An on-chip spectropolarimeter is proposed based on gallium nitride polarization and spectral encoders. Polarization encoding is achieved via local strain engineering and valence-band mixing induced by asymmetric strain relaxation. Broadband polarization-sensitive photodetectors can replace linear polarizers to enable chip-scale implementation of a spectropolarimeter with the help of computational reconstructive algorithms.
The measurement of low-magnitude shear forces is essential for material characterization and in-hand object pose estimation for robotic applications. Previous work had demonstrated the ability to directly measure force using an optical GaN nanopillar sensor when combined with Multiphysics simulations. To investigate the accuracy of Multiphysics simulations, we use a commercially available six-axis force/torque sensor as our stress applicator with a polymer stamp mounted on the force sensing element. By investigating the accuracy of the Multiphysics simulations, we generated a mapping between applied shear force and our nanopillar tactile sensor response. We can use this mapping for robotic gripping applications.
Applications of gallium nitride LEDs beyond general illumination will be discussed including microdisplays, tactile sensors for robotics, on-chip ultralow profile spectrometer, single photon sources, and spin qubit gates.
An optics-free spectrometer is demonstrated based on InGaN semiconductor photodiodes. The design is insensitive to the incident angle of light and delivers decent light absorption across the visible spectrum. In combination with compressive sensing algorithms, a high-performance spectrometer suitable for portable applications as well as sensing in harsh environments is shown.
A novel force sensor capable of determining both the direction and magnitude of the force is proposed and demonstrated. The sensor structure is based on two orthogonally oriented arrays of GaN (Gallium Nitride) elliptical nanopillars and a digital CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. The pixelated array also enables twodimensional force mapping. The directional sensitivity originates from the breaking of the nanopillar symmetry and the orthogonal orientation of the arrays. Each array is more sensitive to stress along the long axis of the nanopillars as opposed to the short axis of the nanopillars. Shear stress on the nanopillars causes a decrease in the overlap of the electron and hole wavefunctions which is proportional to the intensity of the light emitted from the nanopillars. Only a common bias, either optical or electrical, is needed across the entire device, making two-dimensional mapping simple and easily completed using a common digital CMOS camera. No stringent uniformity requirement across the sensor array is necessary. The data from an unstressed array is compared to the data from the same array under stress so that the relative change of emission intensity can be determined. With a combination two arrays, we showed that the direction and magnitude of the force can be determined by comparing the emission intensity change between two orthogonal arrays.
Semitransparent photovoltaics are of interest for building integration and window coatings, though demonstrate an intrinsic tradeoff between transparency and absorption / efficiency. We propose alleviating this tradeoff using light management nanostructures which selectively scatter light based on incident wavelength and angle, allowing transmission of normally incident light for window visibility and absorption of light at elevated angles. Two structures of interest are proposed and described: metal nanorods which scatter light via their localized surface plasmon resonance properties, and arrays of subwavelength nanopores in a dielectric which demonstrate coherent multiple scattering. Both structures can potentially be patterned over large areas by electrochemical oxidation of aluminum into self assembled nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) films.
A flexible large area lighting devices have been demonstrated by PDMS films. The (polydimethylsiloxane) PDMS films doped with organic/inorganic materials. The PDMS film is favorable due to its heat stability, good transparency, and flexibility. This study aimed to combine both organic and inorganic materials for flexible large area lighting applications. The architecture consists of blue LEDs coupled to a leaky waveguide that is covered with the PDMS film. The white light was generated with the poly (9, 9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole)F8BT blended into the PDMS slurry. Organic wavelength conversion materials were chosen owing to their ability to decompose in nature. The more conventional inorganic phosphors such as YAG are difficult to decompose and may present environmental issues which can bring concerns in many lighting applications. These flexible PDMS films had thicknesses of 100μm, 440μm, and 980μm. The resulting white light devices had color temperatures of 8944K, 4863K, and 4429K, respectively. In this study, we have also compared the performance of the organic versus conventional YAG phosphor embedded films.
We investigate the optical scattering properties of self-assembled nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) films, and propose integrating AAO as a backscattering layer for light management in thin film photovoltaics. Angle selective scattering and direction of light to extreme, near-horizontal angles can enable new functionality for semitransparent PV window coatings, allowing improved absorption of direct sunlight without sacrificing transparency in the normal direction. Scattering to extreme angles can also be exploited to aid light trapping in thin epitaxial semiconductor absorbers, without texturing.
Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) semiconductor quantum dots are an attractive candidate for scalable room temperature quantum photonics applications owing to their large exciton binding energy and large oscillation strength. Previously, we reported single photon emission from site-controlled InGaN quantum dot structures. However, large homogeneous linewidth and significant non-radiative recombination were thought to be linked to the nearby surface charge centers. These charge centers can lead to spectral diffusion and excessive non-radiative recombinations at high temperature. In this work, ammonium sulfide passivation was investigated. Nitrogen vacancies were successfully passivated by ammonium sulfide ((NH4)2Sx) treatment, and the emission linewidth of a single quantum dot was reduced by 5 meV. Furthermore, the linewidth broadening with an increasing temperature was suppressed in the temperature range from 9 K to 95 K in this study. Satellite emission peak believed to be associated with the nitrogen vacancy was observed for un-passivated quantum dots. The satellite peak was 55 ~ 80 meV away from the main InGaN emission peak and was eliminated after sulfide passivation.
We proposed a compact variable all-optical buffer using slow-light in semiconductor nanostructures. We discuss the general design principle via dispersion engineering. The buffering effect is achieved by slowing down the optical signal using an external control light source to vary the dispersion characteristic of the medium via electromagnetically induced transparency effect. We demonstrate that the semiconductor quantum dot structures can be used as a slow-light medium. In such structure, the total buffering time is variable and controlled by an external pump laser. We present a theoretical investigation of the criteria for achieving slow light in semiconductor quantum dots. New pump scheme is proposed to overcome the sample nonuniformity. Finally, optical signal propagation through the semiconductor optical buffer is presented to demonstrate the feasibility for practical applications.
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