*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
Title: Silicon-Integrated Photonics for Space Systems
Committee:
Dr. John Cressler ECE, Chair, Advisor
Dr. Stephen Ralph, ECE
Dr. Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb, MSE
Dr. Gregory Durgin, ECE
Dr. Eric Vogel, MSE
Abstract: Silicon-integrated photonics have attracted strong interest for space, defense, and basic research applications for their ability to scale the size, weight, power, and cost of optoelectronic systems. Many of these new applications involve deployment of this new technology into hazardous radiation environments, such as in geostationary orbit around the earth, or within particle accelerators, for example. The effects of radiation from high-energy particles on conventional integrated circuits have been studied for over 50 years, and this field remains very active today. Silicon photonic integrated circuits, on other hand, having been commercialized only recently, represent a far less mature technology. Consequently, radiation effects research in this field is just beginning. The objective of this research has been to methodically subject the fundamental building blocks of silicon photonic systems to different types of hazardous radiation using theoretical, computational, and experimental methods, and to systematically characterize the effects on device and circuit behavior, so that vulnerabilities may be understood, risks can be assessed, and radiation hardening methods may be devised as needed. Throughout this process special attention has been given to identifying the underlying physical mechanisms driving any observed radiation-induced changes, or behind the absence of changes, so that findings can be generalized as much as possible, with the goal of enabling broad predictive capability. Where appropriate, and when opportunities have presented themselves, this work has delved into topics beyond radiation effects and into basic device research. One such case was driven by a need for deeper understanding of material and device properties to describe a particular radiation effect. In another case, a novel silicon-integrated photodetector architecture, well suited for many space applications, is demonstrated.
