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This presentation highlights the development of ultrafast single-photon detectors based on avalanche photodiodes (APDs), engineered for high efficiency and gain across a broad spectral range. These detectors incorporate photon-trapping surface structures that enhance light absorption and mitigate the traditional trade-off between bandwidth and quantum efficiency. By leveraging variable photon penetration depths, the design enables controlled gain modulation and optimizing gain-bandwidth performance. The miniaturized device architecture, combined with extended off-axis photon collection zones, not only improves photon detection under low-light conditions but also suppresses pixel-to-pixel crosstalk, making these detectors highly suitable for next-generation precision sensing applications.
Presenter
Univ. of California, Davis (United States)
M. Saif Islam received his B.Sc. Degree in Physics from Middle East Technical University, an M.S. in Physics from Bilkent University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA in 2001. He worked for JDS Uniphase Corp and HP Labs before joining the University of California- Davis in 2004, where he is a Professor and the Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His research focuses on integrating low-dimensional and nanostructured materials into conventional semiconductor integrated circuits and systems for applications in ultrafast optoelectronics, communication, quantum sensing, AI-enabled imaging, and energy harvesting. Dr. Islam authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific papers, organized 38 conferences as a chair/co-chair, and holds 43 patents as an inventor/co-inventor. Prof. Islam received SPIE’s Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award and is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, Optica, SPIE, and National Academy of Inventors (NAI).