Publications

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A novel planar resonant tunneling transistor is demonstrated. The growth structure is similar to that of a double-barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD), except for a fully two-dimensional (2D) emitter formed by a quantum well. Current is fed laterally into the emitter, and the 2D--2D resonant tunneling current is controlled by a surface gate. This unique device structure achieves figures-of-merit, i.e. peak current densities and peak voltages, approaching that of state-of-the-art RTDs. Most importantly, sensitive control of the peak current and voltage is achieved by gating of the emitter quantum well subband energy. This quantum tunneling transistor shows exceptional promise for ultra-high speed and multifunctional operation at room temperature.

A four-channel surface acoustic wave (SAW) chemical sensor array with associated RF electronics is monolithically integrated onto one GaAs IC. The sensor operates at 690 MHz from an on-chip SAW based oscillator and provides simple DC voltage outputs by using integrated phase detectors. This sensor array represents a significant advance in microsensor technology offering miniaturization, increased chemical selectivity, simplified system assembly, improved sensitivity, and inherent temperature compensation.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors, which are sensitive to a variety of surface changes, have been widely used for chemical and physical sensing. The ability to control or compensate for the many surface forces has been instrumental in collecting valid data. In cases where it is not possible to neglect certain effects, such as frequency drift with temperature, methods such as the dual sensor technique have been utilized. This paper describes a novel use of a dual sensor technique, using two sensor materials, Quartz and GaAs, to separate out the contributions of mass and modulus of the frequency change during gas adsorption experiments. The large modulus change in the film calculated using this technique, and predicted by the Gassmann equation, provide a greater understanding of the challenges of SAW sensing.

Monolithic, integrated acoustic wave chemical microsensors are being developed on gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates. With this approach, arrays of microsensors and the high frequency electronic components needed to operate them reside on a single substrate, increasing the range of detectable analytes, reducing overall system size, minimizing systematic errors, and simplifying assembly and packaging. GaAs is employed because it is both piezoelectric, a property required to produce the acoustic wave devices, and a semiconductor with a mature microelectronics fabrication technology. Many aspects of integrated GaAs chemical sensors have been investigated, including: surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors; monolithic SAW delay line oscillators; GaAs application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for sensor operation; a hybrid sensor array utilizing these ASICS; and the fully monolithic, integrated SAW array. Details of the design, fabrication, and performance of these devices are discussed. In addition, the ability to produce heteroepitaxial layers of GaAs and aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) makes possible micromachined membrane sensors with improved sensitivity compared to conventional SAW sensors. Micromachining techniques for fabricating flexural plate wave (FPW) and thickness shear mode (TSM) microsensors on thin GaAs membranes are presented and GaAs FPW delay line and TSM resonator performance is described.

A portable, autonomous, hand-held chemical laboratory ({micro}ChemLab{trademark}) is being developed for trace detection (ppb) of chemical warfare (CW) agents and explosives in real-world environments containing high concentrations of interfering compounds. Microfabrication is utilized to provide miniature, low-power components that are characterized by rapid, sensitive and selective response. Sensitivity and selectivity are enhanced using two parallel analysis channels, each containing the sequential connection of a front-end sample collector/concentrator, a gas chromatographic (GC) separator, and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) detector. Component design and fabrication and system performance are described.

This LDRD project explored the fundamental physics of a new class of photonic materials, photonic bandgap structures (PBG), and examine its unique properties for the design and implementation of photonic devices on a nano-meter length scale for the control and confinement of light. The low loss, highly reflective and quantum interference nature of a PBG material makes it one of the most promising candidates for realizing an extremely high-Q resonant cavity, >10,000, for optoelectronic applications and for the exploration of novel photonic physics, such as photonic localization, tunneling and modification of spontaneous emission rate. Moreover, the photonic bandgap concept affords us with a new opportunity to design and tailor photonic properties in very much the same way we manipulate, or bandgap engineer, electronic properties through modern epitaxy.

This report summarizes work on the development of high-speed vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) for multi-gigabit per second optical data communications applications (LDRD case number 3506.010). The program resulted in VCSELs that operate with an electrical bandwidth of 20 GHz along with a simultaneous conversion efficiency (DC to light) of about 20%. To achieve the large electrical bandwidth, conventional VCSELs were appropriately modified to reduce electrical parasitics and adapted for microwave probing for high-speed operation.

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High-speed optoelectronic modulators are becoming increasingly important in microwave applications. These devices are necessarily electrically large and hence require velocity matching of the microwave signal to the light. A design methodology for velocity matched electrodes on doped semiconductor devices will be presented. As an example of a successful device design, experimental results on a >10 bandwidth high-efficiency (>15{degrees}/V/mm) Mach Zehnder interferometer will be presented.

This report summarizes work on the development of ultra-high-speed semiconductor optical and electronic devices. High-speed operation is achieved by velocity matching the input stimulus to the output signal along the device`s length. Electronic devices such as field-effect transistors (FET`s), should experience significant speed increases by velocity matching the electrical input and output signals along the device. Likewise, optical devices, which are typically large, can obtain significant bandwidths by velocity matching the light being generated, detected or modulated with the electrical signal on the device`s electrodes. The devices discussed in this report utilize truly distributed electrical design based on slow-wave propagation to achieve velocity matching.

An optical technique for high-power radio-frequency (RF) signal generation is described. The technique uses a unique photodetector based on a traveling-wave design driven by an appropriately modulated light source. The traveling-wave photodetector (TWPD) exhibits simultaneously a theoretical quantum efficiency approaching 100 % and a very large electrical bandwidth. Additionally, it is capable of dissipating the high-power levels required for the RF generation technique. The modulated light source is formed by either the beating together of two lasers or by the direct modulation of a light source. A system example is given which predicts RF power levels of 100`s of mW`s at millimeter wave frequencies with a theoretical ``wall-plug`` efficiency approaching 34%.

A high-performance high-speed optical phase modulator for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) use is described. Integration of these optical phase modulators into a real system (compass) is also discussed. The optical phase modulators are based on depletion-edge translation and have experimentally provided optical phase shifts in excess of 60{degrees}/V{center_dot}mm with approximately 4 dB/cm loss while simultaneously demonstrating bandwidths in excess of 10 GHz.

A novel optical based RF beam steering system is proposed for phased-array antenna systems. The system, COMPASS (Coherent Optical Monolithic Phased Array Steering System), is based on optical heterodyning employed to produce microwave phase shifting. At the heart of the system is a monolithic Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) constructed entirely of passive components. Microwave power and control signal distribution to the antenna is accomplished by optical fiber, thus separating the PIC and its control functions from the antenna. This approach promises to reduce size, weight, and complexity of future phased-array antenna systems.

A sol-gel method was use to prepare bulk, closed pore, amorphous alumina-silica. Films prepared from this 47wt% Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}- SiO{sub 2} composition were examined by SAW, elipsometry and electrical measurements. The films were found to have a surface area of 1.1 cm{sup 2}/cm{sup 2}, a refractive index of 1.44 at 633 nm, and a relative permittivity of 6.2 at 200 KHz. These properties indicate potential applications as hermetic seals, barrier coatings, dielectric layers for capacitors and passivation coatings for electronic circuits.