GaAs x-ray detectors with sub-nanosecond temporal response.

Fast semiconductor radiation detectors operated in current mode provide a valuable diagnostic in pulsed power applications. Si detectors are common due to the availability of high-quality materials and mature fabrication processes, but they offer low absorption for hard x-rays above ∼10 keV. GaAs can provide increased hard x-ray absorption for the same detector volume due to a higher atomic number.

Compact epsilon-near-zero silicon photonic phase modulators.

In this paper, we analyze a compact silicon photonic phase modulator at 1.55 μm using epsilon-near-zero transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films. The operating principle of the non-resonant phase modulator is field-effect carrier density modulation in a thin TCO film deposited on top of a passive silicon waveguide with a CMOS-compatible fabrication process.

Micromachined Accelerometers With Optical Interferometric Read-Out and Integrated Electrostatic Actuation.

A micromachined accelerometer device structure with diffraction-based optical detection and integrated electrostatic actuation is introduced. The sensor consists of a bulk silicon proof mass electrode that moves vertically with respect to a rigid diffraction grating backplate electrode to provide interferometric detection resolution of the proof-mass displacement when illuminated with coherent light. The sensor architecture includes a monolithically integrated electrostatic actuation port that enables the application of precisely controlled broadband forces to the proof mass while the displacement is simultaneously and independently measured optically.

Impact of relative intensity noise of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers on optics-based micromachined audio and seismic sensors.

The relative intensity noise of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in the 100 mHz to 50 kHz frequency range is experimentally investigated using two representative single-mode VCSELs. Measurements in this frequency range are relevant to recently developed optical-based micromachined acoustic and accelerometer sensing structures that utilize VCSELs as the light source to form nearly monolithic 1 mm3 packages. Although this frequency regime is far lower than the gigahertz range relevant to optical communication applications for which VCSELs are primarily designed, the intensity noise is found to be low and well within the range of cancellation using basic reference detection principles.