The Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics (CPN) at Lehigh University is devoted to exploration in photonics, electronics, and solid state devices. We channel Lehigh’s intellectual and physical resources into breakthrough photonics and nanoelectronics research that serves to address hot-button challenges in energy, sustainable infrastructure and environment, and healthcare and biomedicine, to name a few.

The CPN brings together faculty members from the college of engineering and the college of arts and sciences who have relevant expertise in photonics and nanoelectronics. A core group of about 10 members is in charge of the Center’s initiatives, in collaboration with a membership of about 20 other faculty with research groups active in the photonics and nanoelectronics area.

CPN members have access to significant resources spanning from various university facilities to several laboratories working on materials development, characterization, or the demonstration of functionalities. CPN’s expertise includes investigative capabilities in optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, laser spectroscopy, microscopy, and scanning probing techniques.

CPN’s scientific research research focuses on effects, materials, and systems that mediate the interaction between photons or allow the conversion of signals between the photonics and electronic planes. On the materials front, activities range from individual organic molecules and thin films, to wide bandgap semiconductors, to self-assembled nanostructures and two-dimensional layered materials. Current strengths span from III-Nitride and compound semiconductor technologies to high speed and power transistors, terahertz sources, organic based optoelectronics and photonics, nonlinear optics, glasses, bio-related materials and devices, plasmonics, and metamaterials. Collaborative activities are vertically integrated, and include fundamental and applied research towards functionalities such as all-optical data processing, photovoltaics, light emission, and lasers.

CPN’s partners are found at other academic institutions, in government laboratories, and in industry. Along with our sister research center, the Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, we represent Lehigh’s strong capabilities and extensive commitments in advancing both the science and technology from materials all the way up to system level applications.

CPN arose from the merger of two previous longstanding Lehigh research centers: the Center for Optical Technologies, which was devoted to photonics research, and the Sherman Fairchild Center for Solid-State Studies, which concentrated on research in electronics and solid state devices.