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结合起来，为光谱的紫外/紫罗兰区域开发一系列新的“混合”光学结构和光源。这个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之上，并与英国和国外的领先团队在相关学科中形成和指导合作。其中包括深紫外半导体、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学。当前提议中感兴趣的光谱区域，涵盖了从紫光到大约一半蓝光的波长，对于光与物质的相互作用具有特殊意义。许多原子和分子的跃迁都在这个范围内，最重要的是，许多有机（含碳）材料的自然吸收也在这个范围内。事实上，我们可以广泛地解释有机材料的概念，包括生物和非生物材料。前者的例子有聚合物、树脂和光抗胶剂；后者的例子是DNA和蛋白质序列、细胞和组织。由于这些原因，紫外线/紫色波长对当前科学技术前沿的广泛学科至关重要，包括材料的微纳米图案，生物和化学传感，光学成像和显微镜，以及选择性光-物质相互作用。该计划将讨论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的微像素发光二极管，采用我们在蓝色/绿色中提出的较短波长的方法，并利用AlGaN发光材料的显着最新发展。与我们的合作伙伴一起，我们将开发和加工新型聚合物材料，以制造用于上述和其他光源的定制光阻剂和结构聚合物。这将为封装、微光学、无掩膜和自对准光刻等领域提供一系列新的光学聚合物。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，我们将继续在现场控制GaN/InGaN量子点方面的开创性工作，并寻求将这些量子点的发光耦合到高精细光学微腔中。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ZnO和金刚石，该团队已经拥有专业知识和合作。微结构LED和点/微腔器件都将用于研究光与生物材料的选择性相互作用。一方面，定制生物传感器微阵列的“数字光学化学”合成将进行，使用各种衬底，包括紫外线透明聚合物，蓝宝石和钻石。另一方面，将研究量子点/微腔发射与蛋白质和氨基酸的耦合。

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.