Terahertz collaboration gets boost from Department of Defense grant | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Terahertz collaboration gets boost from Department of Defense grant Terahertz collaboration gets boost from Department of Defense grant Published: June 14, 2011 Author: Arnie Phifer A $6.3-million grant from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary Research Initiative (MURI) will allow a group of faculty researchers involved in two of the University of Notre Dame’s strategic research investments — The Center for Nano Science and Technology and the Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics Initiative — to develop new gallium nitride (GaN) based electronic devices that operate in the terahertz (THz) range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Patrick Fay, along with Debdeep Jena and Huili (Grace) Xing, led the multi-institutional team to secure the highly competitive grant that also includes researchers from Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University and Wright State University. The research group receiving the grant includes electrical engineers, material scientists and physicists, each of whom brings different expertise from fields such as semiconductor devices, electromagnetic simulation and design, GaN growth and high-frequency device and materials characterization. Altough GaN has been previously utilized for its optoelectronic properties in ultra-bright LEDs and the lasers that read Blu-ray Discs, there is still not a firm grasp on its physics. By attaining that understanding, the goal is that new GaN-based devices will be developed, enabling a wide range of new terahertz applications. Despite also having studied the THz phenomena in the laboratory for years, scientist still lack the ability to generate the high-quality coherent sources necessary, limiting research to very low power levels. Moreover, the current sources are difficult to adapt for sensing systems operating outside of a laboratory, further limiting the ability to utilize all of the unique properties of THz frequency signals. However, “the ability to generate, receive and process signals at terahertz frequencies can have a potentially significant impact on critical areas such as medical sensing, chemical agent screening, and military imaging and communications,” said Fay, principal investigator for the project, professor of electrical engineering and director of Notre Dame Nanofabrication Facility. In 2010, Jena and Xing received separate Department of Defense funding through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for a project to create new GaN ultraviolet light sources that can be used by soldiers (and eventually civilians) to purify water in the field, further underscoring the opportunities being created by Notre Dame’s GaN research. Notre Dame researcher Harindra Joseph S. Fernando also won a $7.3-million MURI grant to develop fundamental knowledge that helps improve forecasting models of weather in mountainous terrain. These models will focus on aviation and defense operations planning in areas of complex topography, paying attention to severe weather phenomena and the nighttime boundary layer of the atmosphere. Posted In: Research Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 05, 2022 Astrophysicists find evidence for the presence of the first stars October 04, 2022 NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention September 29, 2022 Notre Dame, Ukrainian Catholic University launch three new research grants September 27, 2022 Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis September 22, 2022 Climate-prepared countries are losing ground, latest ND-GAIN index shows For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn