Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals

Nature Nanotechnology volume 13, pages 1143–1147 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

An Author Correction to this article was published on 15 November 2018

This article has been updated

Abstract

Sensing the direction of sounds gives animals clear evolutionary advantage. For large animals, with an ear-to-ear spacing that exceeds audible sound wavelengths, directional sensing is simply accomplished by recognizing the intensity and time differences of a wave impinging on its two ears1. Recent research suggests that in smaller, subwavelength animals, angle sensing can instead rely on a coherent coupling of soundwaves between the two ears2,3,4. Inspired by this natural design, here we show a subwarvelength photodetection pixel that can measure both the intensity and incident angle of light. It relies on an electrical isolation and optical coupling of two closely spaced Si nanowires that support optical Mie resonances5,6,7. When these resonators scatter light into the same free-space optical modes, a non-Hermitian coupling results that affords highly sensitive angle determination. By straightforward photocurrent measurements, we can independently quantify the stored optical energy in each nanowire and relate the difference in the stored energy between the wires to the incident angle of a light wave. We exploit this effect to fabricate a subwavelength angle-sensitive pixel with angular sensitivity, δθ = 0.32°.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Angle sensing in optics using a lens and the internally coupled ears of a small animal.

marima/Shutterstock.com

Fig. 2: Coupled mode theory for a pair of optical Mie resonators used for directional sensing.
Fig. 3: Absorption profiles for a coupled and uncoupled pair of Si nanowires for different incident angles.
Fig. 4: Fabrication and performance of the proposed angle-sensing photodetector.
Fig. 5: Measurement set-up and experimental results for lens-less positioning.

Change history

  • 15 November 2018

    In the version of this Letter originally published, Zongfu Yu was mistakenly not noted as being a corresponding author; this has now been corrected in all versions of the Letter.

References

  1. Grothe, B., Pecka, M. & McAlpine, D. Mechanisms of sound localization in mammals. Physiol. Rev. 90, 983–1012 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Chung, S.-H., Pettigrew, A. & Anson, M. Dynamics of the amphibian middle ear. Nature 272, 142–147 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Miles, R. N., Robert, D. & Hoy, R. R. Mechanically coupled ears for directional hearing in the parasitoid fly Ormiaochracea. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 3059–3070 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Römer, H. & Schmidt, A. K. D. Directional hearing in insects with internally coupled ears. Biol. Cybern. 110, 247–254 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Mie, G. Beiträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallösungen. Ann. Phys. 330, 377–445 (1908).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cao, L. et al. Engineering light absorption in semiconductor nanowire devices. Nat. Mater. 8, 643–647 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kuznetsov, A. I., Miroshnichenko, A. E., Brongersma, M. L., Kivshar, Y. S. & Luk’yanchuk, B. Optically resonant dielectric nanostructures. Science 354, 2472 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ng, R. et al. Light Field Photography with a Hand-Held Plenoptic Camera, Computer Science Tech Report 2005-02 (Stanford University, 2005).

  9. Wang, A., Gill, P. & Molnar, A. Light field image sensors based on the Talbot effect. Appl. Opt. 48, 5897–5905 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wang, A. & Molnar, A. A light-field image sensor in 180 nm CMOS. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 47, 257–271 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang, A., Gill, P. & Molnar, A. in Proceedings of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference 371–374 (IEEE, New York, 2009).

  12. Sivaramakrishnan, S., Wang, A., Gill, P. R. & Molnar, A. in Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE International Electronic Devices Meeting 191–194 (IEEE, New York, 2011).

  13. Pollack, G. S. Sensory cues for sound localization in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus: interaural difference in response strength versus interaural latency difference. J. Comp. Physiol. A 189, 143–151 (2003).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. & Manley, G. A. Directionality of the lizard ear. J. Exp. Biol. 208, 1209–1217 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J., Tang, Y. & Carr, C. E. Binaural processing by the gecko auditory periphery. J. Neurophysiol. 105, 1992–2004 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Vossen, C., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. & van Hemmen, J. L. Analytical model of internally coupled ears. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 128, 909–918 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Vedurmudi, A. P. et al. How internally coupled ears generate temporal and amplitude cues for sound localization. Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 28101 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Suh, W., Wang, Z. & Fan, S. Temporal coupled-mode theory and the presence of non-orthogonal modes in lossless multimode cavities. IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 40, 1511–1518 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Verslegers, L., Yu, Z., Catrysse, P. B. & Fan, S. Temporal coupled-mode theory for resonant apertures. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 27, 1947–1956 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Verslegers, L., Yu, Z., Ruan, Z., Catrysse, P. B. & Fan, S. From electromagnetically induced transparency to superscattering with a single structure: a coupled-mode theory for doubly resonant structures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 83902 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Scully, M. O. Collective Lamb shift in single photon Dicke superradiance. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 143601 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Zhang, S. et al. Anti-Hermitian plasmon coupling of an array of gold thin-film antennas for controlling light at the nanoscale. Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 193902 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Lyuboshitz, V. L. Resonance interaction between two identical dipole emitters. Sov. Phys. J. Exp.Theor. Phys. 26, 937–942 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Brönstrup, G. et al. Optical properties of individual silicon nanowires for photonic devices. ACS Nano 4, 7113–7122 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Cao, L., Fan, P. & Brongersma, M. L. Optical coupling of deep-subwavelength semiconductor nanowires. Nano. Lett. 11, 1463–1468 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhou, M., Shi, L., Zi, J. & Yu, Z. Extraordinarily large optical cross section for localized single nanoresonator. Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 23903 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Besl, P. J. Active, optical range imaging sensors. Mach. Vis. Appl. 1, 127–152 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Blais, F. Review of 20 years of range sensor development. J. Electron. Imaging 13, 231–240 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Semiconductors Compenents Industries. VITA 25K Image Sensor Data Sheet NOIV1SN025KA, http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/NOIV1SN025KA-D.PDF (2016).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The work at the University of Wisconsin was funded by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-14-1-0300). The work at Stanford was supported by a Multi University Research Initiative (MURIs FA9550-14-1-0389) and an individual investigator grant (FA9550-17-1-0331) from the AFOSR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Soongyu Yi, Ming Zhou, Zongfu Yu & Nader Behdad

  2. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford, CA, USA

    Pengyu Fan, Dianmin Lin & Mark Brongersma

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Dianmin Lin & Shanhui Fan

  4. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Ken Xingze Wang & Shanhui Fan

Authors
  1. Soongyu Yi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ming Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zongfu Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pengyu Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nader Behdad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dianmin Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ken Xingze Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shanhui Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Mark Brongersma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.B. and Z.Y. directed the research. S.Y., M.Z., P.F. and D.L. performed the experiments. S.Y. and K.X.W. performed the simulations. M.Z. developed the analytical theory. All authors were involved in analysing the data and writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Brongersma.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Sections 1–16; Supplementary Figs. 1–24

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z. et al. Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals. Nature Nanotech 13, 1143–1147 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0278-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0278-9

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Find nanotechnology articles, nanomaterial data and patents all in one place. Visit Nano by Nature Research