NU 2010-149 

Inventors

Seng-Tiong Ho* 

Fei Yi 

Short Description

An ultra-sensitive electric field detector (E-FED) over large frequency ranges

Abstract

Northwestern researchers have designed an ultra-sensitive electric field detector (E-FED) over large frequency ranges. Despite the level of difficulty in achieving high sensitivity over a broad frequency range, the investigators amplify the sensitivity to electric field strength by 150 times using two unique features. They apply a micro-antenna to the electro-optic material and also use a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) enhancement directly across the electro-optic material to conduct voltage. Furthermore, they utilize multi-pass and/or resonator structures to increase sensitivity another ten-fold and an optical-carrier-reduction scheme using an optical interference technique with matched arms. In total, the multiple factors together offer a 100,000 times increase in sensitivity compared to current EO approaches that can only detect tens of mV/mHz1/2. 

Applications

• Optical Communications
• RF Photonics
• Optical Interconnect

Advantages

• Increased sensitivity to electric field strength
• Wider bandwidth
• Compact and power efficient

IP Status

Issued US Patent No. 8,582,929