Photoluminescence characterization for developing new semiconductors for visible and infrared optoelectronics
Abstract
Optoelectronics are technologies that combine light and electronics. This is an important and evergrowing class of technologies that spans from cameras on phones to satellite-based quantum communication networks – in brief, research and development of optoelectronics is critical to national economic competitiveness and security. Optoelectronic technologies are based on semiconductors. Semiconductors are materials that respond strongly to illumination, and their response to illumination characterizes their quality and usefulness. Measuring and understanding the response of a semiconductor to illumination can guide and accelerate the development of new materials – including materials selection, and materials processing – that will enable future optoelectronics technologies. In the Jaramillo research group and elsewhere at MIT (including Lincoln Laboratory), there are numerous efforts underway to develop semiconductor materials for optoelectronics applications including reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits for telecommunications and low-power computing, chemical sensing, infrared imaging, quantum computing, and photovoltaics. Many new, promising research efforts are slowed or stopped entirely because only old, legacy equipment is available for materials characterization. There is in particular a lack of equipment for advanced photoluminescence characterization – that is, characterizing the light emitted by a semiconducting material subsequent to being illuminated by an external source. Photoluminescence characterization provides access to a wealth of information about the band gap, performance-limiting defects, excited state energy loss processes, and the speed and efficiency of electrical-to-optical and optical-toelectrical energy conversion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Source ID
- FA95502310157
Entities
People
- Rafael Jaramillo
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- United States Air Force