Towards a heat transfer based distance sensor for measuring sub-micrometer separations

In this thesis a proof-of-principle demonstration is developed that uses the heat flux between a probe and a sample as a proxy for their separation. The proposed architecture uses a probe that consists of a bilayer cantilever with an attached sphere at its free end. The deflection of the cantilever that is caused by the heat input is measured...

Design of a calorimeter for near-field heat transfer measurements and thermal scanning probe microscopy

Multilayer cantilever beams are used in the measurement of near-field radiative heat transfer. The materials and dimensions of the cantilever probe are chosen in order to improve system performance in terms of sensitivity and noise. This is done using an analytical model that describes the thermo-mechanical and mechanical behavior of the...

Meta-instrument: An opto-mechanical platform for imaging near-field optical instruments

Non-contact distance measurement and profilometry using thermal near-field radiation towards a high resolution inspection and metrology solution

Optical near-field technologies such as solid immersion lenses and hyperlenses are candidate solutions for high resolution and high throughput wafer inspection and metrology for the next technology nodes. Besides sub-diffraction limited optical performance, these concepts share the necessity of extreme proximity to the sample at distances that...

A new horizon: Using heat to measure distance in high performance metrology solutions

Towards an effective reduction of intensity noise in laser diodes

Meta-instrument: An opto-mechanical platform for imaging near-field optical instruments

Reduction of laser diode intensity noise in optical beam defection systems

Design, Verification and Validation of a Micropropulsion Thrust Stand

At the chair of Space Systems Engineering, students and staff work on the development of small propulsion systems in a wide thrust capability. Especially in recent years low thrust propulsion systems have gained an increased amount of interest in the entire department of Space Engineering. To support the development of these propulsion systems,...

Advanced Nano Telescope: A cornerstone solution in Earth Observation

Recent developments in satellite industry gaining strong attention are so called nanosatellites. These small satellites, with sizes of about a milk carton, are easy to build and much more adordable, promising great advantages for future space missions. Up until today no reliable mid-resolution Earth observation instrument has been build that can...