Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
The University of New Mexico
Chief Science Officer
Dynamic Photonics, Inc. (NM Start-up Factory/STC start-up)
Dr. Zarkesh-Ha has disclosed nine inventions, received one issued U. S. patent, has six pending patent applications, and has one exclusive option to license agreement with start-up Dynamic Photonics, Inc., to develop his ultra-fast optical receiver technologies. Dr. Zarkesh-Ha and his co-inventor received approximately $25,000 in gap funding in 2013 from STC’s gap fund program for the receiver technologies. Dr. Zarkesh-Ha and his co-inventor also have an exclusive license agreement with a company interested in his DNA sequencing technology.
In recent years, network bandwidth requirements have scaled multiple folds, pushing the need for the development of data exchange mechanisms at 100 Gbps and beyond. Internet exchanges, high-performance computing, and personalized content such as YouTube, IPTV, and HDTV are a few of the numerous applications that will leverage such high bandwidth capabilities. The ultra-fast optical receiver technology uses off-the-shelf avalanche photodetectors (APDs) that are operated in a non-conventional manner, specifically designed to enhance the photodetector’s speed well beyond the conventional limits. This means that an APD that is operable in a 10 Gbps system can be operable in a 40+ Gbps system provided that the higher-bandwidth APD packaging is employed. Another key feature of the APD technology is that it is “detector-agnostic,” which means the method can be applied to any APD and any wavelength. The technology can be used for many applications, beyond the 40-giga-bit-per-second optical communications market, that demand high-speed detection. Dynamic Photonics will develop high-performance, inexpensive transceiver modules for high-speed, light-wave communications. The sequencing technology is an innovative, next generation genetic sequencing platform that implements an ISFET (ion-sensitive field-effect transistor) integrated circuit in haplotype sequencing. This technology represents a significant advancement in DNA sequencing, showing great promise in reducing overall genome sequencing time and cost.
Dr. Zarkesh-Ha’s research interests include statistical modeling of VLSI systems, VLSI design for manufacturability and reliability, and low-power and high-performance VLSI design. Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining billions of transistors into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device
UNM-Affiliated Issued U. S. Patents
8,324,951 Dual Data Rate Flip-Flop Circuit, issued December 4, 2012
UNM-Affiliated Pending Patent Applications
| Impact Ionization Devices Under Dynamic Electric Fields |
| DNA Sample Preparation and Sequencing |
| Double Gate Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor |
| Reconfigurable Photovoltaic Solar Cell Module with Integrated Switching Matrix |
| Method for Sensitivity Optimization of Optical Receivers Using Avalanche Photodiodes Operating Under a Dynamic Reverse Bias |
| Resonance Avalanche Photodiodes for Dynamic Biasing in Low-Cost Optical Receivers |