ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: Electrical Engineering
- Creators: Trichopoulos, Georgios
I begin this work with a description of radiation pattern measurements and their use in astronomical instrument characterization. I will introduce a novel technique to measure complex (phase-sensitive) field patterns using direct detectors. I successfully demonstrate the technique with a single pixel microwave inductance detectors (MKID) experiment. I expand that work by measuring the APEX MKID (A-MKID) focal plane array of 880 pixel detectors centered at 350 GHz. In both chapters I discuss the development of an analysis pipeline to take advantage of all information provided by complex field mapping. I then discuss the design, simulation, fabrication processes, and characterization of a circular-to-rectangular waveguide transformer module integrated into a circularly symmetric feedhorn block. I conclude with a summary of this work and how to advance these technologies for future ISM studies.
Therefore, a new design is proposed to alleviate these disadvantages. A 14×64 elements non-uniform array with an optimal flat-top pattern is designed with an iterative process using linear perturbation of a close starting pattern until the desired pattern is acquired. The principal advantage of this design is that it restricts the radiated/received power into the required FOV. As a result, a significant enhancement in the quality of images is achieved especially in the mitigation of the effect of any interferer outside the FOV. In this report, these two designs are presented and compared in terms of their imaging efficiency along with a series of numerical results verifying the proof of concept.
The EDGES program is one of the many programs that aim to study the Epoch of Reionization. It is a ground-based project deployed in Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. At ground level the Radio Frequency Interference from the ionosphere and various man-made transmitters in the same frequency range as the EDGES receiver make measurements, receiver design and extraction of useful data from received signals difficult. Putting the receiver in space can help majorly escape the RFI. The EDGES In Space is a proposed project that aims at designing a receiver similar to the EDGES receiver but for a cubesat.
This thesis aims at designing a prototype receiver that is similar in architecture to the EDGES low band receiver (50-100MHz) but is significantly smaller in size (small enough to fit on a PCB for a cubesat) while keeping in mind different considerations that affect circuit performance in space.
I present my contributions to both large and small scale collaborative efforts to develop KID arrays, spectrometers integrated with KIDs, and TKIPs. I optimize a dual polarization TiN KID absorber for the next generation Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry, which is designed to investigate the role magnetic fields play in star formation. As part of an effort to demonstrate aluminum KIDs on sky for CMB polarimetry, I fabricate devices for three design variants. SuperSpec and WSpec are respectively the on-chip and waveguide implementations of a filter bank spectrometer concept designed for survey spectroscopy of high redshift galaxies. I provide a robust tool for characterizing the performance of all SuperSpec devices and demonstrate basic functionality of the first WSpec prototype. As part of an effort to develop the first W-Band (75-110 GHz) TKIP, I construct a cryogenic waveguide feedthrough, which enhances the Astronomical Instrumentation Laboratory’s capability to test W-Band devices in general. These efforts contribute to the continued maturation of these kinetic inductance technologies, which will usher in a new era of millimeter-wave astronomy.