Intellectual Merits: This research program will develop fast, infrared light detectors. The detector element to be developed is a superconducting nanowire that is briefly heated up by a single photon of light, and then develops a pulse of voltage. The applications of this detector are in the area of (1) inspection of semiconductor microcircuits, which is important for all the manufacturers in the semiconductor industry; and (2) recording of the light emission by individual biological molecules when they bind to specified DNA or protein sequences. This capability will extend into the infrared range the ability to record these fast signals in both application areas. For the biological application, this should enable the use of molecular probes that emit light and can be seen from below the surface of the skin. This would allow the use of such probes for medical diagnostic applications.
Broader Impacts: The broader impact of this work is to train graduate students and undergraduates in the use of advanced nanofabrication methods and microwave technology. This includes their exposure to leading-edge industrial research methods of the industrial partner. The PI will work closely with IBM colleagues on this project to produce and test these detector structures. The benefits to the semiconductor industry and to biological testing at the molecular level will open new research in those fields, with the detector as the tool having new capabilities. The research will be presented in local public schools by the Principal investigator as a model of how light is understood and how scientists conduct spectroscopy measurements.
