Latest News
Prof. Scarborough Awarded FY25 AFOSR YIP
Professor Scarborough was recently awarded the prestigious AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award for his proposal entitled “Dispersive Nonlinear Transmission Line Synthesis for Airborne Radar Pulse Shaping.” The proposed research program will focus on analysis and synthesis methods for spatially-discrete frequency-dispersive nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) with reconfigurable radar performance metrics. The research leverages recent theoretical advances from Prof. Scarborough’s research group on the analysis of pulse modes to dramatically simplify NLTL design. Adapted optimization techniques used traditionally for electromagnetic wavefront control will tailor physical unit cell parameters to a desired radar ambiguity function. Pulse synthesis topologies integrated with the developed NLTLs will enable reconfigurable pulse characteristics. A simple tuning mechanism will allow the designed pulse synthesizers to switch between operational modes, adapting to a fluctuating environment, interference activity, dynamic target properties, and mission detectability constraints.
New Near Field Scanner
Near-field scanning is a great diagnostic tool for engineers working in the field of antennas, electromagnetic compatibility, signal integrity, wireless security, or other scenarios where radiation must be characterized. However purchasing a near-field scanner can be a tough pill to swallow as a small business owner or hobbyist (or new professor). In the Spring 24, I hired an excellent undergraduate student, Jacob Stewart, who found a way to build a near-field scanner using mature 3D printing and aluminum extrusion technology for under $2.5k! Our full design (including CAD files, a MATLAB GUI / post-processing script, PCB designs, Arduino Uno motor control code, and more!) can be found here at our first public GitHub repo.
The post processing code supports approximate single-pol probe compensation, time-gating, phase-center identification, and standard far-field calculation. Jacob has informed me that he welcomes feedback and comments so please feel free to reach out regarding what you might need to build a similar setup in your own lab space.
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Dr. Scarborough Awarded Outstanding Junior Faculty Member
Prof. Scarborough was awarded the outstanding Junior Faculty member at CU Boulder in the Department of Electrical Computer and Energy Engineering.
Optical Materials Express Cover Photo
Congrats to Joel Johnson (graduate student) for his journal publication in Optical Materials Express. The photo (to the left) used in the journal article was picked for the cover of this issue.
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Short Course:
EuCAP 2024
Prof. Scarborough will be teaching a short course on 03/22/24 entitled “Modeling and Design of Space-Time Modulated Electromagnetic Structures” at the 18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation. The course will be taught in conjunction with Prof. Anthony Grbic at the University of Michigan. In this short course, participants will learn modeling techniques and design considerations for STM devices including modulated metasurfaces, nonlinear transmission lines, and space-time periodic electrical networks. The course will provide a background on the fundamental capabilities and behavior of STM.
Best Paper: Metamaterials 2021
"Scarborough was recognized for his work developing a more efficient method to convert signals to higher frequencies, benefiting applications that require very low power and low noise."
Best Paper:
EuCAP 2021
"Scarborough was recognized by the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation for developing a superior method to model and simulate traveling-wave modulation along two dimensions in metamaterials."
Exceptional Student Contributions: Metamaterials 2020
"Scarborough was recognized for his work advancing the understanding and study of electromagnetic waves."