Abstract: Light is essential for life as we know it, and the ubiquitous PN-junction is the pervasive light sensor, whether for optical detection or for energy harvesting. Since its inception over 70 years ago, the physics behind the photodiode is now well understood, including its dependence on the illumination wavelength. However, there is a further prominent feature of photodiodes that has been largely overlooked. These devices can exhibit significant and tunable chromatic dispersion, which we call Optoelectronic Chromatic Dispersion (OED). For example, in the telecommunication C-band region, a PN-type germanium photodiode exhibits chromatic dispersion that is equivalent to 200km of standard SMF28 optical fiber. Silicon photodiodes and PV cells show significant OED in the NIR and in the 400nm region. As a result, the photodiode can serve as a chip-size inexpensive device for high-resolution optical spectroscopy, wavelength sensing as well as for environmental and mechanical sensing. In this talk I will summarize the theory and experimental work in this area, and describe some of the rich and diverse applications that we foresee for the ubiquitous photodiode and photovoltaic cell.
Bio: Prof. Sternklar established and heads the Electrooptics programs and research labs at Ariel University, and serves as the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
Research interests: light-matter interaction, nonlinear optics, microwave photonics and quantum optics