Prof. J. Gary Eden,  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Recent Developments in Large Arrays of Microcavity Plasma Devices: Physics and Applications"

ABSTRACT

Microcavity plasma devices are a new class of hybrid plasma/optoelectronic device in which a non-equilibrium low temperature plasma is spatially confined to a microcavity with a characteristic cross-sectional dimension of nominally 10-200 µm. Plasmas so confined are stable glows having nanoliter volumes and operating at gas pressures up to and beyond one atmosphere. Conventional mass production techniques can be used to fabricate arrays of microplasma devices having precisely-controlled microcavity dimensions and dielectric structures, thereby tailoring the electric field within the microcavity. Arrays of microcavity plasma devices have been demonstrated in a wide range of materials and device structures including Si, glass, and ceramics, but this presentation will focus on recent results in our laboratory in which arrays having active areas >200 cm² have been realized with Al2O3/Al multilayer structures and plastic-based devices. Both are flexible and the latter are fully transparent. Furthermore, plasma channels having widths of 20 µm and aspect ratios >104:1 have been demonstrated. The performance of these arrays and selected applications in lighting, displays, and biomedical phototherapeutics will be discussed.

BIO

J. Gary Eden received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1976 and was appointed a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, DC). As a research physicist in the Laser Physics Branch (Optical Sciences Division) of NRL from 1976 to 1979, he made several contributions to the area of visible and ultraviolet lasers and laser spectroscopy, including the co-discovery of the KrCl rare gas-halide excimer laser, and received a Research Publication Award (1979) for his work at NRL in which he co-discovered the proton beam pumped laser (Ar-N2, XeF). Since joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1979, he has been engaged in research in atomic, molecular and ultrafast laser spectroscopy, the discovery and development of visible and ultraviolet lasers, and the development of photochemical vapor deposition. He has served as Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering, Associate Dean of the Graduate College, and Associate Vice-Chancellor for Research, and is currently Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Laboratory for Optical Physics and Engineering, as well as Research Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory, and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. Dr. Eden has over 200 publications and 22 patents, is a member of four honorary organizations, and is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Optical Society of America, and the American Physical Society. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics and, in 1998, as President of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS). Previously, he served as a member of the LEOS Board of Governors, and as the Vice-President for Technical Affairs. Dr. Eden received the LEOS Distinguished Service Award, was awarded the IEEE Third Millennium medal in 2000 and was named a LEOS Distinguished Lecturer for 2003-2005. From 1996 through 1999, he was the James F. Towey University Scholar at the University of Illinois. In 2005, he received the IEEE/LEOS Aron Kressel Award. Recently he was awarded the C.E.K. Mees Medal of the Optical Society of America, and was also named the recipient of the Fulbright-Israel Distinguished Chair in the Natural Sciences and Engineering for 2007-2008.