NIRT: Photonic Crystal Laser Technology Based on Nanostructured Active Material

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This proposal was submitted in response to the solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering" (NSF 00-119). The goal of this project is to develop laser and optoelectronic device technologies that achieve photon and electron confinement to generate 0-dimensional states, based on advances in nanolithography and dry etching to fabricate nanocrystals containing self-organized quantum dots. A decrease of a semiconductor laser's volume to its minimum size, while maintaining high Q, along with a decrease in the electronic confinement potential, may result in revolutionary advances in device operation. These include high-speed operation below and at threshold, and high efficiency in the spontaneous regime below threshold. In the ultimate limits of small active volume and sufficiently high Q the system can enter the quantum reversible regime necessary to create quantum-entangled states. Both these quantum limits of the photons and electron-hole pairs are possible using III-V nanostructured active material and nanostructured photonic crystals. The materials to be employed in these studies will be GaAs/AlGaAs/InGaAs strained layer heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy, which will be fabricated into photonic crystal lasers and microcavities. The III-V heterostructures will be grown at the University of Texas/Austin Microelectronics Research Center, and photonic crystal fabrication will take place at the California Institute of Technology(CIT) and at UT-Austin. The III-V nanostructures will be optimized for high-speed operation based on studies to be carried out at CIT. Manufacturable processes for the nanolithography will be developed at UT-Austin. Graduate research assistants working towards Ph.D. degrees represent a major component of this research. The expected impact of the research is the development of a new technology for low power, high speed optoelectronic interconnects suitable for wavelength division multiplexing and low power transceivers for optical interconnects, and new devices useful for exchange of quantum information. %%% The project addresses basic materials science and engineering research issues in a topical area of materials science with high technological relevance. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area. The project will develop strong technical, communication, and organizational/management skills in students through unique educational experiences made possible by a collaborative forefront research environment. The project is co-supported by the DMR/EM, ECS/PFET, and EEC Divisions.***