CAREER: Semiconductor Detectors for Direct Probing of the Absolute Phase of Light

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Objective: The objective of this program is to develop a technology that allows direct measurement of the carrier-envelope phase of ultrafast pulses using semiconductor devices.Intellectual Merit: First, the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of ultrafast pulses is considered an absolute phase of light as its definition is independent of a second light wave. Finding a low-cost approach to measure CEP would allow this fundamental parameter become widely accessible, hence opening up a new dimension in optical information processing, optical sensing and precision metrology. Second, CEP control is an enabling technology for the emerging atto-science and zepto-science. Accessing such short time scales requires the use of intense few-cycle infrared pulses with precisely tailored field patterns. Such a feat cannot be accomplished without a reliable method to probe the CEP. Current CEP-detection techniques, however, are prohibitively complex and expensive. The proposed research exploits the excellent coherence features offered by semiconductor nanoparticles and aims to develop a semiconductor-based CEP-probing scheme with possible electronic readout, which may eventually open up the access to the atto-second world for most of the researchers around the world.Broader Impacts: The broader impacts are: (1) creating a new research thrust of ultrafast dynamics in semiconductors at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, (2) strengthening the integration of research and education by supporting extracurricular student optics club activities, and (3) building an optics education hub in the northern Alabama region through close collaboration with local optics/photonics professional societies and through a wide range of outreach activities.