Engineering the Disorder in Optical and Electronic Devices

Jacob B. Khurgin
John Hopkins University

Friday, April 17, 2009 at 3:00pm
Engr IV Room 57-124

Abstract
This is a talk about how disorder seems to pop up where you least expect it and how it can be exploited to actually improve the performance of optoelectronic devices. Three seemingly unrelated topics will be considered: quantum cascade lasers and raman oscillators, surface plasmons for enhancement of luminescence efficiency, and high power and high speed GaN FET's.

In the first part of the talk we shall describe how the heat removal from the high power FET's can be substantially enhanced by deliberately inducing alloy and/or isotope disorder of optical phonons.

The second part of the talk examines how disorder plays a constructive role in enhancing luminescence in the presence of arrays of metal nanoparticles.

In the third part of the talk we shall discuss how better understanding of the nature of interface roughness has been instrumental in understanding the reasons for Raman oscillations in quantum cascade structures.

Biography
Jacob B. Khurgin had graduated with MS in Optics from the Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics in St Petersburg, Russia in 1979, where he had been earlier born. In 1980 he had emigrated to US, and got a job with Philips Laboratories of NV Philips in Briarcliff Manor, NY. There for 8 years he worked with various degrees of success on miniature solid-state lasers, II-VI semiconductor lasers, various display and lighting fixtures, X-ray imaging, and small appliances such as electric shavers and coffeemakers (for which he holds 3 patents). Simultaneously he was pursuing his graduate studies at Polytechnic Institute of NY (recently reincarnated as NYU School of Engineering) where he had received PhD in Electro-physics in Jan. 1987. In Jan. 1988 he had joined the Electrical Engineering department of Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently a Professor. His research topics over the years included an eclectic mixture of optics of semiconductor nanostructures, nonlinear optical devices, lasers, optical communications, microwave photonics, and condensed matter physics. Currently he is working in the areas of quantum cascade lasers, laser cooling, phonon engineering for high frequency transistors, coherent optical communications, plasmonics, and slow light propagation. His publications include 4 book chapters, one book edited, 200 papers in refereed journals and 13 patents. Prof. Khurgin is an OSA Fellow.