Two 麻豆原创 researchers, Department of Materials Science and Engineering and CREOL Assistant Professor Leland Nordin, and CREOL Professor Shuo Sean Pang, are developing an infrared imager that can overcome these limitations. Their team is led by Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratory. The three-year, $450,000 project is funded by the Photonic Enabled Tera-scale InfraRed Imager (PETRI) Grand Challenge Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, which asks researchers to create the next generation of infrared-imaging technologies.

鈥淭he Grand Challenge programs bring people with expertise together to solve a problem for a period of three years, says Shuo Sean Pang, a professor in CREOL and co-principal investigator of the project. 鈥淭hrough the program, we can tackle solving a technology problem that we choose.鈥�

Building a Better Camera

The lead on the project is Nordin, who shares a joint appointment between the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and CREOL. He is using his knowledge of materials and his expertise in photonics to create some of the hardware for the camera while Pang and his team work on data encoding and transmission.

Nordin will use radiation-tolerant materials and a form of nanostructuring known as atomic layer deposition to fabricate the semiconductor that can detect infrared light.

鈥淵ou put the wafer, known as the substrate, and different target elements inside the chamber, you then warm up the ovens which hold the elements so they come out of the oven and fly toward the substrate, building it up atomic layer by atomic layer,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like spray-painting with atoms.鈥�

At the same time, Pang and his team, which includes optics and photonics doctoral student Andrew Klein, will determine how to transmit a high-resolution image from space with minimum energy consumption from the hardware. Pang says the collaboration with Sandia allows them to try out different ideas, including non-traditional forms of data encoding to achieve high efficiency in communication, while maintaining the image quality.

The Key Component: Collaboration

For this team, collaboration is a key component of the project. Pang has worked with Sandia for three years now and Klein previously completed an internship with the national laboratory.

Klein says his internship provided a great training ground for this current project and he hopes to work for a national lab or a space-focused engineering organization after graduation.

鈥淚 love the Space Coast,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think there are lots of opportunities to apply space photonics. Engineers don鈥檛 usually consider using optics to solve problems like communication, but they can benefit from seeing things differently.鈥�

Nordin says he鈥檚 particularly excited about working with fellow CREOL researchers and is glad this national challenge fostered a partnership with someone who literally works next door.

鈥淭hese projects are fun because it鈥檚 a new modality,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou get to learn about problems and find solutions to things that you don鈥檛 particularly do.鈥�

About the Researchers

Leland Nordin is an assistant professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and holds a joint appointment with CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. His cutting-edge research focuses on next-generation semiconductor materials and devices, covering design, growth, fabrication and characterization. For his work, Nordin has received the Army Research Office Early Career Program Award. Prior to 麻豆原创, Nordin was a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University鈥檚 Geballe Lab for Advanced Materials. He earned his doctoral and master鈥檚 degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.De

Sean Pang is an associate professor at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech and conducted his postdoctoral research at Duke University. His current research focuses on the intersection on computing and imaging systems. His group is interested in modeling and developing optoelectronic system for sensing, imaging and computing applications, including the application of AI in solving imaging and photonic design problems.

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) group awarded Michael Chini, an assistant professor of physics, and Sean Pang, an assistant professor in CREOL (College of Optics and Photonics), seed money for their work in the area of optics.

鈥淒r. Chini joined the 麻豆原创 Physics faculty in the Fall of 2015 and has already secured enough external funding to support several graduate students. The ORAU Ralp E. Powe Award is another recognition of his talent and the cutting-edge research he is planning to do in his lab,鈥� said Eduardo Mucciolo, chair of the 麻豆原创 Physics Department.

Chini is researching the use of ultrashort pulses to measure and control electron motion in solid materials, which could aid in the development of high-speed electronics. These electronics could lead to better remote sensing equipment and the capability to send more encrypted information faster than currently possible.

Before becoming an assistant professor at 麻豆原创 in 2015, Chini received his Ph.D. in Physics from 麻豆原创 in 2012 and his B.S. degree in Physics from McGill University in 2007.

These one-year awards, which began June 1, are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities, according to the organization.

鈥淭his award will help undergraduates and master students get involved with our research at Optical Imaging System Lab (OISL),鈥� said Pang. 鈥淚t will definitely accelerate the research in our lab. We also have the chance to connect with a couple of research groups in Oak Ridge National Lab, which I am very excited to collaborate with.鈥�

Pang said he and OISL focus on developing computational imaging platforms in both visible and X-ray regimes. They are developing new X-ray imaging modalities that enhance the tissue-specific contrast in 3D tomographic imaging. In the future, they hope to see low dose 鈥渃olor鈥� X-ray images that reveal sub-nanometer structural information that you cannot get from conventional CT images. Pang鈥檚 research will have several key applications in medical diagnostics and therapies.

Pang received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Before joining 麻豆原创, he conducted his postdoctoral research in X-ray imaging at Duke University. He has a master鈥檚 degree in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Optical Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The Powe Award Committee awarded 35 grants for the 2016-17 academic year. Full-time assistant professors at ORAU member institutions within two years of their initial tenure track appointment at the time of application are eligible to apply. Research areas must fall in one of five disciplines including Engineering and Applied Science, Life Sciences, Mathematics/Computer Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Policy, Management, or Education.

鈥淟ots of imaging systems need revolutionary design and I hope to carry on that coming to 麻豆原创,鈥� said Sean Pang, an assistant professor in CREOL, the College of Optics & Photonics.

鈥淭he fundamental design for light microscopes hasn鈥檛 changed for 400 years, but now we have light sources and sensors with much better performance. There is lots of space for innovational imaging methods.鈥�

His research will focus on developing multidimensional imaging platforms for biological research, medical diagnosis, and industrial-imaging applications in both visible and X-ray regimes.

鈥淔or example, how to shrink down medical imaging systems and make them available for everyone 鈥� as simple as taking a photo and sending it to a doctor for diagnosis,鈥� he said. 鈥淩esearch in imaging is one of the most important and enabling technologies in our century.鈥�

Pang received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Before joining 麻豆原创, he conducted his postdoctoral research in X-ray imaging at Duke University. He has a master鈥檚 degree in biomedical engineering from Texas A&M University and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in optical engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The lab currently is staffed by Pang and one graduate student. He hopes to add a couple more graduate students next year and expand work on some projects with 麻豆原创鈥檚 new in Osceola County, the world鈥檚 first industry-led smart-sensor development center.

鈥淎 lot of our research can be complimentary and we can contribute to the center,鈥� Pang said.