“The impact of CMOS technology on mass-market applications in the submillimeter/terahertz spectral region: Chemical sensors and imaging through obstructions”
Dr. Frank C. De Lucia, Ohio State University
Friday, Sept. 24, 2010, 1 p.m., TI Auditorium (ECSS 2.102)

Abstract
The submillimeter/terahertz (SMM/Thz) spectral region has played a major role in the development of important scientific disciplines, including interstellar astrophysics, upper atmosphere remote sensing and physical chemistry. But none of these are mass-market, public applications. There are two public applications that have long been recognized and demonstrated by use of the specialized technology that has been developed for the aforementioned scientific applications: chemical sensors and imaging through obstructions. With the rapid growth of the wireless community and its desire for ever more bandwidth, a public technology for SMM/Thz is beginning to emerge to support these public applications. The development of a CMOS technology will greatly accelerate the movement of the SMM/Thz into the mainstream. The fundamental advantages of an electronic approach for these applications and examples of both the applications and the technology required to support them will be presented.

Bio
Frank C. De Lucia received his PhD from Duke University in 1969. A University Professor and professor of physics at Ohio State University, he was previously a professor of physics at Duke, and he has served both departments as chairman. Along with his students and co-workers he has developed many of the basic technologies and systems approaches for submillimeter and terahertz and exploited them for scientific studies. Among his research interests are imaging and phenomenology, remote sensing, the spectroscopy of small, fundamental molecules, SMM/THz techniques, collisional processes and mechanisms, the excitation and study of excited states, molecules of atmospheric and astronomical importance, and analytical chemistry and gas sensing. He belongs to the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, IEEE, the American Chemical Society and Phi Beta Kappa. He has received the Max Planck Research Prize in Physics and the William F. Meggers Award of the Optical Society of America.