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Projects to develop high-speed and high-resolution optical conversion systems, studying the ability to form nanostructures in metals and building an optical phase shifter have been among research projects conducted this summer by undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Physics and Optical Engineering.
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Studying Holographic Elements: Michael Plascak, sophomore
optical engineering major, and Kellen Stolze, sophomore physics
major, set up a summer research experiment in Rose-Hulman Institute
of Technology's Physics and Optical Engineering Laboratories. |
A Photonic Digital-to-Analog project has had Ryan McGiffen, a junior
optical engineering major, and Chris Dapkus, optical engineering
graduate student, developing a high-speed and high-resolution all
optical D/A conversion system. The system will process four-bit digital
words operating at rate of 1-3 Gb/s. This will be a wideband, parallel
processing system that would generate arbitrary waveforms -– a
development that will benefit multiple RF-beam digital beamforming for
EW applications. The project is being supported by Air Force Research
Laboratory's NEWSTARS Program under the direction of Azad Siahmakoun,
professor of Physics and Optical Engineering and director of Rose-Hulman’s
Micro-Nanoscale Devices and Systems (MiNDS) Facilities. Assisting on the
project are faculty members Sergio Granieri and Pablo Costanzo.
At the Ultrashort Pulse Laser Laboratory, located at Rose-Hulman
Ventures, students are assisting Professor Galen Duree on studying the
ability to form nanostructures in metals. Teams have recently started
examining the structures formed in aluminum, copper and silicon, and
trying to optimize the procedure to form the structures before they are
converted into macrostructures. This phenomenon has applications in
solar cells, where the nanostructures increase the absorption of the
incident light.
Students are working on studying the effects of propagating ultrashort
pulse radiation through the air. Two students are working on developing
a numerical model for the plasma channels created by the laser in air to
compare to experimental observations. Other students are looking at the
effects of ultrashort pulse radiation on tissues like muscle or skin.
“The ultimate goal of this project would be to develop a procedure to
suture the tissues together, instead of using sutures or staples,” Duree
states.
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Ultrashort Pulse Laser Group: Completing projects this summer at Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology's Rose-Hulman Ventures/South Campus with Physics
and Optical Engineering Professor Galen Duree (right) have been (from
left) Blake Lam, David French, Ben Hall, Adam Beals, Kendra Lyons, Ethan
Kelly and Jessica Wittig. |
In other summer research projects, graduate student Alex Mulvihill is
building an optical phase shifter using a bank of optical attenuators
and optical switches. Photonic-based systems have advantages over
electrical systems such as wide bandwidth, EMI immunity, and potentially
smaller size, weight and power consumption. Siahmakoun notes that this
development will improve RF beamsteering in phased-array antenna. This
is another project supported by AFRL's NEWSTARS program.
A project that examines applications of surface plasmons in logic
devices and circuits has Morgan Roddy, a junior engineering physics
major, and Andrew Horvath, a sophomore optical engineering major,
designing and implementing optical switching architecture for photonic
circuits and logic operations utilizing Surface Plasmon Resonance
effects.
The project involved optical characterization of
nanoscale thin metal films, fabrication optimization of dielectric /
metal structures for potential plasmonics applications, and modeling of
plasmonics devices. Horvath also automated the experimental setup
for Surface Plasmon Resonance in addition to taking the data.
Roddy focused on fabrication and both students worked on numerical
modeling of the experimental data and other potential plasmonics
geometries.
These developments, also supported by AFRL’s NEWSTARS program,
will help to miniaturize opto-electronic circuits for the next
generation of opto-electronic systems. Professor Maarij Syed is
assisting Siahmakoun with the project.
Optical engineering students Michael Gehl, Dane Sahlhoff and Fitz Jin
are developing an Asynchronous Binary DSM (ABDSM) using fiber-optic
network technologies. The ABDSM operates exclusively with non-negative
signals and is therefore implemented without troublesome
interferometers. Siahmakoun was awarded a U.S. patent (#7355538) for his
discovery of the ABDSM in 2008. Rose-Hulman is now partnering with
Polyphase Microwave Inc. toward the development of ABDSM technology with
potential for Chip-Scale Photonics fabrication. This project is being
sponsored by the Indiana Radio Frequency Alliance and Technology
Services Corporation. Professors Granieri and Costanzo are assisting
Siahmakoun on the project.
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Setting Up Acoustic Project: Austin Tam, a junior physics major,
and Heather Stephens, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, test
a laboratory experiment for a project being supervised by Physics
and Optical Engineering Professor Michael Moloney. |
Elsewhere in PHOE laboratories, optical engineering students Jon
Christie and Chris Dapkus have tested, characterized and modeled NiCr
thin-film igniters as part in the second phase of project for the Small
Business Innovation Research and Odyssian Technologies. The project’s
goal is to improve the reliability of the missile battery igniters. This
has been an ongoing project by Siahmakoun and Rose-Hulman students since
2005. This project is sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency and
managed by Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane, Ind.
Charles Joenathan, PHOE department chair, noted that several sophomores
are among the 35 undergraduate students that have worked on the projects
throughout the summer. One of those sophomores, physics major David
French, used research competed during his freshman year as the basis for
a research paper that was presented at the Directed Energy Professional
Society’s Ultrashort Pulse Laser Workshop (DEPS). He has examined using
the ultrashort pulse laser to create plasma channels in air to guide
electrical discharges. Persons attending DEPS were very interested in
French’s research, according to Duree.
“Among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Central
Florida’s College of Optics and Photonics, company representatives and
government engineers was the sophomore from Rose-Hulman with his guided
discharge paper,” the professor noted.
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Summer Researchers: Physics and optical engineering students
that have worked on projects for Professor Richard Lepkowicz (right)
and other faculty members have been (from left) Jamal Bell, Emily
Walker, Andrew Bower, Tony Klee, Emma Barrasso, Rachel Manigault, Bo
Miller and Tyler Masterson. |
The Ultrashort Pulse Laser Group conducts work through the academic
year. The members include freshmen to graduate students and the students
come from many academic departments. The largest group comes from
mechanical engineering, followed by biomedical engineering, physics,
optical engineering, engineering physics, computer science and software
engineering.
Other PHOE faculty members involved in summer research with
undergraduate students have been Richard Lepkowicz, Renat Letfullin,
Michael Moloney, Rob Bunch and Joenathan.
Learn more about the Department of Physics and Optical Engineering at www.rose-hulman.edu/phoe.
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