Date of Award

3-9-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Ronald A. Coutu, Jr., PhD

Abstract

In order to meet the goals of the Department of Defense (DoD) for smaller and more accurate weapons, the Munitions Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RW) has numerous projects investigating the miniaturization of weapons and munition fuze components. One of these efforts is to characterize the performance of small detonators. The velocity of the flyer, the key component needed to initiate a detonation sequence, can be measured using a photonic Doppler velocimeter (PDV). The purpose of this research was to develop a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device that would act as an optimal retroreflective surface for the PDV. Two MEMS solutions were explored: one using the PolyMUMPs™ fabrication process and one in-house fabrication design using silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers. The in-house de- sign consisted of an array of corner reflectors created using an SOI wafer. Each corner reflector consisted of three separate mirror plates which were self-assembled by photoresist pad hinges. When heated to a critical temperature (typically 140-160 ◦C), the photoresist pads melted and the resulting surface tension caused each mirror to rotate into place. The resulting array of corner reflectors was then coated with a thin layer of gold to increase reflectivity. Despite the successful assembly a PolyMUMPs™ corner reflector, assembling an array of these reflectors was found to be unfeasible. Although the SOI corner reflector design was completed, these devices were not fabricated in time for testing during this research. However, the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) and optical cross section (OCS) of commercially avail- able retroreflective tapes were measured. These results can be used as a baseline comparison for future testing of a fabricated SOI corner reflector array.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-EO-ENG-09-02

DTIC Accession Number

ADA498638

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