EAGER: High Power Terahertz Emitters Based on Doped Gallium Nitride

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this program is to investigate the properties of high power terahertz emitting devices based on impurity center transitions in the wide bandgap semiconductor, gallium nitride. Using doped wafers from colleagues at universities and industry, terahertz emitters will be fabricated, and a series of electrical and optical experiments will determine their characteristics and limitations, and provide the data to optimize their performance. The intellectual merit is that terahertz emission is an important capability, and gallium nitride is an important semiconductor that may enable higher performance than previous emitters based on other materials and other mechanisms. The reason is that gallium nitride, as a wide bandgap semiconductor, can accommodate high power dissipation, and the dopants and impurities have deep energy levels that are perfectly suitable for terahertz-producing transitions. The proposed emission mechanism was effective for other semiconductors, but is not well understood in gallium nitride, so this is an exploratory project. The broader impacts are that the availability of compact, high performance, low cost terahertz emitters will be transformative for global applications from medical diagnostics to pollution detection. This research project will add to fundamental knowledge on devices and materials, and will feature the interaction of students with university and industrial researchers. Lectures on semiconductor optoelectronics will be presented at local schools.