Deep Oxide SIM—ORCA Report

Authors

Alan Nelson, Brigham Young University

Keywords

oxide, SIM, Solidstate Impact-ionization Multiplier, optical signals

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Abstract

In my ORCA grant proposal, I described a novel solid-state amplifier known as the SIM (Solidstate Impact-ionization Multiplier) that has been developed here at BYU. It is particularly useful for amplifying weak optical signals—weak such that they would require low-noise amplification in order to avoid garbling the signal with added amplifier noise. The mechanism driving amplification in the SIM—Impact-ionization—is inherently low noise. Due to it being relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture the SIM (compared with other low-noise amplifiers such as the Avalanching photodiode), as well as many other benefits outlined in my proposal, the utility of enhancing the SIM is clearly evident.

Recommended Citation

Nelson, Alan (2013) "Deep Oxide SIM—ORCA Report," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 1908.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1908