of verifying the geographical location of an untrusted party. Recently, it has been shown that the widely studied Bennett & Brassard 1984 (BB84) QPV protocol is insecure after the 3 dB loss point assuming local operations and classical communication (LOCC) adversaries. Here, we propose a time-reversed entanglement swapping QPV protocol (based on measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography) that is highly robust against quantum channel loss. First, assuming ideal qubit sources, we show that the protocol is secure against LOCC adversaries for any quantum channel loss, thereby overcoming the 3 dB loss limit. Then, we analyze the security of the protocol in a more practical setting involving weak laser sources and linear optics. In this setting, we find that the security only degrades by an additive constant and the protocol is able to verify positions up to 47 dB channel loss.

Low-loss compact multilayer silicon nitride platform for 3D photonic integrated circuits.

PubMed

Shang, Kuanping; Pathak, Shibnath; Guan, Binbin; Liu, Guangyao; Yoo, S J B

2015-08-10

We design, fabricate, and demonstrate a silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) multilayer platform optimized for low-loss and compact multilayer photonic integrated circuits. The designed platform, with 200 nm thick waveguide core and 700 nm interlayer gap, is compatible for active thermal tuning and applicable to realizing compact photonic devices such as arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). We achieve ultra-low loss vertical couplers with 0.01 dB coupling loss, multilayer crossing loss of 0.167 dB at 90° crossing angle, 50 μm bending radius, 100 × 2 μm(2) footprint, lateral misalignment tolerance up to 400 nm, and less than -52 dB interlayer crosstalk at 1550 nm wavelength. Based on the designed platform, we demonstrate a 27 × 32 × 2 multilayer star coupler.

Prolonged noise exposure-induced auditory threshold shifts in rats

PubMed Central

Chen, Guang-Di; Decker, Brandon; Muthaiah, Vijaya Prakash Krishnan; Sheppard, Adam; Salvi, Richard

2014-01-01

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) initially increases with exposure duration, but eventually reaches an asymptotic threshold shift (ATS) once the exposure duration exceeds 18-24 h. Equations for predicting the ATS have been developed for several species, but not for rats, even though this species is extensively used in noise exposure research. To fill this void, we exposed rats to narrowband noise (NBN, 16-20 kHz) for 5 weeks starting at 80 dB SPL in the first week and then increasing the level by 6 dB per week to a final level of 104 dB SPL. Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were recorded before, during, and following the exposure to determine the amount of hearing loss. The noise induced threshold shift to continuous long-term exposure, defined as compound threshold shift (CTS), within and above 16-20 kHz increased with noise level at the rate of 1.82 dB threshold shift per dB of noise level (NL) above a critical level (C) of 77.2 dB SPL i.e. CTS = 1.82(NL-77.2). The normalized amplitude of the largest ABR peak measured at 100 dB SPL decreased at the rate of 3.1% per dB of NL above the critical level of 76.9 dB SPL, i.e., %ABR Reduction = 3.1%(NL-76.9). ABR thresholds measured >30 days post-exposure only partially recovered resulting in a permanent threshold shift of 30-40 dB along with severe hair cell loss in the basal, high-frequency region of the cochlea. In the rat, CTS increases with noise level with a slope similar to humans and chinchillas. The critical level (C) in the rat is similar to that of humans, but higher than that of chinchillas. PMID:25219503

Effects of high intensity noise on the vestibular system in rats

PubMed Central

Stewart, Courtney; Yu, Yue; Huang, Jun; Maklad, Adel; Tang, Xuehui; Allison, Jerome; Mustain, William; Zhou, Wu; Zhu, Hong

2016-01-01

Some individuals with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) also report balance problems. These accompanying vestibular complaints are not well understood. The present study used a rat model to examine the effects of noise exposure on the vestibular system. Rats were exposed to continuous broadband white noise (0–24kHz) at an intensity of 116dB sound pressure level (SPL) via insert ear phones in one ear for three hours under isoflurane anesthesia. Seven days after the exposure, a significant increase in ABR threshold (43.3±1.9dB) was observed in the noise-exposed ears, indicating hearing loss. Effects of noise exposure on vestibular function were assessed by three approaches. First, fluorescein-conjugated phalloidin staining was used to assess vestibular stereocilia following noise exposure. This analysis revealed substantial sensory stereocilia bundle loss in the saccular and utricular maculae as well as in the anterior and horizontal semicircular canal cristae, but not in the posterior semicircular canal cristae. Second, single unit recording of vestibular afferent activity was performed under pentobarbital anesthesia. A total of 548 afferents were recorded from 10 noise-treated rats and 12 control rats. Noise exposure produced a moderate reduction in baseline firing rates of regular otolith afferents and anterior semicircular canal afferents. Also a moderate change was noted in the gain and phase of the horizontal and anterior semicircular canal afferent’s response to sinusoidal head rotation (1 and 2Hz, 45 degrees/s peak velocity). Third, noise exposure did not result in significant changes in gain or phase of the horizontal rotational and translational vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR). These results suggest that noise exposure not only causes hearing loss, but also causes substantial damage in the peripheral vestibular system in the absence of immediate clinically measurable vestibular signs. These peripheral deficits, however, may lead to vestibular disorders over time. PMID:26970474

Susceptibility to acoustic trauma in young and aged gerbils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boettcher, Flint A.

2002-12-01

The effect of age on susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), the effect of gender on the interaction of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and NIHL, and the relative contributions of ARHL and NIHL to total hearing loss are poorly understood. The issues are difficult to resolve empirically in human subjects because of lack of control over extrinsic variables and for ethical reasons. Accordingly, these issues were examined in a well-studied animal model of both ARHL and NIHL, the Mongolian gerbil. Animals were exposed to an intense tone (3.5 kHz, 113 dB SPL, 1 h) either as young adults (6-8 months) or near the end of the average lifespan of the species (34-38 months). Hearing thresholds were determined with the auditory brainstem response (ABR). ARHL was approximately 5-10 dB, with slightly more observed in males at 16 kHz (p<0.05). NIHL of approximately 15-20 dB was similar for the young and old groups, suggesting no differences in susceptibility as a function of age. There were no gender differences in NIHL. The relative contributions of ARHL and NIHL to total hearing loss in aged, noise-exposed gerbils were predicted by an addition of ARHL and NIHL in dB, similar to an international standard on hearing loss allocation, ISO-1999 [Determination of Occupational Noise Exposure and Estimation of Noise-Induced Hearing Impairment (1990)]. Previous evaluations of ISO-1999 using the gerbil animal model concluded that addition of ARHL and NIHL in dB overpredicts total hearing loss. However, in these studies, ARHL was large and nearly equal to NIHL. In the current study, where ARHL was much less than NIHL, addition of the two factors in dB, as recommended by ISO-1999, results in fairly accurate predictions of total hearing loss.

A novel compensation method of insertion losses for wavelet inverse-transform processors using surface acoustic wave devices.

PubMed

Lu, Wenke; Zhu, Changchun

2011-11-01

The objective of this research was to investigate the possibility of compensating for the insertion losses of the wavelet inverse-transform processors using SAW devices. The motivation for this work was prompted by the processors which are of large insertion losses. In this paper, the insertion losses are the key problem of the wavelet inverse-transform processors using SAW devices. A novel compensation method of the insertion losses is achieved in this study. When the output ends of the wavelet inverse-transform processors are respectively connected to the amplifiers, their insertion losses can be compensated for. The bandwidths of the amplifiers and their adjustment method are also given in this paper. © 2011 American Institute of Physics

Waveguide Transition for Submillimeter-Wave MMICs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leong, Kevin M.; Deal, William R.; Radisic, Vesna; Mei, Xiaobing; Uyeda, Jansen; Lai, Richard; Fung, King Man; Gaier, Todd C.

2009-01-01

An integrated waveguide-to-MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) chip operating in the 300-GHz range is designed to operate well on high-permittivity semiconductor substrates typical for an MMIC amplifier, and allows a wider MMIC substrate to be used, enabling integration with larger MMICs (power amplifiers). The waveguide-to- CBCPW (conductor-backed coplanar waveguide) transition topology is based on an integrated dipole placed in the E-plane of the waveguide module. It demonstrates low loss and good impedance matching. Measurement and simulation demonstrate that the loss of the transition and waveguide loss is less than 1-dB over a 340-to-380-GHz bandwidth. A transition is inserted along the propagation direction of the waveguide. This transition uses a planar dipole aligned with the maximum E-field of the TE10 waveguide mode as an inter face between the waveguide and the MMIC. Mode conversion between the coplanar striplines (CPS) that feed the dipole and the CBCPW transmission line is accomplished using a simple air-bridge structure. The bottom side ground plane is truncated at the same reference as the top-side ground plane, leaving the end of the MMIC suspended in air.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Xu, Feihu; Siopsis, George

Quantum position verification (QPV) is the art of verifying the geographical location of an untrusted party. It has recently been shown that the widely studied Bennett & Brassard 1984 (BB84) QPV protocol is insecure after the 3 dB loss point assuming local operations and classical communication (LOCC) adversaries. Here in this paper, we propose a time-reversed entanglement swapping QPV protocol (based on measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography) that is highly robust against quantum channel loss. First, assuming ideal qubit sources, we show that the protocol is secure against LOCC adversaries for any quantum channel loss, thereby overcoming the 3 dB loss limit.more » Then, we analyze the security of the protocol in a more practical setting involving weak laser sources and linear optics. Lastly, in this setting, we find that the security only degrades by an additive constant and the protocol is able to verify positions up to 47 dB channel loss.« less

Continuous variable quantum cryptography: beating the 3 dB loss limit.

PubMed

Silberhorn, Ch; Ralph, T C; Lütkenhaus, N; Leuchs, G

2002-10-14

We demonstrate that secure quantum key distribution systems based on continuous variable implementations can operate beyond the apparent 3 dB loss limit that is implied by the beam splitting attack. The loss limit was established for standard minimum uncertainty states such as coherent states. We show that, by an appropriate postselection mechanism, we can enter a region where Eve's knowledge on Alice's key falls behind the information shared between Alice and Bob, even in the presence of substantial losses.

Effects of annealing on performances of 1.3-μm InAs-InGaAs-GaAs quantum dot electroabsorption modulators

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

In this work, we investigated the effects of quantum dot (QD) annealing (as-grown, 600°C-annealed, and 750°C-annealed) on the preliminary performances of 1.3-μm InAs-InGaAs-GaAs quantum dot electroabsorption modulators (QD-EAMs). Both extinction ratio and insertion loss were found to vary inversely with the annealing temperature. Most importantly, the 3-dB response of the 750°C-annealed lumped-element QD-EAM was found to be 1.6 GHz at zero reverse bias voltage - the lowest reverse bias voltage reported. We believe that this work will be beneficial to researchers working on on-chip integration of QD-EAMs with other devices since energy consumption will be an important consideration. PMID:23388169

High-Frequency (>50 MHz) Medical Ultrasound Linear Arrays Fabricated From Micromachined Bulk PZT Materials

PubMed Central

Liu, Changgeng; Zhou, Qifa; Djuth, Frank T.; Shung, K. Kirk

2012-01-01

This paper describes the development and characterization of a high-frequency (65-MHz) ultrasound transducer linear array. The array was built from bulk PZT which was etched using an optimized chlorine-based plasma dry-etching process. The median etch rate of 8 μm/h yielded a good profile (wall) angle (>83°) and a reasonable processing time for etch depths up to 40 μm (which corresponds to a 50-MHz transducer). A backing layer with an acoustic impedance of 6 MRayl and a front-end polymer matching layer yielded a transducer bandwidth of 40%. The major parameters of the transducer have been characterized. The two-way insertion loss and crosstalk between adjacent channels at the center frequency are 26.5 and −25 dB, respectively. PMID:24626041

Experimental study of multichromatic terahertz wave propagation through planar micro-channels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shin, Young-Min -Min; Northern Illinois Univ., Dekalb, IL; Fermi National Accelerator Lab.

2012-04-10

Previous theoretical and numerical studies [Y. M. Shin and L. R. Barnett, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 091501 (2008) and Y. M. Shin et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 221504 (2008)] have reported that a planar micro-channel with an asymmetric corrugation array supports strongly confined propagation of broadband THz plasmonic waves. The highly broad spectral response is experimentally demonstrated in the near-THz regime of 0.19-0.265 THz. Signal reflection and transmission tests on the three designed micro-channels including directional couplers resulted in a full-width-half-maximum bandwidth of ~ 50-60GHz with an insertion loss of approximately -5 dB, which is in good agreement withmore » simulation data. As a result, these micro-structures can be utilized for free electron beam and electronic/optic integrated devices« less

Quantum key distribution over a 72 dB channel loss using ultralow dark count superconducting single-photon detectors.

PubMed

Shibata, Hiroyuki; Honjo, Toshimori; Shimizu, Kaoru

2014-09-01

We report the first quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment over a 72 dB channel loss using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SSPD, SNSPD) with the dark count rate (DCR) of 0.01 cps. The DCR of the SSPD, which is dominated by the blackbody radiation at room temperature, is blocked by introducing cold optical bandpass filter. We employ the differential phase shift QKD (DPS-QKD) scheme with a 1 GHz system clock rate. The quantum bit error rate (QBER) below 3% is achieved when the length of the dispersion shifted fiber (DSF) is 336 km (72 dB loss), which is low enough to generate secure keys.

Rinne test: does the tuning fork position affect the sound amplitude at the ear?

PubMed

Butskiy, Oleksandr; Ng, Denny; Hodgson, Murray; Nunez, Desmond A

2016-03-24

Guidelines and text-book descriptions of the Rinne test advise orienting the tuning fork tines in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the external auditory canal (EAC), presumably to maximise the amplitude of the air conducted sound signal at the ear. Whether the orientation of the tuning fork tines affects the amplitude of the sound signal at the ear in clinical practice has not been previously reported. The present study had two goals: determine if (1) there is clinician variability in tuning fork placement when presenting the air-conduction stimulus during the Rinne test; (2) the orientation of the tuning fork tines, parallel versus perpendicular to the EAC, affects the sound amplitude at the ear. To assess the variability in performing the Rinne test, the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery members were surveyed. The amplitudes of the sound delivered to the tympanic membrane with the activated tuning fork tines held in parallel, and perpendicular to, the longitudinal axis of the EAC were measured using a Knowles Electronics Mannequin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) with the microphone of a sound level meter inserted in the pinna insert. 47.4 and 44.8% of 116 survey responders reported placing the fork parallel and perpendicular to the EAC respectively. The sound intensity (sound-pressure level) recorded at the tympanic membrane with the 512 Hz tuning fork tines in parallel with as opposed to perpendicular to the EAC was louder by 2.5 dB (95% CI: 1.35, 3.65 dB; p < 0.0001) for the fundamental frequency (512 Hz), and by 4.94 dB (95% CI: 3.10, 6.78 dB; p < 0.0001) and 3.70 dB (95% CI: 1.62, 5.78 dB; p = .001) for the two harmonic (non-fundamental) frequencies (1 and 3.15 kHz), respectively. The 256 Hz tuning fork in parallel with the EAC as opposed to perpendicular to was louder by 0.83 dB (95% CI: -0.26, 1.93 dB; p = 0.14) for the fundamental frequency (256 Hz), and by 4.28 dB (95% CI: 2.65, 5.90 dB; p < 0.001) and 1.93 dB (95% CI: 0.26, 3.61 dB; p = .02) for the two harmonic frequencies (500 and 4 kHz) respectively. Clinicians vary in their orientation of the tuning fork tines in relation to the EAC when performing the Rinne test. Placement of the tuning fork tines in parallel as opposed to perpendicular to the EAC results in a higher sound amplitude at the level of the tympanic membrane.

Hearing outcomes of the active bone conduction system Bonebridge® in conductive or mixed hearing loss.

PubMed

Carnevale, Claudio; Til-Pérez, Guillermo; Arancibia-Tagle, Diego J; Tomás-Barberán, Manuel D; Sarría-Echegaray, Pedro L

2018-05-18

The active transcutaneous bone conduction implant Bonebridge ® , is indicated for patients affected by bilateral conductive/mixed hearing loss or unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, showing hearing outcomes similar to other percutaneous bone conduction implants, but with a lower rate of complications. The aim of this study was to analyze the hearing outcomes in a series of 26 patients affected by conductive or mixed hearing loss and treated with Bonebridge ® . 26 of 30 patients implanted with Bonebridge ® between October 2012 and May 2017, were included in the study. We compared the air conduction thresholds at the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000Hz, the SRT50% and the percentage of correct answers at an intensity of 50dB with and without the implant. "Pure tone average" with the implant was 34.91dB showing an average gain of 33.46dB. Average SRT 50% with the implant was 34.33dB, whereas before the surgery no patient achieved 50% of correct answers at a sound intensity of 50dB. The percentage of correct answers at 50dB changed from 11% without the implant to 85% with it. We only observed one complication consisting of an extrusion of the implant in a patient with a history of 2 previous rhytidectomies. The hearing outcomes obtained in our study are similar to those published in the literature. Bonebridge ® represents an excellent alternative in the treatment of conductive or mixed hearing loss, and with a lower rate of complications. Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología y Cirugía de Cabeza y Cuello. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Cognition and screening for hearing loss in nursing home residents.

PubMed

Jupiter, Tina

2012-10-01

To compare hearing screening results using pure tones and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) with nursing home residents who have dementia and explore the relationship of hearing impairment and cognitive function using the Mini- Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE). A correlational design was implemented to evaluate residents in a large inner city nursing home. One hundred one nursing home residents 65-108 years. DPOAEs and pure tone screenings were conducted at 30 dB HL and 40 dB HL at 1, 2, and 3 kHz. Pure tone thresholds at 1, 2, and 3 kHz were obtained. The MMSE was administered to all participants. Results showed that all residents failed the DPOAE screen, 97.1% failed at 30 dB HL, and 90.0% failed at 40 dB HL. Kendall's tau, phi correlation, linear by linear association, and χ(2) results indicated no significant relationship for any of the screening protocols and cognitive status other than a significant finding with left ear screening at 40 dB HL. Logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals who passed the screen had better MMSE scores. Results of the t test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed a significant difference in cognitive function for residents with a mild hearing loss compared with those with a more significant hearing loss. For screening nursing home residents, 40 dB HL screening level or DPOAEs can be used. The significant finding that residents with greater than a mild hearing loss have poorer cognitive function reinforces the importance of identifying residents with a hearing loss and providing rehabilitation and follow-up. Copyright © 2012 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A New Approach to Suppress the Effect of Machining Error for Waveguide Septum Circular Polarizer at 230 GHz Band in Radio Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Yutaka; Harada, Ryohei; Tokuda, Kazuki; Kimura, Kimihiro; Ogawa, Hideo; Onishi, Toshikazu; Nishimura, Atsushi; Han, Johnson; Inoue, Makoto

2017-05-01

A new stepped septum-type waveguide circular polarizer (SST-CP) was developed to operate in the 230 GHz band for radio astronomy, especially submillimeter-band VLBI observations. For previously reported SST-CP models, the 230 GHz band is too high to achieve the design characteristics in manufactured devices because of unexpected machining errors. To realize a functional SST-CP that can operate in the submillimeter band, a new method was developed, in which the division surface is shifted from the top step of the septum to the second step from the top, and we simulated the expected machining error. The SST-CP using this method can compensate for specified machining errors and suppress serious deterioration. To verify the proposed method, several test pieces were manufactured, and their characteristics were measured using a VNA. These results indicated that the insertion losses were approximately 0.75 dB, and the input return losses and the crosstalk of the left- and right-hand circular polarization were greater than 20 dB at 220-245 GHz on 300 K. Moreover, a 230 GHz SST-CP was developed by the proposed method and installed in a 1.85-m radio telescope receiver systems, and then had used for scientific observations during one observation season without any problems. These achievements demonstrate the successful development of a 230 GHz SST-CP for radio astronomical observations. Furthermore, the proposed method can be applicable for observations in higher frequency bands, such as 345 GHz.

RF MEMS Switches with SiC Microbridges for Improved Reliability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scardelletti, Maximilian C.; Zorman, Christian A.; Oldham, Daniel R.

2008-01-01

Radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical (MEMS) switches offer superior performance when compared to the traditional semiconductor devices such as PIN diodes or GaAs transistors. MEMS switches have a return loss (RL) better than -25 dB, negligible insertion loss (IL), isolation better than -30 dB, and near zero power consumption. However, RF MEMS switches have several drawbacks the most serious being long-term reliability. The ability for the switch to operate for millions or even billions of cycles is a major concern and must be addressed. MEMS switches are basically grouped in two categories, capacitive and metal-to-metal contact. The capacitive type switch consists of a movable metal bridge spanning a fixed electrode and separated by a narrow air gap and thin insulating material. The metal-to-metal contact type utilizes the same basic design but without the insulating material. After prolonged operation the metal bridges, in most of these switches, begin to sag and eventually fail to actuate. For the metal-to-metal type, the two metal layers may actually fuse together. Also if the switches are not packaged properly or protected from the environment moisture may build up and cause stiction between the top and bottom electrodes rendering them useless. Many MEMS switch designs have been developed and most illustrate fairly good RF characteristics. Nevertheless very few have demonstrated both great RF performance and ability to perform millions/billions of switching cycles. Of these, nearly all are of metal-to-metal type so as the frequency increases RF performance decreases.

Low-loss pigtail reflector for fiber lasers.

PubMed

Masuda, Taizo; Iyoda, Mitsuhiro; Yasumatsu, Yuta; Endo, Masamori

2017-05-01

We demonstrate a low-loss pigtail reflector for a fiber laser comprising off-the-shelf components. A pigtail configuration has the advantage of easy alteration of the reflection properties, which is highly desired for basic studies and metrological applications. Our proposed reflector consists of a dielectric-coated bulk mirror and an Ferrule connector (FC)-type fiber receptacle, which are fixed with a machined holder such that the FC-type connector at the fiber end can be attached onto the mirror surface with an appropriate amount of pressure, which is essential for minimal reflection loss. The measured reflection loss is 0.07 dB, which is one order of magnitude less than that of the typical connection loss, 0.52 dB, of an FC-FC interconnection; it is comparable to the typical splice loss of a single-mode fiber (0.05 dB). The benefit of the proposed method is its versatility that enables its application to various types of fiber lasers.

Loss-tolerant quantum secure positioning with weak laser sources

DOE PAGES

Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Xu, Feihu; Siopsis, George; ...

2016-09-14

Quantum position verification (QPV) is the art of verifying the geographical location of an untrusted party. It has recently been shown that the widely studied Bennett & Brassard 1984 (BB84) QPV protocol is insecure after the 3 dB loss point assuming local operations and classical communication (LOCC) adversaries. Here in this paper, we propose a time-reversed entanglement swapping QPV protocol (based on measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography) that is highly robust against quantum channel loss. First, assuming ideal qubit sources, we show that the protocol is secure against LOCC adversaries for any quantum channel loss, thereby overcoming the 3 dB loss limit.more » Then, we analyze the security of the protocol in a more practical setting involving weak laser sources and linear optics. Lastly, in this setting, we find that the security only degrades by an additive constant and the protocol is able to verify positions up to 47 dB channel loss.« less

Gigahertz speed operation of epsilon-near-zero silicon photonic modulators

DOE PAGES

Wood, Michael G.; Campione, Salvatore; Parameswaran, S.; ...

2018-02-21

Opmore » tical communication systems increasingly require electro-optical modulators that deliver high modulation speeds across a large optical bandwidth with a small device footprint and a CMOS-compatible fabrication process. Although silicon photonic modulators based on transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) have shown promise for delivering on these requirements, modulation speeds to date have been limited. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a fast, compact electroabsorption modulator based on TCOs. The modulator works by using bias voltage to increase the carrier density in the conducting oxide, which changes the permittivity and hence optical attenuation by almost 10 dB. Under bias, light is tightly confined to the conducting oxide layer through nonresonant epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) effects, which enable modulation over a broad range of wavelengths in the telecommunications band. Our approach features simple integration with passive silicon waveguides, the use of stable inorganic materials, and the ability to modulate both transverse electric and magnetic polarizations with the same device design. Using a 4-μm-long modulator and a drive voltage of 2 V p p , we demonstrate digital modulation at rates of 2.5 Gb/s. We report broadband operation with a 6.5 dB extinction ratio across the 1530–1590 nm band and a 10 dB insertion loss. This work verifies that high-speed ENZ devices can be created using conducting oxide materials and paves the way for additional technology development that could have a broad impact on future optical communications systems.« less

Gigahertz speed operation of epsilon-near-zero silicon photonic modulators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wood, Michael G.; Campione, Salvatore; Parameswaran, S.

Opmore » tical communication systems increasingly require electro-optical modulators that deliver high modulation speeds across a large optical bandwidth with a small device footprint and a CMOS-compatible fabrication process. Although silicon photonic modulators based on transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) have shown promise for delivering on these requirements, modulation speeds to date have been limited. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a fast, compact electroabsorption modulator based on TCOs. The modulator works by using bias voltage to increase the carrier density in the conducting oxide, which changes the permittivity and hence optical attenuation by almost 10 dB. Under bias, light is tightly confined to the conducting oxide layer through nonresonant epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) effects, which enable modulation over a broad range of wavelengths in the telecommunications band. Our approach features simple integration with passive silicon waveguides, the use of stable inorganic materials, and the ability to modulate both transverse electric and magnetic polarizations with the same device design. Using a 4-μm-long modulator and a drive voltage of 2 V p p , we demonstrate digital modulation at rates of 2.5 Gb/s. We report broadband operation with a 6.5 dB extinction ratio across the 1530–1590 nm band and a 10 dB insertion loss. This work verifies that high-speed ENZ devices can be created using conducting oxide materials and paves the way for additional technology development that could have a broad impact on future optical communications systems.« less

Grommets (ventilation tubes) for hearing loss associated with otitis media with effusion in children.

PubMed

Browning, George G; Rovers, Maroeska M; Williamson, Ian; Lous, Jørgen; Burton, Martin J

2010-10-06

Otitis media with effusion (OME; 'glue ear') is common in childhood and surgical treatment with grommets (ventilation tubes) is widespread but controversial. To assess the effectiveness of grommet insertion compared with myringotomy or non-surgical treatment in children with OME. We searched the Cochrane ENT Disorders Group Trials Register, other electronic databases and additional sources for published and unpublished trials (most recent search: 22 March 2010). Randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of grommets. Outcomes studied included hearing level, duration of middle ear effusion, language and speech development, cognitive development, behaviour and adverse effects. Data from studies were extracted by two authors and checked by the other authors. We included 10 trials (1728 participants). Some trials randomised children (grommets versus no grommets), others ears (grommet one ear only). The severity of OME in children varied between trials. Only one 'by child' study (MRC: TARGET) had particularly stringent audiometric entry criteria. No trial was identified that used long-term grommets.Grommets were mainly beneficial in the first six months by which time natural resolution lead to improved hearing in the non-surgically treated children also. Only one high quality trial that randomised children (N = 211) reported results at three months; the mean hearing level was 12 dB better (95% CI 10 to 14 dB) in those treated with grommets as compared to the controls. Meta-analyses of three high quality trials (N = 523) showed a benefit of 4 dB (95% CI 2 to 6 dB) at six to nine months. At 12 and 18 months follow up no differences in mean hearing levels were found.Data from three trials that randomised ears (N = 230 ears) showed similar effects to the trials that randomised children. At four to six months mean hearing level was 10 dB better in the grommet ear (95% CI 5 to 16 dB), and at 7 to 12 months and 18 to 24 months was 6 dB (95% CI 2 to 10 dB) and 5 dB (95% CI 3 to 8 dB) dB better.No effect was found on language or speech development or for behaviour, cognitive or quality of life outcomes.Tympanosclerosis was seen in about a third of ears that received grommets. Otorrhoea was common in infants, but in older children (three to seven years) occurred in < 2% of grommet ears over two years of follow up. In children with OME the effect of grommets on hearing, as measured by standard tests, appears small and diminishes after six to nine months by which time natural resolution also leads to improved hearing in the non-surgically treated children. No effect was found on other child outcomes but data on these were sparse. No study has been performed in children with established speech, language, learning or developmental problems so no conclusions can be made regarding treatment of such children.

0.22 THz wideband sheet electron beam traveling wave tube amplifier: Cold test measurements and beam wave interaction analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baig, Anisullah; Gamzina, Diana; Barchfeld, Robert; Domier, Calvin; Barnett, Larry R.; Luhmann, Neville C.

2012-09-01

In this paper, we describe micro-fabrication, RF measurements, and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation modeling analysis of the 0.22 THz double-vane half period staggered traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) circuit. The TWTA slow wave structure comprised of two sections separated by two sever ports loaded by loss material, with integrated broadband input/output couplers. The micro-metallic structures were fabricated using nano-CNC milling and diffusion bonded in a three layer process. The 3D optical microscopy and SEM analysis showed that the fabrication error was within 2-3 μm and surface roughness was measured within 30-50 nm. The RF measurements were conducted with an Agilent PNA-X network analyzer employing WR5.1 T/R modules with a frequency range of 178-228 GHz. The in-band insertion loss (S21) for both the short section and long section (separated by a sever) was measured as ˜-5 dB while the return loss was generally around ˜-15 dB or better. The measurements matched well with the S-matrix simulation analysis that predicted a 3 dB bandwidth of ˜45 GHz with an operating frequency at 220 GHz. However, the measured S21 was ˜3 dB less than the design values, and is attributed to surface roughness and alignment issues. The confirmation measurements were conducted over the full frequency band up to 270 GHz employing a backward wave oscillator (BWO) scalar network analyzer setup employing a BWO in the frequency range 190 GHz-270 GHz. PIC simulations were conducted for the realistic TWT output power performance analysis with incorporation of corner radius of 127 μm, which is inevitably induced by nano-machining. Furthermore, the S21 value in both sections of the TWT structure was reduced to correspond to the measurements by using a degraded conductivity of 10% International Annealed Copper Standard. At 220 GHz, for an elliptic sheet electron beam of 20 kV and 0.25 A, the average output power of the tube was predicted to be reduced from 90 W (for ideal conductivity/design S-parameters) to 70 W (for the measured S-parameters/inferred conductivity) for an average input power of 50 mW. The gain of the tube remains reasonable: ˜31.4 dB with an electronic efficiency of ˜1.4%. The same analysis was also conducted for several frequencies between 190 GHz-260 GHz. This detailed realistic PIC analysis demonstrated that this nano-machined TWT circuit has slightly reduced S-parameters and output power from design, but within an acceptable range and still have promising output power, gain, and band width as required. Thus, we expect to meet the specifications of 1000 W-GHz for the darpa program goals.

Cross/bar polymer electro-optic routing switch with broadband flatting spectral response over 130 nm: Principle, design and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Chuan-Tao; Zheng, Li-Hua; Luo, Qian-Qian; Liang, Lei; Ma, Chun-Sheng; Zhang, Da-Ming

2013-05-01

A novel non-resonance 2×2 polymer electro-optic (EO) switch with flatting spectral response is proposed by employing two-section reversed active Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), a passive middle directional coupler (M-DC) and two passive phase generating couplers (PGCs). Two crosstalk compensations are performed by optimizing the PGCs to broaden the spectrum under bar-state and optimizing the two active MZIs to broaden the spectrum under cross-state. The bar-state and cross-state voltages are 0 and ±4 V, respectively, with the two optimized MZI EO region lengths of 4068 and 5941 μm. Sufficiently considering wavelength dispersion of material and waveguide, a wide spectrum over 130 nm (1473-1603 nm) is achieved for dropping the crosstalk below -30 dB, and within this range, an insertion loss of 1.8-12.3 dB is observed. Under the same crosstalk level, this spectrum is over 2 times of that of the traditional 2×2 MZI switch (60 nm) based on the same materials. This broadband 2×2 switch is more attractive than our previously reported broadband 1×1 switch due to cross/bar routing operations other than simple ON/OFF functions.

A high power microwave triggered RF opening switch.

PubMed

Beeson, S; Dickens, J; Neuber, A

2015-03-01

A 4-port S-band waveguide structure was designed and fabricated such that a signal of any amplitude (less than 1 MW) can be switched from a normally closed state, <0.5 dB insertion loss (IL), to an open state >30 dB IL by initiating plasma in a gas cell situated at the junction of this waveguide and one propagating a megawatt level magnetron pulse. The 90/10 switching time is as low as 20 ns with a delay of ∼30 ns between the onset of the high power microwave pulse and the initial drop of the signal. Two ports of this device are for the high power triggering pulse while the other two ports are for the triggered signal in a Moreno-like coupler configuration. In order to maintain high isolation, these two sets of waveguides are rotated 90° from each other with a TE111 resonator/plasma cell located at the intersection. This manuscript describes the design and optimization of this structure using COMSOL 4.4 at the design frequency of 2.85 GHz, comparison of simulated scattering parameters with measured "cold tests" (testing without plasma), and finally the temporal waveforms of this device being used to successfully switch a low power CW signal from 2 W to <5 mW on a sub-microsecond timescale.

Design and Fabrication of Ta filled microcavites in the delay paths of SAW devices for improved power transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richardson, Mandek; Sankaranarayanan, S. K. R. S.; Bhethanabotla, V. R.

2015-03-01

The authors report the design and fabrication of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device with improved power transfer due to modification of its delay path. Typically, SAW delay-line devices suffer from relatively high insertion loss (IL) (similar to 10-30 dB). Our approach is to incorporate an array of microcavities, having square cross-sectional area (lambda/2 x lambda/2) and filled with tantalum, within the delay path to maximize acoustic confinement to the surface and reduce IL. To determine the effectiveness of the cavities without expending too many resources and to explain trends found in actual devices, a finite element model of amore » SAW device with tantalum filled cavities having various depths was utilized. For each depth simulated, IL was decreased compared to a standard SAW device. Microcavities 2.5 mu m deep filled with tantalum showed the best performance (Delta IL = 17.93 dB). To validate simulated results, the authors fabricated a SAW device on ST 90 degrees-X quartz with microcavities etched into its delay path using deep reactive ion etching and filled with tantalum. Measurement of fabricated devices showed inclusion of tantalum filled microcavities increased power transfer compared to a device without cavities. (C) 2015 American Vacuum Society.« less

Design of a compact high-speed optical modulator based on a hybrid plasmonic nanobeam cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javid, Mohammad Reza; Miri, Mehdi; Zarifkar, Abbas

2018-03-01

A hybrid plasmonic electro-optic modulator based on a polymer-filled one dimensional photonic crystal nanobeam (1D PhCNB) cavity is proposed here. In the proposed structure the optical intensity modulation is realized by shifting the resonant wavelength of the cavity through electrically tuning the refractive index of the electro-optic polymer in the hybrid plasmonic waveguide. As a result of the subwavelength light confinement in the hybrid plasmonic waveguide and the compact footprint of the 1D PhCNB cavity, the designed modulator has the small overall footprint of 3 . 6 μm2 and the required wavelength shift can be achieved by applying very small actuating power. Three dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) simulations show that the modulation depth of 10.9 dB, and insertion loss of 1.14 dB, along with very high modulation speed of 224 GHz can be achieved in the proposed modulator with very low modulation energy of 0.75 fJ/bit. A comparison between the performance parameters of the proposed modulator and those of previously reported PhCNB based modulators reveals the superior performance of the proposed structure in terms of modulation speed, energy consumption and overall footprint.

High-sensitivity sucrose erbium-doped fiber ring laser sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaleel, Wurood Abdulkhaleq; Al-Janabi, Abdul Hadi M.

2017-02-01

We investigate a high-sensitivity sucrose sensor based on a standard erbium-doped fiber ring laser incorporating a coreless fiber (CF). A single-mode-coreless-single mode (SCS) structure with a very low insertion loss has been constructed. The SCS fiber structure performed dual function as an intracavity fiber filter and/or a sensing element. The gain medium (erbium-doped fiber) is pumped by a 975-nm wavelength fiber coupled diode laser. Laser emission around 1537 nm with -2 dBm peak output power is obtained when a CF in SCS structure has a diameter of 125 μm. The 3-dB line-width of the laser is <0.14 nm, which is beneficial to high precision sensing. The sucrose concentration varied from 0% to 60%, and the relationship between the lasing wavelength and the sucrose concentration exhibited linear behavior (R2=0.996), with sensitivity of 0.16 nm/% was obtained. To improve the measurement sensitivity, the CF is etched by hydrofluoric acid. The splice joint of etched CF with SMF is a taper, which improves its sensitivity to sucrose changes. An average sensitivity of 0.57 nm/% and a high signal-to-noise ratio of 50 dB make the proposed sensor suitable for potential applications.

Carbon nanotube fiber terahertz polarizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubair, Ahmed; Tsentalovich, Dmitri E.; Young, Colin C.; Heimbeck, Martin S.; Everitt, Henry O.; Pasquali, Matteo; Kono, Junichiro

2016-04-01

Conventional, commercially available terahertz (THz) polarizers are made of uniformly and precisely spaced metallic wires. They are fragile and expensive, with performance characteristics highly reliant on wire diameters and spacings. Here, we report a simple and highly error-tolerant method for fabricating a freestanding THz polarizer with nearly ideal performance, reliant on the intrinsically one-dimensional character of conduction electrons in well-aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The polarizer was constructed on a mechanical frame over which we manually wound acid-doped CNT fibers with ultrahigh electrical conductivity. We demonstrated that the polarizer has an extinction ratio of ˜-30 dB with a low insertion loss (<0.5 dB) throughout a frequency range of 0.2-1.1 THz. In addition, we used a THz ellipsometer to measure the Müller matrix of the CNT-fiber polarizer and found comparable attenuation to a commercial metallic wire-grid polarizer. Furthermore, based on the classical theory of light transmission through an array of metallic wires, we demonstrated the most striking difference between the CNT-fiber and metallic wire-grid polarizers: the latter fails to work in the zero-spacing limit, where it acts as a simple mirror, while the former continues to work as an excellent polarizer even in that limit due to the one-dimensional conductivity of individual CNTs.

Assessment of shock wave lithotripters via cavitation potential

PubMed Central

Iloreta, Jonathan I.; Zhou, Yufeng; Sankin, Georgy N.; Zhong, Pei; Szeri, Andrew J.

2008-01-01

A method to characterize shock wave lithotripters by examining the potential for cavitation associated with the lithotripter shock wave (LSW) has been developed. The method uses the maximum radius achieved by a bubble subjected to a LSW as a representation of the cavitation potential for that region in the lithotripter. It is found that the maximum radius is determined by the work done on a bubble by the LSW. The method is used to characterize two reflectors: an ellipsoidal reflector and an ellipsoidal reflector with an insert. The results show that the use of an insert reduced the −6 dB volume (with respect to peak positive pressure) from 1.6 to 0.4 cm3, the −6 dB volume (with respect to peak negative pressure) from 14.5 to 8.3 cm3, and reduced the volume characterized by high cavitation potential (i.e., regions characterized by bubbles with radii larger than 429 µm) from 103 to 26 cm3. Thus, the insert is an effective way to localize the potentially damaging effects of shock wave lithotripsy, and suggests an approach to optimize the shape of the reflector. PMID:19865493

Fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors integrated with a bandpass filter on the fiber end-face

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, W. J.; Yang, X. Y.; Li, H.; You, L. X.; Lv, C. L.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, C. J.; Liu, X. Y.; Wang, Z.; Xie, X. M.

2018-07-01

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) with both high system detection efficiency (SDE) and low dark count rate (DCR) play significant roles in quantum information processes and various applications. The background dark counts of SNSPDs originate from the room temperature blackbody radiation coupled to the device via a fiber. Therefore, a bandpass filter (BPF) operated at low temperature with minimal insert loss is necessary to suppress the background DCR. Herein, a low-loss BPF integrated on a single-mode fiber end-face was designed, fabricated and verified for the low temperature implement. The fiber end-face BPF was featured with a typical passband width about 40 nm in the 1550 nm telecom band and a peak transmittance of over 0.98. SNSPD with high SDE fabricated on a distributed Bragg reflector was coupled to the BPF. The device with such a BPF showed an SDE of 80% at a DCR of 0.5 Hz, measured at 2.1 K. Compared the same device without a BPF, the DCR was reduced by over 13 dB with an SDE decrease of <3%.

MMIC linear-phase and digital modulators for deep space spacecraft X-band transponder applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, Narayan R.; Ali, Fazal

1991-01-01

The design concepts, analyses, and development of GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) linear-phase and digital modulators for the next generation of space-borne communications systems are summarized. The design approach uses a compact lumped element quadrature hybrid and Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MESFET)-varactors to provide low loss and well-controlled phase performance for deep space transponder (DST) applications. The measured results of the MESFET-diode show a capacitance range of 2:1 under reverse bias, and a Q of 38 at 10 GHz. Three cascaded sections of hybrid-coupled reflection phase shifters were modeled and simulations performed to provide an X-band (8415 +/- 50 MHz) DST phase modulator with +/- 2.5 radians of peak phase deviation. The modulator will accommodate downlink signal modulation with composite telemetry and ranging data, with a deviation linearity tolerance of +/- 8 percent and insertion loss of less than 8 +/- 0.5 dB. The MMIC digital modulator is designed to provide greater than 10 Mb/s of bi-phase modulation at X-band.

Pressure generation during neural stimulation with infrared radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, N.; Tan, X.; Xu, Y.; Richter, C.-P.

2017-02-01

This study quantifies laser evoked pressure waves in small confined volumes such as a small dish or the cochlea. The pressure was measured with custom fabricated pressure probes in front of the optical fiber. For the pressure measurements during laser stimulation the probes were inserted into scala tympani or vestibuli. At 164 μJ/pulse, the intracochlear pressure was between 96 and 106 dB (re 20 μPa). The pressure was also measured in the ear canal with a sensitive microphone. It was on average 63 dB (re 20 μPa). At radiant energies large enough to evoke an auditory compound action potential, the outer ear canal equivalent pressure was 36-56 dB (re 20 μPa).

Modified Sierpenski Antenna With Metamaterial For Wireless Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aggarwal, Ishita; Pandey, Sujata

2017-08-01

This paper presents a multiband antenna based on modified sierpenski fractal structure along with metamaterials for wireless applications. Multi bands are obtained at 2.1 GHz, 5.73 GHz, 7.6 GHz and 8.4 GHz with return losses -21.49 dB,-36.36 dB,-45dB, and -23.46 dBrespectively. The dimension of the substrate used for this antenna is 52 x 60 x 1.6 mm3 and dielectric constant is 4.4 with tanδ of 0.002. The peak gain of 6.6 dB, return loss of -45 dB and VSWR of 1 are obtained at 7.6 GHz. Metamaterial unit cells are loaded on ground to improve the antenna parameters. This is a simple and compact design and has multiband features suitable for WIMAX, WLAN, C-band and X-band applications. This design is simulated by using HFSS 14.

Highly integrated optical 8x8 lambda-router in silicon-on-insulator technology: comparison between the ring and racetrack configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, G. F.; Orobtchouk, R.; Fédéli, J. M.

2010-05-01

In this paper, we demonstrate a compact 8x8 λ-router using multimode-interference (MMI) crossing based on the microring resonator. The 8x8 λ-router was designed and fabricated with a CMOS compatible silicon on insulator technology. MMI is used to reduce the cross talk and the crossing losses of the device. Microrings with a nominal radius of 2.5 μm and small variations of 10 nm of the nominal value allow respectively a free spectral range of 32 nm and spacing between channels of 4 nm. The experimental results are in good agreement with the modeling. The basic add drop filters of the devices exhibit losses of -2 dB and on/off contrast of the resonance of 20 dB. The total losses for one channel are about -4 dB and the imbalance between the 8 channels is lower than 2 dB.

A High-Frequency Linear Ultrasonic Array Utilizing an Interdigitally Bonded 2-2 Piezo-Composite

PubMed Central

Cannata, Jonathan M.; Williams, Jay A.; Zhang, Lequan; Hu, Chang-Hong; Shung, K. Kirk

2011-01-01

This paper describes the development of a high-frequency 256-element linear ultrasonic array utilizing an interdigitally bonded (IB) piezo-composite. Several IB composites were fabricated with different commercial and experimental piezoelectric ceramics and evaluated to determine a suitable formulation for use in high-frequency linear arrays. It was found that the fabricated fine-scale 2–2 IB composites outperformed 1–3 IB composites with identical pillar- and kerf-widths. This result was not expected and lead to the conclusion that dicing damage was likely the cause of the discrepancy. Ultimately, a 2–2 composite fabricated using a fine-grain piezoelectric ceramic was chosen for the array. The composite was manufactured using one IB operation in the azimuth direction to produce approximately 19-μm-wide pillars separated by 6-μm-wide kerfs. The array had a 50 μm (one wavelength in water) azimuth pitch, two matching layers, and 2 mm elevation length focused to 7.3 mm using a polymethylpentene (TPX) lens. The measured pulse-echo center frequency for a representative array element was 28 MHz and −6-dB band-width was 61%. The measured single-element transmit −6-dB directivity was estimated to be 50°. The measured insertion loss was 19 dB after compensating for the effects of attenuation and diffraction in the water bath. A fine-wire phantom was used to assess the lateral and axial resolution of the array when paired with a prototype system utilizing a 64-channel analog beamformer. The −6-dB lateral and axial resolutions were estimated to be 125 and 68 μm, respectively. An anechoic cyst phantom was also imaged to determine the minimum detectable spherical inclusion, and thus the 3-D resolution of the array and beamformer. The minimum anechoic cyst detected was approximately 300 μm in diameter. PMID:21989884

High peak and high average radiofrequency power transmit/receive switch for thermal magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Ji, Yiyi; Hoffmann, Werner; Pham, Michal; Dunn, Alexander E; Han, Haopeng; Özerdem, Celal; Waiczies, Helmar; Rohloff, Michael; Endemann, Beate; Boyer, Cyrille; Lim, May; Niendorf, Thoralf; Winter, Lukas

2018-04-01

To study the role of temperature in biological systems, diagnostic contrasts and thermal therapies, RF pulses for MR spin excitation can be deliberately used to apply a thermal stimulus. This application requires dedicated transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) switches that support high peak powers for MRI and high average powers for RF heating. To meet this goal, we propose a high-performance Tx/Rx switch based on positive-intrinsic-negative diodes and quarter-wavelength (λ/4) stubs. The λ/4 stubs in the proposed Tx/Rx switch design route the transmitted RF signal directly to the RF coil/antenna without passing through any electronic components (e.g., positive-intrinsic-negative diodes). Bench measurements, MRI, MR thermometry, and RF heating experiments were performed at f = 297 MHz (B 0  = 7 T) to examine the characteristics and applicability of the switch. The proposed design provided an isolation of -35.7dB/-41.5dB during transmission/reception. The insertion loss was -0.41dB/-0.27dB during transmission/reception. The switch supports high peak (3.9 kW) and high average (120 W) RF powers for MRI and RF heating at f = 297 MHz. High-resolution MRI of the wrist yielded image quality competitive with that obtained with a conventional Tx/Rx switch. Radiofrequency heating in phantom monitored by MR thermometry demonstrated the switch applicability for thermal modulation. Upon these findings, thermally activated release of a model drug attached to thermoresponsive polymers was demonstrated. The high-power Tx/Rx switch enables thermal MR applications at 7 T, contributing to the study of the role of temperature in biological systems and diseases. All design files of the switch will be made available open source at www.opensourceimaging.org. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Ka-Band Waveguide Two-Way Hybrid Combiner for MMIC Amplifiers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Rainee N.; Chevalier, Christine T.; Wintucky, Edwin G.; Freeman, Jon C.

2010-01-01

The design, simulation, and characterization of a novel Ka-band (32.05 0.25 GHz) rectangular waveguide two-way branch-line hybrid unequal power combiner (with port impedances matched to that of a standard WR-28 waveguide) has been created to combine input signals, which are in phase and with an amplitude ratio of two. The measured return loss and isolation of the branch-line hybrid are better than 22 and 27 dB, respectively. The measured combining efficiency is 92.9 percent at the center frequency of 32.05 GHz. This circuit is efficacious in combining the unequal output power from two Ka-band GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers (PAs) with high efficiency. The component parts include the branch-line hybrid-based power combiner and the MMIC-based PAs. A two-way branch-line hybrid is a four-port device with all ports matched; power entering port 1 is divided in phase, and into the ratio 2:1 between ports 3 and 4. No power is coupled to port 2. MMICs are a type of integrated circuit fabricated on GaAs that operates at microwave frequencies, and performs the function of signal amplification. The power combiner is designed to operate over the frequency band of 31.8 to 32.3 GHz, which is NASA's deep space frequency band. The power combiner would have an output return loss better than 20 dB. Isolation between the output port and the isolated port is greater than 25 dB. Isolation between the two input ports is greater than 25 dB. The combining efficiency would be greater than 90 percent when the ratio of the two input power levels is two. The power combiner is machined from aluminum with E-plane split-block arrangement, and has excellent reliability. The flexibility of this design allows the combiner to be customized for combining the power from MMIC PAs with an arbitrary power output ratio. In addition, it allows combining a low-power GaAs MMIC with a high-power GaN MMIC. The arbitrary port impedance allows matching the output impedance of the MMIC PA directly to the waveguide impedance without transitioning first into a transmission line with characteristic impedance of 50 ohms. Thus, by eliminating the losses associated with a transition, the overall SSPA efficiency is enhanced. For reducing the cost and weight when required in very large quantities, such as in the beam-forming networks of phased-array antenna systems, the combiner can be manufactured using metal-plated plastic. Two hybrid unequal power combiners can be cascaded to realize a non-binary combiner (for e.g., a three-way) and can be synergistically optimized for low VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio), low insertion loss, high isolation, and wide bandwidth using commercial off-the-shelf electromagnetic software design tools.

Design issues of a multimode interference-based 3-dB splitter.

PubMed

Themistos, Christos; Rahman, B M Azizur

2002-11-20

We have investigated important issues such as the power loss, the loss imbalance the fabrication tolerances, and the wavelength dependence for the design of a multimode interference-based 3-dB splitter on deeply etched InP waveguides under general, restricted, and symmetric interference mechanisms. For this investigation, we used the finite-element-based beam propagation approach. Results are presented.

Improvement in transmission loss of aircraft double wall with resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jincai; Shi, Liming; Ye, Xining

1991-08-01

A little volume low frequency resonator applicable to double-wall configuration of propeller-driven aircraft was designed on the basis of the principle of Helmholtz resonator. The normal incidence absorption coefficient of the various single resonator has been measured. The agreement between theoretical and experimental results is encouraging. An array of resonators whose resonant frequency at 85 Hz and 160 Hz, respectively, are installed between aircraft double-panel, and it has been shown that transmission loss of the double wall structure with resonators improve 4 dB and 6.5 dB in 1/3rd octave bandwidth at 80 Hz and 160 Hz center frequency, respectively, and 5 dB and 7 dB at resonant frequencies, compared with that of the double wall configuration without resonators.

The Impact of Change in Visual Field on Health-Related Quality of Life: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study

PubMed Central

Patino, Cecilia M.; Varma, Rohit; Azen, Stanley P.; Conti, David V.; Nichol, Michael B.; McKean-Cowdin, Roberta

2010-01-01

Purpose To assess the impact of change in visual field (VF) on change in health related quality of life (HRQoL) at the population level. Design Prospective cohort study Participants 3,175 Los Angles Latino Eye Study (LALES) participants Methods Objective measures of VF and visual acuity and self-reported HRQoL were collected at baseline and 4-year follow-up. Analysis of covariance was used to evaluate mean differences in change of HRQoL across severity levels of change in VF and to test for effect modification by covariates. Main outcome measures General and vision-specific HRQoL. Results Of 3,175 participants, 1430 (46%) showed a change in VF (≥1 decibel [dB]) and 1651, 1715 (54%) reported a clinically important change (≥5 points) in vision-specific HRQoL. Progressive worsening and improvement in the VF were associated with increasing losses and gains in vision-specific HRQoL for the composite score and 10 of its 11 subscales (all Ptrends<0.05). Losses in VF > 5 dB and gains > 3 dB were associated with clinically meaningful losses and gains in vision-specific HRQoL, respectively. Areas of vision-specific HRQoL most affected by greater losses in VF were driving, dependency, role-functioning, and mental health. The effect of change in VF (loss or gain) on mean change in vision-specific HRQoL varied by level of baseline vision loss (in visual field and/or visual acuity) and by change in visual acuity (all P-interactions<0.05). Those with moderate/severe VF loss at baseline and with a > 5 dB loss in visual field during the study period had a mean loss of vision-specific HRQoL of 11.3 points, while those with no VF loss at baseline had a mean loss of 0.97 points Similarly, with a > 5 dB loss in VF and baseline visual acuity impairment (mild/severe) there was a loss in vision-specific HRQoL of 10.5 points, whereas with no visual acuity impairment at baseline there was a loss of vision-specific HRQoL of 3.7 points. Conclusion Both losses and gains in VF produce clinically meaningful changes in vision-specific HRQoL. In the presence of pre-existing vision loss (VF and visual acuity), similar levels of visual field change produce greater losses in quality of life. PMID:21458074

Free-space wavelength-multiplexed optical scanner demonstration.

PubMed

Yaqoob, Zahid; Riza, Nabeel A

2002-09-10

Experimental demonstration of a no-moving-parts free-space wavelength-multiplexed optical scanner (W-MOS) is presented. With fast tunable lasers or optical filters and planar wavelength dispersive elements such as diffraction gratings, this microsecond-speed scanner enables large several-centimeter apertures for subdegree angular scans. The proposed W-MOS design incorporates a unique optical amplifier and variable optical attenuator combination that enables the calibration and modulation of the scanner response, leading to any desired scanned laser beam power shaping. The experimental setup uses a tunable laser centered at 1560 nm and a 600-grooves/mm blazed reflection grating to accomplish an angular scan of 12.92 degrees as the source is tuned over an 80-nm bandwidth. The values for calculated maximum optical beam divergance, required wavelength resolution, beam-pointing accuracy, and measured scanner insertion loss are 1.076 mrad, 0.172 nm, 0.06 mrad, and 4.88 dB, respectively.

Non-reciprocal optical mirrors based on spatio-temporal acousto-optic modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleury, R.; Sounas, D. L.; Alù, A.

2018-03-01

Here, we investigate a scheme to realize free-space isolators and highly non-reciprocal mirrors with weak modulation imparted by an acoustic wave. We propose a strategy to dramatically break time-reversal symmetry by exploiting resonant interactions between a travelling acoustic wave and highly resonant Fabry-Pérot modes, inducing total reflection of an optical beam at a given angle, and no reflection at the negative angle. Different from conventional acousto-optic isolators, which are based on non-resonant frequency conversion and filtering, our proposal operates at the frequency of the optical signal by tailoring the resonant properties of the structure as well as the acoustic wave frequency and intensity, enabling 50 dB isolation with modest modulation requirements. Operation in the reflection mode allows for close-to-zero insertion loss, enabling disruptive opportunities in our ability to control and manipulate photons.

Q-band 4-state phase shifter in planar technology: Circuit design and performance analysis.

PubMed

Villa, E; Cagigas, J; Aja, B; de la Fuente, L; Artal, E

2016-09-01

A 30% bandwidth phase shifter with four phase states is designed to be integrated in a radio astronomy receiver. The circuit has two 90° out-of-phase microwave phase-shifting branches which are combined by Wilkinson power dividers. Each branch is composed of a 180° phase shifter and a band-pass filter. The 180° phase shifter is made of cascaded hybrid rings with microwave PIN diodes as switching devices. The 90° phase shift is achieved with the two band-pass filters. Experimental characterization has shown significant results, with average phase shift values of -90.7°, -181.7°, and 88.5° within the operation band, 35-47 GHz, and mean insertion loss of 7.4 dB. The performance of its integration in a polarimetric receiver for radio astronomy is analyzed, which validates the use of the presented phase shifter in such type of receiver.

Electromagnetic properties of absorber fabric coated with BaFe12O19/MWCNTs/PANi nanocomposite in X and Ku bands frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afzali, Arezoo; Mottaghitalab, Vahid; Seyyed Afghahi, Seyyed Salman; Jafarian, Mojtaba; Atassi, Yomen

2017-11-01

Current investigation focuses on the electromagnetic properties of nonwoven fabric coated with BaFe12O19 (BHF) /MWCNTs/PANi nanocomposite in X and Ku bands. The BHF/MWCNTs and BHF/MWCNTs/PANi nanocomposites are prepared using the sol gel and in-situ polymerization methods respectively. The absorbent fabric was prepared based on applying a 40 wt% of BHF/MWCNTs/PANi nanocomposite in silicon resin on nonwoven fabric via roller coating technique The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and vector network analysis (VNA) are used to peruse microstructural, magnetic and electromagnetic features of the composite and absorber fabric respectively. The microscopic images of the fabric coated with magnetic nanocomposite shows a homogenous layer of nanoparticles on the fabric surface. The maximum reflection loss of binary nano-composite BHF/MWCNTs was measured about -28.50 dB at 11.72 GHz with 1.7 GHz bandwidth (RL < -10 dB) in X band. Moreover in Ku band, the maximum reflection loss is -29.66 dB at 15.78 GHz with 3.2 GHz bandwidths. Also the ternary nanocomposite BHF/MWCNTs/PANi exhibits a broad band absorber over a wide range of X band with a maximum reflection loss of -36.2 dB at 10.2 GHz with 1.5 GHz bandwidth and in the Ku band has arrived a maximum reflection loss of -37.65 dB at 12.84 GHz with 2.43 GHz bandwidth. This result reflects the synergistic effect of the different components with different loss mechanisms. As it is observed due to the presence of PANi in the structure of nanocomposite, the amount of absorption has increased extraordinarily. The absorber fabric exhibits a maximum reflection loss of -24.2 dB at 11.6 GHz with 4 GHz bandwidth in X band. However, in Ku band, the absorber fabric has had the maximum absorption in 16.88 GHz that is about -24.34 dB with 6 GHz bandwidth. Therefore, results indicate that the fabric samples coated represents appreciable maximum absorption value of more than 99% in X and Ku bands which can be attributed to presence of carbon and polyaniline structure in composite material.

Cochlear implantation: is hearing preservation necessary in severe to profound hearing loss?

PubMed

Derinsu, Ufuk; Serin, Gediz Murat; Akdaş, Ferda; Batman, Çağlar

2011-03-01

The goal of the cochlear implant surgery is to place the electrode array with minimal damage to preserve the residual hearing. Round-window insertion can be performed in a manner that is potentially less traumatic than the standard cochleostomy. The purpose of the study was to investigate audiological results of the round-window approach using standard electrode. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate our experience in patients with implanted through round window between January 2007 and March 2009. Sixty patients had undergone cochlear implant surgery through the round window with full insertion of a standard electrode array. Preoperative and postoperative pure-tone thresholds were measured for implanted ears in the range of 250 to 4000 Hz. Within these 60 cases, 31 patients had been evaluated. The population comprised 16 women and 15 men. The mean age was 15.96 years (range, 4-64 years). Follow-up times ranged from 6 to 26 months. Preservation of low-frequency hearing (250 and 500 Hz) was achieved in 27 (87%) of 31 patients. Complete hearing preservation (all frequencies) was accomplished in 11 patients (35.48%). No hearing could be determined postoperatively in 4 patients (12.9%), having preoperative thresholds of 120 dB at 250, 500, and 1000 Hz. Round-window approach has been widely used for preservation of residual hearing. In our patients with severe to profound hearing loss, we preserved residual hearing. Although the residual hearing cannot be sufficient for using additional acoustic stimulation, the preserved residual hearing means minimal damage and a more convenient cochlea, so this is promising for future development.

Sound Absorption of a 2DOF Resonant Liner with Negative Bias Flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahuja, K. K.; Cataldi, P.; Gaeta, R. J., Jr.; Jones, Mike (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

This report describes an experimental study conducted to determine the effect of negative bias flow on the sound absorption of a two degree-of-freedom liner. The backwall for the liner was designed to act as a double-Helmholtz resonator so as to act as a hard wall at all frequencies except at its resonant frequencies. All normal incident impedance data presented herein was acquired in an impedance tube. The effect of bias flow is investigated for a buried septum porosity of 2% and 19.5% for bias flow orifice mach numbers up to 03 11. As a porous backwall is needed for the flow to pass through, the effect of bias flow on this backwall all had to be evaluated first. The bias flow appears to modify the resistance and reactance of the backwall alone at lower frequencies up to about 2 kHz, with marginal effects at higher frequencies. Absorption coefficients close to unity are achieved for a frequency range of 500-4000 Hz for the overall liner for a septum porosity of 2% and orifice mach number of 0.128. Insertion loss tests performed in a flow duct facility for grazing flow Mach numbers up to 0.2 and septum mach numbers up to 0.15 showed that negative bias flow can increase insertion loss by as much as 10 dB at frequencies in the range of 500 - 1400 Hz compared to no grazing flow. The effectiveness of the negative bias flow is diminished as the grazing flow velocity is increased.

Assessment of hearing threshold in adults with hearing loss using an automated system of cortical auditory evoked potential detection.

PubMed

Durante, Alessandra Spada; Wieselberg, Margarita Bernal; Roque, Nayara; Carvalho, Sheila; Pucci, Beatriz; Gudayol, Nicolly; de Almeida, Kátia

The use of hearing aids by individuals with hearing loss brings a better quality of life. Access to and benefit from these devices may be compromised in patients who present difficulties or limitations in traditional behavioral audiological evaluation, such as newborns and small children, individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum, autism, and intellectual deficits, and in adults and the elderly with dementia. These populations (or individuals) are unable to undergo a behavioral assessment, and generate a growing demand for objective methods to assess hearing. Cortical auditory evoked potentials have been used for decades to estimate hearing thresholds. Current technological advances have lead to the development of equipment that allows their clinical use, with features that enable greater accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, and the possibility of automated detection, analysis, and recording of cortical responses. To determine and correlate behavioral auditory thresholds with cortical auditory thresholds obtained from an automated response analysis technique. The study included 52 adults, divided into two groups: 21 adults with moderate to severe hearing loss (study group); and 31 adults with normal hearing (control group). An automated system of detection, analysis, and recording of cortical responses (HEARLab ® ) was used to record the behavioral and cortical thresholds. The subjects remained awake in an acoustically treated environment. Altogether, 150 tone bursts at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000Hz were presented through insert earphones in descending-ascending intensity. The lowest level at which the subject detected the sound stimulus was defined as the behavioral (hearing) threshold (BT). The lowest level at which a cortical response was observed was defined as the cortical electrophysiological threshold. These two responses were correlated using linear regression. The cortical electrophysiological threshold was, on average, 7.8dB higher than the behavioral for the group with hearing loss and, on average, 14.5dB higher for the group without hearing loss for all studied frequencies. The cortical electrophysiological thresholds obtained with the use of an automated response detection system were highly correlated with behavioral thresholds in the group of individuals with hearing loss. Copyright © 2016 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

A capacitive power sensor based on the MEMS cantilever beam fabricated by GaAs MMIC technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Zhenxiang; Liao, Xiaoping

2013-03-01

In this paper, a novel capacitive power sensor based on the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) cantilever beam at 8-12 GHz is proposed, fabricated and tested. The presented design can not only realize a cantilever beam instead of the conventional fixed-fixed beam, but also provide fine compatibility with the GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) process. When the displacement of the cantilever beam is very small compared with the initial height of the air gap, the capacitance change between the measuring electrode and the cantilever beam has an approximately linear dependence on the incident radio frequency (RF) power. Impedance compensating technology, by modifying the slot width of the coplanar waveguide transmission line, is adopted to minimize the effect of the cantilever beam on the power sensor; its validity is verified by the simulation of high frequency structure simulator software. The power sensor has been fabricated successfully by Au surface micromachining using polyimide as the sacrificial layer on the GaAs substrate. Optimization of the design with impedance compensating technology has resulted in a measured return loss of less than -25 dB and an insertion loss of around 0.1 dB at 8-12 GHz, which shows the slight effect of the cantilever beam on the microwave performance of this power sensor. The measured capacitance change starts from 0.7 fF to 1.3 fF when the incident RF power increases from 100 to 200 mW and an approximate linear dependence has been obtained. The measured sensitivities of the sensor are about 6.16, 6.27 and 6.03 aF mW-1 at 8, 10 and 12 GHz, respectively.

Electromagnetic, morphological and structural characterization of microwave absorbers based on POMA/magnetic filament composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Souza Pinto, Simone; Machado, João Paulo Barros; Gomes, Newton A. S.; Rezende, Mirabel Cerqueira

2018-03-01

This study aims to combine dielectric and magnetic properties of different materials in an unique composite. For this, poly(o-methoxyaniline), POMA, was chemically synthesized in situ on magnetic metallic filaments (MF). The obtained composite was inserted into an epoxy resin matrix in the proportions of 40, 50 and 70%, in weight (wt%). The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X ray diffraction (XRD) and electromagnetic measurements. On the last case, the measurements considered the reflectivity and the complex parameters of electrical permittivity and magnetic permeability in the frequency range of 8.2-12.4 GHz (X-band). Specimens with different thicknesses were evaluated by reflectivity. XRD results show that the filaments are based on Fe-α steel and SEM analyses show the good incorporation of POMA/MF in the epoxy resin composite. The complex parameters show that the real component of permittivity shows the largest variation with the POMA/MF concentration increasing in epoxy resin and the loss tangent indicates that the magnetic losses are preponderant on dielectric ones. The reflectivity measurements show that the 5 mm-specimen with 50 wt% of POMA/MF presents the best result of attenuation (-21.5 dB, i.e. above 99% of attenuation). Already, the sample containing 70 wt% shows the worst performance (up to -9.0 dB). The increase of POMA/MF concentration in epoxy resin confers maximum attenuation values for less thick specimens. The results show that the combination of dielectric and magnetic materials in a composite contributes for the improvement of microwave absorbing performance, and extends the possibilities of RAM processing with different characteristics.

Pure-Tone Audiometry With Forward Pressure Level Calibration Leads to Clinically-Relevant Improvements in Test-Retest Reliability.

PubMed

Lapsley Miller, Judi A; Reed, Charlotte M; Robinson, Sarah R; Perez, Zachary D

2018-02-21

Clinical pure-tone audiometry is conducted using stimuli delivered through supra-aural headphones or insert earphones. The stimuli are calibrated in an acoustic (average ear) coupler. Deviations in individual-ear acoustics from the coupler acoustics affect test validity, and variations in probe insertion and headphone placement affect both test validity and test-retest reliability. Using an insert earphone designed for otoacoustic emission testing, which contains a microphone and loudspeaker, an individualized in-the-ear calibration can be calculated from the ear-canal sound pressure measured at the microphone. However, the total sound pressure level (SPL) measured at the microphone may be affected by standing-wave nulls at higher frequencies, producing errors in stimulus level of up to 20 dB. An alternative is to calibrate using the forward pressure level (FPL) component, which is derived from the total SPL using a wideband acoustic immittance measurement, and represents the pressure wave incident on the eardrum. The objective of this study is to establish test-retest reliability for FPL calibration of pure-tone audiometry stimuli, compared with in-the-ear and coupler sound pressure calibrations. The authors compared standard audiometry using a modern clinical audiometer with TDH-39P supra-aural headphones calibrated in a coupler to a prototype audiometer with an ER10C earphone calibrated three ways: (1) in-the-ear using the total SPL at the microphone, (2) in-the-ear using the FPL at the microphone, and (3) in a coupler (all three are derived from the same measurement). The test procedure was similar to that commonly used in hearing-conservation programs, using pulsed-tone test frequencies at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz, and an automated modified Hughson-Westlake audiometric procedure. Fifteen adult human participants with normal to mildly-impaired hearing were selected, and one ear from each was tested. Participants completed 10 audiograms on each system, with test-order randomly varied and with headphones and earphones refitted by the tester between tests. Fourteen of 15 ears had standing-wave nulls present between 4 and 8 kHz. The mean intrasubject SD at 6 and 8 kHz was lowest for the FPL calibration, and was comparable with the low-frequency reliability across calibration methods. This decrease in variability translates to statistically-derived significant threshold shift criteria indicating that 15 dB shifts in hearing can be reliably detected at 6 and 8 kHz using FPL-calibrated ER10C earphones, compared with 20 to 25 dB shifts using standard TDH-39P headphones with a coupler calibration. These results indicate that reliability is better with insert earphones, especially with in-the-ear FPL calibration, compared with a standard clinical audiometer with supra-aural headphones. However, in-the-ear SPL calibration should not be used due to its sensitivity to standing waves. The improvement in reliability is clinically meaningful, potentially allowing hearing-conservation programs to more confidently determine significant threshold shifts at 6 kHz-a key frequency for the early detection of noise-induced hearing loss.

An on-chip polarization splitter based on the radiation loss in the bending hybrid plasmonic waveguide structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Chengwei; Rong, Kexiu; Gan, Fengyuan; Chu, Saisai; Gong, Qihuang; Chen, Jianjun

2017-09-01

Polarization beam splitters (PBSs) are one of the key components in the integrated photonic circuits. To increase the integration density, various complex hybrid plasmonic structures have been numerically designed to shrink the footprints of the PBSs. Here, to decrease the complexity of the small hybrid structures and the difficulty of the hybrid micro-nano fabrications, the radiation losses are utilized to experimentally demonstrate an ultra-small, broadband, and efficient PBS in a simple bending hybrid plasmonic waveguide structure. The hybrid plasmonic waveguide comprising a dielectric strip on the metal surface supports both the transverse-magnetic (TM) and transverse-electric (TE) waveguide modes. Because of the different field confinements, the TE waveguide mode has larger radiation loss than the TM waveguide mode in the bending hybrid strip waveguide. Based on the different radiation losses, the two incident waveguide modes of orthogonal polarization states are efficiently split in the proposed structure with a footprint of only about 2.2 × 2.2 μm2 on chips. Since there is no resonance or interference in the splitting process, the operation bandwidth is as broad as Δλ = 70 nm. Moreover, the utilization of the strongly confined waveguide modes instead of the bulk free-space light (with the spot size of at least a few wavelengths) as the incident source considerably increases the coupling efficiency, resulting in a low insertion loss of <3 dB.

Hearing and Mortality Outcomes following Temporal Bone Fractures.

PubMed

Honeybrook, Adam; Patki, Aniruddha; Chapurin, Nikita; Woodard, Charles

2017-12-01

The aim of this article is to determine hearing and mortality outcomes following temporal bone fractures. Retrospective chart review was performed of 152 patients diagnosed with a temporal bone fracture presenting to the emergency room at a tertiary care referral center over a 10-year period. Utilizing Patients' previously obtained temporal bone computed tomographic scans and audiograms, fractures were classified based on several classification schemes. Correlations between fracture patterns, mortality, and hearing outcomes were analyzed using χ 2 tests. Ossicular chain disruption was seen in 11.8% of patients, and otic capsule violation was seen in 5.9%; 22.7% of patients presented for audiologic follow-up. Seventeen patients with conductive hearing loss had air-bone gaps of 26 ± 7.5 dB (500 Hz), 27 ± 6.8 dB (1,000 Hz), 18 ± 6.2 dB (2,000 Hz), and 32 ± 7.7 dB (4,000 Hz). Two cases of profound sensorineural hearing loss were associated with otic capsule violation. No fracture classification scheme was predictive of hearing loss, although longitudinal fractures were statistically associated with ossicular chain disruption ( p  < 0.01). Temporal bone fractures in patients older than 60 years carried a relative risk of death of 3.15 compared with those younger than 60 years. The average magnitude of conductive hearing loss resulting from temporal bone fracture ranged from 18 to 32 dB in this cohort. Classification of fracture type was not predictive of hearing loss, despite the statistical association between ossicular chain disruption and longitudinal fractures. This finding may be due to the low follow-up rates of this patient population. Physicians should make a concerted effort to ensure that audiological monitoring is executed to prevent and manage long-term hearing impairment.

Effect of acetazolamide on visual function in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and mild visual loss: the idiopathic intracranial hypertension treatment trial.

PubMed

Wall, Michael; McDermott, Michael P; Kieburtz, Karl D; Corbett, James J; Feldon, Steven E; Friedman, Deborah I; Katz, David M; Keltner, John L; Schron, Eleanor B; Kupersmith, Mark J

Acetazolamide is commonly used to treat idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), but there is insufficient information to establish an evidence base for its use. To determine whether acetazolamide is beneficial in improving vision when added to a low-sodium weight reduction diet in patients with IIH and mild visual loss. Multicenter, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study of acetazolamide in 165 participants with IIH and mild visual loss who received a low-sodium weight-reduction diet. Participants were enrolled at 38 academic and private practice sites in North America from March 2010 to November 2012 and followed up for 6 months (last visit in June 2013). All participants met the modified Dandy criteria for IIH and had a perimetric mean deviation (PMD) between -2 dB and -7 dB. The mean age was 29 years and all but 4 participants were women. Low-sodium weight-reduction diet plus the maximally tolerated dosage of acetazolamide (up to 4 g/d) or matching placebo for 6 months. The planned primary outcome variable was the change in PMD from baseline to month 6 in the most affected eye, as measured by Humphrey Field Analyzer. Perimetric mean deviation is a measure of global visual field loss (mean deviation from age-corrected normal values), with a range of 2 to -32 dB; larger negative values indicate greater vision loss. Secondary outcome variables included changes in papilledema grade, quality of life (Visual Function Questionnaire 25 [VFQ-25] and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey), headache disability, and weight at month 6. The mean improvement in PMD was greater with acetazolamide (1.43 dB, from -3.53 dB at baseline to -2.10 dB at month 6; n = 86) than with placebo (0.71 dB, from -3.53 dB to -2.82 dB; n = 79); the difference was 0.71 dB (95% CI, 0 to 1.43 dB; P = .050). Mean improvements in papilledema grade (acetazolamide: -1.31, from 2.76 to 1.45; placebo: -0.61, from 2.76 to 2.15; treatment effect, -0.70; 95% CI, -0.99 to -0.41; P < .001) and vision-related quality of life as measured by the National Eye Institute VFQ-25 (acetazolamide: 8.33, from 82.97 to 91.30; placebo: 1.98, from 82.97 to 84.95; treatment effect, 6.35; 95% CI, 2.22 to 10.47; P = .003) and its 10-item neuro-ophthalmic supplement (acetazolamide: 9.82, from 75.45 to 85.27; placebo: 1.59, from 75.45 to 77.04; treatment effect, 8.23; 95% CI, 3.89 to 12.56; P < .001) were also observed with acetazolamide. Participants assigned to acetazolamide also experienced a reduction in weight (acetazolamide: -7.50 kg, from 107.72 kg to 100.22 kg; placebo: -3.45 kg, from 107.72 kg to 104.27 kg; treatment effect, -4.05 kg, 95% CI, -6.27 to -1.83 kg; P < .001). In patients with IIH and mild visual loss, the use of acetazolamide with a low-sodium weight-reduction diet compared with diet alone resulted in modest improvement in visual field function. The clinical importance of this improvement remains to be determined. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01003639.

Compact cantilever couplers for low-loss fiber coupling to silicon photonic integrated circuits.

PubMed

Wood, Michael; Sun, Peng; Reano, Ronald M

2012-01-02

We demonstrate coupling from tapered optical fibers to 450 nm by 250 nm silicon strip waveguides using compact cantilever couplers. The couplers consist of silicon inverse width tapers embedded within silicon dioxide cantilevers. Finite difference time domain simulations are used to design the length of the silicon inverse width taper to as short as 6.5 μm for a cantilever width of 2 μm. Modeling of various strip waveguide taper profiles shows reduced coupling losses for a quadratic taper profile. Infrared measurements of fabricated devices demonstrate average coupling losses of 0.62 dB per connection for the quasi-TE mode and 0.50 dB per connection for the quasi-TM mode across the optical telecommunications C band. In the wavelength range from 1477 nm to 1580 nm, coupling losses for both polarizations are less than 1 dB per connection. The compact, broadband, and low-loss coupling scheme enables direct access to photonic integrated circuits on an entire chip surface without the need for dicing or cleaving the chip.

Flicker-defined form perimetry in glaucoma patients.

PubMed

Horn, Folkert K; Kremers, Jan; Mardin, Christian Y; Jünemann, Anselm G; Adler, Werner; Tornow, Ralf P

2015-03-01

To assess the potential of flicker-defined form (FDF) perimetry to detect functional loss in patient groups with beginning glaucoma, and to evaluate the dynamic range of the FDF stimulus in individual patients and at individual test positions. FDF perimetry and standard automated perimetry (SAP) were performed at identical test locations (adapted G1 protocol) in 60 healthy subjects and 111 glaucoma patients. All patients showed glaucomatous optic disc appearance. Grouping within the glaucoma cohort was based on SAP-performance: 33 "preperimetric" open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients, 28 "borderline" OAG (focal defects and SAP-mean defect (MD) <2 dB), 33 "early" OAG (SAP-MD < 5 dB), 17 "advanced" OAG. All participants were experienced in psychophysical and perimetric tests. Defect values and the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) in patient groups were statistically compared. The values of FDF-MD in the preperimetric, borderline, and early OAG group were 2.7 ± 3.4 dB, 5.5 ± 2.6 dB, and 8.5 ± 3.4 dB respectively (all significantly above normal). The percentage of patients exceeding normal FDF-MD was 27.3 %, 60.7 %, and 87.9 % respectively. The age-adjusted FDF-mean defect (MD) of the G1X-protocol was not significantly correlated with refractive error, lens opacity, pupil size, or gender. Occurrence of ceiling effects (inability to detect targets at highest contrast) showed a high correlation with visual field losses (R = 0.72, p < 0.001). Local analysis indicates that SAP losses exceeding 5 dB could not be distinguished with the FDF technique. The FDF stimulus was able to detect beginning glaucoma damage. Patients with SAP-MD values exceeding 5 dB should be monitored with conventional perimetry because of its larger dynamic range.

Hearing: Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

MedlinePlus

... stereo headsets (at about 110 dB), attending a rock concert (at about l20 dB), or hearing a ... by listening to parents, teachers, television, and radio. Music, the sounds of nature, and the voices of ...

The Words-in-Noise Test (WIN), list 3: a practice list.

PubMed

Wilson, Richard H; Watts, Kelly L

2012-02-01

The Words-in-Noise Test (WIN) was developed as an instrument to quantify the ability of listeners to understand monosyllabic words in background noise using multitalker babble (Wilson, 2003). The 50% point, which is calculated with the Spearman-Kärber equation (Finney, 1952), is used as the evaluative metric with the WIN materials. Initially, the WIN was designed as a 70-word instrument that presented ten unique words at each of seven signal-to-noise ratios from 24 to 0 dB in 4 dB decrements. Subsequently, the 70-word list was parsed into two 35-word lists that achieved equivalent recognition performances (Wilson and Burks, 2005). This report involves the development of a third list (WIN List 3) that was developed to serve as a practice list to familiarize the participant with listening to words presented in background babble. To determine-on young listeners with normal hearing and on older listeners with sensorineural hearing loss-the psychometric properties of the WIN List 3 materials. A quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design was used. Twenty-four young adult listeners (M = 21.6 yr) with normal pure-tone thresholds (≤ 20 dB HL at 250 to 8000 Hz) and 24 older listeners (M = 65.9 yr) with sensorineural hearing loss participated. The level of the babble was fixed at 80 dB SPL with the level of the words varied from 104 to 80 dB SPL in 4 dB decrements. For listeners with normal hearing, the 50% points for Lists 1 and 2 were similar (4.3 and 5.1 dB S/N, respectively), both of which were lower than the 50% point for List 3 (7.4 dB S/N). A similar relation was observed with the listeners with hearing loss, 50% points for Lists 1 and 2 of 12.2 and 12.4 dB S/N, respectively, compared to 15.8 dB S/N for List 3. The differences between Lists 1 and 2 and List 3 were significant. The relations among the psychometric functions and the relations among the individual data both reflected these differences. The significant ∼3 dB difference between performances on WIN Lists 1 and 2 and on WIN List 3 by the listeners with normal hearing and the listeners with hearing loss dictates caution with the use of List 3. The use of WIN List 3 should be reserved for ancillary purposes in which equivalent recognition performances are not required, for example, as a practice list or a stand alone measure. American Academy of Audiology.

Protection circuits for very high frequency ultrasound systems.

PubMed

Choi, Hojong; Shung, K Kirk

2014-04-01

The purpose of protection circuits in ultrasound applications is to block noise signals from the transmitter from reaching the transducer and also to prevent unwanted high voltage signals from reaching the receiver. The protection circuit using a resistor and diode pair is widely used due to its simple architecture, however, it may not be suitable for very high frequency (VHF) ultrasound transducer applications (>100 MHz) because of its limited bandwidth. Therefore, a protection circuit using MOSFET devices with unique structure is proposed in this paper. The performance of the designed protection circuit was compared with that of other traditional protection schemes. The performance characteristics measured were the insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD) and transient response time (TRT). The new protection scheme offers the lowest IL (-1.0 dB), THD (-69.8 dB) and TRT (78 ns) at 120 MHz. The pulse-echo response using a 120 MHz LiNbO3 transducer with each protection circuit was measured to validate the feasibility of the protection circuits in VHF ultrasound applications. The sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer using the new protection circuit improved by 252.1 and 50.9 %, respectively with respect to the protection circuit using a resistor and diode pair. These results demonstrated that the new protection circuit design minimizes the IL, THD and TRT for VHF ultrasound transducer applications.

4H-SiC p i n diodes grown by sublimation epitaxy in vacuum (SEV) and their application as microwave diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camara, N.; Zekentes, K.; Zelenin, V. V.; Abramov, P. L.; Kirillov, A. V.; Romanov, L. P.; Boltovets, N. S.; Krivutsa, V. A.; Thuaire, A.; Bano, E.; Tsoi, E.; Lebedev, A. A.

2008-02-01

Sublimation epitaxy under vacuum (SEV) was investigated as a method for growing 4H-SiC epitaxial structures for p-i-n diode fabrication. The SEV-grown 4H-SiC material was investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction, photo-luminescence spectroscopy (PL), cathodo-luminescence (CL) spectroscopy, photocurrent method for carrier diffusion length determination, electro-luminescence microscopy (EL), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), C-V profiling and Hall-effect measurements. When possible, the same investigation techniques were used in parallel with similar layers grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) epitaxy and the physical properties of the two kind of epitaxied layers were compared. p-i-n diodes were fabricated in parallel on SEV and CVD-grown layers and showed close electrical performances in dc mode in term of capacitance, resistance and transient time switching, despite the lower mobility and the diffusion length of the SEV-grown layers. X-band microwave switches based on the SEV-grown p-i-n diodes have been demonstrated with insertion loss lower than 4 dB and an isolation higher than 17 dB. These single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches were able to handle a pulsed power up to 1800 W in isolation mode, similar to the value obtained with switches incorporating diodes with CVD-grown layers.

An integrated tunable isolator based on NiZn film fabricated by spin-spray plating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Rongdi; Lin, Hwaider; Shi, Wei; Gao, Yuan; Wang, Zhiguang; Sun, Nian Xiang; Yu, Zhong; Lan, Zhongwen

2018-05-01

An innovative type of tunable isolator with a planar comb-like microstrip transmission line, which generate circular polarization magnetic field, has been realized with polycrystalline NiZn ferrite thick films fabricated by spin-spray plating (SSP) process with thickness of 10μm. The phase compositions, microstructure, magnetic hysteresis loop, and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) linewidth of NiZn ferrite thick films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer, respectively. The NiZn ferrite thick films possess 4800Gauss saturation magnetization and 190Oe FMR linewidth measured at X-band. With an in-plane dc magnetic bias perpendicular to the comb-like microstrip transmission line, the transmission direction of left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) were proved to be opposite. The non-reciprocal ferromagnetic resonance absorption leads to 11.6dB isolation and 5.78dB insertion loss at 17.57GHz with magnetic bias field of 3.5kOe. Furthermore, with external in-plane magnetic fields range from 0.5kOe to 3.5kOe, the central frequency was tuned from 5.63GHz to 17.57GHz. The state-of-the-art tunable isolator with a planar comb-like microstrip transmission line exhibit a great potential to be applied in different microwave components and radar system.

Protection Circuits for Very High Frequency Ultrasound Systems

PubMed Central

Shung, K. Kirk

2014-01-01

The purpose of protection circuits in ultrasound applications is to block noise signals from the transmitter from reaching the transducer and also to prevent unwanted high voltage signals from reaching the receiver. The protection circuit using a resistor and diode pair is widely used due to its simple architecture, however, it may not be suitable for very high frequency (VHF) ultrasound transducer applications (>100 MHz) because of its limited bandwidth. Therefore, a protection circuit using MOSFET devices with unique structure is proposed in this paper. The performance of the designed protection circuit was compared with that of other traditional protection schemes. The performance characteristics measured were the insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD) and transient response time (TRT). The new protection scheme offers the lowest IL (−1.0 dB), THD (−69.8 dB) and TRT (78 ns) at 120 MHz. The pulse-echo response using a 120 MHz LiNbO3 transducer with each protection circuit was measured to validate the feasibility of the protection circuits in VHF ultrasound applications. The sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer using the new protection circuit improved by 252.1 and 50.9 %, respectively with respect to the protection circuit using a resistor and diode pair. These results demonstrated that the new protection circuit design minimizes the IL, THD and TRT for VHF ultrasound transducer applications. PMID:24682684

Development of sound measurement systems for auditory functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Nam, Eui-Cheol; Kim, Sam Soo; Lee, Kang Uk; Kim, Sang Sik

2008-06-01

Auditory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) requires quantification of sound stimuli in the magnetic environment and adequate isolation of background noise. We report the development of two novel sound measurement systems that accurately measure the sound intensity inside the ear, which can simultaneously provide the similar or greater amount of scanner- noise protection than ear-muffs. First, we placed a 2.6 x 2.6-mm microphone in an insert phone that was connected to a headphone [microphone-integrated, foam-tipped insert-phone with a headphone (MIHP)]. This attenuated scanner noise by 37.8+/-4.6 dB, a level better than the reference amount obtained using earmuffs. The nonmetallic optical microphone was integrated with a headphone [optical microphone in a headphone (OMHP)] and it effectively detected the change of sound intensity caused by variable compression on the cushions of the headphone. Wearing the OMHP reduced the noise by 28.5+/-5.9 dB and did not affect echoplanar magnetic resonance images. We also performed an auditory fMRI study using the MIHP system and presented increase in the auditory cortical activation following 10-dB increment in the intensity of sound stimulation. These two newly developed sound measurement systems successfully achieved the accurate quantification of sound stimuli with maintaining the similar level of noise protection of wearing earmuffs in the auditory fMRI experiment.

The relationship between better-eye and integrated visual field mean deviation and visual disability.

PubMed

Arora, Karun S; Boland, Michael V; Friedman, David S; Jefferys, Joan L; West, Sheila K; Ramulu, Pradeep Y

2013-12-01

To determine the extent of difference between better-eye visual field (VF) mean deviation (MD) and integrated VF (IVF) MD among Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) subjects and a larger group of glaucoma clinic subjects and to assess how those measures relate to objective and subjective measures of ability/performance in SEE subjects. Retrospective analysis of population- and clinic-based samples of adults. A total of 490 SEE and 7053 glaucoma clinic subjects with VF loss (MD ≤-3 decibels [dB] in at least 1 eye). Visual field testing was performed in each eye, and IVF MD was calculated. Differences between better-eye and IVF MD were calculated for SEE and clinic-based subjects. In SEE subjects with VF loss, models were constructed to compare the relative impact of better-eye and IVF MD on driving habits, mobility, self-reported vision-related function, and reading speed. Difference between better-eye and IVF MD and relationship of better-eye and IVF MD with performance measures. The median difference between better-eye and IVF MD was 0.41 dB (interquartile range [IQR], -0.21 to 1.04 dB) and 0.72 dB (IQR, 0.04-1.45 dB) for SEE subjects and clinic-based patients with glaucoma, respectively, with differences of ≥ 2 dB between the 2 MDs observed in 9% and 18% of the groups, respectively. Among SEE subjects with VF loss, both MDs demonstrated similar associations with multiple ability and performance metrics as judged by the presence/absence of a statistically significant association between the MD and the metric, the magnitude of observed associations (odds ratios, rate ratios, or regression coefficients associated with 5-dB decrements in MD), and the extent of variability in the metric explained by the model (R(2)). Similar associations of similar magnitude also were noted for the subgroup of subjects with glaucoma and subjects in whom better-eye and IVF MD differed by ≥ 2 dB. The IVF MD rarely differs from better-eye MD, and similar associations between VF loss and visual disability are obtained using either MD. Unlike better-eye MD, IVF measurements require extra software/calculation. As such, information from studies using better-eye MD can be more easily integrated into clinical decision-making, making better-eye MD a robust and meaningful method for reporting VF loss severity. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence on Intracochlear Sound Pressures

PubMed Central

Pisano, Dominic V.; Niesten, Marlien E.F.; Merchant, Saumil N.; Nakajima, Hideko Heidi

2013-01-01

Semicircular canal dehiscence (SCD) is a pathological opening in the bony wall of the inner ear that can result in conductive hearing loss. The hearing loss is variable across patients, and the precise mechanism and source of variability are not fully understood. Simultaneous measurements of basal intracochlear sound pressures in scala vestibuli (SV) and scala tympani (ST) enable quantification of the differential pressure across the cochlear partition, the stimulus that excites the cochlear partition. We used intracochlear sound pressure measurements in cadaveric preparations to study the effects of SCD size. Sound-induced pressures in SV and ST, as well as stapes velocity and ear-canal pressure were measured simultaneously for various sizes of SCD followed by SCD patching. Our results showed that at low frequencies (<600 Hz), SCD decreased the pressure in both SV and ST, as well as differential pressure, and these effects became more pronounced as dehiscence size was increased. Near 100 Hz, SV decreased about 10 dB for a 0.5 mm dehiscence and 20 dB for a 2 mm dehiscence, while ST decreased about 8 dB for a 0.5 mm dehiscence and 18 dB for a 2mm dehiscence. Differential pressure decreased about 10 dB for a 0.5 mm dehiscence and about 20 dB for a 2 mm dehiscense at 100 Hz. In some ears, for frequencies above 1 kHz, the smallest pinpoint dehiscence had bigger effects on the differential pressure (10 dB decrease) than larger dehiscenses (less than 10 dB decrease), suggesting larger hearing losses in this frequency range. These effects due to SCD were reversible by patching the dehiscence. We also showed that under certain circumstances such as SCD, stapes velocity is not related to how the ear can transduce sound across the cochlear partition because it is not directly related to the differential pressure, emphasizing that certain pathologies cannot be fully assessed by measurements such as stapes velocity. PMID:22814034

MMIC LNA based novel composite-channel Al0.3Ga0.7N/Al0.05Ga0.95N/GaNHEMTs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Zhi-Qun; Cai, Yong; Liu, Jie; Zhou, Yu-Gang; Lau Kei, May; Chen, Kevin J.

2007-11-01

A microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) C-band low noise amplifier (LNA) using 1 μm-gate composite-channel Al0.3Ga0.7N/Al0.05Ga0.95N/GaN high electron mobility transistors (CC-HEMTs) has been designed, fabricated and characterized. The material structure and special channel of CC-HEMT were given and analysed. The MMIC LNA with CC-HEMT showed a noise figure of 2.4 dB, an associated gain of 12.3 dB, an input return loss of -6 dB and an output return loss of -16 dB at 6 GHz. The IIP3 of the LNA is 13 dBm at 6 GHz. The LNA with 1 μm × 100 μm device showed very high-dynamic range with decent gain and noise figure.

Endothelin Receptor-A Antagonist Attenuates Retinal Vascular and Neuroretinal Pathology in Diabetic Mice

PubMed Central

Chou, Jonathan C.; Rollins, Stuart D.; Ye, Minghao; Batlle, Daniel; Fawzi, Amani A.

2014-01-01

Purpose. We sought to determine the effects of atrasentan, a selective endothelin-A receptor antagonist, on the retinal vascular and structural integrity in a db/db mouse, an animal model of type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. Methods. Diabetic mice, 23 weeks old, were given either atrasentan or vehicle treatment in drinking water for 8 weeks. At the end of the treatment period, eyes underwent trypsin digest to assess the retinal vascular pathology focusing on capillary degeneration, endothelial cell, and pericyte loss. Paraffin-embedded retinal cross sections were used to evaluate retinal sublayer thickness both near the optic nerve and in the retinal periphery. Immunohistochemistry and TUNEL assay were done to evaluate retinal cellular and vascular apoptosis. Results. Compared with untreated db/db mice, atrasentan treatment was able to ameliorate the retinal vascular pathology by reducing pericyte loss (29.2% ± 0.4% vs. 44.4% ± 2.0%, respectively, P < 0.05) and capillary degeneration as determined by the percentage of acellular capillaries (8.6% ± 0.3% vs. 3.3% ± 0.41%, respectively, P < 0.05). A reduction in inner retinal thinning both at the optic nerve and at the periphery in treated diabetic mice was also observed in db/db mice treated with atrasentan as compared with untreated db/db mice (P < 0.05). TUNEL assay suggested that atrasentan may decrease enhanced apoptosis in neuroretinal layers and vascular pericytes in the db/db mice. Conclusions. Endothelin-A receptor blockade using atrasentan significantly reduces the vascular and neuroretinal complications in diabetic mice. Endothelin-A receptor blockade is a promising therapeutic target in diabetic retinopathy. PMID:24644048

Hearing Loss After Radiotherapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors: Effect of Cochlear Dose

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hua, Chiaho; Bass, Johnnie K.; Khan, Raja

Purpose: To determine the effect of cochlear dose on sensorineural hearing loss in pediatric patients with brain tumor treated by using conformal radiation therapy (CRT). Patients and Methods: We studied 78 pediatric patients (155 ears) with localized brain tumors treated in 1997-2001 who had not received platinum-based chemotherapy and were followed up for at least 48 months. They were evaluated prospectively by means of serial pure-tone audiograms (250 Hz-8 kHz) and/or auditory brainstem response before and every 6 months after CRT. Results: Hearing loss occurred in 14% (11 of 78) of patients and 11% (17 of 155) of cochleae, withmore » onset most often at 3-5 years after CRT. The incidence of hearing loss was low for a cochlear mean dose of 30 Gy or less and increased at greater than 40-45 Gy. Risk was greater at high frequencies (6-8 kHz). In children who tested abnormal for hearing, average hearing thresholds increased from a less than 25 decibel (dB) hearing level (HL) at baseline to a mean of 46 {+-} 13 (SD) dB HL for high frequencies, 41 {+-} 7 dB HL for low frequencies, and 38 {+-} 6 dB HL for intermediate frequencies. Conclusions: Sensorineural hearing loss is a late effect of CRT. In the absence of other factors, including ototoxic chemotherapy, increase in cochlear dose correlates positively with hearing loss in pediatric patients with brain tumor. To minimize the risk of hearing loss for children treated with radiation therapy, a cumulative cochlear dose less than 35 Gy is recommended for patients planned to receive 54-59.4 Gy in 30-33 treatment fractions.« less

Low cost batch fabrication of microdevices using ultraviolet light-emitting diode photolithography technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Neam Heng; Swamy, Varghese; Ramakrishnan, Narayanan

2016-01-01

Solid-state technology has enabled the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in lithography systems due to their low cost, low power requirement, and higher efficiency relative to the traditional mercury lamp. Uniform irradiance distribution is essential for photolithography to ensure the critical dimension (CD) of the feature fabricated. However, light illuminated from arrays of LEDs can have nonuniform irradiance distribution, which can be a problem when using LED arrays as a source to batch-fabricate multiple devices on a large wafer piece. In this study, the irradiance distribution of an UV LED array was analyzed, and the separation distance between light source and mask optimized to obtain maximum irradiance uniformity without the use of a complex lens. Further, employing a diffuser glass enhanced the fabrication process and the CD loss was minimized to an average of 300 nm. To assess the performance of the proposed technology, batch fabrication of surface acoustic wave devices on lithium niobate substrate was carried out, and all the devices exhibited identical insertion loss of -18 dB at a resonance frequency of 39.33 MHz. The proposed low-cost UV lithography setup can be adapted in academic laboratories for research and teaching on microdevices.

80-MHz intravascular ultrasound transducer using PMN-PT free-standing film.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Wu, Wei; Chung, Youngsoo; Shih, Wan Y; Shih, Wei-Heng; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K Kirk

2011-11-01

[Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)](0.63)[PbTiO(3)](0.37) (PMN-PT) free-standing film of comparable piezoelectric properties to bulk material with thickness of 30 μm has been fabricated using a modified precursor coating approach. At 1 kHz, the dielectric permittivity and loss were 4364 and 0.033, respectively. The remnant polarization and coercive field were 28 μC/cm(2) and 18.43 kV/cm. The electromechanical coupling coefficient k(t) was measured to be 0.55, which was close to that of bulk PMN-PT single-crystal material. Based on this film, high-frequency (82 MHz) miniature ultrasonic transducers were fabricated with 65% bandwidth and 23 dB insertion loss. Axial and lateral resolutions were determined to be as high as 35 and 176 μm. In vitro intravascular imaging on healthy rabbit aorta was performed using the thin film transducers. In comparison with a 35-MHz IVUS transducer, the 80-MHz transducer showed superior resolution and contrast with satisfactory penetration depth. The imaging results suggest that PMN-PT free-standing thin film technology is a feasible and efficient way to fabricate very-high-frequency ultrasonic transducers.

Microwave Landing System. Phase II. Tracker Error Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-12-01

the runways and environs. The geographical locations of the four phototheodolite towers are indicated on Figure 1-1. A Contraves Model C phototheodolite...temperature 400 K above 500 elevation (dark sky) Side lobe location 1.720 (Ist) Type of scan Monopulse R-f transmission line Rectangular waveguide Line loss ...receiving 1.3 db Line loss transmitting 2.3 db System Facts Azimuth coverage 3600 Elevation coverage -10* to 190* (tracking -10* to 85*) Range accuracy

Broadband and scalable optical coupling for silicon photonics using polymer waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Porta, Antonio; Weiss, Jonas; Dangel, Roger; Jubin, Daniel; Meier, Norbert; Horst, Folkert; Offrein, Bert Jan

2018-04-01

We present optical coupling schemes for silicon integrated photonics circuits that account for the challenges in large-scale data processing systems such as those used for emerging big data workloads. Our waveguide based approach allows to optimally exploit the on-chip optical feature size, and chip- and package real-estate. It further scales well to high numbers of channels and is compatible with state-of-the-art flip-chip die packaging. We demonstrate silicon waveguide to polymer waveguide coupling losses below 1.5 dB for both the O- and C-bands with a polarisation dependent loss of <1 dB. Over 100 optical silicon waveguide to polymer waveguide interfaces were assembled within a single alignment step, resulting in a physical I/O channel density of up to 13 waveguides per millimetre along the chip-edge, with an average coupling loss of below 3.4 dB measured at 1310 nm.

Er 3+-Yb 3+ co-doped glass waveguide amplifiers using ion exchange and field-assisted annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X. Z.; Liu, K.; Mu, S. K.; Tan, C. Z.; Zhang, D.; Pun, E. Y. B.; Zhang, D. M.

2006-12-01

Er 3+-Yb 3+ co-doped waveguide amplifiers fabricated using thermal two-step ion-exchange are demonstrated. K +-Na + ion-exchange process was first carried out in pure KNO 3 molten bath, and then field-assisted annealing (FAA) was used to make the buried waveguides. The effective buried depth is estimated to be ˜3.4 μm for the buried FAA waveguides. With the use of cut-back method, the fiber-to-guide coupling loss of ˜4.38 dB, the waveguide loss of ˜2.27 dB/cm, and Er 3+ absorption loss ˜5.7 dB were measured for a ˜1.24-cm-long waveguide. Peak relative gain of ˜7.0 dB is obtained for a ˜1.24-cm-long waveguide. The potential for the fabrication of compact optical amplifiers operating in the range of 1520-1580 nm is also demonstrated.

Hydrothermal synthesis of carbonyl iron-carbon nanocomposite: Characterization and electromagnetic performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pourabdollahi, Hakimeh; Zarei, Ali Reza

In this research, the electromagnetic absorption properties of the carbonyl iron-carbon (CI/C) nanocomposite prepared via hydrothermal reaction using glucose as carbon precursor was studied in the range of 8.2-12.4 GHz. In hydrothermal reaction, glucose solution containing CI particles, placed in autoclave for 4 h under 453 K. Using surface coating technology is a method that prevents Cl oxidation and improves CI electromagnetic absorption. The structure, morphology and magnetic performances of the prepared nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The electromagnetic properties including complex permittivity (εr), the permeability (μr), dielectric loss, magnetic loss, reflection loss, and attenuation constant were investigated using a vector network analyzer. For The CI/C nanocomposite, the bandwidth of -10 dB and -20 dB were obtained in the frequency range of 9.8-12.4 and 11.0-11.8 GHz, respectively. As well as, the reflection loss was -46.69 dB at the matching frequency of 11.5 GHz, when the matching thickness was 1.3 mm. While for CI particles the reflection loss for 4.4 mm thickness was -16.86 dB at the matching frequency of 12.3 GHz. The results indicate that the existence layer of carbon on carbonyl iron enhance the electromagnetic absorbing properties. Therefore, this nanocomposite can be suitable for in the radar absorbing coatings.

Correlation between extension-block K-wire insertion angle and postoperative extension loss in mallet finger fracture.

PubMed

Lee, S K; Kim, Y H; Moon, K H; Choy, W S

2018-02-01

Extension-block pinning represents a simple and reliable surgical technique. Although this procedure is commonly performed successfully, some patients develop postoperative extension loss. To date, the relationship between extension-block Kirschner wire (K-wire) insertion angle and postoperative extension loss in mallet finger fracture remains unclear. We aimed to clarify this relationship and further evaluate how various operative and non-operative factors affect postoperative extension loss after extension-block pinning for mallet finger fracture. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate a relationship between extension block K-wire insertion angle and postoperative extension loss. The inclusion criteria were: (1) a dorsal intra-articular fracture fragment involving 30% of the base of the distal phalanx with or without volar subluxation of the distal phalanx; and (2) <3 weeks delay from the injury without treatment. Extension-block K-wire insertion angle and fixation angle of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint were assessed using lateral radiograph at immediate postoperative time. Postoperative extension loss was assessed by using lateral radiograph at latest follow-up. Extension-block K-wire insertion angle was defined as the acute angle between extension block K-wire and longitudinal axis of middle phalangeal head. DIP joint fixation angle was defined as the acute angle between the distal phalanx and middle phalanx longitudinal axes. Seventy-five patients were included. The correlation analysis revealed that extension-block K-wire insertion angle had a negative correlation with postoperative extension loss, whereas fracture size and time to operation had a positive correlation (correlation coefficient for extension block K-wire angle: -0.66, facture size: +0.67, time to operation: +0.60). When stratifying patients in terms of negative and positive fixation angle of the DIP joint, the independent t-test showed that mean postoperative extension loss is -3.67° and +4.54° (DIP joint fixation angles of <0° and ≥0°, respectively, P=0.024). When stratifying patients in terms of extension-block K-wire insertion angle (30°, 30°-40°, >40°), ANOVA showed significantly less postoperative extension loss for higher insertion angles (>40°) than for medium insertion angles (30°-40°). Mean postoperative extension loss difference between higher insertion angle (>40°) and medium insertion angle (30°-40°) was 11° (P=0.002). Using an insertion angle of the extension-block K-wire of 40°-45° and a slightly hyperextended position of the DIP joint may help reducing postoperative extension loss. Therapeutic level III. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A compact dual band MIMO PIFA for 5G applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rachakonda, A.; Bang, P.; Mudiganti, J.

2017-11-01

5G applications support operations in 28, 37, 60 and 73GHz bands and is expected to support 1GHz bandwidth. In the present paper, planar inverted F antenna for 28GHz operation has been proposed for 5G applications for which a return loss of -17.46dB and a gain of 9.30dB have been observed. In addition, the design has been extended for dual band operation at 28 and 37GHz by implementing an L slot in the patch. An excellent return loss of -32.54dB and -18.57dB with a gain of 8.62dB has been observed. Moreover, a feasible bandwidth of 1.02GHz has been obtained in former design, while an enhanced bandwidth of 1.3GHz has been obtained at both bands in case of latter design. However, for better gain & data rate considerations, the previous design has been extended as a MIMO configuration with 2 antenna elements (2x1) and corresponding performance parameters have been evaluated.

Cochlear Implant Electrode Effect on Sound Energy Transfer within the Cochlea during Acoustic Stimulation

PubMed Central

Greene, Nathaniel T.; Mattingly, Jameson K.; Jenkins, Herman A.; Tollin, Daniel J.; Easter, James R.; Cass, Stephen P.

2015-01-01

Hypothesis Cochlear implants (CI) designed for hearing preservation will not alter mechanical properties of the middle and inner ear as measured by intracochlear pressure (PIC) and stapes velocity (Vstap). Background CIs designed to provide combined electrical and acoustic stimulation (EAS) are now available. To maintain functional acoustic hearing, it is important to know if a CI electrode can alter middle or inner ear mechanics, as any alteration could contribute to elevated low-frequency thresholds in EAS patients. Methods Seven human cadaveric temporal bones were prepared, and pure-tone stimuli from 120Hz–10kHz were presented at a range of intensities up to 110 dB SPL. PIC in the scala vestibuli (PSV) and tympani (PST) were measured with fiber-optic pressure sensors concurrently with VStap using laser Doppler vibrometry. Five CI electrodes from two different manufacturers, with varying dimensions were inserted via a round window approach at six different depths (16–25 mm). Results The responses of PIC and VStap to acoustic stimulation were assessed as a function of stimulus frequency, normalized to SPL in the external auditory canal (EAC), in baseline and electrode inserted conditions. Responses measured with electrodes inserted were generally within ~5 dB of baseline, indicating little effect of cochlear implant electrode insertion on PIC and VStap. Overall, mean differences across conditions were small for all responses, and no substantial differences were consistently visible across electrode types. Conclusions Results suggest that the influence of a CI electrode on middle and inner ear mechanics is minimal, despite variation in electrode lengths and configurations. PMID:26333018

The Plasmodium selenoproteome

PubMed Central

Lobanov, Alexey V.; Delgado, Cesar; Rahlfs, Stefan; Novoselov, Sergey V.; Kryukov, Gregory V.; Gromer, Stephan; Hatfield, Dolph L.; Becker, Katja; Gladyshev, Vadim N.

2006-01-01

The use of selenocysteine (Sec) as the 21st amino acid in the genetic code has been described in all three major domains of life. However, within eukaryotes, selenoproteins are only known in animals and algae. In this study, we characterized selenoproteomes and Sec insertion systems in protozoan Apicomplexa parasites. We found that among these organisms, Plasmodium and Toxoplasma utilized Sec, whereas Cryptosporidium did not. However, Plasmodium had no homologs of known selenoproteins. By searching computationally for evolutionarily conserved selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) elements, which are RNA structures involved in Sec insertion, we identified four unique Plasmodium falciparum selenoprotein genes. These selenoproteins were incorrectly annotated in PlasmoDB, were conserved in other Plasmodia and had no detectable homologs in other species. We provide evidence that two Plasmodium SECIS elements supported Sec insertion into parasite and endogenous selenoproteins when they were expressed in mammalian cells, demonstrating that the Plasmodium SECIS elements are functional and indicating conservation of Sec insertion between Apicomplexa and animals. Dependence of the plasmodial parasites on selenium suggests possible strategies for antimalarial drug development. PMID:16428245

Propagation measurements for satellite radio reception inside buildings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vogel, Wolfhard J.; Torrence, Geoffrey W.

1993-01-01

Swept CW signals (from 700 to 1800 MHz) were received inside six buildings of brick, corrugated sheet-metal, wood-frame, mobile-home, and reinforced concrete-wall construction. A transmitter antenna was mounted outdoors on top of an 18 m tower to simulate a satellite, and a linearly scanned directional receiver antenna was used to probe the spatial, spectral, and temporal variability of the signal indoors. Levels were found to have much structure in the spatial and frequency domain, but were relatively stable in time. Typically, people moving nearby produced variations of less than 0.5 dB, whereas a person blocking the transmission path produced fades of 6 to 10 dB. Severe losses (17.5 dB) were observed in the concrete-wall building, which also exhibited the longest multipath delays (over 100 ns). Losses inside a mobile home were even larger (over 20 dB) and were independent of antenna orientation. The power-frequency distortion increased with the logarithm of the bandwidth, but could be reduced by moving to a position of higher power. Only the losses showed a clear frequency dependence, but they could be mitigated by moving the antenna.

Association of Behavior With Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Among Attendees of an Outdoor Music Festival: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Kraaijenga, Véronique J C; van Munster, J J C M; van Zanten, G A

2018-06-01

To date, factors associated with noise-induced hearing loss at music festivals have not yet been analyzed in a single comprehensive data set. In addition, little is known about the hearing loss-associated behavior of music festival attendees. To assess which factors are associated with the occurrence of a temporary threshold shift (TTS) after music exposure and to investigate the behavior of music festival attendees. This prospective post hoc analysis gathered data from a randomized, single-blind clinical trial conducted on September 5, 2015, at an outdoor music festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Adult volunteers with normal hearing were recruited via social media from August 26 through September 3, 2015. Intention to use earplugs was an exclusion criterion. Of 86 volunteers assessed, 51 were included. This post hoc analysis was performed from October 3, 2016, through February 27, 2017. Music festival visit for 4.5 hours. The primary outcome was a TTS on a standard audiogram for the frequencies 3.0- and 4.0-kHz. Multivariable linear regression was performed to determine which factors are associated with a TTS. A questionnaire on behavior, hearing, and tinnitus was distributed to the participants before and after the festival visit. A total of 51 participants were included (18 men [35%] and 33 women [65%]) with a mean (SD) age of 27 (6) years. Mean (SD) threshold change across 3.0 and 4.0 kHz was 5.4 (5.7) dB for the right ear and 4.0 (6.1) dB for the left ear. Earplug use (absolute difference in the left ear, -6.0 dB [95% CI, -8.7 to -3.2 dB]; in the right ear, -6.4 dB [95% CI, -8.8 to -4.1 dB]), quantity of alcohol use (absolute difference per unit in the left ear, 1.1 dB [95% CI, 0.5 to 1.7 dB]; in the right ear, 0.7 dB [95% CI, 0.1 to 1.4 dB]), drug use (absolute difference in the right ear, 6.0 dB [95% CI, 0.9 to 11.1 dB]), and male sex (absolute difference in the right ear, 4.1 dB [95% CI, 0.3 to 5.9 dB]) were independently associated with hearing loss, with earplug use being the most important factor. Unprotected participants reported significantly worse subjective hearing performance and tinnitus after the festival visit than did participants using earplugs (Cramer V, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.47-0.79] and 0.39 [95% CI, 0.16-0.62], respectively). In the earplug group, the perceived loudness (r = -0.72; 95% CI, -1.00 to -0.43) and appreciation (r = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.78) of music and speech perception (r = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.35) were correlated with the duration of earplug use. The present study identified nonuse of earplugs, use of alcohol and drugs, and male sex as associated with a TTS at an outdoor music festival. Physicians should consider these factors to raise awareness about the combined risk of attending music festivals without using earplugs while consuming alcohol and/or drugs. The intention to use earplugs was correlated with the loudness and appreciation of music with earplugs, which may advocate for the use of personalized earplugs. trialregister.nl Identifier: NTR5401.

Memory-efficient decoding of LDPC codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwok-San Lee, Jason; Thorpe, Jeremy; Hawkins, Jon

2005-01-01

We present a low-complexity quantization scheme for the implementation of regular (3,6) LDPC codes. The quantization parameters are optimized to maximize the mutual information between the source and the quantized messages. Using this non-uniform quantized belief propagation algorithm, we have simulated that an optimized 3-bit quantizer operates with 0.2dB implementation loss relative to a floating point decoder, and an optimized 4-bit quantizer operates less than 0.1dB quantization loss.

Fiber up-tapering and down-tapering for low-loss coupling between anti-resonant hollow-core fiber and solid-core fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Naiqian; Wang, Zefeng; Xi, Xiaoming

2017-10-01

In this paper, we demonstrate a novel method for the low-loss coupling between solid-core multi-mode fibers (MMFs) and anti-resonant hollow-core fibers (AR-HCFs). The core/cladding diameter of the MMF is 50/125μm and the mode field diameter of the AR-HCFs are 33.3μm and 71.2μm of the ice-cream type AR-HCFs and the non-node type ARHCFs, respectively. In order to match the mode field diameters of these two specific AR-HCFs, the mode field diameter of the MMFs is increased or decreased by up-tapering or down-tapering the MMFs. Then, according to the principle of coupled fiber mode matching, the optimal diameter of tapered fiber for low-loss coupling is calculated. Based on beam propagation method, the calculated coupling losses without tapering process are 0.31dB and 0.89dB, respectively for a MMF-HCF-MMF structure of the ice-cream type AR-HCFs and the non-node type AR-HCFs. These values can be reduced to 0.096dB and 0.047dB when the outer diameters of the MMF are down-tapered to 116μm and up-tapered to 269μm, respectively. What's more, these results can also be verified by existing experiments.

How to implement decoy-state quantum key distribution for a satellite uplink with 50-dB channel loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer-Scott, Evan; Yan, Zhizhong; MacDonald, Allison; Bourgoin, Jean-Philippe; Hübel, Hannes; Jennewein, Thomas

2011-12-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) takes advantage of fundamental properties of quantum physics to allow two distant parties to share a secret key; however, QKD is hampered by a distance limitation of a few hundred kilometers on Earth. The most immediate solution for global coverage is to use a satellite, which can receive separate QKD transmissions from two or more ground stations and act as a trusted node to link these ground stations. In this article we report on a system capable of performing QKD in the high loss regime expected in an uplink to a satellite using weak coherent pulses and decoy states. Such a scenario profits from the simplicity of its receiver payload, but has so far been considered to be infeasible due to very high transmission losses (40-50 dB). The high loss is overcome by implementing an innovative photon source and advanced timing analysis. Our system handles up to 57 dB photon loss in the infinite key limit, confirming the viability of the satellite uplink scenario. We emphasize that while this system was designed with a satellite uplink in mind, it could just as easily overcome high losses on any free space QKD link.

Durability of Hearing Preservation after Cochlear Implantation with Conventional-Length Electrodes and Scala Tympani Insertion

PubMed Central

Sweeney, Alex D.; Hunter, Jacob B.; Carlson, Matthew L.; Rivas, Alejandro; Bennett, Marc L.; Gifford, Rene H.; Noble, Jack H.; Haynes, David S.; Labadie, Robert F.; Wanna, George B.

2016-01-01

Objectives To analyze factors that influence hearing preservation over time in cochlear implant recipients with conventional-length electrode arrays located entirely within the scala tympani. Study Design Case series with planned chart review. Setting Single tertiary academic referral center. Subjects and Methods A retrospective review was performed to analyze a subgroup of cochlear implant recipients with residual acoustic hearing. Patients were included in the study only if their electrode arrays remained fully in the scala tympani after insertion and serviceable acoustic hearing (≤80 dB at 250 Hz) was preserved. Electrode array location was verified through a validated radiographic assessment tool. Patients with <6 months of audiologic follow-up were excluded. The main outcome measure was change in acoustic hearing thresholds from implant activation to the last available follow-up. Results A total of 16 cases met inclusion criteria (median age, 70.6 years; range, 29.4–82.2; 50% female). The average follow-up was 18.0 months (median, 16.1; range, 6.2–36.4). Patients with a lateral wall electrode array were more likely to have stable acoustic thresholds over time (P < .05). Positive correlations were seen between continued hearing loss following activation and larger initial postoperative acoustic threshold shifts, though statistical significance was not achieved. Age, sex, and noise exposure had no significant influence on continued hearing preservation over time. Conclusions To control for hearing loss associated with inter-scalar excursion during cochlear implantation, the present study evaluated patients only with conventional electrode arrays located entirely within the scala tympani. In this group, the style of electrode array may influence residual hearing preservation over time. PMID:26908553

Hybrid plasmonic electro-optical absorption modulator based on epsilon-near-zero characteristics of ITO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelatty, M. Y.; Badr, M. M.; Swillam, M. A.

2018-03-01

Using transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), like indium-tin-oxide (ITO), for optical modulation attracted research interest because of their epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) characteristics at telecom wavelengths. Utilizing indium-tin-oxide (ITO) in multilayer structure modulators, optical absorption of the active ITO layer can be electrically modulated over a large spectrum range. Although they show advances over common silicon electro-optical modulators (EOMs), they suffer from high insertion losses. To reduce insertion losses and device footprints without sacrificing bandwidth and modulation strength, slot waveguides are promising options because of their high optical confinement. In this paper, we present the study and the design of an electro-optical absorption modulator based on electrically tuning ITO carrier density inside a MOS structure. The device structure is based on dielectric slot waveguide with an ITO plasmonic waveguide modulation section. By changing the dimensions, the effective refractive indices for the slot mode and the off-sate mode of the plasmonic section can be matched. When applying electric field to the plasmonic section (on-state), carriers are generated at the ITO-dielectric interface that result in changing the layer where the electric field is confined from a transparent layer into a lossy layer. A finite difference time domain method with perfect matching layer (PML) absorbing boundary conditions is taken up to simulate and analyze this design. An extinction ratio of 2.3 dB is achieved for a 1-μm-short modulation section, at the telecommunications wavelength (1.55 μm). This EOM has advantages of simple design, easy fabrication, compact size, compatibility with existing silicon photonics platforms, as well as broadband performance.

Durability of Hearing Preservation after Cochlear Implantation with Conventional-Length Electrodes and Scala Tympani Insertion.

PubMed

Sweeney, Alex D; Hunter, Jacob B; Carlson, Matthew L; Rivas, Alejandro; Bennett, Marc L; Gifford, Rene H; Noble, Jack H; Haynes, David S; Labadie, Robert F; Wanna, George B

2016-05-01

To analyze factors that influence hearing preservation over time in cochlear implant recipients with conventional-length electrode arrays located entirely within the scala tympani. Case series with planned chart review. Single tertiary academic referral center. A retrospective review was performed to analyze a subgroup of cochlear implant recipients with residual acoustic hearing. Patients were included in the study only if their electrode arrays remained fully in the scala tympani after insertion and serviceable acoustic hearing (≤80 dB at 250 Hz) was preserved. Electrode array location was verified through a validated radiographic assessment tool. Patients with <6 months of audiologic follow-up were excluded. The main outcome measure was change in acoustic hearing thresholds from implant activation to the last available follow-up. A total of 16 cases met inclusion criteria (median age, 70.6 years; range, 29.4-82.2; 50% female). The average follow-up was 18.0 months (median, 16.1; range, 6.2-36.4). Patients with a lateral wall electrode array were more likely to have stable acoustic thresholds over time (P < .05). Positive correlations were seen between continued hearing loss following activation and larger initial postoperative acoustic threshold shifts, though statistical significance was not achieved. Age, sex, and noise exposure had no significant influence on continued hearing preservation over time. To control for hearing loss associated with interscalar excursion during cochlear implantation, the present study evaluated patients only with conventional electrode arrays located entirely within the scala tympani. In this group, the style of electrode array may influence residual hearing preservation over time. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

Liquid Metal Droplet and Micro Corrugated Diaphragm RF-MEMS for reconfigurable RF filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irshad, Wasim

Widely Tunable RF Filters that are small, cost-effective and offer ultra low power consumption are extremely desirable. Indeed, such filters would allow drastic simplification of RF front-ends in countless applications from cell phones to satellites in space by replacing switched-array of static acoustic filters and YIG filters respectively. Switched array of acoustic filters are de facto means of channel selection in mobile applications such as cell phones. SAW and BAW filters satisfy most criteria needed by mobile applications such as low cost, size and power consumption. However, the trade-off is a significant loss of 3-4 dB in modern cell phone RF front-end. This leads to need for power-hungry amplifiers and short battery life. It is a necessary trade-off since there are no better alternatives. These devices are in mm scale and consume mW. YIG filters dominate applications where size or power is not a constraint but demand excellent RF performance like low loss and high tuning ratio. These devices are measured in inches and require several watts to operate. Clearly, a tunable RF filter technology that would combine the cost, size and power consumption benefits of acoustic filters with excellent RF performance of YIG filters would be extremely desirable and imminently useful. The objective of this dissertation is to develop such a technology based upon RF-MEMS Evanescent-mode cavity filter. Two highly novel RF-MEMS devices have been developed over the course of this PhD to address the unique MEMS needs of this technology. The first part of the dissertation is dedicated to introducing the fundamental concepts of tunable cavity resonators and filters. This includes the physics behind it, key performance metrics and what they depend on and requirements of the MEMS tuners. Initial gap control and MEMS attachment method are identified as potential hurdles towards achieving very high RF performance. Simple and elegant solutions to both these issues are discussed in detail and have proved pivotal to this work. The second part of the dissertation focuses on the Liquid Metal Droplet RF-MEMS. A novel tunable RF MEMS resonator that is based upon electrostatic control over the morphology of a liquid metal droplet (LMD) is conceived. We demonstrate an LMD evanescent-mode cavity resonator that simultaneously achieves wide analog tuning from 12 to 18 GHz with a measured quality factor of 1400-1840. A droplet of 250-mum diameter is utilized and the applied bias is limited to 100 V. This device operates on a principle called Electro-Wetting On Dielectric (EWOD). The liquid metal employed is a non-toxic eutectic alloy of Gallium, Indium and Tin known as Galinstan. This device also exploits interfacial surface energy and viscous body forces that dominate at nanoliter scale. We then apply our Liquid Metal Droplet (LMD) RF-MEMS architecture to demonstrate a continuously tunable electrostatic Ku-Band Filter. A 2-pole bandpass filter with measured insertion loss of less than 0.4dB and 3dB FBW of 3.4% is achieved using a Galinstan droplet of 250mum diameter and bias limited to 100V. We demonstrate that the LMD is insensitive to gravity by performing inversion and tilt experiments. In addition, we study its thermal tolerance by subjecting the LMD up to 150° C. The third part of the dissertation is dedicated to the Micro-Corrugated Diaphragm (MCD) RF-MEMS. We present an evanescent-mode cavity bandpass filter with state-of-the-art RF performance metrics like 4:1 tuning ratio from 5 to 20 GHz with less than 2dB insertion loss and 2-6% 3dB bandwidth. Micro-Corrugated Diaphragm (MCD) is a novel electrostatic MEMS design specifically engineered to provide large-scale analog deflections necessary for such continuous and wide tunable filtering with very high quality factor. We demonstrate a 1.25mm radius and 2mum thick Gold MCD which provides 30mum total deflection with nearly 60% analog range. We also present a detailed and systematic MCD design methodology for relevant applications. To further demonstrate MCD versatility, we implement a bandstop MCD filter that cascades nine separate resonators to achieve a 6-24 GHz continuous tuning. The disseration concludes with a Galinstan Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) micropump and summary of my doctoral work. Although presented at the very end of this dissertation, the MHD micropump was indeed the very starting point for all my doctoral research efforts. The invaluable lessons learned here paved the way for development of both LMD and MCD RF-MEMS.

Ultra-broadband and low-loss 3  dB optical power splitter based on adiabatic tapered silicon waveguides.

PubMed

Wang, Yang; Gao, Shitao; Wang, Ke; Skafidas, Efstratios

2016-05-01

A broadband, low-loss and polarization-insensitive 3 dB optical power splitter based on adiabatic tapered silicon waveguides is proposed and investigated. 3D-FDTD simulation results show that the splitter achieves an output transmission efficiency of nearly 50% over an ultra-broad wavelength range from 1200 to 1700 nm. The device is fabricated, and experimental results show that the splitter exhibits a low excess loss of <0.19  dB for the TE polarization and <0.14  dB for the TM polarization over the entire measured wavelength range from 1530 to 1600 nm, while having an adiabatic taper length of only 5 μm. In addition, the measured power uniformity of the cascaded 1×8 splitter is only 0.47 dB, and 0.17 dB for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively. With the advantages of low loss, broad bandwidth, and compact size, the proposed splitter is a promising element for large-scale silicon integrated photonic circuits.

Real-Time Deposition Monitor for Ultrathin Conductive Films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hines, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

A device has been developed that can be used for the real-time monitoring of ultrathin (2 or more) conductive films. The device responds in less than two microseconds, and can be used to monitor film depositions up to about 60 thick. Actual thickness monitoring capability will vary based on properties of the film being deposited. This is a single-use device, which, due to the very low device cost, can be disposable. Conventional quartz/crystal microbalance devices have proven inadequate to monitor the thickness of Pd films during deposition of ultrathin films for hydrogen sensor devices. When the deposited film is less than 100 , the QCM measurements are inadequate to allow monitoring of the ultrathin films being developed. Thus, an improved, high-sensitivity, real-time deposition monitor was needed to continue Pd film deposition development. The new deposition monitor utilizes a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device in a differential delay-line configuration to produce both a reference response and a response for the portion of the device on which the film is being deposited. Both responses are monitored simultaneously during deposition. The reference response remains unchanged, while the attenuation of the sensing path (where the film is being deposited) varies as the film thickness increases. This device utilizes the fact that on high-coupling piezoelectric substrates, the attenuation of an SAW undergoes a transition from low to very high, and back to low as the conductivity of a film on the device surface goes from nonconductive to highly conductive. Thus, the sensing path response starts with a low insertion loss, and as a conductive film is deposited, the film conductivity increases, causing the device insertion loss to increase dramatically (by up to 80 dB or more), and then with continued film thickness increases (and the corresponding conductivity increases), the device insertion loss goes back down to the low level at which it started. This provides a continuous, real-time monitoring of film deposition. For use with different films, the device would need to be calibrated to provide an understanding of how film thickness is related to film conductivity, as the device is responding primarily to conductivity effects (and not to mass loading effects) in this ultrathin film regime.

Micro-Ball-Lens Optical Switch Driven by SMA Actuator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, Eui-Hyeok

2003-01-01

The figure is a simplified cross section of a microscopic optical switch that was partially developed at the time of reporting the information for this article. In a fully developed version, light would be coupled from an input optical fiber to one of two side-by-side output optical fibers. The optical connection between the input and the selected output fiber would be made via a microscopic ball lens. Switching of the optical connection from one output fiber to another would be effected by using a pair of thin-film shape-memory-alloy (SMA) actuators to toggle the lens between two resting switch positions. There are many optical switches some made of macroscopic parts by conventional fabrication techniques and some that are microfabricated and, hence, belong to the class of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Conventionally fabricated optical switches tend to be expensive. MEMS switches can be mass-produced at relatively low cost, but their attractiveness has been diminished by the fact that, heretofore, MEMS switches have usually been found to exhibit high insertion losses. The present switch is intended to serve as a prototype of low-loss MEMS switches. In addition, this is the first reported SMA-based optical switch. The optical fibers would be held in V grooves in a silicon frame. The lens would have a diameter of 1 m; it would be held by, and positioned between, the SMA actuators, which would be made of thin films of TiNi alloy. Although the SMA actuators are depicted here as having simple shapes for the sake of clarity of illustration, the real actuators would have complex, partly net-like shapes. With the exception of the lens and the optical fibers, the SMA actuators and other components of the switch would be made by microfabrication techniques. The components would be assembled into a sandwich structure to complete the fabrication of the switch. To effect switching, an electric current would be passed through one of the SMA actuators to heat it above its transition temperature, thereby causing it to deform to a different "remembered" shape. The two SMA actuators would be stiff enough that once switching had taken place and the electrical current was turned off, the lens would remain latched in the most recently selected position. In a test, the partially developed switch exhibited an insertion loss of only -1.9 dB and a switching contrast of 70 dB. One the basis of prior research on SMA actuators and assuming a lens displacement of 125 m between extreme positions, it has been estimated that the fully developed switch would be capable of operating at a frequency as high as 10 Hz.

Quality of Life and Hearing Eight Years After Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

PubMed

Härkönen, Kati; Kivekäs, Ilkka; Rautiainen, Markus; Kotti, Voitto; Vasama, Juha-Pekka

2017-04-01

To explore long-term hearing results, quality of life (QoL), quality of hearing (QoH), work-related stress, tinnitus, and balance problems after idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Cross-sectional study. We reviewed the audiograms of 680 patients with unilateral ISSNHL on average 8 years after the hearing impairment, and then divided the patients into two study groups based on whether their ISSNHL had recovered to normal (pure tone average [PTA] ≤ 30 dB) or not (PTA > 30 dB). The inclusion criteria were a hearing threshold decrease of 30 dB or more in at least three contiguous frequencies occurring within 72 hours in the affected ear and normal hearing in the contralateral ear. Audiograms of 217 patients fulfilled the criteria. We reviewed their medical records; measured present QoL, QoH, and work-related stress with specific questionnaires; and updated the hearing status. Poor hearing outcome after ISSNHL was correlated with age, severity of hearing loss, and vertigo together with ISSNHL. Quality of life and QoH were statistically significantly better in patients with recovered hearing, and the patients had statistically significantly less tinnitus and balance problems. During the 8-year follow-up, the PTA of the affected ear deteriorated on average 7 dB, and healthy ear deteriorated 6 dB. Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss that failed to recover had a negative impact on long-term QoL and QoH. The hearing deteriorated as a function of age similarly both in the affected and the healthy ear, and there were no differences between the groups. The cumulative recurrence rate for ISSNHL was 3.5%. 4 Laryngoscope, 127:927-931, 2017. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Dry-film polymer waveguide for silicon photonics chip packaging.

PubMed

Hsu, Hsiang-Han; Nakagawa, Shigeru

2014-09-22

Polymer waveguide made by dry film process is demonstrated for silicon photonics chip packaging. With 8 μm × 11.5 μm core waveguide, little penalty is observed up to 25 Gbps before or after the light propagate through a 10-km long single-mode fiber (SMF). Coupling loss to SMF is 0.24 dB and 1.31 dB at the polymer waveguide input and output ends, respectively. Alignment tolerance for 0.5 dB loss increase is +/- 1.0 μm along both vertical and horizontal directions for the coupling from the polymer waveguide to SMF. The dry-film polymer waveguide demonstrates promising performance for silicon photonics chip packaging used in next generation optical multi-chip module.

Infrasonic and low-frequency insert earphone hearing threshold.

PubMed

Kuehler, Robert; Fedtke, Thomas; Hensel, Johannes

2015-04-01

Low-frequency and infrasonic pure-tone monaural hearing threshold data down to 2.5 Hz are presented. These measurements were made by means of a newly developed insert-earphone source. The source is able to generate pure-tone sound pressure levels up to 130 dB between 2 and 250 Hz with very low harmonic distortions. Behavioral hearing thresholds were determined in the frequency range from 2.5 to 125 Hz for 18 otologically normal test persons. The median hearing thresholds are comparable to values given in the literature. They are intended for stimulus calibration in subsequent brain imaging investigations.

Insertion Loss of Personal Protective Clothing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shull D.J.; Biesel, V.B.; Cunefare, K.A.

1999-05-13

'The use of personal protective clothing that covers the head is a common practice in many industries. Such personal protective clothing will impact the sound pressure level and the frequency content of sounds to which the wearer will be exposed. The use of such clothing, then, may impact speech and alarm audibility. A measure of the impact of such clothing is its insertion loss. Insertion loss measurements were performed on four types of personal protective clothing in use by Westinghouse Savannah River Company personnel which utilize cloth and plastic hood configurations to protect the head. All clothing configurations tested atmore » least partially cover the ears. The measurements revealed that insertion loss of the items tested was notable at frequencies above 1000 Hz only and was a function of material stiffness and acoustic flanking paths to the ear. Further, an estimate of the clothing''s noise reduction rating reveals poor performance in that regard, even though the insertion loss of the test articles was significant at frequencies at and above 1000 Hz.'« less

Experimental and Analytical Studies of Shielding Concepts for Point Sources and Jet Noises.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Raymond Lee Man

This analytical and experimental study explores concepts for jet noise shielding. Model experiments centre on solid planar shields, simulating engine-over-wing installations, and 'sugar scoop' shields. Tradeoff on effective shielding length is set by interference 'edge noise' as the shield trailing edge approaches the spreading jet. Edge noise is minimized by (i) hyperbolic cutouts which trim off the portions of most intense interference between the jet flow and the barrier and (ii) hybrid shields--a thermal refractive extension (a flame); for (ii) the tradeoff is combustion noise. In general, shielding attenuation increases steadily with frequency, following low frequency enhancement by edge noise. Although broadband attenuation is typically only several dB, the reduction of the subjectively weighted perceived noise levels is higher. In addition, calculated ground contours of peak PN dB show a substantial contraction due to shielding: this reaches 66% for one of the 'sugar scoop' shields for the 90 PN dB contour. The experiments are complemented by analytical predictions. They are divided into an engineering scheme for jet noise shielding and more rigorous analysis for point source shielding. The former approach combines point source shielding with a suitable jet source distribution. The results are synthesized into a predictive algorithm for jet noise shielding: the jet is modelled as a line distribution of incoherent sources with narrow band frequency (TURN)(axial distance)('-1). The predictive version agrees well with experiment (1 to 1.5 dB) up to moderate frequencies. The insertion loss deduced from the point source measurements for semi-infinite as well as finite rectangular shields agrees rather well with theoretical calculation based on the exact half plane solution and the superposition of asymptotic closed-form solutions. An approximate theory, the Maggi-Rubinowicz line integral, is found to yield reasonable predictions for thin barriers including cutouts if a certain correction is applied. The more exact integral equation approach (solved numerically) is applied to a more demanding geometry: a half round sugar scoop shield. It is found that the solutions of integral equation derived from Helmholtz formula in normal derivative form show satisfactory agreement with measurements.

Type 2 diabetes and hearing loss in personnel of the Self-Defense Forces.

PubMed

Sakuta, Hidenari; Suzuki, Takashi; Yasuda, Hiroko; Ito, Teizo

2007-02-01

The association of type 2 diabetes with hearing loss was evaluated in middle-aged male personnel of the Self-Defense Forces (SDFs). Hearing loss was defined as the pure-tone average (PTA) of the thresholds frequency at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz greater than 25 dB hearing levels (HL) in the worse ear. Diabetes status was determined by self-report of physician-diagnosed diabetes or by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Of 699 subjects studied (age 52.9+/-1.0 years), 103 subjects were classified as having type 2 diabetes. Fasting plasma glucose of diabetic subjects was 120+/-19 mg/dl. Hearing loss levels were (worse) higher among diabetic subjects compared with subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) (30.7+/-13.0 dB versus 27.4+/-12.3 dB, P=0.014). Hearing loss was more prevalent among diabetic subjects than among subjects with normal glucose tolerance (60.2% versus 45.2%, P=0.006). The odds ratio (OR) of type 2 diabetes for the presence of hearing loss was 1.87 (95% confidence interval 1.20-2.91, P=0.006) in a logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, rank, cigarette smoking and ethanol consumption. These results suggest that type 2 diabetes is associated with hearing loss independently of lifestyle factors in middle-aged men.

Ferroelectric liquid crystal device based photonic controllers for microwave antenna arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madamopoulos, Nicholas

For the first time, this dissertation proposes, studies, analyzes, and experimentally demonstrates the use of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) technology for wideband phased array control applications. FLC devices are used as polarization switches in photonic delay lines (PDLs) to control and process optical signals that drive the elements of a phased array antenna (PAA). The use of photonics for PAA control is, at present, a vital area of applied research. This dissertation work concludes with the demonstration of a multichannel 7-bit PDL system for a wideband PAA such as the Navy's advanced Aegis radar system. The unique system issues and problems to be examined and solved in this Ph.D. dissertation include the theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration of different PDL architectures covering a sub-nanosecond to several nanoseconds time delay range. New noise reduction/suppression schemes are proposed, studied and applied to give record level time delay system performance in terms of signal-to-leakage noise ratio, and switching speeds (e.g., 35 microseconds) required for fast radar scan. We show that the external modulation FO link gives more degrees of freedom to the system engineer, and we propose a novel synchronous RF signal calibration time delay control technique to obtain optimum dynamic range performance for our PDL. The use of low loss fibers for remoting of the photonic beamformer, as well as the losses associated with multiple fiber interconnects that limit the maximum number of array channels in the systems are studied. Different fiber optic coupling techniques are investigated for enhanced fiber coupling. Multimode fibers are used, for the first time, at the output plane of the PDL to obtain improved coupling efficiency. We demonstrate a low ~1.7 dB optical insertion loss/bit, which is very close to the desired insertion loss required for the Navy system. A novel approach for hardware reduction based on wavelength multiplexing is proposed, where the use of a combination of wavelength dependent and wavelength independent optical paths provides the required time delays. Finally, new switching fabric approaches are studied based on polarization selective holograms and their potential use for the implementation of PDLs is discussed.

Proceedings of the 2007 Antenna Applications Symposium. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-20

field strength at 1 km [1]. It is based on an ideal short monopole, with 1 kW available power and no earth losses. Losses from the ideal monopole are...antenna operates over UHF and L Bands, providing ground- based transmit/receive capability for next generation radios. Filters are integrated into...enclosed in a housing which also serves as the base of the antenna (see Figure 6). The filters achieve approximately 40 dB (UHF low-pass) and 50 dB

TM grating coupler on low-loss LPCVD based Si3N4 waveguide platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabos, G.; Manolis, A.; Giesecke, A. L.; Porschatis, C.; Chmielak, B.; Wahlbrink, T.; Pleros, N.; Tsiokos, D.

2017-12-01

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a fully etched TM grating coupler for low-loss Low-Pressure-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition (LPCVD) based silicon nitride platform with a coupling loss of 6.5 dB at 1541 nm and a 1 dB bandwidth of 55 nm, addressing applications where TM polarization is a pre-requisite. The proposed GC and the 360 nm × 800 nm strip based Si3N4 waveguides have been fabricated by optical projection lithography using an i-line stepper tool enabling low-cost and mass manufacturing of photonic-integrated-circuits.

Targeted Mutation of the Gene for Cellular Glutathione Peroxidase (Gpx1) Increases Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Mice

PubMed Central

McFadden, Sandra L.; Ding, Da-Lian; Lear, Patricia M.; Ho, Ye-Shih

2000-01-01

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress have been implicated in cochlear injury following loud noise and ototoxins. Genetic mutations that impair antioxidant defenses would be expected to increase cochlear injury following acute insults and to contribute to cumulative injury that presents as age-related hearing loss. We examined whether genetically based deficiency of cellular glutathione peroxidase, a major antioxidant enzyme, increases noise-induced hearing loss in mice. Two-month-old "knockout" mice with a targeted inactivating mutation of the gene coding for glutathione peroxidase (Gpx1) and wild type controls were exposed to broadband noise for one hour at 110 dB SPL. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds at test frequencies ranging from 5 to 40 kHz were obtained two and four weeks after exposure to determine the stable permanent component of the hearing loss. Depending on test frequency, Gpx1 knockout mice showed up to 16 dB higher ABR thresholds prior to noise exposure, and up to 15 dB greater noise-induced hearing loss, compared with controls. Within the cochlear base, there was also a significant contribution of the knockout to inner and outer hair cell loss, as well as nerve fiber loss. Our results support a link between genetic impairment of antioxidant defenses, vulnerability of the cochlea injury, and cochlear degeneration. Such impairment produces characteristics expected of some mutations associated with age-related hearing loss and offers one possible mechanism for their action. PMID:11545230

Inexpensive 3dB coupler for POF communication by injection-molding production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haupt, M.; Fischer, U. H. P.

2011-01-01

POFs (polymer optical fibers) gradually replace traditional communication media such as copper and glass within short distance communication systems. Primarily, this is due to their cost-effectiveness and easy handling. POFs are used in various fields of optical communication, e.g. the automotive sector or in-house communication. So far, however, only a few key components for a POF communication network are available. Even basic components, such as splices and couplers, are fabricated manually. Therefore, these circumstances result in high costs and fluctuations in components' performance. Available couplers have high insertion losses due to their manufacturing method. This can only be compensated by higher power budgets. In order to produce couplers with higher performances new fabrication methods are indispensable. A cheap and effective way to produce couplers for POF communication systems is injection molding. The paper gives an overview of couplers available on market, compares their performances, and shows a way to produce couplers by means of injection molding.

Ultrathin Terahertz Quarter-wave plate based on Split Ring Resonator and Wire Grating hybrid Metasurface.

PubMed

Nouman, Muhammad Tayyab; Hwang, Ji Hyun; Jang, Jae-Hyung

2016-12-13

Planar metasurface based quarter-wave plates offer various advantages over conventional waveplates in terms of compactness, flexibility and simple fabrication; however they offer very narrow bandwidth of operation. Here, we demonstrate a planar terahertz (THz) metasurface capable of linear to circular polarization conversion and vice versa in a wide frequency range. The proposed metasurface is based on horizontally connected split ring resonators and is realized on an ultrathin (0.05λ) zeonor substrate. The fabricated quarter waveplate realizes linear to circular polarization conversion in two broad frequency bands comprising 0.64-0.82 THz and 0.96-1.3 THz with an insertion loss ranging from -3.9 to -10 dB. By virtue of ultrathin sub wavelength thickness, the proposed waveplate design is well suited for application in near field THz optical systems. Additionally, the proposed metasurface design offers novel transmission phase characteristics that present further opportunities to realize dynamic polarization control of incident waves.

Ultrathin Terahertz Quarter-wave plate based on Split Ring Resonator and Wire Grating hybrid Metasurface

PubMed Central

Nouman, Muhammad Tayyab; Hwang, Ji Hyun; Jang, Jae-Hyung

2016-01-01

Planar metasurface based quarter-wave plates offer various advantages over conventional waveplates in terms of compactness, flexibility and simple fabrication; however they offer very narrow bandwidth of operation. Here, we demonstrate a planar terahertz (THz) metasurface capable of linear to circular polarization conversion and vice versa in a wide frequency range. The proposed metasurface is based on horizontally connected split ring resonators and is realized on an ultrathin (0.05λ) zeonor substrate. The fabricated quarter waveplate realizes linear to circular polarization conversion in two broad frequency bands comprising 0.64–0.82 THz and 0.96–1.3 THz with an insertion loss ranging from −3.9 to −10 dB. By virtue of ultrathin sub wavelength thickness, the proposed waveplate design is well suited for application in near field THz optical systems. Additionally, the proposed metasurface design offers novel transmission phase characteristics that present further opportunities to realize dynamic polarization control of incident waves. PMID:27958358

Etched beam splitters in InP/InGaAsP.

PubMed

Norberg, Erik J; Parker, John S; Nicholes, Steven C; Kim, Byungchae; Krishnamachari, Uppiliappan; Coldren, Larry A

2011-01-17

An etched beam splitter (EBS) photonic coupler based on frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) is designed, fabricated and characterized in the InP/InGaAsP material system. The EBS offers an ultra compact footprint (8x11 μm) and a complete range of bar/cross coupling ratio designs. A novel pre-etching process is developed to achieve sufficient depth of the etched coupling gaps. Fabricated EBS couplers demonstrate insertion loss between 1 and 2.6 dB with transmission (cross-coupling) ≤ 10%. The results show excellent agreement with 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling. The coupling of EBS has weak wavelength dependence in the C-band, making it suitable for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) or other wide bandwidth applications. Finally, the EBS is integrated with active semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and phase-modulator components; using a flattened ring resonator structure, a channelizing filter tunable in both amplitude and center frequency is demonstrated, as well as an EBS coupled ring laser.

Investigation of the tone-burst tube for duct lining attenuation measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soffel, A. R.; Morrow, P. F.

1972-01-01

The tone burst technique makes practical the laboratory evaluation of potential inlet and discharge duct treatments. Tone burst apparatus requires only simple machined parts and standard components. Small, simply made, lining samples are quickly and easily installed in the system. Two small electromagnetric loudspeaker drivers produce peak sound pressure level of over 166 db in the 3-square-inch sample duct. Air pump available in most laboratories can produce air flows of over plus and minus Mach 0.3 in the sample duct. The technique uses short shaped pulses of sound propagated down a progressive wave tube containing the sample duct. The peak pressure level output of the treated duct is compared with the peak pressure level output of a substituted reference duct. The difference between the levels is the attenuation or insertion loss of the treated duct. Evaluations of resonant absorber linings by the tone burst technique check attenuation values predicted by empirical formulas based on full scale ducts.

Monolithically integrated quantum dot optical modulator with Semiconductor optical amplifier for short-range optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Naokatsu; Akahane, Kouichi; Umezawa, Toshimasa; Kawanishi, Tetsuya

2015-04-01

A monolithically integrated quantum dot (QD) optical gain modulator (OGM) with a QD semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) was successfully developed. Broadband QD optical gain material was used to achieve Gbps-order high-speed optical data transmission, and an optical gain change as high as approximately 6-7 dB was obtained with a low OGM voltage of 2.0 V. Loss of optical power due to insertion of the device was also effectively compensated for by the SOA section. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the QD-OGM/SOA device helped achieve 6.0-Gbps error-free optical data transmission over a 2.0-km-long photonic crystal fiber. We also successfully demonstrated generation of Gbps-order, high-speed, and error-free optical signals in the >5.5-THz broadband optical frequency bandwidth larger than the C-band. These results suggest that the developed monolithically integrated QD-OGM/SOA device will be an advantageous and compact means of increasing the usable optical frequency channels for short-reach communications.

Broadband focusing ultrasonic transducers based on dimpled LiNbO3 plate with inversion layer.

PubMed

Chen, Jin; Dai, Ji-Yan; Zhang, Chao; Zhang, Zhitian; Feng, Guanping

2012-12-01

A high-frequency broadband focusing transducer based on dimpled LiNbO(3) inversion layer plate has been fabricated and characterized. A spherical surface with a curvature radius of 6 mm is formed on the half-thickness LiNbO(3) inversion layer plate of Y36° cut orientation. The domain structure in the cross section is observed after a hydrofluoric acid etching process. For transducer fabrication, conductive epoxy is used as the backing material and polymer is deposited on the front face as the matching layer. The center frequency, bandwidth, and insertion loss of the focused transducer are measured to be 72 MHz, 136%, and -32 dB, respectively. The focused transducer has been successfully used for rabbit eyeball imaging and a better imaging capability compared with the planar transducer has been demonstrated. These promising results prove that the dimpled LiNbO(3) inversion layer plate has great potential for fabrication of high-frequency broadband focusing ultrasonic transducers.

Total internal reflection optical switch using the reverse breakdown of a pn junction in silicon.

PubMed

Kim, Jong-Hun; Park, Hyo-Hoon

2015-11-01

We demonstrate a new type of silicon total-internal-reflection optical switch with a simple pn junction functioning both as a reflector and a heater. The reflector is placed between asymmetrically y-branched multimode waveguides with an inclination angle corresponding to half of the branch angle. When the reflector is at rest, incident light is reflected in accordance to the refractive index difference due to the plasma dispersion effect of the pre-doped carriers. Switching to the transmission state is attained under a reverse breakdown of the pn junction by the thermo-optic effect which smears the refractive index difference. From this switching scheme, we confirmed the switching operation with a shallow total-internal-reflection region of 1 μm width. At a 6° branch angle, an extinction ratio of 12 dB and an insertion loss of -4.2  dB are achieved along with a thermal heating power of 151.5 mW.

Multi-layer MOS capacitor based polarization insensitive electro-optic intensity modulator.

PubMed

Qiu, Xiaoming; Ruan, Xiaoke; Li, Yanping; Zhang, Fan

2018-05-28

In this study, a multi-layer metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (MLMOSC) polarization insensitive modulator is proposed. The design is validated by numerical simulation with commercial software LUMERICAL SOLUTION. Based on the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) effect of indium tin oxide (ITO), the device manages to uniformly modulate both the transverse electric (TE) and the transverse magnetic (TM) modes. With a 20μm-long double-layer metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (DLMOSC) polarization insensitive modulator, in which two metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures are formed by the n-doped Si/HfO 2 /ITO/HfO 2 / n-doped Si stack, the extinction ratios (ERs) of both the TE and the TM modes can be over 20dB. The polarization dependent losses of the device can be as low as 0.05dB for the "OFF" state and 0.004dB for the "ON" state. Within 1dB polarization dependent loss, the device can operate with over 20dB ERs at the S, C, and L bands. The polarization insensitive modulator offers various merits including ultra-compact size, broadband spectrum, and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility.

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide Using Urea as Reduction Agent: Excellent X-band Electromagnetic Absorption Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agusu, L.; Ahmad, L. O.; Alimin; Nurdin, M.; Herdianto; Mitsudo, S.; Kikuchi, H.

2018-05-01

We report a strong absorption of microwave energy at X-band (8 GHz to 12 GHz) by N-doped graphene. Attachment of nitrogen on the layered structure of GO improves the reflection loss of GO slab (2.0 mm, thickness) from –10 dB to –25.0 dB with a sharp bandwidth ∼0.3 GHz. As for the broader bandwidth of about 1.4 GHz, reflection loss is –10.5 dB. This significant absorption may take place by improvement of magnetic property of NG through high magnetic coupling of localized spins induced by a defect on the surface of graphene. N atoms play as the electron trapper, easily influenced by self-magnetic moments and incoming electromagnetic fields to produce electric and/or magnetic losses. Here, urea acts as the reducing agent and N atoms donor for graphene oxide in hydrothermal process at a temperature of 190 °C.

Splice loss requirements in multi-mode fiber mode-division-multiplex transmission links.

PubMed

Warm, Stefan; Petermann, Klaus

2013-01-14

We investigate numerically the influence of fiber splices and fiber connectors to the statistics of mode dependent loss (MDL) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) outage capacity in mode multiplexed multi-mode fiber links. Our results indicate required splice losses much lower than currently feasible to achieve a reasonable outage capacity in long-haul transmission systems. Splice losses as low as 0.03dB may effectively lead to an outage of MIMO channels after only a few hundred kilometers transmission length. In a first approximation, the relative capacity solely depends on the accumulated splice loss and should be less than ≈ 2dB to ensure a relative capacity of 90%. We also show that discrete mode permutation (mixing) within the transmission line may effectively increase the maximum transmission distance by a factor of 5 for conventional splice losses.

A Micromechanical RF Channelizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akgul, Mehmet

The power consumption of a radio generally goes as the number and strength of the RF signals it must process. In particular, a radio receiver would consume much less power if the signal presented to its electronics contained only the desired signal in a tiny percent bandwidth frequency channel, rather than the typical mix of signals containing unwanted energy outside the desired channel. Unfortunately, a lack of filters capable of selecting single channel bandwidths at RF forces the front-ends of contemporary receivers to accept unwanted signals, and thus, to operate with sub-optimal efficiency. This dissertation focuses on the degree to which capacitive-gap transduced micromechanical resonators can achieve the aforementioned RF channel-selecting filters. It aims to first show theoretically that with appropriate scaling capacitive-gap transducers are strong enough to meet the needed coupling requirements; and second, to fully detail an architecture and design procedure needed to realize said filters. Finally, this dissertation provides an actual experimentally demonstrated RF channel-select filter designed using the developed procedures and confirming theoretical predictions. Specifically, this dissertation introduces four methods that make possible the design and fabrication of RF channel-select filters. The first of these introduces a small-signal equivalent circuit for parallel-plate capacitive-gap transduced micromechanical resonators that employs negative capacitance to model the dependence of resonance frequency on electrical stiffness in a way that facilitates the analysis of micromechanical circuits loaded with arbitrary electrical impedances. The new circuit model not only correctly predicts the dependence of electrical stiffness on the impedances loading the input and output electrodes of parallel-plate capacitive-gap transduced micromechanical device, but does so in a visually intuitive way that identifies current drive as most appropriate for applications that must be stable against environmental perturbations, such as acceleration or power supply variations. Measurements on fabricated devices in fact confirm predictions by the new model of up to 4x improvement in frequency stability against DC-bias voltage variations for contour-mode disk resonators as the resistance loading their ports increases. By enhancing circuit visualization, this circuit model makes more obvious the circuit design procedures and topologies most beneficial for certain mechanical circuits, e.g., filters and oscillators. The second method enables simultaneous low motional resistance ( Rx 70,000) at 61 MHz using an improved ALD-partial electrode-to-resonator gap filling technique that reduces the Q-limiting surface losses of previous renditions by adding an alumina pre-coating before ALD of the gap-filling high-k dielectric. This effort increases the Q over the ˜10,000 of previous renditions by more than 6x towards demonstration of the first VHF micromechanical resonators in any material, piezoelectric or not, to meet the simultaneous high Q (>50,000) and low motional resistance Rx (< 200O) specs highly desired for front-end frequency channelizer requirements in cognitive and software-defined radio architectures. The methods presented in this chapter finally overcome the high impedance bottleneck that has plagued capacitively transduced micro-mechanical resonators over the past decade. The third method introduces a capacitively transduced micromechanical resonator constructed in hot filament CVD boron-doped microcrystalline diamond (MCD) structural material that posts a measured Q of 146,580 at 232.441 kHz, which is 3x higher than the previous high for conductive polydiamond. Moreover, radial-contour mode disk resonators fabricated in the same MCD film and using material mismatched stems exhibit a Q of 71,400 at 299.86 MHz. The material used here further exhibits an acoustic velocity of 18,516 m/s, which is now the highest to date among available surface micromachinable materials. For many potential applications, the hot filament CVD method demonstrated in this work is quite enabling, since it provides a much less expensive method than microwave CVD based alternatives for depositing doped CVD diamond over large wafers (e.g., 8") for batch fabrication. The first three methods described so far focus on a single vibrating disk resonator and improve its electrical equivalent modeling, C x/Co, and Q. Once we craft the resonator that meets the challenging design requirements of RF channel-select filters, the last method presents a design hierarchy that achieves the desired filter response with a specific center frequency, bandwidth, and filter termination resistance. The design procedure culminates in specific values for all mechanical geometry variables necessary for the filter layout, such as disk radii, and beam widths; and process design variables such as resonator material thickness and capacitive actuation gap spacing. Finally, the experimental results introduce a 39nm-gap capacitive transducer, voltage-controlled frequency tuning, and a stress relieving coupled array design that enable a 0.09% bandwidth 223.4 MHz channel-select filter with only 2.7dB of in-band insertion loss and 50dB rejection of out-of-band interferers. This amount of rejection is more than 23dB better than previous capacitive-gap transduced filter designs that did not benefit from sub-50nm gaps. It also comes in tandem with a 20dB shape factor of 2.7 realized by a hierarchical mechanical circuit design utilizing 206 micromechanical circuit elements, all contained in an area footprint of only 600mumx420mum. The key to such low insertion loss for this tiny percent bandwidth is Q's>8,800 supplied by polysilicon disk resonators employing for the first time capacitive transducer gaps small enough to generate coupling strengths of C x/Co ˜0.1%, which is a 6.1x improvement over previous efforts. The filter structure utilizes electrical tuning to correct frequency mismatches due to process variations, where a dc tuning voltage of 12.1 V improves the filter insertion loss by 1.8 dB and yields the desired equiripple passband shape. An electrical equivalent circuit is presented that captures not only the ideal filter response, but also parasitic non-idealities that create electrical feed-through, where simulation of the derived equivalent circuit matches the measured filter spectrum closely both in-band and out-of-band. The combined 2.7dB passband insertion loss and 50dB stopband rejection of the demonstrated 206-element 0.09% bandwidth 223.4-MHz differential micromechanical disk filter represents a landmark for capacitive-gap transduced micromechanical resonator technology. This demonstration proves that the mere introduction of small gaps, on the order of 39 nm, goes a long way towards moving this technology from a research curiosity to practical performance specs commensurate with the needs of actual RF channel-selecting receiver front-ends. It also emphasizes the need for tuning and defensive stress-relieving structural design when percent bandwidths and gaps shrink, all demonstrated by the work herein. Perhaps most encouraging is that the models presented in dissertation used to design the filter and predict its behavior seem to be all be spot on. This means that predictions using these models foretelling 1-GHz filters with sub-200O impedances enabled by 20nm-gaps might soon come true, bringing this technology ever closer to someday realizing the ultra-low power channel-selecting communication front-ends targeted for autonomous set-and-forget sensor networks. Work towards these goals continues.

Tone perception in Mandarin-speaking school age children with otitis media with effusion

PubMed Central

McPherson, Bradley; Li, Caiwei; Yang, Feng

2017-01-01

Objectives The present study explored tone perception ability in school age Mandarin-speaking children with otitis media with effusion (OME) in noisy listening environments. The study investigated the interaction effects of noise, tone type, age, and hearing status on monaural tone perception, and assessed the application of a hierarchical clustering algorithm for profiling hearing impairment in children with OME. Methods Forty-one children with normal hearing and normal middle ear status and 84 children with OME with or without hearing loss participated in this study. The children with OME were further divided into two subgroups based on their severity and pattern of hearing loss using a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Monaural tone recognition was measured using a picture-identification test format incorporating six sets of monosyllabic words conveying four lexical tones under speech spectrum noise, with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions ranging from -9 to -21 dB. Results Linear correlation indicated tone recognition thresholds of children with OME were significantly correlated with age and pure tone hearing thresholds at every frequency tested. Children with hearing thresholds less affected by OME performed similarly to their peers with normal hearing. Tone recognition thresholds of children with auditory status more affected by OME were significantly inferior to those of children with normal hearing or with minor hearing loss. Younger children demonstrated poorer tone recognition performance than older children with OME. A mixed design repeated-measure ANCOVA showed significant main effects of listening condition, hearing status, and tone type on tone recognition. Contrast comparisons revealed that tone recognition scores were significantly better under -12 dB SNR than under -15 dB SNR conditions and tone recognition scores were significantly worse under -18 dB SNR than those obtained under -15 dB SNR conditions. Tone 1 was the easiest tone to identify and Tone 3 was the most difficult tone to identify for all participants, when considering -12, -15, and -18 dB SNR as within-subject variables. The interaction effect between hearing status and tone type indicated that children with greater levels of OME-related hearing loss had more impaired tone perception of Tone 1 and Tone 2 compared to their peers with lesser levels of OME-related hearing loss. However, tone perception of Tone 3 and Tone 4 remained similar among all three groups. Tone 2 and Tone 3 were the most perceptually difficult tones for children with or without OME-related hearing loss in all listening conditions. Conclusions The hierarchical clustering algorithm demonstrated usefulness in risk stratification for tone perception deficiency in children with OME-related hearing loss. There was marked impairment in tone perception in noise for children with greater levels of OME-related hearing loss. Monaural lexical tone perception in younger children was more vulnerable to noise and OME-related hearing loss than that in older children. PMID:28829840

Tone perception in Mandarin-speaking school age children with otitis media with effusion.

PubMed

Cai, Ting; McPherson, Bradley; Li, Caiwei; Yang, Feng

2017-01-01

The present study explored tone perception ability in school age Mandarin-speaking children with otitis media with effusion (OME) in noisy listening environments. The study investigated the interaction effects of noise, tone type, age, and hearing status on monaural tone perception, and assessed the application of a hierarchical clustering algorithm for profiling hearing impairment in children with OME. Forty-one children with normal hearing and normal middle ear status and 84 children with OME with or without hearing loss participated in this study. The children with OME were further divided into two subgroups based on their severity and pattern of hearing loss using a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Monaural tone recognition was measured using a picture-identification test format incorporating six sets of monosyllabic words conveying four lexical tones under speech spectrum noise, with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions ranging from -9 to -21 dB. Linear correlation indicated tone recognition thresholds of children with OME were significantly correlated with age and pure tone hearing thresholds at every frequency tested. Children with hearing thresholds less affected by OME performed similarly to their peers with normal hearing. Tone recognition thresholds of children with auditory status more affected by OME were significantly inferior to those of children with normal hearing or with minor hearing loss. Younger children demonstrated poorer tone recognition performance than older children with OME. A mixed design repeated-measure ANCOVA showed significant main effects of listening condition, hearing status, and tone type on tone recognition. Contrast comparisons revealed that tone recognition scores were significantly better under -12 dB SNR than under -15 dB SNR conditions and tone recognition scores were significantly worse under -18 dB SNR than those obtained under -15 dB SNR conditions. Tone 1 was the easiest tone to identify and Tone 3 was the most difficult tone to identify for all participants, when considering -12, -15, and -18 dB SNR as within-subject variables. The interaction effect between hearing status and tone type indicated that children with greater levels of OME-related hearing loss had more impaired tone perception of Tone 1 and Tone 2 compared to their peers with lesser levels of OME-related hearing loss. However, tone perception of Tone 3 and Tone 4 remained similar among all three groups. Tone 2 and Tone 3 were the most perceptually difficult tones for children with or without OME-related hearing loss in all listening conditions. The hierarchical clustering algorithm demonstrated usefulness in risk stratification for tone perception deficiency in children with OME-related hearing loss. There was marked impairment in tone perception in noise for children with greater levels of OME-related hearing loss. Monaural lexical tone perception in younger children was more vulnerable to noise and OME-related hearing loss than that in older children.