CAREER: Terahertz Electronics based on Nitride Nanowire Transistors

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The objective of this research is to push the limits of electronics to THz frequencies and to increase society?s awareness to the new possibilities offered by the combination of electronics and nanotechnology. The approach is based on demonstrating the superior performance of nitride nanowire transistors and on identifying the best methods for circuit-level integration of these new devices. This research will enable the basic building blocks required for the development of ultra-broadband wireless communication, advanced imaging and radar, electronic THz spectroscopy and THz digital computation.The intellectual merit of the proposed program lies in maximally leveraging the flexibility and unique properties of nitride semiconductors, with advanced processing technologies and high frequency analysis and modeling. Through this interdisciplinary approach, which combines electrical engineering, materials science and semiconductor physics, this project will demonstrate new breakthroughs that will push the limits of high frequency electronic performance beyond the THz barrier. The broader impact of this work is to increase society's awareness of some of the most exciting new challenges in electrical engineering. This effort will be highly integrated with the proposed research through numerous outreach activities, including student education (with special emphasis on underrepresented students), development of teaching modules for K-12 education in collaboration with high school teachers, dissemination of research results through the internet and virtual labs, and collaboration with the electronics industry to transfer the proposed research to commercial applications.