CAREER: Silicon-Based Electronic Arrays for Coherent Generation and Detection of Picosecond Pulses

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The PI will build a research program to develop novel integrated circuits and antennas that can generate high-power pulses with frequencies up to one terahertz (THz), several hundred times higher than the frequency of today's cellular networks. By exploiting the advantages of THz radiation, the proposed research program can transform wireless communications, imaging, and spectroscopic systems. THz communications systems will offer greater bandwidth and will also track mobile receivers with better fault tolerance than competing technologies with similar range and bandwidth, such as free space optical communication. THz imaging systems can not only bolster homeland's security by accurate detection of hidden objects and explosives, but also can prevent tens of thousands of lives lost in car accidents every year by increasing the accuracy of collision avoidance automotive radars. THz spectroscopy systems can identify the species of gas molecules with high specificity and detect trace quantities of those molecules with high sensitivity. The PI's long-term educational goal is to inspire students at all levels to pursue careers in STEM disciplines. Working with the Rice University Office of STEM Engagement to provide research experience and internship opportunities for high-school teachers from Houston Independent School District, the PI will assist teachers with the development of their physics curriculum. The PI will work with the Rice Center for Excellence & Equity to engage underrepresented minority students in research and to provide summer internship opportunities for them. The objective of the proposed research program is to develop novel integrated circuits and antennas that can generate, radiate, detect, and steer coherent high-power pulses with frequencies up to 1THz. With today's silicon processes, it is possible to build a complex integrated circuit with on-chip antennas operating in frequencies up to 500GHz. However, most of the existing solutions are narrow-band and based on continuous-wave signal generation. To push the performance limits of high-speed wireless communications, three-dimensional radar imaging, and THz spectroscopy, broadband sources and detectors are required. The basic research carried out under this program is expected to advance the state-of-the-art in broadband time-domain signal generation and detection. The PI will demonstrate the intellectual merit of the proposed program through the following contributions: (1) demonstrating picosecond impulse radiating arrays, (2) demonstrating picosecond impulse sampling arrays, (3) developing accurate and reliable measurement systems to characterize picosecond sources and detectors, (4) producing high-resolution three-dimensional radar imagesThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.