Fall 2004

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Microelectronics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

Recent breakthroughs in photodetector and optical receiver technologies have increased the performance and functionality of a wide range of existing systems as well as enabling new applications. For example, recent work on UV photodiodes has facilitated the development of smoke-detector-size sensors for hazardous biological agents that can be widely deployed in public facilities. By incorporating new materials and impact ionization engineering with beneficially designed heterostructures, the performance of avalanche photodiodes has been improved to levels previously thought to be theoretically unattainable. These photodiodes will be utilized in next-generation fiber optic systems that are projected to have transmission capacities as high as 10 terabits. In the infrared, quantum dot photodetectors that utilize nanostructures to confine carriers have recently achieved breakthrough detectivities and have the potential to achieve new levels of performance in infrared imaging with focal plane arrays.

Joe C. Campbell (Student Member 1973, Member 1974, Senior Member 1988, Fellow 1990)

Joe C. Campbell received the B.S. Degree in Physics for the University of Texas at Austin in 1969, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971 and 1973, respectively. From 1974 to 1976 he was employed by Texas Instruments where he worked on integrated optics. In 1976 he joined the staff of AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey. In the Crawford Hill Laboratory he worked on a variety of optoelectronic devices including semiconductor lasers, optical modulators, waveguide switches, photonic integrated circuits, and photodetectors with emphasis on high speed avalanche photodiodes for high-bit-rate lightwave systems. In January of 1989 he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering. At present he is actively involved in Si-based optoelectronics, high-speed, low-noise avalanche photodiodes, high-power photodiodes, ultraviolet photodetectors, and quantum-dot IR imaging. Professor Campbell has co-authored 6 book chapters, more than 300 journal publications, and 200 conference presentations. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, and Fellow of the American Physical Society.