Publications

Germanium exhibits high sensitivity to short-wave infrared (SWIR) and X-ray radiation, making it an interesting candidate for imaging applications in these bands. Recent advances in germanium processing allow for high-quality charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to be realized in this material. In this article, we discuss our evaluation of germanium as an...

We have previously proposed a process for stabilizing azodye photo-alignment layers using a surface localized reactive mesogen (RM) layer applied by dissolving the monomer in a liquid crystal prior to filling the cell. Surprisingly, thin azodye layers (~3 nm) exhibit improved stability upon exposure to polarized light compared to thicker...

Controlling and optimising the alignment of liquid crystals is a crucial process for display application. Here, we investigate the effects of humidity and surface types on photoalignment of an azo-dye brilliant yellow (BY). Specifically, the effect of humidity on the photoalignment of BY was studied at the stage of substrate...

An uncooled thermal imager is being developed based on a liquid crystal (LC) transducer. Without any electrical connections, the LC transducer pixels change the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) scene directly into a visible image as opposed to an electric signal in microbolometers. The objectives are to develop an imager technology scalable...

A novel sensor is being developed for a new uncooled imager technology that is scalable to large formats (tens of megapixels), which is greater than what is achieved by commercial microbolometer arrays. In this novel sensor, a liquid-crystal transducer is used to change a long-wavelength infrared scene into a visible...

Liquid crystal photonic devices are becoming increasingly popular. These devices often present a challenge when it comes to creating a robust alignment layer in pre-assembled cells. In this paper, we describe a method of infusing a dye into a microcavity to produce an effective photo-definable alignment layer. However, previous research...

The detection statistics of Geiger-mode photodetector subarrays with a combination of reset-time blocking loss and optical crosstalk are investigated. Closed-form expressions are obtained for the means and covariances of the numbers of counts in 2 x 2 subarrays (quad cells) used in Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors. The predicted wavefront sensing precision...

An uncooled thermal imager is being developed based on a liquid crystal transducer. The liquid crystal transducer changes a long-wavelength infrared scene into a visible image as opposed to an electric signal in microbolometers. This approach has the potential for making a more flexible thermal sensor. One objective is to...

We report on two recently developed charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for adaptive optics wavefront sensing, both designed to provide exceptional sensitivity (low noise and high quantum efficiency) in high-frame-rate low-latency readout applications. The first imager, the CCID75, is a back-illuminated 16-port 160x160 pixel CCD that has been demonstrated to operate at...

Gigahertz (GHz) imaging technology will be needed at high-luminosity X-ray and charged particle sources. It is plausible to combine fast scintillators with the latest picosecond detectors and GHz electronics for multi-frame hard X-ray imaging and achieve an inter-frame time of elss than 10 ns. The time responses and light yield...