Plate Wave Tomography for Reconstruction of Laminar Defects. The proposed project promotes a conceptual advance in the application of plate waves for the quantitative reconstruction of laminar defects by investigating fundamental experimental and analytical aspects of a novel approach in plate wave ultrasonic tomography. A successful development will have a comparable significance in the area of health monitoring of thin structures as computer tomography had in medical imaging. Previous attempts ....Plate Wave Tomography for Reconstruction of Laminar Defects. The proposed project promotes a conceptual advance in the application of plate waves for the quantitative reconstruction of laminar defects by investigating fundamental experimental and analytical aspects of a novel approach in plate wave ultrasonic tomography. A successful development will have a comparable significance in the area of health monitoring of thin structures as computer tomography had in medical imaging. Previous attempts have ignored wave scattering effects, and therefore do not describe the correct physics of the problem. With its combined experimental-numerical approach, the proposed fundamental studies will help to identify the potential of plate wave ultrasonic tomography for in-situ health monitoring of realistic structures and smart materials design.Read moreRead less
Tomographic Imaging of Structural Damage in Plates. The potential benefit of structural health monitoring is highlighted by the socio-economic impact of structural failure, which may result in loss of lives, infrastructure disruptions and loss of productivity. This proposal promotes a fundamental advance in the novel concept of ultrasonic diffraction tomography for imaging early stage structural damage in plates. The successful development will represent an essential advance in quantitative non- ....Tomographic Imaging of Structural Damage in Plates. The potential benefit of structural health monitoring is highlighted by the socio-economic impact of structural failure, which may result in loss of lives, infrastructure disruptions and loss of productivity. This proposal promotes a fundamental advance in the novel concept of ultrasonic diffraction tomography for imaging early stage structural damage in plates. The successful development will represent an essential advance in quantitative non-destructive evaluation of thin structures and enable the transition of the technique to realistic structures with all the potential benefits in mechanical and civil infrastructure management resulting in improved safety, reduced maintenance costs and the use of more efficient structural designs.Read moreRead less
Development of modal control systems for adaptive optics. This project will develop a simple, robust and low-cost modal servo system for dynamic control and correction of the propagation and focussing properties of light beams. This new system will incorporate a novel optical sensor, which will be developed in this project, and a new optical corrector being developed at the University of Durham. Currently available astronomical adaptive-optics systems have produced excellent results but are expe ....Development of modal control systems for adaptive optics. This project will develop a simple, robust and low-cost modal servo system for dynamic control and correction of the propagation and focussing properties of light beams. This new system will incorporate a novel optical sensor, which will be developed in this project, and a new optical corrector being developed at the University of Durham. Currently available astronomical adaptive-optics systems have produced excellent results but are expensive and complicated. A low-cost alternative will dramatically increase the use of adaptive optics in industrial, environmental and medical applications. The compensation of distortions in low-cost optical atmospheric sensors will be demonstrated.Read moreRead less
Novel coherence-free photonic microwave signal processors. With the increasing bandwidth requirements of information signals, there is an unprecedented challenge to provide high-speed and high resolution systems for signal processing. The new photonic signal processors in this project will herald in a new epoch in the ability to optimally condition wideband signals, with important applications for science, business and security services. These processors will have particular impact in transcendi ....Novel coherence-free photonic microwave signal processors. With the increasing bandwidth requirements of information signals, there is an unprecedented challenge to provide high-speed and high resolution systems for signal processing. The new photonic signal processors in this project will herald in a new epoch in the ability to optimally condition wideband signals, with important applications for science, business and security services. These processors will have particular impact in transcending exisiting electronic processor limitations and in enhancing fibre-fed distributed antenna systems, with benefits to Australia in the fields of radioastronomy and radar systems in defence.Read moreRead less
Novel coherence-free microwave photonic signal processors. With the unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements, there is an unprecedented challenge to provide high-performance systems for high-bandwidth signal processing. In areas such as fibre-wireless networks, radioastronomy, and defence, it is essential to pre-process the wideband fibre-fed distributed antenna signals. The new coherence-free, high-frequency, low-noise photonic signal processors, in this project have important app ....Novel coherence-free microwave photonic signal processors. With the unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements, there is an unprecedented challenge to provide high-performance systems for high-bandwidth signal processing. In areas such as fibre-wireless networks, radioastronomy, and defence, it is essential to pre-process the wideband fibre-fed distributed antenna signals. The new coherence-free, high-frequency, low-noise photonic signal processors, in this project have important applications for science, business and security services. The results have widespread uses in enhancing fibre-fed distributed antenna systems, with national benefits in the fields of radioastronomy and radar systems in defence.Read moreRead less
Dynamically tunable, low-noise, discrete-time optical processing of high-speed signals. In today's society there is an unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements. Thus the challenge arises to provide systems that can optimally condition high-speed signals. Many systems carry not only the desired information but also high level interference signals. Tunable interference mitigation is required to address different interferers actively while having minimal impact on the passband. The ne ....Dynamically tunable, low-noise, discrete-time optical processing of high-speed signals. In today's society there is an unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements. Thus the challenge arises to provide systems that can optimally condition high-speed signals. Many systems carry not only the desired information but also high level interference signals. Tunable interference mitigation is required to address different interferers actively while having minimal impact on the passband. The new dynamically tunable photonic signal processors in this project have important applications for science, business and security services. The results have widespread uses in enhancing fibre-fed distributed antenna systems, with national benefits in the fields of radioastronomy and radar systems in defence.Read moreRead less
New paradigms for high-resolution microwave photonic signal processing. In today's society there is an unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements. Thus there are unprecedented challenges to provide systems that can optimally condition high-speed signals. Many systems carry not only the desired information but also high-level interference signals. Tunable interference mitigation is essential to address different interferers actively while having minimal impact on the required signal. ....New paradigms for high-resolution microwave photonic signal processing. In today's society there is an unrelenting push for increasing bandwidth requirements. Thus there are unprecedented challenges to provide systems that can optimally condition high-speed signals. Many systems carry not only the desired information but also high-level interference signals. Tunable interference mitigation is essential to address different interferers actively while having minimal impact on the required signal. The new dynamically reconfigurable photonic signal processors in this project have important applications for science, business and security services. The results have widespread uses in enhancing fibre-fed distributed antenna systems, with national benefits in the fields of radioastronomy and radar systems in defence.Read moreRead less
A Three-Dimensional Ultra-Wideband Microwave Method Based On Multiple Antennas For Early Detection Of Breast Cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death among women in Australia. In 2003, it killed 2,713 women in Australia and approximately 400,000 worldwide. Despite significant advances, current breast screening methods still suffer from several limitations. They may miss as many as 15% of cancers. Inconclusive results are common, leading to invasive, expensive and pa ....A Three-Dimensional Ultra-Wideband Microwave Method Based On Multiple Antennas For Early Detection Of Breast Cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death among women in Australia. In 2003, it killed 2,713 women in Australia and approximately 400,000 worldwide. Despite significant advances, current breast screening methods still suffer from several limitations. They may miss as many as 15% of cancers. Inconclusive results are common, leading to invasive, expensive and painful follow-up tests such as biopsies. About 75% of such biopsies are found to be negative, and this is a major deterrent for women in undertaking breast screening. The proposed project contributes to the cause of finding a more reliable breast cancer detection method, and hence, saving thousands of lives each year.Read moreRead less
New Photonics-based Interference Mitigation Filters for Radioastronomy. This project aims to study new topologies for photonics-based interference mitigation filters for radioastronomy. Its significance is that it will solve, for the first time, the problem of excising RF interfering signals from within the optical signal fibre transport systems conveying radioastronomy signals from phased array antennas. These interference suppressors are key elements in removing strong unwanted man-made signal ....New Photonics-based Interference Mitigation Filters for Radioastronomy. This project aims to study new topologies for photonics-based interference mitigation filters for radioastronomy. Its significance is that it will solve, for the first time, the problem of excising RF interfering signals from within the optical signal fibre transport systems conveying radioastronomy signals from phased array antennas. These interference suppressors are key elements in removing strong unwanted man-made signals from terrestrial transmitters and satellites that coexist, and make the detection of the very weak radioastronomy signals extremely difficult. The outcome will be new high-resolution and tunable fibre-based interference suppression filters integrable with the signal transport system, which enhance the sensitivity of radioastronomy phased arrays.Read moreRead less
Frequency stabilisation in the Extremely High Frequency band. All precision communication and measurement systems (i.e. radar and navigation) rely on high quality oscillator technology. Any improvement in oscillator performance has a direct impact on the performance of the system and hence is of potential economic benefit. This project will realise the most stable frequencies ever produced in the underused Extremely High Frequency band, which is also important for space communications and naviga ....Frequency stabilisation in the Extremely High Frequency band. All precision communication and measurement systems (i.e. radar and navigation) rely on high quality oscillator technology. Any improvement in oscillator performance has a direct impact on the performance of the system and hence is of potential economic benefit. This project will realise the most stable frequencies ever produced in the underused Extremely High Frequency band, which is also important for space communications and navigation technology. System enhancement will include, better angular resolution, higher bandwidths, faster transmission rates and narrower beam widths without the susceptibility of absorption apparent from the optical domain.Read moreRead less