Creating Chip-Scale Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy

中红外光谱是一种用于基于光与物质的相互作用来识别分子成分的技术。 当前的系统实现需要大的、笨重的和分立的光学和电子部件，固有地限制了灵敏度、功率效率、功能性、稳定性、再现性、紧凑性和规模经济。 该奖项支持通过实现完全集成在微米级光电集成电路上的完整中红外光谱传感器系统来克服这些基本限制的研究。 该研究汇集了光学物理，材料科学和电气工程的概念，允许基础科学和技术应用同步推进。 为具有社会重要应用的化学和生物传感创造了机会，包括医学传感，生物制剂防御，环境过程控制和大气化学。 除了特定的应用之外，光子学和电子学的融合广泛地影响了光网络、计算和传感行业。 研究的跨学科性质推动了综合教育计划的重点，该计划应对了学生在日益跨学科和全球环境中取得成功的挑战。 研究生，本科生，代表性不足的群体和少数民族从事的课程，促进综合研究思维，并将社会问题与科学和工程联系起来。 硅是微电子工业的既定材料选择，并且对于芯片上的集成电子和光学系统具有吸引力。 然而，硅中二阶极化率的缺乏是实现芯片级中红外光谱的主要障碍。 本研究的目的是通过将硅平台与具有二阶磁化率的铁电材料锂酸盐混合来克服这一障碍。 当利用硅提供光的亚微米空间限制的能力和锂离子酸盐介导强二阶非线性光学效应的能力时，新的视野变得明显。 研究团队将进行设计、建模、制造和测试，以首次创建芯片级中红外光谱。 的设计和建模方法是基于数值解的非线性耦合振幅方程的基础上麦克斯韦方程。 该芯片将使用纳米级制造技术物理实现。 将对菌种进行测量，以进行试验、测量和确认。 将结果与高分辨率透射分子吸收数据库进行比较。 这些概念提供了一种新的攻击方法，以实现完整的芯片级功能，在混合单片硅和锂离子电池的光子集成电路。

Mid-infrared spectroscopy is a technique that is used to identify molecular constituents based on the interactions of light with matter. Current system implementations require large, bulky, and discrete optical and electronic components, inherently limiting sensitivity, power efficiency, functionality, stability, reproducibility, compactness, and economies of scale. This award supports research to overcome these fundamental limits by realizing a complete mid-infrared spectroscopic sensor system fully integrated on an optoelectronic integrated circuit at the micrometer scale. The research brings together concepts from optical physics, material science, and electrical engineering allowing for both fundamental science and technological applications to be advanced in tandem. Opportunities are created for chemical and biological sensing with societally important applications including medical sensing, bio-agent defense, environmental process control, and atmospheric chemistry. In addition to specific applications, the convergence of photonics and electronics broadly impacts the optical networking, computing, and sensing industries. The cross-disciplinary nature of the research drives the focus of the integrated educational plan that responds to the challenge of preparing students to be successful in an increasingly interdisciplinary and global environment. Graduate students, undergraduate students, underrepresented groups, and minorities are engaged in a curriculum that fosters integrative research thinking and links societal issues to science and engineering. Silicon is the established material of choice for the microelectronics industry and is attractive for integrated electronic and optical systems on a chip. The lack of second order susceptibility in silicon is, however, a major obstacle to achieving chip-scale mid-infrared spectroscopy. The objective of this research is to overcome this barrier by hybridizing the silicon platform with lithium niobate, a ferroelectric material exhibiting second order susceptibility. New horizons become apparent when exploiting the capability of silicon to provide submicrometer spatial confinement of light and the ability of lithium niobate to mediate strong second order nonlinear optical effects. The research team will perform design, modeling, fabrication, and test to create chip-scale mid-infrared spectroscopy for the first time. The design and modeling approach is based on numerical solutions to nonlinear coupled amplitude equations based on Maxwell's equations. The chip will be physically realized using nanometer scale fabrication techniques. Species will be measured for the purpose of test, measurement, and validation. Results will be compared with the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption database. These concepts provide a new method of attack to achieve complete chip-scale functionalities in hybrid-monolithic silicon and lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits.