FSD-HSO Optimization Algorithm for Closed Fringes Interferogram Demodulation

Due to the physical nature of the interference phenomenon, extracting the phase of an interferogram is a known sinusoidal modulation problem. In order to solve this problem, a new hybrid mathematical optimization model for phase extraction is established. The combination of frequency guide sequential demodulation and harmony search optimization algorithms is used for demodulating closed fringes patterns in order to find the phase of interferogram applications. The proposed algorithm is tested in four sets of different synthetic interferograms, finding a range of average relative error in phase reconstructions of 0.14–0.39 rad. For reference, experimental results are compared with the genetic algorithm optimization technique, obtaining a reduction in the error up to 0.1448 rad. Finally, the proposed algorithm is compared with a very known demodulation algorithm, using a real interferogram, obtaining a relative error of 1.561 rad. Results are shown in patterns with complex fringes distribution

Modeling thermal phenomena and searching for new thermally induced monitor signals in large sale gravitational wave detectors

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) array’s 4 km detectors have transitioned from an initial configuration (iLIGO) to an enhanced configuration (eLIGO) [1]. Both configurations relied on high circulating laser powers to achieve sensitivity goals between 150 Hz and 8 kHz. These power levels were sufficient to induce thermally driven focal affects in the primary optics. Since the detectors were designed to achieve maximum sensitivity when laser light was optimally coupled (mode matched) into the antenna, small deviations in focal parameters influenced performance. A laser based thermal compensation system (TCS) was installed for use in both configurations to counteract excessive or insufficient thermal lensing. Consequently a toy model has been studied to search for detector derived parameters that might be used to monitor the focal state of the two most affected optics. Additional thermal behaviors induced by the TCS were investigated and modeled

A Solid-State Phase Camera for Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors

I present a novel way of wavefront sensing using a commercially available, continuouswavetime-of- ight camera with QVGA-resolution. This CMOS phase camera is capable of sensing externally modulated light sources with frequencies up to 100 MHz. The high-spatial-resolution of the sensor, combined with our integrated control electronics, allows the camera to image power modulation index as low as -62 dBc/second/pixel. The phase camera is applicable to problems where alignment and mode-mismatch sensing is needed and suited for diagnostic and control applications in gravitationalwave detectors. Specically, I explore the use of the phase camera in sensing the beat signals due to thermal distortions from point-like heat absorbers on the test masses in the Advanced LIGO detectors. The camera is capable of sensing optical path distortions greater than about two nanometers in the Advanced LIGO input mirrors, limited by the phase resolution. In homodyne readout, the performance can reach up to 0.1 nm, limited by the modulation amplitude sensitivity

State-of-The-Art and Applications of 3D Imaging Sensors in Industry, Cultural Heritage, Medicine, and Criminal Investigation

3D imaging sensors for the acquisition of three dimensional (3D) shapes have created, in recent years, a considerable degree of interest for a number of applications. The miniaturization and integration of the optical and electronic components used to build them have played a crucial role in the achievement of compactness, robustness and flexibility of the sensors. Today, several 3D sensors are available on the market, even in combination with other sensors in a “sensor fusion” approach. An importance equal to that of physical miniaturization has the portability of the measurements, via suitable interfaces, into software environments designed for their elaboration, e.g., CAD-CAM systems, virtual renders, and rapid prototyping tools. In this paper, following an overview of the state-of-art of 3D imaging sensors, a number of significant examples of their use are presented, with particular reference to industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation applications

Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry

The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin, properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques. These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry, phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays. Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination, polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry, such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics, 2002, to appear in April issu

Fundamental Carrier-Envelope Phase Noise Limitations during Pulse Formation and Detection

The difference between the positions of the maximum peak of the carrier wave of a laser pulse and the maximum of its intensity envelope is termed carrier-envelope phase (CEP). In the last decades, the control and stabilization of this parameter has greatly improved, which enables many applications in research fields that rely on CEP-stable pulses such as attosecond science and optical frequency metrology. Further progress in these fields depends strongly on minimizing the CEP noise that restricts stabilization performance. While the CEP of most high repetition-rate low-energy laser oscillators has been stabilized to a remarkable precision, some types of oscillators show extensive noise that inhibits precise stabilization. The CEP stabilization performance of low repetition-rate high peak-power amplified laser systems also remains limited by noise, which is believed to stem mainly from the CEP detection process. In this thesis, the origins of the CEP noise within four oscillators as well as the noise induced by the measurement of the CEP of amplified pulses are investigated. In the first part, the properties of the CEP noise of one Ti:sapphire oscillator and three different fiber oscillators are extracted by analyzing the unstabilized CEP traces by means of time-resolved correlation analysis of carrier-envelope amplitude and phase noise as well as by methods that reveal the underlying statistical noise properties. In the second part, investigations into the origin of CEP noise induced by the measurement of the CEP of amplified pulses are conducted by comparing several different CEP detection designs that are based on f -2 f interferometry. These detection setups differ in the employed sources of spectral broadening as well as frequency doubling media, both necessary steps to measure the CEP. The results in both parts of this thesis show that white quantum noise dominates most CEP measurements. In one particular fiber oscillator, the strong white noise is found to be a result of a correlating mechanism within the employed SESAM. During amplifier CEP detection, the CEP noise is found to be originating only to a marginal degree from the number of photons that are detected during the measurement, which excludes shot noise as a limiting source. Instead, the analysis reveals that the origin of the observed strong white noise can be interpreted as a loss of coherence during detection. This type of coherence is termed here intra-pulse coherence and describes the phase transfer within f -2 f interferometry. Its degradation is a result of amplitude-to-phase coupling during the spectral broadening process that leads to pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of the phases at the edges of the extended spectrum. Numerical simulations support the concept of intra-pulse coherence degradation and show that the degradation is substantially stronger during plasma-driven spectral broadening as compared to self-phase modulation-dominated spectral broadening. This difference in degradation also explains the much stronger CEP noise typically observed in amplified systems as compared to oscillators, as the former typically rely on filamentation-based and hence plasma-dominated spectral broadening for CEP detection. The concept of intra-pulse coherence constitutes a novel measure to assess the suitability of a spectral broadening mechanism for application in active as well as in passive CEP stabilization schemes and provides new strategies to reduce the impact of the CEP detection on the overall stabilization performance of most lasers.Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Identifizierung und Minimierung fundamentaler Rauschquellen, die zu einer Limitierung des erreichbaren Carrier-Envelope Phasen (CEP) Jitters führen. Die Carrier-Envelope Phase beschreibt die Differenz zwischen dem Maximum der Trägerwelle und dem Scheitelpunkt der Intensitätseinhüllenden. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat sich die Kontrolle und Stabilisierung der CEP deutlich verbessert, was zu einem schnellen Fortschritt in Forschungsfeldern geführt hat, bei denen CEP-stabile Pulse notwendig sind. Diese Forschungsfelder umfassen die Attosekundenforschung und optische Frequenzmetrologie. Weitere Entwicklungen in diesen Feldern hängt stark von der Minimierung von CEP Rauschen ab, welches die CEP Stabilisierung stark beeinträchtigt. Obwohl die CEP der Pulse der meisten Laseroszillatoren mit hohen Repetitionsraten äußerst genau stabilisiert werden kann, existieren einige Laseroszillatoren bei denen starke Rauschquellen eine Stabilisierung verhindern oder stark einschränken. Des Weiteren zeigen vor Allem verstärkte System mit niedrigen Repetitionsraten und hohen Spitzenleistungen eine Beschränkung der CEP Stabilisierung aufgrund von Rauschen, dass vermutlich zum großen Teil durch den Detektionsprozess entsteht. In dieser Arbeit ist der Ursprung von CEP Rauschen in vier unterschiedlichen Laseroszillatoren sowie während der Detektion der CEP von verstärkten Systemen untersucht worden. Im ersten Teil wurden die Eigenschaften des CEP Rauschens eines Ti:Saphir-basierten Oszillators und drei verschiedener Faserlaser analysiert. Hierzu wurde das Rauschen unter anderem mittels zeitaufgelöster Korrelationsanalyse von Carrier-Envelope Amplituden- und Phasenrauschen sowie mittels Methoden, die die statistischen Eigenschaften des Rauschens offenlegen, analysiert. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurde das Rauschen untersucht, welches durch den Messprozess der CEP von verstärkten Pulsen mittels f -2 f Interferometrie entsteht. Experimentell wurden hierzu vier unterschiedliche Detektionsanordnungen verwendet, die sich durch die Nutzung unterschiedlicher nichtlinearer Prozesse zum Erzeugen der spektralen Verbreiterung sowie zur Erzeugung der zweiten Harmonischen unterscheiden. Die Ergebnisse in beiden Teilen der Arbeit zeigen dominierendes weißes Quantenrauschen in den meisten CEP Messungen. In einem bestimmten Faserlaser, in dem besonders starkes weißes Rauschen vorlag, konnte der Ursprung einerWechselwirkung innerhalb des verwendeten halbleiterbasierten sättigbaren Absorbers zugeordnet werden. Bei der Detektion der CEP bei verstärkten Systemen wurde hingegen gezeigt, dass niedrige Photonenzahlen und damit Schrotrauschen nur zum kleinen Teil für die starken weißen Rauschanteile verantwortlich gemacht werden kann. Stattdessen kann die Ursache des starken Rauschens einem Verlust von Kohärenz zugeordnet werden. Diese Art von Kohärenz ist hier mit intra-Puls Kohärenz bezeichnet und beschreibt den Phasentransfer innerhalb der Detektion mittels f -2 f Interferometrie. Der Verlust von intra-Puls Kohärenz ist eine Folge von Amplituden-zu-Phasen Koppelung während der spektralen Verbreiterung. Von Puls zu Puls führt dies zu Fluktuationen der Phase an beiden Rändern der erzeugten spektralen Verbreiterung. Numerische Simulationen unterstützen das Konzept der intra-Puls Kohärenz und zeigen auf, dass die Degradation bedeutend stärker bei plasmadominierten Prozessen ausfällt als im Vergleich zu spektraler Verbreiterung mittels Selbstphasenmodulation. Dieser unterschiedlich starke Verlust der intra-Puls Kohärenz erklärt das deutlich höhere Rauschniveau in verstärkten Systemen im Vergleich zu Oszillatoren, da verstärkte Systeme plasmadominierte Prozesse zur spektralen Verbreiterung nutzen. Das Konzept der intra-Puls Kohärenz stellt ein neues Maß zur Einschätzung einer Methode zur spektralen Verbreiterung für eine bestimmte Anwendung dar, die sowohl in aktiven sowie passiven CEP Stabilisierungen von Lasern eine Rolle spielt. Es ermöglicht somit neue Strategien, um den Einfluss der Detektion auf die CEP Stabilisierung der meisten Laser zu senken

New Techniques for Coherence Imaging Fusion Plasmas

Imaging diagnostic techniques are desirable for fusion plasma experiments for their wide coverage and high spatial resolution, which allows for a more complete comparison with the predictions made by plasma physics models than traditional techniques. Benchmarking models against measurements made on current experiments improves our understanding of the physics and reduces the uncertainties involved with designing future experiments and reactors. This thesis presents new techniques for coherence imaging (CI), an interferometric narrowband spectral imaging technique used to measure the brightness, shift and width of spectral lines emitted by the plasma in the visible range. From these measurements, 2-D maps of emitting species flow velocity, and temperature can be inferred via Doppler shifts and broadening respectively. For passive hydrogen Balmer series emission in the tokamak divertor, Stark broadening is strong enough to provide a 2-D map of electron density $n_e$. First, we introduce novel CI instrument designs based on pixelated phase-mask (PPM) interferometry, which improve spatial resolution and robustness over typical linear carrier designs. Secondly, we introduce a new method for absolute calibration of CI flow velocity measurements using emission lines from standard gas-discharge lamps instead of a tuneable laser. This method significantly reduces hardware costs while maintaining high measurement accuracy — ±1 km/s compared to typical ion flows in the tokamak plasma edge of < 30 km/s. Lastly, we present improved methods for CI measurement of ne, using modern lineshape models to improve accuracy and using a multi-delay PPM-CI instrument design to minimise errors caused by Doppler broadening, extending the valid measurement range to lower $n_e$. This is demonstrated with experimental measurements of H$_\gamma$ and H$_\delta$ emission on the Magnum-PSI linear plasma experiment with a direct comparison to Thomson scattering measurements

On Fresnelets, interference fringes, and digital holography

In this thesis, we describe new approaches and methods for reconstructing complex-valued wave fields from digital holograms. We focus on Fresnel holograms recorded in an off-axis geometry, for which operational real-time acquisition setups readily exist. The three main research directions presented are the following. First, we derive the necessary tools to port methods and concepts of wavelet-based approaches to the field of digital holography. This is motivated by the flexibility, the robustness, and the unifying view that such multiresolution procedures have brought to many applications in image processing. In particular, we put emphasis on space-frequency processing and sparse signal representations. Second, we propose to decouple the demodulation from the propagation problem, which are both inherent to digital Fresnel holography. To this end, we derive a method for retrieving the amplitude and phase of the object wave through a local analysis of the hologram's interference fringes. Third, since digital holography reconstruction algorithms involve a number of parametric models, we propose automatic adjustment methods of the corresponding parameters. We start by investigating the Fresnel transform, which plays a central role in both the modeling of the acquisition procedure and the reconstruction of complex wave fields. The study of the properties that are central to wavelet and multiresolution analysis leads us to derive Fresnelets, a new family of wavelet-like bases. Fresnelets permit the analysis of holograms with a good localization in space and frequency, in a way similar to wavelets for images. Since the relevant information in a Fresnel off-axis hologram may be separated both in space and frequency, we propose an approach for selectively retrieving the information in the Fresnelet domain. We show that in certain situations, this approach is superior to others that exclusively rely on the separation in space or frequency. We then derive a least-squares method for the estimation of the object wave's amplitude and phase. The approach, which is reminiscent of phase-shifting techniques, is sufficiently general to be applied in a wide variety of situations, including those dictated by the use of microscopy objectives. Since it is difficult to determine the reconstruction distance manually, we propose an automatic procedure. We take advantage of our separate treatment of the phase retrieval and propagation problems to come up with an algorithm that maximizes a sharpness metric related to the sparsity of the signal's expansion in distance-dependent Fresnelet bases. Based on a simulation study, we suggest a number of guidelines for deciding which algorithm to apply to a given problem. We compare existing and the newly proposed solutions in a wide variety of situations. Our final conclusion is that the proposed methods result in flexible algorithms that are competitive with preexisting ones and superior to them in many cases. Overall, they may be applied in a wide range of experimental situations at a low computational cost