Electronic and Photonic Devices

Pursuing theoretical and experimental research for next generation devices.

We explore various device technologies, material science and device architectures to dramatically improve power and RF device performance to achieve higher efficiency, high linearity and much wider frequency band. We develop novel photonic integrated circuits to improve performance and reduce cost in optical communications applications.

  • Researchers

  • Awards

    •  AWARD    Toshiaki Koike-Akino elected Fellow of Optica
      Date: November 18, 2021
      Awarded to: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
      MERL Contact: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • Toshiaki Koike-Akino's research activities in communications, error control coding and optical technologies at MERL have earned him election as a Fellow Member of Optica (formerly OSA), the foremost professional association in optics and photonics worldwide. Fellow membership in Optica is limited to no more than ten percent of the membership and is reserved for members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. Koike-Akino is one of 106 members from 24 countries in Optica’s 2022 Fellows Class, elected during the Board of Directors of Optica meeting held on 2nd of November, 2021.

        “Congratulations to the 2022 Optica Fellows,” said 2021 President Connie Chang-Hasnain, University of California, Berkeley, USA. “These members exemplify what it means to be a leader in optics and photonics. Your election, by your peers, confirms the important contributions made within our field. Thank you for your dedication to Optica, and for advancing the science of light.”

        Koike-Akino's elevation to Fellow is specifically “for outstanding and innovative contributions to R&D in enabling technologies for optical communications, including nonlinear equalizers, high-dimensional modulations, and FEC (Forward Error Correction),” said Meredith Smith, Director, Optica Awards and Honors Office. "Again, congratulations on joining this esteemed group of Optica members."

        About Optica

        Optica (formerly OSA) is dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics worldwide. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.
    •  
    •  AWARD    MERL researchers presented 5 papers at the 2016 Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), including one "Top Scored" paper
      Date: March 24, 2016
      Awarded to: Toshiaki Koike-Akino, Keisuke Kojima, David S. Millar, Kieran Parsons, Tsuyoshi Yoshida, Takashi Sugihara
      MERL Contacts: Toshiaki Koike-Akino; Kieran Parsons
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • Five papers from the Optical Comms team were presented at the 2016 Optical Fiber Conference (OFC) held in Anaheim, USA in March 2016. The papers relate to enhanced modulation formats, constellation shaping, chromatic dispersion estimation, low complexity adaptive equalization and coding for coherent optical links. The top-scored paper studied optimal selection of coding and modulation sets to jointly maximize nonlinear tolerance and spectral efficiency.
    •  

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  • News & Events


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  • Internships

    • EA2120: AI-assisted Design of Semiconductor Devices

      We are seeking a graduate student interested in the research of AI-assisted design of semiconductor devices in general and GaN, SiC and Si IGBT in particular. The interns will collaborate with researchers at MERL and those in Japan to explore and develop new AI input models and methodology, and optimization methods, using both simulated and experimental data for the AI-assisted design of semiconductor devices. The ideal candidates are senior Ph.D. students with experience in semiconductor device physics, device modeling, deep learning, and other machine learning techniques, and the use of TCAD as a simulation tool. Those with deep knowledge of GaN, Si, and SiC devices and applications in RF and power electronics will be great assets. This internship's Start date is flexible and lasts 3-6 months.

    • ST2090: Radiation Source Localization

      The Computational Sensing Team at MERL is seeking an intern to work on estimation algorithms for radioactive source localization. The candidate should have experience with statistical modeling and estimation theory. A detailed knowledge of interactions of particles with matter, imaging inverse problems, and/or computed tomography is preferred. Hands-on experience with high-energy physics simulators (e.g., Geant4) is beneficial but not required. Strong programming skills in Python are essential. Publication of the results produced during our internships is expected. The duration is anticipated to be 3-6 months.


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  • Recent Publications

    •  Hossain, T., sikder, B., Azad, M.T., Xie, Q., Yuan, M., Yagyu, E., Teo, K.H., Palacios, T., Chowdhury, N., "Fermi-Level Pinning Effect in Gate Region: A Case Study of Multi-Metal Gated AlGaN/GaN HEMT for High RF Linearity", IEEE Electron Devices Technology & Manufacturing Conference, February 2024.
      BibTeX TR2024-010 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Hossain2024feb,
      • author = {Hossain, Toiyob and sikder, Bejoy and Azad, Md.Tasnim and Xie, Qingyun and Yuan, Mengyang and Yagyu, Eiji and Teo, Koon Hoo and Palacios, Tomas and Chowdhury, Nadim},
      • title = {Fermi-Level Pinning Effect in Gate Region: A Case Study of Multi-Metal Gated AlGaN/GaN HEMT for High RF Linearity},
      • booktitle = {IEEE Electron Devices Technology & Manufacturing Conference},
      • year = 2024,
      • month = feb,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-010}
      • }
    •  Kitichotkul, R., Rapp, J., Goyal, V.K., "The Role of Detection Times in Reflectivity Estimation with Single-Photon Lidar", IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, DOI: 10.1109/​JSTQE.2023.3333834, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 8800114:1-14, January 2024.
      BibTeX TR2024-003 PDF
      • @article{Kitichotkul2024jan,
      • author = {Kitichotkul, Ruangrawee and Rapp, Joshua and Goyal, Vivek K},
      • title = {The Role of Detection Times in Reflectivity Estimation with Single-Photon Lidar},
      • journal = {IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics},
      • year = 2024,
      • volume = 30,
      • number = 1,
      • pages = {8800114:1--14},
      • month = jan,
      • doi = {10.1109/JSTQE.2023.3333834},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-003}
      • }
    •  Azad, T., Hossain, T., Sikder, B., Xie, Q., Yuan, M., Yagyu, E., Teo, K.H., Palacios, T., Chowdhury, N., "AlGaN/GaN based Multi-Metal Gated High Electron Mobility Transistor with Improved Linearity", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, December 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-153 PDF
      • @article{Azad2023dec,
      • author = {Azad, Tasnim and Hossain, Toiyob and Sikder, Bejoy and Xie, Qingyun and Yuan, Mengyang and Yagyu, Eiji and Teo, Koon Hoo and Palacios, Tomas and Chowdhury, Nadim},
      • title = {AlGaN/GaN based Multi-Metal Gated High Electron Mobility Transistor with Improved Linearity},
      • journal = {IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = dec,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-153}
      • }
    •  Ahmed, M.R., Koike-Akino, T., Parsons, K., Wang, Y., "Joint Software-Hardware Design for Green AI", International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), August 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-096 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Ahmed2023aug,
      • author = {Ahmed, Md Rubel and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Parsons, Kieran and Wang, Ye},
      • title = {Joint Software-Hardware Design for Green AI},
      • booktitle = {International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = aug,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-096}
      • }
    •  Ahmed, M.R., Koike-Akino, T., Parsons, K., Wang, Y., "AutoHLS: Learning to Accelerate Design Space Exploration for HLS Designs", International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), August 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-097 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Ahmed2023aug2,
      • author = {Ahmed, Md Rubel and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Parsons, Kieran and Wang, Ye},
      • title = {AutoHLS: Learning to Accelerate Design Space Exploration for HLS Designs},
      • booktitle = {International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = aug,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-097}
      • }
    •  Brand, M., Kuang, Z., "Scene depths from a two-polarization metalens", Optica Imaging Congress / Flat Optics, August 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-105 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Brand2023aug,
      • author = {Brand, Matthew and Kuang, Zeyu},
      • title = {Scene depths from a two-polarization metalens},
      • booktitle = {Optica Imaging Congress / Flat Optics},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = aug,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-105}
      • }
    •  Koike-Akino, T., Jung, M., Chakrabarty, A., Wang, Y., Kojima, K., Brand, M., "Bayesian Optimization for Nested Adversarial Variational Autoencoder in Tunable Nanophotonic Device Design", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), DOI: 10.1364/​CLEO_FS.2023.FW4C.7, May 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-036 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Koike-Akino2023may,
      • author = {Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Jung, Minwoo and Chakrabarty, Ankush and Wang, Ye and Kojima, Keisuke and Brand, Matthew},
      • title = {Bayesian Optimization for Nested Adversarial Variational Autoencoder in Tunable Nanophotonic Device Design},
      • booktitle = {Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = may,
      • doi = {10.1364/CLEO_FS.2023.FW4C.7},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-036}
      • }
    •  Teo, K.H., "Summary Report of International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM) 2022," Tech. Rep. TR2023-013, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, March 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-013 PDF
      • @techreport{Teo2023mar,
      • author = {Teo, Koon Hoo},
      • title = {Summary Report of International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM) 2022},
      • institution = {MERL website},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = mar,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-013}
      • }
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  • Software & Data Downloads