General theory of photon detection based on quantum scattering systems

Abstract

The major goals of this project are to reveal the fundamental limits and trade-offs of photon detection by exploring (a) fundamental limit of quantum measurements on the physics level; and (b) fundamental limits of quantum light-matter interactions on the general detection level. The project will further apply these fundamental models to semiconductor quantum detectors in the following aspects: (1) Oscillation strength of quantum mechanical transitions; (2) Subwavelength photon management and its coupling to quantum systems. Here photon management refers to light trapping/subwavelength focusing for free-space detectors, and optical coupling/cavity design for guided-wave detectors. (3) Quantum mechanical and thermodynamic limits of optical-to-electrical signal conversion. (4) Max rate in relation to quantum transport and charge redistribution (e.g. due to change inwave functionn upon optical excitation); and (5) Dark counts in relation to carrier generation/recombination in quantum systems. Based on these fundamental studies, the project will definitively address the fundamental limits by providing a universal design chart of the trade-space based on first principles and a proof-of-concept design of semiconductor quantum detectors towards the specified key metrics in this solicitation...

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Feb 14, 2019
Source ID
W911NF1810064

Entities

People

  • Zongfu Yu

Organizations

  • Army Contracting Command
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing
  • Space