Dr. Mahdi Assefzadeh

“Efficient and Complex Utilization of Terahertz Spectrum

with Integrated Laser‑free Solutions”

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Distinguished Lecture Program

Date/time: Friday, Sep 20th, 2019 (4:00 PM- 5:00 PM)

SPEAKER: Dr. Mahdi Assefzadeh

University of Central Florida

ABSTRACT:

Today, our high-speed digital processors and commercial communication systems operate in the Gigahertz range (GHz). Terahertz spectrum (THz), however, lies three orders of magnitude higher in frequency and can provide enormous bandwidths for hyper-spectral imaging, molecular sensing and high-speed communication. But this region of spectrum has seemed scarcely utilizable. The bottleneck appears to be the lack of power-efficient integrated sources and detectors with high levels of tunability and signal complexity.

In this talk, I will first report on the current status of commercial THz technology followed by the outcomes of the integrated electronics research in the last decade. Next, I will present new silicon-based signal generation and detection paradigms that can utilize the entire spectrum with high levels of signal complexity, beamforming capability, and orders of magnitude higher DC-to-THz efficiency, when compared to laser-based optical methods or traditional signal generation techniques. Ultra-short pulse radiating arrays will be presented that are used in laser-free broadband gas spectroscopy and THz imaging. I will then conclude the talk by a brief summary and future research directions.

BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Mahdi Assefzadeh received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2011, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University, Houston, TX, in 2014 and 2018, respectively. He was a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Los Angeles in 2018.

Dr. Assefzadeh is an Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of Central Florida, and the Director of UCF Terahertz Integrated Circuits Laboratory. Dr. Assefzadeh was a recipient of multiple best paper awards, including the Best Paper Award of the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium in 2014, the Best Paper Award of the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium in 2016, the Second Place of the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Antenna and Propagation Symposium in 2016, and the Runner-Up at the Best Paper Award of IRMMW-THz 2016. He was a recipient of the IEEE SSCS Predoctoral Achievement Award in 2018, IEEE MTT-S Microwave Graduate Fellowship in 2017, the Texas Instruments Distinguished Fellowship in 2012, and the Michael and Katherine Birck Fellowship of Purdue University in 2011. He was also the Gold Medal recipient at both the National Physics Competition in 2006 and the 38th International Physics Olympiad in 2007.