My research group is working on the development of new quantum devices, especially lasers, and their optimization for sensor systems and their applications in environment and health. Our special focus is currently on Quantum Cascade (QC) lasers, a novel type of semiconductor injection laser based on electronic intersubband transitions in the conduction band of a coupled quantum well heterostructure. Quantum wells are slivers of one type of semiconductor material, just a few atomic layers thick, interleaved with another type of semiconductor (the barriers). I am also the director of the education program of MIRTHE, the NSF-sponsored Engineering Research Center for Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment. A group of 6 universities and approximately 40 faculty, 120 students, and 40 industry and practitioner organizations, MIRTHE members collaborate to develop the next-generation sensor platforms for chemical trace gas sensing using mid-infrared spectroscopy.
