Gustavo Fernandes

Two unrelated topics are treated in this thesis. In Part I the measurement and interpretation of two-angle optical scattering (TAOS) patterns from aerosol particles in the respiratory size-range (1-10 µm) is discussed. Three experiments are presented. The first experiment introduces a different light-collection scheme than previously used, which allows for the simultaneous measurement of TAOS patterns in both the forward and backward scattering hemispheres of aerosols in real-time. In the second experiment, the collection of TAOS patterns in the near-backward hemisphere, which is important for remote sensing applications such as light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications, is explored. In particular, a light collection scheme is introduced which allows for the simultaneous measurement of TAOS patterns in both parallel and perpendicular polarizations for single aerosol particles. Finally, a study that correlates the appearance of speckles in the TAOS patterns of aerosol aggregates with their surface roughness, and uses speckle characteristics to sort between several types of aerosol aggregates is presented.

In Part 2, a study of semiconductor micro-disk resonators that are seamlessly (end-to-end) coupled to one another is presented. The seamless coupling scheme, referred to as “direct-coupling”, enables coupling not only of the lasing modes, but also of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) produced in the resonators. The exchange of ASE between the elements in a coupled micro-disk device is shown to lead to many unique characteristics in the light output versus injection current (L-I) curves of’ these devices. Devices consisting of two and three directly-coupled micro-disk elements are considered. In particular, it is shown that ON-OFF-ON switching of the output intensity as well as discontinuous shifts in the output wavelength as a function of increasing injected current in one of the elements can be achieved in the three-element devices. These characteristics enable the three-element devices to be operated as logic AND, OR, and NOT gates as well as optical switches.