Research
Introduction
The goal of this work is to investigate how to maximally extract information from the photon field by combining the unique properties of different nanoscale materials, for optimal detection as well as pre-processing information as part of the sensing process, in order to sidestep the power-hungry electronic data transmission and computing bottleneck that would result from massive amounts of raw sensor data. Our approach is bio-inspired by human vision, where the retina contains processing neurons as well as sensory cells, and outputs pre-processed information to the visual cortex, not raw images, enabling our amazing vision within a tiny bandwidth and power budget, and with extreme sensitivity approaching or achieving in some cases single photon detection at room temperature.
What is a nanoscale hybrid?
A nanoscale hybrid consists of multiple individual, low-dimensionality nanostructures, such as nanotubes, nanowires, and quantum dots, where each one is responsible for a different process in optoelectronic detection (absorption, transduction, amplification), in contrast to existing sensors where a single bulk material is asked to perform all tasks. By controlling the coupling between the components of a nanoscale hybrid, new paradigms for sensing can be achieved that go much beyond existing approaches.
Research objectives
Our primary objective is to understand and demonstrate the photon sensing and energy-efficient processing performance possible with nanoscale hybrids.
In order to achieve this, we will work on the research and development of:
Concepts and theory for energy-efficient photonic processing and sensing
Modeling capabilities for co-design of nanomaterial elements with CMOS readout and control circuitry
Novel low dimensional nanomaterial hybrids with controlled properties
CMOS-compatible heterogeneous integration