Our team designs uncooled infrared (IR, 1-14 micron) detectors and single sensor (signal/pixel-level fusion) architectures that transduce both IR and radiofrequency (RF, 100 MHz-40 GHz) spectra. This work pushes the sensor state-of-the-art by growing materials, fabricating non-traditional detector architectures, and by performing initial proof-of-concept sensor measurements. For example, we reactively sputtered highly oriented aluminum nitride, incorporated it into a plasmonic perfect absorber, and tested the detector response out to 10 microns. All of our materials (AlN, PZT, sputtered InSb, films similar to black gold) and fabrication concepts are readily and demonstrably scalable to at least a 2 inch wafer and have included wide area nanoparticle self-assembly, reactive sputtering, photolithographically defined surface features, multilayer films, and electrically tunable optical filter components. Conjugated polymer-based detector concepts such as polyaniline and polythiophene have been also explored and are encouraged. Successful proposals will have access to a sputtering laboratory featuring one high temperature UHV system, a variable atmosphere/vacuum furnace, and two HV sputtering systems. Chemical synthesis facilities are not available, but we do have spin-coaters and a Class 100 cleanroom fully equipped for photolithography. A large array of characterization equipment is also available, including probe stations, ultrafast lasers, Hall effect systems, XRD, AFM, SEM, TEM, and FTIR.

References

Goldsmith et.al. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 34: 1965 (2017)                

Wang et. al. Polymers, 9: 29 (2017)

key words

infrared detectors; conjugated polymers; sputtering; thin films; radiofrequency; plasmonic; photolithography; infrared; focal plane arrays; detector

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants