Coupling Optical Phonons to Free Space Photons: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

The far-IR presents an interesting challenge for the development of an optical and optoelectronic infrastructure, as the III-V semiconductors that enable such extraordinary access to other portions of the EM spectrum are not well-suited for the far-IR, due to significant optical loss. These losses arise from the coupling of EM radiation to both free-carriers and phonons. While free-carrier loss can be controlled to an extent by limiting free-carrier density (doping) in the design and growth of semiconductor devices/materials, loss due to phonons is intrinsic to semiconductors in this wavelength range, and cannot be controlled in a similar fashion.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 14, 2017
Accession Number
AD1066624

Entities

People

  • Daniel M. Wasserman

Organizations

  • University of Texas at Austin

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Charge Carriers
  • Crystal Lattice Vibrations
  • Electric Fields
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electronic Materials
  • Emission
  • Energy Bands
  • Engineering
  • Films
  • Materials
  • Optical Materials
  • Optical Phenomena
  • Optical Properties
  • Optics
  • Phonons
  • Photons
  • Polaritons
  • Radiation
  • Reflection
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Semiconductors
  • Spectra
  • Spectroscopy

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space