Collaborative Research: Tellurene mid-infrared integrated photonics

合作研究：碲烯中红外集成光子学

• 批准号: 2023987
• 负责人: Juejun Hu
• 金额: $ 31万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2023987&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Tellurene; mid; infrared; Collaborative; Research; Tellurene; mid; infrared

Lack of optical materials compatible with common semiconductor substrates presents a standing hurdle for integrated photonic device development in the mid-IR domain. This award supports a collaborative team to conduct fundamental research to advance knowledge for the integration of emerging optical nanomaterials with the mid-IR photonics platform. The research aims to enable the design, fabrication, and integration of mid-IR photonic components and circuits based on a new optical nanomaterial, namely two-dimensional (2-D) tellurene. Tellurene, atomically thin crystals of elemental tellurium, is an emerging 2-D material amenable to scalable synthesis and uniquely combines small and tunable bandgap energies, high carrier mobility, exceptionally large electro-optic activity, and superior chemical stability, which makes it a promising and versatile material platform for mid-IR photonics. The mid-IR spectral band (2-20 micro-meter) is of significant technological importance for thermal imaging, spectroscopic sensing, infrared countermeasures, and free-space communications. The proposed tellurene-based device platform, once demonstrated, will have a transformative impact on mid-IR integrated photonics. The envisioned detector and modulator devices both are predicted to have performances far exceeding the state-of-the-art. This research involves several disciplines, including materials science, electrical engineering, photonics, device physics, manufacturing, and chemistry. The multi-disciplinary research combined with the proposed outreach activities will provide valuable opportunities for exposing the students to cutting-edge nanotechnology and optical sciences to inspire their interest in STEM career paths.2-D materials have emerged as a promising material group for photonic integration, given their singular optical properties not found in conventional bulk and thin-film materials. However, some scientific and technical barriers are yet to be overcome to realize the full application potential of 2-D materials for mid-IR integrated photonics. This research is to fill the knowledge gap on the integration of solution-synthesized tellurene with the mid-IR photonics platform. The objectives are (1) to demonstrate high-performance waveguide integrated room-temperature mid-IR photodetectors and ultrafast electro-optic modulators based on tellurene, and (2) to explore the unique advantage and capability of solution-synthesized tellurene as a novel optical material for integrated mid-IR photonic devices. The research team will innovate a processing scheme that directly fabricates waveguide structures on tellurene using compositionally-engineered chalcogenide glass as both the light guiding medium and an infrared-transparent gate dielectric. This monolithic approach capitalizes on the broadband mid-IR transparency and near-room-temperature processing of chalcogenide glass to not only simplify the integration process but also allow the photonic circuit to be specifically optimized and precisely aligned to tellurene crystals with lithographic accuracy. The team will also develop a physics-based framework to design and guide the material synthesis, device fabrication, and system integration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

缺乏与公共半导体基板兼容的光学材料为中IR域中的集成光子设备开发带来了一个障碍。该奖项支持一个协作团队进行基础研究，以促进知识，以将新兴的光学纳米材料与MID-IR Photonics平台整合在一起。该研究旨在基于新的光学纳米材料（即二维（2-D）tellurene），使MID-IR光子组件和电路的设计，制造和整合。牙花碱是元素柜原子上的薄晶体，是一种新兴的二维材料，可与可伸缩的合成，并唯一结合了小型且可调的带隙能，高载体迁移率，高较大的电用量活性和出色的化学稳定性，这使其成为Mid-Mid-IR光子量的有希望的和多功能的材料平台。 IR中IR光谱带（2-20微米）对于热成像，光谱传感，红外对策和自由空间通信具有重要的技术重要性。拟议的基于Tellurene的设备平台曾经证明，它将对MID-IR集成光子学产生变革性的影响。预测的探测器和调节器设备都被预测具有远远超过最新的性能。这项研究涉及多个学科，包括材料科学，电气工程，光子学，设备物理，制造和化学。多学科研究与拟议的外展活动相结合，将为将学生暴露于尖端的纳米技术和光学科学中，以激发他们对STEM职业道路的兴趣。2-D材料已成为光子整合的有前途的材料组，鉴于其在传统的Bulk和Thin-Fillm材料中未发现的单一光学特性。但是，尚未克服一些科学和技术障碍，以实现2-D材料对中红外综合光子学的全部应用潜力。这项研究是为了填补有关溶液合成的Tellurene与MID-IR光子平台的整合的知识差距。这些目标是（1）证明基于Tellurene的高性能波导集成的室温中IR光电探测器和超快的电气调节器，以及（2）探索溶液合成的Tellureene作为集成中IIR光子光子设备的新型光学材料的独特优势和能力。研究团队将创新一种处理方案，该方案将使用构图设计的硫元化物玻璃直接在Tellurene上形成波导结构，既可以作为轻型引导介质和红外透明的栅极介电介质。这种整体方法利用了宽带MID-IR透明度和近室温度的葡萄干剂玻璃处理，不仅简化了整合过程，而且还允许光子电路进行特定优化，并精确地对齐具有光刻精确度的尿液晶体。该团队还将开发一个基于物理的框架，以设计和指导材料综合，设备制造和系统集成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响评估标准，认为值得通过评估来获得支持。