Tracks: 2018 MSTC Full Conference, Emerging Technologies, MedTech, Sensors & Sensor Networks
MSTC 2018 Session 6: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Wednesday February 14, 2018 ~ 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Dr. Miller co-founded Terahertz Device Corporation in 2000 and has served full-time since 2011. Previously, Dr. Miller’s research and teaching in engineering and physics centered on semiconductor device design, fabrication, and applications, with contributions in quantum nanostructures for optical and electrical devices, vacuum electronics, and terahertz technologies.
This technology breakthrough is bringing quantum heterostructure technology to Mid-IR sensing LEDs. The QuiC SLED light emitting diode and its photodiode counterpart, the PDQ, use InAs-GaSb p-i-n superlattices for emission and detection, cascaded with tunnel junctions. Variable-period superlattices form the carrier injectors and separate-confinement heterostructures. The superlattices mitigate Auger recombination losses; weakly-coupled dielectric buttes enhance light extraction, and composite metal-mesh electrodes aid current spreading. The first example of the platform, emitting at 4.25 µm and aligned with carbon dioxide absorption in the MWIR band, is rated at 2 mW in pulse mode at room temperature. Emitting superlattices can cover approximately 3 µm to 12 µm wavelengths. Prominent sensing applications for this class of devices rely on short-pulse, low-duty cycle measurements to reduce system power requirements for long battery life. An important target is for the LEDs typically to consume less than a few microjoules per measurement pulse. Within this context, the optimal QuiC SLED-PDQ properties are defined by the needs of the product stack, which starts with these mid-IR devices and extends though the analog front end chips and signal processing chips, to the application algorithms and user interface.