Electronics & Photonics
Overview
Electronics and photonics research at UCSB spans a wide spectrum of topics from material preparation and growth to high performance electronic and photonic devices and integrated circuits. There is heavy concentration on compound semiconductor based activities.
The research projects conducted by electronics and photonics faculty at UCSB are multidisciplinary and heavily collaborative. This and state of the art characterization, growth and micro fabrication facilities allows students and researchers to be engaged in cutting edge research activities and provide a very nourishing environment. There is also intense focus on transferring today's research activities into commercial enterprises as evidenced by many start up commercial activity spun off from this group.
For more detailed descriptions of faculty research and activities, please follow the links to the various research centers, labs, and groups indicated on this page.
Electronics and Photonics Research Activities
Electronics and Photonics research areas include but are not limited to:
- Materials growth by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)
- Novel compound semiconductor heterostructures
- Epitaxy of quantum wires and dots
- Materials characterization
- High-resolution fabrication techniques for semiconductor device structures
- High speed photonic and electronic devices
- Semiconductor device physics
- Microwave, millimeter wave and THz electronics
- High-power solid-state electronics
- Advanced photonic devices
- Nanophotonics
- Photonic integrated circuits
- Microwave photonics
- Electromagnetic theory and antennas
- Fiber-optic networks
- Nanotechnology spintronics
- Radio-frequency CMOS integrated circuits
- Optoelectronic transceivers
- Silicon photonics
- Space optical communications
- High-speed optical links
- Optoelectronic/electronic integration and co-design
- Photonic switching, devices and networks
- Integrated photonic and electronic packaging
- Power management integrated circuits
- Power electronics
- Neuroengineering and neuroscience
- Quantum photonics
- 2D materials and valleytronics
E&P Faculty Groups & Labs
- Schow Group - Schow
- High Frequency Electronics Group - Rodwell
- Integrated Photonics Laboratory (iPL) - Klamkin
- Microwave Electronics Lab - York / Mishra
- Mishra Research Group - Mishra
- MOCVD Lab - Denbaars
- Nanophotonics Research Group - Schuller
- Optical and Microwave IC's and Devices Research Lab - Dagli
- Optical Communications and Photonic Integration (OCPI) - Blumenthal
- Optoelectronics Research Group - Bowers
- Coldren Group - Coldren
- Palmstrøm Research Group - Palmstrøm
- RF and Mixed-signal Integrated Systems Lab - Buckwalter
- Neuroengineering & Neuroscience Lab (SLAB) - Smith
- Quantum Photonics Lab - Moody
Affiliated Research Units
- Solid-State Lighting and Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC)
- Terabit Optical Ethernet Center (TOEC)
- Center for Converged TeraHertz Communications and Sensing (ComSenTer)
The UCSB Current – "Early Career High Achievers"
ECE Assoc. Prof. Spencer Smith given a 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.
Smith, whose research lies at the intersection of engineering and neuroscience, was nominated for the award by the National Institutes of Health. He will use the award to continue his lab and colleagues’ effort to develop new imaging tools for neuroscience, aiming to gain insights into how neural circuitry works. “I always hope what I’m doing is useful to other people, and recognition like this makes me think that it is,” he said.
Faculty Lab Spotlight
Quantum Photonics Lab (QPL)
Galan Moody, Assistant Professor
In the lab we develop nanophotonic and optoelectronic technologies to advance our understanding of quantum light-matter interaction for a wide range of applications – from novel computing architectures to communications, sensing, and emerging fields such as valleytronics.
We address important challenges in these areas through the discovery of new quantum materials and nanostructures, interfacing them with photonic, optoelectronic, and optomechanical devices based on fundamentally new concepts and prototypes, and developing innovative quantum-limited measurement tools. We are motivated by questions such as
- How can we engineer programmable solid-state quantum systems that are optimally suited for specific tasks in computing and communications?
- What quantum advantages arise by interfacing different physical systems into a monolithic, hybrid platform?
- What are the fundamental limitations to manipulating, distributing, and storing quantum information across different physical systems?
To answer these questions, our lab specializes in a broad range of platforms including III-V quantum dots, 2D materials and heterostructures, and the fabrication of photonic, optoelectronic, and optomechanical devices. For each project, we also explore emergent properties by combining multiple materials and systems into a hybrid platform using heterogeneous integration methods.
Research Areas include:
- Integrated Quantum Photonic Circuits
- Hybrid Quantum Systems and Networking
- 2D Material Photonics and Valleytronics
See the Quantum Photonics Lab's full spotlight