CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL ELECTROMAGNETICS and ELECTROMAGNETICS LABORATORY ANNUAL PROGRESS REVIEW 2004

In 2004, we did research in various areas in electromagnetics and optoelectronics. In antenna research, progress was made in reconfigurable antennas, antenna arrays, and antennas for wireless and various sensing applications. In computational electromagnetics, advances were made in scattering from periodic structures, and multi-scale calculations in both time and frequency domains, as well as low-frequency scattering problems. In circuits, continued progress was made in model order reduction techniques as well as modeling of complex circuit structures. In optoelectronics, much interest has been invested in measuring group delay and the understanding of slow light. The undergraduate courses provide a balanced education for undergraduates. The graduate courses are related to the research topics of the professors. Students are often required to do a term project to gain first-hand experience in the field. The Center for Computational Electromagnetics and Electromagnetics Laboratory is endowed with the following computational resources: • 1 mini-supercomputer, 16-node Intel cluster with 2 GHz processors, 8 GBytes of memory, 640 GBytes of storage. • 1 mini-supercomputer cluster with 32 nodes Intel Pentium III processors 850 MHz, 100 Mbps Ethernet (donated by Intel). and Q bands for microwave and millimeter-wave measurements. A small portable anechoic chamber for 26-40 GHz uses this network analyzer for high frequency antenna measurements. Through the support of the DURIP program, the Laboratory has now assembled a state-of-the-art phased array Bit Error Rate (BER) testing system. The system can be configured for either traditional coherent continuous wave antenna testing or for bit error rate testing. The BER testing system can implement a variety of standard or user-defined modulations, noise impairments, and propagation models with the help of specialized software from Agilent. This unique facility will enable us to apply new findings to optimize system behavior and to create entirely new avenues of research into the relationships between antenna and array characteristics, signal processing, and achievable system performance. A HP 8510C (0.5-18GHz) is also used for circuit and automated antenna characterization with the Laboratory's large anechoic chamber. For time-domain measurements, the lab is equipped with a High-Bandwidth Digitizing Scope 50 GHz HP 54750A 2-Channel 18 GHz Differential Time-Domain Reflectometer HP 54754A. In addition, there are an HP 54120B digitizing oscilloscope, an HP8593E spectrum analyzer, a high-speed Tektronix time-domain reflectometer and digitizing scope, and several high-speed pulse generators for time-domain high-speed digital circuits simulation and broadband radar measurement systems. A T-Tech quick circuit fabrication system enables rapid prototype circuit …