EAGER: Exploring Antenna-Enhanced Nano IR-Sensors

该项目的目标是探索纳米金属结构与光子晶体的集成，以开发高效的光子天线，显著提高基于纳米碳材料的红外探测器的填充因子。研究表明，与现有的红外探测器相比，基于纳米碳材料的红外探测器具有许多优异的性能，如不需要低温制冷、光谱探测和高信噪比。然而，这种探测器应用的主要瓶颈是由于纳米碳材料的尺寸而导致的低填充因子。该计划的潜在成果将是纳米碳材料红外探测器应用的关键一步。他们还将通过发现有关纳米光子天线和纳米红外探测器设计的新知识，以及为纳米光子设备开发新的纳米制造工艺，来实现变革。智能的优点是通过使用光子天线来提高量子效率和填充因子，从而促进基于纳米碳材料的光伏的最新发展。这些变革性的贡献将在电磁场拓扑和表面等离子体的理论理解、纳米光子器件的优化设计和高效纳米制造方面做出贡献。更广泛的影响不仅涉及纳米光子学和纳米制造，还将涉及更广泛的领域，包括：开创纳米技术和电磁学的多学科研究和发展新方向；为工程、生物等科学领域的研发提供新的认识和设备；开发用于国家安全、医疗诊断和工业检测的新型红外相机。

The objective of the program is to explore the integration of nano metallic structures with photonic crystal for developing high efficient photonic antennas to significantly improve the fill factor of nanocarbon material based infrared detectors. It has been demonstrated that the nanocarbon material based infrared detectors have many superb performance comparing to currently available infrared detectors such as no need for cryogenic cooling, spectrum detection, and high signal to noise ratio. However the major bottle neck for applying such detectors is their low fill factors due to the dimensions of nanocarbon material. The potential results of this program will be a key step forward for the applications of nanocarbon material based infrared detectors. They will be also transformative by discovering new knowledge on the design of nanophotonic antenna and nanoinfrared detectors, and developing new nanomanufacturing processes for nanophotonic devices. The intellectual merit is to advance the state-of-art of nanocarbon material based photovoltaics by using a photonic antenna to increase quantum efficiency and fill factors. The transformative contributions will be made in theoretical understanding of electromagnetic field topology and surface plasmonics, optimal design of nanophotonic devices, and efficient nanomanufacturing.The broader impacts are not only on nanophotonics and nanomanufacturing, but also on broader areas including: creating new multidisciplinary research and development directions in nanotechnology and electromagnetics; providing new understanding and devices for research and development in engineering, biology and other science fields; and leading to the development of new infrared cameras for applications in national security, medical diagnostics, and industrial inspections.