About Phoebus Optoelectronics

Phoebus Optoelectronics is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Advanced Silicon-based Photodetectors Using Light Localization and Channeling. Their project will study the feasibility and analysis of the scientific and technical merit of using combinations of optical modes and surface plasmons (denoted collectively as electromagnetic resonance modes (ER)) to dramatically enhance the performance of photodetectors fabricated on silicon and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates for a variety of applications. Silicon is a very desirable material to fabricate photodetectors on because it is inexpensive and because any readout integrated circuitry can be fabricated alongside the photodetector. Past efforts to develop high bandwidth/high responsivity Si-based photodetectors have been limited by the low light absorption constant of Si. This has led to detectors that have a gain-bandwidth product that is small compared with photodetectors fabricated using direct bandgap materials. Recent theoretical work on combinations of optical modes and surface plasmon modes (i.e., hybrid modes) has clearly demonstrated that combinations of these modes show great promise in enhancing device performance and functionality. The objective of the proposed project is the development of three types of hybrid mode-enhanced Si-based photodetectors for a variety of applications in mature and emerging areas of technology. These devices include hybrid mode enhanced bulk Si metal-semiconductor metal photodetector (MSM-PD), SOI MSM-PD and a Si APD. Successful development of silicon and silicon-on-insulator photodetectors will allow for far greater optoelectronic integration than what is possible now, allowing for the development of practical hybrid systems that integrate photonic and electronic components and in turn reduce costs, increase reliability, reduce size and weight and increase functionality. Applications will be developed including: ER-enhanced hybrid Si and SOI based photodetectors for 850nm wireless communication systems and very short range (VSR) fiber-based communication systems, and ER-enhanced APD detectors with less timing jitter, increased sensitivity and lower bias voltages for single photon detectors and LADAR applications. Besides the impressive market potential of the proposed devices they will also bring about new research areas into controlling light within devices. The techniques of light channeling and localization employed in this project will have far reaching effects on other areas of research and technology besides the applications stated above, such as biological and chemical sensors and devices for medical applications. Phoebus Optoelectronics is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Light-channeling Metamaterials for Polarimetric Sensing. Their project will assess the feasibility of using the diverse, enabling light management capabilities of a subset of metamaterials called Plasmonic/ Photonic Hybrid Crystals to develop higher-performance, lower-cost polarimetric infrared sensors. The company's hybrid crystals, single-layer surface structures, can be fabricated atop any substrate material using standard CMOS fabrication techniques. A prototype polarizer array capable of extinction ratios of at least 500:1; with the potential of ratios as high as 5000:1; will be designed, modeled, fabricated and initially characterized. It is anticipated that the structure will also minimize light scattering, the primary cause of performance impairing crosstalk in current polarimetric sensors. The design will use polarization-dependent optical and electromagnetic modes within periodic subwavelength apertures to achieve the high polarization extinction ratios and to minimize or eliminate light scattering from surface polarizers. Fabrication processes will be developed and a preliminary prototype of a hybrid crystal to be applied to a polarimetric sensor operating in the 4-5m range will be fabricated The broader impacts/commercial potential of this project will represent a breakthrough enabling tool for managing the flow of light in optoelectronic devices in extremely varied, precise and sophisticated ways, and can be readily applied to a diverse array of photonic components operating in several wavelength ranges and across multiple industries. This technology involves CMOS-based fabrication of simple single-layer structures, it is essentially substrate independent; the hybrid crystals can be fabricated atop almost any material. Potential device applications include, but are not limited to, infrared imaging sensors, cloaking devices, solar cells and all optical memory arrays. The annual market opportunity for these devices alone is approximately $15 billion. The potential societal impact is significant, as the end-use applications include: remote sensing related to critical military and homeland security missions as well as to planetary mapping for global warming research; the development of higher-density, higher-speed computers, and the detection of environmental chemical and biological threats. "This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."