CAREER: Near-infrared Intersubband Transitions in Low-dimensional Semiconductor Structures: Material, Devices and Physics

作为一名大学教授，真正卓越的职业生涯需要在研究和教育方面都有承诺、创造力和卓越。在此提案中，提出了在加州大学圣克鲁斯分校实施电气工程研究和教育计划的计划。在提案的研究部分，提出了近红外波长范围内低维半导体量子结构的子带间跃迁的研究，作为一个具有推动材料科学，工程和物理学长期潜力的研究活动领域。随着光网络成为现实，人们寻求更高数据比特率的解决方案，子带间转换是目前现有技术的一个有吸引力的替代方案，可以将光通信的限制推向更高的带宽。增加带宽对于构建更快、成本更低的通信产品和系统至关重要。研究了锑基异质结构在近红外亚带间跃迁中的材料性质。这包括确定带偏移和光学非线性以及自组装量子点的生长。其次，设计和实现超快波长转换器和光电探测器等新器件。最后，可以探索新的物理。例如室温下量子点的非经典光发射和子带间跃迁中的电磁诱导透明（EIT）等量子干涉效应。该提案的教育方面是量身定制的，旨在从几个层面上改进加州大学圣克鲁斯分校的电气工程教育项目：在大学内部、当地社区以及全球科学界。为此，为每个社区提出了一些措施。在加州大学圣克鲁兹分校，重点在于通过开发新的课程和引入新的课堂教学理念，建立一个全新的部门的教育计划。涉及当地社区的活动特别强调与处于学校职业生涯关键时刻的学生的互动。例如，为高中高年级学生举办的开放日活动，以及在中学举行的讲座和示范活动，让更年轻的学生接触科学。最后，学生和学者之间的全球互动的最重要意义是通过提出一些项目来认识到，这些项目将制度化和促进关系，这将有利于所有参与者。这包括为交流项目和联合教育项目建立合作学校，例如与德国学术交流中心（DAAD）。

True excellence in a career as university professor requires commitment, creativity and excellence in both research and education. In this proposal, a plan for implementing a research and education program in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz is presented.In the research part of the proposal, the investigation of intersubband transitions in low-dimensional semiconductor quantum structures in the near-infrared wavelength range is put forward as an area of research activity with long-term potential for advancing materials science, engineering and physics. As optical networks become a reality and solutions for higher data bit rates are sought, intersubband transitions are an attractive alternative to currently existing technologies for pushing the limits of optical communications to higher bandwidths. Increasing the bandwidth is essential for building faster and less costly communication products and systems. The material properties of antimony-based heterostructures for near-infrared intersubband transitions will be studied. This includes determining band offsets and optical nonlinearities as well as the growth of self-assembled quantum dots. Secondly, new devices such as ultrafast wavelength converters and photodetectors will be designed and realized. Finally, new physics can be explored. Examples are nonclassical light emission from quantum dots at room temperature and quantum interference effects such as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in intersubband transitions.The educational aspects of this proposal are tailored to improve the educational programs in Electrical Engineering at the Universitt of California, Santa Cruz, on several levels: within the University -lf, the local community, as well as the global scientific community at large. To this end, a number of measures are proposed for each community. Within UC Santa Cruz, the emphasis lies on building up the educational program of a very new department by developing new classes for the curriculum and introducing new ideas for classroom instruction. Activities involving the local community have a special emphasis on interaction with students who are at critical points in their school careers. Examples are open houses for high school seniors and lectures and demonstrations at middle schools to expose students at a younger age to science. Finally, the paramount importance of global interaction between students and scholars is recognized by proposing a number of programs, which institutionalize and foster relations, that will be beneficial to all participants. This includes establishing partner schools for exchange programs and joint educational projects, for example with the German Academic Exchange Service(DAAD).