CMU > Materials Science and Engineering

Professor Elias Towe
Grobstein Professor of Materials Science and Engineering & Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ph.D.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology

147 Roberts Engineering Hall
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

Email address:
Phone: (412) 268-8091
FAX: (412) 268-0648

Professor Towe's Web Site

Research Interests

Towe's group pursues research in basic optical and quantum phenomena in materials for applications in novel photonic devices that enable a new generation of information processing systems for communication, computation, and sensing. The group is also interested in understanding new pathways and fundamental mechanisms for solar energy conversion devices. Current focus is on the use of phenomena (such as three-dimensional quantum-confinement effects in nanometer-scale structures) in the study of novel devices. Examples include: quantum-dot infrared detectors and imaging sensors, electrically-pumped photonic crystal micro-cavity lasers with quantum-dot active regions, multi-spectral solar energy conversion devices, plasmonic bio-sensors, and fluorescence bio-sensing devices.

Biography

Elias Towe was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received the S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he was also a Vinton Hayes Fellow. Prior to joining the faculty at Carnegie Mellon in 2001, he was, at the same time, a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia, and a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Towe is a recipient of several awards and honors. He is currently a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering.

Recent Publications

E. Towe and D. Pan, “Semiconductor quantum-dot nanostructures: their application in a new class of intersublevel infrared photodetectors,” IEEE J. Selected Topics in Quantum Electron., 6(3) 408-421 (2000).

A. Kastalsky, L. E. Vorobjev, D. A. Firsov, V. L. Zerova, E. Towe, J. Cockburn, and M. Skolnick, “A dual-color semiconductor injection laser based on intra- and inter-band carrier transitions in semiconductor quantum wells or quantum dots,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 37(10) 1356-1362 (2001).

V. G. Stoleru, D. Pal, and E. Towe, “Self-assembled (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot nanostructures: strain distribution and electronic structure,” Physica E 15 (3), 131-152, (2002).

G. V. Stoleru, and E. Towe, “Oscillator strength for intraband transitions in (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 83 1-3 (2003).

G. V. Stoleru, and E. Towe, “Optical properties of nanometer-sized gold spheres and rods embedded in anodic alumina matrices, Appl. Phys. Lett., 85 5152 - 5154 (2004).