Micro-Optoelectromechanical Systems (MOEMS) and Nanophotonics

Catalog description

Principles and applications of Micro-Optoelectromechanical and Nanophotonic devices and systems. E SC 482 Micro-Optoelectromechanical Systems (MOEMS) and Nanophotonics (3) E SC 482 provides the engineering student with a unifying and multifaceted description of MOEMS and nanophotonics. Students will learn the fundamental principles behind many novel micro- and nanophotonic devices and systems and their practical applications in the fields of communication, sensor and image technology.The course starts with an overview of the fundamental physics of semiconductors with emphases on silicon, III-V and II-V compound semiconductors due to their important applications in MOEMS and active nanooptoelectronic devices. Semiconductor nanostructures, such as epitaxial grown quantum wells and quantum dots, and chemically synthesized nanowires and collodial nanocrystals will be introduced through discussions on their unique electronic structures carrier transport and excitonic dynamics. In addition to inorganic materials, the structures and critical characteristics of electro-optic and light emitting polymers will also be reviewed for their fast-growing applications in display technology, sensory and information processing systems.The general principles for the design and operation of MOEMS and nanooptoelectronic devices will be discussed in the frame of geometrical optics, electromagnetic theory, and semiconductor physics. The reflection of light at dielectric interfaces will be reviewed to reveal the critical features of optical waveguide structures and to introduce the concept of surface plasma waves. In-depth descriptions will be given for the interband-and intraband- electron transition and exciton emission process in semiconductor quantum structures. Important instances of applying the 'quantum confinement' in nanostructures to tailor their optical and optoelectronic properties will be underscored during the mechanism-analysis of laser diodes, detectors and modulators. The new concept of 'photonic crystals' will be introduced through the analysis of parallelism between electron transport in semiconductor lattices and light propagation in periodic dielectric media.Following a brief survey of the state-of-the-art technologies for the fabrication of MOEMs and nanophotonic devices, the course topics will move to their application examples in the fields of communication, sensor and image technology. For each application example, analysis will be carried out on the design, fabrication, and characterization issues of the involved systems/devices. Their merit-of-performance will be linked to the application practice to illustrate how the introduction of MOEMs/nanophotonic devices advances the technology in each specific field. Important topics to be covered in this part include micromachined lightwave systems, microcavity light emitting devices, fiber based biological nanosensors, nanoparticle enhanced surface plasma resonance sensors, microspectrometers, and digital micromirror device (DMD)-based projection display engine.