Research - Faculty
Engineering Alumni Professor Dennis Prather
Research Interests
Current Projects
- 50% Efficient Solar Cells
- Antenna Coupled Nano-Photonic Waveguides for MMW FPAs
- Chemical Imprint Lithography
Office: Evans 108
Phone: 302-831-8170
Prof. Dennis Prather' research interests focus on both the theoretical and experimental aspects of active and passive meso- and nano-photonic elements and their integration/demonstration into functional systems. To this end, we continually develop and refine custom computational electromagnetic tools for both the analysis and synthesis of photonic devices, both active and passive. Such algorithms encompass a diverse range of properties that span from the microscopic scale, such as temporally and spatially frequency dependent methods and variations of these methods that account for specific material properties, such as: active/passive, isotropic/anisotropic, lossy/lossless, and nonlinear properties.
On the mesoscopic scale we develop techniques for the analysis of form birefringent, photonic band gap, guided mode resonances, and polarization dependent devices. And, on the macroscopic scale, we develop methods for coupled apertures/cavites, effective media, and radiative transfer properties. Collectively, these properties are best represented by the unique ability to engineer the "dispersion" properties of a given material, which from a physical point of view represents the relationship between spatial frequencies (the projection of the wave vector onto the various directions in the crystal) and temporal frequencies that are launched either within or at the material. To this end, design algorithms that accurately and efficiently provide the associated properties of an engineered material system are needed. However, key to making such algorithms useful is to implement them on a platform that allows for ready access, highly efficient computations, and unquestionable accuracy. For this reason, we also explore and develop hardware acceleration platforms for the above models/algorithms.
In addition, we also develop nano-fabrication and integration processes necessary for device realization. In particular, we routinely design, fabricate, integrate, and characterize devices such as photonic crystals, integrated optical devices and systems, diffractive optical elements, subwavelength structures, vertical cavity surface emitting and ring cavity lasers, electro-optic modulators, and infrared photo-detectors, for application in integrated nano-photonic systems. In addition, Prof Prather also has an active effort in TeraHertz and millimeterwave (mmW) technology
