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1. Gain skills quickly, use them often. For ideas on helpful skills to develop, please see the project descriptions below.

2. Use the design methodology: what is the biggest unanswered question we have? What is the least expensive model or prototype that will answer that question?

3. Interface with Dr. Smalley as much as possible so he knows what you are doing and can help you overcome obstacles. Ask the grad students questions.

4. Being in the office is not the same as working. Make sure you are always doing something that leads towards a deliverable.

5. Ask for suggestions and help analyzing problems. Share your failures to make sure others don't do the same.

6. Document everything you do.

7. Take pictures and videos of cool outcomes.

The Holovideo Monitor has two main groups: the holochip fabrication side and general monitor creation. Holochip fabrication deals with making the modulators in the cleanroom that run the heart of the monitor. The general creation deals with setting up the housing, power supply, optics deck, software and all other parts.

Helpful Skills:

• General Cleanroom Skills (Heidelberg, metal evaporation, acid etching, RIE, etc)
• Proton Exchange
• Prism/Grating Coupling
• Polishing
• Di-saw Cutting
• Impedance matching
• Solidworks
• 3D Printing
• Eagle PCB creation. See Eagle CAD Tips

Glossary of important terms:

Note: if any of the words inside these definitions are unfamiliar to you, Wikipedia should become your best friend. This glossary is meant to give the simplest introduction to these concepts to get you up to speed quickly. Further study is required.

• Lithium Niobate: Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is a compound of niobium, lithium, and oxygen. Its single crystals are an important material for optical waveguides, mobile phones, piezoelectric sensors, optical modulators and various other linear and non-linear optical applications. Because it is a crystal, the crystal lattice looks different depending on the orientation. We refer to these different cuts as x-cut, y-cut and z-cut. Lithium Niobate is piezoelectric, which means that the crystal lattice experiences a mechanical change in the presence of an electric field induced by voltage changes.

• Waveguide: A waveguide is a structure that guides waves, such as electromagnetic waves or sound, with minimal loss of energy by restricting expansion to one dimension or two. Without the physical constraint of a waveguide, waves are decreasing according to the inverse square law as they expand into three dimensional space. For our applications, we create waveguides through a proton exchange process (boiling in benzoic acid) that adjusts the index of refraction (number that is important for bending light) such that when entered at the proper angle, light is trapped in the waveguide and propagates down the device.

• Transducer: A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. For our applications, we create transducers through cleanroom processes on top of our lithium niobate crystals to change RF signals into acoustic waves that propagate through the device. These waves are known as Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs). Using SAWs to steer light is known as Acousto-optic (AO) modulation. This occurs as the mechanical waves act like a variable diffraction grating.

• Electro-optic (EO) modulation: steering light by changing its phase, similar to the phased array. This phase change is accomplished by adjusting a DC voltage connected to the device which creates a change in the index of refraction from mechanical stress due to the piezoelectric effect.

• Thermo-optic (TO) modulation: steering light by changing its phase, similar to the phased array. This phase change is accomplished by adjusting the power that goes through a thermo-resistor connected to the device which creates a change in the index of refraction from heat.

• Grating/Prism Coupling: In order to enter the waveguide, the light needs to enter the device at a certain angle and have a certain amount of momentum. This is accomplished through the use of prism coupling or an input coupling grating. Gratings can also be used for output coupling.

• Impedance matching: For our uses, impedance matching is a process that allows RF signals to have maximum power transfer. To check the impedance of a transducer, connect it to the network analyzer. A Smith Chart will pop up, which is a quick way to check the overall properties of your network. Certain areas of the Smith Chart can show you if your network is too capacitive or inductive, or if the load is “matched” or if there is an electrical short or open.

• General Cleanroom Terms: Photolithography is the most basic cleanroom process that includes the use of a photoresist, a chemical that is sensitive to certain types of light, some exposing element (we generally use the Heidelberg), and a developer to remove all exposed material. This process is generally used as a mask for metal depositions or chemical or plasma etchings. Deposition or evaporation is a process that allows you to place a layer of metal over your substrate. This metal can either be etched or lifted off through other processing.

Helpful Skills:

• Eagle PCB creation. See Eagle CAD Tips
• basic understanding of electronics
• basic understanding of digital circuits
• RF circuit design
• SolidWorks
• 3D Printing
• programming (Arduino, C++, OpenFrameworks, Linux)
• ECE and ME shop skills

Glossary of important terms:

• Parallax: One of the “pillars” of holography, parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight

• Occlusion: another pillar of holography, the ability for an object to come between the viewer and another object, causing the viewer to not be able to see the original object.

• Accommodation: another pillar of holography, the ability for the viewer to focus on something close and then adjust to depth in the image and focus on something farther away.

• Galvanometer: a voltage-controlled motor. We use these to adjust mirror locations on the optics deck.

Helpful Skills:

• Magic (particle trapping)
• Programming (Arduino, C++)
• Image rendering software
• solid understanding of optics (lasers, lenses, filters, mirrors, etc)
• LCOS

Glossary of important terms:

• Particle Trapping: magic that may or may not defy the laws of physics. Dust (black liquor) particles get trapped at the focal point of the laser beam. Position is then controlled by the focal point of the beam.
• Raster: the process of using one dot and moving it back and forth quickly to produce an image.

The holodeck team is working towards creating panels that will make up a fully immersive holographic environment that includes sight, sound and tactile stimulation.

Helpful Skills:

• General cleanroom skills
• Talk to Chris and he can get you up to speed.

The optogenetics team is working towards creating a novel brain probe utilizing holographic tools for steering light inside the brain with no moving parts.

Helpful Skills:

• General Cleanroom skills
• work well with Stephen

Interference Lithography is a process for creating extremely fine gratings.

Helpful Skills:

• Red cancer area on back optics table
• General Cleanroom skills

The AOEO team is working towards creating individual holographic pixels that can steer laser beams in phi and theta with no moving parts. These pixels can then be used in flat screen holographic displays.

Helpful Skills:

• Same as Holochip

The Near Eye Display is working towards a minimally invasive augmented reality environment using holography tools.

Helpful Skills:

• Monitor skills
• MicroFab (back optics table)

• Falstad.com
  • Wave Simulator - Illustrates diffraction, waveguides
  • Fourier Applet - Illustrates the Fourier Transformation
  • Filter Applet - Demos filters
  • Circuit Simulator - Lots of different circuit examples and prototyping

• Adjust Windows Visual Effects settings (found under Performance Options) for best performance. This will disable eye candy such as drop shadows under windows and icons, animating windows when minimizing and maximizing, and the like (8.5% savings).
• Set SOLIDWORKS options to optimal. This includes turning off settings such as transparency and turning down various quality settings. (9.1% savings).
• Turn off SOLIDWORKS add-Ins not being used. (10.8% savings).
• Reduce Top Level Mates and enable Solving Subassemblies as Rigid (15% improvement).
• Lowering Image Quality Settings and Disabling RealView Graphics, 28.4% improvement.
• Avoiding Network Storage and Turning Off Anti-Virus Scanning (26.8% improvement).
• Minimizing Level Of Detail on Downloaded Components (32.3% improvement).
• Using Lightweight and Large Assembly Mode Settings. (88.6% improvement)

Source: https://transmagic.com/optimizing-solidworks-performance/ Note: Hardware improvements are also incredibly helpful, but may not be feasible, and as such, are not listed here.