Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Vahey, D. W..
Comparator is integrated-optical system constructed on a LiNb03sub. waveguide chip. Only the laser, lens and detector are external to chip. Aluminized surface gratings serve as input coupler and beam splitter. Light beams striking edges are returned by ordinary total internal reflection. Three operating modes are possible: A "screening" mode, an "identification" mode and a novel "self-subtraction" mode.
A sample having self subtraction characteristics that were very promising was tested in depth: hologram formation times were on the order of 150 sec, the null signal was less than 2.5% of the peak signal, and no fatigue nor instability was detected over the span of the experiments. Another sample, fabricated with, at most, slight modifications did not perform nearly as well. In all samples, attempts to improve self subtraction characteristics by various thermal treatments had no effects or adverse effects, with one exception in which improvement was noted after a time delay of several days. A theory developed to describe self subtraction showed the observed decrease in beam intensity with time, but the shape of the predicted decay curve was oscillatory in contrast to the exponential like decay observed. The theory was also inadequate to account for the experimental sensitivity of self subtraction to the Bragg angle of the hologram. It is concluded that self subtraction is a viable method for optical processing systems requiring background discrimination.
Integrated optical comparator compares reference and signal voltages by their effects on coherent light beam. If both voltages are same, beam is essentially unperturbed. If voltages differ, light is deflected by previously recorded hologram to detector.
As a precursor to the construction of a 16-channel device, a 3-channel integrated optical data preprocessor has been fabricated and tested. The device, which is fabricated in an outdiffused LiNbO3 waveguide, provides a signal related to the channel-by-channel difference between a prerecorded reference set and an incoming data set which is presented in the form of parallel analog voltages. The data are impressed upon the guided wave as a set of electrooptically induced phase shifts, and the comparison to the reference set is performed by holographic subtraction. The reference set can either be introduced as a separate operation or it can be 'learned' by the preprocessor during operation.
The paper presents a proposed integrated-optical preprocessor with a holographic subtraction. It is based on an optical analog of a set of N analog voltages formed by passing an optical plane wave, confined in an electrooptic waveguide, under a set of N electrodes to which the voltages are applied; in the limit in which diffraction is ignored, the wavefront of the emerging guided wave will have superimposed upon it N discrete phase shifts. Processors which operate upon voltages encoded in this manner are being fabricated; they include a comparator in which incoming data are compared to a holographic record of the optical analog of a reference set, and a 'smart' system based upon holographic self-subtraction, in which the processor can independently adapt to changes in background information. The preprocessor operation is described in the screening, identification, and the self-subtraction modes, and implementation of devices in an integrated optical configuration is discussed.
A class of 'Smart' remote holographic processors based on the material characteristics of LiNbO3 is introduced. The processors rely on holographic subtraction to detect differences in optical wavefronts that are spatially modulated to reflect either incoming or reference information. The state of the art of their fabrication and performance is described in the following paper. This paper outlines the principles of holography and photorefractivity that make these processors possible. Particular emphasis is placed on a potential mode of operation termed self-subtraction, in which the holographic processor is able to adapt to changes in reference information without the need for commands from an external operator.
The successful fabrication and demonstration of an integrated optical circuit designed to perform a parallel processing operation by utilizing holographic subtraction to simultaneously compare N analog signal voltages with N predetermined reference voltages is summarized. The device alleviates transmission, storage and processing loads of satellite data systems by performing, at the sensor site, some preprocessing of data taken by remote sensors. Major accomplishments in the fabrication of integrated optics components include: (1) fabrication of the first LiNbO3 waveguide geodesic lens; (2) development of techniques for polishing TIR mirrors on LiNbO3 waveguides; (3) fabrication of high efficiency metal-over-photoresist gratings for waveguide beam splitters; (4) demonstration of high S/N holographic subtraction using waveguide holograms; and (5) development of alignment techniques for fabrication of integrated optics circuits. Important developments made in integrated optics are the discovery and suggested use of holographic self-subtraction in LiNbO3, development of a mathematical description of the operating modes of the preprocessor, and the development of theories for diffraction efficiency and beam quality of two dimensional beam defined gratings.
The possibility of producing an integrated optics data processing device based upon Fourier transformations or other parallel processing techniques, and the ways in which such techniques may be used to upgrade the performance of present and projected NASA systems were investigated. Activities toward this goal include; (1) production of near-diffraction-limited geodesic lenses in glass waveguides; (2) development of grinding and polishing techniques for the production of geodesic lenses in LiNbO3 waveguides; (3) development of a characterization technique for waveguide lenses; and (4) development of a theory for corrected aspheric geodesic lenses. A holographic subtraction system was devised which should be capable of rapid on-board preprocessing of a large number of parallel data channels. The principle involved is validated in three demonstrations.
Aspheric shaping of geodesic lenses in optical waveguides is suggested as a means for correcting spherical aberrations. The technique is complementary to the method of Spiller and Harper, in which geodesic lens aberrations are reduced by thickening the waveguiding layer in the lens region. The properties of a family of oblate-spheroidal lenses with no third-order spherical aberrations are described theoretically. Diffraction-limited performance over apertures up to one-half the full lens aperture is predicted for lenses with true f/numbers (focal length divided by useful aperture) in the range 2-12. By combining spheroidal-shaping and mode-index correction techniques, geodesic lenses free from both third- and fifth-order aberrations can be designed. These lenses show diffraction-limited performance over apertures of a centimeter or more when true f/numbers are in the range 1.5-9.5.
The focal properties of uncorrected geodesic lenses in ion-exchanged glass waveguides are reported. A 13.8-mm-focal-length lens resolved beams with an angular separation of 27.6 mrad, while a 28-mm-focal-length lens resolved beams with an angular separation of only 3.3 mrad. Intensity profiles of the focal region of the former lens revealed a 40-micron spot size when the input aperture was 5 mm, and a spot size of 7.7 microns when the aperture was reduced to 1 mm. This value is close to the diffraction-limited spot size of 5.7 microns.