Improving 100X the sensitivity of room-temperature IR sensors

 

Prof. Wasserman and Prof. Gong from the ECE department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have partnered to develop a new sensor for infrared light. Combining the specific wavelength absorption of metamaterials and high sensitivity to temperature of laterally vibrating resonators, they have created new IR sensors that specifically detect target wavelengths, are 100X more sensitive than current detectors, and also are compatible to standard CMOS fabrication. These new IR sensors could be used in many different applications ranging from thermal detection, spectroscopy, or gas sensing. 

Publications: 
Gong, Songbin, Nai-Kuei Kuo, and Gianluca Piazza. "A 1.75 GHz piezoelectrically-transduced SiC lateral overmoded bulk acoustic-wave resonator." Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (TRANSDUCERS), 2011 16th International. IEEE, 2011. 
Mason, Joshua, et al. "Strong coupling of molecular and mid-infrared perfect absorber resonances." Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE 24.1 (2012): 31-33. 
Mason, J. A., S. Smith, and D. Wasserman. "Strong absorption and selective thermal emission from a midinfrared metamaterial." Applied Physics Letters98.24 (2011): 241105