Center of Excellence for Innovative Technologies
and NanoEngineering (CE ITNE)

Grant of the President of Ukraine (GP/F56/167)

Name

Development of a software and hardware complex for experimental measurements of refractive indices of anisotropic materials in the range from visible to millimeter wavelengths

Main idea

The main idea of the project was to create a software and hardware complex for measurement of the refractive index of materials by interferometric-rotary method, which can be adapted to a wide range of wavelengths. Due to the development and implementation of algorithms for processing experimental data compatible with modern environments of LabVIEW experiment automation tools, the accuracy of determining the refractive index of materials for both millimeter and visible measurement ranges was increased.

Main results

A method of measurements was developed taking into account the non-parallelism of the working surfaces of the measuring sample or their planned wedge shape, which was tested experimentally on the example of lithium niobate crystals and crystalline quartz. The duration of one measurement did not exceed 5 minutes, which confirms the possibility of express analysis of the studied materials.

The software and hardware complex, which was developed within the project, as well as our improved method of measuring the refractive indices of isotropic and anisotropic investigated materials, taking into account the non-plane parallelism of the sample faces, allowed to reduce high material costs for preparation of high-quality determination of refractive indices for samples with uncontrolled non-parallel surfaces. In addition, the work of the created software and hardware complex was tested on the example of samples of optical glass (n = 1.52 ± 0.02), quartz (n = 2.10 ± 0.02), sapphire (n = 3.12 ± 0.02) and evlitin (n = 2.02 ± 0.02) on the created experimental setup for the millimeter wavelength range.

Also, the work of the software and hardware complex was tested on the example of the studied samples of lithium niobate and crystalline quartz in the visible range of wavelengths, for which the values of refractive indices made more accurate. Namely, at wavelength ? = 0.6328 ?m and room temperature, the values of the test samples are no = 2.2865 ± 0.0001, ne = 2.2028 ± 0.0002 and no = 1.5432 ± 0.0004, ne = 1.5525 ± 0, 0005. In comparison with other similar devices for measurements of refractive indices of the investigated samples the developed complex is cheaper more than in 10 times. One of possible application is the manufacture of instruments and equipment for measurement, research and navigation.

Recomendations

The developed software and hardware complex for experimental control and processing of measurement results in a modern engineering environment of National Instruments LabVIEW, as well as hardware and software solutions can be used in the educational process and research departments of photonics and telecommunications. This complex can also be implemented to automatization of similar research facilities, as well as in other experimental laboratories and research institutes or directly in the production of various opto-electronic elements, in particular at Research and Production Enterprise"Karat" (Lviv), Lviv and Uzhgorod National Universities , Lviv (Lviv) and Chernivtsi (Chernivtsi) Departments of the Institute of Materials Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv), the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv), V.E. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv), State Scientific Institution“Institute for Single Crystals” of NASU (Kharkiv), B. Verkin ILTPE of NASU (Kharkiv), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and National Technical University of Ukraine“Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (Kyiv) and other scientific or industrial laboratories. Scientific and practical results of the dissertation should also be used in the educational process of the Lviv Polytechnic National University (Lviv).