Fully Automated Stage for Optical Waveguide Measurements.

摘要

Nonlinear optical (NLO) materials are becoming increasingly important to the Air Force, and their expanding use in future systems is inevitable. Applications ranging from communications and optical computing to lasers and laser hardening will all be affected by the development of these materials. Because of this need, basic research and development of these materials are extremely important. Within the Materials Directorate of Wright Laboratory, the Electronic and Optical Materials Branch is performing basic RD in various areas of nonlinear optical materials. Central to this research is the measurement of the optical properties of these materials. In order to apply these materials to device and systems, it is important to understand how they behave under the influence of various forces and conditions. These include applied voltages and currents, incident electromagnetic radiation and temperature changes. How they behave under these various conditions can be either useful or detrimental depending on the application. In the case of optical transmission, changes in material properties due to applied voltage are useful for applications where modulation is important.