CAREER: Avalanche-Free Single Photon Detectors Based on Type-II Heterojunctions and Nano-Switches

Mohseni0547227紧凑型固态单光子探测器被认为是生物光子学、断层扫描、国土安全、非破坏性材料检测、天文学和量子密钥分配等广泛应用中的支持组件。尽管近年来这些领域取得了惊人的进展，但单光子探测器的性能却几乎没有什么进展，因此探测器正迅速成为这些领域的瓶颈。当前单光子探测器的一些重要缺点是：量子效率差、暗计数率高、缺乏成像阵列、对较长波长的严格冷却要求以及带宽低。智力优势：这个职业计划的目标是开发一种新型的无雪崩单光子探测器，可以解决上述大部分问题。将开发一种新的器件建模方法，该方法能够无缝地对该器件的微米和纳米组件进行建模。该模型将用于优化器件的外延结构以及器件的几何形状。将对优化的设备进行评估，测量结果将用于在项目期间的几个周期内对模型进行微调。更广泛的影响：实现可见光范围以外的高性能单光子探测器对生活质量有着重大影响，这体现在其广泛的医疗、工业、安全和科学应用上。 此外，我们将把一些研究成果纳入固态课程和红外探测器的高级课程。将开发的模拟软件为学生设计具有纳米尺寸区域的探测器提供了一个独特的途径，并在这些课程中看到它们的性能。将鼓励来自代表性不足和少数群体的本科生和研究生参加这项研究。在这方面，我们计划利用研究生教育联盟和西北大学的教授课程。

Mohseni0547227Compact solid-state single photon detectors are regarded as enabling components in a wide range of applications such as biophotonics, tomography, homeland security, non-destructive material inspection, astronomy, and quantum key distribution. Despite the astonishing progress of these fields in recent years, there has been little progress in the performance of single photon detectors, and hence the detector is quickly becoming the bottleneck in these fields. Some of the important shortcomings of the current single photon detectors are: poor quantum efficiency, high dark count rates, lack of imaging arrays, severe cooling requirement for longer wavelengths, and low bandwidth. Intellectual Merit:The goal of this CAREER program is to develop a novel avalanche-free single photon detector that can address most of the above problems. A new device modeling approach will be developed that is capable of modeling the micro and nano-components of this device seamlessly. The modeling will be used to optimize the epitaxial structure of the device, as well as the device geometry. Optimized devices will be evaluated, and the measurement results will be used to fine-tune the model over several cycles during the program. Broader Impact:Realization of a high-performance single photon detector beyond visible range has a significant impact in the quality of life, manifested by its wide medical, industrial, security, and scientific applications. Also, we will incorporate some of the results of this research in the solid-state courses and advanced courses on infrared detectors. The simulation software that will be developed provides a unique avenue for the students to design detectors with nanometer size regions and see their performance during these courses. Undergraduate and graduate students from under-represented and minority groups will be encouraged to take part in this research. We plan to take advantage of Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professorate program at Northwestern University in this regard.