Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2018, Electro-Optics

In this thesis, Electro-Optic (EO) range signatures are obtained with a Short-Wave Infrared Super-Continuum Laser (SWIR-SCL) source. 3D printed canonical targets of interest are illuminated by the SWIR-SCL pulsed laser. The scattered laser light from the target is directly detected in mono-static and bi-static configurations with a fast, high bandwidth Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) PIN photodiode. Temporal pulse returns provide target shape, orientation, and surface roughness information. Spatial and temporal analysis of the collected intensity distribution is performed in MATLAB. Macro and micro surface properties are identified from the collected data by correlating pulse amplitude variations with known range scenes. Finally, range resolution improvement is investigated by means of Tomographic Reconstruction using Radon Transforms and by image processing techniques such as Deconvolution.

Committee: Edward Watson Ph.D. (Advisor); Paul McManamon Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joe Haus Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Engineering; Experiments; Optics; Physics; Scientific Imaging