rESEArCH HIGHLIGHTS - Charlotte Research Institute - University ...

The Center for Optoelectronics continues to expand its core lab facilities, having invested in 98 capitalequipment purchases over the last four years. These include four new STS etching machines, e-beamlithography capability and a nanoimprint system. A considerable amount of equipment was brought to theCenter by Dr. Johnson, including a GCA stepper. These new capabilities will enable the design, fabricationand testing of complex micro- and nano-optical components and devices, (i.e. integrated photonic devicesthat incorporate both active and passive components and will provide enabling technologies for a widerange of applications). The Center’s lab facilities offer unique research capabilities to industry partners as aresult of the distinct combination of new fabrication and inspection machines all in one location.One of the beneficiary Center partners ofthis equipment is the Carolinas MicroOpticsTriangle (CMOT), a five-year-old multiinstitutionalresearch partnership betweenUNC Charlotte, Clemson University andWestern Carolina University. CMOT holds acollective vision to be a full-service research,educational and business development resourceto the optics industry. CMOT’s businessdevelopment efforts this past year have resultedin a new industry affiliation with US Conec, amanufacturer of fiber optic connectors.r e s e a r c h s t r e n g t h s• Active and Passive Photonic Devices• Integrated Optics and Packaging• Fabrication of Engineered Optical Materials• Optical Metrology• Optical Imaging• Optical Communications NetworksThe Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications has taken an active role in economicdevelopment activities, supporting the development of the optics industry in the Carolinas. UNC Charlotteis part of the Carolinas Photonics Consortium (CPC)—formerly NC Photonics Consortium—an interstatenetwork involving Duke University, NC State, and CMOT to proactively support the development ofthe optics industry in the Carolinas. CPC is designed to support tech transfer initiatives from universitylabs into the marketplace as well as the growth of aphotonics industry cluster in the Carolinas.Dr. Eric Johnson (Assoc Dir) and doctoral studentsZachary Roth, Kaia Buhl, Yigit Yilmaz and AaronCannistra work with the GCA Stepper, an imageprojection lithography tool that enables cost-effectivefabrication of optical components for high volumeapplications of photonics and optics.The Center for Optoelectronics hosted the regionalOptics in the Southeast (OISE) and the internationalHigh Capacity Optical Networks and EnablingTechnologies (HONET) conferences in September2006, as well as a Nanoimprint Technologiessymposium in summer 2006. Associate DirectorDr. Eric Johnson was named to a three-year termon the Board of Directors for SPIE (InternationalSociety advancing an interdisciplinary approach tothe science and application of light). Center facultymember Dr. Tom Suleski was elected a new Fellow ofSPIE and center director Dr. Michael Fiddy continuesto serve on SPIE’s Education, Science and TechnologyPolicy Committee.Visit: http://opticscenter.uncc.edu13Research Highlights 2006-2007