Sanjay Krishna: The 2020 SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award

Sanjay Krishna, currently the  George R Smith Professor of Engineering in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Ohio State University, presented the first demonstration of single color and dual color nBn superlattice detectors and focal plane arrays. The nBn architecture refers to a heterostructure detector architecture which consists of a unipolar barrier (B) sandwiched between two n-doped semi-conductors. His pioneering work has resulted in infrared imaging capabilities that combine high sensitivity, lower cost, and higher operating temperature, leading to widespread adoption by several infrared manufacturers for both commercial and defense applications. In addition, Krishna's research lab is recognized for graduating numerous young leaders in the infrared field.

Actively involved with SPIE for two decades, Krishna is an SPIE Fellow and, in 2008, received the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award for his technological contributions to the development of infrared detectors. When he was a professor at the University of New Mexico, he founded the SPIE student chapter and served as its founding faculty advisor. As well as serving as a speaker at SPIE leadership events for students and early career professionals, Krishna is on conference committees for both SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing and Optics + Photonics.

"There are three important contributions that a good university research group can make," notes Michael T. Eismann, editor-in-chief of SPIE's Optical Engineering journal and chief scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Sensors Directorate. "The first is advancing the frontiers of science using simple concepts based on fundamental understanding of the physics. The second is the advancement of this science to make a real technological impact that could be useful for real-life application. And the third is the legacy of high-quality students and researchers that one has trained in their research group. Professor Krishna has made a significant impact in all these areas."

Read more about Sanjay Krishna and the Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award.