42 innovations from Bar-Ilan University, available for licensing, co-investment, or spin-out through BIRAD.
Peer Avraham
The discovery describes an innovative source of broad-band, highly-coherent quantum light and high-efficiency photon-pair generation with low pump power. Additionally, a novel method for self-measurement of the quantum coherence is described - the source itself can be used to measure its own performance. The source is based on a nonlinear crystal with polished and coated end facets to create a monolithic broad-band Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO). Its advantages over common sources of nonlinear crystals in single-pass include: 1. A monolithic OPO provides ideal coherence quality due to minimizing internal losses to a minimum. 2. The required pump power for a given photon flux is low. The threshold for lasing in such a source can be low (less than 5 watts, sometimes down to hundreds of milliwatts, depending on design). 3. Integral dispersion compensation in the crystal mirrors ensures a maximal bandwidth of tens of nanometers and above, generating many pairs of squeezed photons and allowing for a very high flux of entangled photons - up to terahertz pairs per second, which is a significant advantage for quantum communication applications in wavelength-division multiplexing. 4. Mode spacing convenient for telecom (around 10 GHz) in the telecommunication range (1550 nanometers) allows for the construction of separate channels, which is crucial for communication applications. 5. The monolithic design of the OPO ensures passive stability, which facilitates the feedback loop for stabilizing the pump laser to the resonator frequency. Moreover, the concentric design of the resonator ensures stability and resistance to spatial misalignments. Furthermore, the discovery includes a method for self-measurement of the generated coherence using parametric homodyne detection within the crystal itself. Specifically, by operating the monolithic source in a ring resonator configuration, the source can be used in one direction (with the clock) to generate quantum light, and in the opposite direction for measurement, enabling wide-bandwidth homodyne-based measurement, as described in the accompanying documents. Together, the source and measurement method provide a foundation for various applications of quantum technology, such as secure quantum communication (QKD) and wide-bandwidth quantum sensing.
Danielli Amos
Previously, Dr. Danielli introduced a novel technology—termed magnetic modulation biosensing (MMB)—that can rapidly detect very low concentrations of biomarkers. In the MMB system, two electromagnets are used to generate an alternating magnetic field gradients. Using these magnetic field gradients, magnetic beads with attached fluorescently labeled target molecules are aggregated and then manipulated back and forth, in and out of a fixed laser beam, generating a flashing signal, which is distinguished from the constant background noise. While the MMB system provides very high sensitivity, the electromagnets are relatively bulky and their magnetic forces are orthogonal to the gravity force. Hence, the time requires to aggregate the beads and acquire the data is long (~130 sec), which hinders the use of the MMB setup in high throughput applications. Here, we introduce a small footprint and high-throughput OMB platform. To aggregate and immobilize the magnetic beads to one spot, instead of using two electromagnets, we positioned a single cylindrical permanent magnet with a sharp tip under the sample holder. The elimination of the two relatively large electromagnets, significantly reduces the bulk, footprint, and power consumption of the platform. The use of a small permanent magnet to aggregate the magnetic beads to a small area was already reported. However, in the previous report, the small permanent magnet was positioned orthogonal to the gravity force, and therefore the aggregation time remained relatively long. In addition, the small permanent magnet was never used in combination with the preferential modulation of the laser beam, and therefore to achieve high sensitivity, multiple washing and separation steps were required. Here, the magnetic force generated by the small permanent magnet is aligned with the gravity force, significantly shortening the aggregation time of the magnetic beads from ~120 seconds to ~6 seconds. In addition, to eliminate the need for washing and separation steps, we manipulated the laser beam relative to the fixed magnetic beads. To increase the throughput of the system, we incorporated an automatic motorized linear stage that holds a 96-well plate. Shortening the aggregation, acquisition, and well to well transition times enabled us to read a 96-well plate within less than 10 minutes.
Zalevsky Zeev
The feasibility analysis for the development and the integration of a Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM) tip-photodetector operating in the visible domain of wavelengths to an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) cantilever has been simulated, processed and measured. The new tip-photodetector consists in a Platinum-Silicon truncated conical photodetector, sharing a subwavelength aperture and processed using advanced nanotechnology tools on a commercial silicon cantilever. Such a combined device enables a dual-mode usage of both AFM and NSOM measurements, when collecting the reflected light, directly from the scanned surface while having a more efficient light collection process. In addition to its quite simple fabrication process, it is demonstrated that the AFM tip, on which the photodetector is processed, is still operational, i.e. the AFM imaging capability is not altered by the process. The AFM-NSOM capability of the processed tip is presented, and obtained results show a significant improvement in surface characterization accuracy and efficiency.
Fischer Bilha
The detection of subcellular domains in cells can be obtained by specific fluorescent markers. Here we report the use of styryl quinolinium dyes that selectively stain ribosomal RNA (rRNA) in nucleoli and in the cytoplasm of mammalian cells. Specifically, we synthesized a series of 1-methyl-4-(substituted) styryl-quinolinium derivatives, 12a–l. We developed highly efficient microwave-assisted synthesis which prevents the formation of side products, leading to the products in yields greater than 90%. Compounds 12c-f and 12i in various solvents exhibited maximum absorbance at 500–660 nm, molar extinction coefficient of 25400–49000 M
Salomon Adi
Nanopatterned attachment for nanometric optical standardization
Naveh Doron
Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are atomically thin semiconductors that are considered as promising platform for future nanoelectronic technologies. The main challenge in realizing such future technologies is the scalable production of high quality wafers of TMDs and the wafer-to-wafer transfer of the TMDCs (from the growth substrate to the target silicon wafer). Most of the R&D effort in TMDCs is focused on MOCVD methods and so far suffering from small crystalline domains and high defect densities. The invention is based on the following steps: 1. preparation of catalytic growth substrate, single (111) domain of gold or platinum on c-plane sapphire 2. ALD deposition of uniform film 2-4 nm MoO3 or WO3 on Au/Pt 111 a. Possible but not required, to anneal MoO3 in O2/plasmaO2/O3 at T>150C 3. React with chalcogen precursor (H2S, S8 vapor, (CH₃)₂S₂ dimethyl disulfide, (C₂H₅S)₂ diethyl disulfide, Se8, H2Se, (CH₃)₂Se₂, Bis(trimethylsilyl)selenide (BTMSe), Di-tert-butyl Selenide (DTBSe), Diethyl Selenide (DESe), (C₂H₅)₂Se, Diethyl Telluride (DETe), (C₂H₅)₂Te, Dimethyl Telluride (DMTe), (CH₃)₂Te, Di-tert-butyl Telluride (DTBTe), Bis(trimethylsilyl)telluride (BTMTe), (TMS)₂Te, and others. a. Reaction of chalcogen with MoO3 can be sequential in pulses as soon as wetting of MoO3 achieved b. Cracking MoO3 in reaction with chalcogen expedited with hydrogen c. Plasma can be applied (Ar,H2) Oriented growth on 111 Au over 4” wafers has been demonstrated at BIU. 8” wafers being demonstrated. For transfer of TMDCs from growth substrate to target silicon: Catalyst tend to form strong vdW forces with TMDCs and after growth it is almost impossible to separate the two. Above 250C, gold interacts with all chalcogen species and reaction expedites with temperature of up to 400C, with Pt the reaction temperatures are somewhat higher than Au. Then, reaction with (for example) oxidizing acid (for example HNO3) can dissolve the chalcogenized catalytic substrate. This leaves a clean layer after transforming the catalyst into a sacrificial layer of the transfer. Figure 1 shows the XRD of Au (111) on sapphire as was sampled on 4” wafer. Figure 2 shows the effect of annealing and reconstruction of strained Au (111). In addition, Figure 3 shows the topographic proof of Au(111) reconstruction as it presents the atomic steps of sapphire on the Au layer. This is a direct proof of epitaxial reconstruction of Au to the substrate. The next step of the process is ALD deposition of MoO3, as evident in Raman spectroscopy of Figure 4. After the reaction with S8 the proof for MoS2: Raman spectroscopy confirm the Ag Eg and 2DLM characteristic modes. In addition, a second harmonic generation measurement proof the crystalline nature with C6 symmetry and global orientation on the wafer area in Figure 5. Figure 1-4 proves that the steps described in the process above were taken and Figure 5 proves that the result is a fully covered MoS2 and with global orientation over 4” wafer.
Lior Klein
A method, a non-transitory computer readable medium and a system for compensating for an electromagnetic interference induced deviation of an electron beam. The method may include obtaining measurement information about a magnetic field within an electron beam tool, the measurement information is generated by at least one planar Hall Effect magnetic sensor that is located within the electron beam tool; wherein the at least one planar Hall Effect magnetic sensor comprises at least one magnetometer integrated with at least one magnetic flux concentrator; estimating the electromagnetic interference induced deviation of the electron beam, the estimating is based on the magnetic field; and setting a trajectory of the electron beam to compensate for the electromagnetic interference induced deviation of the electron beam.
Cohen Eliahu
A system and apparatus for high-resolution, high-contrast and low-dose imaging using high-photon energy radiation in the hard X-ray and gamma-ray regimes. The system comprises of A) a high-photon energy source configured to provide an input beam; B) a diffuser configured to induce intensity fluctuations that are stronger than the intensity fluctuations originating from the source i) the diffuser is predesigned and fabricated according to a computer generated topographic map; ii) the diffuser is characterized by a high-resolution imaging system; C) motorized stages to scan the diffuser: D) a detector which can be either a low-resolution detector or a single-pixel detector, and E) a processor configured to receive output intensity measurements, to correlate the output intensity measurements with the intensity fluctuations at the position of the object calculated from the knowledge on the diffuser details, and to use the correlated data to reconstruct an image of the object.
Peer Avraham
We present a novel configuration for a mode-locked semiconductor laser oscillator that emits picosecond-to femtosecond range pulses with record pulse energy (0.5nJ demonstrated) and peak power (112W demonstrated) directly out of the oscillator (with no amplifier). To achieve this high power performance, which is about 20 times higher than other published results with similar lasers, we employed a high-current broad-area, spatially multi-mode diode amplifier, placed in an external cavity that enforces oscillation in a single spatial mode. Consequently, the brightness of the beam can be near-ideal (close to M2 = 1). Mode locking is achieved by dividing the large diode chip (edge emitter) into two sections with independent electrical control: one large section for gain and another small section for a saturable absorber. Precise tuning of the reverse voltage on the absorber section allows to tune the saturation level and recovery time of the absorber, providing a convenient knob to optimize the mode-locking performance for various cavity conditions.
Zalevsky Zeev
Time multiplexing is a super resolution technique that sacrifices time to overcome the resolution reduction obtained because of diffraction. There are many super resolution methods based on time multiplexing, but all of them require a priori knowledge of the time changing encoding mask, which is projected on the object and used to encode and decode the high-resolution information. In this paper, we present a time multiplexing technique that does not require the a priori knowledge on the projected encoding mask. First, the theoretical concept of the technique is demonstrated, then, numerical simulations and experimental results are presented.
Strelniker Yakov
It is shown that when approaching the percolation threshold of a superconductor-insulator metamaterial, the critical temperature Tc can be significantly increased up to near-room temperature. This is due to the appearance of a negative permittivity near criticality. This yields electrons to experience attraction instead of repulsion, which leads the formation of Cooper electron pairs and, consequently, to superconductivity. The negative permittivity is found theoretically in the metal-dielectric superconducting metamaterial using the symmetric self-consistent effective medium approximation (SEMA) together with the Drude model of metal conductivity in the quasistatic limit. This negative permittivity value is substituted into the formula for the critical temperature, derived by the well accepted Ginzburg-Kirzhnits-Pashitskii theory which describes superconductivity in terms of permittivity where the concept of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) has been employed. All analytical evaluations are exact within the framework of SEMA. We also provide a qualitative physical explanation for this theoretical prediction.
Tischler Yaakov Raphael
We previously introduced a method and device for significantly enhancing the resolution of Raman spectroscopy measurements by using angle tuning of a Fabry-Perot (F-P) etalon in the beam path of a standard grating-based dispersive Raman spectrometer. Building on this innovation, we propose a novel configuration where Raman filters are placed after the F-P etalon. This configuration allows the F-P etalon to interact with both the coherent laser line and the excited Raman signal, enabling simultaneous measurement of the laser's spectral peak position and linewidth along with the stimulated Raman peak. By leveraging this dual measurement, we achieve simultaneous super-spectral-resolution of the Raman peak and the laser's spectral position, leading to an enhanced-resolution and determination of the absolute Raman peak shift, with both the laser and Raman peaks being super-resolved simultaneously. The method relies on computationally reconstructing the peak positions and linewidths of both the laser excitation and Raman scattering by comparing their angle-dependent intensity spectra to a physical model. The reconstruction provides ultra-high resolution for the linewidths and positions of both laser and Raman peaks in the same measurement, which can be achieved either by using a wide-enough range dispersive grating or by separately measuring the reflected or scattered laser signal with a photodetector. When analyzing a substance with a known Raman spectrum, this dual-measurement approach enables highly precise scattering spectroscopy using much more compact instrumentation. By combining the angle-dependent spectra from the Fabry-Perot etalon with a physical model, this method offers a streamlined and cost-effective solution for high-resolution spectral analysis, making it particularly advantageous for applications requiring compact and efficient setups. When analyzing a substance with a known single Raman peak, this dual-measurement approach enables highly precise scattering spectroscopy using just a pair of photodetectors, effectively eliminating the need for a full spectrometer. By combining the angle-dependent spectra from the Fabry-Perot etalon with a physical model, this method offers a streamlined and cost-effective solution for high-resolution spectral analysis, making it particularly advantageous for applications requiring super-compact and efficient setups.
