Yibo Dong

High responsivity sensing of unfocused laser and white light using graphene photodetectors grown by chemical vapor deposition

Graphene photodetectors grown by chemical vapor deposition are fabricated for unfocused laser and white light sensing. The unfocused light enlarges the illuminated graphene area and mimics the real-life sensing conditions, yielding a responsivity of 104 mA/W at room temperature without enhancing absorbance by waveguide and plasmonics. The devices are based on positive photoconductivity from the electron-hole photocarrier pairs and the bolometric-effect-induced negative photoconductivity. The buried off-center local gate induces a net internal potential in the graphene. The relative strength of the two photoconductivities depends on the gate voltage. The technology is scalable, which is a step ahead toward real applications.

Transfer-free, lithography-free and fast growth of patterned CVD graphene directly on insulators by using sacrificial metal catalyst

Chemical vapor deposited graphene suffers from two problems: transfer from metal catalysts to insulators, and photoresist induced degradation during patterning. Both result in macroscopic and microscopic damages such as holes, tears, doping, and contamination, translated into property and yield dropping. We attempt to solve the problems simultaneously. A nickel thin film is evaporated on SiO2 as a sacrificial catalyst, on which surface graphene is grown. A polymer (PMMA) support is spin-coated on the graphene. During the Ni wet etching process, the etchant can permeate the polymer, making the etching efficient. The PMMA/graphene layer is fixed on the substrate by controlling the surface morphology of Ni film during the graphene growth. After etching, the graphene naturally adheres to the insulating substrate. By using this method, transfer-free, lithography-free and fast growth of graphene realized. The whole experiment has good repeatability and controllability. Compared with graphene transfer between substrates, here, no mechanical manipulation is required, leading to minimal damage. Due to the presence of Ni, the graphene quality is intrinsically better than catalyst-free growth. The Ni thickness and growth temperature are controlled to limit the number of layers of graphene. The technology can be extended to grow other two-dimensional materials with other catalysts.

Transfer-free, lithography-free, and micrometer-precision patterning of CVD graphene on SiO2 toward all-carbon electronics

A method of producing large area continuous graphene directly on SiO2 by chemical vapor deposition is systematically developed. Cu thin film catalysts are sputtered onto the SiO2 and pre-patterned. During graphene deposition, high temperature induces evaporation and balling of the Cu, and the graphene “lands onto” SiO2. Due to the high heating and growth rate, continuous graphene is largely completed before the Cu evaporation and balling. 60 nm is identified as the optimal thickness of the Cu for a successful graphene growth and μm-large feature size in the graphene. An all-carbon device is demonstrated based on this technique.

Beam steering in highly coherent implant-defined vertical cavity surface emitting laser array

Electronically controlled beam steering was achieved via highly coherent in-phase implant defined vertical cavity surface emitting laser arrays. The total power in the central lobe is above 36% in 1 × 2 array when steering.

Simulation of Far-Field Properties of Coherent Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Array*

Far-field properties dependent on array scale, separation, element width and emitted wavelength are systematically analyzed theoretically and experimentally. An array model based on the finite-difference method is established to simulate the far-field profile of the coherent arrays. Some important conclusions are obtained. To achieve a higher quality beam, it is necessary to decrease separation between elements, or to increase the element width. Higher brightness can be achieved in the array with larger scale. Emitted wavelength also has an influence on the far-field profile. These analyses can be extended to the future design of coherent vertical cavity surface emitting laser arrays.

Phase tuning in two-dimensional coherently coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array

Implant-defined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays can be designed to operate in in-phase mode. However, the nonuniformities in fabrication process impact the resonance selection and the devices do not follow expected trends. Coherent coupling was demonstrated in three-element VCSEL arrays via phase tuning of elements. In-phase mode and out-of-phase mode were both achieved in most of the arrays. Moreover, coherent coupling can decrease the threshold current of elements in the array. Improved output power was also clearly observed when the array operated in the in-phase mode. Arbitrary phase combination of the array elements can be obtained via the phase tuning. This technology is able to improve the reproducibility and practicability of the implant-defined coherently coupled VCSEL array.