Semiconductor-based hybrid structures for ultraviolet micro-devices

我们的目标是将无机半导体材料科学的新兴元素与聚合物物理和化学的新领域相结合，为光谱的UV/紫外区开发一系列新的“混合”光学结构和光源。这一及时而雄心勃勃的计划建立在我们在光学物理、微制造和半导体材料科学方面的核心专业知识基础上，并形成并指导与相关学科的英国和海外领先团队的合作。这些包括深紫外光半导体、新型结构聚合物、有机发光器件、生物材料、数字光学化学和量子点光谱。目前提议的光谱区域覆盖从紫光到蓝光的大约一半的波长，对于光与物质的相互作用具有特殊的意义。许多原子和分子的跃迁都在这个范围内，最重要的是，许多类型的有机(含碳)材料的自然吸收也是如此。事实上，我们可以广义地解释有机材料的概念，既包括生物材料，也包括非生物材料。前者的例子是聚合物、树脂和光致抗蚀剂；后者的例子是DNA和蛋白质序列、细胞和组织。出于这些原因，紫外线/紫外光波长对当前科学技术前沿的广泛学科具有核心重要性，包括材料的微纳图案化、生物和化学传感、光学成像和显微镜以及选择性的光-物质相互作用。该方案涉及的主题涉及广泛的领域，包括上述领域：我们将开发工作在深紫外光中的微像素化发光二极管，采用我们在蓝/绿光中提出的较短波长的方法，并利用AlGaN发光材料最近的显着发展。与我们的合作者一起，我们将开发和加工新型聚合物材料，以制造定制的光致抗蚀剂和结构聚合物，用于上述和其他光源。这将提供一系列用于封装、微光学、无掩模和自对准光刻等领域的新型光学聚合物。我们将与其他合作者一起开发与我们的设备集成的混合发光聚合物结构，并研究它们之间能量转移的新形式。此外，我们将继续我们在位置控制的GaN/InGaN量子点方面的开创性工作，并寻求将这些量子点的光发射耦合到高精细的光学微腔中。我们将通过对其他紫外线兼容材料的补充研究来支持上述研究，包括氧化锌和钻石，该团队已经在这些材料上拥有专业知识和合作。微结构LED和点/微腔器件将被用于研究光与生物材料的选择性相互作用。一方面，将使用包括紫外线透明聚合物、蓝宝石和钻石在内的各种衬底，进行定制生物传感器微阵列的数字光学化学合成。另一方面，我们将研究量子点/微腔发射与蛋白质和氨基酸的耦合作用。

We aim to unite emerging elements of inorganic semiconductor materials science with novel areas of polymer physics and chemistry, to develop a new range of 'hybrid' optical structures and sources for the UV/violet region of the spectrum. This timely and ambitious programme builds upon our core expertise in optical physics, microfabrication and semiconductor materials science, and shapes and directs collaborations with leading teams - both in the UK and abroad - in associated disciplines. These include deep ultraviolet semiconductors, novel structural polymers, organic light-emitting devices, biomaterials, digital optical chemistry and quantum dot spectroscopy.The spectral region of interest in the current proposal, covering wavelengths from violet to around half that of blue light, is one of special significance for the interaction of light with matter. Many atomic and molecular transitions lie in this range, and, most importantly, so do the natural absorptions of many types of organic (carbon-containing) materials. Indeed, we can interpret the notion of organic materials broadly, to encompass both living and non-living materials. Examples of the former are polymers, resins and photoresists; examples of the latter are DNA and protein sequences, cells and tissues. For these reasons, UV/violet wavelengths are of central importance to a wide range of disciplines at the forefront of current science and technology, including micro- and nano-patterning of materials, bio- and chemical sensing, optical imaging and microscopy, and selective light-matter interactions. The topics to be addressed in the programme engage a wide range of areas including those above: We will develop micro-pixellated light-emitting diodes operating into the deep ultraviolet, taking to shorter wavelengths the approaches we have poineered in the blue/green and taking advantage of the remarkable recent developments in AlGaN light-emitting materials. In conjunction with our collaborators, we will develop and process novel polymeric materials to make custom photoresists and structural polymers for use with the above and other optical sources. This will provide a range of new optical polymers for use in areas such as encapsulation, micro-optics, mask-free and self-aligned photolithography. We will develop, with other collaborators, hybrid light-emitting polymer structures integrated with our devices and investigate novel forms of energy transfer between them. Furthermore, we will continue and our groundbreaking work on site-controlled GaN/InGaN quantum dots and seek to couple the light-emission from these to high-finesse optical microcavities. We will support the above by complementary investigations into other UV-compatible materials including ZnO and diamond where the team already has expertise and collaborations.Both the microstructured LED and dot/microcavity devices will be used to study the selective interaction of light with biomaterials. On the one hand, 'digital optical chemistry' synthesis of custom biosensor micro-arrays will be undertaken, using a variety of substrates including UV-transparent polymers, sapphire and diamond. On the other, coupling of quantum dots/microcavity emission to such as proteins and amino acids will be investigated.