Systems and methods for optical data communication in high temperatures and harsh environments are provided herein. The embodiments utilize a combination of a short wavelength light source combined with a wide bandgap detector in order to transmit optical signals. An optical data communication system may include a light source connected to a light detector via an optical fiber. The light source and the light detector may also be physically adjacent to any dielectric gap that can be spanned without having an optical fiber intermediary.

One embodiment provides a semiconducting device for at least one of detecting, producing or manipulating electromagnetic radiation having a frequency of at least 100 gigahertz (GHz). The semiconducting device includes a heterodimensional plasmonic structure, and an active layer. The heterodimensional plasmonic structure includes at least one nanostructure configured to form a heterodimensional junction with the active layer and having a tunable resonant plasmon frequency.

Semiconductor optoelectronic devices having a dilute nitride active region are disclosed. In particular, the semiconductor devices have a dilute nitride active region with at least two bandgaps within a range from 0.7 eV and 1.4 eV. Photodetectors comprising a dilute nitride active region with at least two bandgaps have a reduced dark current when compared to photodetectors comprising a dilute nitride active region with a single bandgap equivalent to the smallest bandgap of the at least two bandgaps.

A method for fabricating a neutron detector includes providing an epilayer wafer of Boron-10 enriched hexagonal boron nitride (h-.sup.10BN or h-BN or .sup.10BN or BN) having a thickness (t), dicing or cutting the epilayer wafer into one or more BN strips having a width (W) and a length (L), and depositing a first metal contact on a first surface of at least one of the BN strip and a second metal contact on a second surface of the at least one BN strip. The neutron detector includes an electrically insulating submount, a BN epilayer of Boron-10 enriched hexagonal boron nitride (h-.sup.10BN or h-BN or .sup.10BN or BN) placed on the insulating submount, a first metal contact deposited on a first surface of the BN epilayer, and a second metal contact deposited on a second surface of the BN epilayer.

Techniques are disclosed for fabricating and using a neuromorphic computing device including biological neurons. For example, a method for fabricating a neuromorphic computing device includes forming a channel in a first substrate and forming at least one sensor in a second substrate. At least a portion of the channel in the first substrate is seeded with a biological neuron growth material. The second substrate is attached to the first substrate such that the at least one sensor is proximate to the biological neuron growth material and growth of the seeded biological neuron growth material is stimulated to grow a neuron in the at least a portion of the channel.

High-voltage solid-state transducer (SST) devices and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. An SST device in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present technology includes a carrier substrate, a first terminal, a second terminal and a plurality of SST dies connected in series between the first and second terminals. The individual SST dies can include a transducer structure having a p-n junction, a first contact and a second contact. The transducer structure forms a boundary between a first region and a second region with the carrier substrate being in the first region. The first and second terminals can be configured to receive an output voltage and each SST die can have a forward junction voltage less than the output voltage.

Methods of in situ fabrication and formation of horizontal nanowires for a semiconductor device employ non-catalytic selective area epitaxial growth to selectively grow a semiconductor material in a selective area opening of predefined asymmetrical geometry. The selective area opening is defined in a dielectric layer to expose a semiconductor layer underlying the dielectric layer. The non-catalytic selective area epitaxial growth is performed at a growth temperature sufficient to also in situ form a linear stress crack of nanoscale width that is nucleated from a location in a vicinity of the selective area opening and that propagates in a uniform direction along a crystal plane of the semiconductor layer in both the semiconductor layer and the dielectric layer as a linear nanogap template. The semiconductor material is further selectively grown to fill the linear nanogap template to in situ form the nanowire that is uniformly linear.

A hybrid growth method for III-nitride tunnel junction devices uses metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to grow one or more light-emitting or light-absorbing structures and ammonia-assisted or plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow one or more tunnel junctions. Unlike p-type gallium nitride (p-GaN) grown by MOCVD, p-GaN grown by MBE is conductive as grown, which allows for its use in a tunnel junction. Moreover, the doping limits of MBE materials are higher than MOCVD materials. The tunnel junctions can be used to incorporate multiple active regions into a single device. In addition, n-type GaN (n-GaN) can be used as a current spreading layer on both sides of the device, eliminating the need for a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer or a silver (Au) mirror.

An extreme and deep ultra-violet photovoltaic device designed to efficiently convert extreme ultra-violet (EUV) and deep ultra violet (DUV) photons originating from an EUV/DUV power source to electrical power via the absorption of photons creating electrons and holes that are subsequently separated via an electric field so as to create a voltage that can drive power in an external circuit. Unlike traditional solar cells, the absorption of the extreme/deep ultra-violet light near the surface of the device requires special structures constructed from large and ultra-large bandgap semiconductors so as to maximize converted power, eliminate absorption losses and provide the needed mechanical integrity.

According to the embodiments provided herein, a method for forming a photovoltaic device can include depositing a plurality of semiconductor layers. The plurality of semiconductor layers can include a doped layer that is doped with a group V dopant. The doped layer can include cadmium selenide or cadmium telluride. The method can include annealing the plurality of semiconductor layers to form an absorber layer.