ROCKET Research Programs

About Us | Program Details | What to Expect | Research | Apply

Research Programs

Scroll down to see researchers at all three of our Universities:

University of Arizona

Robert Norwood
One of the key trends in optical communications and primary goals of CIAN is to integrate an increasing number of optical functions on a single substrate or chip. Thus far many of these functions such as lasing, modulation, detection, filtering and switching have been successfully integrated on platforms such as indium phosphide, but optical isolation stands out as one of the functions that has been difficult to integrate. We have recently developed exceptional magneto-optic nanoparticle polymer nanocomposite materials that exhibit properties that are potentially suitable for integrated optical isolators. The RET participant will study the basic optical properties, such as optical transmission and refractive index, as a function of a variety of material parameters including the polymer matrix, the nanoparticle type and concentration, and the amount of magnetic ordering; an introduction to thin film sample preparation will be given. Measurements will be performed on instruments such as a UV-VIS spectrophotometer and a prism coupler, which will introduce the concept of optical waveguiding so fundamental to fiber optics.

Nasser Peyghambarian
State-of-the-art optical telecommunications networks make use of the tremendous bandwidth of optical fiber to send multiple optical wavelengths down the fiber carrying different information, a process known as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). At the end of the fiber, the wavelengths are separated by a passive optical filter that functions very much like a diffraction grating, so that the individual information can be detected and electronically reconstructed. For the advanced integrated access networks targeted by CIAN, fast tunable filters are needed to increase the agility and flexibility of DWDM networks. We have developed a fast tunable filter based on an electro-optic polymer within a Fabry-Perot etalon. In this project the RET participant will study the properties of filters as a function of variables such as the light polarization and ambient temperature, and will connect the performance of the filter to the performance of standard sources for DWDM networks. This will involve gaining familiarity with fiber coupled lasers, optical fiber, and optical spectrum analyzers, among other equipment.

Franko Kueppers
State-of-the-art optical telecommunication networks make use of the tremendous bandwidth of optical fiber to send multiple optical wavelengths down the fiber carrying different information, a process known as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). While propagating through the fiber, these high-speed DWDM signals suffer from various impairments including attenuation and chromatic dispersion. The Center for Integrated Access Network’s (CIAN’s) vision is to enable a more seamless flow of data from access to aggregation to core networks (and vice versa), and one aspect of this integration relates to the heterogeneity of fiber types used within and across various sections of the network. The proposed RET project will focus on the characterization of different types of transmission fibers as well as fiber-based DWDM system components. Measurements will be performed using instruments such as optical spectrum analyzers, optical power meters, and chromatic dispersion testers; acquired date will be analyzed and edited.

Hyatt Gibbs
InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots are well established as excellent candidates to serve as artificial atoms for anti-bunched sources of light or gain medium for low-threshold microcavity lasers. This RET project will involve building a Michelson interferometer from available constitute parts including: a beam splitter, computer-controlled translation stage and avalanche photodiode detector. The translation stage control and data acquisition will be governed by existing software written in LabView; learning this software will provide an additional training opportunity. The Michelson interferometer will be heavily used in the lab, well after the summer program, because interferometric measurements allow one to observe the transitioning of a microcavity laser from a thermal source to a coherent laser source.

Caltech

Axel Scherer
The direct impact that individual university professors can have on K-12 science education is significantly limited by a problem of numbers. As an example, Caltech’s faculty of 250 can have only limited impact on the science and engineering education of the 20,000 students of the Pasadena Unified School System if a one on one approach is used.

Instead, it is much more desirable to invest in and expand the experience and qualifications of the approximately 1000 teachers of that school system, and specifically of the few science teachers through intensive exposure to hands-on and interesting laboratory experience. The NSF has recognized this opportunity and developed the RET program that provides science teachers with the opportunity to experience science in research laboratories.

Given the appropriate environment, such exposure can be a very efficient method of leveraging the investment in science teachers to enrich the classroom experience for K-12 students. If science teachers can share their experiences and enthusiasm in the laboratory with their students in their science classes, this can have a profound impact on the next generation of scientists.

Unfortunately, many disciplines at the cutting edge of technology require significant training before teachers can be effective participants in a real research project, and often teachers are relegated to passive observers of how science is performed. Here we propose to offer a hands-on training program that prepares science teachers to work alongside graduate students and post-docs in a nanofabrication laboratory and leverages off already existing classroom infrastructure at Caltech.

Many universities offer microfabrication courses to their undergraduates, providing laboratory exercises along with lectures to prepare students for careers in semiconductor processing. Unfortunately, these higher-level semiconductor fabrication courses require pre-requisites and are optimized for junior or senior undergraduates.

The most important advantage of this approach is that students have a very strong theoretical background before they start to take their first engineering courses after the second year of studies.

We believe that this increased preparedness is obtained at the expense of two serious limitations. First, the most capable students who may have initially been motivated to study micro- and nanodevices are not actively encouraged to pursue this exciting area and may decide to study other disciplines which they are exposed to in the conventional curriculum instead. This also limits the use of the class infrastructure for the purpose of training science teachers within a short and productive time.

In contrast, Caltech offers a very popular freshman microfabrication course, which is taught with the philosophy that students do not have to take calculus, physics and chemistry before they can begin their hands-on engineering education.

This freshman lecture/laboratory course is called "Solid-state electronics for integrated circuits" (EE/APh-9), in which students are able to obtain hands on experience in the making and measurement of a variety of semiconductor devices. The course intentionally avoids using a clean-room facility with complex equipment for training, since the use of sophisticated fabrication equipment often obscures the understanding of the processes that are used to make modern electronic devices.

APh-9 has evolved into a very popular hands-on freshman course which currently enrolls 80-120 students (about one third to one half of the incoming Caltech freshman class). APh-9 students learn how to fabricate, measure and understand the operation of basic solid-state semiconductor devices, such as diodes and transistors. In the class, first-year students attend lectures on solid-state devices, lay them out on a computer, and fabricate them in the laboratory.

A wide range of devices are built and characterized, ranging from light emitting diodes to transistors and even small integrated circuits. Microelectromechanical miniature microphones, microfluidic cell sorters and even lasers have been constructed during the second term, and students are introduced to the fascinating world of microfabrication using vacuum systems, diffusion and oxidation furnaces, photolithography and computer-aided design and testing.

Here we propose to use the facilities which have been built for this course to train and motivate science teachers to learn about nanotechnology and semiconductor devices.

We propose to start a summer Research experiences for teachers (RETs) program in which life-science, chemistry and physics teachers are trained to build and understand semiconductor devices. Initially, we will seek out individuals in STEM departments at local high schools and junior colleges who are interested in incorporating nanotechnology and integrated device characterization into their own curricula.

The proposed equipment will enable the RET participants to gain hands-on experience which they can best adapt to the capabilities and interests of their students. We propose to work with RET candidates during a three-week experience in the laboratory, and train them on our teaching equipment to make and measure microelectronics, microfluidics and micro-electromechanical structures, as well as provide them with an understanding of lithographic printing.

This will be followed by a three week experience in a research environment where the teachers can actively participate in nanotechnology projects and use the training in our state of the art cleanroom facility at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute.

UCSD

George Papen
Advanced photonic systems including optical communication systems, optical networking, and environmental and atmospheric remote sensing.

Joseph Ford
Transparent fiber optic and free-space optical communication networks, dynamic planar and volume holography, physical and geometrical optics, and optoelectronic device packaging.

Shaya Fainman
Optical Communications and Interconnections; Nanophotonics; Ultrafast Optics; Optical Information Processing Systems; Nonlinear and Diffractive Optics; Coherence Properties of Optical Field Scattered from a Moving Phase Screen; Photonic Networks; Optical Storage

Apply Online