“Experience is more important than knowledge and imagination, because experience drives both.”

Shihab Al-Daffaie is Assistant Professor for Terahertz Nanophotonics and Integration Technology (TNIT) in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He is working on the first THz-photonic integrated circuits (PIC). His goal is integrate all lasers and photonic devices (active and passive) with THz nanodevices in one single chip. These THz PIC chips would have applications in communications (including 6G and beyond), bio-medical applications (including virus detection), security and safety (including explosive detection and body search scanners), industrial inspections (including quality degradation), and much more.

Al-Daffaie has participated in several German and European research framework projects in terahertz and nanophotonic technologies and their applications. The main concept that ties his research together is the use of nanophotonic materials and technology in the field of terahertz devices and systems. Al-Daffaie is interested in the full scope of this research: from theory and device design, to  fabrication, characterization, optimization, and finally system integration. His recent research presented new types of terahertz nanodevices based on nanoelectrodes (nanowires and graphene) which significantly enhance the terahertz output power and the operation frequency.

Shihab Al-Daffaie obtained his PhD degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Technical University (TU) Darmstadt (Germany) in 2015. In 2016, he founded and led the Nanophotonics and Terahertz Technology group (NTT) in the faculty of Photonics and Optical Communications at the same university. In 2019, Al-Daffaie joined the team of Terahertz Photonic Systems in the Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). In 2022, he became Assistant Professor for Terahertz Nanophotonics and Integration Technology (TNIT) in the Department of Electrical Engineering at TU/e.

Grants and projects

TU/e-EHCI: Advanced graphene-photoconductive material for highly sensitive THz devices (AGPhoMa-THz) 1^st June 2022 for 2 years

This project will explore such devices, aiming at the maximum improvement of efficiency by novel material combinations and structures, and focusing on patterned graphene in combination with low-temperature GaAs (LT-GaAs). When selecting the device concepts, we will limit ourselves to options that can be integrated into on-chip or on-board THz systems, opening the possibility of portable THz systems that could be deployed for remote sensing and metrology applications. High-sensitivity THz detectors are also critical for the development of secured wireless THz quantum communications in foggy and dusty atmospheres.

TU/e- Zwaartekracht (ZK-ECO/PSN): Integrated Broadband Terahertz Time-domain Spectroscopy (IBTHz-TDS) 1^st May 2022 for 2 years

In this project, we propose to introduce a new THz system platform based on photonic integrated circuits and micro-structured photoconductive antennas that will reduce the surface of THz spectrometers by more than 3 orders of magnitude (typical sizes of 0.01 x 0.01 m2). This platform is described in the figure below and combines THz and electrical components for the optical generation of THz radiation, the surface propagation of THz waves, and electrical detection of the THz amplitude on a single chip.

NOW-OTP: Nanophotonic Metasurfaces for Optical Wireless Communication (Nano-WiCom) 1^st May 2022 for 4 years

The goal of this project is to merge nanostructured surfaces of resonant scatterers (metasurfaces) with infrared emitters (carbon nanotubes) to reduce the étendue of large area and/or divergent light sources. The low étendue emission will be coupled to an integrated cascaded aperture optical receiver to achieve efficient and fast detection with bandwidths larger than 10 GHz. We will apply these hybrid devices in wireless communication technology.

Please use this like for details: https://surfacephotonics.org/nano-wicom-granted/