Thermoelectric-Plasmonic Hybrid Infrared Sensor for Uncooled Multispectral Application

适用于非制冷多光谱应用的热电-等离子体混合红外传感器

基本信息

批准号：
1709307
负责人：
Jung-Kun Lee
金额：
$ 42万
依托单位：
University of Pittsburgh
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-07-01 至 2022-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1709307&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Thermoelectric Plasmonic Hybrid Infrared Sensor

项目摘要

AbstractNontechnical: A photodetector is at the heart of modern sensing and imaging technology. A very well-known application of photodetectors is an imaging sensor of a digital camera. Compared with the well-established photo-detection methods of visible light, the sensing of near- and mid-infrared light with high sensitivity at room temperature is still challenging. An advanced infrared light photodetector requires cooling of the device below -100oC. Conversion of infrared light-heat-electric signal is a useful way to detect IR light. However, this approach (called as a thermoelectric effect) has several inherent problems which prevent a miniaturization of the device and limit an ability to resolve infrared light with different wavelengths. Also, existing thermoelectric materials exhibit a low efficiency in converting light energy to electric energy at room temperature. It is difficult to address weaknesses of current technology by improving only a single aspect of devices. In this project, multidisciplinary research will be performed for new materials design, theoretical performance evaluation and novel electric device fabrication. The photodetector from this project will efficiently collect infrared light of different wavelengths at room temperature. The nature of the multidisciplinary research will be beneficial in integrating the technical research with education and outreach. Basic science, technology and prototype product of the project will be used in "Nanotechnology" workshop for the Pittsburgh Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) and "Science Research" course for Pittsburgh local high school students. In addition, The PI and co-PIs will integrate outcomes of the project into undergraduate and graduate courses in materials science, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering programs at the University of Pittsburgh. Technical:The objective of this research is to develop a thermoelectric infrared sensor that has a multispectral resolution capability and operates without cryogenic cooling. This will be accomplished using hybrid structures of 2-dimensional materials, such as graphene and molybdenum sulfide, and plasmonic metal Nano-shells. The hypotheses underlying the proposed structure are as follows. First, unlike conventional bulk thermoelectric materials, graphene and molybdenum Nano sheets have an extremely large surface area to volume ratio. This feature can provide an opportunity to improve the Seebeck coefficient through modifying or doping the surface. Second, high and wavelength-dependent absorption of infrared light can be enabled by the surface plasmons of dielectric core - metal Nano-shell particles with tunable characteristic wavelengths. Third, a thin free-standing silicon nitride membrane with low heat capacity and low thermal conductivity can allow faster and larger increase of local temperature upon IR light absorption. This will improve dynamic response and the signal-to-noise ratio of an IR sensor. The low thermal conductivity of silicon nitride can be further reduced by increasing structural and mass disorder. The major intellectual merit of the proposed research lies in the fundamental understanding of the heat and charge transport properties at nanoscale. Through integrated research of simulation and experiment, the principal investigators will develop a model to predict how physical properties (e.g. Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity and heat capacity) of a free standing membrane affect important performance factors of the thermoelectric IR sensor, such as output signal, response time and signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, enhancement of selective light absorption by the metal Nano-shells and subsequent energy dissipation will show a novel way to resolve the wavelength of incident infrared light and create a temperature gradient through local heating.

摘要非技术：光电探测器是现代传感和成像技术的核心。光电探测器的一个众所周知的应用是数码相机的成像传感器。与成熟的可见光光电检测方法相比，室温下高灵敏度的近红外和中红外光传感仍然具有挑战性。先进的红外光光电探测器需要将设备冷却到 -100oC 以下。红外光-热-电信号的转换是检测红外光的有效方法。然而，这种方法（称为热电效应）具有几个固有的问题，这些问题阻碍了设备的小型化并限制了解析不同波长的红外光的能力。此外，现有的热电材料在室温下将光能转化为电能的效率较低。仅通过改进设备的单个方面很难解决当前技术的弱点。在该项目中，将针对新材料设计、理论性能评估和新型电子器件制造进行多学科研究。该项目的光电探测器将在室温下有效地收集不同波长的红外光。多学科研究的性质将有利于将技术研究与教育和推广相结合。该项目的基础科学、技术和原型产品将用于匹兹堡少年科学院（PJAS）的“纳米技术”研讨会和匹兹堡当地高中生的“科学研究”课程。此外，PI 和 co-PI 还将将该项目的成果整合到匹兹堡大学材料科学、机械工程和电气工程项目的本科生和研究生课程中。技术：本研究的目的是开发一种具有多光谱分辨率且无需低温冷却即可工作的热电红外传感器。这将通过使用二维材料（例如石墨烯和硫化钼）以及等离子体金属纳米壳的混合结构来实现。所提出的结构的假设如下。首先，与传统的块状热电材料不同，石墨烯和钼纳米片具有极大的表面积与体积比。此功能可以提供通过修改或掺杂表面来提高塞贝克系数的机会。其次，具有可调特征波长的介电核-金属纳米壳颗粒的表面等离子体可以实现对红外光的高且与波长相关的吸收。第三，具有低热容和低热导率的薄的独立式氮化硅膜可以在红外光吸收时允许更快和更大的局部温度升高。这将提高红外传感器的动态响应和信噪比。氮化硅的低热导率可以通过增加结构和质量无序性来进一步降低。该研究的主要智力价值在于对纳米尺度的热和电荷传输特性的基本理解。通过模拟和实验的综合研究，主要研究人员将开发一个模型来预测独立式膜的物理特性（例如塞贝克系数、导热率和热容）如何影响热电红外传感器的重要性能因素，例如输出信号、响应时间和信噪比。此外，金属纳米壳选择性光吸收的增强以及随后的能量耗散将展示一种解决入射红外光波长并通过局部加热产生温度梯度的新方法。