Frontiers In Undergraduate Research Poster Session

Matthew Demas

Abstract

The goal of this study is to effectively map the surface of a synthetic diamond wafer that is to be used in the beam line at the GlueX experiment at Jefferson National Laboratory. The topology of the diamond surface is ``hidden within an interferogram produced by a Michelson interferometer. While most interferograms feature interactions by only two surfaces, our pattern is the result of the superposition of three waves. As a result of this additional wavefront, conventional techniques could not be utilized. Instead a simulated annealing algorithm, which is a method used in general optimization problems, entitled ParSA was called upon. Currently, work is being done to ``tune the algorithm to best fit the problem at hand. Preliminary analyses on 50 pixel by 50 pixel test interferograms has provided promising results with solutions being reached within a 24 hour period. Future tests on larger intereferograms are being planned, with runs on the actual 400 pixel by 400 pixel interferogram as the final goal.