Ferroelectric Relaxor Materials for High-Frequency Sensors and High-Speed Optical Switches

The goal of this effort is to design, fabricate and test prototype electric field sensors at government laboratories. The effort is multidisciplinary and requires varying levels of expertise in diverse and rapidly advancing technologies including materials science, photonic-device design and fabrication, RF antenna and signal-processing. The sensors and the instrumentation could be incorporated with other equipment used in the test and measurement of electromagnetic fields. The sensors will be tested to the limits to characterize nonlinear behavior operation and to create correction and calibration factors over the desired operating range. The testing is expected to stretch some of the sensor devices to failure to fully understand and characterize the device capability. In order to validate the new sensors that are being developed, a test has been proposed that combines a realistic environment, wherein an actual High Power Microwave (HPM) source is used in a unique test chamber that can accommodate both near and far field RF measurements.