“There is no better test of a new technology than integration into a working system.”
This is the overriding theme of the Brown research group at UCSB and is exercised in a number of technology fronts, including ultra-high-frequency (THz) electronics, and ultra-high-frequency ultrasonics (Gigasonics). By keeping an eye on the system application, Dr. Brown’s group carries out one of the most creative and satisfying endeavors in all of engineering: architecting. In the past, much of technology had to be tailored to a particular system, a good example being cellular wireless communications.
But more and more, engineers are tailoring the system to the technology. A good example is ad-hoc networking using ultra-low-power (CMOS) electronics and MEMS sensors
In the Brown group:
• We are developing a new THz source technology– ultrafast photoconductive mixers (photomixers) – to create THz spectrometric systems having unprecedented bandwidth and frequency agility.
• We are developing a new THz detector technology– ErAs-InGaAs semimetal-semiconductor rectifier junctions – to create upper-mm-wave and THz 2D focal plane arrays for imaging at room-temperature (no cryogenics !)
• We are developing a new thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer technology to create ultrasonic sensors that can detect cracks, defects, and interfaces inside of teeth and bones (in collaboration with the UCLA School of Dentistry and Biomedical Engineering Department)
• We are developing a new thin-film piezoelectric technology to surface-acoustic wave filters and other ultrasonic devices to create RF sensors and systems (e.g., co-located communications and radar systems)