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At least 91 records · Page 5

DBR laser with nondynamic plasma grating formed by focused ion beam implanted dopants

A static plasma grating has been demonstrated experimentally (Wu et al., 1988) in a large-optical-cavity focused-ion-beam-distributed-Bragg-reflector (FIB-DBR) GaAlAs/GaAs laser diode. The grating is formed by implanting stripes of dopants with a focused ion beam. The dopants ionize to form periodic fluctuations in the carrier concentration which, through the Kramers-Kronig relations, form an index grating. A model of the grating strength for optimizaton of the laser design is developed and presented. The computed results show that the coupling coefficient k can be increased by more than an order of magnitude over the 15/cm experimentally. Therefore, FIB-DBR or FIB-distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers with performance comparable to that of conventional DBR (or DFB) lasers can be expected.

Boenke, Myra M.↗

Integrated Grating Spectrometer

Proposed integrated grating spectrometer made in waveguide layer on silicon wafer. Occupies area of about 2 centimeters to 2nd power on wafer 0.4 mm thick. Operates in visible spectrum (wavelengths of 400 to 700 nm) and blazed to diffract in first order. Array of integrated grating spectrometers performs spectral analysis of picture elements along line. Optical fiber couples light from each picture element into separate integrated spectrometer. Technique enables continous independent variation, along grating, of pitch, curvature, and blaze angle. Grating designed to have large numerical aperture, zero aberration at two selected wavelengths, and very low aberration at intermediate wavelengths.

Lang, Robert J.↗

Performance of multilayer coated diffraction gratings in the EUV

The effect of multilayer coating application on the performance of a diffraction grating in the EUV spectral region was evaluated by examining the performance of a 3600-line/mm and a 1200-line/mm replica blazed gratings, designed for operation in the 300-A spectral region in first order. A ten-layer IrSi multilayer optimized for 304 A was deposited using electron-beam evaporation. The grating efficiency was measured on the SURF II calibration beamline in a chamber designed for calibrating the solar EUV rocket telescope and spectrograph multilayer coatings. A significant (by a factor of about 7) enhancement in grating efficiency in the 300-A region was demonstrated.

Keski-Kuha, Ritva A. M.↗

Test results of a diffraction grating beam combiner

A laser diode beam combiner employing diffraction gratings has been fabricated and tested. The Grating Laser Beam Combiner (GLBC) uses two holographic diffraction gratings to incoherently combine the first order diffraction components of four 35 mW AlGaAs lasers. The grating rhomb design minimizes the transmitter sensitivity to the inherent frequency instability of laser diodes. The overall throughput of the combiner is 74 percent. Each laser was temperature controlled to 0.1 C and modulated with 110 Mbps QPPM data. Two lasers under modulation were coaligned to within 76 microrad with a combined average power of 45 mW.

Rall, Jonathan A.↗

Aberration corrected aspheric grating for far ultraviolet spectrographs - Conventional approach

Two approaches to reducing optical aberrations of concave grating spectrographs have been used, holographically controlling the groove curvature and spacing and reshaping the optical substrate while ruling the grooves conventionally. The latter approach, slightly deforming an ellipsoidal grating blank, can lead to diffraction-limited performance at a single FUV wavelength. When such a grating is used in a slitted Rowland circle spectrograph, the result is an extremely efficient spectrograph with spectral resolving power of about 30,000 and low astigmatism. Optical fabrication technology has advanced to the point where these exotic surface gratings are becoming practical.

Content, David↗

Extended Rayleigh-Fano theory and its application to grating polarization

A simple method of calculating the degree of polarization of light diffracted by a grating having shallow grooves and finite conductivity is developed by extending the Rayleigh-Fano theory. Its validity is examined by comparing the computed degree of polarization with experimental data obtained in the visible and vacuum ultraviolet for the +/- 1st and -2nd orders of Al- and Au-coated blazed gratings and holographic gratings used in the specific mountings. The calculations are in good agreement with the observed polarization behavior of the gratings, verifying the usefulness of the present method.

Koike, Masato↗

Multiperiod-grating surface-emitting lasers

Surface-emitting distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are disclosed with hybrid gratings. A first-order grating is provided at one or both ends of the active region of the laser for retroreflection of light back into the active region, and a second-order or nonresonant grating is provided at the opposite end for coupling light out perpendicular to the surfaces of the laser or in some other selected direction. The gratings may be curved to focus light retroreflected into the active region and to focus light coupled out to a point. When so focused to a point, the DFB laser may be part of a monolithic read head for a laser recorded disk, or an optical coupler into an optical fiber.

Lang, Robert J.↗

The design and fabrication of a single leakage-channel grating coupler

The modeling and fabrication is described of waveguide grating couplers with out-coupling efficiencies into a single diffracted order nearing 100 pct. Termed Single Leakage Channel Grating Couplers (SLCGCs), these devices use a high reflectivity dielectric stack to reflect the out-coupled beam diffracted toward the substrate, back up into the air region where it constructively adds with the beam diffracted into the air region. Computer modeling shows that the branching ratio and the leakage rate can be independently controlled, and that the branching ratio is independent of grating depth and grating period. A SLCGC with a branching ratio of 97.1 pct. was fabricated using a combination of vacuum evaporation and wet chemical techniques.

Roncone, Ronald L.↗

A modal analysis of lamellar diffraction gratings in conical mountings

A rigorous modal analysis of lamellar grating, i.e., gratings having rectangular grooves, in conical mountings is presented. It is an extension of the analysis of Botten et al. which considered non-conical mountings. A key step in the extension is a decomposition of the electromagnetic field in the grating region into two orthogonal components. A computer program implementing this extended modal analysis is capable of dealing with plane wave diffraction by dielectric and metallic gratings with deep grooves, at arbitrary angles of incidence, and having arbitrary incident polarizations. Some numerical examples are included.

Li, Lifeng↗

Normal incidence spectrophotometer using high density transmission grating technology and highly efficiency silicon photodiodes for absolute solar EUV irradiance measurements

New developments in transmission grating and photodiode technology now make it possible to realize spectrometers in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region (wavelengths less than 1000 A) which are expected to be virtually constant in their diffraction and detector properties. Time dependent effects associated with reflection gratings are eliminated through the use of free standing transmission gratings. These gratings together with recently developed and highly stable EUV photodiodes have been utilized to construct a highly stable normal incidence spectrophotometer to monitor the variability and absolute intensity of the solar 304 A line. Owing to its low weight and compactness, such a spectrometer will be a valuable tool for providing absolute solar irradiance throughout the EUV. This novel instrument will also be useful for cross-calibrating other EUV flight instruments and will be flown on a series of Hitchhiker Shuttle Flights and on SOHO. A preliminary version of this instrument has been fabricated and characterized, and the results are described.

Ogawa, H. S.↗

Design of spherical varied line-space gratings for a high-resolution EUV spectrometer

A highly efficient EUV spectrograph is designed for high-resolution spectroscopic observation. The spectrograph is designed for point source astronomy in a 40-120 nm bandpass and is to be ORFEUS (Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer), scheduled for launch as the first payload of a German space platform Astro-SPAS (Astronomy Shuttle Pallet Satellite). The design uses spherical varied line-space (SVLS) grating to minimize astigmatism, coma, and spherical aberration. The effectiveness and practical feasibility of the design is proved by an SVLS grating for visible use. The image focusing properties of the SVLS grating for ORFEUS are compared to those with toroidal uniform line-space (TULS) design. The SVLS design is superior to the TULS, theoretically in resolution and image concentration, but also practically with not only fabrication ease. Four SVLS gratings with nominal groove densities of 6000, 4550, 3450, and 2616 gr./mm, and a 200 mm x 200 mm ruled area have been ruled using a numerically controlled ruling engine for use in ORFEUS.

Harada, Tatsuo↗

V-groove diffraction grating for use in an FUV spatial heterodyne interferometer

A need has arisen for efficient, blazed, symmetric gratings for use as beam splitters in far and extreme ultraviolet interferometers. In particular, the development of an all-reflection, far ultraviolet spatial heterodyne interferometer can benefit tremendously from such a grating. To fulfill this need, we have manufactured a mechanically ruled grating with a V-groove profile blazed for H Lyman-alpha at 1216 A. We present the grating performance at Lyman-alpha in the context of its application to the spatial heterodyne interferometer.

Cotton, Daniel M.↗

Development of In-Fiber Reflective Bragg Gratings as Shear Stress Monitors in Aerodynamic Facilities

Bragg gratings centered at nominal wavelengths of 1290 nm and 1300 run were inscribed in a 9/125 microns germano-silicate optical fiber, using continuous wave frequency doubled Ar+ laser radiation at 244 nm. Such gratings have been used extensively as temperature and strain monitors in smart structures. They have, however, never been used for measuring aerodynamic shear stresses. As a test of their sensitivity as shear stress monitors, a Bragg fiber attached to a metal plate was subjected to laminar flows in a glass pipe. An easily measurable large flow-induced wavelength shift (Delta Lambda(sub B)) was observed in the Bragg reflected wavelength. Thereafter, the grating was calibrated by making one time, simultaneous measurements of Delta Lambda(sub B) and the coefficient of skin friction (C(sub f)) with a skin friction balance, as a function of flow rates in a subsonic wind tunnel. Onset of fan-induced transition in the tunnel flow provided a unique flow rate for correlating Delta Lambda(sub B) and (C(sub f) values needed for computing effective modulus of rigidity (N(sub eff)) of the fiber attached to the metal plate. This value Of N(sub eff) is expected to remain constant throughout the elastic stress range expected during the Bragg grating aerodynamic tests. It has been used for calculating the value of Cf at various tunnel speeds, on the basis of measured values of Bragg wavelength shifts at those speeds.

Parmar, Devendra S.↗

Apparatus and Method for Measuring Strain in Bragg Gratings

An apparatus and method for measuring strain of gratings written into an optical fiber is disclosed. Optical radiation is transmitted over a plurality of contiguous predetermined wavelength ranges into a reference optical fiber network and an optical fiber network under test to produce a plurality of reference interference fringes and measurement interference fringes. respectively. The reference and measurement fringes are detected and sampled such that each sampled value of the reference and measurement fringes is associated with a corresponding sample number. The wavelength change of the reference optical fiber, for each sample number, due to the wavelength of the optical radiation is determined. Each determined wavelength change is matched with a corresponding sampled value of each measurement fringe. Each sampled measurement fringe of each wavelength sweep is transformed into a spatial domain waveform. The spatial domain waveforms are summed to form a summation spatial domain waveform that is used to determine location of each grating with respect to a reference reflector. A portion of each spatial domain waveform that corresponds to a particular grating is determined and transformed into a corresponding frequency spectrum representation. The strain on the grating at each wavelength of optical radiation is determined by determining the difference between the current wavelength and an earlier, zero-strain wavelength measurement.

Froggatt, Mark E.↗

The CHANDRA HETGS X-ray Grating Spectrum of Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae may be the most massive and luminous star in the Galaxy and is suspected to be a massive, colliding wind binary system. The CHANDRA X-ray observatory has obtained a calibrated, high-resolution X-ray spectrum of the star uncontaminated by the nearby extended soft X-ray emission. Our 89 ksec CHANDRA observation with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) shows that the hot gas near the star is non-isothermal. The temperature distribution may represent the emission on either side of the colliding wind bow shock, effectively 'resolving' the shock. If so, the pre-shock wind velocities are approximately 700 and 1800 km/s in our analysis, and these velocities may be interpreted as the terminal velocities of the winds from 71 Carinae and from the hidden companion star. The forbidden-to-intercombination line ratios for the He-like ions of S, Si, and Fe are large, indicating that the line forming region lies far from the stellar photosphere. The iron fluorescent line at 1.93 angstroms, first detected by ASCA, is clearly resolved from the thermal iron line in the CHANDRA grating spectrum. The Fe fluorescent line is weaker in our CHANDRA observation than in any of the ASCA spectra. The CHANDRA observation also provides the first high-time resolution lightcurve of the uncontaminated stellar X-ray emission from 77 Carinae and shows that there is no significant, coherent variability during the CHANDRA observation. The 77 Carinae CHANDRA grating spectrum is unlike recently published X-ray grating spectra of single massive stars in significant ways and is generally consistent with colliding wind emission in a massive binary.

Corcoran, M. F.↗

Fiber Bragg Grating Filter High Temperature Sensors

We present a scaled-down method for determining high temperatures using fiber-based Bragg gratings. Bragg gratings are distributed along the length of the optical fiber, and have high reflectivities whenever the optical wavelength is twice the grating spacing. These spatially distinct Bragg regions (located in the core of a fiber) are sensitive to local temperature changes. Since these fibers are silica-based they are easily affected by localized changes in temperature, which results in changes to both the grating spacing and the wavelength reflectivity. We exploit the shift in wavelength reflectivity to measure the change in the local temperature. Note that the Bragg region (sensing area) is some distance away from where the temperature is being measured. This is done so that we can measure temperatures that are much higher than the damage threshold of the fiber. We do this by affixing the fiber with the Bragg sensor to a material with a well-known coefficient of thermal expansion, and model the heat gradient from the region of interest to the actual sensor. The research described in this paper will culminate in a working device as well as be the second portion of a publication pending submission to Optics Letters.

Lyons, Donald R.↗

Edge Triggered Apparatus and Method for Measuring Strain in Bragg Gratings

An apparatus and method for measuring strain of gratings written into an optical fiber. Optical radiation is transmitted over one or more contiguous predetermined wavelength ranges into a reference optical fiber network and an optical fiber network under test to produce a plurality of reference interference fringes and measurement interference fringes, respectively. The reference and measurement fringes are detected, and the reference fringes trigger the sampling of the measurement fringes. This results in the measurement fringes being sampled at 2(pi) increments of the reference fringes. Each sampled measurement fringe of each wavelength sweep is transformed into a spatial domain waveform. The spatial domain waveforms are summed to form a summation spatial domain waveform that is used to determine location of each grating with respect to a reference reflector. A portion of each spatial domain waveform that corresponds to a particular grating is determined and transformed into a corresponding frequency spectrum representation. The strain on the grating at each wavelength of optical radiation is determined by determining the difference between the current wavelength and an earlier, zero-strain wavelength measurement.

Froggatt, Mark E.↗

Speed estimates from grating patches are not contrast-normalized

We have previously shown that the perceived speed of a moving grating depends upon its contrast, with lower-contrast patterns appearing to move more slowly than otherwise identical higher-contrast patterns. To explain this finding while remaining consistent with the findings of McKee, Silverman and Nakayama [(1986) Vision Research, 26, 609-619], we proposed that this misperception might arise from a modified version of the contrast-normalization procedure, envisaged by Adelson and Bergen [(1986) The extraction of spatio-temporal energy in human and machine vision (pp. 135-139). Charleston, S.C.: IEEE Computer Society] as a necessary second stage of motion-energy models of human motion processing. Specifically, our previous results might be explained if the two gratings to be compared interfered with each other's normalization. To test this hypothesis we performed two experiments. Experiment 1 demonstrates that the contrast effects persist even when two grating patches to be compared are presented up to 5 sec apart so that they would not be expected to bias each other's normalization. Experiment 2 shows that the contrast effects are unchanged when the two grating patches are surrounded by a range of patterns whose contrast would be expected to interfere with any normalization process. These two results allow the rejection of the contrast-normalized motion-energy hypothesis as an explanation of human speed perception. We discuss the consequences of these results on models of speed processing in the human visual system.

NASA Center ARC↗