Center for Detectors

Its mission is to enable scientific discovery, national security, better living, and commercial innovation through the design and development of advanced photon detectors and associated technology.

The CfD designs, develops, and implements new advanced sensor technologies through collaboration with academic researchers, industry engineers, government scientists, and university students.

The mission of the CfD is to enable scientific discovery, national security, better living, and commercial innovation through the design and development of advanced photon detectors and associated technology in a broad array of applications (e.g. astrophysics, biomedical imaging, Earth system science, and inter-planetary travel).

Research pillars of the CfD include, Detectors and Instrumentation, Observational Astrophysics, Wideband Gap Materials, Nanostructures, and Silicon Photonics.

Major research projects include the development of detectors that can sense individual photons, cover very large areas of the sky, and have excellent sensitivity in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.

Projects include works that aim to elucidate the nature of the cosmos on the largest scales and most distant times.

The research focuses on the growth of various nanostructures, including nanowires and nanofins, by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition through a synthesis process known as selective chemical etching for room temperature benchtop fabrication of flexible III-V nanostructure based optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.

Additional sources of funding include Thermo Fisher Scientific, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ITT Excelis, and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.