{"id":10369,"date":"2026-01-22T12:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/?p=10369"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:45:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:45:42","slug":"paiella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2026\/01\/22\/paiella\/","title":{"rendered":"Semiconductor nanofabrication process development for computational image sensors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-5840 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-ece departments-mse-dept affiliation-faculty program-year-yr-2015 program-year-yr-2016\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/roberto-paiella\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"148\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/04\/roberto_paiella.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Roberto Paiella<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Professor (ECE, MSE)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-10645 profile type-profile status-publish hentry affiliation-graduate-student\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/hriteshwar-talukder\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2026\/02\/Hriteshwar-300x300-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Hriteshwar Talukder<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">PhD Candidate<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span>Traditional photodetectors used for imaging applications are only sensitive to the intensity of the incident light, whereas all information related to phase and polarization is lost in the image acquisition process. To address this limitation, we are developing new types of image sensors that can directly measure multiple properties of any incident wave in a single shot. These devices are based on several new ideas from nanophotonics and are promising for the development of advanced imaging systems that could significantly improve our ability to sense and process visual information under conditions of limited intensity contrast. In turn, such systems could benefit countless applications of machine vision (from biomedical microscopy to remote sensing and autonomous navigation), by introducing capabilities that traditionally require extremely bulky setups or slow sequential measurements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Research Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The experimental demonstration of the proposed devices involves multiple nanofabrication techniques, including thin-film deposition, photo- and electron beam lithography, and reactive ion etching. Several suitable fabrication processes have been developed or are under development in our lab. In support of these endeavors, the REU intern will focus on optimizing specific nanofabrication recipes, particularly related to reactive ion etching of semiconductor (Si) and dielectric (SiO2 and TiO2) materials. The main objective of the project will be to identify the range of etch parameters that can provide maximal control of the etch depth with minimal added surface roughness. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Learning Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span>The intern will learn basic cleanroom practices and nanofabrication techniques used to manufacture and characterize semiconductor devices, including photolithography, reactive ion etching, profilometry, and scanning electron microscopy.<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span>We anticipate a timeline of 2-3 weeks to train the intern on the relevant tools in the cleanroom. The remaining time of the internship will be devoted to the fabrication and characterization of multiple test samples, data analysis, and preparation of the final poster presentation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors Project Description Traditional photodetectors used for imaging applications are only sensitive to the intensity of the incident light, whereas all information related to phase and polarization is lost in the image acquisition process. To address this limitation, we are developing new types of image sensors that can directly measure multiple properties of any incident [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10369"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10721,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10369\/revisions\/10721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}