PR_25_ChannelizedMonitor (0925133-PO)

Summary of a Project Outcomes report of research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Project Number 0925133. A spectrum analyzer device is designed using silicon microring CROWs which measures the C-band optical spectrum with no moving parts.

In situ observations of ions and magnetic field around Phobos: the mass spectrum analyzer (MSA) for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission

The mass spectrum analyzer (MSA) will perform in situ observations of ions and magnetic fields around Phobos as part of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to investigate the origin of the Martian moons and physical processes in the Martian environment. MSA consists of an ion energy mass spectrometer and two magnetometers which will measure velocity distribution functions and mass/charge distributions of low-energy ions and magnetic field vectors, respectively. For the MMX scientific objectives, MSA will observe solar wind ions, those scattered at the Phobos surface, water-related ions generated in the predicted Martian gas torus, secondary ions sputtered from Phobos, and escaping ions from the Martian atmosphere, while monitoring the surrounding magnetic field. MSA will be developed from previous instruments for space plasma missions such as Kaguya, Arase, and BepiColombo/Mio to contribute to the MMX scientific objectives.

Compact Exposimeter Device for the Characterization and Recording of Electromagnetic Fields from 78 MHz to 6 GHz with Several Narrow Bands (300 kHz)

A novel compact device with spectrum analyzer characteristics has been designed, which allows the measuring of the maximum power received in multiple narrow frequency bands of 300 kHz, recording the entire spectrum from 78 MHz to 6 GHz; the device is capable of measuring the entire communications spectrum and detecting multiple sources of electromagnetic fields using the same communications band. The proposed device permits the evaluation of the cross-talk effect that, in conventional exposimeters, generates a mistake estimation of electromagnetic fields. The device was calibrated in an anechoic chamber for far-fields and was validated against a portable spectrum analyzer in a residential area. A strong correlation between the two devices with a confidence higher than 95% was obtained; indicating that the device could be considered as an important tool for electromagnetic field studies.

Determining the Stable Injection Locking of a Fabry-Pérot Laser by Observing the RF Spectral Components Generated by a Low-Reflectivity External Cavity

A novel approach to monitoring the laser injection-locking (IL) state is proposed and verified using the side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR). In a photonics experiment for laser IL, an optical spectrum analyzer with the conventional criterion of a 35-dB SMSR is conventionally used to detect the locking state of a Fabry–Pérot (FP) laser with multiple longitudinal modes to an external master laser with one longitudinal mode. Since the 35-dB criterion is not always a sufficient locking condition, we propose a microwave-photonic technique to determine the stable-locking regime based on the observation of the radio-frequency (RF) components. A novel approach to monitoring the generated additional spectral components uses the well-known delayed-self-homodyne technique and the RF spectrum analyzer. For the novel generation of additional longitudinal groups on each FP laser’s resonator mode in the optical spectrum and consequently the overlapping RF components in the RF spectrum, an additional external resonator with low reflectivity was connected to the slave FP laser. The novel monitoring approach was experimentally verified by connecting a 1-m-long external cavity with 0.5% reflectivity and observing the optical IL phenomenon of a 1550-nm FP semiconductor laser.